The light of Chiara

Loving life so much that you lose it. Donate it knowingly for another. Pure Gospel, word of Jesus himself. In fact, what is greater under the sky? Power, riches, the wonderful discoveries of science are nothing compared to the supreme gesture of love of those who give their lives for their brothers.

We learn that Chiara Corbella - already a servant of God - has recently taken another step in the beatification process. «Secular woman and mother of a family, wife and mother of great faith in God», they define her. She will soon be next to Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, witnesses and protectors of life from conception. The patronesses of life. Yes, because Chiara also died to give birth to her son. After losing two of them, born with serious malformations and dying immediately - Maria Grazia Letizia and Davide Giovanni - pregnant again, she discovered she had oral cancer. Postpone treatment so as not to harm the baby. When Francesco is born, he takes them back, but it is too late. She dies at the age of twenty-eight, they bury her next to her two children. Not without having left a luminous testimony of faith and abandonment in God. «If the Lord – he tells his mother – has chosen this for me, it means that it is better this way for me and for those around me. So I'm happy."

Her husband Enrico Petrillo, her son Francesco, her parents and her sister Elisa keep Chiara's memory alive together with many who knew and approached her in life and in death. The Church is preparing to welcome her into the infinite ranks of saints. «If we read Chiara's life – explained Monsignor Baldassarre Reina, vicegerent of the diocese of Rome – with a human logic, it would be comparable to a tragedy. Supported instead by faith and spousal love, Chiara's experience of suffering changes into an experience of eternal life, with decidedly Easter-like tones." Even though she was ill, she smiled a lot and always. All the images show her laughing and happy. As if he could already see beyond. Smiling and luminous, she went to meet the Lord, in whom she placed the hope, the meaning, the direction of her entire life.

Miracles attributed to his intercession will be investigated. The first is the light spread down here: «His oblation remains as a beacon of light of hope, testimony of faith in God, author of life, example of love greater than fear and death». Chiara's light, for us.


Renzo Agasso
NP august/september 2024