Sacred Heart Academy was founded 70 years ago by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but the woman who founded that order was born almost a century earlier. As her birthday comes around, it is important to remember her dedication to service which acts as such a loving model attitude to follow in this season of Lent. The foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was born March 10, 1861, in Forli, Italy to Teresa Brandinelli and Joachim Merloni. She was baptized the same day, foreshadowing the great impact she would one day share with the Catholic Church.

She had strong influences from her father as well as her stepmother and grandmother. Her father dreamt of sharing his business success and ambitions with his daughter but battled for her attention against her devotion to the Church and her love of God, which was continuously nourished by her stepmother and grandmother. Eventually, her father’s tiresome attitude and obsession with business drove her two maternal influences away. Still Clelia kept the faith she grew up on, even doing penance, pray, and keeping a pebble in her shoe as an offering of pain on behalf of her father’s absence from the Church.

Clelia joined the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Mary of Divine Providence but still felt called to start a new congregation, one dedicated to charity and love of God. Thus began the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on May 30, 1894, in Viareggio, Italy. Her father passed away after his reconciliation with God and Clelia inherited her father’s estate. It was used to fund charitable acts for the poor, sick, and orphaned.

Disaster struck when Clelia got blamed for the dishonesty of her financial administrator. People turned their backs on the Apostles and she had to take refuge to Broni. The Sisters had years of begging to keep up their charity until the Bishop Giovanni Batista Scalabrini of Piacenza assigned them to missions in the Americas to aide Italian emigrants. In 1900, he sent ten Apostles of the Sacred Heart to Brazil and later in 1902, another six to Boston. The Bishop’s assignment proved fruitful for Mother Clelia and her daughters, multiplying the number of Sisters to be 200 within the year.

Unfortunately, Mother Clelia had lost good standing with the Congregation and was removed from leadership of the Motherhouse in 1911. She was exiled from the community she so lovingly built up. After years of sorrow, she was allowed back into the Congregation on March 7, 1928. She lived two years in peace and prayer with her daughters until her death on November 21, 1930. Her biography on the website for the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reads: “It was Friday, the day dedicated to the Sacred Heart and also the feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Like the Virgin Mary, Mother Clelia was brought into the house of the Lord.” Her honor of Jesus kept her close to God, even in death.

Her story did not end with her passing. Mother Clelia is on the path to sainthood. Now deceased Cardinal Ugo Poletti, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, issued the edict for her Cause of Canonization on May 20, 1989. Five years after the death of a person, they can be investigated for beatification. At this point, the person is called “Servant of God.” The “Positio” is the formal document stating the servant’s acts and virtuous deeds and that document is examined by nine theologians before reaching cardinals and bishops of the congregation. The Holy Father then can approve a relative decree. After a miracle is verified to be attributed to the servant’s intercession after their death, another decree is announced. Then the Holy Father can make this Servant of God be called “Blessed.” To be canonized as a saint, another miracle must be attributed to them after being announced as Blessed.

Mother Clelia has not yet been verified as a Saint but she is on that road. After being named a Servant of God, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examines the servant’s holiness and works. The Pope may then decide if the candidate lived a life of “heroic virtue,” thereby granting them the title of “Venerable.” Mother Clelia became Venerable at 7 in the evening on December 21, 2016 when Pope Francis signed the Decree of Venerability. Her dedication and friendship with the heart of Christ lives on throughout our lives and missions in the community of Sacred Heart. As Venerable Mother Clelia’s 156th birthday arrives on March 10, we remember her great model of service and love to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and ask for strength like hers in our own spiritual pursuits.

Information from The Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus website:

“Our Foundress.” Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Our Foundress. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <http://www.ascjus.org/our-foundress/index.aspx>.