During Pope Saint John Paul II’s funeral, there was a rallying cry of “Santo Subito” (sainthood now!) throughout St. Peter’s Square. As widely as the Church recognized John Paul II’s holiness, the Catholic Church follows a formal process for canonizing Saints, those whom the Church officially recognizes as having lived lives of heroic virtue.
The first step involves a request by the local bishop to the Vatican to investigate the person’s life. At this stage, the individual is given the title Servant of God. Once the investigation is complete, if the Vatican determines the person lived a heroic or virtuous life of faith, they are declared Venerable. Then, the process is out of the Church’s hands. One miracle must be attributed and investigated for the person to be declared Blessed. A second miracle is needed for the person to finally be declared a Saint. There is no timeline for this process; one could stay at any stage for countless years. However, the stage of the process does not determine the person’s holiness in Heaven or their ability to intercede on our behalf.
Here are five women in the process of canonization to consider befriending:
Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur
Elisabeth suffered during her marriage from infertility and from the atheism of her husband Félix. However, she passionately loved her vocation, her husband, and the life they had together. A few years into their marriage, Elisabeth experienced a profound conversion that was met with mockery from Félix, despite their deep love for one another. She prayed for the rest of her life for his conversion, which she did not see answered this side of Heaven. In 1914, after a battle with breast cancer, she died at age forty-eight. However, she left a note for Félix to find after her death that predicted he would not only convert to the faith, but also become a priest. Felix did indeed have his own journey of conversion, became a priest, and even led Venerable Fulton Sheen on a retreat. I highly recommend her book, The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, for her profound understanding of the beauty of redemptive suffering.
Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo
A captivating smile contrasts with a jarring eye patch when you see a picture of Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo. She met her future husband on a pilgrimage and they dated for six years, experiencing many ups and downs. They married and lost their first two children soon after birth. Chiara carried the grief and suffering of losing her little ones with peace. While pregnant with their third child, Chiara was diagnosed with cancer. Similar to Saint Gianna Molla, she chose to delay treatment rather than put her unborn baby at risk. Her ability to be heroic in suffering both through grief and cancer was a response to an encounter she had with God the Father, Whom she trusted implicitly. She died in 2012, about a year after her son was born. Her cause for canonization opened only five years to the day of her death, marking a strong following of her witness.
Venerable Antonietta Meo
If you’ve ever been to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Rome, you have passed by the burial spot of Venerable Antonietta Meo on the way to see the relics of the Passion. In that small chapel, you can see her dolls, clothes, and notebooks. Nicknamed “Nennolinia,” Antonietta died from osteosarcoma at the age of six and a half. She was joy-filled, even in the midst of having her leg amputated due to the progression of cancer in her body. She wrote letters to Jesus that show a precocious abandonment to the love and will of God. She is the youngest person in the process of canonization.
Venerable María Luisa Josefa
Venerable María Luisa Josefa, also known as Mother Luisita, was the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Alhambra, California. The oldest of fourteen children, she was a wife, widow, foundress, and refugee, who lived a life as intrepid and as bold as it sounds. Escaping the persecutions in Mexico, she dressed in disguise to seek refuge in the United States. After establishing her Carmelite community in California, she returned to Mexico to reestablish the community there.
Blessed Wiktoria (Victoria) Ulma
Victoria Ulma’s ordinary life of farming, caring for her children, and teaching them catechism and a relationship with Christ was put in danger during World War II, when the family decided to hide eight Jews in their two-room home to keep them safe. In their family Bible, the word “Samaritan” was underlined with “Yes” written to the side, and they responded with their very lives to be good Samaritans. Victoria was thirty-two when she was martyred by the Nazi regime—along with her unborn child, her other six children, and her husband—for hiding Jews. She and her family were declared blessed by Pope Francis in 2023, which was the first time an entire family had been beatified together. Though it is said Victoria was in labor at the time of her martyrdom, this was also the first time an unborn baby had been declared blessed, understood to have received Baptism by blood.
There are so many heroic women in the process of becoming Saints. Along with Venerable María Luisa Josefa, there are other foundresses like Venerable Catherine McAuley and Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher. Along with Venerable Antonietta Meo and the Ulma children, there is Blessed Imelda Labertini. Like Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo, there are young adults such as Blessed Sandra Sabattini, who was engaged to be married when she died, and Servant of God Michelle Duppong, who served as a FOCUS missionary. These women show us that holiness is not identical, but it is always heroic.
Which of these women are you going to get to know better?
Sr. Mary Claire of the Holy Family is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) and currently serves in Corpus Christi, TX. She loves Jesus and Mary, and her students would say every Saint is her favorite. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and is currently working on a Masters in Theology from her Alma Mater, Franciscan University. A Tennessee girl who could live off Dr. Pepper and popcorn, she loves road trips, especially this one we are on to Heaven.
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