Italian Roman Catholic nun
Blessed
Bruna Pellesi
(11 November 1917 ? 1 December 1972), known as
Maria Rosa of Jesus
, was an
Italian
nun
who was a member of the
Franciscan
Missionary Sisters of Christ.
[1]
Pellesi served as an educator in places such as
Sassuolo
until she contracted
tuberculosis
and was moved to various sanatoriums for recuperation until the end of her life when she died in her
convent
.
[2]
[3]
Pellesi was beatified under
Pope Benedict XVI
on 29 April 2007 but it was Cardinal
Jose Saraiva Martins
who presided over the celebration in
Rimini
on the behalf of the pope.
Life
[
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]
Bruna Pellesi was born on 11 November 1917 in
Modena
as the last of nine children to farmers and she had at least two brothers. She was
baptized
as "Bruna Aldina Maria Pellesi" that same November. The death of her two sisters-in law in her adolescence saw her take up farming for a financial income and helped to raise the six small children left behind - all aged four or under.
[1]
[2]
On 27 August 1940 she joined a
Franciscan
religious order for
nuns
and assumed the new religious name of "Maria Rosa of Jesus". She was in religious formation from 1940 until 1942 when she made her first vows in
Rimini
on 25 September; she assumed the habit of the order on 24 September 1941.
[3]
Pellesi graduated as a kindergarten teacher on 11 July 1942. Her first assignment was to teach at the Saint Anne kindergarten in
Sassuolo
from 30 September 1942 until 19 May 1945 when she began teaching at the local parish school in
Ferrara
for a few months in 1945 before contracting
tuberculosis
and being hospitalized on 5 September; in July 1945 she set up a kindergarten.
[1]
[2]
She was hospitalized until 15 November when she was sent to the Pineta sanatorium in Gaiato where she was until 7 December 1948 when she left to enter the CA Pizzardi sanatorium in
Bologna
- she was there until 1970.
[2]
She was well enough on 31 August 1947 to make her perpetual vows. Her situation worsened and for relief it was required that pleural fluid be extracted though on 28 October 1955 the needle broke and remained inside of her for the remainder of her life despite numerous useless attempts to extract it.
[3]
Pellesi was moved to several sanatoriums and was confined for the remainder of her life in these places in order to combat the disease. Pellesi also made three pilgrimages to
Lourdes
in
France
. She also made two solemn consecrations to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
both on 16 July 1946 and on 8 December 1961 - the latter being on the occasion of the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
.
[2]
Pellesi died on 1 December 1972 in the Franciscan convent at Sassuolo. She had been allowed to return to the convent on 6 November 1972 though her situation had deteriorated and led to her death. At the time of her death she had been reduced to 43 pounds.
[3]
She had written a total of 2000 letters to
priests
and nuns amongst others while all her works were numbered at 2134 pages in total in 16 volumes.
Beatification
[
edit
]
The beatification process commenced on 6 March 1981 after the late nun was titled as a
Servant of God
and the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
issued the official "
nihil obstat
" to the cause which would allow it to proceed first on a diocesan level; this cognitional process was opened on 2 February 1982 and concluded on 2 February 1987 while receiving C.C.S. validation on 2 December 1988 in
Rome
. The C.C.S. later received the
Positio
dossier from the postulation in 1992 for assessment.
Theologians issued their approval to the dossier's contents on 21 December 1999 which allowed for the C.C.S. to deliver their own positive approval on 4 April 2000. Pellesi was named as
Venerable
on 1 July 2000 after
Pope John Paul II
confirmed that the late nun had lived a model life of
heroic virtue
. The miracle needed for beatification was investigated before receiving C.C.S. approval on 30 January 2004 and later the positive approval from the medical board on 14 April 2005. Theologians also voiced their assent on 16 September 2005 as did the C.C.S. on 4 April 2006.
Pope Benedict XVI
- on 28 June 2006 - approved the healing to be a credible miracle and approved the beatification to take place. The pontiff delegated Cardinal
Jose Saraiva Martins
to preside over the beatification on his behalf on 29 April 2007 in
Rimini
.
The current
postulator
assigned to this cause is Fra Carlo Calloni.
References
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]
External links
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]