20 January – St Eustochia Smeraldo Calafato OSC

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20 January – St Eustochia Smeraldo Calafato OSC

 Nun of the Second Franciscan Order of the Poor Clares, Reformer,
Founder of a reformed monastery, Abbes, Ascetic born of her devotion
to the Passion of Christ and the Holy Eucharist  – born on 25 March
(Good Friday) 1434 at Annunziata, Messina, Italy as Smerelda Colonna
and died on 20 January 1491 at Messina, Sicily, Italy. Patronage –
Messina, Italy.  Additional commemoration – 22 August in Messina.

In Messina, in the ancient monumental Church of the Monastery of
Montevergine, lies the body of Santa Eustochia Smeralda. Her body has
remained incorrupt by a miracle of the Lord, for five centuries,
burnished by time, with her right hand with her fingers contracted in
perpetual blessing, she watches over the city and the flourishing
monastery you founded.

Saint Eustochia was born with the name “Smeralda” (or ‘Esmeralda’
which means ‘emerald’) on 25 March 1434 in Messina, Italy. She was the
fourth of six children. Smeralda’s mother was a fervent Christian and
enthusiastic admirer of the Franciscan religious order, particularly
of the reformers who insisted on following closely the life of St
Francis, especially by embracing poverty.

The reform’s first monastery was established in Messina by Blessed
Matthew of Agrigento. He inspired a renewal of faith in the people of
Messina by his ardent preaching and way of life. Smeralda’s mother had
attended one of Blessed Matthew’s sermon’s as an 18-year-old bride and
devoted her life to prayer, penance and helping those in need. Thus,
Smeralda was raised from childhood to exercise Christian piety and
virtue, eventually exceeding her mother’s greatest hopes and
expectations for her daughter.

Smeralda was beautiful both inside and out, she is thought to be the
model for the painting The Virgin of the Annunciation by Antonello da
Messina (seen here on the below). When she was fourteen years old,
Smeralda wanted to become a Poor Clare nun but her father arranged
marriage for her to an older, wealthy widower. Smeralda kept her hope
in religious life and the widower died before the wedding. Her father
again arranged a marriage for his daughter but that man also died,
followed by Smeralda’s father himself. When she entered the convent of
Santa Maria di Basico, her brothers threatened to burn it down if she
did not return home, which she did. But seeing her great desire, they
experienced a change of heart. She finally entered and took her vows,
with the name Eustochia, at fifteen-and-a-half years old.

Unfortunately, Eustochia came to discover that the convent had drifted
away from the poverty lived by their foundress, St Clare of Assisi.
For more than a decade, Eustochia struggled to be an authentic
Franciscan in the materialistic atmosphere. She received papal
permission to establish a new convent but found resistance to her
reforms.  Some friars refused to say Mass at the convent, believing
that the sisters’ lifestyle was too strict. Eustochia appealed
directly to Church authorities in Rome, who approved of Mother
Eustochia’s renewal of Franciscan asceticism and poverty. The friars
who had refused to assist at the convent were threatened with
excommunication should they continue to resist.

Eustochia’s holiness drew many women to her community – so many that
they soon outgrew the building and moved to Montevergine, near
Messina, where their convent still stands. The local people considered
Eustochia their patron and protector and the cloister to be a place of
refuge—especially during the earthquakes that rocked the area.

Eustochia was a spiritual mother to her daughters, instructing,
educating and training them in the Franciscan life, encouraging them
to meditate on the Passion of Christ. She often led them in two-hour
Scripture study sessions. Eustochia conveyed to her nuns the fruits of
asceticism and lovingly infused into their hearts the virtues which
she herself practised with admirable constancy and heroism. She taught
them to permeate their whole lives with a simple and generous
Franciscan spirituality, focusing on their Beloved Suffering Christ,
to devote themselves to the Eucharist and to draw all necessary
strength and nourishment for daily meditation from an intense,
liturgical life.

Eustochia’s love of Jesus in poverty and penance was outstanding. She
wrote a treatise on the Passion, which, unfortunately, is now lost.
Though she never visited the Holy Land, Eustochia had a devotion to
the holy places that is reminiscent of Saint Bridget of Sweden  . In
fact, she had one of the first sets of the Stations of the Cross (as
we know them today) constructed within her convent.

As she lay on her deathbed, Eustochia spoke to her daughters, who had
gathered around her, about the Passion of Christ. She spoke for an
hour before passing to her final rest on 20 January 1485.

A few days after her burial, Eustochia’s tomb and body manifested
extraordinary phenomena and many people received powerful graces
through her intercession. The sisters wrote a biography of their
revered mother and founder. She was Beatified on 22 June 1987 and
Canonised on 11 June 1988 by St Pope John Paul II.

Her incorrupt body rests in the Sanctuary of Montevergine in Messina,
the monastery which she established and can be visited twice a week.


Saint Quote:
We must give ourselves to God altogether; God makes all His own the
soul that is wholly given to Him.
-- St. Philip Neri

Bible Quote:
We were baptized into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as
Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same
Spirit to drink."  [1 Corinthians 12:13]


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Meditation for troubled times:

I will believe that fundamentally all is well.
 Good things will happen to me.
 I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me.
I will not try to plan ahead.
I know that the way will unfold, step by step.
I will leave tomorrow's burden to God,
because He is the great burden-bearer.
He only expects me to carry my one-day's share.
--From Twenty-Four Hours a Day