Wife and Mother Maria Cristina Mocellin Will Be "Venerable"

Wife & Mother Maria Cristina Mocellin Will Be “Venerable”

From The Deacon’s Bench (8/30/21)

On August 30, 2021, the Vatican announced the happy news that Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin is on the path to sainthood.  Pope Francis has authorized several decrees concerning heroic virtues; means Maria will be declared a Venerable Servant of God.

Her life testifies not only to her own holiness, but to a young woman who displayed a trusting faith in God in our own time.  She is also a profound witness to the sanctity of life.  She was a laywoman, a wife, a mother, and a protector of the unborn.  She died in 1995.  She was 26.

From an Italian website devoted to her life:

Maria Cristina Cella was born in Monza on August 18,1969, to Caterina Smaniotto and Giuseppe Cella. Hers was a simple, honest working family based on solid Christian principles. At a very early age Cristina began to attend the parish youth group at the family’s parish, Holy Family in Cinisello.  She attended catechism classes taught by the Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida under the direction of Sr. Annarosa Pozzoli, who provided her first basic formation to the sacraments of the Catholic Church….

… During high school years a religious vocation seemed to be the future goal chosen by Maria Cristina.  She was attracted by the example given by the sisters working in the parish and expressed a desire to become a Sister of Charity in the future.  But a casual encounter with Carlo Mocellin of Valstagna in the province of Vicenza at the end of a summer vacation spent with her maternal grandparents upset her plans and changed her mind about her future.  Following long and serious interior discernment, Cristina decided to accept her engagement and consequent marriage as a rich and full way of carrying her toward her encounter with that God she so strongly desired in her heart.

At the age of 18 and only one year after becoming engaged to Carlo, Cristina experienced for the first time great and unexpected suffering.  A tumor on her left thigh appeared upon her return from a vacation in Canada and forced a particularly hard ordeal on her between various hospitals.  Three cycles of chemotherapy kept her from her studies and normal life for many months.  This experience of great suffering cemented her love for Carlo, who had spent his time between hospitals in Veneto and Lombardy to be close to her the whole time.  It was during this experience that their love assumed an eternal aspect: the two swore to love each other forever and began planning their future.  Cristina recovered completely and managed to complete high school with high grades.  Her life suddenly accelerated.  The strong desire to marry Carlo led to their marriage on February 2, 1991, when Cristina and Carlo celebrated their union before God.

Cristina began her married live in Carpanè (province of Venice), Carlo’s hometown, and continued her university studies (she was in her third year studying foreign languages at the Catholic University of Milan).  Their first son, Francesco, was born ten months later, and after two and a half years more Lucia was born.

These were years of serenity and joy for the young family experiencing a strong, extraordinarily rich love.  In the fall of 1993, only a few months after the birth of Lucia, Cristina became pregnant with Riccardo.  Unfortunately, the beginning of the pregnancy also coincided with the appearance of another tumor in the same leg treated five years previously.

After getting over the initial shock, Cristina and Carlo began an intense period of prayer both personal and as a couple.  The couple expressed their decision to the oncologist to safeguard at any cost the life of the baby that Cristina was carrying.  At this point, Cristina underwent a localized operation to remove the tumor but did not begin chemotherapy so as not to endanger the life of the fetus.  Riccardo was born in July 1994—a completely healthy and lively baby boy.

Cristina’s battle now began with her own physical illness.  Unfortunately, the therapies did not have the same success as those of five years earlier.  Some metastases reached Cristina’s lungs; this was the beginning of particularly intense physical suffering.  It was also the beginning of complete abandonment to God’s will and putting all in the hands of the Father whom she always loved and tried to follow throughout her life.

On October 22, 1995, Cristina entered eternal life, leaving behind a profound message of love and faith in God that will be imitated by many people who knew and assisted her in this passage.  St. Paul Publishers published Cristina’s spiritual diary in 2005 entitled A Life Donated, edited by Fr. Patrizio Garascia.