Canonization of St. Maria De Mattias

Did Maria De Mattias perhaps smile happily as she watched from above the many preparations for celebrating the recognition of her holiness in the universal Church? But can we add or subtract anything from the fullness of joy that the Saints experience in the contemplation of the Beloved?! One thing is certain. The feast of Maria De Mattias’ canonization made her daughters, her devotees and friends happier, seeing her offered as a current model of holiness for all the world.
In recounting the following events, with the addition of some items of curiosity, we want to relive the intense days of preparation and festivities that cost a certain amount of fatigue and insomnia.
In recalling them, we bring back many emotions and interior joys that no commentary can report, but which filter out from descriptions, necessarily brief, and which are understood by looking beyond the numbers.

… four days before

The Canonization of Maria De Mattias, on May 18, 2003, was preceded by three very intense days of spiritual preparation in the parish of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to which the international community belongs.
The picture of Maria De Mattias and a large reliquary were exposed to the attention of the faithful and devotees who came for the occasion. On each of the three days, there was a rotation not only of celebrants and animators, but also of the faithful:
Wednesday, May 14: the Pastor, Fr. Pietro Sigurani presided and the catechumenate group, present in large numbers, led the music;
Thursday, May 15: Archbishop Francesco Marinelli of Urbino presided, and the chorus of the ASC international community led the music; many religious of the parochial area participated;
Friday, May 16: the vice-regent of Rome, Bishop Cesare Nosiglia, presided at the Eucharist concelebrated by pastors of the deanery. The parochial choir sang. The first Adorers arriving from Croatia, Brazil, the U.S. and Bari (IT) were present.
At the conclusion of the Triduum the pastor invited Bishop Nosiglia, other celebrants, the deacons with their families, and the representatives of the religious congregations to supper at a local restaurant. Eating together created another possibility to be together in friendship and joy.

SOLEMN VIGIL OF PRAYER
BASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERAN

A desire to encounter the early pilgrims arriving in Rome, already on the vigil, was satisfied by seeing them enter the Basilica of St. John Lateran in groups. There were many of them, coming from various parts of Italy, from Poland, Croatia, the United States, Latin America, India, Tanzania and Australia. The fear of seeing the Basilica half-empty fled immediately; all took places and the basilica quickly was crowded. A sense of expectation was in the air. With the solemn prayer vigil the official celebrations for Maria De Mattias’ canonization would begin; hearts were full of hope that the beginning would fully satisfy expectations. And that they would not be disappointed. The participation was great and heart-felt; a climate of festive joy was created, readying spirits for the next day’s great excitement for the proclamation of
Maria De Mattias’ sainthood, in St. Peter’s Square. Bishop Lorenzo Loppa of Anagni-Alatri presided at the prayer vigil. The music was provided by a thirtymember orchestra and chorus under the direction of Maurizio Sparagna. The vigil concluded with a dance, characterized by internationality, and a floral offering to Maria De Mattias who “lives and will live forever on the altars of the Church”.. (G. Merlini, funeral homily, August 1866).
Present were: S. Vittoria Tomarelli, general superior, the members of the general administration: S. Johanna Rubin, S. Ivana Paialunga, S. Mariamma Kunnakal and S. Ana Marija Antolović (councilors); S. Antonietta Vinci, secretary, Sr. Adelfe Cristofano, treasurer; the ASC provincial superiors, the CPPS general moderator Fr. Barry Fischer, with his councilors, the CPPS provincial director of Rome, Fr. Giovanni Francilia, with his councilors, and numerous other Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood, from Italy, and from the provinces, foundations and delegations abroad. Also the guests invited by the general administration to stay in the Generalate, including:
S. Giuseppina Fragasso and S. Caterina Ronci (ex-general superiors); S. Alma Pia Spieler, S. Loretta Gegen, S. Angelita Myerscough, S. Maria Iommetti, S. Angela Di Spirito, S. Gabrielle Rowe, S. Esmeralda Do Vale and S. Meg Kopish (ex- general councilors); S. Bruna Ziotti, S. Alessandra Ortolani, S. Agata Resta (ex-general secretaries and treasurers); S. Assunta Spigno (Acuto), S. Lucia Resta (Bari,) S. Bruna Menichelli (Florence), S. Alessandra Paolacci (Rome) S. Bernarda Krištić (Zagreb), S. Lisbeth Reichlin (Schaan), S. Barbara Jean Franklin (USA), S. Lucja Lis (Wrocław) and S. Sônia P. de Matos (Manaus) with five sisters and two laywomen, (the nine provincial superiors); S. Marisa Nardoni (Tanzania), S. Cosimina Resta (Argentina) and S. Elsy Palatty (India), (delegates of the foundations); S. Bozena Matomisz (ex-provincial of Wrocław); S. Susan Borgel, CPPS, (general superior of O’Fallon and a councilor; S. Maryann Bremke, CPPS, general superior of Dayton) S. Virginia Buchholz, (general superior of the Sisters of Charity of Rolling Hills-Los Angeles) with S. Tracey Scharp (secretary); other guests in the Generalate, and representatives of religious
congregations.
There were also six sisters and a priest of the Community of the Crucified and Risen Love, from Holland, guests at the Rome ASC Provincial House.

Pilgrims who came to Rome for the 6:00 p.m. solemn prayer vigil Saturday, May 17, numbered 1900 c., of which about 300 were Adorers of the Blood of Christ.
The climactic conclusion of the prayer vigil, an offering to Maria De Mattias by the international congregation, consisted in a dance, directed by choreographer and teacher Lina Sparagna of Acuto. Five sisterdancers, dressed in typical costumes, symbolized all Adorers scattered on the five continents: for Europe, Cleopatra Subiaco, (Italy), for Asia, Jenny Fe Macasaol (Philippines), for Africa, Eulalia Canfòm (postulant of Guinea Bissau), for the Americas, Elvira Riveros (Argentina), for Oceania, Matija Pavić (of Croatia with a mission in Australia)
The bouquet offered in homage to Maria De Mattias consisted of fifty-three red roses: one rose for each year that has passed since her Beatification!

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2003
CANONIZATION OF BLESSED MARIA DE MATTIAS
ST. PETER’S SQUARE

"You are worth the blood of Christ’. This joyful truth opened the pilgrimage of the many faithful accompanied by the enthusiastic Adorers journeying together toward Rome. They came from Italy, Spain, Poland, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Tanzania, India, the United States, Bolivia, Argentina and Australia. Some Italian pilgrims traveled all night in order to have front seats. They impatiently waited for the gates to open in order to enter the Square. Finally, at 7:45 admission started at the various entry points in the colonnade. The waiting lines were long; they would seem to shorten, but suddenly they would lengthen by the arrival of other pilgrims lining up behind the earlier ones.
By 9:00 a.m, St. Peter’s Square was full of festive pilgrims who had come for the canonization of four Blessed persons: the Polish, Józef Sebastian Pelczar and Urzula Ledóchowska, and the Italians Maria De Mattias and Virginia Centurione Bracelli.

Red caps identified the pilgrims who came for Maria De Mattias. At 10:00, after the presentation of the four new saints and greetings for the birthday of the Pope expressed by Cardinal Ratzinger, the solemn celebration of canonization began, with His Holiness John Paul II presiding. Up on the porch of the basilica two choirs were arranged: one the Sistine Chapel choir conducted by Msgr. Liberti, and the other, which would lead the faithful, formed of choir members from the respective religious families whose founders were being canonized. Among them were 100 members of the Acuto and Vallecorsa choir.

Readers for the preparation of the solemn celebration were: Mirijam Kuštreba (Croatian), Bertha Fischer (English) and Johanna Rubin (German), Adorers of the Blood of Christ; Antonio Grassi (Italian) and Andrzej Chodyra (Polish).
Celebrating with the Pope: Camillo Card. Ruini, Bishops: Lorenzo Loppa of Anagni-Alatri, Salvatore Boccaccio of Frosinone, Francesco Marinelli of Urbino and Erwin Kraütler, CPPS, of Altamira (Parà-Brazil); Ivan Prenda of Zadar (Croatia); CPPS Missionari: Fr. Barry Fischer, General Moderator, Fr. Giovanni Francilia, Director of the Italian province and Fr. Michele Colagiovanni, Director of “Primavera Missionaria”; pastors: Fr. Pietro Sigurani of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Fr. Elvidio Nardoni and Fr. Stefano Giardino of Vallecorsa.
Sixty priests invited by ASCs helped distribute communion, along with others. There were three (sanctuary) ministers from the major seminary of the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood.
Carrying gifts to the altar were: ASCs Elsy Palatty (crystal cruet with wine) and Martha Joseph (wooden sculpture from Tanzania); a representative from the city of Acuto (crystal cruet with water) and a representative from Vallecorsa (a wooden chalice).
Participants in the relics procession: S. Vittoria Tomarelli, general superior, carrying the relic of St. Maria De Mattias, accompanied by Krešimir Zorica, the young man miraculously healed, and S. Maria del Transito (Spain) with flowers. The reliquary was of a gold-plated structure surmounted by the Lamb in metallic alloy, a figure similar to the Congregation’s logo. The enclosed relic of St. Maria De Mattias was taken from a bone of the foot, to signify her being a messenger of reconciliation and peace, fearless apostle of the Precious Blood of Christ, and to highlight Maria’s always being in a hurry.
The pilgrims carried a sack with the inscription “You are worth the Blood of Christ” (in 15 languages) and “Maria De Mattias”. Inside was a biography of Maria, the red booklet of Precious Blood prayers, a prayer card and a red cap. The cap had the same sentence as the sack, in Italian and English, and the date: May 18, 2003 – Canonization of Maria De Mattias. The short biography, Feast for Life - St. Maria De Mattias was translated into eight languages: by Bertha Fischer, ASC, in English; by Alma Pia Spieler, ASC, in German; by Marija Vukelic’ in Croatian; by Zofia Zawadska, ASC, in Polish; by Maria Melih, in Russian; by Dorotéa Barone Mar and Alessandra Soares Pereira, ASC in Portuguese; by Miriam Ortiz, ASC in Spanish; by Onesphory Kayomba, CPPS in Swahili; by Guak Soung Ryong in Korean. The languages were paired in each book: Italian-English, German-Croatian, Portuguese-Spanish, Polish-Russian, English-Swahili, English Korean. The printing was coordinated by S. Antonietta Vinci. Fifty thousand copies were printed, some of which were given to pilgrims who came t Rome and others shipped to different areas of the Congregation for the local celebrations in honor of St. Maria De Mattias.
The pilgrim groups were organized by the ASCs of local committees who had assigned reference persons for the areas of their province. The pilgrims, for the most part, traveled in tour buses and, since there were a great many, we will indicate some numbers. There were also pilgrims who came to Rome from other parts of Italy and Europe by car.
The pilgrim group from Zagreb was large and included the young man who had received the miracle through Maria’s intercession, along with some family members, the Adorers, the members of the medical commission which studied the miracle, priests, many laity, and friends of the extensive territory of the province.

Zagreb (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina): 260 laypersons, 74 ASCs, 4 novices, 2 archbishops, of Beograd and Zadar, 2 episcopal vicars, 8 priests;
Acuto: 4,000 laypersons; 60 ASCs, 2 bishops, 10 priests, 4 mayors, (78 buses);
Tanzania: 9 ASCs and 3 lay persons;
Bari: 3,000 laypersons, 150 ASCs, 6 bishops, 40 priests, 13 mayors, 10 other members of civic authority, (54 buses);
Albania: 10 laypersons and 2 ASCs;
Argentina: 4 laypersons and 4 ASCs;
Florence: 920 laypersons, 46 ASCs, 2 bishops, 11 priests, 8 members of civic authority;
Roma: 2,690 laypersons,170 ASCs, 7 bishops, 37 priests, 18 mayors (46 buses);
Spain: 46 laypersons, 6 ASCs, (1 bus);
Bolivia: 2 ASCs; Australia: 2 ASCs; India: 15 ASCs;
Wrocław (Poland – Belarus – Ukraine –Siberia) 311 laypersons, 57 ASCs, 12 bishops, 16 priests, 9 CPPS Missionaries, 1 mayor, (8 buses), 9 Missionary Sisters of the Blood of Christ;
Schaan: 53 lay persons, 10 ASCs, 4 CPPS Missionaries;
USA: 65 including ASCs, associates, group from Newman University and friends;
Holland: 7 members of the Community of the Crucified and Risen Love (1 priest).

... in the afternoon

AT THE CORE OF A HOPE
MARIA DE MATTIAS
THEATRE PERFORMANCE - PAUL VI HALL
Theatrical-musical work - Arteam Jobel Theatre Group

At 5:00 p.m. the Jobel Theatre Group put Maria De Mattias on stage.
Months were required to study her person, complex and fascinating, in order to put her history, charism and spirituality together. The language of the one interpreting Maria was directly that of Maria, living, strong, penetrating words. With her life, Maria De Mattias not only wrote a story to be told, but, through the Jobel Theatre’s interpretation it seemed she had always lived in an endless space and time. Therefore the Jobel Theatre’s work cannot be described with the usual adjectives. It was simply and marvelously involving. It was the narration of a passion experienced… At the core of a hope. The blood of Christ is the source of salvation; it is the sign of infinite love, of passion for every person. Maria De Mattias nourished and promoted this passion to the point of overflowing like “a flooding river that reached the ocean to donate its waters to all”…
In the work Adorers are described as “vestal virgins of a temple, custodians of the Precious Blood, river of a new world”.
The Jobel Teatro, the Orchestra, the “Pro Arte” Chorus, the Soloist together created the artistic spiritual event of the evening to narrate St. Maria De Mattias’ passion for life, her works, and her charism. We can say that the one hundred performers involved - actors, orchestra and chorus – executed an integrated performance, “in a single breath of lights, voices and sounds, images…”

Arteam Jobel Theatre

Among the young people of Arteam Jobel Teatro who performed At the Core of a Hope – small in number, but able to put on a very effective show and transmit emotion – we recall the names of Gabriele Tozzi, organizer; Lorenzo Cognatti, director; Marinella Montanari, actress; and Roberta Palombo, scriptwriter.

The Orchestra and the “Pro Arte” Chorus

At the beginning of the performance, the hymn “A te sia lode” (text by S. Assunta Spigno, ASC), composed and directed by Maestro Maurizio Sparagna of Acuto for the canonization of Maria De Mattias, was sung by the Pro Arte chorus, made up of the Acuto Chorale, the Hernica Saxa chorus of Collepardo and Vico del Lazio, and by the chorus of the city of Anagni.

The live interventions of the orchestra and chorus translated the narrative into notes and songs, as though it was a musical.

… And one can fly

The ASC General Administration, which had already met the maestro Marcello Marrocchi at the time of the Great Jubilee of 2000, when he composed “Gethsemane” for the Adorers, sung by Manuela Villa in the Paul VI Hall on July 1, Jubilee for Precious Blood families, decided to ask him again to compose a song.
The result was as hoped for; the splendid, melodic song… And one can fly, sung by soloist Francesca Favorini, captured the audience, concluding the show.
The performance was filmed and broadcast directly by the cameras of Telepace, thus becoming also a greeting offered to John Paul II, on the coincidental occasion of his eighty-third birthday.
The Paul VI Hall was crowded with pilgrims. How many? The equivalent of “Standing room only”! As many as 8,000 participants enjoyed the fascinating show!

MONDAY, MAY 19, 2003
SOLEMN THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION
CHURCH OF ST. GREGORY VII

At 8:30 a.m., in the church of St. Gregory VII the procession of celebrants (59 of them!) began to wind toward the presbytery. An imposing white line of priests communicated mystery and solemnity at the moment celebrating thanksgiving to the Lord for the long-awaited recognition of Maria De Mattias’ holiness. Bishop Erwin Kraütler, CPPS, of Altamira (Parà-Brazil) presided at the celebration and gave the homily.
Among the celebrants we recall also those belonging to the delegation from Zagreb: Archbishop Ivan Prenda of Zadar, Archbishop Stanislav Hočevar of Beograd, Msgr.Vladimir Stanković, episcopal vicar and representative of the Diocese of Zagreb, Msgr. Anto Orlovac, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Banja Luka. The large group of Croatian pilgrims and celebrants present manifested to God the grateful homage of their land, where the miracle worked by Maria De Mattias in behalf of Krešimir Zorica took place.

Also the chorus which sang the hymns was Croatian, while the other, which accompanied the parts of the assembly was formed of 50 singers, from Vallecorsa and Frosinone, directed by Andrejka Srdoč, organist at the Generalate.
A copy of the picture of Maria De Mattias that we had admired in St. Peter’s Square the day of the canonization, was enthroned adjacent to the sanctuary. The text of the Mass Proper for the feast of St. Maria De Mattias was used for this Eucharistic celebration. The motives for thanking God Father are expressed in the preface:

…in your provident love you chose Saint Maria De Mattias and adorned
her with the gifts of the Spirit, so that she might be, in the Church,
a prophetic voice of the Word of light, a messenger of reconciliation and peace,
a fearless apostle of the Precious Blood of Christ, and a witness of the salvific glory of the cross…
Her example encourages us to travel the highways of the world…

AUDIENCE WITH JOHN PAUL II
PAUL VI HALL – VATICAN CITY

After the celebration, the participants at the Mass and the celebrants streamed to the Paul VI Hall for the audience with the Holy Father, reserved to pilgrims who came for Saint Maria De Mattias and St. Virginia Centurione Bracelli. John Paul II did not make them wait. When he began reading the text of his message, everyone listened.
The brief message was followed by the presentation of gifts: S. Vittoria offered the project of sponsoring the meal in Bolivia and S. Ivana Paialunga, a Missal cover decorated with medallions in ceramic and semiprecious colored stones, in a protective case.
The nine ASC provincials greeted the Pope: Assunta Spigno (Acuto), Lucia Resta (Bari), Bruna Menichelli (Florence), Sandra Paolacci (Rome), Bernarda Krištić (Zagreb), Lucja Lis (Wrocław), Lisbeth Reichlin (Schaan), Barbara Jean Franklin (USA) and Sônia Piño de Matos (Manaus, Brazil). Each one had the opportunity to speak a word to the Pope and receive his blessing.
Among those who greeted the Holy Father there was also S. Rosaria Gargiulo, ASC, carrying in her arms a little Tanzanian baby girl named Maria De Mattias; Sister thanked His Holiness for the offering received to help the Village of Hope, near Dodoma. The infant, left parentless due to their death from AIDS and without other family members to take her in, has been adopted by the ASCs.

The project of the meal in Bolivia indicated the ASC commitment at the bottom:
Rome, May 18, 2003

To His Holiness John Paul II

We Adorers of the Blood of Christ, to commemorate the preferential love
that St. Maria De Mattias, our Foundress, had for the poor, commit
ourselves to the sponsorship of the daily meal for 200 children of the
Parish of St. Martin de Porres, situated in the poorest neighborhood of
Tarija, in Bolivia. The project costs 10,000 euros each year. The fund
already established by various donations is at 47,940 euros, with the
hope that new contributions will be able to increase it and help it last over time.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2003
MASS OF THANKSGIVING
IN HONOR OF SAINT MARIA DE MATTIAS
PARISH OF THE NATIVITY OF O. L.J.C.

At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 15, the parish community of the Nativity thanked the Lord for the canonization of St. Maria De Mattias, with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by the pastor, Fr. Pietro Sigurani. The priests of the parish and the pastors of the deanery who could accept the invitation also celebrated.
The picture of St. Maria De Mattias was exposed in the sanctuary.
Following the Liturgy, the celebrants and deacons, with the families, were offered dinner at the Generalate.
At 6:00 p.m. the Church of the Most Precious Blood was the scene of a concert featuring some sacred masterpieces of Antonio Vivaldi. The “Symphonia”, a polyphonic chorus of the Arts Academy, with an instrumental ensemble of the Diapente Association were directed by Maestro Lucio Ivaldi.