Blessed Clelia Merloni - Catholic Blessed

Blessed Clelia Merloni

Blessed

Post-Congregation

Feast Day

November 21

Born

March 10, 1861

Died

November 21, 1930

Beatified

3 November 2018 by Pope Francis

Venerated

21 December 2016 by Pope Francis (decree of heroic virtues)

Biography

Blessed Clelia Merloni, born on 10 March 1861 in Forli, Italy, was the daughter of Gioacchino Merloni, a wealthy and influential industrialist, and Teresa Brandinelli. At only a few hours old, Clelia was baptized in the diocesan cathedral of Santa Croce in Forli. Tragically, her mother passed away in 1864 when Clelia was just three years old. She was then raised by her maternal grandmother and her step-mother, Maria Giovanna Boeri, who married Gioacchino in 1866.

Cause for Canonization

Beatified

Beatified2018-11-03 by 3 November 2018 by Pope Francis; beatification recognition celebrated at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Italy, presided by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu; the beatification miracle involved the cure of Brazilian physician Pedro Ângelo of Landry’s paralysis or Guillian-Barré syndrome, in 1951; Ângelo had reached the point where he could barely swallow, and his condition was considered fatal; he was completely cured after a combination of prayer and drinking from a cup of water in which a relic of Merloni (a piece of fabric from her veil) had been placed