Rome (Monday, September 10, 2018, Gaudium Press) On September 21, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Diocese of Rome will open the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Chiara Corbella, a young mother, who faced particularly difficult situations, including the death of her two children shortly after birth and a serious illness, dying six years ago, when she was only 28 years old. Chiara wrote when she was 7 years old: “Mary and Jesus, I ask to you to make me become a saint.”
Gianluigi De Palo’s testimony on Chiara is the following: Chiara Corbella is a young woman born to Heaven on June 13th, 2012. At that time she was 28 and was married to Enrico Petrillo. They were a very normal couple of the “Wojtyla generation”, parish people who grew up by participating in World Youth Days.
After Enrico and Chiara had met in Medjugorje, they began a spiritual journey for fiance? assisted by some Franciscan Friars of Assisi. They got married in 2008. Chiara became pregnant shortly after the wedding. Unfortunately, since the very first ultrasound scans, the baby-girl, Maria, was diagnosed with anencephaly. Without any doubts, Enrico and Chiara welcomed and accompanied the baby-girl, first in her earthly birth and then after more or less thirty minutes, to her heavenly birth. I personally witnessed the Maria’s funeral Mass, which was one of the most beautiful experiences I had in my life. A victory of Christ over death, confirmed by that little white coffin and by two parents who played and sung, giving thanks and praising the Lord for the whole length of that Mass.
A few months later, Chiara was pregnant again. Also in this case the response of the ultrasound scan was not good. The child, this time a baby-boy, had no legs. Without any fear and with a smile on their faces, Enrico and Chiara chose to continue the pregnancy. I myself talked with Enrico who told me about his joy for having a baby, even if the baby had no legs. Unfortunately, around the seventh month of pregnancy, the ultrasound scan showed the child having visceral malformations with absence of lower limbs and incompatibility with life. Again, the two young parents, with a smile on their face (I have seen and “frequented” that smile that comes from faith), wanted to accompany their baby, Davide, until the day of his birth to Heaven, which took place shortly after his earthly birth.
I went to Davide’s funeral too. Again, there was so much beauty there, so much faith, and also some sort of “envy” for the joy Enrico and Chiara had despite their cross. Not a fake or formal joy, but a real example for many other young families. Finally, a new pregnancy: Francesco… All of us, Enrico and Chiara’s friends, rejoiced greatly when we heard the news. We all rejoiced because of the hope Chiara and Enrico had for life.
Many would have – understandably – desisted from trying to have another baby. And while the ultrasound confirmed the health of the child, at the fifth month of pregnancy the cross appeared anew in Enrico and Chiara’s life. Chiara was diagnosed with a bad lesion of the tongue and after a first surgical procedure, the doctors told her the lesion was a carcinoma. Despite this, Chiara and Enrico wanted to defend the life of their baby. They had no doubts and decided to continue the pregnancy even if that meant endangering the life of the mother. In fact, Chiara could undergo another surgical procedure and the necessary subsequent sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, only after Francesco’s birth.
I myself, and many other families are eyewitnesses of all of Enrico and Chiara’s trials which were carried out with a smile and with a serene and incomprehensible reliance on the Divine Providence.
I spoke over and over again with Chiara and Enrico about how in all their trials, the two of them never were upset. Chiara and Enrico accepted the will of Him who does nothing by chance. We also talked about the fact that Enrico and Chiara always said their daily prayer of consecration to Mary ending with the words “Totus Tuus”. I could tell about many other things like the difficult months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or the family rosary on Thursdays at night (that was an initiative put together by various families who were close to Enrico and Chiara), or the consecration of their son to Mary done in Assisi in the Porziuncula…
Now Chiara is born in heaven. And many are witnesses of her holy life.
Chiara tells her own story:
“My name is Chiara. I grew up in a Christian family that since my childhood has taught me to have faith. When I was 5 years old, my mother began to frequent a Catholic Charismatic Community of Rinnovamento nello Spirito and so my sister and I began a journey of faith.
That journey contributed to my growth and taught me to pray and turn to Jesus simply as to a friend, someone to whom I can tell my troubles and my doubts. That same journey of faith also taught me how to share faith with the brothers and sisters who were walking with me on that path. At the age of eighteen, on a pilgrimage, I met Enrico and a few months later we got engaged. The engagement lasted nearly six years. During that time the Lord tested my faith and the values in which I believed. After four years, our engagement began to falter until we broke up. In those moments of suffering and rebellion against the Lord – I thought the Lord did not listen to my prayers – I attended a Vocational Course in Assisi and there I found the strength to restart believing in the Lord. I also started again to date Enrico and we both decided to get some help and have a spiritual director.
Our engagement did not work out until when I understood that the Lord was not taking anything away from me, on the opposite, the Lord was giving me everything and He alone knew with whom I was supposed to share my life. Until that moment I understood nothing! Finally, free from the expectations that I had created for myself, I was able to see with new eyes what God wanted for me. Shortly after, despite our expectations and having overcame our fears, we decided to marry each other.
In our marriage the Lord gave us very special children: Maria Grazia Letizia and Davide Giovanni. The Lord asked us to accompany them only until their birth: we were allowed to embrace and hug them, baptize them and commit them into the hands of the Father with tremendous serenity and joy. Now the Lord has entrusted us with a third son, Francesco, who is well and will be born soon. At the same time the Lord asked us to continue to trust Him despite a cancer I have and that was discovered a few weeks ago. This cancer is trying to make us afraid of the future, but we continue to believe that God will do great things this time too.”
Source: chiaracorbellapetrillo.it
