Blessed Chiara Badano

Chiara Luce Badano was born in 1971, to Ruggero and Teresa Badano of Sassello, Italy. She was a normal, everyday girl, who's brief life showed us how much one person can accomplish in God's name. 

She loved the stories of the Gospel and loved to attend Mass. When she was nine, Chiara became involved with the Focolare movement. She inspired everyone who she encountered with her faith and love for others.  She said she tried to bring Jesus to her friends with her example and how she lived her life. Chiara attended her first meeting of the Focolare Movement in September 1980; she was only 9 years old. This group, especially its founder Chiara Lubich, had a profound impact on Chiara's life. The group focused on the image of the forsaken Christ to help make it through tough times. Chiara later wrote that, "I discovered that Jesus forsaken is the key to unity with God, and I want to choose him as my only spouse. I want to be ready to welcome him when he comes. To prefer him above all else."

While Chiara was a conscientious student, she struggled in school and even failed her first year of high school. She was often teased in school for her strong beliefs and was given the nickname "Sister." She enjoyed the normal teenage pastimes such as listening to pop music, dancing, and singing. She was also an avid tennis player and enjoyed hiking and swimming. During the summer of 1988, when she was 16 years old, Chiara had a life-changing experience in Rome with the Focolare Movement. She wrote to her parents, "This is a very important moment for me: it is an encounter with Jesus Forsaken. It hasn't been easy to embrace this suffering, but this morning Chiara Lubich explained to the children that they must be the spouse of Jesus Forsaken." After this trip she started to correspond regularly with Lubich. She then asked for her new name as this was going to be the start of a new life for her. Lubich gave her the name Chiara Luce. This was a play on words, since in Italian "Chiara" is a common girl's name, taken for example from the name of Clare of Assisi, but it is also an everyday word meaning "clear." "Luce" is occasionally found as a girl's name in Italy, though it is mostly secular rather than religious; and it is also an everyday word meaning "light." So "Chiara Luce" means "clear light." Lubich wrote to Chiara, "Your luminous face shows your love for Jesus," which is why she gave her the name Luce.

In the summer of 1988, Chiara felt a sting of pain in her shoulder while playing tennis. At first, she thought nothing of it, but when the pain continued to be present, she underwent a series of tests. The doctors then discovered she had a rare and painful form of bone cancer. In response, Chiara simply declared, "It's for you, Jesus; if you want it, I want it, too." Throughout the treatment process, Chiara refused to take any morphine so she could stay aware. She felt it was important to know her illness and pain so she could offer up her sufferings. She said, "It reduces my lucidity and there's only one thing I can do now: to offer my suffering to Jesus because I want to share as much as possible in his sufferings on the cross." During her stays in the hospital, she would take the time to go on walks with another patient who was struggling with depression. Although these walks were beneficial to the other patient, they caused Chiara great pain. Her parents often encouraged her to stay and rest but she would simply reply, "I'll be able to sleep later on."

One of her doctors, Antonio Delogu, said, "Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn't exist; only life exists." A friend from the Focolare Movement said, "At first we thought we'd visit her to keep her spirits up, but very soon we understood that, in fact, we were the ones who needed her. Her life was like a magnet drawing us to her." Chiara kept her spirits up, even when the harsh chemotherapy caused her hair to fall out. When a lock of her hair would fall, Chiara would simply offer it to God, saying, "For you, Jesus." She also donated all her savings to a friend who was performing mission work in Africa. She wrote to him, "I don't need this money anymore. I have everything."

To help prepare her parents for life after she died, Chiara made them dinner reservations for Valentine's Day after they refused to leave her bedside and ordered them to not return until after midnight. At Christmas she wrote, "Holy Christmas 1990. Thank you for everything. Happy New Year," on a Christmas card and hid it among some blank ones for her mother to find later.

Chiara's faith and spirit never dwindled even after the cancer left her unable to walk and a CAT scan showed that any hope of remission was gone. In response, she simply said, "If I had to choose between walking again and going to Heaven, I wouldn't hesitate. I would choose Heaven." "

When Chiara realized, she was not going to get better, she started to plan for her "wedding" (her funeral) with her mother. She chose the music, songs, flowers, and the readings for Mass. She wanted to be buried in her "wedding dress," a white dress with a pink waist, because her death would allow her to become the bride of Christ. She told her mother, "When you're getting me ready, Mum, you have to keep saying to yourself, 'Chiara Luce is now seeing Jesus.'" Before she died, she told her mother, "Oh, Mama, young people…young people…they are the future. You see, I can't run anymore, but how I would like to pass on to them the torch, like in the Olympics! Young people have only one life and it's worthwhile to spend it well." 

"Don't shed any tears for me. I'm going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don't want people crying but singing with all their hearts. During her final hours, Chiara made her final confession and received the Eucharist. She had her family and friends pray with her, "Come, Holy Spirit." She died at 4 am on October 7, 1990, with her parents at her bedside. Her final words were, "Bye, Mum, be happy, because I am." Two thousand people attended her funeral; the mayor of Sassello shut down the town so people would be able to attend. Her remains are buried in the family chapel at Sassello Cemetery. 

After nine years, they began work on her cause for canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared her "Blessed" in 2010. "Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness, and that's what Chiara showed her family, her friends, and her fellow members of the Focolare movement".