Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this month's meeting so there aren't a lot of notes.
1. We talked about confidence - what it means, how the girls express it, how they can build it up, how you
can differentiate between pride and confidence.
2. I segued to talking about the saint - Clelia Barbieri and how she expressed confidence. If you need a brief
backstory about the saint ---- In the mid 1800's, Clelia was born near Bologna, Italy (we didn't mention the
country too much as it was covered at the last meeting for St. Gianna). Her mother came from a rich and
prominent family and her dad was dirt poor - a servant. They fell in love and her mom gave up everything to
be w/him. Life was hard for them, and got harder when Clelia's dad died of cholera when she was 8. She and
her family moved to a better home offered by her uncle. To help the family, Clelia took to sewing, knitting,
making wool, etc. To make the time go quicker as she did all these things, she focused on God and her faith
and knowledge became so vast that she started teaching others. Her pastor asked her to be a catechist at
the young age of 14. She turned her attentions to the poor and joined a group with that particular
apostolate. At the age of 20/21, she founded a religious order - Sisters Minims of Our Lady of Sorrows. She
became the youngest person ever to found an order - even until this day. Two years after this, she died of
tuberculosis. Shortly before her death, she made a prophecy that she would always be with the religious
sisters and their order would grow, and that came true. She also had the gift of discerning souls. I told one
story of when someone came to visit the sisters, she brought apples. St. Clelia separated the apples, keeping
the ones she knew were gotten honestly and refusing the others because she knew the visitor had stolen
them. She also healed people. On the first anniversary of her death, the sisters were singing and heard a
voice they recognized as St. Clelia's. The voice sang with them. When the sisters moved to the church, the
voice followed and would say prayers with them. To this day, people have reported hearing St. Clelia in any
house or church she visited.
3. I talked at length about Our Lady of Sorrows - why St. Clelia liked that name so much and what the title
means. We listed the 7 sorrows and Gianna passed out a prayer for the families to pray in relation to this.
4. For the craft, as St. Clelia worked w/textile arts, the girls made cards
using yarn, glue, buttons and jewels. Very simple.
