Last Sunday the Basilica of St. Mary Major was the site of the first beatification ever held within its walls — that of a woman religious from Milan, Pierina de Micheli. Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, celebrated the ceremony, in representation of Benedict XVI.
“It is the first time that a beatification takes place in this basilica,” said an emotional Sister Nora Antonelli, superior general of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires, the community to which Pierina belonged. “We are delighted that our request was accepted.”
Mother Pierina (1890-1945), a mystic, dedicated her life to spreading devotion to the face of Christ and, at the same time, to the fight against Satan. This was discovered in her personal diary, found by the sisters in the cell of the convent after her death.
Father Fabrizio Poloni, episcopal delegate for Saints’ Causes of the Diocese of Novara, said that when Pierina was an adolescent she had supernatural experiences.
ROME, MAY 28, 2010 (Zenit.org)