The Superior General of the Redemptorists, Fr Juan Lasso de la Vega, visited Ireland in October 1996 and celebrated Mass in the Monastery Church of the Redemptoristines in Dublin. In his homily, he said that "Maria Celeste was a strong woman, of profound integrity and interior freedom, who always defended the rights of conscience. She was an intelligent woman with great intuition who knew the urgent needs of the society of her time. But Maria Celeste was above all a mystic who lived in deep communion and prayer with Christ.

"Her spiritual message is a very topical one and not alone for the Redemptoristine community. Each one of us can find inspiration in Maria Celeste to carry out our mission" This is especially true of women who have a strong sense of their own dignity. They can find in her a companion as they search for new forms which can help them to express and realise better the dignity of woman in the Church and in society.

"The word which Maria Celeste never tires of repeating is a proclamation of hope: God remains always with us despite our resistance to him and despite our sins. "Maria Celeste invites us to contemplate and to meditate on the mystery of the Cross as the great mystery of love and to see in this mystery the desire of love and communion with God. We are to feel that we are co-responsible together with Christ in giving real hope and genuine human dignity to each person, especially to who feel oppressed by others…

"Contemplation does not mean flight, but rather commitment. Contemplation means finding the presence of the God of love in each event of every day..."I would like that during the celebrations of this year we are not simply filled with nostalgia for the past, but that they mean a continual beginning of our spiritual journey, a journey which we should all make together in profound love for one another as the Eucharist which we celebrate today shows us."

Fr de la Vega concluded by saying that "the Father has wished that the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer should have a specific mission in the Church: to be a living witness, clear and radiant, of the love that he has for us in Christ. It is through him that we have known and received this love which is given to all, but especially to the poor." Naples, in the heart of southern Italy, was founded by the Greeks six hundred years before the birth of Christ, and originally named Neapolis, or New City. It is home to a volatile, passionate people who live their lives in the shadow of Vesuvius, with the ruins of Pompeii nearby, at the foot of the volcano, as a constant of the fragile hold human beings have on life at the best of times.

It was in Naples, on October 3I, I696, that a daughter was born to the Crostarosa family, a child with such frail health that she was baptised without delay - and, happily made a remarkable recovery. Next day, All Saints' Day, in the Parish Church of St Joseph the Great, the Official baptismal rites were conducted, and the baby was named Julia Marcella Santa.

Julia was descended from a noble family, the Lords of Rosa, who had given centuries of outstanding service in civic, military and religious life. Francis Rosa died in the Battle of Lepanto; Blessed Joseph Rosa was a soldier who became a Celestine priest; and among other ancestors were Blessed Gabriella Rosa, a Poor Clare, and Fr Evangelist Rosa, a Dominican.

The Crostarozas were a typically merry, high-spirited Neapolitan family. Julia, the second youngest, had two sisters, Ursula and Jane, and three brothers, Francis, James and Michael. Their mother, the former Paula Baptistine Caldari, was convinced that God had chosen Julia for some very special purpose, and she and her husband, Don Joseph, brought her up with great care and used to read the lives of the saints to her.

Many years later, as a nun writing her autobiography under obedience, and referring to herself, as was her custom, in the third person, (One can only surmise that this was prompted by a certain air of self-deprecation) Julia would acknowledge unusual graces granted to her during her childhood:

"She was a little child of only five or six years when Our Lord deigned to communicate Himself to her passively, by making her realise and know His divinity...with so much sweetness that she had no longer any desire but to love and serve him, all the more so because God had given her an intelligence and understanding beyond her years."

Even so, she was also vivacious and fiery and encouraged by the family servants, enjoyed dancing and singing , indeed, her love of music led to her composing hymns in later life - and such "bewitching trifles", innocent though they were, attracted her more to worldly concerns and made her less fervent towards God.

Such matters troubled her delicate conscience so much that, at the age of eleven, on the feast of St Joseph, March 19, accompanied by her mother she visited the Church of St Thomas Aquinas in Naples, where she made a general confession to a Dominican. He discerned that Julia was a chosen soul and recommended some spiritual books to her, such as Fr Segneri's "Manna of the Soul" and the 'Meditations of St Peter Alcantara'.

At prayer one day, she was "drawn into the innermost recesses of her soul and inflamed with such an ardent love that the time passed without her being aware of it. While contemplating the Lord's passion, and how His side was pierced by a lance, she was "so wounded with love" that she never again had any desire for books of meditation. In "A Great Mystic of the Eighteenth Century her biographer, Fr Favre, tells us that "her soul remained thus illuminated and in a profound state of recollection for two months. It calls to mind God's promise to St Teresa of Avila when certain books were unavailable to her: "I will be unto you a living volume."

Although there does not appear to be any record of Julia's preparation for First Holy Communion, or of the event itself, shortly afterwards our Lord indicated to her the path he had in mind for her: "You must imitate my life and do all your actions in union with those I performed on earth."

She called her autobiography, "May Jesus Be My Life" and Fr Favre writes "Our Lord never wearied of instructing his docile pupil on this fundamental point of spiritual life: All is in God and lives by Him...He is (the soul's) support and its providence at every moment."

When she was 15, Julia attended the seven Wednesdays devotion to St Joseph in her parish church, leading up to his feast day. During the mission, she went to confession and mentioned the extraordinary graces God had granted to her. On her next visit, the confessor recommended that he should be her spiritual director. When Julia agreed, she was instructed to describe, in writing, her interior life. Like many young girls in those days, she had not been taught to write but soon acquired the skill, without a teacher!.

In another biography, "In Memory of Me", Janet Mary Scott says Julia's Director "seems not to have understood the way God was leading her," and after two years she and her two sisters found a new guide, Don Bartholomew Cacace.

"It is very necessary for all who wish to lead a spiritual life to be most careful in their choice of a director," she advised. "They should pray much and have recourse to God in humility and confidence. They should beg for light and grace in so important a matter, for their advancement and progress in the spiritual life depend on this choice.

Let them be careful to inquire about the qualifications of the priest. Above all, he should be holy, learned and experienced "It would be far preferable for souls to depend wholly on God than to fall into the hands of an inexperienced confessor. Their choice should in no way depend on natural inclination. God will choose for them if they wait patiently, trusting in Him; for He is faithful to the soul who loves Him, and He will lead her Himself in the way of perfection until she finds the guide who is to help her in the spiritual life."

At times, Julia suffered physical and mental trials, some of them so severe as to be "indescribable, but she also received great consolations from God. In previous years, He had given her many beautiful insights, such as the ways in which the visible, material world reflected the invisible, spiritual realms. He told her: "Look at the sun and see how it gives light and heat, how it makes the plants grow, so that they may produce flowers and fruits, and also how it makes the whole world rejoice by its brilliancy. It shines on everyone, except on those who, shutting their windows, refuse to admit it and by their own fault remain deprived of its light, turning aside from its splendour." This sun which you admire in the visible world has been created to symbolise the Divine Sun which my Divine Presence produces in hearts created by me, and which gives light to the interior world of souls.

"In this spiritual sun you must behold my Divine Perfections and you will see how with the fire of My Spirit of love I make the plants of virtues grow in souls, and make them produce flowers and fruits for eternal life. I give light to the soul, and by enkindling it with my Divine Fire of Love, I burn up all the weeds produced by disorderly passions and consume all imperfections."

"Those who keep the eyes of their soul open, and do not close them by sin, let in My Divine Light. In looking on the material sun, you must remember what I have taught you, and let it be the subject of your continual meditation."

For three months, Julia suffered intensely and was assured by Don Bartholomew:

"You are passing through two cruel trials at the same time - the purification of the senses and that of the spirit. This painful state cannot last long. The good God will soon relieve you. Relief finally came on Holy Saturday 1716, when, attending Mass, as soon as the "Gloria in Excelsis" began, her sufferings, and all memories of them, were instantly taken away.

"The powers of my soul fell as it were into a refreshing sleep, and my will was sweetly inflamed during this repose," she enthused. "I was like a person who, being overtired with hard work, falls into a life-giving sleep; I remained thus during the whole of Mass. "At the Communion I approached the holy table and You O my Love, coming to me, said in Your Own Divine Language, 'May peace be in your heart"'

On returning home, Julia prayed for guidance, asking, just as St Paul did, "Lord, what would you have me do?", and, in reply, "the Voice of God" invited her to become a Carmelite Nun.

Although Julia said she never remembered enjoying good health and that "from my childhood I always had a delicate stomach and was subject to frequent attacks of sickness," for years she had her heart set on becoming a nun and hoped for a sign from God. Now, at the age of 19, that sign had been given to her.

It happened that her elder sister, Ursula, also desired the religious life and had chosen the Carmelite Convent of Marigliano, a small town some twenty seven miles from Naples. Signora Crostaroza brought Ursula and a friend to meet the Prioress and Julia, then aged 20, made the journey with them.

Noticing that Julia was very much at home in the convent, the superior asked her to stay with the community. Both Julia and Ursula wished to remain, but their mother insisted they return home to talk things over with their father and seek his permission. A compromise was reached, with the sisters staying in the convent, but agreeing to leave if Don Joseph objected. They were overjoyed when he approved their decision, In Julia's words, she was "disengaged from all the fetters of the world."

After six months as a postulant, on November 21, 1716 the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, Julia was clothed in the Carmelite habit and received a new name, Sister Maria Celeste del Deserto (of the desert). "On this happy day," Fr Favre tells us, "Our Lady appeared to her and accepted her as a daughter for ever," and that "on his side Our Lord enlightened her mind, showing her that He, the Divine Word, was the True Spouse of her soul, who would never separate Himself from her. Ursula became Sister Maria Illuminata and their sister, Jane, was a novice in the same convent.

In her book, "The Mystical Ladder" (which links earth and heaven), Maria Celeste describes a certain state of prayer, explaining that "for souls who receive this grace, the world becomes a desert...Nothing in it consoles them."

The same work contains the observation that "the greatest of our weaknesses and miseries consists in only living for things of earth, engulfed by our senses, our passions, and the thousand and one ever-changing accidents that occur on the way...our poor spirit, made by God for God, has become a slave, its nobility is buried beneath vileness and falsehood"

Such revelation reminds us that Our Lord was, first and foremost Maria Celeste's principal spiritual director throughout her life. In her "Soliloquies" she writes, "You instructed me in the holy Gospels, showing me their divine meaning and the mysteries they contained."

Jesus gave her seven rules for the religious life, which she reproduces in her autobiography. For example, the third rule requires nuns to retire to their cells at the hours prescribed for silence, and this is to be strictly observed unless the call of charity or obedience obliges them to do otherwise. "You will also at this time remember the three most painful hours that I passed on the Cross, overwhelmed by anguish both of body and of soul. "I gave My life for love of you and for the salvation of souls which are so dear to me, so you must remain beneath the Cross and gather up My Blood so as to offer it to my Father for the salvation of sinners."

In the fifth rule, He stated: "There are three exercises to which you must apply yourself as long as you live upon the earth. The first is to accustom yourself to live amongst creatures solely for the good of their souls, and to help them to arrive at eternal salvation without mixing yourself up in temporal affairs. The second is to have your mind always anchored in God and united to Jesus, as the Word was united to His Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit. This was His habitual exercise while He lived on earth.

"The third is that you must no longer occupy yourself with either your past, present or future life, but think only of your One Love, the Supreme and Eternal Good, your First Principle and last End."

In the sixth rule, we read: "You must love your neighbour, and never complain of anything he does to you, remaining always in your own nothingness...When you learn of the graces and gifts which I impart to your neighbour, you must rejoice and thank Me as if I had given them to you. You must never say words that could pain your neighbour, but treat him with respect as the living temple of God, and you must receive with humility every kind of injury, as I did for you.

After serving as sacristan at Marigliano for a year, Maria Celeste was appointed mistress of novices and postulants. The Lord taught her about the riches of the psalms and their mystical meanings and the depths of the words, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me."

She was given the gift of understanding the wonderful working of the Divine Union in a devout soul, and learned how the soul ascends to God the Father only through Jesus, the mystical ladder between earth and heaven. And she wrote that "The Lord has made the sky so far from the earth to show us that if a man does not leave all earthly visible and sensible things, he can never ascend to heaven with Him who descended from there." However, even with such stupendous spiritual favours, Maria Celeste admits that human weakness sometimes caused her to forget the Divine Presence.

A charming story from Fr Favre's biography illustrates how Maria Celeste's sanctity attracted others. Two daughters of a Neapolitan barrister arrived at the convent to become postulants, accompanied by their fashionably-dressed eldest sister, who was engaged to marry a wealthy nobleman. Maria Celeste takes up the story, which echoes her own experience on first visiting Marigliano: "...Looking at me very fixedly, she said: 'Servant of God, I wish to remain in this monastery in your company and to give up the world'. "Knowing of her engagement, I told her it could not be, and that the house was already full to overflowing, but she answered: 'I am determined to stay with you, God calls me'. "I told her it could not be done so suddenly, and reminded her of her betrothal. I spoke to her for a long time, but she only wept and said she would never go home, and then I went to look for the superior, to obtain the desired permission."

Her relatives protested, but at last agreed to her staying. She requested that she should be directed by Maria Celeste, who tells us: "On this same day on which Our Lord called this soul to His service in so extraordinary a manner, one of her sisters, on hearing that she could keep nothing of her own, and that everything in the community was shared in common, made up her mind to return home with her relations."

The elder sister led an heroic life of mortification and humility and after her death, her body was kept in a special place apart, because of the many miracles God worked through her intercession. "I could fill a book," says Maria Celeste of the favours she received at Carmel: visions, ecstasies, protection from physical dangers among them. To give one instance, a ladder she climbed was not securely fastened, and she fell, but was unharmed. As for visions, she said she only experienced spiritual, and not corporal ones.

It was a time of waiting. Then, gradually, our Lord began to unfold His plans for her. One day she was shown a legion of religious souls and told, "I desire to make you the mother of many souls whom I shall save by means of you."

A few days later, there was a visit to the region by members of the Congregation of Pii Operarii, and the priest assigned to the Carmelites was Fr Thomas Falcoia.

Although Maria Celeste was not looking for a new spiritual director, she was led to tell the missionary about the state of her soul. During a two-hour meeting, Fr Falcoia said he had been similarly inspired while at prayer the previous night, to concern himself with her, and he suggested they correspond, but that Don Bartholomew should continue to be her spiritual director.

Fr Favre notes: "Except on this occasion, however, they never fully understood one another, and the Venerable Mother wrote later on: 'If the Lord placed me in the hands of this Father it was to make me enjoy the precious fruits of the Cross hitherto unknown to me...He was, nevertheless, a great servant of God."

Humanly speaking, the Convent at Marigliano depended for its survival to a very great extent on its founder, a wealthy aristocrat, who decided to confiscate much of their property, intimidated the clergy and threatened further hostile measures. So the convent was closed by the local bishop, the nuns' dowries were returned to them, and they were free to choose other communities.

Maria Celeste wrote to Fr Falcoia about the situation and he replied that it was God's will that she and her two sisters should go to Scala, where he was spiritual director of a monastery, and that he would make all the necessary arrangements.

The month or so they were out of enclosure seemed like a thousand years, according to Maria Celeste. "My soul longed for repose, for I had suffered many tribulations over the dissolution of our monastery, which was a great sorrow to me. "Then there had been so many visits from seculars while we were at home, and so many distractions to annoy us, that my heart longed for a corner of the monastery where I could enjoy my God whom I loved.

Don Joseph was set on establishing his daughters as foundresses of a new convent in Tramonti, and negotiated with Church authorities. but one morning, after Holy Communion, Our Lord told Maria Celeste, "It is My will that you should go to the Monastery at Scala; there you will exercise yourself in humility, and you will be amongst the sisters as the least of all."

Recalling their journey from Naples to their new home in Scala, Maria Celeste says, "The devil gave so much bother... that it is hardly credible." Janet Mary Scott, author of "In Memory of Me", compared it to accounts of some of St Teresa of Avila's travels; "Drunken horsemen, runaway horses, carriages overturning and passing over the legs of her priest brother and his sister; all played their part in what was apparently a very frightening experience."

The sisters were given a warm welcome in Scala and their request to make a new beginning by becoming novices again was granted, an example which was followed by many of the professed nuns who were fired by their enthusiasm.

A monastery of Visitandine nuns had been founded in Scala in I720 by Fr Maurice Filangieri and Fr Thomas Falcoia. The community thrived, the atmosphere was prayerful, but, as Fr Favre informs us, "Yet one thing was wanting to them. They had begged in vain for a nun from the Visitation of Naples to come and form them to religious life.

"Their request was not granted and they could only obtain a copy of the rules and constitutions. Thus they felt that they were not truly Visitandines, having neither Papal enclosure nor solemn vows, and it grieved them to think they were only half religious.

This state of things was providential, for it left them canonical liberty to establish a new order. But the sisters were ignorant of God's designs for them." So, for the time being, they lived by the rule of St. Augustine and the constitutions of St Francis de Sales, not realising that their destiny was to be the cradle of a new institute of contemplatives (Redemptoristines) and missionaries (Redemptorists).

The Crostarozas received the Visitation habit on February 9, I724. Jane became Maria Evangelista of Jesus, Julia took the name of Maria Celeste of the Holy Desert, and Ursula was known as Maria Illuminata of the Holy Cenacle.

It was on Wednesday, April 25, I725, that Maria Celeste was told that a new Order was to be established with her co-operation. Five years later, she wrote about the revelation at the request of St Alphonsus Liguori.

She says that after receiving Holy Communion on Rogation Day, Our Lord "made me understand the full value of His life, and told me that He wished to found a new order which would remind the world of all that He had done for humanity.

"At the same time I received clearly and distinctly a full and entire knowledge of all that was to be contained in the Rule, and He ordered me to write everything down in His name as He had revealed it to me."

Maria Celeste was anxious, troubled and uncertain as to the Divine origin of the revelations. Humility caused her to doubt that God would choose her, a novice, for such an enterprise, an in subsequent days she kept the secret to herself. But the Lord reproached her for remaining silent. "Why will you not speak?" He asked. "You are afraid of being despised. Know that your silence proceeds More from self-love than from love of Me."

On another occasion, such was the intensity of Christ's teachings, "It was as though fifty doctors of the Church had spoken to me at once. My soul listened, transported with admiration. What I have reported of these communications...is still only a quarter of what I heard."

Her spiritual director, Fr Falcoia was in Rome. But after several days, Maria Celeste confided in her sister, Maria Illuminata, who advised her to go to the mistress of novices, "Accordingly" she writes in her autobiography, "The following day I sought out my novice mistress and told her all.. I feared that she would be alarmed at the thought of such a work, but on the contrary she shed tears of joy and said: 'May the Lord be praised, who has heard and answered our prayers and desires; for so many years we have been beseeching him to perfect our monastery. Now the time has come when he is about to give us a solid basis for religious life."'

Maria Celeste was entrusted with a public mission - and a hidden one of anguish, blame, abandonment, contempt, doubts, humiliations and persecutions, a litany of woes. Her life was to exemplify Christ's words, "Except the grain of wheat fall to the ground and die, it cannot bear fruit." In return, Our Lord promised her "the glory of the martyrs and a place for eternity in the midst of them."

She gives a detailed account of the instructions she received concerning the New Order : "He told me that in this order there was to be neither founder or foundress, but that He was the foundation stone. That the evangelical counsels were to be the cement, that my heart was to be the ground of this edifice, and that His Father was to be the Divine Worker.

"He ordered me to fast for forty days, that is to say, all the time I was writing the Rules...He said I must be as a tiny child at the breast of its mother, who can do nothing of itself, but just follows the impulsion she gives it. Finally He ordered me to write all to my spiritual father, this being His Divine Will Maria Celeste worked on the Rules for an hour a day, always after Holy Communion, "but once the hour of thanksgiving was over, I could not write one word, and I was obliged to leave off until the next day after Holy Communion."

The fast allowed her bread and fruit, yet she was strong and in good health and well able to do the work. A lay Sister had a vision of Maria Celeste wearing a red habit and blue mantle, with an image of the Saviour on her breast.

Fr Favre describes opposition in the form of "persecutions inflicted by demons on the monastery as soon as the new Rule became known, in order to prevent the nuns from accepting it.

"Dreadful apparitions, terrifying noises and cries, are mentioned. We know also, through Maria Celeste, that certain sisters were struck by invisible hands, and that threatening voices were heard at the time when the council of theologians had met together at Naples to examine the new Rules.

Sister Mary Madeline, who had lost her reason, was instantly restored to sanity when the manuscript of the Rule was placed on her head. Sister Mary Raphael - who herself endured 32 years of dreadful illness and was three times superior of Scala - prayed, "Oh, God, if this Rule comes from Thee, cure our sick sister."

Seven other sisters experienced interior revelations verifying the authenticity of the rule. While it was being written, Maria Celeste was supported by prayer and fasting. During those weeks, the community heard heavenly music every evening, which was a source of great joy, and the long nights of continual prayer had no ill effects on them.

On his return from Rome, Fr Falcoia had received a complete account of the revelations. His response was to order Maria Celeste to burn the Rule. She replied that, acting on the advice of her confessor, and of her superior, Sister Mary Angela, she would like to await his arrival at Scala before carrying out his instruction.

This annoyed him so much that on June 30 he wrote to forbid her from receiving Holy Communion until Assumption Day, August I5. However, the letter was providentially delayed and did not arrive until August I7.

Before its arrival, Sister Mary Angela had forwarded a copy of the completed Rule to Fr Falcoia, who changed his mind about wanting it destroyed. By the time he visited Scala in August, he had studied the document and was undecided as to its origin. He sought the opinions of some eminent theologians in Naples, who gave the new Rule their unanimous approval. But there was further opposition, this time from Mother Mary Joseph of the Cross, the superior at Scala, whom Maria Celeste, under obedience to her spiritual director, had not informed of recent events - and from Fr Falcoia's superior, Fr Filangieri, who reproached him for his credulity.

Fr Falcoia reprimanded Maria Celeste in the presence of the community. He was forbidden any contact with the monastery and wrote the nuns a humble, loving, generous and submissive letter, in which he blamed himself, exhorted them to live always under obedience, and asked for their prayers. Maria Celeste had received her rebuke in silence The Lord consoled her: 'My spouse, it is I, it is not the devil. All that shall be done to you with regard to this work I shall consider as done to myself. Trust in me, and be assured that you shall see this order established. Fr Filangieri intensified his efforts to discredit the revelations. It was at his instigation that the Vicar of Scala called on the nuns to banish Maria Celeste. Otherwise, he said, Fr Filangieri would have nothing more to do with them. The nuns, in conscience, were unwilling to comply, regardless of what they stood to lose.

Once again, Maria Celeste was publicly rebuked, segregated from the Community in an attic overlooking the vineyard, and ordered to go to the refectory every day, with a rope around her neck, and ask forgiveness. There, in the solitude of the attic, her only possessions a blanket and a crucifix, she prayed and considered the course of events. She feared, she suffered great affliction of spirit, but she also received consolation from the Divine Master. Be reassured," he told her. "Do not fear, it is I. Have I not told you that the devil would try to harm you, but that he could Not touch one hair of your head without my permission. "I have warned you of all beforehand. Confer as much as you can about your soul with your spiritual guide, abandon yourself in all humility, without any fear of what men and the devil may do. Her exile lasted two weeks, after which she was allowed to return to normal community life.

On June 5, 1726, Mother Maria Angela was elected superior, succeeding Mother Mary Joseph, who lived a retired and holy Life until her death in I750 at the age of 85. Fr Filangieri died of apoplexy, no longer opposed to the nuns at Scala, and left them 123 ducats a year.

Maria Celeste occasionally communicated with her spiritual guide, Fr Falcoia, with the help of her ordinary confessor, who passed on letters to him. The Lord permitted the work of founding the institute to be delayed "by doubts, scorn, and difficulties for several years...so that it might have solid foundations of humility, poverty and self-contempt.

"You think that I do not love you, that I do not listen when you ask for help in your needs, but it is not so. I know what is good for you, but you are wanting in conformity to my will, committing several imperfections, not voluntarily, but in your judgement." The Lord assured Maria Celeste regarding Fr Falcoia's hostile attitude: "Know that in contradicting your ideas about many things, your director is obeying my orders, and that he is in no way blameworthy."

He encouraged her to persevere by frequently reminding her of the severity of his own life - but also of the glorious fruits of such loving service.

"You know how much I was despised, persecuted and humbled by those dearest to me, and at last expired on a Cross. I passed my whole life in humiliation, hiddenness and scorn. "It was thus that I glorified my Father, laid the foundations of my Church and remedied the evils of pride in people. My life was a treasure hidden in contempt and humility that is to be the spirit of your institute.

"Love me above all things, contemplate me as present even in the smallest action. Do all solely to please me and to give glory to me without occupying yourself with creatures "Thus the devil will be unable to harm you. He knows that you are weak on this point. He always attacks on Nature's weakest side, and if he cannot conquer, at least he can trouble the soul's peace..."You are still an exile from your heavenly country; that is why patient love is so necessary to you...Know that I shower graces and blessings on all those who love you and help you."

For about four years, Fr Falcoia had been forbidden to communicate with the Nuns at Scala. The foundation of a new institute seemed as remote as ever. But one day, at the College of the Holy Family in Naples, he met a young priest, a nobleman who had set aside all worldly ambitions, riches and fame, and a brilliant career as a Barrister, to place himself entirely at God's disposal. In "Alphonsus de Liguori: The Saint of Bourbon Naples 1696-1787", his biographer, Fr Frederick M. Jones, was to write: "It is almost incredible how he could have found time for everything. Not even the fact that at some time he took a vow never to waste a moment of time seems an adequate explanation."

Alphonsus and Fr Falcoia found they had a great deal in common and they became friends.Soon after their meeting, Falcoia was appointed Bishop of Castellamare, near Scala.

Around the same time, Alphonsus, fatigued from his incessant labours and in need of a rest, made his way to St Marie-des-Monts, a hermitage in the mountains above Scala. But when he noticed that the spiritual needs of the peasants, the shepherds and goat-herds in the area, were neglected because of their isolation, with typical generosity he forgot his own needs and a rest-cure became a mission' Alphonsus's reputation was such that he was accustomed to invitations to give sermons and retreats. When the news of his activities spread, the people of Scala wanted to hear him, so he was invited by the bishop to preach in the cathedral.

"It was the Sunday after Corpus Christi," writes Fr Favre. "His sermon on the Holy Eucharist was so moving that the congregation burst into tears. The nuns from the monastery at Scala at once invited Alphonsus to preach in their church. He consented, and thus the man of God entered for the first time the sanctuary where his future vocation was to be revealed to him by the lips of Maria Celeste."

His impact was such that Bishop Guerriero asked him to return later that year, I730, to preach the Novena of the Cross; and while there, he would also conduct the nuns' retreat.

Alphonsus had heard about the revelations at Scala and was well aware that the nuns had been widely ridiculed, and apparently he had formed the opinion that they were deluded In the parlour of the monastery he listened to the superior, Sr Maria Angela, as she humbly gave a detailed account of events in the last five years. The following day, Alphonsus had private conversations with each of the nuns, starting with Maria Celeste, who convinced him of the authenticity of her story, and whom he soon realised was a chosen soul. The next step was to seek the approval of the Bishop of Scala, who gave Alphonsus authority to proceed with plans for the inauguration of the new Rule. His theme for the nuns' retreat was the life and virtues of the Divine Redeemer.

Alphonsus returned to Naples and began corresponding with the community. In one of his letters, he wrote, "Do you know, I am now paying dearly for the joy and peace of Scala, as I told you would be the case. "I am at present in the midst of storms, and sometimes, seeing light neither in heaven nor on earth, I am left in darkness, as in a gloomy cave."

Maria Celeste consoled him by telling him that God had shown her "the throne of glory that he had prepared for you in eternity in reward for your love of Jesus and for the work you undertake in his cause. 'As a proof of the love I bear him,' he said to me, 'I will grant an increase of grace and of fervour to all souls under his care. Those who listen to his words shall find in them heavenly blessings. "Tell him that I take pleasure in the work he does to convert sinners, especially in the care he takes to lead the souls of just men in the way of divine perfection and love, for it is chiefly they who give glory to me, and it is by such souls that I dispense mercy to the world." Fr Favre adds, "This letter gave great joy to Alphonsus and he always kept it carefully as a most precious treasure."

Bishop Falcoia had in his possession the original manuscript of the Rule and, as he wished to keep it, asked Maria Celeste to re-write it. She told him it would take a miracle, but she attempted the task, though without making any progress.

Finally, one night, overwhelmed by the enormity of the request, she decided to give up. But, as she turned out her bedside light, Our Lord spoke to her.

"You are tired, rest in me," he said. "Trust in me, do you not know that I am able to make you re-write the Rule, not only in outline, as at first, but in its finished perfection? In an instant she was infused with a clear, precise and thorough understanding of the Rule.

"However," adds Fr Favre, "night was advancing, and Maria Celeste, as she tells us with great simplicity, felt tired and wanted to sleep, but could not do so because of the Presence of God. Then Jesus granted her the grace with which he had favoured St John at the Last Supper, by telling her to repose on his heart."

Next morning, inspired and refreshed, she obtained the superior's permission to write the Rule, which took only two hours. Then she turned her attention to the Constitutions and was surrounded by angels as she wrote, prayed or walked around the convent.

There were, therefore, at this time two copies of the Rule," writes Fr Favre, "...the second copy being more developed than the first...Each began with a declaration from the Eternal Father. "The Heavenly Father recalls the immense love which caused him to give his only-begotten son to be the light and life of the world. It is in order that people should he mindful of this infinite charity and of the works done by his divine son for love of them, that he has raised up this new order.

"Each of its members must be a living image of this divine son, the sole head and founder of the order."

There was still much work to be done, editing, redefining and elaborating the Rules and Constitutions, for which Alphonsus was ultimately responsible, and which took two years to bring to completion.

There were nine virtues mentioned in the original Rule: fraternal charity, poverty, chastity, obedience, meekness and humility of heart, mortification, recollection, prayer, self-denial and love of the Cross. These in addition to the imitation of Christ's life, were to form the entire practice of religious life. To them were added faith, hope and charity, symbolising the twelve fruits of the tree of life, one for each month, making a regular cycle of holy exercises.

In a letter to Alphonsus, Maria Celeste says that the habit of the order is a symbol of Christ's mortification, and that "it was shown to me that the spirit of this order consists in two things: scorn of self and ardent charity towards God and our neighbour."

The 13th May, Feast of Pentecost 1731, saw the beginning of the new form of religious life. The sisters were clothed in the new habit on the 6th August, the feast of the transfiguration. The deep red habit, with its depiction of the most Holy Redeemer, reminds us of God's infinite charity towards the human race. The cincture, or belt, of the same colour signifies the bond of love uniting all people in the heart of Jesus. The sky-blue mantle turns our attention beyond the earth and towards heaven.

What distinguishes the Redemptoristines from other orders is the unique privilege of receiving their Rule directly from Our Lord.

In the midst of opposition, Alphonsus brought about the general acceptance of Maria Celeste's revelations as being of divine origin. Now it was the turn of Maria Celeste to assist Alphonsus in proceeding with his major life's work. As Fr Favre observes, "The Redemptoristine branch had been the first to grow, before that of the Redemptorists, as contemplation precedes action and the hidden life precedes the public life. Both were to imitate the life of Our Lord, the one by prayer, the other by works."

On the vigil of the feast of St Francis of Assisi, October 3, I73I, Maria Celeste was at supper in the dining hall. She recalls: "I was suddenly drawn into contemplation and saw Our Lord with the seraphic father, St Francis, and Fr Alphonsus de Liguori, "Pointing to the latter, Our Lord said: 'This soul is chosen as the head of my institute. It is he who will be the first superior of the congregation of men.'

"At the same time I saw a vision of this work, as though it were already established; I was filled with joy and could take no food. During the whole of the meal I remained thus lost in contemplation."

Next day, the new institute's motto was made known to her. It was to be the Gospel exhortation, "Go and preach to all nations that the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

On hearing this news from Maria Celeste, Bishop Falcoia affected disbelief. "According to what you say," he wrote, "you seem to be in continual conference with Our Lord; I cannot believe your revelations, and I counsel you to do like-wise "We cannot regulate our conduct on these imaginations and if I wish to know in detail all you think you see and hear, it is in order to be able to direct you better."

But, on visiting Maria Celeste, he had no doubt that the revelations were from God. He remembered that some twenty years before, walking in Rome along the banks of the Tiber, he was told in an interior vision of a new order dedicated to the imitation of Christ's virtues.

Falcoia wrote to Alphonsus, who went to Scala, where Maria Celeste outlined the plans for a new congregation to preach the Gospel to abandoned and neglected souls in remote regions. Although he thought himself incapable of the work, and suggested Maria Celeste was being carried away by her imagination, having

consulted his spiritual advisers, he obeyed what he discerned as a clear call to change direction. This was in spite of the heartfelt protestations of his father, who spent three hours trying to persuade his son not to change his mind and stay with him.

And so the new missionary order was inaugurated in the guest house of the monastery at Scala on November 9, 1732. As if to endorse its appearance, there were signs and wonders. A brilliant light illuminated the convent while the nuns adored the Blessed Sacrament through the night. Then, about eight weeks later, on September II, during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the nuns' chapel, the Holy Cross was seen in the Host, followed by the image of Jesus crucified, the instruments of the Passion, red rocks, white clouds, and various other manifestations.

The vision inspired the choice of a Cross surrounded by the instruments of the Passion as the arms of the Order of the most Holy Redeemer. Incidentally, when the Lord used the word institute he meant the two orders, of nuns and priests, with a shared Rule.

Among Alphonsus's companions was a young Austrian lawyer, Sylvester Tosquez, who had given up a legal career and was awaiting guidance as to the congregation which best suited his spiritual ideals. Two visions in eight years - the same on each occasion - indicated an institute whose priests devoted themselves to the imitation of Christ. It appears that although well versed in mystical theology, he was inexperienced in prudence and reflection and lacking in common sense. His friend, Fr Vincent Mandarini, a doctor of theology, suggested that he should join the new order Alphonsus referred Tosquez to Bishop Falcoia, who was enthusiastic about his vocation and recommended that he should discuss the matter with Maria Celeste.

It was the first of many meetings, the start of a warm friendship between Tosquez and the nuns at Scala. He influenced the new bishop of Scala, Mgr Santoro, to approve the new Rule. Alphonsus would have preferred Falcoia to be the arbitrator of the Rule, but some of his colleagues disliked the bishop's authoritative attitude.

Their choice would have been Alphonsus, but, at thirty six, and ordained only six years, he considered himself too inexperienced. there was discord in the convent, too, and Maria Celeste, in conscience, chose not to remain under the spiritual direction of Falcoia, who had made the following demands: that she should take a vow to accept him as her sole director; sign the Rules he had set before the community; and finish communications with Tosquez.

Alphonsus believed he had reason to question Maria Celeste's humility.

Although he never doubted her integrity, "he fears that by an involuntary illusion a shadow may have fallen across her idea of holiness," as Fr Favre expresses it. It is to be noted that all through the anxious trial through which Maria Celeste was passing, if the saint thought or feared her mistaken in anything, he never suspected her of a wrong attitude of mind and will."

Alphonsus maintained that a special permission of providence allows the possibility of illusion in souls very dear to God.

Fr Favre says that, in writing to her, Alphonsus wished "to inculcate in a very special way humility, and not ordinary humility, but that perfection of the virtue which God demands of souls who enjoy his particular favour, and whom he calls to the heights of sanctity," and that every human being is open to attack on some point. "In the eyes of St Alphonsus, everything depends on the humility of Maria Celeste; both the continuation of God's graces and holiness itself are to be bought at that price."

Alphonsus wants to know why Maria Celeste does not want Bishop Falcoia as her director. Fr Favre says Alphonsus was forced to conclude that she left him because she could no longer bear the crushing state of humiliation in which he left her.He thought she was relying on her own judgement and wrote: "Obedience remains the only sure road, the only path approved by Jesus Christ."

Alphonsus wrote her a second letter, asking her to read it with an open mind, pray for three days, then act as she thought best.

Three weeks later, she replied with a remarkable letter to Fr Peter Romano, confessor of the nuns at Scala. In it, she rejected all illusions she may have had, renounced her own judgement, and said, "From this time forward, the sole object of my thoughts and affections shall be Jesus crucified, the holy Gospel and our holy faith. Maria Celeste explained why she no longer regarded Bishop Falcoia as her spiritual guide, that even though she made known to him the state of her soul through the years, he "always remained in a state of uncertainty and perplexity regarding the paths by which I was being led, and this prevented me from being sure of the way I had to follow. Therefore I judged that Our Lord did not wish to enlighten me by means of this director, as to whether I was progressing in the right way or not." Her second reason for wanting a change was that," I was sometimes moved to speak without realising that I did so and without weighing my words.

Any words or actions such as these were taken by my director in the wrong sense. Above all, it seemed clear to me that a director who, by God's permission, could not penetrate into the inmost recesses of my soul would be unable to lead me along the path marked out for me, where alone I could find peace of soul..."

Thirdly, because of the bishop's disapproval of Maria Celeste's revelations concerning the institute, she was censured before the community, and he was also responsible for "doubts, difficulties and opposition, which gave rise to disunion and mistrust among those who were to enter the institute But she added that she now renounced these judgements and reasons.

On the subject of humility, Fr Favre affirms that, "only God's will is of any value. Obedience alone is the sure guarantee of God's will, such is the order established by Jesus Christ. "Revelations do not dispense us from this universal law; on the contrary, they double its necessity and obligation. By themselves and without the control of obedience, they can never be relied on, nor can they constitute a sure rule of conduct..."moreover, divine communications are often obscure and incomplete, because God does not wish to suppress the role of his intermediaries, nor to take from his privileged servants the trial and the merit of patient labour and humble subjection."

As for the matter of spiritual directors, Fr Favre writes that "neither directors or those directed can pretend to infallibility. All that is asked of us is to do our best and leave the rest to God, All who act thus can be at peace."

St Teresa of Avila, who changed directors on several occasions said, "God leads souls by many paths, and a director cannot be expected to know them all." Mgr. Falcoia himself had acknowledged that it is sometimes necessary to have a change of director. Maria Celeste's refusal to be directed by Mgr Falcoia led to a series of strong measures against her.

We read in her autobiography: "In my former tribulations I had still the encouragement of Our Lord, of the nuns, and of my spiritual father; whereas now, not only did God fail to enlighten me, but my soul was plunged in darkness and aridity "The most painful thing of all was to see myself persecuted by those dear to me, by my most intimate friends, and thwarted by real servants of God, who did it out of zeal, thinking they were working for his glory."

Bishop Falcoia instructed the superior that Maria Celeste was not to receive Holy Communion, and that her fellow religious were not to speak to her - because

There were some who were sympathetic to her predicament and she was to be denied their support. She was sent to a remote area of the convent. Her mental state brought about physical weakness and a fever. Further weakened from not being able to eat, she was too feeble to leave her bed. The superior, disbelieving her illness, did not visit her, and the infirmarian was not asked to attend to her. Neither were her two sisters permitted to have any contact with her.

Maria Celeste recounts that her younger sister, Sr Maria Evangelista, "was not as yet very far advanced in the virtues of her holy state; so that when she saw the sufferings and ill-treatment inflicted on her sister, she became frightened and upset, especially so when some of the sisters imprudently told her that still more severe penances would be imposed on her sister should the latter persist in her refusal to be directed by Mgr. Falcoia."

Sr Maria Evangelista was so distressed that she went to her eldest sister, Sr Maria Illuminata, and told her she wished to leave the convent. So the superior wrote to Don Crostarosa - then over 80 and in poor health - who asked one of his sons, a Jesuit priest, to go to Scala and discover the reason for her decision.

When the superior refused him a private meeting with his sister, he went to see the local bishop, Mgr Santoro, who had already received a letter from the superior requesting him not to allow the visit. He refused Fr. Michael Crostarosa permission, but quickly changed his mind when the Jesuit told him he intended to seek the approval of Cardinal Pignatelli in Naples.

Fr Crostarosa returned to Scala, talked with each of his sisters in the privacy of the confessional, and advised Maria Celeste not to take a vow to accept Falcoia as her spiritual director, on the grounds that it was an unjust demand. When Falcoia heard that Sr Maria Evangelista was planning to leave, he went to Scala and insisted that unless Maria Celeste made the three promises

required of her, she would be expelled. She agreed to two - not to write to Don Sylvester Tosques, and to sign the Rules - but declined to vow that Mgr. Falcoia should be her spiritual guide. "Knowing how highly Don Crostarosa esteemed his second daughter (Maria Celeste)," writes Fr Favre, "he was afraid that the old man might resort to violence and insist on his daughter leaving the convent. "He therefore thought it more prudent to forestall such an event by having Maria Celeste sent away from the monastery unless she would consent to make the Three promises..."

A chapter was called, the three conditions were proposed. Maria Celeste would not accept the third one, and on the final day of a novena to St Vincent Ferrer, whom she had asked to intercede for an end to her trial - she was expelled. She was given permission to write to her father to let him know that all three of his daughters were on their way home; "Sir, my very dear father, I write to tell you that the good nuns have expelled me from the monastery on account of my imperfections, and wish me to leave immediately. God has willed it thus. I beg of you to find a monastery where I can stay until God shall make known his will to me, for it is not good for us to live in a secular house. I beg of you not to distress yourself, for God will find a remedy. Deign to bless your daughter, who respectfully salutes you."

Maria Celeste accepted her expulsion calmly: "It seemed to me that for the time being I was able to live in contempt and humiliation unless some certain sign to the contrary were granted to me from God; and that, therefore, it would not be any good for me to accept the charge of superior, or any office of government. That is why I refused so absolutely. This was a reference to her refusal to become superior of the Holy Trinity convent in Amalfi, which was to be the sisters' home for a few days. When Fr Crostarosa arrived to collect his sisters he was told that they would not be allowed to leave wearing the habit of the order, so the monastery's confessor arranged for habits to be borrowed from the Benedictines of St Cataldo in Scala.

Before leaving, they prayed in the chapel before the Blessed Sacrament. The nuns, even those who had opposed Maria Celeste, were troubled at the outcome - and many tears were shed as they bade farewell to the sisters at the enclosure door. They stayed that night at the chaplain's house. In the morning, the vicar general called on them with an offer to return to the convent on condition they asked the forgiveness of Mgr Falcoia and the community. When they declined, they were ordered to leave Scala that day. Canon Mansi notes: "The nuns had not the courage to own that they had expelled Maria Celeste They merely inserted the following notice in their chapter book: 'On May I4th, I733, the chapter met to send away Sr Maria Evangelista, who had no vocation and troubled the community by not conforming to the prescriptions of the new Rule. By the divine will, her two sisters...left the convent at the same time."

When these events occurred, Alphonsus was away. When he returned, the sisters had gone, and a request to visit Maria Celeste - who was by then in Nocera - was refused by Mgr Falcoia.

In a book by Canon Mansi, he mentions that in May 1733, Fr. Michael Crostarosa lodged a complaint with Francis Verone, the public notary of Scala, against the nuns and the bishops of Scala and Castellamare for 3having forcibly expelled the three sisters from the monastery against their will, and without returning their dowries or the clothes they had brought with them. But Maria Celeste would not sign the document and there the matter rested. Fr Mansi added that by opposing this request made by her family for restitution, the innocent victim proves that she was a saint who, in the words of holy Scripture, suffered in peace her bitterness most bitter. (Ps.38, 17).

After ten years at Scala, the sisters made their way to Amalfi where the Trinitarian nuns received them with great courtesy and warmth. The good air, kind treatment, and the use of the guest house was just what they needed. While in Amalfi, they went on pilgrimage to the church of St Andrew, resting place of the Apostle's body "from which a sweet-scented and precious liquid flows," according to Fr Favre.

In her autobiography, Maria Celeste describes a great consolation the Lord gave her while visiting the church: "Whilst hearing mass in the chapel of the glorious Apostle, he showed me a beautiful and pleasant road which led from earth to heaven. "At the beginning of it were many crosses and thorns, but at the end was a splendid aureole of light, through which I seemed to see Paradise. Not only did I walk along this road, but flew, supported by the strength of God and accompanied by many predestined souls who followed me. "I understood that these souls would be saved by means of me, for Our Lord told me that he would make use of me for the salvation of many. At this sight I once more took courage and went on my way in spite of my abandonment and desolation.

Fr. Michael Crostarosa had, in the meantime, been in Nocera dei Pagani, carrying out his father's instructions to find a suitable monastery for his sisters, until a permanent religious home for them was found. He went to Amalfi and told them about an orphanage run by twenty four Benedictine nuns at Nocera, in a beautiful valley some twenty miles from Naples. Nocera is where Alphonsus lived, died and is buried, and where his remains are venerated to this day. The institute's headquarters were in the town for over a century, until being transferred to Rome.

Fr Favre writes that, "Already, by her heroic submission to divine guidance, and by the good she was to accomplish in that country, Maria Celeste, unknown to herself, was the pioneer at Nocera of Alphonsus and his sons."

Don Crostarosa had suffered a reversal of fortune and had financial difficulties, so, when Don SiIvester Tosques visited Maria Celeste in Nocera, and saw that in their poverty the sisters wore borrowed habits, he was glad to give them a few gold coins.

At Nocera Maria Celeste waited, content to be shown, in God's own time, what His plans for her would be. As it happened, his purpose in bringing her there would soon be revealed. The bishop and the administrators of the convent used her presence to improve the life of the community. It seems that all but two of the nuns had lapsed in obedience to the Rule and there was a need for reform. Instead of leaving after three months, as she had planned, Maria Celeste was invited to become superior.

Eventually, discerning the will of God, she agreed to stay on for three years and during that time discipline was restored and such was the transformation that Nocera became a model community. Although we don't know for sure, it appears likely that Sr Maria Evangelista returned home after three months at Nocera and it is probable that she did not continue her religious vocation.

Maria Celeste's prayers to be given a new spiritual director were answered in the following way. During confession a young man who had previously led a scandalous life, on being asked about his conversion, told of the help he had received from the nun.

The confessor, Fr Bernadine Sommantico, asked his penitent to tell the superior he wished to meet Maria Celeste, whose difficulties had been made known to him by God So, one morning he visited her and, before she said a word, he told her, "Take courage, for God has not abandoned you as you think, but in his divine providence has disposed all things for your good."

Fr Favre tells us that "Don Bernadine reassured her...and told her in God's name that all that had happened had been allowed by divine providence, for God was leading her by the hand . "As regards the former director, he said that there were very few people to whom God gave the grace of understanding souls, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their regard. She was therefore to keep her mind in peace, and in the name of obedience to forget the past." When she asked Don Bernadine to be her director, he accepted, bringing to an end five years of interior and exterior trials. Why did she have to suffer so intensely?

St John of the Cross explains that God uses suffering to transform souls:

"Just as the blacksmith cannot fashion the iron into the desired shape without placing it in the fire and striking it many times with the hammer, so God cannot transform a soul into his likeness without casting it into the fire of suffering, striking it with temptations, and taking from it part of its very being. "There are, of course, different forms of suffering. In the case of some souls the pain is greater and of longer duration than in others, according to the degree of union to which God has destined them, and according to the strength or weakness of the vices from which they are to be delivered ..After having recognized Job as his faithful servant before the good and bad angels, God allows him to sink into a sea of physical and moral suffering. He then raises him to the height of spiritual and temporal well-being.

"It is thus God acts with those whom he wishes to lead to the highest perfection. He plunges them into a torrent of suffering which cleanses them from all sin, and from which they emerge pure and beautiful; he then unites them to himself and transforms them into his likeness."

Maria Celeste was called to a high degree of union with God; hence the corresponding degree of affliction. In her work, "Entretiens" ("Conversations"), we learn that Our Lord instructs her to write about her five years of torments, which deprived her of his special grace.

"If I had deprived you of ordinary grace, what harm you would have done-", he explains. "It was necessary for you to feel your weakness during the whole of that time, in order to make you know the truth, and that is one of the greatest mercies I have granted you. "Know that you were under a delusion regarding an inordinate, though spiritual, affection for a creature. You were dazzled by it, and this obscured your thoughts in many cases. It was necessary for you to expiate your fault before receiving further light. Now that that is done, all will become clear ,

"I am enthroned in peace in your heart, and there I order and command that no creature shall ever more have dominion in the city of your soul."

Maria Celeste's three years at Nocera had been fruitful and news of her achievements spread far beyond the convent walls. She was asked to found monasteries in other areas, but, in the absence of clear direction from God, she was persuaded to remain three extra years at Nocera.

As we have already read, new characters appear at different stages of Maria Celeste's life, some to help her, others to make things more difficult - butaAlways with God's permission. Thus we now meet Canon Joseph Tortora, a native of Nocera, who, having heard of Maria Celeste's reputation, makes a point of

Meeting her and suggests founding a house in Foggia, where he lives, whenever she feels called to do so. Canon Tortora, on hearing Maria Celeste's story, quoted the Psalmist (Ps 26, 14): "Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord."

Having served as superior at Nocera for six years, Maria Celeste prayed for guidance as to God's will for her. One morning, after Holy Communion, Our Lord told her: "Go to Foggia, that is the foundation I wish you to make. Write to Canon Tortora and tell him the time has come to fulfil his desire in the matter. She told the Canon and he began making the necessary preparations with the assistance of his brother Dominic's widow, Donna Gaetana Roselli.

Canon Tortora set out from Nocera with Maria Celeste and Maria Illuminata on march 3, I738. With them was their brother, Fr Michael, and a young girl from Nocera who wished to join the new order. Recent rain had made some roads difficult to negotiate. At times the horses were immersed in water up to their necks and the wheels of their three carriages got stuck in mud, requiring the travellers to leave the vehicles for a while.

All the time Maria Celeste was absorbed in deep contemplation and quite oblivious to the external world. The Lord "made known to her things so admirable that they cannot be told in human language Fr Favre informs us that "the difficulties...were unperceived by her and must have been told to her afterwards by others. "She seemed to see an immense road, so wide it contained all creatures and things created. She was, as it were, carried along this road by the spirit and strength of God, in a swift but gentle flight towards heaven.

During this flight she saw around her the inertia and insensibility of creatures who remained indifferent, although they felt also within themselves this flight towards the Divine Being, his immensity and his greatness. "Thus the first two days of the journey passed. Maria Celeste never forgot this ecstasy and its effects lasted for several days."

After staying in a convent in Foggia for a couple of days, the nuns were brought in procession to the cathedral, and from there they were escorted to their new home. It was, in fact, more a house than a home, because, extraordinarily, it was largely unfurnished. There were some benches and a table in the refectory, but no chairs or kitchen utensils, and few provisions. There were ten people to provide for altogether: six postulants, two old servants who were unable to work, and Maria Celeste and her sister. Such was their poverty that the families of four of the postulants brought them home because they thought they were in danger of starvation. The fact that they were living in rented accommodation did not help - the small dwelling place was owned by the Jesuits, to whom they paid a rent of I00 ducats a year - so it was decided they should buy a house.

Jane Mary Scott ("In memory of me") says that the young postulants led asStrenuous life of prayer, study and work: "Their home life was so different to ours, and more or less prepared them for convent life. "It shows clearly that a young girl in this twentieth century who embraces religious life is making a far greater sacrifice than was demanded of the girls of those days in Italy, or elsewhere."

They moved into their new home, a house in the town with a fine view of the countryside and some land suitable for development, on October 4, 1739. It was thought that the change from paying rent - which to some suggested impermanence - to ownership, would disarm criticism, but rumours against the community increased so much that people found it difficult to decide between fact and fiction.

"It seems incredible," wrote Maria Celeste, "that so much should have been done to destroy the work of God."

In her autobiography she relates how "on April 23, 1740, during the afternoon silence, a little uninhabited tower belonging to a neighbouring house collapsed. It was the hour of the noonday repose and the postulants were lying down. "The tower, which had already been much shaken by an earthquake in 173I, fell on to of the rooms in the monastery, where two of the postulants were on their beds.

One was the niece of Canon Tortora, and the other the youngest child of Don Angelis (one of the administrators).

"The roof of the attic above and the wall of the tower crashed down on these poor children. All the inhabitants of the town rushed to help remove the ruins under which the young girls lay buried. "The niece of Canon Tortora was brought out dead; Don Angelis' daughter was alive, but badly injured. Her father had her carried home at once to be nursed, and when she was well again, she returned to the convent." Although parents arrived to bring their daughters home, Fr Favre says that a priest who happened to be present at that moment recognized also in this the work of the devil. He persuaded the parents to entrust their children to God and, convinced by the sincerity of his words, they allowed their daughters to remain in the monastery."

Despite all the consternation and sorrow, parents continued to present their children as candidates, vocations increased, and the work of the Redemptoristines at Foggia began to attract widespread admiration and respect. Fr Favre mentions an unnamed benefactor who became a priest and "bought a house next to the monastery church, and gave it to the Sisters. Every year he also gave them large alms, and saw that they were in want of nothing. "The bishop, seeing that God had evidently sent him to assist this new foundation, made him a protector of the monastery, and he remained its firm friend to the end of his life."

Shortly after Maria Celeste's expulsion from Scala in 1733, the Sisters adopted her new Rule, though without making any reference to her She had been expelled against their better judgement, and out of obedience, but it would have been regarded as a contradiction had they credited her in view of the fact that she had been treated as a rebel - so Mgr Falcoia was given the credit instead. And, for diplomatic reasons, the origin of the rule was falsified. In the Chapter book, it was recorded that "the new Rule, as well as the Constitutions, were dictated by Mgr. Falcoia, who had received supernatural light regarding them."

And in the history of the origin of the order, we read: "After the foundation of this monastery, the nuns lived for some time under the Rule of St Francis de Sales.

Under the direction of Thomas Falcoia, priest of the Congregation of Pii Operarii' and later Bishop of Castellamare they made much progress in virtue. "It came to their knowledge, however, that St Francis de Sales insists on each monastery being founded by a Visitandine nun, and on its being united to the other convents of the order.

"Now they had not taken this into account when founding their monastery, and this double omission might create difficulties for the future. The sisters then became very disturbed and anxious. They felt they were not true religious, since their foundation was lacking in two necessary elements prescribed by the founder of the order. Therefore, they wished for another Rule. But Mgr. Falcoia would not agree, until eventually, he "composed for them from the Gospels some Rules on the imitation of the Saviour.

Fr Favre says that in later years, nuns who entered the convent at Scala "were therefore obliged to believe the false legend which made Falcoia their founder."

The true circumstances were known, and spread abroad, by the Redemptorists.

"To return to the Sisters of Scala, living under such an unfortunate delusion," continues Fr Favre, "it was only in I855 that they remembered her to whom they owed their holy Rule and their very existence as nuns of the Most Holy Redeemer.

That year brought round the centenary of Maria Celeste's death."

The anniversary drew crowds of people to visit her tomb in Foggia and reports of favours granted through her intercession were made known throughout the region - and reached the convent in Scala. It prompted the superior, Mother Mary Alphonsus of the Will of God, to write to the superior at Foggia, mother Mary Teresa of Jesus, seeking information about Maria Celeste She received a warm and enthusiastic response.

"An immense crowd gathered for this anniversary," wrote mother Mary Teresa. "We were all the more astonished, as we had not sent out word of it to the faithful... We have obtained permission to print her picture. This picture is venerated in all the houses of Foggia, and her protection is invoked in all circumstances. Not a day passes without some favour being received through her intercession."

"Would you satisfy my curiosity by telling me how you came to think of asking for the life of this nun, your sister and our Mother? What has happened? A century has gone by since her death (not counting the eighteen years which preceded it, when was a member of your community) and we have never been questioned about her. What has brought you to do so now? It fills me with hope, since nothing occurs without God's will. Who knows what designs God may wish to realize through you."

In that letter of November 10, 1855, Sr Mary Teresa also said that they had preserved the hand-written life of Maria Celeste in Foggia, but that at present it was in the episcopal palace, as the capitulary vicar wanted to read it. It would not be practical to copy the account in its entirety, because of its considerable contents; however, on its return, she would extract the essential facts.

After receiving the document, the superior of Scala noted, in part, in the monastery's archives: "These memoirs were sent to me on my request by the kindness of the aforesaid superior on August 9th, I857. "A picture and piece of clothing belonging to Sr Maria Celeste was sent with them. All this was sent free of charge.

"The portrait is kept in our choir, for in our community we had completely forgotten the memory of this sister. "All honour to this worthy Redemptoristine. Her prayers have been heard. Today the flourishing community of Scala, living now in the full light of justice and truth, are second to none in their devotion to the Venerable Mother.

"The memory of Maria Celeste lives in the monastery. Wherever some particular scene of her life occurred, a tablet is placed recording the incident taken from the autobiography of the Servant of God. Although Maria Celeste had been long forgotten by the sisters of Scala, down through the years her memory was kept alive by the Redemptorists who, says Fr Favre, always regarded her as "a holy soul favoured with great supernatural gifts."

Alphonsus had visited her at Foggia, as did the Redemptorist lay brother, St Gerard Majella, who first met Maria Celeste after he had written a letter to one of his spiritual daughters, a nun of the congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, In the letter, he wrote: "I desire to love God, to keep myself constantly united to him. I desire to do everything for the love of God."

When he heard that a nun was dangerously ill, in a letter to a spiritual daughter, he said: "I do not wish her to die, no, I do not wish it; tell our Divine master that I wish her to become more perfect "Ask God only to call her to himself in her old age, so that she may spend long years in his service. In the name of God, I implore you not to let this excellent sister die. This very day I am beginning a novena to the all-powerful God." His prayers were answered, the nun recovered and lived on into old age.Gerard and Maria Celeste's friendship blossomed and he directed many with vocations to the religious life including his own niece, to the monastery at Foggia.

Towards the end of his life, in what was probably his last letter to Maria Celeste, he wrote: "May the divine grace and the consolation of the Holy Spirit be in your soul and that of your daughters. You will find enclosed the brief of the indulgences accorded to your community. Keep this document carefully, so that the nuns who come after you may also profit from it. "They will then understand that I have a little right to their gratitude, and after my death their charity will inspire them to gain some of these rich indulgences for the profit of my soul.

"I also beg from the future superiors of the monastery the alms of some of their communions. Particularly, I beg of the prioress who will be in office at the time of my death (this was Mother Mary Illuminata, who succeeded her sister, Maria Celeste, and governed the community until her death in November I773) to apply to me for eight days the Sisters' communions, and whatever indulgences they may gain. "On my part, I will pray God to make them saints." Maria Celeste was rich in graces and favours which she used to increase her service of God and mankind.

Our Lord told her that such favours are not signs of the measure of God's love for souls; still less are they the measure of the love of souls for God.

"Know, my daughter," he explained, "that in the world there are many faithful souls who are dear to me, and on whom I have never conferred these favours and supernatural gifts, "I prefer one ounce of pure love in a soul to all the extraordinary graces with which she may be endowed.

"These favours are dear to me, certainly, as enriching the souls who possess them, and in whom I have placed them; and I expect these souls to keep them with perfect fidelity. "But I receive as much glory from those who love me and who have not been enriched by these favours, for they glorify me in great purity of love by their humility. I hide myself within them with great joy. "Thus in heaven souls will be glorified according to the measure of their love, not of their gifts. In the heavenly country strange things, unguessed by the world, will be revealed, for the world esteems souls enriched by extraordinary graces.

"In my kingdom many souls who have followed the ordinary way will have a higher place than those favoured by supernatural gifts, because a great number of the former surpass in love those more highly favoured, and on earth they have received neither honour nor esteem.

To this day, Maria Celeste is called "the holy prioress" in the town of Foggia, where she was consulted by people with various doubts, difficulties and afflictions, and was happy to intercede for them. She describes the apostleship of prayer as "a charity infused by God in the soul for the needs of the church, or the public, or some sinner, or of the souls in purgatory, or of the utility and perfection of just souls.

"God gives to the soul an interior assurance which springs from confidence in him, and which makes the soul pray for whole days at a time, with its mind fixed on God.

"The soul tells Our Lord what it desires of him, speaking with filial abandonment, confident in its God It is God himself who moves the soul to act thus, because he wishes to pour forth his mercy on all creatures. "Therefore the soul feels as great a sense of security as if it had already obtained what it asked. "Yet there are certain things which the soul desires to ask, yet it finds it impossible to do so, experiencing an inner repulsion and feeling itself obliged to ask other graces from God, rather than those it had intended. This is a sign that God does not wish to grant its prayer, for the greater good of souls and for his own greater glory.

Maria Celeste's intercession, on her birthday, preserved Foggia from earthquakes, which had caused the destruction of entire towns in the region. During one of their conversations, she asked the Lord the reason for such devastation. She tells us, "It was because of the grave offences committed by people through their covetousness and avarice. They were full of greed and attached to the things of this world" ; and thereby you showed to all people how passing are the things of this world, and the riches for which people care." To which Fr Favre adds, "Happy are the towns who possess as mediator between man and God's justice a community of contemplative nuns, urged on to prayer and reparation by the example of a holy prioress'"

As with St Margaret Mary, Our Lord, in a symbolical vision, asked for reparation to be made for the insults he receives, especially in the Sacrament of the altar. The desire to make reparation was a very important aspect of her spiritual life; "What affliction do I not feel, piercing my soul like the point of a sword, at the sight of so many creatures indifferent and cold towards you, even among those to whom you grant your choicest graces. The sight of this pierces my soul, my sweetSaviour,"

Jesus urged her to befriend every soul, both within the church and outside it: "I wish you to love them with the same burning love as I do. Just as I thought more of them than of myself when I was on earth, so must you forget yourself and think of these souls whom I love so dearly. And he said: "Enter my heart and consider the beauty of these souls which I have created in my image. You will then no longer be astonished that I came from heaven and died on the Cross for them."

Maria Celeste was well aware of the need for the renunciation of self-love. Our Lord told her: "My daughter, you can never realise sufficiently to what extent creatures are subject to self-love, to pride and to the thirst for happiness. These are like heavy chains binding the soul to earth. "However, in my goodness and providence, I come to their help in order to break these chains bit by bit. I send them trials which thwart their natural inclinations, which are harmful to their spiritual advancement. Yes, my daughter, this self-love is the great obstacle to man's perfection. This is why so few are perfect, though many try to walk in the way of perfection. A great many stop half-way without understanding the nature of the obstacle. I will explain it to you, so that you may enlighten others who may desire to profit from it."

He tells her there are two extremes - a supreme good, the Divine Being, and a supreme evil, which is sin. "On these two extremes depend the two eternities. I am the Being of beauty, virtue, perfection and eternal unmeasured bliss; while sin is the extremity of ugliness misery, misfortune and evil of all kinds. "You can never comprehend so great an evil. Being incapable of penetrating the greatness of my Divine Being, you are incapable of sounding the depths of evil which is sin.

"Just as I contemplate in myself the goodness of which I am the source, so I condemn and punish even the smallest sin. See, my daughter, how much you should hate sin. Think that whatever wrong you do, however slight, is not small in my eyes, for I hate even the shadow of sin.

"Think that in committing a single venial sin you deserve the hatred of all creatures. Therefore I, the only good, in order to remedy this, took on myself your likeness, so as to destroy what you love - that is, your self-love, which takes the place of the love you owe to me." He exhorts her to "meditate day and night on the mystery of the Cross."

Elsewhere, Our Lord makes it clear to Maria Celeste how much he appreciates her devotion to him. "My beloved child," he addresses her, "you warm me by bearing cold; you clothe me by mortification; you feed me when you fast; you rest me when you keep silence, speaking only when necessity obliges it; you sing canticles of love to me when you unite yourself to me by continual aspirations.

"You press me to your heart when, in order to serve me, you overcome your weakness, indispositions, and bodily pains; you embrace me at every act of love done to your neighbour for my sake; you give me exquisite pleasure each time that you make an exterior or interior act of gentleness and humility "Your trust, dependence and diligence are so many keys with which you lock me in your heart."

He invited her to "receive the spirit of meekness and gentleness…You will look on your neighbour with that love which I bore towards my apostles and disciples. With this love you will look on the companions with whom you live. With my compassion you will pity their weakness. "With my charity you will console their sorrows. With my gentleness you will speak to them of the kingdom of God.

With my patience you will bear with their human failings, and will never speak in anger to them, so that in you will be accomplished what is written of me: 'milk and honey are hidden in his tongue.' may your words be all gentleness and love."

Fr Favre writes that "the love of Jesus was the sole passion of her life. Her heart burned with such ardent love that she was obliged, even on winter nights, to remain for some time at the open window of her cell, in order to cool the fire which consumed her whole being."

The Lord tells her "the higher the flight of the bird, the purer is the air it breathes, and the greater its security from hunters. Thus the Christian soul is safer from the attacks of the enemy the more it penetrates into the heaven of my divinity. Mount, therefore, as high as possible into the pure and calm air of my Divine Being "From there you will see the earth like a round cage, in which all creatures are imprisoned and are flying hither and thither in perpetual agitation and suffering. Those just souls who mount upwards to my divinity enjoy, on the contrary, great liberty, uninterrupted happiness and interior peace. "The most happy are those who have the greatest strength in their wings, strengthening them by being convinced of the nothingness of all things, and of their own nothingness, and so they mount higher towards the infinite Being who is All."

Maria Celeste's special vocation was the imitation of the Redeemer. Invited by Jesus to dwell mystically within a crystal globe which represented his heart, he said: "my Divine Heart is your centre. See what a wealth there is in this dwelling. Do not leave this cell prepared for you. On the Cross I opened the door to give you entrance to it. "There you will find all satisfaction both in time and in eternity. In life's sorrows you will find there peace; in temptation and persecution, refuge; in affliction and desolation, comfort. You will there find your friends and all those who love me. Every time that you wish to seek consolation with my saints, you can enjoy their company without speaking, in gentle communication and a peace which the world cannot give. There infinite good is to be found, which is beyond all human understanding."

Maria Celeste responds with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving: "I see thy splendour in the sun, in the moon, the stars, the sky, the earth, the sea, in all plants, trees, fruits, birds and beasts, in the elements of the air, in the whole world I see only you. For you alone have given existence to all things...You alone, O Christ, are the one hope of my soul, in whom alone I trust...my union with your will unites me to my Heavenly Father, because he looks on me in his love, which is nothing but you, Eternal Word. There I lose sight of my miseries and the remembrance of my sorrows.

God spoke to her in other ways, too: "...through the medium of heavenly messengers, or through my guardian angel, who is very faithful to this office with which he has been charged since my childhood. "My angel fulfils this either by inspirations and spiritual impulses, or by formal words, according to whatever God ordains for my good. And I have experienced this, not only from my guardian angel, but also from other celestial spirits, whose action I was able to perceive in the light God gave to my intelligence in the before-mentioned union. "Oh Father of mercy, I thank you for the great goodness you show towards a creature so vile and unworthy as I."

Maria Celeste was deeply devoted to the apostles: "I experienced within me a bright light, and in this light I saw a company of celestial spirits...Next I saw your dear apostles, Peter and Paul, and in a moment I understood the glory which they now enjoy "They promised me their protection and showed me the place which you have prepared for me near to them in eternity. I also saw the place of the other apostles, of St James in particular, whose feast the Church is celebrating today."

Fr Favre quotes Mgr. Gay, who observed, "There is nothing more touching on Earth than to see the singular love of God for certain creatures. It is a revelation of his heart, surpassing the discoveries of even the most eminent theologians...God is an ocean. It is he who makes the rivers into which he pours himself."

Jesus talked to Maria Celeste about the great value of sacramental communion with him: "When I was living on earth,the mere touch of my garments healed the sick, a single look from me was sufficient to remit sins and the punishment of sin.

"How then can I enter into the heart of souls dear to me without purifying them still more by the fire of my charity "This divine fire burns away those involuntary stains which have been contracted through human frailty. That is why, when you receive me sacramentally, you should have the desire of wearing again your baptismal robe, washed in the blood of my heart."

Maria Celeste, meditating on Christ's reference in the Gospel to the will of God as his food, says: "That is why, if he had been called upon to be born, to suffer and to die for one single man, he would have considered this painful and shameful death as nothing, because by it the divine pleasure would have been satisfied."

After Holy Communion one morning, the Lord received all my thoughts and works that were pure, and placed them within your heart, taking great pleasure in them but all the imperfections that through frailty I had committed in my works, you took and threw into a deep pit which yawned at your feet "Thus you showed me that my faults were to be buried and forgotten by you, through your mercy, symbolized by this pit. You placed my little acts of love in your heart to signify that by your infinite love, my love had become worthy in your sight."

Ever before Maria Celeste was the truth that in God we live and move and have our being. In the little world of my soul I hear with the ears of purity a trumpet resounding with overwhelming force. It announces that existence is found only in you, and that all creatures must humble themselves to the depths of their nothingness. "The most perfect men are but as phantoms before you, and as though they did not exist. I see your divine majesty containing and governing all things. You show me that I do not exist save in you."

Maria Celeste's main devotion seems to have been to the Blessed Sacrament, according to Fr Favre, "Her most beautiful hymns are inspired by devotion to this mystery. She instituted in her monastery perpetual adoration every Thursday, and herself often spent the night at the foot of the tabernacle.

"She assures us that Mary had delivered her from countless dangers of body and soul. Maria Celeste composed canticles in honour of Our Lady and meditations on each verse of the Magnificat as well as this prayer which she recited every morning:

"Most Holy Virgin, Mother of God and my mother, you are all my hope, after Jesus. You are my love, my consolation, I have recourse to you. My dearly beloved sovereign, I wish to live and to die in your tender arms. Therefore I renew my homage to you, and I ask of you to be my help, my defence and my comfort during this holy day, and to place me as your devoted daughter under the folds of your virginal cloak.

"I kiss your holy hands, and implore you to bless me, and to obtain for me the blessing of the most holy Trinity."

Christ taught her about three treasures of union with him, all of which are manifestations of perfect love: zeal for souls, abandonment and love of the Cross. He used a striking metaphor to underline the necessity of abandonment: "You are like a little child who, at its mother's breast, does nothing without its mother, and is nourished by the nourishment she takes... "Have no other desire than to rest within this stronghold where nothing can harm you. Seek rest there in all difficulties, in pain, in doubt, in temptation, in fear, in persecution in humiliation.

"Sorrow cannot penetrate this enclosure. Live a life of love. Do not view, nor strive to understand more than I show you. Do not mix yourself up in other people's business, nor be anxious about your own affairs. "Do not trouble about earthly things, but rest in the arms of my divine providence. You are as powerless as a wisp of straw exposed to a violent wind, so also are all creatures, Why, therefore, fear their judgment and their actions? Live as a child at my breast." Maria Celeste realises that it is essential to keep the presence of Jesus within us.

"My experience teaches me that to do anything without special reference to you easily brings a stain upon the soul. That is why it is not astonishing that worldlings so often fall into sin. Our nature is so weak and corrupted that we fall the moment we lose sight of you...The soul who desires to attain perfection must not imagine that it can be achieved without this constant looking with love towards its God...O God grant in your goodness that my soul may never lose sight of you, otherwise I might be drawn into evil."

In one of her dialogues, Maria Celeste said: "O my beloved God, I feel that I cannot live one moment, no, not one single hour without You, and my soul can only rejoice at the thought that every day and every hour brings me nearer to the eternal joy of seeing Your divine face.

The moment she had been eagerly awaiting finally came in the evening of Friday, September I4, I755, the day on which the church celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (now renamed the Triumph of the Cross) She was 59.

"As Maria Celeste's special vocation had been the imitation of the Redeemer," writes Fr Favre, "so her death will bear a touching resemblance with that of Jesus. All witnesses are unanimous in saying that this death was not preceded by any illness or particular infirmity, nor even by pain which might have indicated that the end of this precious life was near.

That Friday morning, she had received Holy Communion. That evening, she requested the Holy Viaticum and the Sacraments of the church. "Her thanksgiving ended," continues Fr Favre, "she asked her confessor, Don Nicholas Lombardi, who was present, to read to her the Passion of Jesus Christ in St John's Gospel.

When the priest came to the words, 'Consummatum est' ('It is finished'), she bowed her head like her divine master, and breathed her last.

"At the same moment an earthquake shook the house, and a noise of chains was heard, as if to show the despairing flight of the devil, who had never once been able to overcome the saint who was now beyond his reach for ever. St Gerard Majella, who was himself about a month away from death, told Brother Stephen, the infirmarian: "I have just seen the soul of Mother Maria Celeste wing its flight to heaven like a dove, to receive there the reward she has merited through her great love for Jesus and Mary."

Our Lord had given her a remarkable assurance many years previously, when he said: "my daughter, know that in this world you will always be united to my Passion, and that you will receive afflictions and infirmities in abundance, for one cannot love without suffering, and all that I arrange and do for you is the outcome of love. "You must be very patient and I promise you faithfully that as soon as your soul leaves your body, I myself will bear it to heaven, so that it can enjoy me for all eternity."

When the mortal remains of Maria Celeste were brought to the church of the Most Holy Redeemer, the people of Foggia proclaimed, "The saint is dead', the saint is dead"', and they converged on the church to pay their respects. Among them was a woman, who, blind from birth, was saddened that she could not see Maria Celeste. There and then she prayed to the saint for the gift of sight, and it was instantly granted to her.

Maria Celeste's body was conveyed, in a coffin, to a wooden pedestal in the vault, as was the custom from the foundation of the convent. In front of the pedestal, on the wall, was a tombstone on which was written 3 Maria Celeste of the Most Holy Redeemer, in the world Julia Crostaroza, foundress, mistress, and perpetual superior of the College of Virgins."

Cardinal Firrao replied from Naples on January 18, 1809, giving his consent that her body be transferred to a place apart, in a new tomb with a suitable epitaph. The body was carried to the monastery church, to its new resting place in a reliquary on the Gospel side of the altar. It was the occasion of new miracles. Don Anthony Mary Gaudagno, chaplain of the church of the most Holy Redeemer for twenty four years, speaking on oath at the introductory process of Maria Celeste's cause, said that when her body was moved, his father, an eyewitness, told him: "The body on its removal had all the appearance of life; the limbs were perfectly flexible, therefore they had no difficulty in clothing it with fresh garments. Many were the wonders granted through Maria Celeste's intercession.

When her cause was introduced, over fifty miracles were related in full. Dr Vincent Nigri told how his healing occurred in February 1864. As a consequence of his ministrations for twenty days to over 600 soldiers stricken by an epidemic of purple typhus, he contracted the disease, became unconscious, and was about to die. "On the eleventh day I was at death's door. At this crisis my wife, seeing that all remedies were in vain, ma