Antonietta Meo
Encyclopedia
The Venerable Antonietta Meo (December 15, 1930 – July 3, 1937) was an Italian
girl who may become the youngest saint
(who is not a martyr
) ever canonized
by the Roman Catholic Church
.
household in Rome
as the younger daughter of Michele and Maria Meo. She was nicknamed "Nennolina." She attended Catholic schools and stood out as an active, charisma
tic little girl who led her playmates in all their games, even after she became ill, and was popular with them because of her kindness. Her teachers said she was a child like other children, but stood out because of her personal charm
and her sense of humor and the joy
ousness of her personality.
She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma
, an aggressive form of bone cancer, at the age of five after she fell and injured her knee and the injury didn't heal. When her leg had to be amputated, she bore the ordeal "cheerfully." She was fitted with a heavy, artificial leg so she could keep playing with other youngsters. Catholic theologians have called her a "mystic"
because the six-year-old wrote "extraordinary" letters to Jesus Christ in the last months of her life that displayed understanding and actions beyond the normal for a child of her age. "Dear baby Jesus, you are holy, you are good," she wrote in one of the letters. "Help me, grant me your grace
and give me back my leg. If you don't want to, then may your will be done."
At first she dictated letters to her mother; later she wrote poems and letters herself and left each at the foot of her crucifix
. In another letter she wrote: "Dear Jesus, I love you very much. I want to abandon myself in your hands. I want to abandon myself in your arms. Do with me what you want. Help me with your grace
. You help me, since without your grace, I am nothing." She wrote or dictated more than 100 letters to Jesus or to the Virgin Mary, describing "holy visions" in many of them. After Mass
, people sometimes saw her approach the tabernacle
and say, "Jesus, come and play with me!"
The child viewed the loss of her leg as a sacrifice to Jesus for the conversion
of sin
ners. "I am very happy that Jesus gave me this problem so that I may be his dearest one," she told her father, Michele, after her leg was amputated. "Pain
is like fabric, the stronger it is, the more it's worth," she told her father. She told her spiritual guide: "For an instant I lie down on my wound, so as to offer more pain to Jesus," and told her mother: "When you feel pain, you have to keep quiet and offer it to Jesus for a sinner. Jesus suffered so much for us, but He hadn't committed any sin: He was God. How could we complain, we who are sinners and always offend him?" She was eager to receive the sacrament
s of the Catholic Church and was baptized
, made her first confession
, was confirmed and made her first communion
before her death. She also received extreme unction, the last rites, in June 1937.
She insisted on writing a last letter to Jesus a few days before her death, even though it was interrupted when she had to vomit. In it, she asked Jesus to take care of everyone she loved, and asked for strength to bear her pain. She finished the letter with the words "Your little girl sends you a lot of kisses." She told her mother when it was time for her to die. "In a few hours, I will die, but I will not suffer anymore, and you shouldn't cry. I should have lived a few days longer, but Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus
said, "it's enough!" After the child's death, her mother had a vision of Antonietta in a glorified state
that reassured her that the child was now in heaven
.
approved a decree on December 18, 2007, seventy years after her death, praising the girl's "heroic virtues"
and giving approval for the process to begin to declare her a saint. Once the Pope recognizes a candidate's "heroic virtues"
, they are called a "Venerable Servant of God." The process requires two approved miracles to first beatify her and then canonize her as a saint. One miracle has already been attributed to Antonietta. A woman in Indiana
claimed that she was healed of Hepatitis C
after praying to Antonietta.
A shrine with relics of her life is in the Basilica Santa Croce, in Gerusalemme in Rome, the church where she was baptized and spent much of her time in meditation. Antonietta's body was moved inside the church in 1999.
was fifteen when he was thrown to the lions in 177 A.D. The youngest saint ever canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in modern times is Maria Goretti
, who died in 1902 at age eleven and was canonized in 1950 as "virgin and martyr." The youngest saint not a martyr ever to be canonized is Domenico Savio, who studied for the priesthood but died of pleurisy
at age fourteen in 1857. He was canonized in 1954.
The Vatican Congregation for Saints previously required that a candidate for sainthood reach some level of maturity. It relaxed those rules in 1981, and declared that "It is possible to speak of a human being being precocious in their sense of good and evil." Fatima
visionaries
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
, who died at the ages of nine and ten respectively in 1919 and 1920, were beatified by Pope John Paul II
in 2000.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
girl who may become the youngest saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
(who is not a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
) ever canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
Life and death
Antonietta was raised in an upper middle classUpper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
household in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as the younger daughter of Michele and Maria Meo. She was nicknamed "Nennolina." She attended Catholic schools and stood out as an active, charisma
Charisma
The term charisma has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent. For some theological usages the term is rendered charism, with a meaning the same as sense 2...
tic little girl who led her playmates in all their games, even after she became ill, and was popular with them because of her kindness. Her teachers said she was a child like other children, but stood out because of her personal charm
Charisma
The term charisma has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent. For some theological usages the term is rendered charism, with a meaning the same as sense 2...
and her sense of humor and the joy
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
ousness of her personality.
She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive cancerous neoplasm arising from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin that exhibit osteoblastic differentiation and produce malignant osteoid...
, an aggressive form of bone cancer, at the age of five after she fell and injured her knee and the injury didn't heal. When her leg had to be amputated, she bore the ordeal "cheerfully." She was fitted with a heavy, artificial leg so she could keep playing with other youngsters. Catholic theologians have called her a "mystic"
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
because the six-year-old wrote "extraordinary" letters to Jesus Christ in the last months of her life that displayed understanding and actions beyond the normal for a child of her age. "Dear baby Jesus, you are holy, you are good," she wrote in one of the letters. "Help me, grant me your grace
Actual grace
Actual grace is, in Roman Catholic theology, a share in God's life. It is contrasted with sanctifying grace, which is a state of being that can be permanent, in that it consists only in a passing influence of God on the soul....
and give me back my leg. If you don't want to, then may your will be done."
At first she dictated letters to her mother; later she wrote poems and letters herself and left each at the foot of her crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
. In another letter she wrote: "Dear Jesus, I love you very much. I want to abandon myself in your hands. I want to abandon myself in your arms. Do with me what you want. Help me with your grace
Actual grace
Actual grace is, in Roman Catholic theology, a share in God's life. It is contrasted with sanctifying grace, which is a state of being that can be permanent, in that it consists only in a passing influence of God on the soul....
. You help me, since without your grace, I am nothing." She wrote or dictated more than 100 letters to Jesus or to the Virgin Mary, describing "holy visions" in many of them. After Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
, people sometimes saw her approach the tabernacle
Church tabernacle
A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . A less obvious container, set into the wall, is called an aumbry....
and say, "Jesus, come and play with me!"
The child viewed the loss of her leg as a sacrifice to Jesus for the conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
of sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
ners. "I am very happy that Jesus gave me this problem so that I may be his dearest one," she told her father, Michele, after her leg was amputated. "Pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
is like fabric, the stronger it is, the more it's worth," she told her father. She told her spiritual guide: "For an instant I lie down on my wound, so as to offer more pain to Jesus," and told her mother: "When you feel pain, you have to keep quiet and offer it to Jesus for a sinner. Jesus suffered so much for us, but He hadn't committed any sin: He was God. How could we complain, we who are sinners and always offend him?" She was eager to receive the sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s of the Catholic Church and was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, made her first confession
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
, was confirmed and made her first communion
First Communion
The First Communion, or First Holy Communion, is a Catholic Church ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church...
before her death. She also received extreme unction, the last rites, in June 1937.
She insisted on writing a last letter to Jesus a few days before her death, even though it was interrupted when she had to vomit. In it, she asked Jesus to take care of everyone she loved, and asked for strength to bear her pain. She finished the letter with the words "Your little girl sends you a lot of kisses." She told her mother when it was time for her to die. "In a few hours, I will die, but I will not suffer anymore, and you shouldn't cry. I should have lived a few days longer, but Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus
Thérèse de Lisieux
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux , or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin, was a French Carmelite nun...
said, "it's enough!" After the child's death, her mother had a vision of Antonietta in a glorified state
Glory (religion)
Glory is used to denote the manifestation of God's presence in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. God's glory is often associated with visible displays of light, e.g. thunderbolts, fire, brightness....
that reassured her that the child was now in heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
.
Canonization efforts
Efforts to make her a saint began soon after her death. Her case was referred to the Congregation for the Promulgation of Saints in May 1972. Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
approved a decree on December 18, 2007, seventy years after her death, praising the girl's "heroic virtues"
Heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Roman Catholic church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it connotes a degree of bravery, fame, and...
and giving approval for the process to begin to declare her a saint. Once the Pope recognizes a candidate's "heroic virtues"
Heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Roman Catholic church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it connotes a degree of bravery, fame, and...
, they are called a "Venerable Servant of God." The process requires two approved miracles to first beatify her and then canonize her as a saint. One miracle has already been attributed to Antonietta. A woman in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
claimed that she was healed of Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...
after praying to Antonietta.
A shrine with relics of her life is in the Basilica Santa Croce, in Gerusalemme in Rome, the church where she was baptized and spent much of her time in meditation. Antonietta's body was moved inside the church in 1999.
Other young saints
Other young people have been canonized as saints. Fourteen-year-old Saint Pancras was beheaded in 304 A.D. after he became a Christian, and Saint PonticusBlandina
-Martyrdom:In the summer of 177, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, witnessed an increasing hostility to Christians in his own city. First they were prohibited from entering public places such as the markets and the baths. Then, when the provincial governor was outside the city, the mob broke loose....
was fifteen when he was thrown to the lions in 177 A.D. The youngest saint ever canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in modern times is Maria Goretti
Maria Goretti
Maria Goretti is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, and is one of its youngest canonized saints. She died from multiple stab wounds inflicted by her attempted rapist after she refused him...
, who died in 1902 at age eleven and was canonized in 1950 as "virgin and martyr." The youngest saint not a martyr ever to be canonized is Domenico Savio, who studied for the priesthood but died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
at age fourteen in 1857. He was canonized in 1954.
The Vatican Congregation for Saints previously required that a candidate for sainthood reach some level of maturity. It relaxed those rules in 1981, and declared that "It is possible to speak of a human being being precocious in their sense of good and evil." Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fátima is a famous title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared in apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. These occurred on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13...
visionaries
Visionary
Defined broadly, a visionary, is one who can envision the future. For some groups this can involve the supernatural or drugs.The visionary state is achieved via meditation, drugs, lucid dreams, daydreams, or art. One example is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century artist/visionary and Catholic saint...
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto , also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, together with their cousin, Lúcia dos Santos were the children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and...
, who died at the ages of nine and ten respectively in 1919 and 1920, were beatified by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in 2000.