Paola Renata Carboni
Encyclopedia
Venerable Paola Renata Carboni (21 February 1908 - 11 September 1927) was an Italian teenager who is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church
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Carboni was the fourth of eight children of a physician who refused to permit his children to attend church or be instructed in religion. An aunt secretly had the girl baptized
and taught her the beginnings of the catechism
. When she was fourteen she and one of her sisters were sent to a separate school and lived near a devout Catholic family who took them to Mass. Both Carboni and her sister began attending church and studying with a priest, who secretly gave them the sacrament of Holy Communion and confirmation. The girls eventually told their father, who continued to object to their religious practice but reluctantly allowed them to continue attending church.
Carboni had hoped to become a missionary
but her weak health, including a form of colic she suffered from age thirteen, prevented it. She became a teacher instead at a Catholic school, where she taught for two years. She also joined the group Catholic Action
and served as diocesan secretary of the Female Youth. Younger girls often came to her for help with their problems and spiritual counsel. She and her sister made a pilgrimage to Rome in the spring of 1927 and visited places frequented by their favorite saint, Saint Therese of Lisieux. During the pilgrimage Carboni made a vow of virginity.
In August 1927 Carboni contracted typhus
and developed a high fever. She faced death peacefully, to the dismay of her relatives, especially her father, who was helpless to end her suffering or make her well. She was said to have offered up her suffering for the conversion of sinners and for her father, who she hoped would convert to Catholicism. When she died her father refused to enter the church for her funeral, but did go to the graveyard for the service. He remarked, "Now she is with her God." Some years later her father did decide to convert to Catholicism and to believe in God.
Carboni was declared venerable by the Roman Catholic Church in 1993. Her remains are interred in the Church of the Madonna of Mercy in Fermo.
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...
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Carboni was the fourth of eight children of a physician who refused to permit his children to attend church or be instructed in religion. An aunt secretly had the girl 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...
and taught her the beginnings of the catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
. When she was fourteen she and one of her sisters were sent to a separate school and lived near a devout Catholic family who took them to Mass. Both Carboni and her sister began attending church and studying with a priest, who secretly gave them the sacrament of Holy Communion and confirmation. The girls eventually told their father, who continued to object to their religious practice but reluctantly allowed them to continue attending church.
Carboni had hoped to become a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
but her weak health, including a form of colic she suffered from age thirteen, prevented it. She became a teacher instead at a Catholic school, where she taught for two years. She also joined the group Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
and served as diocesan secretary of the Female Youth. Younger girls often came to her for help with their problems and spiritual counsel. She and her sister made a pilgrimage to Rome in the spring of 1927 and visited places frequented by their favorite saint, Saint Therese of Lisieux. During the pilgrimage Carboni made a vow of virginity.
In August 1927 Carboni contracted typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
and developed a high fever. She faced death peacefully, to the dismay of her relatives, especially her father, who was helpless to end her suffering or make her well. She was said to have offered up her suffering for the conversion of sinners and for her father, who she hoped would convert to Catholicism. When she died her father refused to enter the church for her funeral, but did go to the graveyard for the service. He remarked, "Now she is with her God." Some years later her father did decide to convert to Catholicism and to believe in God.
Carboni was declared venerable by the Roman Catholic Church in 1993. Her remains are interred in the Church of the Madonna of Mercy in Fermo.