Chiara Luce Badano was born in Sassello, a small village in Italy. She was a beautiful girl full of joy, who loved sports, outdoor activities, hanging out with friends. You could simply say that Chiara loved life.
Chiara was very popular. She had a lot of friends, she played sports, and she loved to sing and dance. But when asked, she said she did not try to bring Jesus to her friends with words. She tried to bring Jesus to them with her example and how she lived her life. When she was 17, Chiara learned she had a very serious form of bone cancer. Treatments were painful and unsuccessful. She became paralyzed. One day someone asked her if she hoped to walk again, and her answer was no. When she suffered, she felt closer to Jesus. She even refused to take pain medication that would make her too sleepy to continue to live her life.
Chiara died in 1990 at the age of 18 and yet today her life, lived to the fullest, continues to deeply touch people throughout the world – especially young people – who are transformed by her light.
Within nine years, the bishop of her diocese began the work on her cause for canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared her “Blessed” in 2010. “Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness,” and that’s what Chiara showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare movement, the pope said.
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Towards the end of Chiara Luce’s life, she said: “The youth are the future. I can’t run anymore, but I would like to pass them the torch, like at the Olympics, where someone runs, then stops and passes the torch to someone else: because they have only one life, and it’s worth it to spend it well.”
See our commitment to “take the torch” here.
We are all invited to think of a concrete way you can take the torch that Chiara passed. Then tell us what does it mean for you? What will you do concretely this year? How will you carry the torch?
Place your answer here!
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On Chiara Luce’s feast day, October 29, 2024, the Vatican introduced an anime-style character called Luce, who will serve as the pilgrim-styled mascot of the 2025 Jubilee Year in which pilgrimage and hope will serve as prominent themes.
Clad in a yellow raincoat, mud-stained boots, and a pilgrim’s cross, Luce’s mission is to guide young pilgrims toward hope and faith with her trusty dog Santino at her side. Shells glimmer in her eyes, recalling the scallop shell of the Camino de Santiago, an emblem of the pilgrimage journey.
Simone Legno, the Italian co-founder of the pop culture brand tokidoki, designed Luce and her “pilgrim friends” — Fe, Xin, and Sky, each outfitted in brightly colored jackets.
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Feast day celebration – October 29.
Prayerful reflection – annual virtual session.
All links: https://linktr.ee/ycna