The Feast of Bl. M. Celeste Crostarosa, September 11, 2024

 Reflection given on the Feast of Bl. M. Celeste Crostarosa, September 11, 2024

A woman of conscience, a woman of liberty of spirit: poor in spirit, pure of heart; persecuted with false claims made against her because of she followed her beloved, Jesus.   Blessed is she, Maria Celeste Crostarosa. 

Her humility came from following in the footsteps of Jesus, the Redeemer when he walked as God-Man for thirty-three years here on earth. 

She began the journey when she was baptized Julia on the Feast of All Saints, a day after her birth on October 31, 1696 in Naples, Italy.  Her devout parents were thrilled to welcome their tenth, of what would be twelve children.

From the early age, Julia began to hear Jesus speaking to her heart, promising to be her sweetest Friend and Guide. 

Young Julia was a vivacious, intelligent child who loved to play games but was more and more drawn to hide away somewhere to listen more closely to Jesus and to pray.

At 11, when Julia received her First Communion, her joy was boundless because Jesus invited her into His Divine Heart saying, "Enter into this wound; leave all creatures and love me alone.”

By the time she was 21, Jesus told her, “I have chosen you to be My spouse.”  Julia first tried her vocation with the Carmelites. At the age of 23 and newly professed, she was made Novice Mistress.  But 4 years later, that monastery was closed due to a meddling benefactor.

Not long afterwards, Julia and two siblings enter a monastery in Scala, high above the Amalfi coast.  A novice again, she is given the name Maria Celeste.    Now the time had come for the Holy Redeemer to reveal the Father’s Plan of Pure Love through Sr. Maria Celeste.

On April 25, 1725, when Celeste received the Host, she fell into extasy for the Lord Jesus had united His whole being to hers and engraved on her heart a New Rule of life for the nuns of the monastery to be in the Church and in the world a Living Memory of Christ’s work of salvation. 

He also appeared dressed in red, white and blue, holding the world in his hand. Jesus said, “The Sisters are to clothe themselves in the red robe of charity: to follow Me who died on the cross as a sign of the Father’s immense, never-ending love and mercy. White for purity of heart and the blue mantel as a sign of My humility and My work of salvation uniting heaven to earth.”

Imagine having to tell your Novice Mistress about this new development.  Yet, the Novice Mistress was overjoyed because she knew the community needed a new rule of life.  She directed Celeste to write out the new rule.  Celeste obeyed, but when the Spiritual Father of the monastery heard about this vision he called Celeste delusional, a troublemaker, a witch.

For five years there is much confusion in the monastery until the Spiritual Father asked a young priest, Alphonsus Liguori, who was a civil and canon lawyer, to interview the community in Scala, particularly the so-called visionary, Celeste.

Alphonsus, after hearing from Celeste, deemed her revelations to be truly from God and recommended the New Rule be adopted by the Sisters for the glory of God.  On the feast of Pentecost, 1731, the Nuns adopted the New Rule and, on the Transfiguration, donned their red, white and blue habits.

These hopeful beginnings did not end Celeste’s troubles: the Spiritual Father continued to misjudge her soul.  Because of liberty of conscience, Sr. Celeste decided to abandon that Spiritual Father.    Ultimately, that led to Celeste, with her 2 siblings, to be expelled from the primo Redemptoristine monastery in Scala.

In all these trials, Celeste’s Beloved Jesus, reassured her with these words, “In everything that happens, in trials and crosses, they are really happening to me.  Love me alone.  Make of yourself an echo of My Pure Love.”   

While searching for a monastery to put into action God’s Plan of Love, Celeste was asked to reform a Dominican monastery and orphanage that had grown lax.  They thought she was an angel sent from heaven to help.  Yet, troubles followed her as old rumors of her life in Scala still circulated.    At one point, she was brought before the Inquisition.  Thankfully, nothing came of it. 

In a couple of years, the Dominicans had reformed and Celeste was finally able establish her own monastery in Foggia in 1738 with the Rule given to her by the Holy Redeemer.  There she lived her life of prayer as Mother Prioress Maria Celeste of the Holy Savior.

Celeste finished her journey on earth when she died on the Exaltation of the Cross, at the age of 59.  How apropos for her to die on that feast day for she followed her Beloved so closely in life, and Him crucified. 

Blessed Celeste was a mystic, a founder, a prodigious writer, a strong woman of faith and liberty of conscience, who had all sorts of things said falsely about her.  And yet, her message of the Lord’s mercy and plentiful redemption has spread throughout the world.  In 39 monasteries, in 27 countries, women and men of faith have joined the Redemptoristine Nuns in following this humble instrument of God.  In 2016, Sister M. Paz and I had the privilege to be in Foggia, Italy for her beatification.

So, today, we rejoice and are glad to have before us in Bl. Celeste an example of humility and strength, purity of love, deep faith and trust in following the Redeemer.  May we be like her and say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” and so come to be blessed in the kingdom of heaven.