Blessed Giulia Crostarosa

Giulia Crostarosa (31 October 1696 – 14 September 1755) was an Italian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptoristines), an order of contemplative nuns. Her founding of the Redemptoristines was the culmination of mystical visions and her devotion to the way of life they showed her. She assumed the religious name of "Maria Celeste" when she became a professed nun. She was also instrumental in encouraging Alphonsus Liguori to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), a missionary order of priests and brothers. Pope Francis declared her to be Venerable for her life of heroic virtue on 3 June 2013; a miracle attributed to her intercession was approved in 2015 which paved the path for her beatification, which took place on 18 June 2016 in Foggia with Cardinal Angelo Amato presiding on the behalf of the pope. Giulia Crostarosa was born on 31 October 1696 in Naples with the baptismal name of Giulia Marcella Crostarosa. She was the tenth of twelve children born to Francesco Crostarosa and Paola Battistini Caldari; descended from the Lords of Abruzzo and Aquila. Crostarosa was immersed in spiritual life and collaborated with Father Bartolomeo Cacace who served as her spiritual director. As a young woman, she accompanied her sister Ursula to Marigliano to become a Carmelite nun in 1718, taking the name "Candida". While there, she met Father Thomas Falcoia of the Pious Workers, who served as her spiritual director following the death of Cacace. She remained in the convent for under a decade and in 1724 relocated along with her sister to enter a religious conservatory founded by Falcoia in Scala, high above the Bay of Amalfi. At the new convent, she changed her religious name to "Maria Celeste". Her first recorded vision of Jesus Christ was on 25 April 1725 when she was still a novice, seeing him "...in a wonderfully pure light... with an inexpressible jubilation of love...