Edvige Carboni | |
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| Born | (1880-05-02)2 May 1880 Pozzomaggiore,Sassari,Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 17 February 1952(1952-02-17) (aged 71) Rome,Lazio,Italy |
| Resting place | San Giorgio Martire,Pozzomaggiore,Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 15 June 2019, Ippodromo Generale Eugenio Unali,Pozzomaggiore,Sassari,Italy by CardinalGiovanni Angelo Becciu |
| Feast | 17 February |
Edvige Carboni (2 May 1880 – 17 February 1952) was anItalianRoman Catholic fromSardinia who relocated toRome and became well known among the faithful and religious alike for herecstasies andangelic visions.[1] She recorded an extensive spiritual journal in which she recorded appearances fromJesus Christ as well as saints such asGemma Galgani andJohn Bosco. Carboni was said to have experienced demonic experiences andstigmata.[2]
Edvige Carboni was born inSassari on the evening of 2 May 1880 as the second of six children to Giovanni Battista Carboni (d. 1937) and Maria Domenica Pinna (d. 1910); her sister was Paulina (b. 1895) and she also had four brothers (including Galdino (15 April 1889 – 7 March 1977)) and at least one other sister. Carboni received herbaptism on the following 4 May 1880 from the vice-parish priest Sanna. She received herConfirmation in 1884 fromMgr. Eliseo Giordano and made a vow to remain chaste in 1885. She started school in 1886 and finished three grades of education.[1]
Her mother recalled Carboni's birth and told her that on that occasion she had seen a luminous host in the monstrance and would tell her daughter this because: "If I die, you must receiveHoly Communion every day and you should be very good, becauseJesus, a few moments after you were born, showed me a host, as I have told you".[2]
Her mother taught herembroidery as a child and she would work with her father in the embroidery business. She also spent time in the convent of the Sisters of Saint Vincent inAlghero where thenuns led a course in embroidery. Her mother's frail health saw her tend to the education and care of her younger siblings as well as other domestic duties.
Carboni made her First Communion in 1891. She wanted to become a nun in 1895 but her mother disapproved of it and she took this disapproval as a sign of the will ofGod.[1] In 1895 her sister Paulina was born. From 1896 her visions of Jesus and Mary became ever more frequent. She became a professed member of theThird Order of Saint Francis in 1906 and belonged to an association known as the Friends of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus; she began recording her thoughts in a spiritual journal. Her mother died in 1910 and her responsibilities tripled.
In her grandmother's home remained a replica ofRaphael's painting of theBlessed Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus: she would climb a chair to reach the image and would say to the Blessed Mother: "My mother, I love you. Give me your child so that I can play with Him".[2] Carboni was required to do the shopping due to her mother's ill health despite being fearful of having to shop in the evening. But herguardian angel appeared to her and told her: "Don't be afraid. I am with you and I keep you good company".
She attended her brother Galdino's marriage to Penelope Gerundini (8 May 1899 – 31 December 1979).
Her spiritual gifts includedlevitation and the reading of hearts as well as the discernment of spirits and frequent visits from the souls inPurgatory.[2] She also had several visions ofAloysius Gonzaga and on their first encounter he asked her: "Do you know me?" to which she replied that she did not. Gonzaga said: "I am Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. I have come to tell you that I love you very much and that you should love Jesus always".[1]
Carboni stated in her diary that once during prayer, she was visited byBenito Mussolini, former Italian dictator, who said to her: "purgatory is terrible for me because I waited until the last moment to repent."[3] According to her, God later informed Carboni that Mussolini's soul entered Heaven.[3]
Carboni noted in her spiritual journal on 16 November 1938 how she receivedstigmata – for she wanted to suffer for the glory of God – while she recorded in her journal on 12 June 1941 her first encounter withJohn Bosco. Bosco even invited her to enroll as aSalesian in an appearance on 25 September 1941.[1] Carboni also received thetransverberation and recorded a case of demonic encounter in December 1941.[2] Her experiences with theDevil became more aggressive as time progressed. On one occasion she was kicked in the legs and on another her gold fillings were stolen. She once was confined to her bed for a while after a hammer hit her in the knees.
Carboni experienced a number of visions from saints. She began to experiencebilocation in 1925 and this grew greater duringWorld War II. In 1929 her sister Paulina found a job as a teacher in Marcellina Scalo – a small town betweenRome andTivoli. Her father did not want Paulina to leave so the entire family relocated fromSardinia to the mainland. In 1934 she moved toAlbano Laziale until the death of her father in 1937 and she finally settled in Rome in 1938.[4] From 1941 she became part of the Confraternity of the Passion of Scala Santa in Rome.[2] On 11 August 1941 she wrote of Jesus allowing her a view ofHeaven.
Carboni spent the last fourteen years of her life living with her sister Paulina in Rome.[2] Her finalspiritual director was thePassionist priest Ignacio Parmeggiani. Her time in Rome saw her teachcatechism while tending to the poor and the ill.[5] She received praise for her piety from theServant of God Giovanni Battista Manzella and priests such as Ernesto Maria Piovella and Felice Cappello.
On 17 February 1952 she got up in the morning to attendMass and came home for a meal before going back to church to hear Father Lombardi preach a sermon. She and her sister arrived home via train at 8:30pm when she complained that she did not feel well. Her sister summoned a doctor and two priests from their parish who gave her theLast Rites. Carboni died ofangina pectoris at 10:30pm and was buried in Albano Laziale.[2] Her grave was with that of her brother Galdino and his wife.
Her remains from a whitecoffin were exhumed in October 2015 for canonical inspection as part of the canonization cause. Her remains were relocated as a result of this.
The beatification process opened in theDiocese of Rome in a diocesan process that opened in December 1968 and concluded sometime later after having taken all of the available documents and interrogatories – this also included her spiritual journal.[1]The cause for beatification commenced in 1968; she was accorded the title ofServant of God on 29 April 1994.Pope Francis titled her asVenerable on 4 May 2017 upon the confirmation of her life ofheroic virtue. Francis later confirmed a miracle attributed to her intercession in late 2018 and she was beatified in her native Sardinia on 15 June 2019.[6]
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