A LITTLE FLOWER (FIORINA) FROM ITALY IS BEATIFIED IN KENYA

By Fr. Casmir Odundo

Sr. M. Carola Cecchin 'Fiorina'

“Henceforth she shall be called blessed.” wrote Pope Francis, in the Apostolic Letter declaring that Sr. Maria Carola Cecchin “Fiorina” Blessed, which was read on his behalf by His Eminence, Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, the Archbishop of Kigali, Rwanda. The Cardinal presided over the beatification and the celebration of Mass on behalf of Pope Francis.

Sr. Maria Carola Cecchin was born on 3rd April 1877 at Cittadella, Padua, in Italy. She was baptised the next day and called “Fiorina”. At a very young age Fiorina felt the desire to offer herself completely to God. At the age of 19 she entered the Little House of Divine Province (Cottolengo Sisters) in Turin. When she became a novice, she took the name Maria Carola. On the Solemnity of Epiphany in 1899 she made her first profession. After her profession she worked with the poor in Italy, and it was while there that she was inspired by the missionaries who returned from the missions and longed to go herself too to the mission.

This desire was fulfilled in the year 1905 when she embarked for Kenya, in Africa. On arrival, she worked in Limuru, Thuthu, Mugoiri, Nyeri, Igoji and finally in Tigania where she spent her last five years. In total she was in Kenya for 20 years as a sister and a mother of the Poor. She was known as a sister of “few words but many actions.” She visited the sick in the villages where she was called Mwari Mwega (a Good daughter) and was a tireless catechist in the villages. She spoke perfect Kikuyu and Kimeru, the local dialects. Sr. Carola was not in a hurry to leave Kenya. She famously said, “I will be the last to leave.” In 1925 she was recalled to Italy, and she obeyed. She boarded a Steam Ship. As they moved across the Red Sea, she fell sick and a few days later she died and was buried in the waves of the Red Sea. Her last words uttered with a smile were, “Yes Jesus, I am yours, all yours. Mary, my mother, present me to Jesus. I love you and desire to be with you in paradise.” That day was on 13 November 1925.

Adapting the words of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli Tutti to Sr. Carola, the Cottolengo Sisters described their sister as, “a model of missionary life, respectful of the culture and of the people of Kenya— a model of inculturation.”

The Diocesan Inquiry for the Canonization of Sister Maria Carola was opened on 24th April 2014, in the Archdiocese of Turin by Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia. It was closed in the Church of the Little House of Divine Providence in Turin on 7th October 2014, by the same Archbishop after 17 sessions.

Why did her cause begin after so many years? 89, to be precise? According to the Cottolengo Sisters, Fathers and Brothers, their founder St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo wanted his sons and daughters to be content with the heroism of daily life of sanctity. But of course, this seems not to be the case for Blessed Carola. One year after her death, her sister, Sister Scholastica Piano, who had also been on the same mission in Africa with Sr. Carola, felt the need to document the history of Sr. Carola. This work was later corroborated with written testimonies from Consolata Fathers and from brothers, sisters and all who knew Sr. Carola. The work of Sr. Scolastica was one of the main reliable sources on the information on her life.

On the 13th of December 2021, Pope Francis at the special audience granted to the Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, approved the publication the decree on the Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Sister Maria Carola Cecchin. According to the postulator Sr Antonietta Bosetti, also a Cottolengo sister, “The miracle concerned the return to life in a complete and lasting way, without any scientific explanation of new-born Msafiri Hilary Kiama who had been confirmed ‘stillbirth’, for coming to the light without any signs of life and lack of cardiac activity, muscle tone and purple colouring”. The said child was born on 14th April 2013 in the Land Rover on the way from Gatunga to Matiri (Meru –Kenya) and later on with the incessant prayer of Sr. Catherine Kathoni, a Cottolengo sister, seeking intercession of the servant of God Sr. Maria Carola, suddenly the child started breathing and now after nine years the child is growing serenely.”

Sr. Catherine Kathoni, herself a nurse by profession, gave the following testimony regarding the miracle, today on Capuchin TV before the Mass for the beatification began, “An expectant mother came to Gatunga Mission dispensary on 12th April 2013. We sent her home, and she came back on 13th April 2013 in the evening. We decided to take her to Materi Mission hospital. Normally, we used to refer patients to a nearby Mission hospital but that evening it had rained heavily and the roads were inaccessible. The mother went into labour on the way. The driver had to stop the car. The baby was born without crying. Without a heartbeat and without any signs of life. We had to put him aside and concentrate on the mother who was bleeding profusely. It was still birth. When the mother regained consciousness, she asked about her baby three times. ‘Is my baby alive?’ All of us were silent. It was then that I uttered openly what I had been praying in my heart. ‘Maria Carola do a miracle!’ The child opened her arms and sneezed. ‘He is alive!’ I shouted, ‘It's a boy!’ We had a long and difficult night as both the mother and the baby had to be cared for. The mother was still bleeding a lot and the baby started to change colour. We had to rush to the nearby Marimati Hospital. In the end, we returned back by 7am the next day…as I alighted from the car, carrying the baby in my arms, I showed my superior, who was waiting for us saying: ‘A miracle from Sr. Carola!’

The baby later developed some ailments, but every time the family interceded through Sr. Carola the ailments vanished immediately. The parents named the boy Msafiri (because he was born on the way) and Kiama (meaning ‘miracle’).

The young man is now 9 years old and as expected is obviously unaware of everything. Asked what he would like to become in future, he said, “I want to be a policeman.” What is remarkable about the miracles is that the parents of Kiama and her family are not Catholics but Protestants, (Methodists.) “I believe it is a great miracle because even later when he had a great swelling on the head, it disappeared immediately after praying through Sr. Carola.” Said the boy's mother. “I am still a Methodist, I am not catholic, though after the incident, once every month I go to the Catholic Church to give thanks. We formed a prayer group, and we believe in the intercession of Sr. Carola.” She added.

Cardinal Kambanda

In his homily during the Mass for the Beatification, Cardinal Kambanda said, “Blessed Carola is a gift to the churches in Padua, Turin and Meru,Kenya. We have a sister who can intercede us in heaven and one whom we can imitate. She knew this place well and spent her youth for the service of the gospel. The fact that the locals called her ‘Mwari mwega’ shows how much she identified herself with the people. She is a model of a great missionary. She represents the holiness of many missionaries in those days who accepted to endure many risks. They left their home country without knowing whether they will ever come back. They made long journeys on the risky sea, and then by road and on foot. Many died on the way… Sr. Carola trusted the Lord so much and accepted these risks on the mission. It is only when one comes to know that God cares for him or her, that one can give herself so totally.”

On his Part, Archbishop Martin Kivuva, the President of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, underlined the fact that as we celebrate the new Blessed, it's a time to also remember the present missionaries. ‘Those still working today in the missions.’ Representing Italy was Italy's Ambassador to Kenya Roberto Natali and his wife. He noted that through her life, works, death and now beatification, Blessed Carola has done a lot already in cementing the relationship between Kenya and Italy. Present at the occasion was Blessed Carola’s great grandnephew, Alesandro Cecchin, other family members and Italians from Padua and Turin who came to witness the historic celebration. Also present were Bishops from Tanzania, Peru, of course Kenya as well as representatives from other faiths and many political leaders.

Archbishop Van Megen

On his part, Kenya's Papal Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop van Megen, mentioned that, in many ways, Carola Cecchin, “is a Kenyan Blessed” and called for her intercession in the cause of the Beatification of Cardinal Otunga.

Sr. Carola is the third missionary to Kenya to be raised to the altar. The first was Irene Stephanie 'Nyaatha', a Consolata Missionary who was beatified on 30th May 2015 at Dedan Kimathi University by Cardinal Pengo. The second one is Sr. Leonella Sgorbati, a martyr, also a Consolata missionary who was beatified in Gazzola, Piacenza, Italy on 17th Sept 2006 by Cardinal Angelo Amato. Interestingly, all of these three are sisters, all of them are Italians and all of them are associated with religious orders founded in Turin.

The beatification of Sr. Carola could not have come in a better time. We are in the month of November, when we reflect on one of the important tenets of our faith: the communion of saints. The feast of Blessed Carola will be celebrated every year on the 13th of November. The day of her death which is also her Dies Natalis, the day of her admission in heaven.

Finally, Blessed Carola often repeated this aspiration, “A good death pays everything…” It is difficult to comprehend, especially today exactly what she meant. When you reflect on her life, her death and her burial at sea, it gets even more complicated. But perhaps today, during her beatification, we finally begin to get the sense of the meaning of these words.