They made all decisions together. Also the fact that after the tumor has been excised, he will not undergo chemotherapy so that their son can be born healthy. Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin died several months after Riccardo's birth. Soon she will be blessed.
Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin
- She was not a hero who, in a borderline situation, made a heroic decision for some and an incomprehensible decision for others. All her life she let God come first. She often told her husband that love makes the world go round, says Bishop Antonio Mattiazzo, who, after reading Maria Cristina's spiritual diary, decided to start her beatification process. The Ordinary of Padua emphasizes that he was struck by the depth of the witness to her authentic faith.
- It is easier to say that my wife was a saint than to express it in concrete terms. She cooked, put on new washing machines, took care of the apartment. And she was wiping the backs of our children who came into the world one by one. She was stubborn, so we argued a lot, but we reconciled just as quickly - this is how Carlo Mocellin recalled his wife in one of the Italian TV programs about the saints next door.
All for God, but in the family
Maria Cristina's husband confessed that she wanted to become a nun very much, like those she met at the parish oratory, where she was deeply involved. She came from a deeply religious family. The church was her home.
Her husband recalls that she fought a fierce struggle with God asking why - when she is sure of her religious path - He puts in her path a man who is not indifferent to her and wakes her heart to beat faster.
They met during the holidays she spent with her grandparents, and it was love at first sight. Maria Cristina was 16 at the time and her future husband was 17. It was 1985. It was not easy to travel the 250 km between the Veneto and Lombardy regions where they lived. There was no social media and ubiquitous chats.
The letters they wrote to each other have been preserved. In one of them, Maria Cristina noted: "I realized that my life can be whole for God also in my family."
The first cross
When she accepts Carl's proposal, she is 17 years old. Only a year later, the first cross falls on the young, which, however, as Maria notes in her diary, will cement their love. In a letter to her future husband, she wrote:
“It's really love that makes the world go round! With my love for you and with this great gift which is life, I contribute in my own little way to making the world a better ... Don't you think it's amazing? If it weren't for you and me, who love each other, the world would lack something that no one else but us could give.
The diagnosis turns their youthful world upside down. The pain from the malignant sarcoma on the left thigh is getting worse. Maria Cristina goes through three cycles of chemotherapy.
As far as the school allows, Carlo is at her side. Young people become convinced that they want to go through life together. Maria Cristina notes: “I realized that everything is a gift, even a disease, because if you live it as best as possible, it can really help you develop. We are the image of the greatest love that is God! And we will be good spouses and parents if we always have a cross before us as a sign to follow and a rule of life. "
Luck
The disease is finally overcome. Despite a long break in studies, thanks to her determination, Maria Cristina passes her high school diploma. On February 2, 1991, they enter into a sacramental marriage before God. Nine months later, Francesco is born, and another year later, Lucia.
They are happy. Maria Cristina's dream comes true, and after the wedding she asked God: "Don't give me one child, give me at least a ten!".
- My wife was ahead of me, as if she were leading the way and never forced me to do anything, especially in faith. She was convinced that faith should be lived, not talked about, Carlo confesses.
- She was a man of prayer. As a little girl, she began to keep a spiritual diary. She prayed for me. In one of her letters she wrote: it pains me that we do not pray together, but I always pray for you - remembers the husband of the future blessed. She confesses that when she became pregnant for the third time, they were very happy.
Discontinue therapy, protect the child
Cancer relapse was a difficult experience, but it brought them closer. They made all decisions together. Also the fact that after the tumor has been excised, he will not undergo chemotherapy so that their son can be born healthy.
Before her death, she wrote a letter to her son: “Never think that you are in the world by chance. I resisted the doctors' urges with all my strength until they finally understood that I would not change my mind. Riccardo, you are a gift to us. When we came back from the hospital in the evening after making our final decision, you moved under my heart for the first time.
You seemed to be saying, "Thank you Mom for loving me!" How could we not love you? You are precious, and when I look at you and see you so beautiful, vital, friendly, I think there is no suffering in the world that is not worth enduring for a child. "
Suffering
Riccardo is born into a healthy world. Maria Cristina starts chemotherapy immediately. However, it is too late. The cancer has attacked the lungs. The woman suffers a lot: “Father, I offer you my heart as a home where you can live. I give you my life so that your will may be fulfilled.
Doctors spread their hands helplessly. Maria Cristina counts on a miracle, but continues to trust God. He finds strength in the Eucharist. He notes: “I believe that God would not have allowed for pain if He had not wanted to obtain a secret and inconceivable but real good. I believe that I could do nothing greater than say to the Lord: "Thy will be done".
I believe that one day I will understand the meaning of my suffering and I will thank God for it, I believe that without my pain endured with serenity and dignity, something would be missing from the harmony of the universe ”.
It goes out on October 22, 1995. She is only 26 years old. Before she dies, she makes another date with her husband ... in heaven.
Love in practice
- I've been a widower for a quarter of a century. The loss of Maria Cristina left a void that could not be filled. I missed the experience of living together, bringing up children together. Life has taught me to keep my feet firmly on the ground. But my wife showed me what true trust in God is - recalls Carlo.
- My wife showed what love is in practice. She did not do a heroic deed, but simply gave her life to God, she lived in the school of the Gospel. Her life and death are a message of love, they prove that by trusting God, holiness is at our fingertips - she confesses.
Friends at the foundation named after Maria Cristina - which helps women in difficult circumstances - emphasize that she taught them that when you live the Gospel, nothing is impossible.
- She was a normal wife and mother, like many in our parishes. Its normality has become a testimony - says Fr. Massimo Valente, pastor of the parish where she was buried. She admits that her grave is still visited by people, mostly young people.
In a book kept in the church, they share the experience of the future blessed in her life. Someone wrote: “Her life is fascinating because it is completely normal. Full of doubts and searches characteristic of young people. Cristina is attracted because she was a normal mother and wife, a woman with a huge heart, able to trust God to the end. Her holiness is close to ordinary people ”.
