Biography

Chiara was born in 1971. As a young girl, Chiara was loving and kind. To really nail what that means, her mother Maria Teresa shared a story: 

“One afternoon, Chiara came home with a beautiful red apple. I asked her where it came from. She replied that she had taken it from our neighbor’s orchard without asking her permission. I explained to her that she always had to ask before taking anything and that she had to take it back and apologize to our neighbor. She was reluctant to do this because she was too embarrassed. I told her that it was far more important to own up than to eat an apple. Chiara took the apple back to our neighbor and explained everything to her. That evening, the woman brought her a whole box of apples saying that on that day Chiara had learned something very important.”

When Chiara was 9, 1980, she went to her first meeting of the Focolare Movement, which is a movement of unity of all people in the Catholic Church. This movement particularly moved her and her parents to live with more warmth and unity.

As Chiara grew to be a teenager, she dealt with things every teenager has to deal with. She failed some of her final year classes, which was extremely tough for her. She fought with her parents about staying out late at night. 

Chiara loved swimming, mountain-climbing, tennis, singing, dancing. She was popular, liked boys. Her friends pointed out how she dressed modestly, and never over the top. She was simply her comfortable self. Chiara was an exceptionally ordinary young girl, yet she had such a heart for Christ.

The summer of 1988, she went to a Gen 4 Focolare meeting in Rome. During this trip she asked if she could be called “Luce” which means light. The nickname stuck with her since. She wrote to her parents of what her mentor was teaching them: 

“This is a very important moment for me: it is an encounter with Jesus Forsaken. It hasn’t been easy to embrace this suffering, but this morning Chiara Lubich explained to the children that they have to be the spouse of Jesus Forsaken.”

The following year while Chiara was playing tennis, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Since it didn’t go away, her doctor began to do some tests. Unfortunately, the result was osteogenic sarcoma, a seriously and severely painful form of cancer. Her response was, “I’m young. I’m sure I’ll make it.”

Chiara had many hospital visits once the cancer came. She underwent two serious surgeries, and chemotherapy as well. Chiara Luce’s mantra was always, “For you Jesus.” She even refused morphine saying, “I want to share as much as possible the pain of Jesus on the cross.”

During a particularly painful procedure, Chiara said this:

 “When the doctors began to carry out this small, but quite demanding, procedure, a lady with a very beautiful and luminous smile came in. She came up to me and took me by the hand, and her touch filled me with courage.

In the same way that she arrived, she disappeared, and I could no longer see her. But my heart was filled with an immense joy and all fear left me. In that moment I understood that if we’re always ready for everything, God sends us many signs of his love.”

The battle became less of a battle, and more of a peaceful acceptance of death by Chiara. She had an aura of joy and peace about her that when her friends and relatives visited her to comfort her, they walked away feeling more at ease and full of joy. Even when Cardinal Saldarini visited her, he asked her where the light in her eyes came from. Her answer was simple, “ I try to love Jesus as much as I can.”

Chiara knew she would die, and actually planned her death as a wedding celebration. She and her mom picked out her dress, the music, songs, flowers, and mass readings. Chiara didn’t want anyone to shed a tear for her at her funeral, and only wanted joyful songs lifted up to heaven.

Chiara died on October 7, 1990. She accepted her fate to meet her “spouse” Jesus in heaven.

Takeaway

Chiara lived an ordinary life of love for God. She is a huge example of how we are all called to holiness. Chiara was a teenage girl and found a way to offer her life and suffering to God. We may not all die a death like her, but we can certainly live a life of joy like her. Chiara died when she was 18 years old.

Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20120130212108/http://focolare.org/En/sif/2000/20000323e_b.html