St. Clelia Barbieri
Jul 13
Patron Saint of Catechists and People Ridiculed for Their Piety
Clelia Mary Rachel was born in the small northern town of Budrie in Italy on February 13, 1847.
Her parents, Joseph Barbieri and Hyacinthia Nanetti, were a pious couple who lived a very modest life. Joseph Barbieri died in 1855, when Clelia was only nine years old; and soon after, the intelligent young girl had to find work to help support her family.
Pious and unusually devout from a very early age, Clelia found new depths of spirituality and zeal when she was confirmed in 1856. She was further renewed and strengthened in her faith two years later, as was then the custom, when she first received the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.