Blessed Antonia Mesina
Feast date: May 17
Antonia Mesina was born into a poor family in a small town in Sardinia, Italy, in 1919. She was the second of 10 children and she had to leave school after only four years to help her bed-ridden mother who suffered from a heart condition tend to the house and the other children.
Despite her heavy responsibilities at home, Antonia became a very active member of Catholic Action, an Italian Catholic organization for the laity, at the age of 10. When she was 16, she was attacked while out gathering wood after mass. He friend ran away, trying to find help. Antonia was beaten and murdered by a would-be rapist, fighting him off to her last breath. She suffered 74 strikes with a stone before she died. On 5 October 1935 the Catholic Action member Venerable Armida Barelli – who had met Antonia once – met with Pope Pius XI and informed him of Antonia’s activism and her murder. Antonia was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 as a martyr of purity. She is a patron of rape victims.
catholicnewsagency.comDaily Reading
Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30 Brothers and sisters: Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. To my shame I say that we were too weak!…
Daily Meditation
Treasure Hunting
Click here for daily readings “They say that money can’t buy happiness, but if I have a lot of money, I can go on a cruise, and that would make…