Just as we approach All Saints' Day, two stories come to mind of young women who died at 16 or 17 from aggressive bone cancer. Two stories with striking parallels.
They are Chiara ‘Luce’ Badano and Montse Grases. The Lord had reserved for them a slower way of joining his cross: bone cancer in both cases, which they bore admirably.
Diagnosis
Italian Chiara Badano (1971-1990), the first Focolare member to be beatified, nicknamed ‘Luce’ by the founder Chiara Lubich, felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder during a tennis match, forcing her to drop her racket. A CT scan performed at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure revealed a severe osteosarcoma with widespread metastasis.
A Montse Grases (1942-1959), young member of Opus Dei, Catalan declared venerable Declared a saint by Pope Francis in 2016 and proposed as a witness for young people by the Synod of Bishops, she also enjoyed sports, tennis, and folk dances. In December 1957, she began to feel discomfort in her left leg. Six months later, the cause was discovered to be cancer (Ewing sarcoma) in her femur.
Chiara: family, piety, the disadvantaged
Chiara Badano's parents had waited for her for eleven years. Her birth was received as a grace from the Virgin Mary, whom her father invoked at the Sanctuary of the Roccas.
She grew up surrounded by love. She was healthy, loved nature and playing, and “from a very young age stood out for her love for Jesus and the Virgin Mary. She felt a special predilection for the most disadvantaged, whom she showered with attention and small favors, often sacrificing moments of leisure,” the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints revealed about the young Italian woman, who was declared blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, and whom he referred to as beautiful words.
On the day of her First Communion, she received the Book of the Gospels as a gift. For her, it was “a magnificent book.” “Just as it’s easy for me to learn the alphabet, so it must be easy to live the Gospel!”.
At the age of nine—you read that right—she joined the Focolare Movement, founded by Chiara Lubich as GEN (New Generation), also involving her parents. From then on, her life revolved around growth: she tried to “always put God first” and always say “yes” to Him.
Montse: treat God with trust, pay attention to the poor
Montse Grases She was the second of nine children of Manuel Grases and Manolita García. After completing her secondary education, which she combined with piano studies, she entered the Professional School for Women of the Barcelona Provincial Council.
His parents taught him to approach God with trust. “In the Grases home, he absorbed some of the distinctive traits of his character: joy, simplicity, selflessness, and concern for the material and spiritual well-being of others,” explains the Work.
“With a few classmates from her school, she would visit poor areas of the city of Barcelona and give catechism lessons to children, to whom she sometimes brought toys or sweets,” they added. biographers.
Seeking holiness in everyday life
In 1954 she became acquainted with Opus Dei. Her parents had been members of the Work for some years and helped her to strengthen her spiritual life and strive to live the Christian virtues more fully. Her mother encouraged her to attend an Opus Dei center, Llar, which offered Christian and human formation to young women.
Gradually, she perceived that God was calling her to this path of the Church and, on December 24, 1957—after meditating, praying, and seeking advice—she requested to be admitted to Opus Dei. From then on, she strove constantly “to seek holiness in her daily life; in her ascetic struggle, she placed at the forefront the contemplation of the life of Jesus, Eucharistic piety, devotion to the Virgin Mary, profound humility, and a commitment to serving others.”.
“Montse Grases was a friend who had many friends. She was also a dear friend of Jesus Christ. That is why he felt comfortable with her,” he wrote. José Carlos Martin de la Hoz last year.
In the illness. Chiara accepts God's will
On February 7, 1989, Chiara Luce Badano was admitted to the Molinette Hospital in Turin, where she underwent her first operation. Upon waking, she exclaimed, “If you want it, Jesus, I want it too!”.
Despite the operation and treatment, the illness persisted. Chiara said to the Virgin Mary: “Heavenly Mother… I ask you for the miracle of healing; if it is not your will, I ask you for the strength never to give up.”.
Despite the pain, her face radiated joy. She was not afraid of death, which came at dawn on October 7, 1990, after a very painful night.
To his mother, who was beside him stroking his forehead with great effort, he whispered: “Mom, be happy, because I am too. Goodbye.”.
Acceptance of pain with serenity and strength
A few decades earlier, in September 1957, the young Montse began experiencing pain from Ewing's sarcoma in her femur, which she accepted with serenity and strength. While ill, she always displayed a contagious joy and an ability to make friends that stemmed from her love for souls, they say.
She brought many of her friends and classmates who came to visit her closer to God. She found Jesus and the Virgin Mary in her suffering. Those who were close to her witnessed her growing union with God and how Montse transformed suffering into prayer and apostolic work: into holiness. One of her friends says that when she saw her praying, she could feel her closeness to Christ.
Montse dies with a reputation for holiness
Montse Grases died on March 26, 1959, Holy Thursday, shortly before her 18th birthday. She was buried in the Southwest Cemetery of Barcelona. Numerous people testified that her life had been heroic and exemplary. Since then, her reputation for holiness has steadily grown, not only in Spain but across the five continents.
As stated at the beginning, Pope Francis declared Montse a venerable servant of God in 2016, and according to the Postulation, there are many favors and graces attributed to her intercession: many come from young people who ask Montse for help in their needs.
“Montse teaches us a lesson in love for Jesus Christ in everyday life, subtly, but through a complete process of identification,” writes José Carlos Martín de la Hoz. “As Francis reminded us in ‘Gaudete et Exultate’ on March 18, 2018: “Holiness does not make you less human, because it is the encounter of your weakness with the power of grace” (no. 34).”.
Benedict XVI: “a grace from God, with the collaboration of Chiara herself”
The young Chiara Badano was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on September 25, 2010, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome.
“Nineteen years full of life, love, and faith. The last two years were also filled with pain, but always in love and light, a light that illuminated everything around her and that came from within: from her heart filled with God. How is all this possible? How can an 18-year-old girl live through such suffering, humanly without hope, spreading love, serenity, peace, and faith?” Benedict XVI wondered.
“Clearly it is a grace from God; but this grace was prepared and accompanied also through human help: the collaboration of Chiara herself, undoubtedly, but also that of her parents and friends. […]”, the Pope emphasized.
Video to pray to God through the intercession of Montse
Below is a video to pray to God through the intercession of Montse Grases.
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