Pious princess was beatified by Pope Francis
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| Maria Cristina of Savoy |
Princess Maria Cristina Carlotta Giuseppina Gaetana Elisa of
Savoy was born on this day in 1812 in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia.
She was the youngest child of King Victor Emmanuel I of
Piedmont-Sardinia and his wife Queen Maria Teresa of Austria-Este.
Maria Cristina was described as beautiful, but she was also
modest and pious and in 2014 she was beatified by the current Pope, Francis.
As a Savoy princess she had been expected to make an
advantageous marriage alliance and when she was just 20 years of age she was
married to Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, in an attempt to keep southern
Italy on friendly terms, at a ceremony in Genoa.
Modest and reserved, she was never comfortable at the royal
court in Naples and she was unhappy with Ferdinand. But she was said to be
loved by the ordinary people of the Two Sicilies, who were charmed by her
beauty and kindness.
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| Maria Cristina died only five days after giving birth to her son, Francis |
She had always been a devout Catholic and her commitment to
God and the Church along with her beauty caused people to regard her as an
angelic figure.
She gave birth to her only child, who would grow up to
become Francis II of the Two Sicilies, in January 1836. Five days later she
died as a result of childbirth complications. The King married again in less
than a year.
After her son, Francis II, had lost his throne and was
living in exile he began to push for the Church to take up his late mother’s
cause for beatification.
Nearly 40 years later in 1872 she was declared to be a
Servant of God by Pope Pius IX. In May 1937 she was declared to be a Venerable
Servant of God by Pope Pius XI and in May 2013 Pope Francis authorised a decree
recognising a miracle due to her intercession, a further stage on her progress
to beatification. The beatification ceremony was conducted by the current Pope
in January 2014 at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, where the now
Blessed Maria Cristina is buried.
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| The Castello is the historic centre of Cagliari |
Travel tip:
Maria Cristina was born in Cagliari in Sardinia while the
Savoy family were living there in exile, having been forced to leave their
palace in Turin in Piedmont because the city was under French occupation.
Although Cagliari is Sardinia’s main port and an industrial centre it is now
also a popular tourist destination, with tree-lined boulevards and a charming
historic centre, known as Castello.
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| The tomb of Maria Cristina of Savoy in the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples |
Travel tip:
Maria Cristina was buried in the Church of Santa Chiara in
Via Benedetto Croce, part of Spaccanapoli in Naples. The church is part of a
religious complex, which also includes a monastery and an archaeological
museum. Maria Cristina’s tomb is in a side chapel along with the tomb of Salvo
d’Acquisto, a carabiniere who sacrificed his life to save the lives of 22
civilian hostages during the Nazi occupation of Italy. Outside is the famous
majolica Cloister, which was decorated in 1742 with brightly-coloured majolica
tiles by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.