A devout childhood
As a little girl growing up in 1850s Bologna, Clelia Barbieri asked: “Mother, how can I become a saint?” Mrs Barbieri’s reply is not recorded, but Clelia’s life would provide its own answer.
As well as working hard, particularly at weaving hemp (the local trade), Clelia would often be seen at her prayers or studying doctrine. At 15, she joined a catechists’ association.
Vocation and friendship
Several young men proposed to Clelia, but she had a sense of a religious vocation. Later in her teens, she would take private vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. She prayed for God to send some special friend who would help her to live out the Christian life. God sent Theodora Beraldi, six years older than Clelia.
