Gabriella of Unity

Blessed Gabriella of Unity
1914-939
Feast Day 22 April

ROSCREA ABBEY STAINED GLASS WINDOW BLESSED GABRIELLA OF UNITY Maria Sagheddu was born on Saint Patrick's Day 1914 of a devout Catholic family in Sardinia. She probably never met a Protestant in her life and certainly never met a member of the Orthodox Church, yet when Pope John Paul II beatified her on 25 January 1983 he styled her Blessed Maria Gabriella of Unity. She was a young girl of character, with a deep ingrained stubbornness. At school she was top of her class and was proud to be so, but nevertheless she bent over backways to help the less gifted. She was a talented mimic, had a passion for cards and was an inveterate reader. The death of her younger sister in 1932 had a profound effect on her, eventually leading her, as a 21 year old, to enter the Cistercian Monastery of Grottaferrata, south of Rome, having turned down a number of marriage proposals. From the time of her entry Sr. Gabriella, as she was now called, had an unusually deep understanding of monastic life. She saw herself as the bride of Christ, albeit a totally unworthy one. "My sadness is that I don't know how to love Our Lord as I wish to." In due course she made her profession. "I thank you with all my heart, and in making these holy vows I give myself entirely to you." There was in the Community a deep appreciation of the pain of disunity and of the value of prayer and sacrifice for Church unity. This lead Gabriella, after she had sought the advice and permission of her superiors, to offer her life for the unity of the Church, as she had felt her beloved Lord was asking her to do. Within a week tuberculosis was diagnosed. After a year of intense suffering, as she lay on her deathbed, the Abbess whispered: "Offer everything for Church Unity, won't you?" "Yes." Her face lit with a smile, she closed her eyes and breathed her last. It was Good Shepherd Sunday 1939. She was aged 25. The phrase unum sint (that they may be one) is from the tenth chapter of Saint John's Gospel where Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. It is the keynote of the Ecumenical Movement. These words are written on the book which Gabriella holds in her hand. The Good Shepherd plaque is in the apex of the window. Behind her head to the left is Saint Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Dublin, to the right the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg and on the top right a Celtic monastic site with its round tower. Opening up to other religious traditions is the Wailing Wall of the Jews in Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock of the Muslims in the background. Gabriella's eyes were often remarked on. Writing to her mother, the Abbess described: "these great eyes that make one think of Paradise." In the lower panel there is a panoramic view of Mount Saint Joseph with a flock of sheep in the foreground —Go mba aon iad—one flock. Interestingly Gabriella's father and brother were both shepherds. LUMEN CHRISTI Laurence Walsh ocso