8, 000 attend Sunday’s beatification Mass in Milan

(June 27, 2011) More than 8,000 faithful thronged the square in front of the cathedral in the northern Italian city of Milan on Sunday to witness two priests and a nun being declared Blessed by the Church. The new Blessed are Fr. Serafino Morazzone, Fr. Clemente Vismara and Sr. Enrica Alfieri. Fr. Serafino Morazzone, a Milan clergyman was parish priest in Chiuso. He died in 1822. Sister Enrichetta Alfieri who died in 1951, belonged to the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide, who for years was involved in pastoral work in the city prisons and brought reconciliation before, during and after the Second World War. Fr. Clemente Vismara who died in 1988, belonged to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission (PIME). He is popularly known as the “patriarch of Burma”, or Myanmar as we know today, where he lived for 65 years. Pope Benedict XVI had delegated Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as his special representative to the beatification Mass which was presided over by Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan. In the beatification formula, Card. Amato described Fr Morazzone as a “humble pastor, completely devoted to serving the flock that was given to him, a shining example of prayer, charity and poverty. Sister Enrichetta was an “Angel in prison, witness to God’s infinite mercy towards his children with complete trust in the hope of their redemption.” Fr Clemente was “the indefatigable announcer and witness of the Lord Jesus in the lands of the Orient, defender of the last among the poor and the sick.” In his homily, Card Tettamanzi stressed the “greatness of the Evangelical smallness” that shines in the three Blessed, all of whom, he said, led a humble and simple life, and yet were able to move hearts.