Our Foundress

Clelia Speaks

The full text of each monthly issue of Clelia Speaks is available here in pdf form for download.

Prayer to the Most Blessed Trinity

(to obtain graces through the intercession of Mother Clelia )
O most Holy Trinity, you who exalt the humble and confound the proud, deign to hear my prayer, granting me through the intercession of your faithful servant, Mother Clelia, the grace I ardently desire.
Glory Be .... (recite 3 times in honor of the Blessed Trinity.)
Anyone who receives a grace through the intercession of Mother Clelia is asked to contact:

Provincial Superior
295 Benham St.
Hamden, CT
cleliamerloni@ascjus.org

Clelia Speaks

As a way of celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Mother Clelia Merloni's birth, (upcoming on 3/10/2011) we have introduced "Clelia Speaks," a series of short reflections based on the life of Mother Clelia. Like all of us, Mother Clelia faced many struggles in her lifetime. It is not the intensity of suffering that makes Clelia admirable, but rather how she responded in seemingly hopeless situations. Clelia's relationship with Jesus and her love for his Sacred Heart impelled her to respond to difficulties with a courageous and sincere love. May Mother Clelia accompany us on our own journeys, encouraging us by her example of faith-filled hope.

  • Clelia Speaks: Feb. 2011

    Settling For Less

    It would have been easy for Clelia Merloni to think that she had done enough for God, or that she had prayed and suffered enough to be “holy enough” for one person. After all, she had gone to great lengths to respond to her vocation, and had founded an entire Congregation to serve God and the Church. Instead of settling into her situation however, Clelia realized that we are not made to reach some external marker of sanctity

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Jan. 2011


    Trouble!

    God reveals His will in strange ways: You may fall flat on your face, kissing the concrete or the boss stops in to say that as of December 31, he can no longer afford your salary. In the blink of an eye our world is turned upside down.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Dec. 2010

    Discouragement

    Humanly speaking, if anyone had a right to feel discouraged, it was Clelia Merloni. Those whom she loved in childhood were taken from her…her desire to enter religious life was repeatedly thwarted…her father gave up the practice of his Faith…the congregation she eventually founded was beset by financial disaster and she herself was maligned and calumniated…she suffered exile from the very daughters she so loved…even in death she remained unknown or misunderstood for many years.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Nov. 2010

    Loneliness

    “Every day…I recollected myself in solitude, cut off from every distraction, and concentrating only on God, to learn from Him how to love Him even more.” (Diary 163-164)

    Mother Clelia Merloni was certainly no stranger to loneliness. From losing her mother at the tender age of three to being exiled within the confines of the Congregation she founded, Clelia experienced loss, misunderstanding, and rejection throughout her entire life.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Oct. 2010

    Humility

    “…with generous humility and sincerity bare you souls before the divine Model and see if you can recognize in them a true copy of the Divine Redeemer, if you can say that you are other Christs. ” Mg. 1, 157, Mother and Teacher p. 172.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Sept. 2010

    Consolation

    Clelia Merloni suffered many deprivations and hardships in her life. Her mother died when Clelia was a child. There was discord between her father and stepmother. Clelia’s father did not share her spiritual fervor and values and, at first, sought to block her aspirations to become a religious sister.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: Aug. 2010

    Compassion

    “Just as in the body, when one member suffers
    all the others suffer with it . . .; in the same way true Christian charity
    gives us a tender and compassionate heart for all those who suffer.”
    (Mg., II, p. 112)

    Compassion means “to suffer with.” Mother Clelia understood that if we want to be truly compassionate people—to love others tenderly so as to ease their suffering—then we ourselves must accept painful and difficult experiences in a way that leads us to greater kindness and charity.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: July 2010

    Betrayal

    “Whatever tribulation, whether caused by nature or people, whether physical or moral, is always from and serves and His divine will." (Mother Clelia, Mg. 1, pg. 150)

    The boss tells you that you are up for a promotion. When you get to the meeting, you get fired instead, by the very people who helped you to believe otherwise. How foolish you feel, how taken for granted. How angry.

    Continued...

  • Clelia Speaks: June 2010

    Failure. Financial difficulties. Poor health. Misunderstandings. Stress. Rejection. When these crosses land in our paths, we can be filled with fear, anguish, sorrow and despair. But is is important to remember that we never walk alone! Jesus is always with us and He gives us companions; many holy models who have faced the same trials we face today. One of these holy models is Servant of God, Mother Clelia Merloni.

    Continued...