Chiara Corbella Petrillo

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Venerable Chiara Corbella Petrillo is currently on the path to sainthood. Her story is an inspiring one. 

She was born in Italy, and in her 20s, met her husband Enrico on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Soon after they married, the couple discovered they were expecting their first child, a daughter they named Maria.

However, in the middle of the pregnancy, Chiara’s doctors informed her that Maria was not developing correctly and would not survive outside of the womb. They suggested that Chiara abort Maria. As a faithful Catholic, Chiara refused to have an abortion and carried Maria to term. Maria survived outside of the womb for a short amount of time, allowing her parents to hold her and for her to receive Baptism, and then they accompanied her to eternal life.

Not long after, Chiara and Enrico discovered they were expecting again. Once again, they were very excited, but once again, they received the same devastating news in the middle of the pregnancy: baby David would not be able to survive outside of the womb. Once again, Chiara refused an abortion. Baby David survived for a short time before joining his sister in Heaven.

It would have been easy for Chiara and Enrico to become bitter with God for allowing this to happen to them twice. Instead, at the funerals of both of their babies, they chose to celebrate their lives with joy, providing a witness to all about the sacredness of life. Additionally, Chiara and Enrico allowed God to turn their pain into a beautiful mission in the pro-life movement. They began to speak at pro-life events. Chiara once said:

“God gave us two special children, but He asked us to accompany them only until birth. He allowed us to hold them, baptize them, and return them to the hands of the Father. There was a peace and joy that was unlike anything else we had experienced.”

They knew that even though their loss had been painful, God had been present with them in it, and that brought them peace. 

Chiara became pregnant again; this time, baby Francesco was healthy and developing normally. This time, the devastating news in the middle of the pregnancy was about Chiara. She had discovered an unusual lesion on her tongue, and after many medical tests, she was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors wanted to start treatment right away and induce Chiara early. Chiara did not want to risk her son’s health, so she postponed the treatments until after she gave birth to Francesco.

Unfortunately, the cancer was aggressive, and within a year, it became clear that Chiara was not going to survive. Once again, even amid their trials, Chiara and Enrico invited God in, and peace surrounded them. Chiara said: “Even if the Lord heals me, the greater miracle will have been that He helped my family and I live this trial in peace.”

Chiara died on June 13, 2012. In an interview not long after Chiara’s death, Enrico said the following about that time:

“I spent a lot of time this year reflecting on this phrase from the Gospel that says the Lord gives a cross that is sweet and a burden that is light. When I would look at Chiara when she was about to die, I obviously became very upset. But I mustered the courage and a few hours before – it was about eight in the morning, Chiara died at noon – I asked her. I said: ‘But Chiara, my love, is this cross really sweet, like the Lord says? She looked at me and she smiled, and in a soft voice she said, ‘Yes, Enrico, it is very sweet.’”

In their short marriage, Chiara and Enrico went through many trials. But, many who surrounded them during those times speak about the peace and joy that radiated from them. This peace and joy came from choosing daily to unite their sufferings to the Cross and ask the Lord what He wanted from them. 

I truly believe that this couple was radically open to the Lord’s grace, especially Chiara. When we face our trials, it can be challenging to make this choice. We can ask for Chiara’s intercession to make that open ourselves to God’s grace.

Another thing that strikes me about Chiara’s story is how she turned the loss of her two children into a mission, which further helped that joy radiate around her. Judith Herman, a famous trauma researcher, talks about three steps to trauma recovery, the last of which is integrating your story into your life meaningfully and finding a new sense of meaning and purpose. She often writes about survivors of rape, and one example she gives of this step in action is survivors getting involved in the movement against sexual violence or volunteering at crisis shelters. 

We could say something similar about the Cross and Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus brought new meaning to his crucifixion. Before the Resurrection, it would have been easy to look at the cross as just a senseless act of violence. With the Resurrection, we realized that the pain of the cross brought about our redemption, and it is a sign of Jesus calling us to die to sin and rise with him to Heaven. He can bring about this transformation for those exposed to trauma if we choose to, little by little, open up those parts of our hearts to Him. He did so with Chiara by inspiring her to work for the pro-life movement, telling her children’s stories.

Chiara’s two friends, Cristiana Paccini and Simone Troisi, wrote an excellent biography of Chiara’s life called A Witness to Joy, which I highly recommend if you want to learn more.

To learn more about other saints who have faced trauma, please visit the Stories of Hope page.