The girl who died of joy upon receiving the Holy Eucharist. Blessed Imelda Lambertini: Patroness of First Communion
The real presence of God in the Holy Eucharist is something that even a child can understand perfectly, just have the necessary faith to receive it with due devotion. Jesus bought this through the faith of His daughter, Blessed Imelda Lambertini. The life of this child also demonstrates the importance of proper guidance of parents in the religious life of their children from a very young age.
Born in 1322 in a Christian home, to a noble family of Bologna, Italy. Her parents gave her all the education and religious foundations, leading her each day to have a great devotion to prayer and the affairs of God. Her mother always saw her in the corners of her palace in prayer, even though she was still very small. The girl fervently wanted to enter the convent at the age of 9, obtaining a special permission for her entry as a child into the Convent of the Domicinian Sisters. Her superior, however, did not want her to wake up too early with the adult sisters for prayers, but often caught her in deep prayer in the halls of the convent, as she did before at her home.
His prayers in front of the Most Holy Sacrament took hours, companioning God and further increasing his love for Him, as well as his deep desire to receive the Eucharist. However, First Communion would only occur when she was 12 years old, which made her very sad. He ardently asked his sisters to give him permission to commune, but painfully they had to deny it, even though this is the main motivation of the little girl's life. Imelda then asks her adult sisters, "How come people do not die of joy when they receive Our Lord in the Eucharist?" Your self-prophecy was cast!
At the age of 11, after a Holy Mass, as usual, he remained on his knees praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, a moment in which he always joyfully vented his face. However, this time she was taking longer than usual, causing concern in the sisters. They went to the chapel and were perplexed by what they witnessed:
They saw a Host floating just above the child's head, emitting a white light directly at it. They rushed to the priest who prayed mass earlier to also witness the miracle of God. The priest had, at this moment, the necessary discernment: it was God's will that the girl already receive her First Communion! She was still on her knees, her head down and her eyes closed in prayer. As soon as the parish priest took the golden patena near Imelda, that's when the Host went down on this one. The girl lifts her gaze with her face shining joy, opens her lips and receives her First Eucharist. He then lowers his head in prayer, with a beautiful smile on his face, which infected everyone there seeing the miracle.
The child remained in prayer for a long time, until one of the mothers went to her, who was still in deep devotion, and tried to lift her by the shoulders. But by touching her the girl fell dead into her hands, radiating happiness on her face. His body to this day remains incorrupt (without decomment), as they do with countless other saints, more than 675 years after he died. Pope Leo XII proclaimed her blessed in 1826 and Pope St. Pius X appointed her as Patron of the First Communions.
READ MORE about this extraordinary Eucharistic miracle by clicking on the references in this text below.
References:
ARQUIDIOCESE DE SÃO PAULO. Beata Imelda Lambertini
INSTITUTO HESED. Beata Imelda Lambertini
SANTOS PARA CRIANÇAS - AMIGOS DO CÉU. Beata Imelda Lambertini e a Primeira Eucaristia