https://catholicweekly.com.au/fr-john-flader-qa-blessed-alexandrina-da-costa/ Fr John Flader Q&A: Blessed Alexandrina da Costa
From the homily of Pope St. John Paul II at the Beatification of six Servants of God, including Alexandrina da Costa, on Sunday 25th April 2004. "Do you love me?", Jesus asks Simon Peter, who replies: "Yes Lord, you know that I love you". The life of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa can be summarized in this dialogue of love. Permeated and burning with this anxiety of love, she wished to deny nothing to her Saviour. With a strong will, she accepted everything to demonstrate her love for him. A "spouse of blood", she relived mystically Christ's passion and offered herself as a victim for sinners, receiving strength from the Eucharist: this became her only source of nourishment for the final 13 years of her life. With the example of Blessed Alexandrina, expressed in the trilogy "suffer, love, make reparation", Christians are able to discover the stimulus and motivation to make "noble" all that is painful and sad in life through the greatest evidence of love: sacrificing one's life for the beloved. Secret of holiness: love for Christ "Yes Lord, you know that I love you" (Jn 21: 15). Like Peter, like the Apostles on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, these new Blesseds also made their own this simple profession of faith and love, living it to the extreme. Love for Christ is the secret of holiness! Dear brothers and sisters, let us follow the example of these Blesseds, offering as they did a coherent witness of faith and love in the living and working presence of the Risen One!
Her official entry at causesanti.va: https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/alexandrina-maria-da-costa.html All Blessed and Saints since 1440 AD can be found there.
Short video I saw on YouTube of a visit to Alexandrina's house in 2017. Many thanks to the person who made the video.
I had forgotten this but I was reminded earlier that Fr. Gabriele Amorth wrote a book on Alexandrina. It seems to be available in a few languages, none of which is English. There are French, Italian and Polish versions, possibly one or two others. I would very much like to read this but unfortunately don't speak any of the languages mentioned. (A little Italian but not enough to read a book, some of the others are also currently unavailable).
There is a company here called Marian Pilgrimages which organises pilgrimages from Ireland to various Marian shrines around the world. The ones to Fatima are usually led by Fr. Marius O'Reilly from Cork and include a visit to Alexandrina's village of Balasar. I was looking at their page earlier and saw these lovely photos from their trip last September.
Any created documents from the print book (a bit cumbersome) can be translated by online tools. Sorry if I am carrying coals to Newcastle..
Thanks Peregrin, Not carrying coals at all. My computer skills are fairly basic. I understand a bit of Italian, maybe should try for the print edition of that version. Some of the younger guys in the office I was in are native Italian speakers... I reckon they'd assist if needed.
A short feature on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Blessed Alexandrina's life is a powerful testament to the Divine Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
I had seen this image before but only realised today that it's from the Exhibition of Saint Carlo Acutis's Eucharistic Labour of Love. Blessed Alexandrina, pray for us. Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
Alexandrina jumping out of a window to escape her attackers and becoming paralyzed for life reminds me of that poor girl who recently chose to die by euthanasia. She also was paralyzed by jumping out of a window after being gang-raped. I couldn't look at that poor girl's face without crying. She chose despair instead of hope. Alexandrina shows us what happens when we turn to God in our darkest moments...what He can do with a heart that gives itself to Him instead of turning in on itself in despair.
Discussion of Eucharistic Miracles on the Irish 'Totus Tuus Show' podcast with Fr. Marius O'Reilly and Kathy Sinnott. Includes the stories of Little Lee, the young Chinese girl whose devotion to the Blessed Sacrament inspired Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Little Nellie of Holy God, the young Irish girl who longed to receive Jesus in the Eucharist and inspired the Pope to reduce the age of receiving First Holy Communion. Also discussed is the extraordinary example of Blessed Alexandrina who was sustained by the Eucharist alone for the last thirteen years of her life.
It's become increasingly clear to me, thanks to Blessed Alexandrina’s extraordinary example that the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the Truth. Of course, I've known this teaching for many years but for some reason it has become much more Real to me recently. Blessed Alexandrina has also been in my thoughts a lot in recent times and have felt a need to revisit her extraordinary life story. I feel she is responsible for this new awareness. (She’s also very patient, I've known of her since the early '80s). May she lead others to an awareness of this Truth. May she be raised to the Altar in the near future. Blessed Alexandrina da Costa, pray for us.
