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Can one not see so much holiness and goodness in this early photo of her?  Can one not see in her such profound spiritual depths.    

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A contemporary of Mother Eugenia: 

 

"I can tell you that people marvelled greatly at her presence.  Her eyes radiated so much peace which she passed on to others......"

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The Chaplain a the hospital where she resided.

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People were drawn to her, and would constantly seek her.  They would feel such peace in her presence.

Sr Eugenia was born in 1907, just two years after the birth of another more famous visionary, Saint Faustina.  However their lives and their paths  whilst similar in some regards were quite different in many others.  Whereas, in the case of St Faustina her visions were focused on Our Lord Jesus Christ, the visions of Sr Eugenia were focused on a beautiful apparition of God the Father. 

 

Both Sr Eugenia and St Faustina had very early mystical experiences of Our Lady.  Let us turn our attention now upon Sr Eugenia and recount some details of her amazing life.

 

Sr Eugenia was born in Italy  in the village now called Capriate San Gervasio, which is in the far north of Italy, about 50 km from the border with Switzerland.    Her parents were Felicita  and Carlo Ravasio.  They were simple honest and good people.  Sadly they went into sudden bankruptcy.  The shock of this led to the very premature birth of Sr Eugenia who was to be names and Christened Elizabetta. (Elizabeth)    Sr Eugenia was her religious name.

 

She was born a full 3 months premature.  In those days they did not have the humidicribs and all the equipment we have now in order to keep such babies alive.  The doctor gave her no chance of survival and actually exclaimed:  “Let us concentrate on the mother as this baby cannot survive.”   With the grace of God both the mother and the child did survive, although both lived in very bad states of health. 

Her mother was bedridden for several years after the birth before passing away. Sr Eugenia was also bedridden and at the age of 4 she was unable to talk or walk. 

 

Her grandfather was a holy man who would lead the whole family in the morning Angelus before walking every morning to Holy Mass.  No doubt this involved a lot of sacrifice in the terribly cold North Italian winters with snow all over the ground.

 

One day the grandfather was inspired to walk to the Shrine of Our Lady of Varese in order to implore the intercession of Our Lady.  This Shrine to Our Lady is a UNESCO world heritage site.  (see Santa Maria del Monte di Varese)  It was a mountainous round trip walk of about 170km  which surely would have taken some 5 or 6 days to complete.  But how God rewarded his efforts.

 

At the Shrine he prayed that Our Lady either healed the infant Eugenia or else take her to heaven.

At that same time, at the very hour at which her grandfather reached the shrine and prayed to Our Lady, some 85 kim away back at the home,  Eugenia suddenly got up when a  very beautiful Lady took her by the hand and helped her to dress and then told her go and see her parents.  Immediately they were aware that a miracle had taken place and thanked Our Lady. 

But there is even more to the story.  Our Lady appeared to her some time later and told her to go and meet her grandfather who was returning at the at time from the Shrine:  “You will meet him under the plane trees, before the church.”  It was exactly as Our Lady predicted.  Can we imagine the elation of the grandfather on seeing the once crippled Eugenia running towards him!   The Grandfather filled with joy grabbed the child and took her to the priest, Father Benigno Carrara, who instantly recognising the miracle rang the Church bells, and went to the altar to sing the litany to Our Lady.  Sr Eugenia, who till the healing of Our Lady  was unable to speak but a few words,  miraculously sang in Latin so beautifully that the sound remained so  clear and vivid in the heart and soul of Father Benigno till the end of his days.

When she was a little older the family went on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the same shrine.  When she saw the beautiful statue of Our Lady, she exclaimed:  “This is the beautiful Lady who dressed me”. 

 

There were many, many extraordinary signs associated with her life so that we may indeed see and believe the fantastic message that was entrusted to her. She only had the equivalent of a 3rd grade student of primary school.  She failed that year because her teacher kept sending her on errands.   At the age of 12 she had to go and work in the weaving factory.  She entered the religious life at   the age of twenty.

Her last Mass in the village was on the Feast of Christ the King in 1927.  During the homily of the Mass the Parish Priest said, "The King has chosen his Queen:  Bettina Ravasio will be leaving to become a missionary in the footsteps of Christ."

 

Despite her lack of substantial education she was elected head of her congregation at 25 years, just 5 years after joining the congregation.  She had more or less only just completed her formation.  This was absolutely extraordinary for her time.   It was like a springtime "with faces glowing like the sun radiating smiles and joy.  Cardinal Gerlier of Lyons who visited the Community said: "I wish we were all like these young Sisters who are happy and united...."

 

During her time as head of the Congregation the Congregation truly blossomed.   She founded over sixty religious houses in Africa.  She discovered the cure for leprosy.

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However, it was not these external successes or the visions which most impressed people who knew her.  What was most impressive  was the deep and unmistakeable trust in God the Father that had an incredibly profound effect on so many who encountered her.  It was her interior witness which convinced those close to her that she truly did have extraordinary mystical experiences.

Her bishop concluded after a thorough investigation that lasted ten years: 

“She sees every situation clearly and correctly.  Her instructions are straight forward, precise and very practical.”   The team of investigators that the Bishop appointed were particularly struck by her simplicity,

 her humility, her patience, her steadfastness.  He wrote:  “A number of circumstances also showed the nun to be capable of practising virtue to a heroic degree.”   The commission determined that Sister Eugenia was so insightful and so well balanced.  Although hesitant at first, the theologians came to the conclusion that all of the message given was sound and in accordance both with scripture and tradition. In the end they  concluded that the visions could only be  supernatural in original:

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