 |
| Antonietta De Vitis (1936-2004) |
Antonietta De Vitis (1936-2004) -A modern Mystic and Stigmatic who reportedly lived without food and water for 53 years
The Catholic diocese of Otranto, Italy is currently examining the virtues of Antonietta De Vitis, a mystic from Nociglia, Italy who reportedly had the stigmata. Numerous extraordinary cures have been attributed to her, and some have recently been reported in Italian newspapers, two of which we will highlight in more detail below.
Antionetta De Vitis was a quiet woman who lived a very hidden life, however her heroic virtues and remarkable mystical life is becoming more and more known since her holy death in 2004.
Antionetta was a Franciscan tertiary (Third Order Franciscan) who was a devotee of Fatima, Saint Francis, Saint Clelia Barbieri, and the Italian mystics Saint Padre Pio and Maria Valtorta, who were her contemporaries.
Antionetta was a Franciscan tertiary (Third Order Franciscan) who was a devotee of Fatima, Saint Francis, Saint Clelia Barbieri, and the Italian mystics Saint Padre Pio and Maria Valtorta, who were her contemporaries.
In 1950 Antonietta completely stopped drinking and eating--an extraordinary circumstance documented by physicians that continued for 53 years until her holy death. She was bedridden, and her life was spent entirely in one bedroom in a humble house. Hers was a life of suffering in silence, away from the spotlight--very few people knew her, and even fewer were those admitted to her room.
Birth and Early Life
Antonietta De Vitis was born on August 23, 1936 in Nociglia, (Lecce) Italy. She spent her childhood showing mercy and generosity towards her neighbor; she often deprived herself of what little food she had to give it to the hungry, and whenever possible she sought to assist the sick and needy. Being of limited means themselves, on one occasion when her mother discovered that Antonietta was sacrificing her own food to give to the poor, her mother scolded her harshly.
Antionetta offers herself to Jesus at age 14 for the Church and all of humanity
On the feast of St Joseph, March 19, 1950 at age fourteen Antionetta was inspired to offer herself to the Lord as a victim soul for humanity in union with Jesus. Concerning this complete offering of herself she writes in her diary:
"The Lord put the seal on His creature and at fourteen I was His: a virgin bride, fresh of life, with a generous heart, ready to offer Him everything: even a life of suffering that burns"
She survived without food and water & lived solely off the Eucharist for 53 years -Holy Communion was not swallowed, but absorbed by the tongue
Beginning in the year 1952 her only daily food was the Eucharist; however, as observed by her attending physician who attested the permanent and constant abstinence from food and liquids, the Holy Eucharist was not ingested, but was absorbed by the lingual mucosa, and would disappear completely after a very short period of time. (-Dr. Arturo Benegiamo of Sogliano Cavour, province of Lecce).
The stigmata
In 1969 she was given the mystical grace of the invisible stigmata, which become visible three years later in 1972. The visible stigmata was documented with medical certificates, in particular that of Dr. Benegiamo di Sogliano Cavour, her attending physician.
At this point in her life due to several illness she became completely bedridden, and her life consisted of continual prayer--she was very devoted in reciting the Holy Rosary, offering to the Lord herself and her sufferings. Throughout her life she will have numerous illnesses including tuberculosis, internal bleeding, emphysema and temporary blindness, among others.
Visions of St Padre Pio, St Francis, St Anthony, Maria Valtorta and others
Those who attended her stated that her sufferings were offered to God with a smile on her lips and an offering to Heaven. She wrote in her diary: "I sacrifice myself for the Church and for the people of God."
This spirit of offering and generosity was rewarded with many mystical visions including the Virgin Mary, St Padre Pio, St Francis, St Anthony, St Clelia Barbieri and her "..little sister Maria Valtorta, who was unknown to me until she herself gave me her name."
Throughout her holy life she asked to take upon herself the pain, the derision and the mistreatment suffered by Our Lord in union with Him, to relieve the weight that Christ has taken upon himself for us. Freely she offered herself a victim soul, particularly for the Church.
 |
| A bandage covering the stigmata on her right hand can been seen in the photo |
Two recent miraculous cures through her intercession
There are numerous testimonies of cures attributed to her intercession. The Quotidiano Di Puglia newspaper reports two of the most recent, which have been attached to the file present in the diocese. "Miracle of the Saint who has not eaten for 53 years: heals and saves the lives of two children" -July 12, 2018
and also reported here:
"Miracles of the 'Saint of Nociglia': two little boys saved" Viaggi News ,July 11, 2018
The first reported miracle concerns a child suffering from a very serious congenital pathology, treatable only with a heart transplant: the mother, an unbeliever, tells an acquaintance of hers the fate of her son. Moved by the seriousness of the case, the woman offers to go to the cemetery to pray on the grave of Antonietta De Vitis, "the mystic born in Nociglia and died in 2004 after a life of suffering, prayer and total withdrawal from the world".
"I don't believe - warns that mother to the acquaintance, yet leaving a door open to hope- "but if you go to Antonietta, pray also for me and my baby".
After a few days the boys mother wakes up with a start, because she dreamed of Antonietta De Vitis who said to her: "Stop crying, I'm thinking of the boy. Also in a few days something unpleasant will happen, but don't worry. "
A few days went by and the boy was taken for chest scans to the "Perrino" hospital in Brindisi where he was being treated, and the cardiologists were amazed: there was no trace of the heart malformation. The boys heart was now completely normal.
The "unpleasant something" she was foretold of in her dream concerned the father of the child who had an accident and suffered an injury, which thankfully ended up being nothing serious. Yet one is left wondering--could Antonietta have interceded in that situation too? Perhaps we shall never know.
Nevertheless, the boy's mother gratefully thanked Antonietta with a phrase written in the cemetery ledger pertaining to Antonietta: “Together with my son I dreamed of you, and what you said then has come true. Thank you!"
Nevertheless, the boy's mother gratefully thanked Antonietta with a phrase written in the cemetery ledger pertaining to Antonietta: “Together with my son I dreamed of you, and what you said then has come true. Thank you!"
The second recent case concerns that of another boy, the son of a doctor who was ill with cancer. The parents prayed to Antoinette, the "saint of Nociglia" as some locals have begun referring to her as, and it was soon discovered that the boy was completely healed, to the utter surprise of the attending doctors. Deeply grateful, the boy's father felt he must thank Antonietta, and so he has informed the bishop of Otranto, to whom he has entrusted the story. As stated above, both of these recent cures were reported in several Italian newspapers in 2018.
Some quotes from her diary and letters
-Her union with Jesus
"... I am in my Jesus, I rest in him, I suffer in him, I agonize in him, sure that what is in me belongs to my Jesus, all His and nothing mine. Like the Mother of Heaven I said "fiat" to the Father, and He, the Most High, accomplishes great things in me even though I am from the earth, because it was She who clothed me with Heaven."
"...He is my everything, my food, drink, rest, effort, pain, life, love, joy and sweetness....".
(From a letter of Antonietta De Vitis to Father Adalberto Cerusico)
"...He is my everything, my food, drink, rest, effort, pain, life, love, joy and sweetness....".
(From a letter of Antonietta De Vitis to Father Adalberto Cerusico)
In her diary she writes:
"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I declare the following:
Jesus was and is my only love who married my soul, to whom I have given everything through the Heavenly Mother, St. Francis, Padre Pio, the blessed Clelia Barbieri who came from heaven, at first unknown to me with my Angels Azariah and Elgidio, to teach me to Love in the footsteps of a little sister always presented to me by the Lord, but unknown until she herself gave me her name: Maria Valtorta. I accepted everything and I gave myself to God in the Holy Trinity, asking to be like Jesus, immolated for souls, unknown, hidden, but full of heaven.
I go up to Calvary to reach the top, consuming myself for the Church, for the Pope, for the bishops, for the priests, for consecrated souls, and for the people of God. My offering now rises to the Holy Trinity, at the behest of my Jesus, because of the enormous weight, impossible to walk, bleeding, tortured, powerless as I am, I go to my agony, supported by their help.
I have given everything from the earth, and I will give everything from heaven with my Love, Jesus, and they will be the roses of Heaven in a rain of graces, of heavenly gifts; then everything will be known and the wonders of the Lord will amaze the earth. Clasped to my Crucified Love, with Him crucified, I leave the earth for Heaven, but I am with you, always with you as in the will of my Jesus.
Jesus was and is my only love who married my soul, to whom I have given everything through the Heavenly Mother, St. Francis, Padre Pio, the blessed Clelia Barbieri who came from heaven, at first unknown to me with my Angels Azariah and Elgidio, to teach me to Love in the footsteps of a little sister always presented to me by the Lord, but unknown until she herself gave me her name: Maria Valtorta. I accepted everything and I gave myself to God in the Holy Trinity, asking to be like Jesus, immolated for souls, unknown, hidden, but full of heaven.
I go up to Calvary to reach the top, consuming myself for the Church, for the Pope, for the bishops, for the priests, for consecrated souls, and for the people of God. My offering now rises to the Holy Trinity, at the behest of my Jesus, because of the enormous weight, impossible to walk, bleeding, tortured, powerless as I am, I go to my agony, supported by their help.
I have given everything from the earth, and I will give everything from heaven with my Love, Jesus, and they will be the roses of Heaven in a rain of graces, of heavenly gifts; then everything will be known and the wonders of the Lord will amaze the earth. Clasped to my Crucified Love, with Him crucified, I leave the earth for Heaven, but I am with you, always with you as in the will of my Jesus.
I have loved everyone, especially those who made me suffer, and I gave my heart to everyone; with particular predilection I have loved, and will love from Heaven, those who have suffered with me, with my loved ones who have loved me, and who have given me a helping hand. Understood by my poverty and misery I ask everyone for forgiveness and prayer for my poor soul, so that my Love will accept it, purified, and worthy of the eternal pastures. My prayer, incessant from the earth, will come down from Heaven beneficial for those who directed me spiritually, for those who loved me with a motherly heart, helped me, comforted me, assisted me in long and painful years of suffering.
To God the Holy Trinity I give my soul, my heart, my blood, my everything, because I did everything in my God, the only purpose of my life. AMEN " .
In this declaration we see how Antonietta had given herself totally and completely to the Lord.
To God the Holy Trinity I give my soul, my heart, my blood, my everything, because I did everything in my God, the only purpose of my life. AMEN " .
In this declaration we see how Antonietta had given herself totally and completely to the Lord.
The two Franciscan friars and parish priest who assisted and supported her
Given the extraordinary circumstances that surrounded her, very few people were permitted to visit her. Two Capuchin friars and her parish priest unfailingly accompany her during her life journey: Father Colombano Luciani da Fano (until the 1970s) and Father Candido Sallustio da Molfetta, along with Parish priest Father Adalberto Cerusico. On April 9, 1970 with deep joy Antonietta becomes a Franciscan tertiary (3rd Order Franciscan).
The vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary concerning Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy party. He served as 38th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976, and was a devoted Catholic. He was assassinated on May 9, 1978. In a vision, Antonietta De Vitis was given some interesting details concerning his kidnapping and murder, which have added strength to her purported visions, as latest findings of the RIS (Italian intelligence agency) in this regard would seem to support.
At 2.35 on Wednesday, May 17, 1978, the following is related in Antonietta De Vitis' diary, which today is in the possession of the local Diocese:
“The heavenly Mother comes and urges me to pray for so much wickedness that is found among her children, and brings me in a deep underground channel, like a well where you go down, and I see heavy chains like the ones you put on the machines when there is a lot of snow on the ground, and I see machine guns and many bullets ... and She tells me that Aldo Moro had been hidden there, the statesman, who has been a martyr and had suffered a lot---hunger, fear and unspeakable torments, tied with those chains; She tells me that he had been wounded with a bullet on the evening of May 8, at 5.35 pm, when at that time She had come to me crying strongly, urging me to pray, because something terrible was happening!"
Aldo Moro, according to Antonietta's diary, had been hit in the lung at that time, “causing him to agonize and suffer excruciatingly, until the following morning (May 9th), at around 7.30, when they had finished him with numerous strokes. I see a lot of blood on many roads, and the Heavenly Mother, crying, still says to me: “My daughter, see how much blood of My children, how many victims!"
Please write down what I saw and heard, in my diary, at 3.43 hours." (speaking to a friend who writes in her diary for her)
The vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary concerning Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy party. He served as 38th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976, and was a devoted Catholic. He was assassinated on May 9, 1978. In a vision, Antonietta De Vitis was given some interesting details concerning his kidnapping and murder, which have added strength to her purported visions, as latest findings of the RIS (Italian intelligence agency) in this regard would seem to support.
At 2.35 on Wednesday, May 17, 1978, the following is related in Antonietta De Vitis' diary, which today is in the possession of the local Diocese:
“The heavenly Mother comes and urges me to pray for so much wickedness that is found among her children, and brings me in a deep underground channel, like a well where you go down, and I see heavy chains like the ones you put on the machines when there is a lot of snow on the ground, and I see machine guns and many bullets ... and She tells me that Aldo Moro had been hidden there, the statesman, who has been a martyr and had suffered a lot---hunger, fear and unspeakable torments, tied with those chains; She tells me that he had been wounded with a bullet on the evening of May 8, at 5.35 pm, when at that time She had come to me crying strongly, urging me to pray, because something terrible was happening!"
Aldo Moro, according to Antonietta's diary, had been hit in the lung at that time, “causing him to agonize and suffer excruciatingly, until the following morning (May 9th), at around 7.30, when they had finished him with numerous strokes. I see a lot of blood on many roads, and the Heavenly Mother, crying, still says to me: “My daughter, see how much blood of My children, how many victims!"
Please write down what I saw and heard, in my diary, at 3.43 hours." (speaking to a friend who writes in her diary for her)
Her holy death
Antonietta De Vitis passed from this life on June 19, 2004. She was 67 years old. There was a edifying message that was found on her deathbed:
"Clasped to my Crucified One, crucified with Him, I leave the earth for heaven"
Her cause for Beatification/Canonization
The diocese of Otranto is examining the virtues of Antonietta De Vitis. In 2013 Antonietta's diaries and writings were delivered to Monsignor Donato Negro, Bishop of Otranto, who is currently examining at the diocesan level, the extraordinary virtues and facts concerning her.
Antonietta De Vitis gave her life to God, hidden from the world, praying incessantly and offering her sufferings in particular for the Church and for religious. Many in Italy and throughout the world are hoping that the Church will officially recognizes Antonietta's heroic exercise of Christian virtues
For more information, visit the "Antonietta De Vitis Onlus Association"
"I sacrifice myself for the Church and for the people of God." -Antonietta De Vitis
========================================================================
![]()
Support this website! Check out the rosaries, relic lockets and books in the Mystics if the Church Gift Store.
========================================================================
