27 may 2011

Decree on Heroic Virtues: Venerable Luigia Tincani

On 27 June 2011, the Holy Father Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Luigia Tincani. From this moment Luigia Tincani was awarded the title of Venerable because she lived the Gospel in a heroic manner and chose the path of holiness.

We wonder : What does holiness mean? What does heroic virtue mean?

Luigia Tincani was not satisfied with admiring Jesus, but she wanted to imitate him, to comply with his will in all moments. This decision implies exerting virtues every day, from the beginning to the end of our lives, readily, joyously, overcoming all the unavoidable obstacles. It amounts to being able to face any sacrifice out of our love for God and that for our brothers and sisters, forgetting ourselves and overcoming any form of selfishness.
If we met Luigia Tincani- and there are few of us now- If we have read some biographies- and there are some really praiseworthy , we realize that she was capable of heroic love. She loved people with a full dedication, she hoped keeping her eyes uplifted to God. Her faith was coloured with optimism and confidence.
All her decision and interventions were characterized by a very sweet delight, a joy rooted in her faith. Her love was so great that she forgot herself  and gave every hour of her time to her brothers and sisters. Out of her love for them she consumed herself day in and day out till the end.
We always saw her serene and self-possessed. Her smiling serenity helped her to face dangers as well as the fatigues associated with her intellectual work and her indefatigable spiritual commitment. She patiently bore frequent illnesses, also the  most painful experience of her last illness, with the strength that she received from the Holy Spirit present in her.
Her greatest virtue was maybe the humble joyous easy-going attitude that let her pass among the greatest of the earth- Popes, scholars, politicians- noiselessly, discreetly carrying out remarkable works. The outcome of her brilliant intuition is LUMSA- la LIBERA UNIVERSITA’ MARIA SS. ASSUNTA [ BLESSED MARY OF THE ASSUMPTION’S OPEN UNIVERSITY], which is the conspicuous fruit of her passionate love for young people’s education.
The people who approached Luigia Tincani perceived her deep communion with God, her heroic fidelity to the vocation that she had received and that she lived in the most amiable justice. Those who learn about Luigia Tincani today cannot remain indifferent to the heroic virtue that characterized her life and that the Church has recognized as such.
She spread goodness all her life and she was magnanimous both in her moral as well as material charity. Today she arouses surprise and wonder and, hopefully, followers and imitators will ensue.
Gina Tincani’s inextinguishable charity continues to be experienced by all the people who confide in her and ask her intercession to be granted assistance and graces.