Anita Cantieri

Desirous of realizing her vocation, Anita entered as a postulant with the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, on May 24, 1930. She spent fourteen months there, but her health declined rapidly. In August 1931, she was forced to leave the convent due to serious physical ailments. Medical examinations revealed that she was suffering from pulmonary and intestinal tuberculosis. Unable to return to cloistered life, she refused to abandon her Carmelite ideal. On July 1, 1935, she was welcomed into the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), the Carmelite Third Order, where she took the religious name of Thérèse of the Child Jesus. She then adopted a rule of life summarized by her motto: "Amare, patire, tacere: tutta qui è sintetizzata la mia vita" ("To love, to suffer, to be silent: my whole life is summarized here"). Her illness progressed inexorably, complicated by inflammation of the small intestine, colon, and peritoneum, and later by an intestinal tumor. From the age of 24, she found herself almost entirely bedridden. Despite this forced immobility and intense physical pain, her room became a true center of apostolate. In 1937, she joined Catholic Action (Azione Cattolica) and became its radiant soul at the parish and diocesan level. From her bed of pain, she organized spiritual retreats, meetings, and training weeks for young girls. She maintained an abundant correspondence, advised the priests and laypeople who came to visit her, and prayed fervently for priestly vocations and the missions.

Anita Cantieri lived her long illness in a spirit of total abandonment to the divine will, finding in it a source of constant joy despite her physical and moral sufferings. She also traversed a painful "dark night" of the soul, which she overcame through faith, love, and obedience to her spiritual director. She offered all her sufferings for the salvation of souls, the sanctification of priests, and the reparation of sins. She passed away holily on August 24, 1942, in Lucca, at the age of 32, on the feast day of Saint Bartholomew, the patron of her parish, after having received the last sacraments the day before. Her reputation for holiness, already vivid during her lifetime, continued to grow after her death.

Given the persistence of her reputation for holiness, the Archbishop of Lucca opened the diocesan informative process in 1954, which concluded in 1957. Her spiritual writings were approved by a decree on June 15, 1960. The cause was officially introduced to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on June 11, 1977. The apostolic process took place from 1979 to 1982, and its validity was recognized by a decree on June 15, 1984. After the examination of the Positio by the theological consultants and the cardinals, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues on December 21, 1991, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

Anita Cantieri's spirituality is deeply marked by the 'little way' of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, her religious patroness. Her spiritual diary and letters reveal a soul consumed by the love of God and the desire to make Christ known. She considered her sickbed as her 'Carmel', her enclosure and her cell, transforming passive suffering into an act of redemptive and missionary love. Affectionately nicknamed the 'Skylark of Carmel', she leaves behind the testimony of an unalterable joy in the heart of trial.