Clelia Merloni
Italian nun (1861-1930)
Feast: 21 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 21 December 2016 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2016)
- 26 January 2018 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2018)
Who they were
Clelia Merloni was born in Forlì on 10 March 1861. Her father, once his business prospered, gave her every advantage and hoped for a good marriage, but she wanted only to belong to Christ. She founded the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, devoted to charity and education, especially of young women.
Her life was marked by great suffering and misunderstanding, including accusations that clouded her name for years; her motto was 'God alone'. She died on 21 November 1930.
The miracles
A surgeon — São Paulo, Brazil — March 1951
A 41-year-old surgeon was struck by a progressive ascending paralysis of all four limbs that within days reached his trunk, the muscles of breathing, his neck and face; both breathing and swallowing were seriously affected. After prayers to Mother Clelia he recovered, and afterwards enjoyed good health. On 23 February 2017 the Vatican's medical board found the healing rapid, complete, lasting and inexplicable.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a surgeon was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 26 January 2018, opening the way to beatification.
The cause
Clelia Merloni has been beatified; the cause continues. Favours received, and offers of help, go to the postulation, the office that carries the cause forward: Apostles of the Sacred Heart: the cause of Blessed Clelia Merloni.
Connected on this site
- Teresa Grillo Michel Blessed“Grillo founded a religious congregation that would expand into Latin America and she would also maintain contact with important individuals such as Luigi Orione and Clelia Merloni both of whom she befriended.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of Blessed Clelia Merloni, with the miracle
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q3680410 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Clelia Merloni (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.