Eugenia Ravasio (4 September 1907 – 10 August 1990), born Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio, was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

nun of the Congregation of the

Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles The Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious congregation founded in 1876 in Lyon, France, by Fr Augustin Planque, the first Superior General (Christianity), superior general of th ...

and an Italian mystic, best known for having discovered the cure for

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...

and for having received unprecedented visions and revelations from

God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinity, trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third pers ...

Early life

Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio was born in San Gervasio d’Adda (named now Capriate San Gervasio), a small town in the province of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Com ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on 4 September 1907, in a family of peasant background. Eugenia Ravasio

She received only an elementary education. After a few years working in a factory, she entered the Congregation of the

at the age of 20 years. It was here that her great charismatic personality developed, leading to her election as Mother General of the Congregation at age 28.

Social and apostolic work

Ravasio performed significant amounts of work in the social field. In twelve years of missionary activity she opened over 70 centres – each with infirmary, school and church – in the remotest spots of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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and

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. In or around 1936, she was invited by Tanios Toni Kawas (a prominent cotton field LandLord), son of Antoun Abdel Sayed Kawas (mayor of Girga, Egypt), to open the Lady of the Apostles school in Girga, Egypt. The school is still in operation even today. Tanios Toni Kawas having 6 young girls and no schools for them, invited many religious congregations, but only Ravasio responded to his request. As part of her work with lepers on the Ivory Coast she was instrumental in promoting and popularizing the use of chemotherapy for the cure of

, by orally administering chaulmoogra oil which was extracted from the seed of a tropical plant. This medicine was later studied and developed further at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vacc ...

in Paris. She encouraged the apostolate of Raoul Follereau, who, following in her footsteps and building on the foundations laid by her, is regarded as the apostle of the lepers.

During the period 1939–1941 she conceived, planned and brought to fruition the project for a "Lepers’ City" at Adzopé (

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

). This was a vast centre, covering an area of 200,000 m², for the care of leprosy sufferers. It remains even today one of Africa's and the world's leading centres of its kind. In recognition of this achievement,

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conferred the Couronne Civique, the highest national honour for social work, on the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, of which Ravasio was

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

from 1935 to 1947.

God the Father revelations

Ravasio reported a series of messages from

, which were published as "''The Father speaks to His children''". The

Bishop of Grenoble The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges (Latin: ''Diocesis Gratianopolitana–Viennensis Allobrogum''; French: ''Diocèse de Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church i ...

(who was mentioned in the messages) recognized these messages as authentic after ten years of examination. However, the Vatican has neither approved nor disapproved of these messages, and Catholics are not required to believe them. To date these are the only reported private revelations from God the Father that have been approved by a bishop. Obraz Boga Ojca

In her book, Ravasio wrote that she personally saw God the Father and that God the Father sat next to her. On 1 July 1932, in Book 1, part 1, she quoted God the Father and wrote:

... "Look, I put aside my crown and all my glory to take the attitude of the common person"... After having taken the attitude of a common person, placing his crown and glory at his feet, he took the globe of the world to his heart. Supporting it with his left hand, then he sat down next to me...

Ravasio also wrote messages from God the Father to Bishop Alexandre Caillot, who later approved of the book. In Book 1, part 3 she wrote:

"I also want to say a word to you, My son Alexander, so that My desires may be realized in the world. You must join with the father confessor of this “little plant” (Mother Eugenia) of My Son Jesus, in promoting this work"

Ravasio also wrote of acts by the Devil. On 12 August 1932 she wrote that the Devil took the book and slashed its covers with a pair of scissors. On that day she also wrote of a new path to salvation and quoted God the Father as follows:

"ALL THOSE WHO CALL ME BY THE NAME OF FATHER, EVEN IF ONLY ONCE, WILL NOT PERISH, BUT WILL BE SURE OF THEIR ETERNAL LIFE AMONG THE CHOSEN ONES."

Church approval and controversies

Ravasio's messages were approved by Bishop Alexander Caillot of Grenoble, who was mentioned in the messages. Caillot ordered an investigation, and after ten years issued a letter stating that the messages had a divine nature. In 1988 the messages received the imprimatur of Cardinal Petrus Canisius Van Lierde,

Vicar General for the Vatican City State The Diocese of Rome ( la, Dioecesis Urbis seu Romana; it, Diocesi di Roma) is the ecclesiastical district under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Churc ...

, whose general duties were the administration of daily functions of

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. The imprimatur signified that in the Cardinal's opinion the messages contain nothing against faith and morals, but not certifying that the messages were received from God the Father. The first official authority for determining the authenticity of a private revelation is the local bishop. However, the case may be sent to the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsib ...

(CDF) at the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, which is a higher authority. In the case of Ravasio's messages, the CDF has not issued an opinion on them. As in all other

private revelation Private revelation is, in Christian theology, a message from God which can come in a variety of types. Roman Catholic theology According to the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', public revelation was complete in New Testament times, but de ...

s, Catholics in general are not required to believe the messages of Ravasio. The decision as to whether or not to believe in an approved private revelation is left to the conscience of each individual Catholic.Catholic encyclopedia
/ref> The Roman Catholic Church did not declare her writings heresy, so this is not a controversy in the Church. Two bishops provided imprimaturs which state their opinion that the writings are of no danger to faith and morals.

Works

* Mother Eugenia Ravasio; ''The Father speaks to His children''. Rome, 1989.

References

External links

The Father's message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio

Mother Eugenia Ravasio and the Message from God the Father

"The Father speaks to His children"
(in PDF format to download)
Biography of Mother Eugenia Ravasio
(in PDF format to download)
/ God The Father Medals and Mother Eugenia Topics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravasio, Mother Eugenia Elisabetta 1907 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Christian mystics People from Capriate San Gervasio 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Roman Catholic mystics