Day 307 -- Saint Maria Chaira

"Always forward!"
~her motto and dying words

Saint Maria Chaira was born on January 9, 1872 as Clelia Nanette in Italy. As a girl, she was known a high-spirited, joyful, pretty, energetic, and impulsive. Her parents wanted her to have a more social life and hoped that she would marry, but she declined and worked at home and took a private vow of chastity. At age 18 she asked permission to enter religious life, but her parents vehemently opposed it. However, with her brother's help, she joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary on January 24, 1892 and took the name of Chiara (Clare). She was a missionary to China. She died young during a crackdown on foreign missionaries. She is one of the Martyrs of Shanxi and Martyrs of China. She was beheaded on July 9, 1900 in Taiyuanfu, China and was canonized on October 1, 2000 in Rome.