Bl. Imelda Lambertini

Their story

Imelda Lambertini was born around 1322 in Bologna, Italy, the only child of a noble family. From a very young age she loved to pray and longed to receive Jesus in Holy Communion. When she was nine, she went to live with the Dominican nuns at a nearby monastery so that she could share their life of prayer. In those days, children usually did not receive their First Communion until they were about twelve or older. Imelda asked again and again to receive Jesus, but she was told to wait. She watched the sisters receive the Eucharist each day and wondered aloud how anyone could receive Jesus into their heart and not die of love. According to the account handed down by the Dominicans, in May 1333, on the feast of the Ascension, Imelda stayed behind in the chapel after Mass, praying with great longing. The sisters saw a Host appear in the air above her, shining with light. The priest, recognizing a sign from God, gave the eleven-year-old her First Communion. Imelda knelt in thanksgiving and did not move. When the sisters came to her, they found that she had died, peacefully, in the joy of her first union with Jesus. Imelda was beatified in 1826. Pope St. Pius X, who opened First Communion to younger children, named her patroness of First Communicants.