Smeralda Calafato was born in Messina (Sicily). Her mother was an enthusiastic admirer of the reform of the strict observance – especially regarding poverty – of the first rule of St Clare which was gaining ground in the area. Smeralda in her early teens joined the monastery where she was given the name of Eustochia. With zeal and commitment, she dedicated herself to prayer and mortification and constant meditation on the Passion of Christ. However, some of the sisters including Eustochia became disillusioned with how the stricter observance of the Rule was being lived. Having obtained the necessary papal authorisation, they moved into the premises of an old hospital attached to the monastery. Soon they had to leave the old hospital and in 1464 found generous hospitality in the home of a congregation of the Franciscan Third Order at Montevergine. As abbess here Eustochia drew more sisters to a Christocentric spirituality with great devotion to the Eucharist, nutrients to an intense and heartfelt liturgical life. By the time she died there in 1485, there was a fervent and respected religious community of some 50 nuns and Eustochia was renowned for the fragrance of her virtues and the fame of her holiness. She was canonised by John Paul II in 1988.
First Reading: 1 Peter 4: 7-11; Gospel: Mt. 16: 24-27
