Vatican City (Fides Service) - Mother Maria Cristina Brando was born in Naples on May 1, 1856 of wealthy parents, Giovanni Giuseppe and Maria Concetta Marrazzo. Her mother died several days after the birth of the Servant of God. Possessing a gentle and docile nature, she received a fruitful and sound religious education within her family and, early on, showed clear signs of an inclination toward prayer and celibacy. Attracted by the things of God, she fled from worldly vanities, and in addition to a love for solitude, she frequently celebrated the sacrament of the Penance and was a daily communicant. She heeded the teaching of our Savior (cf. Mt 5, 48), and was accustomed to say repeatedly: "I must become holy; I want to be a saint." Approximately at the age of twelve, before an image the Child Jesus, she professed a vow of perpetual chastity.
When she perceived that she had a vocation to religious life, she tried to enter the Monastery of the Sacramentine Nuns in Naples, but she prevented from doing so by her father. However she did obtain his consent to be received as a candidate for the Poor Clare Nuns at their Monastery of the Fiorentine. Nevertheless, because of illness she was prevented twice from entering and was forced to return her family for medical care. Following her recuperation, she received permission to enter the Monastery of the Sacramentine Nuns. In 1876 she was vested in the religious habit and took the name of Sister Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception. Here, too, she became ill and was forced to abandon the venture that she had undertaken with such great fervour.
At this point she understood that the moment had arrived for her to dedicate her life to an Institute to which she had always felt a calling. Therefore in 1878, while renting a room with the Teresiane Sisters of Torre del Greco, she laid the foundation for a new religious family that currently bears the name: the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The new congregation grew quickly despite economic constraints and other obstacles, as well as the unstable health of the foundress herself.
After residing in various places, the community, with the guidance of the Servant of God, Michelangelo of Marigliano and of Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, settled in Casoria, not far from Naples. The new Institute encountered numerous difficult situations, but in many ways it also experienced divine Providence and it enjoyed the help of many benefactors and clergy, most especially the priest, Domenico Maglione. The Institute grew with members and new houses and demonstrated great devotion to the Eucharist and diligent care for the education of young boys and girls.
In 1897 the Servant of God professed temporary vows, and on July 20, 1903 the Congregation received canonical approbation from the Holy See. On November 2 of the same year, the Foundress, together with many of her Sisters, professed perpetual vows. She lived her consecration with generosity, with perseverance and with spiritual joy. She held the office of superior general with humility, prudence and amiability, giving her sisters continual examples of fidelity to God and to one's vocation and of zeal for the growth of the kingdom of God.
She walked the path of holiness with exactitude and generosity, and with the help of God's grace, she continually progressed in imitation of the Lord, in obedience to the Gospel and in Christian perfection. The Servant of God entered eternal life on January 20, 1906, to which, even as a young child, she had always aspired, and for which she had prepared herself so diligently.
The life of Mother Cristina was always illuminated by simply, solid and lively faith which she nourished by listening to the Word of God, reception of the Sacraments, assiduous meditation and fervid prayer. She was particularly devoted to the Incarnation, Passion and Death of Christ and to the Eucharist. Her spirituality of expiation was so strong that it became the Institute's charisma, together with caring for children and young girls. The two lines which form the basis of the charisma that Mother Brando handed on to her Sisters Expiating Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, are love of God and love of neighbour, which Blessed Maria Cristina described as "two branches coming from the same trunk". Today there are about 200 of these Sisters occupied mainly with female conservatories, colleges, orphanages and schools. SL (Fides Service 25/4/2003 EM lines 51 Words: 753)