![[Saint Eustochia Calafato]](sainte42.jpg "23kb jpg photograph of the incorrupt body of Saint Eustochia; image found on a holy card; photographer unknown")
Eustochium Calafato Eustochia of Messina Eustochia Montevergine Eustochia Calafato de Messina
20 January formerly 1 February formerly 16 February
Eustochia received a her own vision, the image of Christ Crucified. The experience led her to join the Poor Clare Convent of Santa Maria di Basico against the wishes of the rest of her family. Her brothers threatened to burn down the convent, and Smerelda returned home. However, seeing the girl's true devotion and desire they relented, and she returned to the convent, taking her vows and the name Eustochia.
Noted for her self-imposed penances and austerities. Believing her convent locked sufficient discipline, she joined the reform-minded Poor Clare community at Santa Maria Acommodata in 1457, a community whose discipline was so severe that local Franciscan priests refused to say Mass there, fearing they were encouraging impious excesses. She was soon joined there by a blood sister and a niece. In 1463 the group relocated to Monte delle Vergini (Maiden's Hill).
Elected abbess in 1464. Noted for her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the poor of the area. The local lay people considered her their patron and protector, the cloister a place of refuge, especially during the earthquakes that rocked the area.
20 January 1491 at Montevergine, Sicily entombed in the apse of the church at Montevergine; body incorrupt
For All the Saints Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate John Paul II's Book of Saints, by Matthew Bunson and Margaret Bunson Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson- Pope John Paul II in his homily at the canonization of Saint Eustochia