Itala Mela

"I loved everyone with deep tenderness."

"To live the Inhabitation is to live one's Baptism. It would be a grave error to believe that calling souls to nourish their lives with this adorable mystery is to call them to a special "devotion": it is rather an invitation to live by the grace that Baptism has given them, to penetrate the divine reality promised to us by Jesus: Veniemus et apud eum mansionem faciemus."

"Never forget that in our soul is the dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity, as in a new heaven. We often strive to unite ourselves with God by complicated means and do not think that we always have within us, as long as we are in a state of grace, the divine Guest....... If among our occupations we would often collect ourselves for a single moment within ourselves and make contact with a single thought with the Most Holy Trinity, who deigns to sanctify our hearts, we would soon discover infinite treasures."

"Make the indwelling (of the three divine Persons in me) the centre of my life."

"Living the Inhabitation is not an extraordinary thing, but the logical consequence of our Baptism."

"[Christ's pain] is ours as all things belong to us and Him together. We take this supreme gift from the Master and bring it back to Him in the bosom of the Trinity... so that through Him it may be presented to the Father and become precious in His eyes. Then the pain of a small soul becomes again the pain of Christ, of the humanised Word, and is transformed into a source of grace... for many souls."

"After the transition from tenacious adolescent atheism to an unconditional and persevering surrender to God, Itala faced the ascent to the mountain of holiness by overcoming every psychological and spiritual obstacle...In addition to prayer and advice, Itala, despite her less than florid financial circumstances, was generous with charity. In Blessed Itala Mela, the Church leaves behind a message of confidence in the possibility of the laity not only to live Christian holiness to the full, but also to be creators and protagonists of the cultural and spiritual renewal of society. (Angelo Amato)"