Paola Renata Carboni

On April 22, 1922, Paola and her sister Giuseppina secretly received their first communion and confirmation at the hands of the Archbishop of Fermo, Msgr. Carlo Castelli. Inspired by the autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, she offered herself to the Lord for the conversion of her parents. Having become a schoolteacher, she became actively involved in the Italian Catholic Action and was appointed diocesan secretary of the Women's Youth in 1926. During a pilgrimage to Rome in the spring of 1927, she made a private vow of perpetual virginity.

On August 18, 1927, upon returning to Grottazzolina, Paola contracted typhus, complicated by sepsis due to cholecystitis. During her painful agony, she maintained a deep peace and offered her sufferings for the conversion of her family. She passed away on September 11, 1927, at the age of 19. Her sacrifice bore fruit: her father, initially hostile, converted to Catholicism a few years later, followed by her mother and the rest of her family.

The cause for beatification was introduced in the Archdiocese of Fermo. The diocesan informative inquiry took place from 1951 to 1964. After obtaining the nihil obstat in 1980 and the validation of the cognitive process in 1984, the Positio was published in 1988. On April 2, 1993, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Her postulation is entrusted to the Order of Discalced Augustinians, and her remains have rested at the church of the Madonna della Misericordia in Fermo since 1965.

The spirituality of Paola Renata Carboni is deeply marked by the "little way" of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She lived her faith in secrecy and adversity, transforming her daily life and her illness into an offering of love. Her spiritual writings, gathered under titles such as "Dall'ateismo alla santità" or "Un giorno mi domandò l'amore", reveal her total abandonment to the divine will. She remains a model of lay holiness for youth, particularly within Catholic Action.