Maria Celeste Crostarosa

Blessed Giulia (Maria Celeste) Crostarosa
Devotional print c. 1910.
Religious; Mystic
Born	(1696-10-31)31 October 1696 Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Died	14 September 1755(1755-09-14) (aged 58) Foggia, Kingdom of Naples
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	18 June 2016, Foggia, Italy by Cardinal Angelo Amato
Feast	11 September
Attributes	Nun's habit Pendant of Jesus
Patronage	Redemptoristine Nuns

Blessed Giulia Crostarosa (31 October 1696 – 14 September 1755) was an Italian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer. She had a series of visions in her life that led to the establishment of her order which was bestowed upon it a rule of its own. She assumed the religious name of "Maria Celeste" when she became a professed nun.

Pope Francis declared her to be Venerable for her life of heroic virtue on 3 June 2013; a miracle attributed to her intercession needed for beatification was approved in 2015 which paved the path for her beatification; it took place on 18 June 2016 in Foggia in which Cardinal Angelo Amato presided on the behalf of the pope.

Giulia Crostarosa was born on 31 October 1696 in Naples with the baptismal name of Giulia Marcella Crostarosa. She was born to Francesco Crostarosa and Paola Battistini Caldari; descended from the Lords of Abruzzo and Aquila.

Crostarosa was immersed in spiritual life and collaborated with Father Bartolomeo Cacace who served as her spiritual director. As an adolescent she accompanied her sister Ursula to Marigliano to become a nun in 1716. While there she met Father Thomas Falcoia of the Pious Workers who served her as a spiritual assistant following the death of Cacace. She remained in the convent for under a decade and she moved in 1724 out of the convent alongside her sister. Her first recorded vision of Jesus Christ was on 25 April 1725 when she was still a novice in which she saw for the first time what would soon become the congregation she would establish. In another vision Christ revealed the new institute and the suffering that would result from its creation. After a period of time the theologians confirmed the divine experiences that she had. After she became a nun she assumed the name of "Maria Celeste".