Giulia Crostarosa was born on 31 October 1696 in
Naples with the baptismal name of Giulia Marcella Crostarosa. She was the tenth of twelve children 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 a young woman, she accompanied her sister Ursula to
Marigliano to become a
Carmelite nun in 1718, taking the name "Candida". While there, she met Father Thomas Falcoia of the Pious Workers, who served as her spiritual director following the death of Cacace. She remained in the convent for under a decade and in 1724 relocated along with her sister to enter a religious conservatory founded by Falcoia in
Scala, high above the Bay of Amalfi. At the new convent, she changed her religious name to "Maria Celeste".
The founding of the Redemptoristines Her first recorded vision of Jesus Christ was on 25 April 1725 when she was still a novice, seeing him "...in a wonderfully pure light... with an inexpressible jubilation of love... In a great and very clear light I saw him write with his finger in my heart with his blood." As it happened, Bishop Guerriero had invited the young
Alphonsus Liguori, a friend of Falcoia, to give a retreat to the nuns at Scala. Liguori had heard negative rumors of the "visionary nun" at Scala, but he spoke to her at length during the retreat, and came away with a favorable impression from her and from the other nuns' support of her. Crostarosa thus had the support of both Falcoia and Liguori, and Liguori took the initiative in persuading Guerriero. With Guerrierro's approval, and the unanimous consent of the nuns, the convent would switch to rule of life from Crostarosa's vision on the following
Pentecost, 31 May 1731. They chose a habit of red and blue, the traditional colours of Our Lord's own clothes. Maria Celeste Crostarosa died in Foggia on 14 September 1755. Her spiritual experiences are contained in numerous documents of considerable value following her death as well as those she kept during her life. ==Beatification process==