Elia di San Clemente
Italian nun (1901-1927)
Feast: 29 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Teodora Fracasso was born in Bari on 17 January 1901. Even as a laywoman she lived the primacy of God, contemplating beauty, listening to the Word and loving the Eucharist.
As Sister Elia of St Clement, a Discalced Carmelite, she spent much of her day at the sewing given her in her cell, faithful to the Rule. Struck by encephalitis, she offered her sufferings to the Lord and died at noon on Christmas Day 1927, aged 26.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young Carmelite who put God first in everything and offered him her suffering.
Connected on this site
- Thérèse of Lisieux Saint“Fracasso's inclinations to become a nun stemmed from her childhood after having had a vision in 1911 in which Thérèse of Lisieux told her that she would become a nun; this realization came a decade later when she entered the convent in her native Bari where she remained for the remainder of her life.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Elia di San Clemente
- Wikidata Q438517 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Teodora Fracasso (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.