Personal clarity is an amazing thing. It is also incredibly attractive. When you meet someone who has a piercing sense of personal clarity it can be mesmerizing. What is personal clarity? Personal clarity is a spiritual state of awareness that allows you to see clearly who you are, what you are here for, what matters most, and what doesn’t matter at all.

Mary di Rosa had this kind of clarity. She knew that her life belonged entirely to God. Energized and empowered by this clarity, Mary got to work serving the people of northern Italy where she lived. She ran retreats, missions, special programs for women, and homes for the sick and the poor. 

One of her greatest moments of clarity came when she was serving the sick in a military hospital. Some enemy soldiers came to the door, on a violent rampage, ready to destroy everything and everyone inside the hospital walls. But Mary paid no mind to their plans. She simply opened the door and held an enormous crucifix out, confronting the soldiers face to face. When they saw the crucifix, the soldiers were reminded of God and they left peacefully. 

Clarity like Mary di Rosa possessed is rare today. This kind of clarity comes from collaborating with God to firmly establish your priorities, values, and goals. And the sad truth is…

Most people’s lives don’t make sense to themselves.

Most people live anxiously in a cloud of confusion.

Most people have very little personal clarity.

Most people make very little effort to listen to the voice of God in their lives.

When we are living in a state of personal clarity we are able to lay our heads on our pillows at night knowing that who we are, where we are, and what we are doing makes sense. And that is no small thing.

People with great personal clarity have taken time to answer five of life’s biggest questions. We all wrestle with these five questions throughout our lives. The great thinkers of every age have discussed and debated them, and now it is your turn.

Who am I?

What am I here for?

Where am I going?

What matters most?

What matters least?

Take some time today to sit with God and begin answering these questions. The personal clarity you find will energize and invigorate every aspect of your life.



Feast Day: December 15 

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Valerian

Patron Saint of: The Sisters of Charity

Symbols: Two Candles

Canonized: June 12, 1954

Canonized By: Pope Pius XII