Blessed Chiara Badano Medal Necklace – Female Patron Saint for Young Athletes

Blessed Chiara Badano, Female Patron Saint for Young Athletes

Chiara Badano was born in 1971 in a small town in northern Italy, the long-awaited only child of parents who had prayed for a baby for eleven years. At nine, she joined the Focolare Movement, a Catholic lay community built around unity and everyday holiness, and its founder gave her the nickname "Luce," meaning light, for the joy she carried into every room. Chiara was also a genuinely active teenager and athlete, known among her friends for her energy as much as her faith. At sixteen, a persistent pain during physical activity turned out to be osteogenic sarcoma, a painful bone cancer that would end both her athletic life and, eventually, her own. She faced her illness the way she'd approached competition, refusing to let it define her mood. "Don't shed any tears for me," she told her mother near the end. "I'm going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don't want people crying, but singing with all their hearts." She died in 1990 at eighteen and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, one of the first members of Generation X to be raised to the altar. While the Catholic Church has long turned to Saint Sebastian as patron of athletes generally, Chiara has increasingly been recognized specifically as a female patron saint for girls and young women across every sport, a real athlete whose own story speaks directly to theirs.

A Gift For...

• A female athlete in any sport, basketball, volleyball, soccer, track, or beyond
• A girl or young woman starting a new sports season or team
• Someone facing illness or a difficult diagnosis with real courage
• A confirmation candidate looking for a modern female saint close to their own age
• A Blessed Chiara Badano gift on her feast day, October 29, for any young female athlete in your life

A Confirmation Gift for Chiara

For a confirmation candidate who is young, athletic, and looking for a female saint close to their own age and experience, Chiara offers something rare, holiness that looks like an ordinary teenage life lived all the way through. Engrave a name and confirmation date, and let her joy carry the meaning.

The Blessed Chiara Badano Medal

This medal depicts her in modern dress, a tennis racket in hand and a small cross at her neck, smiling, her halo radiating outward. The natural gold or silver of the metal forms the illustration itself. Black ink is applied to the pendant surface and the metal shows through as the image. A shatterproof liquid glass coating seals the surface. The result has a depth and precision that printed medals don't achieve.

Personalization and Engraving

The optional engraving on the reverse is rendered in Tangerine cursive, two lines, up to 20 characters each. Many choose a name and confirmation date, while others engrave "Luce" or her own words, "I want it too."

Blessed Chiara Badano's feast day is October 29, her birthday, and her cause for canonization remains active today, championed in part by young Catholics around the world who see in her a saint who looked, until the very end, like one of their own.

Related Devotions for Athletes and Competitors

• For General Athletic Protection: Pair with the Saint Sebastian Medal, the Church's longstanding patron of athletes and soldiers.
• For Soccer Players: Explore the Saint Luigi Scrosoppi Medal, officially named patron of soccer players in 2010.
• For Fishing and Outdoor Sport: Discover the Saint Andrew Medal, patron of fishermen and anglers.
• See the Full Collection: Browse Patron Saints for Athletes & Sports for more saints connected to sport and competition.