'Jesus, take me to Heaven!', 8-year-old girl in the odor of holiness, her story

With a decree of 25 November, Papa Francesco recognized the virtues of Odette Vidal Cardoso, a Brazilian girl who left this land at the age of 8 whispering 'Jesus take me to heaven!'.

Odette Vidal Cardoso, the 8-year-old girl who is close to God even in her illness

It's been a few days since Papa Francesco decided to recognize the heart turned towards God of little Odette Vidal Cardoso, an 8-year-old girl born in Rio de Janeiro February 18, 1931 by Portuguese emigrant parents.  

Odette lived the Gospel every day, attended masses and prayed the rosary every evening. He taught the daughters of the servants and devoted himself to works of charity. An extraordinary spiritual maturity that allowed her to be admitted to first communion in 1937, at the age of 6. 

The purity of a girl who asked God in each of her prayers 'Come now into my heart', like a song animated by the ardent passion for the body of Christ. 

At the age of 8, precisely on 1 October 1939, he fell ill with typhus. Anyone could read this sentence with the eyes of despair but they are not the same eyes that those who have been close to Odette have found in her gaze. 

If faith strengthens, it was precisely in the moment of suffering that the girl showed all her gratitude to God, serenity and patience in the storm. 

It was 49 long days of sickness and his only request was to receive communion every day. In the last days of his life he received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick. He died on November 25, 1939 exclaiming: "Jesus, take me to heaven".

'Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not get lost, because I am your God; I strengthen you, I help you, I support you with the right hand of my righteousness', Isaiah 41:10. 

God is with us in every circumstance of life, in joy and in sickness. Odette Vidal Cardoso had the love of God in her heart, the certainty that He was with her in every moment of her life. Her purpose was to see him and be in his arms forever without being afraid to close his eyes in the earthly world.