On 21 November 1832, Maria Cristina married Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Acquasanta. The bride was twenty years old and the groom twenty-two. The next day, she donated her gold-threaded wedding dress to the Redemptorists to adorn a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary.[2]
Maria Cristina was described as beautiful but also timid and shy: modest and reserved, she was deeply religious.[3] Her relationship to Ferdinand was not happy, and he had little patience for her nervous modesty. While she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, she prevented the use of death sentences, and was known as "the Holy Queen".[4]
On 9 July 1859 she was declared to be a Servant of God,[6] on 6 May 1939 a Venerable Servant of God,[6] and on 3 May 2013 Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession, a further stage on her process to beatification.[7] Her beatification took place on 25 January 2014 at the Basilica of Santa Chiara (Naples), where she is buried, making her Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy.
