Sainte Marie-Madeleine de
Pazzi, vierge
Marie-Madeleine De Pazzi
(1566-1607), carmélite florentine, fut appelée par le Seigneur aux plus hautes
expériences mystiques à travers des purifications douloureuses. Mais c'est en
cheminant humblement dans la pauvreté, la chasteté et l'obéissance qu'elle
assurait sa montée vers Dieu et qu'elle y conduisait les autres.
Sainte Marie-Madeleine de
Pazzi
Carmélite (+1607)
Carmélite de Florence, elle offrit sa vie pour obtenir le renouveau spirituel de l'Église. Favorisée de grâces mystiques, elle mettait le meilleur d'elle-même dans la fidélité aux trois vœux de sa profession perpétuelle.
Mémoire de sainte Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi, vierge de l'Ordre du Carmel. Elle
mena à Florence, en Toscane, une vie cachée dans le Christ, de prière et de
renoncement, priant assidûment pour la réforme de l'Église et, enrichie par
Dieu de multiples dons, elle conduisit fort bien ses sœurs à la perfection.
Elle mourut en 1607.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1218/Sainte-Marie-Madeleine-de-Pazzi.html
Seminario Arcivescovile (Firenze) - Chiostro di Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi
Seminario Arcivescovile (Firenze) - Chiostro di Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi
Seminario Arcivescovile (Firenze) - Chiostro di Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi
SAINTE MARIE-MADELEINE de
PAZZI
Vierge, Carmélite
(1566-1607)
Sainte Marie-Madeleine de
Pazzi, l'une des fleurs les plus suaves qui aient embaumé les jardins du
Carmel, naquit à Florence. Dès l'âge de sept ans, à l'école du Ciel, elle était
formée à l'oraison, et elle paraissait presque un prodige de mortification. Toute
une nuit elle porta une couronne d'épines sur sa tête, avec des douleurs
inexprimables, pour imiter son Amour crucifié. Chaque fois que sa mère avait
communié, l'enfant s'approchait d'elle et ne pouvait plus la quitter, attirée
par la douce odeur de Jésus-Christ.
A partir de sa Première
Communion, elle fut prête à tous les sacrifices, et c'est dès lors qu'elle fit
à Jésus le voeu de n'avoir jamais d'autre époux que Lui. Aussi, quand plus
tard, son père voulut la marier: "Je livrerais plutôt, s'écria-t-elle, ma
tête au bourreau que ma chasteté à un homme."
La sainte épouse du
Christ entra au Carmel, parce qu'on y communiait presque tous les jours. Dès
lors sa vie est un miracle continuel; elle ne vit que d'extases, de
ravissements, de souffrances, d'amour. Pendant cinq années, elle fut assaillie
d'affreuses tentations; son arme était l'oraison, durant laquelle elle
s'écriait souvent; "Où êtes-Vous, mon Dieu, où êtes-Vous?" Un jour,
tentée plus fortement qu'à l'ordinaire, elle se jeta dans un buisson d'épines,
d'où elle sortit ensanglantée, mais victorieuse.
Elle avait tant de
plaisir à proférer ces mots: "La Volonté de Dieu!" qu'elle les
répétait continuellement, disant à ses soeurs: "Ne sentez-vous pas combien
il est doux de nommer la Volonté de Dieu?" Un jour, ravie en extase, elle
alla par tout le couvent en criant: "Mes soeurs, oh! que la Volonté de
Dieu est aimable!" Il plut à Dieu de la crucifier longtemps par des
douleurs indicibles, qui la clouaient sur son lit, dans un état d'immobilité en
même temps que de sensibilité extraordinaire. Loin de demander soulagement,
elle s'écriait bien souvent: "Toujours souffrir et ne jamais mourir!"
Son coeur était un
brasier ardent consumé par l'amour. Quinze jours avant sa mort, elle dit:
"Je quitterai le monde sans avoir pu comprendre comment la créature peut
se résoudre à commettre un péché contre son Créateur." Elle répétait
souvent: "Si je savais qu'en disant une parole à une autre fin que pour
l'amour de Dieu, je dusse devenir plus grande qu'un Séraphin, je ne le ferais
jamais." Près de mourir, ses dernières paroles à ses soeurs furent
celles-ci: "Je vous prie, au nom de Notre-Seigneur, de n'aimer que Lui
seul!"
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/sainte_marie-madeleine_de_pazzi.html
Marie-Madeleine de’
Pazzi, le trésor caché de l’Église
Quatre cents ans après sa
mort, des études et des documents inédits jettent une nouvelle lumière sur la
spiritualité “pascale” et joyeuse de la sainte mystique de Florence
par Chiara Vasciaveo
Les notes originales des
Colloqui de sainte Marie-Madeleine de’ Pazzi, minutes trouvées en 2005 par
Chiara Vasciaveo, Archives de Sainte-Marie-des- Anges, Florence
Le 25 mai 2007, a été
célébré le quatrième centenaire de la mort de Sainte Marie-Madeleine
(1566-1607), carmélite florentine et maîtresse de vie spirituelle. Sa
réputation de sainteté auprès du peuple et du clergé était telle que les procès
pour sa béatification commencèrent très tôt, dès 1611. Elle fut proclamée
bienheureuse par Urbain VIII le 8 mai 1626, et canonisée le 28 avril 1669 par
Clément IX.
Des savants éminents
affirment que «Marie-Madeleine de’ Pazzi est, avec Angèle de Foligno et Catherine
de Sienne, la sainte italienne dont les textes spirituels sont les plus
connus»1. Des nombreux témoins catholiques qui font autorité ont exprimé leur
estime pour son témoignage et pour sa parole. Des vénérables comme Diomire du
Verbe Incarné (Marguerite Allegri, 1651-1677), membre de l’ordre des Sœurs
Établies de la Charité (Philippines de Florence), des bienheureux comme
Hyppolite Galantini (†1619) ou des saints comme Alphonse Marie de Liguori
(1696-1787)2 et Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897)3, ont nourri pour la sainte
mystique de Florence une vénération significative.
Paul VI aimait relire ses
œuvres, tandis que don Divo Barsotti, au cours de sa dernière visite aux
religieuses de Careggi, ne craignait pas de déclarer en des termes intensément
autobiographiques: «Sainte Marie-Madeleine vit sa mission d’amour pour nous...
C’est pour cela que je voudrais lui confier ma propre personne, ainsi que toute
la communauté de Saint Serge... elle a été l’amie, le secours, la lumière de
mon chemin. Nous l’en remercions infiniment. Je n’aurais jamais pensé que nous
aurait été donnée sur cette terre une expérience vivante et profonde,
parfaitement divine»4.
Malheureusement, une
dévotion peu avertie et des zélateurs imprudents de son témoignage ont divulgué
la vision baroque de la sainte à l’aide de textes et d’images (c’est-à-dire en
présentant de son vécu une interprétation particulière, qui en accentue les
aspects extraordinaires), en faisant abstraction des paroles de la sainte. Or
celles-ci, fortes et tranchantes, sont capables, dans leur pressante demande de
renouvellement ecclésial, de s’imprimer au fer rouge dans le cœur de ceux qui
les écoutent. C’est peut-être pour cette raison que les écrits authentiques de
la carmélite sont si peu fréquentés, même dans ce quadricentenaire, avec les
risques que l’on peut imaginer.
Il existe différents
modèles de sainteté chrétienne. En général, on comprend assez facilement les
missions caractérisées par le service de la charité et de la miséricorde. En
revanche, il n’est pas aussi simple d’accepter les dons prophétiques,
caractérisés moins par “la prédiction de l’avenir” que par un authentique
magistère spirituel, inspiré par l’écoute de la Parole et attesté par la
cohérence de la vie.
Une vie cachée
La biographie de sainte
Marie-Madeleine n’est pas caractérisée par beaucoup d’événements. C’est dans
l’une des familles les plus en vue de la noblesse florentine, de Marie
Buondelmonti et de Camillo di Geri de’ Pazzi que naquit le 2 avril 1566
Caterina, leur deuxième fille. Elle fut pensionnaire à deux reprises chez les
Chevalières de Malte, à San Giovannino, de 1574 à 1578 et de 1580 à 1581. Elle
choisit, trop jeune peut-être, de devenir carmélite en entrant à
Sainte-Marie-des-Anges à seize ans, le 27 novembre 1582, peu de temps après la
fin du Concile de Trente (1545-1563).
Les cinq premières années
de sa vie monastique sont les plus connues de la biographie de Marie-Madeleine.
“Absences”, “ravissements”, dramatisations d’épisodes évangéliques
s’entrecroisaient avec la vie ordinaire de la jeune carmélite. En réalité, on
regroupe sous ces étiquettes une variété de phénomènes forts diversifiés fondés
sur la méditation orante de la Parole. Dans le grand carmel de
Sainte-Marie-des-Anges (le plus ancien de l’ordre), riche de presque quatre-vingt
religieuses à l’époque où y vécut Marie-Madeleine, plusieurs moniales étaient
d’un haut profil spirituel, de la mère Evangelista Del Giocondo à Pacifica del
Tovaglia, l’une des principales “secrétaires” et amies de la sainte.
Pendant environ vingt ans,
cette dernière mena la vie tissée de prière et de travail qui est celle des
monastères cloîtrés. D’abord vicaire pour l’accueil des jeunes filles qui
fréquentaient la maison d’hôtes (1586-1589), elle fut engagée, à des titres
variés, dans la formation des novices à partir de 1589 et devint sous-prieure
en 1604. Elle tomba ensuite malade et passa les trois dernières années de sa
vie dans les tourments du corps et de l’esprit, pour s’éteindre le 25 mai 1607,
à l’âge de quarante et un ans.
« Si Dieu est communicatif
»
Le carmel de
Sainte-Marie-des-Anges était lié depuis plusieurs années à des cercles féminins
proches de la pensée de Savonarole. Y circulaient depuis longtemps des
témoignages et des sources manuscrites sur des femmes célèbres et estimées
comme les dominicaines sainte Catherine de’ Ricci da Prato (1522-1590) et la
bienheureuse Maria Bartolomea de’ Bagnesi (1514-1577), dont le corps est encore
vénéré aujourd’hui dans le carmel florentin et dont le confesseur devint, à
partir de 1563, le gouverneur même du monastère.
On a parlé plus haut de
l’importance des Saintes Écritures. Un témoin précisait pendant le procès
canonique: « Je me souviens en particulier que chaque samedi, prenant le livre
de l’évangile, elle tirait de l’évangile du dimanche suivant deux ou trois
passages de son choix; elle s’exerçait dans la méditation de ces textes pendant
toute la semaine, en consacrant environ deux heures chaque matin et une heure
chaque soir à cette méditation » (Sum 57). C’est de cette familiarité, qu’elle
avait mûri dans les milieux franciscains et dominicains, que naquit sa
compréhension personnelle de Dieu comme Dieu communicatif.
La surabondante effusion
de l’Esprit, reçue en particulier à la Pentecôte de l’an 1585, conduisit la
jeune carmélite sur les voies austères d’un désert, le désert inhérent à la
créature et à l’Église qui peinent à faire place à une telle grâce et à la
nécessité de grandir dans la miséricorde d’un Dieu qui est «Père très
passionné», Verbe donateur d’un «baiser de paix» et Esprit, feu qui
transforme5. Ce qui est sûr, au-delà de trop de sentimentalismes que ses dévots
n’ont fait qu’exacerber, c’est que le plus grand don que Marie-Madeleine de’
Pazzi puisse faire à notre temps, c’est le caractère central de la Trinité dans
la vie spirituelle et dans la vie ecclésiale.
Ainsi, la rencontre avec
le Dieu communion enrichit sainte Marie Madeleine non seulement d’une joie
profonde, mais aussi d’une prise de conscience graduelle du fait que beaucoup
d’hommes et de femmes, extérieurement chrétiens et même, ce qui est pire,
religieux et prêtres, répondent à l’offre du Fils et de son Esprit de manière
inadéquate. Aimer le Christ, pour sainte Marie-Madeleine, n’a pas seulement
voulu dire s’arrêter affectivement sur la considération de ses plaies physiques,
mais aussi mûrir un amour passionné pour le corps blessé et déchiré du Christ
qu’est l’Église. Pour elle, par exemple, accueillir le Christ a voulu dire
ouvrir les yeux sur ses attentes déçues par rapport à une vie religieuse riche
de rites, mais pauvre de relations fraternelles.
Aimer le Christ et son
Église, malgré la médiocrité – ou, comme elle disait, la «maudite tiédeur» – de
tant de baptisés et de «christs» (prêtres), ce fut certainement pour elle
«Enfer et Paradis en même temps»; et l’on comprend alors que l’unique don de
l’Esprit l’ eût “ obligée”, comme sainte Catherine de Sienne et Savonarole, à
entreprendre une œuvre estimée, mais restée inécoutée dans les faits, de
«rénovation de l’Église».
De son côté, elle
répondit malgré tout à la mission qui lui fut confiée, à travers les rencontres
interpersonnelles et les lettres datées (mais pas toujours envoyées) au Pape
lui-même et aux cardinaux, en leur rappelant qu’ils avaient tous le devoir de
mener une vie personnelle et ecclésiale fondée sur la nudité de l’Évangile.
Pour être épouse et non
servante
La mystique de
Marie-Madeleine, dans le sillage de Catherine de Sienne, est une mystique
ecclésiale qui appelle le peuple de Dieu tout entier à la conversion, non pas
pour le “réprimander”, comme certains le soutiennent, mais pour que devant
l’Esprit qui frappe à la porte, quelqu’un «s’ouvre à ce don».
Qu’il est beau, le
témoignage (dont on a retrouvé l’original) rendu par la prieure Evangelista le
premier mai 1595: «moi, sœur Vangelista, en honneur du Père éternel. Je me
souviens qu’en ce jour du premier mai 1595, sœur Marie-Madeleine a promis à
Dieu de vouloir être son épouse, non sa servante pour son plus grand honneur et
pour qu’Il se complaise en elle et trouve une plus grande aide en son don; elle
a promis de marcher nue avec son Dieu et de n’entendre que Sa voix et celle de
ceux qui en tiennent lieu et, quand elle aurait un doute à propos de quelque
chose, elle veut prendre conseil d’abord auprès du Christ nu et de l’âme la
plus nue que trouveront ses yeux et ses supérieurs»6.
Si l’on s’en tient aux
textes et non aux commentaires, il semble en effet que le cœur de l’expérience
de Marie-Madeleine ne se concentre pas sur la souffrance (engendrée aussi par
les problèmes de santé et par une ascèse peu équilibrée), mais consiste dans
l’approfondissement théologal d’une alliance de noces avec le Seigneur, riche
d’un “amour pur” – elle aimait dire «mort» – à savoir l’amour d’une épouse.
Elle vécut de cet amour pascal, enraciné dans le sang divinisant de l’Eucharistie,
grâce au souffle de l’Esprit. De cet amour a pu jaillir sa fragile parole de
femme, pétrie de la force de l’Évangile. De tout cela, son corps intact, non
corrompu, est l’humble témoignage, vénéré dans le carmel florentin de
Sainte-Marie-des-Anges et gardé encore aujourd’hui par la présence orante de
ses sœurs.
Un trésor caché à
redécouvrir, pour l’Église florentine et pour l’Église universelle. Don
Barsotti espérait qu’un jour, sainte Marie-Madeleine serait reconnue comme
docteur de l’Église. Les nombreux pèlerins qui la “rencontrent” et se rendent
auprès de son corps, venus de plusieurs continents par des voies presque
impensables, font réfléchir sur la nécessité de faire entendre sa voix et
d’accomplir sa mission.
Notes
1 G. Pozzi – C. Leonardi, Scrittrici
mistiche italiane, Marietti, Gênes 1988, p. 419.
2 Cf. Saint Alphonse M.
de Liguori, La vera sposa di Gesù Cristo, Casa Mariana, Frigento 1991, pp.
23.25.29.39.157 ss.
3 Cf. Thérèse de l’Enfant
Jésus, Opere complete di santa Teresa di Gesù Bambino e del volto Santo.
Scritti e ultime parole, Librairie Éditrice Vaticane – Éd. OCD, Rome 1997, ms.
A, 183.
4 D.
Barsotti, Riflessioni (12 juillet 2005), transcription, Careggi 2005.
5 C.
Vasciaveo, Danzare al passo di Dio. Santa Maria Maddalena di Firenze,
Cantagalli, Sienne 2006; “en nous une source d’eau vive”. Mistica e profezia in
santa Maria Maddalena di Firenze, in Horeb, 46 (2007), n. 1.
6 Promessa (1er mai
1595), in Miscellanea Santa Maria Maddalena, Archives de
Sainte-Marie-des-Anges, 1.4.IA.2
SOURCE : http://www.30giorni.it/articoli_id_16412_l4.htm
Présentation de Sainte
Marie Madeleine de Pazzi
En France, malgré une
certaine renommée, sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi (1566-1607) est encore peu
connue car les publications qui la concernent sont d’accès difficile. Elle
jouissait d’une grande popularité au XVIIe siècle, grâce surtout aux Carmes de
la Réforme de Touraine qui firent connaître sa vie et son message, et
favorisèrent le développement de son culte. L’auteur français le plus
considérable est sans doute le P. Léon de Saint Jean. On lui doit plusieurs
ouvrages dont une biographie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi qui connut un
grand succès jusqu’à la sixième édition en 1669.
Mais le XVIIIe siècle,
époque difficile pour les mystiques, annonçait des temps tragiques. La
Révolution française allait chasser de France les Carmes qui affectionnaient la
vie et le message de la sainte florentine. Malgré cela, on continua à s’y
intéresser à travers des traductions. En 1837, paraissait la “Vie de sainte
Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi” par son confesseur, le jésuite Cepari, qui connaîtra
cinq éditions successives. En 1873, Dom Anselme Bruniaux, prieur de la Chartreuse
de Valbonne, publiait à Paris les “Oeuvres de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi”.
Il s’agit d’une anthologie de textes de la sainte. Au XXe siècle, nous devons
citer la biographie de Maurice Vaussard “Sainte Marie-Madeleine de’ Pazzi” qui
connut trois éditions de 1921 à 1925, et, du même auteur, “Extases et lettres
de Sainte Marie-Madeleine de’ Pazzi”, précieux mais bien modeste recueil
d’écrits de la carmélite florentine.
* * *
J’ai voulu rendre
accessible la pensée et la vie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, l’une des
plus grandes mystiques de l’Eglise catholique. C’est un geste de gratitude
envers la sainte dont l’ouvrage « I Quaranta giorni » a été mon compagnon dans
un passage délicat de ma vie. J’ai puisé dans cet écrit des lumières, des
raisons d’espérer, qui m’ont aidé à résister à l’abattement et au
découragement. L’ouverture à la contemplation de l’amour de Dieu et à la
participation aux souffrances du Christ ont rempli d’un sens nouveau cette
épreuve. Depuis lors, je n’ai plus quitté Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, et elle ne
m’a plus quitté. De cette expérience est né le désir de la faire connaître et
aimer, de partager avec d’autres personnes la joie de cette amitié et de cette
rencontre.
Je me suis donc engagé
dans la traduction des œuvres de la sainte, en commençant par « Les Quarante
Jours ». Ce fut un travail long mais aussi une expérience d’amitié spirituelle
avec les personnes qui m’ont aidé, soit pour améliorer mon français, soit pour
bien saisir et donc bien exprimer certains passages difficiles du texte
italien. La recherche de l’éditeur s’avéra pénible. Après plusieurs réponses
négatives, j’ai trouvé un éditeur qui accepta de le publier : Jérôme Millon de
Grenoble. Je lui serai toujours redevable de m’avoir fait confiance et d’avoir
permis la réalisation de ce rêve. Je suis très reconnaissant à Marie-Claude
Carrara pour l’excellente qualité de son travail d’édition.
* * *
En 2002, parut Les
Quarante Jours, suivi en 2004 par Les Huit jours de l’Esprit Saint et
en 2007, par Cinq ans dans la fosse aux lions.
En 2003, les Editions de
l’Abbaye de Bellefontaine publiaient, dans la collection Flèche de
feu, Les trois extases de la passion de Jésus, avec une importante
introduction sur la dimension spirituelle de la passion du Seigneur dans le
Carmel et en Marie Madeleine.
La revue Mélanges
carmélitains a publié deux articles dédiés à la sainte : La prière au
Carmel : sainte Marie Madeleine de’ Pazzi (1566-1607), dans le numéro 1 (2003),
et Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi et Thérèse de l’Enfant-Jésus, Sœurs dans l’Esprit,
dans le numéro 3 (2005).
* * *
2007 a été une année très
importante pour les études sur sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi. J’ai eu la
grâce de vivre à Florence les moments forts de cet anniversaire, dont certains
ont été très émouvants, comme la procession avec l’urne contenant le corps
intact de la sainte, du séminaire diocésain, ancien monastère de la sainte, à
la magnifique cathédrale sainte Marie del Fiore. Je préparais depuis plusieurs
années un guide pour les pèlerins sur les lieux de la vie de la sainte. Il
parut quelques jours avant les grandes célébrations florentines. Le livre que
j’ai publié en italien Pietre e fuoco, est un guide historique, artistique et
spirituel des lieux de vie de la sainte, un livre qui s’élaborait dans ma tête
depuis 2003 ; j’en ai parlé avec Alexandra, l’amie américaine dont il est
question dans le Prologue de la Sainte flamme. Elle m’a toujours soutenu et
encouragé dans ce travail ; je lui en suis très reconnaissant.
En 2008 est enfin paru,
La sainte flamme, la suite logique du livre italien « Pietre e fuoco », la
biographie de la sainte qui manquait en langue française. C’est une vie
accessible, suffisamment complète et riche de textes spirituels de la sainte
dont quelques uns sont inédits.
1566
Catherine de Pazzi naît
le 2 avril à Florence, après Geri, premier-né de Maître Camillo di Geri
de’Pazzi et de Dame Marie de Lorenzo Buondelmonti, et suivie de deux autres
frères, Alamanno et Baccio.
Le 3 avril, elle est
baptisée dans l’oratoire de Saint Jean Baptiste, et reçoit comme patronne
sainte Catherine qu’elle aimera beaucoup ; mais en famille on l’appellera
couramment Lucrezia, nom de sa grand-mère paternelle.
1574
Le 25 février, elle entre
pour la première fois, comme pensionnaire, au monastère de Saint Jean des
Chevaliers, confiée aux bons soins de sa tante maternelle, Sœur Lessandra
Buondelmonti.
1576
Le 25 mars, fête de
l’Annonciation, elle reçoit la première communion à l’âge de dix ans, dans
l’église de Saint Jean des Chevaliers, tenue par les pères Jésuites.
Le 19 avril, jeudi saint,
au moment de la sainte communion elle se sent appelée à faire à Dieu le vœu de
virginité.
1578
Le 30 novembre, en la
fête de l’apôtre saint André, elle tombe en extase pour la première fois en la
présence de sa mère, vers le soir, dans un pré de leur villa de Parugiano, près
de Prato.
1580
Le 16 mars, par suite du
départ de son père pour Cortone, elle est confiée aux Sœurs du Monastère de
Saint Jean des Chevaliers, à la condition de pouvoir communier tous les jours
de fête.
Le jour de l’Ascension,
elle est submergée par l’Amour de Dieu. Elle reçoit une connaissance
extraordinaire de la grandeur de Dieu et de sa grâce.
1581
Au retour des siens à
Florence, elle rentre en famille dans la villa de Parugiano.
1582
Le 14 août, Catherine
entre pour 15 jours au Carmel de Sainte Marie des Anges pour faire l’essai de
sa vocation religieuse et de la vie carmélitaine. Elle choisit ce monastère à
cause du privilège exceptionnel dont il jouit : celui de la communion
quotidienne. Puis elle rejoint sa famille.
Le 27 novembre, veille du
premier dimanche de l’Avant, Catherine, bénie par ses parents et accompagnée de
sa mère, entre définitivement au monastère de Sainte Marie des Anges.
Le 8 décembre, le
chapitre du monastère accepte à l'unanimité la nouvelle postulante.
1583
Ses parents envoient un
peintre pour faire le portrait de Catherine avant sa prise d’habit. Elle en est
contrariée, mais accepte par obéissance.
Le 30 janvier, elle
reçoit l’habit carmélitain et prend le nom de Sœur Marie Madeleine.
Durant l’Avent, elle
éprouve l’Amour de Dieu dans sa surabondance comme elle l’avait connu dans la
villa de Parugiano.
1584
Le 30 janvier, on diffère
la date de sa profession pour attendre d’autres Sœurs qui n’ont pas encore
terminé leur Noviciat. Elle prophétise qu’elle fera sa Profession avant les
autres.
Au début du mois de mars,
elle tombe malade et son état empire rapidement.
Le 27 mai, dimanche de la
Trinité, sur un lit, devant l’autel de la Vierge, elle prononce ses vœux. Elle
est reconduite à l’infirmerie. À ce moment, commence une période surprenante
d’extases, qui surviennent tous les jours après la communion, pendant deux ou
trois heures. Cela va durer quarante jours. La maladie continue son cours.
Le 8 juin, vision du
drame de la Passion.
Le 10 juin, Jésus lui
donne Son cœur et prend en échange celui de la carmélite pour le remplir d’un
saint amour.
Le 16 juin, rendant
visite au tombeau de la bienheureuse Maria Bagnesi sur l'ordre de son
confesseur, elle est guérie de sa maladie.
Le 28 juin, elle reçoit
la marque des stigmates ; à sa prière ils seront cachés aux créatures.
Le 6 juillet , elle
reçoit la couronne d’épines.
1585
Le soir du 24 mars,
veille de l’Annonciation, S. Augustin lui écrit dans le cœur les mots : Verbum
caro factum est.
Le 15 avril, elle reçoit
dans son âme les stigmates invisibles.
Le dimanche 28 avril,
elle reçoit de Jésus l’anneau de son mariage mystique.
Le 21 mai, on lui annonce
une grande épreuve : le Seigneur lui demande de se nourrir de pain et d’eau
seulement et de ne dormir que 5 heures par jour.
Le 8 juin, veille de la
Pentecôte, commence la seconde grande période d’extases : durant huit jours,
elle reste en extase jour et nuit, sauf deux heures environ pour prier
l’office, et prendre un peu de nourriture. Durant ces jours elle reçoit sept
fois, à l'heure de Tierce, sous diverses formes, le Saint-Esprit.
Le 16 juin, fête de la
Trinité, commence la grande éprouve appelée, « lac des lions », qui va durer
cinq ans.
Le 5 juillet, le Seigneur
lui commande de marcher les pieds nus.
1586
Le 20 juillet, elle entre
en extase, Dieu l’appelle à la tâche de renouveler l’Église. Elle va dicter 12
lettres à diverses personnes, dont le Pape.
Le 17 septembre, elle
reçoit le « voile blanc » de la Vierge, pour avoir triomphé des tentations
contre la pureté.
En octobre, elle quitte
le Noviciat.
1587
Son frère Alamanno meurt
le 14 juillet. Elle voit l’âme de celui-ci peiner au Purgatoire.
1588
Le jeudi 25 février, elle
reçoit le faisceau de la Passion.
Le 25 novembre, les
épreuves qu’elle subit, la tentation de s’évader et de mourir, atteignent leur
point culminant.
1589
Le 30 septembre, elle est
élue Sous-maîtresse des novices.
1590
Le 22 avril, jour de
Pâque, le Seigneur lui demande de faire encore un Carême de Cinquante jours.
Elle jeûne ainsi jusqu’à la Pentecôte.
Le 10 juin, dans la nuit
de Pentecôte, elle est enfin libérée du « lac des lions ». Elle reçoit de
grands dons et des communications divines.
Sa mère meurt le 24 août.
Elle la contemple, joyeuse au Purgatoire, et on lui révèle la gloire qui lui
est réservée pour ses actes de charité envers le prochain. Le 7 septembre, elle
voit l’âme de sa mère entrer au Paradis.
1592
Le 26 mars, dans une
longue extase, elle participe aux douleurs de la Passion.
Le 3 mai, dans un grand
excès d’amour, elle sonne les cloches, appelant à aimer l’Amour.
Au mois d’octobre elle
reçoit l’office de sacristine.
1595
Le 1er mai, elle demande
au Seigneur la souffrance pure.
Elle est élue Maîtresse
des jeunes professes.
1597
Mort du père de Sœur
Marie Madeleine.
1598
Au chapitre du 2 octobre,
elle est élue Maîtresse des novices.
1604
Le 24 juin, dernière
extase : Dieu lui accorde ainsi la pure souffrance.
Au chapitre, elle est
élue Sous-prieure, contre sa volonté.
Peu après elle tombe
malade.
1607
Le 13 mai, après trois
ans de maladie, elle reçoit l’Extrême Onction.
Le 25 mai, à huit heures
elle entre en agonie. Quand on appelle le Père confesseur, il lui fait dire que
par la sainte Obéissance elle doit attendre pour mourir. Elle se réveille un
instant et prononce ses derniers mots : « Benedictus Deus ». Elle meurt vers 14
heures.
1608
Un an après sa mort, les
carmélites obtiennent de porter les dépouilles mortelles de leur Sœur dans la
cellule où elle avait vécu.
1611
Le procès de
béatification commence après les nombreux miracles obtenus par son intercession.
1626
Le 8 mai, le Pape Urbain
VIII la proclame bienheureuse.
1662
Début du procès de
canonisation.
1669
Le 28 avril, le Pape
Clément IX l’inscrit dans la gloire des saints.
Sa dépouille vénérée,
toujours intacte, repose aujourd’hui dans le nouveau monastère qui lui est
dédié sur la colline de Careggi aux environs de la ville de Florence.
SOURCE : http://voiemystique.free.fr/madeleine_de_pazzi_chronologie.htm
Attribué à Santi di Tito, Sœur Marie-Madeleinede Pazzi à l'âge de 16 ans, avant son entrée au Carmel,1583
Sainte Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi, vierge
Morte à Florence le 25 mai 1607. Canonisé en 1669 par Clément IX.
Clément X inscrivit sa fête en 1670 sous le rite semi-double au 25 mai. Elle
fut reportée au 27 mai lors de l’institution de la fête de saint Grégoire VIII
en 1728, puis au 29 en 1899 pour céder la place à Saint Bède le Vénérable.
Leçons des Matines avant 1960
Quatrième leçon. Née à
Florence de l’illustre famille des Pazzi, Marie-Madeleine prit, on peut dire,
dès son berceau, le chemin de la perfection. A dix ans, elle fit vœu de
chasteté. Ayant revêtu l’habit de carmélite au monastère de Notre-Dame des
Anges, elle se montra un modèle de toutes les vertus. Elle était si pure
qu’elle ignorait absolument ce qui peut blesser la pureté. Sur l’ordre de Dieu,
elle jeûna pendant cinq ans au pain et à l’eau, sauf les dimanches, où elle usait
des mets permis en Carême. Elle châtiait son corps par le cilice, les
flagellations, le froid, le jeûne, les veilles, l’insuffisance du vêtement et
par toutes sortes de mortifications.
Cinquième leçon. Le feu
de l’amour divin la brûlait à ce point que, ne pouvant le supporter, elle était
obligée de se rafraîchir la poitrine avec de l’eau. Souvent ravie hors
d’elle-même, Marie-Madeleine avait des extases prolongées et merveilleuses ;
dans ces extases, elle pénétrait les mystères célestes, et recevait de Dieu des
faveurs insignes. Ainsi fortifiée elle soutint un long combat contre les
princes des ténèbres, en proie qu’elle fut à la sécheresse, à la désolation,
abandonnée de tout le monde et tourmentée de tentations diverses : Dieu le
permettant, pour qu’elle devint le modèle d’une invincible patience et de
l’humilité la plus profonde.
Sixième leçon. Sa charité
envers le prochain a été particulièrement remarquable : souvent elle passait
des nuits sans dormir, soit pour accomplir les tâches de ses sœurs, soit pour
servir celles qui étaient malades, et elle en a guéri plusieurs en suçant leurs
ulcères. Elle déplorait amèrement que les infidèles et les pécheurs fussent en
voie de perdition, et s’offrait à endurer tous les tourments pour leur salut.
Une vertu héroïque l’ayant fait renoncer, bien des années avant sa mort, à
toutes les délices dont le Ciel la comblait, elle répétait souvent : « Souffrir
et non mourir ». Enfin, épuisée par une longue et douloureuse infirmité, elle
alla se réunir à l’Époux, le vingt-cinq mai -mil six cent sept, à l’âge de
quarante et un ans. De nombreux miracles accomplis avant et après sa mort l’ont
rendue célèbre. Clément IX l’a inscrite au nombre des saintes Vierges, et son
corps s’est jusqu’à présent conservé sans corruption.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Le Cycle pascal nous
offre trois illustres vierges que l’Italie a produites. Nous avons salué dans
notre admiration la vaillante Catherine de Sienne ; sous peu de jours, nous
célébrerons Angèle de Mérici, entourée de son essaim de jeunes filles ;
aujourd’hui le lis de Florence, Madeleine de Pazzi, embaume toute l’Église de
ses parfums. Elle a été l’amante et l’imitatrice du divin crucifié ; n’est-il
pas juste qu’elle ait part aux allégresses de sa résurrection ?
Madeleine de Pazzi a
brillé sur le Carmel par son éclatante pureté et par l’ardeur de son amour.
Elle a été, comme Philippe Néri, l’une des plus éclatantes manifestations de la
divine charité au sein de la vraie Église, se consumant à l’ombre du cloître
comme Philippe dans les labeurs du ministère des âmes, ayant recueilli l’un et
l’autre, pour l’accomplir en eux, cette parole de l’Homme-Dieu : « Je suis venu
allumer le feu sur la terre ; et quel est mon désir, sinon qu’il s’enflamme [1]
? »
La vie de l’Épouse du
Christ fut un miracle continuel. L’extase et les ravissements étaient
journaliers chez elle. Les plus vives lumières lui furent communiquées sur les
mystères, et, afin de l’épurer davantage pour ces sublimes communications, Dieu
lui fit traverser les plus redoutables épreuves de la vie spirituelle. Elle
triompha de tout, et son amour montant toujours, elle ne trouvait plus de repos
que dans la souffrance, par laquelle seule elle pouvait alimenter le feu qui la
consumait. En même temps son cœur débordait d’amour pour les hommes ; elle eût
voulu les sauver tous, et sa charité si ardente pour lésâmes s’étendait avec
héroïsme jusqu’à leurs corps. Tant que dura ici-bas cette existence toute
séraphique, le ciel regarda Florence avec une complaisance particulière ; et le
souvenir de tant de merveilles a maintenu dans cette ville, après plus de deux
siècles, un culte fervent à l’égard de l’insigne épouse du Sauveur des hommes.
L’un des plus frappants
caractères de la divinité et de la sainteté de l’Église apparaît dans ces
existences privilégiées, sur lesquelles se montre avec tant d’éclat l’action
directe des mystères de notre salut. « Dieu a tant aimé le monde, qu’il lui a
donné son Fils unique [2] » ; et ce Fils de Dieu daigne se passionner pour une
de ses créatures, produisant en elle de tels effets, que tous les hommes sont à
même d’y prendre une idée de l’amour dont son Cœur divin est embrasé pour ce
monde qu’il a racheté au prix de son sang. Heureux ceux qui savent goûter ce
spectacle, qui savent rendre grâces pour de tels dons ! Ils ont la vraie
lumière, tandis que ceux qui s’étonnent et hésitent font voir que les lueurs
qui sont en eux luttent encore avec les ténèbres de la nature déchue. L’espace
qui nous reste ne nous permet pas, à notre grand regret, de développer
davantage le caractère et la vie de notre sainte.
Votre vie ici-bas, ô
Madeleine, a semblé celle d’un ange que la volonté divine eût captivé sous les
lois de notre nature inférieure et déchue. Toutes vos aspirations vous
entraînaient au delà des conditions de la vie présente, et Jésus se plaisait à
irriter en vous cette soif d’amour qui ne pouvait s’apaiser qu’aux sources
jaillissantes de la vie éternelle [3]. Une lumière céleste vous révélait les
mystères divins, votre cœur ne pouvait contenir les trésors de vérité et
d’amour que l’Esprit-Saint y accumulait ; et alors votre énergie se réfugiait
dans le sacrifice et dans la souffrance, comme si l’anéantissement de vous-même
eût pu seul acquitter la dette que vous aviez contractée envers le grand Dieu
qui vous comblait de ses faveurs les plus chères.
Âme de séraphin, comment
vous suivrons-nous ? Qu’est notre amour auprès du vôtre ? Nous pouvons
cependant nous attacher de loin à vos traces. L’année liturgique était le
centre de votre existence ; chacune de ses saisons mystérieuses agissait sur
vous, et vous apportait, avec de nouvelles lumières, de nouvelles ardeurs.
L’Enfant divin de Bethlehem, la sanglante Victime de la croix, le glorieux
Époux vainqueur de la mort, l’Esprit rayonnant de sept dons ineffables, vous
ravissaient tour à tour ; et votre âme, renouvelée par cette succession de
merveilles, se transformait toujours plus en celui qui, pour s’emparer de nos
cœurs, a daigné se traduire lui-même dans ces gestes immortels que la sainte
Église nous fait repasser chaque année avec le secours d’une grâce toujours
nouvelle. Vous aimiez ardemment les âmes durant votre vie mortelle, ô Madeleine
; votre amour s’est accru encore dans la possession du bien suprême ;
obtenez-nous la lumière pour voir mieux ce qui ravissait toutes vos puissances,
l’ardeur de l’amour pour aimer mieux ce qui passionnait votre cœur.
[1] Luc. XII. 40.
[2] Johan. III, l6.
[3] Johan. IV, 14.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
Souffrir, ne pas mourir.
Sainte Marie-Madeleine. —
Jour de mort : 25 mai 1607. Tombeau : dans le couvent des carmélites, à
Florence. Image : On la représente en Carmélite, avec un cierge allumé et une
couronne d’épines. Vie : Sainte Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi fut une grande mystique.
Elle fit, dès l’âge de 10 ans, le vœu de virginité. Elle entra au couvent des
carmélites déchaussées de Florence. Son principal motif fut que, dans ce
couvent, on communiait presque tous les jours. Pendant cinq ans, elle ne vécut
que de pain et d’eau. Elle se soumit aux plus dures pénitences. Pendant cinq
ans, elle connut de grandes sécheresses d’esprit. Son mot de prédilection était
: « Souffrir, ne pas mourir ». Elle mourut à l’âge de 41 ans. Son corps a été
conservé jusqu’à nos jours, sans corruption, dans une chasse précieuse de
cristal, dans l’église des carmélites de Florence.
Pratique : La pureté du
cœur et l’amour du Christ sont les vertus principales que l’Église admire dans
notre sainte. Ce sont ces vertus qui rendirent son âme capable d’adopter cette
devise : « Souffrir, ne pas mourir ». La pureté et l’amour du Seigneur, ce sont
aussi les vertus que l’Église voudrait nous voir pratiquer à l’exemple des
saints. Sans doute, nous ne pourrons pas arriver à une telle perfection ;
essayons du moins, par amour pour le Christ, de souffrir patiemment. — La messe
est du commun des vierges (Dilexísti). C’est la belle messe de fiançailles, une
des plus belles, dans son unité, de tout le missel.
Luca Giordano, Jésus apparaissant à
Marie-Madeleine de' Pazzi, 1685,
Florence, église Madalenna de Pazzi.
Bhx Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
La fête de cette âme séraphique du Carmel de Florence (+ 25 mai 1607), fut d’abord introduite par Clément X dans le calendrier le 27 du même mois, mais avec le rite semi-double. Quand, en 1900, Léon XIII étendit, pour le même jour, l’office du vénérable Bède à l’Église universelle, sainte Marie-Madeleine dut céder la place au nouveau docteur et sa fête fut transférée au 29.
La messe est celle du Commun des Vierges, comme le 10 février. La première collecte est propre.
Parmi les dons spéciaux qui ont rendu célèbre sainte Marie-Madeleine, de la très noble famille des Pazzi de Florence, notons le parfum qui, maintenant encore, émane de sa dépouille virginale conservée sans corruption.
Les nombreuses
révélations qu’eut la Sainte sont également célèbres ; parmi elles il en est
une qui concerne l’immense gloire obtenue dans le ciel par saint Louis de
Gonzague. Une belle maxime de la Sainte est aussi remarquable. Sainte Thérèse
avait coutume de répéter : « Ou souffrir, ou mourir. » Sainte Marie-Madeleine
modifia cette parole, et en compléta la signification : « Non pas mourir, mais
souffrir. » De fait, toute notre gloire future dépend de la part que nous
aurons eue à la passion de Jésus. C’est seulement pour cela que la vie est
précieuse.
Pedro de Moya (1610–1666). Vision de
Sainte Marie Madeleine de' Pazzi,
musée des Beaux-Arts de Grenade.
LETTRE DU PAPE BENOÎT XVI
À L’ARCHEVÊQUE DE
FLORENCE
À L’ OCCASION DU IV
CENTENAIRE DE LA MORT
DE SAINTE MARIE MADDALENA
DE’ PAZZI
A mon vénéré Frère
Monsieur le Cardinal
Ennio ANTONELLI
Archevêque de Florence
A l’occasion du IV
centenaire de la mort de Sainte Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, je suis heureux de
m’unir à la bien-aimée Église florentine, qui souhaite rappeler cette illustre
fille, particulièrement chère, ayant été une figure emblématique d’un amour
vivant qui renvoie à la dimension mystique essentielle de toute vie chrétienne.
Tout en vous saluant avec affection, Monsieur le Cardinal, ainsi que toute la
Communauté diocésaine, je rends grâce à Dieu pour le don de cette Sainte, que
chaque génération redécouvre singulièrement proche dans sa manière de savoir
communiquer un amour ardent pour le Christ et pour l’Église.
Née à Florence le 2 avril
1566, et baptisée sur les fonts du "beau Saint Jean" sous le nom de
Caterina, Sainte Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi montra dès son enfance une
sensibilité particulière pour le surnaturel et fut attirée par le dialogue
intime avec Dieu. Comme de coutume pour les jeunes filles d’une maison noble,
son éducation fut confiée aux Dames de Malte, dans le monastère desquelles elle
reçut la première communion le 25 mars 1576 et à peine quelques jours plus
tard, se consacra pour toujours au Seigneur à travers une promesse de
virginité. Revenue dans sa famille, elle approfondit le chemin de la prière
avec l’aide des Pères jésuites, qui fréquentaient le palais. Elle réussit habilement
à ne pas se laisser conditionner par les exigences mondaines d’un milieu qui,
bien que chrétien, ne lui suffisait pas dans son désir de devenir plus conforme
à son Époux crucifié. Dans ce contexte, elle mûrit la décision de quitter le
monde et d’entrer au Carmel de Sainte-Marie-des-Anges, à Borgo san Frediano,
où, le 30 janvier 1583, elle reçut l’habit du Carmel et le nom de sœur Maria
Maddalena. Après être tombée gravement malade en mars 1584, elle demanda de
pouvoir émettre sa profession de façon anticipée et, le 27 mai, fête de la
Trinité, portée en chœur sur une civière, elle prononça pour toujours devant le
Seigneur ses vœux de chasteté, de pauvreté et d’obéissance.
A partir de ce moment-là
commença une intense période mystique qui allait apporter à la Sainte la
renommée de grande extatique. Il existe cinq manuscrits sur lesquels les
Carmélites de Sainte-Marie-des-Anges ont rapporté les expériences
extraordinaires de leur jeune consœur. "Les Quarante Jours" de l’été
1584 sont suivis par "Les Entretiens" de la première moitié de
l’année suivante. Le sommet de la connaissance mystique que Dieu accorda à
Maria Maddalena se trouve dans "Révélations et Intelligences" huit
jours de splendides extases, qui vont de la veille de la Pentecôte à la fête de
la Trinité de l’année 1585. Une intense expérience qui, à l’âge de 19 ans
seulement, la rendait capable de couvrir tout le mystère du salut, de
l’incarnation du Verbe dans le sein de Marie à la descente de l’Esprit Saint
lors de la Pentecôte. Suivirent cinq longues années de purification intérieure
- Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi en parle dans le livre "Probatione" -, au
cours desquelles le Verbe son Epoux lui ôta le sentiment de la grâce et la
laissa comme Daniel dans la fosse aux lions, parmi de nombreuses épreuves et de
grandes tentations. C’est dans ce contexte que s’inscrit son ardent engagement
pour le renouveau de l’Église, après que, au cours de l’été 1586, des éclats de
lumière venus d’En-Haut vinrent lui indiquer le véritable état où elle se trouvait
à l’époque post-tridentine. Comme Catherine de Sienne, elle se sentit
"forcée" à écrire certaines lettres pour solliciter auprès du Pape,
des Cardinaux de la Curie, de son Archevêque et d’autres personnalités
ecclésiastiques, un engagement décidé pour le "Renouveau de
l’Église", comme le dit le titre du manuscrit qui les contient. Il s’agit
de douze lettres dictées en extase, peut-être jamais expédiées, mais qui
demeurent comme le témoignage de sa passion pour la Sponsa Verbi.
Avec la Pentecôte de 1590
prit fin la dure épreuve. Cela lui permit de se consacrer de toutes ses forces
au service de la communauté et en particulier à la formation des novices. Sœur
Maria Maddalena eut le don de vivre la communion avec Dieu sous une forme
toujours plus intériorisée, si bien qu’elle devint une référence pour toute la
communauté qui, aujourd’hui encore, continue à la considérer comme une
"mère". L’amour purifié qui battait dans son cœur l’ouvrait au désir
de la pleine conformité avec le Christ, son Époux, jusqu’à partager avec Lui la
"souffrance nue" de la Croix. Les trois dernières années de sa vie
furent pour elle un vrai calvaire de souffrances. La phtisie commença à se
manifester clairement : Sœur Maria Maddalena se vit contrainte de se retirer
peu à peu de la vie active de la communauté pour se plonger toujours davantage
dans la "souffrance nue pour l’amour de Dieu". Elle connut
l’oppression d’atroces souffrances physiques et spirituelles qui durèrent
jusqu’à sa mort, qui eut lieu le vendredi 25 mai 1607. Elle s’éteignit vers
trois heures de l’après-midi, alors qu’une joie insolite envahissait tout le
monastère.
Vingt ans à peine
s’étaient écoulés depuis sa mort que le Souverain Pontife florentin Urbain VIII
la proclamait déjà Bienheureuse. Ce fut ensuite le Pape Clément IX qui
l’inscrivit dans l’Album des Saints le 28 avril 1669. Son corps préservé de
toute corruption est la destination de constants pèlerinages. Le monastère où
la Sainte vécut est aujourd’hui le Siège du séminaire archiépiscopal de
Florence, qui la vénère comme Patronne, et la cellule où elle mourut est
devenue une chapelle dans le silence de laquelle on perçoit encore sa présence.
Sainte Maria Maddalena
de’ Pazzi demeure une présence spirituelle inspiratrice pour les Carmélites de
l’Ancienne Observance. En elle, elles voient la "sœur" qui a parcouru
entièrement le chemin de l’union transformatrice avec Dieu, et qui indique en
Marie l’"étoile" du chemin vers la perfection. Pour tous, cette
grande Sainte a le don d’être une maîtresse de spiritualité, en particulier
pour les prêtres, envers lesquels elle a toujours nourri une véritable passion.
Je souhaite vivement que
les célébrations jubilaires actuelles de sa mort contribuent à faire connaître
toujours davantage cette figure lumineuse qui manifeste à tous la dignité et la
beauté de la vocation chrétienne. Tout comme, lorsqu’elle était en vie, en
sonnant les cloches, elle appelait ses consœurs par le cri "Venez aimer
l’amour !", puisse la grande Mystique de Florence, de son séminaire, des
monastères carmélites qui s’inspirent d’elle, faire entendre aujourd’hui encore
sa voix dans toute l’Église, en diffusant l’annonce de l’amour de Dieu pour
toute créature humaine.
Avec ce souhait, je vous
confie, Vénéré Frère, ainsi que l’Église florentine, à la céleste protection de
Sainte Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi et je donne à tous de tout cœur une
Bénédiction apostolique particulière.
Du Vatican, le 29 avril
2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/29-05-Ste-Marie-Madeleine-de-Pazzi
To His Eminence
Cardinal Ennio Antonelli
Archbishop of Florence
On the occasion of the
Fourth Centenary of the death of St Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, I am pleased to
unite myself to the beloved Florentine Church who wishes to remember her
illustrious daughter, particularly dear as a symbolic figure of a living
love that recalls the essential mystical dimension of every Christian
life.
While with affection I
greet you, Your Eminence, and the entire diocesan community, I give thanks to
God for the gift of this Saint, which every generation rediscovers as uniquely
close by knowing how to communicate an ardent love for Christ and the Church.
Born in Florence on 2
April 1566 and baptized at the "beautiful St John" font with the name
Caterina, St Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi showed a particular sensitivity to the
supernatural from childhood and was attracted by intimate colloquy with God.
As was the custom for
children of noble families, her education was entrusted to the Dames of Malta,
in whose monastery she received her First Holy Communion on 25 March 1576, and
just some days later she consigned herself to the Lord for ever with a promise
of virginity.
Returning to her family,
she deepened her prayer life with the help of the Jesuit Fathers, who used to
come to the palace. She cleverly did not allow herself to be conditioned by the
worldly demands of an environment that, although Christian, was not sufficient
to satisfy her desire to become more similar to her crucified Spouse.
In this context she
reached the decision to leave the world and enter the Carmel of St Mary of the
Angels at Borgo San Frediano, where on 30 January 1583 she received the Carmelite
habit and the name of Sr Mary Magdalene.
In March of 1584, she
fell gravely ill and asked to be able to make her profession prior to the time,
and on 27 May, Feast of the Trinity, she was carried into the choir on her
pallet, where she pronounced before the Lord her vows of chastity, poverty and
obedience for ever.
From this moment an
intense mystical season began which was also the source of the Saint's great
ecstatic fame. The Carmelites of St Mary of the Angels have five manuscripts in
which are recorded the extraordinary experiences of their young Sister.
"The Forty
Days" of the summer of 1584 are followed by "The Colloquies" of
the first half of the following year. The apex of the mystical knowledge that
God granted of himself to Sr Mary Magdalene is found in "Revelations and
Intelligences", eight days of splendid ecstacies from the vigil of
Pentecost to the Feastday of the Trinity in 1585. This was an intense
experience that made her able at only 19 years of age to span the whole mystery
of salvation, from the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of Mary to the descent
of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
Five long years of
interior purification followed - Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi speaks of it in the
book of "The Probation" - in which her Spouse, the Word, takes away
the sentiment of grace and leaves her like Daniel in the lions' den, amid many
trials and great temptations.
This is the context in
which her ardent commitment to renew the Church takes place, after which, in
the summer of 1586, splendours of light from on high came to show her the true
state of the post-Tridentine era.
Like Catherine of Siena,
she felt "forced" to write some letters of entreaty to the Pope,
Curial Cardinals, her Archbishop and other ecclesial personages, for a decisive
commitment to "The Renovation of the Church", as the title of the
manuscript that contains them says. It consists of 12 letters dictated in
ecstasy, perhaps never sent, but which remain as a testimony of her passion for
the Sponsa Verbi.
With Pentecost of 1590
her difficult trial ended. She promised to dedicate herself with all her energy
to the service of the community and in particular to the formation of novices.
Sr Mary Magdalene had the gift to live communion with God in an ever more
interior form, so as to become a reference point for the whole community who still
today continue to consider her "mother".
The purified love that
pulsated in her heart opened her to desire full conformity with Christ, her
Spouse, even to sharing with him the "naked suffering" of the Cross.
Her last three years of life were a true Calvary of suffering for her.
Consumption began to clearly manifest itself: Sr Mary Magdalene was obliged to
withdraw little by little from community life to immerse herself ever more in
"naked suffering for love of God".
She was oppressed by
atrocious physical and spiritual pain which lasted until her death on Friday,
25 May 1607. She passed away at 3 p.m., while an unusual joy pervaded the
entire monastery.
Within 20 years of her
death the Florentine Pontiff Urban VIII had already proclaimed her Blessed.
Pope Clement IX inscribed her in the Roll of Saints on 28 April 1669.
Her body has remained
incorrupt and is the destination of constant pilgrimages. The monastery where
the Saint lived is today the seat of the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Florence,
which venerates her as their Patron, and the cell where she died has become a
chapel in whose silence one can still feel her presence.
St Mary Magdalene de'
Pazzi continues to be an inspiring spiritual figure for the Carmelites Nuns of
the Ancient Observance. They see in her the "Sister" who has
travelled the entire way of transforming union with God and who finds in Mary
the "star" of the way to perfection.
This great Saint has for
everyone the gift of being a spiritual teacher, particularly for priests, to
whom she always nourished a true passion.
I truly hope that the
present jubilee celebrations commemorating her death will contribute to making
this luminous figure ever better known, who manifests to all the dignity and
beauty of the Christian vocation. As, while she was alive, grasping the bells
she urged her Sisters with the cry: "Come and love Love!", may the
great Mystic, from Florence, from her Seminary, from the Carmelite monasteries
that draw their inspiration from her, still make her voice heard in all the
Church, spreading to every human creature the proclamation to love God.
With this wish, I entrust
you, Venerable Brother, and the Florentine Church to the heavenly protection of
St Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi and heartily impart to all a special Apostolic
Blessing.
From the Vatican, 29
April 2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
_Church%2C_Philadelphia_(1900).jpg)
Also
known as
Mary-Magdalen de’Pazzi
Profile
Catherine received a
religious upbringing. She was initially sent to a convent at
age 14, but was taken back home by her family who opposed her religious vocation
and wanted her to marry well.
They eventually gave in, and Catherine became a Carmelite of
the Ancient Observance at 16, taking the name Sister Mary Magdalen. Mystic.
Led a hidden life of prayer and
self-denial, praying particularly
for the renewal of the Church and
encouraging the sisters in holiness.
Born
1566 at Florence, Italy as Catherine
8 May 1626 by Pope Urban
VIII
28
April 1669 by Pope Clement
IX
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Purgatory
Explained, book 1, chapter 5
Purgatory
Explained, book 1, chapter 6
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
video
ebooks
Life
of Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, by Father Placido Fabrini
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
Readings
Prayer ought to be
humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and accompanied with great reverence.
One should consider that he stands in the presence of a God, and speaks with a
Lord before whom the angels tremble
from awe and fear. – Saint Mary
Magdalen de Pazzi
Come, Holy
Spirit. Spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of
souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for
the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in
whom all treasures are contained.
Come! As you descended
upon Mary that the Word might become flesh, work in us through grace as you
worked in her through nature and grace.
Come! Food of every
chaste thought, fountain of all mercy, sum of all purity.
Come! Consume in us whatever
prevents us from being consumed in you. – from the writings of Saint Mary
Magdalene de Pazzi
A little drop of simple
obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest
contemplation. – Saint Mary
Magdalen de’ Pazzi
Lament and count that day
lost, in which you have not in some way denied yourself for the love of
God. – Saint Mary
Magdalen de’ Pazzi
MLA
Citation
“Saint Mary Magdalen of
Pazzi“. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 November 2021. Web. 9 June 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mary-magdalen-of-pazzi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mary-magdalen-of-pazzi/
Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi e il Torchio Mistico
St. Mary Magdalen de'
Pazzi
Carmelite Virgin,
born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in
the saint'slife.
She came of two noble families,
her father being Camillo Geri de' Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She
was baptized,
and named Caterina, in the great baptistery.
Her childhood much resembled that of some other women saints who
have become great mystics, in an early love of prayer and penance,
great charity to the poor,
an apostolic spirit of teaching religious truths,
and a charm and sweetness of nature that made her a general
favourite. But above all other spiritual characteristics was
Caterina's intense attraction towards the Blessed
Sacrament, her longing to receive It, and her delight in touching and being
near those who were speaking of It, or who had just been to Communion.
She made her own First Communion at the age of ten, and shortly
afterwards vowed her virginity to God.
At fourteen she was sent to school at
the convent ofCavalaresse,
where she lived in so mortified and
fervent a manner as to make the sisters prophesy that she would
become a great saint; and, on leaving it, she told her parents of
her resolve to enter the religiousstate. They were
truly spiritual people; and, after a little difficulty in persuading
them to relinquish their only daughter, she finally entered in December, 1582,
the Carmelite convent of Santa
Maria degl' Angeli, founded by four Florentine ladies in
1450 and renowned for its strict observance. Her chief reason for choosing this convent was
the rule there followed of daily
Communion.
Caterina was clothed in
1583, when she took the name of Maria Maddalena; and on 29 May, 1584,
being then so ill that they feared she would not recover, she
was professed.
After her profession, she was subject to an extraordinary daily ecstasy for
forty consecutive days, at the end of which time she appeared at the
point of death. She recovered, however, miraculously;
and henceforth, in spite of constant bad health, was able to fill with energy
the various offices to which she was appointed. She became, in turn, mistress
of externs--i.e. of girls coming to the convent on
trial--teacher and mistress of the juniors, novice mistress
(which post she held for six years), and finally, in 1604, superior. For five
years (1585-90) God allowed
her to be tried by terrible inward desolation and temptations,
and by external diabolic attacks; but the courageous severity
and deep humility of
the means that she took for overcoming these only served to make
her virtues shine more brilliantly in the eyes of her community.
From the time of her
clothing with the religious habit till her death the saint's life was
one series of raptures and ecstasies,
of which only the most notable characteristics can be named in a short notice.
First, these raptures
sometimes seized upon her whole being with such force as to compel her to rapid
motion (e.g. towards some sacred object).
Secondly, she was
frequently able, whilst in ecstasy,
to carry on work belonging to her office--e.g.,embroidery, painting,
etc.--with perfect composure and efficiency.
Thirdly--and this is the
point of chief importance--it was whilst in her states of rapture that St.
MaryMagdalen de' Pazzi gave utterance to those wonderful maxims of
Divine Love, and those counsels ofperfection for souls,
especially in the religious state, which a modern editor of a
selection of them declares to be "more frequently quoted
by spiritual writers than those even of St.
Teresa". These utterances have been preserved to us by the saint's companions,
who (unknown to her) took them down from her lips as she poured them forth. She
spoke sometimes as of herself, and sometimes as the mouthpiece of one or other
of the Persons of the Blessed
Trinity. These maxims of the saint are
sometimes described as her "Works", although she wrote down none of
them herself.
This ecstatic life in
no wise interfered with the saint's usefulness
in her community. She was noted for her strong common-sense, as well as
for the high standard and strictness of her government, and was most dearlyloved to
the end of her life by all for the spirit of
intense charity that accompanied her somewhat severe code
of discipline. As novice-mistress she was renowned for a miraculous gift of
reading her subjects' hearts--whichgift, indeed, was not entirely confined to
her community. Many miracles,
both of this and of other kinds, she performed for the benefit either of her
own convent or
of outsiders. She often saw things far off, and is said once to
have supernaturally beheld St.
Catherine de' Ricci in her convent at Prato,
reading a letter that she had sent her and writing the answer; but the
two saints never
met in a natural manner. To St. MaryMagdalen's numerous penances,
and to the ardent love of
suffering that made her genuinely wish to live long in order to suffer
with Christ, we can here merely refer; but it must not be forgotten that
she was one of the strongest upholders of the value of suffering for the love of God and
the salvation of
our fellow-creatures, that ever lived. Her death was fully in accordance with
her life in this respect, for she died after an illness of nearly three years'
duration and of indescribable painfulness, borne with heroic joy to
the end. Innumerable miracles followed
the saint's death,
and the process for her beatification was
begun in 1610 under Paul
V, and finished under Urban
VIII in 1626. She was not, however, canonized till
sixty-two years after her death, when Clement
IX raised her to the altars in 28 April,
1669. Her feast is
kept on 27 May.
Sources
(1) The Oratorian Life (1849), translated from the Italian Life by CEPARI, for a long time confessor to the saint and her community; the edition translated is that of 1669, published in Rome by BERNABO.
(2) A MS. Life--of which copies exist in England, only in several convents--compiled by PANTING from the above-named work of CEPARI's, and from another Italian Life by PUCCINI, who was the saint's confessor for about two years before her death.
(3) Oeuvres de S. M. M. de' Pazzi, compiled in French by LAURENT MARIA BRANCACCIO, a Neapolitan Carmelite, from Puccini's work. This book consists of her maxims, aspirations, etc., as collected by the Community. (4) A small Manual of the saint's counsels on the Religious Life, translated from the French by FARRINGTON (Dublin, 1891).
Capes, Florence. "St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton
Company,1910. 30 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09762a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Elizabeth T. Knuth. In honor of
Ernest E. Larkin, O. Carm.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09762a.htm
.jpg)
SAINT MARY MAGDALEN OF
PAZZI
ST. MARY MAGDALEN of
Pazzi, of an illustrious house in Florence, was born in the year 1566, and
baptized by the name of Catherine. She received her first communion at ten
years of age, and made a vow of virginity at twelve. She took great pleasure in
carefully teaching the Christian doctrine to the ignorant. Her father, not
knowing her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she persuaded him to allow
her to become a religious. It was more difficult to obtain her mother's
consent; but at last she gained it, and she was professed, being then eighteen
years of age, in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in
Florence, May 17th, 1584. She changed her name Catherine into that of Mary
Magdalen on becoming a nun, and took as her motto, " To suffer or
die;" and her life henceforth was a life of penance for sins not her own,
and of love of our Lord, who tried her in ways fearful and strange. She was
obedient, observant of the rule, humble and mortified, and had a great
reverence for the religious life. She loved poverty and suffering, and hungered
after Communion. The day of Communion she called the day of love. The charity
that burned in her heart led her in her youth to choose the house of the
Carmelites, because the religious therein communicated every day. She rejoiced
to see others communicate, even when she was not allowed to do so herself; and
her love for her sisters grew when she saw them receive our Lord. God raised
her to high states of prayer, and gave her rare gifts, enabling her to read the
thoughts of her novices, and filling her with wisdom to direct them aright. She
was twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made superioress, when God took
her to Himself, May 25th, 1607. Her body is incorrupt.
REFLECTION.—St. Mary
Magdalen of Pazzi was so filled with the love of God that her sisters in the
monastery observed it in her love of themselves, and called her " the
Mother of Charity," and "the Charity of the Monastery."
SOURCE : http://jesus-passion.com/saint_mary_magdalen_of_pazzi.htm
María Magdalena de Pazzi. Iglesia del Santo Ángel. Sevilla, Andalucía, España
Mary Magdalene de'Pazzi V
(RM)
Born in Florence, Italy, 1566; died there on May 25, 1607; canonized in 1669;
feast day formerly May 29.
Mary Magdalene was born into a distinguished family and baptized Catherine. She
was educated at the Saint John Convent in Florence. She was pressed to marry
but refused, and at 16 she joined the Discalced Carmelites at Saint Mary of the
Angels Convent in Florence in 1582. When she was professed the following year,
she took the name Mary Magdalene.
She held various offices in the convent and was extremely capable, eventually
becoming superioress. While seriously ill, she experienced many ecstasies.
After recovering, she practiced extreme mortifications and then fell into a
five-year period of acute inner trials and aridity. When she emerged from this
state in 1590, she experienced deep spiritual consolations from then on;
sisters copied down what she said while in ecstasies, and these accounts were
later published. They bear the imprint of the natural beauty of her life.
Mary Magdalene found her vocation in prayer and penance for the reform of
"all states of life in the Church" and for the conversion of all men.
She believed that suffering brought one to a profound spiritual plane and
helped to save one's soul. Mary Magdalene was reputed to have the gift of
prophecy and to be able to read minds and perform great cures.
She was an invalid for the last three years of her life and died at the
convent. Her body is at the Church of Saint Maria degli Angeli in Florence and
is claimed to be incorrupt (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, White).
She is depicted in art as a Carmelite with the Instruments of the Passion
kneeling before the Holy Trinity. Christ crowns her with thorns, the Virgin
gives her roses (Roeder). She may also be shown (1) receiving the Blessed
Sacrament from Jesus; (2) receiving a white veil from the Virgin Mary; (3)
being presented to or receiving a ring from Jesus; (4) crowned with thorns and
embracing a cross, with rays falling on her from a monstrance; or (5) with
flames issuing from her breast (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0525.shtml
Cosimo Ulivelli. Oratoire d'une rue de Florence avec la Très Sainte Vierge Marie,
Philippe Néri, et Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi, 1668
Butler’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, Virgin
Article
From her life, written by
her confessarius, Puccini, and from the bull of her canonization. See
Baert, the Bollandist, t. 6, Maij, p. 177.
A.D. 1607
The family of the Pazzi
was one of the most illustrious in the republic of Florence, and was allied to
the sovereign house of Medicis; but the birth of this saint hath reflected on
it greater glory than the long list of heroes, statesmen, governors, and other
great personages which it displays. Nor was her maternal family of the
Blondelmonti inferior in rank, or less fruitful in great men. She was born in
that city in 1566, and in honour of Saint Catharine of Sienna received her name
in baptism. From the first dawn of reason there appeared in her the happy
presages of that eminent virtue of which she became a perfect model. When only
seven years old, she was so compassionate to the poor, that she was wont to
deprive herself of her meat to to give it to some beggar; and such was her
devotion, that it was her custom to steal privately from the company of her
play-fellows to spend her time in secret prayer. In her tender infancy she was
accustomed to repeat often the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, and Creed, and other
devotions; and she taught other poor children the same with wonderful care and
zeal. When her father carried her into the country, it was her custom and her
delight to assemble together the little girls of the village, and to teach them
what she knew of the Christian doctrine; which she did with wonderful modesty
and patience. One day it happened that she had begun to instruct a young girl
of one of her father’s tenants in her catechism, when she was told that she
must go back to Florence; but she cried so much at the thought of leaving her
work of charity imperfect, that her father carried the other girl with them to
the city, where the young saint finished her instruction. At eight or nine
years of age she began more ardently to apply herself to holy prayer, and she
employed whole hours in that exercise. In this divine school she learned the most
perfect sentiments of all virtues, and began to feel so strong a desire to love
and please God that worldly amusements were tedious and bitter to her. She knew
no pleasure but in speaking to God, or of God, or heavenly things. She often
left her bed in the night to lie on the floor or on straw. One day she made
herself a crown of rushes interwoven with thorns, tied it on her head and lay
all night with it, suffering the pain which the pricks of the thorns gave her.
To this action she was moved at nine years of age by a meditation on the
sufferings of Christ; which mystery from that time was the chief object of her
pious thoughts and devotions during the remainder of her life. Once on Saint
Andrew’s day, in her meditation, her heart was so inflamed with a desire of
suffering with and for Christ, that she swooned away; and her mother was afraid
she was dying. After she was grown up and a nun, coming to herself from a like
fit, she cried out: “O Love, this grace is like that which I received in my
childhood, when my mother thought it a corporal disorder.” By hair-shirts, and
other severe mortifications, she endeavoured to conform herself to Christ
crucified, and put on her head in the night a plaited crown of prickly olive
branches. She always wept at the sight of any grievous corporal distress, and
much more for any spiritual misery of her neighbour. Such was her tender
devotion to the blessed eucharist, that she loved to be near those who came
from the holy communion, as if by love she perceived the odour of Christ’s
presence. She made her first communion with wonderful devotion at ten years of
age; and at twelve, by vow consecrated her virginity to God. At fourteen, her
father being made by the grand-duke governor of Cortona, she was placed by him
a pensioner in the monastery of Saint John in Florence. There she gave full
scope to her devotion, and employed every morning four hours in pious
meditation on her knees. Out of humility, she usually kept at a distance from
the nuns, whom she respected as the favourite spouses of Christ.
After fifteen months her
father took her home, with the view of procuring her an honourable and
advantageous match. Several proposals were made to her, and her parents were
very pressing for her consent. But she protested that the disposal of herself
in marriage was no longer in her power. In the choice of a religious state,
being much pleased with the custom of frequent and almost daily communion
practised among the Carmelite nuns, she preferred that Order, and entered their
monastery, in Saint Fridian’s suburb, at Florence, on the eve of the
Assumption, in 1582. She continued some days in a secular habit, that she might
be the better acquainted with the rule. It is not to be expressed how much
those holy and fervent virgins were edified by the great virtues which she
practised. But her parents, after fifteen days, took her home again for three
months, the better to try her vocation. However, she would by no means consent
ever to put on fine clothes, or do anything which seemed to favour vanity or
sensuality. Having obtained their blessing, she on the 1st of December returned
to the monastery, being then fifteen years old, and took the habit on the 30th
of January following. When the priest put the crucifix into her hands, saying
those words: God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ (1) ; a seraphic ardour appeared in her countenance, and she felt
herself inflamed with a burning desire of suffering during her whole life for
Christ; and trampling under her feet all the vanities of the world, she gave
herself most perfectly to Christ crucified with the most firm purpose never to
have any other spouse. After taking the habit, she threw herself at the feet of
her mistress, begging she would never spare her in the most sensible
self-denials and humiliations. During her novitiate, the example of her fervour
excited those who were witnesses of it to the divine love. Being visited by a
severe fit of sickness, her desire of suffering for the love of Him who died for
us, was a subject of edification to the whole house. One of her sisters asking
her how she could endure so much pain without any complaint, and even without
speaking of her ailments, or even asking for anything to comfort her, she
answered, pointing to a crucifix which was near the side of her bed: “See what
the infinite love of God hath suffered for my salvation. This same love sees my
weakness, and gives me courage. They who call to mind the sufferings of Christ,
and offer their own to God through his passion, find their pains sweet and
amiable.” Under this illness, she was admitted to her religious profession on
the 17th of May, 1584.
In religion, she changed
her name Catharine into that of Mary Magdalen, out of devotion to that great
model of penitent souls. After this consecration of herself to God, she enjoyed
great heavenly consolations and frequent raptures during forty days, especially
after her communions; as if her heavenly spouse would by these caresses
celebrate with her his spiritual nuptials. It is the general remark of the most
experienced masters of a spiritual life, that God frequently visits souls, upon
their fervent conversion from the world, with his comforts; in which, by the
divine lights which he infuses, they see their own nothingness, and advance in
the sentiments of sincere humility; and are at the same time attracted by the
feelings of his goodness to run in the sweet odour of his perfumes. This taste
of his consolations encourages them to suffer trials with joy for his sake; and
these never fail to succeed. For God, who is infinitely jealous of the hearts
of his servants, will not suffer in them any rival. Wherefore, perfectly to
crucify in them all secret self-love that they may be fitted for vessels of his
pure love, and to teach them thoroughly to know themselves, he throws them into
the crucible of internal tribulation; and this fire is usually the more severe,
the higher the degree of sanctity is to which he in his mercy designs to raise
them. This our saint experienced by the state of interior desolation into which
she fell from this first taste of his spiritual joy. But her virtue was solid,
because humble, patient, and constant. She desired not heavenly comforts,
deeming herself of all others the most unworthy; and the favours which she
received she endeavoured to conceal from men, referring them entirely to the
gratuitous goodness of their author, and from them learning the more to humble
herself and to raise her soul to his most pure love. It was always her desire
to suffer for his sake, and this her thirst of the cross seemed insatiable. But
whether in anguish or in consolation, the spring of her affections was the most
ardent love of her heavenly spouse. She was often heard to cry out, “O Love!
Love is not loved, not known by his own creatures! O my Jesus! if I had a voice
strong and loud enough that I could be heard by all men in all the parts of the
world, how would I cry out that this love might be known, loved, and esteemed
by all men as the only true incomprehensible good! but the cursed poison of
self-love robs men of this high knowledge, and renders them incapable of it.”
She often invited, with all the fervour of her soul, all angels, men, stars,
birds, beasts, plants, grains of sand, drops of water, and the whole chorus of
the creation, to convert themselves into tongues, to praise, bless, and magnify
the divine immensity and love. She sighed and wept much for the conversion of
sinners, and when called away by public duties, or obliged to go to rest, often
said, “Is it possible that I should take any rest whilst I consider how much
God is offended on earth? O Love! I do it by obedience, and to fulfil thy holy
will.”
Fearing lest at the time
of her profession she might have offended God by too eager a desire of making
that sacrifice, she begged and obtained leave to live as a novice two years
after her vows. This term being completed, coming out of the novitiate, she was
made second directress of the extern young girls. Three years after, she
finished her juniorate, or term amongst the young nuns, and was employed in
instructing the novices. During these first five years, Almighty God was
pleased to exercise her by most severe interior trials. She fasted always on
bread and water, except on Sundays and holidays, on which she took Lenten diet.
She added all other kinds of bodily austerities, and at the same time suffered
most grievous pains and anguish of soul. She was assaulted with the most
violent temptations of impurity, gluttony, pride, infidelity, and blasphemy. Her
imagination was often filled with those abominations, the very name or thought
of which fills chaste souls with the greatest horror. She had recourse by
prayer to the spouse and to the queen of virgins against the obstinacy and rage
of this enemy, and chastised her body with disciplines, hair-shirts, studded
iron girdles, lying hard, and the like inventions. Her mind was also troubled
with the most hideous images of hellish monsters, and seemed abandoned, like
Job, to the power of hell; and her soul was plunged into a state of darkness in
which she was able to see nothing but horror in herself and in all things about
her. Thoughts of blasphemy and infidelity infested her so violently, that she
sometimes cried out to her sisters: “Pray for me that I may not blaspheme God
instead of praising him.” Fasting, which by habit and grace was formerly easy,
now became grievous. Her sisters likewise despised her, looking on her
foregoing graces which they had formerly admired to have been illusions.
Nevertheless, God did not totally withdraw himself from his faithful spouse.
Her chief support and comfort was in the meditation of Christ’s passion, in
which she conceived fresh burning desires to become still more like that man of
interior as well as exterior sorrows. After five years in this suffering state,
God restored to her soul his holy peace and the comfort of his divine presence.
In 1590, on Whitsunday, at Matins, when the Te Deum was intoned she fell into a
rapture, and after the divine office, the joy which shone on her face and
appeared in her words testified the return of her inward comforter. Squeezing
by the hand the mother prioress and the mistress of the novices, she desired
them to rejoice with her, saying: “Now winter is passed with me; assist me to
thank and glorify my good Creator.” She was endued with a spirit of prophecy,
and, among other things, foretold the popedom to Leo XI and his death soon
after his election.
In 1598 she was appointed
mistress of the novices for three years, according to the custom of the house,
and in 1601 was continued in the same office; but in 1604 chosen sub-prioress,
which office she discharged till her death. Her union with God seemed
uninterrupted, and his name sufficed to transport her soul in raptures of love.
She often repeated the doxology, Glory be to the Father, and always with
incredible ardour bowing her body, and offering herself to all labours and
every sort of death for God’s honour. She considered only the pure will of God
in all things with inexpressible fervour, and often repeated, “The will of God
is ever most amiable:” and to her sisters, “How rich a traffic have we with God
when we do everything with a pure and vehement intention to please and honour
him.” She appeared in every action like a glowing seraph, glorifying her
Creator with all the powers and strength of her soul, and sometimes cried out:
“Come, souls, come, love your God who so much loveth you. O Love, I die with
mortal anguish when I see how little you are known and loved. O Love! Love! if
you find no place to rest in, come all to me; I will lodge you. O souls created
by Love, why do not you love? She instructed her novices to sing the divine
office with such awe and trembling in the company of the angels, as if they in
spirit prostrated themselves at every word. If the divine office was sung too
fast, she asked leave to go out, and would afterwards say: “What business could
you have of greater importance that you were in such a hurry?” Her extreme
thirst after the salvation of souls made her shed perpetual tears for the
conversion of infidels, heretics, and sinners; and she often exhorted her
sisters in the most moving manner to offer up all their actions for that end.
Her devotion to the holy eucharist was extraordinary; and she used to say, that
if it were necessary, she would joyfully enter the lion’s den, and suffer all
pains for the sake of communicating. But her humility was most admirable. She
always spoke of herself as of the bane of her community, and the outcast and
abomination of all creatures. It was her delight to be forgotten, contemned,
reprimanded, and employed in the meanest offices. She would often cry out, “O
nothingness! how little art thou known!” (2)
In 1602 she contracted a
violent cold and cough, which in 1603 was followed by the bursting of a vein
and an abundant vomiting of blood, which often returned upon her. However, she
recovered a little, and in October, 1604, she was chosen sub-prioress. The
three last years of her life she endured violent headaches, fevers, sweats,
pains in her breast, was subject to a spitting of blood, and a scurvy in her
gums, by which she lost all her teeth. With these bodily pains she sometimes
laboured under the most grievous inward spiritual dryness and desolation of
soul; yet her prayer was to suffer more, to suffer without any comfort, and to
drink gall without any honey. Love on one side made her desire to die to be
united to her God; yet life seemed desirable that she might still suffer for
love. Having exhorted her sisters to fervour, and to the love of suffering, she
received extreme unction, and still communicated every day during the twelve
days she survived. She expired soon after receiving the holy sacrament by way
of viaticum, on the 25th of May, 1607, being forty-one years, one month, and
twenty-four days old, of which she had lived twenty-four years and three months
in the religious habit. Her body has been often examined, and always found
without any corruption. It is kept in a sumptuous shrine in the church of her
monastery, which was since removed into the city of Florence in 1628. God has
honoured it by frequent miraculous cures. The saint was beatified by Urban
VIII. in the year 1626, and canonized by Clement IX in 1669.
It was the prayer of this
saint under her severest trials, that she might live only to glorify God by her
patience and submission in suffering by his will, and for his sake (3). Our
love of God must be very imperfect, since we are so impatient under the least
trials, and so unwilling to suffer, and since we find the duties of religion
troublesome and uneasy. They appear severe in the beginning of a virtuous life;
but to him who has conquered, the yoke of Christ is easy, and to fervour and
love harsh things become pleasant. It is also the property of a habit to render
difficult things easy; for as it becomes a second nature, what flows from it is
natural, consequently pleasant and easy. When the love of virtue has once
rooted itself in the soul, its practice is no more than embracing and enjoying
what we love. This therefore is one constant character of perfection in
scripture, that delight and pleasure accompany the practice of virtue. The ways
of wisdom are the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace (4). And to
him who loves, the commandments of God are not grievous (5). Hence it is that
the good man’s delight is in the law of the Lord, and he meditates therein
night and day (6). Nor does he delight less in action than meditation. The
Psalmist frequently expresses an inconceivable joy and transport in the
meditation and practice of the commands of God (7). The first Christians, whose
whole lives were a continued fervent exercise of devotion, faith, and charity,
are said to have eaten their meat with gladness and singleness of heart (8).
The holy Ghost gives us a delightful description of the apostles as sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet
possessing all things (9). Another property of divine love is, that it is
always active, and never ceases to exert itself with zeal and fervour in all
manner of good works.
MLA
Citation
Father Alban Butler.
“Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, Virgin”. Lives of
the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 August 2018. Web. 26 May 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-mary-magdalen-of-pazzi-virgin/>
Note 2. F.
Ferdinandi Salvi, sub-prior of the Carmelites at Bologna, in Italy, made a
collection of twelve letters of St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, with several other
monuments. They were reprinted at Venice in 1739, at the end of the spiritual
works of this holy virgin. F. Salvi published in Italian several relations of
miracles performed at Bologna through the intercession of this holy virgin,
printed at Milan in the years 1724, 1730, and 1731. [back]
Note 3. Pati non
mori. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/251.html
Purgatory
Explained, Part 1, Chapter 5
Article
Location of Purgatory –
Revelations of the Saints – Saint Teresa – Saint Louis Bertrand – Saint Mary
Magdalen de Pazzi
Saint Teresa had great
charity towards the souls in Purgatory, and assisted them as much as lay in her
power by her prayers and good works. In recompense, God frequently showed her
the souls she had delivered; she saw them at the moment of their release from
suffering and of their entrance into Heaven. Now, they generally came forth
from the bosom of the earth. “I received tidings,” she writes, “of the death of
a Religious who had formerly been Provincial of that province, and afterwards
of another. I was acquainted with him, and he had rendered me great service.
This intelligence caused me great uneasiness. Although this man was commendable
for many virtues, I was apprehensive for the salvation of his soul, because he
had been Superior for the space of twenty years, and I always fear much for
those who are charged with the care of souls. Much grieved, I went to an
oratory; there I conjured our Divine Lord to apply to this Religious the little
good I had done during my life, and to supply the rest by His infinite merits,
in order that this soul might be freed from Purgatory.
“Whilst I besought this
grace with all the fervor of which I was capable, I saw on my right side this
soul come forth from the depths of the earth and ascend into Heaven in
transports of joy. Although this priest was advanced in years, he appeared to
me with the features of a man who had not yet attained the age of thirty, and
with a countenance resplendent with light.
“This vision, though very
short, left me inundated with joy, and without a shadow of doubt as to the
truth of what I had seen. As I was separated by a great distance from the place
where this servant of God had ended his days, it was some time before I learned
the particulars of his edifying death; all those who were witnesses of it could
not behold without admiration how he preserved consciousness to the last
moment, the tears he shed, and the sentiments of humility with which he
surrendered his soul to God.
“A Religious of my
community, a great servant of God, had been dead not quite two days. We were
saying the Office for the Dead for her in choir, a sister was reading the
lesson, and I was standing to say the versicle. When half of the lesson had
been said, I saw the soul of this Religious come forth from the depths of the
earth, like the one of which I have just spoken, and go to Heaven.
“In this same monastery
there died, at the age of eighteen or twenty years, another Religious, a true
model of fervor, regularity, and virtue. Her life had been but a tissue of
maladies and sufferings patiently endured. I had no doubt, after having seen
her live thus, that she had more than sufficient merits to exempt her from
Purgatory. Nevertheless, whilst I was at Office, before she was interred, and
about a quarter of an hour after her death, I saw her soul likewise issue from
the earth and rise to Heaven.” Behold what Saint Teresa writes.
A like instance is
recorded in the Life of Saint Louis
Bertrand, of the Order of Saint Dominic. This Life, written by Father
Antist, a Religious of the same Order, and who lived with the saint, is
inserted in the Acta Sanctorum on the 10th of October. In the year 1557, whilst
Saint Louis Bertrand resided at the convent of Valentia, the pest broke out in
that city. The terrible plague spread rapidly, threatening to exterminate the
inhabitants, and each one trembled for his life. A Religious of the community,
wishing to prepare himself fervently for death, made a general Confession of
his whole life to the saint; and on leaving him said, “Father, if it should now
please God to call me, I shall return and make known to you my condition in the
other life.” He died a short time afterwards, and the following night he
appeared to the saint. He told him that he was detained in Purgatory on account
of a few slight faults which remained to be expiated, and begged the saint to
recommend him to the community. Saint Louis communicated the request
immediately to the Prior, who hastened to recommend the soul of the departed to
the prayers and Holy Sacrifices of the brethren assembled in chapter.
Six days later, a man of
the town, who knew nothing of what had passed at the convent, came to make his
Confession to Father Louis, and told him “that the soul of Father Clement had
appeared to him. He saw, he said, the earth open, and the soul of the deceased
Father come forth all glorious; it resembled, he added, a resplendent star,
which rose through the air towards Heaven.”
We read in the Life of
Saint Magdalen de Pazzi, written by her confessor, Father Cepari, of the
Company of Jesus, that this servant of God was made witness of the deliverance
of a soul under the following circumstances: One of her sisters in religion had
died some time previous, when the saint being one day in prayer before the
Blessed Sacrament, saw issue from the earth the soul of that sister, still
captive in the dungeons of Purgatory. She was enveloped in a mantle of flames,
under which a robe of dazzling whiteness protected her from the fierce heat of
the fire; and she remained an entire hour at the foot of the altar, adoring in
inexpressible annihilation the hidden God of the Eucharist.
This hour of adoration,
which Magdalen saw her perform, was the last of her penance; that hour passed,
she arose and took her flight to Heaven.
MLA
Citation
Father François Xavier
Schouppe, S.J. Purgatory
Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints, 1893. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 March 2018. Web. 26 May 2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/purgatory-explained-part-1-chapter-5/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/purgatory-explained-part-1-chapter-5/
%2C_Alonso_Cano.jpg)
Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla.
Detalle de la pintura de Alonso
Cano
Purgatory Explained, Part 1, Chapter 6
Article
Location of Purgatory –
Saint Frances of Rome – Saint Magdalen de Pazzi
It has pleased God to
show in spirit the gloomy abodes of Purgatory to some privileged souls, who
were to reveal the sorrowful mysteries thereof for the edification of the
faithful. Of this number was the illustrious Saint Frances, foundress of the
Oblates, who died in Rome in 1440. God favored her with great lights concerning
the state of souls in the other life. She saw Hell and its horrible torments;
she saw also the interior of Purgatory, and the mysterious order – I had almost
said hierarchy of expiations – which reigns in this portion of the Church of
Jesus Christ.
In obedience to her
superiors, who thought themselves bound to impose this obligation upon her, she
made known all that God had manifested to her; and her visions, written at the
request of the venerable Canon Matteotti, her spiritual director, have all the
authenticity that can be desired in such matters. Now, the servant of God
declared that, after having endured with unspeakable horror the vision of Hell,
she came out of that abyss and was conducted by her celestial guide into the
regions of Purgatory. There reigned neither horror nor disorder, nor despair
nor eternal darkness; there divine hope diffused its light, and she was told
that this place of purification was called also sojourn of hope, She saw there
souls which suffered cruelly, but angels visited and assisted them in their
sufferings.
Purgatory, she said, is
divided into three distinct parts, which are as the three large provinces of
that kingdom of suffering. They are situated the one beneath the other, and
occupied by souls of different orders. These souls are buried more deeply in
proportion as they are more defiled and farther removed from the time of their
deliverance.
The lowest region is
filled with a fierce fire, but which is not dark like that of Hell; it is a
vast burning sea, throwing forth immense flames. Innumerable souls are plunged
into its depths: they are those who have rendered themselves guilty of mortal
sin, which they have duly confessed, but not sufficiently expiated during life.
The servant of God then learned that, for all forgiven mortal sin, there
remains to be undergone a suffering of seven years. This term cannot evidently
be taken to mean a definite measure, since mortal sins differ in enormity, but
as an average penalty. Although the souls are enveloped in the same flames,
their sufferings are not the same; they differ according to the number and
nature of their former sins.
In this lower Purgatory
the saint beheld laics and persons consecrated to God. The laics were those
who, after a life of sin, had had the happiness of being sincerely converted;
the persons consecrated to God were those who had not lived according to the sanctity
of their state, At that same moment she saw descend the soul of a priest whom
she knew, but whose name she does not reveal. She remarked that he had his face
covered with a veil which concealed a stain. Although he had led an edifying
life, this priest had not always observed strict temperance, and had sought too
eagerly the satisfactions of the table.
The saint was then
conducted into the intermediate Purgatory, destined for souls which had
deserved less rigorous chastisement. It had three distinct compartments; one
resembled an immense dungeon of ice, the cold of which was indescribably
intense; the second, on the contrary, was like a huge caldron of boiling oil
and pitch; the third had the appearance of a pond of liquid metal resembling
molten gold or silver.
The upper Purgatory,
which the saint does not describe, is the temporary abode of souls which suffer
little, except the pain of loss, and approach the happy moment of their
deliverance.
Such, in substance, is
the vision of Saint Frances relative to Purgatory.
The following is an
account of that of Saint Magdalen de Pazzi, a Florentine Carmelite, as it is
related in her Life by Father Cepari. It gives more of a picture of Purgatory,
whilst the preceding vision but traces its outlines.
Some time before her
death, which took place in 1607, the servant of God, Magdalen de Pazzi, being
one evening with several other Religious in the garden of the convent, was
ravished in ecstasy, and saw Purgatory open before her. At the same time, as
she made known later, a voice invited her to visit all the prisons of Divine
Justice, and to see how truly worthy of compassion are the souls detained
there.
At this moment she was
heard to say, “Yes I will go.” She consented to undertake this painful journey.
In fact, she walked for two hours round the garden, which was very large,
pausing from time to time. Each time she interrupted her walk, she contemplated
attentively the sufferings which were shown to her. She was then seen to wring
her hands in compassion, her face became pale, her body bent under the weight
of suffering, in presence of the terrible spectacle with which she was
confronted.
She began to cry aloud in
lamentation, “Mercy, my God, mercy! Descend, O Precious Blood, and deliver
these souls from their prison. Poor souls! you suffer so cruelly, and yet you
are content and cheerful. The dungeons of the martyrs in comparison with these
were gardens of delight. Nevertheless there are others still deeper. How happy
should I esteem myself were I not obliged to go down into them”
She did descend, however,
for she was forced to continue her way. But when she had taken a few steps, she
stopped terror-stricken, and, sighing deeply, she cried, “What! Religious also
in this dismal abode! Good God! how they are tormented! Ah, Lord!” She does not
explain the nature of their sufferings; but the horror which she manifested in
contemplating them caused her to sigh at each step. She passed from thence into
less gloomy places. They were the dungeons of simple souls, and of children in
whom ignorance and lack of reason extenuated many faults. Their torments
appeared to her much more endurable than those of the others. Nothing but ice
and fire were there. She noticed that these souls had their angel guardians
with them, who fortified them greatly by their presence; but she saw also
demons whose dreadful forms increased their sufferings.
Advancing a few paces,
she saw souls still more unfortunate, and she was heard to cry out, “Oh! how
horrible is this place; it is full of hideous demons and incredible torments!
Who, O my God, are the victims of these cruel tortures? Alas! they are being
pierced with sharp swords, they are being cut into pieces.” She was answered
that they were the souls whose conduct had been tainted with hypocrisy.
Advancing a little, she
saw a great multitude of souls which were bruised, as it were, and crushed
under a press; and she understood that they were those souls which had been
addicted to impatience and disobedience during life. Whilst contemplating them,
her looks, her sighs, her whole attitude betokened compassion and terror.
A moment later her
agitation increased, and she uttered a dreadful cry. It was the dungeon of lies
which now lay open before her. After having attentively considered it, she
cried aloud, “Liars are confined in a place in the vicinity of Hell, and their
sufferings are exceedingly great. Molten lead is poured into their mouths; I
see them burn, and at the same time tremble with cold.”
She then went to the
prison of those souls which had sinned through weakness, and she was heard to
exclaim, “Alas! I had thought to find you among those who have sinned through
ignorance, but I am mistaken; you burn with an intenser fire.”
Farther on, she perceived
souls which had been too much attached to the goods of this world, and had
sinned by avarice.
“What blindness,” said
she, “thus eagerly to seek a perishable fortune! Those whom formerly riches
could not sufficiently satiate, are here gorged with torments. They are smelted
like metal in the furnace.”
From thence she passed
into the place where those souls were imprisoned which had formerly been
stained with impurity. She saw them in so filthy and pestilential a dungeon
that the sight produced nausea. She turned away quickly from that loathsome
spectacle. Seeing the ambitious and the proud, she said, “Behold those who
wished to shine before men; now they are condemned to live in this frightful
obscurity.”
Then she was shown those
souls which had been guilty of ingratitude towards God. They were a prey to
unutterable torments, and, as it were, drowned in a lake of molten lead, for
having by their ingratitude dried up the source of piety.
Finally, in a last
dungeon, she was shown souls that had not been given to any particular vice,
but which, through lack of proper vigilance over themselves, had committed all
kinds of trivial faults. She remarked that these souls had a share in the
chastisements of all vices, in a moderate degree, because those faults
committed only from time to time rendered them less guilty than those committed
through habit.
After this last station
the saint left the garden, begging God never again to make her witness of so
heartrending a spectacle: she felt that she had not strength to endure it. Her
ecstasy still continued, and, conversing with Jesus, she said to Him, “Tell me.
Lord, what was Your design in discovering to me those terrible prisons, of
which I knew so little, and comprehended still less? Ah! I now see; You wished
to give me the knowledge of Your infinite sanctity, and to make me detest more
and more the least stain of sin, which is so abominable in Your eyes.”
MLA
Citation
Father François Xavier
Schouppe, S.J. Purgatory
Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints, 1893. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 March 2018. Web. 26 May 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/purgatory-explained-part-1-chapter-6/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/purgatory-explained-part-1-chapter-6/
Pietro Novelli, La
Mère de Dieu et les saints du Carmel (1641),
Palerme, musée diocésain. À gauche, Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi.
Santa Maria Maddalena de'
Pazzi Vergine
25
maggio - Memoria Facoltativa
Firenze, 2 aprile 1566 -
25 maggio 1607
Nasce nel 1566 e
appartiene alla casata de' Pazzi, potenti (e violenti) per generazioni a
Firenze, e ancora autorevoli alla sua epoca. Battezzata con il nome di
Caterina, a 16 anni entra nel monastero carmelitano di Santa Maria degli Angeli
in Firenze e come novizia prende il nome di Maria Maddalena. Nel maggio 1584
soffre di una misteriosa malattia che le impedisce di stare coricata. Al
momento di pronunciare i voti, devono portarla davanti all'altare nel suo
letto. Da questo momento vivrà diverse estasi, che si succederanno per molti
anni. Le descrivono cinque volumi di manoscritti, opera di consorelle che
registravano gesti e parole sue in quelle ore. Più tardi le voci dall'alto le
chiedono di promuovere la «rinnovazione della Chiesa» (iniziata dal Concilio di
Trento con i suoi decreti), esortando e ammonendo le sue gerarchie. Scrive così
a papa Sisto V, ai cardinali della curia; e tre lettere manda ad Alessandro de'
Medici, arcivescovo di Firenze, predicendogli il suo breve pontificato. La
mistica morirà nel 1607 dopo lunghe malattie. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Maria = amata
da Dio, dall'egiziano; signora, dall'ebraico
Emblema: Giglio
Martirologio Romano:
Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, vergine dell’Ordine delle Carmelitane, che a
Firenze in Cristo condusse una vita nascosta di preghiera e di abnegazione,
pregò ardentemente per la riforma della Chiesa e, arricchita da Dio di doni
straordinari, fu per le consorelle insigne guida verso la perfezione.
Una santa da capogiro. Parte della sua vita si svolge come fuori dal mondo, in lunghe e ripetute estasi, con momenti e atti quasi “intraducibili” oggi: come lo scambio del suo cuore con quello di Gesù, le stigmate invisibili, i colloqui con la Santissima Trinità... Scene vertiginose di familiarità divino-umana; dopo le quali, però, lei ritorna tranquilla e laboriosa monaca, riassorbita nella quotidianità delle incombenze.
Appartiene alla casata de’ Pazzi, potenti (e violenti) per generazioni in Firenze, e ancora autorevoli alla sua epoca. Battezzata con il nome di Caterina, a 16 anni entra nel monastero carmelitano di Santa Maria degli Angeli in Firenze e come novizia prende il nome di Maria Maddalena.
Nel maggio 1584 soffre di una misteriosa malattia che le impedisce di stare coricata. Al momento di pronunciare i voti, devono portarla davanti all’altare nel suo letto, dove "dì e notte sta sempre a sedere". Ed ecco poi quelle estasi, che si succederanno per molti anni. Le descrivono cinque volumi di manoscritti, opera di consorelle che registravano gesti e parole sue in quelle ore. (Parole sorprendenti: nelle estasi, lei usava un linguaggio colto, “specialistico”, di gran lunga superiore al livello della sua istruzione). Questi resoconti, che lei legge e corregge, e che acuti teologi perlustrano in punto di dottrina, contengono – espresso in mille modi e visioni e voci – l’invito appassionato a ricambiare l’amore di Cristo per l’uomo, testimoniato dalla Passione.
Più tardi le voci dall’alto le chiedono di promuovere la “rinnovazione della Chiesa” (iniziata dal Concilio di Trento con i suoi decreti), esortando e ammonendo le sue gerarchie. Maria Maddalena esita, teme di ingannarsi. Preferirebbe offrire la vita per l’evangelizzazione, segue con gioia l’opera dei missionari in Giappone... Voci autorevoli la rassicurano, e allora lei scrive a papa Sisto V, ai cardinali della Curia; e tre lettere manda ad Alessandro de’ Medici, arcivescovo di Firenze, che poi incontra in monastero. "Questa figliola ha veramente parlato in persona dello Spirito Santo", dirà lui. Maria Maddalena gli annuncia pure che presto lo faranno Papa, ma che non durerà molto (e così gli ha predetto anche Filippo Neri). Infatti, Alessandro viene eletto il 10 maggio 1605 con il nome di Leone XI, e soltanto 26 giorni dopo è già morto.
Per suor Maria Maddalena finisce il tempo delle estasi e incomincia quello delle malattie. Del “nudo soffrire”, come lei dice, che durerà fino alla sua morte, già accompagnata da voci di miracoli, che porteranno nel 1611 l’apertura del processo canonico per la sua beatificazione, a pochi anni dalla morte avvenuta nel 1607. Papa Clemente IX, il 22 aprile del 1669, la canonizzerà. Le spoglie di santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi ora riposano nell’omonimo monastero, a Firenze.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
Spunti bibliografici su Santa
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi a cura di LibreriadelSanto.it
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi
(santa), Cantico
per l' Amore non amato, Città Ideale, 2016 - 1530 pagine
Santa Maria Maddalena dei
Pazzi, Se
Dio è comunicativo, Cantagalli Edizioni, 2011 - 112 pagine
Santa Maria Maddalena de'
Pazzi, L'epistolario
completo, Nerbini Edizioni, 2009 - 264 pagine
Oreskovà Maddalena, Santa
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, Elledici, 2008 - 48 pagine
Bruno Secondin, Santa
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi..., Graphe.it Edizioni, 2007 - 24 pagine
Charlò Camilleri, Desiderio
e passione., Graphe.it Edizioni, 2007 - 80 pagine
AA. VV., Danzare
al passo di Dio. S. M. Maddalena di..., Cantagalli Edizioni, 2006 - 208
pagine
Carmelitane (Carpineto
Romano), ...
come un agnello condotto al macello..., Graphe.it Edizioni, 2005 - 149
pagine
Vigani Maurizio, I
quaderni di p. Maurizio. Maria la madre..., Mimep-Docete, 2001 - 224 pagine
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi
(santa), Venite
ad amare l'amore, Cantagalli Edizioni, 1994 - 112 pagine
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/27450
Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi (Firenze)
LETTERA DI SUA SANTITÀ
BENEDETTO XVI
ALL’ARCIVESCOVO DI
FIRENZE
IN OCCASIONE DEL IV
CENTENARIO DELLA MORTE
DI SANTA MARIA MADDALENA
DE’ PAZZI
Al Venerato Fratello
il Signor Cardinale Ennio
Antonelli
Arcivescovo di Firenze
In occasione del IV
centenario della morte di santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, sono lieto di unirmi
all’amata Chiesa fiorentina, che desidera ricordare questa sua figlia illustre,
particolarmente cara per essere figura emblematica di un amore vivo che rimanda
all’essenziale dimensione mistica di ogni vita cristiana. Mentre con affetto
saluto Lei, Signor Cardinale, e l’intera Comunità diocesana, rendo grazie a Dio
per il dono di questa Santa, che ogni generazione riscopre singolarmente vicina
nel saper comunicare un ardente amore per Cristo e per la Chiesa.
Nata a Firenze il 2
aprile 1566 e battezzata al fonte del "bel San Giovanni" con il nome
di Caterina, santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi fin dalla fanciullezza mostrò una
particolare sensibilità verso il soprannaturale e fu attratta dall’intimo
colloquio con Dio. Come era consuetudine per le fanciulle di nobile casato, la
sua educazione fu affidata alle Cavalieresse di Malta, nel cui monastero
ricevette la prima comunione il 25 marzo 1576 ed appena qualche giorno dopo si
consegnò per sempre al Signore con una promessa di verginità. Rientrata in
famiglia, approfondì il cammino della preghiera con l’aiuto dei Padri Gesuiti,
che frequentavano il palazzo. Abilmente, riusciva a non lasciarsi condizionare
dalle esigenze mondane di un ambiente che, se pur cristiano, non le bastava nel
suo desiderio di diventare più simile al suo Sposo crocifisso. In questo
contesto maturò la decisione di lasciare il mondo e di entrare nel Carmelo di
Santa Maria degli Angeli, a Borgo san Frediano, dove il 30 gennaio 1583
ricevette l’abito del Carmelo e il nome di suor Maria Maddalena. Ammalatasi
gravemente nel marzo del 1584, chiese di poter emettere la professione prima
del tempo e, il 27 maggio, festa della Trinità, portata in coro su un lettino,
pronunciò per sempre davanti al Signore i suoi voti di castità, povertà e
obbedienza.
Da questo momento ebbe
inizio un’intensa stagione mistica dalla quale sarebbe venuta alla Santa la
fama di grande estatica. Sono cinque i manoscritti in cui le Carmelitane di
Santa Maria degli Angeli hanno riportato le esperienze straordinarie della loro
giovane consorella. A "I Quaranta Giorni" dell’estate 1584, fanno
seguito "I Colloqui" della prima metà dell’anno successivo. L’apice
della mistica conoscenza che Dio concesse di sé a suor Maria Maddalena si trova
in "Revelationi e Intelligentie", otto giorni di splendide estasi che
vanno dalla vigilia di Pentecoste alla festa della Trinità dell’anno 1585. Una
intensa esperienza che, a soli 19 anni di età, la rendeva capace di spaziare su
tutto il mistero della salvezza, dall’incarnazione del Verbo nel seno di Maria
alla discesa dello Spirito Santo nella Pentecoste. Seguirono cinque lunghi anni
d’interiore purificazione – Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi ne parla nel libro della
"Probatione" –, nei quali il Verbo suo Sposo le sottrasse il
sentimento della grazia e la lasciò come Daniele nella fossa dei leoni, tra
molte prove e grandi tentazioni. E’ in questo contesto che si inserisce il suo
ardente impegno per il rinnovamento della Chiesa, dopo che nell’estate del 1586
bagliori di luce dall’alto vennero a mostrarle il vero stato in cui essa si
trovava nell’epoca post-tridentina. Come Caterina da Siena, si sentì
"forzata" a scrivere alcune lettere per sollecitare, presso il Papa,
i Cardinali di Curia, il suo Arcivescovo ed altre personalità ecclesiastiche,
un deciso impegno per la "Renovatione della Chiesa", come dice il
titolo del manoscritto che le contiene. Si tratta di dodici lettere dettate in
estasi, forse mai spedite, ma che rimangono come testimonianza della sua
passione per la Sponsa Verbi.
Con la Pentecoste del
1590 ebbe termine la dura prova. Questo le permise di dedicarsi con ogni
energia al servizio della comunità ed in particolare alla formazione delle novizie.
Suor Maria Maddalena ebbe il dono di vivere la comunione con Dio in una forma
sempre più interiorizzata, sì da diventare un riferimento per tutta la
comunità, che ancora oggi continua a considerarla come "madre".
L’amore purificato, che pulsava nel suo cuore, la apriva al desiderio della
piena conformità con Cristo, suo Sposo, fino a condividere con lui il
"nudo patire" della croce. Gli ultimi tre anni della sua vita furono
per lei un vero calvario di sofferenze. La tisi cominciò a manifestarsi chiaramente:
Suor Maria Maddalena si vide costretta a ritrarsi pian piano dalla vita attiva
della comunità per immergersi sempre più nel "patir nudamente per amore di
Dio". Si ritrovò oppressa da pene atroci nel fisico e nello spirito che
durarono fino alla morte, sopravvenuta il venerdì 25 maggio 1607. Si spense
intorno alle tre del pomeriggio, mentre una gioia insolita pervadeva tutto il
monastero.
Non erano passati
vent’anni dalla sua morte che già il Pontefice fiorentino Urbano VIII la
proclamava beata. Fu poi il Papa Clemente IX ad iscriverla nell’Albo dei Santi
il 28 aprile 1669. Il suo corpo rimasto incorrotto è meta di costanti
pellegrinaggi. Il monastero in cui la Santa visse è oggi sede del Seminario
arcivescovile di Firenze, che la venera come Patrona, e la cella in cui morì è
diventata una cappella nel cui silenzio si percepisce ancora la sua presenza.
Santa Maria Maddalena de’
Pazzi rimane una spirituale presenza ispiratrice per le Carmelitane dell’Antica
Osservanza. In lei esse vedono la "sorella" che ha percorso
interamente la via dell’unione trasformante con Dio e che addita in Maria la
"stella" del cammino verso la perfezione. Per tutti questa grande
Santa ha il dono di essere maestra di spiritualità, particolarmente per i sacerdoti,
verso i quali nutrì sempre una vera passione.
Auspico vivamente che le
presenti celebrazioni giubilari della sua morte contribuiscano a far conoscere
sempre più questa luminosa figura, che a tutti manifesta la dignità e la
bellezza della vocazione cristiana. Come, mentre era in vita, attaccandosi alle
campane sollecitava le sue consorelle con il grido: "Venite ad amare
l’Amore!", la grande Mistica, da Firenze, dal suo Seminario, dai monasteri
carmelitani che a lei si ispirano, possa ancora oggi far sentire la sua voce in
tutta la Chiesa, diffondendo l’annuncio dell’amore di Dio per ogni creatura
umana.
Con questo augurio,
affido Lei, Venerato Fratello, e la Chiesa fiorentina alla celeste protezione
di santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi e di cuore imparto a tutti una speciale
Benedizione Apostolica.
Dal Vaticano, 29 Aprile
2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Gravue
de Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi,
Little
Pictorial Lives of the Saints, Benzinger Brothers, 1878.
MARIA MADDALENA de’
Pazzi, santa
Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani - Volume 70 (2008)
MARIA MADDALENA de’ Pazzi,
santa. - Nacque a Firenze il 2 apr. 1566 da Camillo di Geri e da Maria
Buondelmonti. Secondogenita, dopo Geri e prima di Alamanno e Braccio, fu
battezzata come Caterina ma chiamata poi Lucrezia, dal nome della nonna
paterna.
L’infanzia e l’adolescenza
sono ricordate nel Breve ragguaglio della vita della s. madre, scritto nel
1598 da suor Maria Pacifica Del Tovaglia, che ebbe con M. lunga familiarità,
avendo condiviso con lei gli anni della fanciullezza e che di M. sarà
consorella. Alcuni aspetti rievocati nello scritto richiamano il tema del puer
senex e appartengono ai topoi delle biografie religiose: così la
gravità, la prudenza, l’assenza di atti e gesti puerili. A un’inclinazione
personale sembrano invece più rispondenti la consuetudine di Lucrezia di
fuggire, come lei stessa dichiara, «la conversatione delle creature» (I
quaranta giorni, p. 74) e il precoce bisogno di ritirarsi in luoghi
«secretissimi», dove attendeva «alla voce di Dio che gli parlava al cuore e
ammaestrava internamente» (ibid., p. 75). Fin dall’infanzia il suo desiderio fu
rivolto al chiostro: una scelta descritta nel Breve ragguaglio come
frutto di una tenace determinazione, osteggiata dai genitori, secondo un
modello tipicamente agiografico.
In due periodi, dal 25
febbr. 1574 al 1578 e dal 16 marzo 1580 al maggio-agosto 1581, fu educanda nel
monastero di S. Giovannino delle Cavalieresse di Malta; nella seconda occasione
la famiglia era a Cortona, dove il padre era stato inviato come commissario del
governo granducale. A S. Giovannino Lucrezia seguì la direzione spirituale dei
padri gesuiti, caratterizzata da un’assidua pratica eucaristica. Lucrezia si
impegnò per indurre le monache a una rigorosa osservanza dei voti, e la cosa
sollevò inquietudine nella comunità («è venuta qua per riformarci», lamentavano
le monache, e «la chiamavon gesuita e teatina», Breve ragguaglio, p. 80),
salvo poi chiederle di farsi religiosa nel loro monastero. Ma il
confessore di Lucrezia, il gesuita Pietro Blanca, rettore della Compagnia di
Gesù a Firenze, volle che «eleggessi una religione riformata e osservante, come
via più sicura, sì come ancor lei si sentiva più tirata» (ibid., p. 85).
L’8 dic. 1582 fu
accettata nel monastero carmelitano di S. Maria degli Angeli, in cui erano
ancora vivi i fermenti del movimento savonaroliano, che tanto profondamente
aveva segnato la vita religiosa e civile fiorentina. Santi di Tito la ritrasse
in convento su commissione del padre, con indosso la veste bianca che la madre
le aveva fatto fare quando ancora pensava di destinarla al secolo. Vestì
l’abito alla fine del gennaio 1583 e ricevette il nome di Maria Maddalena; il
27 maggio 1584 fece la professione dei voti.
Negli anni Venti il
monastero era passato dalla giurisdizione dell’Ordine a quella episcopale.
Giacomo Laínez durante il suo soggiorno a Firenze (1547) ne aveva tenuto per
qualche tempo la cura, introducendovi la comunione frequente, l’orazione
mentale e l’esame di coscienza. La regola e gli statuti approvati nel 1564
erano frutto di un adeguamento delle antiche costituzioni allo spirito del
concilio di Trento: prevedevano un lungo periodo di educazione, la comunione
settimanale, la lettura devota, l’ufficio divino recitato in coro, la
meditazione in comune, in stretta aderenza alla preghiera corale e alla vita
liturgica. Ispiratrice della riforma fu Evangelista del Giocondo, visionaria e
dotata di doni carismatici, più volte maestra delle novizie e priora del
monastero. Accanto alle qualità del suo governo, a segnare il profilo religioso
della comunità furono la cura spirituale svolta da Agostino Campi, confessore
del monastero dal 1563 al 1591, e la predicazione, tra il 1567 e il 1581, del
domenicano Alessandro Capocchi, entrambi seguaci dell’insegnamento
savonaroliano. Nelle opere di M. sono tracce significative della predicazione
del padre Capocchi, conosciuta probabilmente attraverso le trascrizioni delle
sue omelie conservate nel monastero. In S. Maria degli Angeli era inoltre
custodito, e operava «miracoli», il corpo di Maria Bartolomea Bagnesi, una terziaria
domenicana morta in fama di santità nel 1577. Il suo insegnamento, tramandato
nelle scritture del monastero, rappresentò un modello per M., in particolare
nel tempo del noviziato e della sua prima esperienza mistica.
Lo stesso giorno della
professione, avvenuta durante una violenta malattia, M. ebbe la prima di
numerose estasi destinate a caratterizzare la sua esperienza religiosa. Questi
rapimenti si verificavano non solo durante la preghiera, ma anche in altri
momenti, come affermarono i testimoni al processo di beatificazione, e talvolta
si protraevano per intere giornate. Le estasi, ispirate ai testi liturgici del
giorno, si manifestavano in forme molto diverse: «assorbimenti repentini,
alienazioni totali dal mondo circostante, danze, corse, agitazioni convulsive o
rigidità corporee; e soprattutto lunghissimi eloqui, svolti ad alta voce, con
parole veloci o scandite, sommesse o urlate, ininterrotte o intercalate da
silenzi contemplativi» (Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, Le parole dell’estasi).
La memoria e la
descrizione delle estasi avvenute tra il 27 maggio e il 6 luglio 1584 furono
raccolte ne I quaranta giorni. Dal 25 dic. 1584 al 4 giugno 1585 ulteriori
esperienze mistiche furono trascritte nei Colloqui dalla madre
Evangelista Del Giocondo, allora maestra delle novizie, e dalla camerlenga
della comunità, Maria Maddalena Mori.
Le visioni di M. si
innestano nella tradizione di santità femminile alimentata, tra Quattro e
Cinquecento, dal movimento cateriniano. Nel clima dei primi decenni del XVI
secolo, animato da aneliti di riforma e dalla tensione all’osservanza, si era
riproposto con energia il tema della renovatio della Chiesa. Accanto
a s. Paolo, ai Salmi, al Vangelo di Giovanni e ad Agostino, la
vita e gli scritti di Caterina de’ Ricci furono fonte rilevante dell’esperienza
spirituale di M. e della sua riflessione teologica. Nei Colloqui ricorrono
i simboli cateriniani, ormai codificati dalla tradizione, riconducibili al loro
valore di emblemi della sposa di Cristo: l’anello con cui M. si unì nel matrimonio
mistico, lo scambio del cuore con quello di Gesù, la corona di spine e le
stimmate impresse nell’anima. Oltre tali segni, ciò che con più pregnanza
indica l’affinità di M. con Caterina de’ Ricci è la dottrina dell’Amore, che M.
sviluppò con forte originalità speculativa e linguistica, improntando a
Caterina, «che ne sapeva parlare» (I quaranta giorni, p. 145), il suo
linguaggio mistico. Nei Colloqui è altresì molto presente la
vocazione apostolica. La guerra condotta dagli eretici contro l’autorità del
papa, contro l’eucarestia, i sacramenti e il valore delle opere evoca, nelle
visioni di M., immagini demoniache, e con forte drammaticità ripropone il tema
della giustizia contro coloro che all’interno della Chiesa sembravano non
avvertire l’urgenza della renovatio. Tuttavia M. attribuì assoluta dignità
e preminenza al sacramento del sacerdozio: nei suoi scritti si rivolge ai
ministri di Dio con un’espressione che si richiamava al lessico cateriniano: «i
tua Christi».
Nel giugno 1585 alla
vigilia della Pentecoste e poi continuativamente per la durata di otto giorni,
M. ricevette quelle Revelatione e Intelligentie che insieme con
i Colloqui costituiscono la parte più originale dell’intero corpus dei
suoi scritti: un insegnamento dottrinale e spirituale impartito spesso in forma
di dialogo tra Dio e la sua discepola.
Dopo un anno in cui non
si verificarono fenomeni mistici, nel luglio 1586 M. si sentì chiamata a
provvedere in modo tangibile alla salute delle anime e tra luglio e agosto, in
cinque giorni, scrisse le epistole che compongono la Renovatione della
Chiesa. La «inutile ancilla de l’antica e nuova Verità, constretta da l’amoroso
e svenato Agnello e umanato Verbo» (Renovatione, p. 62) si rivolse, con
inusitata autorevolezza, a Sisto V, all’arcivescovo di Firenze Alessandro de’
Medici (futuro Leone XI), al Collegio cardinalizio, al padre Blanca e ad altri
religiosi e religiose (gesuiti, domenicani, francescani) per annunciare loro
l’irruzione nel presente del tempo della «renovatione della Chiesa», in cui si
doveva dare inizio all’«opera del Verbo» (Renovatione, p. 62). Più impellente
della predicazione nelle Indie, essa era intesa da M. come rinnovamento della
missione degli apostoli, da condurre tutta «per amore e con amore» (ibid., p.
97) secondo l’insegnamento di s. Paolo.
Nella lettera al padre
Blanca, senza dismettere il registro profetico, M. si apre a un colloquio più
intimo, ripercorrendo i tempi della sua prima vocazione religiosa – «insino da
piccolina hebbi questo lume e sempre è cresciuto, ancor che mai non gli ho
voluto dare orecchio» (ibid., p. 82) – e riconoscendo la sua elezione a cui non
poteva più fare resistenza. Scrivendo all’arcivescovo di Firenze, M. esprime il
valore della propria parola a fronte del sapere ecclesiastico attraverso
l’immagine del «lume della luna», metafora di un sapere femminile che non vuole
farsi eguale al lume del sole, ma di cui talvolta Dio «si compiace di servirsi,
massimo per hora in questo tempo che siamo nelle tenebre» (ibid., pp. 77 s.). A
Caterina de’ Ricci, nel monastero domenicano di S. Vincenzo a Prato, che
riconosceva per «maestra», M. chiese di farsi sua «coaiutrice» nell’opera di
rinnovazione della Chiesa, in un sodalizio forte come una catena nel segno di
s. Caterina. Ciò delinea una tradizione di magistero femminile, in cui l’opera
intrapresa da M. trovava autorevole legittimazione.
Le lettere suscitarono
profondo sconcerto nel monastero; la maggior parte di esse non varcò mai i
confini della clausura e non furono presentate al processo di canonizzazione.
Bisognerà attendere il 1884 per vedere pubblicate in modo integrale le dodici
lettere, delle quali era circolata una edizione parziale «dicendosi in esse
varie cose contro i costumi della Chiesa e del papa e della necessaria riforma»
(Ancilli, cit. in Gotor, p. 396). Alla fine di settembre Alessandro de’ Medici
si recò in S. Maria degli Angeli per presiedere all’elezione della nuova priora
e, nel colloquio che ebbe con lui, M. dovette rivelargli le «molte
illuminazione» (Renovatione, p. 53) che non aveva riferito nelle missive,
rimettendone la verità al suo giudizio. L’arcivescovo corresse il rigore
ascetico di M., che costituiva un turbamento negli usi comuni del monastero, ma
riconobbe, secondo quanto scrive suor Maria Pacifica Del Tovaglia (Probatione,
parte prima, p. 40), la bontà del suo procedere, riportando così la quiete
nella comunità.
Le Vite di M.,
quella di Vincenzo Puccini, confessore del monastero, e quella del successore,
Anton Maria Reconesi, rivolgono solo brevi cenni alla vicenda delle lettere,
così come attenuano il rilievo del modello cateriniano nell’esperienza di Maria
Maddalena. Esse traducono la tensione profetica di M. nella più riduttiva
accezione dei doni della profezia, quali la conoscenza dei cuori e la
predizione delle cose a venire, riferite a uno spazio quotidiano racchiuso
entro il perimetro del monastero. Proposero invece altri aspetti di M., più
rispondenti al modello di vita mistica e di concreto impegno per la riforma
delle istituzioni monastiche, rappresentato in quegli anni da Teresa d’Avila.
Evangelista del Giocondo,
prima come maestra delle novizie e poi come priora, accolse la singolare
vocazione di M., assecondandone la forte tensione riformatrice e orientandone
il percorso verso i valori della professione monastica. La condotta particolare
di M. – il regime alimentare, l’estrema povertà dell’abito, i piedi scalzi, le
pratiche di mortificazione cui si sottoponeva – rispondeva a una rilettura
radicale della regola e delle costituzioni del monastero. Le monache seguirono
i progressi di M. con stupore, ma anche con crescente adesione. Da questo
impegno collettivo, come spesso è accaduto per le scritture monastiche
femminili, nacque la raccolta di insegnamenti nella quale si venne
organizzando, attraverso il sapiente sistema di memorizzazione inventato dalle
monache, la trascrizione simultanea delle estasi, l’intreccio delle prime
biografie, la raccolta di Ammaestramenti e di memorie che produsse,
dopo la morte di M., la Vita di Puccini e soprattutto la deposizione
corale al processo di beatificazione nella prima e più importante fase, quella
informativa, iniziata nel 1611.
La priora Evangelista
volle che gli Ammaestramenti fossero accostati alla regola e
divenissero parte integrante degli usi del monastero, finché nelle Costituzioni del
1610 furono in larga parte recepiti nel testo normativo. La comunità religiosa
vi rappresenta la comunità delle origini; chi vi entra non è condotto a
percorrere itinerari individuali di relazione con Dio, ma piuttosto a vivere la
regola, valorizzando più la soggezione e l’obbedienza che non la
contemplazione. Nell’approfondimento della regola e delle virtù della vita
religiosa M. aveva dismesso i panni profetici e aveva rivisitato i contenuti
della sua vocazione. La regola ne divenne il fondamento e il procedere di M. il
modello concreto: assimilate ai profeti e partecipi della stessa elezione degli
apostoli inviati a portare la pace, le «spose di Cristo» riproducevano la vita
evangelica, avendo per emblema la povertà.
Nell’ottobre 1586 M.
lasciò il noviziato. Fu vicaria per l’accoglienza delle giovani che venivano in
foresteria, dal 1589 maestra delle novizie, nel 1604-05 sottopriora per otto
mesi, carica che lasciò per l’aggravarsi della tubercolosi.
Nel gennaio 1600
ricevette la visita di Maria de’ Medici, in procinto di partire per la Francia
come sposa del re Enrico IV, e il 12 genn. 1601 M. scrisse alla regina di
Francia ricordando la visita. Una lettera di Maria de’ Medici a M. datata 8
maggio 1596 testimonia rapporti precedenti a quell’occasione. Inoltre fu la
stessa regina di Francia a promuovere l’edizione della vita di M. pubblicata da
Puccini nel 1609. L’epistolario personale di M. contiene altre 26 lettere,
scritte tra il 1588 e il 1606 e dirette, oltre che a religiosi e religiose, ai
familiari: il fratello Geri, la nipote Maria de’ Pazzi, la cognata Ippolita
Nasi.
M. morì a Firenze il 25
maggio 1607.
Nel 1629, in seguito al
trasferimento del monastero, le spoglie furono traslate in Borgo Pinti, nella
chiesa che sarebbe stata intitolata a M. dopo la santificazione. Nel 1888
furono spostate nel monastero di S. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi a Careggi, dove
si trovano tuttora. Nel monastero sono conservati anche i manoscritti originali
delle opere, cioè le trascrizioni redatte dalle consorelle e da lei rivedute e
corrette. M. fu proclamata beata da Urbano VIII nel 1626: rispetto alla recente
disciplina restrittiva in materia di beatificazione, voluta dallo stesso papa,
per M. fu decisa un’eccezione, forse legata all’origine fiorentina in comune
con Urbano VIII. Nel 1662 iniziò il processo di canonizzazione, che si concluse
nel 1669 con la proclamazione della santità a opera di Clemente IX.
Opere. Tutte le
opere di s. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi dai manoscritti originali, Firenze
1960-66 (7 voll.: I, Quaranta giorni; II-III, Colloqui; IV, Revelatione
e Intelligentie; V-VI, Probatione; VII, Renovatione della Chiesa).
Per una descrizione dei manoscritti E. Ancilli, I manoscritti originali di
s. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, in Ephemerides Carmeliticae, VII (1956), pp.
323-400; il corpus delle lettere è ora pubblicato in Id., «Constretta
dalla dolce verità, io scrivo». Epistolario completo, a cura di C. Vasciaveo,
Firenze 2007. Una scelta in Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, Le parole
dell’estasi, a cura di G. Pozzi, Milano 1984.
Fonti e Bibl.: Breve
ragguaglio della vita della s. madre fatto dalla madre suor Maria Pacifica Del
Tovaglia, in Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, Tutte le opere, I, Firenze 1960;
V. Puccini, Vita della madre suor M.M. de’ P. fiorentina, monaca
dell’Ordine carmelitano nel monastero di S. Maria degli Angeli di Borgo S.
Fridiano…, Firenze 1609; Id., Vita della venerabile madre suor M.M. de’ P.
fiorentina… Con l’aggiunta della terza, quarta, quinta, e sesta parte… La qual
contiene le mirabili Intelligenze, che in diversi tempi da Dio le furono
comunicate…, Firenze 1611; A.M. Reconesi, Vita della beata M.M. de’ P.…
raccolta e descritta dal sig. d. Vincenzo Puccini… Ridotta in miglior’ordine,
con aggiunta, di molte azzioni virtuose, e mirabile, cavate da i processi
formati per la sua canonizzazione, Roma 1629; V. Cepari, Vita della
serafica vergine s. M.M. de’ P. fiorentina… con l’aggiunta cavata da’ processi
formati per la sua beatificazione e canonizazione dal padre Giuseppe Fozi, Roma
1669; La santa di Firenze presentata principalmente a’ suoi concittadini
nel III centenario della sua morte da una religiosa del suo monastero, Firenze
1906; C. Catena, S. M.M. de’ P. carmelitana: orientamenti spirituali e
ambiente in cui visse, Roma 1966; Id., Le carmelitane. Storia e
spiritualità, Roma 1969; B. Secondin, S. M.M. de’ P.: esperienza e
dottrina, Roma 1974; G. Agresti, S. M.M. de’ P. L’amore non amato.
Un’antologia delle sue opere, Roma 1974, pp. 9-88; B. Papasogli - B.
Secondin, La parabola delle due spose. Vita di s. M.M. de’ P., Torino
1976; G. Pozzi, Patire e non potere nel discorso dei santi, in Studi
medievali, XXVI (1985), pp. 1-52; Id., L’identico del diverso in s.
Maddalena de’ Pazzi, in Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und
Theologie, XXXIII (1986), pp. 517-551; Id., L’alfabeto delle sante, in G.
Pozzi - C. Leonardi, Scrittrici mistiche italiane, Torino 1988, pp. 21-42;
T. Zaninelli, Influssi culturali nell’esperienza mistica di s. M.M. de’ P.,
in Riv. di ascetica e mistica, I (1992), pp. 53-55; P. Moschetti - B.
Secondin, M.M. de’ P., mistica dell’amore, Milano 1992; S.F. Matthews
Grieco, Modelli di santità femminile nell’Italia del Rinascimento e della
Controriforma, in Donne e fede, a cura di L. Scaraffia - G. Zarri, Bari
1994, pp. 320-322; A. Scattigno, M.M. de’ P. tra esperienza e modello,
in Donna, disciplina e creanza cristiana dal XVI al XVII secolo. Studi e
testi a stampa, a cura di G. Zarri, Roma 1996, pp. 85-101; Id., Un
commento alla regola carmelitana. Gli Ammaestramenti di M.M. de’ P., in Il
monachesimo femminile in Italia dall’Alto Medioevo al secolo XVII, a cura di G.
Zarri, Verona 1997, pp. 283-302; F. Brezzi, La passione di pensare. Angela
da Foligno, M.M. de’ P., Jeanne Guyon, Roma 1998; M. Gotor, I beati del
papa. Santità, Inquisizione e obbedienza in Età moderna, Firenze 2002, pp.
30-33; A. Scattigno, Una comunità testimone. Il monastero di S. Maria
degli Angeli e la costruzione di un modello di professione religiosa, in I
monasteri femminili come centri di cultura tra Rinascimento e Barocco. Atti del
Convegno ..., Bologna ..., 2000, a cura di G. Pomata - G. Zarri, Roma 2005, pp.
175-204; M.M. de’ P. santa dell’amore non amato (catal.), a cura di
P. Pacini, Firenze 2007.
SOURCE : http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/maria-maddalena-de-pazzi-santa_(Dizionario-Biografico)
Den hellige Maria
Magdalena de'Pazzi (1566-1607)
Minnedag: 25.
mai
Skytshelgen for Firenze
og Napoli
Den hellige Maria
Magdalena ble født som Katarina di Geri de'Pazzi (it: Caterina) den 2. april
1566 i Firenze i regionen Toscana i Italia. Hun kom fra en velstående
adelsfamilie som var nært knyttet til Medici-familien. Hennes far var Camillo
Geri de'Pazzi og hennes mor kom fra adelsfamilien Buondelmonti. Hun ble døpt i
byens berømte Baptisterium.
På denne tiden
gjennomgikk Italia en alvorlig religiøs krise på grunn av den humanistiske
renessansen og den lutherske reformasjonen. Feider mellom adelsfamiliene hadde
også involvert de Pazzi-familien. Mindre enn et århundre før Caterinas fødsel
hadde et medlem av hennes familie myrdet et medlem av Medici-familien under en
høytidelig messe.
To samtidige portretter
viser at Caterina var slående vakker, men allerede som barn viste hun større
glede i bønnen enn i de mange festene som renessansen elsket. Hun fikk sin
utdannelse ved nonneklosteret St. Johannes i Firenze. Alt som 10-åring avla hun
et løfte om evig jomfruelighet da hun mottok sin første kommunion, og hun
avviste forsøk på å få henne gift. Som 12- åring opplevde hun sin første
ekstase i morens nærvær. Som 14-åring ble hun sendt på skole til klosteret i
Cavalaresse.
Da hun sluttet på skolen
som 16-åring, fortalte hun foreldrene om sin faste beslutning om å gå i
kloster. Dette møtte sterk motstand fra familien, men foreldrene var åndelige
mennesker, så de ga etter til slutt. Hun valgte da den strengeste ordenen byen
kunne by på, nemlig karmelittene (Ordo Sororum Carmelitarum – OCarm),
og i desember 1582 trådte hun inn i karmelittklosteret Santa Maria degl'Angeli
i Firenze, grunnlagt av fire florentinske kvinner i 1450 og da berømt for sin
strenge observans. Samtidig opplevde hun sin andre ekstase. Hun ble ikledd
drakten i 1583.
Katarinas novisiat var
stort sett begivenhetsløst, inntil hun som 18-åring i 1584 ble rammet av en
mystisk sykdom med høy feber, voldsom hoste og smerter, og hun ble
sengeliggende. Legene mente at hun var døende, og hun ble den 29. mai 1584
båret inn i kapellet for å avlegge sine løfter, og hun tok ordensnavnet Maria
Magdalena. Straks etter opplevde hun en voldsom ekstase, som forente henne med
Den hellige Treenighet og etterlot henne i tårer. Hun beskrev erfaringen som at
hun ga bort sitt hjerte og fikk det tilbake sammen med en enestående gave av
renhet lik den til Jomfru Maria.
Dette ble fulgt av en
serie mystiske erfaringer. Den 8. juni 1584 så hun Kristi lidelsesdrama, den
10. juni byttet hun hjerte med Jesus, den 28. juni mottok hun Herrens sårmerker
(stigmata) og den 6. juli en tornekrone, som hun kjente hele resten av livet. I
månedsvis gikk det ikke en dag uten at hun falt i ekstase. Året etter var det
en ny serie. Den 15. april 1585 hadde hun en visjon av Kristi fem sår og av
Jesu kropp som utsondret blod og svette, den 28. april mottok hun en ring som
tegn på sitt mystiske ekteskap og den 21. mai ble hun bedt om å leve på vann og
brød, unntatt på søndager, for å reparere for menneskenes synder mot Gud.
Hennes åndelige veileder
fryktet at det var en illusjon og ba henne heller om å følge klosterets normale
regime, men hun ble fysisk syk hvis hun gjorde det. I fem år gjennomlevde hun
denne lidelsen og ble da bedt om å redusere søvnen til fem timer hver natt.
Hvis hun prøvde å stå imot ekstasen, ble hun kastet i bakken. I 1585 fikk hun
også vite at hun ville bli totalt fratatt, ikke nåden, men sansningen av nåden,
og at hun måtte gjennomleve en lang prøvelse av åndelig tørrhet og
trøstesløshet. Hun skulle kalle perioden for «løvehulen».
I de fem årene fra 1585
gjennomgikk hun smertefulle legemlige, men spesielt sjelelige plager. Hennes
lidelser var basert på Kristi lidelser for syndere, kjettere og vantro.
Voldsomme hodepiner og overfølsomhet ble fulgt av lammelser. Tvil, blasfemi i
ørene, følelsen av å være forlatt av Gud, som hun ikke lenger kunne løfte sitt
hjerte til, alt var en del av denne prøvelsen. Hun var til og med fristet til
selvmord i desperasjon, men la til slutt kniven ved føttene til Maria-statuen.
I sin lange kamp mot fråtseri, urenhet, avsky for Gud og opprør la hun seg
fullstendig i priorinnens hender og valgte bare de grunnleggende botsøvelsene.
Hun hadde profetiske og
helbredende gaver og kunne lese hjertenes hemmeligheter, men selv dette følte
hun som smerte. Hun opplevde tallrike visjoner, og på hennes skriftefars
befaling skrev hennes medsøstre nøyaktig ned alle hennes uttalelser under visjonene.
De utgjør en betydelig del av hennes syv bind av skrifter, boken Contemplazioni,
som tilhører den mystiske litteraturens hovedverker. Noen ganger var hun som
livløs under dem, mens andre ganger førte hun samtaler med Kristus og
helgenene. Hennes motto var: «Lide, ikke dø».
Som 24-åring i 1590 ble
hun endelig befridd fra sine plager. Til sine medsøstre sa hun: «Uværet er
over. Takk og lov med meg vår kjærlighetsfulle Skaper». Fra nå av fant hun sitt
kall i bønn og bot for fornyelse av «alle stender i Kirken» og alle menneskers
omvendelse. Hun dikterte en rekke skrifter som bærer preg av den naturskjønnhet
som hennes liv var omgitt av. Som svar på hennes tilskyndelser innførte pave
Sixtus V (1585-90) radikale reformer på mange felter i Kirkens liv. Mange av
hennes dristige brev til paven, kardinaler, biskoper og til og med konger er
bevart, og de viser hvor godt hun var inne i Kirkens og politikkens problemer.
Imidlertid nådde mange av hennes brev aldri sin adressat på grunn av fiendskap
fra noen av hennes overordnede.
I 1598 ble hun
novisemester og i 1604 stedfortredende priorinne (subpriorinne). I sin omsorg
for de unge nonnene anbefalte hun fattigdom og lydighet i oppgivelsen av
egenkjærligheten og overgivelse til Guds vilje. Kort etter utnevnelsen til subpriorinne
ble hun sengeliggende og i tre år led hun mye smerte og åndelig tørke. Da hun
kjente at døden var nær, formante hun søstrene om å elske Jesus alene, å stole
ubetinget på ham og å stadig oppmuntre hverandre til å lide av kjærlighet til
ham.
Den 25. mai 1607
[Helligkåringskongregasjonens Index ac status causarum sier 14. mai]
døde hun av utmattelse i sitt kloster Santa Maria degl'Angeli i Firenze, i en
alder av 41 år, mens søstrene residerte den Athanasiske trosbekjennelsen rundt
hennes seng. Hennes legeme, kledd i silke, ble bisatt under høyalteret i
klosterets kapell. Fra graven kom det en søt duft av hellighet, et fenomen som
har gjentatt seg med jevne mellomrom helt opp til våre dager.
I året etter hennes død
ble det oppnådd tillatelse til å flytte hennes relikvier inn i klosteret.
Kisten ble åpnet, og legemet ble funnet like friskt. Klærne var imidlertid
fuktige, for det rant vann like i nærheten av graven. Hennes legeme utsondret
en væske som lignet på olje, et fenomen som fortsatte de neste tolv årene før
det plutselig opphørte i 1620.
En kult begynte nesten
straks, og er sentrert om hennes relikvier i Firenze. Hennes legeme ble grundig
undersøkt da graven ble åpnet i 1612 og 1625, og igjen i 1663 i forbindelse med
helligkåringsprosessen. Hver gang bevitnet mange den mirakuløse bevarte
tilstanden til hennes legeme.
Hennes
saligkåringsprosess startet i 1610 under pave Paul V (1605-21). Den store
mystikeren ble saligkåret den 8. mai 1626 av pave Urban VIII (1623-44) og
helligkåret den 28. april 1669 av pave Klemens IX (1667-69) sammen med den
spanske fransiskaneren Peter Alcántara.
Helligkåringsbullen for begge er datert 11. mai 1670. Hennes minnedag er
dødsdagen 25. mai – den var tidligere den 29. mai.
Klosterets annaler viser
at mange prominente personer har besøkt Maria Magdalenas grav. Pave Pius VII
(1800-23) besøkte graven to ganger, første gang på vei til Paris i 1804 og
andre gang da han vendte tilbake til Roma i 1815. En annen berømt besøkende var
Thérèse Martin, senere berømt som den hellige Teresa av
Jesusbarnet, som besøkte graven sammen med sin far, sin søster og en gruppe
franske pilegrimer på vei hjem etter å ha besøkt pave Leo XIII (1878-1903) i
Roma.
Maria Magdalena de'Pazzi
blir oftest fremstilt i karmelittenes ordensdrakt, men også i fyrstelige klær.
Ofte bærer hun stigmata og tornekrone og brennende hjerte som tegn på hennes
mystiske opplevelser. Hun fremstilles også sammen med Katarina av Siena eller Teresa av Avila.
Kildene for hennes spiritualitet var Bibelen, de hellige Augustin og
Katarina av Siena, som var en spesiell inspirasjon for henne gjennom sine brev
og boken «Dialoger». Hun korresponderte også med den hellige
dominikanernonnen Katarina dei Ricci,
en florentinsk mystiker som var priorinne i nærliggende Prato.
Kilder: Attwater
(dk), Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Lodi, Butler (V), Benedictines,
Delaney, Bunson, Cruz (1), Engelhart, Schnitzler, Schauber/Schindler,
Dammer/Adam, Index99, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho,
Heiligenlexikon, carmelnet.org - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 2000-05-11 23:40 - - Sist oppdatert: 2005-12-26 16:29
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/mpazzi
Voir aussi : http://www.zenit.org/fr/articles/sainte-marie-madeleine-de-pazzi-maitre-spirituel-pour-les-pretres
http://ourcatholiclifeofgrace.blogspot.ca/2011/05/st-mary-magdalene-de-pazzi.html
