Bienheureuse Diane
d'Andalo
Directrice de la
communauté des dominicaines de Sainte-Agnès à Bologne (+ 1236)
Après une vie futile et mondaine, elle décida d'entrer, malgré sa famille, chez les dominicaines de Bologne. Elle devint alors si proche du Christ que sa sainteté attirait à elle de nombreux chrétiens et chrétiennes avides de vie spirituelle.
À Bologne en Émilie, l’an 1236, la bienheureusse Diane d’Andalo, vierge, qui
dut surmonter tous les empêchements que mettait sa famille, avant de consacrer,
entre les mains même de saint Dominique, sa
volonté de vivre dans le cloître, et d’entrer au monastère de Sainte-Agnès,
qu’elle avait elle-même fondé.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1297/Bienheureuse-Diane-d-Andalo.html
Ce nom, en mythologie
comme dans l'histoire, évoque des femmes singulières comme Diane de Valois et
Diane de Poitiers et chez les Gréco-Romains la déesse de la chasse et des
forêts avec son cortège de nymphes. Pourtant, il se trouve que la Famille
dominicaine présente une sainte Diane authentique et fort attachante.
C'est Diane d'Andalo : elle a vécu en Italie au milieu du 13me s.
Sous la direction de saint Dominique lui-même, sœur Diane fonde un monastère de
sœurs contemplatives, à Bologne en 1223. Elle y termine sa vie fervente et
joyeuse dans l'amour de Dieu en 1236. Elle portait ardemment en sa prière le
monde des Universités, évangélisé par ses frères dominicains. Diane, etymologie
latine : déesse romaine des bois et de la nature, identifiée à la déesse
Artémis des Grecs.
Rédacteur: Frère Bernard
Pineau, OP
SOURCE : http://www.lejourduseigneur.com/Web-TV/Saints/Diane
La Bienheureuse Diane
d'Andalo
Fondatrice du monastère
Sainte Agnès de Bologne
fêtée le 8 juin
Les Frères Prêcheurs
étaient venus s'établir à Bologne en 1218, et l'année suivante, ils avaient
obtenu de l'Évêque, par l'entremise du cardinal Ugolin, l'église de Saint -
Nicolas - des -Vignes. La famille d'Andalo, une des plus nobles et des plus
puissants du nord de l'Italie, refusa d'abord de leur céder le droit (le
patronage qu'elle possédait sur cette église, et de leur vendre les terrains
adjacents. Mais Dieu leur avait préparé, au sein même de cette famille, une
protectrice qui devait être bientôt victorieuse de toutes ses résistances.
C'était la jeune Diane,
déjà célèbre moins encore par l'éclat de sa naissance et de sa beauté, que par
le charme de sa parole, l'élévation de son esprit, et l'héroïsme de ses vertus.
Le Bienheureux Réginald l'avait subjuguée dès les premiers jours, comme la
ville entière, par le double ascendant de sa sainteté et de son éloquence. Elle
était devenue sa fille spirituelle, et avait entendu aussitôt la voix de Dieu
qui lui disait au fond du coeur, comme à une Royale Épouse : Écoute, ma
fille, et vois, prête l'oreille. Oublie ton peuple et la maison de ton père, et
le Roi sera épris de ta beauté. « Attirée par l'Esprit-Saint, dit un
chroniqueur contemporain, elle avait commencé à mépriser les pompes et les
vanités du monde, et à rechercher de plus en plus les entretiens spirituels des
Frères Prêcheurs.» Elle s'interposa donc en leur faveur auprès de sa famille;
un plein succès couronna sa démarche, et ce fut avec une joie indicible qu'elle
vit leur couvent s'élever non loin de sa propre maison. Dès lors ses vertus
fleurirent à l'ombre de leur cloître.
Lorsque Dominique vint à Bologne (1219), Diane se prit à l'aimer de tout son
coeur et à traiter avec lui du salut de son âme. » Le saint Patriarche touchait
alors à la fin de sa carrière. Ses sueurs et ses fatigues avaient été longtemps
stériles, il avait longtemps semé dans les larmes. Maintenant il
recueillait dans l'allégresse, et, ravi de la merveilleuse fécondité
de son apostolat, il bénissait Dieu qui lui suscitait de toutes parts des
enfants et des disciples. Son coeur fut saintement ému en reconnaissant une de
ses filles prédestinées dans cette jeune vierge, si richement ornée de tous les
dons de la nature et de la grâce. Il
approuva sa résolution et sans lui permettre encore de rien changer à
l'extérieur, il voulut recevoir ses voeux, avant de partir pour Rome. Diane fit
profession entre ses mains devant l'autel de Saint-Nicolas, en présence de
maître Réginald, des autres religieux, et de plusieurs nobles dames de la
ville, qui se firent à leur tour les bienfaitrices et les disciples des Frères
Prêcheurs.
Diane, se regardant désormais comme une victime consacrée au Seigneur, ne
songea plus qu'à renouveler chaque jour son sacrifice. Elle demeurait dans la
maison paternelle de corps mais non d'esprit. Sous ces riches vêtements de
pourpre et de soie, tout resplendissants de pierreries, d'or et d'argent, elle
portait un rude cilice et une ceinture de fer qui meurtrissaient sa chair
délicate. Le matin, elle ne sortait jamais de sa chambre avant l'heure de
Tierce. Elle passait tout ce temps dans le silence, l'oraison et la retraite,
et consacrait le reste du jour à faire de bonnes oeuvres et de pieuses
lectures.
Bientôt après, le bruit se répandit à Bologne que Dominique, réalisant la réforme des religieuses romaines si ardemment désirée par Honorius III et son prédécesseur, venait (le fonder à Saint-Sixte (15 fév 1220) un monastère de Sœurs Dominicaines sur le modèle de Notre-Dame de Prouille. A cette nouvelle, Diane tressaillit de joie, dans l'espérance que sa patrie verrait un jour s'élever un monastère semblable, et qu'à Bologne comme à Prouille (1206), comme à Madrid (1219), comme à Rome, les Soeurs Prêcheresses vivifieraient l'apostolat des Frères Prêcheurs par leurs prières et par leurs larmes. Plusieurs dames animées du même esprit, partageaient ses espérances. Elle-même brûlait intérieurement d'imiter cette jeune religieuse de Sainte-Marie au delà du Tibre, Soeur Cécile à peine âgée de dix-sept ans, qui le jour où ses compagnes s'étaient transportées à Saint-Sixte, les avait toutes devancées dans l'heure du sacrifice, en se jetant sur le seuil même du monastère aux pieds de saint Dominique pour recevoir de ses mains l'habit de l'Ordre et lui jurer trois fois qu'elle serait fidèle à la règle jusqu'à sa mort. Elle s'empressa d'en entretenir son père spirituel, lorsqu'il fut revenu à Bologne pour y célébrer le premier chapitre général de son ordre. Dominique agréa sans peine un projet si bien en rapport avec ses propres vues, mais il ne crut pas devoir le réaliser sur-le-champ.
L'année suivante (1221), Diane lui parla de ses desseins avec plus d'ardeur que
jamais. Dominique, témoin de ses rapides progrès dans la vertu, comprit que
l'heure de Dieu approchait. Il s'en ouvrit avec son vieil ami le cardinal
Ugolin, alors légat du pape en Lombardie. Celui-ci approuva hautement l'esprit
et la vocation de Diane. Ravi de tout ce qu'il entendait dire d'elle il désira
la connaître personnellement, et tous deux vinrent souvent la visiter ensemble
dans la maison de son père pour lui apporter des encouragements et des
espérances.
Dominique n'hésita plus. Il réunit ses frères en chapitre pour leur faire part
de ses projets et leur demander conseil. " Père, lui fut-il répondu, nous
ferons volontiers ce qui vous semblera bon. - Eh bien, reprit-il, avant de vous
donner une réponse définitive je veux consulter le Seigneur." - Le
lendemain matin, après avoir passé la nuit en prière, selon sa coutume : "
Mes frères, leur dit-il, il nous faut bâtir à tout prix un monastère de Soeurs,
lors même que nous devrions interrompre la construction de notre propre
couvent." Et songeant qu'il allait quitter Bologne, il en donna aussitôt
commission à quatre Pères des plus graves, frère Paul de Hongrie, frère Guala
depuis évêque de Brescia, frère Ventura de Vérone, et frère Rodolphe de Faenza.
Toutefois les voeux de Diane ne devaient être exaucés qu'après avoir subi de longs retards et triomphé de grands obstacles. Ses parents s'opposèrent à sa vocation de la manière la plus absolue, et d'autre part l'Évêque refusa d'agréer l'emplacement choisi pour le couvent projeté. Saintement impatiente de réaliser ses désirs et ses promesses, Diane voulut tenter un effort suprême. Le jour de la fête de sainte Marie-Madeleine, elle dit à sa famille qu'elle désirait visiter le monastère de Ronzano, situé sur une des hauteurs voisines de Bologne. Elle sortit donc en grande pompe suivie d'un nombreux cortège de dames et de servantes. Arrivée au monastère elle entra toute seule au dortoir des Sœurs et demanda l'habit religieux qui lui fut immédiatement accordé. Dès que le bruit s'en fut répandu, ses parents et ses amis accoururent en foule à Ronzano, et l'arrachèrent à ce saint asile avec une telle violence qu'ils lui brisèrent une côte. Elle resta malade pendant près d'un an dans la maison paternelle, et Dominique ne pouvant plus la visiter qu'en présence de sa famille lui écrivit en secret pour la soutenir et la consoler dans cette grande épreuve.
La mort du saint Patriarche survenue le 6 août de la même année, jeta le deuil
dans l'âme de Diane. Mais le Dieu tout-puissant, qui l'avait élue avant
la création du monde, ne l'oublia point. Il pitié d'elle et écarta peu à peu
les divers obstacles qui s'opposaient à l'accomplissement de ses desseins.
En effet Jourdain de Saxe, élu provincial de Lombardie, arrivait peu de jours
après à Bologne. En apprenant l'histoire de Diane, il se sentit pénétré pour
elle d'une inénarrable tendresse. Son âme lui apparaissait comme une soeur de
la sienne, et lui était révélée avec tous ces caractères de ressemblance, qui
sont entre deux âmes, prédestinées l'une à l'autre, les premiers germes d'une
amitié parfaite, les premiers noeuds d'une union désormais indissoluble. Comme
Diane à Bologne, il avait été à Paris, sinon le bienfaiteur, du moins le
disciple et l'ami des premiers Frères Prêcheurs. Comme elle, il avait eu
Reginald et Dominique pour initiateurs à la vie spirituelle, et si, plus
heureux, il appartenait déjà à leur famille religieuse, il n'ignorait pas
qu'elle aspirait à s'y associer sans retard afin de prendre une part plus
active à leur apostolat. Jourdain apprit encore de ses frères que
saint Dominique leur avait recommandé à sa mort de seconder Diane dans ses
projets de fondation. Il résolut donc de continuer le zèle et la sollicitude du
saint Patriarche à la jeune héroïne que sa vocation et son admirable dévouement
rendaient particulièrement chère à la famille naissante des Frères Prêcheurs.
De concert avec les quatre Pères qui en avaient reçu commission de saint
Dominique lui-même, il choisit, près de Saint-Nicolas, dans un lieu appelé la
vallée de Saint Pierre, un vaste terrain sur lequel se trouvait un oratoire
dédié à sainte Agnès vierge et martyre, qui donna plus tard son nom au monastère.
L’évêque approuva ce choix et, quand Jourdain dû retourner à Paris afin
d'assister au troisième chapitre général (1222), il put donner à Diane la ferme
assurance que ses voeux allaient être enfin exaucés. Celle-ci redoubla de
confiance en apprenant qu'il avait été nommé successeur de saint Dominique dans
la charge de maître général de l'Ordre. Dès que ses forces furent
rétablies, elle en profita pour s'enfuir de nouveau à Ronzano, la nuit de la
Toussaint. Ses parents désespérant de la retenir ne songèrent plus à lui faire
violence. Elle y séjourna pendant quelques mois demandant à Dieu chaque jour de
hâter l'heure où elle serait enfin la servante et l'épouse de son Fils, sous
les humbles livrées des Soeurs Prêcheresses. Mais cette fois elle attendait eu
paix ; elle n'avait plus rien à craindre, saint Dominique l'assistait près de
Dieu dans le ciel, et Jourdain de Saxe, son successeur, veillait près d'elle
sur la terre. Du haut de la colline de Ronzano, elle pouvait contempler, non
loin de sa maison paternelle et du couvent de Saint-Nicolas, où vivaient tous
ceux qu'elle avait de chers dans la vie, le lieu prédestiné où elle devait
finir ses jours. A cette vue, elle se réjouissait dans son coeur, et bénissait
Dieu en redisant avec la même foi que le Prophète :« C'est là que je me
reposerai pour jamais, J'habiterai dans cette demeure parce que je l'ai choisie
entre toutes. » (PS. CXXXI, 14.)
Jourdain de Saxe revint à Bologne après Pâques (1223). Il rapportait à Diane le même dévouement fortifié de toute l'autorité dont il était maintenant revêtu. Son premier soin fut d'adoucir les regrets de sa famille, et de la persuader que sa plus grande consolation serait de seconder un dessein si visiblement approuvé du ciel. Il y réussit sans peine, et le 13 mai, le contrat qui mettait Diane en possession du terrain choisi pour élever le monastère fut signé dans l'église même de Ronzano, où elle avait si souvent prié et gémi devant Dieu. A la fin du mois, les bâtiments provisoires étaient prêts à la recevoir. Maître Jourdain s'y rendit pendant l'octave de l'Ascension avec les plus anciens religieux du couvent, afin d'y introduire solennellement Diane et quatre autres dames de Bologne qui avaient voulu suivre son exemple. II y retourna quelques temps après pour les revêtir de l'habit religieux. C'était le jour où l'Église célèbre la fête de saint Pierre et de saint Paul. Or, il n'ignorait point, que six ans auparavant ces saints apôtres étaient apparus à saint Dominique, dans la basilique du Vatican, pendant qu'il y priait Dieu, pour la conservation et la dilatation de son ordre, Pierre lui présentant un bâton, Paul un livre, et lui disant tous deux : va et prêche; c'est pour cela que tu es élu. Et sans doute il voulut assurer son avenir, et, dans ce but, il obtint du Souverain Pontife un bref qui lui prescrivait ainsi qu'à ses successeurs de prendre ce couvent à sa charge et de veiller sur lui comme sur une maison de l'Ordre. Il statua ensuite que les frères de Saint-Nicolas s'y rendraient chaque jour pour célébrer la sainte Messe et administrer les Sacrements... Mais ce qui prouve par-dessus tout l'affection et le dévouement sans bornes de ce Bienheureux Père pour ce vénérable collège de vierges, ce sont les Lettres adressées par lui à soeur Diane et à ses filles. Les devoirs de sa charge le retenaient souvent loin de Bologne. Il leur écrivait alors pour donner un libre essor à son âme, et venait les visiter par ses lettres, afin de converser encore avec elles, de les diriger dans chacun de leurs pas, de les soutenir dans toutes leurs épreuves. « Je vous en prie dans le Seigneur, a écrivait-il à Diane, peu de jours après leur première séparation, « que votre coeur ne se trouble et ne s'effraye plus. Désormais, je serai votre père, vous serez ma fille et l'épouse de Jésus Christ, et je prierai Dieu qu'il daigne vous prendre en sa « sainte garde. » Diane était pour lui une sœur chérie dans le Christ née d'un commun Père spirituel, une fille bien-aimée que ce même Père lui avait laissée en mourant. Depuis le jour où leurs âmes s'étaient rencontrées, elles s'aimaient en Dieu d'un amour toujours croissant, qui n'aurait pas de nom sur la terre, si Jésus-Christ lui-même n'avait pas dit à ses disciples : Je vous ai appelés mes amis.
Cette ineffable et sainte affection s'étendait sur toutes les sœurs de Sainte-Agnès. « Ce sont vos filles, » redisait-il souvent à Diane, « mais ce sont aussi les miennes, et je les chéris tendrement dans le Seigneur. » Leur présence à Bologne lui avait rendu cette ville chère entre toutes, et son souvenir le charmait en le suivant partout à travers ses pérégrinations apostoliques. Il leur écrivait un jour : « Parmi toutes les ville de Lombardie, de la Toscane, de la France, de la Provence et presque de l'Allemagne elle-même, Bologne est le plus cher et le plus doux trésor de mon coeur. » Diane était en outre la servante de sainte Agnès, comme Jourdain était le serviteur de l'Ordre des Prêcheurs. A ce titre, elle veillait avec soin sur les intérêts temporels et spirituels du monastère, et Jourdain de Saxe l'exhortait surtout à se sanctifier en vue de ses Soeurs et de ses Filles dont les progrès dans la vertu faisaient sa plus douce consolation. Dans ses lettres, souvent dictées ou écrites à la hâte entre deux voyages, on trouve des conseils de direction pleins de sagesse, des pages du plus haut mysticisme qui révèlent à la fois le théologien et le saint profondément versé dans la connaissance et la méditation de la sainte Écriture, le maître et le praticien consommé dans l'économie des rapports avec Dieu et la vie d'union avec Jésus-Christ. Et, chose étonnante pour un chrétien, un Frère Prêcheur et un saint du XIIIe siècle, il parle avant tout de charité et d'amour, et se plaît à répéter le mot de saint Paul: La piété est d'une utilité universelle ; la mortification de la chair n'est que d'une utilité médiocre. « Ma fille, écrivait-il à Diane, soyez prudente dans vos austérités, imposez le frein de la discrétion à tous vos actes, et tandis qu'en courant après l'odeur des parfums de votre époux, vous désirez lui offrir la myrrhe ou la mortification de la chair, réservez une place à l'or, à l'exemple de ces trois heureux mages qui apportèrent dans leurs vases pour l'offrir à Jésus-Christ de l'or, de l'encens et de la myrrhe. Il ne vous faut pas tellement remplir votre vase de myrrhe qu'il n'y ait plus de place pour l'or de la discrétion et de la sagesse. Je vous rappelle les recommandations que je vous ai faites bien des fois. Conduisez-vous d'abord vous-même avec sagesse, et prenez garde que l'épuisement du corps ou la lassitude de l'âme ne vous permette plus de pratiquer les bonnes oeuvres, de nourrir de vifs sentiments de piété, d'édifier le prochain, d'honorer Dieu, en un mot de faire tout le bien que l'indiscrétion ne tarde pas à rendre impossible. Ce bienheureux Père aimait à fréquenter les villes où se trouvaient des Universités fameuses, et surtout Paris et Bologne, où il prêchait alternativement le carême. Et partout où il s'arrêtait, les couvents ressemblaient à des ruches d'abeilles, tant était grande la multitude des Pères qui entraient ou qui sortaient.
Or le bienheureux Jourdain se faisait toujours seconder dans son apostolat par les Soeurs Prêcheresses de Sainte-Agnès, et ne manquait jamais d'en attribuer le succès à leurs prières. Au moment de partir pour Padoue après les avoir revêtues de l'habit de l'Ordre, il écrivit à Diane : « Recommandez à vos Soeurs de prier instamment Jésus-Christ de mettre sur mes lèvres une parole capable de produire des fruits de salut en son honneur... » A peine arrivé dans cette ville, il lui écrit encore: « Je recommande à toutes vos Soeurs, mes filles bien-aimées, de prier beaucoup le Seigneur pour les clercs de l'Université, afin que Dieu daigne les ébranler et attirer à lui ceux qu'il sait nous mieux convenir pour sa plus grande gloire et celle de l'Eglise, pour leur salut et la prospérité de notre ordre. Ils sont d'une froideur extrême, et nous devons nous procurer ailleurs le feu qu'ils n'ont pas. » Enfin le succès vient couronner ses efforts et leurs prières ; il se hâte de leur en faire part en ces termes : « Réjouissez-vous et adressez mille actions de grâce au Père de tout bien. Car le Seigneur, dans sa miséricorde, a visité cette ville et répandu sur elle des bénédictions plus abondantes que nous n'aurions pu l'espérer. Découragé, en voyant que j'avais longtemps prêché à peu près en vain aux étudiants de l'Université, je songeais à partir, quand tout à coup Dieu a daigné secouer les coeurs d'un grand nombre, et féconder par l'effusion de sa grâce le ministère de ma parole. Dix jeunes gens ont déjà pris l'habit. Deux d'entre eux sont fils de comtes puissants d'Allemagne. Le premier était grand prévôt et possédait avec plusieurs autres dignités une immense fortune ; le second vraiment noble de naissance et d'esprit, jouissait de gros bénéfices. Nous comptons que beaucoup d'autres d'un mérite non moins éminent suivront leur exemple. Je vous recommande de prier instamment le Seigneur pour eux, afin qu'il réalise au plus tôt nos espérances. Adieu. »
Cependant Diane, pleine de mérites et de vertus , était atteinte depuis longtemps de cette langueur sublime, de cette nostalgie céleste qui envahit les âmes arrivées au faite de la sainteté. Tous ses désirs et ses espérances étaient maintenant réalisés ici-bas ; elle ne soupirait plus qu'après l'éternelle patrie, pour s'y précipiter dans le sein de Dieu et y retrouver tous ceux qu'elle avait aimés. L'heure approchait où l'amour plus fort que la mort allait enfin briser les liens qui l'attachaient à la terre. « O Diane, lui écrivit alors son père et son ami, ô Diane, combien nous sommes à plaindre ! Nous ne pouvons pas nous aimer sans souffrir; vous souffrez en effet, vous vous attristez de ce qu'il ne vous est point donné de me voir sans cesse, et moi je m'attriste et je souffre de ce que je jouis si rarement de votre présence. Oh! qui nous conduira dans cette ville forte, dans la cité du Dieu des vertus fondées par le Très-Haut lui-même, où nous n'aurons plus à languir et à soupirer loin de lui et loin l'un de l'autre? Ici-bas nos coeurs sont déchirés, broyés chaque jour, et la conscience de nos propres infirmités nous fait pousser souvent ce grand cri : qui nous délivrera enfin de ce corps de mort ? »
Ces voeux furent bientôt exaucés. Dieu prit pitié de ces deux âmes et ne voulut
pas prolonger les tristesses de leur séparation et de leur exil. Diane devait
mourir le 10 juin 1236, et Jourdain de Saxe le 13 Février de l’année suivantes.
Monastère des
dominicaines de Lourdes
Ed L'Année Dominicaine
1865
SOURCE : http://moplourdes.com/Nos%20racines/moniales%20Diane%20d'andalo.html
8
June on some calendars
9
June on some calendars
Profile
Born to a wealthy and
politically connected land owner. We know nothing of her childhood,
but was known as a beautiful, intelligent and happy young woman.
Influenced by the preaching of Blessed Reginald,
she joined the Dominicans,
and was received into the Order by Saint Dominic
de Guzman himself, but her family forced her to stay home. She joined
the Augustinians at
Roxana, Italy,
but was abducted and
taken home by her family; Diana was injured in the abduction, but later escaped
from home and returned to the Augustinians. Blessed Jordan
of Saxony met with her family and convinced them that the way to keep
the girl close to them was to build a Dominican convent;
in 1222 they
helped her found the monastery of
Saint Agnes in Bologna, Italy on
land her father owned.
She and several other sisters, including Blessed Cecilia
of Bologna and Blessed Amata
of Bologna lived out their days there. Diana and Blessed Jordan kept
up a correspondence that lasted for years and dozens of letters, many of which
survive today.
Born
9
January 1236 in Bologna, Italy of
natural causes
8
August 1888 by Pope Leo
XIII
Domincan nun holding lilies (indicative
of purity) and the Saint Agnes convent
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-diana-dandalo/
Bl. Diana
A member of the d'Andalo
family, Diana was born near Bologna Italy,
and convinced her father to withdraw his opposition to the founding of a
Dominican priory on
land he owned in Bologna. Dominic received her vow of virginity, but she was
forced to remain at home by her family. Later she joined the Augustinians at
Roxana but was forcibly removed from the convent by
her family. She was injured in the struggle but later escaped and returned to
Roxana. Sometime later Blessed Jordan of Saxony convinced
the family to
found a Dominican convent in
1222 for her, staffed with Diana and four companions and four nuns brought
from Rome, two of them Cecilia and Amata. Diana died on January 9, and when
Cecilia and Amata died, they were buried with her. All three were beatified in 1891. Feast day is June 9th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=408
Blessed Diana, Caecilia,
and Amata, OP VV (AC)
Died 13th century;
beatified in 1891. Diana, Caecilia, and Amata were the first members of Saint
Agnes Dominican Convent in Bologna, Italy. They all knew Saint Dominic
personally. Little is known of Sister Amata except that she was a good friend
of Saint Dominic, who, according to legend, gave her the name Amata
('beloved'). Dominic either sent her to the reformed convent of Saint Sixtus
when the nuns left Saint Mary's across the Tiber during a time of drastic
reform, or he was instrumental in allowing her to stay there. There was an
Amata from whom Dominic cast out seven devils, but it was probably not this
Amata.
Caecilia Caesarini was a
high-spirited young Roman of an ancient family; she threw her considerable
influence into the reform movement at the time Saint Dominic was attempting to
get the sisters into Saint Sixtus and under a strict rule. When the saint came
to speak to the sisters at Saint Mary's, it was Caecilia (then 17) who urged
the prioress to support his cause. She was the first to throw herself at
Dominic's feet and beg for the habit and the rule he was advocating, and her
hand is evident in the eventual working out of the touchy situation. In 1224,
Caecilia and three other sisters from Saint Sixtus, including Amata, went to
Saint Agnes in Bologna to help with the new foundation. Sister Caecilia was the
first prioress there and proved to be a very strict one.
Caecilia is responsible
for relating nearly everything now known about the personal appearance and
habits of Saint Dominic. In her extreme old age, she was asked by Theodore of
Apoldia to give him all the details of the saint's personality, and all that
she could recall of the early days of the order, so that he could record them
for posterity. Though nearly 90, her memory was keen and specific. She recalled
how Dominic used his hands, the precise shade of his hair, the exact line of
his tonsure. If she erred, there were still people alive who could have
corrected her, though there was probably no one with her descriptive power left
to tell the tale.
Through a woman's eyes,
she saw the founder from a different angle than his fellow preachers were apt
to see, and remarked on his gentleness with the sisters, and the little touches
of thoughtfulness so characteristic of him. While the men who worked with him
would recall his great mind and his penances, and appreciate the structural
beauty of the order he had founded, Caecilia saw the glow of humanity that so
many historians miss.
The most colorful of the
three was Sister Diana, the spoiled and beautiful daughter of the d'Andalo and
Carbonesi families of Bologna, who lost her heart to the ideal of the
Dominicans when listening to Reginald of Orléans preach. She espoused the cause
of the friars, who were new in Bologna, and begged her father until she obtained
from him the church of Saint Nicholas of the Vineyards, of which he had the
patronage.
Having established the
brethren, she wanted a convent of the Dominican sisters in Bologna. When Saint
Dominic came there on his last journey, she talked with him, and all her
worries departed. She knelt at his feet and made a vow to enter the Dominicans
as soon as it should be possible to build a convent at Bologna. Saint Dominic,
going away to Venice on a trip from which he would only return to die, made
sure before leaving that the brethren understood about Diana. Four of the
fathers from the community of Saint Nichola were under obedience to see that
her convent was built.
In the meantime, Diana's
father refused her permission to enter the convent. Stealing a leaf from the
life of Saint Clare, she ran away to the Augustinians outside the city. In full
armor, her brothers came after he, and Diana was returned, battered but
unconvinced, to the paternal home. She nursed a number of broken ribs and
several explosive ideas in silence.
The death of Saint
Dominic was a great grief to Diana, as she was still living in a state of siege
at home, waiting for some action on the question of the new convent. However,
she soon acquired a new friend, who was to be her greatest joy in the years of
her mortal life--Jordan of Saxony, master general of the order following
Dominic. Jordan, as provincial of Lombardy, inherited the job of building the
Bologna convent, but his relations with Diana were not to be merely mundane.
Their friendship, of which we have the evidence in Jordan's letters, is a
tribute to the beauty of all friendship, and a pledge of its place in religious
life.
Diana was resourceful.
She made another attempt to elope to the convent. This time her family gave up
in despair. She remained peacefully with the Augustinians until the new convent
was built. In 1223, Diana and several other young women received the Dominican
habit from Jordan of Saxony. Diana was the prioress for a time, but perhaps
Jordan felt that she was too volatile for ruling others, because, as soon as
the sisters came from Saint Sixtus, he established Sister Caecilia as prioress.
Diana, who was used to being not only her own boss, but the one who gave orders
to others, seems to have made no protest.
If we had the letters
written by Diana, we should possess a fascinating picture of the early years of
the order and the people who made it what it is. We are indebted to Diana for
what we do have of the correspondence, for she carefully saved all of Jordan's
letters. They tell us of the progress made by the friars in various lands, and
ask her to remind the sisters to pray for the missionaries. Jordan counts the
successes when many good novices have come into the order, begging her prayers
in the low moments when promising novices leave.
More than this, these are
letters of spiritual direction, which should give a pattern to all such
correspondence, for they infer that Diana is a willing and energetic Christian
who will follow the advice she is given, not simply keep the correspondence
going for the joy of it.
Diana died in 1236. She was buried in the convent of Saint Agnes. Her remains were transferred when a new convent was built, and Sister Caecilia--who died 60 years later--was buried near her, along with Sister Amata. The relics were transferred several times, all three together. The head of Blessed Diana was placed in a reliquary near the tomb of Saint Dominic (Benedictines, Dorcy).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0609.shtml
Blessed Diane, Blessed
Cicely & Blessed Amata, V V.O.P.
Memorial Day: June 9th
Profile
Diana,
Caecilia, and Amata were the first members of Saint Agnes Dominican Convent in
Bologna, Italy. They all knew Saint Dominic personally. Little is known of
Sister Amata except that she was a good friend of Saint Dominic, who, according
to legend, gave her the name Amata ('beloved'). Dominic either sent her to the
reformed convent of Saint Sixtus when the nuns left Saint Mary's across the
Tiber during a time of drastic reform, or he was instrumental in allowing her
to stay there. There was an Amata from whom Dominic cast out seven devils, but
it was probably not this Amata.
Caecilia Caesarini was a high-spirited young Roman of an ancient family; she
threw her considerable influence into the reform movement at the time Saint
Dominic was attempting to get the sisters into Saint Sixtus and under a strict
rule. When the saint came to speak to the sisters at Saint Mary's, it was
Caecilia (then 17) who urged the prioress to support his cause. She was the
first to throw herself at Dominic's feet and beg for the habit and the rule he
was advocating, and her hand is evident in the eventual working out of the
touchy situation. In 1224, Caecilia and three other sisters from Saint Sixtus,
including Amata, went to Saint Agnes in Bologna to help with the new
foundation. Sister Caecilia was the first prioress there and proved to be a very
strict one.
Caecilia is responsible for relating nearly everything now known about the
personal appearance and habits of Saint Dominic. In her extreme old age, she
was asked by Theodore of Apoldia to give him all the details of the saint's
personality, and all that she could recall of the early days of the order, so
that he could record them for posterity. Though nearly 90, her memory was keen
and specific. She recalled how Dominic used his hands, the precise shade of his
hair, the exact line of his tonsure. If she erred, there were still people
alive who could have corrected her, though there was probably no one with her
descriptive power left to tell the tale.
Through a woman's eyes, she saw the founder from a different angle than his
fellow preachers were apt to see, and remarked on his gentleness with the
sisters, and the little touches of thoughtfulness so characteristic of him.
While the men who worked with him would recall his great mind and his penances,
and appreciate the structural beauty of the order he had founded, Caecilia saw
the glow of humanity that so many historians miss.
The
most colorful of the three was Sister Diana, the spoiled and beautiful daughter
of the d'Andalo and Carbonesi families of Bologna, who lost her heart to the
ideal of the Dominicans when listening to Reginald of Orléans preach. She
espoused the cause of the friars, who were new in Bologna, and begged her
father until she obtained from him the church of Saint Nicholas of the
Vineyards, of which he had the patronage.
Having
established the brethren, she wanted a convent of the Dominican sisters in
Bologna. When Saint Dominic came there on his last journey, she talked with
him, and all her worries departed. She knelt at his feet and made a vow to
enter the Dominicans as soon as it should be possible to build a convent at
Bologna. Saint Dominic, going away to Venice on a trip from which he would only
return to die, made sure before leaving that the brethren understood about
Diana. Four of the fathers from the community of Saint Nichola were under
obedience to see that her convent was built.
In the
meantime, Diana's father refused her permission to enter the convent. Stealing
a leaf from the life of Saint Clare, she ran away to the Augustinians outside
the city. In full armor, her brothers came after he, and Diana was returned,
battered but unconvinced, to the paternal home. She nursed a number of broken
ribs and several explosive ideas in silence.
The
death of Saint Dominic was a great grief to Diana, as she was still living in a
state of siege at home, waiting for some action on the question of the new
convent. However, she soon acquired a new friend, who was to be her greatest
joy in the years of her mortal life--Jordan of Saxony, master general of the
order following Dominic. Jordan, as provincial of Lombardy, inherited the job
of building the Bologna convent, but his relations with Diana were not to be
merely mundane. Their friendship, of which we have the evidence in Jordan's
letters, is a tribute to the beauty of all friendship, and a pledge of its
place in religious life.
Diana
was resourceful. She made another attempt to elope to the convent. This time
her family gave up in despair. She remained peacefully with the Augustinians
until the new convent was built. In 1223, Diana and several other young women
received the Dominican habit from Jordan of Saxony. Diana was the prioress for
a time, but perhaps Jordan felt that she was too volatile for ruling others,
because, as soon as the sisters came from Saint Sixtus, he established Sister
Caecilia as prioress. Diana, who was used to being not only her own boss, but
the one who gave orders to others, seems to have made no protest.
If we
had the letters written by Diana, we should possess a fascinating picture of
the early years of the order and the people who made it what it is. We are
indebted to Diana for what we do have of the correspondence, for she carefully
saved all of Jordan's letters. They tell us of the progress made by the friars
in various lands, and ask her to remind the sisters to pray for the
missionaries. Jordan counts the successes when many good novices have come into
the order, begging her prayers in the low moments when promising novices leave.
More
than this, these are letters of spiritual direction, which should give a
pattern to all such correspondence, for they infer that Diana is a willing and
energetic Christian who will follow the advice she is given, not simply keep
the correspondence going for the joy of it.
Diana
died in 1236. She was buried in the convent of Saint Agnes. Her remains were
transferred when a new convent was built, and Sister Caecilia--who died 60
years later--was buried near her, along with Sister Amata. The relics were
transferred several times, all three together. The head of Blessed Diana was
placed in a reliquary near the tomb of Saint Dominic (Benedictines, Dorcy).
Born: twelfth
century
Died: thirteenth
century
Beatified: Pope Leo
XIII confirmed their cult in 1891
Prayers/Commemorations
First Vespers:
Ant. Ye prudent Virgins,
prepare your lamps: behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.
(P.T. Alleluia.)
V. Pray for us, Blessed
Diane with thy companions. (P.T., Alleluia.)
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ. (P.T., Alleluia.)
Lauds:
Ant. The kingdom of
heaven will be like to ten virgins, who receiving their lamps went forth to
meet the bridegroom and the bride. (P.T., Alleluia.)
V. Virgins shall be led
to the King after her. (P.T., Alleluia.)
R. Her companions shall
be presented to Thee. (P.T., Alleluia.)
Second Vespers:
Ant. She has girded her
loins with courage and hath strengthened her arm; therefore shall her lamp not
be put out forever. (P.T., Alleluia)
V. Pray for us Blessed
Diane with thy companions. . (P.T. Alleluia.)
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ. (P.T. Alleluia.)
Prayer:
Let us Pray: O God,
who dist endow Thy Blessed Virgin Diane with admirable fortitude of spirit, and
didst give her Blesseds, Cecilia and Amata as companions in treading the path
of evangelical perfection, grant that we may be strengthened in difficulties by
their example and protected by their help in adversity. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SOURCE :
http://www.willingshepherds.org/Dominican%20Saints%20May.html#Diane Companions
Saints and
Saintly Dominicans – 9 June
Blessed Diana
d’Andalo, Blessed Cecilia
Cesarine, and Blessed Amy, O.P.
Diana
d’Andalo, a young lady of noble family in Bologna, went to hear the
preaching of Blessed Reginald, attired as usual in costly and fashionable
garments. Now it just happened that the preacher was decrying feminine luxury
and vanity. His words went home to Diana’s heart, she felt humbled, she was
enlightened and transformed. Without delay she discarded her fine clothing and
set herself, in spite of many trials and obstacles, to found the monastery of
Saint Agnes, which she governed for many years, aided by the counsels and
letters of Blessed Jordan (1236).
She had as her companion, Sister Cecilia, who, at the age of seventeen, had received
the habit from the hands of Saint Dominic, at San Sisto, in Rome. As Saint Mary
Magdalen had been permitted to be the friend of Our Lord, so Blessed Cecilia
attached herself to Saint Dominic, and the holy Patriarch, finding in this
simple and generous soul a certain conformity to his own, spoke to her and
treated her, on his side with a truly paternal confidence. By this means
Blessed Cecilia has been able to hand down to us certain precious details in
the life of Saint Dominic which render him even more lovable in the eyes of his
children (1290).
The second companion of Blessed Diana, Blessed Amy, is like a violet whose
perfume remains because it comes from God, but whose origin and life are hidden
from the eyes of men.
Prayer
Saint Dominic, beloved
father! pardon us for having followed your counsels and maintained your spirit
so imperfectly.
Practice
Desire to imitate our
holy Father Saint Dominic, and in order to do so say before each action: “What
would Saint Dominic do in my place?”
Saints and Saintly
Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-9-june/
This holy trio of
Dominican nuns shows that God can call any type to the convent
Dominican Monastery Of
Our Lady Of The Rosary
Meg
Hunter-Kilmer - published on 06/08/17
Blesseds Diana, Amata,
and Cecilia were friends of St. Dominic.
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If you ask most people to
tell you which of their acquaintances is most likely to become a nun, nine
times out of 10 you’ll be directed to the shy, quiet, awkward girl. But anyone
who’s spent 10 minutes with a group of nuns will tell you that not every nun is
meek and homely—quite the contrary. Convents are filled with beauty queens,
actresses, and investment bankers, filled with the shy retiring type, the loud
and sassy type, and plenty of “problems like Maria.”
On June 8, the Church
celebrates a group of these nuns: Blesseds Diana, Amata, and Cecilia, friends
of St. Dominic and among the very first Dominican nuns.
Blessed Cecilia Caesarini was a Benedictine noblewoman. Unfortunately, while her community was ancient and esteemed, it was also lax and caught up in scandal. When Cecilia was 17, Dominic arrived to reform the community at the request of the pope. Hearing him speak of the beauty of a life entirely handed over to God, Cecilia was enthralled and threw herself at the feet of the great preacher, asking to be received into his order and becoming one of the first Dominican nuns.
Read more:
21 years old, and entering a cloistered convent? An interview
with my little sister
The identity of Blessed
Amata is less certain. We know that she was dear to the heart of St. Dominic,
that she received her name from him, and that she was a nun with Diana and
Cecilia.
The most spirited of the
bunch was Diana d’Andalo, a young noblewoman who was described as being “of
outstanding beauty,” as well as being eloquent, charming, intelligent, and
rather spoiled. Diana was fond of beautiful and expensive things until she
heard the preaching of Blessed Reginald of Orleans, an early Dominican preacher.
Convicted by his words on luxury and vanity, Diana gave away the beautiful
things she loved and even persuaded her father to donate some of his land to
the friars.
Not satisfied with this,
Diana soon made a vow of virginity witnessed by Dominic himself. This sort of
occasion usually involves proud fathers and teary-eyed mothers, but Diana’s
profession had neither, for the simple reason that she hadn’t told her parents
of her plans. She was (understandably) concerned that her wealthy family would
insist that she marry, so she made the ill-advised decision to ask forgiveness
rather than permission.
Her secret consecration
was further complicated by the fact that there was still no Dominican convent
for her to enter. Diana set about living as a nun in her family home but her
family made it difficult for her to pray and fast as she wanted, so Diana
hatched a plan: she and her girlfriends would go have a picnic at an
Augustinian convent. At the end of the day, all the girls would go home—all but
Diana, who would be hidden away behind the convent walls.
Diana hadn’t counted on
the fury of her family. When her friends arrived back in Bologna with the news
that Diana had decided to stay, her father, brothers, and uncles rode out after
her. They galloped up to the convent and demanded that she return with them.
Diana refused, clinging to the very building until they dragged her
away—breaking at least one of her ribs in the process.
Diana appeared to be near
death when she arrived back at her family home and was confined to bed. During
that time, she received letters from Dominic who, though he was on his
deathbed, encouraged her to persevere in her vocation. Persevere she did, and
before terribly long she had exhausted the resistance of her family. The second
time she sneaked out to become a nun, they didn’t follow her.
Not long after the death of St. Dominic, Diana left her temporary home with the Augustinians for the convent of St. Agnes where she began to live according to the rule of St. Dominic. For a few months Diana served as prioress, but soon Blessed Jordan of Saxony (the master general of the Dominicans after the death of Dominic) sent for some more experienced nuns from Rome. Of these, Blessed Cecilia was appointed prioress.
Read more:
Need a saint you can relate to? Here’s one way you might find
one
From there, life
continued rather as expected for cloistered nuns, excepting only Diana’s deep
friendship with Blessed Jordan. The many letters from Jordan to Diana give us a
model of transformative spiritual direction and of chaste friendship. These letters,
along with the description of St. Dominic given to us by Blessed Cecilia, form
the literary legacy of this trio of holy women, but their witness of holiness
as God made them (not as they were expected to be) might be even more valuable.
On their feast day, let’s
ask them to pray for all women discerning religious life and for women who
don’t quite seem to fit the mold. Blesseds Diana, Amata, and Cecilia, pray for
us!
Read more:
I was not the kind of girl anyone wanted to talk ‘vocations’
with
HAPPY FEAST OF BL. DIANA
D'ANDALO, BL. CECILIA (and BL. AMATA)!!
JUN 8
Bl. Cecilia, Bl. Diana, and Bl. Amata.
Today we celebrate with
joy the feast day of Blessed Diana d'Andalo and Blessed Cecilia Caesarini, two
early nuns of the Order of Preachers. Both were remarkable in those pioneer
days, in laying firm foundations for our future, especially in their fierce
vigilance at maintaining the nuns' relationship, juridical and spiritual, with
the friars.
Our recent reprinting
of To
Heaven With Diana! reminded me of some of Gerald Vann's marvelous
observations on Diana's character and personality, which yes, does come out, in
all its passionate Italian-ness, between the lines of Jordan's letters. Indeed,
the greatest gift of all in editing the new edition of the book, was to
"hear" Diana's "voice," at times nagging, but always loving
and tender. I "heard" her maternal concern for Jordan's health, her
desire to ensure that her sisters would remain in the heart of the Order
(despite the desire of some friars to "shake off" the nuns), her
reassurances of her prayers and those of her sisters, her interest in every
aspect of Jordan's work and whereabouts, from his administrative work as
provincial, to his vocation recruitment. You certainly get the sense that Diana
"commissioned" the wonderful detailed accounts we receive in his
letters. Beyond offering a privileged "peek" into their beautiful
friendship, the letters also give us invaluable information about the Order's
early history.
Now, for the
"gems" on Diana, culled from Gerald Vann's Introduction from the book:
"Of her childhood we
know nothing; but we know a good deal about her as she was when she first came
into contact with the friars. She was of outstanding beauty: decora facie
et venusto aspectu, says the contemporary chronicle, lovely of face and
charming to behold...Her contemporaries also speak of her as eloquent and
learned; and there is no doubt about her charm, her high spirits, her courage,
and that faculty of making swift and sure decisions which, as one of her modern
biographers remarks, is often found in women who have been brought up in the
society of men. She was full of the joy of living; full too of the joy of her
own beauty and the power it gave her."
"When (Jordan)
arrived at Bologna soon after the death of St.Dominic, Diana sought him out and
told him of her adventures and dreams, the dreams that Dominic had shared. From
that day forward they were never to be far from each other’s thoughts; of that
the letters which have come down to us are sufficient evidence. It is a tragedy
that none of Diana’s letters to Jordan have been preserved; but we have the
fifty that he wrote to her or to what was soon to be her community—thirty-seven
of them are addressed to Diana herself—and their vivid, richly allusive Latin
reveals to us not only his own heart but hers."
"Diana herself had her own very distinctive gifts; and as her religious
life went on she learned with Jordan’s help and guidance how to free them from
what was imperfect in them, how to use them for her religious family’s progress
in goodness and peace and happiness, how to make them a more and more perfect
offering to God from whom they came. She remained to the end Diana: it is Père
(Hyacinthe) Cormier again who notes how she and the two other members of the
community who were beatified with her personify the three essential graces of
monastic life: Amata, deep humility; Cecilia, the prioress, wise and creative
authority; Diana, the greatest grace of them all, perfect love."
We know little of
Cecilia's early life, beyond her noble birth, and her entrance into a
Benedictine abbey, later to be reformed by St. Dominic (to the consternation of
many of the nuns therein). Cecilia accepted the reform and left Benedictine
life to become a Dominican nun, later to be called to Bologna as first prioress
of the Monastery of St. Agnes (founded by Bl. Diana) to form the first nuns
there. We are especially thankful for Cecilia's womanly powers of observation
in giving the only description we have of our Holy Father St. Dominic's
physical appearance:
“He was of middle height
and slender figure, of handsome and somewhat ruddy countenance, his hair and
beard of auburn, and with lustrous eyes. From out his forehead and between his
eye brows a radiant light shone forth, which drew everyone to revere and love
him...” (from the Lives of the
Brethren of the Order of Preachers)
Although her reminscences
were later discounted (rather haughtily) by later Dominican historians as the
hazy and inaccurate memories of a rather dotty old woman, we are happy to
report that Cecilia had the last word. When St. Dominic's remains were exhumed
in 1947, his bones revealed that, yes, he did have a high forehead, and red
hair!
Now, a note on Bl. Amata,
missing from the calendar today! She was beatified with Diana and
Cecilia in 1891, but was omitted from the calendar because the only thing known
about her was that she with them at the Monastery of St. Agnes. (Hmm, that
doesn't seem to be a good reason to remove her but then I am not a liturgist!).
Here is what Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P. says of Amata in her book, St.
Dominic's Family (p. 109).
"Of Sister Amata, we
know practically nothing, but that she was a good friend of St. Dominic, which
should, after all, be enough to know about anybody. He, according to legend,
gave her the name Amata--which means 'beloved'--and very probably he either
sent her to the convent in the first place or was the means of her staying
there at the time of the drastic reforms, when the nuns left St. Mary's trans
Tiber and whent to S. Sixtus. There was a Sister Amata from whom St. Dominic is
said to have cast out seven devils, but it could hardly have been this one. The
facts that he personally named her, and that she is buried with the other two,
will have to be her title to honor."
May our sisters Diana,
Cecilia, and Amata intercede very powerfully for our nuns throughout the world
today, especially for good and holy vocations to our monasteries! And, may
their prayers for the prospering of the "Holy Preaching" of our friars
continue to fill the sons of Dominic with zeal for the salvation of souls.
P.S. And, make sure to
stop by Bro. Lawrence Lew's blog, "Contemplata aliis tradere" to read
his tribute to
our sisters.
SOURCE : https://summitdominicans.org/blog/2006/06/happy-feast-of-bl-diana-dandalo-bl-cecilia-and-bl-amata
Bl. Diana d’Andalo
/ Community / Our
Dominican Heritage / Our
Saints and Blesseds / Bl. Diana d’Andalo
Learn More
The first cloistered nuns
of the Dominican Order are not necessarily as “famous” as their counterpart in
other orders, such as St. Clare of Assisi; nor even as well-known as their own
later Third Order sisters, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose of Lima. Yet
there were, from the beginning, women whose prayers in the cloister supported
the Holy Preaching. The best known of these is Blessed Diana d’Andalo of
Bologna, a young woman whose life was touched by the three most famous friars
of the new Order of Preachers. In his book, To Heaven With Diana, Gerald
Vann writes, “Of her childhood we know nothing; but we know a good deal about
her as she was when she first came into contact with the friars. She was of
outstanding beauty. ...Her contemporaries also speak of her as eloquent and
learned; and there is no doubt about her charm, her high spirits, her courage,
and that faculty of making swift and sure decisions which, as one of her modern
biographers remarks, is often found in women who have been brought up in the
society of men. She was full of the joy of living…”
Around the year 1218
Diana was deeply inspired on hearing the preaching of Reginald of Orleans, and
determined that there should be a monastery of Dominican nuns in Bologna. Diana
made her desire known to the Dominican friars there, and when St. Dominic
himself visited Bologna in 1221, she made a vow at his feet to establish a
monastery, and to become a nun herself. Shortly thereafter, she fled by night
to the Augustinian nuns, but was followed by her brothers, who brought her back
to their home with such a struggle that some of her ribs were broken. Diana
bided her time as her injuries healed. In 1223 she escaped again to the
Augustinians. This time her family left her in peace. The new Monastery of St.
Agnes was built in Bologna, and Diana was made the first prioress. Owing to her
youth and lack of experience, however, she was soon replaced as prioress by
Sister Cecilia Caesarini from St. Dominic’s recent foundation at San Sisto in
Rome. Almost exactly Diana’s age, Sister Cecilia was already a more experienced
nun. She was appointed by the new Master of the Order, Jordan of Saxony, who
thought that a more experienced prioress would help build up the new Bolognese
monastery.
Diana made her greatest
contribution to the Order in saving all the correspondence that Jordan of
Saxony wrote to her in the early years of the Order. He wrote variously about
the unfolding history of the Order, the many novices who joined it, and his
sorrow at the death of friends. Sometimes he served as her spiritual director.
Without Diana’s careful preservation of Bl. Jordan’s letters, we would lack
what was compiled as the Libellus, the single greatest source of early
Dominican history. Diana died in 1236.
Commenting of Diana’s
holiness of life, Gerald Vann concludes, “Diana herself had her own very
distinctive gifts; and as her religious life went on she learned with Jordan’s
help and guidance how to free them from what was imperfect in them, how to use
them for her religious family’s progress in goodness and peace and happiness,
how to make them a more and more perfect offering to God from whom they came.”
Most significantly, Vann gives us from Père Hyacinthe Cormier, O.P., an insight
into the grace which Bl. Diana came to personify in her living of Dominican
life, that of perfect love.
Beata Diana degli Andalò Vergine
Bologna, 1200 circa - 10
giugno 1236
Nacque a Bologna verso il
1200. Ammiratrice dei primi Predicatori, appoggiò il beato Reginaldo di
Orléans, uno dei padri predicatori mandati da san Domenico a Bologna, nella
compera della località di Vigne, contigua alla chiesa di San Nicolò, la futura
chiesa di san Domenico. L'atto porta la data del 14 marzo 1219. Quando
nell'agosto dello stesso anno san Domenico andò a Bologna, Diana, con altre
giovani dame, fece nelle sue mani il voto di vita religiosa. L'anno dopo chiese
a san Domenico di poter fondare un monastero. Si decise così l'acquisto di un
terreno a tale scopo alla periferia della città, ma il vescovo negò la sua
autorizzazione. Il 22 luglio 1221 Diana entrò nel monastero delle Canonichesse
di Ronzano, ma ne fu strappata dai parenti con la violenza; nel trambusto, la
ragazza ebbe una costola rotta. San Domenico la consolò con lettere, oggi
perdute. Poté tuttavia tornare a Ronzano, dove dimorò fino al giugno 1223. Dopo
che il beato Giordano di Sassonia, successore di san Domenico, ebbe fondato il
monastero di Sant'Agnese, Diana vi vestì l'abito dell'Ordine e ne fu eletta
superiora. Morì nel 1236. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Diana =
celeste, luminosa, divina, dal sanscrito
Martirologio
Romano: A Bologna, beata Diana d’Andalò, vergine, che, superati tutti gli
impedimenti posti dalla famiglia, emise voto di vita claustrale nelle mani
dello stesso san Domenico, entrando nel monastero di Sant’Agnese da lei stessa
fondato.
Nella traslazione e
ricognizione delle reliquie di Diana d'Andalò, fatta nel 1510 nel monastero
bolognese di S. Agnese, si trovarono nella medesima tomba tre corpi, due dei
quali furono attribuiti rispettivamente a Diana e a Cecilia. Il terzo, che
allora non fu identificato, nella traslazione successiva (1584) fu attribuito a
suor Amata, presunta monaca venuta con altre sorelle nel 1224, su invito del b.
Giordano di Sassonia, da S. Sisto a S. Agnese per stabilirvi la vita
domenicana. Tale identificazione, evidentemente fondata su Galvano Fiamma,
manca di qualsiasi conferma. Il culto di Diana, Cecilia e Amata fu approvato il
24 dicembre 1891 da Leone XIII e la loro festa stabilita al 9 giugno. I corpi
delle beate si conservano tuttora nel monastero di S. Agnese di Bologna.
Diamo ora la biografia di
Diana.
DIANA di Andalò. Nacque a
Bologna verso il 1200 da Andrea Lovello, soprannominato Andalò (donde il suo
cognome) e da Ota. Ammiratrice dei primi Predicatori, appoggiò il b. Reginaldo
di Orléans, uno dei padri predicatori mandati da s. Domenico a Bologna, nella
compera della località di Vigne, contigua alla chiesa di S. Nicolò, la futura
chiesa di S. Domenico. L'atto porta la data del 14 marzo 1219. Quando
nell'agosto dello stesso anno s. Domenico andò a Bologna, Diana, con altre
giovani dame, fece nelle sue mani il voto di vita religiosa, presenti il
menzionato p. Reginaldo ed altri testimoni. L'anno dopo ella insisté presso s.
Domenico per la fondazione di un monastero. In un capitolo conventuale il santo
istituì una commissione che decise l'acquisto di un terreno a tale scopo alla
periferia della città, ma il vescovo negò la sua autorizzazione.
Il 22 luglio 1221 Diana
entrò nel monastero delle Canonichesse di Ronzano, ma ne fu strappata dai
parenti con la violenza; nel trambusto, la ragazza ebbe una costola rotta. S.
Domenico la consolò con lettere, oggi perdute. Poté tuttavia tornare a Ronzano,
dove dimorò dal nov. 1222 al giugno 1223. Dopo che il b. Giordano di Sassonia,
successore di s. Domenico, ebbe fondato il monastero di S. Agnese, Diana vi
vestì l'abito dell'Ordine e ne fu eletta superiora. Diresse da vera madre la
nuova comunità religiosa e morì, si ritiene, nel 1236.
Autore: Angelo Walz
SOURCE :
ANDALÒ, Diana d'
di Ada Alessandrini - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 3 (1961)
Nacque, nei primi anni
del sec. XIII, dalla nobile e potente famiglia bolognese dei Carbonesi. Suo
padre Andrea (dai cui diminutivi famibari, Andreolo, Andalò, deriva
il cognome patronlrmco, rimasto poi ai discendenti) ebbe due mogli e molti
figli, quasi tutti maschi, che ricoprirono cariche illustri: dalla prima
moglie, di cui si ignora nome e casato, nacque Diana insieme con quattro fratelli,
fra cui Brancaleone, che fu sempre per lei il fratello prediletto; dalla
seconda moglie, Agnese, Andalò ebbe Castellano, il quale fu senatore di Roma, e
il Loderengo, fondatore dei frati gaudenti.
Nella sua prima
giovinezza l'A., che mostrava alte doti morali ed intellettuali, ascoltò le
prediche del famoso fra' Reginaldo, già professore di diritto canonico
all'università di Parigi, inviato da s. Domenico a Bologna nel 1218.
Quando Domenico giunse a
Bologna (estate 1219), conobbe l'A. e perfezionò in lei l'opera iniziata da
Reginaldo: approvò la sua idea di entrare nell'Ordine dei predicatori ed
accolse riservatamente (ma con solenne cerimonia, svoltasi alla presenza dei
frati Reginaldo, Guala e Rodolfò) la sua promessa, insieme con quella di altre
quattro giovani dame di potenti famiglie bolognesi.
Domenico, che valutava in
pieno l'importanza dell'apostolato femminile, si consultò con i confratelli per
realizzare la grande aspirazione dell'A. di fondare un monastero di suore
domenicane a Bologna e, prima di partire per Roma, ne affidò l'incarico ai
frati Rodolfo, Guala, Ventura da Verona. Ma questi incontrarono la doppia
opposizione, sia del vescovo di Bologna, sia dei parenti della fanciulla; né
era possibile fondare il nuovo convento contro il parere dell'autorità
ecclesiastica e senza l'aiuto finanziario degli Andalò.
L'A. allora cercò di
porre i parenti di fronte al fatto compiuto. Il 22 luglio 1221 organizzò con le
sue amiche un pellegrinaggio all'eremo di Ronzano, sui contrafforti
dell'Appennino prospicienti a Bologna, dove si erano stabilite le canonichesse
agostiniane. Durante la visita al convento, Diana improvvisamente entrò nel
dormitorio e domandò l'abito sacro con tale appassionata eloquenza, che fu
esaudita all'istante. Ma i parenti, avvertiti, si precipitarono con largo
stuolo di famigli e clienti, trascinando via la fanciulla a viva forza e
brutalmente malmenandola: dolorante nell'anima e nel corpo (ebbe perfino una
costola rotta), fu isolata in casa per circa un anno: lo stesso Domenico non
poté più vederla e riuscì appena a farle recapitare alcune lettere. Questa
prova crudele deformò il corpo di Diana per tutta la vita, ma non affievolì la
sua vocazione, né piegò la sua determinazione. Dopo la morte di s. Domenico
ella fuggì di nuovo a Ronzano, e questa volta i parenti non osarono
disturbarla.
Intanto era stato
nominato procuratore generale dei domenicani in Lombardia Giordano di Sassonia,
che riprese subito il progetto, caro all'A. e a Domeníco, di fondare un
convento di suore domenicane a Bologna. Egli ebbe successo. Il nuovo convento,
costruito sul pendio di una collina prospiciente Porta S. Proculo, sulla
cappella di Nostra Signora del Monte dedicata a s. Agnese Vergine e Martire, fu
all'origine una povera e piccola casa, "domuncula parva". Il 13
maggio 1222 vennero acquistati terreni limitrofi con atto di vendita intestato
a Diana Andalò (Cormier, pp. 57-59); circa un anno dopo, nell'ottava
dell'Assunzione del 1223, Giordano, divenuto ormai generale dell'Ordine, vi
introdusse il primo gruppo di suore (l'A. insieme con quattro consorelle, anche
esse di nobili famiglie bolognesi) e il 29 giugno, festa degli apostoli Pietro
e Paolo, impose personalmente loro l'abito domenicano, alla presenza di tutti i
confratelli di Bologna. A reggere la nuova comunità femminile (che mantenne il
nome di S. Agnese) furono chiamate dal monastero di S. Sisto a Roma quattro
suore (fra cui Amata e Cecilia), già esperte nell'esercizio della Regola, la
quale, a parte l'atto della predicazione, era pressoché identica per le suore
come per i frati.
Fu nominata priora
Cecilia, della nobile famiglia romana dei Cesarini; in breve tempo affluirono
nel convento di S. Agnese molte nuove proseliti, quasi tutte di illustre
casato.
L'A. fu l'anima della
comunità: a lei personalmente sono indirizzate la maggior parte delle numerose
e bellissime lettere, con le quali Giordano di Sassonia assistette e diresse le
suore del convento italiano da lui fondato e che egli evidentemente predilesse.
Neppure una lettera,
purtroppo, ci è stata tramandata di quelle che l'A. scrisse a Giordano: e non
dovettero essere poche. Ma le lettere di Giordano, salvate amorosamente dalle
suore di S. Agnese, ci aiutano a conoscere, dall'intimo, la personalità
singolare dell'Andalò.
Giordano si rivolgeva a
lei come a sorella e figlia, perché nati ambedue dallo stesso padre spirituale
Domenico, che lasciò a lei Giordano come secondo padre (lett. XVIII, p. 20).
Egli le scriveva non soltanto per assisterla nella vita religiosa, ma per
confidarle i suoi dubbi, le sue speranze, i suoi scoraggiamenti, i suoi, spesso
inaspettati, miracolosi successi: sapeva evidentemente che ella era in grado di
ascoltare, di capire, di rispondere. Le scriveva in fretta, dai quattro canti
di Europa, sotto l'influenza delle circostanze più diverse. Le comunicava
notizie sui suoi studi, le confidava i suoi smarrimenti (come in occasione del
dolore acerbo provato per la morte di un suo compagno di vestizione); le
domandava soccorsi per il prossimo bisognoso (delicatissima la lettera in cui
le affida una bambina tedesca, abbandonata dai suoi, pregandola, fra l'altro,
di farle parlare spesso la lingua natale); le chiedeva di impetrare da Dio
vocazioni per l'Ordine; si preoccupava per la sua salute, sempre malferma, dopo
il trauma subito in gioventù; l'ammoniva che non eccedessero, lei e le sue
consorelle, in astinenze e mortificazioni corporali ("bisogna saper salire
passo passo sulla scala della perfezione, non bisogna pretendere di
volare"). Particolarmente significative le lettere di conforto per la
morte del padre, della sorella Ottavia, del prediletto fratello Brancaleone:
nonostante la crudele esperienza giovanile, l'A. doveva essere profondamente
attaccata ai parenti e il suo direttore spirituale stentava a ottenere da, lei
rassegnazione e moderazione all'impeto degli affetti.
Nella corrispondenza. di
Giordano, si trova inoltre la documentazione delle prove aspre e penose che
dovette affrontare la giovane comunità femminile domenicana di Bologna:
l'assedio alla città da parte dell'imperatore Federico II nel 1225, tanto più
pauroso in quanto il convento di S. Agnese si trovava fuori dalla cinta delle
fortificazioni (Giordano comunica all'A. di aver affrontato l'imperatore, suo
connazionale, in un drammatico colloquio); il lungo periodo di povertà cruda
attenuato soltanto nel 1230, quando Gregorio IX assegnò alle suore di S Agnese
l'usufrutto dei beni del monastero di S. Adalberto (Cormier, App. D, pp. 165
s.).
La prova più difficile, a
cui l'A. e le consorelle vennero sottoposte, fu la contesa per difendere il
loro diritto ad essere assistite dai diretti superiori dell'Ordine.
L'A. reagì energicamente
di fronte al pericolo che la sua vocazione domenicana venisse frustrata, come
reagirono le consorelle di Prouille, Madrid e Roma. Perché fosse autorevolmente
chiarita la spinosa questione fu sollecitato l'intervento del pontefice: Onorio
III, con un breve datato al 17 dic. 1226, ribadì al generale dei domenicani
l'ordine di non rifiutare la direzione dei conventi femminili fondati
personalmente da s. Domenico, nonché del monastero di S. Agnese
(Cormier, App. E, p. 167); tale deliberazione fu confermata da Gregorio IX
nel 1236 (Cormier, App. G, p. 171). Giordano si affrettò a trasmettere a
Diana il testo autentico delle lettere pontificie e a rassicurarla, insieme con
le sue consorelle, che egli avrebbe mantenuto, anzi raddoppiato la sua
assistenza (lett. VIII, p. 10, lett. XLVIII, pp. 54 s.).
L'A. morì in giovane età
(35 anni circa) pochi mesi prima del suo padre spirituale, che scomparve in
naufragio al suo ritomo dalla Terrasanta il 13 febbr. 1237. Incerto è il giorno
preciso del suo transito: nell'Archivio del convento di S. Agnese è scritto che
"ella salì al cielo alla vigilia della festa di S. Barnaba l'anno del
Signore 1236" (Cormier, pp. 122 s.); nell'epigrafe, posta sulla sua tomba,
si legge: "monasterium S. Agnetis extruxit, in quo anni XIII sanctissime
vixit migravitque ad dominum MCCXXXVI" (ibid., p. 123).
In vita e morte il nome
dell'A. fu unito insieme con quello di Amata e di Cecilia; le loro ossa furono
messe in un'unica sepoltura (dopo la morte di Cecilia, spirata quasi novantenne
nel 1290) e il loro culto come beate venne insieme confermato da Leone XIII nel
1891.
Fonti e Bibl.: H. M.
Cormier, La b. Diane d'Andalo et les bb. Cécile et Aimée, Roma
1892, con tavv. (ritr.) e appendici di documenti, fra cui (App. A, pp. 149-157)
la cronaca sulla vita della beata, composta da una suora del mon. di S. Agnese
fra il 1264 e il 1283; Chroniques du monastère de San Sisto et de San
Domenico e Sisto à Rome, II, Levanto 1920, pp. 585-588; Beati Iordani de
Saxonia Epistulae, a cura di A. Walz, in Monumenta
Ord. Fr. Praed. histarica, XXIII(1951), con esame critico delle
ediz. precedenti; Iordani de Saxonia Opera quae extant, a cura di J. J.
Berthier, Freiburg 1891; Acta Sanctorum, Iunii, II, Antverpiae 1698,
pp. 363-368; G. B. Melloni, Atti e Memorie degli uomini illustri in
santità nati o morti in Bologna, I, Bologna 1773, pp. 194-255, 363-389, con
ritr. p. 363; Confirmationis cultus immemorabilis simul ac concessionis et
approbationis commemorationis servarum Dei Caeciliae et Amatae auae beatae
nuncupantur ad iungendae Officio, Missae et Elogio in Martyrologio in
honorem b. Dianae de Andalo, Roma 1890; N. Malvezzi, Diana d'Andalò,
Bologna 1894; A. Mortier, Histoire des maîtres généraux de l'Ordre des
Frères Prêcheurs, I, Paris 1903, pp. 94-106, 138-170; H. Ch.
Scheeben, Beiträge zur Geschichte Jordans v. Sachsen, in Quellen
u. Forschungen zur Gesch. d. domenikaner Ordens in Deutsch.,
XXXV, Leipzig 1938, pp. 16, 18, 46, 55, 74 5-, 83-95; A. Walz, Intorno
alle lettere del b. Giordano di Sassonia, in Angelicum, XXVI(1949),
pp. 143 164, 218-232; Encicl. cattolica, IV,
col.1552; Dictionnaire d'Hist. et de Géogr. Ecclés., XIV, coll.
379 s.
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/diana-d-andalo_(Dizionario-Biografico)
