Maria Adeodata Pisani

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Roman Catholic Church
Beatified9 May 2001 by Pope John Paul II
Feast25 February
AttributesBenedictine habit, crucifix, bible
PatronageProtection against cancer

Maria Adeodata Pisani, OSB (29 December 1806 – 25 February 1855) was a Maltese Catholic nun.

Pope John Paul II beatified Pisani on 9 May 2001. A number of bishops also released a pastoral letter emphasizing the serious difficulties that she had to face, stating that Pisani had had "a difficult childhood as her parents did not live together. She renounced and disposed of her wealth, willingly living as a cloistered nun."

Life

The only daughter of Baron Benedetto Pisani Mompalao Cuzkeri and Vincenza Carrano, she was born Maria Teresa Pisani in Naples, Italy on 29 December 1806, and baptized the same day in the Parish of St Mark at Pizzofalcone. Her father held the title of Baron of Frigenuin, one of the oldest and richest baronies in Malta; her mother was Italian.[1]

Her father took to drink and this soon led to marital problems, so much so that whilst Pisani was still a small child her mother left the conjugal house and entrusted the child's care to her mother-in-law, Elisabeth Mamo Mompalao, who lived in Naples. Mompalao was a decent caregiver, but died when her granddaughter was only ten years old. After her grandmother’s death, Pisani was sent to the famous Istituto di Madama Prota, a boarding school in Naples where the daughters of the local aristocracy received their education.[1]

In 1821 her father was involved in the uprising in Naples and sentenced to death. Since he was a British citizen, his sentence was suspended and King Ferdinand II of Naples had him expelled from Naples and deported to the Mediterranean island of Malta. In 1825, Pisani and her mother came to live in Malta, settling in Rabat.[2]

Once in Malta, Pisani decided to become a nun, although her mother preferred that she marry.[2] Besides suffering from delicate health, Pisani had a deformed shoulder, caused, it was testified, by injuries sustained at the hands of a maid who beat her when she lived with her grandmother in Naples. Although her mother tried to find her a suitable husband, Pisani invariably declined such proposals, preferring to lead a quiet life, of attending church and helping the poor. The people who knew her started to comment about her pious behavior.

Upon turning 21, she entered the Benedictine Community in St. Peter’s Monastery and took the

porter, teacher and novice mistress.[3] Her charity was a benefit to her fellow nuns and to many people outside the cloister as well.[4]

Pisani wrote various works, the most well-known of which is The mystical garden of the soul that loves Jesus and Mary, a collection of her personal reflections between the years 1835 and 1843.[4]

She was

heart problems. She died on 25 February 1855, aged 48, and was buried the next day in the crypt of the Benedictine monastery at Mdina.[5]

Pisani was remembered for her sanctity, love of the poor, self-imposed sacrifices, and

levitating.[5]

Veneration

Pisani's cause was formally opened on 29 April 1898, granting her the title of

tumour following her request for Maria Pisani’s intervention. The beatification was soon followed by the unveiling of a huge portrait of the Blessed — a replica of an original oil painting commissioned in 1898 by Pietro Pace, the Archbishop of Rhodes and Bishop of Malta. The Pontiff also announced that her feast would be celebrated on 25 February, the day of her death.[7]

Prayer, obedience, service of her Sisters and maturity in performing her assigned tasks: these were the elements of Maria Adeodata’s silent, holy life. Hidden in the heart of the Church, she sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching (cf. Luke 10:39), savouring the things that last for ever (cf. Colossians 3:2). Through her prayer, work and love, she became a well-spring of that spiritual and missionary fruitfulness without which the Church cannot preach the Gospel as Christ commands, for mission and contemplation require each other absolutely (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, 16). Sister Adeodata’s holy example certainly helped to promote the renewal of religious life in her own Monastery. I therefore wish to commend to her intercession a special intention of my heart. Much has been done in recent times to adapt religious life to the changed circumstances of today, and the benefit of this can be seen in the lives of very many men and women religious. But there is need for a renewed appreciation of the deeper theological reasons for this special form of consecration. We still await a full flowering of the teaching of the

Mass
of Blessed Maria, 9 May 2001

References

  1. ^ a b "EWTN - Footsteps of St. Paul - EWTN News". www.ewtn.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Blessed Adeodata Pisani". Times of Malta. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Bł. Maria Adeodata Pisani - L'Osservatore Romano - Portal OPOKA" (in Polish). 30 October 2001. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b "BLESSED MARIA ADEODATA PISANI". CBCP News. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b c "BLESSED MARIA ADEODATA PISANI :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  6. ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 144.
  7. ^ a b "Malta celebrates feast of San Ġorġ Preca, a day chosen by the Pope 15 years ago - TVM News". TVM English. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Maria Adeodata Pisani (1806-1855)". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
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