Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi
Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi | |
---|---|
Virgin | |
Born | Caterina Lucrezia de' Pazzi April 2, 1566 Florence |
Died | May 25, 1607 Florence | (aged 41)
Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Beatified | 1626, Rome by Pope Urban VIII |
Canonized | April 28, 1669, Rome by Pope Clement X |
Major shrine | Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, Careggi, Florence |
Feast | May 25 (May 29 from 1728 to 1969) |
Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, OCarm (
.Life
De' Pazzi was born at Florence, Italy, on April 2, 1566,[1] to Camillo di Geri de' Pazzi, a member of one of the wealthiest and most distinguished noble families of Renaissance Florence, and Maria Buondelmonti. She was christened Caterina Lucrezia, but in the family was called with her second name, out of respect for her paternal grandmother, Lucrezia Mannucci.[2]
At the age of nine de' Pazzi was taught how to
In 1580, at age fourteen, de' Pazzi was sent by her father to be educated at a monastery of nuns of the
Mystic
De' Pazzi had been a novice for a year when she became critically ill. Upon receiving the religious habit, one of the sisters asked her how she could bear so much pain without a murmur. Mary pointed to the crucifix and said:[5]
Those who call to mind the sufferings of Christ, and who offer up their own to God through His passion, find their pains sweet and pleasant.
Death seemed near, so her superiors let her make her profession of religious vows in a private ceremony, while lying on a cot in the chapel. Immediately after, she fell into an ecstasy that lasted about two hours.[6] This was repeated on the following 40 mornings, each time after Communion.[7]
As a safeguard against deception and to preserve the revelations, the de' Pazzi confessor asked her to dictate her experiences to her fellow nuns. Over the next six years, five large volumes were filled. The first three record ecstasies from May 1584 through Pentecost week of the following year. That particular week was a preparation for a severe five-year trial that she relates. The fourth book records that trial, and the fifth is a collection of letters concerning reform and renewal. Another book, Admonitions, is a collection of her sayings arising from her experiences in the formation of women in religious orders.[7]
It was believed that de' Pazzi could read the thoughts of others and predict future events. For instance, during one ecstatic event she predicted the future elevation to the papacy of Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici (as Pope Leo XI).[8] During her lifetime, she allegedly appeared to several persons in distant places and cured a number of sick people.[7]
De' Pazzi died on May 25, 1607, at the age of 41. She was buried in the choir of the monastery chapel.[9] At her canonization in 1668 her body was declared miraculously incorrupt.[10] Her relic corpse is located in the Monastery of Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi in Careggi.
Veneration
Two years after de' Pazzi died, the Jesuit Vincenzo Puccini, her confessor, published the life of this Carmelite nun as an edifying example. The 1639 edition was augmented with material relating to the mystic's canonization, and was purposefully dedicated to two nieces of Pope Urban VIII.[11]
Numerous miracles allegedly followed de' Pazzi's death, and the process for her
Nowadays, de' Pazzi herself is little known outside Italy, but her cult is very strong, especially in Florence.
Feast day
In 1670, the year after de' Pazzi's canonization, the feast day of the saint was inserted in the
Mortification
Pazzi was known to have worn little clothing and to have whipped herself with a crown of thorns.[16] According to researcher Ian Wilson, sometimes she would wear only a single garment but she would tear this off "in order to roll herself on thorns, or give herself another savage beating". Wilson described Pazzi as a "florid, sadomasochistic neurotic".[17]
Asti Hustvedt has written that "Pazzi wore a crown of thorns and a corset onto which she had attached piercing nails. She also walked barefoot through the snow, dripped hot wax onto her body, and licked the wounds of the diseased, including those afflicted with leprosy."[18]
The anthropologist Eric Dingwall wrote a chapter on Pazzi's alleged masochism and flagellant behaviors in Very Peculiar People (1962).[19]
Psychiatrist Armando Favazza in Bodies under Siege (3rd edition, 2011) wrote:
At about age 37, emaciated and racked with coughing and pain, she took to her bed until she died four years later. Her painful gums were so badly infected that her teeth fell out, one by one. Her body was covered with putrefying bed sores, but when the sisters offered to move her she warned them off for fear that by touching her body they might experience sexual desires. ... A large statue of her holding a flagellant whip can be seen in her church in Florence, where people around the world still come to pay her tribute.[20]
Psychiatrist Kathryn J. Zerbe has written that Pazzi was a sufferer of anorexia mirabilis.[21] She also displayed behavioral symptoms of bulimia.[22]
See also
- Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
- Book of the First Monks
References
- ^ a b c "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Saint Mary Magdalen De' Pazzi". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
- ^ ISBN 88-311-4804-4
- ^ a b Dingwall, Eric John (1962). Very Peculiar People. University Books. p. 120.
- ^ Dingwall, Eric John (1962). Very Peculiar People. University Books. p. 122.
- ISBN 971-91595-4-5.
- ^ Fabrini, Placido; Isoleri, Antonio; De' Pazzi, Maria Maddalena (1900). The life of St. Mary Magdalen De-Pazzi : Florentine noble, sacred Carmelite virgin. Regis - University of Toronto. Philadelphia [Pa.] : [s.n.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86716-887-7
- ISBN 0674954785.
- S2CID 161081155.
- ^ Puccini, Vincenzio (1639). Vita della Beata Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, Vergine Nobile Fiorentina, Monaca nel Munistero di Santa Maria de gl' Angioli in Borgo San Fridiano (oggi in Pinti) di Firenze, dell'Ordine Carmelitano Osservante. Raccolta, e descritta dal signor D. Vincenzio Puccini, Confessore, e Governatore di detto Munistero. Ridotta in miglior' ordine, con aggiunta di molte azzioni virtuose, e mirabili, cavate da i Processi formati per la sua Canonizazione. Et in questa quinta edizione dedicata alle M.M. Suor Innocenzia, E S. Mariagrazia Barberini Nipoti di Nostro Signore Urbano VIII (5 ed.). Florence: Giovanni Batista Landini.
- ^ Puccini, Vincenzo (1670). La Vie de Sainte Marie Magdelene de Pazzi Religieuse Carmelite de luAncienne Observance du Monastere de Sainte Marie des Anges u Florence. Paris: Chez Sebastien Cramoisy.
- ISBN 978-81-89144-33-3.
- ^ "ALL SAINTS: Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi". ALL SAINTS. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi". Franciscan Media. 2016-05-24. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ISBN 1-57392-680-9
- ^ Ian Wilson quoted in Nickell, 1993. p. 227
- ^ Hustvedt, Asti. (2012). Medical Muses: Hysteria in Nineteenth-century Paris. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 237
- ^ Dingwall, Eric. (1962). Very Peculiar People. University Books. pp. 127–133
- ISBN 0-8018-9965-6
- ISBN 0-936077-23-9
- ISBN 1-57230-186-4
Further reading
- Copeland, Clare. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi : The Making of a Counter-Reformation Saint. Oxford ; New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi, The Complete Works of Saint Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi Carmelite and Mystic (1566–1607), 5 vols, translated by Gabriel Pausback, O.Carm., Fatima 1969–1973.
- The Life of St. Mary Magdalen De-Pazzi, Florentine Noble, Sacred Carmelite Virgin Compiled by the Rev Placido Fabrini, Philadelphia, 1900, Translated from the Florentine Edition of 1852 and Published by the Rev Antonio Isoleri, Miss. Ap. Rector of the new St Mary Magdalen De-Pazzi's Italian Church, Philadelphia, Pa, USA
External links
- Index of Websites on Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi
- "MARY MAGDALEN of Pazzi". Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
- Super Saints: St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi on Youtube