St Simon Stock – May 16 – Carmelite Saints

Summary: Born in Florence in 1566, St. Mary Magdalen of the Incarnate Word de’ Pazzi had a religious upbringing and entered the monastery of the Carmelite nuns there. She led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church and encouraging the sisters in holiness. Her life was marked by many extraordinary graces. She died in 1607. History: Caterina Lucrezia de' Pazzi was born on April 2, 1566. She was the second of four children in one of Florence's most influential families. Her parents were Camilo de’ Pazzi and Maria Buondelmonti. Caterina was named after St. Catherine of Siena. By the 15th century, the Pazzi family held significant political power. As such, Caterina was a childhood friend of Maria de’ Medici, who later became queen of France. As a child, Caterina shunned vanity. She learned to pray before she learned to speak. Raised as a Christian, she showed early spiritual maturity, devotion, and sensitivity. So much so that when her mother returned from Mass, Caterina would stay close to her, saying she “felt the taste of Jesus in her.” Mercy grew with her from birth. As a little girl, she fed the poor by giving away her own food. Later, while living in the country, she taught the basics of the faith to humble maidens. Her mother’s deep piety shaped her soul. Jesuit Fathers, invited by her parents, visited often and deeply influenced Caterina, giving her a lasting sense of the Church. As a youth, Caterina showed kindness, charity, and a strong love for prayer, penance, and the Blessed Sacrament. At eight, she was sent to study with the nuns at San Giovannini. At nine, her mother taught her mental prayer and meditation. The nuns saw her contemplative nature and prepared her for First Holy Communion. She received it at age 10, with her confessor’s consent, on March 25, 1576. On Holy Thursday that year, she dedicated herself to God with a vow of virginity. Her parents planned for her to get married, but she refused. She said she would rather die than change her vow. She learned to read and came across the Athanasian Creed, which inspired her. She also loved St. Augustine’s meditations and Loarte’s works on the Lord’s Passion, suggested by her Spiritual Director, Fr. Andrea Rossi. After returning home, Caterina deepened her prayer life with the Jesuit Fathers. Despite worldly demands around her, she was determined to become more like her crucified Spouse. At twelve, she experienced her first ecstasy while watching the sunset, which left her trembling and speechless. Two years later, she attended school at the convent of Cavalaresse, where the nuns admired her devotion and forbearance, predicting she might become a saint. While studying at Cavalaresse, she decided to serve the Lord for the rest of her life. At 17, after gaining her parents’ consent, she joined the Carmel of St. Mary of the Angels at Borgo San Frediano. On January 30, 1583, she received the Carmelite habit and took the name Sr. Mary Magdalen of the Incarnate Word. She chose this convent because it allowed for the reception of daily Communion, which was rare at the time. In 1583, she had her second mystical experience. The nuns saw her weeping before the crucifix. She cried, "O Love, you are neither known nor loved." At the end of the novitiate year, her profession was delayed so that others could make theirs at the same time. In early March 1584, she fell seriously ill. Doctors feared the worst. Although the illness was painful, Mary bore it with peace. During her suffering, she pointed to the crucifix and said, "See what the infinite love of God has suffered for my salvation—that same love sees my weakness and gives me courage. 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." Because of her precarious health, the Prioress allowed her to make her profession in danger of death after one year. On May 27, the Feast of the Trinity, she was carried on her pallet into the choir to make her vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience forever. On her profession day, Mary entered ecstasy for forty days, ending on August 15, 1584. These ecstasies were recorded in the “Forty Days.” Each morning, the Lord visited her and revealed his love. The joy from God’s grace mixed with her worsening illness. In one vision, Jesus took her heart and hid it in his own, saying He "would not return it until it is wholly pure and filled with pure love." During this period, the sisters took notes on what Mary said in ecstasy and to the Prioress and Mistress. Then, on July 16, 1584, she was healed through Bl. Maria Bagnesi’s intercession. Maria, a Dominican Tertiary, had been buried at St. Mary of the Angels in 1577. After her recovery, Mary served three years as assistant mistress of novices. She later served as sacristan. The Carmelites of St. Mary of the Angels wrote five manuscripts about their young sisters’ experiences. The saint herself later revised these records. They titled them: “Forty Days,” “Colloquies,” “Revelations and Intelligences,” “Trials and Renewal of the Church,” as well as her “Sayings and Letters.” The “Forty Days” of ecstasy in 1584 were followed by “The Colloquies” in early 1585. On March 24, 1585, the eve of the Annunciation, Saint Augustine wrote in her heart: Verbum caro factum est, "The Word was made flesh." Shortly after, on April 15, she received the invisible stigmata. On April 28, the Lord gave her a wedding ring. Sr. Mary Magdalen received the highest mystical knowledge from God during "Revelations and Intelligences"—eight days of ecstasies from June 8 to 15, 1585. These spanned from the vigil of Pentecost to the Feast of the Trinity. At 19, this experience enabled her to embrace the whole mystery of salvation, from the Incarnation in Mary’s womb to the Holy Spirit’s descent at Pentecost. From July 20, 1586, to late September, she had more ecstasies focusing on the Renovation of the Church. Like St. Catherine of Siena, she felt driven to write letters of appeal to the Pope, Cardinals, her Archbishop, and others in the Church. She urged commitment to "The Renovation of the Church," as promoted by the Council of Trent. Furthermore, she insisted on the need for the Church’s renewal and to combat the “lukewarmness” of the baptized. These 12 letters were dictated in ecstasy. She emphasized she wrote "to be a bride and not a servant" of God. During these ecstasies, she sometimes spoke of mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity beyond human understanding. She endured the cruel pains of Christ’s Passion. Christ espoused her with a ring and crowned her with thorns. The Blessed Virgin covered her with a snow-white veil. These consolations prepared her for a long desolation. For five years, God seemed distant; though she saw He was not removing grace, only the sense of it. Amid dryness and abandonment, she was tormented by demons and temptations. Though she was almost without reason, she prevailed, and her victories made her stronger. As a result, she gained extraordinary command over demons, knowledge of heavenly secrets and souls in the next life, and the spirit of prophecy. For example, she foresaw Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici becoming Pope Leo XI. She appeared to people far away and healed some who were sick. Yet, these favors never lessened her humility; she considered herself the most imperfect of all. She faced temptations to gluttony and impure thoughts. She asked heaven for help and disciplined her body and will by fasting. These struggles deepened her faith and selflessness. Despite her trials, she fulfilled all her convent duties and inspired her sisters through her resilience. At Pentecost in 1590, this difficult trial ended, and she felt God’s consolations again. Except for a few ecstasies, her later days were quiet. She focused on her duties. Because of her spiritual maturity, she was put in charge of the young sisters’ formation for six years as mistress of novices. She also guided the junior professed for a time. On March 7, 1594, she experienced spiritual matrimony. On May 1, 1595, she shared in Christ’s "naked suffering" of the Cross, uniting her completely to her Bridegroom. Her union with God was marked by love: “If it proceeds from the Father: love; if it proceeds from the Son: love; if it proceeds from the Holy Spirit: love. Your power: love; your wisdom: love; your goodness: love; your eternity: love; I will dare to say that your justice is also love.” Mary never fully recovered her physical health from her illness as a novice. Despite ongoing challenges, she continued to teach and serve as mistress to incoming and junior nuns. In 1604, she became superior. As mistress and superior, she was known for her wisdom, discipline, and generosity. She was loved by everyone who knew her. She observed her religious vows conscientiously and led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial. During her time in Carmel, she showed herself to be a model of every virtue. She was so obedient that she would not act on what God commanded her in ecstasies unless her superiors consented. She was so chaste that she not only overcame temptation to impurity, but remained unaware of it. For five years, she lived on bread and water alone, except on Sundays when she ate Lenten food. She constantly mortified her weak body with fasting, scourging, an iron belt, a crown of thorns, watches, walking barefoot in the snow, and scalding drops from a burning candle. Divine love burned so strongly within her that she would sometimes cry out, " O love! I can bear thee no longer"; and she was forced to cool her bosom with an abundance of water. She was also known for her extraordinary devotion to the Eucharist, earning her the affectionate title "The Passion Flower of the Eucharist." Mary Magdalen embraced radical self-denial, wearing a crown of thorns and a hair shirt to unite herself more closely with Christ's suffering. She endured violent temptations and great physical suffering throughout her religious life, viewing these trials as opportunities to share in Christ's redemptive work. St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi also had a great devotion to Our Lady, and she was a significant inspiration in the development of Carmelite Marian devotion to the "Most Pure Virgin", claiming that the beauty of Mary lay in her purity, which was what had made her one with the Word in her divine maternity. In the autumn of 1602, she became seriously ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Her last three years of life were a true Calvary of suffering for her. Consumption began to manifest itself clearly: Sr. Mary Magdalen was obliged to withdraw little by little from community life to immerse herself ever more in "naked suffering for love of God". As her strength declined, she suffered the added pain of not being able to feel the Lord’s presence. After a long illness, throughout which she practiced the austerities which she had formerly undertaken, she fell into her agony. She passed away on May 25, 1607, at 3 p.m. An unusual joy pervaded the entire monastery, as while the convent mourned her loss, they were also filled with an indescribable joy upon her entrance into heaven. She was buried in the choir of the Monastery chapel. Her fame of sanctity, which already surrounded her in life, increased even more after her death. She was glorified by miracles before and after her death; her body, which was buried in a very damp spot, was found incorrupt after a year and remains in the same state to this day. The cell where she died has become a chapel in whose silence one can still feel her presence. In 1626, around 19 years after her death, the Florentine Pontiff, Pope Urban VIII, beatified her. Pope Clement IX canonized her on April 28, 1669, in recognition of her exemplary endurance. St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi remains an inspiration for contemplatives and all those seeking deeper intimacy with Christ through prayer and sacrifice. She has the gift of being a spiritual teacher, particularly for priests, to whom she always nourished a true passion. Prayer: Father, you love those who give themselves completely to your service, and you filled Saint Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi with heavenly gifts and the fire of your love. As we honor her today, may we follow her example of purity and charity. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Summary: Blessed Elia of St. Clement was born in Bari, January 17, 1901, to deeply Christian parents. At her baptism, she was given the name Theodora, ‘gift of God.’ In the brief course of her life on earth, she lived up to her name. On April 8, 1920 (then Feast of St. Albert, author of the Carmelite Rule), she entered the Carmel of St. Joseph in Bari. She received the habit on November 24 of the same year, the feast of St John of the Cross. On December 8, 1924, she wrote in her own blood her act of total and definitive offering to the Lord with the vow to embrace the “most perfect”. She died on Christmas Day, 1927. On December 19, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI signed the Decree of Beatification. She was proclaimed Blessed in Bari Cathedral on March 18, 2006. History: Theodora Fracasso, whose name means ‘gift of God,’ was born in Bari, Apulia, Italy, on January 17, 1901. She was the third of nine children; four unfortunately died in infancy. Her parents were Giuseppe Fracasso and Pasqua Cianci. Theodora declared that her parents were “true saints.” Her father ran a small painting company. Both parents were sacristans of the Santa Maria del Pozzo confraternity at Saint Mark’s Church. Theodora’s parents were good practicing Catholics. They were concerned for the human and spiritual development of Theodora and her four sisters: Prudence, Anna, Domenica, and Nicola. Every day, the family recited the rosary. Pasqua taught her children about the soul, God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Heaven, and eternal life. Four days after Theodora’s birth, her paternal uncle, Carlo Fracasso, the cemetery chaplain, baptized her in the Church of San Giacomo. At two, Theodora received Confirmation from the Archbishop of Bari, in accordance with the custom of the time. Every night before sleep, she placed a small flower at Our Lady’s feet. This symbolized her daily sacrifice in honor of Our Lady. In Theodora's childhood, a series of premonitory dreams had a strong impact on her. The first occurred when she was four, featuring a garden and a lady. “I dreamed there was a patch of fragrant lilies in front of our house, near the door. A very beautiful young lady in a white coat, with eyes that sparkled like stars, walked through the flowers with a golden sickle in her beautiful hands. With a heavenly smile on her lips, she delicately touched the white lilies on her left and on her right; so touched, they gently bent towards her. When she reached the end of this completely white field, the beautiful woman bent forward and, having laid down the sickle, picked a small lily. She looked at it, admired it a moment, and then pressing it to her heart, disappeared.” The next morning, she eagerly recounted her dream to her mother. Her mother lifted her in her arms and covered her with kisses, saying, “My daughter, that was the Virgin Mary, who pressed your little soul against her heart in an act of kindness. You honor her every day, and she wanted to reward you by coming to you while you slept.” From this experience, the young girl promised Mary she would become a nun when she grew up. From that day on, she wrote, “My little heart felt an ardent thirst for God: the desire for God and the thought of being a nun never left my mind for a single moment.” Theodora attended a school run by the Stigmata Sisters, a congregation dedicated to educating girls. She received a good religious education there until third grade. Theodora was lively and spontaneous. She was a good friend, attentive to others, and people described her as “healthy and intelligent.” She enjoyed playing with her younger sister, Domenica, who shared Theodora’s love for the Lord. Domenica eventually followed Theodora into Carmel and received the name Sr. Céline, after St. Thérèse’s sister. Theodora enjoyed the open air, walks with her father in gardens, relished Bari’s intense sun, and adored the starry summer nights. She sewed eagerly, spent much time in the embroidery room, and worked closely with the Sisters. She joined parish groups for children and teenagers run by the Dominican Fathers. She devoted herself to the Eucharist and prayer, often practicing with friends. Even as a youth, she displayed surprising apostolic zeal. She cared for workers in her father's workshop, tended to the sick, made gifts for newborns, and taught catechism to younger children. In 1911, at the age of 10, Theodora received her first Communion after being carefully prepared by her first Confession. The night before, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whom she had never heard of until then, appeared to Theodora in a dream. In this dream, Saint Thérèse prophesied, "You will be a nun like me," called her "Sr. Elia," and foretold that her life would also be very short. From this moment forward, Theodora cherished Saint Thérèse as "my dearest Friend in Heaven." The following day, upon receiving the Eucharist for the first time, Theodora learned from Jesus that she would become "the little victim of his merciful love" and that she "was going to suffer a lot in her life here below." From then on, Theodora received Communion daily. Afterward, she became active in the Association of Bl. Imelda Lambertini, a Dominican nun noted for her devotion to the Eucharist. Later, Theodora joined the "Angelic Army" of St. Thomas Aquinas. She gathered friends for meditation, prayer, and the reading of spiritual works, including The Eternal Maxim, The Imitation of Christ, the Fifteen Saturdays of Our Lady, the Lives of the Saints, and the Autobiography of St Thérèse. The Story of a Soul reignited her vocation. The Dominican priest, Fr. Pietro Fiorillo, served as her spiritual director and confessor at this stage. He introduced her to the Third Order Dominicans as Theodora’s vocation became clearer. They accepted her as a novice on April 20, 1914. She chose the name “Agnes” and made her profession on May 14, 1915, with a special dispensation due to her young age. In 1916, Theodora worked for the Stigmata Sisters. She contributed her salary to her family, as her father struggled to provide for them during World War I. During the war, anti-clericalism led to the persecution of the Church. The Dominican convent was shut down for allegedly spying for Austria. Bari was a large port across from Dalmatia, then part of Austria. The Stigmatines were banned, and blasphemers freely offended God. After learning about a newly founded Carmelite convent dedicated to St. Joseph in Bari, she met a Jesuit priest, Fr. Sergio Di Gioia, near the end of 1917, who became her new confessor and spiritual director. A year later, he guided her and her friend, Clare Bellomi, toward the Carmel. In December 1918, the two young women visited the order for the first time. Throughout 1919, Theodora, under Fr. Di Gioia’s prudent and enlightened guidance, intently prepared to join the convent. In 1920, Theodora entered the Carmel of St. Joseph in Bari, which became a haven of contemplation amidst the frenetic pace of the city. She took the name Sr. Elia of St. Clement, which Saint Thérèse had revealed to her in a dream. She chose Carmel as a second family, not as an escape or refuge but as a choice of love. Nevertheless, her filial love for her roots remained intact, and she wrote many letters to her family. Elia recognized Carmel as a mountain to climb with the sweat of her brow. She wrote: "I came to the Carmel to bury myself, to live hidden in God, forgetting everything, including myself." Her heart was full of consolation at first. Then, desolation overwhelmed her. She wrote, "Everything was profound darkness for my spirit." Carmel felt like a desert. She refrained from confiding in the Prioress, who misunderstood her and told her, "Your vocation was a mistake." A veil separated her from the other sisters. In her poem, she wrote: "When I entered the Carmel, I sensed a very thick veil and experienced exile. Deprived of affection, I could not find a refuge for my heart. I passed many hours without being understood, with no other defense than to keep quiet." Nevertheless, Sr. Elia continued to raise her song of love to the Lord. And then she began to feel God’s consolation again. She wrote, "As though to purify me, love gently engulfed me; this merciful love penetrated me, purified me, renewed me, and I felt that it consumed me." On December 4, 1921, she pronounced her first vows at the age of 20. She wrote: "Alone at the feet of my Crucified Lord, I looked at him for a long time, and as I looked I saw that he was my whole life." In addition to St. Teresa of Jesus, she took St. Thérèse as her guide, following the "little way of spiritual childhood" to which she "felt called by the Lord". Thérèse and Elia, during the few years they spent at the Carmelite convent, reached the heights of union with God. They both left behind hundreds of pages filled with memories, thoughts, compositions, and letters. All this material has allowed us to follow the journey of their deepest intimacy: the true story of two living souls. On December 8, 1924, after her spiritual director gave permission, she wrote in her own blood the offering of her "most perfect vow," which required her to choose at every moment that which she believed to be most pleasing to God. Following this, she wrote out the Act of Oblation to Merciful Love by St. Thérèse. From 1923 to 1925, Sr. Elia served as a schoolteacher and machine embroidery instructor. She shared her radiant love for Christ, which was met with the enthusiasm of her young students. However, she also endured misunderstandings caused by mistrust, jealousy, envy, and blindness. The director was stern and authoritarian and disapproved of Sr. Elia’s kindness toward students. After two years, due to these tensions, she was removed from her position and sent back to the convent. During this trial, she was comforted by Fr. Elia di San Ambrogio, Procurer-General for the Carmelite Order. He first met her in 1922 after a visit to St. Joseph's Carmel. The young Carmelite kept up an exchange of edifying letters with him from which she drew great benefit. After being sent back to the convent, always closely observant of the Rule and community practices, Sr. Elia spent much of her day in her cell, dedicating herself to the embroidery given to her. Throughout all of this, the Mother Prioress, after a change of heart, held her in high esteem. On February 11, 1925, Sr. Elia made her solemn profession. In 1926, she began suffering from an acute and persistent headache. She wrote to her director that her headache “does not allow me to speak at length, much less listen. As you see, it all leads me to isolate myself more and more from everything and live a life solely in God. Nothing troubles the peace of my soul… No, dear Father, I do not regret having consecrated myself to the Lord as a victim.” Her headache was actually the beginning of encephalitis. In January 1927, she became very ill with the flu, and her illness became worse over a rapid period of time, compounded by frequent headaches. She never complained and suffered with them without taking any medication. Made sacristan in 1927, Sr. Elia spent the last months of her life composing poems for her Spouse present in the Eucharist. She wrote to those who worried about her that pleasing her Beloved made her happy. On December 21, 1927, she began to experience a high fever and other ailments. It was dismissed as one of her usual illnesses, but the situation worsened day by day. On the 24th, a doctor was summoned who diagnosed her with possible meningitis or encephalitis, but did not consider it to be serious. The next morning, however, on Christmas Day, two other doctors were called to her bedside and declared her condition irreversible. Sr. Elia died at noon on December 25, 1927, as the Angelus rang out, fulfilling her promise that she would die on a feast day. Her funeral was celebrated the following day by the Archbishop of Bari, Monsignor Augusto Curi, in the presence of her family and a large crowd. On October 27, 1953, the beatification process opened, and theologians collected and examined her spiritual writings. They approved them all on July 1, 1964, as being in line with official doctrine. Elia was titled as Venerable on December 11, 1987, after Pope St. John Paul II confirmed that the late religious had led a life of heroic virtue. A miracle was investigated and approved by Pope Benedict XVI on December 19, 2005. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, who represented the pope, and Archbishop Francesco Cacucci presided over the beatification on March 18, 2006, in the Bari Cathedral. The city of Bari saw for the first time one of its daughters raised to the honors of the altars. Prayer: O Lord, who were pleased to accept the self-offering of Blessed Elia of Saint Clement, virgin; grant through her intercession, that, sustained by the Eucharist we may be able faithfully to do your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.