Marie-madeleine de Pazzi

Marie-madeleine de Pazzi - 1566 - 1607, Carmelite nun, whose spirituality, writings and mysticism deeply influenced the company of Florence of the 17th century.

Life and spirituality

Marie-madeleine de Pazzi (Catherine of its Christian name) was born in a noble family florentine, Pazzi, of which an ancestor had been the first to enter to Jerusalem at the time of the First crusade. She is also related in Francesco de Pazzi, chief of the Conjuration of Pazzi. She was the second child of Maria Buondelmonti of Camillo di Geri de' Pazzi and had three brothers.

Very young person, it carried out a life of piety and speech. It had two Jesuits as spiritual directors and confessors, Rossi and Blanca. They insruisirent it in the Christian faith and taught the prayer to him. It had its mystical first extase at the 12 years age.

It continued its education in a convent franciscain of Cortone where it learned how to know the spirituality of François d' Assise which it will describe later as spiritual father while it regarded holy Claire as her lawyer , but his/her parents, being opposed to his religious vocation, withdrew two years from them after in order to marrying it.

They yielded however later on, and Catherine could enter to the Carmel whereas it was 16 years old, taking the name of Marie-madeleine sister.

Consequently, she lived in the most extreme austerity, devoting herself to the prayer and the meditation, inflicting permanent mortifications, having the concern of the poor, requesting unceasingly for the priests and the spiritual revival of the church.

She profited from great mystical graces and tested major extases. She left many writings.

Exhausted by its fasts and its intense mortifications, patient, she died on May 25th 1607.

Beatification - canonization

Already of alive sound, his/her sisters and Florentins regarded it as holy. Its lawsuit in beatification was initiated as of 1611.

March 8th 1626 it was béatifiée by the Pope Urbain VIII and on April 28th 1669 canonized by the Pope Clément IX.

Its festival was fixed the May 25th .

At the time of the fourth centenary of his death, the Pope Benoît XVI said at the time of sound homélie of May 29th, 2007 that Marie-madeleine remained still today: “ a source of spiritual inspiration of the Carmelite nuns of the antique observance, who see in it the sister who traversed very whole the way of the union transforming into God, and who designates Marie like “star” of the way towards the perfection ”.

And that it was: “ for all, this large holy (which) has the gift to be a mistress of spirituality, particularly for the priests towards whom it always nourished a true passion ”.

Quotations

Prayer of holy Marie-madeleine Pazzi to the Saint Spirit: “ the penetrating Spirit comes in the heart as a source which submerges it. Just as two spouting out rivers interfere themselves such way that smallest loses its name and takes that of largest, thus this divine Spirit acts when it comes in the heart to link itself with it. It is necessary that the heart, which is smallest, loses its name and gives up itself with the Spirit. It is what will occur if it turns to the Spirit not to do but one with Him more. By the dash of the love, the Spirit, which is at the same time motionless and very mobile, is introduced in us. ”
Marie-madeleine with her sisters: “ don't you feel how much it is soft to name the Will of God? My sisters, oh! how the Will of God is pleasant! ”
“ I will leave the world without to have been able to include/understand how the creature can be solved to make a sin against

“ If I knew that by saying a word to another end that for the love of god, I nozzle to become taller than a Seraph, I would never do it. ”

Its last words was addressed to his/her sisters: “ I ask you, in the name of Our-Lord, to only like only Him! ”

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