| The Cloistered Life |
Magdalene
entered the Monastery of Terese in Verona, a Carmelite convent, at age seventeen. Although
she liked the daily life of prayer, fasting and silence, Magdalene found that she could not
be directly engaged in works of charity. Thus after some ten months of discernment,
Magdalene decided to return home.
But she stayed at home for only a short
time. Upon her return she was urged by her priest-confessor to join the Discalced
Carmelites of Conegliano.
Before she left for Conegliano, Magdalene
met up with her mother to receive her blessing. This was to be their last meeting. The
countess when recalling the meeting with her favourite daughter, kept repeating amid
tears, "Magdalene is a saint."
Magdalene stopped at Conegliano for only
three days. She returned to Verona expecting to come back to take the habit. But for some
unknown reason, Magdalene never went back to the Carmel.
Magdalene received some encouragement from the Carmelite
Sr Luigia, who wrote that although God did not want her as a Discalced nun, it did
"not mean He refuses you as His bride." |
| Home... |
A new spiritual guide was
assigned to Magdalene, a diocesan priest Fr Don Luigi Libera. He was to be her guide for
about nine years. Fr Libera's first act was to advise Magdalene to lead a withdrawn life in
her own home for a year and pray fervently to discern God's will. He openly encouraged her
to devote herself to the normal activities of the family.
Magdalene was immediately called to look after her sick grand uncle
and was his loving and irreplaceable nurse until his death in 1793. At her uncle's
request, she also guided her two younger sisters into the social life.
At the same time Fr Libera constantly assured Magdalene
that she was living in a state of grace. He advised her that consecration to God did not
necessarily involve segregation from the world but rather loving acceptance of God's will.
Magdalene also began to establish a network of charitable
activities within the city. It was the beginnings of her long-term plan to create a
permanent institution for the poor and forgotten. Magdalene had discerned her vocation as
giving herself to others, to place herself totally at the service of those who were in
need. |
| Venice... |
In March 1796 Napoleon had
conquered Austria and was preparing to enter the Italian peninsula. Venice offered no
resistance and Napoleon saw no reason to attack it. Instead he focused his attentions on
Verona, for it had shown hospitality to the count of Lille, an enemy of the French
Republic. Many of her citizens fled Verona and Magdalene and her family escaped to Venice.
Brutality, abuse and pillaging were visited upon the people of
Verona. Whenever news from their hometown came to them, the Canossa family felt a sense of
sadness and anguish. Magdalene alone kept her serenity and even managed to comfort others.
She continued with her frequent visits to church and increased her daily prayer hours.
It was during this Venetian sojourn that the Lord
revealed to Magdalene the vision of her future Institute. Magdalene had a dream in which she
saw a lady in the company of six young women. They were dressed in black habits with a
medallion of Our Lady of Sorrows around their necks. The lady sent two of the young women
to teach catechism to a group of girls, another two to attend to the sick in hospital and
brought the last two to a large room filled with poor, dirty and unkempt children. They
were to set up a school there for the children.
After more than a year in Venice, the French troops came
to occupy the city as well. Since Venice had become as unsafe as Verona, the Canossa
family returned home. |
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