Beatification
The confirmation of the late nun's 'cultus' (or popular devotion) on 19 September 1834 allowed for Pope Gregory XVI to approve the nun's beatification. In 1521 she was chosen as the patron of Calvisano.
Cristina da Spoleto | |
|---|---|
| Religious | |
| Born | 1435 Como, Duchy of Milan |
| Died | 13 February 1458 (aged 23) Spoleto, Papal States |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 19 September 1834, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Gregory XVI |
| Feast | 13 February |
| Attributes | Augustinian habit |
| Patronage | Calvisano (since 1512) |
Agostina Camozzi (1435 - 13 February 1458) - in religious Cristina - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Order of Saint Augustine. [1] Camozzi led a dissolute life as a widow and a soldier's mistress before she became a nun and adopted a life of total repentance. [2] [3]
Her beatification received confirmation from Pope Gregory XVI on 19 September 1834 after the pontiff acknowledged the late nun's 'cultus' (or longstanding and popular devotion). [4] [5]
Agostina Camozzi was born in 1435 in Como to the well-known doctor Giovanni Camozzi. [2] [5]
Camozzi married a stonecutter - despite the protests of her parents - but was widowed not long after their marriage. [4] She soon became the mistress to a Milanese soldier and bore his child - her sole child - though this child died as an infant. [1] [5] She became widowed once more after her second marriage when a jealous rival killed her farmer husband from Mantua competing for her affections. [4] This prompted Camozzi to realize that her life had spun out of control and caused her to experience a religious conversion circa 1450; [3] she henceforth decided to enter the religious life and became a member of the Order of Saint Augustine where she assumed the religious name of "Cristina". [1] She moved to Verona around this time.
Her time in the order became noted for the severe austerities that she imposed upon herself as penance for her earlier life and she lived in a number of convents where she became known as a miracle worker until settling in Spoleto. [2] She clothed herself in a habit that was made from sown-together rags and meditated deep on the passion of Jesus Christ. [3]
Camozzi travelled on a pilgrimage to both Assisi and Rome as well as international to Jerusalem in 1457 during the Lenten season but on the return trip died in Spoleto in 1458 due to fever. She received a vision of the Blessed Mother before her death. [3] Her remains were interred at the order's church of Saint Nicholas but re-interred at the Chiesa di San Gregorio Magno in 1921 until 2015 when the remains were moved back to her hometown. [2] [5]
In 1999 her remains were examined and the report suggested that she was obese and was 1.45 meters. [4] The report was allowed at the invitation of Monsignor Giampiero Ceccarelli and the Bishop of Spoleto Riccardo Fontana. The examination reported all her teeth were present and the thorax was well preserved while there was the total absence of all internal organs.
The confirmation of the late nun's 'cultus' (or popular devotion) on 19 September 1834 allowed for Pope Gregory XVI to approve the nun's beatification. In 1521 she was chosen as the patron of Calvisano.
Maria Grazia Tarallo was an Italian Roman Catholic nun. She was a member of the congregation known as the Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Holy Eucharist. Tarallo assumed the new name of "Maria of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ" upon the occasion of her solemn profession.
Maria Giovanna Fasce was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious of the Augustinian nuns in the religious name of "Maria Teresa". Fasce served in various leadership positions in her convent in Genoa and was noted for the establishment of an orphanage and spreading the charism of Saint Augustine and Saint Rita of Cascia.
Maddalena Panattieri was an Italian Roman Catholic nun and a professed member of the Sisters of Penance of Saint Dominic since her late adolescence. Panattieri was a stigmatic and received visions during her life with one in particular being the French invasion of the Italian peninsula. She served as a catechist to children and was noted for her simple existence.
Mattia Ciccarelli - in religious Cristina - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Order of Saint Augustine noted for her ecstasies and the reception of the stigmata. The religious was also known for her generous donations to the poor of the Abruzzo region despite being in the cloister.
Ugolino da Gualdo Cattaneo was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and friar of the Order of Saint Augustine. Ugolino is best known for founding an Augustinian convent in Gualdo Cattaneo in 1258 where he served as its prior until his death. He practiced a rigorous spiritual life with austerities including frequent bouts of strict silence and fasting.
Benvenuta Bojani was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. Bojani dedicated her life to strict austerities as an act of repentance and devotion to God and was known to have visions of angels and demons.
Maria Bagnesi was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. Bagnesi remained confided to her bed for most of her life after falling ill upon receiving news that her father arranged a marriage for her - she escaped this fate but remained in her room where people flocked to seek her counsel. Due to her devotion to Bartholomew the Apostle she assumed the name of "Bartolomea" and added it to her name as a sort of middle name.
Villana de' Botti was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She turned to the Dominicans after a sudden conversion from a dissolute life and was noted for her simplistic life born out of her conversion. She was a pious and devoted child but after she was married she fell into secular values rather than following her faith. De' Botti had fierce detractors due to her stating she had religious ecstasies at Mass - which was true - and these opponents had even acknowledged her as a true living saint.
Elena Duglioli was an Italian Roman Catholic aristocrat from Bologna noted for her devotion to Christian life and social teachings. Duglioli wanted to become a nun for the Poor Clares but instead married in order to please her parents. Duglioli is best known for commissioning a chapel with an image of Saint Cecilia to whom she was devoted.
Elisabetta Picenardi was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Servite Order in its third order branch. Picenardi was born in Mantua into a noble family and, despite pressure to wed a nobleman, insisted instead on pursuing the religious path alongside her sister.
Giulia della Rena was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Order of Saint Augustine in its third order branch. Della Rena was orphaned sometime in her late childhood and sought work as a maid in Florence where she soon became a member of the Augustinian tertiaries. The religious then returned to Certaldo due to the negative Florentine economic and political climate where she became best known for rescuing a child from a burning building.
Giacomo Bianconi was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Preachers. Bianconi - who hailed from Umbria - joined the order in his adolescence and dedicated his pastoral career to his flock and on one notable occasion aided refugees when Frederick II sacked the area in 1248. He also combatted heresies and managed to convert one of their chief propagators while also distinguishing himself through his life of extreme poorness that went past the Dominican standards.
Elena Valentinis was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the tertiaries of the Order of Saint Augustine. Valentinis was born to nobles and married a knight during her adolescence while mothering six children before she was widowed in 1441. She soon became a professed religious and dedicated herself to austerities and a life of complete penance.
Blessed Marianna Fontanella – in religious Maria degli Angeli – was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Discalced Carmelites. Fontanella studied with the Cistercians as a child and entered the Discalced Carmelites despite the protests of her mother and siblings – she soon became a noted abbess and prioress and in 1703 inaugurated a new convent she herself oversaw the establishment of.
Giovanna da Orvieto was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She was known for her wise intellect and for her intense devotion to serving the will of God while being noted for being prone to ecstasies and other visions.
Gregorio Celli was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Saint Augustine. Celli lived with the latter order in Rimini until he decided to spend the remainder of his life in deep contemplation and so moved to the region's hills where he dwelled in a cave near the Franciscans stationed there. It is claimed he was expelled from his order and became a Franciscan though there is no evidence to support this claim.
Giovanna Scopelli was an Italian Roman Catholic from Reggio Emilia who was a religious from the Carmelites and established her own convent as its first prioress. Scopelli was forbidden to enter the third order branch of that order during her adolescence and waited until her parents died to embrace the religious life.
Angelo da Foligno - born Angelo Conti - was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Saint Augustine. Conti was part of the order of John the Good though became a mainstream Augustinian in 1256 after the Grand Union of the order. He was a close friend of both Saint Nicholas of Tolentino and Blessed Ugolino da Gualdo Cattaneo.
Bartolomeo Fanti was an Italian Roman Catholic priest from the Carmelite order in Mantua. Fanti served as the spiritual director and rector of a religious movement in his hometown and oversaw the establishment of their rule and statutes while himself serving as a novice master for his own order where he became known for being an effective preacher.
Giuliana Puricelli was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Order of Saint Augustine. Puricelli left her home after her father wanted to have her married and so fled to a hermitage where she placed herself under the spiritual direction of Caterina Moriggi. The two became close friends and their hermitage grew over the following decades. Her reputation was noted throughout the area for her contemplation and penitential practices as well as for her desire to live a cloistered life meditating on God.
