Biography

"For all this great Santa has the gift of being

a spiritual teacher. "

Benedict XVI

St. Maria Magdalene was born in Florence on April 2nd, 1566. She was the daughter of Pazzi Camillo and Maria Buondelmonti, a noble Florentine family.

She entered into S. Maria degli Angeli Carmel where she met Mother Mistress of Novices

Firenze - Carmelo S. Maria degli Angeli
nel quartiere San Frediano.

Evangelista, that later will become also the Mother Prioress.

The spiritual journey of St Maria Maddalena was based on an intense inner life, and was nourished by the best influences of the European spiritualism of that time.  She grew with the example of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary, and she was in close contact with the Holy Word.

Inspired by St. Catherine of Siena and by St. Catherine de' Ricci, she expressed her spiritual journey with symbolic gestures and speeches which were interpreted and transcribed by the other sisters under the guidance of Sister Pacifica.

At the heart of her experience, St. Maria Maddalena found "an anxious desire" of renewal of the Church, expressed through letters, addressed to Pope Sixtus V, S. Catherine De' Ricci in Prato, Sister Veronica Laparelli da Cortona, and many others. 

She had contacts with secular and religious personalities of her time such as Maria De' Medici (later Queen of France) and Blessed Ippolito Galantini, a lay apostle and a great catechist of Florence.

Within the community she was the novices’ teacher. Many of them became venerable including

Professione di S. Maddalena

Sister Benedicta Vettori and Sister Maria Sommai who edited the "Sayings" of Saint Maria Maddalena. 

She reminded everyone the centrality of the Trinity, God’s desire to give himself for his beloved children, and on the importance of involving people in His transforming love.

She died on May 25th, 1607. Her worship spread very quickly from Naples to Poland, and she was canonized in 1669.

Several notable figures within the Church including the venerable mother Rosa Maria Serio (Fasano), mother Innocenza Barberini in Rome, and mother Serafina in Capri, took her life as a spiritual example.

Her spiritual testament and incorruptible body (together with the one of Blessed Maria Bartolomea Bagnesi) is held into the Carmel of Careggi (Florence). Her works are available to all students around the world.