Blessed Costanza Starace (5 September 1845 – 13 September 1921) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. She was the founder of the religious congregation known as the Compassionist Sisters Servants of Mary. Starace later assumed the new name of "Maria Maddalena of the Passion" upon the occasion of her solemn profession. She became a secular member of the

Servite Order The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

after she failed to join a religious order. Starace devoted her life to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and to the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

in her mission to evangelize and provide relief to the ill - this was evident during a series of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

outbreaks near

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. She established her order to assist in proving relief and extending that service to the poor. She was beatified on 15 April 2007.

Life

Costanza Starace was born on 5 September 1845 to Francesco Starace and Maria Rosa Cascone as the first of six children. At her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

she was consecrated to the

for protection. As a child she attended a boarding school that the Daughters of Charity ran in

Castellammare di Stabia Castellammare di Stabia (; nap, Castiellammare 'e Stabbia) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region, in southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento. History ...

. She was attracted to religious life and entered a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

at the age of twelve but was discharged and returned home at the age of fourteen due to her poor health. It was back at home that she enlisted the aid of a tutor who also helped her to start a regular life of reflection. As an adolescent she made efforts twice to enter religious life but was hampered with her health and thus she was required to return to her home; despite these attempts her parents objected. She became a

Servite The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

tertiary and made her final profession on 18 June 1867 in the name of "Maria Maddalena of the Passion". The Bishop of Casteallammare di Stabia Francesco Petagna placed her as the head of the Pious Union of the Daughters of Mary and part of her time involved teaching

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

to the youth. Following a series of

outbreaks she decided to gather a group of women to help sufferers from the spread. It was at this point that she established the Compassionist Sisters Servants of Mary; the congregation received initial approval on 27 May 1871. Starace died on 13 December 1921 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. She was later re-interred in on 19 August 1929.

Beatification

The beatification process commenced on 4 April 1939 under

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

and this granted her the title

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

. The process commenced on a local level in

and the local process closed in 1942. It saw the accumulation of both documentation and witness testimonies and was granted formal ratification in 1993 - decades later - for the cause to proceed. The

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

was submitted to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1995 for further evaluation.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

proclaimed her to be

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on 7 July 2003 after he recognized that Starace had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

. The miracle required for her beatification was subjected to a diocesan tribunal and was ratified on 13 June 2003.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

approved the healing as a miracle on 26 June 2006 and allowed for her beatification to take place on 15 April 2007. Cardinal

José Saraiva Martins José Saraiva Martins, C.M.F. GCC (born 6 January 1932) is a Portuguese Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints from 1998 to 2008. Born in Gagos de Jarmelo in Guarda, Portugal, to A ...

- on behalf of the pope - presided over the beatification.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleCompassionist Sisters Servants of Mary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starace, Maria Maddalena 1845 births 1921 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians Italian beatified people Founders of Catholic religious communities Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI 19th-century Neapolitan people Servites Servite Order Deaths from pneumonia in Campania Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II

Life

Beatification

See also

References

External links