Maria Maddalena Martinengo (5 October 1687 – 27 July 1737), born Margherita Martinengo, 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 ...

professed

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 ...

of the order of the Capuchin Poor Clare nuns. Martinengo devoted her life as a professed religious to the performance of small but humble chores in her time as a Poor Clare nun and was noted for her life of spiritual discernment and devotion to

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

above all else.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

beatified Martinengo on 3 June 1900.

Life

Margherita Martinengo was born on 5 October 1687 in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

into a noble household in the Martinengo Ducal Palace to Francesco Leopoldo Martinengo and Margherita Secchi d'Aragona; her brothers were Nestore and Gianfrancesco. Her paternal uncle was Giambattista. Her mother died five months after her birth in 1688. She was

baptized 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 ...

straight after her birth since there was fear that she might die. The baptism ceremonies for her were celebrated on 21 August 1691 at the baptism of her half-sister Cecilia born to the second marriage of her father to Elena Palazzi. As a child she was perceived to be an intelligent girl and received a structured and comprehensive education based on the civic and religious studies. At the age of six she was entrusted to the

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...

for additional education. Her teacher Isabella Marazzi instructed her in proper devotional practices to

and Marazzi was a formative role in Martinengo's religious education. Martinengo was an avid reader and made full use of the Latin literature that her father owned. On one occasion during her childhood she was in a carriage that six horses ran and she fell out. She would have been crushed and run over from other carriages had there not been what she described as an invisible touch that seemed to save her life. On 11 October 1689 she entered the convent boarding school of the

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nuns of Santa Maria degli Angeli - two nuns there were her maternal aunts and she continued her education there. She had her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

towards the end of her childhood in which – in the heat and emotion of the moment – she dropped the Host which forced her to pick it up from the floor with her tongue. In August 1699 she asked her father for permission to go the Spirito Santo boarding school of the

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

. Before she could go there she had a vacation with her father and siblings for a few months in the mountains around

Lago d'Iseo Lake Iseo or Iseo lake ( ; it, Lago d'Iseo ; lmo, Lach d'Izé, label=Eastern Lombard), also known as Sebino (; la, Sebinus), is the fourth largest lake in Lombardy, Italy, fed by the Oglio River. It is in the north of the country in the Val C ...

where she realized what her true religious calling was. Sometime around this point at the age of thirteen she took a vow to God in which she promised to remain a virgin. But at the age of sixteen several suitors approached her and her father had even promised her to the son of a prominent Venetian senator. It even grew to the point where her two brothers Nestore and Gianfrancesco prompted her to accept one of the offers. Her suitors bought her books and love stories and she did in fact like them – but she brooded over the fact that such stories given to her were "books from

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

". Martinengo returned from the Spirito Santo convent after the conclusion of her studies in 1704 and announced to her father and brothers her intention of becoming a Capuchin Poor Clare nun on 21 December 1704. Her confessor and house servants as well as her father and siblings opposed this move when she made it public. Despite this on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

1704 she went to the Capuchin Poor Clare convent of Santa Maria della Neve and presented herself to them with the words: "I want to become holy". However she was required to undergo a period of probation which was conducted in the Ursuline-run Maggi College. Once she entered the convent at the age of eighteen she was described to be "like wax" for her delicate appearance. On 8 September 1705 she was clothed in the habit and assumed the religious name of "Maria Maddalena" and parted with her father and brothers and of the event said: "O God! How upset I was". Martinengo was later deemed to be unfit for the Capuchin life but with a change in mistress she received unanimous support in a later ballot. She made her solemn profession on 8 September 1706. In 1708 a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

gave a series of spiritual exercises that were

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in nature. She feared divine judgment so much that she contracted a grave fever that left her confined to her bed for a brief period of time. Her confessor instructed her to compile notes of her life and experiences and she decided to do so in the spirit of obedience. She was appointed as the Mistress of Novices at the age of 36 and made abbess in 1732; she was re-elected in that post on 12 July 1736. Martinengo died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1737 and when news of her death spread across Brescia people across the entire area mourned her. Her remains are located in the church of the convent of the Capuchin Poor Clare nuns in Via Arimanno 17 in Brescia.

Beatification

The process for her beatification commenced under

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

on 1 September 1762 and allowed for the commencement of two diocesan processes to be held in the

Diocese of Brescia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia ( la, Dioecesis Brixiensis) is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy (Northwestern Italy).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 ...

after

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

recognized the fact that Martinengo had lived a model 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 ...

which he deemed she had exemplified to a favorable degree. The recognition of two miracles attributed to her direct intercession allowed for

to preside over her beatification on 3 June 1900. The miracles in question concerned the healings of Isabella Groppelli Gromi and of the future priest Giuseppe Tosi.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinengo, Maria Maddalena 1687 births 1737 deaths 17th-century venerated Christians 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 18th-century venerated Christians 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis Italian beatified people Religious leaders from Brescia Tuberculosis deaths in Italy Infectious disease deaths in Lombardy Beatifications by Pope Leo XIII Venerated Catholics