The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal

by Hubert Wolf

  78. There seem to have been several miraculous images in Sant’Ambrogio. Another picture of the Virgin was venerated there in the eighteenth century. Cf. ACDF SO St. St. B 6 s; Bianchi, Notizie; Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, pp. 30 and 78; “Ragguaglio storico intorno alla sacra Immagine della SS. Vergine Consolatrice venerate nella chiesa di Sant’Ambrogio delle Monache riformate del terz’Ordine di S. Francesco.” The picture named here came from the estate of Cardinal Francesco Saverio de Zelada, who died in 1801. See Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie (1701–1813), p. 1324. It was purchased by the Abbess Maria Maddalena’s father, Alessandro Ragazzoni. She evidently brought the picture with her to the convent.

  79. Ragguaglio storico; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 s. Other senior religious and secular dignitaries, like the archbishop of Naples, Luigi Cardinal Ruffo-Scilla, or King Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia, paid homage to the picture on several occasions. On Ruffo-Scilla, see Ekkart Sauser, “Ruffo-Scilla,” in BBKL 17 (2000), p. 1172.

  80. Clarelli Paracciani was born in 1799 and became a consultor of the Congregation of Cardinals in 1821. He was made a cardinal in 1844, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Religious Orders in 1860, and prefect of the Congregation for the Fabric of Saint Peter’s in 1870. He died in 1872. See Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie, p. 337.

  81. Sommario del Ristretto contro il P. Leziroli, no. I: Cenni storici; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 e.

  82. Appendice al Ristretto informativo: Sr. Maria Luisa riferisce della Relazione e premura, che aveva Leone XII per il monastero di S. Ambrogio; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 f.

  83. Wiseman, Recollections, pp. 261–63, here p. 262.

  84. See H. W. van Os, “Krönung Mariens,” in LCI 2 (1970), pp. 671–76; Heinrich Schauerte and Torsten Gebhard, “Corona,” in Marienlexikon 2 (1989), pp. 96–97. For the coronation inscription engraved on the miraculous image, see Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, illustration 40.

  85. “But the pope became a special custodian and helper to the Society of Jesus, which had been reinstated by his predecessor.” Schmidlin, Papstgeschichte, vol. 1, p. 460. See also Martina, Pio IX, vol. 1, p. 243.

  86. ASV, Monasteri femminili soppressi, S. Ambrogio Busta 1, vol. 3, Visitatio Apostolica 1824.

  87. Ristretto con Sommario dei Costituti del P. Leziroli, In nota, October 1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 e.

  88. “Leone Papa XII. per la futura memoria del fatto.” Leo XII’s brief, January 30, 1829; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 r 1.

  89. As a monsignore, Cinotti belonged to the Camerieri Segreti Soprannumerari, and was the author of several important works. See Notizie per l’anno 1861, p. 377.

  90. Perrone was born in 1794 and entered the Society of Jesus in 1815. In 1823 he became a professor at the Collegio Romano, and in 1830 professor at the Jesuit college in Ferrara. He was made rector of the college in 1850, and died in 1876. See Erich Naab, “Perrone,” in BBKL 7 (1994), pp. 227–29.

  91. Sommario del Ristretto contro il P. Leziroli, no. I: Cenni storici; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 e.

  92. “Dopo aver narrato molte altre di queste particolarità dice, che anche il Card. della Genga stando in Roma andava spesso a visitare e conferire coll’Abbadessa Maria Maddalena. Più dice di aver letto molte lettere, che il Cardinale le scriveva da Ferrara dove era Vescovo, e che essa lo dirigesse, come era pur noto alle vecchie etc.” Appendice al Ristretto informativo: Sr. Maria Luisa riferisce della Relazione e premura, che aveva Leone XII per il monastero di S. Ambrogio; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 f. Gabriele della Genga, born in 1801, became prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Religious Orders and a member of the Holy Office in 1852. He became prefect of the Congregation for Consultations of Regulars in 1856, and died in 1861. Cf. Weber, Kardinäle, vol. 1, p. 456; Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie, pp. 467–68.

  93. Ristretto con Sommario dei Costituti sostenuti dall’inquisita Abbadessa Sr. Maria Veronica Milza; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 d.

  94. “Stato Pontificio. Roma 21 settembre. Domenica 15 del corrente, giorno sacro al glorioso nome della Vergine SS.ma, l’Em. Cardinal Pacca, vescovo ostiense e decano del S. Collegio, si portò con treno nella chiesa di Sant’Ambrogio, detta volgarmente alla Massima, ove consecrò il nuovo arcivescovo di Berito monsignor Gabriele della Genga Sermattei canonico della basilica patriarcale Lateranense. L’Em. S. fu assistita nell’augusta ceremonia dai monsignori Genovesi, arcivescovo di Mitilene, e Mazenod, vescovo d’Iconia. Il sacro rito fu amministrato con dignità e decoro.” Gazzetta Privilegiata di Milano, no. 272, September 21, 1833, p. 1193.

  95. Cf. Schmidt, Konfessionalisierung, pp. 131–51.

  96. Cf. Wolf, Ketzer, pp. 141–90 and pp. 379–82.

  97. The account of pretense of holiness that follows is based primarily on Bottoni, Scritture; Del Col, Inquisizione, pp. 659–80; Gotor, Chiesa, pp. 139–41 (with extensive bibliography); Anne Jacobson Schutte, “Finzione di santità,” in DSI 2 (2011), pp. 601–5; Schutte, Saints; Modica, Dottrina; Prosperi, Tribunali, pp. 430–64; in particular Zarri (ed.)’s excellent anthology, Finzione.

  98. Zarri, Santità, p. 14.

  99. Gotor, Chiesa is essential reading here; also Samerski, Himmel, pp. 61–92.

  100. See Miguel Gotor, “Canonizzazione dei santi,” in DSI 1 (2011), pp. 257–60.

  101. Zarri, Santità, p. 15.

  102. See Samerski, Himmel, pp. 492–99.

  103. See Del Col, Inquisizione, p. 660.

  104. Miguel Gotor, “Canonizzazione dei santi,” in DSI 1 (2011), p. 258; Gotor, Chiesa, pp. 110–20.

  105. Cf. Overbeck and Niemann, Stigmata. Therese Neumann, who was born in 1898, lived in the Bavarian village of Konnersreuth. In an attempt to put out a fire on a neighboring farm, she injured her spine and was confined to bed. She suffered visual disturbances, epileptic fits, indications of paralysis, and deafness. On the day Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was beatified, in April 1923, she was suddenly able to see again, and when Saint Thérèse was canonized in 1925, her paralysis disappeared. In 1926 Thérèse Neumann, who was already venerated as a saint by the people, began to display stigmata. She died in 1962. See Armin Strohmeyr, Glaubenszeugen der Moderne. Die Heiligen und Seligen des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts (Düsseldorf, 2010), pp. 135–38. Cf. Paola Giovetti, Teresa Neumann di Konnersreuth. Biografia di una grande mistica del nostro tempo (Milan, 3rd ed., 1990). Padre Pio was born in 1887 and received the stigmata in 1918. A great wave of veneration followed. He died in 1968 and was canonized in 2002. See Del Col, Inquisizione, p. 815; Turi, Stigmate, p. 84. A very critical view of Padre Pio’s stigmata can be found in Luzzatto, Padre Pio, pp. 54–96.

  106. Zarri, Santità, p. 15.

  107. The concept of confessionalization goes back to Heinz Schilling and Wolfgang Reinhard, who added the concept of “social disciplining” to Ernst Walther Zeeden’s theories of “Konfessionsbildung” (the formation of denominations) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This turned the process of forming denominations “from a phenomenon of church history to a fundamental socio-historical process of early modernity.” Cf. Reinhard, Konfessionalisierung, pp. 419–52, here p. 420; also Reinhard, Konfession, pp. 107–24.

  108. Cf. Reinhard, Konfessionalisierung, p. 427.

  109. Zarri, Santità, p. 20.

  110. Del Col, Inquisizione, p. 661. Cf. also Gennari, Misticismo.

  111. Figures given in Weiß, Seherinnen, p. 44, note 6.

  112. Cf. David Blackbourn, Marpingen, pp. 50–56.

  113. The Archive of the Roman Inquisition, which functioned as the city Inquisition for Rome and as the central head office of the numerous local Inquisitions, particularly in Italy, was not accessible to researchers until 1998. Academic investigation of the phenomenon of pretense of holiness therefore initially concentrated on the cases that had been dealt with by the local Inquisitions. A list of cases and further reading can be found in Malena, Inquisizione, p. 289, note 3. There was a clear emphasis here on the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century, as the concept of “affettata, falsa, finta, pretesa, simulata santità” was closely connected to th
e period of confessionalization. Jacobson Schutte, Saints, p. xii. Cf. also Malena, Inquisizione, pp. 289–306. The nineteenth century, the second age of confessionalization, was surprisingly overlooked for a long time. Cf. Blaschke, 19. Jahrhundert, pp. 38–75. In the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the highest concentration of cases of pretense of holiness clearly falls in the early modern period. Processi del Santo Officio per affettata santità (1617–1771); ACDF SO St. St. B 4 p. Venerazione di persone non canonizzate o beatificate (1615–1783); ibid., B 4 b 1. Cf. also Del Col, Inquisizione, pp. 814–16.

  114. Wietse de Boer, “Sollecitazione in confessionale,” in DSI 3 (2011), pp. 1451–55; Georg Holzherr, “Sollizitation,” in LThK, 2nd ed., vol. 9 (1964), p. 868; Julius Krieg, “Sollicitatio ad turpia,” in LThK, 1st ed., vol. 9 (1937), pp. 656–57; Adriano Prosperi, “Sessualità,” in DSI 3 (2011), pp. 1417–20.

  115. Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, Archivio. Regolamento per gli Studiosi (Vatican City), 2003, p. 3 (no. 12); Schwedt, Archiv, pp. 267–80.

  116. Esami di Franceschetti, December 22, 1859, and January 7, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 b, fol. 18r–28r.

  117. The quotation from Paul comes from 1 Corinthians 15:42, and the Psalms quotation from Psalm 16:10. Cf. Angenendt, Corpus incorruptum, pp. 320–48; Angenendt, Heilige, pp. 149–52 and elsewhere.

  118. Relazione informativa, January 1861, Titolo I, Sallua’s summary; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  119. Esami di Maria Veronica, January 13 and 16, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

  120. The veneration of Firrao in Sant’Ambrogio was typical for a saint whose relics weren’t available: the image of a saint often came to stand for their “presence.” Over the course of church history, people—in particular mystics—frequently reported having visions in front of these pictures. “It was not only that saints most often manifested themselves in the same attitude and with the same appearance as their images; they also identified themselves with these images and animated them.” Angenendt, Heilige, p. 188. Cf. also Anton Legner, “Vom Glanz und von der Präsenz des Heiltums—Bilder und Texte,” in Anton Legner and Louis-Ferdinand Peters, Reliquien. Verehrung und Verklärung. Skizzen und Noten zur Thematik und Katalog zur Ausstellung der Kölner Sammlung Louis Peters im Schnütgen-Museum (Cologne, 1989), pp. 33–147.

  121. The term “litany” denotes a particular form of prayer; after every invocation of a saint there follows an unchanging response from the people. Cf. Balthasar Fischer, “Litanei,” in LThK, 3rd ed, vol. 3 (1997), p. 954. In the Litany of the Saints, following the usual introduction of the Kyrie eleison, all the different classes of saints are entreated to intercede—some being invoked by name, and the rest addressed in general. A strict order of rank is adhered to: “First the most blessed Virgin Mary is called upon, then follows a series of holy angels, the patriarchs and prophets, the holy apostles and evangelists, the holy martyrs, the holy bishops, confessors and doctors of the church, the holy priests and levites, the holy monks and hermits, and finally the holy virgins and widows. Then follows the naming of evils that are particularly important to avoid, then the naming of the reasons for which we hope to be heard.” Carl Kammer, Die Litanei von allen Heiligen (Innsbruck, 1962), p. 7.

  122. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo I: Sallua quotes from the interrogation of the abbess on January 13, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  123. Esami di Maria Caterina, Maria Gertrude, and Maria Colomba, late January–early February 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 c.

  124. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo I: La condannata Sr. Agnese Firrao è sempre stata in venerazione di Santa in vita e dopo morte presso le monache di S. Ambrogio; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  125. On the process and history of canonization, see Angenendt, Heilige, pp. 74–80 and passim; Sieger, Heiligsprechung.

  126. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Sommario no. II: Esame di Suor Maria Caterina di S. Agnese, January 31, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  127. In the Italian sources, his name is often incorrectly spelled “Mosferzon.” Paul MacPherson was born in 1756, ordained as priest in 1779, and worked in various parishes before becoming the procurator in Edinburgh in 1792. The following year he became an agent in Rome, before being ordered to leave by the French in 1798. He returned to Edinburgh, but was back in Rome by 1800. He was rector of the Scottish College there from 1818 to 1826, and 1834 until his death in 1846. See Edinburgh Review, no. 119, January–April, New York, 1864, p. 98; Journal and Appendix to Scotichronicon and Monasticon (Glasgow, 1869), p. 595; David McRoberts, Abbé Paul MacPherson, 1756–1846 (Glasgow, 1946).

  128. Placido Zuria was born in 1769. He entered a Camaldolese order, becoming a lecturer in theology at San Michele in 1795, and in 1817 professor of moral theology at the Patriarchal Seminary in Venice. In 1822 he was made a consultor of the Congregation for the Index, in 1823 a cardinal, and in 1824 cardinal vicar of the diocese of Rome and prefect of the Congregation for the Residential Obligation of Bishops. He died in 1834. See Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie, pp. 1596–1600. Giacomo Filipo Fransoni was born in 1775, became nuncio to Portugal in 1822, and titular bishop of Nazianz in the same year. He was made a cardinal in 1826, became prefect of the Congregation for Church Immunity in 1830, and prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in 1834. In 1851 he became a member of the preparatory commission for the dogma of the Immaculata. He died in 1856. See ibid., pp. 614–16.

  129. Quoted by Sallua in his summary: Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo I; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  130. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo II: Relazione continuata per oltre 40 anni, e direzione temporale e spirituale della Firrao verso le Monache di S. Ambrogio, e la totale dipendenza di queste da quella fino alla sua morte; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

  131. Sallua’s handwritten note to the inquisitor of Gubbio, November 29, 1859; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 a, fol. 49r.

  132. Bruno Brunelli must have been born between 1805 and 1810, as he entered the subdeaconate of the diocese of Gubbio in 1830, and was ordained in 1832. He died in 1878. With thanks to the Gubbio diocesan archive for their information.

  133. The fascicle contains the interrogations carried out by the local inquisitor in Gubbio, from folio 37; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 b.

  134. See Nikolaus Gihr, Die heiligen Sacramente der katholischen Kirche. Vol. 2: Die Buße, die letzte Ölung, das Weihesacrament und das Ehesacrament (Freiburg i. Br., 2nd ed., 1903).

  135. Jeffrey Burton Russell, Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History (New York, 1988), p. 114.

  136. This would have been the “translation of relics.” Cf. Hans-Jakob Achermann, “Translationen heiliger Leiber als barockes Phänomen,” in Jahrbuch für Volkskunde 4 (1981), pp. 101–11; Martin Heinzelmann, “Translation (von Reliquien),” in LexMA 8 (1999), pp. 947–49. On saints’ graves, cf. Angenendt, Heilige, p. 460 (index).

  137. See Angenendt, Heilige, pp. 149–89.

  138. Contact relics are “secondary relics.” These are objects or pieces of clothing with which the saint has come into contact during his/her lifetime. Cf. Arnold Angenendt, “Reliquien/Reliquienverehrung II: Im Christentum,” in TRE 29 (1998), pp. 69–74.

  139. On hagiographies as accounts of the lives of saints, and the academic research conducted on these, see René Algrain, L’hagiographie. Ses sources, ses méthodes, son histoire (Paris, 1953). A particular category of a saint’s life is termed a “Vita.” A Vita is written by an author who knew the saint personally, or wrote about their life with the help of information from eyewitnesses. This should be differentiated from a “legend,” a saint’s biography written by authors distant in time, showing little or no historicity. Cf. Peter Dinzelbacher, “Der Kampf der Heiligen mit den Dämonen,” in Santi e demoni nell’alto medioevo occidentale (secoli V–XI) (Settimane di studio del centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo 36), vol. 2 (
Spoleto, 1989), pp. 647–95, here p. 653.

  140. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo III: Scritti ed altri oggetti conservati nel monastero di S. Ambrogio nonostante la proibizione. Perquisizione dei medesimi; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text unless otherwise stated.

  141. Esame di Sr. Maria Veronica, January 13, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 c.

  142. Some of these documents can be found in ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w a to B 6 w e.

  143. Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo IV: Brevi riflessi sù di alcuni scritti interessanti al merito della causa; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

  144. Cf .the testimonies of various nuns. Maria Nazarena stated: “The mother founder wrote to us that the Lord had revealed His will to her, and we were travelling the path of perfection in our institute. Her message was read aloud to us, as instructed. I have no doubt that she was inspired by the Lord when she wrote these texts.” Esame di Sr. Maria Nazarena, February 9, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 d. Sister Maria Gertrude, a longtime companion of the founder, told of her many miracles and extraordinary gifts, and said: “We all had a high opinion of the founder’s holiness; although she herself read no books, she received everything that she wrote through inspiration from God.” Esame di Sr. Maria Gertrude, April 12, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 g.

  145. Cf. Helmut Gabel, “Inspiration III,” in LThK, 3rd ed., vol. 5 (1996), pp. 535–38.

  146. Ceremonials of Sant’Ambrogio; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 h I, fol.9.

  147. Gabriel Ghislain, “Capitolo delle Colpe, in DIP 2 (1975), pp. 176–79; Hans-Jürgen Becker, “Schuldkapitel,” in LexMA 7 (1999), pp. 1581–82.

  148. Ristretto informativo con Sommario, Titolo IV; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

  149. Cf. Bernard-D. Marliangeas, Clés pour une théologie du ministère. In persona Christi, in persona Ecclesiae (Théologie Historique 51) (Paris, 1978); Egidio Miragoli (ed.), Il sacramento della penitenza. Il ministero del confessore: indicazioni canoniche e pastorali (Milan, 1999), pp. 25–40.