MAGDALENE’S passion: To be close to every person to discover and experience together the concern God has for life, and proclaim the goodness of God.
Her genius: To engage every possible energy in projects and dedicate her whole being for the fulfilment of the kingdom.
Her yearning: To promote the growth of the person, especially of the poorest: educate, evangelize and assist the sick.
Her horizon: To reach out to the world, go to the ends of the earth so Jesus maybe known and loved, according to Maddalenadecanossa.org.
No to cloistered life
Magdalene Gabriella of Canossa was born on March 2, 1774, in Verona, Italy. She is the second of the six children of Marquis Ottavio di Canossa and Marchesa Teresa Szluha Vincenzo, a Hungarian countess.
Her father died when she was 5 years old and after two years, her mother remarried. The children were left under the guardianship of Girolano, a Canossan uncle.
She lived with her sister Laura in a country villa, with a private governess, who was not so upright and trustworthy. So the religious girl at 5 became attracted to the world in her teen years. She became seriously ill, which required “painful cures, isolation and interior withdrawal,” and was “vaccinated against temptations of the world,” according to Marina Airondi and Dorino Tuniz in Saint Magdalena of Canossa: Memoirs.
With a firm decision to consecrate herself to God, she entered the Carmelite Monastery of Saint Teresa outside Verona on May 12, 1791, but she left after 10 months. Her confessors, Fr. Ildefonso and Fr. Stephen, both Carmelites, advised her to enter the Discalced Carmelite Convent in Treviso, on mid-1792. With Fr. Ildefonso, she met her mother in Conegliano to inform her about it.
While it seemed she has entered paradise, she felt a distaste for cloistered life. Although she “would have sanctified” herself, she “would not have been able to prevent sin or work for salvation of souls,” according to “Saint Magdalene of Canossa: A Woman with a Big Heart” at www.canossaphil.org. She left after three days.
Life’s uncertainties
She went into recluse to avoid “unkind looks and criticisms.” But the strong desire to dedicate her life to the poor and the needy burned incessantly in her heart.
She devoted her time to care for the patrimony of the Canossa and took care of the household demands. Her new confessor, Veronese priest Fr. Don Libera, inspired her to continue her devotions and wait for God to reveal His will for her.
Magdalene was 15 when the French Revolution started in 1789. A member of the Lady of Brotherhood in 1788, she witnessed discontent and poverty.
The Brotherhood of Hospitaller priests with members of Patriotic Society and Free Masons were jointly involved in social work for the needy and the hungry. She “chose fidelity to church, silent involvement in social action and instruction and assistance to the sick,” said in win.canossian.org/Magdalena of Canossa, Suore Canossiane.
On the advice of Don Libera, her confessor, she remained in the palace to care for the household and sick family members. Despite her duties, she did not neglect to enhance her prayer life.
Fulfilment of vision
In 1803 she opened a school to suit the needs of women as capable, honest workers, responsible wives and mothers. She also taught Christian moral principles for children.
Her family felt dishonored when she lived with her wards. Don Galvani, counseled her not to violently break with family. She went back to the palace and obtained approval to go regularly to visit the girls and spend holidays with them, according to www.magdalenecanossian.org.
Roberto Italo Zanini, in Magadalene of Canossa, described her as a “modern woman who lived the travails, interior struggles of a modern woman in search for a way of life.”
On April 1, 1808, the Minister of Home Affairs, Kingdom of France, conceded freely The Monastery of Saint Joseph to Magdalene’s group.
On May 8, 1808, with trusted collaborations and 10 girls, Magdalene moved in the monastery and formed the Canossian Daughters of Charity.
The apostolate of the congregation are: education for girls in school, Christian formation, assistance to the suffering, preparation of teachers and spiritual exercises for noble ladies.
Other houses were formed in succeeding years—Venice in 1812, Milan in 1816, Bergamo in 1820 and Trent in 1824.
Pope Leo XII approved the rules of the congregation on December 28, 1828. Magdalene invited Fr. Francisco Luzzi to initiate a congregation to care for the males, which started on May 23, 1831.
Saint Magdalene died on April 10, 1835. She was beatified on November 8, 1941, by Pope Pius XII and canonized on October 10, 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
The Canossian Congregation is composed of the Daughters of Charity; Servants of the Poor with 2,700 sisters in 336 communities in 32 countries; the Canossian Sons of Charity with 200 brothers and priests; Canossian Tertiaries or Collaborators and International Canossian Voluntary Service, as said in Wikipedia.
Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons