The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal by Hubert Wolf
Authors: Hubert Wolf
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to shame Saint Veronica Giuliani by taking on her shape. The Capuchin nun from the convent of Città di Castello near Perugia died in 1727, and was finally raised to the altars in 1839, following much debate within the Church. The passage in the life of Saint Veronica to which Maria Luisa was referring furnished her with the perfect precedent:
The devil, despairing of being able to subdue her, conceived the idea of blackening her reputation, and of making her appear a sacrilegious hypocrite, by the following stratagem. He frequently assumed her form, and contrived to be caught in the act of eating greedily and surreptitiously, at improper hours, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes in the refectory, and sometimes in the dispensary. The nuns were extremely scandalized at this, especially when they once or twice saw Veronica go to Holy Communion after they had witnessed one of these unlawful repasts. But it pleased Godto undertake the defense of His servant, by causing the infernal plot to be discovered. One morning, about the time of Holy Communion, some of them found the supposed Veronica engaged in eating, and accordingly ran to the choir to inform the abbess, but there they found their holy sister rapt in prayer.… It may be easily conceived how the malice of her infernal enemy increased when he found himself so utterly scorned by Veronica, and when he beheld her at the same time so closely united to her divine Spouse. There was no art to which he did not resort for the purpose of making her unfaithful. He would present to her the most dreadful images of guilt, and in company with other fiends under the forms of wicked young men, he would enact scenes, the very thought of which is abhorrent to nature. 48
Like Veronica Giuliani’s fellow nuns, Maria Ignazia had also been taken in by the devil, and on his orders had tried several times to kill Katharina. She was now left alone with her questions and her guilt: the madre vicaria knew no pity, and had condemned her to absolute silence. But there came a point where it was no longer possible to avoid a conversation between Maria Ignazia and Padre Peters, who had become unsettled by the poisonings. The novice mistress gave her precise instructions for this:
When the princess was returning to health, the mistress called me to her and said to me: “you will be called by Padre Peters. Think about the promise you made me not to say a word about the medicine and the poison for the princess. Say only that I came into her cell now and then to give her courage, and that you and Maria Felice saw me one night at the princess’s bed, but you felt a certain dread. Say that the princess behaved strangely, and I reassured her that I had been in bed that night and had not been to her room, and that Maria Giacinta threw me out of the cell in contempt.”
I went to Padre Peters and he questioned me about the medicine and the poisoned remedies that were given to the princess. I answered that there was no truth in this and, just as I had promised the mistress, disagreed with everything he said. I denied every point, though he asked me the most detailed questions.
Peters told me he was questioning me in order to find out whatlay behind this business. He did not think the mistress capable of such a thing, and he mentioned that she had foreseen it all a long time ago. Furthermore, the princess was supposed to die as a punishment from God, but the devil had interfered to make it look like murder.
He told me about the alum they had found in the bottle of soup. When I asked him how the devil had brought this about, he replied that the devil was truly able do such things, and had mixed it into the soup so that something would be found in it.
Before I went to Peters, the mistress gave me the same explanation, word for word: she said the Lord wanted to punish Luisa Maria and that the devil had interfered to place the blame on the mistress’s shoulders.
I spoke to Padre Leziroli about these
The devil, despairing of being able to subdue her, conceived the idea of blackening her reputation, and of making her appear a sacrilegious hypocrite, by the following stratagem. He frequently assumed her form, and contrived to be caught in the act of eating greedily and surreptitiously, at improper hours, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes in the refectory, and sometimes in the dispensary. The nuns were extremely scandalized at this, especially when they once or twice saw Veronica go to Holy Communion after they had witnessed one of these unlawful repasts. But it pleased Godto undertake the defense of His servant, by causing the infernal plot to be discovered. One morning, about the time of Holy Communion, some of them found the supposed Veronica engaged in eating, and accordingly ran to the choir to inform the abbess, but there they found their holy sister rapt in prayer.… It may be easily conceived how the malice of her infernal enemy increased when he found himself so utterly scorned by Veronica, and when he beheld her at the same time so closely united to her divine Spouse. There was no art to which he did not resort for the purpose of making her unfaithful. He would present to her the most dreadful images of guilt, and in company with other fiends under the forms of wicked young men, he would enact scenes, the very thought of which is abhorrent to nature. 48
Like Veronica Giuliani’s fellow nuns, Maria Ignazia had also been taken in by the devil, and on his orders had tried several times to kill Katharina. She was now left alone with her questions and her guilt: the madre vicaria knew no pity, and had condemned her to absolute silence. But there came a point where it was no longer possible to avoid a conversation between Maria Ignazia and Padre Peters, who had become unsettled by the poisonings. The novice mistress gave her precise instructions for this:
When the princess was returning to health, the mistress called me to her and said to me: “you will be called by Padre Peters. Think about the promise you made me not to say a word about the medicine and the poison for the princess. Say only that I came into her cell now and then to give her courage, and that you and Maria Felice saw me one night at the princess’s bed, but you felt a certain dread. Say that the princess behaved strangely, and I reassured her that I had been in bed that night and had not been to her room, and that Maria Giacinta threw me out of the cell in contempt.”
I went to Padre Peters and he questioned me about the medicine and the poisoned remedies that were given to the princess. I answered that there was no truth in this and, just as I had promised the mistress, disagreed with everything he said. I denied every point, though he asked me the most detailed questions.
Peters told me he was questioning me in order to find out whatlay behind this business. He did not think the mistress capable of such a thing, and he mentioned that she had foreseen it all a long time ago. Furthermore, the princess was supposed to die as a punishment from God, but the devil had interfered to make it look like murder.
He told me about the alum they had found in the bottle of soup. When I asked him how the devil had brought this about, he replied that the devil was truly able do such things, and had mixed it into the soup so that something would be found in it.
Before I went to Peters, the mistress gave me the same explanation, word for word: she said the Lord wanted to punish Luisa Maria and that the devil had interfered to place the blame on the mistress’s shoulders.
I spoke to Padre Leziroli about these
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