The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal by Hubert Wolf Page B
Authors: Hubert Wolf
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was also well informed about other “deceits” involved in Katharine’s poisoning. She spoke to the abbess, Padre Peters, and other nuns about these, and finally confronted Maria Luisa herself with her knowledge: “Yes, I saw it, I saw it.”
Maria Luisa started to feel threatened by what Maria Giacinta knew, and decided she had to get rid of her. At once, she gave Maria Francesca instructions to write several letters to Padre Peters in the name of her guardian angel and the Virgin. The Virgin spoke about her former “favorite little daughter” Maria Giacinta, who had been “destined for something great, alongside her mistress.” But now she was just another “haughty” and “proud” nun, whom the confessor and abbess had to “humble.” Finally, the Virgin announced, “Maria Giacinta will die of her illness; her life will be shortened by many years because she has fallen from the elevated step of glory beside her mistress.”
As a result, the confessor placed Maria Giacinta under pressure. She was utterly bewildered and feared for her life, thinking she was about to be poisoned. Giuseppe Maria confirmed this suspicion. Maria Giacinta was then struck down by a severe inflammation of the intestines and ulceration of the throat, from an overdose of opium or something similar. The illness exhausted her, and she was on her deathbed. Franceschetti corroborated the testimonies of Maria Francesca and Giuseppa Maria: two pills of opium, given to his sister by Maria Luisa, had brought her close to death. She would have died, had the convent doctor not given her an antidote at the last minute. The medical man had said this quantity of opium was enough to kill a horse.
This, along with other evidence and witness interviews, gave the Inquisition enough information to prove that in the days after Maria Giacinta was poisoned with opium, the madre vicaria tried to give her an even larger dose of another poison to finish her off. This was probably
vinum colchici seminis
, made from the flowers of the autumn crocus. It was usually used in small doses to treat gout, but in larger quantities it was a deadly poison. Maria Luisa had also announced this murder in a letter from the Madonna to Padre Peters, which foretold the death of a nun as a punishment from God. It even pinpointed the exact timing and the circumstances of the death. However, MariaGiacinta realized what was afoot and stubbornly refused to take the liquid.
When nothing came of this divine prophecy, Maria Luisa put aside the first letter from the Virgin and wrote another, in which Mary now proclaimed that her firstborn daughter Maria Luisa’s prayers, penance, and services had worked, and Maria Giacinta didn’t have to die after all.
The same good fortune was not granted to the novice Maria Agostina, whose tragic story played out in October 1858. The young nun was starting to get a reputation for having visions and ecstasies. The mother founder, in particular, had appeared to her several times. A number of the other nuns had started to follow the new visionary and believe her prophecies. Maria Luisa was consumed with envy, and devoted all her efforts to unmasking Maria Agostina’s ecstasies as “duplicitous pretenses.” First, in her capacity as novice mistress, she made Maria Agostina “unburden her conscience to her as to a father confessor,” giving her a biographical confession. The novice mistress then told the other sisters about all the weaknesses and miseries in this young woman’s life. She spoke widely and at length about the “shameless relationship” Maria Agostina had conducted in Ferrara with her confessor, the Jesuit Vincenzo Stocchi. 52 Maria Luisa forced the young novice to retract her visions in public—not just in the novitiate, but also in the choir, in front of the whole community of Sant’Ambrogio. But this ritual humiliation still wasn’t enough for her. Claiming she was making a zealous attempt to set this lost soul back on the
Maria Luisa started to feel threatened by what Maria Giacinta knew, and decided she had to get rid of her. At once, she gave Maria Francesca instructions to write several letters to Padre Peters in the name of her guardian angel and the Virgin. The Virgin spoke about her former “favorite little daughter” Maria Giacinta, who had been “destined for something great, alongside her mistress.” But now she was just another “haughty” and “proud” nun, whom the confessor and abbess had to “humble.” Finally, the Virgin announced, “Maria Giacinta will die of her illness; her life will be shortened by many years because she has fallen from the elevated step of glory beside her mistress.”
As a result, the confessor placed Maria Giacinta under pressure. She was utterly bewildered and feared for her life, thinking she was about to be poisoned. Giuseppe Maria confirmed this suspicion. Maria Giacinta was then struck down by a severe inflammation of the intestines and ulceration of the throat, from an overdose of opium or something similar. The illness exhausted her, and she was on her deathbed. Franceschetti corroborated the testimonies of Maria Francesca and Giuseppa Maria: two pills of opium, given to his sister by Maria Luisa, had brought her close to death. She would have died, had the convent doctor not given her an antidote at the last minute. The medical man had said this quantity of opium was enough to kill a horse.
This, along with other evidence and witness interviews, gave the Inquisition enough information to prove that in the days after Maria Giacinta was poisoned with opium, the madre vicaria tried to give her an even larger dose of another poison to finish her off. This was probably
vinum colchici seminis
, made from the flowers of the autumn crocus. It was usually used in small doses to treat gout, but in larger quantities it was a deadly poison. Maria Luisa had also announced this murder in a letter from the Madonna to Padre Peters, which foretold the death of a nun as a punishment from God. It even pinpointed the exact timing and the circumstances of the death. However, MariaGiacinta realized what was afoot and stubbornly refused to take the liquid.
When nothing came of this divine prophecy, Maria Luisa put aside the first letter from the Virgin and wrote another, in which Mary now proclaimed that her firstborn daughter Maria Luisa’s prayers, penance, and services had worked, and Maria Giacinta didn’t have to die after all.
The same good fortune was not granted to the novice Maria Agostina, whose tragic story played out in October 1858. The young nun was starting to get a reputation for having visions and ecstasies. The mother founder, in particular, had appeared to her several times. A number of the other nuns had started to follow the new visionary and believe her prophecies. Maria Luisa was consumed with envy, and devoted all her efforts to unmasking Maria Agostina’s ecstasies as “duplicitous pretenses.” First, in her capacity as novice mistress, she made Maria Agostina “unburden her conscience to her as to a father confessor,” giving her a biographical confession. The novice mistress then told the other sisters about all the weaknesses and miseries in this young woman’s life. She spoke widely and at length about the “shameless relationship” Maria Agostina had conducted in Ferrara with her confessor, the Jesuit Vincenzo Stocchi. 52 Maria Luisa forced the young novice to retract her visions in public—not just in the novitiate, but also in the choir, in front of the whole community of Sant’Ambrogio. But this ritual humiliation still wasn’t enough for her. Claiming she was making a zealous attempt to set this lost soul back on the
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