ON BL. ANTONIA OF BRESCIA, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS, AT FERRARA IN ITALY,
IN THE YEAR MDVII.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Antonia of Brescia, nun of the order of Friars Preachers, at Ferrara. (Bl.)
BY V. D. B.
§ Sole section. The sparse cult and the biographers of Bl. Antonia. Her stay in the convents of St. Catherine the martyr at Brescia and Ferrara.
In the menologies of the order of Friars Preachers there is commemorated today the memory of Bl. Antonia of Brescia, [Bl. Antonia Guaineri, of a family from Brescia, who departed this life on the 27th day of October 1507, seems to have been called blessed immediately after her death;] who on the 27th day of October of the year 1507 most holily died in the Lord and immediately after her death began to be reckoned among those in heaven and to be named BLESSED. Certainly her aid with God was implored without delay, and miracles were written down. Her Life, collected from good monuments, was given a place by Serafino Razzi, a member of the same order, among the Lives of the saints and blessed of the sacred order of Friars Preachers, both men and women [Vita de i sancti e beati del sacro ordine de' Predicatori, cosi huomini comme done.], which his brother Silvano Razzi, a Camaldolese, published first in the year 1577, a second time in the year 1588, and Fr. Vincenzo of Montalbano, O. P., a third time in the year 1605. Two years later Michele Pio, using Razzi's writing and memoirs received from Lombardy, inserted a certain epitome in the third book on the illustrious professors of the order of Friars Preachers Delle vite degli huomini illustri di S. Domenico.; which work he published at Bologna in the year 1607 and again in the year 1620. Then Juan Lopez, likewise retracing the footsteps of Razzi, also gave the Life of Bl. Antonia in the year 1622 in the History of the saints and blessed of the order of Friars Preachers Historia de los santos y beatificados de la orden de Predicatores.. Razzi, moreover, Pio and Lopez, without any hesitation, call Antonia blessed. Similarly Marcantonio Guarini, by nation of Ferrara and a beneficiary of the cathedral church, and so most skilled in the affairs of Ferrara, in the Historical Compendium on the churches and other sacred places of the diocese of Ferrara, published in the year 1621, constantly endows Antonia with the title of blessed. Nor did this appellation cease when the decrees of Pope Urban VIII came out. For Jean de Sainte-Marie, of a family from Paris, among the Lives of the holy and blessed women of his order [Les vies des saintes et bienheureuses de l'ordre de saint Dominique, volume I, page 250.] gave a place to the Life of Bl. Antonia of Brescia; whose elogium Domenico Maria Marchese in the year 1679 inserted in the Sacred Dominican Diary
Sacro Diario Domenicano, volume V, page 554 and following. and Manuel de Lima in the year 1712 in the Dominican Hagiology Agiologio Dominico, volume IV, page 374.; nor did the anonymous Dominican who in the year 1758 brought to light the Sacred Dominican Diary at Rome and Brescia Sagro Diario Domenicano, page 257. omit the elogium of Bl. Antonia of Brescia. Finally Giuseppe Brunati called her blessed in his excellent Lives of the saints of Brescia, published with much care in the years 1834 and 1854 [Leggendario o Vite di santi Bresciani, Brescia 1834, pages 4 and 11; Vita o gesta di santi Bresciani, 1854, volume I, pages 4 and 50.]; where he also added that he suspected that the Life of Bl. Antonia had been published separately at Ferrara. But in error: for Giuseppe Antonelli, author of the Ferrarese Bibliography, knew nothing at all of it [In Frizzi, Memorie per la storia di Ferrara, 2nd edition, volume II, page 328 and following.]. Since therefore the distinguished virgin seems to have been publicly reckoned among those in heaven a hundred years before the Urbanian decrees, and this veneration of her has not fallen into disuse thereafter, we have judged it less opportune to place her among those passed over.
[2] [Having been made a Dominican nun at Brescia, she is sent to reform the convent of Ferrara;] Since therefore, on the testimony of Razzi and Guarini, Bl. Antonia died in the hundredth year of her age, she must have been born in the year of Christ 1407. That she was born at Brescia in the former Venetian dominion all agree; of a father Guainerio, adds Brunati, who calls her Antonia Guaineri of Brescia. Her conversion, proceeding from fear of hell, Razzi narrates. As a girl she entered in her first years the Dominican monastery of St. Catherine the martyr, which, founded in the year 1327 Pio, Uomini illustri etc., book III, BB. Lombarde Traspadane, chapter 8., was counted among the six more ancient convents of Brescia Elia Capriolo, de Rebus Brixianorum, book XII, page 123, Graevius's edition. and was suppressed by the emperor Joseph II. She lived in the same place until the year 1457, in which she was summoned from Brescia to Ferrara, to introduce there the observance of the institutes of the Dominican order into the convent of which St. Catherine the martyr was likewise patron. According to an old tradition which Guarini records, this monastery owed its beginnings to three sisters of the house of Marano, to whom (as is established from a testament still surviving) in the year 1290 a copious inheritance had fallen. From it they founded the church of St. Catherine and the convent; in which in the year 1289, with the assent of Pope Boniface VIII, they made religious profession Guarini, Compendio historico, pages 141 and 142.. Although this monastery of maidens admitted lay brothers Frizzi, Memorie per la storia di Ferrara, volume III, pages 184 and 291., as Dominican convents did here and there at their beginnings Mamachi, Annales FF. Prædicatorum, volume I, page 257., yet it does not seem originally to have been subject to the order of Friars Preachers [Compare Guarini, page 142; and Ferranti, Compendio della storia di Ferrara, volume III, page 190.]: for, as we have taught elsewhere Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 410., convents too which followed other laws had lay brothers. But in the year 1457 Bl. Antonia and other nuns, with the consent of Pope Callistus III, were summoned from the convent of Brescia, to bring in, together with the reform of regular discipline, the institutes of St. Dominic and the authority of the Friars Preachers of Ferrara.
[3] which she most wisely instructed, as was clear from the fruits. The blessed reformer discharged this office so happily that in a short time piety and the observance of the rules flourished there; so much so that a great many of her disciples by their notable holiness deserved to be reckoned among the blessed, or were called to neighbouring cities to restore the collapsed discipline in Dominican convents. There come in their number Sister Paula Spezzani, who died on the 18th day of August of the year 1509; Bl. Veronica, who departed on the 6th day of July; Bl. Cecilia, who left this earth in the year 1511; Bl. Angela Serafina Correggiara, who went off to the heavenly ones on the 4th day of February, and Sisters Perpetua Sardi and Constantia, of whom it is hidden in what year they put off the tabernacle of their body Pio, Uomini illustri, book III, BB. di Ferrara, chapter 11 and following.. Of these Sister Veronica was sent to reform the convent of the Blessed Mary of the Annunziata at Ferrara, then that of St. Catherine of Siena, which in the year 1501 Bl. Lucy of Narni had begun with the incredible zeal of the people, but which soon, namely when Bl. Lucy after two years had been removed from the priorate, needed a notable change and a most skilful prioress: which office Bl. Veronica discharged for seven years. At about the same time others were sent to reform the convent of St. Roch, and others in the year 1513, by order of the Roman pontiff, to reform the monastery of St. Dominic at Cividale Guarini, page 142.. But by then Bl. Antonia had already departed from the living; nor do these things pertain to her, except that they were accomplished by her disciples. In the time of the French republic both convents of Ferrara ceased. It remains that we represent her own deeds in Latin from the Italian book of Razzi.
LIFE OF BL. ANTONIA OF BRESCIA
from the Italian of Serafino Razzi.
Antonia of Brescia, nun of the order of Friars Preachers, at Ferrara. (Bl.)
aBl. Antonia, after she had excelled in humility in the convent of Brescia, The conversion of Bl. Antonia of Brescia to God began rather from fear and dread of the pains of hell than from love and zeal for heavenly goods. For divine Providence, which had predestined and chosen her from eternity to be its spouse, led her step by step through fear to love. When therefore she had put on the habit of our order in the convent of St. Catherine the martyr in her native Brescia, although she exercised herself continually in all the virtues, yet in humility she seemed wonderful and conspicuous beyond measure. She was still a little girl, when once in choir she was rebuked by the cantrix and admonished to recite the office in a louder voice; but (perhaps because she could not yet moderate her voice well) she neglected to obey. For which reason she was condemned by the subprioress to a very grievous penalty; which because of her singular humility she readily accepted, although her fault did not seem to merit so severe a chastisement. Stripped therefore from the head to the belt, in the presence of the other mothers, she was scourged, God permitting that his elect be refined and purified in tribulations, like gold in a burning furnace.
[2] she is sent to reform the one at Ferrara, where she is an example to all; Meanwhile the chosen servant of God grew strong in holiness, and rose from the first degrees of the virtues to the higher: whence, as her age advanced, she came to such perfection of life that, when from the monastery of St. Catherine the martyr at Brescia certain nuns were to be sent to the monastery at Ferrara, likewise of St. Catherine the martyr, to reform it, she was chosen among the first. There therefore at about sixty-six years of age b she betook herself, and there persevered with so holy and approved a character that she was an object of wonder to all and was held a most holy woman. Created prioress of this convent by the unanimous consent of the mothers, she was always present at the divine office, striving by her example to persuade her companions to the same. And although she went before all in dignity and in the perfection of spiritual life, yet she wished to be placed after no one in labours and in the performance of the meanest offices. Wherefore she was often seen washing vessels and by other kitchen works relieving the weariness of the cooks. Almost every night she rose for Matins; which being said, she rarely returned to bed, but remained in the church or in her cell until Prime, giving herself to private prayers and meditations. And if she was then pressed by sleep, leaning her head on the wall or on a nearby bench, she took a very brief rest.
[3] [she gives herself to prayer, meditation and spiritual conversations, and sees St. Ursula visiting a dying sister;] She was so intent on prayers and meditations that she was often estranged from the use of the senses; in which spiritual raptures wonderful savours and heavenly secrets were communicated to her. When she prayed or spoke of God, she was kindled with so great an ardour of spirit that her face seemed as it were on fire. By her conversations she wonderfully stirred the Sisters to the study of spiritual things and to the sacred offering of themselves. She was accustomed to say that they should grow in fervour and leave off vain and unfruitful words. When once at prayer she was overcome by sleep, she saw in a very brief dream a queen of incredible beauty and splendour, accompanied by so great a multitude of virgins that they filled not only the convent but the neighbourhood too. Following her with her eyes, she saw her going to the part of the monastery where a certain sick Sister was lying, and suddenly she heard a voice saying: “She has died.” Awakened at this voice, she learned that at the same hour the Sister had gone to a better life, who was most devoted to St. Ursula and was accustomed every year to fast on bread and water on the vigil of her feast. She knew therefore that that queen was St. Ursula with her companions.
[4] [because of her severity she is removed from the priorate and thrust down to the last place after the lay sisters, but afterwards she is restored.] Bl. Antonia so loved poverty that every week she diligently searched her cell, and if she found anything superfluous, she gave it to whoever she understood needed it more. She used meaner garments than any other Sister of the monastery and (so far as was permitted) she shunned new garments. Although by natural disposition she was mild and kind, yet she applied severity and sternness toward the Sisters whom she caught negligent in the divine office. Nor were there lacking those who condemned so great a severity of hers. They wrote to the vicar general, accusing her of many things that were not true. So always good people and those who have been zealous for sacred observance have experienced opponents and have endured persecutions from the wicked! God so permitting for the proving of his handmaid, the vicar general, having heard the complaints but not examined them, as a penalty removed her from the priorate and assigned her the last place in the monastery after the lay sisters. She, humble and patient as she was, obeyed without delay and went down to the place prescribed for her. But certain of the older mothers, indignant and bearing ill the most unjust oppression and disgrace of so rare a woman, so defended her cause before the vicar general that he restored her to her former place.
[5] [In her infirmities she takes solace from visions; she sees St. Dominic extinguishing the flax; her face shines; she sees Christ;] Many grave infirmities of the body this holy virgin bore until the end of her life with incredible patience and fortitude: but God consoled her with continual visions. While she was lying in bed one night, she saw in sleep the father St. Dominic setting his cappa against a great fire; and behold, when after Matins two Sisters went to a room in which there lay a great quantity of flax, they saw this flax set on fire and cried out for help. The Sisters ran up; and the flax being extinguished, they learned from Bl. Antonia that this flax of theirs had been saved by the most holy patriarch
On the night of the Lord's Nativity, when the Sisters who were caring for her in her infirmity had gone to the divine office, she was meditating alone on the mysteries of so glorious a night: but behold, through fervour and spiritual burning her face became brighter than the sun; so that her companions, returning from the office, seeing so great a brightness of her face, fled in terror, narrating the prodigy to one another. When once in her infirmity she had been brought almost to the last extremity, and for that reason many Sisters had gathered in her room, behold, Christ our redeemer appeared. As soon as she saw him, although she was drawing her last breath, she was filled with so great a gladness that, rising from her bed, she adored him, prostrate on the ground; and pouring herself out in tears because of the immense sweetness (which she was experiencing), she asked him to deign to bestow his blessing on all the Sisters standing by. All of whom, prostrate on the ground, were blessed by his divine majesty.
[9] she dies on the 27th day of October of the year 1507, alive and But God willed at length to give her the reward of so many vigils, fasts, illnesses and labours. When therefore she was (as she herself said) a hundred years of age, she was seized by an acute fever; and, having received all the sacraments of the dying, on the 27th day of October of the year 1507, on the vigil of the holy apostles Simon and Jude, she exchanged this wretched and mortal life for a happier and eternal one. She is reported to have foretold the day of her death: for some days before, having inquired and been told when the feast of these apostles was, she said: “It is well; for then I shall be free from all my infirmities and pains.” There was there at that time a Sister who for ten years had been sick in the stomach, so that she could bear no food. Bl. Antonia, while she lived, was accustomed to console her, and had promised her that, if she should go to heaven first, she would pray God for her health. And indeed she on the first day retained food and then was found healthy. Another Sister, afflicted with a grave pain in the teeth, as soon as she commended herself to this holy virgin, suddenly recovered. Many other miracles worked by her after her death are read; which I have omitted for the sake of brevity. I shall say only that, while she was still alive, by the mere sign of the most holy cross she restored to health a great many labouring under various and diverse infirmities. May she now pray for us sinners. Amen.