Today, May 25, is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi.
Carmelite nun and virgin.
Patroness of the Third Order of Carmelites.
Mary Magdalene, born in 1566, came from a very wealthy family. Even as a child, she rejected the high fashion of her station, choosing instead to dress in simple clothes.
Her religious vocation was met with great opposition by her family, who wanted her to get married to someone rich. She stood her ground, and her family gave in to her wishes.
At age 16, Mary Magdalene finally became a Carmelite nun of the Ancient Observance. She entered the St. Mary of the Angels Convent in Florence, Italy and became known for her extraordinary virtues and holiness.
From March to May 1584, Mary Magdalene patiently bore both intense physical and spiritual infirmities. The community thought she would die. She made her religious vows while lying sick on a crude bed.
When she recovered, God rewarded her with many mystical experiences. She received visions of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. She levitated in prayer and performed many miracles. She also had the gift of bilocation and predicted future events.
She was granted the privilege of seeing in Purgatory the souls of people she knew. She was also blessed to witness and participate in the Passion of Jesus Christ,
Her extraordinary experiences were written down by her religious sisters in a set of manuscripts which filled five volumes.
Mary Magdalene led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church, and encouraging the sisters in holiness.
In 1607, she died at age 42 after enduring a long, painful illness. Following her burial, people recognized a most fragrant odor coming from her tomb. The fragrance was recorded through the years even up to the present. Her miraculously incorrupt body is on display, for public veneration, at the Carmelite convent in Florence. St. Therese of the Child Jesus once visited her shrine.
She was beatified in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. In 1669, she was canonized by Pope Clement X.