Today, December 16, is the memorial of Blessed Mary of the Angels.
Carmelite nun.
She was born Marianna Fontanella in Turin, Italy in 1661 to nobility. She was a distant cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. At around six years old, Marianna already knew she had a vocation to the religious life. One day, she planned with her brother to run away, live in the desert, and imitate the saints. Unfortunately, they overslept and did not push through.
At age 12, she joined the Cistercian nuns, but when her father died soon after, she returned home to help her mother. Four years later, she entered the Discalced Carmelite community in Turin and took the name Mary of the Angels.
It was hard for her to live in community. She was homesick and was not fond of her novice mistress. In her seventh year in the monastery, she went through spiritual dryness. Demonic manifestations tested her.
With her spiritual director, she persevered in this aspect and then found interior peace. She entered into the deeper levels of prayer.
In time she became prioress and established a new house for the community in Moncalieri after being encouraged by Blessed Sebastian Valfre of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. She intended to transfer there, but the people of Turin would not let her go. They valued her wisdom, even royalty went to her for advice.
She had a deep devotion to St. Joseph, and dedicated the city of Turin to him after his intercession helped save the city from being destroyed in a war with the French.
She died of natural causes in 1717. In the last 20 years of her life, Mary of the Angels possessed a distinct odor. People described it as a scent of sanctity—it came from her body and spread to things she touched. The scent stayed after 1702, and was even difficult to remove from things that she had contacted. Some of her relics still retain this scent to this day. Her body could be seen under the altar of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph in Moncalieri.
Mary was beatified by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1865.