Bl. Stephana de Quinzanis

  Posted on December 31, 2023  by admin  No comments

Born: 1457 at Soncino, Italy

Died: 2 January 1530 of at Soncino, Italy of natural causes

Beatified: 14 December 1740 by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed)

Also known as Stephanie de Quinzanis

Born to pious parents; her father became a Dominican tertiary while Stephana was very young. She was taught her catechism by the stigmatic Blessed Matthew Carrieri who lived at the nearby Dominican convent; though she was too small to understand, he told her that she was to be his spiritual heiress. She began receiving visions of Dominican saints from age seven, at which point she made personal vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Carrieri died when Stephana was 14; soon after he appeared to her in a vision, and she received the stigmata. Dominican tertiary at Soncino, Italy at age 15. Devoted to caring for the poor and sick. She founded a community of Third Order sisters in Soncino, and served as its first abbess. Her counsel was sought by many including Saint Angela Merici, Blessed Augustine of Biella, and Blessed Osanna of Mantua. Though she had no formal theological training, she could discuss mystical theology at the most profound level. She could read the hearts and minds of the people around her, and had the gift of prophesy and healing. She lived in a nearly continuous fast, and inflicted severe penances on herself. Stephana accurately predicted the date of her own death.