Saint of the Month - September 2023: Blessed Maria Luisa Prosperi

Bl. Maria Luisa Prosperi

A Spouse of the Sacred Heart

Memorial: September 12th

Allow this ministry to introduce you to Bl. Maria Luisa Prosperi, a nun from the Order of St. Benedict.  Born into a wealthy family from Fogliano, Italy, on August 19, 1799, she was baptized on the same day with the name Geltrude. Fortunate to be raised in a devout household, she was particularly influenced by the example of a deeply pious, unmarried aunt and, as such, was inclined to virtue, self-denial, and mortification from an early age.  Her biographies relate how, from her youth, she wore a hair shirt, a cilice, and used a flagrum as part of her routine penitential practices ... and was already experiencing visions.

At the age of 21, she entered the Benedictine Monastery of Santa Lucia in Trevi (Spoleto), where she was given the name Sr. Maria Luisa Angelica of the Sacred Heart.  In the monastery, she expressed a profound love for the Holy Eucharist and a marked devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, while also fulfilling the role of Infirmarian, followed successively by Sacristan and Mistress of Novices.

To her various spiritual directors, Sr. Maria Luisa confided the extraordinary inner workings of the Holy Spirit that were escalating in her soul.  Her life was revealed to be especially enriched by rare charisms that she hid from her companions to avoid unwanted attention, and any disruption to their community life.  Her confessors ordered that she write down her mystical experiences and visions for their discernment, thanks to which we have records of the following:

• She had frequent, familiar visits from our Lord, who appeared to her as either Christ Crucified or as the Sacred Heart.  He encouraged her faith and shared with her the secrets of his heart, and her journal of their communications gives clear insight as to the high level of union she had with Jesus, her Divine Spouse.

• She was sometimes physically harassed by the devil, which was part of the sufferings Jesus once foretold to her, and allowed, for her personal sanctification … and also “for sinners to convert, infidels to return to my Church.”

• She was visited by the Holy Souls of Purgatory, who asked her prayers and sacrifices to help relieve their sufferings.

• She was stigmatized with the wounds of Christ, the sufferings of which once caused her to exclaim, “Oh God, what pain!”  The wounds were initially invisible but they later opened and bled in her hands, chest, and forehead during the Lenten Season.

The manifestation of external signs ignited both admiration and misunderstandings within her monastery and with her confessors, and for a time Sr. Maria Luisa was treated with suspicion (another ordeal that the Lord told her would happen).  In due time, however, the nun's humility and continued obedience eventually overcame all doubts concerning her authenticity.  In fact, she was elected Abbess at the age of 38.

This Beata was a living example

of the Rule of St. Benedict.

The new superior's administration was marked by positive reforms, mainly a diligent adherence to the Benedictine Rule, which she admirably exemplified.  Her cheerful demeanor and maternal solicitude towards her subordinates endeared her to all ... and the community responded with renewed fervor.

One of her confessors – an Archbishop named, Giovanni Cadolini – was so impressed with Maria Luisa’s conduct, he planned to take her away to Ferrara to have her assist him in founding an entirely new congregation of contemplative nuns.  It was a plan the Abbess was reluctant to do, but ready to comply with, if commanded, but she much preferred to remain hidden in Trevi.

As things turned out, the mystic sort of got her wish - for whatever reason, Sr. Maria Luisa never left for Ferrara, but rumors of her holiness and special gifts brought an influx of visitors to Trevi, along with new vocations.  The Monastery of Santa Lucia prospered and the Abbess also became known for her charity towards the poor, who she never turned away.  She gave generously from the nuns’ own pantry, but God never failed to provide.

In 1847, during the last few months of her life, Maria Luisa was stricken with a painful malady in addition to the reparational sufferings of the Passion she underwent during that year's Lent.  She had a bad fall in August and was left bedridden until her death, which took place not long after on September 12, 1847.  The Beata was only 48-years-old at the time of her passing, having served as Abbess for 10 years.

The shrine of Bl. Maria Luisa in the

Benedictine Monastery of Trevi.

Memory of the holy nun did not fade with time and her Cause for Canonization was initiated by the Diocese of Spoleto in 1914 – so far, she has already been Beatified during a ceremony held on November 12, 2012; a confirmed second miracle is still needed to declare her a Saint.  This ministry prays that her Canonization is forthcoming, God willing.

Bl. Maria Luisa Prosperi,

pray for us.