ADDRESSEE FATHER DOMENICO MARIA FEDERICI Father Domenico Maria Federici was born in Verona in 17391 ‖of a patrician family, which produced many illustrious men‖. ― He entered the Dominican Order when still very young and devoted his time to the study of literature and the sciences in the cities of Bologna, Genova and Padua. He was raised to the degree of professor in his Order and therefore the convents of Udine, Padua and Treviso profitted by his teaching…He consulted codices and turned libraries upside down in order to collect data regarding the history of the Middle Ages.‖ (Cf. Biografi Tal. Sc.). He became Provincial of the Order of Preachers in Treviso. Since he had lived the greatest part of his life in that city, he chose it as his country of adoption. To illustrate the religious, civil and artistic history, he even consulted Magdalene of Canossa who at that time was living her first religious experience among the Discalced of Verona. Federici died in Treviso in 1808 and was remembered by his nephew, Abbot Luigi Federici in a book printed in Verona in 1819, ―Gli elogi storici dei più illustri ecclesiastici veronesi‖. 1 The date of his birth differs from what some scholars wrote. The exact date was arrived at through research done in the Library of the Commune of Treviso, where the following works were consulted: a) Bibliografia, ed. Venezia, Tip. Alvisopoli, 1841, Vol. VIII, pg. 476; b) Bibliografie Universelle ancienne et moderne (supp FAU-Fu); c) A. Serena, Un Poligrafo of the sec. XVIII ed i suoi corrispondenti. Notizie di un carteggio, in Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti (1941/42). TO FATHER DOMENICO MARIA FEDERICI 1(Verona#1791.11.18) The young Marchioness, seventeen years old, replying to the request of Fr. Federici who is looking into the origin of her vocation to the Disclaced Carmelites , points out not a few of the difficulties that she had to undergo to convince her relatives and of the certainty she experiences at the moment of writing of having reached the goal, pointed out to her by the Lord .Instead, soon she will realize that the Lord does not call her there. 1 Most Reverend Father, Here I am to fulfill my promise. I wish that instead of a few sonnets, it would be something more relevant and that it was possible for me to have the advantage of serving you. Accept the good will, very reverend Father, and… show me of being convinced… by commanding me in something of importance. About my vocation to the Discalced Carmelites 2, this is not an affair of days but of years. Since I was five I had the vocation to be a nun but without reference to any Religion.; always, however, I have had a liking for a strict Religious life. At fourteen to fifteen years of age, I thought to change my mind because the world attracted me, the education that was given to me was more suited to inspire in me other ideas than those of cultivating the thought of Religious life. But I fell sick of a malignant fever that people thought of burying me in seven days. As soon as I recovered from this sickness, the old sentiments renewed themselves and also the old resolutions. I remained silent with everyone and after a year , I told all this to a Religious who is the teacher of my brother; and then , for another six months, I continued to keep silent; I wished to read some rules to fix for myself one form of Religious life and the first ones were those of St. Clare 3 and notwithstanding my prevention to accommodate myself to them they could not quieten me. I, then, read on the Rules of the discalced Carmelites, but more to please the said Religious than to satisfy my liking. These satisfied me so much and I felt so much to embrace them that I tought only of facilitating the way. Meanwhile, I continued to be silent and only after a few months I told my confessor4 about it. I would have continued to keep silent with my relatives but a compliment paid to me by a cavalier at a theatre obliged me to declare myself. Later, my sister promised, and I, in order to withdraw myself from gossip and other occasions, retired to where I am. Here my vocation to a discalced Carmelite was tried and 1 The autograph is kept in the Library of the Commune of Treviso among the ―Lettere autografe di varii a Father Domenico Maria Federici” (Ms. n.165). 2 The Discalced Nuns, who, like the Monks, go back to an Order which originated in the XIII Century, when several Congregations of hermits, especially in Italy, were assembled into a single Order under the name of Hermits of St. Augustine and with the Rule of the Saint. In Verona the Monastery of St. Teresa was situated outside Porta Romana. Magdalene entered this monastery in October 1791 and remained there for about ten months. 3 St. Clare of Assisi – (1194- 1253). She was convinced by the preaching and holiness of St. Francis and wanted to imitate him in the practice of the religious life (1212); She founded the Second Franciscan Order, which later came to be known named as that of the Poor Clares. 4 Father Ildefonso of the Conception (De Gasperi da Feltre), Prior of the convent of the Annunciation of the Discalced Carmelites. The Confessor of the Marchioness was Father Stefano of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ( a Fortis Terracina from Padua), who, from June 1787, was Prior of her cloistered convent for three years. In the interim period of his absence from office, which lasted for a long time, Magdalene approached Father Ildefonso of the Conception who was more than 70 years old. Therefore it was Father Stefano who imposed on her to enter at Conegliano, but Father Ildefonso accompanied her there (Cf. Stofella, Biografia di Maddalena di Canossa, an unpublished work , pgs. 26 ss). strengthened in a million ways. But, all in vain, because, the more I was tried, the more God held me. Seeing that every attempt was useless, now they leave me in peace and I remain here because I believe it is the will of God. They said that the vocation cannot be denied but that I would not be able to bear it. But it seems to me impossible that God should call to a state without giving the necessary helps. Sincerely this is how it all began. I hope to narrate to you one day, the continuation of my vocation, through the help of your holy prayers. In the meanwhile I have to apologize for disturbing you so much and the trouble I am giving you with this long letter of mine. I do not want to abuse your goodness. So believe me, most Reverend Father, I am full of respect and esteem for you, as I declare to be, Most Reverend Father, Your most humble and much obliged servant Magdalene of Canossa St. Theresa‘s Convent, 18 November 1791 ADDRESSEE Countess Carolina Durini (1762 – 1833) Prelature prelature prelacy Carolina was born in 1762. Her parents were Ludovico Trotti Bentivoglio and Teresa Fontana Belinzaghi Beluschi. She came from one of the most complex families in the history of Lombardy which added to its original name, the one handed down by Giovanni II Bentivoglio, a Lord from Bologna. She had two sisters, Paola and Teresa, and a brother, Lorenzo Galeazzo. Lorenzo was born in 1759, travelled a lot, was unpopular with the police force. He married an Austrian countess and returned to Milan in 1828 where he died in 1840. In 1782, Carolina married Count Carlo Francesco Durini who belonged to the lineage of the first-born sons of the Counts of Monza, of the nobitity of Milan from 1741. Carlo had four sisters and four brothers. Of these, Margherita married Marquis Stefano Pallavicini, Isabella married Marquis Cesare Sforza Brivio, Maria married Marquis Ettore Calcagnini of Ferrara and Beatrice married the Marquis Freganeschi. Of the brothers, Ercole was part of the Court of the Viceroy. Antonio entered the prelacy. He was a lawyer in the Consistory in Rome, while in Milan he was Prefect both under the Napoleonic dominion as well as under the Austrian rule Sovereignty. He was a very enterprising man and succeeded in bringing Milan to a high degree of prosperity. In 1808 he married Giuseppina, daughter of Gaspare Casati. They had eight children, one of whom, Carlo, inherited the palace of his uncle Ercole when the latter died in 1814, and after which even today the road between St. Babila and Via Cavallotti is named. Carlo Francesco was among the Twelve of the Provision in the years 1779 and 1782. He died on 22 February 1833. Carolina was a Lady of the Cross and was very dedicated to the works of mercy, and her sister Teresa, whose biographical details will appear later, was even more so. Carolina first encountered Magdalene of Canossa in the Hospital of Mercy at Verona, during one of the frequent journeys she made together with her husband, and which was often for a charitable cause. These two noble ladies lived in full ― an interiority that was deeply human‖. From then on they also shared a close friendship , which lead them for over thirty years, not only to foster ―all the dynamism of human love‖1, but also that mutual confidence that enabled them to communicate everything. Each felt involved and responsible in the interests of the other.