Magdalene of Canossa - Her Life

Magdalene of Canossa
- Her Life
St. Magdalene of Canossa was born on 1st March 1774.
She became a child of God on 2nd March, 1774.
She had a happy childhood.
Her father died when she was five and her mother
remarried two years later.
Then she was taken care of by Uncle Jerome.
“The bridegroom I have chosen to be mine forever is the most noble, the
richest, the most beautiful of all bridegrooms. He is Jesus, the Lord.”
She had a special love for the poor.
She often visited the patients in the hospital.
She also wanted to set up charity school for the abandoned children.
She even asked Napoleon for a house for this purpose.
On 8th May, 1808, Magdalene moved to San Zeno to stay with her girls. This
marked the foundation of the Institute of the Canossian Daughters of Charity.
Education, evangelization and pastoral care of the sick became the
three ministries of charity of the newly established religious institute.
She obtained approval of the rules of life for the
Canossian Daughters of Charity from the Pope in 1828.
‘Making Jesus known and loved’ was her motivating force
in all her ministries of charity.
She regarded Mother Mary as the real foundress of the
institute and entrusted the whole institute to the care of Mary.
Madgalene returned to God on 10th April 1835.
God bless!