Inspiration for our spiritual life
On April 2 of this year, we celebrated the 450th anniversary of the birth of Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, a Florentine Carmelite (from the original unreformed branch, O.Carm.), saint and mystic. Thus, we also began her jubilee year in Carmel – a year associated with the opportunity to gain plenary indulgences in Carmelite churches and chapels; a year that will last until May 25, 2017 (when we will commemorate the 410th anniversary of her death).
I would like to introduce you to Mary’s life while also highlighting her personal charisma, as she is relatively less known compared to her Spanish contemporary – the 51 years older Teresa of Avila – or compared to Therese of Lisieux or Elizabeth of the Trinity.
I also want to attempt some sort of updating for us and for our spiritual life. Mary Magdalene is a saint with whom one might find it difficult to relate immediately. A saint whose way of experiencing her life with God cannot be easily imitated. This is not only due to the different historical context but primarily because she was truly exceptionally mystically gifted. We generally experience our life of faith differently. However, it is certainly true that although not all Christians (and not all saints, let’s remember Therese of Lisieux) are called to become mystics, anyone who wishes can draw from the experience of mystics to invigorate and deepen their faith. In this sense, no authentic mystic is a mystic only for themselves, but for others.
Origins
Mary Magdalene was born on April 2, 1566, in Florence to parents Maria and Camillo and was baptized with the name Catherine. The Florentine family de’ Pazzi was among the oldest and most esteemed in the city. The parents were not only very pious but also religiously educated, with the family spiritually cared for by the Florentine Jesuits. In this environment, little Catherine naturally developed a sensitivity to religious and spiritual matters: “Mom, you smell like Jesus!” she would say to her mother coming from Holy Communion. From the age of nine (instructed by the family confessor), she practiced contemplative prayer, at ten (on the feast of the Annunciation in 1576) she first approached Holy Communion, and just three weeks later (on Holy Thursday) she made a vow of virginity for life. When, at the age of twelve, she contemplated the Athanasian Creed (the truth about the Holy Trinity occupies a significant place here), she experienced her first ecstasy in her mother’s presence. Another very strong ecstasy occurred two years later on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. At that time, Catherine was staying at the convent of the Sisters of Malta, where her parents sent her for upbringing and where her aunt, a nun, took care of her. Although community life in this house likely fell short, and the observance of the rule was lacking, a desire and calling to become a nun began to mature in Catherine. She considered entering the Florentine Dominicans or Capuchins, who appealed to her with their strict enclosure and poverty. Ultimately, however, she chose the Carmelite convent of Our Lady of the Angels (Santa Maria degli Angeli), where great emphasis was placed on community life and especially, the sisters had the privilege of receiving the Eucharist every day. Thus, as a sixteen-year-old, she entered on November 27, 1582, and on January 30, 1583, she received the religious habit and the name Mary Magdalene.
In the convent
Mary’s great inner maturity, with which she entered the convent, is eloquently evidenced by her relationship to prayer. During her time with the Sisters of Malta, she contemplated for at least two hours daily; often, however, her contemplation extended to twice that time. In contrast, the Carmelite convent designated only 20–30 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening for contemplative prayer, as a quiet continuation of the liturgy (the Holy Mass, the Breviary). When she was still before her profession asked whether she would suffer from this, she replied: “I think that all activities carried out in the order are a continuous prayer because they are performed out of obedience.” We see that prayer – even the long, four-hour prayer – was for her not merely a matter of inclination but primarily of obedience. And the same certainly applies to our prayer: our task is not to pray for a long time, nor to pray for a short time, but to pray in obedience, to pray as the Spirit leads us to pray.
Mary experienced her novitiate with another sister who began three months later. In order for them to make their professions together, the superior decided after a year to postpone the date of Mary’s profession by three months. Mary accepted this decision; however, she predicted that she would still make her profession alone. And that was indeed fulfilled. In early March 1584, she fell seriously ill. Coughing up blood and persistent chest pain were accompanied by high fevers. Although her father – with the consent of the prioress – called the four top medical authorities from Florence for his daughter, the illness quickly worsened. In fear for her life, she was allowed to make her profession earlier, on May 27, 1584, at her hospital bed, where she was carried before the altar of Our Lady.
Mystical life
However, “Sister Death” did not arrive; instead, with the day of her profession began for Mary Magdalene a forty-day period of intense ecstasies. Each day after Holy Communion, she would fall into rapture for two to three hours. She experienced union with God, had visions, and the Lord spoke to her. Symbolically, she experienced the exchange of her heart and Jesus' heart, receiving invisible stigmata. The confessor instructed the sisters to record all these manifestations. Initially for the purpose of discernment, later, when he became convinced that these were genuine graces, to preserve this wealth. Mary often spoke about complex theological questions, about the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The one who had difficulty reciting the Latin breviary correctly during choir would sometimes speak the language of the Church – fluently and without mistakes – during ecstasies.
Mary's ecstasies took place in very diverse ways. Sometimes during them she would stiffen and remain motionless, sometimes she appeared to be asleep. Her face reflected the theme of the ecstatic experience, mirroring the beauty or suffering experienced. Once in winter, she had this kind of ecstasy while washing clothes. The sisters first had to melt the ice with hot water to free her – frozen in the tubs.
At other times, in ecstatic rapture, she danced, ran around the convent, and cried out: “Love, Love, love Love ... Love is not loved.” Even in places where one normally slows down – in narrow winding corridors or on staircases – she moved with extraordinary agility and lightness. When she speaks of the Holy Spirit and describes Him as: “immovable, and yet he is movement ...”, she does not speak from speculation but from experience.
On the feast of Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, the Carmelite liturgy reads the gospel about Mary sitting at Jesus' feet and Martha, who is busy (Lk 10:38–42). In Mary Magdalene, the two sisters frequently intertwined. Sometimes during ecstasy, she would not cease her work, continuing in the usual manner, and yet the results of her work were better than under “normal” circumstances. Her fellow sisters also tried all sorts of tests: they would blindfold her or turn off the lights to see if she was using her natural sight while working in ecstasy. To their astonishment, they found that Mary – undistracted and undistractable – continued in painting, embroidery, or other handicrafts. The only stimulus to which she would respond in ecstasies was the voice of the superiors. When instructed to return, she immediately obeyed.
The peak of Mary Magdalene’s mystical bestowal came during the Easter octave of 1585, when from the Easter vigil on June 8 for eight days, she remained in ecstasy day and night, except for about two hours a day when she prayed the Breviary and had a little to eat. During these days, always around “tercia” (the 9th hour), she experienced various ways and different variations of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; therefore, she can speak of Him from experience: “And this Spirit, the distributor of the wealth stored in the heart of the Father (...) penetrates into the soul with such delicacy that it is hardly even noticed ... and that few people recognize its true greatness ... The Spirit flows powerfully and gently into all places that are ready and prepared to receive Him. Every ear is resonated by His repeated words as well as by His deepest silence. Unmoving, yet movement itself, He pervades everything with the tide of love.”
Immediately after these happy days “on Mount Tabor,” Mary entered a period of great suffering, a period that she herself calls – according to the narrative from the book of the prophet Daniel – “in the lion's den.” Even now Mary experiences ecstasies, but they are no longer a source of spiritual comfort for her. Her lot henceforth will include severe temptations to disbelief, despair, abandonment of her religious state, dryness, physical suffering (mysterious illnesses), and spiritual distress. She is tormented by feelings of rejection, temptations to take her life. “O my God, where is the sun of Your grace? It seems to have vanished for me. Your goodness and love have completely departed from me. I am abandoned like a body without limbs, unable to help myself. I am like a withered tree ... I am nothing but a pit of wickedness. I am guilty of all evil and all sins committed against God, to the point where I often cannot understand how Jesus and people can tolerate me on earth.”
Jesus had prepared Mary for this period in advance; He told her that “He deals with her like a mother feeds her child from her own breast; and when later she weans it, it does not mean that it has stopped being her child and that she no longer loves it; on the contrary, the child can now act independently!”
After a year of difficult trials, Mary is invited to the work of the renewal of the Church, which seeks to implement reforms arising from the Council of Trent. To specific actions, she urges Pope Sixtus V and the cardinals of the curia, dictating her letters to them in ecstasy in the summer of 1586. She urged the Florentine Archbishop Alexander de’ Medici to visit her. Among other things, she predicted to him (similarly to Philip Neri) that he would become pope for a brief time (which indeed came true – he stayed in office for only 26 days). After his visit, Alexander declared: “This daughter truly spoke in the person of the Holy Spirit.”
On Pentecost in 1590, her “lion's den” changed again into peaceful years. Mary served as a sacristan and participated in the formation of younger sisters. Five years later (in 1595), she implored Jesus for “naked suffering,” such as He experienced on the cross. She wanted to resemble Him in everything. Nevertheless, even the following years passed without significant, dramatic trials. In 1598, Mary was appointed novice mistress. Thanks to the novices who diligently recorded her ecstasies as well as her thoughts, advice, and teachings, we have preserved seven volumes of her accounts. In 1604, Mary became sub-prioress and the superior of the juniors, but these roles – afflicted by tuberculosis – she could no longer carry out effectively. In July 1604, she experienced her last ecstasy and slowly entered a three-year period of suffering that she implored from the Lord. Supernatural experiences ceased, and Mary lost even the natural ability to meditate. Tuberculosis affected her bones, causing unbearable headaches and toothaches.
Death
On May 25, 1607, Mary died. The news of Mary’s agony reached her confessor just as he was celebrating Mass. He therefore sent her a message to wait until he could bring her Holy Communion after the Mass. Mary replied “Benedictus Deus” (in the sense of “Thanks be to God!”) and died obediently half an hour after her confessor had left her.
Summary and updating
If we were to briefly characterize the personality of Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, we would most accurately call her a “mystic”; or – more precisely – an “authentic Christian mystic,” because what she experienced, what she recognized, and what she testified to, the Church identified as “an extraordinary way of experiencing” the mystery of redemption, as it is understood, accepted, and believed by the Catholic Church.
Mary Magdalene seemed to “experience with all her senses” (both external and internal) what we touch in faith. These experiences did not come just “here and there,” sporadically. They came very often and lasted long. It was said of her that: “she spent a longer time of earthly pilgrimage ... out of this world,” which may be an exaggeration, but aptly expresses that even among mystically gifted people, she somehow stands out.
What good is it if some people are mystically gifted? Why do such things even happen? A rational-thinking person and Christian of our time might calmly ask! When I pose such questions, several – surely not answers – (rather) directions come to mind.
First, it should be said that Mary Magdalene was a “child of her time.” Her era anticipated similar experiences in people who devoted themselves to God and in whom God found pleasure. What’s more: such experiences were seen as confirmation of their personal holiness (if they were discerned as authentic) and also as confirmation of the truth of their mission.
In this regard, it is sympathetic how God adapts to the person of every time and culture. We see this already on the pages of Scripture! In order for the Pentecost to be perceived by the apostles as one of the peaks of Jesus’ redemptive work, it was not enough for the Lord to breathe on them after His resurrection and so deliver the Holy Spirit; an Old Testament epiphany with all “accompanying effects,” as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–13), was necessary.
Undoubtedly, the Lord also adapts to us today! He seeks daily ways to reach out to us so that we can understand and perceive that it is He who speaks to us, who accompanies us, who watches over us.
Regarding the mystical life of Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, perhaps the most fitting answer to every “why?” could be Jesus’: “Yes, Father, that pleased You” (cf. Mt 11:26). God was pleased to lead Mary on this path; therefore, for her, the mystical life was “tailor-made.” It was an expression of the personal, unique, and extravagantly sharing love of God for her.
In light of the mission that God entrusted to her for us, it was about a “measure that is filled to overflowing, pressed down,” about a “cup overflowing with abundance,” because this overflowing LOVE was not meant to remain hidden in Mary’s heart, not to remain a secret between her and her God/Bridegroom, but through recorded testimonies, it was to be revealed, almost “uncovered” even before us.
Mary Magdalene did not live her (religious) life for herself. She did not live it only for the convent of Florentine Carmelites. She lived it for the Church. She lived it specifically for the Church of her time – we spoke about the letters in which she urged the renewal of all states in the Church of that time. She lived (and lives!) it also for our contemporary Church, as evidenced by the proclamation of the jubilee year on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of her birth! Her prayers, sufferings, and trials, which she offered for the Church while she lived on earth, as well as her prayers, intercessions, and worship transformed and intensified by her entry into God’s kingdom belong to the category of “fruit that remains” (cf. John 15:16).
The same applies to Mary’s mystical experiences: they too remain alive and can refresh and revitalize our life of faith; they can help deepen and make more intimate my personal relationship with God.
Yes, Mary’s mystical life primarily WITNESSES TO THE INTIMACY OF LOVE with which God approaches us; to the intimacy of love to which He also invites us – surely each in a different way, for love has many forms – but without exception to everyone. “I no longer call you servants, but I have called you friends” – says Jesus (cf. John 15:15). The biblical “Song of Songs” is not reserved only for certain types of Christians; the intimate love is the destiny of all inhabitants of the kingdom of God, and it will also be our destiny, it will be my personal destiny.
In conclusion
In conclusion, allow me to quote a sympathetic text about the intimacy of love between Jesus and Mary Magdalene; a love expressed also in mutual “playfulness”; a love that is bold and may be bold, even impatient, because its only goal is to love more:
As soon as I approached Holy Communion, I saw Jesus. He was overflowing with love and looked as if He wanted to tease me. He engaged in a loving conversation with me and spoke to me at first gently: “I called you – and you did not answer me.”
I defended myself: “I sought you and found you not.”
He said again: “I called you, my dove, and you did not respond.”
And I replied: “I sought you, my Dearest. I longed for you, my Dearest. I loved you, my Love. I sought you, I truly sought, my Dearest, but found you not.”
But Jesus, Love, He whom I always call Love, emphatically repeated: “No, my bride, it is I who called you so earnestly, and you did not answer!”
I, however, did not yield: “It was I who sought you so earnestly, and you did not make yourself findable, my beloved!”
Jesus, Love, declared: “And do you know why you did not find me? Because you did not seek diligently enough.”
I countered: “And do you know, Love, why I did not answer you? Because you did not call loud enough for me to hear you.”
Jesus, Love, urged: “Seek me unceasingly, my bride, and you will find me.”
I replied: “Shout loudly enough, and I will hear your voice.”
Then Jesus, Love, called: “It is your turn, your turn to seek me!”
And I, already impatient from love, exclaimed: “Wait, Love, you know that you said that who has more must give more. And because you have more than I do, you must give. You know very well that you are more powerful, richer, and stronger than I am, and you also know that you love more than I do. You say of yourself that you are the Truth; but if you spoke this way, Love, you were telling the truth, and if it is really so, it is your turn, your turn, Love, because you are more powerful and stronger than I.” He called me so loudly that I could hear His voice!”
And immediately He began to say: “Come, come, my dove, my beautiful one, come.” And He united me entirely with Himself and so we sweetly conversed – as intimate friends – but I couldn't convey even the smallest part of it. And when I rested in union with Him, I happily sighed: Now I found you, my Love, now I am so satisfied that I am united with you, Love!!!
(Transcription of a lecture by P. Norbert Žuška, O.Carm.,
which took place at the national meeting of Carmelite tertiaries
in June 2016 in Kostelní Vydří; editorial adjustments)
