Stephana de Quinzanis | |
|---|---|
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| Virgin | |
| Born | 1457 Brescia, Italy |
| Died | 2 January 1530 Soncino,Cremona, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 14 December 1740 byPope Benedict XIV |
| Majorshrine | Convent of the Dominican Tertiary Sisters Soncino, Cremona, Italy |
| Feast | 2 January |
Stephana de Quinzanis, TOSD (variant spellings include Stephanie, Stefana; also, Quinzani) (1457 – 2 January 1530) was an Italian sister of theThird Order of St. Dominic,stigmatic andmystic. She was beatified byPope Benedict XIV in 1740.
She was born in 1457 inBrescia, Italy, to Lorenzo de Quinzanis and his wife, who were a poor and pious couple.[1] Her father became a member of theThird Order of St. Dominic while Stephana was very young. While accompanying him on visits to the Dominican monastery in nearbySoncino, she met thestigmaticfriar,Matthew Carrieri,OP, who instructed her in thecatechism. Carrieri told her that she would be his spiritual heiress, a statement she did not understand for many years.[2] She began receiving visions of Dominican saints from age seven, at which point she made vows ofpoverty, chastity and obedience.[2] In a subsequent miraculous experience in 1464, Christ appeared to her, accompanied by Mary and Dominican saints Dominic, Thomas Aquinas, and Catherine of Siena, presenting her with a wedding ring, signifying hermystical marriage. Carrieri died when Stephana was 14 years old; soon after he appeared to her in a vision, and she herself received the stigmata.[2]
De Quinzanis started to work as a servant for her living, but she continued in her formation in the Third Order, and at age 15 made herprofession at the Dominican priory in Soncino. Her devotion to the poor and sick led her to found a community ofThird Order Sisters there. She served as its firstprioress.
Her counsel was sought by many, includingAngela Merici, foundress of theUrsulines, alsoAugustine Fangi, as well as her fellow Dominican tertiary and mystic,Osanna of Mantua.[3] She participated in various stages of thepassion of Jesus Christ, which was attested to by 21 witnesses in 1497 in a still extant account, written in the vernacular, and entitledRelazione dell'Estasi della Passione.[2] Sources state that although Stephana was "ugly", she had magnificent hair. Grudging herself this one beauty, she pulled it out by the roots.[4]
De Quinzanis had a particularly intense devotion toSaint Thomas Aquinas. In fact, to overcome the temptation ofthoughts against purity, she once threw herself upon a cartload of thorns in imitation of theDoctor Angelicus. Exhausted from thispenance, she prayed to Saint Thomas, and, according to legend, was girded by angels with a cord, which they tied so tightly around her waist that she cried out in pain.[2]
Though she had no formal theological training, she could discussmystical theology at the most profound level. She is therefore considered apatron saint for theologians. It is said that she could read the hearts and minds of the people around her, and had the gift ofprophesy andhealing. She lived in a nearly continuousfasting. She accurately predicted the date of her own death, which occurred from natural causes on 2 January 1530.[3]
De Quinzanis' tomb became apilgrimage site almost immediately. Her intercession was often felt in the convent that she had founded, where thesisters obtained both material and spiritual help through her intercession.
Her cult was popularized by the Dominicans Bartholomeo of Mantua and Battista of Salò, but theirLatinvitae have been lost, and only a later Italian version which combined the two texts has survived.[1] Hercultus was confirmed byPope Benedict XIV on 14 December 1740.[3]
quinzani.
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