The Life and Works of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781945275500)

"In March of 1584, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi fell gravely ill and asked to be able to make her profession prior to the time, and on 27 May, Feast of the Trinity, she was carried into the choir on her pallet, where she pronounced before the Lord her vows of chastity, poverty and obedience for ever.

"From this moment an intense mystical season began which was also the source of the Saint's great ecstatic fame. The Carmelites of St. Mary of the Angels have five manuscripts in which are recorded the extraordinary experiences of their young Sister.

"The Forty Days of the summer of 1584 are followed by The Colloquies of the first half of the following year. The apex of the mystical knowledge that God granted of himself to Sr. Mary Magdalene is found in Revelations and Intelligences, eight days of splendid ecstacies from the vigil of Pentecost to the Feastday of the Trinity in 1585. This was an intense experience that made her able at only 19 years of age to span the whole mystery of salvation, from the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of Mary to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

"St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi continues to be an inspiring spiritual figure for the Carmelites Nuns of the Ancient Observance. They see in her the "Sister" who has travelled the entire way of transforming union with God and who finds in Mary the "star" of the way to perfection.

"This great Saint has for everyone the gift of being a spiritual teacher, particularly for priests, to whom she always nourished a true passion."

Pope Benedict XVI