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Blessed Maria Adeodata
Pisani O.S.B. (1806–1855)
 Maria
Adeodata Pisani, O.S.B., was born in
Naples on the 29th December 1806,
the only daughter of Baron Benedetto
Pisani Mompalao Cuzkeri and Vincenza
Carrano. She was baptised on the
same day in the Parish of St Mark at
Pizzofalcone, and named Maria
Teresa. Her father had the title of
Baron of Frigenuini, one of the
oldest and richest barony in Malta,
whilst her mother was an Italian.
Unfortunaltely, her father took to
drink and this soon led to marital
problems, so much so that whilst
Maria Teresa was still a small child
her mother left the conjugal house
and entrusted the child to her
husband’s mother, Elisabeth Mamo
Mompalao, who lived in Naples. The
grandmother took good care of Maria
Teresa, but when she died her
grandchild was only 10 years of age.
After her grandmother’s death, she
was sent to a famous boarding school
in Naples, known as the ‘Istituto di
Madama Prota’, where the
aristocratic ladies of the area used
to get their education. Maria Teresa
stayed in this college till she was
17 years of age, and here she
received her religious and social
education. In the meantime, her
father continued to create problems
and in 1821, due to his involvement
in the uprising in Naples, he was
sentenced to death.
Since he was a British
citizen, his sentence was
suspended and he was
expelled from Naples and
deported to Malta. In 1825,
Maria Teresa and her mother
came to live in Malta. They
settled in Rabat where her
father was also living his
dissolute life, but they
never lived together with
him. Although her mother had
been trying to find a
suitable man to get her
married, Maria Teresa always
declined such proposals. She
preferred to lead a quiet
life, going out to Church
daily, and when the occasion
presented itself to help the
poor she met on the streets.
The people who knew her
started to comment about her
pious behaviour. She was
never put off by her
father’s behaviour and
whenever she met him she
would ask for his blessing.
On one occasion, she was
impressed by a sermon she
heard at the ‘Ta’ Giezu’
church in Rabat. She went to
pray in front of the picture
of Our Lady of Good Counsel,
in the Augustinian’s Church
in Rabat, the church where
she usually went for her
daily mass and evening
prayers. There for the first
time she felt the calling to
become a nun and dedicate
her life to God in prayer.
Her parents immediately
opposed her wish to become a
nun, and her mother forced
her to wait for a year
before making any final
decision. Maria Teresa
waited obediently for a
whole year, but her resolve
did not change. On the 16th
July 1828, she joined the
Benedictine Community in St
Peter’s Monastery in Mdina.
In choosing this kind of
life, she had chosen a life
of prayer, work, silence and
obedience. After six months
as a postulant, at the
beginning of 1829, in a
special ceremony of
investiture as a novice took
place, surrounded by her
parents and relatives, and
she changed her name to
Maria Adeodata. During the
one year she was a novice,
she impressed not only her
companions in the noviciate
but also the nun who was in
charge of the novices. This
nun confessed that she never
found any fault in Adeodata,
and that instead of teaching
her, she used to learn from
her. On the 4th March 1830,
the required Notarial Act of
Renouncement was performed,
which was the last formal
step required to be admitted
as a nun. In this Act, she
renounced to her titles and
distributed the vast
inheritance she had
inherited from her paternal
grandmother, keeping just
enough for herself to be
able to help others during
her lifetime. The solemn
monastic profession took
place on the 8th March 1830,
and for the next 25 years
she lived as a cloistered
nun in St Peter’s monastery.
During this period, not only
the nuns in the monastery
but many persons outside
benefited from her acts of
charity and her saintly
life. She held various
official responsibilities
within the monastery, but
the ones she treasured most
were that of looking after
the chapel, which gave her
more time to be near the
Blessed Sacrament and that
of porter, which kept her
close to the poor people who
used to come daily to the
monastery seeking help. For
four years she was in charge
of novices, and from 1851 to
1853 she was elected as
Abbess.
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During the two
years’ mandate she
had to face
difficulties from a
few members of the
community, since she
tried to bring about
some changes in
community life in
order to help the
community live more
in accordance with
the Benedictine rule
and monastic way of
life. Some nuns were
also jealous of her
since so many people
revered her for her
saintly way of life.
She was renowned for
her spirit of
self-sacrifice and
self-denial. The
best she had,
whether food or
clothes, were always
given to those in
need, whilst she was
happy to live on
leftovers and worn
out clothes. During
her life in the
monastery she also
wrote various works,
the most famous of
which is “The
mystical garden of
the soul that loves
Jesus and Mary”,
which collects
together personal
spiritual
reflections written
in the form of a
diary between 15th
August 1835 and 3rd
May 1843. She also
wrote her
reflections about
spiritual direction,
and a good number of
prayers some of
which were meant to
be used in the
community. Although
her native language
was Italian, she did
her best to learn
how to speak and
write in Maltese,
and she wrote some
prayers in Maltese
for common use in
the Monastery.
Throughout her life
as a nun, she was a
shining example to
all in her
observance of the
Rule of St Benedict,
obedience to her
superiors, her acts
of charity, her
devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament
and to the Blessed
Virgin, and her
total commitment to
love God. During the
last two years of
her life, heart
trouble slowly
eroded her health
which was never all
that good. Yet she
continued to force
herself to live a
normal life within
her community,
always striving for
perfection and
leading others
through her example.
On the 25th February
1855, at the age of
48, she realised
that the end was
near. Against her
nurse’s advice, she
dragged herself to
the Chapel for the
early morning
conventual mass, and
after receiving
communion she had to
be carried back to
her bed, where she
died soon afterwards
surrounded by her
community reciting
prayers. As soon as
news of her death
reached the people
outside the
monastery, the same
phrase was repeated
throughout Malta:
“the Saint has
died”. She had a
simple funeral, and
she was buried in
the Monastery’s
crypt the following
day. Many people
claimed miraculous
cures and other
graces from God
through Adeodata’s
intercession. In
1892, the Canonical
Process for her
Beatification and
Canonization was
initiated. In 1897,
the miracle which
was later to be
presented to the
Congregation for
Causes of
Beatification and
Canonization for
official examination
and eventual
acceptance took
place. This miracle
happened in Subiaco
in Italy, and it
involved a
Benedictine Abbess
who was so sick that
the last rites were
administered to her,
but after prayers
through the
intercession of
Adeodata she got
better and the
doctors looking
after her could not
explain such a
recovery. Due to
economic reasons,
the Canonical
Process for
Adeodata’s
Beatification was
stopped in 1913, but
in 1989, the
Benedictine
Community at St
Peter’s Monastery
presented a petition
for the resumption
of the Canonical
Process for
Adeodata’s
Beatification and
Canonisation. Maria
Adeodata Pisani was
beatified on May
9th, 2001 by Pope
John Paul II. |
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