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Photo: Portico of the actual
Monastery of Santa Maria degl'Angeli and
Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, in
Via dei Massoni 26, 50139 - Firenze.
E-Mail: carmelo.firenze@tiscali.it
Tel: 055.4226006
History
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1450: Feast of the Assumption - Four pious women receive the Carmelite habit as mantellate (beguines) from the prior of the Carmelite convent of Florence.
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1452: Pope Nicholas V issues the Bull Cum Nulla approving the aggregation of women to the Carmelite Order. |
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1479: The Scapular was granted to the beguines by the Prior General Cristoforo Martignoni, O.Carm., thus becoming choir nuns. |
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1513c.: The first constitutions are adopted. The group becomes a true community of cloistered nuns with the obligation of celebrating the Divine Office.
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1521: Reception of the black veil. This ritual veiling of the nuns concluded their evolution from beguines to nuns.
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1582: Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi joins the community of Carmelite nuns. Her presence in the monastery brought to a climax the spiritual life of the community.
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1607: May 25, Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi passes from this world to life everlasting. She continues to be present through the spiritual legacy she left to her community and the whole Carmelite Order.
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1628: Transfer of the monastery from its original site in Borgo San Friano to Borgo Pinti.
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1888: Transfer of the monastery from Borgo Pinti to Piazza Savonarola.
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1925: Transfer of the monastery from Piazza Savonarola to its actual location in Via dei Massoni 26, Careggi - Florence.
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Today
The old monastery is now the major seminary of the Florentine archdiocese. The patron of the seminary is Saint Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi.
The building houses the saint's cell, now transformed into a chapel, as well as other locations associated with her. (Photo: The old monastery of Borgo San Friano where St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi lived.)
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The actual monastery is situated on a pleasant hill overlooking the city of Florence. The natural setting surrounding the Carmelite monastery evokes the first Carmelite foundation in the 13th century on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land.
The silent which reigns in this place is conducive to a life of prayer and contemplation. (Photo: The entrance of the actual monastery at Via dei Massoni 26, Careggi.)
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Beneath the main altar of the church below the apse lies the incorrupt body of the saint permanently exposed for veneration.The only decorations to be found in this simple, whitewashed church are the apse representing the saint in glory, the main altar of marble, three paintings of the saint in ecstasy and a contemporary altarpiece of Our Lady of Mt Carmel.
The large crucifix on the main altar transmits a sense of peaceful abandonment in God's hands, a typical attitude of the contemplative lifestyle. (Photo: The apse of the monastery's church showing the saint in glory.)
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St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi was deeply aware of what was going on in the Church and the world of her times. The view of the Cathedral and the city of Florence from the monastery reminds the nuns of their mission to intercede unceasingly for the renewal of the Church and for the world. (Photo: Panoramic view of Florence from the monastery.)
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Charlo' Camilleri, O.Carm.
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