Marianna Fontanella was born in Turin on 7^th of January 1661 to the family of the Counts of Fontanella. Her mother came from the Tana di Chieri, «related in the second and third degree to Blessed Luigi Gonzaga».

Marianna spent a peaceful childhood, surrounded by the affection of her parents and siblings, in a stately and comfortable environment, of solid Christian principles. At the age of about eight, orphaned by her father, she was struck by a serious illness that carried her to close death, but she recovered by the miraculous intervention of the Virgin. Marianna turned out to be a very lively child, full of life and the desire to live, very sensitive and affectionate, curious to discover and experience the reality surrounding her and, at the same time, attracted and fascinated by the mystery of God.

In the autumn of 1672 she entered the Cistercian Monastery of Stella in Rifredo di Saluzzo and spent about a year and a half there. In early January 1675 she returned to her family.

On November 19, 1676, Marianna, not yet sixteen, was accepted after numerous difficulties, into the Carmel of Santa Cristina in Turin, taking the name of Sister Maria of the Angels. There, while still very young, she was to be in charge of the formation of novices. On December 26, 1677, Marianna was finally able to make her religious profession. Frequent ecstasies commenced from 1682, which often took place in public and humiliated her deeply, because she felt she was a poor sinner. In 1694 at the age of thirty-three, with a dispensation from the Holy See, she was elected prioress. In 1696 Sister Maria obtained the proclamation of  St. Joseph as co-patron of Turin. It was to him that she dedicated the new Monastery.

In 1703 Sister Maria founded the Carmel of Moncalieri, which she desired so strongly to welcome young women who could not be received in Turin.

On 16 December she died in Turin.

The beatification ceremony was held on April 25, 1865.

PLEASE NOTE

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2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).

Maria Barba was born on 16 January 1884 into the bosom of a deeply believing family, but which resolutely opposed her religious vocation, manifested since the age of fifteen.

Maria, in fact, would have to wait almost twenty years before she could effectively realize her aspiration, demonstrating, in these years of expectation and interior suffering, a surprising fortitude of soul and an uncommon fidelity to the initial inspiration. In this struggle, which ended with her entry into the Teresian Carmel in Ragusa on 25^th of September 1919, Maria Barba was sustained by a very special devotion to the mystery of the Eucharist: in the Eucharist, she saw the mystery of God's sacramental presence in the world, the concreteness of his infinite love for people, the reason for our full trust in his promises.

Upon entering Carmel, where she took the name of Mary Candida of the Eucharist, she fully developed what she herself called her «vocation for the Eucharist».

Elected prioress of the monastery in 1924, she remained so until 1947, except for a brief interruption, instilling in her community a deep love for the Rule of Saint Teresa of Jesus and contributing directly to the expansion of the Teresian Carmel in Sicily, and to the return of the male branch of the Order.

The Lord called her, after a few months of acute physical suffering, on June 12, 1949, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

The beatification ceremony took place on March 21, 2004.

PLEASE NOTE

1) In order to be able to consult the Positio please fill in the request form on this page.

2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

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1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).

PLEASE NOTE

1) In order to be able to consult the Positio please fill in the request form on this page.

2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

[No form id or name provided!]