The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal Read Online Free

Agnese Celeste (her father is a doctor) and asked her what the strongest poison was, which would kill a person. She answered him. Then the devil appeared in the same form to Maria Ignazia and the late sister Maria Felice, both of whom were novices at that time. He told them it was the will of God and of Padre Peters that poison should be mixed with the princess’s medicine, for she was a soul in God’s grace and would be saved through death. The devil, still in the same form, showed Maria Ignazia and Maria Felice, who were looking after the princess, where they should get the poison, namely from the box in Mother Mistress Maria Luisa’s room, where she kept her writing things, and from a tin in the pharmacy. I clearly remember writing that the devil in the shape of Maria Luisa went to Katharina’s chamber with the two novices and there, with his own hands, put the poison into the container where the princess’s medicine was being prepared. The devil also alerted the othernuns, Maria Giuseppa, Maria Giacinta and Giuseppa Maria … to what the above-mentioned novices Maria Ignazia and Maria Felice were doing, when they gave the princess the poisoned medicine. The three nuns noticed other deceptions by the devil, when they found other cups and little tins contaminated with poison.
    All these things happened while the princess was very ill.
    The letter from the Madonna ended by saying that Peters’ favored daughter knew what the devil was doing, taking on her shape and going to the princess, but she herself remained hidden in order to pray for the princess and her daughters.… Finally, I would like to add that, when the princess was well again, Padre Leziroli preached to us
that the devil could take on the appearance of people; he could touch and deceive, and therefore we should believe the servants of God
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    The following day, Maria Francesca resumed her testimony: 17
    To go back to the matter of the poison and the princess, I would like to add by way of making things clearer, that during those days when the princess was ill, and people were talking about her being poisoned, I also wrote a letter to Peters, in the name of the Madonna, saying: “The devil has taken my box to the pharmacy and showed us there a tin of poison. But I would like the box to remain in my daughter’s room.”
    In another letter, the Madonna told Peters he should say to the princess that all the things she had heard from the mistress had been the devil’s illusions. Padre Peters should repeat this to his cardinal (His Eminence Cardinal Reisach).
    Another letter revealed that Peters was waiting for a sign from the Madonna … to convince the princess, as she refused to believe. But the Madonna answered:
“No, I will give no sign! He who does not believe in the servants of God will not believe in miracles either.”
Finally, she told Peters that the devil himself would give such a sign. This sign was the inscription of the name of Jesus on a brick in Maria Luisa’s chamber. A little later, an inscription of Mary’s name appeared on another brick. Padre Peters wrote a prayer to banish the devil, for him and his fellow confessor Padre Leziroli to repeat every three months. I copied out the aforementioned prayer from Padre Peters’ handwriting.
    Analyzing these supposedly divine letters from the Virgin brings to light the following course of events: Maria Luisa initially tried to protect herself from all future accusations by having the Madonna announce that the devil was appearing to people in her form. Then she built up a stark contrast between the “holy” Maria Luisa and the “unbeliever” Luisa Maria. The latter was condemned to die for her pride; the former was to be glorified by God. Finally, we glimpse how Maria Luisa set about the poisoning operation. Having inquired about strong poisons with Agnese Celeste, the doctor’s daughter, she recruited the two novices Maria Ignazia and Maria Felice as her accomplices, again saying this