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

reported, immediately afterMaria Saveria’s death, the madre vicaria fell into a long swoon. When she awoke, she claimed to have been transported to heaven, where she spoke to Christ about Maria Saveria’s judgment. In what Jesus had said about Maria Saveria, she “also recognized his judgment of Luisa Maria.” The princess would “soon die and be damned,” because Maria Luisa’s “tears and prayers [had] achieved nothing with God.” 22
    That evening, Maria Luisa turned her attention to producing a deadly brew for the princess. Agnese Celeste and some of the other novices observed the mistress breaking up shards of glass. The nuns thought the glass dangerous, and warned Maria Luisa to be careful of her eyes. Depending on their size, splinters of glass can injure the inside of the mouth, the stomach, and even the intestines, causing internal bleeding. The finer the glass is ground, the less obvious the bleeding. At around six o’clock in the evening, during Vespers, Maria Luisa put her plan into action. The nuns had to be in the choir of the church for Divine Office, and she thought nobody would observe her. When Maria Giacinta, who was lying ill in her cell, asked Maria Luisa why she had crept past on tiptoes, she replied sanctimoniously that she hadn’t wanted to wake her, as she was ill. “Then I started to suspect that somebody really did want to kill the princess. And more so when I noticed the novices Maria Ignazia, Maria Felice, Agnese Celeste and Mistress Maria Luisa busying themselves over the princess’s bed. They had declared themselves the only people responsible for the princess’s care.” 23
    Maria Ignazia was to give the princess the gruel containing the ground glass on this Wednesday evening. She remembered the novice mistress summoning her: 24
    Maria Luisa began speaking to me as follows: “My daughter, what I am about to tell you must remain absolutely secret; do not tell anybody. I will not say anything to Maria Felice, as she could make things difficult for me. You know that those who are obedient never do anything bad; now we are showing obedience to the padre (I think she meant Peters). So you must take a little piece of
spongia
and put little bits of glass into it, and mix this with the gruel you are taking to Luisa Maria (the princess) this evening.”
    I was still very confused by her instructions, and answered as best I could:
“My mother mistress, if the Lord has commanded you in this matter
,
it would be best for you to do it alone, for you know how the command should be carried out. You can well imagine that Luisa Maria might notice, and the matter would not stay secret.”
    The mistress said nothing to this. Shortly afterwards, she asked me: “Do you know which medicine is also a poison?”
    I replied:
“Opium is a poison!!”
    This was how the matter was left on that day, and when Padre Peters came out of the princess’s cell, the mistress accompanied him to the door. Feeling anxious, I went into the little choir, to confide in the Lord and the Blessed Virgin, so that they might enlighten me as to whether I must obey the mistress or not—and whether the person who had spoken to me was actually the mistress.
    After Maria Ignazia’s hesitant reaction, Maria Luisa decided to take matters into her own hands. Agnese Celeste observed her outside the door to Katharina’s cell, “reaching under her collar and drawing something out” that she mixed into the gruel that was to be given to the princess. 25 Katharina ate the gruel, which apparently caused her to feel unwell. On that Thursday morning, December 9, she asked for a cup of black tea, which was brought to her straightaway. But this made her feel no better: on the contrary, the tea caused severe stomach pains, nausea, and vomiting.
    The sickness may have been caused by tartar emetic in the tea. Sant’Ambrogio’s nurse and apothecary, Sister Maria Giuseppa, told the inquisitor that the novice mistress had asked her for