Blessed Emily Bicchieri

From then on, regarding herself as separated from the world and consecrated to God, she began to lead the life of a true nun in her father's house. Her choice was not yet fixed. She later decided on the Order of Sai nt Dominic, and her fath Ordre de Saint-Dominique Religious order to which the saint belongs. er having had a monastery built for her, she entered it with several companions who had come to place themselves under her guidance. After a year of novitiate, she took the habit of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and ceased all relations with the outside world, wishing to receive no one but her father: unfortunately, she lost him shortly after, and despite her deep sorrow, she showed great resignation to the will of God.

Her companions chose her as their superior and had no reason to regret it, so much tenderness and affection did she show them. Filled with deep humility, she shared with her daughters the most menial and abject tasks of the house. She cared greatly for the exact observance of the rule and for respect toward ecclesiastical superiors: she regarded her confessor as the interpreter of God's will for her and her daughters. Knowing each of her sisters thoroughly, she treated them according to the degree of perfection they had attained. But there is one thing she asked of all of them without distinction: purity of intention. She also wanted them to have the glory of God as the goal of all their actions. She took great care to maintain perfect charity among them. To this end, she had established a touching custom in the midst of her community: on the eve of feast days, each nun would kneel before her companions and ask their forgiveness for the bad examples she had given them and the distress she had caused them.

The constitutions of the monastery of Saint Margare monastère de Sainte-Marguerite Religious foundation established by Émilie and her father. t (such was the name of this new foundation) stated that on fasting days one could not even drink water outside of meals without the superior's permission. The latter, who was well-versed in the knowledge of spiritual paths, sometimes refused it, and sometimes granted it. She never failed to say that a mortification or an abstinence that one imposes upon oneself out of pure obedience is of the greatest profit for eternal life. She also taught them to offer this mortification to Jesus Christ, in memory of the thirst He experienced on the Cross. She went so far as to beg her nuns to be willing to reserve this relief for the other world, to place it in the hands of their guardian angel so that he might apply it to the refreshment of their souls when they would be in Purgatory. An example came to prove the efficacy and merit of this excellent practice. Sister Cecilia Marguerite Avogadro of Quin to appeared to Mother Emily three days af Sœur Cécile Marguerite Avogadro de Quinto Religious sister of the community that appeared to Émilie after her death. ter her death. Now, Mother Emily had sometimes refused this sister permission to drink: however painful this refusal was, according to the superior's instructions, Sister Cecilia offered her mortification to Jesus crucified. But no sooner had she died than her guardian angel, appearing to her through the flames of Purgatory, extinguished them almost entirely with the help of the water she had deprived herself of on earth. She remained only three days in the place of expiation, because of the overly carnal affection she had had for her own mother: this stain erased, she was immediately drawn from it because of the mortifications she had practiced through obedience.

Her daughters were not the only object of her charity; she also looked after the poor and the afflicted. But as much as she was gentle and charitable towards others, she was severe towards herself, living only on privations. God rewarded so many virtues with extraordinary favors. On a feast day when her charity had kept her near a sick sister, while all her sisters were participating in the banquet of the Lamb, she was greatly distressed to be deprived of communion. Having gone to the church before the office was finished, she prostrated herself before the crucifix and complained with love of being thus deprived of the heavenly food, which makes virginity germinate and sustains it. Immediately an angel descended from heaven and gave her communion with his own hands; of which all the sisters were witnesses. Mother Emily then had the hymn of thanksgiving intoned, persuaded that her nuns must be very pleasing to Our Lord, for this good Master to make them thus witnesses of his amiable attentions towards her. How can one recount all the favors with which God showered her, whether for her own benefit or for that of her neighbor? It is thus that she suddenly healed several of her sisters by giving them her blessing, and stopped a fire by making the sign of the cross over the flames.

But the gift of miracles was not the only special grace that Our Lord granted to His servant. She tasted such sweetness in prayer that she would have devoted herself to this pious exercise day and night, had it not been for the obligations of her office and the duties of community life. She made up at night for what she could not do during the day, and often her prayer was a continuous ecstasy. Now, it happened, during the time that heaven was thus communicating with her soul, pays de Verceil City where Gaudentius began his ministry under Eusebius. that the country of Vercelli was being devastated by incessant rains. Special prayers had been offered, novenas instituted, all without result. One night, as Blessed Emily was begging the sainte Vierge Appears to Gregory to give him the symbol of faith. Blessed Virgin to come to the aid of her compatriots, this good Mother appeared to her in the midst of a pure and serene sky, consoled her, and taught her a formula, a series of prayers to which she attached a certain efficacy for her and for all those who would recite them against storms. We shall provide this formula following the life of Blessed Emily. Another time, when she was in prayer in her cell and was begging the Blessed Virgin to teach her how to pray, the Queen of Angels appeared to her again and said: "My beloved daughter, the sweetness of your words draws me to you. You wish to know what would be the prayer most pleasing to my Son. Well! Learn that you will please Him greatly if, recalling to your memory His three long prayers in Gethsemane, you recite three Paters and three Aves; if you give Him thanks for the sufferings He endured, His agony, the sweat of blood, and if you pray for those who, struggling against the final throes of death, are about to yield their souls." From that moment on, she did not miss a single day of this practice, and drew great consolations from it.

She also wished to know from Our Lord which of the sorrows of His Passion had been the most acute. This good Master assured her that He had endured the sharpest of His sufferings during the three hours He remained suspended on the cross. At the same time, He promised to grant the gift of the three theological virtues to those who, at three o'clock in the afternoon, would recite three Paters and three Aves in memory of His crucifixion.

Another day, as Blessed Emily was meditating on the mystery of the crowning with thorns, she asked Our Lord to let her experience what He Himself had endured in that circumstance. The Savior answered her through the mouth of a crucifix that her request was granted. When she left prayer, she felt such a violent headache that she was obliged to go to bed and remain there for three days, at the end of which Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Catherine appeared to her and gave her a drink of water that dissipated sainte Madeleine Primary dedication of the chapel of Le Reclus. the headache and the sainte Catherine Saint whose voices guide Joan. burning thirst that accompanied it.

Blessed Emily fell ill at the age of seventy-six. Understanding that her end was approaching, she redoubled her fervor in the practice of all virtues and showed herself to be an accomplished model of Christian resignation. After receiving the last Sacraments, and after addressing a few words to her sisters and embracing them all one after the other, she rendered her soul to God in 1314. Her body remained exposed for eight days to the veneration of the faithful, and several infirm persons who approached it immediately recovered their he alth. Cleme Clément XIV Pope who granted canonical institution and the house of Saints John and Paul. nt XIV approved her cult in 1769.

Formula of prayers, taught by the Blessed Virgin to Mother Emily, against storms and excessive rains:

1st: Conduct a procession in which the paschal candle shall be carried, with the cross and holy water; bless the four corners of the sky and say at each blessing:

Crux in Deum patrem, etc. Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis. Per signum Crucis, de inimicis nostris libera nos Deus noster. + In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

By the sign of the Cross, O our God, deliver us from our enemies. In the name of the Father, etc.

2nd: Upon returning from the procession, recite the litanies of the Blessed Virgin, and the hymn:

Maria, Mater gratiæ, Mater misericordiæ, Tu nos ab hoste protege, Et mortis hora suscipe. Amen.

Mary, Mother of grace, Mother of mercy, Protect us from the enemy, And at the hour of death, receive us into your arms. Amen.

Cf. Acta Sancto rum, vol. VII Acta Sanctorum Hagiographic collection cited as a source. of May, new ed.