Evelina Piccioli

Evelina Piccioli (also: Celina Maria del Sacro Cuore di Gesù ) (* August 18, 1888 in Livorno ; † December 18, 1974 ibid.) Was an Italian Carmelite , nun and founder of the monastery.

life and work

The foiled vocation

Evelina Piccioli grew up as the eldest of four siblings in an upper-class family in Livorno and enjoyed a good education. In poor health and anemic, she developed an intimate religiousness early on, with frequent visits to the pilgrimage church of Madonna di Montenero in the south of Livorno. In 1913 the Jesuit Lodovico Macinai (1856–1929) was her spiritual advisor. Her wish to join the Carmelite Convent in Florence met with bitter resistance from the entire family and became hopeless as the convent only accepted candidates with the consent of the family.

Escape from the family and entry into the monastery

During a stay in Badia Prataglia ( Poppi ) in June 1918, she met a Spanish woman with excellent connections to the Carmelite order. In this way, the opportunity opened up for her to enter the Modena Carmelite Convent (in Sassuolo since 1959 ). On November 27, 1918, she fled her parents' house, traveled the night on the train to Modena and entered the monastery as a postulant on the 28th, feeling like Abraham .

Prosecution

What began now was a fierce struggle by the family against Evelina's calling. It first simulated a serious illness of the beloved father, then initiated a civil suit in Modena in which famous figures from public life stood against each other at the time (on the part of the family the anti-fascist politician Giuseppe Emanuele Modigliani, 1872-1947; on the part of Evelina the politician Luigi Lusignano , 1877–1927), finally, after Evelina's positive outcome, a criminal trial in Livorno with the persecution of Father Macinai and a public confrontation between Evelina and her entire family. She was placed under the tutelage of the historian Pietro Silva (1887-1954) and had to endure excruciating examinations in the psychiatric clinic of Quarto dei Mille until the court ordered her release on January 31, 1922. She could return to the monastery and continue the preparation time (postulation).

Carmelite in Modena

On June 8, 1925, according to a postulate that had lasted six and a half years, she was dressed as a discless Carmelite and took the religious name Celina Maria del Sacro Cuore di Gesù (after Celine Martin , sister of Therese von Lisieux ). Her supervisor went to Milan in September 1925 to found the Carmel there. Sister Celina's father died on December 1, 1925. On June 9, 1926, she completed her novitiate with simple profession, and on December 10, 1927, she was allowed to make solemn profession.

Superior in Rome and Livorno

On May 1, 1934, she was sent to the Carmel of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome, where she was elected subprioress and later prioress (monastery superior). In 1936 she received a visit from one of her biological sisters. According to the wishes of the Bishop of Livorno, Giovanni Piccioni (1876-1959, in office from 1921), and given the difficult conditions in Rome, Celina came to Livorno in May 1937 with two sisters to prepare a monastery there. It was the first time in 19 years that she met her mother (died on August 10, 1942). For the construction of the monastery, she chose a hill in Antignano (south of Livorno), with a view of the sea and not far from the Madonna di Montenero (now Via delle Carmelitane , 21). The foundation stone was laid on October 15, 1937, and in August 1938 the Roman convent moved into the new building. Celina was elected prioress (superior) of the community. She ran the monastery until 1948 and then again from 1951 to 1957.

Livorno monastery at war

From 1939 the monastery was partially occupied by Italian soldiers. Before the bombing in August 1943, Prioress Celina (with four sisters) had to move to Calci for health reasons . After the occupation by the Germans in September 1943, the entire convent had to flee to the Charterhouse of Pisa in Calci from June 1944. The occupation of the monastery by English soldiers ended in May 1945. The exam could be resumed on October 3, 1945.

Sickness and death

From 1959 the founder, who was seriously ill and had become deaf, was only able to move with the help of fellow sisters. She outlived her younger sisters, who died in 1964 and 1968, and died in 1974 at the age of 86.

The postponed autobiography

Sister Celina wrote a life report under the title Hostia laudis (“Offering to Praise God”) at the request of her superior in 1931 on the occasion of her 25th anniversary of profession. 25 years later (on the 50th anniversary in 1956) she continued the report until 1938. In 1977 both texts (supplemented by a short report 1938–1974 and richly illustrated) were published by her monastery under the title Un cuore per Livorno (A Heart for Livorno) (2nd edition 2005). Bishop Alberto Ablondi , to whom the book was dedicated, called the text a “canto” (song) of the creature to the Creator with praise and thanks for joys and sorrows.

literature

• Un cuore per Livorno. Madre Celina Maria del S. Cuore di Gesù (Evelina Piccioli). Carmelitana scalza . Carmelo S. Teresa, Antignano (Livorno) 1977, 2005.

Web links

• Website of the Carmelite Convent Livorno , Italian

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.suorecarmelitanedifirenze.it/il-carmelo/
2. ↑ http://www.monasterosassuolo.it/la-nostra-storia/gallery.html
3. ↑ http://www.to.chiesadimilano.it/or4/or?uid=ADMIesy.main.index&oid=72448&uidx_28=ADMIvenues.public.L_dettaglio&idl=3386&idtip=25