Costanza Starace

The Bishop of Castellammare di Stabia, Msgr. Francesco Saverio Petagna, entrusted the young tertiary with the direction of the "Pious Union of the Daughters of Mary" and asked her to teach catechism to the children of the region.

In 1869, a terrible cholera epidemic struck the region, leaving many young girls orphaned and left to their own devices. Faced with this distress, Sister Mary Magdalene of the Passion, supported by her bishop, decided to act. She gathered a group of young women from the Pious Union to care for the orphans and the sick in a house made available by her father. On July 16, 1869, with four companions, she laid the foundations of a new community.

Thus was born the Congregation of the Compassionist Servants of Mary (Suore Compassioniste Serve di Maria). The institute received diocesan canonical erection on May 27, 1871, and Sister Mary Magdalene was appointed its first superior. The charism of the new foundation is to "share the compassion of Jesus and the Mother of Sorrows, and to assist one's neighbor in all their needs, both spiritual and corporal."

Under her leadership, the institute developed rapidly, first in Puglia, then throughout Campania. The sisters dedicated themselves to the education of abandoned children and to assisting the sick, the elderly, and the needy. In 1893, the congregation was officially affiliated with the Order of the Servants of Mary. The final pontifical approval was granted by Pope Pius XI on July 10, 1928, a few years after the death of the foundress.

The life of Sister Maria Maddalena of the Passion is marked by an intimate union with the Passion of Christ and the Virgin of Sorrows. However, her outward devotion hides inner and physical trials of extreme rigor. She suffered from mysterious and persistent illnesses throughout her life. Biographical sources report that she experienced extraordinary mystical phenomena, including ecstasies, physical diabolical attacks, and the bearing of the stigmata of the Passion, which bled periodically on Fridays. Despite these sufferings, she maintained total obedience to the divine will and deep humility, constantly seeking to hide these extraordinary manifestations from the eyes of the world. She passed away from pneumonia on December 13, 1921, in Castellammare di Stabia, at the age of 76. Her mortal remains rest today in the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart and the Addolorata in Scanzano, a hamlet of her hometown.

The reputation for holiness of the foundress led to the opening of her cause for beatification. The diocesan informative process took place from 1939 to 1942 in the Diocese of Castellammare di Stabia. On July 7, 2003, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby declaring her Venerable.

On June 26, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI approved a decree recognizing an unexplained healing attributed to her intercession as an authentic miracle.

The beatification ceremony was celebrated on April 15, 2007, in the Co-Cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia. It was presided over, in the name of Pope Benedict XVI, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The spirituality of Blessed Maria Maddalena of the Passion is deeply rooted in the mystery of the Cross and Marian Compassion. Her entire life is summarized by her absolute submission to the will of God, which she often expressed through these words: "The will of God is the only goal of my life" and "The will of God is my paradise." For her, prayer was not an isolated activity, but the very source of all apostolic action and all governance: "Prayer is the only way to govern well."\n\nShe also left strong spiritual maxims, such as: "When you cannot speak to man about God, speak to God about man" or "Virtue is like the sun which, even if the doors are closed, enters through the cracks."\n\nToday, the Compassionist Sisters Servants of Mary continue her work of charity and education in Italy and throughout the world, witnessing to the compassion of Christ to the most vulnerable.