During her 41 years Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi was in such
close relationship with God that she is known as the “Ecstatic Saint”. But she also knew times of spiritual dryness,
enduring long periods of spiritual desolation.
She had entered the local Carmelite convent at the age of 16
in Florence. After one year, she became
critically ill and death seemed near. So
her superiors allowed her to make her profession of vows from a cot in the
chapel.
Immediately after making her vows, she fell into an ecstasy
that lasted some hours. And again she
would enter into ecstasy for the next 40 days after receiving Our Lord in Holy
Communion.
In order to test the truthfulness about her ecstasies, Saint
Mary Magadalene de’Pazzi’s confessor asked her to dictate her experiences to
sister secretaries. Over the next six years, five large volumes were filled
describing her experiences.
Mystical ecstasy is a special gift from God where the human
soul enters an intimate experience of Communion with God. Quite a large number
of saints experienced ecstasy where the bodily senses are suspended while the
mind and heart are lifted to the divine.
The ecstatic union of the mystics is a reminder to all of us
of the eternal happiness of union God wishes to give us. True joy comes from
being in union with Him. It cannot be bought, it cannot be obtained through
human means. True joy is a gift that we
must open our hearts to receive as a gift by conforming ourselves to God through prayer and penance.
For Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, her spiritual ecstasies
were mere preparation. Five years of
great spiritual dryness followed her ecstasies in which she was plunged into a
state of darkness in which she saw nothing but what was horrible in herself and
all around her. She had violent temptations and endured great physical
suffering.
But she also saw that period of darkness as more valuable than
the ecstasies, where she discovered grace in suffering. She was purified of her desire for earthly
consolations that she could live solely for the reward that is given to the
faithful in heaven. She learned how one’s
ability to suffer with Christ was the road to be conforming to Him.
On her death bed, she said to her sisters: "The last
thing I ask of you—and I ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—is that
you love him alone, that you trust implicitly in him and that you encourage one
another continually to suffer for the love of him."
Prayer disposes us to experience the sweetness of being in
union with God and gives us strength to endure hardship and suffering for the
sake of his name. May all we do today be
done in union with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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