Satellico, Elisabetta Maria, Bl.
SATELLICO, ELISABETTA MARIA, BL.
Known in religion as Maria Crucifixa (Mary Crucified), Poor Clare abbess; b. Dec. 31, 1706, Venice, Italy; d. Nov. 8, 1745, at Ostra Vetere, Italy. Elisabetta and her parents, Piero Satellico and Lucia Mander, lived with her maternal uncle, a priest who early encouraged her gifts for music and prayer. She studied under the Poor Clares at Ostra Vetere, where she sang and played the organ. In 1726, she received the religious habit there and took the name Maria Crucifixa. She undertook penances in order to become more like Jesus Crucified. She was elected abbess and employed her mystical gifts for the benefit of the community. Upon her death at age 39, she was buried in Santa Lucia, Ostra Vetere. The cause for her canonization was opened shortly after her death, and she was beatified at Rome by John Paul II, Oct. 10, 1993.
Feast: Nov. 8 (Franciscans).
Bibliography: g. b. scaramelli, Vita di Suor Maria Crocifissa Satellico monaca Francescana nel monastero di Monte Nuovo, 5th ed. (Rome 1819). This work was originally published in Venice in 1750.
[k. i. rabenstein]