St. Camilla Battista da Varano

Ø  An  Italian  Princess, Ø  A member of the Poor Clares, Ø  A prolific writer
Born	On 9th  April 1458 in Camerino, Macerata, Italy
Died	On 31st  May 1524 in Camerino, Macerata, Italy of natural causes
Beatified	7 April 1843 by Pope Gregory XVI
Canonized	17 October 2010 Pope Benedict XVI
Feast	May 17th

St. Camilla of Varano was born in Camerino  in 1458 Camerino, Italy , of Giulio Cesare of Varano and Giovanna Malatesta.          Camilla early felt a call to the religious life, which her family initially opposed, hoping for a good marriage for her.Her father did all in his power to force his daughter into a brilliant marriage, even to the extent of imprisoning her. But Baptista resisted his plans so firmly that after two years and a half he restored her to liberty, for fear, as he said, of drawing upon himself the Divine vengeance, and gave his consent to her becoming a nun.          On 14 Nov. 1481, Baptista entered the monastery of the Poor Clares at Urbino. Not long afterwards her father founded a new monastery of that order at Camerino, and presented it to his daughter. Baptista introduced the primitive observance of the rule there, and thenceforth her vigorous and impressive personality found scope not only in the administration of this monastery, of which she became the first abbess, but also in the production of various literary works. These include the: “Recordationes et instructiones spirituales novem”, which she wrote about 1491; “Opus de doloribus mentalibus D.N.J.C.”, written during 1488-91 and first published at Camerino in 1630; “Liber suae conversionis”, a story of her life, written in 1491, and first published at Macerata in 1624.          She died in Camerino on May 31, 1524. On April 7, 1843, Pope Gregory XVI declared her Blessed. On Feb. 4, 1893, her writings were also approved. Then, on October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI will officially declare her a saint.