The Nuns of Sant' Ambrogio : The True Story of a Convent in Scandal.

Cover -- The NUNS Of SANT'AMBROGIO: THE TRUE STORY OF A CONVENT SCANDAL -- Copyright -- Contents -- Dramatis Personae -- Prologue: "Save, Save Me!" -- CHAPTER ONE: "Such Turpitudes": Katharina von Hohenzollern Complains to the Inquisition -- ROME AS A HEAVENLY JERUSALEM -- A ROAD-TO-DAMASCUSEXPERIENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES -- A ROMAN CLOISTERED IDYLL -- SALVATION FROM A CLOISTERED HELL -- DENUNCIATION AS A MORAL DUTY -- THE SECRET OF SANT'AMBROGIO -- A POSSESSED SEDUCER OF NUNS -- A FALSE SAINT -- POISONING -- THE SAVIOR'S PERSPECTIVE -- CHAPTER TWO: "The 'Delicatezza' of the Matter as Such": Extrajudicial Preliminary Investigations -- INFORMAL QUESTIONING -- THE OUTCAST'S TESTIMONY -- TWO NUNS IN A BED -- UNCHASTITY AND SODOMY -- A DOMINICAN WANTS THE DETAILS -- MANY CONVINCING PROOFS -- AN INQUISITION TRIAL, AFTER ALL -- THE INQUISITION TRIBUNAL: PROCESSES AND PROTAGONISTS -- THE SOURCES FROM THE ARCHIVE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH -- CHAPTER THREE: "I Am the Little Lion of My Reformed Sisters": The Informative Process and the Devotees of the Mother Founder -- THE CONVENT OF SANT'AMBROGIO DELLA MASSIMA -- FRANCISCANS OF THE THIRD ORDER -- AGNESE FIRRAO IS VENERATED AS A SAINT -- AGNESE FIRRAO IS ACCUSED OF FALSE HOLINESS -- THE INQUISITION'S 1816 VERDICT -- THE MIRACULOUS CONVERSION OF LEO XII -- TRUE AND FALSE HOLINESS -- PROOF OF THE CONTINUING CULT OF FIRRAO -- THE SECRET ABBESS -- RELICS -- INSPIRED TEXTS -- A "MOTHER CONFESSOR" -- THE CONFESSORS PROCLAIM THE FALSE CULT -- CHAPTER FOUR: "Wash Me Well, for the Padre Is Coming": The Madre Vicaria's Pretense of Holiness -- VISIONS ON THE ROAD TO POWER -- MYSTICISM -- THE EARTHLY ORIGINS OF HEAVENLY RINGS AND THE SCENT OF ROSES -- LETTERS FROM THE MOTHER OF GOD -- THE MARIAN CENTURY -- FORGING LETTERS FROM THE VIRGIN -- PASTORAL CARE IN BED.

LESBIAN INTIMACIES IN A CONVENT CELL -- THE SANT'AMBROGIO SYSTEM -- CHAPTER FIVE: "An Act of Divine Splendor": Murder on the Orders of the Virgin -- THE AMERICANO AND HIS OBSCENE LETTER -- THE CORD AROUND KATHARINA'S NECK -- HEAVENLY LETTERS FORETELL KATHARINA'S MURDER -- THE DRAMATURGY OF A POISONING -- "IT WAS MOST CERTAINLY THE DEVIL" -- MORE MURDERS -- PENNIES FROM HEAVEN -- THE CONFESSORS AS CONFIDANTS AND ACCOMPLICES -- THE RESULTS OF THE INFORMATIVE PROCESS -- CHAPTER SIX: "It Is a Heavenly Liquor": The Offensive Process and the Interrogation of the Madre Vicaria -- "I ALWAYS WANTED TO BECOME A NUN" -- THE STORY OF AN INNOCENT LAMB -- EVIDENCE AND FIRST CONFESSIONS -- MARIA LUISA AND HER NOVICES -- SEXUAL ABUSE -- JESUIT CONFESSORS AND THEIR VERY SPECIAL BLESSING -- THE CONFESSOR'S AFFAIR WITH ALESSANDRA N. -- MARIA LUISA AND PADRE PETERS: BLESSING OR BEDDING? -- "MY ONLY DEFENSE IS JESUS CHRIST" -- CHAPTER SEVEN: "That Good Padre Has Spoiled the Work of God": The Interrogations of the Father Confessor and the Abbess -- GIUSEPPE LEZIROLI: A CONFESSOR BEFORE THE COURT -- THE APOSTLE OF SAINT AGNESE FIRRAO -- THE CONFESSOR AND "SAINT" MARIA LUISA -- LEZIROLI AND THE POISONINGS -- MARIA VERONICA MILZA: AN ABBESS BEFORE THE COURT -- CONFESSIONS -- CHAPTER EIGHT: "During These Acts I Never Ceased My Inner Prayer": The Interrogation of Giuseppe Peters -- PADRE PETERS'S TRUE IDENTITY -- THE DEFENDANT'S SPONTANEOUS ADMISSIONS -- A CARDINAL BREAKS THE SECRET OF THE HOLY OFFICE -- AND AFTER ALL, THE CULT OF FIRRAO WAS PERMITTED -- THEOLOGY AND FRENCH KISSING -- NEW SCHOLASTIC CONVOLUTIONS -- THE COURT'S FINAL PROPOSITION -- A PROXY WAR? -- CHAPTER NINE: "Sorrowful and Contrite": The Verdict and Its Consequences -- CONSULTORS, CARDINALS, POPE: THE VERDICT -- INTERNAL ABJURATIONS AND EXTERNAL SECRECY -- A FOUNDER INSTEAD OF A NUN.

A CARDINAL'S POISON PARANOIA -- FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES -- A SAINT IN THE MADHOUSE -- A HERETIC WRITES DOGMA -- Epilogue: The Secret of Sant'Ambrogio as Judged by History -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- PROLOGUE "Save, Save Me!" -- CHAPTER ONE "Such Turpitudes" -- CHAPTER TWO "The 'Delicatezza' of the Matter as Such" -- CHAPTER THREE "I Am the Little Lion of My Reformed Sisters" -- CHAPTER FOUR "Wash Me Well, for the Padre Is Coming" -- CHAPTER FIVE "An Act of Divine Splendor" -- CHAPTER SIX "It Is a Heavenly Liquor" -- CHAPTER SEVEN "That Good Padre Has Spoiled the Work of God" -- CHAPTER EIGHT "During These Acts I Never Ceased My Inner Prayer" -- CHAPTER NINE "Sorrowful and Contrite" -- EPILOGUE The Secret of Sant'Ambrogio as Judged by History -- Sources and Literature -- Sources -- Illustration Credits -- Index -- A NOTE ON THE TYPE.

The true story of a scandal of epic proportions at the Roman convent of Sant' Ambrogio in the late 1850s. Discovered recently in a Vatican archive by one of the world's leading papal historians, it is a tale of deception, heresy, seduction, and murder in the heart of the Catholic Church.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.