Blessed Archangela Girlani

Archangela Girlani, O.Carm (born Eleanor (or Elanor) Girlani; 1460 – 25 January 1494), was an Italian Carmelite nun known for her miracles, mystical visions, austerity, religious ecstasies and levitation. She was prioress of two convents, in Parma and in Mantua. Pope Pius IX beatified her on 1 October 1864. Girlani was born in 1460, in Trino in Northern Italy, to a noble family. She received her early education from the Benedictines. She was "intensively serious and devout" from an early age. At first, her father refused to allow her to enter a convent and take vows, but eventually consented after the intervention of the Marquise of Monferrato, and when she agreed to join the Benedictine order, even though she did not think they were strict enough. According to some accounts and as reported by hagiographer Alban Butler, "every preparation had been made for celebrating her entry into religion", including the presence of the Marquise. The horse she was riding refused to move; the company that had gathered dispersed, and as she was returning home, she was met by a Carmelite friar who talked her into joining the Carmelite Order. Taking the horse's refusal to bring her to the Benedictine monastery as a sign, she joined, along with her two sisters, Maria and Francis Scholastica, she entered the Carmelite monastery in Parma in 1477 and took her vows a year later, in 1478, at the age of 17, taking the name "Archangela." She eventually became prioress of the monastery in Parma, and then prioress of a new monastery founded by the Gonzaga family, St. Mary of Paradise, also called "Little Carmel", at Mantua from 1492 until her death. Butler states that Girlini was promoted to prioress at a young age because of her social position, although he also states that she would have been promoted anyway because of her austerity, charity, and gift of prayer. Girlini had a special devotion to the Holy Trinity.