Magdalene of Canossa
Italian Religious Sister and foundress
Feast: 10 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Maddalena of the marquises of Canossa was born in Verona on 1 March 1774, third of six children of a noble, wealthy family. Through the pain of her father's death, her mother's remarriage, illness and misunderstanding, God led her on unexpected ways; at seventeen she twice tried the Carmelite life.
She found companions called to follow Christ poor, chaste and obedient, and founded the Canossian Sons and Daughters of Charity to serve the neediest with a mother's heart. She died in Verona on 10 April 1835, Friday of Passion Week, aged 61.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A marchioness who served the poorest with a mother's heart and an apostle's zeal.
Connected on this site
- Antonio Rosmini Blessed“Canossa collaborated with humanitarians such as Leopoldina Naudet and Antonio Rosmini in her mission of promoting the needs of the poor and setting a new method of religious life for both men and women.” — Wikipedia
- Leopoldina Naudet Blessed“Canossa collaborated with humanitarians such as Leopoldina Naudet and Antonio Rosmini in her mission of promoting the needs of the poor and setting a new method of religious life for both men and women.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Maddalena di Canossa
- Wikidata Q288887 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Magdalene of Canossa (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.