Domenica Narducci,
religious nameDomenica of Paradise; 3 September 1473 – 1553) was an Italian
Dominican nun.
Biography
Narducci was born on 3 September 1473 in Bandino area in
Florence. She was the daughter of Tommaso di Jacopo Narducci, a farmer and groundskeeper who worked in the gardens of Chiesa di Santa Brigida al Paradiso.[1] In 1499, she fled from the abusive life of a Tuscan farm and sought solace in the Dominican
convent of Paradiso. After making her
religious vows, she had
visions of Jesus that inspired her to found a new convent.[1]
At the new convent, she became known for her extreme piety and assisted the
Medici family in spiritual matters. Advocate of her own reforms for the
Second order of the Dominicans, she was an outspoken critic of the first order who supported the controversial Dominican preacher
Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498).[1] In 1515, she established the Convento della Crocetta in Florence. She continued to be a significant figure in Italian religious life in later years, exchanging correspondence with Pope
Paul III and
Clement VII.[1]
She died in 1553 in
Florence with a reputation of holiness. Many devout Florentines thought that Narducci had protected them from the plague in the centuries that followed her death.[1]
Beatification
Her cause for
beatification was introduced 1624. The process regarding her
heroic virtue was brought before the Antepreparatory Congregation8 in 1761 until 1761 and was suspended until the present time. From the examination of the cause, it was assumed that it was treated unskillfully by the advocates.[2]