MICHELINA, WIDOW - 2 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH 

Saints celebrated on the 2nd of March

MICHELINA, WIDOW 

Michelina, surnamed Wenser, had been given the names Josepha Francisca in holy baptism. She was born in Innsbruck, Austria, on August 1, 1697. 

SHE MINISTERED TO THE NEEDS OF THE POOR

Following her marriage, she took the name of her husband Franzini and lived with him in harmony and love in Eppan. Although the mother of thirteen children, her financial circumstances allowed her to minister to many of the needs of the poor, which she did with extreme joy. 

SHE JOINED THE POOR CLARES

After she became a widow, she joined the monastery of the Poor Clares at Hall and on May 4, 1740, not yet 43 years old, she made her holy vows.

ST FRANCIS AND ST ANTHONY APPEARED TO HER IN A VISION

Eight years later, on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, one of their daughters took the vows, too, but died on March 16 the following year - an innocent virgin. Maria Michelina followed her on March 2, 1757. Before she died, St Francis and St Anthony, whom she particularly admired, appeared to her in a vision.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)