Claudia de Angelis (religious name: Claudia of the Cross; 5 April 1675 – 29 June 1715), was an Italian lay Dominican who founded the religious congregation Suore Cistercensi della Carità (Cistercian Sisters of Charity), current owners of Palace of the Popes in Anagni.[1]
Much of De Angelis' life were recorded by the priest Giovanni Marangoni, who was her spiritual father and strong supporter, and published into a book entitled Vita di Suor Claudia De Angelis.[2] Her canonization cause was opened on 26 June 1820.[1] She is designated with the title "Servant of God".[3]
De Angelis was born in Anagni on 5 April 1675 as the fourth child of six children. Her parents, Alessandro De Angelis and Elisabetta Spinelli, came from noble families. In her childhood, she suffered a fragile health and this was also due to her mother's neglect.[4]
She immediately stood out for her strong spirituality and, around the age of 10, had her first vision of Jesus who spoke to her about a "heavenly marriage". It was from that moment that she had daily apparitions of Saint Catherine of Siena who, together with the Virgin Mary and Saint Rose of Viterbo, would become her teacher and spiritual guide.[4]
Her fellow citizens, however, did not believe in these visions and considered her crazy and heretic. It was because of these judgments that De Angelis never openly expressed her thoughts and that she wanted to maintain a rather humble and reserved life, but continued doing what she loved most, taking care of others.
In 1698, some young women in Anagni began to follow her and build prayer group with her which pushed De Angelis to fulfill her promise to establish a religious school for female education. She joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic on December of the same year. On 25 May 1709, renting a house near the Church of Ss. Cosma and Damiano she founded the Pious School of Charity. It was placed under papal protection in 1713 by Pope Clement XI.[4]
In March 1703, De Angelis moved first to Marino and, later, to Rome where she continued her work of educating women. There her health started to deteriorate compelling her to return to Anagni, but unfortunately it worsened in the following years. She died on 29 June 1715 in Rome after her physical condition definitively worsened with bedsores and the inability to eat and drink. Before dying she managed to definitively establish the regulations of the school, affiliate the teachers with the Cistercian Order and established its rules.[4]
Her spiritual father, Giovanni Marangoni carried out De Angelis' wish of completing the construction of the pious schools.
^Giovanni Marangoni, Vita di Suor Claudia De Angelis, a cura di Giampiero Raspa, Anagni, Istituto di Storia e di Arte e del Lazio meridionale, 1995, ISBN non esistente.
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