A European Informational Website
learn more
Lucia Brocadelli of Narni (1476-1544) was an Italian Roman Catholic mystic, beatified in 1710.
Lucia was the eldest of eleven children of Bartolomeo Broccadelli and Gentilina Cassio. When she was only five years old, she had a vision of the Virgin Mary. Two years later, she had another vision, this time of the Virgin Mary accompanied by Saint Dominic. Dominic is said to have given her the scapular at this time. When she was twelve years old, Lucy made a private vow of chastity, and determined to become a Dominican nun.
Circumstances, however, changed to make doing so difficult. Her father died while she was still young, leaving her in the care of an uncle. This uncle determined that the best course of action he could take would be to get Lucy married as quickly as possible.
He made several attempts to do so. One of these included holding a large family party. He had invited the man he had chosen as Lucia's husband to the party, with the intention of having the couple publicly betrothed. He however had not informed Lucia of his intentions. The suitor made an attempt to put a ring on Lucia's finger, only to be slapped repeatedly for his efforts by Lucia. A later attempt involved Count Pietro de Alessio of Milan, an acquaintance of the family. Lucia was actually quite fond of him, but felt her earlier vow to become a nun made the possibility of marriage impossible. The strain Lucia felt as a result of the conflicting feelings made her seriously ill. During this time, the Virgin Mary and Saint Dominic again appeared to her, this time accompanied by Catherine of Siena. They reportedly advised Lucia to contract a legal marriage to Pietro, but to explain that her vow of virginity would have to be respected and not violated. Pietro agreed to the terms, and the marriage was formalized.
Lucia then became the mistress of Pietro's household, which included a number of servants and a busy social calendar. Despite her busy schedule, Lucia made great efforts to instruct the servants in Christianity and soon became well known locally for her charity to the poor.
Pietro observed Lucia's behavior, and occasional quirks, quite indulgently. He never objected when she gave away clothing and food. Nor when she performed austere penances, which included regularly wearing a hair shirt under her garments and spending most of the night in prayer and acting to help the poor. He also seemed to have taken in stride the story he was told by the servants that Lucia was often visited in the evenings by Saint Catherine, Saint Agnes, and Saint Agnes of Montepulciano who helped her make bread for the poor.
However, when one of the servants came up to him one day and told him that Lucia was privately entertaining a handsome young man she appeared to be quite familiar with, he did react. He took up his sword and went to see who this person was. When he arrived, he found Lucia contemplating a large crucifix. The servant told him that the man he had seen Lucia with looked like the figure on the crucifix.
Later, Lucia left for the desert to become an anchorite. That was enough for Pietro. He had her returned to his home, and had her locked away for the bulk of one Lenten season. She was only visited by servants who brought her food. When Easter arrived, Lucia and Pietro agreed that she wasn't really suited for marriage, and he released her. Lucia then returned to her mother's house and became a Dominican tertiary.
Shortly thereafter, she went to Viterbo and joined a group of Third order Dominican tertiaries. Here she found she was frequently the object of unwanted attention. She was reported to have received stigmata, which she did her best to hide, and was frequently in spiritual ecstasy. The house had a steady stream of visitors who came to speak to Lucia, and, often, just look at her. Even the other nuns were concerned about her, and at one point called in the local bishop who watched Lucia go through the drama of the Passion for twelve hours straight.
The bishop would not make a decision on Lucia, and called in the local inquisition. They referred the case directly to the Pope. He spoke with her and, with the assistance of Columba of Rieti, ultimately decided in her favor, telling her to go home and pray for him.
When she arrived, Pietro came to her, making a final plea to persuade Lucia to return with him as his wife. She declined, and Pietro left alone. He would himself later become a Franciscan monk and a famous preacher.
When Lucy returned to the convent in Viterbo, she found that the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole d'Este I, had determined to build a convent in Narni and that, having heard of her, he determined that she would be its prioress. Lucia had been already been praying for some time for a way to create a new convent of strict observance, and agreed to go to the new convent.
Lucia's departure precipitated a battle between Narni and Viterbo which would continue for two years. Viterbo wanted to keep the famous mystic for themselves, and the duke wanted her in Narni. The duke sent his troops to Viterbo to take her by force. After much bloodshed and loss of life, he did so, and she was brought to Narni. The duke sent his daughter-in-law, Lucrezia Borgia, to help attract new postulants to the new convent. The records indicate that many of the ladies who did join did not remain there long.
The Duke petitioned the local bishop for some help in keeping his new community going, and he sent six nuns from another community to join Lucia's convent. Unfortunately, these six nuns were members of the Dominican second order, who were canonically permitted to wear veils, something Lucia and the existing members of the Dominican third order community were not allowed to do.
Tensions were heightened when one of these veiled outsiders was made the prioress of the convent. The new prioress quickly found Lucia to be guilty of some unrecorded transgression, and placed her on a strict penance. Lucia was not allowed to speak to any person but her confessor, who was chosen by the prioress. The local provincial of the Dominican order would also not permit any member of the order to see Lucia. There are records that at least one Dominican, Catherine of Racconigi, did visit her, evidently by bilocation, and that Lucia's earlier visitation by departed saints continued. Lucia's stigmata eventually disappeared, which caused some of the other nuns to question whether they had ever been there at all. When Lucia finally died, in 1544, many people were surprised to find that she had not died years earlier.
Lucia was buried without attention and honors, but miracles reported to take place at her tomb caused her relics to be moved elsewhere. They were first transferred to the monastery's church, and later to the local cathedral. Her body was found to have not been corrupted by the internment.
She was possibly a source of inspiration for Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, as Lucy, a girl that believes and can see many things that other people cannot see. Walter Hooper, a biographer of Lewis, has referred to the possible connection.
She was also a protagonist in the book Prince of Foxes.
<div class="references-small"> <ol type="a"> <li> The "Second Order" of a religious community, as set out originally by Francis of Assisi, were nuns, as opposed to friars (the "First Order") and laity, the "Third Order".</li> </ol> </div>