The Life of the Venerable Anna Maria Tiagi

One thing about saints that always fascinates me is the way they handled money. They took things so lightly an well. A great lesson to me who am inclined to fuss and worry about bills.

Dominco got very,very little pay for his work and there was a very large family to feed. He handed all of his pay to Anna Maria to take care of things. I think this used to be the tradition round here too. The husband handed over his pay packet unopened and she gave him back any over that might be spared. Dominico seemed to be of the opinion that the was Anna Maria was able to manage on so little was miraculous. At one point Dominico lost his job and the family were literally on the bread line. But they got through it all. Apparently the saint managed things so well she was even able to give to charity. To help others.

This reminds me of something my own mother said to me which really stuck in my mind, 'Worry about many things but never,ever worry about money!'

This was all the more remarkable as she often had good cause to worry if inclined. One Christmas my father and elder brother were Interned (in a prison camp without being charged or sentenced, no courts or even police). So she faced Christmas with nine children in the house with very little money. One thing she wanted was a Turkey but had not got the money. Then the next door neighbour gave her a turkey. Then the butcher from up the street called down with a turkey. Then the nuns called round with a turkey. So she wound up with five turkeys in all and I forget what she did with them all. But somehow or other we went short of nothing. How she managed this I have no idea. All those turkeys turning up alone seemed miraculous. But it's true she never seemed to worry about any of it. Or if she did I never noticed.

 

My father, God rest him, used to tell us "Don't be short, but never worry about money, everyone gets their time in one way or another, and there will be money when we're all dead"

 

It’s only money and you can’t take it with you.
I’ve heard that one.

 

I was thinking of Joseph and Mary when they reached Bethlehem and had to flee into Egypt they much have had pretty well nothing but the clothes on their backs.

 

The similar variations I've also heard are
"There's no tow bar[hitch] on a hearse"
"There's no pockets in [burial]shrouds"
"It won't take much land to hold us [when we're dead and buried]"

I've various commitments etc. to my family now, but one thing I'd do differently if I had my time over again, is that I'd live a very simple life if I could. Now I crave one, but present family circumstances don't allow it and won't for the foreseeable future, and my first commitment after God is to my family. It's all part of loving others I guess instead of just ourselves and God.
Looking back on life, the wisest people it was my pleasure to know in the older generation all lived very simply and kept life as simple as possible.


The Lake Isle of Innisfree
WB Yeats 1888

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

 

It may very well vary... But, in my experience, the poor husband is more often than not; the cheese!
Which could well be the secret to a long, lasting marriage

 

I was reading about Saint Anna Maria and the way she did her housework and cared for her home and family. This sounds like a funny, irrelevant little thing to think about but I have to say I just loved it. Personally I love housework because it is a really great way to pray . The Cistercians have an old saying, 'To work is to pray'. Generally Contemplative religious pick very simple work forms to do that will not distract but fit in with prayer. Things like farming or making wines or beer. Bee keeping, baking or whatever. Also because it is a simple thing to do doing it well is not a problem. It is strange but it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Anna Maria never hurried or rushed, she worked steadily and got things done. She reminds me of a busy bee she always seems to have been working away at something. They say even when she was seriously ill she would be doing something like sewing. Nowadays in the West the wife is nearly always out working. Anna Maria points to the importance of woman as being a home maker. Of being the very centre the heart of the family. No small thing.

But in witnessing her life in this I can't help thinking of Our Blessed Lady. Anna Maria is a reflection of the Life of the Blessed Virgin in Nazareth. In considering Anna Maria at home we see the Mother of God at home. Two twin peas.


Reading the life of Anna Maria is not only a mental practice but a Spiritual one. I have been praying quite a lot to her recently. Not really asking anything of her, but just for companion ship and because I admire her. In her response I have felt her draw so near. I feel her taking an interest in me and in my own life. To put it in human terms I kind of think she is curious about me and what I am up to. Having a kindly interest and concern. Or to put it another way we have become friends. This ,at the end of the day is the main aim of the Communion of the Saints. That we become friends.

In a recent message for Our Lady she said, 'The Saints are praying for you at this time'. Looking at my good friend Anna Maria I can so easily believe that this is so.

 

I have been reading about Anna Maria's Raptures and Ecstasies which are so interesting and which she had on a very regular basis. Her husband used to give of to her for sleeping during the rosary when actually she was in ecstasy and her daughters though simply she was being carried away. She fought against them because they made it hard for her to work at home and caused great embarassment, scandal and talk when they happened in Church. Poor woman. It is funny though Domenico giving off to his wife for being irreligious when she was a saint and in ecstasy .
One Cardinal reports going into her home and often saw her in a kind of freeze with her brush in her hand or at some other kind of housework, still like a statue.

What actually is a ecstasy? I would say it is getting caught up in the contemplation of God to such an extent that you loose to some extent awareness of your surroundings. Of getting zonked with God.

A Rapture on the other hand is a deeper form of ecstasy were you totally loose awareness of your surroundings. You get totally zonked.

From reports of Anna Maria during these things from witnesses she was totally, zonked. They were very powerful impulses of grace true raptures.

Doctors differ , patients die and Mystical theologians will quibble about exact definitions and of descriptions of prayer states. But taking from St John of the Cross and especially St Teresa of Avila I would say this zonking out is evidence of the Prayer of Union , the Fifth of the Seven Levels of Prayer. They go on to point out that such zonkings should eventually fade out as time goes on Most expecially in the Dark Night of the Soul.

What is ecstasy and rapture actually like to experience.? Well many, many years ago when I was in my mid twenties I used to get them for a period of I would guess about three or four years until the Dark Night set in. They remind me of taxi drives to heaven. I actually though I was going to die during some of them, that my heart would burst of love and joy and on a few occasions I did actually get knocked to the ground with them. But I do have to say I always (as far as I know) managed to keep them secret. I would have died of embarassment if anyone had noticed or it had caused comment. So thank God for that. It is a bit like being drowned in love, you feel like your heart is going to explode.

But you know it is not ecstasies, or raptures , or miracles or healings , or prophesies, or visions or whatever that makes a person close to God. These are only sparks of the Divine Fire. The Divine Fire is itself is love and that fire alone is Holy because only God Himself is Holy. We become Holy because we become love and the more we love the more we become Holy.
The outer sign of this interior reality of love is that we practice virtue and if we are saints Heroic Virtue.

 

https://solutioproblematisomnes.wor...-taigi-19th-century-italy-3-days-of-darkness/

The Predictions of Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi (19th century, Italy) – 3 days of Darkness
Posted on April 17, 2015 by Solutio Problematis Omnes

Matthew Taylor posted this important lesson on his Facebook page. Get Ready!

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The 3 Days of Darkness

Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi (19th century, Italy)

Though an ordinary housewife and mother, Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi led an exemplary spiritual and Christian life that gained her the reputation as one of the greatest saints of all time. She experienced frequent ecstasies, performed miraculous cures, read hearts, foretold deaths, and predicted the coming of future events. She foretold the first two world wars that wreaked havoc in the twentieth century. Eighteen years after her death, her body remained supple and incorrupt. Amid praises, Pope
Benedict XV beatified her on May 20, 1920.

3 Days of Darkness Prophecy of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi

Blessed Anna Maria Taigi predicted a major and as of yet still fothcoming Chastisement for the world on account of its grave sins.”God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy.”

“All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.” (Prophecy of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769-1837 A.D.) who was Beatified by Pope Bendedict XV in 1920.)

a) “God will send two punishments; one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion.

It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy.”

b) “All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.”

c) “Religion shall be persecuted, and priests massacred. Churches shall be closed, but only for a short time. The Holy Father shall be obliged to leave Rome.”

d) “France shall fall into a frightful anarchy. The French shall have a desperate civil war in the course of which even old men will take up arms. The political parties, having exhausted their blood and their rage without being able to arrive at any satisfactory settlement, shall agree at the last extremity to have recourse to the Holy See. Then the Pope shall send to France a special legate….In consequence of the information received, His Holiness himself shall nominate a most Christian King for the government of France.”

e) “After the three days of darkness, St. Peter and St. Paul, having come down from Heaven, will preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal who is to become Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth.”

f) “Whole nations will come back to the Church and the face of the earth will be renewed. Russia, England, and China will come into the Church.”

 

Every saint has a key virtue, their best and for the author Anna Maria's key virtue was her patience. Of course in this people will look to her family as the first trial but I am inclined to think her husband gets a very bad press. Certainly he was very rough and bad tempered but on the other hand they loved each other , he was a very good Catholic and he was very quick to defend her. All the same I'd guess he would have been a very hard man to live with. Other of her family who were a great pain were her father and mother and a daughter in law who lived with her and sounds like she was a real torture.

But the really interesting thing in Anna Maria's story and which happens again and again and again in the lives of the saints are accounts of complete strangers who turned against her, seemingly for no reason with incredible vileness, bitterness and spite. I always find these things really spooky and interesting as to me they show intense demonic influence, the hand of the devil . Especially when this spite comes from clergy themselves. In the case of the saints, unlike sinners like ourselves, there is no reason for such spite. When we get in trouble in 99% of cases we will have done something to earn it, at least a little. But in the case of Anna Maria it's just pure unadorned seemingly random pure , evil spite. This spite came from all directions , from neighbours, from random people on the streets from random strangers but most interestingly of all from people, including clergy in the Churches she attended.

One particular account stands out. She went up for communion one day when a well dressed elderly man , a stranger who knelt beside her at the altar and pulled the communion cloth right out of her hands. Then the priest , incredibly , walked past her refusing her communion. But a high ranking priest, Fr Napthtali , a friend of Anna Maria's was in attendance saw what had happened and pulled the elderly man and the priest in the sacristy after Mass. Father Napthtali was very,very angry at these sinister goings on . The gruesome twosome muttered some excuses and the Father threatened to report the priest to his bosses.

Nor was the a one off . Poor Anna Maria was subjected to attacks like this in Church on an ongoing basis.

It's so interesting because it reminds us of the power of the demons all around us. I dare say though we are not saints , we have all of us felt this random spite thing flying past us on occasions. Of people, sometimes complete strangers turning on us out of the blue with great hatred and vileness. It's so spooky but so interesting to see demons dropping the veil in this way. Of hell coming right out in the open.

 

I've experienced the same even from loved ones in the past...especially when speaking the truth, and believe me, you are correct ..just the look in their eyes of pure hatred. What an incredible woman bl. Anne Marie Taigi was. Very hard to not have your heart broken over this.

 

I've experienced this though not frequently. It's very jarring when it happens.

 

It's usually an addicted or alcoholic family member.. it explains so much...

 

I think what really helped Anna Maria and kept her grounded was her Faith in Providence. She did not see events around her as random, she saw purpose and meaning and direction in them all. She felt the Hand of God and the Winds of the Holy Spirit. She was able to see beyond the veil, beyond the moment.

This reminds me of all we are told in the psalms and the Book of Job, this waiting on the Lord.

Psalm 62:1-12
I wait patiently for God to save me; I depend on him alone. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated.

 

This is a very helpful post. It’s very timely,

 

I loved reading about Anna Maria's various devotions. It does not matter that she came from a different country, it does not matter that she lived centuries ago most of them are the Universal practice of all Catholics in all times and places so it makes us all feel so at home to read them. Where the saints have walked we walk there too!

First and foremost was the Eucharist and the Holy Mass the source and summit of the Mystical Life. There is a lovely story of an Irish priest who was saying Mass in a Roman Church and raised the Eucharist at the Agnus Dei, to the astonishment of the priest and congregation a piece of the host broke off and flew down the Church and into the mouth of Anna Maria! A lesson for us a; that Jesus is a million times more eager to come to us than we to him. On another occasion a Sacristant locked her in Church after he could not rouse her she was so lost in prayer. I have no idea how she escaped...

There is a long list of her devotions. TO the Child Jesus and the Passion of Christ...she did the Stations of the Cross everyday (hardly anyone does the Stations nowadays but Jesus told her this devotion delights Him). Devotion to Our Lady, the saints, some particular saints, the Holy Angels. She had a big , big devotion to the Holy Souls and loved to pray in grave yards at the graves of the dead (so interesting I must do this myself more often). She loved to visit round the Roman Basilca's which is fine if you happen to live in Rome, I am jealous. But we can travel round our own Church doing the Stations and visiting the side altars, the statues and paintings. A huge devotion to the Blessed Trinity. Big involvement in her Third Order. Really big at visiting the sick.

I get exhausted reading them all.

One big thing missing was a mention of Holy Scripture. But I suppose that was the way tings were at that time in the Church. It made me think of the Big Family Bible we had growing up. I have it now on a stand in my bedroom.

I would say the two big Signs of a growth towards God in the way of prayer are these.

A hunger for the Eucharist.

A hunger for the Word of God.

If you feel these two hungers in your Spiritual Life then all is well.

 

This is the Way of the Seven Churches Anna Maria used to do.

So jealous. Imagine she could do this all the time. Heaven.

 

Geralyn and I are 10 years behind; gives us something to aim for. In that sense, I love moving targets! Thank you and may God's grace capture the hearts of your family members!

 

The author goes into great detail (Bless him) about the mysterious golden orb or mirror which hung over Anna Maria's head for over 50 years and which when she gazed into it gave her the answer to just about any question you could ask it. There were people lined up constantly wanting to know this and that, propel of all ranks and classes and Anna Maria made time to answer all, though she made special time for the poor and working classes her streamed to her for help; for instance:

A woman whose chickens would not lay eggs.

A gentleman who had lost his house key.

A guy who wanted the winning lottery numbers.

A company who were dredging a lake bed for gold.

People who were sick and the Doctors could not help.

Fun, fun, fun and Anna Maria was always right on the button! Even several saints came to her for advice ; for instance St Bishop Vincent Mary Strambi.

I love it she had time for the little people and the little questions, not just the big important ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Strambi

 

What else could she see? Well just about anything you could think off and more. She could look at a complete stranger and know everything about them, their sins, their spiritual state, their past and their future. If someone died she knew if they went to heaven, purgatory or hell . If people had the deepest problems she could solve them. Nothing was ever a secret to her. She could listen in to secret meetings, past present or future, who was a member of a secret organisation. Who was plotting against the Church and so in.

A one woman CIA Little wonder Popes and Cardinals lined up to speak to her, she must have been like the Intelligence Goose that laid the golden eggs and never stopped laying.