The Franciscan dimension of this presence and work, which Marcheselli supplied,
would sustain del Giglio’s educational project.
On November 16,
1723, the contract stipulating the acquisition of the house …. On
December, 15, 1723, once all was brought to its rightful
conclusion, Marcheselli sent a significant letter, to Sister
Angela, our Foundress, that recounts, beyond all of the
contention, the spiritual perspective with which he was able to
live through and interpret the whole affair.
He writes with encouraging,
paternal tones that support the life of the community. The text
is of high spiritual caliber and, often through a veil of irony,
he is able loosen up the ‘crosses’ of the one to whom he is
writing, Sister Angela.
“In the Sacred Scriptures, it is
said of the Church of the Lord that the holy Faith was contradicted
and persecuted from every side. Sons accused their fathers,
fathers accused their sons …. For you to tell me that all are
against this House, then, is to tell me that God wants to
privilege this House, and that God looks upon it in the same way
that He looks upon His Church. Therefore, I do not know why you
have to complain, and be so crucified about these things that
happen. Let the Lord work. …. Give it all to God. Do not
suffer any more about it. The saints won over those who cursed
them and the martyrs won over their tyrants … not by resisting
nor by complaining about their enemies and those who afflicted
them but, rather, by suff
ering, and by doing so patiently. You
are to do so likewise. Do not struggle, do not be disturbed.
There is God! There is God! Let God work it out, so that this
poor House, I hope in the Lord, will be, and will always be,
His, and remain under his protection. And with its being under
His protection, what is there to fear? ‘If God is for us, who
can be against us?’ If this small gathering was applauded by
all, and helped by all, I would fear immediately that it would
not last very long. But since it is unjustly contradicted, I
firmly hope that it will powerfully establish itself and it will
always be a house of the Lord. Therefore, I will speak to you
with the very words of the Lord: ‘Fear not, little flock,
because you have found favor with the Lord.’
On October 31, 1724, the house
next door was acquired by purchase, allowing the school to
accommodate its growing needs. Mother Angela also obtained
permission from the Pope to erect an oratory.
1725
marks Father Marcheselli’s return to Assisi from Rome. He had served as the Superior at
the Friary of the Holy Apostles in Rome for two years. That
site is currently the General Curia of the Conventual Franciscan
Friars. He established an
archive to document the formal beginnings as he sustained the work’s
direction with his Franciscan spirituality, his continuing commentary on the
Third Order Rule.
The second phase, from
1725
until 1742, is when the project grows and
matures:
On March 9, 1726,
the first Mass was celebrated in the new oratory, furnished
through the generosity of benefactors from Vicenza, her
home.
Between 1726 and
1727, the rooms and dormitory were adapted. In 1728, a new
staircase was installed and a new cistern dug.
|
In 1729, a
smoke-blackened kitchen was repainted and cleaned to be utilized
as the choir. Once completed, ‘on the vigil of the Immaculate
Conception, they began to chant the Office of the Most Blessed
Virgin, beforehand having only been able to recite together, in
low voices, while working, the Our Fathers that were prescribed
in the Rule of the Third Order.’ Plasterwork on that kitchen,
made choir, would be completed in 1737.
On September 11,
1931, the Sisters acquired the house across the street, allowing
for ten new rooms for the students’ use.
In 1732, the
Bishop’s canonical visitation to the House ‘of Sister Angela’
found it in order, as a community and as a school.
The second Mass
was celebrated in August, 1733, through the Bishop.
On September 22,
1736, Mother Angela acquired the permission to build the suspended arc across the street; the work was begun on the
24th and completed by the 30th… to avoid
needing any recourse to Rome.
Mother Angela died on November
2, in 1736.
Father
Marcheselli gave Sister Angelina Pani, Mother Angela’s niece,
the task of leading the community and continuing the school,
since she had many of the talents necessary to keep this poor
‘Pious House’ going. |
She continued with the
structural adaptations: she organized the laundry, created a
space for another
oratory, wherein the Way of the Cross
was installed on May 21, 1737 and, in July of 1739, she made
windows in the room where our Mother, Sister Angela, had desired
to make a hermitage in honor of Saint John the Baptist.
She was revered by many in the city.
Father Marcheselli died on May
16, 1742.
His Friars gave Sister Angelina
the framed picture of the Immaculate Virgin, in the
mystery of her Immaculate Conception, that he had prayed before
frequently in his room.
The Custode of
the Sacred Convent wrote that ‘those religious women were
uninterruptedly, for 39 years, 4 months, and 15 days, formed,
directed, and governed, in praiseworthy and holy ways, along the
way of perfection’ by this man who was ‘greatly spiritual and
gifted with particular virtue.’ He continued to recount our
Founder’s death: ‘Consumed by his daily rigor of life, by the
demands of his studies, and by his efforts, he was assailed by a
brief but violent illness, and he died a beautiful and serene
death on May 16, 1742, at the age of 66.’
