Autobiography of an Aspiring Saint (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe Series)

Overview

Financially unable to enter the convent, Cecilia Ferrazzi (1609-1684) refused to marry, and as a single laywoman set out in pursuit of holiness. Eventually, she improvised a vocation: running houses of refuge for young women at risk of being lured into prostitution. Despite the socially valuable service she was providing, not everyone was convinced that she was a genuine favorite of God. Denounced to the Venetian Inquisition in 1664, she requested and obtained the unprecedented opportunity to defend herself through a presentation of her life story.