marcucci -1-

Ven. Maria Magdalena Marcucci...

entered the world on April 24, 1888 in San Gemignano di Moriano, near the Italian city of Lucca. She had great devotion to the Passion of the Lord, a devotion which she subsequently zealously promoted.

At the age of 18, on 10 June 1906, together with her sister Elisa, she entered the Passionist monastery of Lucca which was still in the process of being founded. On June 27, 1907, the day of her vestition, she received the name Mary Magdalene of Jesus; but the name by which she is generally known is 'J. Pastor'.

This pseudonym was given to her by her spiritual director the Dominican, Fr. Juan González Arintero, in order to hide her from people’s curiosity and to protect her humility. She later became a valuable and assiduous collaborator of the magazine he founded in 1921.

~bron~