Beneath Mary’s Mantle: Bl. Diana d’Andalo (1201-1236)
St. Dominic once had a dream in which he saw all the saints of the Order safely beneath the mantle of Mary, Protectress of the Order of Preachers. In this blog series, we’ll introduce our beloved Dominican Saints, learn about their lives and work, and come to see how they still inspire and pass on their gifts to today’s faithful.
Born: 1201
Died: June 10, 1236
Feast Day: June 8
Blessed Diana d’Andalo was the daughter of a wealthy family, and in her youth she was very worldly. Upon hearing the preaching of the Dominican friar Blessed Reginald of Orleans, she immediately decided to give up her life of worldliness and pursue holiness. In 1219 she made a vow of virginity in the hands of St. Dominic and promised that she would one day become a Dominican as soon as a convent could be built in her hometown, Bologna, Italy. Several friars in Bologna were assigned to ensure that this convent would be built.
However, Diana’s father and family did not give permission for her to enter a convent. Taking matters into her own hands, she escaped the house and went to join an Augustinian community on July 22, 1221. (She did this in the hopes of transferring to the Dominican convent yet to be established in Bologna. This practice was more common back then than it is today.) Her brothers sought her and dragged her out of the convent, breaking several of her ribs in the process. She was then kept at home under close watch and had to recover physically from the incident. St. Dominic sent her letters during this grim time, but he died on August 6 that year. Diana escaped a second time in November of 1222 and was able to remain with the Augustinian community.
In June of 1223, Diana received the habit of the Order of Preachers from Blessed Jordan of Saxony, St. Dominic’s successor as Master of the Order. She and several other nuns, including Blessed Cecilia, lived at the newly established convent of St. Agnes in Bologna.
Diana’s life in the convent of St. Agnes was not without difficulty. When the convent was first established, many eager benefactors came forward to provide the community with food and other donations. However, due to economic hardship in the region, it became increasingly difficult for the nuns to procure even basic needs.
Blessed Diana had a holy and beautiful friendship with Blessed Jordan. Unfortunately, only Jordan’s letters to Diana were preserved; we don’t have Diana’s side of the conversation. Jordan addressed some letters to her individually, and others were written for her community of St. Agnes. In these letters, Jordan writes on a variety of topics, and he does so in beautiful language that expresses a holy affection. He devotes some letters to consoling Diana after the death of her father and another friar, Brother Henry. Other epistles exhort her and her sisters in the community to live holy and joyful lives as brides of Christ. Furthermore, Jordan’s correspondences contain accounts of the friars’ wanderings and progress made in recruiting men to the Order of Preachers. If you would like to purchase a copy of Jordan’s letters to Diana, it is available here.
Diana was beatified in 1891. Blessed Diana’s remains reside in the church of St. Dominic in Bologna. On a side altar of the church, one can find a glass case with the bones of Blesseds Amata, Cecilia, and Diana. The body of St. Dominic is also found in this church.
One notable characteristic of Diana and her life is her boldness in pursuing and persevering in monastic life. The lure of material goods and riches were not a hindrance to her pursuing a monastic life. Even her family’s antagonism and a couple of broken ribs could not prevent her from doing God’s will. When she was with the community of St. Agnes, she was the heart of the congregation. Jordan eagerly exhorted her to be holy and steadfast in her vocation partly for her own benefit but also because he knew that if she was driven to be wholly faithful to the demands of monastic life, her sisters would follow her example. May we strive to be as faithful as she to the Lord’s will and strengthen those around us to do the same.
Blessed Diana, pray for us!
