Blessed Emily Bicchieri, O.P.
Virgin, Foundress, and Dominican Tertiary
1238 – 1314 | Feast Day: May 3 (also August 19 in some calendars)
A Child Foretold
The story of Blessed Emily begins before her birth. Before Emily was born, her mother was privileged to see in a dream something of the future work of her daughter — a magnificent church she had never seen before, and a beautiful young girl wearing white robes and a veil with a wreath of white roses, around whom gathered other girls dressed in the same fashion, who formed into a procession and marched singing around the church. An old Dominican to whom she related the dream explained that it concerned the child she was bearing, and that this child, a daughter, would be a saint.
Her Early Life
Blessed Emily Bicchieri was born at Vercelli in 1238, and having lost her mother at an early age, put herself under the special protection of the all-holy Mother of God. Even as a young girl, whenever she was not busy, Emily could be found in the community seeking out those who were in need and working charitably to relieve them of their burdens. She gave away any money or gifts given to her to those less fortunate, and while her sisters worked to make themselves attractive marriage-prospects, Emily committed herself to serving the Lord as a nun.
Founding the First Convent of Dominican Tertiaries
When Emily was seventeen, the first and greatest grief of her life came to her — her father died. She had been his constant companion for several years and had dreaded breaking the news to him that she wanted to enter a convent. However, faced with death, he quite easily gave her the permission she desired, and after his estate was settled and her mother provided for, Emily set about accomplishing her desire.
Her portion of the sizeable estate she used to build a convent for sisters of the Third Order Conventual of Saint Dominic. It is not known that any such institution existed before her time, but it must have been both in the mind of Saint Dominic and in the plans of his successors, because the Dominican fathers of Vercelli enthusiastically supported her in her project.
On the feast of Saint Michael in 1256, Emily and her companions — who now numbered more than thirty — processed into the church of the convent, dressed in white gowns with veils and wreaths of white roses, and Emily’s mother was amazed to see her vision become reality. Re-fitted with Dominican habits, Emily was naturally viewed as the leader and foundress of the fledgling community, and when the visiting novice mistress completed her work and saw them all professed, Sister Emily, in spite of her youth, was unanimously named superior.
Life in the Convent
One of the principal differences between the Convent of St. Margaret and Second Order foundations was that Blessed Emily’s house had no lay sisters — all the sisters were of the same category and shared in the work of the house. Blessed Emily herself discouraged the contact with seculars which was to bring so many religious houses to ruin, and set up her horarium so that the sisters would have time and privacy for the life they were expected to lead.
She joyfully performed the most unpleasant tasks of the monastery and was especially devoted to the Passion of our Savior. She instructed and disciplined with love and kindness, above all preaching the love and forgiveness of Christ, while for herself she engaged in harsh bodily mortifications, including fasting, wearing a hair shirt beneath her habit, refusing sleep, and contemplating the Holy Crown of Thorns worn during the Passion of Our Lord.
The Stigmata of the Crown of Thorns
Emily prayed and meditated upon the suffering of Our Lord on a daily basis, and on one occasion courageously requested that she share the pain of Christ. Her request was granted, and the stigmata of the Crown of Thorns appeared upon her head for three days of intolerable pain. During that time, she was visited by visions of several saints associated with the Lord’s Passion, and following the conclusion of her suffering, continued to meditate on the Passion all her life.
Devotion to the Holy Eucharist
Blessed Emily had a beautiful devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and several miracles involving the Eucharist are attributed to her. One such miracle occurred when she was tending to ill sisters in the infirmary and arrived too late to Mass to receive Communion — she knelt down in prayer, and an angel came to her to administer the Holy Eucharist. On another occasion, her duties in the infirmary prevented her from making the long thanksgiving after receiving Communion that she desired. After attending Mass she went back to the sick sisters and said, “I am not alone, my sisters; see, I bring Jesus to bless you” — and at that moment, three ill sisters were miraculously cured of their infirmity.
Death and Beatification
She died on May 3, 1314, and was beatified on July 19, 1769, by Pope Clement XIV. The direct ancestor of thousands of Dominican sisters who today are engaged in all the active charities of the Order was Blessed Emily Bicchieri.