Hyacintha Mariscotti

Who was Hyacintha Mariscotti?

Saint Hyacintha Mariscotti, T.O.R., or Hyacintha of Mariscotti was an Italian nun of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. She was born in 1585 of a noble family at Vignanello, in the Province of Viterbo, and died 30 January 1640 in Viterbo. Her feast is 30 January; in Rome, 6 February.

Her parents were Marcantonio Mariscotti and Ottavia Orsini. At baptism she received the name Clarice and in early youth was remarkable for piety, but, as she grew older, she became frivolous, which not even the almost-miraculous saving of her life at the age of 17 could change, nor her education at the Monastery of St. Bernardine at Viterbo, a religious community of Franciscan tertiary nuns, where an older sister had already taken the veil.

At the age of 20 she set her heart upon marriage with the Marquess Capizucchi, but was passed over in favor of a younger sister. Disappointed, she entered the monastery in Viterbo where she had been educated, receiving the name Hyacintha. She admitted later that she did this only to hide her chagrin and not to give up the luxuries of the world. She kept a private stock of extra food, wore a habit of the finest material and received and paid visits at will.