COLUMBA OF RIETI, BL.

Patroness of Perugia, Italy; b. Angelella Guadagnoli, Rieti, Feb. 2, 1467; d. Perugia, May 20, 1501. Her name was changed to Columba when a dove flew over the font at her christening. Refusing the marriage arranged by her parents, she made a vow of virginity and entered upon a solitary life. At the age of 19, having become a Dominican tertiary, she left her seclusion, journeying to Viterbo, Narni, Foligno, and eventually to turbulent Perugia, where she founded the convent of St. Catherine (1490). Civil rulers and members of the hierarchy came to consult her; her influence as a peacemaker was remarkable. She practiced severe penances and endured painful illnesses and calumnies. She was particularly devoted to St. catherine of siena. When Columba was dying, the civil magistrates came to visit her, and the expenses of her funeral were defrayed by the city of Perugia. Her cult was confirmed in 1627.

Feast: May 20.

Bibliography: Année Dominicaine, 23 v. (Lyons 1883–1909) May 2:527–544. a. baglioni, Colomba da Rieti, la seconda Caterina da Siena (Rome 1967). m. d. de ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (4th ed. Paris 1924) 305–354. r. frascisco, a. mercati and a. pelzer, Dizionario ecclesiastico, 3 v. (Turin 1954–58) 1:668. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 2:359–361. a. walz, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 3:13.

[m. j. finnegan]