We see this radical dependency upon God replicated in Clare as she held the Blessed Sacrament before the Saracen invaders.

        I have not written to you earlier because I did not know what to decide. I awaited your arrival at the destined place and the description which you were to have given me of it. However, I have never forgotten you, my good daughters; I have always prayed for you. Many times each day I have sent you the paternal blessing and several times I have offered the Holy Sacrifice for you expressly because I have felt within me some sort of anxiety.

        Now I have received your letters with one from Father Paulino and all of them tell me things are most difficult--that the foundation of Minnesota is impossible. Well, then, remain there until the Most Reverend Custos Carlo da Nazzano, to whom I have recommended you, will decide where it might be convenient to move you; and in silence, in prayer, in sacrifice await for the Lord to manifest his most holy will. If the Lord wills that in the United States Saint Clare should have a monastery, be it in New York or some other city, you will thank the Lord that he deigned to choose you as an instrument of his glory and of the glory of Saint Clare; on the other hand, if in America it is impossible to conclude anything and you will return to Europe, then be happy with your humiliation before men. Certainly Jesus will take everything into account on your behalf and with him will remain entire the merit of your sacrifice as was that of Abraham.

        I, for my part, will likewise share in humiliation and will voluntarily offer it to the Lord who knows the rightness of my intentions. Certainly both I and you believed we were doing the will of God. But if now God lets us know that his will is otherwise we will be equally content. You must pray, pray, so that the Devine Will be fulfilled and nothing else. After I will have received new and more specific information which I have asked for and after I will have received orders from the Holy Father, I will give you the definitive decision.

        Good-bye, my good daughters, strive on generously, patiently and lovingly, committing yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and you will find it in all comfort and consolation. Concerning me, please never doubt, I pray for you and I bless you always.

                                               Your most affectionate father in Christ,
                                               Fra Bernardino, Minister General

These letters likewise reflect their courage, generosity, waiting in uncertainty to know God's will, their mendicancy, their radical dependency upon God as they waited for months to hear from the Minister General.

After unsuccessful attempts in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Cleveland they finally came to Omaha on August 15, 1878. Bishop O'Conner received them warmly but frankly told them that he was unable to do anything for them but John Creighton or others would be able to help them.

On September 9, 1888, the two delegates, Father Boniface, OFM, and Father Schaffel, SJ, Vicar General, with the Reverend P. McCarthy as secretary, came to the monastery and presented their credentials. Mother Maddalena and Constanza were informed that for the time of the visitation (which was being conducted in their monastery) they would have to betake themselves to the convent of the Sisters of Mercy on 13th street, and that they would have to leave the next morning. If their accusers prevail again, these hours will be their last in this monastery which was cemented, brick by brick, with ten hard years of their life. Mother Maddalena wrote into the Chronicle: "We make ourselves ready to leave home, -more yet, ready to go even to the end of the earth to make happy those Sisters whom we have received with love and care--but oh!!!"

At 8:00 the next morning, a carriage was at the entrance of the monastery to convey Mothers Maddalena and Constanza to the Sisters of Mercy. Fathers Boniface and McCarthy accompanied them. Years later, when asked about the impression which he had received of Mother Maddalena in those days, Father Boniface stated: "I hereby -- on my priestly word -- testify that the behavior of Reverend Mother Maddalena (during the ride and after reaching the monastery of her temporary banishment) was the most exemplary, edifying, and saintly that could ever have been expected from a virtuous creature, taking into due consideration the awful, trying, humiliating and heart-rending ordeal she went through. While I was riding with her in the carriage, she uttered not a word against her two young accusers, not a word of reproach or complaint against her unfair ecclesiastical superior. Though extremely affected by the severe measure, she allowed her human nature a few furtive sobs and tears, still not a word dropped from her lips which was not prompted by a humble resignation to God's will and by an unlimited confidence in his assistance as to the final result of the investigation in her behalf. Having thus paid a little tribute to the human frailty, she calmly became cheerful and confident in the outcome of her cause as only a guiltless soul can be. She was even the consoling and encouraging angel of her sister."

Constanza soon regained her composure to the degree that she said: "Maddalena, they must thing that we are fools. We are under the most fearful accusations, yet here we are laughing." To which Maddalena replied: "I cannot help it. All my life I have asked God for crosses, and now that he has sent them, why should I not be glad?"

Great in the days of her humiliation, she was even greater in the days of her exaltation. Father Boniface testified in the statement already referred to: "When the investigation was over, and I accompanied both Mothers to their monastery, Mother Mary Maddalena was just as humble, meek, and of equable mind as a saint. Neither during the ride, nor after in the monastery, did she have either a word of self-complacency or a word of condemnation for her accusers. Thankful to God that her innocence was fully established by the long, minute, and rigorous investigation, she gave praise to him. She was not in the least exalted by the success. I can swear without the slightest hesitation that she was simply admirable for her self-possession and self-control -- equally composed in her affliction and in her enjoyment."

The answer from Rome was dated January 12, 1889. "From the examination of the facts, the depositions of the witnesses interrogated, the result is that the accusations made against the Bentivoglio sisters are not justified."

On January 31, 1889, the bishop sent his secretary-chancellor to the monastery to communicate this decision to the Servant of God and to Mother Constanza. Later the bishop himself came to the monastery. In the presence of a witness he not only expressed his regrets, he even begged pardon for the anguish that had been caused to the Servant of God and to her sister.

Poor Clare life in America continued to grow and flourish. In 1895 Mother Maddalena applied for permission to found a monastery in Evansville, Indiana. The permission was granted. The Evansville foundation was solemnly blessed by Bishop Silas Chatard on August 12, 1897. It was in this monastery that Mother Maddalena died on August 18, 1905.

Shortly after Mother Maddalena's death, steps were taken toward her eventual canonization. In 1928 the Process was inaugurated; at present the Cause for the Beatification of the Servant of God, Venerable Mother Mary Magdalen Bentivoglio, has advanced so far that all that remains to be fulfilled for its completion are the testimonies of two miracles attributed to her intercession. It is important to stress the fact that for a miracle to be attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God, no other saint may have been invoked in the particular instance for which a miracle is desired. The Beatification of the saintly abbess is greatly desired and it is ardently hoped that any persons receiving miraculous aid through her intercession will write to the abbess of the Monastery of St. Clare in Omaha, 3626 North 65 Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska 68104-3229.