BAIJ, MARIA CECILIA. - Author of mystical writings, born in Montefiascone on 4 January 1694, she was given the names Cecilia Felicita. Initiated into the Christian life by the Venerable Rosa Venerini, she experienced a brief period of laxity. Recovering, she first entered (1711) the Cistercian monastery known as della Duchessa in Viterbo, from which she left disillusioned by the lack of observance, then in 1713 she entered the Benedictine monastery of S. Pietro in Montefiascone, where she professed in 1714 under the name Sister Maria Cecilia. She died there on 6 February 1766, having served for the sixth time as abbess of the monastery. She was venerated in life and after death for her austere life and rich mystical gifts. The fame of her holiness endures to this day.
She left a large number of spiritual letters and many other writings, predominantly mystical. However, only recently, through the work of Monsignor Pietro Bergamaschi, professor at the seminary of Montefiascone, were some of them made public. The published works are: 1) *Vita interna di Gesù Cristo, manifestata da Gesù alla sua serva Donna M.C.B.*, 2nd ed., Viterbo 1926-33; 2) *Vita del glorioso patriarca s. Giuseppe*, ibid. 1921; 3) *Vita di s. Giovanni Battista*, ibid. 1922. A large part of her two autobiographies and her *Colloqui con Gesù* have been reproduced in the biography of B., likewise written by Bergamaschi in 2 vols.: *Vita della Serva di Dio Donna C. M. B.*, Viterbo 1923-25. Many other letters and various writings on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Song of Songs, etc., remain unpublished.