VERDIANA, Saint. — Virgin recluse, born in Castelfortino in Tuscany (in 1822), to parents of modest means. For some time she served a wealthy relative of the Attavanti family.
After a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella and to the tomb of the Apostles in Rome, she settled in Castelfortino in a small cell built near the oratory dedicated to St. Anthony Abbot. There she remained for 34 years in the most rigorous austerity. It is not proven that V. belonged to the Vallumbrosan Congregation nor to the Third Order of St. Francis, to which, according to Maiano da Firenze, she would have been admitted by St. Francis himself. She died in 1242 or perhaps much earlier (1236?), at the age of 64 according to her biographers. V. was buried in her cell, which was transformed into a chapel; from there her relics were transferred to the church of St. Lawrence around the year 1378. Clement VII, on 20 Sept. 1533, approved the liturgical cult of the Saint, whose name was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology by decree of 3 Dec. 1672. Feast on 1 Feb.