Anna Maria Canopi

Anna Maria Cànopi, O.S.B., (24 April 1931 – 21 March 2019) was an Italian Benedictine abbess and spiritual writer.

Life Cànopi was born in 1931 in Pecorara, now in alta Val Tidone, Province of Piacenza, then part of the Kingdom of Italy. As a young girl, she became drawn to monastic life. This led her to enter the Benedictine Abbey of Viboldone, near Milan.

In 1973 Cànopi was chosen to lead a small group of nuns who were to establish the new Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which was to be located on San Giulio Island, on Lake Orta. Under her leadership, the monastery flourished and was later raised to the status of a territorial abbey, with Cànopi being elected as the first abbess of the community.

Abbess Cànopi became widely known as an author of several books on biblical and monastic spirituality and was considered a prominent scholar in patristic literature. She contributed to the publication of the official translation of the Bible by the Italian Bishops' Conference. She was also invited to write the text of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) used by Pope John Paul II on Good Friday evening at Rome's Colosseum in 1993.

Works Way of the Cross with Pope John Paul II (1994) La Grande Settimana: Commento spirituale ai testi liturgici e ad alcune melodie gregoriane (2007) Edizionne Paoline L'anima mia magnifica il Signore: Lectio divina sul Magnificat (2008) Edizionne Paoline Siate lieti nel Signore: Lectio divina sulla Lettera ai Filippesi (2008) Edizionne Paoline Eredi di Dio, coeredi di Cristo: Lectio divina sulla Lettera ai Romani (2009) Edizionne Paoline Scelti per essere santi: Lectio divina sulla Lettera agli Efesini (2009) Edizionne Paoline Le sette parole di Gesù in croce: Meditazione e preghiera (2009) Edizionne Paoline Mansuétude Voie de paix (2010) Médiaspaul France Fame di Dio: L’Eucaristia nella vita quotidiana (2011) Edizionne Paoline Misericordia e consolazione: Il Dio di Gesú Cristo (2015) Edizionne Paoline