round of administrative procedures to become a regular convent. In 1619, they asked Pope Paul V to grant them complete enclosure. When the papal officials who handled such petitions received the request, they asked the provost of Pescia to send in a report about them. Marriage with Christ On 20 May 1619, Jesus appeared to Benedetta in vision and announced that he wanted to marry her in a solemn ceremony a week later. He issued detailed instructions on the decoration for the chapel. The upper part of the altar should be covered with light blue cloth, the right side with red cloth and the other two sides in green. The floor also should be covered: images of Christ and Madonna, flowers of all sorts and colours, three chairs and 12 pillows must be there. All nuns in the house would be at the ceremony with lighted candles and then this Jesus will say them through Benedetta's lips what to do and where to go. Benedetta doubted if this was genuine Jesus or some diabolic illusion and hesitated to tell Father Ricordati all the details of her vision, but three days later she revealed it. She wondered about the public nature of the event, and the work it required because Jesus didn't usually reveal himself in such a public fashion. But Ricordati unexpectedly let her proceed and other nuns had already started to decorate the convent because, in one of her recent ecstasies, Benedetta had spoken of the impending marriage and possibly couldn't remember this in the normal state of conscience. Because the community did not have a whole set of things needed for a solemn mystical marriage ceremony, they sent a servant off to borrow the altar cloth from several people outside the convent. They asked some of the religious institutions in the vicinity to contribute candles and solicited the pillows and flowers from various other quarters. The candles were sent by the Fathers of Holy Annunciation, by the convent of Santa Maria Nuova and by people of the mountain country. Baskets of flowers arrived from everywhere. The tree chairs came from the Prior of Pescia. Nuns had received so many gifts that they didn't know what to do with all of them. Word of what was happening spread and many people wanted to participate, but no one, not even Father Ricordati, was allowed by the provost to enter the