| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Reverend Mother Abbess |
| Anna Maria Cànopi, O.S.B. | |
| Religion: | Christianity |
| Denomination: | Catholic Church |
| Order: | Order of St. Benedict |
| Institute: | Mater Ecclesiae Abbey |
| Churches: | --> |
| Other Name: | --> |
| Dharma Name: | --> |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Home Town: | Orta San Giulio, Novara, Italy |
| Birth Name: | Rina Cànopi |
| Birth Date: | 24 April 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Alta Val Tidone, Piacenza, Kingdom of Italy |
| Death Place: | Isola San Giulio |
| Rank: | Abbess |
| Works: | See Works |
Anna Maria Cànopi, O.S.B., (24 April 1931 – 21 March 2019) was an Italian Benedictine abbess and spiritual writer.
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.[1] 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.[2]