Mother Maddalena was familiar with the church of St. Pudenziana, since it was located near her home. She has this to say in her Princess of Poverty:
St. Pudenziana, was said to have been the first to receive the veil of virginity from the hands of St. Peter, who was staying at the house of the noble Pudens.
The monastery of San Lorenzo [from which the founders of the Poor Clares in the United States originated] is situated on the Viminal Hill, one of the seven hills upon which the city of Rome is built. The hill derived its name from the quantity of osiers, in Latin called Vimina, a species of water-willows that grew upon the place…. The Viminal Hill became renowned for a number of magnificent buildings that were erected upon it, amongst which may be mentioned the Thermae, or Baths, of Agrippina, wife of the Emperor Claudius and mother of Nero… and the mansion of the Roman Senator Pudens.
St. Peter raised to life Puden’s son, Timotheus, upon which the whole family became Christian. The Senator then invited S. Peter to take up his residence in his house. This S. Peter did, and there consecrated his first altar, and offered up the Holy Sacrifice. The little chapel he then used was afterwards developed into one of the most remarkable shrines in early Christianity, and bore the title: Ad Pastorem. It is known under the name of the Church of San Pudenziana, one of the granddaughters of the noble Pudens.