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One of these days I shall get this Blog business sorted....Apologies for the ugly appearance of today's post,

Update to layout and contents of "A Scurrilous Letter to Pope Paul III. A Transcription and Translation of Ms 469 (f.101r – 129r) of the Vadianische Sammlung of the Kantonsbibliothek of St. Gallen."

by Br. Paul Hanbridge OFM Cap

This study was completed in 2010 and introduces a transcription and English translation of a ‘Letter’ in VS Ms 469. The document is titled: Epistola invectiva Bernhardj Occhinj in qua vita et res gestae Pauli tertij Pont. Max. describuntur. The study notes other versions of the letter located in Florence. It shows that one of these copied the VS469, and that the VS469 is the earliest of the four Mss and was made from an Italian exemplar. An apocryphal document, the ‘Letter’ has been studied briefly by Ochino scholars Karl Benrath and Bendetto Nicolini, though without reference to this particular Ms. The introduction considers alternative contemporary attributions to other authors, including a more proximate determination of the first publication date of the Letter. Mario da Mercato Saraceno, the first official Capuchin ‘chronicler,’ reported a letter Paul III received from Bernardino Ochino in September 1542. Cesare Cantù and the Capuchin historian Melchiorre da Pobladura (Raffaele Turrado Riesco) after him, and quite possibly the first generations of Capuchins, identified the1542 letter with the one in transcribed in these Mss. The author shows this identification to be untenable. The transcription of VS469 is followed by an annotated English translation. Variations between the Mss are footnoted in the translation. 

To do this study it was necessary to locate and transcribe the relevant manuscripts, as well as Karl Benrath's published transcription in “Lettera a Paolo III, documento sconosciuto del secolo xvi” in Rivista Cristiana 2(1874) 257-272, 289-302. A synoptic view of the transcriptions permits a comparison of Benrath's transcription and mine, (so that the reader may check my transcription errors). The synoptic also identifies quickly some of the content variations evident in the Mss.

This updated file includes both the study and the synoptic presentation of the Mss and may be found under the HISTORY tab on the Capdox homepage, or go there directly from here.

Capdox relies on the honesty of the user. This material should not be copied or quoted without acknowledgement.

PH

The Theatre of Paradise

by Mattia da Salò

From the extract edited by Costanzo Cargnoni and his introduction, I Frati Cappuccini. Documenti e testimonianze del primo secolo, Vol.III/1, pp. 737-768, and translated by Br Patrick Colbourne O.F.M.Cap.

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Even though no young Doctoral candidate has as yet taken this for the subject of his Thesis, as the Dominican Friar Innocenzo Coloso hoped in 1963, the spiritual treatise The Theatre of Paradise or meditations on the glory of Heaven by Mattia da Salò, which was printed after his death in Salò in 1620 by his Brother Giovanni Bellintani da Salò, is “one of the most attractive, original and profound books” that has been written concerning life in Heaven.

Containing 150 meditations, it deals with considerations of the glory of Heaven as man’s ultimate destiny, the nature of God, the union of man with God in heaven, the absolute and comparative attributes of the Most Holy Trinity and above all the glory of the Incarnate Word, which is treated in 45 meditations which are spread out over considerations of the excellence of His humanity, the nature of His virtues, the sanctity of His soul, the dignity and glory of His body. They go on to deal with the Saints, the Virgin Mary, Angels and men, the Saints as Christ’s Mystical Body, the adornments of the soul, the happiness in our feelings, divine sonship and the inheritance that comes with it, admiration and joy, praise, humility, thanksgiving and the vision of God, the state of blessedness which the Saints receive from Christ’s humanity, the contentment of creatures and the sufferings of the damned: a fruitful, vast and profound panorama of theological doctrine, with many touches of Bonaventure and Scotus, that astound the reader.

When he published the third and fourth parts of his Practice of Mental Prayer, which dealt with the last four things, in 1607, explained the origin of these meditations on the glory of heaven: “I thought”, he wrote, “that there was not much that could be written since the subject is so far removed from what we know about. However, I soon expanded my treatment as I realised that one section would be needed to treat these matters and hell as had been required when I treated death and judgement. Because of this I realised that I had to take up my pen again, and rely on the help that God’s goodness would provide for me to treat divine glory. I planned to treat the topics using an appropriate number of considerations, and a simpler style in this fourth section. Thus as I had used one hundred and fifty consideration in the first part, I set out to accomplish the present work with the intention of restricting myself to the extent that simple people could understand the material which is extremely rich by its nature and for the most part very far removed from the grasp of our bodily senses. Because it was beyond me to do this I decided to compose something else which was easier and clearer and that is what I have tried to do…If this is pleasing to God we publish the one hundred and fifty considerations once again with a chapter or two on contemplation, which we have entitled The Theatre of Paradise.” (From the Introduction to the Fourth part). This project was finalised by his brother Giovanni.

The structure of the individual meditations is the same for all and they are set out in a series of three steps or acts similar to that in The Practice of Mental Prayer: preamble, mediation and action. However, the content is much more elaborate, to suit (as the author says) those who only want to use the book for reading and not as an specific “tool for meditating”, as they would have done with the popular edition of the first part of the Practice , where, “so that the intellect would have more scope for meditation and to carry out other actions, I had tried to use few words by simply stating the concepts”, indicating, “ the individual acts of the practices by the use of numbers.” However, “ for those who only want to read these two things seemed to be a bother with so many numbers being a nuisance, making the content, which could have been expressed in a few words, appear dry and glossed over without any feeling.”

The structure of the individual meditations is the same for all and they are set out in a series of three steps or acts similar to that in The Practice of Mental Prayer: preamble, mediation and action. However, the content is much more elaborate, to suit (the author says) those who only want to use the book for reading and not as a specific tool for meditating, as they would have done with the popular edition of the first part of The Practice, where, so that the intellect would have more scope for meditation and to carry out the other actions, I had tried to use few words by simply stating the concepts, indicating the individual acts of the practices by the use of numbers. However, for those who only want to read these two things seemed seemed to be a bother with so many numbers being a nuisance, making the content, which could be been expressed in a few words, appear dry and glossed over without any feeling.

For these reasons and to accommodate the wishes of these “readers” in the last two parts of his Practice of Mental Prayer, Mattia da Salò explained the content at greater depth by means of a more articulate treatment. In spite of this compromise, this “mediocrity” as he called it, he was convinced that the meditations would be useful to both souls who wanted to pray as well as to those who only wanted to read, “hoping that the result would be that the readers would gradually become people of prayer and progress from reading to praying.” (From the Introduction to the Third Part.) 

We have chosen five "practices" from these splendid meditations to give the modern reader a taste of what they contain. Even in the linguistic traditions of the seventeenth century, the depth of the theological concepts that Bellintani knew how to translate into vibrant piety and devotion for himself and for others justly deserves the judgement passed on him by Francesco Panigarola, and Oservant Friar Minor. "Father Mattia could be numbered among the holy Fathers of the Church." He really was "a great theoretician of the method of meditation - writes Innocenzo Colosio- and he remains an incomparable master in balancing and harmonising the use of the various human faculties in such a delicate exercise and difficult exercise as mental prayer.

Mattia da Salò

The Practice of Mental Prayer

translated by Br. Patrick Colbourne OFM Cap

New on Capdox

     There is general consensus among scholars that The Practice of Mental Prayer is Bellintani’s ascetical masterpiece. What is more, it is also one of those works  similar to The Contempt of the World by Innocent III, The Dialogue of Divine Providence by Catherine of Siena, The Treatise on Purgatory by Saint Catherine of Genoa, The Spiritual Combat by Scupoli that seems to epitomise a era of spiritual writings.  In fact while it is regarded as one of the most ripe fruits of the Capuchin Italian sixteenth century and, perhaps, the most mature product of a particular kind of spirituality, on a broader scale it represents the pre-eminently apostolic aspect of the new Franciscan reform which seems to capture and fully exemplify its two outstanding characteristics: contemplative solitude and preaching the Gospel.

     Bellintani’s work, which is presented as a method and guide for mental prayer was generally accepted by popular piety as one of the most widely read and enjoyed ascetical works by the Christian community. This is substantiated by the number of editions which continued to be published into the seventeenth century and by translations into French, Latin and Spanish which in all numbered about fifty. What is more it was recommended by Saint Charles Borromeo, prescribed for Confraternities of Penance by the Archbishop of Avignon, Francesco M. Taugi, praised by the Spirituals of the day, used by prayer groups during the Forty Hours and flicked through by everyone.

      In the author’s mind the entire work is made up clearly and logically of four parts, following a broad design which, beginning from God’s infinite and blessed essence and the benefits bestowed on man, reflects on the whole of the economy of salvation by means of the mystery of all the earthly events of Christ’s life, the Church and its source of grace in the Sacraments, and then the universal eschatology in the fundamental truths of the last things, which are clearly spelt out in the New Testament. It resembles d gigantic round of frescoes in which the entire story of God’s love for man is reviewed from the first instant of life in time to the vision of a blessed eternity at the end of time that exceeds our wildest dreams.

      This vast vision which Bellintani conceived from the start was only brought to completion through successive stages that were developed side by side with the continual responsibilities of preaching and teaching and responsibilities in Italy and beyond. Thus the first part, which concludes with Christ’s burial, was published for the first time in Brescia in 1573 and was dedicated to the Bishop of that city, Domenico Bollani. This part consists of an important theoretical introduction concerning meditation, its value and usefulness and how it is practised. It consists of eight little chapters followed by fifty two meditations or “practices”. As Petrocchi wrote, this consists of “splendid pages for the study of sixteenth century piety” and the method of Capuchin affective prayer. Even though in a later edition in 1584 Bellintani revised this first part adding corrections and improving the theological development and structure of the treatment, we preferred to reproduce the first Brescian edition, since it is a better reflection of “the first fervour or discovery”, and is more spontaneous and personal and, indeed, little known since scholars have referred to the second edition which was revised by the author and published in this century (fifty years ago) by the Capuchin Umile da Genova.

      “The theological system of Mattia da Salò – to quote Petrocchi once again – is centered on the exertion which is applied when praying, on prayer as an exercise, on the importance of the intellect and the will in the practice of the acts of prayer in so far as the intellect is involved in understanding and thinking about the divine mysteries and the will stimulates emotions with regard to the circumstance in the mysteries which are being meditated upon by the intellect and the temperament of the person who is at prayer”. However, the solid theological foundation is dealt with “briefly as an easy and useful method” because this spiritual book is intended to be “a practical instrument for carrying out mental prayer”.

      The question is raised of how virtues may be acquired through prayer and the whole problem of Christian “virtue” is discussed throughout the introduction since prayer is “the quickest way” to acquire virtue. The concrete example is Christ and the instructive model is the Our Father, which also exemplifies the order to be observed when praying. The Holy Spirit is the inner instructor. The method and written rules are the exterior tutor which the spiritual person sees as the way of submission to being taught by the Holy Spirit.

 Rather than insisting on generic rules, Bellintani proposes to unfold all the acts of prayer individually and in an orderly fashion and to teach the practice of the exercise in a concrete manner, in a restrained and friendly manner suitable for the time of apprenticeship. Therefore he is not concerned with vocal prayer, but stresses the rules of mental prayer. He divides these into three parts:

     1) Preparation: in general and in particular (remote and proximate), which consists in being on guard against sin, purification of the heart, repentance and making an effort to cultivate energetic attention; 2) meditation, which is the longest part, split into various points to assist the mind in paying attention like eating so many mouthfuls of food that need to be chewed well one by one in order to extract flavour and taste in order to light the fire of emotion in the will; 3) action, by means of which once the will has been watered by holy meditation, this produces automatically, by the strength of the Holy Spirit, “emotions”, “acts”, or “operations” in which divine love abides. These emotions burst forth into acts which are produced by love, which is dynamically active and passive, active and passive at the same time, during which the soul is “drawn to God”, which stirs a deep desire to delight in the Divine will and to make all people honour God, in a intertwining and subsequent exchange of unspeakable delight which he calls “connection” and “disconnection”. It is here that mental prayer glides into contemplation and the pure act of love, and the state of union with God.

      The shades of meaning in this teaching are so numerous that it is difficult to explain them in a short space of time. Bellintani, however, hurries on to deal with rules in well laid out exercises of meditation. By way of an example we have chosen some of these practices, really just a few, but a sufficient number so that the reader may grasp the whole dynamic and logic of this popular and influential “practice of mental prayer”.

World Youth Day 2013

Amendments

The text The Soul's Deliberations and Prayers has been amended. The last prayer was omitted on the version recently published on Capdox.