Battistina Vernazza

Battistina Vernazza (secular name Tommasina Vernazza) (born at Genoa, 1497; died there, 1587) ^[1] was an Italian canoness regular and mystical writer.

Life

Her father, Ettore Vernazza, ^[1] was a patrician, founder of several hospitals for the sick poor in Genoa, Rome, and Naples. He was also known for founding the ecclesiastical reform society the Oratory of Divine Love. ^[2] Her godmother was Catherine Fieschi-Adorno, known as Catherine of Genoa. At the early age of 13, Tommasina entered the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and became a canoness regular, taking the name of Battistina. She filled at various times the office of treasurer, novice-mistress, and prioress.

Works

She wrote, among other things, a commentary on the Pater Noster; "The Union of the soul with God"; "Of the knowledge of God"; "Of prayer"; "Of the heavenly joys and of the means of attaining them"; "Of those who have risen with Christ"; meditations, spiritual canticles, and letters to eminent men of her time. ^[2] Possevin speaks of her writings as inspired. Her works were published at Venice in 3 vols. in 1588. They have been published many times since.

Her sixteen treatises were originally sent to Gasparo Scotti, her confessor, who was the canon of a basilica in Rome. Scotti published the treatises, though this publication only occurred after her death. ^[3]

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Tommasina Vernazza". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:

• Battistina Vernazza, Opere Spirituali (Venice, 1588; Genoa, 1785);
• Rossini, Lyceum Lateranense Cesenae (1622);
• Serra, Storia letteraria (Genoa, 1832);
• Giovanni Battista Semeria, Storia ecclesiastica di Genova (Turin, 1838);
• Giuseppe Ronco, Sonetti inediti (Genoa, 1819);
• Antonio Boeri, Una Gloria di Genova (1906)
• Giuditta Podestà, Battistina Vernazza, Mistica aristocratica nella Genova rinascimentale, in "Le chiavi dello scrigno", Ceislo, Olginate (Lecco) 1990.
• Giuseppe Leone (a cura di), "L'ottimismo della conchiglia. Il pensiero e l'opera di Giuditta Podestà fra comparatismo e europeismo", Franco Angeli, Milano 2011.

1. Mazzonis, Querciolo (2022-03-03). Reforms of Christian Life in Sixteenth-Century Italy. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-53883-0.
2. Caravale, Giorgio (2016-04-22). Forbidden Prayer: Church Censorship and Devotional Literature in Renaissance Italy. Routledge. p. 137. ISBN   978-1-317-13420-6.
3. Panizza, Letizia; Wood, Sharon (2000). A History of Women's Writing in Italy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-57813-4.