Barnabite Origins 3. Anthony Mary Zaccaria - Writings

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria [by Cristina Bellazzi]

There are few extant writings of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria: a few letters, a few sermons, and a little more than an outline of the order’s Constitutions. In addition, some other writings are ascribed to him. Notably, on top of each handwritten page, Anthony Mary penned an invocation. Usually, it was the monogram "IC XC+," the initial and last letters of IHSOYC XRISTOC, Greek for Jesus Christ, a graphic symbol from Byzantine tradition. The additional cross means CRUCIFIED. At the head of the Sermons, we find two other symbols. One is "yhs Maria +," where yhs is the traditional Jesus monogram, first popularized by St. Bernardine of Siena and later adopted by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The other reads "Jesus + Maria." Moreover, the Constitutions end with "Deo Gratias Jesu Mariae" (Let us give thanks to God, Jesus and Mary). All these invocations reveal Anthony Mary’s devotion to Jesus Crucified and to the Virgin Mary.

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