Barnabite Origins 3. Anthony Mary Zaccaria - Writings 4. Other Writings

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria [by Cristina Bellazzi]

Giovanni Antonio Gabuzio in his Latin history of the Barnabites relates the full text of the above mentioned Address of October 4, 1534 in which Anthony Mary exhorted his community to trust in God in the midst of adversity. It is a free rendering by Gabuzio in his classic Latin style, with a wealth of Pauline quotations. It was based on the account of first-hand witness, Father Battista Soresina (1514-1601), who insisted that Anthony Mary’s exhortation was indelibly stamped in his memory. However, a close examination reveals only partial correspondence between Gabuzio’s paraphrase and Soresina’s brief account in his Attestations of Father Battista Soresina about the life and death of Rev. Father Anthony Mary Zaccaria: "Father Zaccaria gathered all Fathers and Brothers of his Congregation and addressed them most ardently about the benefits of trials and tribulations. He concluded by saying that in order to preserve his vineyard the Lord was placing about it a hedge of insults and indignities. Therefore, let everyone decide what to do: either persevere or quit." Gabuzio’s version sounds more like a Lectio Divina or edifying commentary of 1 Cor 4:10: "We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable but we are despised." An abbreviated version of Gabuzio’s text is used today as the Second Reading in the Office of Readings for the Solemnity of Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, July 5. Fifteen spiritual sayings of Anthony Mary have been culled from early documents. Arguably, more could be added, for instance, the last word attributed to Anthony Mary. According to Soresina’s Attestations, Saint Paul appeared to Anthony Mary on his deathbed and invited him to go with him, to which Anthony Mary replied: "With pleasure!" The authorship of the famous Detti Notabili (Notable Sayings), a recognized masterpiece of 16th century Italian Spirituality, is a moot question. A collection of 871 sayings selected from the writings of several authors, it treats of various facets of the spiritual life. It was first published in Venice in 1538. Its editor, former Barnabite Giovan Paolo Folperto, describes it as a series of quotations compiled by "reverend Father Anthony Mary Zaccaria of Cremona." First Barnabite historians, Mazenta, Tornielli, Gabuzio, did not agree with Folperto. They rejected Anthony Mary’s alleged authorship as spurious. As a matter of fact, nothing in Barnabite tradition proves Anthony Mary’s alleged authorship as authentic. On the other hand, it is historically ascertained that, even among Barnabites, a Book of Sayings was attributed to Fra Battista da Crema. In addition, Serafino Aceti de Fermo, in his works quotes several sayings of Fra Battista, which by and large correspond to sayings in Detti Notabili. It must be remembered, however, that controversial Fra Battista was twice condemned by the Church for Semi-Pelagianism, in 1552 and 1564. Probably, in order to save Detti Notabili from the same fate, Folperto changed the work’s title and ascribed it to unassailable Anthony Mary. Afterwards, no one doubted Anthony Mary’s paternity of his work, beginning with the first published history of the Barnabite Order by Father Anacleto Secco (1682). It was only in the 1930’s that Dominican Father Innocenzo Colosio reclaimed Fra Battista’s paternity of Detti Notabili. However, a compilation such as Detti Notabili hardly fits Fra Battista’s modus operandi. He preferred to write treatises. On the other hand, Anthony Mary liked to collect aphorisms. Typically, as we have seen, in his university notebook, he wrote down philosophical quotations. Some suggest that, after Fra Battista’s death, Anthony Mary extrapolated quotations from his works and arranged them thematically. However, others hold that, both in style and content, these sayings are entirely original.

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