SERAFINO da FERMO. - Ascetical writer and preacher, b. at Fermo in 1496, d. at Bologna in 1540. He entered the Canons Regular of the Lateran, preached with fruit in northern Italy (Milan, Mantua, and Bologna), drawing inspiration from Fra Battista da Crema (v.) and earning a particular place in the pre-Tridentine reform.
Of his ascetical writings, widely circulated at the time and translated into various languages, one may recall: Opera nova del discernimento delli spiriti (Mantua 1535); Specchio interiore (Bologna 1539); Problemi sull'orazione (ibid. 1539), in the form of questions and answers; Primo e secondo trattato della discrezione (ibid. 1539); Trattato per la vita cristiana utilissimo della cognizione et vittoria di se stesso (ibid. 1541), a compendium of the principal work of Fra Battista da Crema; Apologia di fra' Battista da Crema (Milan 1541); the pamphlet, placed on the Index in 1564, was removed from it in 1900); Trattato della mental orazione (ibid. 1543), is the most complete work of S., almost a guide for the spiritual life.
The spiritual doctrine of S., although an occasional elaboration of that of Fra Battista da Crema and lacking in organic unity, insists on the work of Grace and on the complete renunciation of one's own will. He advises "to pray in the interior of the spirit," because this is the ordinary way to attain perfect union with God. For S. the absence of effort is one of the elements proper to contemplation.
Bibliography
Mario Gaspari