ANCINA, GIOVANNI GIOVENALE, BEATO

ANCINA, GIOVANNI GIOVENALE, Blessed. – Born on 19 Oct. 1545 at Fossano, died at Saluzzo on 31 Aug. 1604. Having earned degrees in philosophy and medicine, he practiced this science with great zeal, holding a chair at the University of Turin. In 1575 he arrived in Rome, where he met St. Philip Neri, becoming his fervent disciple and, at the age of 23, being admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory on 1 Oct. 1578. Ordained priest in 1582, in 1586 he moved to Naples, where he remained for about ten years, devoting himself to the development of that nascent house of the Congregation. Returning to Rome in 1596, he was appointed Bishop of Saluzzo by Clement VIII in March 1603. An effective promoter of vernacular songs for moral purposes, he widely disseminated their use by adapting their words, often altering the text and replacing pagan names with Christian ones. He authored theological writings, poetry, and music, but above all he is remembered for the collection entitled *Tempio Armonico della Beatissima Vergine N. S.* (Rome 1599), which contains spiritual songs for three voices in a laud-style, composed by some thirty authors (G. G. A., G. Animuccia, D. Isorelli, etc.). His greatest and most fruitful labors, however, were devoted to the reform of the clergy, of convents, and to spreading Christian practices among the people. He earned the love of the good and the hatred of the wicked; this was the cause of his premature death by poisoning. He was beatified on 9 Feb. 1890. Feast on 31 August.