Ancina, Giovanni Giovenale, Blessed

ANCINA, GIOVANNI GIOVENALE, Blessed. - B. on 19 Oct. 1545 at Fossano, d. at Saluzzo on 31 Aug. 1604. Having graduated in philosophy and medicine, he practised the latter science with great zeal, holding a chair at the University of Turin. Arriving in Rome in 1575, he there met St Philip Neri, whose fervent disciple he became and by whom, at the age of 33, he was admitted to the Congregation of the Oratory on 1 Oct. 1578. Ordained priest in 1582, he moved to Naples in 1586, where he remained for about ten years, devoting himself to the development of that newly established house of the Congregation. Having returned 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 modifying the text and replacing pagan names with Christian ones. He was the author of theological writings, poetry, and music, but he owes his fame above all to the collection entitled Tempio Armonico della Beatissima Vergine N. S. (Rome 1599), which contains three-part spiritual songs, in the style of laude, composed by some thirty authors (G. G. A., G. Animuccia, D. Isorelli, etc.). His greater and better efforts, however, he wished to devote to the reform of the clergy and convents and to the spread of Christian practices among the people. This won him the affection of the good and the hatred of the wicked; the latter caused his premature death by poisoning. He was beatified on 9 Feb. 1890. Feast day: 31 August.