Barnaba di Palma - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 516

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

BARNABA di PALMA. - Spanish Franciscan, born at Palma (Cordova) to a humble Sicilian family (whence he is also called B. di Sicilia) in 1460; died there, with a reputation for sanctity, on 14 Oct. 1532.

Employed in agricultural work, he was called the “holy gardener,” or “B. the saint.” Having taken refuge in the Franciscan convent of Los Angeles, in order to escape the plague raging in his town, he remained there for many years employed in garden work, living as a religious although without wearing the habit, of which he considered himself un-

Article illustration — (from Faber, Roman baroque Art. II) BAROCCA, ARTE - Plan of S. Maria in Campitelli. Drawing by C. Rainaldi (1680) - Rome.

worthy. Only in 1491 did he begin his novitiate there and subsequently make his profession. He distinguished himself by humility, penance, and charity.

Among other charisms, he received infused knowledge from God. Although illiterate, he nevertheless wrote the following mystical treatises: 1) Elevation of the mind in God; 2) Life of Jesus Christ; 3) The Mystery of the Mass; 4) Christian Doctrine; 5) The Degrees of Prayer; 6) The Last Things; 7) Centiloquy of the Soul; 8) The Way of the Spirit. All his other writings remained unpublished; this last work was printed in 1534 through the care of Duke Bejar, a friend of B.

BIBL. A. di Guadalupe, Historia de la Provincia de Los Angeles, Madrid 1662, pp. 313-22; J. H. Sbaralea, Supplementum et castigatio ad scriptores trium Ordinum s. Francisci, I, Rome 1906, p. 114. Egidio Caggiano