BELLINTANI, Mattia da Salò. — Capuchin preacher and writer, born at Gazzane (Rò Volcaino) on 29 June 1535, died on 20 July 1611. He distinguished himself by his virtue, apostolic and literary activity. An eclectic reader with Bonaventuran leanings in various provincial and general studies; several times provincial minister of Milan, of Bergamo-Brescia, definitor and general commissary; he spread the Order in France, obtaining faculties (1575) from Henry III, in Switzerland (1589, 1591), in Bohemia (1602-1605).
By order of the General Chapter of 1587 he wrote the Historia Capuccina (1525-1600), edited by Melchiorre da Pobladura (2 vols., Rome 1946-49), in which he presents the Order as the realization of genuine Franciscan life. Among his other historical writings is to be noted the Vita della conferenza s. Angela Merici, published under another name (Brescia 1600). He preached for fifty years in Italy and abroad; Cardinal Federico Borromeo classed him as a model of sacred oratory, as is also evident from the collections of his sermons, all published several times: Delli dolori di Christo prediche otto, con quattro d'altre materie (2 vols., Brescia 1598; English trans., London 1931); In sermones s. Bonaventurae et in Evangelia de tempore a Paschate usque ad Adventum scripturales introductiones (Venice 1588); Essaggerationi morali (Salò 1622); Quadragesimale ambrosianum duplex (2 vols., Lyons 1624, published at Cologne in 1681 under the title Conciones exquisitissimae). According to Capuchin tradition, he spread the observance of the Forty Hours, writing a Trattato (Brescia 1588) on its history and method. Like other brethren he became an apostle of mental and contemplative prayer among the people; he established in Brescia cathedral the hour of public meditation, adopted by St Charles Borromeo in Milan; he taught the method of meditation and arranged its themes in a work that enjoyed wide circulation through many editions and French and Latin translations: Prattica dell'oration mentale (part 1, ibid. 1573; part 2, Venice 1581; parts 3 and 4, ibid. 1607); in another work, Corone spirituali (Rome 1616), reprinted many times including German (Ingolstadt 1616) and French (Rouen 1622) translations and used by St Charles Borromeo, he develops the theme dear to Franciscan spirituality of the passion of Jesus Christ; in the Teatro del Paradiso (2 vols., Salò 1620, French trans. Lyons 1629), he presents in 150 meditations the theology of heaven. He organized various confraternities; for the one that assisted condemned prisoners he composed the Utili ricordi e rimedi (Salò 1614), also called Confortatorio. To foster priestly piety he wrote the Preparazione alla sacrosanta Messa (Milan 1610) and other editions. Various doctrinal, ascetical and oratorical works remain in manuscript.