Bernardino da Picquigny

BERNARDINO DA PICQUIGNY (Latin: A Piconio). - Capuchin exegete of the province of Paris, b. at Picquigny in Picardy in 1633, d. at Paris on 8 Dec. 1709. He was a lecturer in philosophy and theology, and superior of the convent of Paris. He renounced every office in 1688 in order to live in recollection and study, until death took him suddenly as he was leaving the confessional. B. left a highly prized little ascetical work (Pratique pour bien vivre et pour bien mourir, ou double préparation à la bonne mort, Paris 1701), an exposition of the Gospels (published posthumously, in 1726, edited by Fr. Bernardo d'Abbeville), far inferior to the Epistolarum B. Pauli Triplex Expositio (analysis of the text, paraphrase and commentary), Paris 1703, which is B.'s masterpiece. An abridgment in French was published by B. himself, at the request of friends, in 1706; and from this the first Italian version was made, published at Venice in 1737. Excellent for its times, B.'s commentary on the letters of St. Paul has remained in honor down to our own day, as is attested by the 27 Latin editions (the last in Opera omnia, ed. Vivès, Paris 1870 ff., in 5 tomes), the 33 French, the 11 Italian (the most recent edited by G. Castoldi, 3 vols., Monza 1940 ff.). B. knows how to unite the limpid and objective study of the sacred text with a robust piety, so that his is a work of spirituality as well as of exegesis.

Teodorico da Castel S. Pietro