Bernardino Da Picquigny (Latin: A Piconio)

BERNARDINO da PICQUIGNY (Lat. a Piconio). — Capuchin exegete of the province of Paris, born at Picquigny in Picardy in 1633, died in Paris on 8 December 1709. He was a lecturer in philosophy and theology and superior of the Paris convent. He renounced every office in 1688 in order to live in recollection and study, until death suddenly overtook him as he was leaving the confessional. B. left a highly esteemed 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), much inferior to the Epistolarum B. Pauli Triplex Expositio (analysis of the text, paraphrase, and commentary), Paris 1703, which is B.’s masterpiece. A reduction in French was published by B. himself, at the request of friends, in 1706; and the first Italian version, issued in Venice in 1737, was based on II. Excellent for its time, B.’s commentary on the letters of St. Paul has remained esteemed down to the present day, as is attested by the 27 Latin editions (the latest in Opera omnia, ed. Vivès, Paris 1870 ff., in 5 volumes), the 33 French editions, and the 11 Italian editions (the most recent edited by G. Castoldi, 3 vols., Monza 1940 ff.). B. succeeds in combining a clear and objective study of the sacred text with a robust piety, so that his work is one of spirituality as well as exegesis.