BIGONI, ANGELO. – Theologian, preacher, and prolific ascetical writer of the Conventual Friars Minor, born in Corfu on 17 February 1779, died in Padua in a reputation for holiness on 3 March 1860. A religious from 1796, he was distinguished for his virtue and learning, serving as provincial minister of the Paduan province of St Anthony in 1835, and four years later as minister general (cf. n. 99) of his entire Order (1839–45), which he restored with great skill and dedication after the severe trials it had suffered during the Napoleonic suppressions.
He published esteemed works in theology, spirituality, philosophy, politics, and history. Worthy of special mention, besides his course of scriptural meditations on the Mystical Kingdom of Jesus Christ (11 vols., Padua 1822) and the profound theological work De Christo Reparatore (Würzburg 1846), are the Elevazioni dell’anima a Dio nelle varie ore del giorno (21st ed., Bologna 1863) and the valuable Corso di meditazioni per tutti i giorni dell’anno ad uso dei religiosi e dei sacerdoti secolari (4 vols., 4th ed., Milan 1927).