BONA, GIOVANNI. — Cardinal, a most learned ascetical and liturgical-historical writer, b. at Pian della Valle near Mondovì on 10 October 1609, d. holily at Rome on 28 October 1674.
He descended from a branch of the Bonne de Lesdiguières, a noble family of the Dauphiné, which had emigrated to Piedmont. At the age of fifteen he became a Cistercian monk of the Congregation of the Feuillants, which guarded the sanctuary of S. Maria di Vico (Mondovì), beginning his novitiate in the monastery of S. Maria di Pinerolo on 19 July 1625.
He devoted himself to the study of philosophy and the sciences at Turin, in the monastery of the Consolata; then he was sent to Rome to study theology, in the monastery of S. Bernardo delle Terme, where he was ordained a priest in 1633.
Returning to Piedmont, he held the chair of theology for three years in the monastery of Vico (1636); twice he was elected prior at Asti, and then abbot of S. Maria di Vico di Mondovì. In 1651 he was elected general abbot of his Congregation; in 1654 he resigned this office in order to retire to Vico for study and prayer. At the wish of his great friend and admirer Alessandro VII, in 1655 he had to resume the office of general, and was appointed consultor to the Congregations of Rites, the Index, and the Holy Office. A most even-tempered theologian, he was benevolent in the heated controversy concerning the Monita salutaria B. M. Virginis ad cultores suos indiscretos (placed on the Index on 19 June 1674). Clement IX appointed him cardinal in 1669. His life, both as a religious and as a cardinal, was poor and austere, devoted to prayer and study. In his studies he always sought «not science for the sake of science, but science for the glory of God and the salvation of souls» (Pius X, Letter to the bishop of Mondovì on the occasion of the tercentenary). He remained renowned for holiness (cf. F. Tonelli, Si può sperare la canonizzazione del card. G. B.? in Riv. storica bened., 5 [1910], p. 253 ff.).
He published: Psullentis Ecclesiae harmoniae, tractatus historicus symbolicus asceticus de divina psalmodia ejusque causis mysteriis et disciplina etc. (Rome 1653, republished by the Benedictines of S. Mauro at Paris in 1663). The treatise, described by Marfone as «singularia et aureus» (De antiqua ecclesiae disciplina in divinis celebrandis officiis, Lyon 1706, preface), is the finest work to have appeared up to that time on the divine office: after several introductory chapters on psalmody, it studies the various canonical hours in their historical development, with extraordinary erudition and richness of evidence.
Manuductio ad coelum continens medullam sanctorum Patrum et veterum philosophum (Rome 1658) is his best-known ascetical treatise, reissued in 1660 and countless other times (seventeen during the author’s lifetime). The work, translated into several languages, was compared by his contemporaries to the De imitatione Christi. It is a methodical and profound study which, after demonstrating the necessity of a good spiritual director for attaining man’s final end and listing the qualities required, expounds the doctrine of the three ways: purgative, illuminative, and unitive. The Rerum liturgicarum libri duo is a treatise on the history and liturgy of the Mass, of great historical value; published in 1671, it went through numerous editions, among which those of Sala (Turin 1747 and 1753) are noteworthy. The spiritual value of the Sacrifice of the altar, on the other hand, is studied in the De sacrificio Missae tractatus asceticus (Rome 1658, Rouen 1663, etc.).
Among B.’s numerous other works, published and unpublished, we may mention: Via compendii ad Deum per motos anagogicas et orationes facultati (Rome 1657, Paris 1662). Union with God is achieved through frequent ejaculations and aspirations, which form almost a glue binding the soul to God.
Principia et documenta vitae christianae (Rome 1673, and numerous other editions) is a golden treatise on asceticism, teaching all Christians moderation of the passions and the practice of the virtues; De discretione spiritum in vita spirituali deducendorum (Brussels 1671, 1672; Rome 1672, etc.); Testamentum sive praeparatio ad mortem (Florence 1675); Hortus coelestium deliciarum, a spiritual anthology first published by Mgr Vattasso in 1918.
Cursus vitae spiritualis facili ac perspicua methodo per ducens hominem ab initio conversionis usque ad apicem sanctitatis (Rome 1674, numerous reprints listed by J. de Guibert, Theologia ascetica et mystica, ibid. 1926, p. 55) was published under the name of Carlo Giuseppe Morozzo, who edited it, and to whom it was subsequently falsely attributed; Italian translation by A. Tisi, Corso di Vita spirituale (2 vols., Rome–Alba 1942).
B. is an eminent liturgist and a profound master of asceticism and mysticism. As a liturgist he actively sought out sources (manuscripts, etc.); because of his offices as consultor, abbot, and cardinal, he could not extend his research very far beyond the Roman libraries, and for other sources he had to limit himself to second-hand reports derived from the very extensive literature he consulted. Despite these gaps, «his criticism of the sources marks an advance over all who preceded him» (H. Dumaine, s. V. in DACL, II, col. 998). B. was an indefatigable reader of the authors who treated the subjects he studied: «It may be said that nothing in the literature of his subject escaped him» (ibid., col. 997). The controversy aroused by his De rebus liturgi-
gicis, concerning the use of leavened or unleavened bread in the Latin Church, is well known. B. has his own theory, derived from Sirmond, and his thesis, although it does not attain the level of evidence—which is still lacking today—is the most plausible. For B., the absolute perpetuity of the use of unleavened bread in the Latin Church is not to be admitted. This opinion provoked disagreement among the scholars of the time; Mabillon, at first an opponent, later adhered to it almost entirely (De pane eucharistico azymo et fermentato, Paris 1674). More MACEDONIA (v.), who branded B.’s doctrine as heretical.
In the ascetical field, B.’s great merit lies in his fidelity to traditional doctrine; he harmonizes ancient and modern spirituality. His doctrine is the classical one, beginning from a clear and central concept of perfection, conceived as the actual and loving union of the soul with God, and proceeding to a description of the means of sanctification. Mystical union, the ultimate term of contemplation and of the soul’s ascent to God, is attained through frequent and ardent ejaculations. Apart from the divine, perfection is generally granted to whoever pursues the ascetical way with love and fidelity: it is almost a normal law. B.’s asceticism insists greatly on mastery of the passions, the practice of the virtues, the necessity of good and secure spiritual direction, and complete victory over oneself. B. also composed an excellent course of spiritual exercises, modeled on those of Ignatius: Phoenix redictiva, annua spiritus renovatio per anachoresim et exercitia spiritualia (1st ed. Paris 1847, French translation by De Boissieu, La renaissance du Phénix, ibid. 1922).