GIOVANNI FILIPPO CERTANI. — Ascetic writer of the Oratory, born in Bologna in 1646 to a noble Florentine family, died on 23 November 1717. A relative of Francesco C., co-founder of the Congregation of the Oratory in Florence, after his priestly ordination he joined the same Congregation in Bologna. Devoting himself particularly to the redemption of fallen women, he established the convent of Santa Maria Egiziaca; then, at the invitation of Cardinal Tanara, legate of Urbino, he went to Pesaro to restore that Oratory, which had fallen into decline.
His principal works include: L'uomo di orazione (Bologna 1686); Le Costituzioni di S. M. Egiziaca (ibid. 1702); Ritiramento spirituale di un giorno per ciascun mese (translated from the French; reprinted several times); Epitalamio dell'anima sposa di Gesù Cristo, cioè pratiche per ben disporsi alla S. Comunione; La maniera di ben predicare (several reprints); Riti della Messa privata (posthumous, dedicated to Cardinal Lambertini, Bologna 1737 and 1750).