CHIESA, GIANNICOLA. – Ascetic-mystical Augustinian writer, born in Genoa in 1695, died on 23 April 1782. He entered the Augustinian Hermits in 1711, transferred (1725) to the Congregation of St John at Carbonara in Naples, and served as lecturer and regent of studies, prior, and general secretary of his Order. A religious of austere life, he was considered one of the finest spiritual directors of his time.
His most widely circulated and important spiritual work is perhaps *Il religioso in solitudine ovvero esercizi spirituali proposti ai religiosi agostiniani* (Naples 1736; 5th ed., ibid. 1899); also noteworthy is the *Breve istruzione intorno alle vie mistiche* (ibid. 1768), in which C. chiefly follows ancient authors, including St Augustine, St Gregory, and St Bonaventure, while also drawing on some modern writers such as Luigi da Ponte and Cardinals Bona and Brancati.