**DOMENICO della MADRE DI DIO, Venerable.** – Theologian, missionary, and Passionist mystical writer, born in Viterbo to the Barberi family on 22 June 1792, died in Reading (England) on 27 August 1849. After his “second conversion” he was favored with high mystical gifts.
He pursued his studies in Rome at SS. Giovanni e Paolo, taught philosophy and theology (1821–31), served as superior and preacher—especially among ecclesiastics—spiritual director, prolific and solid writer. His spiritual experiences and teachings are most widely transmitted in his Autobiography (1822, in Summarium additionale, pp. 50), Commentary on the Canticle (ms., 1823 and 1837, pp. 121), Divina paramina (posthumous eds. 1853 and 1860), Dialogues on Mental Prayer (ms., 1836, pp. 100), and The Sigh of the Dove (ms., 1837, pp. 100). He also composed a manual of philosophy (ms., 1828–30, pp. 1557) and one of moral theology (ms., c. 1839, pp. 1872), a Mariology (ms., 1825 and c. 1835; French trans.: Excellence de Marie, 2 vols., Tournai 1842, 1856, 1899), a characteristic pamphlet on the De auxiliis question (ms., 1835, pp. 24), and countless letters, discourses, conferences, and apologetic, didactic, oratorical, hagiographic pamphlets, vigorously opposing rationalism, Lamennaisism, Jansenism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism. In his spirituality, besides profound devotion to the Crucified and to the Sorrowful Virgin, there stands out a burning and active zeal for the Church, inspired by the Apostle of the Gentiles. Feeling himself called by a prodigious vocation to this apostolate, his life and activity were entirely directed toward the conversion of dissenters in northwest Europe.
In 1840 he founded the first Passionist retreat outside Italy, at Ere in Belgium. In 1841 he moved to England and established the Congregation there, founding or initiating four retreats before his death. In close contact since 1830 with Philipps and Spencer, and to some extent with Wiseman, in 1841 he began an interesting correspondence with Dalgairns and other controversialists, only partly preserved. He played a major role in the conversion of Newman, who entered the Catholic Church between 8 and 9 October 1845. Newman was struck by the extraordinary vocation, heroic apostolate, and sanctity of D., whom he later esteemed also as a good, able, and profound theologian. D. exercised a principal influence in the rebirth of Catholic life in England, of which he may be called the second Augustine.
The heroicity of his virtues was declared in 1937.