GABRIELE dell’Addolorata, Saint. — Passionist, in secular life Francesco Possenti, born at Assisi on 1 March 1838, died at Isola del Gran Sasso (Teramo) on 27 February 1862. A refined young man at the Jesuit Lycée in Spoleto, before the sacred image of the Blessed Virgin Mary he felt himself inwardly called to embrace the Passionist way of life. In September 1856 he entered the novitiate at Morrovalle (Macerata), where the following year he made his religious profession. He completed his philosophical studies at the retreat of Pievetorina (Macerata) and his theological studies at the retreat of Isola del Gran Sasso.
GABRIELE DELL'ADDOLORATA - GABRIELI ANDREA
Faithful in the observance of the Rule, he distinguished himself by his contempt for the world, his spirit of prayer and penance, and especially in his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows. Before ascending to holy orders, consumed more by divine charity than by his severe illness, he died at the age of only 24. Numerous miracles worked by him hastened his glorification. He was beatified by Pius X in 1908 and canonized by Benedict XV in 1920. The Italian Catholic Youth has chosen him as its patron. His feast is celebrated on February 27.
Among the first by the same Palestrina. From whom A. G. differs above all in the expression of religious feeling: foreign to the rigor of a lofty mysticism, the Venetian musician adopts a more earthly interpretation, in the sense of a broad acceptance of the stimuli offered by man alongside the words, from which the soul seems to derive the articulated development of the composition. Thus one understands how the motet, broadly understood in its related forms, is preferred to the mass, which binds the composer to a rigorous liturgical obedience; not to mention, naturally, the forms of secular song, among which the madrigal stands out for its new impetus. Other elements gradually assume ever greater importance: in relation to the harmonic sense of which we have spoken, the emphasis on the expressive power of the words is also due to the intervention, albeit not predominant, of chromaticism and the consequent tonal alterations. In this way, a character that may be described as descriptive prevails in the composition: and this direction of expression fits, moreover, within a broader aesthetic tendency of music, not to mention all of 16th-century art. For all the numerous vocal works, the citation of the Paulini Davidici (Venice 1583) may serve as representative of the genius of A. G., who, with his intonations and toccatas, his ricercars and canzonas, left compositions of notable significance in the field of instrumental music, especially for the organ.
For the bibliography V. GABRIELE,, Giovanni. Luigi Bonga