NOVATI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. – Theologian of the Order of the Ministers of the Sick (Camillians), born in Milan in 1585, died there on 30 August 1648. For many years he taught philosophy and theology in the houses of his Order, and was its Superior General (1640–46).
Among the numerous theologians of the 17th century, Novati perhaps holds the first place for his classical work *De eminenta Delphanae Virginis Mariae* (2 vols., Rome 1630; Bologna 1639, ibid. 1630), in which the subject is treated with breadth and scholastic rigor. He also wrote: *Eucharistici amores et Cantici Canticorum enucleati* (I, Milan 1645; II, posthumous, Vittoria 1726), the first attempt at an Eucharistic interpretation of the Song of Songs; *Adnotationes et decisiones morales pro opportuno infirmis et moribundis auxilio praestando* (Bologna 1638); *Dilucidations de illibata conceptione B. M. V.* (manuscript).