SCARAMELLI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. – An ascetic-mystical theologian and Jesuit, born in Rome on 23 November 1687 and died at Macerata on 11 January 1752. At the age of eighteen he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome; he taught humanities at Loreto and was a philosophy tutor at the Collegio Germanico. After his ordination to the priesthood (1716), he distinguished himself as a preacher and spiritual director in the sacred ministry. The principal field of his apostolate was Umbria and the Marches; he resided at times in Macerata, at times in Monte Santo and S. Sepolcro. There he wrote most of his works, which secured him an important place in the history of spirituality.
The only book published during his lifetime was The Life of Sister Maria Crocifissa Satellico, a Franciscan nun in the monastery of Monte Nuovo (Venice 1750). In Discernment of Spirits (there 1753), he provides rules based on those of s. Ignatius of Loyola and on the analogous study by Alvarez de Paz, but enriched by new experiences. His best-known work is the Ascetical Directory (there 1754), in 2 vols., in which he « teaches the way to lead souls along the ordinary paths of Grace to Christian perfection ». In addition to these, he wrote the Teaching of s. John of the Cross,
SCARAMELLI GIOV. BATTISTA - SCARLATTI
in which he expounds in three brief treatises the Ascent of Mount Carmel (I), the Dark Nights (II), the Living Flame of Love and the Exercise of Love (III), and which was published only in 1860 at Lucca; the Life of the Servant of God Angelina Cospari, foundress of the Maestre Pie in Borgo S. Sopofero (which remained in manuscript); the Direttorio mistico (Venice 1754) teaches how to guide souls along the extraordinary paths.
The Direttorio ascetico is the most widely circulated of his writings; it has had more than 20 Italian editions, 8 English, 5 German, 21 French, 4 Spanish, 3 Latin, as well as several abridged editions. The Direttorio mistico, despite S.’s appeals to the Superior General, was not approved by the general revisers of the Society, both because of certain intrinsic defects in the interpretation of biblical texts and in the use of expressions drawn from profane love, and above all because of the recent condemnation of a pamphlet by Fr. B. Benzi and the campaign waged against the Order by the Jansenists. Its publication subsequently occurred by pure chance, with such a consensus of praise and approval as to demonstrate that those fears had been excessive and that the doctrine was sound.
S. remains among the most highly esteemed ascetical-mystical writers, who exercised a genuine influence on later generations. The characteristic feature of S.’s treatises is their practicality. In both Direttori, numerous admonitions systematically follow the various theoretical discussions, in which practical reminders and facts are likewise not lacking. S. was convinced “that most men are moved more by examples than by reasons” (Dir. asc., Introd. no. 8). S. also highlighted more than others the decisive importance of the spiritual director’s task; from his own pastoral experience he drew the conviction that spiritual direction is necessary along the ordinary and extraordinary paths of perfection (Dir. asc., I, no. 2; Dir. mist., I, no. 1). If a soul, although able to find confessors or directors, were to refuse to submit to guidance, this would be an act of great temerity (Dir. asc., I, no. 95). The director must have a clearly defined plan, conforming to the laws that govern the emergence and development of a soul’s perfection. In the love of God and in the union of conformity to the divine will, S. establishes the precise point of orientation toward which every soul must be directed from the beginning. Although the paths are different, the end remains one: “perfect charity” (ibid., IV, no. 388). S. is a master of the art of adaptation, that is, of suggesting methods of direction according to “the temperament, state of life, degree of perfection, and spiritual strength of the penitent,” following the traditional classification of beginners, proficients, and the perfect (ibid., I, chap. 3), and he recommends not demanding more than is commensurate with the strength of the spirit that God communicates to souls (ibid., I, no. 80).
After spending thirty years in pastoral ministry and traveling through various Italian provinces, S. asserts that “almost everywhere” there are souls whom God leads by extraordinary ways to a high degree of perfection, and that “very rare” are the confessors who are experienced in this matter. He recommends avoiding extremes: that of not believing at all in the extraordinary works of Grace, and that of believing too readily without reasonable foundation (Dir. mist., I, no. 2). He admits acquired contemplation, in addition to infused contemplation (ibid., II, nos. 67-69); he does not consider them necessary for perfection, and holds that very many saints were not contemplatives (ibid., II, nos. 9-14, no. 263). He teaches, moreover, that souls have the duty to desire contemplation and to seek acquired contemplation (ibid., III, no. 284). In general, he wishes that in this matter one should follow rather than anticipate the work of Grace. In S.’s style, one often senses the preacher seeking to persuade and lead people toward the good.