GIOVANNI BATTISTA SCARAMELLI. — Ascetic-mystical theologian, Jesuit, born in Rome on 23 November 1687, died in Macerata on 11 January 1752. At the age of eighteen he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, taught humanities in Loreto, and was a philosophy tutor at the German College. After his ordination to the priesthood (1716), he distinguished himself as a preacher and spiritual director in sacred ministry. His apostolate was especially focused on Umbria and the Marches; he resided alternately in Macerata, Monte Santo, and Sansepolcro. It was in these places that he wrote most of his works, which have given 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 The Discernment of Spirits (ibid. 1753) he sets forth rules based on those of St Ignatius of Loyola and on the analogous study of Alvarez de Paz, but enriched by new experiences. His best-known work is the Ascetic Directory (ibid. 1754) in two volumes, in which “he teaches the way to lead souls along the ordinary paths of grace to Christian perfection.” Besides these, he wrote The Doctrine of St John of the Cross,
in which he expounds in three brief treatises the Ascent of Mount Carmel (I), the Dark Nights (II), and the Living Flame of Love (III); this was published only in 1860 in Lucca; the Life of the Servant of God Angelina Cospari, foundress of the Maestre Pie in Borgo Sansepolcro (remaining in manuscript); and the Mystic Directory (Venice 1754), which teaches the way to guide souls along extraordinary paths.
The Ascetic Directory is the most widely circulated of his writings; it has had over 20 Italian editions, 8 English, 5 German, 21 French, 4 Spanish, 3 Latin, as well as several abridged editions. The Mystic Directory, despite Scaramelli’s appeals to the Superior General, was not approved by the general censors 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 especially because of a recent condemnation of a pamphlet by Fr B. Benzi and the campaign waged against the Order by the Jansenists. The work was eventually published by a mere chance, with such an outpouring of praise and approval as to demonstrate that those fears had been excessive and that the doctrine was sound.
Scaramelli remains among the most esteemed ascetic-mystical writers, who have exercised a true influence on later generations. A characteristic of his treatises is their practicality. In both Directories, numerous warnings systematically follow the various theoretical discussions, in which practical advice and examples are not lacking. Scaramelli was convinced that most people are moved more by examples than by reasons (Asc. Dir., Introduction no. 8). He also emphasized more than others the decisive importance of the spiritual director’s task; from his own pastoral experience he drew the conviction of the necessity of spiritual direction for the ordinary and extraordinary paths of perfection (Asc. Dir., I, no. 2; Myst. Dir., I, no. 1). If a soul, though able to find confessors or directors, should refuse to submit to guidance, this would be an act of great temerity (Asc. Dir., I, no. 95). The director must have a well-defined plan, conforming to the laws governing the arising and development of a soul’s perfection. In the love of God and in the union of conformity to the divine will, Scaramelli establishes the precise point of orientation to which every soul must be directed from the outset. Though the paths may differ, the goal remains one, namely perfect charity (ibid., IV, no. 388). He is a master of the art of adaptation, that is, of suggesting modes of direction suited to the temperament, state of life, degree of perfection, and spiritual strength of the penitent, following the traditional classification of beginners, proficients, and perfect (ibid., I, ch. 3), and he recommends not demanding more than the spirit’s strength, which God communicates to souls, can bear (ibid., I, no. 80).
After thirty years in pastoral ministry and having travelled through various Italian provinces, Scaramelli affirms that in almost every place there are souls whom God leads by extraordinary paths to another perfection, and that truly expert confessors are very rare. He advises avoiding extremes: that of not believing at all in the extraordinary works of grace, and that of believing too much without reasonable foundation (Myst. Dir., 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 is of the opinion that very many saints were not contemplatives (ibid., II, nos. 9–14, no. 263). He teaches, moreover, that souls have a duty to desire contemplation and to strive for acquired contemplation (ibid., III, no. 284). In general, he holds that in this matter one should rather follow than precede the work of grace. In Scaramelli’s style, one often hears the preacher seeking to convince and lead souls to good.
Arnaldo M. Lanz