TRICASSINO (da TROYES), CARLO GIUSEPPE. - Capuchin preacher and controversialist, b. at Troyes (Tricassinus), took religious vows on 9 Nov. 1631, d. in the convent of St. Honoré in Paris on 15 Jan. 1686.
He published appreciated works of exegesis of the doctrine and of the controversial texts of St. Augustine on Grace, free will, and predestination, defending them from the interpretations of the Jansenists. In De Praedestinatione hominum ad gloriam (Paris 1669; 2nd ed. ibid. 1673 with a Supplementum augustinianum) he follows the lead of St. Augustine and St. Thomas in maintaining predestination post praevia merita. The De indifferenti lapsi hominis arbitrio sub Gratia et concupiscentia (ibid. 1673) is intended for the defense of the freedom of the will and of its indeterminacy with respect both to good acts and to evil ones; but in De necessaria ad salutem Gratia omnibus et singulis data (ibid. 1673) he sets out how it is granted in a measure truly sufficient to every category of persons. In De natura peccati originalis (ibid. 1677) he denies that according to St. Augustine original sin consists in concupiscence or in a mere penalty. Against the contritionists he directed the treatise De causa bonorum operum (ibid. 1677, with a Supplementum, ibid. 1679), in which he maintains the legitimacy and sufficiency, as motives of good works, of the hope of reward and the fear of punishment. More analytical in character are the Commentarii breves et continui in libros divi Augustini contra Pelagianos (ibid. 1680)... contra semipelagianos (ibid. 1681)... contra Pelagium et Coelestium (posthumous, Mainz 1687). With these and other works T. aligns himself with the Molinists. Against the fatalistic passivity of the indolent he composed the little treatise Gratia efficax a seipsa, refutata ex libris s. Augustini (posthumous, Mainz 1687), which, being open to erroneous interpretations, was placed on the Index (22 Sept. 1692). T. also took aim at La philosophie de M. Descartes contraire à la foi catholique (Paris 1682).
Bibliography5 works
Ilarino da Milano