TRICASSINO (from TROYES), CARLO GIUSEPPE. – Capuchin preacher and controversialist, born in Troyes (Tricassinus), professed religious on 9 Nov. 1631, died in the convent of S. Onorato in Paris on 15 Jan. 1686.
He published esteemed works of exegesis on doctrine and the controversial texts of St Augustine concerning Grace, free will, and predestination, defending them against the interpretations of the Jansenists. In *De Praedestinatione hominum ad gloriam* (Paris 1669; 2nd ed. 1673 with a *Supplementum augustinianum*), following the thought of St Augustine and St Thomas, he upholds predestination *post praevisa merita*. The *De indifferenti lapsi hominis arbitrio sub Gratia et concupiscentia* (ibid. 1673) is devoted to defending the freedom of the will and its indeterminacy with respect to both good and bad acts. In *De necessaria ad salutem Gratia omnibus et singulis data* (ibid. 1673), he explains how this grace is truly sufficient for 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 privation. Against the controrists he directed the treatise *De causa bonorum operum* (ibid. 1677, with a *Supplementum*, ibid. 1679), in which he upholds the legitimacy and sufficiency, as motives for good works, of the hope of reward and the fear of punishment. Of a more analytical 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, Tricassino aligns himself with the Molinists. Against the fatalistic passivity of the slothful, he composed the short treatise *Gratia efficax a seipsa, refutata ex libris s. Augustini* (posthumous, Mainz 1687), which, being liable to erroneous interpretations, was placed on the Index (22 Sept. 1692). Tricassino also targeted *La philosophie de M. Descartes contraire à la foi catholique* (Paris 1682).