VERNAZZA (Vernacia), Battista, Venerable. - Mystic, b. in Apr. 1497 in Genoa, d. there on 9 May 1587, daughter of Ettore (ca. 1470-1524), notary and humanist, tireless promoter, in Genoa and beyond, of charitable works and of apostolate, founder of the hospital of the Incurables (1512), of the companies of the Mandiletto (1497) and of Jesus and Mary, of the fraternity of the Divine Love and of the monastery of St. Joseph.

At the age of thirteen she entered among the Regular Canons Regular Lateranenses, in the monastery of St. Mary of the Graces. She was several times abbess, she displayed great activity especially as a teacher of the spirit and as a mystical writer. A disciple, also through paternal tradition, of St. Catherine of Genoa, who had been her godmother, she had assimilated her doctrine of pure love. Driven by this flame she wrote, with surprising competence, on the most arduous theological problems. She always feared being mistaken, and only out of obedience did she consent that her voluminous writings be published. She was held in great consideration by the most eminent persons of her time; Fr. Fr. Arias (v.) defined her a miracle of her century. The cause of beatification was introduced in 1639.

The works of the V. were printed in 5 editions; the most important are two: Opere Spirituali della vergine di Christo donna Battista da Genova (3 vols., Venice 1588), completed by a IV vol. (Verona 1602); the other (6 vols., Genoa 1755) is enriched with a very informative preface and notes. The ed. of 1588 (beginning) edited by D. Gaspare da Piacenza, contains useful warnings and many letters of the V.; of particular importance is the one written to St. Andrew Avellino, who had questioned the V. on the opportunity of continuing or not her apostolic activity.

The doctrine of V. is not set out in a systematic way. The central idea is the union of the soul with God; referring to it, the V. gives a true compendium of mystical theology, especially in the treatise on the Pater noster.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: Dionisio da Piacenza, Vita della ven. madre donna B. da Genova, Verona 1602; A. Pescio, La Cancelliera di Dio, Battista V., in Riv. municip. genovese, apr. 1926; A. Costa, L'ex convento di S. Maria delle Grazie e la ven. Battistina V., in Raccoglitore Ligure, Genoa 1934; Umile Bonzi da Genova, La ven. Battistina V., estratto da Rev. d'ascl. et de myst., Toulouse 1935, pp. 147-79; G. P. Podestà, Una mistica genovese del '500: Battistina V., in Riv. municipale genov., nov.-dec. 1940. For Ettore V. cf. F. M. Paradi, La compagnia del Mandiletto in Genova, La Spezia 1901; F. von Hügel, The mystical element of religion as studied in St. Catherine of G. and her friends, 2nd ed., London 1923, pp. 316-35; P. Paschini, Tre ricerche di storia della Chiesa nel Cinquecento, Rome 1945, pp. 26 ff., 34 ff., 53 ff. and passim.

Giorgio Idamo Scatena

@incollection{ec12_vernazza_vernacia_battista_ven, author = {Scatena, Giorgio Idamo}, title = {Vernazza (Vernacia), battista, venerabile}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1286--1287}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/vernazza-vernacia-battista-venerabile} }

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Vernazza (Vernacia), Battista, Venerable

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