Theatine Spirituality: Selected Writings trans and ed. by William V. Hudon

Abstract

Theatine Spirituality: Selected Writings. Translated, edited and with an introduction and notes by William V Hudon. [The of Western Spirituality.] (New York and Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press.1996. Pp. xx, 287. $22.95 paperback.) Students of sixteenth-century spirituality will be grateful for this volume because it provides a fine introduction and English translation of the major writings of three members of the Theatine order in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The actual texts consist of the Rule of by Gian Pietro Carafa (1476-1559), who was later elected Pope Paul IV; the Letters of Gaetano da Thiene (ca.1480-1547), known as St. Cajetan after his canonization; and Lorenzo Scupoli's (1530-1610) augmented edition of Spiritual Combat (11 combattimento spirituale), which appeared shortly before his death.The translations are readable and the end notes are helpful. The editor of these Theatine writings is William V Hudon, who is professor and chairman of the Department of History at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. In 1992 he published a book on Marcello Cervini and Ecclesiastical Government in Tridentine Italy (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press), which received mixed reviews in The Sixteenth Century Journal. In addition to editing the above works by Carafa, Gaetano, and Scupoli, Hudon translated the Italian letters by Gaetano and the Italian text of Spiritual Combat by Scupoli into English. Professor Bernard McGinn, the editor-in-chief of the Classics of Western Spirituality series, translated into English the Latin rule of Carafa. Moreover, Hudon wrote both the introduction and the end notes that accompany these texts. In contrast to these contributions, I found the preface by Gigliola Fragnito, professor of history in the University of Parma, which was translated by Hudon, to be self-serving and misleading at times. Her comments on the influence of Sister Paola Antonia Negri (1508-1555) on the Barnabite order, which was founded by St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria in 1534, are exaggerated when she observes:she [Negri] wound up governing both the Barnabites and the Angeliche [i.e., Angelic Sisters of St. Paul] with indisputable authority for about fifteen years . . ., (p. xvi).The co-founder of the Angelics and principal benefactor of the Barnabites was Ludovica Torelli, the countess of Guastalla, who is ignored by Fragnito. Moreover, her reference to should be translated as clerics regular (cf pp. xiii-xvii). As I indicated in my opening remarks, I found the introduction by Hudon to be a fine contribution, though I feel that the section titled General Background (pp.1-7) could have been reduced by half of its length without sacrificing anything. …