Battistina Vernazza

Life

Her father, Ettore Vernazza, was a patrician, founder of several hospitals for the sick poor in Genoa, Rome, and Naples. He was also known for founding the ecclesiastical reform society the Oratory of Divine Love. Her godmother was Catherine Fieschi-Adorno, known as Catherine of Genoa. At the early age of 13, Tommasina entered the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and became a canoness regular, taking the name of Battistina. She filled at various times the office of treasurer, novice-mistress, and prioress.

Works

She wrote, among other things, a commentary on the Pater Noster; "The Union of the soul with God"; "Of the knowledge of God"; "Of prayer"; "Of the heavenly joys and of the means of attaining them"; "Of those who have risen with Christ"; meditations, spiritual canticles, and letters to eminent men of her time. Possevin speaks of her writings as inspired. Her works were published at Venice in 3 vols. in 1588. They have been published many times since.

Her sixteen treatises were originally sent to Gasparo Scotti, her confessor, who was the canon of a basilica in Rome. Scotti published the treatises, though this publication only occurred after her death.

References

The entry cites:

• Battistina Vernazza, Opere Spirituali (Venice, 1588; Genoa, 1785);
• Rossini, Lyceum Lateranense Cesenae (1622);
• Serra, Storia letteraria (Genoa, 1832);
• Giovanni Battista Semeria, Storia ecclesiastica di Genova (Turin, 1838);
• Giuseppe Ronco, Sonetti inediti (Genoa, 1819);
• Antonio Boeri, Una Gloria di Genova (1906)
• Giuditta Podestà, Battistina Vernazza, Mistica aristocratica nella Genova rinascimentale, in "Le chiavi dello scrigno", Ceislo, Olginate (Lecco) 1990.
• Giuseppe Leone (a cura di), "L'ottimismo della conchiglia. Il pensiero e l'opera di Giuditta Podestà fra comparatismo e europeismo", Franco Angeli, Milano 2011.

References

1. Mazzonis, Querciolo. (2022-03-03). "Reforms of Christian Life in Sixteenth-Century Italy". Routledge.
2. Caravale, Giorgio. (2016-04-22). "Forbidden Prayer: Church Censorship and Devotional Literature in Renaissance Italy". Routledge.
3. (2000). "A History of Women's Writing in Italy". Cambridge University Press.