Cardinal Bona
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Giovanni Bona (1609–1674) was an Italian
Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
,
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
, liturgist and devotional author.


Biography

He was born of an old French family at
Mondovì Mondovì (; pms, Ël Mondvì , la, Mons Regalis) is a town and ''comune'' (township) in Piedmont, northern Italy, about from Turin. The area around it is known as the Monregalese. The town, located on the Monte Regale hill, is divided into ...
, in Piedmont, northern Italy, on 19 October, according to some 10 October, 1609. His father favoured a military career for him but, after passing some years at a nearby
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college, he entered the Cistercian monastery of the
Congregation of the Feuillants The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order. In 1630 it separated into a French branch ...
at Pinerolo in 1624. There, as also later at Rome, he pursued his studies with exceptional success. He worked for fifteen years in Turin, then as
prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
in
Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...
and as abbot in Mondovi, and in 1651 was called to preside over the whole congregation as
superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
. During his seven years of official life in Rome he modestly declined all further honours, refusing the
Bishopric of Asti The Diocese of Asti ( la, Dioecesis Astensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Piedmont, northern Italy, centered in the city of Asti. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin since 1515.
. He welcomed the expiration of his third term, in the scholar's hope that he would be allowed to enjoy a life of retirement and study, but his intimate friend,
Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...
, wishing to honour his culture and piety, made him Consultor to the
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and to the Holy Office. In 1669 Clement IX made him a
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
. There was no change in his extremely simple manner of life, and every year he donated his surplus revenue to the needy priests of the Missionary College at Rome. He died at Rome on 28 October 1674.


Writings

His best known ascetical works include "Via Compendii ad Deum" (1657), translated into English in 1876 by Henry Collins O. Cist. under the title "An Easy Way to God", "Principia et documenta vitae Christianae" (1673), and "Horologium Asceticum" (Paris, 1676). His "Manuductio ad cælum" (1658) is often compared to
Thomas a Kempis Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
's " Imitation of Christ" on account of simplicity of the style in which the solid doctrine is taught. Besides passing through fourteen Latin editions in four decades, it has been translated into Italian, French, German, Armenian and Spanish. Sir Roger L'Estrange produced an English translation ("The Guide to Heaven", 1680), later reprinted as "A Guide to Eternity" (London 1900). Shortly after his ordination he collected some of the most beautiful passages in the
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
on the Mass, and later published them in a booklet, which with certain additions grew into his "De Sacrificio Missae". In addition he composed several unpublished works, known as "Ascetici", for the instruction of members of his own order. But his fame does not rest solely on the devotional writings. He was a deep student of antiquity, and so successful in treating of the use of the
Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
in the Christian Church ("De Divinâ Psalmodiâ", Paris, 1663) that Cardinal Pallavicini urged him to undertake the history of the Mass. Realizing the magnitude of the task, at first he declined, but finally set to work and after more than seven years labour brought out his famous work: "De Rebus Liturgicis" (Rome, 1671), a veritable encyclopedia of historic information on all subjects bearing on the Mass, such as rites, churches, vestments and so on. The first of many editions of his complete works was published at Antwerp in 1677.


References


Sources

* * Pius Maurer: ''Kardinal Giovanni Bona. Cistercienser, geistlicher Schriftsteller und Pionier der Liturgiewissenschaft'', in: Analecta Cisterciensia 59 (2009) 3-166 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bona, Giovanni Italian Cistercians 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians 17th-century Italian cardinals 17th-century Italian Christian monks Italian historians of religion Early modern Christian devotional writers 1609 births 1674 deaths