Juan Bautista de Lezana (23 November 1586 – 29 March 1659) was a Spanish

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

theologian. Lezana was an authority on

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dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

, and philosophy; his historical works are not of the same standard.

Life

Lezana was born at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He took the habit at Alberca, in Old Castile, on 18 October 1600, and made his profession at the house of the Carmelites of the Old Observance, at Madrid, in 1602. He studied philosophy at

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, theology at Salamanca, partly at the college of the order, partly at the university under

Juan Marquez ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

, and finally at Alcalá under Luis de Montesion. For some years he was employed as lecturer at Toledo and Alcalá, but having been sent to the general chapter of 1625 as delegate of his province, he remained in Rome as professor of theology. At the following chapter (1645), at which he assisted in the quality of titular provincial of Palestine, he obtained some votes for the generalship, but remaining in the minority he was nominated assistant general; for some years he also filled the office of procurator general. In addition to these dignities within the order, he filled for sixteen years the chair of metaphysics at the Sapienza and became consultor to the

Congregation of the Index The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...

under

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

, and to that of Rites under Pope Innocent X. Appointed to a bishopric, he requested a nun to recommend an important matter (the nature of which he did not disclose) to Our Lord in prayer, and received through her the answer, which he acted upon, that it would be more perfect for him to refuse the dignity. He died in Rome.

Works

His "Annals of the Carmelite Order" (four folio vols.) were published between 1645 and 1656, and there remained another volume in manuscript. The following are his main works: # "Liber apologeticus pro Immaculata Conceptione" (Madrid, 1616). # "De regularium reformatione" (Rome, 1627), four times reprinted and translated into French, although it is doubtful whether the translation appeared in print. #"Summa quæstionum regularium", five vols., the first of which appeared in Rome (1637), the last in 1647, most of them were repeatedly reprinted. # Two works, "Columna immobilis", and "Turris Davidica", on the essed Virgin del Pilar at Saragossa (1655 and 1656). #"Maria patrona" (Rome, 1648). #Life of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, in Spanish (Rome, 1648). #"Summa theologiæ sacræ" (3 vols., Rome, 1651 sqq.). #"Consulta varia theologica" (Venice, 1656). Also some less important works.

References

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lezana, Juan Bautista De 1586 births 1659 deaths Carmelites 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians