Mariano da Alcamo (1555? – 27 July 1621) was an Italian
Catholic
presbyter.
Biography
He was born in
Alcamo in the (
province of Trapani), between 1555 and 1560, as his parents (Niccolò Bonafino from
Savoca (in the
province of Messina), and Caterina Russo,
[1] had married in 1554.
He started his religious life with the
Capuchines in the
province of Palermo, and after he became a priest, he went on studying to become a
preacher but in 1591 he was chosen as the provincial Father. At the end of his office he asked to leave for the missions and so in 1599 he left with
Lawrence of Brindisi for
Bohemia and
Persia where
Protestant doctrines were very widespread,
[2] in order to preach the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and defeat
heresies.
[3]
There are few
anecdotes proving his reputation for holiness which spread at his coming back to Sicily, while from his
Latin letters sent to his friend and schoolmate
Sebastiano Bagolino, we learn that the
mission was successfully proceeding, thanks to the collaboration given by the emperor
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, and that he was completing a collection of
sermons with the title In orationem Dominicam seu Mare oceanum concionatorum pauperum.
In Sicily Mariano worked for the diffusion of the devotion to
the Virgin Mary. This veneration for the Virgin Mary was reinforced by his certainty that he had got some graces (he thought he had been released from temptations and dangers),
[3] and by the vision of
Our Lady of Stellario
[1] which he said he had once had in the friary of Alcamo after his return from Bohemia.
After this vision there were other events believed supernatural, among which was his prediction of the
healing of a noblewoman from Alcamo and her daughter’s death, provoked by the same disease.
[2]
In 1608, after he settled in the
Capuchin province of Palermo, he had a certain reputation for holiness: for some months he daily preached in Palermo
cathedral and then he went to Trapani, where there was the
viceroy
marquess Juan Fernández Pacheco de Vigliena, who he was asked to pray for, and to preach for another period of time in
Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Annunziata of Trapani.
When the provincial Father Gianmaria from
Castelvetrano died, in 1611, he was nominated provincial
vicar and then qualificator of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, guardian of the friaries of Trapani (1614) and
Marsala (1615). He died in Palermo on 27 July 1621.
[2]
Works
The most important part of his works is in his manuscripts:
- In orationem Dominicam, quae mare oceanum Concionarum Pauperum nuncupatur, Tom.3, in folio. A collection of sermons
- Elucidatio in primam partem Divi Thomae, completed in 1612
[1]
- Quaresimale, after his death it was missing between the friaries of Genoa and Palermo and later lost together with his portrait and a picture of ‘’Our Lady with Stellario’’ that had been painted by him.
In order to promote the devotion for Our Lady with Stellario he published a series of devotional books (prose and poetic works)
- Modus contemplandi coronam beatissimae Virginis Mariae (Palermo 1608), tradotto in italiano dal sacerdote Michele Caruso.
[1]
- Poemata varia et devotissima in laudem beatissimae Virginis Mariae (1613)
- Plures palmulae in folio et alia diversa opuscula carmine et prosa (both edited in Palermo nel 1612)
- Officium parvum stellari gaudiosi, dolorosi et gloriosi beatissimae Virginis Mariae (1615)
- Labyrinthus beatissimae Virginis Mariae (1615).
[1]
See also
References
- ^
a
b
c
d
e F. M. Mirabella, Cenni degli alcamesi rinomati in scienze, lettere, arti, armi e santità, Alcamo, tip.Surdi & C., 1876.
- ^
a
b
c Dario Busolini, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani volume 70, Treccani, 2008.
- ^
a
b Tommaso Papa: Memorie storiche del clero di Alcamo; ediz.Accademia di studi Cielo d'Alcamo, Alcamo, 1968
Sources
- Busolini Dario: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani volume 70; editore Treccani, 2008
- Mazzuchelli G.: Gli scrittori d’Italia pp. 352 s.; città=Brescia, I edizione, 1753
- da Cesinale Rocco: Storia delle missioni dei cappuccini pp. 635 s.; tip.Barbera, Roma, II ed.,1872
- F. M. Mirabella: Cenni degli alcamesi rinomati in scienze, lettere, arti, armi e santità; tip.Surdi & C.|, Alcamo
- Mirabella F.M.: Una lettera del p. M. Bonofino da A.; ediz.IX,1884
- Tommaso Papa: Memorie storiche del clero di Alcamo; ediz.Accademia di studi Cielo d'Alcamo, Alcamo, 1968
- Nicotra F.: Diz. illustrato dei Comuni siciliani; Società editrice del Dizionario illustrato dei Comunisiciliani pp. 198; Palermo, I ediz., 1907-1908
- da Castellammare Antonino: Storia dei minori cappuccini della provincia di Palermo pp. 343–353; Palermo, II ediz., 1922
- Egidio da Modica F.: Catalogo degli scrittori cappuccini della provincia di Palermo pp. 107–109; Palermo, 1930
- von Oberleutasch C. Die Kapuziner in Österreich zum 350jährigen Bestand der Wiener Kapuzinerprovinz (1600-1650) p. 264; ed. Lexicon Capuccinum, Roma, 1951
- a Pobladura Melchior De cooperatoribus in compositione annalium Ordinis fratrum minorum Capuccinorum pp. 22, 41; ediz. in Collectanea Franciscana, XXVI, 1956
- Papa T.: Memorie storiche del clero di Alcamo pp. 57, 64 s.; Alcamo, 1968
- Kusin E.: Die Anfänge des Kapuzinerordens in Erzherzogtume Österreich unter und ob der Enns (1600-1630)3-4, p. 249; ed. in Collectanea Franciscana, XXXIX, 1969
External links