Zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum
From 11-19 May 2024, numerous events will take place across Italy to celebrate and promote the artistic and cultural heritage of ecclesiastical institutions.
For the occasion, Tuesday 14 May 2024, at 18:00, at the General Carmelite Library The incunabula from the Library's old collection will be exhibited to the public and presented.
From 11-19 May 2024, numerous initiatives will take place across Italy to promote the artistic and cultural heritage of ecclesiastical institutions. For this occasion, the General Archive and Library of the Carmelite Order will also organise guided tours to showcase the documentary and library material preserved there. In particular, incunabula from the library's ancient collection will be exhibited and presented to the public.
We will communicate the details again soon.
In the ancient holdings of the General Library of the Carmelites, a precious incunabulum printed in Venice on 14 July 1499 is preserved, containing the Parthenice the second o Chatarinaria from the well-known Carmelite Giovanni Battista Spagnoli, called il Mantovano (1447-1516), who was prior general of the Order from 1513 to 1516. The small booklet, with only 44 cards, after the dedicatory letter at the beginning, shows an incipit page printed in Roman type, with a blank space, accompanied by a small “guide” letter for the illuminator, who at a later time – as happened with contemporary handwritten books – would add the initial of the text by hand.
The presence of numerous marginal and interlinear annotations, added by a 16th-century owner, testifies to the extensive use this incunable was put to, for study and reading purposes, in times very close to its printing.
It is interesting to note, finally, the covering that characterises the binding, on a white cardboard support where text, in German, can be read, printed in Gothic script in two columns.
Dr Marek Bebak is a music historian from Poland, teaching at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. In the autumn of 2023, he was awarded the General Archive of the Carmelites' seventh research fellowship, named in memory of Fr Emanuele Boaga, and began a Musicology project, entitled Mapping the Musical Culture of the Carmelites in Europe in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Preliminary research on the basis of the collection of the General Archive of the Carmelite Order in Rome.
Marek has previously dealt with this subject, investigating Polish Carmelite archival and bibliographical sources and producing several publications on the topic. Now his attention has turned to Italy.
On the occasion of your stay in Rome, we asked you a few questions:
My research work involves developing and improving AI models, particularly large language models, to understand and generate human-like text. I focus on areas such as natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to make these models more effective, efficient, and accessible.
As a musicologist, I want to understand the ancient musical culture of the Carmelites, especially regarding the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Order was at its peak. Referring to various historical sources, i.e. manuscripts and musical prints, theoretical treatises, ancient books and archival documentation (chronicles, correspondence, reports, protocols), I seek to answer the following questions:
What type of music was heard in Carmelite churches and monasteries? In what situations was it used? Who performed it and who financed it? What instruments were available in Carmelite churches?
I also aim to analyse the musical works themselves, and to evaluate the compositional abilities of the Carmelites within the context in which they created them. I also prepare critical editions of musical works, to enable musicians to include these compositions in their concert repertoire and to record them on CD. Examining the documentation of many convents and provinces gives me a broader perspective: the opportunity to compare and evaluate the level of musical culture in different parts of Europe.
Which cultural institutions have you visited to pursue your research in Poland, and which are you consulting and will consult here in Italy?
In both Poland and Italy, the situation concerning sources is complex and requires research across various institutions. This is primarily due to Europe's difficult history. Many archival and library materials were destroyed or dispersed as a result of fires, floods, wars, partitions, and the dissolution of church property throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
The starting point of my work is the materials collected in the Carmelite archives, but many sources are currently also held in state and diocesan archives and libraries. My research on the musical culture of the Carmelites in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is based on materials that are currently scattered across Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and partly also in Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. For example, in the State Archive of Modra (near Bratislava), Slovakia, I found a manuscript containing a composition by the Carmelite friar from Krakow, Telesfor Wikliński. This composition was included in the repertoire of the Piarist musical chapel in Podolinec. We have immortalised this and other compositions from the Polish Carmelite repertoire on the 2023 album “Flos Carmeli” (available on streaming services, including Spotify).
My research into the musical culture of the Carmelites in Italy presents the same issues: I began with the General Archive in Rome and in subsequent phases will access historical materials kept in state and ecclesiastical libraries and archives.
Parlando dei compositori e musicisti carmelitani che ho studiato, ci sono alcune curiosità che mi hanno particolarmente colpito. Innanzitutto, la loro capacità di integrare profondamente la spiritualità carmelitana nella loro musica. Non si trattava solo di comporre musica per occasioni religiose, ma di infondere i loro scritti con i temi della contemplazione, della ricerca di Dio e dell'ascesi, che sono centrali per l'ordine carmelitano. Questo si rifletteva nelle strutture musicali, nelle scelte armoniche e talvolta persino nei testi scelti. Un'altra cosa affascinante è stata la rete di relazioni che questi musicisti mantenevano. Non erano isolati, ma interagivano con altri ordini religiosi, con le corti nobiliari e con gli ambienti musicali secolari. Questo scambio permetteva una circolazione di idee e stili, e l'adattamento della musica sacra a contesti diversi. Ho trovato incredibile come un monaco carmelitano potesse essere allo stesso tempo un compositore rispettato a livello internazionale, influenzando e venendo influenzato da correnti musicali più ampie. Infine, la resilienza e la longevità di alcune tradizioni musicali all'interno dell'ordine. Nonostante i cambiamenti sociali, politici e persino le soppressioni degli ordini religiosi in certi periodi storici, la musica carmelitana spesso trovava modi per sopravvivere, a volte attraverso manoscritti conservati con cura, altre volte attraverso la trasmissione orale o l'adattamento a nuove forme. Questo testimonia l'importanza che la musica aveva come parte integrante della loro identità e della loro pratica spirituale.
Unlike other religious orders, such as the Jesuits, the Carmelite Order was not renowned for its musical culture: therefore, any information pertinent to this subject is of interest to me.
I was surprised that the number of musical chapels (vocal-instrumental) in Italy was lower than in Poland: indeed, I expected the organisation of Polish chapels to be modelled on the Italian one. For example: in the mid-17th century, in Krakow, at the Carmelite church, there was a large vocal-instrumental chapel, which could successfully perform both 1-4 voice compositions and large polychoral works (for 2 or 3 choirs); this chapel included many musicians, both Carmelites and lay people. Unfortunately, no musical material from it has survived, but we have library catalogues that list all the works the musicians had at their disposal. For comparison, in Rome, in the important Carmelite church of S. Maria in Traspontina, only three singers and an organist were employed at the time: it is possible that the musical environment for daily liturgy was more modest than in Krakow. However, for greater feasts (e.g. Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Saint Albert), again at S. Maria in Traspontina, the most illustrious musicians from the papal chapels of St. Peter's Basilica or the Lateran Basilica were invited. Inviting chapels from other churches was typical of this period, but during my research I would like to verify if the Carmelites had their own musical chapels in other Italian cities.
From sources gathered at the General Archive of the Carmelites, we know that there were many musicians in other centres, but so far I have not been able to identify their organisation. However, this does not mean that the musical culture of the Carmelites in Italy was modest in general. We have many descriptions of events during which wonderful music, composed by the Carmelites themselves, was performed, such as: Filippo Cristianelli, Giovanni Battista Tonnolini, Giuseppe Scarani, Girolamo Casati, Pietro Colombina, Lorenzo Penna, Elia Vannini. In every province of Italy there was at least one composer whose interesting musical works have been preserved. I hope that in the future we will know more.
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The General Archive participated with a panel at the 7th edition of “Hagiography Workshops”, promoted by the Italian Association for the Study of Sainthood, Cults, and Hagiography (AISSCA). The conference took place in Rome from 24 to 26 January 2024.
The panel's theme was: “Words and Images. The Life of Carmelite Mystics in the 17th and 18th Centuries”. Three papers were presented: “Carmelite Tertiary Women Through 17th and 18th Century Engravings” by Ruggiero Doronzo (University of Bari), “The Figure of the Tertiary Anna Geltrude Picca from Velletri Through the Words of the Carmelite Giuseppe Bartoli” by Anna Abdelhamid Serra (Institutum Carmelitanum), and “Hagiographic Accounts of Rosa Maria Serio in the Earliest Testimonies of Her Sisters” by Mario Alfarano, OCarm. (Director of the General Archive and Library).
The speakers presented the research they have carried out or are still conducting at our Archive.
The deposits of the General Carmelite Library currently hold around thirty liturgical manuscripts, consisting of antiphonaries, choir books, graduals, and missals, intended for the celebration of the Eucharist. These enormous volumes come from the old library collections of Santa Maria in Traspontina and date back to the 17th-19th centuries.
What we are showing you today is a Carmelite gradual from 1708, written on parchment, which features an elegant frontispiece at the opening, decorated with polychrome floral elements, and an incipit page characterised by musical notation and a four-line staff in red ink, accompanied by concise rubrics in a graceful and solemn Gothic script. [Photo 1].
The “Atlantic” dimensions of these volumes and their extensive use necessitated greater robustness and solidity of the structural framework, through the addition of metal elements, such as hobnails and corner pieces, on the binding boards, which also make them easier to position horizontally on shelves. However, as with most of them, the wear and tear of time is particularly evident on the spine of this precious gradual, which is now missing its covering and has exposed stitching. [photo 2].
Precisely by virtue of their better preservation, in the coming months some of these liturgical books will be the subject of specific restoration interventions, also aimed at a broader and more incisive enhancement, in view of future studies and research by a specialist user base.
The Carmelite Province of St. Elias, USA (New York) has established the new Carmelite Heritage Hall at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Middletown, New York State.
This is a small museum where visitors can read historical documents from the Provincial Archive and old books, as well as admire works of art and religious objects, tracing the history of the SEL Province, which began way back in 1889 in Manhattan.
Currently, one of the display cases is hosting an exhibition on Saint Titus Brandsma, a martyr of the Nazi concentration camps, canonised in 2022, but the themed exhibitions in some display cases will change every two months to showcase different aspects of Carmelite history and its community in the United States of America.
News originally published by CITOC on: https://ocarm.org/it/item/6296-sel-creates-new-space-for-carmelite-heritage-room
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The first edition of the Research Grant announced by the General Carmelite Library has been won by Dr Rosa Parlavecchia, who will carry out a study entitled Reconstruction of the Traspontina Library based on the ownership notes present in the manuscripts and ancient books of the Carmelite General Library.
We hope that this work will be an opportunity to bring to light the richness of the library heritage of the Traspontina convent, which in ancient times was the seat of one of the most important places of Carmelite study and formation.
For further information, please refer to the tender and the award minutes. https://archivioocarm.com/assegno-di-ricerca-bigoc-prima-edizione-2023/
Among the treasures of our archive, we have rediscovered the ancient recipe for Carmelite spirit, as devised by a certain Father Bernardo, presumably at the end of the 18th century. We know neither Father Bernardo's surname nor his belonging convent, but his amaro must have been greatly appreciated if his recipe made its way to the Carmelite General Curia.
To be able to reproduce it, procure the purest wine alcohol, lemon balm, sage and thyme herbs – with the recommendation that they are not dried, but very fresh, picked during their flowering season – orange peel, rosemary flowers, artichoke flavourings, cinnamon, nutmeg, also coriander, anise and nettle seeds. Let everything macerate for at least two days, stirring from time to time, then distil and drink… but in moderation!
Thursday 18 January 2024, at the Sant'Alberto International Centre (Rome), the volume was presented The activities of Father Serafino Maria Potenza (1697-1763) through archival documents, by Simona Durante, published by Edizioni Carmelitane (see ABiGOC20/2023).
The presentation was attended by Father Vincenzo Criscuolo, OFMCap, former Relator General of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Professor Luca Carboni of the Vatican Apostolic Archive, and the author. Among the numerous participants were Secretary Monsignor Fabio Fabene, Undersecretary Bogusław Stanisław Turek, and other members of the Dicastery.
We are pleased to share some snapshots from the evening with you.
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Thursday 18 January 2024, at 6:00 p.m., at the International Centre St. Albert (Rome), the volume will be presented The activities of Father Serafino Maria Potenza (1697-1763) through archival documents, by Simona Durante, published by Edizioni Carmelitane.
At the occasion of this presentation, we interviewed the Author:
Simona, we know that you work as an archivist at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and that you have a deep understanding of the dynamics of beatification and canonisation processes throughout the centuries, within which the activity of Father Serafino Maria Potenza is situated. Could you describe to us the importance of this figure for the Carmelite Order and for the study of sainthood in general?
«The importance of Father Serafino Maria Potenza to the Carmelite Order is reflected in many aspects. 1) By promoting, with legal and historical-archival competence, the cause of canonisation of several of his brothers and sisters, during his activity as Postulator General. 2) By dedicating his life to collecting documents relating to the history of the Order, of the various convents belonging to it, as well as of those Carmelites who had most distinguished themselves by their fame of holiness, with particular attention to his fellow nuns. 3) By pouring all his commitment into the spiritual direction of those who entrusted themselves to him to walk the path of faith.»
Reading your volume, one can sense the vast amount of documentary material you had to review. Which archives were consulted?
«Most of the research was carried out at the General Archive of the Carmelites and the current one of the General Postulation of the Carmelites. The Archive of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints also played a decisive role. For the correspondence between Potenza and his confrère Father Ferdinando Salvi, the Archive of the Library of Art and History of San Giorgio in Poggiale (Bologna) and the General Archive of the Carmelite Nuns of Our Lady of the Graces of Bologna were valuable. The Archive of the Conservatory of the SS. Conception in Rome, that of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Conventual Archive of Saints Sylvester and Martin at the Monti in Rome, the Historical Archive of the Academy of the Arcadia, the Archive of the Charterhouse of Trisulti and the State Archive of Naples were also consulted.»
During your reading of the documents, has anything particularly struck you as curious?
«I was certainly drawn to the “Quinterni” dedicated to the spiritual direction of his female penitents. From them, one can glean a cross-section of society at the time, with particular reference to the practices of penance and “disciplines” that the spiritual daughters themselves, at times, inflicted upon themselves to atone for their sins. I was then struck by the letters between Father Serafino and Father Salvatore Pagnani of Capua, his confrère; furthermore, I was interested in the notes concerning the daily lives of the sovereigns of Naples and Sicily, Amalia of Saxony and Charles of Bourbon, and their relationship with the Capuan “Ritiro” of Carmelite nuns.»
For further information and to purchase the publication, please refer to the Edizioni Carmelitane website:
Among the ancient books in the General Carmelite Library is preserved a precious Parisian volume from 1528, which contains the first printed edition of the Latin treatise A Summary of Heresies and Their Refutations of the Carmelite Guy de Perpignan (1270-1342), also known by the name of Guido Terreni.
The 16th-century volume displays an interesting title page, enclosed within an elegant architectural frame, within which can be observed, in addition to the author's name and the work transmitted, also the printer's mark of the Flemish printer. Josse Bade Ascension. The logo represents the workshop of an old printer with three people at work, next to a wooden printing press: the “puller” in the centre, in the act of operating the bar to press the platen onto the sheet to be printed; the “roller” on the left, responsible for inking the pages of movable type; and the “compositor” on the right, tasked with composing the texts by aligning the movable type taken from the type case on the composing stick. In the foreground, two reams of paper are also noticeable, one still blank and one already printed. [Photo 1].
The volume, finely decorated with woodcut initial letters that mark the textual divisions, is accompanied by numerous marginal notes in contemporary hands, attesting to its extensive use in the period shortly after printing. [Photo 2].
Furthermore, the ownership note on the title page [Photo 1], also attributable to the 16th century, traces the 16th-century volume back to the ancient library of Santa Maria in Traspontina, from which most of the old books now kept at the General Carmelite Library originate.
Our institutions will be closed for the Christmas holidays on the following dates:
General archive
Fri 22 December 2023 – Mon 8 January 2024
Carmelite General Library
Sat 23 December 2023 – Sun 7 January 2024.
Carmelite Missal, Venice 1730
At the General Library of the Carmelites, there is held a precious incunabulum which contains the Constitutions of the Friars of the Carmelite Order, curated by the Carmelite Giovanni Maria Polucci and printed in Venice on 29 April 1499, by the well-known printer Lucantonio Giunta.
The volume still displays the graphic-library characteristics typical of contemporary manuscripts: on the opening page, one can indeed note the’incipit the text in red ink, a calligraphic rubricated initial, a similarly rubricated paragraph mark, and the use of Gothic script-derived typefaces. The text is also accompanied by a woodcut illustrative vignette depicting the Annunciation.photo 1].
The image preceding the flyleaf is also, in all probability, attributable to the same refined wood engraver, where is depicted the The Banner of Carmel, supported by two angels, with inside, in frontal position, the effigy of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, of exquisite workmanshipphoto 2].
The volume concludes with a rich and detailed colophon in which information is provided about the content, the printer, the place, and the date of printingphoto 3].
We are pleased to announce that the Carmelite General Library has recently begun cataloguing its library collection, uploading the information to BeWeb, the national bibliographic portal for ecclesiastical cultural institutions, where the first catalogued volumes can already be found.
From the homepage, it is possible to perform specific searches by clicking on the “Library Assets” category and entering information in the designated fields, or by selecting the “Cultural Institutions” category using the name of the conserving body. On this new page, by clicking the icon for the General Carmelite Library, you directly access the internal catalogue, where the latest acquisitions are listed and from which you can narrow your search by author and title. [Photo 1]
The same procedure can be carried out starting from the National Library Service (SBN) catalogue, by clicking on “Libraries”, at the top right of the homepage. [photo 2]
Indeed, joining the Ecclesiastical Libraries Pole (PBE) has also allowed the Carmelite General Library to incorporate its collections into SBN, through the sharing of bibliographic records and a single research access point.
If you wish to start your research or simply browse, you can connect to the following link: https://beweb.chiesacattolica.it/benilibrari/.
To view the catalogue of the Carmelite Library directly, please click here: https://www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/istituticulturali/istituto/4255/Biblioteca+Generale+Carmelitana#action=ricerca%2Frisultati&view=griglia&locale=it&ordine=&liberadescr=biblioteca+generale+carmelitana&liberaluogo=&dominio=345&ambito=ISTITUTI&highlight=BIBLIOTECA&highlight=GENERALE&highlight=CARMELITANA
Finally, if you wish to access the wider SBN catalogue, please follow this link: https://opac.sbn.it/biblioteche.
At the General Library of the Carmelites, a valuable 16th-century book is preserved which contains the Egogle of the noted Carmelite poet Battista Spagnoli, known as Mantovano (1448-1516), also known as the “Christian Virgil”photo 1].
The volume was printed in Brescia by the printer and bookseller Bernardino Misinta in 1502, at the dawn of the 16th century, in an era when printed books (also called “cinquecentine” from the century they belong to) were gradually freeing themselves from the initial influences of manuscripts and circulating with increasingly unique and distinctive characteristics.
In the example we are showing you today, the text is preceded by the so-called “occhiello” – which will later be replaced by the actual title page – where information concerning the author and the title of the work is reported.photo 2].
The typefaces used are still the so-called “Roman” ones, which reproduce the appearance of the humanist script used in fifteenth-century manuscripts, particularly those from the Roman area. It's curious that, alongside the published text, there are – probably due to a printing error – blank pages subsequently filled in with the missing text by a contemporary reader, who wrote in an elegant and calligraphic early sixteenth-century “italic” cursive.photo 3].
From the book collections of the General Library of the Carmelites, an elegant incunabulum recently came to light, printed in Brescia on 13 September 1495 by the printer and bookseller Bernardino Misinta, who was active from 1490 to 1509, between Lombardy and the Veneto.
The volume contains the Latin translation, made by the Venetian Girolamo Donati (1456-1511), of the work On the Soul of the Greek philosopher and Aristotelian commentator Alexander of Aphrodisias (2nd-3rd centuries).
The incunabulum – from Latin incunabulum, or in the cradle, to indicate the first books printed within the 15th century – does not yet show the typical title page, which would only become common from 1500 onwards, but a page of’incipit entirely similar to those present in coeval handwritten codices, with an initial incipit in red, of larger size, on a floral background, executed using xylographic technique [photo 1]. Accompanying the text, a decorative floral border is also visible, manually inserted, which runs along three sides of the page, with the exception of the lower margin, where three stamps can be distinguished, including that of the Carmelite Library. [Photo 1].
As is customary for early printed books, the typeface used (the so-called “roman type”) reproduces the appearance of the Humanist script used in fifteenth-century manuscripts.
The influence of handwritten books is also visible within the volume, where there are blank spaces reserved for decoration, accompanied by “guide letters,” corresponding to the larger initial letters of the text, which were to be printed at a later time than the text. [photo 2].
On the last page of the copy is the colophon, which states the printing details, such as the printer's name, date, and place. [photo 3].
Finally, as books were stored horizontally at the time, the author's name and the title of the work were added by hand to the bottom edge.
[photo 4]
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