Autobiography

Crostarosan Texts and Studies Maria Celeste Crostarosa Autobiography San Gerardo Publishers MARIA CELESTE CROSTAROSA Autobiography edited by Sabatino Majorano and Alessandra Simeoni This edition of the Autobiography of Maria Celeste Crostarosa has had a long and complex journey. Therefore we feel the need to thank all those people whose contributions have made it possible to bring this work to its conclusion, and most particularly: the Redemptorists - Emilio Lage, for his suggestions and for making himself fraternally available to read the manuscript; - Antonio Marrazzo for the photographic documentation, compiled with love and competence; - the Redemptoristine Sr. Filomena Occini for her patient commitment to the electronic transcription of Mother M. C. Crostarosa’s writings; - to Mrs. Maria Rosaria Taurozzi for her diligent correction of the manuscripts and drafts. A special thank you goes also to the Neapolitan Province of the Redemptorists, and to their Superior, Antonio di Masi, for his encouragement and financial aid. With the same appreciation, we would like to express our gratitude to the staff of the Valsele Printing House, beginning with their Director, P. Antonio Pasquarelli, for the dedication with which they have made this book possible. English Translator’s Note: I would certainly like to endorse all the acknowledgements recorded above at the beginning of the Italian critical edition, particularly in the case of Father Emilio Lage, without whose help and support this English translation could not have been achieved. Nevertheless, any remaining errors and lapses of judgement are my own. I would also like to record my thanks to the Redemptoristine Nuns of Australia for their unswerving support in what has been quite a challenge, in particular the Prioress, Mother Mary Teresa. I recommend all readers to study carefully what Father Sabatino Majorano has to say in the article taken from the Viva Memoria magazine, and also his own Introduction to the critical edition of the Autobigraphy. This translation is intended as an exact replica of the Italian original and is therefore a careful literal translation on a phrase by phrase basis which respects the punctuation, and sentence division, and other features of the critical edition, so that it will bear the weight of scholarly exegesis and can be used in conjunction with the Italian text. For this reason I have translated all the footnotes. I sincerely hope that someone will follow in Father Oppitz’ footsteps and provide the edited edition that is required for ordinary readers, and I pay tribute here to the translation he pioneered more than 20 years ago. This editor cannot be me, as after more than five and a half years of constant work, I am far too close to the text to be able to view it with fresh eyes. John R. Bradbury, M. A. (Hons), Dip. TESL, Redemptoristine Associate, Easter 2003 The Spiritual Language of the Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa In his Introduction to the critical edition of the Autobiography of the Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa, Father Sabatino Majorano, CSSR, makes reference to the following statement found in Chapter 56: “perché possi servire per profitto de l’anime religiose de l’Istituto, e perché si veda come i fondamenti del vero spirito de l’Istituto del SS.mo Salvatore sono fondate nelle umiliationi del Figliuol di Dio, maestro e signor nostro.” (56:39) - “so that it can be used to the profit of the religious souls of the Institute, and show clearly how the foundations of the true spirit of the Institute of the Most Holy Saviour are built on the humiliations of the Son of God, our Lord and Master.” If Mother Crostarosa’s intentions are to be carried out in full, it is important that her spiritual language be understood in a form accessible to modern readers. I have been to no little trouble to try and bring this about. The following article summarises what I have been able to discover. 1. Elements: The terminology that the Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa uses was not exceptional for her day, but with the passage of time it has become unfamiliar to us nowadays. A) The basic formative influence in religious life was the Latin Vulgate, in the form that we nowadays call “the Clementine Vulgate”, particularly the four Gospels, which were a source of formation for the Ven. Crostarosa throughout her life. The Latin Vulgate was also the source of the Divine Office. Although Mother Crostarosa does not specifically write about the Divine Office, the Gospel readings underpin her entire religious life. B) The great theologian of the Church, widely respected and quoted for many centuries, was St. Thomas Aquinas. It is wise to assume that Mother Crostarosa received a good grounding in his theological language from her confessors, notably Fr. Bartolomeo Cacace and Fr. Tommaso Falcoia. She speaks of both of them being “of good doctrine”, and what she means is that they gave her a good grounding in the works of this Saint. C) The most important major influence in the early part of her religious life was the writings of the great Spanish mystics, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, which she no doubt absorbed via Italian translations, particularly when she was a Carmelite nun at the Monastery of Marigliano. All her terminology regarding the “Way of Perfection” and “annihilation” derive from this source. To date, there has been no opportunity to examine the writings of Serafina of Capri, who instituted a Carmelite reform, of which the Monastery of Marigliano was a part. At this stage, we have only the evidence of the Ven. Crostarosa in the early chapters of her Autobiography, yet the link with St. Teresa of Avila seems strong and would repay much more study than I have been able to do. The Spiritual Language of the Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa D) It is a mistake to assume that St. Alphonsus de Liguori was a formative influence on the Ven. Crostarosa. He was her contemporary and born in the same year as her, so although he no doubt had some influence on her as her confessor and spiritual friend at the Monastery of Scala, he only rises to prominence as an author in his own right after her demise in 1755. Consequently, we should not expect to find Alphonsian terminology in the Ven. Maria Celeste’s Autobiography. E) Until these studies have been done, it is impossible to assess what contribution the Ven. Crostarosa herself made to the religious language of the times. 2. Specific terms: 1) Opera - “Work.” The Latin noun opera is frequently found in the Clementine Vulgate and is a neuter plural noun, usually translated as “works.” St. Thomas Aquinas inherits the Latin term, and on the basis of it erects his teaching. For example, in his “Treatise on the Work of the Six Days”, he says: ‘Consequenter considerandum est de opere distinctionis secundum se. Et primo, de opere primae diei; secundo, de opere secundae diei; tertio, se opere tertiae - “We must consider next the work of distinction in itself. First, the work of the first day; secondly, the work of the second day; thirdly, the work of the third day.” This quotation from Q. LXVII (Q. 67) gives us some idea of how the term is used. To summarise his line of thinking, we might say, that a) since God performs opera - “works”, they are necessarily good, and therefore if man also performs works in strict accordance with God’s will, these “works” too will necessarily be good, and will earn merit for man in the eyes of good. These meritorious works are only possible as expressions of a life of virtue. Consequently, the regular and frequent performance of “good works” may be described by the verbal noun operatio. This comes down to us in Mother Crostarosa’s Italian as operatione and same word descends to us in English as “operation.” But notice how the religious significance is totally lost in English, so that neither St. Thomas Aquinas’ term, nor Mother Crostarosa’s can be translated by “operation” in English. It is this loss of the sacred meaning in English that I call “Anglican distortion”, and it causes considerable problems for a translator. Theologically, a life that is filled with “good works” is one which leads to heaven. So therefore the terms opera, operatio in Latin and opera, operatione in Mother Crostarosa must be understood as expressions of the virtues that underlie them. The English noun “work” or the verbs “to work, to do” only partially convey the inherent meaning of these terms, and in many cases I have had to rely on the context to convey the rest of the meaning. There is much more spirituality that a continued study of St. Thomas Aquinas would reveal, but there is not the space here to do it. 2. Chiarezza and other terms: The Spiritual Language of the Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa I now take this opportunity of quoting from my own notes to the Autobiography in order to provide an explanation of some other important terms that Mother Crostarosa uses. 5. a Stando in questo afflitione di spirito - Literally: “Being in this affliction of spirit.” 5. b gli fece il Signore chiarezza ne l’interno e li disse - Literally: “the Lord gave her an internal clarity and said to her.” 1) chiarezza - Literally: “clarity.” This noun is one of Mother Crostarosa’s special terms and has been discussed previously. The clearest explanation of it that I have been able to find in her Autobiography is in Chapter 14, sentences 30-32: ‘Una mattina, essendomi communicata e stando con le solite alienationi, per non essere osservata da alcuno, finite le orationi del coro in commune, mi ritirai in cella, e mi pose in su l’etto, avendo il corpo così indebolito per un distrugimento di amore che mi liquefaceva il cuore: era io penetrata dalli occhi purissimi del mio amato Dio, con una chiarezza inderna molto grande.

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