VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI The founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord, Jesus Christ Original work in Italian by: Fr. Joseph Stofella, Stigmatine 1951 English Translation: Fr. Joseph Henchey, CSS 1966 † VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI 2 VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI The founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord, Jesus Christ Fr. Joseph Stofella Stigmatine Original title: Stofella, Giuseppe. Il Venerabile Gaspare Bertoni Fondatore dei Preti della Sacre Stimate di N.S.G.C. Verona, 1951. Translation by Fr. Joseph Henchey, css. Rome, 1966. IMPHIMI POTEST Fr. Denis Martinis Superior General, C.P.S. Rome, December 8, 1951 NIHIL OBSTAT Sylvius Romani, S. RR. C., Ads. Fidei Subpromotor Generalis Rome, December 20, 1951 IMPRIMATUR Can. P. Albrigi Vicar General Verona, January 3l, 1952 Author’s Declaration The author declares that he has fully complied with the Decrees of Pope Urban VIII, and the dispositions of the Holy Roman Church, of which he professes to be a most devoted son. VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Table of Contents Preface 5 Abbreviations 7 Introduction: Historical Background of Fr. Bertoni’s Life 8 Political Developments in the City of His Birth 8 A Brief Summary of the Church of Verona 10 Various periods in the Life of the Ven. Servant of God, Gaspar Bertoni 16 First Period 17 From his birth, until his ordination to the Priesthood; the Period of his Formation: 1777-1800. Ch. I: The birth of the Servant of God and his Early Education 18 Ch. II: The Servant of God in Public School 22 Ch. III: His Vocation to the Priesthood and his Theological Studies 27 Second Period 35 From his Ordination, until the foundation of a Community at the Stimmate - sixteen years of intense study, and extremely varied apostolate among the clergy, the laity and the youth: 1800-1816. Ch. I: “Thou Art a Priest” 36 Ch. II: His Unremitting Studies and Early Ministry 40 Ch. III: The Apostle of Youth - the Marian Oratories 45 Ch. IV: Fr. Bertoni and his Family 55 Ch. V: Counsellor of Souls and Spiritual Director to the Clergy 63 Ch. VI: A Two Year Assignment at the Diocesan Seminary [Nov. 1810 – Aug. 1812] 67 Ch. VII: Other Ministry – Fr. Bertoni’s Illness 75 Ch. VIII: Additional Duties at the Seminary – his Relapse 80 Ch. IX: The Rebirth and Spread of the Marian Oratories – Other Ministry 84 Ch. X: Fr. Bertoni’s Spiritual Diary 87 Ch. XI: Toward the Foundation of a Congregation 95 Third Period: 1816 - 1853 100 From his entrance into the Stimmate, until, his death, “in the arms of God.” VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 A thirty- seven year period during which he founded and formed a Congregation of Priests and Brothers at the Stimmate - a period of an even more varied apostolate, during which his years of teaching school, were coupled with extensive counselling, while enduring excruciating suffering, until his death. Ch. I: The Beginning of the Congregation 101 Ch. II: Construction of the House, and Increase in the Community 106 Ch. III: The Spiritual Edifice 111 Ch. IV: School at the Stimmate 115 Ch. V: More on the Marian Oratories 121 Ch. VI: Exercise of the Priestly Ministry 127 Ch. VII: Fr. Bertoni’s Illnesses 133 Ch. VIII: Fr. Bertoni and the new Bishop, His Excellency, Joseph Grasser 140 Ch. IX: A Priest from the Stimmate at the Court of the Hapsburgs 144 Ch. X: Again with the Community at the Stimmate 149 Ch. XI: The Spirit of Sacrifice of a Founder 164 Ch. XII: The Passing of a Great Friend – Bishop Joseph Grasser 172 Ch. XIII: Fr. Bertoni and the Endeavors of Others 176 Ch. XIV: The Angel of Counsel for All 190 Ch. XV: Fr. Bertoni Writes the Constitutions for his Congregation 209 Ch. XVI: The Decline of the Community at the Stimmate 216 Ch. XVII: The Renunciation of the Cartolari Inheritance 223 Ch. XVIII: Fr. Bertoni’s Room 228 Ch. XIX: “At the School of God” 239 Ch. XX: Fr. Gaspar’s Last Months 244 Ch. XXI: The Death of the Servant of God 250 Ch. XXII: Fr. Bertoni’s Funeral and Burial at the Stimmate 256 Ch. XXIII: The Decree of Praise for the Congregation 265 Ch. XXIV: The Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ 274 Ch. XXV: Toward Glorification 282 Bibliography 290 † VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI PREFACE 5 PREFACE In writing this new LIFE of his Venerable Founder, the author had two ideas in mind: a) he wished to comply with the requirements of the Historical Section of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, where the Cause of this Servant of God is now under consideration; b) he also wished to give an adequate response, not so much to any formal requests, but rather to a more fundamental void which he noticed in the Venerable Founder’s own family. It seemed to the author that the need for a critical study would at the same time fill in this void. In this new biography, a consistent effort has been made that the text may be understood even at a first reading. The Servant of God would then be depicted in a fuller manner, and he would be better able to speak for himself. In this work, it is the Servant of God himself who speaks, as do the witnesses of his life, his reputation and his deeds. This is not only the primary intention of the author, but it is his sole hope. The documentation that is employed draws heavily from the text and the Appendices of the Diocesan and Apostolic phases of the Cause of his Beatification. Usually, the “Positiones” relative to the Processes are cited, rather than their respective “Summaria.” The greater part of the documentation, however, is taken from the voluminous “Summarium Additionale, ex Officio Compilatum,” which has been the recent project of the Historical Section of the above mentioned Sacred Congregation. It is a ponderous t9me, in which previous documentation has been sifted, voids have been filled in and details have been added. The whole spectrum has been corroborated with new data, drawn from over twenty libraries and archives in Verona, Stresa and Rome. The author, however, did not restrict himself just to those sources. He took advantage of additional information, derived from the most varied sources. This will appear in the notes that accompany the text. Unless the author is mistaken, he can reasonable hope that he has presented the person of the Venerable Gaspar Bertoni, after much research, in a historically convincing light. He can also reasonable hope that he presents him in a fuller and more substantial manner. It is a pity that it is not always possible, in a project of this type, to fill in every void, or to answer every question that was uncovered as the work progressed. This, though, is the usual lot of endeavors of this nature. Would it be better to improvise, merely to achieve a literary totality - or should one fill in every void, for the sake of balance, through sheer imagination? VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI PREFACE 6 Despite the evident difficulties inherent in this study, and despite all its deficiencies, of which the undersigned is fully aware, he, nonetheless, has confidence in the truth presented, in its reality and in the fascination of its integrity. Fr. Joseph Stofella, C.P.S. † VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI ABBREVIATIONS 7 Abbreviations: Mss. = Manuscripts Med. = Meditation Serm. = Sermon parag. = paragraph Sp. Notes = Spiritual Notes Comm. Lib. = Municipal Library Lib., Stimm. = Library of the Stimate Mss. fot. = Microfilm (Photographic Manuscript) † VENERABLE GASPAR BERTONI INTRODUCTION 8 INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FR. BERTONI’S LIFE Political Developments in the City of His Birth At the time of the birth of the Servant of God, whose life we are here to narrate, Verona had enjoyed particularly high prestige among the cities of “Veneto,” for two and one half centuries. In Venice, her standard, with its motto: “VERONA FIDELIS,” stood out in the beautiful San Marco’s of the Doges. This was a truly merited encomium.1 Although many Veronese citizens had been infected by the “Spirit of the Revolution,” the city itself never ceded in those two decades, in which the thousand year Republic came to its inglorious end. When the hospitality of Venice was nobly extended to the fugitive Count of Provence (or of Lille), Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, Verona also received him both cordially and respectfully. This was an unpardonable crime in the eyes of the Revolution.2 Unprotected Venice proclaimed its neutrality in the face of the French invasion of 1796. Verona was left exposed to the hostile troops. Her people humbly admitted their long-time devotion to the See of San Marco. This gave access to the barbarities of the French, and to that infamous episode, known thereafter as the “Pasque Veronese.” Verona then awaited the suppression of the Republic, and endured those reprisals which ruined the city.3 * * * * * A treaty was signed at Campoformio on October 29, 1797. On the 21st of January, the following year, Verona and the other Venetian States passed under the control of the Austrian eagle. During the next year, the French forces were driven out of the territory of Italy, by the combined efforts of Austria and Russia. During this campaign, Verona and her environs were the center of the allied operation. * * * * * Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul with his stunning victory at Marengo, on June 14, 1800. The French territory was then extended to the Mincio. Napoleon led his armies again, and concluded a peace treaty signed at Luneville, on February 9, 1801.