Dialogi sette Seven Dialogues By Bernardino Ochino Translated by Patrick Colbourne O.F.M.Cap Table of Contents TRANSLATOR’S NOTE ....................................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION BY CASTANZO CARGNONI O.F.M. CAP. .......................................................................... 2 1. DIALOGUE ON THE METHOD OF LOVING GOD .............................................................................. 3 CONVERSATIONALISTS: THE DUCHESS AND FATHER BERNARDINO ............................................................................. 3 [TO LOVE GOD IS EASY] .................................................................................................................................... 4 [NATURAL, SENSUAL AND RATIONAL LOVE] ........................................................................................................... 5 [THOSE WHO ARE TRUE FRIENDS OF GOD] ............................................................................................................ 6 [PERFECT LOVING IS DIFFICULT] .......................................................................................................................... 7 [THE BEST WAY TO LOVE GOD] .......................................................................................................................... 8 [KNOWLEDGE PRECEDES LOVE] .......................................................................................................................... 8 [HOW TO CONTEMPLATE GOD SO AS TO LOVE HIM] ............................................................................................. 10 [THE SIMPLE ARE STEALING THE KINGDOM OF GOD] ............................................................................................ 10 [CREATION IS A STAIRCASE TO GOD] ................................................................................................................. 11 [“LECTIO DIVINA” DEVOUT BOOKS AND THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAINTS] ...................................................................... 13 [CONVERTING OURSELVES TO THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST] ...................................................................................... 13 [THINK ABOUT THE VIRTUES AND PERFECTIONS OF CHRIST] .................................................................................... 14 [TO MEDITATE ON THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES] ........................................................................................................ 15 [THE PRIMACY OF LOVE OVER KNOWLEDGE] ....................................................................................................... 16 [KNOWING ABOUT GOD IS NOT THE SAME AS LOVING HIM] ................................................................................... 17 [THINK ABOUT THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST] ....................................................................................................... 17 2. DIALOGUE ABOUT THE MANNER OF BECOMING HAPPY. ............................................................. 18 SPEAKERS: FATHER BROTHER BERNARDINO AND THE DUCHESS OF CAMERINO .......................................................... 18 3. DIALOGUE – THE MANNER IN WHICH A PERSON SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF APPROPRIATELY ........ 21 CONVERSATIONALISTS: MASTER- DISCIPLE ......................................................................................................... 22 [THE SOUL IS LIKE A REALM] ............................................................................................................................ 23 [IT IS DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE REALM OF THE SOUL] ......................................................................................... 24 [DIALOGUE ON THE FINAL END] ........................................................................................................................ 25 [DIALOGUE CONCERNING REACHING THE END] .................................................................................................... 26 [THE WAY OF LOVE OF GOD] ........................................................................................................................... 26 [RECOGNITION AND RESTRAINT OF THE APPETITES AND EMOTIONS] ......................................................................... 28 [HOW TO MANAGE THE REALM OF THE SOUL] ..................................................................................................... 29 [TO ESCARPS FROM THE OCCASION OF SIN] ......................................................................................................... 31 [GROWTH AND PERSEVERANCE IN DIVINE LOVE] .................................................................................................. 31 4. DIALOGUE OF THE THIEF ON THE CROSS ...................................................................................... 32 CONVERSATIONALISTS: A MAN AND A WOMAN ................................................................................................... 32 5. DISCOURSE CONCERNING TIMELY CONVERSION .......................................................................... 37 CONVERSATIONALISTS: CHRIST AND THE SOUL .................................................................................................... 37 6. DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE JOURNEY TO PARADISE .................................................................... 41 1 Dialogi sette CONVERSATIONALISTS: THE GUARDIAN ANGEL AND THE PILGRIM SOUL ................................................................... 41 [LOVE’S JOURNEY] ......................................................................................................................................... 44 [THE PARTING STEP] ...................................................................................................................................... 45 [THE POVERTY AND DETACHMENT OF A PILGRIM] ................................................................................................. 46 [FAREWELL TO THE WORLD] ............................................................................................................................ 48 7. DIALOGUE ABOUT THE DIVINE PROFESSION ..................................................................................... 49 CONVERSATIONALISTS: A MAN AND A WOMAN ................................................................................................... 49 [DECLARATION] ............................................................................................................................................ 51 [PROFESSION OF FAITH] .................................................................................................................................. 51 [IRREVOCABLE INTENTIONS] ............................................................................................................................ 53 [BREATH OF DIVINE LOVE] ............................................................................................................................... 54 [FOR GOD’S HONOUR AND GLORY] ................................................................................................................... 55 [CONTRITION FOR THE SINS COMMITTED] ........................................................................................................... 56 [IN THE MERCIFUL ARMS OF THE CRUCIFIED] ....................................................................................................... 57 [SOLEMN PROFESSION OF THE THREE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS] ............................................................................. 58 [FINAL RATIFICATION] .................................................................................................................................... 59 Translator’s note This translation is based on the introduction, text and footnotes which were published by P. Costanzo Cargnoni O.F.M. Cap. In I Frati Cappuccini: Documenti e testimonianze dell primo secolo, Edizioni Frate Indovino, Perugia, vol III/1, pp.445-530. The only additions to the notes made by the translator are references to Francis of Assisi: The Early Documents, edited by Regis Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., J. A. Wayne Hellmann, O.F.M. and William J. Short O.F.M. Conv., New York City Press, New York, London, Manila, for an English version of quotations from the Writings or Biographies of St Francis. Introduction by Castanzo Cargnoni O.F.M. Cap. In the world he was called Tommasini but became known as Ochino because his father was a barber in the district of Oca in Siena. Having entered the Observants at a young age, he passed over to the new reform of the Capuchins in 1534 and because of his gifts he was elected superior general twice (1538 and 1541). He studied scholastic philosophy and in 1510 received a doctorate in medicine in Perugia. He was a famous preacher who was idolised by the masses. Because he wanted a kind of reform in the Church that was based on the Gospel he slowly became captivated by heretical reform teachings which forced him to flee to Switzerland to the Calvinists in 1542. The excessive independence of his teachings put him at odds with the various Protestant confessions and his life became a continual flight from one place to another until obscure and abandoned he died at Slavkov in Moravia in 1564. Bernardino Ochino was one of the most influential architects of the Capuchin Constitutions which were drafted in Rome at S. Eufemia in 1536. However, the writings that he produced before his dramatic flight to Geneva are still of great importance