Tommasina Vernazza

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Born at Genoa, 1497; died there, 1587. Her father, Ettore Vernazza, was a patrician, founder of several hospitals for the sick poor in Genoa, Rome, and Naples. Her godmother was St. Catherine Fieschi-Adorno. At the early age of 13, Tommasina entered the monastery of St. Maria delle Grazie, and became a canoness regular, taking the name of Battistina. She filled at various times the office of treasurer, novice-mistress, and prioress. She wrote, among other things, a commentary on the Pater Noster; "The Union of the soul with God"; "Of the knowledge of God"; "Of prayer"; "Of the heavenly joys and of the means of attaining them"; "Of those who have risen with Christ"; meditations, spiritual canticles, and letters to eminent men of her time. Possevin speaks of her writings as inspired. Her works were published at Venice in 3 vols. in 1588. They have been published many times since in 4 or 6 vols.; in Genoa 6 editions have been issued.

Sources

VERNAZZA, Opere Spirituali (Venice, 1588; Genoa, 1785); ROSSINI, Lyceum Lateranense Cesenae (1622); SERRA, Storia letteraria (Genoa, 1832); SEMERIA, Storia ecclesiastica di Genova (Turin, 1838); RONCO, Sonetti inediti (Genoa, 1819); BOERI, Una Gloria di Genova (1906).

About this page

APA citation. Allaria, A. (1912). Tommasina Vernazza. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15358b.htm

MLA citation. Allaria, Anthony. "Tommasina Vernazza." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15358b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to Judy Van Horn.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.