Ludovico da Casoria, Caterina Volpicelli,
Giuseppe Moscati
and the church of the Sacramental nuns in Naples - I
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Ludovico da Casoria, Caterina Volpicelli, |
Alfredo Marranzini s.j. |
The church of S. Giuseppe dei Ruffi has been named the Sacramentarians’ Church or the Sacramentals’ Church, since the past century. Special circumstances commonly relate to this church three eminent paragons of holiness: Brother Lodovico Palmenteri (- who was born in Casoria on the 11th March 1814 and died in Naples on the 30th March 1885 -, beatified by Giovanni Paolo II on the 18th April 1993; Giuseppe Moscati (– who was born in Benevento on the 25th July 1880 and died in Naples on the 12th April 1927 -, canonized by Giovanni Paolo IIon the 25th October 1987; Caterina Volpicelli – who was born in Naples on the 21st January 1839 and died therein on the 28th December 1894 -, whose heroic virtues were proclaimed by Pio XII on the 25th March 1945; nowadays the trial to prove the miracle ascribed to her intercession is still in progess and should determine her beatification.
Before pointing out the events which took place in that church - crucial events indeed which determined the sanctification of the three eminent representatives of the Holy Church in Naples -, let’s see some information about the church set (1) in the small square on the left side of via Duomo, where it crosses the higher decuman, one of the three main road axes of the historical centre of the city.
The historical and artistic treasures
It was the year 1604 when the neapolitan ladies Cassandra Caracciolo, Ippolita and Caterina Ruffo, Caterina Tomacelli and others, eager to consacrate their own lives to the Almighty, following St. Joseph’s example, agreed with the suggestion of an Oratorian Father and bought the Arcella Palace – placed near the Capuano Seat – and some other houses nearby from the Prince of Avellino. They turned them into a convent with a small church consacrated to St. Joseph. On the 15th December 1607, Paul Vissued the building ordinance for the establishment of the Convent, which was assigned under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop Ottavio Acquaviva and was bound to keep vows following the rule of St. Augustin Moreover, the Convent had to be entitled S. Giuseppe dei Ruffi, as the Ruffos from Bagnara, besides giving the first nun, have had largely financed the foundation of the Institute.
Few years later, in 1611, the Convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli - placed near the crossroads on the higher decuman – had been suppressed, and its few nuns joined the Consolation’s, the Madaleine’s and the St. Jerome’s, while the property passed to the Dome’s Chapter. At the same time, longing for a more suitable seat, the Augustinian Sisters soon bought this building for 12.200 ducats and named its church S. Giuseppe dei Ruffi. The construction of the new church began in 1669, following Dionisio Lazzari’s project, but works were stopped in 1674 because of the quarrel the Donnaregina nuns arosed to the Holy See in order to avoid the new building enabled any maddling with their complete seclusion.
As the quarrel was made up, construction works were resumed and Lazzari carried out just the structure and the high altar with its backcloth, in order to allow the church opening ceremony in 1682; the frontal and the ciborium were realized during our century. The church has a composite order structure with a latin cross nave, six side chapels and a suspended choir opened on the presbytery through a large arch. Lazzari’s apprentice who became the Augustinians’ architect in 1689, Arcangelo Guglielmelli realized the façade of the church; it is made up of a loggia with the staircases, in conformity with a common pattern of the neapolitan baroque architecture. The church is made up of several altars and marmoreal walls, which are the expression of the development of neapolitan art in clouded marble, since the last baroque till the rococo and the classicism of the end of the eighteenth century. Works of remarkable technical level, devised by notorious architects and realized by capable marble-cutters, confer to the chapels, the transept and the apsis a tone of rich magnificence and colour. Therefore the high altar – devised by Lazzari and realized in his own workshop – produces a very sumptuous baroque with flourishes, vases and other decorations made of nacre marbles and semiprecious stones on the dark background. Its coping was completed in 1733 by Matteo Bottiglieri, who sculptured two puttos and the statues which represent Hope and Charity.
The left transept altar shows the influence of Cosimo Fanzago on Giovanni Domenico Vinaccia, who devised it and realized its cluoded-marble decorations, giving the work a remarkable touch of intense and refined naturalism. The two wonderful statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, ascribed in the past to the workshop of Pietro and Bartolomeo Getti – who carried out the whole complex -, have been ascribed nowadays to Giuseppe Sammartino; the painting of the Holy Trinity standing above St. Augustin and other Saints, is by Luca Giordano. The right transept altar, instead - the one with the incomplete icon – has been deviced by Arcangelo Guglielmelli, who realized a decoration based on the continuous succession of the same floreal motif using the alternation of clouded nacre, precious stones and golden copper.
In the beginnings, the altar was towered by the painting by Andrea Malinconico, depicting The Virgin and St. Filippo Neri, who was the Saint the Oratorians spiritually guided the Augustinias nuns to. Later on, this painting was replaced by another one portraying the Holy Family, realized by the roman mannered painter Cristoforo Roncalli, called “Il Pomarancio”. He completed it between 1607 – 1611 and the painting was placed on the high altar until 1870, when - using Gennaro Aspreno Galante’s (2) words – “was put on the altar a huge tabernacle, whose only value was the deep devotion of the faithfuls, who lavished large sums of money”.
The painting of Giacomo Farelli towers the marble altar of the right-side second chapel; it represents St. Ruffo, Ruffos’ Patron Saint. This chapel was erected by Fabrizio Ruffo, belonging to the Dukes of Bagnara, who – as the memorial tablet on both sides of the altar reminds us – was born in 1619. He was elected Prior of Bagnara in 1641 and then Prior of Capua, and inflicted heavy losses on the Turkish Navy near Malta, as Major-Capitain of the galleys.
The left-side second chapel, the one with the crucifix realized by Giuseppe Marullo, is made up of marbles of great value, and its icon and altar– erected in 1770 – reflect the most sumptuous neapolitan rococo; while the altar designed in 1759 by Nicola Carletti for the first chapel on the left-side of the main entrance – that is the altar dedicated to Santa Maria dell’Olivo, also named Santa Maria delle Grazie, whose costs of restructuring, as the plaque on the floor attests, were covered by the Marchioness of Bagnara Ottavia Ruffo, the same altar which most attracted S. Giuseppe Moscati’s devotion (3).
The Church is crowned by a great dome with frescoes representing S. Joseph’s Glory, and realized in 1741 by Francesco De Mura; while The Doctors of the Latin Church in the corbels below were painted by Paolo De Maio.
The Blessed Sacrament perpetual Worshippers in Naples
In 1312 Maria Giuseppa Cardines, Countess of Acerra, left to Suor Maria Maddalena dell’Incarnazione - Caterina Sordini, who was born in Porto S. Stefano on the 16th April 1770 and died in Rome on the 29th november 1824 – a 1200 ducats a year income in order to make their institute found a house in Naples. As that sum resulted lean, in 1820 Kt. Giuseppe Buonocore obtained from Francesco that Countess of Acerra devise was assigned to the new foundation together with the monastry of San Giuseppe dei Ruffi, so that a small group of Augustinian Nuns was transferred to Croce della Lucca or San Giovanniello monastries. On the 4th October 1828 came to Naples the first Worshippers, M. Giuseppa, M. Serafina, M. Veronica and M. Agnese from Rome, swiss guards captain daughter, together with the priest Giovanni Antonio Baldecchi, who became the new house director. From the 8th december 1828 up to now the Blessed Sacrament has always been exposed on the high altar attracting several worshippers belonging to all social classes. As he was exiled in Naples, Pius IX visited the church and the Monastry on the 1st October 1849.
The “New Baptism” by Lodovico da Casoria
Arcangelo Palmentieri, thirdborn in a modest working-class family in Casoria, after a brief internship as a seminarist, entered the Frati Minori Riformati order on the 17th June 1832 with the name of Lodovico,hence, after the novitiate in San Giovanni del Palco di Taurano’s Monastry in the green Vallo di Lauro, near Avellino, and after the end of his studies in S. Antonio in Afragola, S.Angelo in Nola and S.Pietro ad Aram in Naples Institutes, he was ordained priest in 1838. Up to 1847 his priestly life flows easy among prayers, studies and the subjects he liked most, such as philosophy, phisics, chemistry and maths. He delighted in building geometric shapes, chemical experiments to test matter composition and decay laws and he is also able to make a daguerreotype portrait, photography forerunner.
But here is in 1847 – as Card. Capecelatro noticed (4) – occurs in him “one of that changes not just like Saint’Augustine’s one, who broke the chains of moral slavery in which vices had tied him; neither like San Paolino from Nola, who undid the bond of mondanity to reduce himself to a life of perfection. It was, however, the change from a monk good and moderate life into a new apostel eroic life of charity and poverty”.
In the young Lodovico that moment was edging a perfection desire at first weak and vague, and then always more intense and insistent, insomuch as it pushed him to pray much longer and fervently than usually. When he went out he liked to garner in the Sacramentals’ Church to worship the Blessed Sacrament there exposed. One day, while praying, he shakes, pales, faints and falls on the ground as stunned. All the neighbours come trying to revive and lift him up. Soon Lodovico collects himself and without any help easily comes back to the Convent. We don’t know what has happened inside him, but some years later he told many times to several friends of his that one had been the day of his “purification”: words apparently obscure, but they weren’t so to us whom heard them several times from his mouth. By his parabolic way, he wanted to mean that, as baptism had been purification and starting to the way of good, the mistery occurred inside him the moment he fell down had been purification and introduction for a new life of perfection. He felt as re-baptised for a new heavenly life and he felt inside a light and a strenght which made him win all his previous doubts and state with really strong will to himself: from now on, Jesus the Lord’s words “Be perfect as my Holy Father is”;will be my law.
Despite the outdated form, I wanted to relate this passage by Capecelatro (5)because he took it from the memories of monk Lodovico da Castelpiano di Jesi, who was put up sick by Lodovico to the Convento della Palma (6). So it’s a direct evidence of the “purification” by which Holy Ghost started Lodovico towards heroic holiness and summoned him to social mission, which meant a stricter Gospel reading head to head with poors’ misery and spur to brand-new and hard solutions in aid of poors and humbles of every age and race.
To this “purification” Lodovico replied with constancy and faithfulness. So he could write down in his Testament: “… I didn’t ask God for rapture, abduction and visions to give vent to my soul, but I did it for work, act, faith and soul salvation. I asked in my prayers for ardour in acting, God’s love in struggles, in troubles, in anxieties, in contraddictions and I always stated: to love or to die for love” (7).
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Lodovico da Casoria and Caterina Volpicelli: two souls set to Christ’s Heart
Lodovico da Casoria and Caterina Volpicelli had common ideals, same heaven-sent activity and strict co-operation above all about the spread of Jesus Heart worship, even if they went “You on your way, me on my own!” (8) as the Blessed usually said to her. In their lives people and places let think to a divine plan to make grace action and the complementarity of their specifi mission stand out in both of them. Sacramentals’ Church – where an inexplicable “purification” made a charity apostle ready to soothe misery and pain out of an ordinary Franciscan – was a point of attraction to Caterina too.
The young twenty-years-old girl, who has already sealed her love for Christ by a temporary chastity vow, is painful doubt-stricken about her future. Lord’s Supper love often brings her and her mother to the church of st. Giuseppe dei Ruffi, where the Blessed Sacrament is always exposed. When she sees the framing of the most strict cloister she feels the sense of absolute to which she has always been addicted. She sees herself in the cloister loneliness totally committed in worship and repair, and the rules observance seems to be a guarantee against her own giddiness and world fascination.
During a period of crisis she has imagined divine love sweetnesses which the Sacramentine would have tasted at their Sacramental Bridegroom.especially during nightime. She feels had up by that institute and she talks about it with her parents who judge their daughter too young and unhealthy, without openly disagreeing. According to her loved ones will, she visits several convents, she looks through their lives and she analyses their organization but Sacramentarians had no second choice. Meanwhile doubts, contraddictions and postponing are mining her health, getting worse and worse when they insist with her not to think of Worshippers anymore. Earnest all these negativities can deeply influence her, Dr. Capobianco begs her father let her free to follow her own calling.
Despite he’s sure Caterina is suitable not for cloisters but for social missions all over the world where she would have become “souls fisherman” (9),in order to free her spirit from a lot of struggles, Lodovico himself don’t hesitate to tell her father: “ let her go to Sacramentine’s, she won’t stay there so much” (10).Caterina’s father is convinced and assents: joy comes back on Caterina’s face and her health improves. Convalescence is slow and the wait would have been much longer if an unpredictable happening hadn’t occurred to take the plunge. On the 13th May 1859, during a trip to Massalubrense with her cousins, Caterina visits Carmelitan Nuns. The cloister impresses her, the Mother Superior talks about nuns contemplative life and opens the cloister door to allow the intrigued visitors to take a look around inside. Caterina feels pushing inside, jumps in and doesn’t want to come out anymore, despite her cousins severe requests. Through them, she sends a letter to her sister Clementina, in which she begs her to persuade their parents and at the same time, under Mother Superior authorization, she promises she would stay on probation for not later than one month and then she would have taken a final decision ( 11).
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Surprised and quite embarassed, her cousins stately informe their relatives and the Arcibishop of Sorrento, Francesco Saverio Apuzzo, who firstly sends his secretary and then goes himself there to persuade her back to her family, but in vain. Occluded, Pietro Volpicelli sends his son Vincenzo to Massalubrense together with Barnabite Leonardo Matera, Caterina’s confessor. Deeply charged up, she surrenders, after a not so weak opposition, and showing confidence she states: “At least one day I tried what monastry means” (12).
In order to get it over, her parents hasten her admission to the Perpetual Worshippers in San Giuseppe dei Ruffi. Under Matera’s advice in order to avoid emotion and weeping, on the 28th May 1859, without making her family aware, Caterina goes out as usually with two ladies friends of hers to go to the Mass and “heartbroken due to separation” enters the Cloister, but she’s going to stay there a bit less than seven months. (13) .
After first times desperate weeping, during Whit Sunday she cheers up and feels like she has found her own way. In a very affectionate letter addressed to her parents she gives a gleam of light about her more intimate and real disposals: “In the meantime be your soul calm by knowing I entered religion, because I can feel and see this is the Will of God. However, as I hardly wish I could know how to execute Divine Plans, I’d be ready to come back home if only I knew the only thing God wants me to do is to sacrifice my heart and not my life. So please, praise the Lord expressing his will during these years of experiments”." (14).
During first months a totalitarian, definitive and unconditional donation to God raises in her. She’s convinced she “has found everything desirable in Sacramentarian Jesus” (15). She seems a rightness, charity and harmony model. Painstaking she happily flies as soon as the bell rings invite her to worship her Eucaristic Christ, both by day and by night. But after few months she starts to get sick and she has to lie in bed most of the time. Edited by her behaviour, her Sisters do their best to look her after and are also willing to ask the Holy See exemption for choir and nightime worshipping for her. On the other hand Caterina states she would never accept to be a half-nun and on the 23rd December 1859, after consulting Cercià who had already lead her through her admission, she’s home again. The experiment, lasted six months and 24 days, hasn’t been useless, because it led her to human and christian maturity which was still missing in her twenty-one.
Silence and long worship helped her to think with inner freedom, without the oppositions which provoked so many reactions. The days spent in her cell loneliness reminded her warnings from Matera, Lodovico and her relatives who she didn’t want to listen to. Besides good intentions, she realized it requires carefulness and meekness. She admits: “The Lord…made me appreciate the holy compliance value, making me acknowledge how He wanted me more submitted in mercy and charity” (16).
Humiliated because despite her constance she sees herself forced to come back home due to her health conditions, Caterina finds her peace in her own rightness consciuosness. “The brief stay in the monastry was special grace by the Lord too, because was clear to me Divine Will and I was free from any fear not to have returned the vocation, so that my mind was calmed down” 17).
Lodovico, who’s neither Caterina’s confessor nor her spiritual father, but he considers himself only ”her family first friend”, now points to her the way of full worshipping the Holy Cross, because “we won’t ever love Jesus’ Heart if we don’t bring Christ’s sores in our soul and our body…it’s better to stay in Christ’s sore…it’s better to stand a life full of troubles than to undertake a path without delays because Christ’s love is current breathlessness, its rest is Christ Crucified. Till souls don’t turn into Crucifix, Jesus can’t find His peace. His enjoying is not amusement, but defection, contempt and poverty…Jesus’ Heart is sweetnes for young weak souls, for ones who first approach the Lord. But the ones who want to reach Him have to chagrin their body and spirit. (18).
Though always standing aside with total prudence, Lodovico will always feel joined to Caterina to study “love for Christ’s Heart, love for Christ Himself, love for Christ’s love” and to carry out what he calls “mine and your work” (19)spreading the Sacred Heart worship.
Notes
1. About the story and the masterpieces in the Crurch of San Giuseppe dei Ruffi, cf.: Fr. Ceva Grimaldi, Memorie storiche della città di Napoli, Napoli 1857, pp. 417; 523-529; C. Celano, Notizie del bello dell'antico e del curioso della Città di Napoli, II, Napoli 1856, pp. 658-663; G. A. Galante, Guida sacra della città di Napoli, Napoli 1967, pp. 74-75; Napoli Sacra. Guida alle chiese della città, Napoli 1993, pp. 126-128.
2. Galante, op. cit., p. 75.
3. On the right-side wall in this chapel a grave stone celebrates Giuseppe Buonocore’s rewards, because he made his best to make the Sacramental Nuns come to Naples. On the left-side wall, instead, another plaque praises Mons. Gabriele Gravina, Ferdinand I main Chaplain, who was votary of the Olive Virgin and Sacramental Nuns benefactor
4. A. Capecelatro, La vita del P. Lodovico da Casoria, ed. 2° Desclée, Roma 1893, p. 37.
5. Ib., p. 42.
6. Ib., p. 38, n. 1.
7. Ib., p. 749.
8. P. Lodovico da Casoria, Epistolario ed. G. D'Andrea, Napoli 1989, lettera N. 264.
9. M. Jetti, Caterina Volpicelli Istitutrice delle Ancelle del S. Cuore, I, Napoli 1900, p. 107.
10. Processo apostolico 1945, "Summarium Additionale", p. 49.
11. The letter is reported by Jetti, C. Volpicelli, I, pp. 108-109.
12. In Jetti, op. cit., p. 110.
13. Ib., p. 112.
14. Caterina Volpicelli, letter to her parents, 28th May, in Jetti, op. cit., p. 144.
15. Caterina Volpicelli, letter to her sister-in-law, 4th June 1859, in Jetti, op. cit, p. 116.
16. Reported by C. Conti Guglia Caterina Volpicelli Fondatrice delle Ancelle del S. Cuore, Napoli 1981, p. 44.
17. Ib.
18. Lodovico Da Casoria Collection of letters letter n. 727.
19. Collection of letters, letter n. 979.
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