Displaying items by tag: ARCHIVUM GENERALE ORDINIS CARMELITARUM

Archivissima 2024 -- The Festival and Night of the Archives

On June 7, 2024, the General Archives and Library of the Carmelite Order held a discussion entitled Aut Pati Aut Mori: The Symbolism of the Heart in Carmelite Female Iconography at Centro Internazionale Sant'Alberto (CISA) in Rome.

Art historian, teacher, and author of several books, Ruggiero Doronzo and Carmelite Charló Camilleri, spiritual theologian, dialogued rather than presenting as in a traditional conference format. The discussion centered on chalcographic engravings from the modern age (16th-18th centuries) kept in the General Archives of the Order. Special reference to the figures of St. Teresa of Avila, St. Maria Magdalena De' Pazzi and the Venerable Rosa Maria Serio.

Archivissima 2024--The Festival and Night of the Archives is a cultural initiative that took place throughout Italy from June 6 to 9.

Doronzo authored the book Iconografia Carmelitana al Femminile which was published by Edizioni Carmelitane.

View the conference on YouTube

Archivissima 2024 – The Festival and Night of the Archives

From June 6 to 9, cultural initiatives of the Archivissima 2024 event - The Festival and Night of the Archives, dedicated to the theme #Passions, will take place throughout Italy. For this occasion, the Carmelite Archives and General Library have organized a panel discussion entitled: Aut pati aut mori. The Symbolism of the Heart in Carmelite Female Iconography.

Together with Ruggiero Doronzo, art historian and author of several books, and Carmelite Charló Camilleri, spiritual theologian, we will dialogue on the symbolism of the heart in female Carmelite mysticism of the modern age (16th-18th centuries), starting from its representation in the chalcographic engravings kept in the General Archives of the Carmelite Order, with special reference to the figures of St. Teresa of Avila, St. Maria Magdalena De' Pazzi and the venerable Rosa Maria Serio.

Doronzo authored the book Iconografia Carmelitana al Femminile which was published by Edizioni Carmelitane. More information at the webstore of Edizioni Carmelitane.

The event will take place on June 7, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Albert International Center, Via Sforza Pallavicini 10, Rome.

Days of Enhancement of Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage

At the Origins of Movable Type Printing
The Incunabula of the Carmelite Library

Dr. Rosa Parlavecchia will show some incunabula, accompanying the presentation with instrumentation in use in the ancient printing workshops.

It is preferable to communicate participation to the following address:

Historian Studying Carmelite Music in Poland and Italy Between the 17th and 18th Centuries

Dr. Marek Bebak is a music historian from Poland and teaches at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. In the fall of 2023, he was awarded the seventh research grant from the General Archives of the Carmelites, named in memory of Fr. Emanuele Boaga, and started a Musicology project, entitled Mapping the Carmelites Musical Culture in Europe in the Seventeenth-and Eighteenth-Century. Preliminary research was based on the collection of the General Archive of the Carmelite Order in Rome.

Marek has dealt with this issue before, investigating Polish Carmelite archival and bibliographical sources and producing several publications on the subject. Now his attention has shifted to Italy.

On the occasion of his stay in Rome, we were able to asked him some questions:

Can you briefly describe what your research work consists of?

As a musicologist, I try to learn about the ancient musical culture of the Carmelites, especially regarding the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Order was at its peak. Referring to various historical sources, namely musical manuscripts and prints, theoretical treatises, ancient books, and archival documentation (chronicles, charters, reports, protocols), I try to answer the following questions:

What kind of music was heard in Carmelite churches and monasteries? In what situations was it used? Who performed it and who financed it? What instruments were available in Carmelite churches?

I also try to analyze the musical works themselves and assess the compositional skills of the Carmelites in the context in which they created them. I also prepare critical editions of musical works so that musicians can include these compositions in their concert repertoire and record them on CD. Examining the documentation of many convents and provinces gives me a broader perspective: the opportunity to compare and evaluate the level of musical culture in different places in Europe.

What cultural institutions have you visited to pursue your research in Poland and which ones are you consulting and will you consult here in Italy?

In both Poland and Italy the source situation is complicated and requires research at various institutions. This is mainly due to the difficult history of Europe. Many archival and library materials were destroyed or dispersed as a result of fires, floods, wars, partitioning, and dissolution of church property during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The starting point of my work is the materials collected in Carmelite archives, but many sources are also currently held in state and diocesan archives and libraries. My research on the musical culture of the Carmelites in the Polish-Lithuanian Confederation is based on materials that are currently scattered among Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and partly also in Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. For example, in the State Archives in Modra (near Bratislava), Slovakia, I found a manuscript containing a composition by the Krakow Carmelite Telesfor Wikliński. This composition was included in the repertoire of the Piaristi musical chapel in Podolinec. We have immortalized this and other compositions from the repertoire of Polish Carmelites in the 2023 album "Flos Carmeli" (available on streaming services, including Spotify).

My research on the musical culture of the Carmelites in Italy presents the same problems: I started with the General Archives in Rome, and in later stages I will go to historical materials preserved in state and ecclesiastical libraries and archives.

Can you tell us some interesting facts that particularly struck you about the Carmelite composers and musicians who are the subject of your study?

Unlike other religious realities, such as the Jesuits, the Carmelite Order was not known for its musical culture: so any information relevant to this topic is interesting to me.

I was surprised that the number of musical (vocal-instrumental) chapels in Italy was lower than in Poland: in fact, I expected the organization of Polish chapels to be modeled on that of Italy. For example: in mid-17th century in Krakow, in the Carmelite church, there was a large vocal-instrumental chapel, which could successfully perform both 1-4 compositions and large polychoral pieces (for 2 or 3 choirs); this chapel included many musicians, both Carmelite and lay. Unfortunately, no musical material has survived from it, but we have library catalogs listing all the works that the musicians had at their disposal. For comparison, in Rome, in the important Carmelite church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, only three cantors and an organist were employed at the time: it is possible that the musical environment of the daily liturgy was more modest than in Krakow. Instead, for larger feasts (e.g., Our Lady of Mount Carmel or St. Albert), always at Santa Maria in Traspontina, the most distinguished musicians from the papal chapels of St. Peter's Basilica or the Lateran Basilica were invited. Inviting chapels from other churches was typical of this period, but during my research I would like to check whether the Carmelites had their own musical chapels in other cities in Italy.

From sources collected at the General Archives of the Carmelites we know that there were many musicians in other centers, but so far, I have not been able to recognize their organization. This does not mean, however, that in general the musical culture of the Carmelites in Italy was modest. We have many descriptions of events during which wonderful music was performed, composed by the Carmelites themselves, e.g., Filippo Cristianelli, Giovanni Battista Tonnolini, Giuseppe Scarani, Girolamo Casati, Pietro Colombina, Lorenzo Penna, Elia Vannini. In every province of Italy there was at least one composer whose interesting musical works have been preserved. I hope we will learn more about them in the future.

Among the papers of Santa Maria in Traspontina, recently inventoried by Jacopo De Santis in the book "Santa Maria in Traspontina, La vita di una comunità carmelitana attraverso le carte d'archivio", several documents attest that during the 18th century at the same Roman convent, at that time the seat of the general curia of the Carmelites, chocolate bars were produced: this is evidenced by the correspondence preserved in our archives, with which the friars of other convents and various personalities of the time requested that this delicacy be sent to them.

In particular, in a correspondence of seventeen letters dated to the year 1758, the former prior general of the Carmelites, Luigi Laghi, of the Romagnola Province, requested that an order of chocolate, of which he must have been rather gluttonous, be delivered to him in the convent of Forli, reporting - in a funny way - that he made habitual use of it, because, according to him, it helped him to counteract shortness of breath . ... and other ailments: "I continue to suffer every morning the usual tightness of the chest and difficulty in breathing, but having taken chocolate, which causes me some flati, I remain free" (April 13, 1758).

Father Laghi had a large supply of this portentous remedy, as we read in another of his letters, "For chocolate there is time until you make ours, for I still have it for six and more months" (Sept. 7, 1758).

(This article first appeared in ABIGOC – November 21, 2023)

The book can be purchased at the online bookstore of the publisher Edizioni Carmelitane.

For more information on this book ...

A Curiosity from the General Archives of the Order

Among the treasures of our archives we have found the ancient recipe for spiritumcarmeliticum, as devised by a certain Father Bernardo, presumably at the end of the 18th century. We do not know Father Bernardo's surname or the convent he belonged to, but surely his bitter must have been highly appreciated if his recipe reached as far as the General Curia of the Carmelites.

To be able to reproduce it, obtain very pure wine alcohol, herbs of lemon balm, sage and thyme-with the recommendation that they are not dried, but very fresh, picked during the season of their bloom-orange peel, rosemary flowers, artichoke flavoring, cinnamon, nutmeg, plus coriander, anise and nettle seeds. Let everything marinate for at least two days, stirring occasionally, then distill and drink--but in moderation!

[First published in ABIGOC (Archives and General Library of the Carmelite Order)]

Research grant in memory of Fr. Emanuele Boaga, O. Carm. - Seventh Edition (2023)

As it does every year, the General Archives of the Carmelite Order has announced a selection for the award of a research grant, named in memory of Fr. Emanuele Boaga, O. Carm., who was the general archivist of the Order for about thirty years.

Projects should focus on historical, religious, philological or archival research, starting with an analysis of the documentary heritage preserved in our Archives. The goal is to produce a scientific paper on the basis of the studies carried out (article, monograph, edition of sources, inventory, etc.), which will be considered for publication with Carmelite Editions.

The deadline for submission of applications is August 3, 2023.

For more information, please refer to the Archives' website: https://archivioocarm.com/assegno-di-ricerca-alla-memoria-di-p-emanuele-boaga-o-carm-settima-edizione-2023/

The Opening of the General Archives and Library of the Order of the Carmelites to the Public

The 2023 edition of the Days of Enhancement of Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage was held on May 13-21. Its theme was "Beyond the Slide. Church Cultural Heritage: From Accessibility to Inclusion." The Carmelite General Archives and Library took part with an even on May 19 at Centro Internazionale San Alberto (CISA) in Rome. Both library and archives are houses at CISA.

Three rounds of tours were given. Some 50 people attended, including employees of the General Curia, professionals in the field, scholars, as well as people curious seeing the doors to the library on Via Sforza Pallavicini open for the first time in 40 years.

The tours consisted with the librarian and archivist, Mario Alfarano, O. Carm., giving an introduction to the history and organization of the archives and library. Sara Bischetti showed the library’s holdings and research tools, highlighting some of the older items preserved in the library, including incunabula (books printed before 1501) and cinquecentine (books printed in the 16th century. The visitors were then able to explore the three floors of the libraries holdings.

In the archives, Simona Serci provided a short history and evolution of the Order using a display of papal bulls and letters, records from both general chapters and provincial chapters, documentation on the Carmelite house at Traspontina which was relocated decades after the unification of Italy at what is now CISA but at the time was the International College of St. Albert.

The tours ended in the storeroom of the documentary section of the General Postulation. This department is involved with the processes for the causes of the Carmelite saints and blesseds. 

The visits ended with the blessing of the library by Tadeusz Popiela, prior of CISA, inaugurating the new opening to the public. Refreshments in the houses main hall followed with music by Loredana Birocci on the piano. 

For 2023, 136 events took place around Italy. Thirty-nine of these were done by museums, 33 by archives, 42 by libraries, 9 by churches, and 13 by dioceses. The days are promoted by the National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Worship Buildings of the Italian Bishops' Conference together with AMEI - Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Museums, AAE - Association of Ecclesiastical Archivists and ABEI - Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Librarians and under the patronage of ICOM Italia (International Council of Museums), ANAI- Italian National Archival Association and AIB - Italian Library Association.

On the occasion of Archivissima 2023, examples of travelogues, whose editions are based on the manuscripts preserved in the Archives, will be presented on June 9 at the General Archives and Library of the Order of Carmelites.

Speakers

Flavia Di Giampaolo (Institutum Carmelitanum), The Diary of Giovanni Antonio Filippini

Cristiano Garcia Dias Barbosa (Pernambuco Province), The Roman Diary of Ludovico Perez

Glen Attard (University of Malta), The Journey of the Cross of Jan Pascha

Moderator

Sara Bischetti (Carmelite General Library)

6:30 p.m., St. Albert International Center

Via Sforza Pallavicini 10, Rome

For information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Servants of Mary Historical Institute and the General Archives of the Carmelites have planned new training activities for secretaries and archivists. After the training course on current archives, which was held in June 2022, the two institutions have decided to offer some workshop activities to help participants practice practically some of the content proposed during the course.

The first workshop, scheduled for Feb. 25 and led by Prof. Emanuele Atzori, will focus on the management of current archival tools. The second workshop, scheduled for April 22 and led by Prof. Alessandro Alfier, will be devoted to electronic archives. From June 22 to June 24, 2023, a training course on historical archives will be held.

All these activities will take place at the Marianum Pontifical Faculty in Rome.

More information can be found on the General Archives website:
               www.archivioocarm.com