THE GREATEST JESUIT PREACHER: SEGNERI'S COLLECTED WORKS

Segneri, Paolo. Opere del padre Paolo Segneri della Compagnia di Giesu, distribuite in quattro tomi come nella seguente pagina si dimostra; con un breve ragguaglio sulla sua vita. Tomo primo [-quarto]. Venice: Baglioni, 1712.

4 volumes in 4to, half calf with gilt decorations, gilt letterings and labels at spine, yellow edges. Roman type, text in Italian on two columns. Portrait of the author engraved by Girolamo Rossi. Title-pages in red and black.

The collected works and the preachings of the great father Jesuit Paolo Segneri (1624-1694), known as the greatest catholic preacher in Italy after Bernardino of Siena and Girolamo Savonarola: entire districts flocked to hear him.

CONTENT:
1: Life
2: Quaresimale.
3: Il cristiano istruito nella sua legge. Ragionamenti morali di Paolo Segneri della Compagnia di Giesu.
4: L' incredulo senza scusa, opera di Paolo Segneri della Compagnia di Giesu, dove si dimostra che non puo non conoscere quale sia la vera religione, chi vuol conoscerla.

Paolo Segneri (1624–1694) was an Italian Jesuit preacher, missionary, and ascetical writer.He studied at the Roman College, and in 1637 entered the Society of Jesus. He lectured on humanities for several years, and was ordained priest in 1653. By a careful study of Scripture, the Fathers, and the Orations of Cicero, he had prepared himself for the pulpit. He volunteered for the foreign missions, but Tuscany, the Papal States, and the chief cities of Italy were to be the scene of his labours. He preached at first in the great cathedrals, and then for twenty-seven years (1665–92) gave popular missions with an eloquence surpassed only by his holiness. His "Quaresimale" was read and admired by Antonio Pignatelli, who as Pope Innocent XII summoned the missionary to preach before him, and made him theologian of the Penitentiaria. Segneri's biographer, Massei, states that "Le Prediche dette nei palazzo apostolico" (Rome, 1694) won the admiration of the pontiff and his Court.

References: IT\ICCU\NAPE\015669.

A very fine set.