Pietro Casaretto

Dom Pietro Casaretto

Pietro Casaretto OSB (born February 16, 1810 in Ancona , † July 1, 1878 in Genoa ) was Abbot of Subiaco and founder of the Congregation of Subiaco , also called the Sublazenser Congregation.

Life

Childhood and youth

Pietro Casaretto was the eldest child of the wealthy merchant Giacomo Casaretto and his wife Maddalena Maddalena. Two days after his birth, he was baptized in the parish church of St. Egidio in the name of Pietro Francesco Luigi Vincenzo Maria Casaretto.

He was about 15 years old when he first expressed his intention to lead a life as a monk and priest. His parents refused his wish to join the Camaldolese order of Monte Cónero, because they feared that his poor health would not be able to cope with the hardships of being a hermit.

From novice to priest

Two years later, his parents finally gave in to their son's wish and on July 9, 1827, at the age of 17, Casaretto entered the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte near Cesena, which was part of the Cassinese Congregation .

As was customary at the time, he made his profession on August 17, 1828 after a one year novitiate . Interrupted by long periods of illness and several trips to Constantinople and the Black Sea, he prepared in the following years for his ordination, which he finally received on September 22, 1832 from Cardinal Nembrini Peroni Gonzaga.

In 1835, despite his poor health, he made an attempt to join the Camaldolese. He entered the monastery of St. Biagio on May 25 and exchanged the black costume for a white one. His second novitiate ended in fiasco: his ailing body was unable to cope with the climatic demands and after a few months Casaretto left the monastery in Fabriano and returned to his previous order.

Pegli Priory

San Giuliano Monastery in Genoa

In 1842 Casaretto was commissioned to maintain the Order's ownership rights to a parish in Pegli near Genoa , which was formerly looked after by Cassinese Benedictines, through his presence. Casaretto agreed, but asked for permission to set up a Benedictine community there with other monks. On November 6th, the Bishops' Conference approved the proposal and appointed Casaretto "Prior-Administrator of the Pegli Priory" and approved the establishment of a separate novitiate by letter of December 12th. The great line that Casaretto had in mind for his small priory was already noted in this official document: "The perfect communion, the strict observance of the observance of the Cassinese Benedictine Institute" and in this form the plan was also approved by the Cassinese Congregation. Casaretto arrived in Pegli on January 20, 1843, accompanied by Dom Raffaele Testa, the novice master of Santa Scholastica. Two years later the small community moved to an old monastery in Genoa - San Giuliano d'Albaro.

During his time in Pegli, Casaretto was already working on a plan to train monks to be missionaries. In 1846 the Holy See gave him permission to set up a school of mission for monks in San Giuliano. The school was later moved to Subiaco.

Abbot of Santa Scholastica

The Santa Scholastica Monastery near Subiaco (oil painting by Carl Blechen )

In 1850 the Pope appointed him abbot at the Santa Scholastica Monastery in Subiaco. From Genoa he not only brought a multinational group of 15 novices with him, but also the idea of ​​a "new observance" which, among other things, excluded personal possession of money and only allowed the monk an absolute minimum of personal possessions - even before the proclamation as dogma in 1854 - called for a special devotion to the Immaculate Conception . Every year on December 8th, the monks of his monastery had to commit anew to consecrate themselves to the perfect community life (perfetta vita comune) . His dream of forming his own province within the Cassinese Congregation came true in 1851 when the Holy See proclaimed the formation of the "Subiaco Province" on May 28th.

The new congregation

On May 8, 1852, the General Chapter of the Cassinese Congregation elected him to be their President, an office he held until 1858. From 1858 he devoted himself again to his province of Subiaco. During this time he made the decision to found a new congregation. After meeting the abbots of the monasteries in the Subiaco Province, he formally asked the Holy See in Rome for the approval of the new congregation and its statutes. The application was approved on August 5, 1867, initially for a ten-year probationary period and entitled "Congregationis Casinensis a primaeva observantia" (Cassinese Congregation of the original observance) . Casaretto was appointed the first Abbot General.

Only when it was recognized as a separate congregation on March 9, 1872 did the new movement break away from the Cassinese congregation. The administrative division into provinces was based on the countries in which the monasteries were located.

Last years of life

On April 1, 1876 Casaretto retired from his office. Struggling more and more with his illness, he spent the last two years of his life. In mid-1878 his health was so bad that he decided to retire to one of his relatives' homes in Genoa. He died there on the morning of July 1, 1878.

Casaretto was buried on July 4, 1878 in the chapel of St. Anna in San Giuliano d 'Albaro.

literature

• G. Lunardi: Giovinezza e formazione di Pietro Casaretto (1810-1843) in: Studia monastica, 14.2 (1972), pp. 349-374.
• Diversos: Pietro Casaretto e gli inizi della Congregazione Sublacense (1810-1880). Saggio storico nel I Centenario della Congregazione (1871-1972) , published by L'Abadia de Montserrat, ISBN 9788472021037 .
• Daniel Tibi: Casaretto, Abbot Pietro OSB (1810-1878). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 41 (2020), Sp. 210–214.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Giovanni Leonardi: Giovinezza e formazione di Pietro Casaretto (1810-1843) , p. 249 in: Diversos: Pietro Casaretto e gli inizi della Congregazione Sublacense (1810-1880). Saggio storico nel I Centenario della Congregazione (1871-1972) , published by L'Abadia de Montserrat, ISBN 9788472021037
2. ↑ History of the Congregation of Subiaco ( Memento of the original of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Accessed February 29, 2012 
3. ^ History of the Congregation of Subiaco: Founder - At Sta. Maria del Monte ( Memento of the original of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ History of the Congregation of Subiaco: Founder - Among the Camaldolese ( Memento of the original of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ History of the Congregation of Subiaco: Founder - At Pegli ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ History of the Congregation of Subiaco: Founder - At Subiaco ( Memento of the original of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Entry on the Benedictine order in the Catholic Encyclopedia on Catholic Online, as of February 29, 2012
8. ↑ History of the Congregation of Subiaco: Founder - The New Monastic Congregation ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• Website of the Congregation of Subiaco