NEWS
This section is open to contributions from anyone interested in this site. It presents comments and reflections arising from an interpretation of Jacopone’s laudi, from publications by various authors or from life experiences or current events that have some relationship with Jacopone’s life, thought and spirituality. Each contribution that is published will be credited to the person who proposes it and initially published on the home page. It will then be replaced by the next contribution and archived here, in order of date, always remaining available to interested people.
SOPR’ONNE LENGUA, AMORE
His legend tells us that trying, as all true lovers must, to tell something of the ineffable Truth, and snatching for this purpose at vivid images and suggestive phrases,
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
“Yielding himself without reserve to that Greater Life which is ‘present everywhere to those who can receive it’ (Plotinus) his small measure is swallowed up in the measureless;
HOW BEAUTIFUL IT WOULD BE …!
“Jacopone has never been beatified, though several attempts have been made to introduce his process at Rome: the last in 1868-9 by the heads of the Franciscan Order.
A DETEILED AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“Jacopone was one of the most subjective of writers. In his poetry, he admits us to close intimacy with his many-sided character, tells us of his political, social and intellectual experiences, and all the secrets of his inner life.
AN EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER
Three types of mind should find pleasure in Jacopone’s work and personality.
A concrete and human mysticism
The keenness and depth of the concept of love in Jacopone's Laudi will be a point of reference for mystics who want to realise the discovery, the confirmation and the commitment ...
The apex of Franciscan spirituality
The poetic project undertaken by Iacopone – which turns out to be a theological work of great breadth
Either a coincidence or a miracle!
Alvaro Cacciotti, theologian and Franciscan friar, on the Mystical Theology of Iacopone, intended for expert scholars of medieval theology and literature.
THE PROPHETIC DIMENSION
The fight against culture is not anticultural, one must distinguish knowledge that puffs up from divine knowledge.
From Jacopone to Dante
The experience of mystical union could have plunged Jacopone into contemplative withdrawal and silence.
NO INCOMPATIBILITY
The program and the creativity of the Laude lie in the attempt to reconcile Literary desire and the love of God
LAUDS AS PRAYERS
The vernacular lauda was a rather primitive poetic form. Thanks to its inelegant, rough quality it could occupy a crucial position as a means of spiritual and moral growth among the lower classes.
THE UNDENIABLE PRIMOGENITURE
Besides implying a return to the “origin” as a symbol of a pure, uncontaminated past, “originality” signifies the creative, inventive establishment of a fresh, novel element, such as poetry in the vernacular was in thirtheenth-century Italy.
POVERTY AS FOUNDATION OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
The preference of origins is often a trait of converts, persons who turn their lives around and start afresh with new goals and a renovated perspective
INNOVATORS AND RENEWERS
Francis of Assisi and Iacopone da Todi stand alone as the only two Franciscan poets in the Italian literary canon.
AN UNCOMFORTABLE SAINT!
«... In the last analysis Jacopone speaks most directly to the faithful. those who have themselves, however fleetingly, stood in the presence of God.
THE OPINION OF ITALIAN SCHOLARS
«... The understanding of Jacopone’s work in Italy has been hindered by a curious critical phenomenon: the separation of mysticism and poetry.
DIVERGING OPINIONS
George T. Peck's preface to his book begins with these words:
«The study of Jacopone da Todi is rewarding.
Partly because the novelty of the act. Though an outstanding poet and "one of the two major [literary] personalities of the end of the thirteenth century” – the other being , of course, Dante – it is astonishing how little attention has been devoted to him».
