Last May, Fr. Sabatino Majorano, a member of the Redemptorist Province of Naples, published the original text of the “Rules and Constitutions” of Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa (1696-1755), foundress of the Redemptorist nuns.
The editorial work, included in the series “Crostarosian Texts and Studies” (vol. 14), published by San Gerardo Publishing House based in Materdomini, is published less than a year after the Crostarosian work “Il giardinetto interno del divino amore”, also edited by Fr. Majorano. With this new publication, the author gives us a further piece for understanding and appreciating the spiritual project of Blessed Crostarosa.
The text, consisting of about 280 pages, traces the stages of Crostarosa’s religious project, which has come down to us in six separate 18th-century codices, two of which were signed by the blessed herself.
The text edited by Fr. Majorano offers a remarkable vision of Crostarosian spirituality. From a reading of the rules, it emerges that the central element of the Blessed Virgin’s proposal is “memory” and “imitation” and their relationship with Christ the Saviour. Through these two categories, Mother Celeste expresses the centrality of Christ in all Christian life and the indispensable relationship with him. Thus, due to Fr. Majorano’s publication of this volume, we can draw on a spiritual proposal dear to Redemptorists.
Finally, I think it is right to thank the Province of Naples, which has taken on the financial burden of publishing the entire series of “Texts and Studies on Crostarosis”. As we wrote previously directed by Sabatino Majorano, the series is published by Valsele Tipografica, which took care of the graphics. For further information on Crostarosa’s works, don’t hesitate to contact the secretary of the typography at the following address valsele@netlab.it.
Fr. Alfonso V. Amarante, C.Ss.R.
This is an abridged version – the full text of the article in Italian has been published on the Italian version of our website.
