It is not my intention to enter into a saga of correspondence with the Abbess of St Peter’s Monastery regarding the newly published book Adeodata Pisani – A Mystic Nun in Mdina, and written by the late Fr Peter Serracino Inglott; however I feel that certain things written by Abbess Testaferrata de Noto (October 10) require some clarification.
My husband, the late Arthur Barbaro-Sant, as coordinator for Adeodata’s Beatification Cause, was responsible for promoting devotion towards this holy nun and for coordinating with the Postulator in Rome. With God’s help, and to the joy of all devotees, Adeodata was beatified on May 9, 2001. Arthur’s efforts and hard work were acknowledged to me personally – for the first time ever – by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, when on October 14, 2016, at the end of the execution of the Oratorio about Blessed Adeodata (author Paul Ellul, composer Raymond Zammit), when on his way out of Mdina Cathedral, he stopped, took my hands in his, and said: “Thank you Emily. What we have just enjoyed here this evening, is the fruit of hard work of your husband Arthur and yourself!”
Arthur and myself worked in close collaboration with Abbesses Agatha Sammut and Giustina Bonello during years 1988-97. Both abbesses were furnished with all copies of correspondence exchanged locally and abroad. Had Abbess Testaferrata de Noto searched the files at the monastery’s archives, she would have known who had commissioned Fr Peter to write an English version of the spiritual life of Adeodata Pisani and who had a copy of the script.
What kept her from calling me? I was and still am only a telephone call away. This would have saved Abbess Testaferrata precious time, tears, and possibly sleepless nights, wondering who might have Fr Peter’s script.
In November 2011, I published my autobiography dwelling mostly on the work which my late husband Arthur and I did in connection with the beatification cause of Adeodata Pisani. In my book, of which I gave two copies to the abbess, there is mention of Fr Peter’s book. Thus, when the Abbess says in her article “I have spent years asking what happened to the script but nobody seemed to know” makes one’s mind boggle.
May this book entice its readers to dig deeper into Blessed Adeodata’s life and writings, while imploring her intercession for their physical and spiritual needs
Intentionally or otherwise, she failed to ask the right person. I would have gladly lent her my copy, in case the original was somehow misplaced (which I very much doubt) as her predecessor – Abbess Giustina Bonello, now Abbess at Urbania, Italy, was a very meticulous and organised person.
This brings to my mind the “mystery” of the Positio Super Virtutibus which is a compendium of Adeodata Pisani’s life, declaration by witnesses, writings etc. Eighteen volumes were presented by the coordinator, myself, Abbess Giustina Bonello, the Postulator and the Relatore, to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome way back in January 1995.
For the first time ever, this volume was printed outside Rome by A & M Printing of Qala, thus saving the cause and the monastery thousands of liri. Two hundred copies were printed.
The idea was, that after the beatification, a limited number of copies would be given to certain benefactors.
Here I must stress, that all this, like everything else we did during the process, had the blessing of the Postulator and the Relatore in Rome. There was no objection either from the late Archbishop Joseph Mercieca who lauded Arthur’s untiring efforts to have the positio printed locally.
Roughly about two years ago, I asked Mgr Carmel Zammit (now bishop of Gibraltar), for two copies of the positio for which I also offered to pay. It was my wish to pass on these copies to my children, since it was their father who was entrusted with the beatification cause, and both of us are mentioned in its presentation.
Mgr Zammit’s reply was that at St Peter’s Monastery there were no copies of the position. That left me shocked and speechless. He told me that they were mailed, via courier to the Postulator in Rome costing the monastery quite a hefty sum of money. Although I realise that it falls under the monastery’s remit on how to manage their funds, I never imagined that such a precious and priceless document would be disposed of, or rather given away, in this manner. One or two copies for his own (the postulator’s) personal library would have sufficed.
Could all this be the motive behind Abbess Testaferrata’s failure to invite me for the launch of the book?
Notwithstanding the fact that I still do not have a copy of Fr Peter’s book, I take this opportunity to congratulate Petra Caruana Dingli for editing the publication, and Ranier Fsadni with whom I had the pleasure to meet and furnish with some documents.
May this book entice its readers to dig deeper into Blessed Adeodata’s life and writings, while imploring her intercession for their physical and spiritual needs.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece