CONSTANTINE OF BARBANSON

Capuchin ascetical-mystical theologian; b. Barbanson, near Beaumont in the Hainaut, 1581 or 1582; d. Bonn, Nov. 25 or 26, 1631. He entered the Capuchin Order at the friary in Brussels, Sept. 20, 1600, and several years after ordination to the priesthood (1611) he was sent to the recently established Capuchin province in the Rhineland. There he occupied an eminent position until his death, distinguishing himself as a master of the spiritual life and as a mystical theologian of keen perception, especially in regard to the prequietistic mysticism of the times. His most important writings are Les Secrets sentiers de l'amour divin (Cologne 1623); new ed. by the Benedictines of Solesmes (Paris-Tournai-Rome 1932) and Anatomie de l'âme et des opérations divines en icelle (Liège 1635).

Bibliography: hildebrand (de hooglede), "Le Père Constantin de Barbanson," Études Franciscaines 42 (1930) 586–594; 45 (1933) 236–237. willibrord de paris, "Note sur un MS de Secrets sentiers du P. C. de B.," ibid. 1 (1950) 97–102. thÉotime de s'hertogenbosch, "Le P. C. de B. et le Préquiétisme," Collectanea Franciscana 10 (1940) 338–382; "P. C. de B., een oude mysticus," Franciscaansch leven 29 (1946) 71–87. Lexicon Capuccinum: Promptuarium historico-bibliographicum ordinis Fratrum minorum capuccinorum, 1525–1950 (Rome 1951) 451. c. de nant, Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, ed. m. viller et al. (Paris 1932–) 2.2:1634–41.

[m. f. laughlin]