Bona, Giovanni

BONA, GIOVANNI: Roman Catholic theological writer; b. at Mondovi (55 m. w. of Genoa), Piedmont, Oct. 19, 1609; d. in Rome Oct. 28, 1674. He came of an old French family, and in his fifteenth year entered the Italian congregation of reformed Cistercians, becoming later prior, abbot, and general. Clement IX made him a cardinal in 1669, and he acquired a great reputation for both piety and learning. His most important writings are ascetical and liturgical. To the latter class belong his Psallentis ecclesiæ harmonia (Rome, 1653), a historical, symbolic, and ascetic treatise on the psalmody of the Church, and the still better known Rerum liturgicarum libri ii (Rome, 1671), a sober and learned investigation of liturgical antiquities. The first complete edition of his works appeared at Antwerp, 1677, followed by several others.