Antonio Maria Ceriani (May 2, 1828 – March 2, 1907) was an Italian prelate,

Syriacist Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...

, and scholar. Ceriani was born at

Uboldo Uboldo ( or ''Ambold'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km northwest of Milan and about 25 km southeast of Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city ...

, in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

for his home

diocese of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Ambro ...

in 1852 and the same year was appointed keeper of the catalogue of the

Biblioteca Ambrosiana The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose age ...

(Ambrosian Library) at Milan. From 1857 he was one of the Doctors of the ''Ambrosiana'' of which in January 1870 he became

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

, a post he kept until his death. Among his additional charges, from 1855 he was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

oriental languages Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...

in the diocesan Major

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and from 1872 professor of

paleography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

. From the 1880s he was in scholarly contact with the English

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

turned liturgical scholar,

John Wickham Legg John Wickham Legg (28 December 1843 – 28 October 1921) was an English physician who published on medical subjects, liturgy and ecclesiology. Life and career He was the third son of the printer and bookseller George Legg, and was born at Al ...

. Ceriani discovered the

pseudepigrapha A pseudepigraph (also :wikt:anglicized, anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a false attribution, falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. Th ...

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

entitled the ''

Assumption of Moses The Assumption of Moses, also known as the Testament of Moses (Hebrew עליית משה ''Aliyat Mosheh''), is a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work. It contains secret prophecies Moses revealed to Joshua before passing leadership of the Israelite ...

'' (or the ''Testament of Moses'' in modern editions)—a Jewish work that survived in one poorly preserved sixth-century Latin

palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...

in the

Ambrosian Library The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agen ...

. He published the work in 1861. The edition presented b
The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha
is "identical to Ceriani's excellent transcription of the manuscript.". He also discovered and published in 1866 another

l text, the

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 2 Baruch is a Jewish apocryphal text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. It is attributed to the biblical figure Baruch ben Neriah (c. 6th century BC) ...

and also a Syriac translation of the fifth column of the Septuagint as preserved in Origen's Hexapla—a photographic edition in 7 volumes, Monumenta sacra et profana, Codex syrohexaplaris Ambrosianus, Milan 1861–1874. Ceriani died at Milan in 1907, leaving as his principal scholarly heir

Achille Ratti Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, later to become

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. A cause for Ceriani's beatification was formally opened on November 12, 1946, and he was given the title

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

References

External links

Ceriani, Antonio Maria
Biography—Associazione Italiana Biblioteche 1828 births 1907 deaths People from the Province of Varese Syriacists Italian philologists 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests {{OrientalOrthodoxy-stub