La “vocación patrística” de la Biblioteca Vaticana

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The rediscoveries of manuscripts from Late Antiquity are linked to the rediscoveries of the humanistic age, when the Vatican Library was instituted by the will of Pope Nicholas V Parentucelli (1447-1455). This contribution initially focuses on describing the discovery of the Codice ravennate di Sant’Ambrogio by Giovanni Mercati in 1894. Then, it delves more directly into the topic, mentioning the renewal that, with the advent of Humanism, leads to the rediscovery of the Fathers. In this context, the Vaticana is marked, from its inception, by a “humanistic spirit” and, in it, by a specific “patristic vocation”. To corroborate this, a list of facts, in research and publications, is offered, which testifies over the centuries to this “vocation”, which begins with the arrival in the library of the writings of Irenaeus, Ambrose, Augustine, John Chrysostom. In the sixteenth century studies and editions of the Fathers stand out (by Cervini and Sirleto). Then the time came for the Greek studies of Allacci, the browsing of the manuscripts by the Maurinis for their editions, the arrival of new important patristic witnesses in the Palatine codices of Heidelberg and in the library of Queen Christina of Sweden, the study of oriental patristic by the Assemani. In the nineteenth century, the researches and editions of unpublished works by Angelo Mai and Jean-Baptiste Pitra stand out. Finally, we come back to Giovanni Mercati and the most recent researches, to reaffirm that “patristic vocation” of the Vatican Apostolic Library, which remains alive even today in an uninterrupted development.