The “Ristretto” of the Twelve Apostles
In the course of the many episodes of this column, we have told the story of various works that were born from the zeal of individual Jesuits and later became works of the Society, many with educational and spiritual aims: the Opera Massaruti, St. Joseph’s recreation centre, the congregation of the Termini prisons, the congregation of the peasons. Today we rediscover together the history of the ”Ristretto of Twelve Apostles”.
Foundation and purpose
The birth of the “Ristretto” dates back to 1703 when it was established in the Collegio Romano by Fr Pompeo De Benedictis. The documents preserved in our archives, however, only recount the last decades of the life of this institution. Indeed, for historical-archival reasons, we do not keep the papers produced before 1814.
Many of the students of the Massimo were enrolled in the “Ristretto” and Fr. Giuseppe Massaruti was also a member, first as a student and then as a Jesuit and spiritual director. . One enrolled in the ristretto to carry out works of charity, pray and spend time with one’s fellow students. Those who were enrolled went every Friday to a chapel in St Ignatius Church, half an hour after school ended, for an hour. Every first Friday of the month, ‘Reparatory Communion’ was taken at the Maximus, and a monthly retreat of an hour and a half was scheduled on Thursdays. Like every congregation there were prescribed works of charity to be carried out: visiting the sick in hospitals, helping the poor through the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, catechesis in parishes.
There were numerous activities that the members of the Restrict organised and which have left documentary traces. The boys recounted the activities of the ristretto through the newspaper of the same name, which chronicled outings and other recreational activities. We also know from the papers that the boys were involved in visiting the seven churches, performed some plays for which invitations and playbills remain to us today, and had a library at their disposal.
The enrolments
Let’s see what the conditions were for enrolling in the “Ristretto”. It was necessary to be in the third gymnasium or in the second class of the technical institute (active at the Massimo until the 1930s, Giulio Pediconi was also enrolled in this section). Aspiring members of the ristretto had to be already enrolled in the Marian Congregation, have their parents’ permission and behave in an exemplary manner. Every absence had to be justified, and it was also the congregants’ duty to maintain a high average school grade, on pain of suspension from the restricted section.
Sources for future research
Until when was the Restricted active? Further research is needed to answer this question, as the history of the ristretto has yet to be reconstructed. From what has emerged so far there is information on its activities for the first two decades of the twentieth century; certainly the ristretto had not been active for some time when the Massimo moved to EUR.
The papers produced by the “Ristretto”, although significantly incomplete compared to those once kept by the institution, are now in the Fondo della Provincia Romana. It is also essential to consult also the Massimo Institute’s fonds in order to reconstruct the history of this group, precisely because of the link with Massimo’s students. A copy of the Ristretto’s newspaper, which can be consulted in our study room, remains from the Ristretto’s archives. It contains the chronicle of the boys’ activities, documents on internal activities and recreational activities, preserved in a binder.
In the photo series of the Maximilian Maximus Institute, several pupils who were enrolled in the Ristretto are portrayed, in the historiae domus and in the house diaries, the activities carried out are recounted. We hope that in the near future there will be researchers interested in writing the history of this work.
Maria Macchi
