GABRIELS
331
GAD
senti and Agnes Frisciotti; received baptism on the
day of liis birth and was called Francesco, tlie name
by which he was known before entering religion; edu-
cated at the Christian Brothers' School, and at the
Jesuit college at 8poleto. Immediately after the com-
pletion of his secular education, he embraced the re-
ligious state; on 21 Sept., 1S56 he wasclothed with the
Passionist habit, and received the name of Gabriele
deW Addolorata. He made liis religious profession on
22 Sept., 1S57, and then began his ecclesiastical
studies as a Passionist student. He was gifted with
talent of a high order and with a wonderful memory;
and in his religious life he was distinguished to a re-
markable degree, even among his fervent companions,
for his exact observ'ance of rule, his spirit of prayer,
and his fervent devotion to the Passion of our Lord,
to the Holy Eucharist, and to the Dolours of the
Blessed Virgin. In the sixth year of his religious life
he died of consvmiption; his death was that of the just,
holy and edifying, and he was buried in the church
attached to the retreat at Isola di Gran Sasso where
his remains are still entombed, and where numerous
prodigies have been WTOught, and numerous conver-
sions effected, through his intercession.
Little was known of Gabriel's extraordinary spirit- ual gifts during his life. He was not singular, he conformed himself to the community life; he was only a fervent and exemplary Passionist novice and student hidden from the world in the cloister. After death, this young religious in a few years was declared vener- able by the Church, thereby testifying that he had practiseti all the virtues in an heroic degree; and he was tieatified and raised to the honours of the altar, by special privilege of the supreme pontiff before he was fifty years dead.
His solemn beatification took place on 31 May, 1908, in the Vatican basilica, in the presence of the cardinals then in Rome, of the Passionist fathers resi- dent in Rome, and of representatives from all the provinces of the congregation. Among those present were many who had known the beatified during his life, including one of his brothers, Father Xorbert, C.P., his old spiritual director and confessor and Signor Dominico Tilieri, who had been miraculously cured through his intercession.
The Mass and Office in honour of Blessed Gabriel are allowed to the whole Passionist congregation, and his feast day is celebrated on 31 May. It is the ex- press wish of Leo XIII and Pius X that he should be regarded as the chief patron of the youth of to-day, antl especially as the patron of young religious, both novices and professed, in all that concerns their interior lives.
BoNACciA, Memcrrie storiche sopra la vita e le virtu del giovane Francesco Possenli (186S, 1892 and 1894). RaccoUa delle let- lere ed altri scri/li del ven. Servo di Dio (Rome, 1900). A life of Blessed Gabriele, written in English by Hyacinth Hage, C.P., was published in America in 1899 and re-issued later in Dublin. The latest and most important of all the biographies is that published at the time of his beatification: Vita del B. Gabriele delV Addolorata, da Padre Germano di S. Sfanislao Passionista; Blessed Gabriele Possenti in The Tablet (London, June, 1908).
Arthuk De-stne.
Gabriels, Henry. See Ogdensburg, Diocese of.
Gabriel Sionita, a learned Maronite, famous for his share in the publication of the Parisian polyglot of the Bible; b. 1577, at Edden on the Lebanon; d. 1648, at Paris. Though he came to Rome at the age of seven, he always looked upon Arabic as his mother tongue. At Rome he learnt Latin, SjTiac, and ac- quired a slight knowledge of Hebrew; he studied the- ology, but did not receive the priesthood till much later, in Paris, at the advanced age of 45. Savary de Breves, once French ambassador to Turkey and inter- ested in Oriental studies, when recalled from Rome, took two Maronites with him to Paris to assist in the publication of the polyglot under the auspices of de Thou, the royal librarian, and Cardinal Duperron.
The two Maronites were Gabriel Sionita and John
Hesronita. Gabriel, however, was by far the more
prominent of the two. They received an annual sti-
pend of (JOO livres, and Gabriel was appointed to the
chair of Semitic languages at the Sorbonne. Unfor-
tunatelj' both de Thou and Duperron died within
four years, and serious financial difficulties arose. In
1619, it is true, the assembly of French clergy at
Blois voted 8000 livres to support tlie undertaking;
but tlirough soip.e malversation of funds, this money
was never actually paid; at least such is the accusa-
tion brought by Gabriel in his preface to the SjTiac
Psalter which he published. The ilaronites seem to
have become involved in pecuniary embarrassments,
which led to unseemly feuds with the leaders of the
undertaking. In 1619, however, by royal diploma,
Gabriel's stipend had been raised to 1200 livres; the
following year he received the doctor's degree and two
years later the priesthood. Evidently all had been
done to honour and support these Eastern scholars;
and the blame probably lies largely with Gabriel, who
can hardly be excused from idleness and thrif tlessness.
In 1626, as Gabriel held no classes owing to lack of
students, his stipend was curtailed. After some time,
however, he was paid on the original basis; and, in
1629, his salary was increased to 2000 livres. In 1630,
he recommenced work on the polyglot; but, as he did
not apply himself industriously, and was even ac-
cused, apparent!}' with some show of reason, of care-
lessness in the work, he again found himself in diffi-
culties. In the quarrel which ensued, Richelieu sup-
ported the editor, Le Jay, against the Maronites; and
as it was feared that Gabriel might leave the country,
the cardinal had him imprisoned in Vincennes (1640);
he was released, however, at the expiration of three
months' time, when he hatl signed an undertaking and
given sureties that he would prepare the texts for the
polyglot. He had actually completed his great task
some time before his death, which occurred at the age
of 71. Gabriel's share in the polyglot is as follows: he
revised and corrected almost all Sj-riac and Arabic
texts; and he translated the Arabic and S\Tiac texts
into Latin with the exceptions of the Book of Ruth.
But he made only a revision and not a fresh transla-
tion of the Gospels into Latin, nor did he translate
from Syriac into Latin the Sapiential books or the
Apocah-pse. Together with .John Hesronita and
"\'ictor Sciala he published, in 1614, a Latin translation
of the (Arabic) Psalter; in 1616, he published an Ara-
bic grammar, of which, however, but one division
(Liber I) appeared, containing rules for reading. In
1619, appeared his "Geographia Xubiensis", i. e. a
translation of the Maronite editions of the same, or
rather of Edrisi's geography, with a small treatise as
appendix, "De nonnuUis Orient, urb. nee non indig.
relig. ac. moribus". In 1634, was issued a "Poema
Enigmaticum " in praise of Divine wisdom by an an-
cient Syrian philosopher; in 1630, "Testamentum et
pactiones inter Mohammedem et Christians fidei cul-
tores", in Arabic and Latin; and finally (1640-2)
three small pamplilets, one in Latin and two in French,
containing his defence in the actions of Le Jay and
Vitr^.
Le Lon-g, Bibliolheea Sacra, ed. Mash, I (Paris, 1778), 350 sqq.; Ersch axd Grcber, AUgem. Enci/d. d. Wissensch., Sect. I (Leipzig, 1818-90); Biog. Univ. (Paris, 1816), s. v.; Knop- FLER in Kirchenlcx,, s. V.
J. P. Akendzen.
Gad (IJ, fortune, luck). — A proper name which designates in the Bible, (I), a patriarch; (II), a tribe of Israel; (III), a prophet; (IV), a pagan deity.
I. Gad, a patriarch, to wit. the seventh son of Jacob, and the first by Zelpha, Lia's handmaid. He was born to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria (Aram), like his full brother, Aser (Gen., xxxv, 26). On his birth, Lia exclaimed: Happily! (nj3) and therefore called his name Gad (Gen., xxx, 11). The exclamation and the
