These Instructions for Pious Souls, now published in English under the title Light and Peace, were written in 1795 by the illustrious and saintly Barnabite, Padre Quadrupani. They contain a summary of spiritual guidance for earnest Christians in the ordinary duties of life in the world. The author had formed his own spirituality on the model presented by the life and teaching of St. Francis de Sales, and in this little book he reflects the wisdom, prudence and sweetness of that “gentleman Saint.”
The work has passed through uncounted editions in its original Italian, and through a large number of editions in both the French and the German translations. An English translation was published many years ago, but besides its present rarity, its many imperfections warrant the belief that a new rendition will not be unwelcome. The translator has, moreover, been encouraged by the persuasion that the maxims of Father Quadrupani are specially adapted to the American character. Unlike many foreign religious works, whose spirituality often fails to touch the Anglo-Saxon temperament, this author’s teaching is decidedly practical and practicable, and appeals in every way to the common sense and fits in with the busy, matter-of-fact life of the average American Catholic.
The present translation has been made from the twentieth French edition and has been collated with the thirty-second edition of the original Italian published at Naples in 1818. The many recommendations from the Episcopacy of France prefixed to the French translation are here omitted, as the Introduction by the Most Reverend Archbishop of Philadelphia is abundant testimony to the doctrinal solidity of the work.