In the above photo underneath the pall can be seen the funerary epitaph on the bier. This photo was taken at the funeral of our good friend Giancarlo Ciccia (1981-2024), the former sacristan and master-of-ceremonies at the Roman parish of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini. Giancarlo was a great man. To quote Horace, he was a mens divinior (a mind of divine cast, or an "inspired soul").
Below can be seen the epitaph on the bier without the pall. It is printed on a paper that resembles marble. The epitaph also rightly points out that his official title in death was "chamberlain" of the Venerable Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity. He was the first member in the rollcall and the in-house historian and archivist.
Below is the inscription, penned by a friend in the language of the Caesars, in the style of Cardinal Bacci, who for many years held the role of the Supreme Pontiff's Secretary of Briefs to Princes, with the obligation to write epitaphs for popes who died under his tenure.
The epitaph is always intended to be composed with a feeling of deep gratitude - in grateful memory - while recalling as concisely as possible the deceased person's curriculum vitae, and even their character, ever tempered and restrained by virtue.
IOHANNI CAROLO CRASSOARCHISODALITATISSANCTISSIMAE TRINITATIS IN URBECAMERARIOLATINARUM GRAECARUMQ LITTERARUM PERITOSACRARUMQUE CAERIMONIARUM MAGISTROIN EOD AUGUSTAE TRIADIS TEMPLO PEREGRINATORDIUTINA AEGRITUDINE FIRMITER SUSTENTAQUI TAM RECTE VIXIT QUAM PIE EXIITANNOS XLIII MENSES VIII DIES XLACRIMARUM TRIBUTA MAESTARUMREQUIEM IN PACEBEATAE GLORIAM AETERNITATISLUCTUOSI OPTANT SODALES
With this post we also wish to honor the memory of dear Giancarlo. He was an acute observer of men and of things and a fair commentator on the events of his time. He was also known for his high degree of spirituality. He was a Latin scholar, a student of Latinity, and he would make his prayers daily in Latin. He reproved and lamented the decline of civilization in the West and cherished the role of Latin in reviving culture. He believed firmly that Latin is a requirement for classical education, that the essential core of classical education in the West has always been the study of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, getting to know Latin and Greek.
He also was big fan of the Constitution Veterum Sapientia (on the promotion of the study of Latin), promulgated in 1962 by the Supreme Pontiff John XXIII. For Giancarlo, the solemnity with which the pope had decided to sign this timely document, in an audience held in St. Peter's Basilica on the Feast of the Chair of Peter (Feb. 22), was quite telling. Also that he chose for it to be an "apostolic constitution," for the increase in the study of Latin, especially for seminarians and for students in Catholic schools.
Giancarlo was a son of Lima, Peru, where he was born and for that reason had great devotion to St. Rose of Lima. His father was Italian and his mother was Peruvian. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, he was exposed to the Traditional Roman Rite at the Oratory. God therefore brought him to the Traditional Mass movement in his youth. Divine Providence carried him to Rome in 2005 for graduate studies in his early twenties. He studied Latin at the Pontifical Salesian University, known as the Salesiana. There he had a distinguished academic career and excelled in the Faculty of Lettere Cristiane e Classiche (Christian and Classical Literature). His final degree was a licentiate in Ecclesiastical Latin.
Further, Giancarlo was a brilliant professor of Latin and Greek at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He also enjoyed volunteer teaching catechism in the parish as well as helping out with an informal homeschool co-op in Rome, a mentoring endeavor which he greatly valued. Giancarlo was a liturgy enthusiast who was a great devotee of the Roman Liturgy and her venerable tradition of sacred music. He was a prince among men, a gifted linguist, a distinguished Latinist, a student of history, an art historian, a cultural critic, a star volunteer, a classicist, and altar server. He was a loyal son of the Church.
He understood well that every parish possesses its own line of orientation. He was well aware of the importance of FSSP in Urbe, the Fraternity of St. Peter's apostolate in Rome -- with Latin as its sole linguistic bond. He felt a clear obligation to devote the better part of nearly twenty years of his life to volunteer there with great diligence at the invitation of the pastors. He knew the whole world was watching the liturgy at this parish and the standard must be set very high.
Lastly, throughout Church history there have been many like him - yesterday, in years past, laymen who would devote themselves to the service of the altar and the doing of works of charity in a parish setting. His duties ranged from maintaining order in the sacristy, cleaning the church, locking and unlocking the doors, changing vigil lights, decorating the sanctuary, teaching catechism, laundering altar linens, organizing storage areas, cleaning up clutter, and doing so much more.
May he rest in peace. He fell asleep in the Lord at age 43 due to a genetic illness that affected his liver. He is entombed north of Rome at Prima Porta (the Cimitero Flaminio), near his alma mater, the Pontificia Studiorum Universitas Salesiana. May his memory be eternal. Dilexit Ecclesiam.
