1 Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński Father and Guide of the Marian Vocation
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3 Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński Father and Guide of the Marian Vocation Documents of the General Convention Rome, December 4-8, 2008 Editor: Jan Mikołaj Rokosz, MIC General Curia of the Congregation of the Marian Fathers Marian Printing House Warsaw – Rome, 2011
4 © Copyright Congregazione dei Chierici Mariani, Roma, 2011 Editing: Joseph Roesch, MIC Cover design: Józef Lewandowski Typesetting and page layout: Eliza Wiśniewska Translated from Polish and proofreading: Marina Batiuk Project coordinator: Andrew R. Mączyński, MIC Front cover: Artwork including the beatifi cation image of Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński painted by Janis Balabon from the U.S.A. Printing and binding: www.foto-druk.pl ISBN 978-83-7502-260-5
5 Jan Mikołaj Rokosz, MIC Superior General The Goal of the General Convention and the Paths Towards Its Realization Introduction to the Proceedings We have placed great hopes in the beatifi cation of our Founder. Perhaps, some had even counted on the fact that it would automatically resolve all of the Congregation’s problems, overcome the crisis, bring an instantaneous growth to our community, and most of all—contribute to an increase in vocations. But it has not come to pass. Instead, we have become more and more convinced that God, through the beatifi cation of our Founder, wishes to draw our attention to something that concerns the essence of our vocation in the Church. Our discerning and accepting this gift may change the image of our Congregation. “Dear Marians, never in the over three hundred year history of your Congregation, has the necessity to reconsider the life and charism of your Founder been more burning. (…) Rejoicing in the gift of the beatifi cation, choose once again the path on which the Gospel calls you and which your Founder showed to you.” I open this General Convention with those words, which Franc Cardinal Rodé, the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, addressed to the Marians at the tomb of our Founder on the day after his beatifi cation. The topic of this Convention is “Father Stanislaus Papczyński—Father and Guide of the Marian Vocation.” It seems that those words have a prophetic inspiration for us. During this convention, we would like to take a fresh look at the life and the charism of our Founder and their timeliness for the modern world. Then, we shall seek to answer the question: how faithful are we to our Founder’s legacy? This applies both to our present legislation (Constitutions and Directory) and to the quality and forms of our life and apostolate. Later, we shall refl ect on what needs to be done so that our founding charism may enkindle a new strength within us. Therefore, the task of this convention is to discern this particular kairos for our Congregation—our Founder’s beatifi cation—and to formulate concrete proposals for our response to it.
6 The Second Vatican Council instructed all of the institutes of consecrated life to conduct a thorough revision of their life and laws in view of a renewed faithfulness to the Gospel and the original spirit of their founders in the context of our times. As for our Congregation, this process was formally opened by the Special General Chapter celebrated in 1969-1970, and it was concluded in 1984, with the ratifi cation of our new Constitutions and Directory. The beatifi cation of Fr. Founder and the studies related to this event, as well as the documents and writings pertaining to the founding of our Congregation, which were made commonly available for the fi rst time after Vatican II, inspire us to do a new study in a climate free from any national bias of the original goals for which the community had been founded. Although this convention will be concentrating on the founding charism, this does not in any way diminish the creative contribution of Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz who not only rescued Fr. Stanislaus’s work from annihilation, but enriched it in new elements and provided a new impulse and drive. We call Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz’s contribution a reforming charism. We will dedicate the Year of the Jubilee of the 100th Anniversary of Renewal and Reform of our Congregation, which is about to begin, to our refl ection on it. In this way, the fruits of our refl ection on the founding charism (our present convention) and the reforming charism (the historical and theological symposium in 2009), will offer us a synthesis of our charism in the coming years. In our pursuit, we wish to be humble yet courageous. Our goal is to further strengthen our faithfulness to Jesus and the Gospel, to men and to our modern times; to the essential elements of the religious life and to the charism of our Congregation. This will be our way of following the path that the Church has indicated. We shall not exclude any motion or project, even possible changes to our Constitutions, should they lead to a more faithful realization of God’s plan, conceived for us individually and communally in this stage of our history. Everything seems to indicate that our discernment of this sign of the times, which is the beatifi cation of our Founder, will greatly infl uence our future. I warmly welcome here each one of you. I thank you for coming and preparing your speeches. Participation in a convention requires great spiritual, intellectual, and physical effort. I thank you all in advance for the toil you undertook. Let us seek the will of God and let’s not be afraid to follow any diffi cult or demanding path as long as it leads us to a greater faithfulness to Jesus, to the Gospels and to the our mission assigned by God in the Church and in the world. Rome, December 4, 2008 On the commemoration of Saint John of Damascus, Doctor of the Eastern Church who, as early as in the 7th century, gave praise to Mary as Immaculately Conceived.
7 List of Abbreviations Documents of the Vatican II AG Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church—Ad Gentes, 1965; ChD Decree concerning the Pastoral Offi ce of Bishops—Christus Dominus, 1965; LG Dogmatic Constitution on the Church—Lumen Gentium, 1964; PC Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life —Perfectae Caritatis, 1965; PO Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests—Presbyterorum Ordinis, 1965. Papal Documents CT John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae, 1979; DCE Benedict XVI, Encyclical Deus caritas est, 2005; EN Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii muntiandi, 1975; ET Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica testifi catio, 1974; EV John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, 1995; MC Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus, 1974; NMI John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte, 2001; PDV John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, 1992; VC John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata, 1996. Other Documents of the Apostolic See CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997; CCL Code of Canon Law, 1983; MR Directives for the Mutual Relations between Bishops and Religious in the Church Mutuae relations, Sacred Congregation for Religious and for Secular Institutes and Sacred Congregation For Bishops, 1978.
8 RdC Instruction: Starting Afresh from Christ: A Renewed Commitment to Consecrated Life in the Third Millennium (Ripartire da Christo); Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 2002. Marian Documents: C Constitutions of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, Stockbridge, MA, 2006 D Directory of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, Stockbridge, MA, 2006 GI General Idea of the Congregation and Its Spirit, in: Instructions of Archbishop George, typeset IC Inspectio cordis—Wejrzenie w głąb serca, in: Bł. Stanisław Papczyński, Pisma zebrane, Warszawa 2007 J George Matulaitis-Matulewicz, Journal, Stockbridge, MA, 2003 NV Stanislaus Papczyński, The Rule of Life (Norma vitae), Stockbridge, MA, 1980 PRA Prodromus Reginae Atrium—Zwiastun królowej sztuk, in: Bł. Stanisław Papczyński, Pisma zebrane, Warszawa 2007 T II Testament II, in: Bł. Stanisław Papczyński, Pisma zebrane, Warszawa 2007 TDM Stanislaus of Jesus Mary Papczyński, Mystical Temple of God, (Templum Dei mysticum, Stockbridge, MA 2006.
9 INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MARIAN CHARISM
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11 Bernard Hylla, CR The Marians: Where Are You Coming from and where Are You Going? Ways of Interpreting the Founding Charism On February 18, 2008, addressing the members of the Council for Relations between the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Men’s and Women’s International Unions of the Superiors General gathered in the Consistory Hall, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Rediscovering the spirit of the origins, deepening the knowledge of the Founder or Foundress, has helped to impress upon the Institutes a promising new ascetic, apostolic and missionary impetus. There are long-established works and activities that have thus been revived with new nourishment; there are new initiatives of an authentic actualization of the Founders’ charism. It is necessary to continue on this path, praying to the Lord that he will bring to fruition the work he has begun.”1 Rediscovering and interpreting afresh the founding charism, which must be realized today in a new manner, is the “homework” that all institutes must do to preserve their vitality and the timeliness of their beginnings. Classification of Charisms During the Second Vatican Council, a spark was re-enkindled in the Church: the realization that various charisms existed. The term “charism,” which is now having quite “a career” [or becoming very popular] in the lay parlance, had survived primarily thanks to the ascetic and hagiographic literature. For this reason, I will begin with a brief historical sketch on this term and specify its usage and meanings. 1 Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Members of the Council for Relations between the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Men’s and Women’s International Unions of Superiors General, Rome, February 18, 2008 (www.vatican.va).
12 “Charism” in the Bible Biblical scholars unanimously agree that St. Paul used the term “charism” precisely the same way we’re doing it today: to defi ne the gifts, which the Holy Spirit gave to men so they may serve God in the community of the faithful. This term is almost completely absent from the classic Greek or the mystery religions of the Hellenistic societies and its sporadic appearance is unrelated to the topic. In the biblical Greek, this word was used 17 times in the New Testament: 16 times by St. Paul and just once by St. Peter in his First Letter (4:10). Admittedly, the word “charism” does not appear in the Old Testament, but we fi nd many passages speaking about the presence of the Holy Spirit in persons carrying out special functions in the history of salvation and the special gifts imparted to such people. There is Moses who passed on the Divine Spirit by laying hands on Joshua; there are the judges Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, the kings Saul and David, and the prophets called “men of the spirit” (Hos 9:7). In St. Paul’s letters, we fi nd four listings of 20 different charisms (1 Cor 12:8-10; 1 Cor 12:28-30; Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11). However, it seems as if the Apostle to the Nations claimed the right to making a complete list of the Spirit’s gifts which God had offered the faithful. Describing the charisms present in the Corinthian community, St. Paul divides them into four groups: gifts of grace (charismata), to which he attributes all phenomena mentioned in this listing (1 Cor 12:4-31); spiritual gifts (pneumata), which are a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit: the wisdom of speech, knowledge, and faith (1 Cor 12:1; 14:1); gifts of service (deacon’s), which are strictly defi ned, permanent functions and tasks to be performed (1 Cor 12:5; 2 Cor 9:12); gifts of various manners of action (energemata), in which the power of God is particularly manifested (1 Cor 12:6). In these charisms, the Apostle to the Nations sees the effectiveness of the action of Divine grace offered by the same Spirit to the individual faithful, regardless of their offi ces and functions in the Church. Charisms are granted in an individual and diversifi ed manner, in order to enable the faithful to carry out a special mission or a special service essential for the life and growth of the entire Mystical Body (cf. 1 Cor 14:12; 1 Cor 12:4-11.12-27.28-31). Saint Paul strongly emphasizes the fact that charisms, although granted as personal gifts to particular individuals, are not for their exclusive personal use: they are not to benefi t the recipient alone. Charisms fulfi ll a social function: they are given with the communal good in mind, to enrich the community and to stimulate • • • •
13 its activity. Saint Paul even cautions that if those gifts are appropriated or put to improper use, they will become short-lived and fruitless and may be regarded as foolishness: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:13). He calls for vigilance and discernment of the gifts lest they might be overrated or ignored: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good” (1 Thes 5:19-20). Charisms may be provisional or long-lasting; they may be ordinary (general) or exclusive (special), depending on the mission or service their recipient must perform in the Church. Charisms are not same as talents. While the latter are natural gifts and abilities strictly related to the person’s nature, charisms are supernatural gifts that God grants to the faithful in a totally free manner. The Holy Spirit infl uences a man, releases his energy so that he, using his natural talents and God-given abilities, may participate in the work of salvation according to the given charism and inseparably related to his special vocation. The charism also differs from grace. Both terms have a common topical root (charis), which means a gratuitously performed good deed. However, grace has a more general character and applies to all gifts of God, while charism is a particular grace, a special gift granted in view of the common good, an enrichment of the community and a stimulation of the Church’s activity. In this case, the adjectives, “particular” and “special” defi ning grace as a gift, denote “distinctive characteristics,” and do not express the rarity or singularity of the gift. A grace may be granted occasionally, depending on the needs of the faithful, while the nature of charism involves a certain degree of continuity and stability. Grace is a gift that may be granted as a result of prayerful supplication. Charism is the consequence of God’s free offering. It cannot be extorted, nor foretold or procured in any way, but only accepted in docile obedience to the Holy Spirit. Charism of the Religious Life The offi cial Church documents stopped using the term “charism” early on, although it was sporadically applied to some incidents of an extraordinary, miraculous, supernatural character, as well as to supernatural and transitory gifts and abilities, which the Apostles of the Early Church passed down by the laying on of hands.
14 After the First Vatican Council, references to the special gifts of the Holy Spirit granted in the Church began to also reappear in papal documents in regard to the establishment of new religious institutes, new ecclesial movements as well as special graces granted to saints in particular. However, it was the Second Vatican Council that initiated a profound theological refl ection on charisms, using St. Paul’s teachings. As to the means, which the Holy Spirit uses to guide and to sanctify the People of God, Vatican II deliberately separates sacraments and offi ces from charisms, emphasizing the essential role of the latter for the growth and renewal of the Church. In its teaching, the Council also stresses the universality and ordinariness of “special graces” and the equality of the faithful of all walks of life in the face of the actions and gifts of the Holy Spirit.2 The term “charism” is used 14 times in the documents of Vatican II, but not even once in relation to the religious life. Instead, there are comparable defi nitions such as “under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”;3 “the infi nite power of the Holy Spirit marvelously working in the Church”;4 “gifts … differ according to the grace which is allotted to them”;5 “according to his proper vocation”; 6 “original spirit”;7 “their founders’ spirit and special aims”;8 and “according to the spirit of their founder”.9 However, it did not take long for this term to be applied to the religious life. Speaking before the members of General Chapters of the Congregation of Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Congregation of St. Louis de Montfort in 1969, Pope Paul VI used the phrase “charism of the founders” to defi ne the special gift of the Holy Spirit granted to women and men to raise up new communities of Christian life and new forms of imitating Christ in the Church. Whereas in the Exhortation Evangelica testifi catio of 1971, he used three defi nitions: “the charisms of your founders,”10 “charism of the religious life,”11 and “charisms of the various institutes,”12 thus introducing it permanently into the offi cial documents of the Teaching Magisterium. The papal teaching fi nds its continuation in the consecutive documents, such as: La scuola cattolica (March 19, 1977); Mutuae relationes (May 14, 1978), Optines evangelicae and Dimensio 2 Cf. LG, 12. 3 PC, 1. 4 LG, 44. 5 PC, 8. 6 ChD, 33. 7 PC, 2. 8 PC, 2; LG, 45. 9 AG, 40. 10 ET, 11. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid., 32.
15 contemplativa (August 12, 1980), The Code of Canon Law (January 25, 2983), The Renewal of Religious Life (May 31, 1983); Redemptionis donum (March 25, 1984); Los caminos del Evangelio (June 29, 1990); Congergavit nos in unum Christi amor (February 2, 1994); Vita consecrata (March 25, 1996), and Ripartire da Christo (May 19, 2002). Describing the nature of the charism of the religious life, the Pope explains that “In reality, the charism of the religious life, far from being an impulse born of fl esh and blood or one derived from a mentality which conforms itself to the modern world, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is always at work within the Church.”13 This gift is a special calling to follow Christ on the road of the profession of the Evangelical Counsels, to imitate Christ “more precisely” and to dedicate oneself totally and sacrifi cially to God “who is loved most of all,” and to “the upbuilding of the Church and the salvation of the world.”14 The charism is given to serve the community of the entire Church and to strive for holiness and perfect love, while following this path. Through the charism of the consecrated life, the Church is able to better reveal to the world the “Christ in contemplation on the mountain, in His proclamation of the kingdom of God to the multitudes, in His healing of the sick and maimed, in His work of converting sinners to a better life, in His solicitude for youth and His goodness to all men, always obedient to the will of the Father who sent Him.”15 What is more: the charism of the consecrated life is a specifi c way of participating in the mystery of the Church and her sacramental nature.16 Founding Charism The charismatic character of the consecrated life—as a particular grace of the Holy Spirit for the People of God—is revealed in its historic growth through the founding charisms (charisms of the founders). As I mentioned before, this term appears for the fi rst time in 1969, with its fuller defi nition found in the Congregation’s document Mutuae relationes (11-12). It transpires that the founding charism is an exceptional gift of the Holy Spirit granted to select individuals and enabling them to found a community of consecrated life in the Church. Three basic elements defi ne the founding charism. First, it is a personal gift that transforms its recipients and awakens their abilities, predispositions, and skills, thus preparing them for a special calling and mission in the Church. Second, 13 ET, No. 11. 14 CCC, can. 573, §1. 15 LG, 46. 16 Cf. LG, 44, 46; MR, 2.
16 this gift—although granted to a single person and non-transferable as such—is, however, not a personal but a communal gift, because it involves more than one person in the historic realization of God’s plan. Third, it is an ecclesial gift, because, through the mediation of the founder and the new community, it is being offered to the Church for her new dynamic development, growth in holiness, and the undertaking of new challenges in a constantly changing world. It seems important to distinguish between a charism, which the founder has for his new community and his personal charism. In Italian this difference is marked by the use of the article: di fondatore [founder’s] or del fondatore [of the founder]. The fi rst defi nes the person and the special gift granted by the Holy Spirit to be at the foundation of the new religious family, regardless of its future historic realization and characteristics of its spirituality. The other defi nes the specifi c matter of the charism of the founder that needs to be understood, accepted, interpreted and realized in a concrete historic situation. The personal gift is non-transferable, but what can be transferred is the specifi c path of the spiritual life of the disciples and the initial community, which are rooted in the so-called “founding experience.” Four principal elements can be identifi ed in this gift: 1) a special manner of perceiving and experiencing Jesus with a singular accent on some aspect of His mystery; 2) a singular manner of imitating Jesus and making Him present by practicing the evangelical counsels with an emphasis on their certain aspects; 3) specifi c paths of action, defi ned by the environment, outreach, and specifi c goal, the historical context of which infl uences the choice of means for its attainment; 4) a specifi c form of the communal life, which involves the current needs of the apostolate.17 It is necessary to emphasize that the founding charism’s authenticity is also manifested though “a certain element of genuine originality and of special initiative for the spiritual life of the Church. In its surroundings, it may appear troublesome and may even cause diffi culties.”18 The charism does not guarantee a peaceful entry into any established situation, especially if it upsets the comfort of those who accepted the situation and either see no need for changes or believe them to be too risky. 17 MR 11, 12, 51. 18 MR 12.
17 The Charism of the Founder’s Generation and the Charism of the Institute The founding charism—as the experience of the Holy Spirit—must be passed on, shared and lived out together. For an institute to come into being, it needs disciples and companions, endowed with a special grace. The grace gathers them around the founder and lets them share in his spiritual experiences, calling, and initiative, so they may live by the same ideals and lay foundations for a future religious community. This grace may be called the charism of the fi rst generation, the charism of the founder’s generation, or the charism of the co-founders. It contains both the charism of the founder and the charism of his fi rst disciples. It plays a very important role in the founding and development of the religious family of a singular, unique personality: it helps us to more precisely read the signs of the times, to specify the vision and the ideas, to construct the projected foundation, to inspire further plans of life and work, to create the framework of the community, and to defi ne the domain of the apostolic work in the Church. In the track of the founder and his disciples’ communal life, an unalterable spiritual nucleon of the charism is created, which makes it possible for this gift to express the potential of the original founding experience at various times and to survive amidst transitory things. If the charism of the founder and the fi rst generation is passed down from generation to generation, it becomes the charism of the institute. This is the gift of the Spirit who enables the members of the institute to faithfully read and update the founding charism, to bring it to life according to current needs and the understanding of their generation. On the one hand, this gift refers to the original idea and legacy of the founder and the fi rst generation; while on the other hand, it allows drawing from the pool of sound tradition worked out throughout the history by various collective bodies (chapters, conventions, committees, councils) as well as single individuals. Goals and challenges which were timely during the founder’s life may not be the only ones today, while the specifi c evangelical values that he practiced may not be exhaustive of the institute’s charism. However, the continuity of the bond with the founder and faithfulness to the original idea are always essential. Thus, the charism of an institute is not static but a dynamic reality: it is characterized by evolution and movement. This evolution goes in two main directions: ad intra and ad extra. The fi rst concerns the faithful imitation of Christ and striving for unity with Him. The second puts an emphasis on the openness to the Holy Spirit, active participation in the history of the world and acceptance of the new challenges of the time. Evolution and renewal will only be authentic when the institute realizes both of them in harmony. The consecrated life is also enriched by so-called functional charisms related to a specifi c function or offi ce. Formerly this gift was knows as “the grace of
18 state.” The Catechism states: “Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church.”19 The functional charism is the power of God that enables people to attend to their duties in such a manner that would produce good results, contribute to the glory of God, personal sanctifi cation, and the good of others. Essential Elements of the Founding Charism The founding charism is worth being closely studied and described as it appears to a direct observer. Clearly, a founding charism is not unlike fi ngerprints: both are unique and inimitable; however, it does not mean that certain general factors and elementary rules are absent from the phenomenon of the founding charism. Inspiration for the Cause It seems that the entire incident of founding an institute begins with an inward impulse. This impulse won’t let the founder rest and it prompts him to enter a new path in the Church that no one has walked before. This impulse indicates a special calling and an ensuing important task. This kind of impulse may be “sent” to everyone: to a man, a woman, a bishop, or a priest, to a bachelor or a family man, to a nun or a widow, to an old person or a young one, to a sinner or a saint. Naturally, this impulse is of a variable intensity and appears in different times and manners. Sometimes it comes quite unexpectedly and surprises its recipient. Other times it laboriously drills its way through the shell of doubt and skepticism: in this case, the realization of the gift, by which a person is distinguished, takes years to grow and to mature. Elevated by faith to a higher level of conscience, this impulse, as an inspiration, becomes an undeniable obligation on its recipient. The inspiration is a supernatural gift bestowed only on chosen people. The Holy Spirit enlightens and awakes the mind of a prospective founder and makes him understand God’s plans and intentions. The Holy Spirit tunes up this person’s ears to receive messages on God’s frequencies. He gradually opens this person’s eyes and heart to the road and the goal before him, endows him with intuition for a proper reading of the signs of the times and makes his conscience more sensitive, his faith 19 CCC, 2004.
19 deeper, his courage stronger so that he may better understand that he is God’s instrument, used in a new and unknown manner. The various ways in which the founders experienced the Spirit may be divided into direct and indirect inspirations. To the fi rst group we may attribute mystical visions, inward revelations, inner voices, spiritual movements that often come in prayer. The other group would contain specifi c historical circumstances, social and religious events, various external impulses and conditions (such as witnessing the tragedy of the sick and the poor, neglected youth or abandoned children). It may also be a meeting with someone whom the Lord uses to communicate His intentions to the founder, which would later become his inner light, intuition, vision, and challenge. However, in the founders’ perception it is always the Divine intervention, which they invoke while looking back on their work and their history of spiritual experiences. Understanding that founders are guided by the Holy Spirit is the foundation, on which they become convinced of their calling to create a new religious family. “To emphasize this Divine intervention, they do not hesitate to compare the riches of God’s gift to their own poverty. The more noticeable their insignifi - cance, the greater and freer is God’s powerful action in them.” In this way, they express their conviction of being only instruments, which God uses the way in which He pleases. Acting “under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,”20 the founders become men of the Spirit. Turning to Christ and Thirsting for Holiness The founding charism is always accompanied by a longing for perfection, a desire to change one’s life and to improve oneself, a zealous thirst for holiness. It is the Holy Spirit who fosters the growth of this thirst, turns it to Christ, opens the people to His words, enables them to understand and accept them with special sensitivity and concreteness. Thus the founder becomes something like an interpreter of Christ’s teachings for his times, which consequently makes him a “living Gospel.” Prompted by the Spirit to lead a fully evangelical life, he strives to imitate Christ in His words and actions as faithfully as possible, thus becoming ever more “the prolongation in history of a special presence of the Risen Lord”.21 And thus, from the outset of the consecrated life until the present day, the Holy Scriptures have always been the fi rst and most important “rule of life”. In these powerful words, the Second Vatican Council recapped: “Since 20 PC, 1. 21 VC, 19.
20 the ultimate norm of the religious life is the following of Christ set forth in the Gospels, let this be held by all institutes as the highest rule”.22 Becoming like Christ—chaste, poor, and obedient —is the communal foundation for imitating [Christ] for all people in the consecrated life. However, each founder, guided by the Holy Spirit, goes further, discovering in the Gospels his own treasure: a treasure especially precious and important, which later infl uences the spirituality, community, and mission “which accentuate and represent one or another aspect of the one mystery of Christ”.23 The 1994 World Synod of Bishops also emphasized it in the document “The Consecrated Life and its Role in the Church and in the World—Instrumentum laboris”: “Discipleship, which seeks to imitate Christ and to live out in a particular fashion some of his words, appeared gradually under the infl uence of the Holy Spirit like a Gospel manifested in time and space” (43). Striving untiringly toward holiness is the great dynamic gift that enables the founder to maximize his life plan: to do more, or more precisely, to do better, to go further and deeper. The departing point for such an attitude is the abandonment of everything to Christ, placing Him above everything else in order to imitate Him more closely. Striving for holiness goes along with an internal process of continuous conversion. It is the process of turning away from all sin and creating ever-expanding room in one’s heart for God in total submission to His will. Generally, ongoing conversion is a result of spiritual experiences and a consequence of gradually understanding one’s mission. It occurs in stages of different intensity and is usually preceded by one great conversion based on an individual encounter with Christ and a deep experience of God’s love. This is the reason why each founder possesses an acute sense of his own sinfulness and egotism, while he always feels a deep need for God’s mercy and its importance. Therefore, continuously striving for renewal and growth of the spirit, he also strives to give himself fully to God, to trust in Him, to love Him above all, and to serve Him unreservedly, faithfully fulfi lling His mission. The Power to Attract Disciples The existence of the founding charism is further confi rmed by an unusually strong power of attraction emanating from the founder. This particular grace endows him with some mysterious magnetism and it causes potential candidates for the founding generation to adhere to him. They are “sent” by the Holy Spirit 22 PC, 2a. 23 VC, 93.
21 to gather round him and his idea, to live in spiritual communion and to contribute to the development and the maturation of the new institute. This action of grace is made manifest in the founder’s openness to other people, in his predisposition to read “other people’s signals,” in his protectiveness, in his ability to “transplant” his original inspiration and ideas, in his capability of infl uencing people, in his gathering and implementing “human power”. It is the gift of discerning vocations and choosing candidates, “radiating paternity and fraternity”; it is an enthusiasm for God’s causes, a zealousness in apostolic work, and an immunity from ill treatment. Thanks to this “grace of attraction,” the fi rst cluster of disciples is formed, the germ of the future institute is sown. The founder’s special role in the emerging institute transpires through his relations with the companions. He occupies the central place and is the binding element of reference for all. This fi rst occurs when he becomes the leader of an informal group of initially “attracted” friends, and later when he appears as the creator and superior of the community. The relations between the founder and his companions have been depicted in many ways: as a process of planting, as a spring, as a river, and as a construction. The founder has been depicted as a shepherd and as a father fi gure. The most frequent images is that of planting which points, above all, to the Lord’s direct intervention at the onset: it was He who planted the seed of new life in His Church, out of which a tree developed and grows ever taller. In this very sense the image of a tree entered the Council documents: “as if on a tree which has grown in the fi eld of the Lord, various forms of solidarity and community life, as well as various religious families have branched out in marvelous and multiple ways from this divinely given seed.”24 However, the oldest depiction is that of the father, which inscribes itself perfectly into the image of a religious family. These two pictures complement each other: “the family” underlines the horizontal (fraternal) bonds between the community members, while “the father” points out to the vertical (hierarchic) relations with the founder. The founder is the father who gathers his sons/disciples and passes on to them the legacy of the new family, his own example and rules, which specify the goals of the spirit, norms of life and governing. Yet, all those pictures tell us the same thing: there are special bonds between the founder and his fi rst companions based on faith, love, and mutual trust. All founders realize that God entrusted them with a specifi c and unique role and that no one can replace them in its fulfi llment. 24 LG, 43.
22 Immersing in a Specific Aspect of Christ’s Mystery An unusual experience of Christ’s mystery lies at the base of the founding charism. Christ enchants, enraptures and attracts them with such power that nothing is able to impede them in realization of their vocation. Fascinated by the person of Christ, the founders strove to imitate Him fully. At the same time, each of them was aware of his own special path which existed within the framework of all of the various Christian ways of imitating Christ. This path led the founders to fi nd and contemplate a specifi c aspect of Christ’s mystery. This truth may also be depicted as follows: all founders live and proclaim the entire Gospel; however, the Holy Spirit gives to each one the Gospel opened to a different page so that he and his disciples would go through time and through the world, carrying this opened book. Thanks to this specifi c aspect of the selected Christ’s mystery, founders are confi dent that they call to life a new institute within the Church, which is needed, original, and unique. They are sure that they create an original spiritual physiognomy, through which shines a fragment of Christ’s image. This conviction is the principle element of the identity of the founder and his institute. Every new religious family is different from the other and each possesses its own profi le, order, and spirit. The most expressive characteristic of the identity is the defi nition of the special aspect of Christ’s mystery. The inspiration, which the Holy Spirit gives to the founder, also sheds a stronger light on the specifi c fragment of the Gospels which the founder practices in his or her life. In this way, the Lord Jesus’ specifi c features are refl ected in it. For example: the poor and humble Christ of St. Francis differs from St. Dominic’s Christ who teaches and prophesizes. Saint Alphonse’s Christ, who evangelizes the poor and the abandoned, is unlike St. Ignatius’s Christ, who fulfi lls the will of the Father in total obedience, or St. Adalbert’s Christ, who serves the most poor. This particular emphasis on some aspect of Christ’s person or a single passage from the Gospels is not a selective, diminishing or abating approach. It serves as a key to interpret the entire Gospel; it is, in a way, an observation point, from which the entirety of Christ’s work is contemplated. It is also a ray of light poured down, which allows one to more clearly see God’s plan for the founder and his institute. And fi nally, it is the criterion for choosing the forms of future realization of the community’s special mission.
23 Finding the Domain of Apostolic Work Another gift of the Holy Spirit, common to all founders, is the ability to properly read the signs of the times and to discern the current needs of the Church and the world. It is also the awareness of current challenges and the ability to point out solutions. Immersed in Christ and His Word, they weigh the facts and circumstances, as John Paul II said: “From familiarity with God’s word, they draw the light needed for that individual and communal discernment which helps them to seek the ways of the Lord in the signs of the times. In this way, they acquire a kind of supernatural intuition, which allows them to avoid being conformed to the mentality of this world, but rather to be renewed in their own mind, in order to discern God’s will.”25 Looking at the world with the eyes of the spirit, they saw shortages and the new needs of the Body of Christ as well as social problems and ailments. They discovered the deep sense of historic events and the challenges of their times. Courageously, dynamically, and judiciously responding to circumstances, they sought a free apostolic domain, thanks to which they could contribute to the salvifi c mission of the Church. It seems that rising up new forms of consecrated life has been always a precise response to the Church’s current needs. All models of consecrated life known throughout history— anchorites, cenobites, clerics regular, knightly orders, mendicants, canons regular, congregations, lay institutes—manifest a specifi c manner of responding to the new circumstances within the Church and the world. Some founders—especially those who lived at turning points in history, such as St. Benedict, St. Francis, and St. Ignatius—demonstrated in this aspect an extraordinary originality and insight. They brought important and radical changes into the religious life thus sowing the seeds of future great reforms in the Church and the world. This ecclesial outlook on the founding charism lets us see its three strata that create a solid internal unity and enrich the Church. First, it brings Christ and His message closer in a new manner, as seen from the charism’s own perspective. Then, this new presence of Christ’s particular aspect begins to show itself as a response to specifi c needs of the times. And fi nally, it is the infl uence of the community’s spirituality and mission over its form. Showing how the Gospels may be applied to life and making Christ “closer to us,” the founders become authentic apostles as well as an actual response sought by their contemporaries. We’d venture to say that in his way, each founder is a forerunner of a new evangelization, which is—as John Paul II said, addressing the Council of the National 25 VC, 94.
24 Conferences of Bishops of Latin America on March 9, 1983—“new in its zeal, methods, and expression.” The Birth of an Institute as an Institution Seeing that each charism is given in the Church and for the Church, it must be subordinate to the Church’s shepherds. Their duty is to discern and evaluate the charism. This is the reason why the founders strive to get their charism recognized by the Church. This ratifi cation is a condition upon which the charisms may work for the communal good in the Church, in the entirety of their diversity and mutual complementarity. Therefore, the important element of the founding charism is the founder’s concern for its being authorized by the Church, which means its legal recognition as a gift of God and its protection, as well as the offi cial birth of an institute and giving it a name. Naturally, nothing occurs automatically, spontaneously or all by itself. It is necessary to petition and to endeavor for it, while ascertaining the institute’s quantitative and qualitative growth. It is necessary to secure the favor of the local Church, to seek the protection and the acceptance of the hierarchy, to manifest a steadfastness of intentions, and to prove its usefulness and originality. In regards to ratifying new foundations, the Church is cautious and careful in granting approval to the founders’ proposals. The whole process often takes years and thus the founders and the founding generation must arm themselves in patience and humility, obedience, steadfastness and determination. Clashes between the charism and hierarchy ought to be seen in the light of the mystery of the cross. The following words may be applied to every founder: “The true relation between genuine charism, with its perspectives of newness, and interior suffering, carries with it an unvarying history of the connection between charism and cross, which, above every motive that may justify misunderstandings, is supremely helpful in discerning the authenticity of a vocation.” 26 It is actually in agreement with the Gospel: in is necessary to die to produce fruit. This process of “dying,” experienced by every founder (which may last throughout the good portion of his life and sometimes even after death) is important for the “life,” in other words: it helps to decide the development of the charism and the fruits that it will produce in the Church. In spite of the “way of the cross” that the founders had to follow to get the Church’s approval, they always had, as John Paul II noted: “a lively sense of the Church, which they manifest by their full participation in all aspects of the 26 MR, 12.
25 Church’s life, and in their ready obedience to the Bishops and especially to the Roman Pontiff.” The Pope particularly emphasizes in this context “the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi for «the Lord Pope», the daughterly outspokenness of Saint Catherine of Siena towards the one whom she called «sweet Christ on earth», the apostolic obedience and the sentire cum Ecclesia of Saint Ignatius Loyola.” In his opinion: “They are examples which consecrated persons need constantly to recall if they are to resist the particularly strong centrifugal and disruptive forces at work today.”27 The Church attributes such an importance to the rule or constitutions because they refl ect the main features of the founder’s spirituality. They are the best transmitters of the principle elements of the founding charism and the concrete experience of the community that lives out this charism for some time. Naturally, the entire patrimony is essential: counsels, conferences, sermons, letters, writings, the spiritual testimony of the founder and his fi rst disciples, but the constitutions are most important of all. For they contain elements that decide about the identity of an institute. Among these are: the founder’s thoughts on the essence of the charism (its nature, goals, spirituality), sound traditions, fundamental norms (religious vows, ascetic practices, discipline, communal life, formation, governing structures) and the essential characteristics of the apostolate. “The Rule and Constitutions provide a map for the whole journey of discipleship, in accordance with a specifi c charism confi rmed by the Church. A greater regard for the Rule will not fail to offer consecrated persons a reliable criterion in their search for the appropriate forms of a witness which is capable of responding to the needs of the times without departing from an Institute’s initial inspiration.”28 The Church continuously calls for faithfulness to the founders’ charism and for abandoning all superfi ciality. For each institute this faithfulness is a key of importance: it warrants for its following the right road, ascertains the spiritual unity with the founder, contributes to the community’s vitality and dynamism, authenticates the challenges, and helps the Church to grow in holiness. Sure enough, to remain faithful to the charism, it is necessary to get to know it. Thus, every effort is important (chapters, formation meetings, academic conferences, house meetings, academic research, etc.) which helps to go back to the “roots” and to rediscover and further specify with passion and love their essence and nature; to strengthen the identity, to deepen the spirituality and to improve the quality of apostolic work and the communal life. According to John Paul II, this fi delity has to have three attributes: courage, dynamism and creativity29: courage to overcome the fear of novelty, change, 27 VC, 46. 28 VC, 37. 29 Ibid.
26 growth combined with readiness and the ability to do good even when it’s costly and demands fortitude of spirit; dynamism in actions, vigor, power, fl exibility, vitality; and creativity in a constructive and wise search for new forms of an effi cient response to human needs and to the signs of the times of the modern world. The Document of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life Ripartire da Cristo [Starting afresh from Christ] reminds us that “It is fi tting to remember the ability of holy foundresses and founders to respond to the challenges and diffi culties of their times with a genuine charismatic creativity.”30 The secret of their “success” lays in their openness and submission to the Highest Creator—the Holy Spirit: “Today, too, an openness and docility to the Spirit’s action, which is always new and creative, is required. The Spirit alone can keep alive the freshness and authenticity of the beginnings while at the same time instilling the courage of interdependence and inventiveness needed to respond to the signs of the times.”31 30 RdC, 13. 31 RdC, 20.
27 Maciej Zachara, MIC Sequela Christi by the Marian Community We often speak about the consecrated life as a following of Christ or imitating Christ. We use this phrase without carefully thinking about its meaning. What is this sequela Christi? What meaning does it have specifi cally for us, the Marians? I would like to open this conference by showing the biblical sense of the phrase “following Christ,” which must be the basis for all further refl ections. Then I will attempt to show the synthesis of what the documents of the Teaching Magisterium say about sequela Christi. And fi nally we’ll examine the sources of the Marian tradition. The Holy Scriptures Following God as Shown in the Old Testament Psalm 128 begins with: “Happy are you who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!” These words are the best summation of the Old Testament’s teaching about following God. To follow God who is unfathomable and cannot be seen, means to walk in His ways—the paths on which He led His people. The journey of Israel through the desert, which is the point of reference for the entire successive history of Israel, and which was regarded by the patristic catechism as the path of the Christian life, has been a model example of walking in the ways of God. Yahweh led His people through the desert in the daytime by means of a column of cloud and at night by means of a column of fi re. Thus the end of the Book of Exodus states: “Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journey. But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward. In the daytime, the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fi re was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey” (Ex 40:36-38). Another passage of the Book of Exodus states that God announced the sending of His angel to go before the people and to pave the way for them
28 (see Ex 23:20, 23). They were forbidden to either stop on the way or to go further of their own accord. In the Book of Numbers, we read that, fearing the pagan people, the Israelites refused to enter Canaan. As a result of their rebellion, God orders them to remain in the desert for 40 years. Then the Israelites showed contrition and willingly declared their readiness to enter Canaan. God, however, does not trust their readiness, thus making them unable to enter the Promised Land. Thus, following is an expression of entrusting oneself entirely to God, in other words: it expresses faith and obedience. The prophet Samuel would tell Saul: “Does the Lord so delight in holocausts and sacrifi ces as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifi ce, and submission than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22). The attitude of obedience goes hand-in-hand with heeding the voice of God. The Israelites’ profession of faith, which is still a part of their daily prayer, starts with the exclamation: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” (Dt 6:4), while in the Book of Isaiah, the Servant of the Lord, which is the person of Jesus Christ, says: “Morning after morning He opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back” (Is 50:4-5). Following Christ as Shown in the New Testament If following God in the Old Testament meant walking in the ways by which He led His people, in the New Testament it means to walk in the ways pointed out by the Son of God. From the beginning of His public life, Jesus selects His disciples and tells them: “Come after me” (Mk 1:17). To follow after Christ means not only recognizing His teachings, but above all sharing His life and destiny. In the passage describing the appointing of the Twelve, the Evangelist says: “He appointed twelve [whom He also named apostles] that they might be with Him and He might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mk 3:14-15). Thus, the fi rst reason for appointing the Twelve was not for their tasks, but keeping Jesus’ company, sharing His destiny. The Gospels, especially the Synoptics, present Jesus as walking towards Jerusalem. Thus, in the New Testament, following Jesus or keeping Him company and sharing His destiny takes on a very clear paschal meaning, connected to the passion. The disciples who follow Jesus think about their personal benefi ts, which they will derive from their participation in His glory, but Jesus corrects their ideas. To Peter, who expects to be rewarded for giving up all he had, Jesus says that there is no one who has given up everything for His sake who will not
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