50 We can easily notice a great concordance between this statement and Father Founder’s emphasis on Christ’s way of life; he encouraged the imitation of Jesus in His union of love with the Father in the Holy Spirit and His salvifi c concern for men. As to the correlation between the apostolic and contemplative aspects of the religious life, Blessed George occupies a position which shows a rational balance between the two of them as expressions of the same religious spirituality. Consequently, he writes: “Thus, they [the Marians] should, on the one hand, be thus engaged in prayer, contemplation and other pious exercises and on the on the other hand, so dedicated to the salvation, perfection and care of others that both of these goals become as one—that the desire for greater personal perfection and the desire for the salvation of their neighbor would so unite into one that neither goal would not only not impede, but would rather aid the other.”44 Let us note this very interesting position of Blessed George’s, because we’ll come back to it in our further analysis. Blessed George’s certainty that the initiative of a religious vocation comes Christ, not man is unquestionable. It is Christ who imparts the special grace of a vocation and who invites someone to follow in His footsteps. Yet, Blessed George points out that there is need for human effort in response to the gift of God. This response must be rational, well-balanced and well-organized as to its means. In turn, these means must be proper to the character of the vocation. Here we may also fi nd certain similarities to the vision of spirituality which was expressed by Father Founder. The Means to Achieve the Primacy of the Spiritual Life as Shown in the Marian Tradition and Present Constitutions Our present Constitutions, which are based largely on the laws from 1930 written by Blessed George, essentially express Father Renovator’s views, presented above, both as to the manner of describing the place of the religious life, as well as (at least) a general conception of spirituality. Sometimes we can notice some sporadic direct references to Father Founder’s writings. The matter of the spiritual life in its strictest aspect is treated in Chapter Five of the Constitutions entitled Sources of the Spiritual Life. In its seven paragraphs, our legislator presented foundational matters. First, he stresses a concern for the spiritual life.45 Then, he points out the importance of reading and refl ection on the Scriptures,46 the sacred liturgy,47 the helpful role of Marian devotion in leading the spiritual 44 GI, 6. 45 C, 65. 46 Ibid., 66. 47 Ibid., 67.
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