Review for the Redemptoristine Nuns

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March 2012

V I V A M E M O R I A

No. 33

VIVA MEMORIA COMMISSION:

Sr. Joan Calver, O.Ss.R., Bangkok

Sr. Ewa Dobrzelecka, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała

Sr. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R., Dublin

Editorial

for Viva Memoria, No. 33

Yes, finally we present Viva Memoria No. 33. This issue has taken second place to Crostarosan newsletters and other communications from the members of the five sub-commissions of the Preparatory Commissions, as we endeavoured to keep appropriate information flowing concerning the May, 2012 General Assembly. Woven in between such communications the editors have received many fine articles for publishing in V.M. # 33. Because of their concern with our spirituality and the situation of some of our communities, we want to publish them all. So this VM #33 is rather voluminous and we can only have it printed in a very simple form without a very special lay-out or colours. We gratefully acknowledge and name our translators who make possible the publishing of each issue in six different languages – thank you.

Very Rev. Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R., Superior General, has written to the Order on December 3rd, 2011. Besides an Advent greeting for the celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation, Father Brehl has reminded us of the importance of being well prepared for the General Assembly. We are publishing Father’s letter in this issue.

Another important notice to be published here is on the “Cause of M.M.Celeste,” by the C.Ss.R. Postulator General, Rev. Antonio Marrazzo. Good News!

A great promoter of M.M. Celeste, Rev. Joseph Oppitz, C.Ss.R. died on October 6th, 2011. Father well deserves the gratitude of Redemptoristines for helping us and others to know M.M.Celeste better.

This Viva Memoria, #33, will pay a very fitting tribute to Rev. Louis Vereecke, C.Ss.R. who was a member of the C.Ss.R. Secretariat for many years; a great historian and theologian.

Once more we have Conferences on M.M.Celeste’s “Steps of Prayer” by Fr. S. Majorano, given at Bielsko. These conferences are on Steps (or Grades) Four and Five. You will find in them quotes from the writings of St. Alphonsus, as well.

Rev. D. Capone, C.Ss.R. was a well-known promoter of the charism and spirit of M. Celeste. Sister Ewa Dobrzelecka, (a VM editor), has singled out some specific quotes from Fr. Capone’s writings on the Virtues and their importance for the understanding of M.Celeste’s spirit.

Sister Ida Landry of the Redemptoristine community in Ste-Therese, Quebec, knows very well the charism of Mother M. Celeste and we are very pleased to publish her latest writings on our Redemptoristine charism. Sister Ida notes two important points: 1) “The Order of the Most Holy Redeemer came from a revelation to M. Celeste.” 2) “This revelation has been confirmed by the Church to this day.” These quotes, at the beginning of her article, lead into a very fine treatise of the Order’s charism.

Sister Kazimiera Kut of Bielsko, another Redemptoristine expert on the Order’s charism, has titled her article: “Eucharistic Community – A Living Memory of Love.” Sr. Kazimiera is a member of the Sub Commission on Spirituality.

It is always great for our VM publication to insert the writings of our own Sisters. Here we are pleased to publish an article by Soeur Marie-Christiane Kammerlocher of our Monastery of Landser, France.

Reverend Gilbert Enderle, C.Ss.R. has permitted us to cull from his writings in honour of St. John Neumann to publish in our Viva Memoria, No. 33, some interesting and important facts from the life of this humble Redemptorist Missionary and Bishop of Philadelphia. Saint John’s shrine in Philadelphia, PA., attracts many pilgrims who come to pray to this great Saint.

Sister Magdalena Schumann, (an editor of the VM), introduces a positive note into the otherwise painful topic of “closing a monastery.” Sister has quoted St. John, as well as examples beginning with the “wanderings” of our Mother Foundress, M.Celeste, to show that – “the grain did bear much fruit after it died.” Some sisters have written of their personal experience and shared their feelings on the closing of their particular monastery. We thank these sisters.

St. Gerard and Mother Maria Celeste – their mutual support and sharing, must not be lost today. Many Redemptorist Brothers through the years have been a helpful, prayerful support for the Sisters. Some have written of this and Sister Joan (an editor) reminds us that the C.Ss.R. brothers of today are very dear to their sisters, the O.Ss.Rs. of today!

When we featured an article on the relationship between M. Celeste and St. Alphonsus in VM No. 32, we heard from many Sisters. We saved the contribution of Sr. Angelina Celeste of Legazpi, for this issue. Her experience of working in the apostolate of the Redemptorists is well worth noting.

The two recently professed sisters of Scala give us testimony of their vocation – encouraging for us all to see God’s loving care for our Order.

We, the editors, thought it might be helpful to point out some important details concerning the Order’s “Common Fund.” Rev. S. Wrobel, C.Ss.R. will give a more complete report at the General Assembly

Sr. Magdalena Schumann,

Sr. Ewa Dobrzelecka,

Sr. Joan Calver

Table of contents for VM #33

Editorial Translators Letter of Rev. Fr. General, Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R. Rome, 3rd December 2011

Causa Sr. M. Celeste Crostarosa Report of Rev. Antonio Marrazzo, C.Ss.R. to the O.Ss.R.

In Memoriam - Rev. Joseph William Oppitz, C.Ss.R. Sr. Joan Calver, O.Ss.R., Bangkok In Memoriam – Rev. Louis Vereecke C.Ss.R. Sr. Michelle Quignon, O.Ss.R.

Conferences on “Grades of Prayer” by M. Celeste Crostarosa (Continuation) Rev. Sabatino Majorano, C.Ss.R.

Jesus, the Word of God and the simplest Being, the Virtue of all our virtues…” Rev. Domenico Capone, C.Ss.R.

The Charism of the Redemptoristines Sr. Ida Landry, O.Ss.R. , Sainte-Thérèse

Eucharistic Community – A Living Memory of Love Sr. Kazimiera Kut, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała

Remembering the Actions of the Life of Jesus Sr. Marie Christiane Kammerlocher, O.Ss.R., Landser

Short Biography of St. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R. Rev. Gilbert Enderle, C.Ss.R., adapted by Sr. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R.

Unless a Grain of Wheat falls in the Earth and Dies … Sr. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R., Dublin

Closing a Monastery Reports of experiences by some sisters and communities - From Amos to Ste-Thérèse - Sr. Marthe Pham, O.Ss.R., Ste-Thérèse - Sr. Marie-Lyne Cyr, O. Ss.R.,Ste-Thérèse - Sr. M. Bernadette Grundy, O.Ss.R., formerly Liverpool - Sr. Ann Marie Gool, O.Ss.R., formerly Merrivale

M. M. Celeste Crostarosa, O.Ss.R., and St. Gerard Majella, C.Ss.R. Sr. Joan Calver, Bangkok

Reports of three Brothers C.Ss.R. - “How Brothers Carry the Tradition…” Br. Dan Korn, C.ss.R., U.S.A. - Br. Gavin Stokoe, C.Ss.R., South Africa - “My personal experiences with the Redemptoristines ” Br. Joerg Recktenwald, Germany

Ways into the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer Testimonies, given by three Redemptoristines - Sr. Angelina Celeste Barcenas, O.Ss.R., Legazpi - “Behold! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him!” Sr. Maria D’Amato, O.Ss.R., Scala - “Have you called me? Here I am, Lord” Sr. Giovanna Lauretano, O.Ss.R., Scala

The O.Ss.R. Common Fund A Short Report by Rev. Stanisław Wróbel, C.Ss.R.

Translators:

Sr. María Paz Arnes Barrutieta, B.C. Canada Sr. Ewa Budzisz O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Sr. Paloma Arroyo de Diego, O.Ss.R., Scala Elisabeth Chestnut, U.S.A. Fr. Jorge Colon, C.Ss.R., Puerto-Rico Fr. Mirosław Dawlewicz, C.Ss.R., Polska Fr. Ignacy Dekkers, C.Ss.R., Holandia Sr. Ewa Dobrzelecka, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Fr. Hervé Gendron, C.Ss.R. Canada Peter Gross, Niemcy Fr. Ryszard Hajduk, C.Ss.R. Polska Sr. Eva Hanusova, O.Ss.R., Kezmarok Sr. Kazimiera Kut, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Sr. Ewa Klaczak, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Sr. Agnieszka Kot, O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Fr. Emilio Lage, C.Ss.R., Rzym Sr. Ida Landry, O.Ss.R., Kanada Sr. Giovanna Lauretana, O.SsR., Scala Sr. Chantal Lussier, O.Ss.R., Ste-Thérèse Sr. M. Aneta Milecka, O.Ss.R., Harelbeke Sr. M. Hilde de Paepe, O.Ss.,R., Harelbeke Fr. Johann Schermann, C.Ss.R., Austria Sr. M. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R., Dublin Sr. Imma di Stefano, O.Ss.R, Scala Fr. Damian Wall C.ss.R., Puerto rico

Corrections:

Sr. Anna-Maria Ceneri, O.Ss.R., Scala Fr. Hervé Gendron, Kanada Sr. Ewa Budzisz O.Ss.R., Bielsko-Biała Fr. Serafino Fiore, C.Ss.R., Rzym

Thank you!

THE CAUSE of CANONIZATION of the Servant of God MARIA CELESTE CROSTAROSA

Beginning in the early months of this current year, the Office of the Postulator of the Redemptorists has been involved in asking for a continuation of the Cause of S. Marie Celeste Crostarosa.

Toward this end, on several occasions, conversations were held with the Cardinal Prefect, with the Archbishop Secretary and with the new officials of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints.

Considering that the Positio Super Virtutibus [the official documents which present a study of one’s heroicity of virtue] has already been analyzed by the Historian-Consultors of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, and that the Office of the Postulator has already responded to the objections raised by some of the Consultors, the Prefect, His Eminence Angelo Amato, has fixed the date for the Theological Consultation for May 11, 2012.

If the Theological Consultors shall unanimously express an opinion that is positive, the Acts shall be examined by the Congregation of Cardinals and Bishops. Following this, the Holy Father, after receiving the positive vote of the aforementioned Congregation, will make public his assent to the promulgation of the Decree of the heroicity of virtue of Maria Celeste Crostarosa.

By force of such Decree, according to current norms, Marie Celeste Crostarosa shall be declared Venerable, in full title thereof.

Only after the eventual positive outcome of the theological consultation will it be possible to have dates for the subsequent phases of the procedural course.

In clearly realizing that this Consultation of the theologians is only one step on the entire path which will lead to the Decree of the heroicity of virtue, it remains a matter of prudence to avoid publicizing this notification, by means of the press, before knowing its favorable outcome.

However, we firmly hope that the Sisters and the Redemptorist confreres shall invite those devoted to Marie Celeste Crostarosa to pray for the favorable outcome of her Cause which is in process.

Fraternally, in Christ the Redeemer,

The Postulator General of the Redemptorists

Father Antonio Marrazzo, C.Ss.R.

[Translation from the Italian by G. Enderle, C.Ss.R.]

November 07, 2011

Reverend Joseph William Oppitz, C.Ss.R (Author, Missionary, Pastor, Professor - A Redemptorist Priest)

Sister Joan Calver, O.Ss.R.

“The Mystic Who Remembered” – the biography of Mother Maria Celeste authored by Father Oppitz, was translated into Spanish, French and German. Anyone who wrote and worked so devotedly to make M.M.Celeste known, would deserve a grateful remembrance by every Redemptoristine; equally by Redemptorists, who also learned much about Mother Celeste from Father’s book. By way of an introduction to those who do not yet know Father Oppitz and in grateful remembrance of Father ‘who remembered’ M.M. Celeste, we hope to render a fitting tribute in Viva Memoria, No. 33.

Father Oppitz was born on August 12, 1926 in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Father was ordained a Redemptorist at Esopus, N.Y. in 1953. He was sent on for higher studies and earned a doctorate in Philosophy from the Angelicum, in Rome. This was followed by 22 years of teaching in various Redemptorist Seminary formation programs. Other Redemptorist apostolates included missions, parish work as a pastor, a retreat master and an itinerant missionary. Yes, it was in between these demanding apostolates that Father made time to write on Mother Celeste and translate Father Majorano’s thesis on Celeste: “The Imitation through the Memory of the Savior” in 1979 and Celeste’s “Dialogues – (Trattenimenti)” in 1982.

More? Yes! Father gave lectures and workshops on the spirituality and charism of Mother Celeste, these included a couple of sessions in the O.Ss.R. Liguori community. The sisters’ greatest interest was, of course, in the spiritual doctrine of M. Celeste.

A secondary interest was to hear from Father Oppitz himself, the story of his survival as a passenger from Italy to New York, when the great so called unsinkable Andrea Doria did sink near a foggy Nantucket (U.S.A.) harbour.”

To hear the story of this adventure as told by himself – well, he had a captive audience and we thanked God for his survival. When the other ship, “the Stockholm”, crashed into the Andrea Doria near the foggy harbour, the Doria “was ripped open like a can opener” while the Sea rushed in. It seemed there was a miracle in behalf of Fr. Oppitz, as before leaving Italy, he had to change his room in favour of another young couple and this was the room which received the direct crash of the other ship. Many lives were lost but Father Oppitz lived to relate many, many times the story of his survival. The

Redemptorists of the Provincial Residence of Brooklyn wrote up this story in detail. It was communicated with Father Oppitz’ death notice. There was one interesting detail which Fr. Oppitz had shared with us in Liguori which we did not see published. It was his dear Mother’s question when she spoke to her son after the accident: “Did you save your breviary?” (This had been his mother’s gift for his Ordination.) His answer: “Yes, Mother, my breviary is as safe as I am – see you soon!”

Father’s time to return to the Most Holy Redeemer, whom he had served so well, came on October 6th, 2011. St. Alphonsus and M. M. Celeste would be happy to welcome this Redemptorist who had spent a long, zealous life in the Congregation. Father Oppitz will be remembered by the Redemptoristines for his devotion to M.M. Celeste. His book “The Mystic who Remembered,” will be treasured in remembrance of it’s author:

“Reverend Joseph William Oppitz, C.Ss.R.”

May he rest in peace!

Bangkok - December, 2011

IN MEMORIAM † FATHER LOUIS VEREECKE 25/03/1920 – 10/01/2012

To our great sorrow Father Louis Vereecke left us on January 10th 2012, leaving with us, however, and the memory of his unstinted fraternal devotion to our Order.

Our Community will always remember his many sojourns at the monastery since 1954, when as a young professor he lectured us in Liturgy, Patrology and Canon Law. These lectures were followed by annual visits, until the last 16 years when he resided permanently as chaplain at St Restitut.

It was a source of gratitude to us that he chose our monastery, in the heart of the Garrigue as his place of retirement after 44 years spent in Rome in the upper spheres of the Vatican, as Consultant of the Congregation of the Faith, where he worked with Cardinal Ratzinger from 1976 to 1992. He also taught the History of Moral Theology at the Academia Alfonsiana and at the Gregorian and St Thomas Universities.

We Redemptoristines are particularly grateful to him for all he did for our Order as a member of the CssR Commission for the OssR from 1967 to 2000. Together with his colleagues he helped us greatly at the International Assemblies, especially those of 1973 and 1983, during which we established the text of our Constitutions and Statutes in line with Vatican II, with which as theologian to Mgr Fey CssR he had been closely implicated. For as long as his health permitted he continued translating for our review Via Memoria (he mastered a number of languages). His last work for the Order was a translation of the Letters of Mother Marie-Céleste.

Over and above what he did for us we remember him especially for his fraternal attentiveness, always ready to respond to our expectations in spiritual and intellectual matters, a man of learning who humbly and full of humour placed his immense knowledge at the service of those around him. To the end he remained a true teacher, close to the young and interested in their studies, as for example for one of our young diocesan priests at present studying in Rome, who wrote to us: “The discussions I had with Father Vereecke at St Restitut were highly privileged moments for me. I appreciated his great simplicity of heart, that taught by Our Lord when insisting on the importance of our becoming as ‘little children’. His example will always remain firmly in my memory”.

For our Bishop, Mgr Lagleize, Father Vereecke was a “person who counted for a great deal in my Episcopal ministry through his cordiality, his intellectual power and theological understanding, which were a vigorous testimony in the life of a disciple of Christ. May the Lord receive His servant in the eternal light of His Kingdom.”

Conferences on Grades of Prayer by M. Celeste Crostarosa

Fr. Sabatino Majorano, CSsR, (Conferences held in Bielsko-Biała, 2008/2009- Con’t.)

The Fourth Step

All results virtually in doing the will of God - the Fourth Step. We are doing the will of God when humility makes it possible for us to experience God’s will in happiness. The experience of doing the will of God means for us to fulfill what pleases God, and to live in the delight of God.

This means that we not only do what God wants, but we try to taste it, we feel the joy of doing it. It is the same perspective which John mentions as the ‘memory’. We must live it as a perspective. It is like a woman in labor who feels the pain of childbirth, which is something that makes her anguish, but if she has the perspective of giving new life to the world, her suffering becomes something that she accepts with joy not because it is not hard, but because it allows her to create new life. We not only do what God wants, but we While developing this motive, Crostarosa talks of three steps which try to taste it, we are important: the Word is the zest/delight of the Father; the Father’s feel the joy of doing lives (in anthropomorphic language, not translated literally) in order to it… give joy to the Son; the Son lives to give joy to the Father and the Spirit lives in the reciprocal joy of being totally one for the other. We need to understand this delight of the Trinity in order to be able to comprehend the profound thought of Mother Celeste.

We have a tendency, caused by our sin, to think in a totally different perspective. We develop relationship to use the other. This tendency is becoming so strong in our society, because our culture sees the relationship with the other only from the perspective of one’s personal need and profit, thus our culture does not help us to understand this attitude.

In the Trinity one lives for the joy of the other. The Incarnated Christ fulfills the Father’s delight, for the Father's will is the raison d'etre of his life. As in the Trinity, the Word lives for the Father, the Incarnate Christ had as his perspective of life - the will, the design of the Father. He made it his food, as Saint John puts it and Crostarosa quotes. We are called by Christ to enter into his life and to take part in his life in the Father, and in his life of giving joy to the Father. In this way we assume the delight of God as the fundamental criterion of all our choices.

This is what Saint Alphonsus called “uniformity of will” - I do not want anything else, except what God wants, but I want it because I wish to please God. This life perspective, however, asks us to search for what God really wants. (Crostarosa does not treat of this in this Grade.)

To complete this Grade, one should re-read Celeste’s letter to Pietro Romano, where she describes how she sought the will of God. The fact that one wants to do the will of God, does not specifically enlighten one as to what should be done! Writing to Pietro Romano she makes that distinction; before she was certain that God wanted the Institute, she had behaved in one way, because she had to confront and discern what was the will of God. When she was certain wanted it, that it was not presumption (a beautiful expression) to give a hand to God (to help God - in her own language), even encountering difficulties and misunderstandings, she goes ahead and becomes totally involved in the “work”.

I think that in this dimension of seeking the will of God, Father Haring has given us a word, which then passed to Vatican Council II and it concerns dialogue, confrontation, reciprocity of consciences, which is in the same line of Mother Celeste’s research. A person rejecting confrontation with others in her conscience, cannot still say that he or she has the truth. Dialogue and confrontation demand that I do not treat my own position as absolute, but I try to look for the truth in dialogue with others, to see if my position is the right one.

In the dynamics of the Trinity, each of us has the responsibility to propose, but if one wants to impose or blackmail the community, one no longer has the truth. I mean I have to propose to the community what seems right to me, what should be done, but I have to leave it to discernment, to dialogue and with the consciousness of the others to verify if what I propose is right or should be done differently. We live to give delight to God, knowing that it is our happiness to do so. This must be the perspective that always guides us. “Christ is God’s ‘yes’ said to The Fourth Step treats an aspect, which is fundamental both for St. people.” Alphonsus, St. Gerard and for all the holy Redemptorists. We read this (Pope Benedict XVI) Grade along with St. Gerard’s letter on the will of God and with St. Alphonsus’ the “Uniformità alla volontà di Dio.” St. Gerard sees this from a more practical, operational angle. Crostarosa, especially in this Grade, explores the foundations of this aspect. As a starting point she takes two passages from the Canticle of Canticles: the bridegroom’s invitation addressed to the bride to join him in his garden to taste honey, wine and milk. The second step, when the bridegroom says to the bride: “I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on again” (Canticle 5; 2-3). With these two steps Crostarosa tries to explain the gift of living within the liking of God. It concerns however not only living in the liking of God, but living of the liking of God. The first statement tells of our effort to always say “yes” to God; with the second statement we say that our “yes” said to God is our participation in the “yes” always said by Christ to the Father. Christ makes us participate in his “yes”, so we live our “yes” to God.

The current Pope, addressing the Italian Church used an expression: “Christ is God’s ‘yes’ said to people.” It seems that this Pope's statement brings us near to the logics of Crostarosa. Christ is the 'yes' within the Trinity, the 'yes' in the work of creation. He lets us participate in his 'yes', so that we may live in the liking of God.

We can understand the good pleasure of God, if we accept the language of our culture which replaces understanding with feeling.

The relationship with the truth is no longer of the one of intelligence. It is the relationship of the entire person. When we say “liking of God” (or the good pleasure of God) we want to say – to enter 12

into this total relationship with the will of God, so that we feel, taste, and live it. St. Alphonsus had already figured it out, in fact, when he used to say to the preachers: “you must give the truth, but when the truth is to become decision, you have to address feelings.” The truth must meet the entire person to become life. From this perspective we can understand what it means to live in the liking of God and to live of the liking of God.

Crostarosa uses two passages: the first one tells about entering the garden and tasting milk, honey and wine. She comments on the first part: the garden where the soul is invited is the humanity of the Word. When we enter into the Incarnate Word, we taste the life of the Trinity expressed with these three images: honey, wine and milk. It is through the humanity of Christ that we enter into the Trinitarian life and experience life that has taste.

In the previous Grade she was talking of the ‘All Happy One’. Here M. Celeste points out that each of the three Trinitarian Persons is related to the other, seeks the other and (in our language) tries to give joy to the other. So we are invited through Christ, to enter into this dynamic of shared joy, because the Holy Trinity is joy, as none of the Three think of oneself only but in the terms of a reciprocal gift. That Trinitarian perspective is not very much developed in what regards the liking of God, God's will and here you (as Redemptoristines) have a resource to develop: the humanity of Christ as participation in the Trinity, which is the joy of reciprocity. How do we take part in it? Here we have three images: the honeycomb is a symbol of the Father with all his divine perfections, composed of the sweetness of “his lovable will."

"The honeycomb means the Father, and the infinite building of his divine perfections formed of honey-flowing sweetness to delight his lovable will. The milk means the Son. By Him the Church’s children are fed and nourished. The wine means the Holy Spirit. By Him we are renewed and strengthened in love."

So we share in the Father's perfections and experience that his will is lovable. The milk means the Son, because through Him the wealth of the Father becomes our nourishment. The wine means the Holy Spirit because it renews and enlivens charity. For the moment Crostarosa is interested in this approach: in the humanity of Christ we enter into the dynamics of joy, into the reciprocity of the Trinity. In the next passage another text is used about “taking off my tunic” to put it on again and the passage starts from the fact that “entering the humanity of Christ we find true rest and satiety.” Christ wants us to live in his humanity. Staying in his humanity we have another experience that is expressed with the image of a tunic. Jesus took off his tunic, that is his will, to make his own the will of the Father and expects us to give that tunic back to him by our fulfilling the will of the Father.

The images are a bit forced, but it seems important that Jesus has given up his own will because he has taken the Father's will and expects us to give him back his own will, by doing the Father's will. Or in other words, Jesus made his life the fulfillment of the Father’s delight and this was his nourishment.

Crostarosa also refers to Jesus' dialogue with the Samaritan woman. When we put on the will and the delight of God, it is as if we were putting on the garment of Christ. The humanity of Christ leads us into the dynamics of the divine liking, the dynamics of the Trinity. We do not find any self- research in the humanity of Christ, but we only find the will of the Father. So that entering his 13

humanity, which has no other perspective of life than that of doing the will of the Father, we in a symbolical sense, give back to Christ that tunic taken off in order to fulfill only the will of the Father.

At this point Crostarosa makes her discourse a bit more complex, because she reflects on the Word as the Father’s delight. The passage comes from St. John and speaks of the Father who does everything for the Word. The passage is very dense, so it needs comment on almost every statement,: “The Father creates everything in the Word because the Word is his liking; in the Word He finds his delight, his happiness, and vice versa, the Word in whom all things have been created, accepts all as done by the Father. So he wants nothing except what the Father wants - what radiates in the humanity of Christ as milk that nourishes us constantly.

"The examples of Jesus, His teachings and His works – from these we drink and are nourished; we are enlivened, we share in the infinite zest by which the Father loves Himself. Everything was made in this same loving, infinite zest, through which the Son so much loved and acted and suffered in His humanity".

Through the humanity of Christ we find that Christ says “yes” to the Father and always in the Holy Spirit. Then this is the likely/pleasure of God, to live for the Other in the reciprocity of the Trinity. At this point Crostarosa has some statements that are very close to those of St. Gerard, when he speaks of God's will:

“Oh, precious liking, sweet liking, how can I, a vile creature, explain what you are? It is sufficient to say that you are all, the substantial cause of what has been done in the work of creation, in the work of the incarnation and conservation of all the creatures.”

In conclusion, God’s delight is his very being. This is a figurative Here the will of God description used by Crostarosa. It is bit complex, because it moves is fulfilled, in the continuously from the Christological level to the Trinitarian one, so one way God wants it has to be careful while reflecting on these passages. It is important to and as long as God do the will of the other Persons of the Trinity – it is the joy, the delight wants it. of the Trinity. Christ expresses this in his humanity for us and invites us (St. Gerard) to participate in it, finding a pleasing taste in the will of the Father, so that we not only do what God wants, but we delight in doing what God wants. Crostarosa speaks about a special gift, as in all the other steps, but we can translate it into a language concerning our way of life. Our joy is to do the will of the One we love; the will of God finds joy in our happiness. So we are not interested in the contents of what God wants, we only care about whether He wants it. The content can also be tough, but if He wants it, we live delighted to do his will. We must make an effort in our life so that our reasoning may reach these levels. In the last document of the Congregation for Religious on “Authority and Obedience in Religious Life” one can notice that the starting point is when the whole community is searching for the will of God. Authority is a ministry of animating the community in this research and then also to make decisions, after the research has followed the procedures indicated by the Constitutions. What is most important is not the content, but the careful research of what God wants in the community. Not even the Rules or Constitutions are the most important but the research that is made together. Of course, in order to discern the will of God, the Constitutions become an essential tool for us. Nevertheless we should not stop at that point, but through the Constitutions, through the process of discernment which the Constitutions indicate for us, we reach the point of recognizing what God 14

wants us to do. We should find that attention to what God wants ‘is all happiness’, for God wants our happiness. This is important for our life, if we really wish to give a truly evangelical face to our communities. At the door of every Redemptorist community we should put the same writing which St. Gerard fastened to his door: “Here the will of God is fulfilled, in the way God wants it and as long as God wants it.” He wrote to Sister Mary of Jesus that “God's will is God Himself.”

We should make that passage which St. Alphonsus emphasizes when he speaks of conformity and uniformity with the will of God. He explains: “Conformity means that I fit myself to what God wants and uniformity - that my will and God's will are one.” Thus, before we know the contents, there is full adherence to the will of God. Crostarosa speaks of living in the liking of God and living in the liking of God through the humanity of Christ.

In this step Crostarosa then highlights some of the fruits that come from this strong experience of the liking, (the good pleasure) of God, which she tries to describe. The first result is the fact that we experience autonomous movements of our will as if they were restricted. She explains: “All deliberate acts of the soul are restricted there – not by violence or force, for the Lord doesn’t take away man’s free will.” The soul desires and decides only what God decides.

In the experience of friendship one can experience that when we are real friends, we do not want anything different from the other. I feel a bond of love that links me to my friend. So if we really are in that communion with God, we are attracted by his love and we experience that whatever He wants, therein is our happiness. This implies that we do not want anything else except what He wants. Crostarosa always talks about this as of a very special gift.

She explained her experience of this gift as being only for a “moment.” Yet this is an experience that we can all have in some way, even less intense then Crostarosa. In our life we must have the courage to search for something profound. If we can make that passage, then we realize that we do not make decisions for ourselves, based on our reasoning and taste, but we want only what God wants. Then another fruit which Crostarosa points out:

"...I see her becoming so steady a rock, that no cross or storm, or trouble can shake her. She would more likely allow herself to be fragmented by creatures then to make a single voluntary impulse against the divine will and pleasure."

This image is of the sea as Crostarosa lived in Naples. When you find yourselves on a stormy sea and you see the rock, the rock is still, not moving - so this is stability (reliability).

She also uses another very beautiful image, referring to honey, she says: "She sips honey and sweetness from everything that is bitter to her senses.” That means, she is She rejoices in able to find God’s liking even in what is bitter, so consequently she never God even in her complains. (Celeste could never complain about anything, although we non rejoicing. sometimes can even be angry with the Lord, provided however, that later (M. Celeste) and with difficulty, we find that ‘yes’ regarding God’s liking). The last passage is an affirmation that really struck me: “She rejoices/delights in God even in her non rejoicing.” This is God’s liking to enjoy God's plan for us, even if we are not pleased with it.

In conclusion, the text is challenging because it is not very logical in the way it develops. There is a statement and then it moves on to another argument, and then it proceeds. I would summarize all in three conceptions: Firstly: - The Trinitarian dimension. In the Trinity everyone attempts to fulfill the liking of the Other and this is the joy of the Trinty, every Person is looking for the happiness of the Other, if we can speak of the Trinity in such a way.

Secondly: This joy of the Trinitarian reciprocity is communicated to us in the humanity of Christ, so that through the humanity of Christ, we can try to say ‘yes’ to God. That ‘yes’ gives fullness, peace of mind and a new perspective to our lives. It happens because we experience delight in living the gift of life that the Trinity gives us incessantly. Being one with the will of God is what we must assume as a fundamental criterion of our life.

Thirdly: The Grade passes from the Trinitarian dynamics to the The will of God, Christological one and then to ourselves. St. Alphonsus affirmed that the the glory of God is will of God, the glory of God is our happiness, so it is our happiness to our happiness. desire what God wants for us and thus we can live fulfilling God’s liking. The method of reading which I am suggesting, can be summed up in two perspectives: The ‘Grades’ talk of special gifts of the Lord, but they also tell us how we should structure our thinking to be truly disciples of Christ.

What Mother Celeste experienced at certain moments and what she presents as special gifts, expresses also the way in which we must shape our lives and our response to God. It is not the only way to read the Grades of Prayer. We could stop at the comment of the mystical text as well, but this way of reading is what Mother Celeste suggests for us herself in her writings, starting from her experience and passing on to her systematic teaching.

The Fifth Step

The work to be done every day is to find concretely what God wants us to do, without making our own ideas absolutes but in a dialogue of consciences we seek together to know what God wants. All this – (and it is the Fifth Step) - must become a transformation of everything into love. If we started from Christ who offers us communion, we become so attracted to Him that we cannot take our eyes off Him and we let ourselves continually fall in love with Christ, as He reveals himself day by day as beauty that attracts us. The object of the Fifth Grade is this presence of Christ in us as beauty.

The fundamental fact of this grade is that by virtue of Christ’s revelation as beauty, all turns into love. What is characteristic to this step, is that this language of Crostarosa does not regard only the interiority of a person but also his of her exteriority. That is, we are totally captivated by love, while seeing the beauty and the love of Christ. Crostarosa connects this experience with Eucharist, as well as the previous one.

She does not always remember that the ‘spiritual’ gifts are received through the Eucharist, but it seems to me that we can interpret it in this way, as generally the deepest moments of communion or special gifts are connected with the Eucharist. At times she remembers this explicitly, but at other times she does not talk about it clearly. It is confirmed in the last Grade, where she highlights the Eucharistic dimension as a place of communion of the saints. The last page of Grades should be read

together with the last Dialogue, in which M. Celeste speaks precisely of the Eucharistic transformation.

Translated into terms of actual life, the Eucharist will always be the place of contemplating Christ and becoming captivated by His beauty. Crostarosa speaks of the Eucharist primarily as a presence, and less as a celebration, even though on the last page of the Grades she writes about the Eucharistic celebration. We must stress what has been emphasized by the liturgical reform - that the Eucharist is a celebration and a presence.

For Crostarosa, Eucharist is above all the presence of Jesus in the tabernacle, even though in some pages she speaks about the Eucharistic celebration, as in the last page of the Dialogues. We have to find more equality for according to what the Council has indicated – ‘the Eucharist is first celebration and then presence.’ We can experience some difficulty reading Crostarosa, because she moves in the vision of the liturgy, where for example, the Sisters first received Communion before the celebration and then there was the celebration as thanksgiving after Communion. This was the way which devotion, especially popular devotion developed, at that time. The Eucharist is the place of contemplation” “I know that not says the preparative document for the Synod. The liturgical even angels are worthy celebration is the place, where the Word emerges from the of the Eucharist, but Scriptures. Crostarosa remembers this also and she says that another God chose to make man gift is prepared by the Lord. The other gift is that which transforms worthy of it to cleanse everything into love. him from his infirmities.” This is the gift prepared by the Lord. It is the desire of unity with (St. Alphonsus) God which normally occurs during the Eucharist. Celeste speaks of

the desire that consumes her, the desire so strong that as she concludes, her nature fears to die and she has almost the impression of not being able to withstand that tension. It is typical for such states of union in which one’s love is so strong that the total desire to meet the beloved person causes one to be consumed by it.

This desire leads to a purification which makes each of us worthy of the meeting. Here Crostarosa emphasizes the fact that there is a dynamics of purification which the desire for love produces in us. She speaks of purification of the eyes and of the face, so that the Beloved would be fascinated by her beauty: "The divine Spouse wants His beloved to look at him with purged and cleansed eyes and with her face all beautiful, free from blemishes, so that He can draw her to himself.” (Step Five) It is Christ who does this, not the soul herself. Christ makes us worthy of himself. We do not do this of ourselves. St. Alphonsus’ words regarding the Eucharist, which challenged Jansenism, come to mind here: "I know that not even angels are worthy of the Eucharist, but God chose to make man worthy of it to cleanse him from his infirmities."

Christ makes us worthy of Himself, of course this does not free us from our commitment to accept His work and to make it effective in our lives. However, what Christ does is always a priority. This brings the soul to the desire to receive the Eucharist, where she finds an answer to her desire for love. In the Eucharistic Communion the revelation of the beauty of Christ takes place. Here the 17

progress of the Grade becomes a bit circular, in the sense that it is not as logical as thus far. Then Crostarosa speaks of the beauty expressed with an image of a radiant crystal. Christ in His humanity is the glowing crystal, in which we perceive the richness of God. She uses this image several times, also in the Dialogues, because it is typical for her spirituality to insist on light, on brightness.

Celeste differs from the Northern Mystics. There are parallels, of course, but this highlighting of the sun and of light is not found in the writings of the great mystics of northern Europe. Through Christ’s crystal like humanity, she perceives the beauty of all the perfections with which God illuminates us and the fragrance of which he imparts: "There permeates through the soul a spiritual air, so exquisite that it is like a fragrance of every kind of perfume. It has no comparison!” Thus purity is our fragrance, for it is the purity which God communicates and radiates. The Nine Rules do not talk about chastity, they always talk about purity. Even in our Redemptorist Rules, we do not have chastity, but we always find purity, because of our connection with Crostarosa’s Rules. Purity includes chastity in this experience of the crystal, of the light, of the perfume, of being attracted by the beauty of Christ.

The second part of the Grade comes back to the Song of Songs, (Cant 5 and ff.) and its commentary describes the beauty of Christ. "My Beloved is the best out of thousands; his face lights up with a rosy glow." It is a description of the beauty from the Song of Songs. Now in this description there are two aspects worth emphasizing. On one hand Celeste attributes to Christ’s beauty the various works of redemption. What he To be fascinated by did, we find in him beauty; even the cross is beautiful. In this way of Christ becomes the interpreting the ways of Christ the Redeemer in the Church, the cross desire to live totally can be read as the beauty of Christ. Here we can see Christ as the for the glory of the center, a sort of interpretation so dear to Crostarosa. Father. The other way of interpreting Celeste’s thought of Christ, concerns the conjugal union, to which every soul is called. The two ways of reading are interweave constantly; for instance, she uses the category of a “kiss” to indicate both the strong moment of communion with the Lord and the kiss that He gave humanity by his Incarnation. The Incarnation is the kiss of God to humanity, through which, M. Celeste will say, He communicates his Spirit, his breath. Concluding the Grade she asks: “What is the effect of this gift of seeing the beauty of Christ and of being fascinated by his beauty in the soul?” The consequence of it is that:"She is so much in love with his beauty, that she seems to melt with sweetness", and she feels herself totally transformed into love.

The second consequence is that being all transformed into love she feels the great need to do everything for the glory of the Bridegroom, always accompanied by this strong sense of love that is impressed upon her by His beauty within her. Thus, when she speaks of the face that radiates her heart, tears come to her face and she concludes: "During this prayer, strong and loving efforts are made such as: undertaking a strenuous and mortified life; accepting death for the Beloved, if necessary." To be fascinated by Christ becomes the desire to live totally for the glory of the Father; all this radiates peace. This is how the Grade develops.

Let us return to the aspect that we have begun to construct before. If we really want to please God, we must never take our gaze away from Christ, because if we look at Christ, we realize that all 18

that God asks is beautiful, that everything which God has projected is to transform beautiful, all that God is - is beautiful. We speak with these words about the everything reality that is before us, not only as positive, but attracting us to participate in we think and its beauty. Beauty speaks of the relationship, not about a something in itself. do into love. We experience God in his reality, in his works, in his will, as someone who attracts us because of his beauty. And here the reference goes once again to Saint Gerard for whom "the will of God is beautiful." He said this in a moment that was not so beautiful for him.

Living so profoundly, one has his/her gaze fixed on Christ and finds that in Christ everything becomes beautiful. All is beautiful in God who leads us to himself. So we can say that this Grade is about "the gaze of those who are in love with Christ"; the gaze that cannot turn away from him, that finds all the joy in him, all the beauty that fills the human heart.

To summarize our way of reading the Grades of Prayer: In the first five Steps we have some elements that mark our lives, such as pure faith, hope and trust that is annihilation in God’s liking. In the fifth Grade everything is reduced to love. These are the underlying dynamics of our ‘spiritual’ way, when we put our trust in the Spirit. This is Faith which does not stop at works, but reaches to the presence of God who wishes to offer himself in Christ. This is the basis of everything. God is the presence of love. We affirm first the presence and then know God who is our closest Friend to whom we can speak familiarly. Faith is intended not as our ‘yes’ to certain formulas, but as our ‘yes’ through formulas to the presence of Christ who bestows upon us the Father’s love. This is the basic attitude

The second basic attitude is that God is love offering himself, love that wants us to entrust ourselves to Him without conditions. “Even when I do not understand, I trust in you. I do not expect to understand in order to trust, I trust and then I will understand.” If God is the presence of love, trusting unconditionally is the answer. When we trust, we can then understand.

The third attitude is what Crostarosa calls annihilation. Having the gaze of Christ means to grasp the plan of God for others. At times it is even against the thinking in the culture of others who are involved, yet we can see the Spirit leading us to the fullness. Annihilation means we do not stop at appearances, but as we find what is more profound it will not deny the facts seen by others, but helps to find the deeper meaning within.

The gaze of Jesus in the Sanhedrin (cf. Luke) - Peter’s tears connect him with Jesus’ look. Peter denied Jesus, but Jesus does not stop on what appears to be "no" said by Peter. He makes evident Peter’s desire to love, his total gift. This kind of looking annihilates our own faults, makes us look also at ourselves with that look of Jesus which finds god’s plan in everything. All this leads us to the subject of the Fourth Step, living God’s liking. We live in the prospective of giving pleasure to God, because we taste his will - the reciprocity of delight. This category - the liking/delight in God's will - should accompany us all the time. The will of God is our happiness.

The fifth fundamental attitude is to transform everything we think and do into love. The liquefaction of love - that is, everything that happens in us is good, it is also beautiful and everything must become love.

The first Five Degrees are essential. The others tell us, how that reality is to be developed. Starting from the Sixth to the Ninth Step, Crostarosa tells us how the special gifts guide us to Christ’s love.

The Sixth Step reminds us that everything given to us must become our substance, our life, this regards not only special gifts but our whole life. Celeste speaks here of having a unified personality, which results from the fact that we are nourished by God. The Seventh Grade talks about having a deeply Trinitarian dynamic of life. Living in the breath of God, dealt with in the eighth Grade, means to let Christ hurt us constantly with his love.

To nourish ourselves with God, with God's breath, being hurt and constantly tending to the love of Christ, leads us to the spousal love of God. The other gifts are powerful experiences that renew our personal union with God. Of course, what I suggest, is an attempt of an overview, with the awareness that this framework should not be read strictly. We could thus summarize the whole way of the Grades!

The Grades 1 to 5 show us, what leads to union with God; Steps 6 to 9– tell what the spousal union in us practically means; Steps 10 to 16 – treat of what renews the personal union in us. However you can also reverse the order because this is not a systematic theory; it is a proposal.

Of course we have to notice the progress, as when we arrive at the Ninth Grade, there is that attempt to form a sort of teaching. The Grades placed in this background tell us about the spiritual life as a journey, we must never think that we have already reached spiritual maturity. For a Redemptoristine the journey starts every day. Do not worry about verifying the preceding path, but let the Lord guide the journey.

The second aspect in the Grades, Crostarosa tells that the spiritual path is not something that we do, but it is a gift which the Spirit freely gives us. The Lord himself gives us so much freedom, so much beauty that we can communicate these to others.

(Conference - Conclusion of Step Five)

Jesus, the Word of God and the simplest Being, the Virtue of all our virtues

by Fr. Domenico Capone, C.Ss.R.

An excerpt from the book “Sr. Celeste Crostarosa and St. Alphonsus de Liguori; Meetings and Spirituality, from the History of 18th Century Spirituality” (pp. 227–230)

After the communication on the nobility of the soul’s being, which is a participation in the creative powers and grace of the primal divine being, Sr. Celeste follows on with a doctrine about the moral and spiritual action that flows from such a participation in the being of the soul….

The first Dialogue, being the first manifestation of the doctrine of Sr. Celeste is also “part of the plan” for the Work that she would soon begin. The Lord clarifies the doctrine of the spiritual and moral values, which are fundamental for the spiritual life. He says:

“Daughter, I am a totally perfect and most simple being, in which all the virtues are contained, there being in Me a single being and a single substance and fullness, a single most simple virtue, in which they are all contained: both the moral and all the others.”

So the virtues that are found in us as multiple “habits,” in Jesus are one “single most simple virtue that contains all our virtues.” And Jesus says that they are a single virtue, because they are contained “in His being, in His substance and fullness.” Here, according to Sr. Celeste, it is the Lord Himself who suggests a term that is used by the philosophers, but which has now become fundamental in spiritual I am a totally doctrine. We shall use it ourselves, since it expresses a great philosophical and theological truth. Saying that perfect and the virtues are a single virtue contained in the being of most simple Christ is for us the same as saying the spiritual or being, in which moral virtue has a Christic and ontological content: all the virtues onto-logy means: a discourse about the entity as “existing,” and therefore from the “being.”[1] are contained. (M.Celeste) Here is the first consequence of this lesson of the Lord: the virtues, before being linked with spiritual or moral action, as “habits” generated by the ascetic repetition of acts, so as to become perfect, that is, stable capacities of our powers that make the virtuous acts easy, are linked to the being of Christ in us, understood as an “energy,” the most dynamic “virtue,” that is already a “fullness” of “vitality.” From this ontological richness of our person in Christ flows the richness of our spiritual and moral acts, the richness of our perfected spiritual life. This ontological link between our virtues and the being or substance of Christ, as the Virtue of all virtues, requires that we turn to

Christ, not just simply for help in perfecting our “habits” with the “repetition of acts,” but as a “Virtue and Fullness who is to be set in us as an internal principle, as a subject, as a substance which illuminates us, fortifies us and moves our powers to virtuous acts. They are reflections of the action of

Jesus in our being and therefore on our powers, our individual, spiritual and moral acts. Here is the value of asceticism, even in its technique, which is no longer just technical, but is now spiritual, because it helps to take away the obstacles that retard the action of Christ in us internally; His substantial charity is transforming, especially through sacramental action.

Here in this ontological conception of our spiritual life, we can understand the unique importance of the action of the Holy Spirit of Christ resurrected in us. It is an action forgotten by not a few ascetic directors of the 18th century. It is He who works, we might say, in two dimensions or in two senses: He works in us, because we open ourselves to Christ with love and docility: and this openness is called meditation and prayer (Rom. 8:26-27): it works on behalf of Christ, since the Holy Spirit “takes always from Christ, from the ‘Virtue’ that is Christ in us and inserts it into us and makes it ‘understood,’ and ‘accepted’ by us.” (Jn. 16:14-15)

The term “spiritual” indicates not just the life of our own spirit with our own powers, but even indicates primarily the life of the Holy Spirit in us, in what it receives from Christ, and so Christ makes His “reflections” in us - He “imprints us with His living image,” as a “seal” of God the Father.

This is not our own doctrine: it is the doctrine of Sr. Celeste, or rather of the Lord in communication with her. In fact, she refers to the teaching of the Lord in these terms:

“Since I am an infinite virtue in essence, I make My reflections in you, with you being My likeness. And this likeness I love with that same infinite love with which I love Myself. And from you I receive the satisfaction of being loved with that same goodness with which I love you with an infinite love.”

We love Christ with His very own love: and this the Holy Spirit of Christ will do if we implore Him. So implore Him, beseech Him, beg Him!

Our virtues are “reflections” in us of the infinite virtue of the Lord. Reflections, we should note, are that “He makes us similar to Him.” Similar, not just because He is the model that we are to copy, but because He “makes His own image in us,” He “engraves” it, Sr. Celeste tells us. It is a work of love, as a substance that comes into us and becomes our love toward Jesus. He tells us this Himself: “I receive the satisfaction of being loved, with that very same goodness with which I love you.” The love of God for us is put back into us as our own love for God! What a wonderful condescension of God! This is the wonderful “fullness” of the love of charity. It is an ontological, substantial fullness, and not just moral, ascetic, pedagogic or affective.

Those who are earnest Christians practice their virtues from this love of Christ in them and of them for Christ, in the Holy Spirit. The Lord told Sr. Celeste:

“In every act that you live through love in Me, you live in goodness through Me. Every act or motion of yours that is not for love of Me, is neither a virtue, nor goodness in you. So everything will be a perfect virtue and goodness, when everything will be My own love and everything will be My own goodness.”

Therefore, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus spoke well when she said that, at the end of our lives, we will be judged by Jesus on love. Saint Alphonsus stated that the whole of spiritual life is “the practice of the love of Jesus Christ.” And he established, as a principle of spirituality, the principle of reciprocity of the love of God in Christ for all of us and of us in Christ toward God and toward humankind. It is reciprocity not just the emotions, but also substantial which transforms our being. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit, if we pray to Him humbly and urgently, emptying ourselves of every egoism.

[1] Cf. Collins English Dictionary: ontology: 1. The branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. 2. The set of entities proposed by a theory.

The Charism of the Redemptoristines

Sr. Ida Landry – Ste-Therese, Quebec, Canada

When we talk about the Institute of the Most Holy Redeemer, it seems that we should not forget that it came from a revelation to the Venerable Mother Mary Celeste on April 25, 1725, which was recognized as coming from God by Saint Alphonsus and the theologians of his time. This revelation of M.M.Celeste has been confirmed by the Church to this day, for the Holy See approved in 1985 number 5 of our Constitutions, which cites the text of that revelation given to Celeste by the heavenly Father, who made His will known and by Jesus who knew how to fulfill the will of his Father.

I say this because I believe that we cannot change either the charisma or the spirit of an Institute approved by the Church, as long as the need that motivated its foundation lasts; however we could change the form of actualization, if we would find something better or more efficient. We still see that our Institute as the Father wanted it maintains its reason of being, because its aim is: “That my creatures keep the memory of the eternal love with which I loved them” (FL.1, and that we always have to look how to realize this aim, which is far from being reached. As for the form of actualization of our charism, I think that we have at the present time the best, that is to say the most efficient form for the living out of our charism.

Our Charism

I would like to study or define our charism and its identity in light of what is written in a small book on the ‘Charism of an Institute,’ published by Father Laurent Boisvert, O.F.M. in 2004. Father Boisvert writes: (from memory): “The initial charisma of an Institute includes four fundamental elements,”- (he names them): “Vision, Incarnation, Mission, Fecundity” (cf 2004 pg. 9).

Initial Charism

This is how Fr. Boisvert sees the initial charism or charism of the origins of an Institute: The most fundamental of the four constitutive elements of the charism is without doubt the vision, that is to say the perception of the totality of the Gospel with a particular emphasis or in other words, the grasp of the mystery of Christ under a certain privileged aspect chosen by the founder. It is in that specific aspect of the mystery of Jesus Christ, called the ‘initial’ charisma, that the Institute takes root. Living the charism signifies firstly, the recognition of the mystery of Christ or the aspect of the Gospel which the founder/ress has proposed as the true spirit of his or her religious project. Then it is the special mission of the persons, who live in this project to be a witness of this aspect of Christ or of the Gospel which the founder/ress has favoured. (cf.2004, p48).

Vision

The vision that is the perception of the totality of the Gospel or of the mystery of Christ, seen under the special aspect favoured by the founder or foundress: has the heavenly Father shown Christ and the totality of the Gospel under a special aspect in our charism?

“It has been my good pleasure to choose this Institute to make of it a Living Memory (Viva Memoria), for all the people of the world, of all that it pleased my Only Begotten Son to do for the their salvation in the course of the thirty-three years he spent on earth.. His works are always alive before me and they are of infinite value” (Fl 1).

It seems to me that the vision of the totality of the Gospel, in view of what the Son of God has done for our salvation during his earthly life, expresses the revelation of the eternal Father concerning our Institute. It seems also that Jesus our Redeemer, in all he did for the salvation of humanity (Fl 1), and whose thoughts, words, and actions, etc. are redeeming acts which are still – “alive before the Father and have in His eyes infinite value” (Fl 1), is the Christ, and under this aspect we have to see him as we are Redemptoristines. Is not here the initial charism of our Institute, the aim for which the eternal Father desired it? However, we have to be a memory not of the past: “ … the acts of Jesus are still very alive before the Father” (Fl.1). They are forever part of the life of the risen Christ. I do not know how it is in eternity, but I know there is neither time nor space. All is present, it is here and now that Jesus acts. It is here and now that he prays, eats, sleeps, thinks, forgives, excuses us, suffers, dies, rises, etc. It is in us and through us that he wants to continue to realize his plan of salvation, to continue to live in us his Incarnation. Have we not become his contemporary and fellow citizens? Can we not say that the Holy Spirit brings back this time, through our “living memory” - all that Jesus did for the salvation of the world during his life on earth, which is now a share in his glorified life, no longer subject to time that my creatures and space? might keep in mind the never After saying that we have to be the memory of all Jesus did, the ending love with eternal Father said to Mother Mary Celeste that the “works” of his Son which I have loved are always alive before him and they have an infinite value. He says that them. what Jesus did are “works”, that is to say finished labors, successful as we say: ‘works of art’. He could have said that they are masterpieces of love, humility, obedience, etc… because everyone of Christ’s actions were conscious, wanted, perfectly accomplished and offered to the Father for his glory and for the salvation of the world. Through everyone of them, he labors at the work given to him (cf Jn 17,4) and does always what pleases his Father (cf 8,29). I have to be ‘memory’ of all he did; although he is now in the glory of his Father, I must allow him to become present in me, to live in me, to actualize his works in me and this happens each time I remember all this.

For other Institutes, their charism will be Christ in some specific aspect: Christ merciful; Christ, friend of the poor; the Christ child; or Christ Son of the Father etc.; for us – it is Christ, the Redeemer and we have to be the living memory of all he did for the salvation of humanity during his life on earth” (Fl 1). In order to be his living and authentic portraits we have to stamp on our spirit the features of his life and the resemblance to him (Fl 1). We must – “regulate our life on the Gospel,” (Fl 1) for it is there that we can see what Jesus did during his mortal life and how he did it. As for the aim which the heavenly Father wanted our Institute for, it is: “that my creatures might keep in mind the never ending love with which I have loved them” (Fl 1).

It is known that the Church cannot base the establishing of an Institute on a private revelation. I like to hear Saint Alphonsus say to Mother Mary Celeste that he did not found the Congregation on

what she thought to be a revelation from the Lord, but in obedience to his director, in order to fulfill the will of God. As for Mother Mary Celeste herself, she began by taking no account of what she heard, then doubting seriously and finally, on the counsel of her elder sister, she told everything to her mistress of novices. She referred Sr. M. Celeste to her director, who in turn sent her Saint Alphonsus, to examine the matter. He recognized that it came from God and strongly encouraged the Sisters of the community to embrace the new rule revealed to Sister Mary Celeste. This opinion was shared by the theologians of his time. We can say that our Mother also looked for the will of God…

Incarnation

How is our charism incarnated? How is it lived? Jesus to M. M. Celeste:

“…you are to live in my Spirit and be a remembrance of the actions themselves of my Life on earth.

Therefore, in every hour of the day, you will lovingly linger over one of the actions of my Life at the time prescribed by the rule; and in this exercise you will receive such an abundance of grace, gifts, virtues, and union with me that you will be raised, without any limits, to the heights of the Divinity and to sublime levels of contemplation”(Fl.8).

What a promise! It is worth to ask for the grace of fidelity, since hold in loving this one has such value. It seems to me that Mother Mary Celeste, who memory at each hour already attained a sublime union with God at the time of this of the day an action revelation, must have followed during her whole life this rule that Jesus of his life. had given her, that is, to hold in loving memory at each hour of the day an action of his life. “The rules that you embrace have two fundamental bases – Jesus had told her. They rest on my life, that is to say on my humility and on my love” (Fl 8). It becomes obvious that the ‘rules’ will be very demanding, because they are about being a memory of all that Jesus, my Son, did for the salvation of humanity during the 33 years that he spent on earth as a mortal man” (Fl 1). As base for our spiritual life, we must have the humility and love of Jesus. We need a lot of humility and love in order to live that spirit, but on this we have made our engagement. Since this is the charism given to our Institute, it will certainly be accompanied with the grace of rank. Let us not forget that being a memory means not only to remember the actions of Jesus, but to actualize them and make them present in our lives, just as in the Eucharist, the priest makes memory of the Cenacle, making present the body and blood of Christ, actualizing his sacrifice, which is to say, to make it present for us in order to live from it through the allowance to unite our offering to his.

Spirituality and Mission

Father Boisvert adds: “Charism covers spirituality which is understood as the perception and incarnation of a specific image of Jesus Christ, as well as His mission. Both are included in the charism as essential elements indissolubly united” (2004, pg. 48).

“ So the charisma logically implies the participation of the spirituality and of the mission” (2004, p4).

What are the spirituality and the mission of the Redemptoristines? Our spirituality, that is to say our way of living our charism, is it not summarized in the words Jesus spoke to Mother Mary Celeste: “With love,… you are to live in my Spirit, and be a remembrance of the actions themselves of my life on earth” (Fl 8)? Remember the works of Jesus, doesn’t that mean to live them in same spirit in which he performed them and to remember simultaneously His love, goodness, humility, mercy, etc, indeed everything he lived, even his paschal mystery?

Is it not also taking into account in a specific manner, the nine rules that Jesus said he gave through his Spirit, to remind us of the nine months he spent in his Mother’s womb? He says: “This is the culmination of your Rules” (Fl 1). I do not believe that the number “nine” is the main word of this recommendation, but these virtues are the ones he manifested especially in his Mother’s womb for nine months, and those which he teaches us in the Gospel, that he lived eminently during his Passion and that he continues to live in the Eucharist. These are charity, poverty, obedience, purity, humility and gentleness, mortification, silence and recollection, prayer, abnegation and love of the cross. Practicing these virtues represents the entire life of the Word Incarnate, the virtues of which we have to be a “living memory.” What is our mission? It is to remember, to actualize what Jesus did to save the world and to give testimony in order to prevent people from forgetting the eternal love with which God loves them. That is the aim for which the Father wanted our Institute, that is to say for the Order and the Congregation; “… that we are a living memory for the whole world”(Fl 1). We are a living Who could say what would have happened if all the members of the memory for the Institute had believed, since 1725, the Father’s words to Mother Mary whole world. Celeste and had made them the motif of their lives, giving special attention to remember with love Jesus’ actions at every moment of the day and uniting their actions to his ? Then, I think we would not only be ‘memory’ because the whole world sees us at work, but rather be the ‘living’ memory of the actions of Jesus as we unite our actions to his. Our life, like the divine Redeemer’s life, would also serve the salvation of the whole world. Why do the acts of Jesus have such value? They all have been made under the movement of the Spirit of love and in a spirit of obedience to the Father and have been offered for his glory and for the salvation of humanity. They are the works of a Man-God: they cannot lose their value. “So that my creatures might keep in mind the never ending love with which I have loved them”(Fl 1). Did the Father say this only to encourage us to be faithful? Or would it be truly the result of our faithfulness? He had also promised: “I shall be the light of your actions, and your soul will eat the living food of eternal life, which is wrapped within the works of my life performed when I was on my earthly journey. Here is the spirit of your Institute: ‘to be the living memory of me… as though I were still living within you’” (Fl 8).

Have we fulfilled our mission well? The Lord added: “My actions and my life will be their resting place” (Fl 8). Is our dwelling place really the life and actions of Jesus? The actions of Jesus, haven’t they saved us and still save us, because they have been performed for our salvation and are the signs of the merciful love of God that has saved us and still save us today? They were necessary to express how far this love was reaching: our actions, united to his, will also say how far our love is reaching. ... Mother Mary Celeste, who was the messenger of Jesus to tell us what Jesus expected from us, adds: “Do we want to know what the soul must do and how we can arrive at this divine union and what is the spirit of our vocation? Our whole life should be lived in union with the life of 27

our Lord Jesus Christ and all our actions must be united with his - in a complete union with him” (Fl 9). This is important, because Jesus revealed to M. Celeste that he will recognize the members of this Institute if they have practiced this and have always been a living memory of his life. Fruitfulness “It is of first importance for an Institute to respect what is specific to the initial, fundamental charism for fear of losing its originality, its uniqueness. The identity of an Institute does not reside only in the particular service it renders, but firstly in the incarnation and expression of a particular aspect of the Gospel which constitutes the initial charism. The founder expressed the fundamental elements of religious life around a certain ‘face’ of Jesus Christ, and his disciples center their lives on this ‘face’ as a way of communion with his total mystery” (Father Boisvert – 2004, pg. 52-53).

Are we all centered on Jesus as Redeemer and on his works still alive before the Father? If I am “memory of all he did,” (Flo. 1) and of the loving way he did it, all my life will be a service for the redemption of the whole world. As all the acts of Jesus are acts of obedience to his Father and all are redemptive, united to his acts, then my acts will also become redemptive and have an infinite value. That is to say that I will need great humility, love and detachment to always renounce my own will, and to choose always the will of God and his plan of salvation for the world.

It is very important to know well the charism of the Institute if we want to respect its uniqueness! Also, in order that our lives have all the fruitfulness, which the Church has the right to expect from it, we have to be Redemptoristines according to the plan of God. The revelation says that our founder is Jesus. Why? He gave us our Rule, he told us how to live our charism, he assured us that he will choose the persons who should be members of the Institute, which he called “My Institute” – and which will bear fruit until the end of the world.

Identity

“The charism of an Institute identifies with the Institute” – says Father Boisvert: “The charisma includes, besides the original charisma and its particular form of incarnation, its history and traditions, its saints, its services, its family likeness etc. Born of a particular perception of the whole Gospel and of its concretization in a project and a group which lives it, the Institute is a gift of the Spirit to the Church for the service of the Kingdom” (2004, p 53).

We Redemptoristines have four major devotions: the Incarnation, the Passion, the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary. From these devotions follow our traditions, which include the special celebration of the 25th of each month, adoration of the Holy Sacrament at the first Friday of the month and during the “Forty Hours”, fasting on Friday, praying the rosary each day and celebrating the feasts of Our Lady in a very special way. We also have a history, of course, where humility plays a very particular role, just as the first members of the Institute, Saint Alphonse and the Venerable Mother Mary Celeste had died in humiliation and contempt. outside the Order and the Congregation they had founded. Among the saints we venerate specially, there are besides Our Mother of Perpetual Help those who were sanctified in the Institute: Saint Alphonsus, Mother Mary Celeste, Saint Gerard and Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer, etc. The ‘services’ we offer are the welcoming of 28

people coming to the monastery, opening our chapel for those who want to pray there, the participation in our liturgies for those who desire to do so. ‘Our family likeness and characteristics’ are humility, simplicity, and joy as we endeavor to “radiate” Christ by keep our “fixed gaze” on Him through the virtue of purity.

Our Constitutions

“The charisma of the Institute includes a particular way of perceiving the Gospel and its implementation in the institutional form determined above all by the Constitutions. It is the whole project of the life of the Institute which is marked with the spiritual intuition, more or less original, of the founder: relationship with God, fraternal community, and apostolic activities, etc. (2004, p 52, Le Pere Boisvert). What do our Constitutions say? We quote Constitution 5: “It was the will of the Father that the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer should have a specific role in His Church: to be a clear and radiant witness of the love He has for us in Christ. … In order that our brothers and sisters may be fully aware of the love by which they are eternally loved by Him, the Father calls us today to be a Living Memorial –a Viva Memoria – a constant Reminder-of all that the Son accomplished for our salvation during his life on earth. It is in this way that the Redeemer is able today to accomplish His work of salvation in us and through us.”(Const. # 5)

Our charism, as well as our way of living, still have all their value today, to be a clear and it is God’s will that we are faithful, because our Constitutions asks this of and radiant us. Fundamentally ‘Christocentric’, our charism is essentially Trinitarian, witness of the because it wants to incarnate the eternal love with which we are loved. love He has for In writing this number 5 of our Constitution, I think of the conclusion of us in Christ. the Gospel of Saint John. In chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, the evangelist tells us: “Jesus worked many other miracles…if you have faith in him you will have true life”. As though he worried that we might think that only the “signs” made in the presence of the disciples were important, he says at the end of the next chapter: “There were many other things that Jesus did …” (Jn. 21-25). These “things” are maybe those who would confirm that Jesus is a real man as well as a real God… Anyway, the “things” and the “signs” Jesus did and which John narrates, summarize his whole Gospel. Well! If we become the living memory of all that Jesus did during his earthly life, we will be “signs” for our brothers and sisters, so that they believe that Jesus is the Christ, real God and real man, who loved them and gives them life in his name. Jesus will be able then to continue saving them, in us and through us.

Evangelical Family

The evangelical family constitute a community of belonging, not in the sense of living under the same roof, but in the sense of a proximity of solidarity, rooted in welcoming and portraying a particular aspect of the Gospel or a certain face of Jesus Christ (2004 p40). So the incarnation and manifestation of this evangelical face witness give it its meaning, because they constitute the reason of being of the one family, the why of its existence. (2004 pg.41)

Do we truly form an evangelical family? In this regard, I think the Redemptorists and our associates should consider themselves as being of the same evangelical family as ourselves, the

Redemptoristines. Do we know well why we are of the same family? Do we all have the same reason to be and become the living memory of all Jesus did during 33 years on earth for the salvation of humanity, so that all people may remember the love with which the Father loves them from all eternity? Does the whole Institute accept this charism as its own? Does each of its members always live in the presence of Jesus? Do they reside in Christ’s life and actions and do they work unceasingly for the salvation of the world? The Redemptorists must necessarily be of the same evangelical family as the Redemptoristines, because the entire life of Jesus will be externally represented only if they and we, the ‘moniales,’ are one. We will show Christ’s hidden life as totally apostolic, and they through their preaching and missionary life, will represent Christ’s public life and will allow our two Institutes to be a memory of all that Jesus did to save the world.

What is the place of the Associates? They have as their mission to live our spirituality in the midst of the world. Saint Alphonsus and the first Redemptorists accepted to have the same charism as we, the Redemptoristines have.

Now the Congregation ‘continues Christ by preaching the Gospel’. If our brothers preach the Gospel in memory of Jesus and if all their live is the living memory of what he has done during his mortal life, are they not yet the sons of Saint Alphonsus, and all the more conformed to what Jesus wanted and expects from them still today? The Congregation also started from the revelation the heavenly Father made to Mother Mary Celeste in 1725… Our vocation is beautiful! And because the works of Jesus are still alive before the Father and have an infinite value in the plan of Redemption, it is even more important for the whole world, that we become for its salvation the Living Memory of all Christ did to save humanity during his mortal life. (Fl 1) Living Memory does not mean simply “remembering” the works of the Savior, but frequently offering, assimilating, and actualizing these works, participating in them which are accomplished in the Spirit and being united with them”. The remembering of the works of the Lord done in this sense is a real school of life, which has to be lived step by step with Christ and which establishes the soul in that “land” that is “in God” where the Incarnation of the Redeemer is always lived.

The greatest problem of all our monasteries is the lack of vocations. Let Jesus fulfill his promise: “If you observe well what I ask from you, I promise to make blossom in your order (the original text may say: “in your Institute”), a great number of souls chosen by me and who are infinitely dear to me… destined to bear fruit until the end of the world” (Fl 1). What is the Lord asking? “Such is my will, such is my pleasure: that you live in memory of me and the works of salvation that, during my life down here, I accomplished for your love” (Fl 1). Let us pray that the plan of the Father be realized in us and through us, so that Jesus can make our Institute last until the end of the world, if such is his will, and that our brothers and sisters do not forget that God, our Father, loved them from all eternity and loves them still infinitely.

Sainte-Thérèse, Canada

Eucharistic Community - A Living Memory of Love (He, who has loved us to the End)

Sr. Kazimiera Kut, OSsR, Bielsko-Biała

The Servant of God, Mother Celeste Crostarosa could not have read the words written by the Fathers of Vatican II in 1963: “…the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. ...especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God… is achieved in the most efficacious possible way…" (SC 10, cf. also LG 11).

Similar words found their place in our present Constitutions, being in harmony with the spiritual experience of our Foundress, who read and comprehended through her interior intuition the truth concerning the Eucharist with the mystical eyes of her soul, in the Holy Spirit: "Oh, marvellous miracle of omnipotence and mercy, in which man lives the life of God, transforms, and identifies oneself with God ...", it is the source from which we drink all the light and knowledge of eternal truths, where we receive streams of love, where immersed in God, we can give abundant fruit of all virtues, particularly charity for this sacrament is love; here we receive the Holy Spirit, with all his gifts!..."1

Celeste experienced personally and deeply the truthfulness of these words. The Heavenly Father in his eternal plan of love drew through her this spiritual approach for us, the Redemptoristines, and for those who make the Eucharist the centre of their life and wish to enrich their own spirituality with the light coming from the writings of our Foundress. Celeste writes the words received in the light of faith as Jesus’ own words: "I have given the greatest gifts to all my creatures in giving them myself in the Incarnation and in the Eucharist."2

It would be good to quote Pope John Paul II noting the same truth about the Eucharist, expressed three centuries after Mother Celeste. "The Church receives the Eucharist, not as one of many gifts, but as the gift par excellence, because it is the gift of self, a gift of a Person." This understanding of the Eucharist and of its role in the life of the Redemptoristine has been briefly, but well recorded in our Constitution 38:

"By the Eucharist, source and summit of our Christian life, the Spirit of the Lord intensifies His love within and among us. Nourished daily by the same word, communicating in the same Body of Christ, we travel together towards the promised Kingdom. For the community and for each one, every Eucharist is a major event to be lived in all its fullness. ... a source of spiritual strength and redemptive joy.”

1. The Eucharistic ‘coming’ of Jesus to Mother Celeste

1 M.Celeste Crostarosa, Esercizi spirituali/ a, med. 18 2 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Dialogues, 1.

Mother Celeste’s whole life was signed with intense Eucharistic experiences, and this in itself is evidence that all her intuitions were born from the Eucharist. Already in early youth she experienced this grace.

Reading her “Autobiography” and “Dialogues” we can trace the Eucharistic ‘comings’ of Jesus to her. Here are quoted some examples: “One Sunday, after the Holy Communion,” she writes: “Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to her with the open wound in His side, and receiving her into His divine heart, He said to her: ‘Enter into this wound, and I Myself will wash you, and purify you of all your sins.’” Later the Lord told her: "I want to be your guide, I want to lead you. Don’t look for anyone else but Myself alone. I will be your Master. Don’t love anyone else but Myself...”3 Another time, when she was experiencing long inner torment, she looked at the tabernacle, and felt healed: “I felt my inner fear being taken away, and you, my love, as you looked at me with the sweetest look of your divine love, gave me a divine sign, every sort of pain was taken from me”4.

The Eucharistic, spiritual meetings mentioned above, happened in her young years, even before her religious life. They are full of light and warmth, they are "sunny", as she described her experiences in her Autobiography:

"Look at the material sun, how it illumines the plants of the earth, warms them and makes them grow, so that they may give back flowers and fruits, and it makes the whole world happy with its brightness. …This sun, which you see in the visible world, was created as a symbol of the divine sun, which with My divinity, gives light to the interior world of the soul, with the same effect that My divine presence produces in souls… the plants of the virtues grow in your soul with the warmth of My Spirit… I make the light to illuminate your intellect and light up your will in My divine love; and by My divine warmth I dry up those bad humours that produce disordered passions, and I destroy the soul’s imperfections in those who keep their eyes open, and look at Me, and make My divine splendour enter into them…”5

Celeste’s Eucharistic meetings marked the rhythm of her spiritual life, from the beginning to the end. The mystical union and transformation is its culmination, described in the last pages of the "Dialogues", when being transformed into Him, she offers herself to the Father for all people:

"This morning I went to Holy Communion and you transformed me into yourself …and I began to sacrifice myself to the Father for all men, something which I had never done before. I began the Mass at the Offertory and offered myself to my Father in satisfaction for sins, I sacrificed my will to your Divine will in a perfect oblation, as you did in the Garden, and I destroyed all the actions of my passion in this Sacrifice. I experienced all the precious and divine acts which my soul, in it’s most perfect state, has performed, together with that unspeakable glorification which now, through my passion, my soul has merited to enjoy in every sacrifice that is offered in the Church. Moreover, I tasted all the merits and graces

3 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Autobiography, p. 32 4 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Autobiography, p 61 5 M.Celeste Crostarosa. Autobiography, p. 32. 32

which all the souls of the faithful receive through my passion – all of these souls are glorified in my humanity, that humanity of mine which alone is united to the Word."6

"That identification with Christ in the Eucharist is authentic if it is transferred to our everyday life.”

Also, if we allow the Eucharistic Being of Christ to always guide us towards becoming a gift, until the end. This should be the main criterion of our decisions. This was the life of Crostarosa. We are called not only to celebrate the Eucharist, but above all, to become ‘a living Eucharist’ in all the situations we live."7

2. The Eucharistic Birth of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer

2.1) Every important step in M. Celeste’s life was accomplished through the Eucharist, including the foun dation of our Order. Jesus reveals His will in the moments of most intimate union with Him after the Holy Communion. This is the first message given by Jesus, not yet fully clear:

“One morning, after I took communion ….an overwhelming force melted my heart: I was penetrated by the most pure eyes of my beloved God, with a very great internal clarity. So when my soul was totally occupied with its interior silence, the Lord said to me: “I want you to be the mother of many souls that I wish to save by means of you.” Among other things He showed me a company of religious souls whom I did not know, and added that I was to found monasteries.”8

This becomes clearer as Celeste continues with her description of the birth of the Order in “her heart.”

“Years ago, on Rogation day, when I had just taken Communion, a sweet love began that made me yearn for my Jesus, and in it I felt my whole soul being drawn towards Him. Through a clarity of purity, He let me see Him in a beauty that I cannot describe, uniting me to Himself with His hands, feet and side, with an indescribable jubilation of love. After this brief moment, He enabled me to see myself anew, and in a very great clarity of light I saw Him, with His finger, writing on my heart with His blood; and at that time He made me understand all the value of His life and that He wanted to give me a new Institute that would serve the world as a memorial of what He had done for mankind. In this He gave me such a great knowledge of what must be contained in this Rule with great clearness, and He ordered me to write down everything in His name just as He had shown me. Another morning He let me see

6 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Dialogue 9.. 7 Fr. Sabatino Majorano, L’Eucaristia e Maria nella vita e negli scritti di Maria Celeste Crostarosa, Foggia 2005, p. 22 8 Maria Celeste Crostarosa, Autogiography 33

how majestic He was in Holy Communion, with His tunic in the form of the vestment that this new Order would have - what a sight! I will never forget it.”9

The Eucharistic community of the Redemptoristines received the Rules, written by M. Celeste on paper, but the Lord, at the time chosen by him: "He ordered her to write the rules in his name and she was writing them an hour each day after Holy Communion – they were imprinted then in her heart and memory.”10

2.2) There is still another event worth attention. God intervened in the history of the first community of Scala in an extraordinary way, we can call it a Eucharistic way.

It happened in 1732, when the Congregation of the Redemptorist Missionaries was being born. At that very time, just before the official inauguration of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, on Thursdays during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, when people were praying in the chapel of the nuns; M. Celeste and the first Redemptoristines, St. Alphonsus and others, all saw the instruments of Christ’s Passion in the Blessed Sacrament.

Bishop Santoro in his letter of February 7, 1733 wrote to Cardinal Bankers of Rome, and sent under oath about 20 witnesses to Sancta Dei Evangelia, as was customary at that time. The Bishop wrote: "I have the honour to enclose the small investigation that I made, including all the depositions of the persons who admired the marvellous signs appearing in the Sacred Host during expositions of the Blessed Sacrament in the small church of the monastery of the Most Holy Saviour, in this town of Scala, in the months of September/ November, of last year."11

God gave us that sign at the beginning of our Redemptorist history. Our Eucharistic spirituality is not based on signs though, it is based on M. Celeste’s spiritual experience and on her spiritual message. “A Vision is not essential, or is it of the most importance, but to understand what God wishes to convey by means of a vision is more important. However, signs “provide a better understanding of the reality and they help in making a specific commitment."12 Those signs can be read as a unique gift of the Father for us - for the Redemptorist family.

3) The Eucharistic life of the Redemptoristine Communities – in the Living Memory of Jesus’ Love “To be… living Eucharists for the Church and for the world." (Const. 7)

3.1) We repeat – “What was most important in Mother Celeste’s life happened during the Eucharist and through the Eucharist and then permeated her whole life.” She understood that to become like Christ, she had to make Him her nourishment, as He is "the food, substantial, real and divine."13 Eucharist is the only medicine capable of curing her weakness and sin, the nourishment that heals, purifies and makes Christ’s blood circulate in her veins - (her symbolic language). That nourishment awakens new life in her and forms a new person as the image of Christ. Mother Celeste

9 Maria Celeste Crostarosa, Letters. 10 Maria Celeste Crostarosa, Autogiography 11 SH, 1953, p. 75-76 12 cf. Spidlìk, Commento al Vangelo for April 21. 13 M.C. Crostarosa, Florilegium n. 9. 34

was burning with ardour to have a pure heart and the Eucharist was perceived by her and lived as a moment of purification, as her new baptism:

"Whenever you receive Me sacramentally, you should desire at the same time to receive once again the baptismal stole which is in My divine heart, together with My blood. It is certain that each time you enter within Me in a union of love, you will not go forth again except as pure and beautiful."14 Then she prays with delight: "In this immaculate unleavened bread of your blessed flesh, the flesh of your beloved spouse is transformed, and is sanctified in you… by your power alone the soul is transformed into God; …with your immense purity you convert our stained flesh into your most pure and immaculate flesh.”15 In the Eucharist she receives a new heart, totally dedicated to Jesus and his works.

3.2) Holy Communion is for M. Celeste a meeting with a Spouse, lived and prepared for with love and expected with joy. She teaches us the same:

“In order to prepare themselves well, the evening before they will pray and being retired they will direct their thoughts to Our Lord Jesus Christ present in this Sacrament. They will animate holy reverence and spiritual joy, as they are so fortunate to receive their sweet Spouse. While they receive Holy Communion, they can say mental acts, for instance: ‘My Beloved is all mine and I am his’ or ‘I found what my soul ardently desires’”.16 3.3) M. Celeste lives the Eucharist as a deep personal encounter/meeting with Christ the Bridegroom, with her very important desire to save her brothers (and sisters) in Christ. Her Eucharistic experience becomes mission and the most effective way of bringing all dear sinners to the Father. Jesus himself showed her this way of saving others, her brothers and sisters, through the Eucharist:

“Now I will teach you what you must do to bind to My very own Heart all these sinners whom I entrust to you. When you receive Me in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, unite your will, indeed, your whole self – by an irrevocable act of self-donation – to Me, and offer yourself to My Heart forever and ever, along with the will of all the martyrs, mingling their blood with Mine; unite with the hearts of all those who love Me and who have loved Me; unite with the heart of My Mother. Then, join yourself to the hearts of obstinate sinners so as to wash them in My blood, bind them to My Heart and thus, present them to My Father and ask Him, through My own Heart, to bring this binding-of-love to perfection for you. I assure you that, for My sake, He will never refuse this; and the same is true not only for you, but for all who do the same thing with a loving heart.”17

So a Redemptoristine participates in the most sublime encounter with Christ carrying the whole world with her, especially "the wounded members of the Mystical Body, who are poor sinners."18 M. Celeste’s works are full of descriptions of her encounters with the Eucharistic Spouse, which

14 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Dialogue 2. 15 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Giardinetto, June 4th 16 SH 1968, p. 224. 17 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Dialogue 2. 18 Ivi. 35

gradually transformed her into the Consecrated Bread offered for the salvation of the world. That is why she can lead us along the ways that shape our soul, our mentality. It means not only to expand the time dedicated to the Eucharist. The mentality of the Eucharist means something even deeper, namely to look at everything and evaluate all according to the spirit of the Eucharist.19

3.4) We can say that all is "Eucharistic" in the life of the Redemptoristines, as well as in every Christian life: first in the morning, when one’s eyes are first opened, everything is the Father’s gift. The first sign of the cross at the beginning of the day, the smile of a sister and bread on the table ... This is very important: everything is a gift of love. We receive everything as a gift. The awareness of this truth creates a climate of our community life, the climate of gratitude and the response is to become a gift for others.

Eucharist is a gift: Jesus offers himself totally to us out of love and wants to be welcomed and then offered to others. If we are faithful to our first Rule, we offer what we have received. Then we truly are “a living memory” of Jesus’ love and we realize Jesus’ great desire as revealed to Mother Celeste: “I came down from heaven to give Myself entirely to you…I gave you My memory… I gave you My Will, by loving you with the same love wherewith I loved My heavenly Father, giving you My own life for their salvation. This is My new commandment, that you love one another mutually as I have loved you: therefore you will devote to your neighbour all your soul….You shall give her your memory, forgiving her from your heart… You shall give her your will, by loving her sincerely…and your body and life should be ready to be sacrificed, if need be, for her eternal salvation, in order that as I have done, you also shall do. May God be glorified. Amen.”20

Life according to that logic of accepting with charity and offering with love, which is according to the logic of the Eucharist, is the true source of irradiation of the community. "Eucharist is a presence which invites."21 That hidden treasure, the hidden pearl, present in a quiet way, does not lose its force of attraction being hidden in the Bread of the Eucharist in the tabernacle. It is like our life, a "hidden pearl" – said Fr. Prof. Andrzej Wodka, CSsR, in June 2011 - "left to the desire and not to advertisement."22 Eucharist and enclosure are here in full friendly harmony. A Redemptoristine is transformed by the power of the daily Eucharist and the community that lives Eucharist, radiates the warmth of understanding and love. A community radiates and attracts, like Jesus in the Eucharist, if it is truly a Eucharistic community.

The authentic participation in the Eucharist makes us a Eucharistic community, generates fruits of mutual harmony, forgiveness, communion, and makes us able to be a gift, becoming a daily sacrifice for others, following the example of Christ. It is important, therefore, not only to offer one’s work for the community, but to work in such a way that every gesture, every word, and every effort may become a sign of love. It means to pray in such a way that my prayer in harmony with others, may become a sign of love for them and for God. Our being at table together in such a way becomes

19 Fr. Sabatino Majorano, Conferences in Bielsko-Biała, 2005. 20 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Florilegium. 21 Paul VI, Homily, June 13, 1974. 22 Retreat before the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bielsko-Biała, June 2011. 36

a sign of Eucharistic love. It means accepting others as Jesus accepts us in the Eucharist and offering our presence to others, so that they can become like bread – that is what M. Celeste writes in our first Rule.

A glance has an important place in M. Celeste’s spirituality; we often speak of the spirituality of a glance, (a fixed gaze). Fr. Prof. Sabatino Majorano, CSsR, speaks about the Eucharistic look at people.23 What does it really mean? “The Eucharistic look means a look that says: ‘Thank you for existing, for being with me.’ Do not be afraid of your limitations, because we can face them together. I am sure you will not get away from me because of my limits, but they will be one more reason to be close to me." Such is Christ and his way of looking at us: the more we are weak, the more He cares for us and is close to us. Father Majorano points out: "Paradoxically, this is the way Christ looks at us, when we are in adoration ... He reminds us that the limits of our human condition do not make him more distant from us, but He himself becomes our strength and the grace needed to overcome our limitations."

Everything in our life is Eucharistic; such as radiating love, the offering of self, and gratitude. When all is accepted, even when it may cost us a great deal – is Eucharistic. Our gaze is Eucharistic when it communicates the goodness of Christ. Our presence at all the community acts, our walking with a sister and meeting people searching for help in the parlour, all is Eucharistic, when rooted in love. Everything we do becomes a sacrament of God's love and our love has a much deeper dimension. Suffering united with the Passion and Death of Christ, actualized on the altar during Mass, is also Eucharistic. In this mutual and self-giving love Christ is radiated, and that is what being his living memory means.

Being a radiant, Eucharistic gift and living within the enclosure like Jesus in the tabernacle, means to attract people with His divine power and in an inexplicable way raises them above the ordinary.

There is a space to meet people who come into our specific Redemptoristine monastic life. What do we offer them? All our meetings depend on our communitarian and personal meetings with Jesus-Eucharist. "Here [in the Eucharist] Christ personally welcomes persons oppressed by difficulties and fortifies them with the warmth of understanding and love."24 If we experience such meetings, then we can radiate Christ, in a sharing with our brothers and sisters. We have a word for them and we are able to listen and to offer a healing gaze.

We can become in the Church, in community, united in the Eucharist. M. Celeste’s wonder can also become our awe and prayer for the unity of our community and for the Church: only a united community can radiate the loving presence of the Risen Lord and be his living memory: "What an admirable gift: from many grains of wheat the Lord makes a single loaf of bread, the grains are all the loving and faithful souls united by the fire of His divine love into one humanity, the blessed Church – His Bride."25 Here the gifts of unity and mutual love are poured into our hearts with the Body and Blood of Christ. Here we are all one and equal for we receive Jesus Himself in Holy

23 Una perla nascosta, Foggia, March, 2007, p. 21. 24 John Paul II, July 9, 1980. 25 M. Celeste Crostarosa, The Little Garden, June 4th. 37

Communion. Communion with the Body of Christ is at the same time communion with the /mystical/ bodyf the Church.

M. Celeste experienced that particular union of hearts during Communion: Jesus puts His Divine Heart into her heart and being in Him she feels the pulse of every heart:

"Then I observed that the hearts of all those who love you, beat there and in it were stamped all the souls you have created and redeemed. With them in your Heart, mine was melted into those souls." Then she hears Jesus’ desire: "I want this, so that you too will have the same love for them with which I loved them ardently. You must think no more of yourself, but about the salvation of these souls.”26 M. Celeste in dialogue receives this message: “Especially dear to you as brides, will be the souls of this community in which you live,”27 Not only in her community, but in Holy Communion Jesus gives her his heart that embraces every human being. She feels it like this:

“You have bound my heart in such a manner that I think Your every member is attached to my heart, O my Jesus, and of all the souls that are my neighbours I bear their imprint engraved in my heart that is your Heart.”

“From the very hour that I espoused them in this divine heart I have suffered a continual languor of love in my spirit that always raises its voice to you, my Lord for the salvation of their souls (...). My whole soul has become a flame, but not to enjoy rest…. my spirit always raises its voice to you, my Lord, for the salvation of their souls.”28

The Eucharistic community is formed by Redemptoristine Sisters who become a flame, "fire in the Fire" to "live only to love, and to always burn with love."29 This is the way the Church entrusts us: “…to be clear and radiant witness of the love /the Father/ has for us in Christ.” (Const. 5)

Bielsko-Biała, 2011

26 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Dialogues. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 M. Celeste Crostarosa, Exercises of love, a.

Remembering the Actions of the Life of Jesus

Sr. M. Christiane Kammerlocher O.Ss.R., Landser

(first published in VM #11 1995)

I would like to add another reflection which has come to me in prayer. It is on the subject of remembering the actions of the life of Jesus of which we should be mindful.

“Such is my will, such is my good pleasure: that you remember me and the works of salvation which during my life here below I accomplished out of love for you “(Rule of Scala: the Design of the Father): It is Mary who has made me understand that: All her life Mary was occupied with her remembrances of the words and the actions of her Son. “As for Mary, she kept all these things with care, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Lk 2, 19; 2, 51) At every hour of the day the mother of Jesus pondered upon the life and the works of her Son. Is this not what the Lord asks us to do?

Our educator, it is the Virgin Mary. She alone has formed Jesus, she alone knew him, she alone is able to make us enter into the memory not only in thought, but like herself, in order to let us be transformed. .. If we do not have a Marian soul we will have difficulty in entering into this desire of Christ.

Let me recount my experience: When I entered the monastery in 1948 we were faithfully making the intentions of the hour. But the life of Jesus truly penetrated my life when I was asked to live certain events of the passion of Jesus.

The daily event, whatever it is, makes us remember the life of Jesus. Whether that is liturgical prayer, personal prayer, the life hidden in tiresome employment, or the misunderstanding, the cross under all its forms… In all these events Jesus wishes to relive in us his Paschal Mystery. For that it is necessary for us to be penetrated by the Scripture in order to react truly as a spouse of Christ – “to exchange our life for that of Jesus in such a way in the souls of the well-beloved and to be in this way his witnesses.” (Autobiography)

Let us begin by loving and we will come without thinking about it to humility of the heart for love carries within itself humility, one forgets oneself quite naturally for those whom one loves.

St. John Nepomucene Neumann (1811 – 1860)

by Fr. Gilbert A. Enderle C.Ss.R

A short biography based on the article, written by Fr. Gilbert A. Enderle C.Ss.R. published in Spicilegium Historicum 59 (2011) 3 -34 In this article, which is available in full length through the VM Commission, you will find all sources for the report. Here, the quotations from Fr. Enderle’s article are printed in italics.

In Prachatitz, Bohemia, the first son was born to Philipp and Agnes Neumann, who had already two daughters at March 28, 1811. At the same day the child was baptized in the town’s church and got the name John Nepomucene in honor of St. John Nepomucene, the patron of Bohemia. Later two more sisters and a brother, Wenceslaus, completed the family. John’s mother was of Czech ancestry, the father had come from Bavaria to Bohemia, so German was the family’s basic language and culture. By John Neumann’s own description both of his parents were «deeply Christian». His mother attended daily Mass whenever she could. However, such faithful attendance was not possible for his father, as on weekdays he went early to open his place of business, a small shop for weaving stockings. A special influence which John’s father passed on to him was a passion for reading, something that marked this elder son all his life.

In 1818, when he was seven, John began his schooling at the village school in Prachatitz. In that same year he was instructed for and received his first Sacrament of Reconciliation. Confirmation came when he was eight. According to the practice of the day, his First Communion was delayed until he was ten. As a very young child he thought of priesthood as a role too exalted for him. Yet in his last two years of elementary school in Prachatitz, 1822-1823, when other young men his age signed up to take some basic Latin from the local catechist, he went along with them. Then the thought of being a priest began to take root. By November of 1823 it was time to begin the next stage of schooling called the Gymnasium (somewhat equal to a secondary, or high school, in many of today’s cultures). This meant he was a boarding student thirty miles away in Budweis and somewhat on his own although he was only twelve years old. This time was not at all a pleasant one in John’s life, because of some rather unsuited teachers. By 1827 he considered giving up his studies; it was his mother and his older sister Veronica who talked him into continuing. He was then glad they did, for he found the next stage of his studies, the Humanities, much more to his liking. Besides the studies of philosophy the courses embraced different natural sciences, which John

appreciated very much. The Cistercian priest-professors managed to make the studies appealing. John also enjoyed the company of his fellow students. In 1831 it was decision time: was his future to be law, medicine, or theology? His father wished him to study medicine, while his mother thought he should give theology a try. He ended up applying for, and was accepted into Budweis Theological Seminary. The required theology curriculum for Neumann was to take up the next four years. He began these studies at the Budweis seminary in November of 1831, soon discovering his special attraction for Sacred Scripture (notably the letters of St. Paul) as well as Hebrew and Church History. In his second year at the Budweis seminary he began looking toward the missions in America. This inspiration came from reports of a mission society in Austria.

As the call and dream to serve in America grew, Neumann chose to transfer from the local Budweis seminary to the archdiocesan seminary program in Prague for his last two years of theology. This decision was made partially because he thought that Prague offered a better opportunity to develop his knowledge of English and French. The University of Prague was generally a disappointment to Neumann. In his opinion, the theology courses were far too «free-thinking» and decidedly short on loyalty to the pope. He found his own ways to study the Fathers of the Church and some of the established theologians. His intention to study English and French at the university was also wrecked: there were no English courses and he was not allowed to attend the French classes. So he continued to study these languages privately. In spite of his difficulties in Prague, he passed all of his final examinations there and returned to his home diocese of Budweis in 1835.

But once he returned to Budweis, he faced still more disappointments, the greatest of which was that there was no hope of his being ordained a priest at this time. … There were too many priests in Budweis, and not enough places in which they might serve. The result was that many young men were still awaiting ordination. All these factors, of course, turned Neumann’s mind all the more toward America, but here, too, he was encountered difficulty. It was known that several American bishops were eager to have European priests. But there were also several hurdles that first had to be cleared. For instance, one’s local European bishop had to give his official release. Then there was the matter of procuring travel expenses and a legal passport.

Finally, in February 1836 Neumann left Budweis, choosing not to bid a formal farewell to his family in Prachatitz so as to avoid «mutual sorrow of separation». His first idea was to go to Philadelphia, but at the first stage of his journey in Munich Neumann heard that this diocese didn’t any longer look for foreign priests. However other American dioceses did, so he continued his journey via Augsburg and Strasbourg to Paris, staying on his way with friends and acquaintances and gathering letters of recommendation from clerics, he knew. Two priests had promised to write to American bishops on his behalf, so he waited for one month in Paris for the answers. In the meantime his meager funds had dwindled. However, his valuable assets of love for his family, trust in the Lord, and his resolve to be a missionary in America were not depleted. So he travelled to Le Havre and found an affordable passenger ship that would take him to New York as a self-supporting passenger on the middle deck.

After a six week voyage he set foot in the city of New York on Thursday, June 2, 1836. New 41

York’s Bishop John Dubois had got one of the recommendation letters from Europe and had been eagerly awaiting the German speaking young man. He housed Neumann in his own residence and ordained him to the priesthood on Saturday, June 25, 1836 in the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral – only three weeks after his arrival. The next day Neumann celebrated his First Mass with a crowd of German Catholics, who was delighted with the German speaking young father.

Then he was en route to his assigned station among the German-speaking people of rural Erie County, a journey by boat, train and boat again. On the way to his assigned location, there was a stopover in the town of Rochester, where he had the opportunity to exercise «his priestly faculties» for the first time. In his own words, «I preached there twice on Sunday, heard confessions, and baptized, all this for the first time in America». By July 13, 1836, Father John Neumann was ten miles north of Buffalo, New York, at the site of his first parish in Williamsville. Or, we can better say, his several parishes, because besides of the parish of Williamsville he had charge of two other churches in other places and of several scattered German communities. In the summer 1837 Bishop Dubois visited Fr. Neumann. He was accompanied by Fr. Joseph Prost C.Ss.R., whom Neumann had already met the year before in Rochester. The Redemptorist, then superior of all Redemptorists in America, asked the young priest to join the Congregation, but Neumann refused. He later mentioned that in those days time he did not «have a spark of a vocation» in the direction of life in a missionary order.

In September 1839 Neumann’s younger brother Wenceslaus arrived in America to take upon himself the household duties. This relief in the life of Neumann gave him more time to be out and about among his people. But all his stressing pastoral activities weakened Neumann’s strength, because he had spared himself no pain among his widespread commitments. In spring 1840 he caught a fever which stayed with him for three months. This experience was the occasion when a desire grew within him to live in a community of priests. On September 4, 1840, he wrote to Father Joseph Prost for admission into the Redemptorists. By September 16, he had word of his acceptance. But there were difficulties in the communication with his Bishop whose allowance Neumann had to get for his entrance. The Redemptorists promised to handle these things for him. So in early October 1840 he set out for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two- hundred miles south and slightly west for the first phase of his novitiate. His brother followed him later and became a professed Redemptorist brother.

At this time the Redemptorists were only eight years in America, and Pittsburgh was their first stable community foundation. Nevertheless the situation of the Congregation being in process to establish in America caused for Neumann the strangest novitiate one might imagine. With the Pittsburgh Redemptorists being called in all directions to care for German communities surrounding Pittsburgh, Father Neumann found himself celebrating Mass, instructing children, and, in general, serving the «home parish». Finally about six weeks later, on November 29, 1840, Father Prost arrived from Baltimore to invest Neumann in the Redemptorist habit. Not having the proper ritual book, Prost made up a ceremony in his head. Once invested in the habit, Neumann would experience no less than seven more changes of residence during the thirteen and one-half months of what was called his novitiate year. Finally staying in Baltimore for six weeks John Neumann was free from active priestly activity. 42

Later he recalled this time of his novitiate with the words: «I myself was never a real novice, for when I entered the Congregation, it had neither a novice master nor a novitiate in America». On January 16, 1842, at the hands of the new general vice-regent for America, Alexander Czvitkovicz, he professed his vows as a Redemptorist at Old St. James Church in Baltimore.

After his profession Fr. Neumann stayed in Baltimore until 1842. Together with another Redemptorist he took care for the home parish of St. James and for multiple mission stations. These consisted of German-speaking immigrants in the rural locations of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. “The spiritual plight of these people was pitiful”, as John Neumann reported in his letters to his family. In 1842 John Neumann was called back to western Pennsylvania. He was to serve as pastor and a community superior of St. Philomena’s in Pittsburgh. The situation in this parish was in turmoil. A new church, only half built, stood there, donations flew rarely, because the working class people were short of money. Nevertheless, Neumann soon devised ways of collecting small but regular donations from his poor flock so that their new church could be completed. He did so despite very hard economic conditions and a disastrous fire that destroyed one-third of Pittsburgh’s homes. Bishop O’Connor, with exaggeration, was later to claim delightedly that Neumann had «built a church without money». On October 4, 1846, O’Connor dedicated the completed Gothic church. Here in the Pittsburgh community John Neumann had for a short time the later Blessed Francis x. Seelos as a confrere. The Redemptorists were not only responsible for the parish but reached out to surrounding districts where German-speaking people were found. Neumann regularly assigned himself to these outlying mission stations. So much hard work, however, took its toll, and in 1847 he developed a «constant cough, accompanied by spitting of blood… sure indications of pulmonary difficulties».

Therefore the Redemptorist Vicegerent summoned Neumann back to Baltimore, where he arrived in late January of 1847. For a few months his place of residence was at St. James church, which soon became an out-mission when all Baltimore Redemptorists were consolidated in the new house of St. Alphonsus parish.

Neumann began his recuperation period. Then within seven weeks very startling news reached him. Only thirty-six years old, and barely five years professed as a Redemptorist, he was chosen to be the new general vicegerent in America. On March 15, 1847, Neumann now officially and simultaneously began holding three major posts: vicegerent of all the Redemptorists in America, pastor of St. Alphonsus parish, and local superior of the Redemptorist community of Baltimore. In his pastoral tasks at St. Alphonsus parish Neumann had his most fulfilling moments. He established a new school for the parish children, and often catechized them as well as the adults (a skill in which he had excelled for years). With joy he welcomed the School Sisters of Notre Dame in America and took care for the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first permanent African-American Roman Catholic sisterhood in the United States. He recognized the importance of all these outstanding educators for the formation of the children. But in his role as superior of the American Redemptorists John Neumann suffered greatly. The reasons for this fact were diverse. Because most of the Redemptorists belonged to different European provinces, the respective superiors wanted to «micromanage» the American mission 43

from a distance. Moreover Neumann’s American Redemptorists, fifty in number, were polyglot and poly-cultural. They included Austrians, Czechs, Dutch, Bavarians, Belgians and Swiss. These men formed camps which often disliked and mistrusted one another. After a visitation the Visitator abruptly appointed a 24 years old Redemptorist, who had just arrived from Europe, as Consultor-assistant for Neumann. This man, later described as “an ambitious man, of vainglorious and unstable character” caused Neumann much distress by sending unjust complaints of Neumann’s incompetence to the Vice general in Vienna. Nevertheless Neumann was named Vice-provincial when the American mission was raised to the level of a Vice-province. But immediately it was noticed that valid legal procedures had not been followed. Still, he was asked to remain in office until the difficulty could be rectified. To Fr. Neumann’s relief his successor was legally appointed on December 8, 1848, and arrived in America on January 9, 1849. It is no wonder that the difficulties of leadership under such conditions had caused Neumann to think several times of resigning as the American Superior. Nevertheless, he stayed at his post and actually accomplished much lasting good. He put new emphasis on «regular observance» of the Redemptorist Rule. Wherever possible, he curtailed additional expenditures. He also saw to it that the novitiate training of newcomers was put on a solid basis at the house in Pittsburgh, with the saintly Francis X. Seelos as Director of Novices. It was something of an affirmation of the accomplishments of Neumann that the new Vice- provincial immediately chose him as one of his consultors. Neumann was relieved from the responsibilities as pastor of St. Alphonsus Church. So now he was again involved in the pastoral service among the people, visited occasionally the outlying missions and served as confessor to many women religious. During this period, he also authored and issued a third edition of a very basic catechism which he had previously published when stationed in Pittsburgh. It was called the Kleiner Katechismus, a highly condensed work of only sixteen pa The death of his mother on July 16, 1849 and that of one of his sisters one year later darkened John Neumann’s life. Unfortunately he heard of both events only months afterwards as obviously a series of family letters from Europe never reached him.

In 1851 the former Archbishop of Philadelphia, Francis P. Kenrick moved to the bishopric of Baltimore. The diocese of Philadelphia was sede vacante. Archbishop Kenrick, who had chosen John Neumann as his confessor, listed him as number-two choice for the See of Philadelphia and had announced this to the Vatican. When Neumann heard this, learned that it was more than a possibility, he made appeals by way of Redemptorist channels, trying his utmost to head off any such choice. But in late January 1852 the Philadelphia Catholic papers boldly announced that the Redemptorist John Neumann was to be the next bishop of Philadelphia! This turned out to be true – but, when announced, the pope had not yet signed the documents in Rome!

The official confirmation of the appointment reached Archbishop Kenrick at March 1, 1852. How Neumann received word of his appointment at March 19, 1852 is described by his nephew, Fr. John Berger, C.Ss.R.: «Father Neumann after a short absence entered his little cell about dusk. As he stepped toward the small table at which he was accustomed to read and write, his glance discovered something on it sparkling and glistening in the dim evening light. He drew near and found lying there an episcopal ring and pectoral cross. Perplexed, and not daring to collect his thoughts, he hurried to 44

the Brother-Porter to know who had entered his room during his absence. «Reverend Father» said the Brother, «the Archbishop was here, and went up to your room as usual to make his confession». This was enough for poor Father Neumann. The truth dawned upon his mind; he understood only too well the meaning of the episcopal insignia laid upon his table… [He] locked the door and threw himself on his knees. Morning came and found him still kneeling in the same spot… he had wrestled with God through the long hours of night».

John Nepomucene Neumann was ordained bishop on March 28, 1852, the day of his forty-first birthday, in St. Alphonsus Church, Baltimore. He himself had rather preferred to die than to receive the dignity of a bishop, so reported his biographer. Two days after his ordination he arrived at Philadelphia by train, warmly welcomed at the station by a large delegation of the diocesan clergy. At the same afternoon a large crowd of the faithful took part in his installation at St. John’s Pro-cathedral. At that time Philadelphia was already a great city, but the diocesan boundaries reached beyond Pennsylvania into the neighboring states of Delaware and New Jersey, as well as half way into central Pennsylvania. In other words, it was vast, with about 170,000 Catholics. The Catholics of the diocese were in the majority Irish and native-born Americans, but also many German-speaking people and immigrants of many other ethnic backgrounds. Priests in the diocese numbered 100, serving 113 parishes.

On order to become acquainted Bishop Neumann went among people, preached, conferred the sacrament of Confirmation, and visited the county jail, the orphanages, the hospitals and all the religious communities during the following weeks.

In May 1852 he attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore, the gathering of the nation’s bishops. One decision of this Council was the formation of the diocese of Newark, which included the southern part of New Jersey, until then part of Bishop Neumann’s diocese. The Council gave a special impetus to Catholic schools and religious formation. Both pleased the new bishop, who impressed the members of the Council by his knowledge of theology and his humility. Catholic schools and formation was a main interest of Bishop Neumann. He later produced another larger (180-page) catechism in German. Before the Council he had already established the first Central Board of Education for a diocese in the United States. The board’s purpose was to recommend a plan of instruction in the schools and to aid in a general appeal for the construction of parochial schools. He would continue this emphasis on Catholic education in both city and rural areas throughout his episcopate. Even by November 1853 he could write to his father in Bohemia, «The number of children [in the schools of the diocese] has increased from five hundred to five thousand; and before another year has passed, I hope to have ten thousand…».

He was also eager to support Catholic higher institutions of study. Besides the four colleges for male students there were some for women’s higher education. Some of these institutes were developing, other were struggling. Bishop Neumann did what he could to bolster higher education. A shortage of priests in the diocese was a never-ending concern for Bishop Neumann. This was especially true regarding German-speaking priests. He appealed to Europe, but this yielded only one additional priest and one seminarian. Although he had to call some of his own diocesan parish 45

priests to serve as professors at the seminaries, he continued with building and opening new churches, fifty in the first five years. He believed: «Because it is God’s work, it must succeed». Constant challenges for Bishop Neumann were the trustee problems: lay people claimed rights in a parish such as control of finances, and they sometimes had even attempted to control which priest was to serve the parish.

Another burden for Neumann was the unfinished Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. Refusing to go into debts he preferred to build slowly as money was available. So he accepted the years of slow construction. Meanwhile he continued his rounds of parish visitations, to the larger places every year and the smaller ones at least every two years. He preached, visited also the remote communities, and the sick in their homes. Often he celebrated mass or administered Confirmation in public buildings or private homes. Bishop Neumann was deeply devoted to the different religious orders and congregations which, as he said, «…drew down upon our diocese the richest blessings of Heaven». For himself he wanted to remain close to his Redemptorists roots and did not want to stop considering himself fully a Redemptorist. Every week he visited his confessor at the Redemptorist church of St. Peter’s. He also made his monthly and yearly retreats there.

In late 1854 and early 1855 Bishop John Neumann returned to Europe. He had accepted an invitation sent by Pope Pius IX to attend the Solemn Proclamation of Mary’s Immaculate Conception in Rome on December 8, 1854. In addition he used this visit to give the Pope his diocesan status report, he could collect alms for the church of Philadelphia and be on the alert for any additional clergy willing to serve in his diocese. Not least on his agenda was to pay a visit to his aged father and other family members. Bishop Neumann felt deeply grateful for the opportunity to take part in the solemn ceremonies and for all the experiences of his visit in Rome.

After finishing his duties in Rome, he arrived home in Prachatitz in February 2, 1855, joyfully greeted and embraced by his father. Although he tried, John Neumann was not successful in keeping his home visit a modest affair. A number of public and private receptions were held for him as the honored guest. Finally, however, he did succeed in quietly taking leave of Prachatitz before dawn on February 9. On March 28, he arrived in New York.

The bishop came home to the challenges of his large and growing diocese…. It was the era of «Nativism» with its shortsighted slogan of «America for Americans». The native-born Americans in their bigotry resists violently to new immigrants, ignoring that they themselves were descended from immigrants. Nor did they admit that immigrant labor was occupied in the expansion of America in its wilderness areas. Posturing as super-patriots, the Nativists especially feared Catholic immigrants, seeing them as enemies of freedom who were «dominated by the Romish pope». Neumann was kept constantly on the alert to safeguard such matters as property rights of the Catholic Church, and the continuance of his program of Catholic education. Yet, generally speaking, Neumann was also careful not to get caught up in the religious polemics that sometimes filled the public press. The economic downturn of 1854 and 1855, with many Catholics finding themselves unemployed, added to Neumann’s financial concerns. Nevertheless, in 1855 the Bishop was able to establish a new orphan asylum in his diocese. 46

In this time, he also founded a new group of Women Religious; for this he had got permission during his stay in Rome. For this new congregation, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Bishop Neumann wrote the initial rule of life, and received their first religious vows in the year 1856 in his private chapel. They first served the immigrant poor, eventually expanding their ministry into hospitals and teaching. By the early 1900s this Franciscan community was to have almost 800 members.

Meanwhile, just as the city of Philadelphia was continually growing, so was the total of Catholics in Neumann’s diocese. In 1855 no other diocese in the United States could match its numbers: an estimated 250,000 Catholics, who were served by 145 churches. It was simply too much for one bishop, and Neumann began petitioning for the See of Philadelphia to be split into two or three dioceses. He said he would gladly take a smaller, less important diocese. Despite of all his different concerns Bishop Neumann remained at heart a pastoral-minded prelate. At least five months of the year he visited the communities of his large diocese and he even set about to learn Gaelic in order to minister the increasing number of Irish people in the confessional.

Although Bishop Neumann had wanted and petitioned for the leadership of a smaller diocese, it was not until February of 1857 that his plea was heard, and, in a fashion, granted. The answer came by the appointment of a coadjutor bishop named James Frederick Wood, who had studied in Rome and was praised for his suavity of manners, his learning, and his piety. He was just thirteen years ordained when he was chosen to be both Neumann’s helper and successor.

Bishop Wood had obviously understood that Bishop Neumann soon wanted to resign from the See of Philadelphia. This was not the case at all. So the coadjutor was very uncomfortable and disappointed when he was charged with many administrative affairs, especially the financial management of the diocese. In his letters he complaint about Neumann’s “little skill” in money matters and tended to assume an attitude of patronizing superiority towards his Bishop. Bishop Wood wanted to become himself head of the diocese.

The last months of John Neumann’s life found him making his accustomed rounds of visits to the outlying districts of his diocese. He went on opening new churches and Catholic schools and a preparatory seminary for his diocese. At September 14, 1859, he presided a noteworthy celebration for a further step in the building of Philadelphia’s Cathedral: a large golden cross was placed on the Cathedral dome. But Bishop Neumann wasn’t to see the final completion of this Cathedral.

On Christmas Eve of 1859 the bishop was in the confessional of his own chapel offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation until 11:00 P.M. Then he went to the Redemptorist Church of St. Peter to preside at Midnight Mass. It was on January 4 that he mentioned in a letter that he was not feeling well, something he repeated the next day when a Redemptorist priest came for a brief visit. That afternoon, January 5, he had just left the office of an attorney where they had discussed some business about property deeds when… suddenly he collapsed on the street. Two men rushed to help him. They carried him inside a nearby house. But John Neumann was dead, and the news spread 47

quickly around Philadelphia. His funeral liturgy followed on Monday, January 9, 1860, and was celebrated in St. John’s Pro-Cathedral. Bishop Wood presided; Archbishop Kenrick of Baltimore preached the funeral homily. Neumann had often expressed a wish to be buried among his Redemptorist confreres.

An archdiocesan canonical investigation of his virtues was begun in 1886 in Philadelphia. This was followed by the Roman investigation in 1897, and in 1921 Pope Benedict XV declared that Neumann’s virtues had been practiced «to a heroic degree». The political disturbances of the following years and World War II slowed down the process of beatification. But due to the interest and tenacity of the apostolic Delegate for the United States and the two Redemptorist postulators the process was furthered within the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

When Pope John XXIII was elected in 1958, he showed a special interest in the life and virtue of John Neumann. In fact, Neumann’s Beatification was inscribed on Pope John’s calendar when the pope’s death occurred on June 3, 1963. Consequently the Beatification took place a few months later on October 13, 1963, in the pontificate of Pope Paul VI during the time of the Second Vatican Council. A brief fourteen years later, on June 19, 1977, the same Paul VI proclaimed our quiet, unassuming Redemptorist confrere as Saint John Neumann.

Unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies …. (Jn 12,24)

Sr. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R., Dublin

Today, in a time which denies death and where nevertheless very often prevails a culture of death, Jesus’ remark surely isn’t popular. Most people have an immense desire for life, the ars moriendi of former centuries has nearly been forgotten, unfortunately the ars vivendi is impaired by this, too. As people of our time we Redemptoristines are not totally free of this attitude. That is why we struggle against changes, we don’t want to let familiar situations go – and so we sometimes ignore the promise, which Jesus gives: “… but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” At the moment we are very intensively busy with the preparations for our next International Assembly, where we have to discuss and to decide about necessary changes. Maybe it is helpful at this moment to consider this word of Jesus in the connection with the history of our Order. This history may encourage us and strengthen our trust in the Father’s plan of salvation, the plan of the God-with-us. Sr. M. Celeste’s biography is the first affirmation of Jesus’ promise. Forced by external circumstances she often had to let go familiar situations and had to suffer painful lost: the monastery of Marigliano, Fr. Falcoia’s mistrust of her revelations, the occasional alienation from St. Alphonsus, the long during spiritual darkness, the expulsion from the monastery of Scala and so on. By all this suffering her soul was prepared for the growing of our double-institute. She has given us an example what it means to be a living memory of Christ: remembering His life, His love, a love which did not shrink from death. The book, publish in 1999, about the foundation of our monasteries affirms this fact. It tells how much sufferings and privations the Redemptoristines bore in the course of history, in order to settle the Order in different regions of the world. Frequently the “dying” of a monastery was caused by political difficulties – a new foundation at another place or the strengthening of another convent, i.e. Foggia, often followed. These examples can prevent us sisters from discouragement because of the lack of vocations in many monasteries, especially in the Western world. Our communities celebrate more often the faithfulness of a sister to her profession than the happy start of a new profession. During the 10 years since our last International Assembly the names of 10 monasteries have had to be deleted from our address book. But there also are three new foundations! Does the word of Jesus still stand or will the promised fruit fail to come? Some of the sisters from the closed monasteries who are now living in other convents, and some sisters who are in homes for the elderly on account of their need of nursing care, have been asked by the Viva Memoria Commission to write a short report about the “dying” of their monastery. We are very thankful for their witness. Probably the beginnings of the fruits will be seen at the next International Assembly. There will be the new foundations in Thailand and Vietnam, often very insecure and threatened beginnings,

but strengthened by the sacrifices and prayers of those, who had to close their monasteries and whose reports now follow. We ask all, who in the midst of their difficulties don’t no longer dare to believe in the fruits of dying, to contemplate our Constitution 55 and Statute 048 and also the words, the former General Superior Fr. Joseph W. Tobin wrote to our confreres in the Communicanda No 3 in the year 2000, especially in the paragraph 32: “Paul and Alphonsus teach that loss may bring greater spiritual freedom, that is, the liberation of oneself to love more and more unreservedly.” Maybe the Lord is only waiting for us to be a “viva memoria” even in the dying of a monastery, to be people who despite the humanly understandable grieve of upheaval, nevertheless radiate a happy confidence that God never will abandon us.

Closing a Monastery

From Amos to Sainte-Thérèse Sr. Marie-Lyne, O.Ss.R.per le Suore di Amos

The experience of „closing a monastery“ in order to join a new community is without doubt a different one for each sister. Sr. Françoise- Thérèse and Sr. Marie de la Trinité belonged to the group of foundresses; they had undoubtedly the very lively feeling of an unfinished task, especially for Mère Marie-Ange, now deceased. For Sr. Marie du Rédempteur , who joined the Order in 1992, it was quite different, because she found herself here in Sainte-Thérèse a region and a way of life which were more familiar to her; she was happy with it. Sr. Marie-Lyne followed, very simply and availably. Sr. Lucie, the youngest one, was so docile and got pleasure from challenges: she was game to go. Sr. Sylvie, who lived there only during the last year before the closure, says that she can give witness to the faith with which the sisters welcomed the difficult decision to leave the monastery, after having made a sincere process of discernment well accompanied by good advice.

Fundamentally we all knew that our departure was the will of God. Sr. Marie-Jeanne-Thérèse, then our prioress, helped us to go into this “Pascha” with a spirit more supernatural than human.

The fact that we had to leave a town, people who supported us, the Diocesan Church, which had no other contemplative communities, was a trial for us and for them. But all is grace and our presence there remains rather real, even though it was no longer a physical one. These persons continue in getting benefit from our prayers, which are supported by the prayers of our sisters here. They are deprived of a place of prayer which they loved, but as we have here monastic life of greater quality, they surely will not get lost. Without being in Rome we pray every day for the whole Church and for the Holy Father. That’s peculiar to the contemplative life: to travel without changing the place! And it remains furthermore possible to correspond with our friends at Amos. Concerning our integration into the community of Sainte-Thérèse there were some facilitating facts: - We knew the sisters rather well (meetings, a preached retreat in 1997, which united the three communities of the Quebec region, letters, mutual help) - We had a lot of common points in our way of living the monastic life. - We had older sisters and younger ones, so we could build a new community capable of taking care of the older ones. - Not being numerous, we integrated ourselves rather well without upsetting the daily life of our sisters too much, who witnessed a lot of joy and openness which left space for changes, even inconveniences. - The new community is built around Christ; he has gathered us. And he continues in gathering us, he unites in himself our good intentions. That is good! Basically we are Redemptoristines, and that surpasses every frontier, every homeland… I think that we all have proved ourselves as sisters, as daughters of M. Mary Celeste, beyond all our differences. Our attachment to the universal Church has also favoured the daily adaptation of our mentalities to the time in which we live. Maybe this fusion has given to each one of us the possibility of being continually formed by God’s presence, which is astonishing and pushing us forward. The planned foundation in Vietnam surely is one of the most beautiful fruits.

Sr. Marthe Pham O.Ss.R., Ste-Thérèse

You have asked us how we were able to live in peace and serenity our fusion with our sisters in Ste-Thérèse. We made a very sincere discernment in order to know God’s will for us. Let me at first give evidence of the concrete situation: we were a community of seven sisters; five of us were in need of being nursed in an infirmary, so that there remained only two in good health. We could no longer live as a normal community. God’s will was obvious: we had to find a solution, and the best one: That meant finding an infirmary near Ste-Thérèse, where our ill sisters

could stay and where we could visit them regularly, while the other two sisters find their place among the sisters of Ste-Thérèse. Personally I saw God’s will. Certainly this demanded of me some detachments, but after all when we die we have to let go all, whether we want to or not. God is the same everywhere. There is no difference in whatever tabernacle we adore Jesus. It is necessary to live in faith and to offer sacrifices for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. That is why I could live in suffering with peace and serenity even and thus I am happy in my vocation. I understand the sisters who have difficulties accepting changes: age should be taken into account.

Sr. Marie-Lyne Cyr, O.Ss.R., Ste-Thérèse

I entered the monastery of Amos 18 years ago, at the age of 18; I am now 36 years old, soon to be 37. After 9 years in religious life in Amos, the community joined that of Sainte-Thérèse, now 9 years ago. With this nice regular division of life I venture to give a short and simple summary of it as an answer to the question about the fusion of our monasteries. But I will add my personal opinion concerning spirituality.

Amos I was so lucky to read a lot of M. M. Celeste’s writings already during my postulancy, although I didn’t sometimes make much sense of them… What attracted me to this reading was the daily life, which I found rather difficult. Without understanding the “Dialogues”, some words of Jesus and M. Celeste gave me peace during afflictions. That gave me the incentive to search for the deep meaning of the pathway which I saw little by little emerging out of her writings. Today I am able to see a central theme [guiding thread] in the “Dialogues” and to share it with you proceeding from my own experience. I will use a key-word: “self-renunciation”. In this word it is necessary to put all the “negative” expressions, which M.M. Celeste uses: “humility, humiliation, annihilation, death of the ego, self- disdain, purification, detachment, renunciation, etc. In fact, these expressions always seemed to be very liberating for me, very positive, and even attractive, because I had the experience of the deep peace when I practiced these attitudes.

Sainte-Thérèse

The experience of the closure of a monastery in order to join another one was for me simply the continuation of my contemplative life in the following of M. Celeste (or rather of Jesus!)

The detachments of a place, of persons, of habits, etc. has not astonished me; I was familiar with such situations since my entrance into the monastery. It was even quite easy under the perspective that I had in expecting to find here an easier life! But this was an illusion … A lot of pleasures were waiting for me there, the joy of loving and being loved restored my happiness in 52

living in this nice community of Sainte-Thérèse: I am attached forever to each one of my sisters and I nourish myself with their sisterly affection. But through everything else the guiding thread draws me forward, and this thread remains the self-renunciation. For 9 years therefore the renunciations are continuously accomplished for me in all domains: in the inner life (prayer, sisterly relations, and different trials), in the exterior life (tasks, liturgy, schedule, rules), in a word: renunciation of my own will. Often my renunciation lacked love; that leads to nothing, it leads into nothingness.

Only the summit of M.M. Celeste’s path will clarify the deepest meaning of renunciation; that top is the Eucharist. I understand that the inner practice to which Jesus continually attracts and guides M.M. Celeste in the “Dialogues”, the practice which I sum up with the expression renunciation, is simply Christ’s eternal act of thanksgiving to his Father.

Spirituality

Since his incarnation Jesus is a man who totally turned towards his Father, renouncing his own will because he is attracted to that of his Father. At the end of his life, after having practiced day by day inner renunciation, he is thirsting for divesting himself totally until dying on the Cross. This thirst is love. To be thirsty requires that a person is empty, that she has renounced to drink anything else than what she really wants to drink… The renunciation then takes the meaning of a deep love, as a totally accepted longing. In the Eucharist Jesus wants to offer to his Father his whole being, which is yearning for him, in our name. It is he, who offers himself, who renounces himself, but that is the expression and even the substance of the love, which he embodies. All this causes me to say that it seems to me that the “Dialogues” contain this way of Christ so that it will become our way. Not only the “renunciation by love” is the way, in the meaning that we allow Christ to take progressively possession of our will, our intelligence, our whole being, but again, at the end of the transformation, it is again this self-dispossession, that Christ wants to live in us; he leads us into his Eucharistic sacrifice to love and glorify the Father and to love and save humanity.

Sr. M. Bernadette Grundy, O.Ss.R., Liverpool

Deciding to close a convent is no easy task. No matter how long it has been in existence - 10, 20, 50, 100 years - there is always the haunting thought- ‘Is this really what we have to do? - Should we wait a little longer? - Will more women eventually join us?’ There isn’t a standard way of doing it and so each community should pray for guidance, and see how many options they have - e.g. joining with another community of the Order (if there are more than one convent in the country), joining other Orders in one large building but still able to lead the life of the Order. I will now relate what happened to the house in England. On reflection it seems to have worked itself out - and more than one person has said ‘it was truly miraculous and a real answer to prayer,’

In 1897, 8 Sisters were sent from Ireland to found a Redemptoristine Convent in England. It should have started in Liverpool but actually began in Clapham, London. By 1925 London was growing into big city and the Sisters decided to move to Chudleigh, in Devon. The convent was built on a hill, just outside the little town of Chudleigh, and seemed ideal for a community of contemplative nuns. 18 nuns came up from Clapham and many were elderly, but despite deaths, by 1947 there were 28 professed nuns in the community. The Redemptorist Fathers in Canada were asking for an English speaking foundation, and the community in Chudleigh accepted the call and sent 4 Sisters on July 27th 1947 - the 50th anniversary of the English Foundation. After the 1939-1945 war vocations were applying but not all entered the Convent and then after Vatican II they became fairly scarce. So the number of Sisters in Community decreased and the building was too big for the group. We were faced with having to discern what we needed to do for the future. Moving to new premises, trying to decide where to go, were causing some anguish to the older Sisters. Why did we have to move? In the end we all faced the truth and it was decided to consult the Bishops’ Conference to see if any Bishop would welcome a contemplative community in his diocese.

Archbishop Derek Worlock welcomed us to Liverpool and we moved from Chudleigh in August 1990. There were no convents available but it was decided we live in Upholland and occupy four little cottages with three Sisters in each, and use the farm house as a base for Divine Office and Mass and for meals. By August 1991 we had found a lovely convent, vacated by the Salesian Sisters, with 14 bed rooms which was enough room to accommodate the community plus three members of the VIVA MEMORIA COMMISSION, until this Commission moved to the U.S.A. in 1992 The local people were very friendly and helpful and joined us for Mass in our chapel. But not many applicants came to join us. Priests were getting fewer in number, too, and eventually Mass was only celebrated occasionally in our chapel and we had to go to the local church on Saturday evening for Sunday Mass.

As the community grew smaller, it became obvious that something had to be done. It began when one of the Sisters said she would like to go into a nursing home to be cared for. She already had nurses coming in twice daily but they were not there when she needed them most - during the night. She also asked for a visit to hospital for therapy to help her to walk better.

After a month in hospital, Sister took up residence at Nazareth House in Crosby in July 2009. 12 month later the eldest Sister of the four took up residence at Nazareth House as she felt the need for help. This left two - the youngest in age but obviously not as energetic as they used to be! Prayer - and lots of it - was obviously needed and the reply was nothing short of miraculous!

Sister M. Bernadette wrote to the Superior of Nazareth House and asked if they ever given a home to Sisters of another Order who were not in need of being cared for. The answer was ‘we have a two bedroom flat in the grounds of the Home where you could lead your own life and join us for Mass and prayer time if you think this would be suitable.’ I went over to see the property and it was obvious - it was just what we needed. We accepted this offer from the Nazareth Sisters but we could not give a definite date for taking over the property as we had to sell the convent. This work was placed into the hands of our solicitors and surveyor.

The two remaining Sisters were getting very tired and were finding the work of looking after such a big building too much and so they asked if they could move by the end of October. We knew who was going to buy the convent and were very pleased with the way he was going to adapt the building and the grounds. Permission was granted and it proved to be the best answer as by mid November we were deep in snow and ice, with more snow and ice in January. The sale was completed by the end of February and we all said a fervent, Thanks be to God! The situation here in our new lodging in Crosby enables us to live our contemplative life, sharing the mass and adoration and part of liturgy of the hours with the Nazareth sisters and having besides this enough time for private prayer and meditation.

Sr. Ann Marie Gool, O.Ss.R. Merrivale

We have been asked by the Viva Memoria Team to share with the other monasteries our experience of the closing of our monastery in Merrivale, South Africa as a help for those other monasteries that may be facing the same prospect in the future. Our experience was one of a monastery not yet autonomous and belonging to a founding monastery that is still in existence. Our remarks and observations need to be seen in that light. In the case of a monastery closing and the Sisters not having a sending monastery to return to there will be other aspects to consider.

About two years ago we made discernment on the future of the foundation in South Africa. At that time we decided to continue as long as we could. Our Sisters at Liguori said that they would never recall us and left the decision to return to us. By January of 2010 it became clear that with no vocations coming and considering the age and health of the Sisters that we needed to make the painful yet necessary decision to close the monastery. The Liguori Community accepted our decision and said, “Come Home.”

People often teased us about the name of our monastery: Jesus, the Wayfarer. Each of our moves to another location hoped to be a permanent location for the South African monastery. Each 55

of our moves was motivated both by the need for spiritual care from our Redemptorists and the greater opportunity for vocations.

We were encouraged to see our leaving not as a failure but rather to regard it as our being faithful to the mission God had given us. It was His plan and we had faithfully fulfilled it. There was a great unity among us as we worked through the various aspects of the closure and we kept each informed as to what was happening at each stage. There was a Mass of Thanksgiving scheduled at the parish and a reception afterwards with our Redemptorists and another Mass of Thanksgiving for Community friends and benefactors. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, the Archbishop of the Durban diocese, came to visit us after he had been informed of the decision. He expressed his regret at our leaving and said the archdiocese would be poorer but said he could understand our reasons.

Arriving at the St. Louis airport some 24 hours after flying from Johannesburg, we were overwhelmed by the tremendous welcome we received by a sea of smiling Sisters dressed in red and wearing a black veil and several Associates carrying balloons saying, “Welcome Home.”

We arrived back at a very busy time. First there was a temporary profession. Then about a week later there was a celebration for the Golden Jubilee of the Liguori Community and a workshop with representatives from seven different monasteries on topics concerning the General Assembly. After that, we began to settle in. The Sisters were and continue to be very understanding, patient and kind as we re-orientate ourselves. There certainly are adjustments after being away some 20 years. At times, we still find ourselves asking, “How do you do that NOW?” or “Where do keep that NOW?” or “Where is that hymn?” or “Who is that benefactor that we are praying for?” Some of the Sisters we lived with at Liguori are now with the Lord. We miss their familiar presence. New members have joined and we now have the happiness of being with them.

There is a sense of loss for what we have left behind in South Africa. The poor and the marginalized were always near our monastery. Our Redemptorists made us feel very welcome and we were a source of mutual encouragement and support to each other. In fact, through the brotherly kindness of our Redemptorists in Cape Town we were able to visit there and to say our “Good-byes” to the people who first welcomed us to the Rainbow Nation. The zeal of our Redemptorists and of many missionaries was made concrete by their request for prayers and their sharing of their joys and struggles with us. Many non-Catholics would ask for prayers. They did not understand what “contemplative” meant but had a deep trust in prayer and called us the “Prayer Ladies”. When it was necessary to leave the monastery for shopping or doctors’ appointments, our red habit and black veil were a witness to our commitment to the Lord and people would often stop us and ask us to pray for them.

The decision to return to Liguori was a difficult one for our Zulu Sister. She had two years of formation at Liguori and knew many of the Sisters but leaving her own country permanently was another choice. Sister says, “To me as a South African citizen it was a very hard decision to make. It meant leaving my country and my relatives especially my siblings, my two brothers and three sisters. But Our Lord continued to invite me to leave my country and culture to go to the country and 56

culture He was showing me. He invited me and encouraged me in many different ways. I accepted this in my heart with great openness. That is why I am here in this country with a different culture which is combined in Jesus’ culture.”

We are now very much part of the Liguori Community. The prayer, the sharing, the meetings, the daily ups and downs, the work charges and the recreation times are now part of our rhythm. We are truly Sisters among Sisters and are grateful.

Some things that we found helpful when facing the closing of the monastery were:

*Seek to be united as a Community in your decision. Use a method of discernment. Look at the pros and cons. Ask the help of an outside facilitator if the situation is too emotionally charged to handle it yourselves. *Open communication among the Sisters, with the founding monastery, the OSsR Secretariat, the local Redemptorists, the local Church, and the friends of the Community.

*If you have been a formator and saw such potential and had such great hopes for the future for candidates, had put so much time and energy into their formation and then saw them leave, remember that your efforts were not in vain and that the time they were in the monastery was a grace both for them and for the Community.

*Send a letter explaining your circumstances to all those affected by your departure promising them your continued prayer and thanking them for all they have been to the Community. Perhaps friends of the monastery might even organize a farewell tea or Mass. *There will be grieving on the part of each Sister and the Community. The sadness and grief may come and go for a period of time. It is a good grief as you are letting go of something very precious in your life as a Redemptoristine. *Get advice from people knowledgeable in legal and financial matters. The Chancellery office of the diocese may have trustworthy people they can recommend.

Certainly, South Africa and its people will always be part of our fervent prayers for, “If your sandals touch Africa, you can never shake the soil from your feet.”

Mother Maria Celeste Crostarosa, O.Ss.R. and Saint Gerard Majella, C.Ss.R. (The Redemptoristines and the Redemptorist Brothers)

Sr. Joan Calver, O.Ss.R., Bangkok

Similar to the relationship of the Priests of the Congregation with the Sisters of the Order, has been to this day, the same “family” or “brother/sister” relationship among the Redemptorist Brothers and the Sisters. This fact is verified in the life of St. Gerard and M. Celeste. Father Capone writes in his work entitled: “The Spiritual Doctrine of Sr. Celeste Crostarosa, O.Ss.R.” (English translation by Fr. J. Oppitz)

“The Autobiography (of Celeste) was written in the last years of her life. It was written under obedience during those years of her friendship with ST. GERARD, who himself gave witness to her sanctity. When she died, he told his confreres that he saw her soul entering heaven.”

For this issue of the Viva Memoria we have the witness of today’s relationship with the Sisters by a few Brothers. Actually there could be many more but the sisters themselves can bear further witness. In the Toronto province, in the early years of the sisters’ foundation, the Brothers were always available to lend a helping hand. The Sisters on their part always invited the Brothers to come for an afternoon tea on the feast of St. Gerard. This was an occasion when brothers and sisters got to know each other on a more personal level and could share stories of the many ways in which the dedicated Brothers served the Most Holy Redeemer. The Sisters could talk about their mysterious ‘enclosed’ life of contemplation. Very often the conversation took everyone back to St. Gerard and M. Celeste in “their” day.

The Sisters of ‘today’ could readily agree, by their personal experience, with what Fr. Desrochers, C.Ss.R. of the Ste-Anne De Beaupre province wrote recently concerning the Brothers (listing 181 Brothers who were deceased). Father was paying a tribute to these brothers who: “Always gave us edification with their spirit of prayer and their immense generosity, and their fidelity to their religious observance of their rule.” In our Redemptoristine chronicles (particularly of those of which I am familiar, that is the chronicles of Liguori, South Africa, the Philippines, Toronto and Barrie, Ontario,) one frequently reads: “The Redemptorist Brothers came to help us, today. We enjoyed some refreshments with them, during which we shared a lively and inspiring conversation on our common charism and spirituality.” Often these sharings reflected back to the time of St. Gerard and M. Celeste. There were brother/sister stories which had been passed on through the years and kept in our ‘living memory’ today!

How Brothers Carry on the Tradition of St. Gerard Majella in Relationship to the Redemptoristine Nuns

Brother Dan Korn, C.Ss.R. Liguori Publications, U.S.A.

I remember when I was a candidate at Villa Majella Brothers' School in Pine City, Minnesota during the early "60's" of reading the life of St. Gerard and remembering his relationship with Mother Celeste and the foundation in Foggia. How Alphonsus would send him to check on Mother Celeste and allowing him to beg for the needs of the community. I recall that he also was involved in sending young women to the convent and providing the offering necessary for entering the monastery.

Early in my Redemptorist life I was associated with the Redemptoristines at Liguori, Missouri. Before I entered the novitiate in DeSoto, Missouri I visited the monastery shortly after their arrival from Canada. I was greatly impressed with their life and the connection with us Redemptorist and remembering the story of our Redemptorist/Redemptoristine connection. When I was a novice I was assigned to be the tailor, the one who was responsible for making the future habits for novices. I had a hard time getting the process of habit making technique to work and so I was sent to the convent to learn from the Sisters.

In later years I was stationed in one of our parishes in St. Louis and found myself visiting the convent many times. I began to find myself helping the Sisters with the liturgical renewal that was in full swing in those days by getting current liturgical music for them to use in their worship. It seemed a natural bond which I believe was and is a special charisma of the Redemptorist Brother. In many places where our Sisters established their convents of living memory, you will often find brothers some how involved in helping the Sisters in many ways.

I believe that it is a model of collaboration in mission that goes unnoticed until someone points it out. The Redemptorist Brother and the Redemptoristine Sister are symbols of the union of the two institutes in its best sense. We work together in witnessing Plentiful Redemption to the world in a quiet yet powerful expression. We support each other in order that Copious Redemptive Love of the Father in Jesus may be proclaimed.

Brother Gavin Stokoe, C.Ss.R. - South Africa

Thank you for the invitation to write and share of my association with the Redemptoristines of South Africa. I joined the Redemptorists in 1991, January 14th, as a postulant. I was only a postulant for three months, when the postulancy quarters was moved downstairs in order that the coming Redemptoristines could occupy an upstairs floor of the large Redemptorist building in Cape Town. We postulants did not mind as we were happy that the Redemptoristines were coming to South Africa. The postulants and indeed the members of the Redemptorist parish were told that we were

not to have much contact with the Sisters as they are contemplatives. Then they finally arrived. Well Sister Alice and Sister Eleanor were just so fantastic and one just felt that the Holy Redeemer was alive in them, as well as Jesus in his humanity. They fitted in so well to the situation in Cape Town. This was planned to be a temporary home for the Sisters until decisions were made for a new monastery and where it would be.

During the stay in Cape Town, Brother Richard Maidwell taught the Sisters how to mount Icons, but Brother Richard will be writing of his own experience with them. As for myself, the Redemptoristines through these Sisters, have been an important part of my life.

I remember we took them for a train ride to the beach front, where there were a few men who appeared to have been drinking too much. Addressing the Sisters they said: “Don’t worry, Sisters, we are going straight home,” and the Sisters just graciously acknowledged them with calmness and dignity – a good witness.

After postulancy, I went to the novitiate for eleven months, after which I had to return to Cape Town. It was at this time that the monastery was being prepared at Bergville for the sisters. I was no longer present for the arrival and moving in of the Sisters. I did keep in contact with the Sisters and this contact helped me a great deal. Finally, I returned to Bergville to repeat my novitiate. This was wonderful but what helped was having the O.Ss.Rs. there. We prayed the Office together, we had the Mass together and brunches and lovely teas. On big feast days we all worked together.

There were times of just having a deep spiritual chat with the Sisters and one came back with the feeling of Christ’s love. They were and are very hard working but women of great prayer and this was always an encouragement for me.

The O.Ss.Rs. are a very much part of our lives as C.Ss.Rs.! Yes, I do understand their returning to Liguori, U.S.A. but even over so many miles we are still working together to bring the memory of Christ the Redeemer to all.

I am finding it so hard to put on paper what my experience was like with our Sisters, as it has been such a deeply spiritual and human experience. My time with the Sisters was and continues to be like what St. John said to St. Peter: “It is the Lord...” and St. Peter jumped out of the boat and went to Jesus. This is the way it is with us – brothers and sisters running together each day to the Redeemer, with all our struggles and difficulties. Knowing of the love the Most Holy Redeemer has for us, each day as brothers and sisters we seek His redemption.

Thank you, Sisters, for your wisdom, your experience of religious life that you have and are sharing with us. We miss you but know that you are always with us and as far apart as we are, we are always the “living Redeemer.”

My personal experiences with the Redemptoristines Br. Joerg Recktenwaldt, C.Ss.R.

May I introduce myself at first: I am Br. Joerg, age of 45, and a member of the St. Clement province. Since I came to know the Redemptorists I know our sisters, too. In the year 1984 there was a mission in my town in the Saarland (Germany), given by Redemptorists. I was very fascinated. At the end of the mission I was invited to visit a Redemptorist monastery, the monastery Heiligenborn in Bous which still existed at that time. So my interest in the religious life increased and 1985 I joined the Congregation. In conjunction with my visits in Bous I also came to know the Redemptoristines in the monastery Heilig Kreuz in Puettlingen. My ancestors were from Puettlingen and we still have relatives there, so I could hear a lot about the origin of this monastery and about the solidarity of the people with the sisters. By knowing the sisters I came to know another form of lived redemption. Until today this is very important for me and so it will remain. I became a Redemptorist in a time when there were a lot of questions about the Redemptorist vocation of the brothers. It was and still is very difficult for me to answer this question, because I see only one vocation: to be a Redemptorist.

Our Constitutions say that all Redemptorists are missionaries in the whole sense: everyone gives witness with his life for the abundant redemption. I have also experienced this in the contact with the sisters, who are witnesses of God’s redemptive love by their way of life. It is a very true statement, when the sisters speak about the “Viva memoria”, the living memory.

Besides our sisters in the monastery Heilig Kreuz, I have grown very fond of our sisters in Lauterach, Austria. Very often I was allowed to know that we are together on the way, but that we are also connected in silent being. This happened during retreat days, but also through times of holidays, through the personal contacts with the sisters while celebrating jubilees or mourning the death of one of the sisters. Our conversations about the future strengthen the bond, and the e-mail contacts help to overcome the distance, if there is no time for a visit.

My visits have become something very special for me because of the possibility to be in some way a part of the community through the help which I can give where it is required: at the altar, in the kitchen, in the garden, at the baking-machine. Until today it is for me a comforting and important thought, that our labours as Redemptorists in the pastoral care are supported by the prayers of our sisters and that in this way we are a real fraternal community. So I am always happy to give thanks for the manifold vocations, which are given to our Redemptorist family.

Ways into the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer

Angelina Celeste Barcenas OSSR

I always thought of myself as an agnostic; in my youth, I had no time for religion so in my college days I was easily influenced by socialist ideas.

When Martial Law was declared by Marcos I was detained for almost a year and stayed home with my parents. At that time, there was a Redemptorist mission in our parish and one of the Redemptorist Fathers invited me to join the pre mission seminar. For the first time I understood Christ's teaching of love and justice. With my experience of deep social commitment in working with various poor sectors it was easy for me to understand the mission and I participated to the end. Later our parish priest sent me to a seminar in Naga which led to my volunteering with the Rural Missionaries (RMs). Then the Social Action Director recommended me to apply in a Community Organizing Training Program in Legazpi City where lots of threats of demolitions was happening at the height of Martial. I was apprehended in Legazpi City so I was sent to Cebu for my training incidentally in the slums under the Redemptorist Parish. We had a Redemptorist Father who was one of the best trainers in the classical Community Organization and the all out support of the Redemptorist community.

After my training I came back to Legazpi City and demolitions were resisted by the urban and rural poor communities with our assistance. Again the Redemptorist community of Legazpii continuously supported the efforts of the poor.

Later through contacts with people like Bishop Labayen and readings that I did (I learned about Lonergan), I was confronted with the question: here I was myself in Bukidnon in connection with my CO work, but what was my connection with God?

I had the opportunity to visit the Transfiguration monastery of the Benedictine monks. Something struck me there which led to find out if I had a vocation to a contemplative life. However, it took a few more years before I reflected on my vocation after I found a magazine where I read about Teresa of Calcutta. While reading this article, I found myself in tears. I went on a retreat and my decision was finalized about finding a monastery for contemplatives. This led me to the Redemptoristines in Legazpi City. After talking to the Sister-in-charge I was taken in. My friends in the CO circles laughed at me that I would not last for a month; they said I would not last as a contemplative. But everything fell in the right place and last year I was solemnly professed.

One of my realizations has been that as a contemplative nun, I have shifted from an exclusive engagement (with the urban poor) to a more inclusive one (as I pray now for all sectors of society). Every day I am with the Lord and I feel good and energized.

"Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!"

Sr. Maria D’Amato, O.Ss.R., Scala

This was the announcement that resonated in the Cathedral of St Lorenzo in Scala (SA) on the 19th of March during this solemn Eucharistic celebration presided by the Archbishop Mons. Orazio Soricelli as I went to meet Christ the Spouse in order to commit my life completely to Him and to live in fidelity His great love.

I want to share with you the joy of saying "yes" to Our Lord Jesus. He called me, He chose me to live with Him and to live for Him the evangelical counsels in the community of the Redemptoristine nuns in Scala. I gambled on everything, but I have found the precious pearl of my life!

While the church bells were ringing out with joy, the doors of the monastery opened to let enter the procession that led me, accompanied by my parents, my community and numerous priests, to the altar of the Lord to become his spouse.

It was one of the most exciting moments of the celebration when the Bishop gave me the deep red habit characteristic for our Order, which signifies my belonging to the Lord who calls me to become a “torch lit with love”, the living image of Christ.

With conviction I proclaimed my will to consecrate myself to God. I choose to make mine poverty, chastity, obedience to Jesus Saviour and to follow him in the path of love he outlined for me. In the homily our Excellency underlined “There is no happier person than the one who achieves her calling, the dream of God” , he invited me not to be afraid, and to walk quickly behind “ the One you love, the One you want to know, follow, serve....the One who will not leave you without grace”

It's true; My Lord has never left me without help and his presence, always taking my hand in the most difficult moments.

I'm happy; I dedicate my happiness to all the young so they can find the source of true joy: Jesus.

I commit myself to the Virgin Mary, may she protect me on my path and grant me ”the grace to stay faithful to her alliance”.

HAVE YOU CALLED ME? HERE I AM, LORD ... Sr. Giovanna Lauritano, O.Ss.R., Scala

On October 7th, in the St. Lorenzo Cathedral at Scala, the Lord consecrated me to be his bride and the sister of all people. After a strong rain (of blessings!) from heaven, finally the Eucharistic celebration began, presided by the Archbishop - Mons. Orazio Soricelli. During his homily, the archbishop compared (with due difference) my call with that of the Virgin Mary, in fact touching the most significant moments of my vocation. An angel, who the Sisters of this community became for me, came to bring the Good News that Jesus wanted to be born in me, to be reborn in the world and in the hearts of people. A little confused, I asked for explanation, I wondered why, and I rebelled, certainly more than Mary did. But at the end, impelled by the Holy Spirit, I exclaimed: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word". Today I am a young Redemptoristine nun ... Have I achieved my aim? Perhaps ... The truth is that I have begun to run or better to sail along the routes, where God is leading me (You see, I love the sea!).

My main mission as a cloistered nun is certainly prayer that is no means of personal perfection (otherwise it would not be too helpful! ...). Our hands raised towards heaven have to be the praise for those who do not praise, intercession for those who are desperate, a song for those who are full of joy, petition for those who knock at the heart of God, seeking for a grace. The Lord has chosen me as a Redemptoristine to be his "living memory", a transparent image of Him who is Love, always ready to radiate the joy and the light shining on the face of Christ himself. With this radical, total choice, which is first of God’s choice addressed to us, ourselves, we wish to shout, in silence, to the whole world that God exists, that He loves people and is waiting for them. Among thousands of voices trying rather to confuse than to clarify, we try to witness the only Truth - Christ.

With my qualities and my faults I have “embarked” on board of this adventure, prayerfully looking forward to reach the hearts of those to whom God is calling me, to announce to others, particularly to young people, the good news that Jesus wants to be born in this world. Pray for me and I pray for you!

O.Ss.R. Common Fund

Reported by Fr. Stanisław Wróbel, C.Ss.R.

In the proposals and answers to the different questionnaires of the sub-commissions of the Preparatory Commission sometimes the Common Funds O.Ss.R. was mentioned. So Fr. Stanisław Wróbel, Econome General C.Ss.R. gave a short report on this Funds to the Preparatory Commission during the meeting in May 2011 in Rome.

You will find here only some of the most important facts, but Fr. Wróbel will give a detailed report during the International Assembly in May 2012.

Statute O.Ss.R. 0147 was modified at the International Assembly 2001 in Mater Domini. Number 28 of the Acta of this Assembly says, that the Common Funds shall be administered by the Econome General C.Ss.R. This proposal had been accepted with 28 votes.

With contributions of the former monastery of Velp (Netherlands) and of the monastery of Ried (Austria) the Common Funds started in 2003 with a capital stock of (now in €) 1.254,838.00.

In the course of the last 10 years several monasteries got help from the Common Funds for building or renovation work as well as for the necessary expenses for the sisters like assurances. Part of this money was given as loan and has been paid back. Donations of some communities, the interests of the stock and a small income from the sale of Merrivale (South Africa) went into the Common Funds. Nevertheless the stock was at December 31rst 2010 € 547,259.19

In the beginning of the Common Funds Fr. General had nominated Fr. Patrick O’Keeffe (as General Econom), Fr. Emilio Lage and Fr. Stanislaw Wróbel to the Commission for the OSSR Common Fund. Since September 2008 Fr. O’Keeffe had finished as General Econom and Fr. Wróbel replaced him. In the place of Fr. O’Keeffe to the Commission was nominated Fr. Majorano. At present the Commission consist of Frs. Wróbel, Lage and Majorano and had as task to decide on the applications for help. During the first years this group met twice a year, in the present time these meetings can take place more often if required, because all of the fathers are living in Rome. This accelerates the decisions.

Fr. Wróbel mentioned that in the case of the closure of a monastery the sisters have to be very attentive that the money for the property remains in the Order. Sometimes the dioceses are very interested to get this money.