Of the General Minister 02 The General Curia on Retreat Listening to the Testament of St
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N° 313 Index APRIL 2018 01 Easter Greetings of the General Minister 02 The General Curia on Retreat Listening to the Testament of St. Francis 03 Br. Cecilio Maria of Costa Serina OFMCap – Venerable 04 The gift of a visit 06 Pope Francis homily at Mass in San Giovanni Rotondo 08 The General Chapters of the new Millennium General Chapter LXXXIV 09 Elections and appointments 10 Letter of Pope Francis to the General Minister 11 San Giovanni Rotondo Photos Easter Greetings 12 VI Meeting of the International Formation Council 13 „Growing smaller“ of the General Minister 14 Sentire cum Ecclesia ear Brothers, it’s Easter and I want to send my good wishes. D We know, however, that Easter follows Good Friday. The Cross comes first. Jesus embraced the Cross until death and then rose again. Have you ever wondered how Francis, our founder, expe- rienced Easter? It seems to me that above all it was on La Verna – when he felt alone and abandoned by his friars, when he was asking himself over and over, My God, who are You and who am I? It was then that he found himself before the Crucified, and when he identi- fied himself with the same Crucified One. He received the stigmata and in that moment he embraced both the Crucified and his own Mobile app cross as well. Thus Francis became able to say: You are good, all good, the highest good, You are beauty, You are meekness. This is OFMCap my hope for all of you, that you do not fear to embrace your crosses, your sufferings and difficulties, because it is by means of them that you will find an experience of Easter in your lives. Brothers! Happy Easter!* Br. Mauro Jöhri OFMCap General Minister *Audio transcription of the video greeting Watch the video of the General Minister (in Italian) INFORMATION BULLETIN APRIL 2018 The General Curia on Retreat 2 Listening to the Testament of St. Francis espite the rainy days, twenty of the Testament of St. Francis. Br. cola, 2013; Francesco d’Assisi. Un Dfriars followed the medita- Raffaele commented, step by step, santo dai mille volti, EMP, 2014; N° 313 tions offered by the preacher, Br. on the first part of the Testament, Non voglio essere ladro. France- Raffaele Ruffo, with joy and en- enriching each moment with other sco d’Assisi e la restituzione dei thusiasm. Franciscan texts. In 2009 Br. Raf- beni, EDB, 2015). His background As usual, the General Curia retreat faele was awarded the doctorate by was therefore a clear guarantee of was held in Frascati, in our beauti- the theological faculty of northern the quality and level of the medi- ful friary that for many years has Italy, defending his dissertation, tations for the retreat. In fact, the welcomed friars from all over the La lode nell’esperienza spirituale experience of the participants was world for purposes of formation. di Francesco d’Assisi (Praise in the unanimously positive. For tho- It is among the oldest friaries in spiritual experience of St. Francis se who would like to explore the the Order (1573-1574), and whe- of Assisi). He has also published meditations and homilies given by re Cardinal Venerable Guglielmo other works in the area of Franci- Br. Raffaele, we present the audio Massaja died and was buried after scan spirituality (Francesco uomo files below. To him go our thanks spending the last years of his life della lode, EMP, 2011; Le virtù for everything he shared with us there. francescane. Un itinerario di gioia during the retreat. The retreat ran from March 4 to per un nuovo stile di vita, Porziun- 9 and was animated by Br. Raffa- ele Ruffo, a friar of the Province of Genoa but currently living in France, in the community of Cler- Google disk mont-Ferrand, where he also the guardian. He was also recently Download the audio material – 530 MB elected councilor of the Province of France. Listen to the meditations and homilies (in Italian) The meditations were on the theme Br. Cecilio Maria of Costa Serina OFMCap – Venerable r. Cecilio Maria of Costa Serina, Br. Cecilio Maria’s first tasks in the Bfounder of the St. Francis Charity friary of Milano-Monforte were care for the Poor in Milan (Opera San Fran- for the common spaces, infirmarian, cesco per i Poveri), Venerable. and assistant sacristan. In April 1914 he On the afternoon of March 6, 2018 Pope contracted meningitis and there was fear Francis received in audience the Prefect for his survival. It was on this occasion of the Congregation for the Causes of that he had a deep spiritual experience Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, and au- in which he experienced the benevolent thorized him to promulgate the decree judgment of God in the moment of fi- super virtutibus of the Servant of God nal judgment. From his diary we know Cecilio Maria Cortinovis of Costa Seri- that this experience remained a vivid na, founder of the St. Francis Charities memory. His healing, as he himself at- as well as the two cloistered monasteries for the Poor in Milan. tests, was thanks to the intercession of that depended on his questing to live. The Servant of God was born in Nespel- the Capuchin friar and then Servant of Many times he succeeded in misleading lo, a neighborhood of Costa Serina (Ita- God (today Blessed) Innocent of Berzo, the SS, which kept the friary under sur- lian civil province of Bergamo) on No- whose cause for beatification was active veillance after the arrest and deporta- vember 7, 1885 to Lorenzo and Angela at the time. tion into a concentration camp (June 13, Gherardi, the seventh of nine children, In 1916, during the explosion of the First 1944) of Father Giannantonio Agosti da and was baptized the next day with the World War, Br. Cecilio Maria was called Romallo, who was confessor at the ca- names Pietro Antonio. While still an to arms. Due to poor health, however, he thedral and was accused of distributing adolescent he worked in the fields and was sent back to Milan only a few mon- passports to Jews. on the range to contribute to the support ths later. There, on February 2, 1918, he At the end of the war the poor in line at 3 of the family. made his solemn profession. the door of the friary was even longer. On April 7, 1896 he received first Com- With the war the number of poor grew Br. Cecilio Maria wished for a place to munion. A few years later, following his and the door of the friary became a mee- receive these men and women that he mother’s example, he asked to be recei- ting point. Br. Ceclilio Maria substituted saw waiting in an endless line and in ved into the Franciscan Third Order. often and willingly for the porter and all kinds of weather. His prayer was he- N° 313 In the hard work of his first twenty-two there met the poor to whom he did not ard in 1959 when Dr. Emilio Grignani years with the animals and in the fore- know how to say no. In 1921 he was ap- offered to build a structure to welcome sts and fields, Pietro Antonio cultivated pointed porter and held this office until them on the last bit of land that belonged in his heart a growing call to consecra- 1970. It was in this discreet service that to the friary. On December 20, 1959 the te himself to God. On the advice of his he met Marcello Candia, the Milanese house which would be called St. Fran- pastor he chose the Capuchin life and industrialist who left everything and cis Charities, with full services and 150 on April 221, 1908 he arrived at the no- went to Brazil to serve the lepers. With places to sit, was solemnly dedicated vitiate friary in Lovere. There he was simplicity Candia used to affirm that he by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, invested in the habit of the Capuchin learned to serve the poor in the school of the future Pope Blessed Paul VI. There Friars Minor on July 29, 1908 and was Br. Cecilio Maria. Br. Cecilio Maria kept serving the poor given the name Br. Cecilio Maria. On In 1925, when he heard of the death of until 1979, when his health began to de- August 2, 1909 he made his religious Venerable Daniele of Samarate, the Ca- cline. profession and the next day left Lovere puchin missionary priest in Brazil, him- On October 19, 1982, with his condi- for the friary of Albino, where obedien- self an apostle as a leper among lepers, tion worsening, Br. Cecilio Maria was ce called him to the assignments of sa- Br. Cecilio Maria asked his superiors to transferred to the Capuchin infirmary in cristan, refectorian, assistant porter, and go as a missionary to take care of tho- Bergamo. Even there, when it was possi- infirmarian. se sick with leprosy, but his request was ble, he continued to receive people who Five months later he was transferred not granted. Thus he remained in Milan sought him out for a word of comfort. to the friary of Cremona and there had as porter and questor for the poor of the Br. Cecilio Maria died peacefully on the same tasks. There he remained only friary. April10, 1984. After the solemn funeral, three months because on April 29, 1910 When the Second World War blew up, celebrated in the church of the friary of he was called to the friary of Mila- Br.