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C.PP.S. Resource Series — 34 Michele Colagiovanni, C.PP.S. THE HIDDEN FATHER Francesco Albertini and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction . 1 1 . Daily Life . 5 2 . From Intragna to Rome . 13 3 . The Mazzoneschis and the Albertinis . 19 4 . The Sources of His Spirituality . 25 5 . School and Society . 38 6 . An Interior Revolution . 47 7 . Family Reorganization . 60 8 . One Republic, Or Rather Two . 68 9 . Revolution In the Parish . 86 10 . A Fire Beneath the Ashes . 97 11 . The Association . 105 12. An Inflammatory Relic . 116 13 . The Revelatory Exile . 126 14 . Bastia, Corsica . 137 15 . Unshakeable . 152 16 . To Calvi: A Finished Man? . 161 17 . Deep Calls to Deep . 176 18 . Everyone Is in Rome . 183 19 . Reward and Punishment . 190 20 . The Great Maneuvers . 195 21 . Refounding . 207 22 . Women in the Field . 215 23 . An Experimental Diocese . 224 24 . A Pioneer Bishop . 233 25 . The Bishop and the Secretary . 243 26 . Death Comes Like a Thief . 252 27 . The Memory of the Just . 260 Epilogue . 262 Notes . 268 INTRODUCTION Most people familiar with Saint Gaspar know that Francesco Albertini was his spiritual director and was largely responsible for nurturing Gaspar’s devotion to the Precious Blood . Perhaps less well known is that it was Albertini, founder of the Archconfraternity of the Most Precious Blood, who wanted to see his association develop a clerical branch made up of priests who would renew the Church by spreading the devotion to the Blood of Christ . Albertini believed that Gaspar was exactly the right man to inaugurate this new venture, and he did all he could to encourage his beloved spiritual son to found the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood 1. It is for this reason that Don Michele Colagiovanni has called Albertini the hidden father of the Missionaries .2 Gaspar may have been the energetic organizer and administrator, the inspiring preacher who could attract men to the new institute, but Albertini, always in the background, had a significant role to play in its birth. In this volume, Don Michele gives us a rich portrait of the hidden father of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, from his birth in the Piazza Montanara in Rome to his premature death in Terracina, where he had only months before been installed as bishop . Along the way we get a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in Gaspar’s Rome and the Papal States as well as a more rounded 1 The new institute was clerical in nature, even if there were many brothers, often called “brothers-in-service,” in the Congregation . It is also worth noting here that Albertini envisioned a feminine branch of teaching sisters in the Archconfraternity, as did Gaspar, but that project was only realized later through the efforts of Saint Maria De Mattias and the Venerable John Merlini. 2 In Italian, Colagiovanni dubs Albertini the “secret father” of the Missionaries . Because of the often pejorative connotation of the word secret in English, this title has been translated as the “hidden father ”. 1 picture of the events surrounding the founding of the C .PP .S . We also learn of two other figures who had their parts to play in establishing the new Congregation: Monsignor Belisario Cristaldi, an official of the Papal States who became in effect the protector of the Congregation, and Don Gaetano Bonanni, one of the first Missionaries and the founder of the “Gospel Workers,” a band of priests who preached renewal in and around Rome . The book gives a detailed account of the life endured by the priests who were exiled for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to Napoleon . Albertini and Gaspar shared part of their time in exile together, but were separated when Albertini was sent to Corsica and Gaspar ended up in the prisons at Imola and Lugo . Gaspar was actually on his way to Corsica early in 1814 when Napoleon was defeated and the exiled priests were allowed to return home . Don Michele Colagiovanni, a member of the Italian Province, has been a lifelong student of the history of the Congregation and has engaged in extensive research . This volume is one of four in a series of biographies . The others treat Saint Gaspar, Biagio Valentini, and the Venerable John Merlini. Valentini and Merlini succeeded Gaspar as moderators general of the Congregation . Don Michele currently edits a monthly publication of the Italian Province, Nel Segno del Sangue (In the Sign of the Blood) . He is the author of numerous articles and books . Don Michele has based this biography on research from primary sources as stated in the Notes at the end of the book . There are a number of citations from these sources in the text . They have been left in quotation marks, but the sources of these quotations are not indicated because the author deliberately chose to keep footnotes to a minimum . As the translation progressed, it became apparent that additional footnotes were needed, since many might not be familiar with certain terms and with some of the geographical 2 and historical references . A few words about the translation are in order . In matters of capitalization and punctuation I have generally followed the Italian text when translating direct quotations . Quotations from the letters of Gaspar are generally from the translation made by the late Father Raymond Cera, C .PP .S . The English translation of the letters is available in digital form and also, in a limited edition, in photocopied form . The numbering of those letters refers to those used in the critical edition of the letters compiled by Don Beniamino Conti, C .PP .S . Translations of Bible texts are generally from the Revised Standard Version, although sometimes the Douai-Rheims version is used, since it follows the Latin text of the Vulgate, the version with which Saint Gaspar was familiar and which he quotes . I am grateful, first of all, to the author, Don Michele Colagiovanni, for permitting me to translate his work and for his assistance in preparing this volume . I also wish to thank Jean Giesige, C .PP .S . Companion and Director of Communications for the Cincinnati Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, for her skillful editorial suggestions and for attending to all the details required to get the book to press . Rachael Pope of the Cincinnati Province office staff also provided valuable suggestions and proofreading . I hope that the publication of this volume will help many readers to learn more about the founding of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, especially as we prepare to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of that founding in 2015 . Jerome Stack, C .PP .S . 3 4 Chapter 1 DAILY LIFE The Piazza Montanara was a progressive widening of the street of the same name . It was at its widest in front of the Teatro Marcello, on the right as one looked at that building . Several streets came together there to create the piazza, making it look like a comet with its tail . Despite its irregular shape, it was among the great piazzas of Rome . It was total theater – before Luigi Pirandello1 invented it – and was home to actors and an audience in dual roles, involving them – without their being conscious of it – in an endless performance . In a later age it could have been a reality show entitled Daily Life . On that stage, or at least in the wings, daily life assumed that dash of effervescence that it did not have elsewhere. It derived from the vague intuition of those who frequented the place that they were participating in a command performance, in a piece of theater . The area was crowded with houses and humble dwellings fronted by a sort of ring of shops with canopies attached to the facades . Everything was sold here: utensils and vegetables, and meat, both preserved and freshly butchered. A bit of refinement was offered by a fountain, shaped like a chalice on top of a round basin that was raised slightly from the ground .2 The gentle sound of the water could be heard only in the dead of night when the piazza was silent . Then, if one really strained, one could hear the rustling waters of the Tiber, whose current, divided by the Tiber Island, brushed against its banks like the watered silk 1 Pirandello (1867–1936) was a noted Italian author, known especially for his plays, and was a Nobel laureate (1934) . 2 The fountain was moved when the piazza was destroyed and now stands in a little piazza on the Via dei Coronari. 5 of a cardinal’s train . As one looked around, little by little a backdrop appeared above the irregular, generally low roofs of the houses from street level: the Campidoglio, Monte Caprino, the Palatine and the Aventine .3 These hills, according to common belief, were the origin of the name Montanara . In reality, the name derives from the noble family of the Montanari who lived here in times past 4. The most picturesque element of the backdrop was the Teatro Marcello . It is of massive construction, vaguely similar to the remains of the Coliseum, and had been the palace of the Savelli family. The edifice then passed to the Orsinis, but the nearby rise continued to be called Monte dei Savelli . Part of this little hill near the banks of the Tiber was formed by crumbled materials from the ancient past that had been compacted over time . Between the Teatro and the Tiber was the ghetto with its high wall and its stories .5 In the Piazza Montanara loafers and schemers would spend the better part of their day .