59 CHAPTER III the MISSIONARY A. the Method Observed in Conducting
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!59 CHAPTER III THE MISSIONARY A. The method observed in conducting Missions Missionary strategy The Servant of God was extremely careful in regard to the jurisdiction of bishops both for himself and for his companions. He always made sure that not only the necessary faculties were obtained but also the particular call given to them by the ordinary, hence not satisfied with just the approval of the pastors in the bishop’s name. For his own peace of mind and security, he required at least a line in writing from the episcopal see and maintained this position for himself and for his men by saying: “Quomodo praedicabunt, nisi mittantur?” He insisted that all and each individual should adhere to this method and, previous to any mission or retreat even if only a few days long, he wanted it understood that everything should proceed with regularity in each case and for each occasion. Beginning already in 1819, the Servant of God had Un Metodo, or the regulations for holy missions and retreats, printed so that his companions would not go wrong by acting otherwise. It was a method selected from the patterns of the Venerable Father Paolo Segneri, of Blessed Leonard, of St. Alphonsus Liguori and the Venerable Canon De Rossi. He recommended the discreet and ordinary usage of the sacred functions that were in conformity with the rites that are in regular usage in Holy Church. Furthermore, he recommended that they should not accept alms for Masses during the time of their ministry or on that occasion to accept gifts under the pretext of devotion. They were to return any such item that may have been received in good faith, such as relics or objects of a similar nature. This is what happened in the case of Monsignor [Francesco Luigi] Piervisani, the very outstanding bishop of Nocera. According to the direction observed in the method dictated by the Servant of God, he, with great edification and satisfaction, was required, in the city of Fabriano, to return a precious cloak which belonged to Blessed Leonard. While there, on the occasion of a mission being conducted under the direction of Canon Del Bufalo, Monsignor Piervisani, a co-worker on the mission with the Servant of God, had accepted it in good faith. This regulation was applicable also with reference to food, as I have already mentioned previously. He stressed discreet parsimony, both in regard to quantity and quality, and he would request the ordinaries not to assume extraordinary expenses for them and to inform the pastors and the people of the communes not to change the established practices of the missionaries. As a matter of fact, in several missions, with bishops in attendance as co-workers, when the Servant of God noticed the serving of more food than usual, or the employment of !60 special chefs preparing creams, tarts and pastries, special jams, liquors and imported wines, he gently reproved the Monsignor Mattei, archbishop of Camerino, of happy memory, at the mission given in his diocese in Pievetorina. That is where this took place and where, politely, he refused all the other things contrary to their practice which the pastor in that area had prepared at great expense. The Servant of God was heard to suggest that all those superfluous things be sold and the income be distributed to the poor. This occurrence produced a tremendous spiritual and temporal impression on the people there who had already spread the rumor that the missionaries had come there for a real fun time with the bishops rather than to conduct a mission and preach penance. However, once they noted the power of the Servant of God in refusing this special treatment and showing favor for the poor, as well as the mortification shown by his companions as they brought about great success in the mission, then a truly healthy atmosphere was produced for the people there. I was present when all of this took place. The Servant of God was not satisfied with ordinary results achieved through the legitimately shared word of God, but he would use every sort of charitable or zealous means available so as to extend the good work to all classes and groups of people and, as far as possible, to make that good work stable and permanent. Hence, from a study of the Crucified Lord, he came up with the most opportune means conducive to that goal and adopted a method which had no other presentation than a summary of everything that had been practiced by the greatest servants of God in the exercise of their apostolic ministry. In particular, it was based on the work of the Venerable Father Antonio Baldinucci, of Blessed Leonard of Port Maurice, of St. Alphonsus Liguori, adapting the sacred rites to the diversity of the peoples served, the places visited and the other circumstances. It helped to break the monotony experienced by neighboring peoples, providing them with a variety of things which, for sensitive persons, offered them a bit of surprise, more effective emotions aroused in their hearts, all based on the nature of the activity as well as the diversity of practices observed in the different cities, towns and villages. The method for giving sermons was patterned after the exercises of St. Ignatius. Never omitted was the instructions on the decalogue given in the mornings after Mass, which took place summo mane, along with the recitation of the chaplet of the most Precious Blood. Then, if they were in a large city, after the explanation of the decalogue, another Mass was offered [533] in which a section of the Gospel treating of an incident from the most holy Madonna’s life is read. Specific effort was made to avoid apocryphal narrations, insisting rather on the examples from the lives of the saints or the bollandists. The morning services were concluded with a blessing with a relic of the most holy Madonna. Then, they arranged for hearing the confessions of men and women until noon, assigning ordinarily the confessions of the female sex to the older and more experienced priests and the other members for the men, either in the house or in the church as the opportunity or the need called for. He, then, as the director of the !61 mission, had to deal with the pastors and the leaders of the town in setting up conferences for the clergy and for the nobility. He also worked to establish the organization for women, known as the sisters of charity; the group for young girls, the so-called children of Mary, in order to edify them and lead them to devotion to Mary most holy. Finally, there were likewise organizations set up for the young boys, the group under St. Aloysius Gonzaga as well as for the men under the patronage of St. Francis Xavier. He himself heard the confessions principally of the men either in the house or in the church. Similarly, he revived those confraternities which had died out and he would restore them to a vigorous state. That was true likewise of what he did for some of the other pious works that had been established and then faded away. All of this was to be sort of a protective hedge that would preserve the fruits derived from the missions. In fact, I myself saw, after ten, twenty and thirty years, this spirit maintained by a large part of the people who had experienced a mission given by the Servant of God. With the grace of God , they continued to frequent the sacraments, as was encouraged by those pious societies, and the people cultivated their faith and became very careful practitioners of it. Many of the ladies became cloistered nuns or active sisters while others became good mothers of exemplary families, ever giving thanks to God for providing them with a holy mission at a most opportune time directed by the Servant of God. The conferences to the clergy and other special groups respectively were usually given in the morning sometime before noon and he would assign them to his companions when time was not available to him. He wanted all groups to be led toward sanctity whether they were in hospitals, prisons or military barracks, customarily during the first days of a mission since after that time the work of confessions occupied his time, as he used to say, in an effort to gather the fruits of the mission. Around noontime, all the missionaries were to join together for a period of meditation in common, preceded by a reading of a chapter or a few verses from the Sacred Scripture of the New Testament. Then, they proceeded to the dining table where they listened to spiritual reading until the main course was served, and then dealt with matters pertaining to the ministry. He strongly urged the observance of these regulations and quoted the apostle, St. Paul: “Omnia honeste et secundum ordinem fiant”; and the other saying attributed to St. Bernard: “Serva ordinem et ordo servabit te”. After dinner, at a precise time, some of the members, and often he himself, would leave the house in order to give lessons in Christian doctrine, not only preparing the boys and girls for their first holy communion when they were capable, but also to remind parents and indirectly the pastors as well, of the value of this holy activity. This special and most precious time of the mission was a valuable opportunity for not overlooking but firmly establishing a salutary practice. As a benefit to the people who were interested in making their confessions, he would invite outside confessors so that the people would not be embarrassed in opening up their consciences to the pastor of their and have difficulty in disclosing !62 their consciences, when unable to get to one of the missionaries.