Father Bernardino Balsari VI Provost General of the Institute of Charity

by

Giuseppe Bozzetti (Translated by J. Anthony Dewhirst)

A small boy is seated at the table in his father’s study. In front of him are his exercise books and school books. They been placed there so that he can concentrate more on his work. But the little lad has little inclination to do this. He is distracted, gathering up carefully the tobacco which his father has let fall from his large grasp on to the table cloth (his father is a great tobacco lover in the old sense of the word). And, chancing to look up, he is struck by the figure that looks out from the picture hanging on the wall, in the place of honour, above the table where he is sitting. It is an austere figure: a priest with a book in his hand, wholly intent on reading it. He is in profile. His nose, his forehead, and his chin accentuate, by their sharp lines, his concentration on his reading. The little boy lingers on it a little and feels himself reproved: ‘see how I study and you sit there wasting time’. There is no excuse. The priest is right. The little fellow leaves the small heap of smelly tobacco on the table cloth and takes hold of his books. This was the first meeting of Father Balsari with Antonio Rosmini, which he told me with a smile, many years after. Perhaps the remembrance of a little incident which was full of meaning was dear to him. Rosmini had become the Master and inspiration of his soul and that silent summons which came to him as a child from that portrait, honoured in his father’s study, was like the first ring of a pleasant, precious chain which would bind him ever more closely to the spirit and mind of the philosopher and saint. And another ring, after the admiration and reverence which his father expressed when speaking of Rosmini, was the relationship which he had from boyhood with a young priest Don Giambattista Pagani, who gave him some coaching in Latin and later had to introduce him to the study of Rosminian philosophy and ultimately preceded him in entering the Institute of Charity. Father Pagani was Provincial in this Institute for several years, and some of us who are still living knew him personally. And it is right that we should always remembering him as one of the Fathers who reflected our Institute more, through their gifts of mind and character. Although he had the same name as the second Father General, and was from the same region, Borgomanero, he was not even distantly related and had a very different character.

The Balsari family, an ancient family, were natives of Oleggio, another large and flourishing town of Novara. Barnardino was the eldest of a large family of brothers and sisters who were reared very strictly. The children used the formal ‘Lei’ [you] to their parents according to custom which, after ’48, generally dropped out. This did not prevent family closeness in the home and the deep manifestations of affection which sprang from it. When Father Balsari was later called by God to religious life he seriously practised an evangelical detachment from his relations, but this did not lessen the sacrifice, even though he carried it out with total freedom. I have deliberately said ‘seriously’ What must be done must be done ‘seriously’, was a saying used by Father Balsari in everything which he did and planned. He felt intimately the sérieux of life, as Bossuet would say. And this spiritual habit, innate in him, and promoted by family environment, and later made fruitful by grace was always one of the more vivid and evident traits of his personality. Nothing gave him more annoyance than to see duties or the cause of truth and justice treated lightly. Nothing irritated him more than a superficial or sceptical manner in language or demeanour. Those who knew him in his maturity might have had the impression that he had a meek and mild disposition. But if a long struggle and assiduous internal discipline;inehad given this appearance in his habitual mode of speech and dealing with others, his natural tendencies were quite different. There was a fierceness and stubbornness in him and also an inclination to give way easily to impulses of anger; but not to rancour and bitterness. A generous and sensitive feeling which predominated caused him to love goodness and kindness and to put it into practice, and Christian humility impelled him to be affable and exquisitely respectful all sorts of people. Even his external appearance betrayed the contrast of these different mental qualities. His physiognomy was chiselled energetically but his glance and smile were gentle. His silvery white hair His silvery white hair which became grey early was like a spiritual halo round his face. The extant portraits of him do not do him justice, as usually happens with physiognomies which are very mobile in expression.

His religious vocation was delayed. His father, a respected doctor, thought that his eldest son might join his profession, and he was gratified to see his son’s rapid progress in his studies up to then. The fact that his son, when scarcely 16 years old had passed his school leaving exam and entered University, was a great triumph for his paternal pride. But that such a young man should be exposed to the influence of wayward companions could only be dangerous for him. Father Balzari spoke of that time of his university life almost distressingly and somewhat severely. Without expressly accusing himself he let it be known that he was not happy with that period of his youth. But the crisis was only a passing one and his solid Christian family education soon prevailed. Having graduated at the age of 22 he returned to his native town and was now known as the ‘Dottorino Balsari’ to distinguish him from his father, Dottore Balsari. But he did not persist long in medical practice, two years and a few months. The Lord was calling him to the priestly life. On 1 June 1879 he was ordained priest and was immediately assigned to the spiitual direction of the students of the upper grammar school of the Seminary of San Carlo sopra Arona. The Bishop of Novara and his advisors could not have given the young priest of twenty seven a clearer sign of their esteem. The ten years he spent in this delicate job only confirmed this. Actually, Don Balsari was a pearl among the clergy of Novara, and his superiors, colleagues and young clerics all concurred in this opinion. The latter would always later remember him, in their future years of priesthood, with edification and loving respect. But in this pearl there was a little thread of scoria. Don Balsari was a Rosminian. This was deplored by those who wished the best for him. Those were the days when intransient secularism in politics and antirosminianism in philosophy prevailed among the Curia and ecclesiastics in general. But family tradition and the study of philosophy resumed under the guidance of Don Gambattista Pagani, had steered Don Balsari in another direction. Attentive reading and study of the Nuovo Saggio had deeply convinced him, and with a character like his it was not easy to separate him from that to which he consciously adhered. He was confirmed in his Rosminian convictions by seeing its complete agreement with the teachings of St Augustine and St Thomas. The study of these two great doctors in his years at Arona was one of his happiest memories. He used to love to carry a book with him when walking along the road between Arona and Borgomanero in the summer on his visits home. It is a pleasant road with only some slight climbs, in the middle of fertile country in a landscape which varied in its contours, and cultivation, in its green meadows guarded by fine plants either in long rows or sparse bushes, with the view near Borgomanero of the grand massif of Monte Rosa, or near Arona, the tranquil water of Lago Maggiore which begins to form a river in Ticino. It was an ideal road for a restful and meditative journey. In this environment Don Balsari said that he greatly enjoyed several pages of De Civitate Dei and the Summa Contra Gentes so much that he did not feel the fatigue of the journey which is a long one. Don Bernardino Balsari was, then, an avowed Rosminian and the war which he waged without quarter in the name of Rosmini only confirmed him in his attitude. All the more as he knew that round about him there were those who combatted Rosmini without knowing him at all, without having read a line. This offence against sincerity and justice made him bold in his fidelity to the persecuted priest. Not that he liked polemics. He belonged rather to that trend in the Rosminian camp which, at the time, before the open approval of Leo XIII for Rosmini’s adversaries, thought a very prudent attitude and candid deference to the Pope, who had instigated the study of St Thomas, was appropriate. This did not contradict the spirit of Rosminianism, which naturally springs from the philosophia perennis. Faced with the either unjust or excessive attacks of the anti - rosminians, he kept silence in the hope that a better day might appear, in conformity with that spirit of faith which Rosmini had taught so much. Even in politics Don Balasari’s honest, conciliating character was averse to excessive trust in the parties and liberal governments which dominated Italy at the time, and in keeping with truest Rosminian principles, rejected quite a lot of their religious politics. At any rate, he enjoyed being associated with a large number of holy and wise priests, such as, Adalberto Catena, Giulio Tarra, Agostino Moglia. Sebastiano Casara, who were the pride of the diocese of Milan and of the other dioceses in North Italy. These showed how their convinced and open belief in Rosminian teaching could be united with the practice of the best type of priestly virtue. The young spiritual director of the Seminary of Arona experienced personally and spiritually the uplifting and invigorating effect of his loving study of Rosmini, the philosopher and ascetic; and it was this interior experience which, in the light of his Christian and Catholic priestly knowledge, compelled him to defend Rosmini. If others found in him, Bernardino Balsari, something to esteem and admire, he was deeply aware that he had a duty to acknowledge openly the person who was the most direct and effective instrument of the Holy Spirit in his spiritual life. The reverence, respect and submission towards his Superiors, which was heartfelt and practical, could not exclude this duty. And his Superiors who perceived the honesty and sincerity of his conscience, respected it, though they lamented what they saw as a misfortune in such a worthy subject.

In March 1888 the thunderbolt of the condemnation of the 40 Rosminian propositions struck. It was perhaps just at the time when the thought of religious life was forming deep in the soul of Don Balsari, while the very task of being spiritual director was a continuing stimulus for him to pursue asceticism and his personal study of perfection. But it was this terrible news which swiftly brought to a head his decision to become a religious of the institute founded by Rosmini. There were obstacles on the part of the Bishop who was loathe to lose so valuable a man; on the part of his family, who after the death of their father looked on him as the head, and from his own heart which was very attached to his clerics and to his work which he had begun so well to the benefit of his native diocese. He vigorously and gently overcame all these obstacles, and on the vigil of St Barnardine, 19 May 1889 he was at Calvario. Calvario was his base for approximately 12 years, until his election to the post of Provost General. It was a home dear to his heart both by reason of the place itself and also for the task to which he was soon promoted, namely Master of Novices. But it was not a walk - over, especially in those first days. He himself said that he had, at one stage, to struggle against a strong temptation against his vocation. It seemed to him that the latter was a diabolical deception, and that, for him the saying, of the Apostle was applicable, that Satan manifests himself as an angel of light. But the confidence he had in his novice master, Father Giambattista Pagani, helped him in his mental distress. He had known Father Pagani from boyhood and he had introduced him to, and been his master in, his study of Rosmini. He esteemed him greatly for the vigour of his mind and the austerity of his spirit, Father Balsari loved such austerity and because of this before entering the Institute he freely went to confession to Don Michele Solaro, director of the Sisters at Borgomanero, of whom Father Lanzoni used to say that, being denied natural gifts he had been compensated with all the gifts of grace. This pious priest was an example of religious mortification: and it is sufficient to record that his daily abode was a small, dark room at the base of the bell tower, which is now used as a little room for the confessions of externs, adjoining the Fathers’ sacristy. Whoever has seen this will have some idea of the penance it must have been to have had to stay there all day long. Father Balsari did not go to these extremes, though always cultivating that austerity of life, according to an ideal which we would call outdated today. He certainly enjoyed the beautiful recollection of the garden at Calvario, and that beauty which serves to raise the mind to God. With a mind akin to that of St Francis of Sales by reason of his natural disposition and appreciation of humanistic education (he always enjoyed reading), he followed him in the practice of using all the beautiful things of nature and art as an exercise in contemplation and of affection towards its Creator. He also wrote poetry with some inspiration, among which is a lyric, in the metre of Petrarch on the Cell of Father Founder at Calvario. But he balanced all this with a lively esteem for Christian penance, and he was very anxious that a modernising spirit should not come into the Institute opposed to this. He was especially a man of prayer and those living with him would sometimes notice that he stayed up to pray late into the night. With regard to all these religious virtues, he practised what he preached. The Institute, with him as General, felt that they had, as head, a religious of deep spiritual life and austere conscience.

Certainly, since the preference of Father Balsari was for the contemplative life, God wished him to make a generous renunciation of it by being elected Provost General of the Institute on 24 January 1901. It was indeed a heavy cross for him who had no taste for the affairs and activity of government, and he received it with faith, but with suffering inwardly. But he did not let himself become discouraged. He bravely and strenuously devoted himself to this difficult task, which was more difficult now because of the scarcity of brethren from which the Institute had begun to suffer, as a consequence of the years of attack on Rosmini’s name. Th Lord indeed wished to test his faith in this matter because he added a new cause for the diminution in personnel with the Great War of 1914 – 1918, which bore away many young men especially of the Italian province. In spite of this the thirty four years of Fr Balsari’s government show a reasonable development of the Institute. It began with the foundation of a novitiate in Ireland, at Omeath in a delightful position in the north part of Ireland, on the beach of a Lough, that is, a deep marine inlet similar to a lake. Father Balsari had some views of it hung in the long corridor leading to the generalitial rooms at Monte Calvario where he was based till 1906, and where the novitiate in Italy is. He also placed there views of the novitiate at Wadhurst in England. Maybe he wished to keep the three novitiates of the Institute together near him, not only as a sign that he loved every part of the Institute equally, but out of nostalgia for the post which he had held for many years of his religious life and the one most in keeping with his personal inclinations. If his Generalate opened with Omeath, it closed with Kilmurry. With the decision in 1931 to form an Irish - American Province, which became the third province of the Order, and to make Omeath a scholasticate, another place was needed for a novitiate. This was to be at Kilmurry in the pleasant valley of Blackwater in Southern Ireland, a place which Father Balzari liked a lot, especially for its deep tranquillity and the country solitude which he enjoyed. He judged it to be an ideal environment for a novitiate and was happy to open and bless it in the year preceding his death. In 1906 he opened the house of San Carlo al Corso at Rome and he made this is the generalitial centre. The house on via Alessandrina was closed. In the same year he initiated the elementary schools at Arluno and transferred the house for Aspirants from Craveggia where it was situated in the house of Father Pietro Prada, one of the teachers and more memorable Rectors of the College of Domodosaola. The house of aspirants moved from Arluno after the 1914 – 1918 war to Rovereto, later it was divided between Rovereto and Calvario, and finally Rovereto and Pusiano. In the time of Father Balsari came the crisis of our elementary schools in Italy. New educational laws made it impossible to continue with small establishments in Municipalities, separated from our Colleges, as they had flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century. One after another Domodossola, Arluno, Calice, Malesco, Intra and Craveggia had to be closed. At Intra the town which had always been most friendly to our teachers Father Balasari decided to make up for their departure from the schools by accepting the direction of an Orphanage which lasted some twenty years. Our elementary masters, however, were retained for the boarding schools at Stresa and Turin and in other houses which Providence subsequently confided to us after the death of Father Balsari. At Turin Father Balsasri notably transformed our first establishment begun in the time of Archbishop Monsignor Gastaldi into an Institute of classical studies. The new building was used in the Great War as a place for the wounded, who received there under our guidance and administration, re – education for work adapted to their unfortunate condition. Later the school resumed and developed into one of the most prominent works in Italy. Fr Balsari began works of pastoral charity, parochial work, for the Institute in Italy. In 1923 he took on the parish of Montecompatri, entrusted to him by the Bishop of Frascati, Cardinl Cagliero, and he had the pleasure of seeing it well established and this work of ours greatly esteemed by the people and the Cardinal Bishops. In England the house of aspirants was changed into a Scholasticate and the elegant school of Grace Dieu, for younger students was annexed to Ratcliffe College, a return to the house and church which had witnessed the first steps of Father Gentili in his apostolate in Great Britain. In Wales, in both Newport and Cardiff the initial parishes had tripled. From St Mary’s, Newport had come those of St Michael and St Patrick, and at Cardiff from St Peter’s those of St Alban and St Joseph. Father Balsari resisted with persistent care attempts that were made to withdraw from the care of the Institute parts of those regions in South Wales. From the beginning our Fathers had been brought to establish permanent missions and to organise parish life, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, after laws had granted freedom to practise the Catholic faith. Also Father Balsari took on a new parish at Dollis Hill; also under him the new church and house were built at Bexhill - on - Sea in Sussex. On the other hand we gave up the direction of the reformatory of Market Weighton in the county of Yorkshire because of difficult relations with the state authorities. Old Father Catellano had administered this for many years with so much love and care, and it was the press where our Constitutions were printed.

Deplorable times compelled Fr Balsari to take another sad step and that was the relinquishing, in 1903, of the house of Sainghin near Lille in Northern France. An orphanage had flourished there for many years; but the laws of Combes against teaching Orders made the continuation of the work impossible. So the Institute lost the one house it had in France, while a little novitiate in Belgium, near the French frontier at Waereghem, had been closed a little earlier. The crystal lamps which solemnly adorn the inner oratory at Calvario di Domodossola, and the group of statues of Jesus Crucified, with our Lady and St John, now in Omeath, came from Sainghin. This group of statues was erected in sight of the sea, at the end of the garden near the house cemetry to which the body of Father Gentili was recently moved. The spot is venerated and the goal of devout prilgrimages. The house of Sainghin had been founded by Father Lorrain, a Frenchman, one of the direct disciples of Father Founder, a man dear to God and to men because of his great humility and charity. His rare virtue appeared clearer after his death when one saw how lasting was the formation which he gave to his community. A characteristic of that house was its heartfelt unity. Its members felt bound to each other by a special bond, and when they were dispersed here and there to other houses, they always had a moving nostalgia for the fraternity which they experienced at Sainghin. To complete this brief review of Father Balsari in his thirty four years of governing the Institute we record the care which he lavished on the Sisters in Italy and England. Under him in 1933 at Domodossola, the Sisters built their beautiful college for girls, a worthy companion for the imposing building of the boys’ college. Also under him our Sisters began their useful and effective work of collaboration in the schools of the institute. Let us remember also that Father Balsari was the first General to visit our houses in America, where the old parish of Corpus Christi, built by Father Costa was divided thus giving rise to the new one of St Patrick. This was also where a first attempt as made to start an American novitiate. We have mentioned the important decision in 1932 to form a new autonomous Province out of the houses in Ireland and America, the third of the Institute. Father Balsari also gave new impetus to the work of the Ascribed which was especially brought about with conferences held periodically at Milan and other centres, and the magazine CHARITAS to which so many people subscribed.

Father Balsari served the Institute in yet another way, that of restoring the good name of Father Founder. He was profoundly convinced that this was not only beneficial and almost necessary for the existence of the institute, but a matter of justice. And when Father Balsari treated of justice he became fired up. But he did not play down the difficulty of the situation. After the Dimittantur of 1854 came the Post obitum of 1887, and this, as the later decree appeared to have more authority. Nothing weighed more heavily on a conscience as candid and sensitive as that of Father Balsari than the lack of obedience, or even just the external respect owed to the Holy See. He thought of turning directly to the Pope, of having recourse with trust to the universal Father, in whom personally lay all power of judgement and government in the Church. He thought it permissible to ask for an examination of the sentence of 1887, keeping in mind all the practical consequences that followed from it, including an unjust judgement on the entire work of Rosmini that had spread through all the ecclesiastical colleges throughout the world. The Post Obitum was generally interpreted as a total condemnation without any discrimination: that the name of Rosmini should be erased from the list of Catholic writers. Now, even finding in his works propositions to be censured or condemned (and which of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church are exempt from this) the great contribution of Rosmini to the Church, as philosopher and apologist, ought to remain and ought not be unknown. Nor is it right to treat him as a heretic or as a systematic perverter of Catholic doctrine. From the first time that he spoke of this with Pius X, Father Balsari was consoled to find out that the Pope thought the same as he. And he saw this as a providential sign encouraging him to go forward on the path he had undertaken. It is moreover right to add that his devotion to and his unbounded love of the Church, instilled into him by the second of the Maxims of Christian Perfection urged him to do this. He was convinced that with time accurate and perceptive historians could not miss the fact that that there was contradiction between the sentence of 1854 (Dimittantur) and that of 1887 (Post Obitum). It seemed to him that a devoted and sincere son of the Church had an obligation to do his best to prevent the outcome of a judgement unfavourable to the Holy See which could be occasioned by such a fact. So his faith, his love and his whole heart, which shone in his venerable appearance, counselled him to have a paternal sympathy for the Sovereign Pontiffs whom he addressed humbly but fervently. The first audiences he had with Pius X gave him great hope. In fact the obvious and kind attitude of the Pope towards the Rosminians helped the Institute quite a lot in removing many prejudices spread against it in Roman circles and facilitated a great deal the negotiations in entrusting to us the care of the splendid and much frequented church of San Carlo al Corso. This work contributed decisively to re- -establishing our good name in Roman ecclesiastical circles. By taking up residence in Rome, Father Balsari was in the position to be in continual contact with prelates and other secular and regular clergy who could be of direct or indirect help in preparing, as we say, the environment for that rehabilitation of he Founder which was at the forefront of his thoughts. It was an incessant and delicate labour which he painstakingly carried out for years and years with unshakeable faith. This quiet work, strengthened by his prayer and his personal prestige, had to bear fruit eventually: and we see this today. Meanwhile, however, his hope that Pius X would be the Pope to give a new impetus to the cause of Rosmini was disappointed. Pius X was taken up with other troublesome concerns especially modernism, and did not feel up to carrying out his hasty promises, perhaps made out of the kindness of his heart to Father Balsari at their first meetings. He did not expect much from the Pope who succeeded him. But, on the contrary, he got very much more from Benedict XV than from Pius X. At first he did not get anywhere. The upheaval of the Great War was on, and among so many urgent worries, it is perfectly natural that the Pope was not at all inclined to concern himself with a problem which was so complicated, and totally new to him. But when peace came the fearless insistence of Father Balsari finally had an effect. Benedict XV, especially having listened to the opinion of Father Arcangelo Lolli, Canon of the Lateran of St Peter in Chains, was convinced that he should appoint a Commission of a few people in his confidence who might report back to him on the question. It was not an official step but still it was a great one. The Lord did not wish that he should follow this up. Just at that point he called that great Pontiff to himself by an untimely death. Father Balsari was filled with great hope on hearing that Cardinal Ratti was newly elected to the See of Peter. But it was another and more cruel disappointment. Pius XI from the first audience made it clear to him that he wished to have nothing to do with his request. And his tone indicated that he permanently did not wish to broach the matter. Yet it was certainly known that the Pope spoke with others about the Rosminian question in a somewhat different manner, at least in the first years of his Pontificate. Later on he said to a personal friend of the Institute: ‘I have a great esteem for the Rosminian Fathers and the work which they do, but I cannot satisfy them in their wishes regarding their Founder. It is not yet time. At the present time there would be a renewal of the controversies similar to those of my youth, and I do not want this’. And this attitude remained till his death. Probably at first he hesitated with different opinions, but having finally made a decision, he remained fixed in it, in keeping with his character. But with Father Balsari in person not even at the beginning did he give a ray of hope, perhaps in order to spare him further disappointments. This was a grave blow. But still graver was the one which followed. Pius XI had said, when Father Balsari recalled the merits of the Founder: ‘get him to do some miracles’. Some time afterwards, two extraordinary graces, recognised as supernatural by the appropriate processes of the Episcopal Curia of Novara , were obtained through the intercession of Antonio Rosmini. Father Balsari had gathered similar documents from the Curias of Milan and Vigevano concerning other graces but he was spurred on by these last ones, which appeared to be the actual response of God to his Vicar on earth, to initiate the steps for the Cause of Beatification of the Founder of the Institute. He knew what obstacles the pursuit of this would meet. But it was enough for him meanwhile to achieve the beginning of it, which would authorize the title of Servant of God to be used for Rosmini. Cardinal Vico, Prefect of the Congregation of Rites, signed the decree which allowed the nomination of postulator of the Cause at Rome, and vice - postulators in the dioceses of Novara and Trent, where the diocesan processes had to be carried out. The principal author of this favourable introduction was the Secretary of the Sacred Congregation, Monsignor Domenico Mariani, a man greatly esteemed in the Curia, an expert in the life of Rosmini and deeply convinced that Rosmini was a saint of the highest order. Already the Bishop of Trent, the well known Monsignor Endrici very gladly summoned the first session of the process in his diocese, when there arrived a letter for him from Rome from the Promotor of the Faith which warned him from taking this step, as inopportune for the time being. What had happened? The Bishop of Novara, Monsignor Castelli, also summoning his diocesan process, had been afraid of being imprudent (the anti – Rosminian bias was so deeply rooted still even in non malicious minds) and had written to Rome, receiving from there a reply that at the same time was sent to Trent. Everything collapsed ad tempus (for the time being). Then Father Balsari, with filial trust and courage, wrote a very explicit letter to the Pope in person. But the latter assure him through his Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Gasparri, that he had not been behind the action of the Promotor of the Faith, indicating that he was very grieved that it had been thought that he, the Pope, was deliberately hostile to Rosmini. And when in the Holy Year of 1933 whole of the College of Domodossola with a group from Stresa and the Colleges of the Rosminian Sisters went to Rome on pilgrimage, Pius XI granted them a very special audience with a solemn discourse praising the work of education in the Colleges. Fr Balsari was there and the Pope wished him to sit close by him while he spoke. And when Pius XI heard that Fr Balsari had died he praised him highly to the astonishment of those who heard him. In telling us about the affair they said: ‘We did not think that the Pope had so much esteem for your Father, and those of us who have been with the Pope for some years do not remember having heard him praise anyone else like this’. And it is worth adding that when, after the death of Father Balsari, it was decided to build the Collegio Missionario di Porta Latina, Pius XI was kind enough to grant an outstanding loan in aid of the building. This was an act of special, indeed of unusual, kindness, because it was almost wholly alien to him to grant loans of this kind.

Father Balsari felt these disappointments deeply even if supported by his indomitable faith in divine providence, by his enduring devotion and obedience to the Vicar of Christ and by devout resignation to the will of God. On the other hand, if the cause of Father Founder still did not receive the outcome which he desired, nevertheless he had taken a large step with the visible change in opinion regarding Rosmini from the last years of the nineteenth century to the second and third decade of the twentieth century. in Rome and in the entire ecclesiastical world. And in large part the work of Father Balsari must be given the credit for this. Father Balsari remained vigorous in old age until he was about eighty years old. Then he began to decline, but his faculties and mind intact remained unimpaired. His secretary Father John Hickey looked after him with filial care and was a great help. So he continued, almost without change, his scrupulously austere religious life, totally devoted to prayer, to the government of the Institute, to study, to good works. Among these love of the poor (who often knocked on the door at San Carlo al Corso) was prominent. He devoted himself to them with warm and patient charity wasting time (but was it really wasted?) listening to the sad stories of their troubles. As usual, frauds insinuated themselves as well and he became able to sort these out But he was patient even with them. Out of love for religious poverty he kept a careful record of all his expenses, and even of those which went on charity. He has left behind many notebooks where he indicated daily his alms and the purpose for which they were given. I do not believe that anyone ever turned to him without receiving help together with kind words and with that sensitive modesty which, in Christ, put the one who gives on an equal footing with the one who receives. As far as he was able he was generous in his contributions to any good work. This enabled him to be acquainted with a great number of Institutes, with praiseworthy figures in the Church and in world at large, such as Canon Di Francia, D. Carlo Sanmartini, Don Luigi Talamoni, and most notable of all, Don Orione. These with the insight of holy people, recognised in him a mind similar to theirs. They became friends with him, happy to speak with him as often as possible and enjoying his corresponding with them. In the last period of his life he celebrated the centenary of the foundation of the Institute at Calvario in 1928 in the presence of Cardinal Gamba, Archbishop of Turin, and the bishops of Novara, Trent and Nuoro, civil and military authorities, and many ex – pupils of our Colleges whose Association had a marble image of Rosmini and a commemorative plaque placed on the outside wall of Calvario. The following year, 1929, Father Balsari said his Golden Jubilee Mass, surrounded by his brethren, among whom quite a number came from far off, from England, Ireland and America. The Lord later gave him the consolation in the sunset of his life to see the beginning of the National Edition of Rosmini’s works, promoted by the Philosophical Society and decreed by the Italian government, and in which notable persons in the Italian Universities collaborated and, a sign of new times, even Padre Boyer, a Jesuit and Prefect of Studies at the Gregorian College.

Early in 1935 I went to Rome on serious business and found him beside the bed of his Secretary down with flu. Poor Father felt the lack of this timely help in his declining years. I noticed that he was coughing with a dry cough which seemed suspicious to me. I begged him to have it checked immediately, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He was preoccupied with a letter received very recently from a young religious tempted in his vocation. He thought only of this all day, and did not want to listen to us insisting that he go to bed without delay. Firstly he had to prepare a good reply to help this soul. In the evening, lying in bed, I was worried. That cough was on my mind and I could not get to sleep. I ended up getting up, dressing, and very quietly so as not to alarm the house which was fast asleep, went to see him. I passed by the oratory and from there noticed that the light was on in Father’s room. I half opened the door without making a noise and moved the curtain. Father was in bed but not asleep. He was reading, half sitting up, supported by his pillows, with a shawl round his shoulders. The light of small lamp above his head shone on his silver hair, and illuminated the forceful and expressive lines of his face totally immersed in his reading. I contemplated that face lined with the intense activity of years. But also just the same as that which had smiled at me when he welcomed me thirty five years earlier, at Calvario, when I went there for the first time, twenty years old, to find my vocation. He was always the same: a man of God, who now, after a heavy painful day, stayed awake to fulfil his duties to the Lord, doing his spiritual reading which he had not had time to do earlier. I called in a low voice ‘Father’! He started and didn’t see me, ‘Who is it?’ ‘It is I, Father, you should think of going to sleep: look, you are not well’. ‘No, no, don’t worry; I have finished now’. I went back to my room with a heavy heart. The following day, the doctor diagnosed pneumonia, and twenty days afterwards Father Balsari was dead. Almost at the same time as him (thirty hours later) Don Giuseppe Sannicolò, who had come to the Institute from Rovereto almost at the same time as him, and for the same reason, died in the same house of San Carlo al Corso. He had been Secretary for many years and, though of a very different character, had been very close to him in heart and soul. They were buried together, and the funeral in San Carl al Corso was impressive by reason of the crowd of people, especially ecclesiastical who filled the vast church, and that showed the esteem in which he was held in Rome, also a sign of the long quiet work of his Generalate. He lies in our vault in Camp Verano, next to Father Pagani, the second General of the Institute, with whom he shared his native village (place??), his fervour of spirit and his loving devotion towards God and men.