Merry Christmas Rome 2018 ear Members of the Rosminian Family: Fathers and Brothers, Sisters of Providence (Rosminian Sisters), Adoptive Sons, and Ascribed members, let us welcome Dwith joy the blessing of the Lord, who, from the day of His birth in Bethlehem, day after day, continues to transform us with abundance, making us sons of God. The theme of this year’s letter is transformation. It has four sections, corresponding to the four periods of the Liturgical Year: Advent and Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time of the Year. The common message of the four periods of grace is the transformation which the Lord works in those who, day after day, allow themselves to be touched, embraced, filled, and made alive by Him, until they reach the full measure of Christ. A river of life-giving grace, to use the words of the great vision of Ezekiel. This is the first section. 2 Christmas, a Time for Transformation The image of the river can help us understand the many successive and progressive moments of transformation. Near Domodossola, in Italy, there is an alpine valley, surrounded by high mountains, called Alpe Veglia. One of the many deposits of dazzling snow gives birth to a silent spring, flowing hidden under white rocks. The spring flows into a small lake, called Lago Bianco. The stream which issues from the lake is called Frua; when it reaches the lowlands, near a wide meadow, it offers the perennial spectacle of a most beautiful waterfall, before joining the waters of the Cairasca stream. This stream goes down the valley, and flows into another torrent called Diveria, which, in its turn, flows into the river Toce. The river Toce, in its turn, flows into the Lago Maggiore. This lake is fed by the river Ticino, which has its origin in Switzerland. The Ticino, as emissary of the lake, flows into the river Po. This river flows into the Adriatic Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. The latter touches the waters of the Gulf of Arabia, through the Suez Canal, and of the Atlantic Ocean, through the Strait of Gibraltar. The waters of all the oceans are in communication with each other. 3 Snow and ice, when they melt, can become a small pond, a spring, a stream, a lake, a river, a sea, an ocean. When a stream of water flows into a greater one, it loses its name; the water, however, is not lost, it becomes part of the greater one. Losing oneself may result in becoming greater, and we may also achieve salvation: “He who loses his life for my sake, will save it”. It all depends whether we lose our life in God or in ourselves. In the example of the small lake, of the stream, and so forth, the loss of the name is compensated by the gaining in greatness and fruitfulness. In Christ’s case, St. Paul’s wrote to the Philippians: “He emptied Himself, that is, of the divine glory which was His, but He did not empty Himself of His divine nature” (Jerusalem Bible). In exchange for His “losing Himself”, so to speak, to the point of death on the cross for our sake, He acquired an infinite merit. To lose oneself is a demanding mystery, but it has its attraction; it is the mystery of “united we stand stronger”. If our union is with the Most-High God, our strength will be infinite. Moreover, if our union is truly with God, we do not lose our name, we become sons and heirs with a name: “Rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven”. 4 An affectionate and meaningful letter There is also a secret to being always ocean water, always in communication with any other ocean water. Rosmini reveals this in a letter written to his sister Margherita, who desired to receive more frequent letters from her brother Antonio, always so generous in writing to others, except to her. The secret is to dwell in a spiritual ocean, that is, in the heart of JESUS: “My heart is full of affection for you, and I often remember you before the Lord. It is my hope that what you yourself would like best is that we should meet in our Lord in perfect unity of heart. This is the true centre of the greatest love, of the greatest union of hearts; indeed, this is the only centre, a very ocean of love” (Milan, 10.04.1827; Spiritual Calendar, 5th December, p.115). A few months later, Antonio was at Calvario to begin his journey of consecration and to found our Institute. In the same year, 1828, Margherita became a nun and set up an orphanage in Trent. The union of the two siblings in a love greater than their natural affection produced that fruitful transformation which was willed by God. The journey of transformation guided by the Readings on the Fathers of the Church The theme of Christian transformation can be found in many of the teachings of Fr Founder, teachings based on the words of the Fathers of the Church, as we can find them in the Office of Reading. The wealth of inspirations, drawn by Rosmini from praying the Office, can be of great help to us. 5 The hidden source of so much of Rosmini’s teaching were the writings of the Fathers of the Church. This can be readily seen in his book, “The Five Wounds of Holy Church”, in which he shows frequently how the first few centuries of the life of the Church were times of good health, which should have become the model for bringing healing to the wounds of the Church of his own time. Reference to the Fathers can be seen everywhere in his writings. The Scholars at work on the Edizione Critica of Rosmini’s books, are amazed at the abundance of quotations taken from the writings of the Fathers of the Church. Rosmini, one can truly say, did not invent anything: he brought to life the doctrinal patrimony left by the greatest of the Fathers, Doctors, and Christian Writers. Fr Francesco Paoli, his secretary, tells us that Rosmini prayed the Office walking; at times his walking resembled a dance. This is his personal witness: “He thought that the Breviary was always recited in great haste by those who were with him. He almost knew the Breviary by heart, but usually he recited it with others, walking, and with movements of body and tone of voice which seemed to make a song or a dance that was all spiritual, in union with the Saints of Heaven. How often he said to us during those solemn moments: “More slowly!” (Francesco Paoli, Antonio Rosmini, Virtu’ Quotidiane, p. 93). The divine action defined by the word “transformation”, or by a similar expression, will occur in each of the four periods of the liturgical year. It will be the object of the four parts of this "Christmas letter". 6 Saint Bernard (Office of Readings, 29 December): “What greater proof could he have given of his mercy than by taking upon himself that which needed mercy? … Man, do not ask about your own sufferings; but about what he suffered. Learn from what he was made for you, how much he makes of you, so that his kindness may show itself to you from his humanity… The more he humbles himself on my account, the more powerfully he engages my love”. Saint Hippolytus (Office of Readings, 30 Decem- ber): “We know that the Word assumed a body from a Virgin and, through a new creation, put on our old nature. We know that he was a man, formed from the same substance as we are. If he were not of the same nature as us, his command to imitate him as a master would be a futile one… He went hungry and thirsty… In all this he offered his own self, so that when you suffered, you would not lose heart, but rather you would recognise that you are a man and would yourself expect to receive what he received from God”. What things? “All that belongs to God, because you have been deified and have become immortal… If you obey his sacred commandments, if you become a good follower of him who is good, you will become like him, you will be honoured by him. God is not lacking in anything, and he made you also a god for his glory”. In the Office of Readings of 1st January, we find the teaching of Saint Athanasius. It is human nature which is saved and transformed. JESUS was born not “in” Mary, but “of” Mary, “so that it would be accepted that what she gave birth to, came from her in the natural way… Our Saviour really did become man, and this 7 brought about the salvation of the whole man. He saved the whole man, body and soul”. Saint Basil, in the Office of Readings of 2nd January, invites us to con- sider our worship as an expression of our transfor- mation, in which the body also, because it has been saved, is part of the worship “in Spirit and in truth”. He uses the image of the stamp which im- presses the seal, and of the seal impressed by the stamp. From the shape of the seal it is possible to ascend to the form of the stamp, since the former is the effect of the latter. To acknowledge JESUS as Son of God and Saviour means that we worship Him, not in a particular place, but in the Spirit: “As parts in the whole, so are we, individually, in the Spirit because we were all baptised in one body into the one Spirit”.