THREE DIMENSIONAL SPIRITUALITY

                          THREE DIMENSIONAL SPIRITUALITY 

Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn: 14:5-6)

 Based on this passage of triple dimensions of Jesus, as Way, Truth and Life for the sanctification of the people,  Pope Leo XIII had brought out an encyclical called “Tametsi Futura” to counteract the current crisis of the time at the end of 19^th century.

 Deciding to do something in support of the Church Alberione who was just 16 years old at that time, was pleased to read the encyclical again and again and it stirred up in him a special interest in its content: Jesus as Way, Truth and Life.  It remained dormant in his mind for 23 years till 1923. 

 During these long years through his intimate experience of Jesus he developed a concept called “Master” and applied to Jesus the Divine Master.

Alberione also explained this concept and insisted that the person who is directly responsible for the formation must be called Master. He preferred this title, because, for him, the formator is more than a guide, teacher, rector or a director.

 According to our Founder, It is not enough to be a teacher giving lectures, but one has to be a master.  The master of the group is not only one who teaches but also one who is to be imitated, as he takes the place of Jesus the Divine Master.

He must continually deny himself in order to make himself a servant to the needs of his formees. He has to protect them from sin and be their constant companion.

He should be patient and prudent and possess a heart overflowing with supernatural affection for his spiritual children. He must be enthusiastic about his own vocation and teach the students by his example (cfr CISP, 750).

  Alberione, after studying various spiritualities which focus only one aspect of Jesus defined the Pauline Spirituality focusing all the aspect of Jesus by unifying “Master” and the three principles of Way, Truth, Life as: “To live integrally the Gospel of Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life as he is interpreted by Paul, under the gaze of Mary Queen of the Apostles”. (UPS I, 51; AD 93).  It was officially approved by the Holy See after 35 years, on September 24, 1958.

 The wholeness of this new spirituality consists in the wholeness of human person and the wholeness of Jesus. It presents the whole Jesus. Jesus as truth to believe, Jesus as way to follow and Jesus as life to be shared.

It also presents the whole of human person, the whole formation, the whole of apostolate, the whole holiness and gives God, complete worship in Jesus and through Jesus leading the whole person with mind, will and heart to God.

 Our wholeness is achieved through the harmonious development of all our faculties of mind, will and heart without any mutilation or fragmentation.  Whenever these faculties are mutilated or disoriented, we become inhuman and ego-centric persons. Such persons according to our Founder cannot become “whole man”.  

 Having the faculties of the whole man, our mind, will and heart we automatically replace them with the same mind, will and heart of Jesus. In this way we become another Christs and do the works of Jesus though our apostolate. 

 Thus, Jesus the Truth sanctifies our minds; Jesus the Way strengthens our wills and Jesus the Life unifies our hearts.  Jesus the Way-Truth-Life helps us to grow our human faculties of mind, will and heart to reach the supreme height of our personality, state of perfection, sanctity, perfect happiness and union with God.

 Jesus the way-truth-life responds to the fundamental needs of our human nature which possesses an intelligence that needs to be enlightened, a will that needs to be directed to do good, a heart that needs to be unified. We will gradually begin to think as Jesus thinks, do as Jesus does and feel as Jesus feels.

 Thus, the three persons of the Holy Trinity, having perfect relationship with one another as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit becomes the perfect example of our life of unity in diversity. Our ultimate goal is to be with this Trinitarian God and to reach this Trinitarian God we follow Jesus the Way, Truth and Life. 

 

 

CONSECRATION AND FRATERNAL LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY

 

 I have the task - not easy, for various reasons - to introduce a reflection, certainly partial, on the themes of consecration through the profession of the evangelical counsels and of fraternal life in the community. I will do it, for what I can, looking above all at the global vision of Fr. Alberione, as it has been concretized in our Constitutions, Rules and Statutes.

CONSECRATION BY THE PROFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS

Consecrated to God, delivered to the brothers

 

The offering of oneself to God concerns every Christian, because we are all consecrated to him through baptism. We are all called to offer ourselves to the Father with Jesus and like Jesus, making of our life a generous gift (...). However, this consecration is lived in a special way by the religious, by the monks, by the consecrated laity, who by the profession of the vows belong to God in a full and exclusive way. This belonging to the Lord allows those who live it in an authentic way to offer a special witness to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Totally consecrated to God, they are totally handed over to the brothers, to bring the light of Christ to where the darkness is most intense. spread his hope in the disheartened hearts. Consecrated persons are a sign of God in the different environments of life, they are leaven for the growth of a more just and fraternal society, they are a prophecy of sharing with the little ones and the poor ....

 

As Pope Francis often repeats, with baptism we are all introduced into the Christian life which is, first of all, the consecrated life. In fact, every Christian, thanks to baptism, is inserted into Christ (see Romans 6: 3-4) and sanctified in him, sent to continue his mission, made capable of growing in love and in the service of the Lord. The baptismal consecration constitutes and defines the identity and mission of the Christian, which is holiness.

On the day of baptism, we received the greatest gift that God can give to men and women. There are no honors and recognitions that can equal value. Because we have been freed from sin and united with Jesus Christ and his body, the Church. On that day, and every day that followed him, we were chosen to "be holy and immaculate in his sight in love" (Eph 1: 4).

In baptism the Christian identity is determined Christologically, that is, configured by the relationship with Christ, by his death and resurrection (see Col 2:12, Rom 6: 1-11), by the gift of the Spirit; and it is qualified on the ecclesial level, because whoever is baptized in the faith of the Church is incorporated into the body of Christ (see Gal 3: 26-28), see also LG 9) and participates in his mission in a unique and singular way. Thirdly - and this is a characteristic trait often forgotten or underestimated - an eschatologically determined identity is given in baptism: who is baptized receives an open identity, stretched between the "already" of the Kingdom and its fulfillment "not yet "Happened.

Consecrated life specifies these traits, Christologically and ecclesially determined by the common baptismal root, highlighting in particular the prophetic charge connected to the eschatological dimension of the baptismal identity. It therefore expresses a peculiar way of living in the Church, a special way of adhering to the life of faith and service begun with baptism. The option is characterized by the evangelical counsels, through which the consecrated live a Christian life in a new way, committing themselves to "reproduce" in their own existence the form of life practiced by Jesus.

An effective synthesis of what has been said so far is found in the Scrutinized Letter which, with regard to Lumen gentium chapter VI, emphasizes:

(...) the Church recognizes among the many ways to holiness the gift of consecrated life, received from her Lord and kept at all times by her grace (see LG 43). The baptismal root of the consecration, on the teaching of Paul VI, is highlighted with joy, while indicating the style of life lived in the sequela Christi as a permanent and effective representation of the form of existence that the Son of God embraced in his earthly existence. Lastly, consecrated life is indicated as a sign for the People of God in the fulfillment of the common Christian vocation and manifestation of the grace of the Risen Lord and of the power of the Holy Spirit who works wonders in the Church (see here, 44).

 

The vision of Don Alberione

 

Fr. Alberione was a protagonist of the renewal of religious life, not primarily in the theoretical field but in the concrete one, with his foundational work. Despite the tradition, he is an innovator.

From the very beginning of the Pauline Family, consecration and mission are like a single reality that responds to the particular light that the Founder had received in 1910:

On the one hand bring souls to the highest perfection, that of those who also practice the evangelical counsels, and the merit of the apostolic life. On the other hand, giving more unity, more stability, more continuity, more supernaturality to the apostolate (AD 24).

We therefore situate ourselves in the typology of apostolic religious life, illustrated by n. 8 of Perfectae caritatis and that the 1983 Code of Canon Law summarizes:

In the Institutes dedicated to the apostolate, apostolic action belongs to their very nature. Therefore the whole life of the members is permeated by an apostolic spirit, and on the other hand all the apostolic activity is animated by a religious spirit (CDC 675.1).

In the overall picture of religious-apostolic life, the Pauline life is characterized by some notes that we also find in chapter V of Lumen gentium on the universal vocation to holiness. These notes give our specific apostolates a particular spiritual fruitfulness.

1. Vocation to holiness = striving for holiness - In a meditation held in Alba at the Daughters of St. Paul, on November 23, 1931, the Primo Maestro says: «Religious life is the profession of becoming saints, observing the evangelical counsels and the Rules . These things are the marrow of religious life, the essence, the profession that is elected: all the rest is accessory, consequence ". The holiness proposed is the life of Christ: "His life is a law: as He lived, so it is law that we must live". This insistence on sanctity allows us to understand n. 90 of AD: "The first care of the Pauline Family will be the sanctity of life, the second the sanctity of the doctrine".

2. Holiness as a configuration to Christ Master VVV - Here too, Fr. Alberione anticipates the Council. Holiness does not consist in external perfection, but in union with Christ Master Way, Truth and Life (see LG 39, 40). This union and conformity with Christ is the core of our Constitutions. Therefore, "... fundamental articles are those that say that piety must be conformed to the devotion to Jesus Master Way, Truth and Life; and that the study must conform to the devotion to Jesus Master Way, Truth and Life; and that the apostolate must give Jesus Master Way, Truth and Life. And there would still be a point which, however, is implicitly indicated: all Pauline life is inserted, that is, uniformed to Jesus Christ Way, Truth and Life ». It is a matter of "taking the whole Master in his light, in his spirit, in his examples and in his grace. Living in him, for him, with him, by him ".

3. Religious life as a total donation - Still in harmony with LG 44, where it is said that the religious through the evangelical counsels "gives himself totally to the beloved God, so as to be, with new and special title, destined for service and honor of God ", Fr. Alberione expresses in profoundity the profound meaning of the profession:" St. Paul suggests to you the form of your profession: "I offer everything, gift, consecration". Everything, here's the big word. Your holiness depends on that whole. If we give ourselves entirely to the Lord, if we give him the mind, the will, the heart, the body, what we have and what we will have, we will truly belong to the Lord ".

4. The evangelical counsels source of spiritual and apostolic fruitfulness - For Fr. Alberione, vows are a gift of God and a special vocation, a path of following Christ that leads to holiness, the sign and prophecy of the Kingdom and the proposal of psycho-spiritual integration which acquires greater depth to the extent that it is advanced. In this journey both the consecrated person and the community are involved, because we are communitarianly committed to assume an evangelical style of chaste, poor, obedient life. The Founder always links evangelical counsels and mission. I quote a text that seems very significant:

The Religious shine and become effective in their ministry for three precious gems: chastity, poverty, docility. History is proof of this. Whoever wants to bring men to the ideals of holiness must be poor in spirit. Whoever wants to bring men to the purity of the costumes must be chaste, virgin. Whoever wants to bring men to order in the family, in society, in the unity of the Church, must be subjugated. Many wanted to reform the Church, but not to reform themselves: they possessed neither mission, nor virtue, nor true piety. (...) The Religious, through the three vows, transforms his life into virtue and strength of apostolate; it is the secret of eternal happiness. In fact, poverty is the greatest wealth (...). Chastity is the greatest love for God and for souls (...). Obedience is the utmost freedom, making us superior to the passions and preparing ourselves for the possession of God.

It may be useful to have a few more words on the individual vows, as Fr. Alberione lived them and gave them to us.

Poverty - "We start from poverty and then we gradually get to other virtues. So it is very important to start with it otherwise you never get there ... Jesus went to start in the crib ... From there you start. From there he began St. Anthony with the undressing of everything; St. Basil leaving the family and retiring; St. Benedict leaving the house and going into a cave; and so St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius and all the saints ... And you who say you are disciples of Jesus, you want to start from where ... Reflect, do you want to leave or not leave? ".

It is evident that the poverty of departure is not the service to those who are poor, but in imitation of Christ, it is to make oneself poor, with nothing in the heart and little available: effective and affective poverty.

During his last years, Fr. Alberione structures the path of poverty around five verbs: "renunciation, production, preservation, provision, edification". For us, therefore, poverty is not only negative, but has a strong positive dimension that, in the itinerary of following, involves everything: the person and the apostolate, being and having, to direct everything to the Father in Christ and use everything to better enter into the mystery of his life and his mission: "This is the positive part of poverty which consists not only in depriving us of certain things, but in a supernatural detachment, just as we get from the Gospel and it is practiced by Mary ". It is a journey of following that leads us to have in us the feelings of Jesus.

The Founder draws us a broad path of poverty that gives people and communities a tone of simplicity, sobriety, disinterest, and the handing over to God of the hands and mind. This lived poverty produces fruits: spirit of prayer, celestial wisdom, gifts of the Holy Spirit, beatitudes. And there is a fruit particularly linked to the mission: communion.

Chastity - Fr. Alberione presents to us chastity not so much as a renunciation, but as a choice of God and a commitment to service the cause of the Gospel, to which we dedicate our every faculty and possibility. For him there is no true chastity without Jesus Master being at the center of life.

The Primo Maestro likes to linger over and over again on the mystical vision of the Apocalypse, where those who have chosen the Lord in such a radical form "follow the Lamb wherever he goes" and sing a "new song" that only they understand (Ap 14 1 ff). And he prefers the passage of the Letter to the Corinthians in which the body is proclaimed the abode of the Spirit: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you? You have received it from God and you do not belong to yourselves ... Glorify God in your body "(1 Cor 6:19). It is with mystical power that he defines the body "a pyxis, a chalice" in which the Lord dwells. It is generated between the one who chose the Lord above all and the Lord a union so profound that it is spousal: "... all these forces that are in the soul and in the body are all given to Jesus and all given to Jesus in love for souls. Love for him and love for souls. This intimacy with Jesus reflects what is said in the Scriptures: "Erunt duo in carne una". You will be two, you and Jesus, in one person: "Lives live in me Christus, I live, but Christ lives in me". Two in one. Life in two. Other than to say that atrophy the heart by giving oneself to God! ».

This "life in two" makes us enter into the interests of the Kingdom; and then the Lord's commands left to the first apostolic community become ours: the ecumenical commitment, the preaching to the peoples of conversion and the forgiveness of sins, the witness in the whole world of the death and resurrection of the Lord (Lk 24,47) , fraternal communion ...

It is in the light of this that we must read n. 24 of Abundantes divitiae and that exultation that the Founder was trying to warn that those who would have worked in evangelization with the quickest and most effective means would have been mystically delivered to God ("Forming an organization, but religious; united, where the dedication is total, where the doctrine will be purer, society of souls that love God with all the mind, the strength, the heart "). We are far from an efficient vision that sees the votes according to an activity ...

Chastity presents itself as a path, a "studium perfectionis": perfecting the mind, the heart, the will, the body, the works ... to enter the life of spirituality and mission. This is why chastity requires the ascent of the senses, the activity ("in prayer, in fervor, in ejaculations, activities in studies, activities and development of devotion and zeal in the apostolate. ... Activity in poverty: why if you do not grow even in the four parts, you are always in danger, you do not have the energies and virtue, succeed in one thing, it also facilitates, but you have to do the four religious parts "), dresses in poverty, requires loneliness, surrounds of prayer, is nourished in a serene community atmosphere.

Obedience - If we retrace the writings of the Founder, we note how he considers obedience, at any level, as a fundamental cornerstone in the structure of Pauline religious life, "the keystone ... the virtue that ensures the whole life of an institute ... a practice that facilitates the whole of life of sanctification ... mother and guardian of every virtue ".

Fr Alberione speaks of it continually, makes it the subject of meditations in retreats and exercises, he writes, warns against not observing it: the consequences result in great harm for the person and the institutions.

For him, the foundation of obedience is threefold: the authority represented by the superior; religious profession, which has a character of donation: "I am no longer mine, but of the Institute"; the vote which is a sacred commitment. Obedience "must be whole (integral), that is, made with the mind, with the will, with the heart and with the body". It represents "the greatest freedom, making us superior to the unruly passions and preparing us to possess God". And it is "surely the way of peace, of merit, of grace, of the blessings of God in the apostolate. God blesses only what he is

 

according to his will ". The Lord's will that "manifests itself with his Word, through superiors, in events, in things".

I like to emphasize this reference - very wise - to obedience "through events and things". We should consider more - even in initial and continuing formation - this obedience that assumes the connotations of the «discomforts of the season, illnesses, misfortunes, malevolences, criticisms, difficulties in the environment, persecutions, the same temptations, and a thousand things that fill the years and the days ". If the exercise of obedience leads to the realization of the goal of the life of consecration to God: holiness, those instruments are desired or permitted "by God for our sanctification".

I fully report a tasty summary of dangers and enemies of obedience:

The religious state has many goods; but also trouble and danger with every step; that form «the uncertainties of the trade»: danger of receiving boring, painful, painful orders; danger of falling into the hands of an obnoxious and harsh Superior; and between brothers unwelcome; danger of being misunderstood and put in a corner (and those who have suffered such proof! ...); danger of being sent to difficult places, even to health; danger of being moved at any moment; danger of an ungrateful task, which perhaps also seems disproportionate. And when what is danger became reality? Then look at Jesus: «Do not mea sed your voluntas fiat» ...

Enemies of obedience: lack of clear ideas in the superior or in the subject; rationalist spirit, false maxims, age, temperament; individualism: forming a life of its own, such as islets or nests in the community; superiors not balanced in orders; current world trends; laxity and bad examples.

I close with a mention of Fr. Alberione to a serious risk and an enemy of obedience:

The internal divisions in an institute lead to the most serious consequences: divisions of thought, of address, of character, of doctrine, of works, etc. They destroy the spirit of the institute in the base and in life. The union is such good that for it we must sacrifice goods and particular views. The division between the major superiors, general council and provincial superiors is very bad. On the other hand, a cordial understanding is of great edification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

FRATERNAL LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY

 

 

Community configured by the Mission

 

At the origin there is a conviction of some believers on the part of God to live together with other disciples of Christ according to a charism that embodies and interprets the mystery of Christ, accentuating in particular some of its aspects, and with which - for a gift of the Spirit - one feels spiritually in tune:

[In the religious community] there is a convergence of "yes" to God, which unites the various consecrated persons in the same community of life. Consecrated together, united in the same "yes", united in the Holy Spirit, the religious discover every day that their following of Christ "obedient, poor and chaste" is lived in fraternity, like the disciples who followed Jesus in his ministry. United to Christ and therefore called to be united among themselves. United in the mission to oppose prophetically the idolatry of power, of having, of pleasure. And so obedience binds and unites the different wills in the same fraternal community endowed with a specific mission to be accomplished in the Church. Obedience is a "yes" to God's plan that has entrusted a particular task to a group of people. It involves a link with the mission, but also with the community that must realize here and now and its service together; it also requires a lucid glance of faith on superiors who "carry out their duty of service and guidance" and mustto protect the conformity of apostolic work with the mission ... And so in communion with them one must realize the divine will, the only one that can save.

One and the same call of God has gathered together the members of a community or institute; a single will to seek God who continues to guide them.

From this initial convocation-communion then comes a double service: ad intra (the joint research of the will of God and the fraternal coexistence) and ad extra (the apostolic mission).

Community life connotes the charism with its value as a crucifying gift, which molds, shapes and grows, freeing itself from selfishness and enabling one another to serve one another. Gym of freedom and creativity, it is a dynamic reality, which is built every day in the communion of faith, hope and charity, and in the service of evangelization, of which it is an indispensable premise.

Communion is what makes consecrated life attractive. We are attracted to two things: from love and beauty. The Christian East says that beauty is synonymous with holiness, like love. Consecrated persons, called to holiness, are experts in beauty, love, unity and transfiguration. They are "artists" of the Spirit.

What attracts in the consecrated life is not the formal perfection of the members but to see people in concrete relationships, struggling not to give in to evil; men and women who, transformed by the daily encounter with Christ in the Eucharist and in the Word, learn "to discover Jesus in the face of others, in their voice, in their requests" (EG 91), declining the mysticism of living together with the mysticism of the encounter, letting itself be "illuminated by the relationship of love that passes between the three Divine persons as a model of all interpersonal relationships".

Being a community is action and process. The community is built day by day; it is not a conquest achieved thanks to our efforts. Community is gracious when we recognize God as our Father and Mary as our Mother, and we feel like sons / daughters and brothers / sisters; when we welcome the presence and the word of the Risen Lord and recognize ourselves as disciples of the one Master, moved by the love that the Spirit pours into our hearts. The community is a grace in synodality, when we walk together with different roles and functions, in the common obedience to a revealed Word that calls for conversion and exercise of discernment. This kind of community makes the mission credible!

The Church invites consecrated persons to grow in the dimension of "communities configured by the Mission", witnesses of the primacy of God - against every kind of idolatry - and proclamation of the Gospel of the new Covenant. Communities that are "home and school of communion", because the grace of listening, of dialogue, of reconciliation flows from inside to outside. Communities infected by joy and witnesses of joy.

When Francis speaks of consecrated life, he strongly emphasizes that «the beauty of consecration is joy, joy ...». And he adds that he who has encountered the Lord and follows him with fidelity is a messenger of the joy of the Spirit. "Only through this encounter or re-encounter with the love of God, which turns into happy friendship, are we redeemed from our isolated conscience and from self-referentiality" (EG 8). Rejoice! To joy is dedicated, his Letter to the consecrated and consecrated persons for the year of the consecrated life.

Pope Francis presents us with the experience of joy, the joy of living of a Presence, the joy of telling the Good News that is a gift of life. We are called to the diaconia of joy. The need for love in the consecrated life is measured by the joy that illuminates the faces. And joy is also an excellent vocational promotion. A splendid image of the Sufi mystique compares the servant of God to an hourglass that is emptied with joy: joy comes from a certainty: the hourglass knows that soon, that suddenly, a Hand will overturn it ...

 

The Pauline community according to Fr. Alberione

 

The community, as our documents well underline, is a place in which our identity as disciples and apostles of the Master matures and strengthens; the area in which communion with him and among us expands in the mission.

In Christ the community, nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, becomes light. "From here I want to enlighten", explained the Founder, he started from the Tabernacle and from the community, which the Master has invested in a specific mission: "I am your light and I will use you to enlighten. I give you this mission and I want you to do it "(AD 157). Therefore, a great light must start from the community, even if it is threatened by many difficulties, because Christ is in the community: "I am with you, that is with your Family, which I desired, which is mine, that food, of which I belong, as a leader. Do not waver! If also there are many difficulties; but that I can always be with you! Do not sin ... "(AD 156).

Community = Jesus and us. The community that lets itself be inhabited by Him is light. Its radiant light is the light of communion, the light of the lived Gospel, the light of the proclamation.

Fr Alberione did not leave us a treatise on "common life" and, in reality, did not speak explicitly of the community in itself. He was rather interested in how his communities lived concretely, he was attentive to the realities - personal and not - in which the life of the communities was incarnated.

A first community nucleus was established in Alba around 1916. The Founder was pleased to highlight two characteristic elements: the "Pauline spirit" and the "love for the nascent family". The style of life is the familiar one and also the language adapts: one speaks of family, home, father, sons and daughters ... Toward the twenties and thirties he begins, however, to reorganize, even canonically, the Pauline communities that pass from personal management of the authority to share responsibilities. Later, during the period of full expansion, Fr. Alberione had to intervene with a long article on St. Paul to prevent the "pharaonic" temptations in the buildings and recall to the essential: "The first and decisive criterion [to be followed in the construction projects] is keep in mind the service which the house must make ", that is, to make the life of recollection and the exercise of the apostolate easier".

Fr Alberione does not renounce, to the family model and so he reiterates, in the spring of 1957, opening the Chapter of the Pious Society of Saint Paul: "The full concept of the Institute is this: religious family modeled on the house of Nazareth and regulated by canonical norms ..." .

In 1964, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation, the Founder translates his vision of the Pauline community into an image taken from the peasant world: that of a four-wheeled cart that serves the community to transport the Gospel. These wheels, in a circular dated 22 June 1933, are defined as follows: «1. Spirit; 2. Study; 3. Zeal; 4. Poverty ». In these four fields Fr. Alberione saw the life of the Pauline communities as summarized, then summarized in Abundantes divitiae: "All man in Christ for a total love of God: intelligence, will, heart, physical forces. Everything, nature and grace and vocation, for the apostolate. Chariot that runs on the four wheels: holiness, study, apostolate, poverty "(AD 100).

 

Essential elements of the Pauline community

The Lord wanted us to unite in order to accompany us on the path towards religious perfection and our apostolate, and has charged me, the most miserable of all, to communicate to you his most wise and most loving will, our devotion, the grace of the Holy Spirit. and our particular life ... You will have blessings and consolations and spiritual children to the extent that you will follow, living the Pauline life as it results from the Constitutions ... Let us love each other, very well ... The grace of the Lord, his light, his comfort are always with me and with each of the brothers and sisters: for life, death, eternity.

These, therefore, are the essential elements of the Pauline community:

1. Communion in Christ Master (sanctifying community) - Thanks to this union with Christ, the sign of ecclesial unity is realized. A bond of spiritual communion is common prayer, the "spirit of piety" which gives our Institutes "a marked and manifest Pauline color". Individualism and the singularity of prayer is "a specious temptation"; rather, it is a rejection of community life. Therefore "it is necessary that after [having] embraced the common life with the profession, we do not reject it with a way of living and of individual praying ...". To guarantee spiritual union, the Founder particularly suggested two means: to frequently use the Book of Prayers ("serving as a guide") and "to celebrate our feasts with the greatest solemnity outside and with inner joy".

2. The heritage of St. Paul (community of apostolate) - It is clear to Fr. Alberione that "for us the common life was born of the apostolate and in view of the apostolate ... we are at the service of the souls; religious-apostles ... ». Religious-apostles: this binomial defines us and also determines the community style. This is why the Pauline communities are religious communities and their members are consecrated: to be more authentically apostles, like St. Paul. This is also the case of secular institutes, which lack only the common life in the material sense; that is, the house in the same house, meals in common, the same exercises together, etc. ".

3. The superior and the community of formation - Capital element is, according to our Founder, the figure of the superior in the community and his function of service: "In our family the government is in Christ Master Way, Truth and Life ... a large exercise of charity ...; to govern is a broader and deeper sacrifice; to govern is to precede in holiness, prayer, example ...; To govern means to gather strength and organize them for the benefit of the community and of individuals ". In the service of authority the brothers share the community virtue of obedience: "Obedience learned from the example and teaching of the Divine Master, in a docility that sounds cordial collaboration ... The ultimate" social bonum "is the union ... Now on the one hand, the solicitude of the master-superiors for all and, on the other, the mutual goodness between brothers and the obedience of the members realize the ut unum sint, if charity prevails ».

4. The model of Nazareth: the fraternal community - To indicate the climate, attitudes and type of relationships that must be valid within the Pauline communities, we have seen that Fr. Alberione refers to the Family of Nazareth. It "gave us the best example of this religious family life on earth"; its members - Jesus, Mary and Joseph - living in perfect communion and salvific cooperation, made it a harmonious and industrious community.

In the light of the Holy Family, all members of the Pauline communities must learn the evangelical attitude of fraternity and the sense of belonging, that is, the true "family spirit". "Relationships between religious [Paulines] should be inspired by fraternal love, but in a more perfect degree than in the natural family. The "cor unum et anima una" is necessary, as was said of the early Christians. It is therefore necessary to eliminate what could generate divisions, rancor: not deduction, not unjustified relationships, not mutual criticism ... but union of mind, union of heart, union of works and prayers, in solidarity with the brothers until after death ».

In 1949, the Primo Maestro wrote to the Daughters of Saint Paul about our "penitences": "The first is common to all religious: common life lived lovingly, constantly, joyously". In reality, the content of this penance suggests us to translate the expression of Don Alberione with the words of Psalm 133: "Behold, how beautiful and how sweet it is that the brothers [the sisters] live together!" ...

The Way of the Cross for Religious

STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR RELIGIOUS

Introduction

To be  followers of Jesus is to have a desire to be like Jesus crucified. As religious, we must yearn for nothing but to suffer, be despised and made little of by others. This yearning has to be such that our hearts become one with Jesus Christ and the sufferings of  humanity also become our sufferings.

All  the trials and adversities  that come our way on our  journey of  consecrated life become sure means of our way of the cross. All our activities and efforts must lead us to reach this goal of our Calvary.

At times our focus could seem  to be deviating from the purpose of our committed life by temptations of power, attachments and self-interest. It is time for us today to repent and return to the Father, like  the prodigal son, making an act of contrition saying:

O my God, behold  me at your feet asking for your forgiveness from the bottom of my heart for failing to live my life as a truly committed religious. Look with pity upon me and forgive me all my sins!  I resolve to follow your way of the cross for the sake of your love for me!  Amen

Hymn:        God of mercy and compassion,

Look with pity upon me,

Father, let me call Thee Father,

’Tis Thy child returns to Thee.

Jesus, Lord, I ask for mercy;

Let me not implore in vain;

All my sins, I now detest them,

Never will I sin again. 

By my sins I have deserved

Death and endless misery!

Hell with all its pains and torments,

And for all eternity!

1. Jesus is condemned to Death

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you -

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

“The verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted. So he released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished” (Luke 23:24-25).

Pilate condemned Jesus because of his vanity. He was worried about what others would think of him. Caiaphas condemned Jesus because of his pride. He wanted his way to be followed, no matter what it  was and where it would  lead.  Herod condemned Jesus because of his insensitivity.  He was indifferent to  anything that  failed to entertain or interest him.

How quick we are  to condemn others!  Which of these most often drives us forward: Vanity?  Prestige?  Pride? Or sensuality? What can we as Religious do about it? Do we imitate the loving  manner in Jesus accepted  the Father’s will? What is our reaction when others turn against us, humiliate us, and cause us great pain?

Let us pray: God our Father, your son, Jesus, was condemned to death by civil and religious authorities for proclaiming nothing but the truth!  Instil your love in our hearts so that we may not  yield to the temptations of vanity, pride and self-indulgence  but be ever faithful to our call to be like Jesus and never condemn or degrade any one of our brothers and sisters.

Have mercy on us O Lord, Have mercy on us!  

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn, TO BE LIKE JESUS - 

To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus

all I ask to be like him.

All throu’ life’s journey from earth to glory all I ask to be like him!

2. Jesus takes up his cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you -

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

“And carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha” (John 19:17).

 What a contrast between the two thieves crucified with Christ!  The bad thief ridicules Jesus for accepting his cross. We can presume that the bad thief intended to get out of his punishment by accusing Jesus and pleasing the authorities. What crosses do we reject? Do we accuse others or please those in authority  just in order to escape from the punishments we deserve? Are we faithful to Jesus who has said, “If you wish to come after me, you must deny your very self, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps”?

Let us pray:  Eternal Father, Jesus, accepted the cross and still carries it in our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world. As Consecrated persons, we too at times  experience in our community life many crosses;  fear, worry,  and frustration  greatly weigh us down,  rendering us handicapped;  they prevent us from being able to care for others and love unconditionally. Help us to follow Jesus by accepting our daily crosses, aware of all the persecuted and impoverished people on Earth.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, obtain for me that the wounds of Jesus my Lord

Holy Mother Mary, obtain for us that the wounds of Jesus our Lord may be impressed on  our  hearts as we sing the hymn: IF YOU WISH TO BE MY DISCIPLE -

If you wish to be my disciple,

Take up your cross and follow me!

Whoever loves his life will only lose it.

It’s only sacrifice that brings one gain.

If you wish to be my disciple,

Take up your cross and follow me!

3. Jesus falls the first time

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you -

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

“No slave is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name” (John 15:20-21).

Jesus’ followers were distressed when they saw Him condemned, scourged and burdened with the cross. When he fell  under the weight of the cross his disciples lost all their hope  and ran away.  When setbacks and failures in  life test our faith in Jesus,  do we easily give in to doubts  and disappointments? 

Let us pray: God, our Father, Jesus has fallen under the cross of our sins and weaknesses, but he gets up and keeps trudging on  his fearful journey precisely to free us from our sins and weaknesses.   Henceforth, when we  tend to hold back from following Jesus fearing that we would fall too,  strengthen our resolve to live out  the commitment of consecrated life, renouncing sin and evil, freed of all selfishness!  Empower us with the courageous and surrendering spirit of Jesus!

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for us that the wounds of Jesus our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn: PRECIOUS LORD

When my way groweth drear,

Precious Lord linger near,

When my life is almost gone,

hear my cry, hear my call,

Hold my hand, lest I fall

Take my hand, previous Lord, lead me on.

4. Jesus meets his mother

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you -

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother’” (John 19:26-27).

There is nothing more  miserable than a mother seeing her child being lead to a horrible death. Her heart was pierced with sorrow as Simeon had foretold. She simply put her faith in the Father and encouraged her beloved Son in his mission all throughout his ministry.  Now on the way to Calvary she strengthens  his difficult journey with her prayerful presence. She knew well what it meant to follow the will of the Father,  having said “Yes” to  Him and declaring  herself his handmaid at the Annunciation.

Are we  faithful on an ongoing basis to  the “Yes” we have said to the Lord  at the time of our religious commitment?

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, on your way to Calvary a sword of sorrow pierced the loving heart of your mother as foretold by Simeon.   Grant that we who look back on her sorrows with compassion might receive the healing fruits of your sufferings.  Teach us to accept others as they are and to love them whenever they  encounter problems  in life.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us! Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn NO MAN CAN LIVE LIKE AN ISLAND

Be with us Mary along the way,

Guide every step we take.

Lead us to Jesus your loving son,

Come with us, Mary come 

Come with us Mary, come with us Mary, come with us Maisie

5. Simon helps Jesus carry His cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you -

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!

“As they were going out, they met a Cyrenean named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross” (Matthew 27:32).

Simon’s human nature, like ours, was an obstacle  to the idea of carrying the cross with Christ. Seeing the situation of Jesus and his cross he was not willing to respond positively to the order of the soldiers to help Jesus.  He was however forced to accept it. What about us? Are we stuck in that moment of indecision,  unwilling to say a clear Yes or No to the cross? Unwilling to accept the  values of Jesus in our daily life,  do we remember the commitment we made to Jesus to walk shoulder to shoulder with him,  carrying the cross up the hill,  along the way helping those in need physically, emotionally and spiritually?

Let us pray:   Lord Jesus, help us to see you in the sufferings and shortcomings of our lives  and thus share  your Cross. Empower us to carry the burdens of others and lighten their journey.  Help us to follow you and give of our time and energy to help you in our fellow religious reach  their destination.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for us that the wounds of Jesus our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE

Make me a channel of your peace!

Where there is despair in life let me bring hope;

Where there is darkness only light;

And where there’s sadness ever joy.

6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins” (Peter[L1]  4:8).

At this  stage of his suffering and fatigue, Jesus needed a little comfort and human warmth. Veronica  noticed it. She chose to  fulfil that need with her charitable act of wiping his disfigured face.

Charity can cover up a multitude of sins and it is the bedrock of  all Committed life. Of all the people in the crowd, she  dared stand  out because of her charitable heart.

Jesus left the imprint of his image for Veronica and today he  shows it to us, too, in the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, and the  dying. Do we always treasure that image, and touch it with compassion? The sufferings of Jesus pain  us; but have we translated  that pain into action? Or are we in the company of those who merely stood on the sidelines and wept?

Let us pray.  Merciful Father, we feel your love and understanding in the consolation and support we receive from one another in our community.  Help us also to extend this love and support to all those who are in need especially the least and the most alienated people.  Help us to see your face amid the mystery of suffering and, like Veronica, willingly lend a helping hand, a listening ear and a ready shoulder  to those who are struggling with life.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn WHATSOEVER YOU DO

Whatsoever you do to the least of my  brothers,

That you do unto me!

Whatsoever you do to the least of my sisters,

That you do unto me!

When I was hungry, you gave me to eat;

When I was thirsty, you gave me drink,

Now enter into the home of my Father! 

7. Jesus falls a second time

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.  Coming in human likeness,  and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

How could this happen to the God who created the universe? Jesus didn’t carry the cross with physical perfection or Divine power. He carried it like any other human being, and so he fell under  its weight over and over again. How often do we try to make others perfect in  community life? Do we realize that Jesus doesn’t expect perfection but humility and sacrifice? Are we aware that to become holier we have to rise again and again whenever we fall?.

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, You shared our broken humanity and accepted our guilt. You also made us aware that pride can bring about our downfall, causing us to turn back from the way along which you choose to lead us. Help us see our human weaknesses where the perspective of your strength and glory that dwell  and work  in us.  Help us to be humble, simple and obedient like you even to the point of death.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!  

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn MAKE ME A SERVANT

Make me a servant, humble and meek.

Lord let me lift up those who are weak;

And may the prayer of my heart always be:

Make me a servant, make me a servant,

Make me a servant, today!

8. Jesus meets the women

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children’” (Luke 23:27-28).

The  women weep,  deeply moved as they seeing the pitiful condition in  which Jesus makes  his way to Calvary. We too are deeply moved but often content with reciting some prayers. We also promise  Jesus that we would take up our crosses and follow him. Do we also actualize it in our life of commitment? Jesus told the women not to weep for him but for others. Jesus carried not his cross but ours. We are called to wipe out the sorrows and tears of the world.

Let us pray.  Lord Jesus, with tears of pity these women of Jerusalem responded to you, broken, bruised, and beaten, on the road to Calvary.  Deepen our faith, so that we may see you in this world which is in need of liberation from all kinds of divisions and comfort those who mourn. May the power of your spirit move us to  weep for  our brothers and sisters, bruised by our envy, beaten  by injustice, and broken by our greed and our indifference and to strive to work for their liberation.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn THE WORLD STANDS IN NEED OF LIBERATION

The world stands in need of liberation, my Lord -

It still has to feel your power.

The blind and the deaf, the dumb and the maimed,

All need to feel your healing touch.

The world stands in need of liberation, my Lord -

It still has to feel your power.

9. Jesus falls a third time

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

The physical weakness of Jesus is seen more clearly at his third fall. Satan took revenge upon Jesus and took delight  in each of his falls even though he failed to tempt him in the desert; but for now he does seem  to be convinced of his success.

We are called to give ourselves to Jesus and his people. Tempted by Satan we may feel unworthy of our calling and at times think that we are too weak to bear the burdens of  Consecrated life. Thus we give Satan reason to think that he is winning over us.  We have to get up again and again from our falls into sin and foil the plans of our enemy, the devil, recalling the words of Saint Paul, “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.”

Let us pray: God our  Father, you permitted your Son to be weakened, crushed and prone to falling  down again and again so that he might rise from each of his falls in  order to die and thus  free  us from the ravages of sin.  Help us to accept our weaknesses, wounds and failings as invitations to  a glorious resurrection in union with  Jesus.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn PRECIOUS LORD

Precious Lord, take my hand.

Lead me on, let me stand.

I am tired, I am weak, and worn.

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light.

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

10. Jesus is stripped of his garments

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier” (John 19:23).

In his supreme  humility and love, Jesus accepted the stripping of his garments that he was so brazenly subjected to:  stripped bare, for the entire world to see!  It was humiliating, yet he accepted it as part of the mission. Do we, likewise, strip ourselves of our selfishness and lack of courage?

Let us pray:   Lord Jesus, stripped of everything, you stood exposed to the jeers and contempt of the very people you loved.  Clothe us with your mercy and genuine love for  others, so that nothing we suffer may ever fill our hearts with hatred or bitterness.  Let our wounds transform us so that we do not transmit them to others.  Help us share your reconciliation and forgiveness with  all.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn WERE YOU THERE

Were you there when they stripped him of his clothes? (2)

Ooh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, trembleWere you there when they stripped him of his clothes?

11. Jesus is nailed to the cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“They crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle” (John 19:18).

The commitment of Jesus is perpetuated for eternity with three nails.   He knew he must go through with it,  and go through he lovingly did – all for our sake!

Following our Master’s example, we too are committed to the consecrated way of life with the three nails of the evangelical counsels  of poverty, chastity and obedience. At times the word “commitment” frightens us because it cannot be undone or even sidetracked and so  we accept it. Are we really faithful to our commitment? Do we lay our hand on the plough and  turn back? Or do we allow the seed  that Jesus planted in our hearts, with His own sweat and blood, grow and produce a rich harvest?

Let us pray.  Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, you told us that we too must accept crucifixion and death if we are to rise with you.  Help us to experience the sufferings of life as a means to purify ourselves, seeing in them the perfect way of the cross to the resurrection.  Give us the grace we need to produce a rich harvest of mercy, compassion and self-sacrifice with the seeds of your sacrifice on the cross.  May we ever persevere  in seeking and listening to you!

Have mercy on us O Lord -  Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn WERE YOU THERE

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross? (3)

Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble!

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?

12. Jesus dies on the cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 15:37-38).

The death of Jesus on the cross was a loud proclamation of the new  way of doing service. “If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of your wants to be the first, he must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people” (Mark 10:43-45) .

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help us to proclaim the memorial of your death on the cross by surrendering ourselves into your hands through  a meaningful participation in the daily Eucharist.. Let the celebration of your death become for us a sacrament of our dying to ourselves in loving one another, in  a bond of  unity.

Have mercy on us O Lord -  Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn INTO YOUR HANDS

Into your hands we commend our spirits oh Lord

Into your hands we commend our hearts

For we must die to ourselves in loving you

Into your hands we commend our love.

Oh God my God, why have you gone from me?

Far from my prayer, far from my cry?

To you I call, and you never answer me.

You send no comfort and I don’t know why!

13. Jesus is taken down from the cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member of the council, had not consented to their plan of action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the Kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” (Luke 23:50-52).

Mary received into her arms the lifeless body of the  child she had borne, fed, clothed, listened to and loved. She accompanied him from birth to death. She is as much a mother to us as she was  to Jesus, holding his body to  her bosom. We shall ask her intercession that we may not turn our eyes from the tears of the mothers whose children are dying on  the street.

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, You were brutally put to death but gently taken down from the cross. Your suffering and pain are ended, and you are placed  in the lap of your mother. The dirt and blood are wiped away with much care and love. Help us to look for the good in others and wipe away the dirt of sadness that we may become more and more gentle, loving persons through our greater appreciation for each other. May the grief of your mother, Mary, on seeing your lifeless body enter into our hearts, making  us sympathetic with  suffering.

Have mercy on us O Lord - Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE

Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope,

Where there is darkness, only light,

And where there’s sadness, ever joy!

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek,

So much to be consoled, as to console.

To be understood, as to understand,

To be loved as to love with all my soul!

14. Jesus is laid In the Tomb

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

“Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in the  new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed” (Matthew 27:59-60).

The King of kings was laid to rest but the rest was only  temporary. Jesus’ life on earth was very short,  yet so full that it could not be  silenced for  long!  He touched so many people especially the sick, the poor, the suffering, and requested us to do the same. We shall leave behind in  his tomb  the shrouds of all our fears and follow him as faithful followers to witness as his disciples.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus,  at the  height of your suffering,  when all seemed lost, you were laid to rest in the tomb  for a  short period of time. Help us to so empty ourselves of self-concern and false images that we might see your hand in every failure  and your victory in every defeat. 

Have mercy on us O Lord -  Have mercy on us!

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn WERE YOU THERE

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb (2)

Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, trembleWere you there when they laid him in the tomb.

Concluding Prayer

Heavenly Father, We thank you for giving us your beloved Son Jesus Christ who accompanies us on our life’s journey of the cross. He submitted himself to suffering, rejection and death to make it possible for us to be fully alive. He has shown us the way to transform our meaningless sufferings, and the hardships of our daily life to obtain ultimate happiness.

Help us to break ourselves for the sake of the other and fall to  the ground like the grain of wheat that we may produce new life in Jesus Christ. Guide us to bring good tidings to the poor, the suffering and the sick who yearn for happiness and fulfillment in  life.

We also thank you for the many gifts you have given us, especially the gift of our vocation.  Send your Spirit mightily upon us so that we may respond to our call to Religious Life with greater enthusiasm and love, by making ourselves  faithful disciples of your Son by following the example of Mary our Mother. Help us to surrender ourselves to  your will and to bring the people who dwell in darkness into the light of Jesus Christ. Make us generous in sharing ourselves and our talents for the sake of your Kingdom on earth. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Holy Mother, Mary, obtain for  us that the wounds of Jesus  our Lord may be impressed upon  our hearts as we all sing the hymn I HAVE DECIDED

1.    I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

2.    The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.

3.    My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.