STRENNA 2014
“Da mihi animas, cetera
tolle”
Let us draw upon the spiritual experience of
Don Bosco,
in order to walk in holiness
according to our specific vocation
“The glory of God and the salvation of souls”
In this article
STRENNA
2014
«Da mihi animas, cetera tolle»
Let us draw upon the spiritual experience of Don Bosco, in order to walk in
holiness according to our specific vocation
«The glory of God and the salvation of souls»
My Dear Brothers and
Sisters of the Salesian Family,
We are concluding the
three years of preparation for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco.
After having dedicated the first year to getting to know him in the history of
his times, and the second year to recognising him as an educator and putting into practice
his own educational method, in this third and final year we want to explore the
source of his charism by drawing on his spirituality.
Christian spirituality
has charity at its core, in other words the very life of God Himself Who
is Agape, Charity, Love at the deepest level. Salesian
spirituality is no different from Christian spirituality. It too is
concentrated on charity; in its case it is a matter of “pastoral charity”, in
other words that charity which urges us to seek “the glory of God and the salvation
of souls”. “Caritas Christi urget nos”.
Like all the great holy
founders Don Bosco lived his life as a Christian with a fervent burning
charity, and contemplated the Lord Jesus from a particular standpoint, that of
the charism with which God had entrusted him: the mission to the young.
“Salesian charity” is pastoral charity because it seeks the salvation of souls.
It is also educative charity because it finds in education the resource that
allows it to help the young to develop all their energies for good. In this way
young people can grow up to be upright citizens, good Christians and future
inhabitants of heaven.
I am inviting you
therefore, dear members of the Salesian Family, to draw from the wellsprings of
Don Bosco’s spirituality, in other words from his educative and pastoral
charity. It finds its model in Christ the Good Shepherd and its prayer and its
plan of life in Don Bosco’s motto: «Da mihi animas, cetera tolle». Closely
following this path we will be able to discover “Don Bosco the mystic” whose
spiritual experience lies at the heart of the way we live our Salesian
spirituality today, in the variety of vocations which take their inspiration
from him; and we ourselves will be able to have a strong Salesian spiritual
experience.
Getting to know Don
Bosco’s life and his educational method still does not mean understanding
his deepest secret and the real reason for his being so surprisingly relevant
today. Being familiar with the various aspects of Don Bosco’s life and works
and even of his educational method is not sufficient. Behind all this, as the
source of the fruitfulness of his activity and relevance is something that can
even escape us his sons and daughters: his deep inner life, what we could call
his “familiarity” with God. Who knows but maybe this is the best idea we
have of him in order to love him, to pray to him, imitate and follow him
so as to encounter the Lord Jesus and bring young people to this same
encounter!
Today it would be possible to draw up a spiritual profile of Don
Bosco, starting from the impressions of his earliest collaborators. We could
then move on to Fr Eugene Ceria’s book, “Don Bosco with God,” which the first
attempt was made to provide a popular account of his spirituality. We could
then compare the various re-interpretations of Don Bosco’s spirituality offered
by his Successors, before finally coming to the research that has marked a
turning point in the study of the way Don Bosco lived his own faith and
religious life.
These recent studies are more faithful in the way they are in
touch with the available sources and are open to a consideration of the various
spiritual perspectives that influenced Don Bosco, or with which he was in
contact (Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Ignatius, Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori,
Saint Vincent de Paul Saint Philip Neri, …). However, they also help us to
recognise that his was an original and creative experience. At this point it
would be interesting to have a new spiritual profile of Don Bosco, a new
hagiography, as this term is understood by spiritual theology today.
Don Bosco the “spiritual man” attracted and was of special interest to Walter
Nigg, a Lutheran pastor and professor of Church History at the University of
Zurich. He concentrated on the spiritual dimension and he wrote thus:
“Describing someone while overlooking the fact that we are dealing with a saint
would be like presenting a half truth. The category of saint has to take
precedence over that of the educator. Any other ranking would falsify the
hierarchy of values. On the other hand, the saint is someone in whom the
natural borders on the supernatural, and in Don Bosco the supernatural is there
in a remarkable way... We ourselves have no doubt: the real modern saint of
Italy is Don Bosco».[1]
In the 1980s this
opinion was shared by the theologian Fr Dominique Chenu O.P. To a journalist
who asked him to suggest some saints who might have a relevant message for our
new times he answered: “I would especially like to recall to mind one who was
the precursor of the Council by a century, Don Bosco. He was a prophetic model
of holiness because his work broke with the way of thinking and believing of
his contemporaries”.
In every cultural era
and in every context we need to answer these questions:
·
What did Don Bosco receive from the environment he lived in?
·
How much does he owe to his surroundings, his family, the Church
of his time?
·
How did he react, and what did he give to his time and surroundings?
·
What has been his influence on the times that have followed?
·
How did his contemporaries see him: Salesians, the people, the
Church, lay people?
·
How have later generations understood him?
·
What aspects of his holiness seem of most interest to us today?
·
How do we today translate the way Don Bosco interpreted the
Gospel?
These are the kinds of
questions that a new hagiography of Don Bosco will have to answer. It is not a
matter of identifying a definitive, perpetually valid profile of Don Bosco but
of providing one that is relevant for today. Naturally, certain aspects of each
saint are emphasised that are particularly of interest for their current
relevance, and others are left aside that are considered not to be so necessary
at this particular time in history, or that are judged to be less relevant in
identifying the saint’s chief characteristics.
Saints, in fact, are a
response to the spiritual needs of a generation, an outstanding illustration of
what Christians at a particular time mean by holiness. And evidently the
hoped-for imitation of a saint can only be proportional to the absolute
reference point which is Jesus of Nazareth; in fact, every Christian, in his or
her real situation, is called to incarnate in his or her own way the universal
figure of Jesus, obviously without ever exhausting it. The saints offer us a
concrete and valid path towards this identification with the Lord Jesus.
In the commentary on the Strenna
which I am offering to the Salesian Family, the three key issues I develop are:
features of the spirituality of Don Bosco; pastoral charity and the core and
synthesis of Salesian spirituality; Salesian spirituality for vocations. At the
end I shall proposes more completely some practical tasks which I shall already
anticipate here.
Coming to a precise
identification of Don Bosco’s spirituality is not an easy undertaking; it is
not surprising that this aspect of his personality is the least explored. Don
Bosco is a man fully taken up by apostolic work; he does not provide us with
any descriptions of his interior development, nor has he left us any
special reflections on his spiritual experience. He does not write spiritual
diaries nor offer explanations for his inner motivation. He prefers to transmit
a spirit by describing the events of his life, or through biographies of his
boys. It is certainly not sufficient to say that his apostolic
spirituality is that of someone who carries out an active ministry, a balance
between a learned and a popular spirituality; rather it is necessary to
identify what is at the heart of his spiritual experience.
This raises a serious
question: given the real shortage of sources regarding his inner life, how do
you investigate the spirituality of Don Bosco? We can leave it to spiritual
theologians to delve into this methodological issue as we try to identify some
of the fundamental aspects and the characteristics of his spiritual experience.
Spirituality is a characteristic
‘feel’ for Christian holiness and being inclined in that direction; it is a
particular way of ordering one’s life in order to achieve Christian perfection,
and being part of a special charism. In other words, it is a Christian way of
life in union with God which presupposes faith.
Salesian
spirituality consists of various elements; it is a style of life, of prayer, of
work, of interpersonal relationships; a community way of life; an educative and
pastoral mission based on a pedagogical heritage; an approach to
formation; a characteristic set of values and attitudes; a
particular view of the Church and of society through specific areas of
engagement; an historical patrimony of documentation and writings; a characteristic
language; a typical set of structures and works; a calendar with its own
celebrations and anniversaries...
In the general framework
of a history of spirituality in the XIXth century, we can point out some
elements which seem to us to be especially relevant in describing the
spiritual experience of Don Bosco; they are his starting point, his
deepest roots, the means he uses, his goal.
The glory of God and the
salvation of souls were Don Bosco’s passion. Promoting the glory of God and the
salvation of souls meant conforming his own will to that of God who obviously
greatly desires the full manifestation of that goodness that He Himelf is, in
other words His glory which is the authentic achievement of what is good for
man - which is the salvation of his soul.
In a rare fragment of
his “story of a soul”, Don Bosco will confess (in 1854) the secret regarding
the purpose of what he was doing: «When I began to devote myself to this
particular aspect of the sacred ministry I set out to consecrate all my efforts
to the greater glory of God and to the salvation of souls, and to work to
make good citizens on this earth so that one day they would then be worthy
inhabitants of heaven. May God help me to be able to continue until my last
breath. Amen”.[2]
In the same passage a
few lines earlier he had written:
“Ut filios Dei, qui
erant dispersi, congregaret in unum. John. c. 11 v. 52. The words of
the holy Gospel which let us know that the Divine Saviour came into the world
to gather together into unity the scattered children of God, it appears to me
can be applied literally to the young people of our days. This, the most frail
but most precious part of human society on which rests the hopes for a happy future
is not of itself perversely inclined […] The difficulty consists in finding a
way to bring them together, to speak with them, bring them to lead a good life.
This was the mission of the Son of God, only His holy religion can do this”.[3]
At the basis of the
decision to set up the Oratory there is the salvific will of God, expressed in
the incarnation of the Son, sent to gather around Himself in unity men lost in
the byways of error and mistaken paths to holiness. The Church is called to
respond in its own time to this divine mission of salvation. So the Oratory
fits into this economy of salvation; it is a human response to a divine
vocation, and is not a work founded on the good will of an individual.
As confirmation of this,
we can read in an account from 16 January 1861: “Questioned about his opinion
regarding the efficiency of grace he replied: I have studied these questions a
great deal; but my system is one that redounds to the greater glory of God.
What is the point of me having a narrow system that then sends a soul to hell,
or a broad system provided it send souls to heaven?”[4]
Similar is the
explanation he gives on 16 February 1876 about the way he carried out his
plans: “We always go ahead with confidence; before undertaking anything we make
certain that it is God’s will that these things are done. We may meet a
thousand difficulties on the way, but that does not matter. God wants it, and
we are fearless in the face of whatever difficulties there may be.”[5]
Identical to the
purposes of the Oratory are those of the “Work of the Oratories,” in other
words of the Salesian Society, of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians, of the Salesians Cooperators, of the Association of Mary
Help of Christians; all of them are animated, motivated and guided by the same
purpose. A few quotations regarding the Salesians from among the many one could
cite will suffice.
In the introduction to
the first draft of the Constitutions, Don Bosco declared that the first
group of clergy collaborators had joined together “promising to occupy
themselves only with those things that their Superior judged to be for the
greater glory of God and for the benefit of their own souls”.[6] In the following chapter on the
purpose of the Society he repeated: the Salesians “come together to form a
single heart and a single soul to love and to serve God”.[7]
In addition, on 11 June
1860 in the request submitted to the Archbishop of Turin for the approval of
the Constitutions one reads: “we the undersigned, moved solely by the desire to
ensure our eternal salvation, have come together to live a common life and so
more easily give our attention to those things that concern the glory of God
and the salvation of souls”.[8] Then on 12 January 1880 he wrote to
Cardinal Ferrieri saying that the aim of the Salesian work was still the same:
“I believe I can assure your Eminence that the Salesians have no other aim than
to work for the greater glory of God, on behalf of Holy Church to spread the
Gospel of Jesus Christ among the Indians of the Pampas and in Patagonia.”[9]
Indeed, Don Bosco had
already mentioned the same purpose of the growing Society of Saint Francis of
Sales, writing on 9 June 1867 to the Salesians in a circular letter, two years
before the approval of the Congregation: “The first aim of our Society is the
sanctification of its members […] Everyone should enter the society
guided by the sole desire to serve God with greater perfection, and for his own
good, and it goes without saying that the real good for himself is his
spiritual and eternal good.”.[10]
The unum
necessarium is at the heart of his interior life, of his dialogue with
God, of his work as an apostle. There can be no doubt that holiness shone out
in Don Bosco’s works, but it is also true that his works were simply an
expression of his faith. It is not the works he accomplished that make Don
Bosco a saint as Saint Paul reminds us: “If I have all the eloquence of men
…but without love then I am nothing at all (1 Cor 13); but it
is a faith enlivened by practical charity (cf. Gal 5:6b) that makes him a
saint: you will be able to tell them by their fruits (cf. Mt
7, 16.20).
All Christians are
called to a real and not merely psychological “union with God.” Union with God
means living one’s life in God and in His presence: it is the divine life that
is within us by participation; it is the exercise of faith, hope and charity,
to which necessarily follow the infused virtues, the moral virtues etc. Don
Bosco gave an evangelical zeal to his whole life, making his whole purpose in
life the transmission of faith in God, in living out the theological virtues:
with a faith which became a fascinating example for the young, a hope that was
expressed in words that were a shining light for them, with a charity which
became an expression of love for the least and neglected ones.
Don Bosco was always
faithful to his mission of practical charity: where a disincarnated mysticism
would have run the risk of his being detached from reality, faith obliged him
to keep his feet firmly on the ground so as to keep faith with those most in
need; when he might have been overcome by fatigue or tempted to give up, hope
sustained him; when there seemed to be no solution St Paul’s way ahead urged
him on: “Caritas Christi urget nos” (1 Cor 5,14). Don Bosco’
charity did not falter when faced with difficulties:: I have made
myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost (1 Cor
9,22). It was not conflicts that were to be feared in the field of education
but, lack of effort and disengagement.
Living by faith: means abandoning oneself
with joyful trust in God who revealed Himself in Jesus so as to be able to live
in all situations in a salvific manner: in other words responding to all
circumstances in such a way as to allow God to show in them His work of
salvation. No situation corresponds perfectly to God’s will, but a person can
act in each situation so as to always carry out God’s will.
Living by hope: means waiting on
God each day so as to be able to accept His gift when it comes; it means
waiting each day for God who comes through His created gifts: every day has its
gift. So in all circumstances - even failure: “nothing can separate us from the
love of Christ” (Rm 8, 39).
Living by charity: means opening up the
present moment to the love of God. In order to be able to live a spirit of
sacrifice constant practice is needed; a stimulating context is needed:
certainly, the Salesian mission is just that.
Don Bosco lived all this
in a spirit of genuine piety. He did not leave any formula for
practices of piety, nor any special devotion of his own. Hs approach is
realistic and practical. Just the prayers of the good Christian, easy,
simple but said with perseverance. What Don Bosco wanted was that the Salesians
should consecrate their whole lives to the salvation of souls and
sanctify their work offering it to God; prayer ought to take its place as the
raising up of the mind and heart to God, as petition and as nourishment.
In other words, the “practices of piety” had something of an ascetical role.
The results of this in the life of Don Bosco are plain for all to see.
Let us listen to two
witness statements. This is what a past-pupil forty five years of age, a soldier
and army instructor from Florence wrote to Don Bosco in Turin:
“My Dear Don Bosco, it
seems you were quite right to sigh over me, but you can also be sure that I
always loved you, will always love you. I take every comfort from you, and from
afar I admire all you do. I don’t speak ill of you, nor do I allow anyone else
to speak ill of you. I always defend you. In you I see someone who wants my
soul at all costs. I am confused, ecstatic, thrilled by your way of
thinking; always firm and deeply felt. It disconcerted me and made me feel
astonished to see that you always loved me so much. Yes oh dear Don
Bosco. I believe in the communion of Saints […]. No one more than you knows me
and understands my heart and can decide. In conclusion therefore:
advise me, love me, forgive me and commend me to God, to Jesus, to most
holy Mary.I send you a heartfelt kiss and swear that I love you...”[11]
The second witness
statement is a very moving page written by Saint Don Orione to his clerics in
1934, the year of Don Bosco’s canonisation:
“Now I shall tell you
the reason, the motive, the cause for which Don Bosco became a saint. Don Bosco
became a saint because he nurtured his divine life, because he nurtured our
divine life, At his school I learned that this saint didn’t fill our
heads with nonsense or anything like that but rather he nourished us with God,
and he nourished himself with God, with the spirit of God. As a mother feeds
herself so then to be able to feed her child. In the same way Don Bosco fed
himself with God so as to feed us too with God. For this reason those who knew
the saint and had the special grace to grow up close to him, to listen to his
word, to be near to him, in some way to live the life of the saint, took from
that contact something that is not of this world, that is not human; something
that nourished his life as a saint. Then again, he turned everything to heaven,
everything to God, and drew out from everything a reason to raise our souls to
heaven, to turn our steps towards heaven”.
At the centre of Don
Bosco’s spirituality there is God alone to be known, loved and served for the
sake of one’s own salvation through the carrying out of a real practical
personal vocation: religious and apostolic - charitable, educational, pastoral
– for young people especially the poor and abandoned, for their total
salvation, following the example of Christ the Saviour and at the school of
Holy Mother and Teacher Mary. It is not without significance that the noun he
uses most, for example, in one of the volumes of his letters is God, and the
verb most used after ‘doing’ is ‘praying’.”[12]
In Don Bosco there was
an active spirituality; he tended towards activity, hard work under the
influence of an awareness of need and the consciousness of a heavenly mission.
The choice of hard work gives a particular meaning to detachment, in the area
of apostolic activity. Where in Saint Alphonsus detachment is above all an
interior disposition in man, in Don Bosco it acquires more meaning in the
context of hard work: detachment helps us to dedicate ourselves to the works
God gives us to do.
In Don Bosco one finds
the sense of the relative value of things, and at the same time the need to use
them for the purposes he has at heart. He prefers not to be too firmly attached
to any particular scheme of things; therefore an approach more practical,
pastoral, spiritual, rather than theological-speculative. In him there is this
specific originality: salvation is to be achieved by means of
loving-kindness, meekness, joy, humility, eucharistic and Marian piety, love of
God and of one’s neighbour.
The relationship between
the love of God and love for one’s neighbour is identical for both the Christian
and the religious. It is a matter of living a consecration to God and His
greater glory in a total dedication to working for the good of souls, one’s own
and those of others. Likewise it is a sacrifice without keeping back anything
for oneself, made in union with one’s brothers and sisters, in the love of
obedience and of shared solidarity.
Don Bosco, with true
sensitivity and priestly zeal, engaged himself in society, witnessing to the
faith, exhorting, without any human respect, becoming directly involved even in
areas where to some it appeared he was compromising priestly dignity. He lived
the strong values of his vocation, but he also knew how to translate them
into social action, practical measures without retreating into the
spiritual, into ‘churchy things’, into liturgical matters, understood as
being cut off from the problems of the world and of life.
In Don Bosco the Spirit
was alive. He did not race ahead; nor did he hang back. Secure in his vocation,
his daily life was not closed in on itself without horizons; as though in a
protective shell as if refusing to face reality in all its breadth and variety;
in a world limited to a few needs to be satisfied; where there is an almost
mechanical repetition of traditional attitudes; as a refusal to face tensions,
demanding sacrifices, risk with no immediate success, but struggle.
Of interest, in this
regard, is a quotation from 120 years ago which, were it not for some
particular expressions could be considered of our own day. It is an “external”
witness statement regarding Don Bosco. It offers us an interpretation, which
others, perhaps also inspired by Salesians, gave to his work. It is that of the
Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Lucido Maria Parocchi, who in 1884 wrote:
“What precisely
is specific about the Salesian Society? I want to tell you what is the
distinguishing mark of your Congregation, what it is that forms your character,
just as the Franciscans are distinguished for poverty, the Dominicans for the
defence of the faith, the Jesuits for culture. You have traits similar to
those of the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits, but they are differentiated
by their manner and purpose. … What therefore is special in the Salesian
Congregation? What gives it its character and physiognomy? If I
have properly understood it and unless I am much mistaken, what gives it its
specific character, its essential note and particular countenance, is charity
practised in accordance with the world’s needs at the present day, nos
credidimus Charitati. Deus caritas est”
Today’s world can only
be attracted and drawn towards good by charitable works. Nowadays the world has
no time for anything besides material things; it doesn’t want to know anything
about spiritual things. It ignores the beauty of the faith; it knows nothing
of the greatness of religion, it rejects any hope in a future life, it denies
God Himself. This world understands Charity only as a means, not as the end and
the principle. It knows how to analyse this virtue but not how to make a
synthesis of it. Animalis homo non percipit quae sunt spiritus Dei:
as St Paul puts it. If you tell people of this world: “It is necessary to save
the souls that are being lost, it is necessary to teach those who do not know
the principles of religion, and to give alms for love of that God who one day
will reward those who are generous,” the men of this world will not understand.
It is necessary
therefore to adapt oneself to this world, which is in full flight. God makes
himself known to pagans through the natural law; he makes himself known to the
Jews by means of the Bible; to the Greek schismatics through the great
traditions of the Fathers; to Protestants through the Gospel, to the world
today through charity. Tell this world: “I am taking youngsters off the streets
so that they don’t fall under the trams, so they don’t fall down a pit, I
will put them in a hostel so that they don’t waste the best years of their
lives in vice and carousing, I bring them into schools to educate them so that
they don’t become a prey on society, don’t end up in prison; I call them to me
and I look after them so that they don’t poke each others eyes out,” then
the men of this world understand and begin to believe.”[13]
With regard to our works
we have to bear in mind that if the secular world appreciates
our social services it often does so because of the way we become quickly
involved and get on with things, because of the practical usefulness of the
service provided, almost secularising the religious element in which they see
only philanthropy and not love and the inspiration of the gospel. Sometimes our
works are considered as though they were similar to profitable businesses or
perhaps reputable ones when the social services of the State are lacking.
Even believers often have their doubts about the religious
value of our works, even when it helps them and is of service to them; they
give the credit to those managing them and are not inspired by the religious
experience of the Congregation. Too easily they have little confidence in the
relevance and adaptability of our works. That is something to make us think - and
quite a lot!
Don Bosco is heir to the
religious humanism of St. Francis of Sales, who proposes to all classes of
people the path of holiness. However, the aspect emphasised by Don Bosco is a
holiness common to all, each one according to his state of life. He did not
think in terms of degrees of holiness, unwilling to be analytical in this way.
He used scholastic schemes taken from the Catholic spirituality of the
time. His is a Christocentric and Eucharistic, Marian
theology, nourished by the practice of some virtues, especially obedience.
Holiness does not exclude joy, cheerfulness; it requires not penitence but
commitment, coming from a life of grace in the carrying out of one’s
duties.
To the classical term
“devotion” used to indicate that state of love that makes us act promptly
and lovingly for God, Don Bosco preferred the word holiness, that of the person
who lives in a state of habitual grace because he has succeeded through
personal effort and the help of the Spirit to avoid the normal sins more common
to the young: bad companions, bad talk, impurity, bad example,
stealing, intemperance, pride, human respects, neglecting religious duties …
After Saint Francis of
Sales and before the Second Vatican Council, Don Bosco teaches us that holiness
is possible for everyone; to everyone is given sufficient grace to achieve it;
that holiness depends greatly on a person’s cooperation with grace. Certainly
holiness is made difficult but not impossible, by various obstacles:
imperfections, defects, passions, the devil, sin. Holiness is not impossible,
given the many means at our disposal: the theological virtues, the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, the moral virtues both infused and acquired, ascetical practices …
Our spirituality runs
the risk of being thwarted, because times have changed and because sometimes we
live on a superficial level. To really bring it to life we need to start again
from Don Bosco, from his spiritual experience and from his preventive system.
Clergy at the time of Don Bosco saw what was not going well and did not want to
become religious, but they were captivated by him. Young people need
“witnesses” as Paul VI wrote. What is needed are “spiritual men", men of
faith, sensitive to the things of God and ready to accept religious obedience
in the search for what is the best. It is not novelty that makes us free but
the truth; truth cannot be what fashionable, superficiality, improvisation
is: "veritas liberavit vos".
Previously we have seen
how the”type” of spiritual person Don Bosco was: profoundly human and totally
open to God; in harmony between these two dimension he lived out a plan of life
that he had taken up with determination: at the service of the young. As Don
Rua says: “He took no step, he said no word, he took up no task that was not
directed to the saving of the young.”[14] If one examines his plan for the
young one sees that it had a “heart,”, an element that gave it meaning,
originality: “Truly the only concern of his heart was for souls”.[15]
There is therefore a
further practical explanation for the unity of his life: through his dedication
to young people Don Bosco wanted to give them an experience of God. On
his part this was not just generosity or philanthropy but pastoral
charity. This is called the “core and synthesis” of the Salesian spirit.[16] “Core and synthesis” is a telling and
demanding affirmation. It is easier to list the various features, even the
basic ones of our spirituality, without committing ourselves to any sort of
hierarchical relationship, which would choose one as being the principal one.
In this case it is necessary to enter into the spirit of Don Bosco or of
the Salesian in order to discover the explanation for his way of doing things. To
understand what is involved in pastoral charity we take three steps: we look
first at charity, then at the specification “pastoral”, and finally at
the ‘Salesian’ characteristics of pastoral charity.
One of the sayings of St
Francis of Sales is this: ““The human being is the perfection of the universe;
the spirit is the perfection of the human being; love that of the spirit; and charity
that of love”.[17] This is a universal approach that
places four modes of existence on an ascending scale: being, human being, love
as a form of being superior to any other of its expressions, charity as the
highest expression of love.
Love represents the high
point, the culmination of the maturing process of any individual Christian or
not. The educational process sets out to lead a person to being capable of self-donation,
to a selfless generous love. It is psychologists, and not just Jesus Christ who
say that a fully developed, fulfilled and happy individual is capable of
generosity and can manage to live a love that is not just concupiscence, in
other words for the personal satisfaction of being loved. Various forms of
neurosis and personality disorders arise from being self-centred and all the
usual treatments tend to open people up and to help them to concentrate on
others.
Charity is then the main
proposal in every spirituality: it is not just the first and the main
commandment, and therefore the main programme for the spiritual journey, but
also the source of the strength to make progress. There is an abundance of
reflections on this especially in Saint Paul (2 Cor 12, 13-14) and Saint John
(1 Jn 4, 7-21). Let us take just a few of the main points.
The awakening of charity
within us is a mystery and a grace; it is not a human initiative but a
participation in the divine life and the effect of the presence of the Spirit.
We could not love God had He not Himself loved us first, making us feel Him and
giving us a taste and the intelligence to respond to Him. We could not even
love our neighbour and see in him an image of God without having a personal
experience of the love of God.
“The love of God has
been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.” (Rm
5,5). On the other hand even human love cannot be explained rationally, and for
this reason it is said to be blind. No one can say exactly why one person falls
in love with another.
From its nature of being
a participation in the divine life and a mysterious communion with God, charity
creates in us the capacity to discover and to perceive God: religion without
charity distances us from God. Authentic love, even that which is human,
takes those who are at a distance towards the faith and a religious setting.
The parable of the Good Samaritan highlights the relationship between religion
and charity to the advantage of the latter.
Saint John in his first
letter will sum this up as he writes: “My dear people let us love one another
since love comes from God; and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows
God, anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love” (1
Jn 4,7-8). In Saint John the word “to know” means “to experience”, rather than
to have precise ideas: whoever loves experiences God.
Since charity is a gift
that allows us to know God by experience, it also enables us to enjoy Him
in the beatific vision: “Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but
then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is
imperfect but then I shall know as fully as I am known” (1 Cor 13, 12).
Therefore charity is not
only a special virtue but the form and substance of all the virtues and that
which constitutes and builds up a person: “If I have all the eloquence of men
or of angels...if I have the gift of prophecy... if I give away all that I
possess...if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains...but am
without love it will do me no good whatever” (1 Cor 13,1-3).
For this reason, charity
and its fruits are things that last, impervious to time: “Love does not
come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy the time must come when they
must fail, or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever, and
knowledge, for this the time will come when it will fail. But once perfection
comes all imperfect things will disappear” (1 Cor 13, 8-10). This applies not
only to life but to our history. That which is built on love remains and builds
up ourselves, our community, our society; whereas that which is based and built
on hatred and selfishness destroys itself.
Therefore charity is the
greatest and the root of all the charisms, through which the Church is built up
and operates. It is after having explained the purpose and the role of the
various charisms that Saint Paul introduces his discourse on charity with these
words: “Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way
that is better than any of them” (1 Cor 12, 31).
It is the principal
charism, even when it is expressed in everyday things and has nothing
extraordinary or showy about it: “Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous;
love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish, it does not
take offence and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s
sins but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope
and to endure whatever comes” (1 Cor 13,4-6).
For Don Bosco and Mother
Mazzarello, as for all the saints, charity is central. It is the constant
guiding force of their lives. It is right to know this and to say so. Every so
often in fact a member of the Salesian Family experiences this and discovers
the importance of charity in an ecclesiastical movement after having lived for
many years the spirituality of our Salesian charism. It seems as though before
this they had never heard anyone speak about it effectively nor been able
to live life intensely.
In the dream of the
diamonds – which is a parable of the Salesian spirit – charity is placed in
front and precisely over the heart of the personage: “Three of those diamonds
he wore on his chest...the third over his heart bore the word Charity”.[18] In this dream what is placed in the
front is the fundamental part of our spirit.
In addition, charity is
recommended by our founders in a variety of ways: as the basis of our life in
community, as a pedagogical principle, source of piety, condition for balance
and personal happiness, the practice of particular virtues such as friendship,
good manners, the sacrifice of one’s own interests..
Learning how to love is
the purpose of consecrated life, which is nothing other than “a way that starts
from love and leads to love”.[19] The combination of practices, and
discipline, of norms and spiritual teaching is intended to obtain a
single objective: to make us capable of welcoming others and putting ourselves
at their service with generosity.
Charity has many
expressions: maternal love, married love, charitable works, compassion,
mercy, love for one’s enemies, forgiveness. In the history of holiness such
expressions cover all the areas of human life. We Salesians (SDB) and Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) as in general, all the groups of the Salesian
Family, speak about a “pastoral” charity.
This expression appears
many times in the Constitutions or Statutes of the various groups, in documents
and talks. The meaning of pastoral charity is explained very well in the Second
Vatican Council when referring to those who devote themselves to education to
the faith it says: “They are gifted with sacramental grace enabling them to
execise a perfect role of pastoral charity through prayer, sacrifice and
preaching...They are enabled to lay down their life for their sheep fearlessly
and made a model for their flock can lead the Church to ever-increasing
holiness through their own example”.[20]
The word “pastoral”
indicates a specific form of charity; it immediately calls to mind the figure
of Jesus the Good Shepherd.[21] Not only, however, his way of
acting: kindness, seeking the lost one, dialogue, forgiveness; but also and
above all the substance of his ministry: to reveal God to every man and every
woman. It is more than evident how different this form of charity is to other
forms whose preferential focus is on particular needs of people: health, food,
work.
The element typical of
pastoral charity is the proclamation of the Gospel, education to the faith, the
formation of the Christian community, bringing the yeast of the Gospel to the
situation. This therefore requires being totally available, devoted to the
salvation of humanity, as shown by Jesus: of all men and women, of each and
even of a single one. Don Bosco and our Salesian Family following in his
footsteps express this charity with the phrase: Da mihi animas, cetera
tolle.
The great Institutes and
the major currents of spirituality have summed up the heart of their own
charism in a brief phrase: “For the greater glory of God” the Jesuits say;
“Peace and good” is the greeting of the Franciscans; “Prayer and work” is the programme
of the Benedictines; “Contemplate and pass on to others the things
contemplated” is the norm of the Dominicans. The witnesses from the early days
and the subsequent reflections of the Congregation have led to the conviction
that the expression that sums up Salesian spirituality is precisely “Da mihi
animas, cetera tolle”.
Certainly the expression
is frequently found on Don Bosco’s lips and had an influence on his spiritual
attitude. It is the saying that impressed Dominic Savio in the office of Don
Bosco still a young priest (34 years of age) and moved him to make a
comment that is still famous: “I understand; here you do business not
with money but with souls. I hope my soul will have its share in this
business.”.[22] For this boy it was clear therefore
that Don Bosco was offering him not only education and a home but above all the
opportunity for spiritual growth.
The expression has been
taken up in the Liturgy: “inspire us with that same apostolic charity to seek
the salvation of our neighbour and so serve you the one and only good.”[23]. And this was quite right given that Don
Bosco had this intention in mind with the foundation of his institutes:
“The purpose of this Society as far as its members are concerned is nothing
other than an invitation to come together urged on by a saying of Saint
Augustine: divinorum divinissimum est in lucrum animarum operare”.[24]
In Salesian history we
read: “On the evening of 26 January 1854, we gathered in Don Bosco’s room
and he suggested that with the help of the Lord and St Francis of Sales
we should first test ourselves by performing deeds of charity toward our neighbour...
From that evening on those who agreed – or would later agree – to this were
called Salesians.”[25]
After Don Bosco, each of
the Rector Majors, as authoritative witnesses has reaffirmed the same
conviction. It is an interesting fact that all of them have been concerned to
repeat it with a unanimity that leaves no room for doubt.
Don Michael Rua affirmed
at the canonical process for the beatification and canonisation of Don
Bosco: “He left it to others to accumulate wealth .....and to chase after
honours; Don Bosco really had nothing other at heart than souls: with deeds
and not only his words he said: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle”.
Don Paul Albera, who
spent many years with Don Bosco and knew him well, declares “The driving force
of his whole life was to work for souls to which he devoted himself
entirely...The salvation of souls one might say was his only reason for
living”.[26]
Even more tellingly also
because it highlights Don Bosco’s profoundest motivations, Don Philip Rinaldi
saw in the motto “Da mihi animas”, the secret of his love, the power and
the ardour of his charity”.
As regards current
awareness after the re-thinking of Salesian life in the light of the Council,
as the Rector Major Fr Egidio Viganò declares: “It is my conviction that there
is no brief expression that sums up better the Salesian spirit than that chosen
by Don Bosco himself: Da mihi animas, cetera tolle. It indicates a
fervent union with God which enables us to penetrate the mystery of His Trinitarian
life manifested in history in the missions of the Son and of the Spirit as the
infinite Love ad hominum salutem intentus”.[27]
Where does this
expression or motto come from, and what precise meaning can it have today? I
say ‘today’ because nowadays the word ‘soul’ does not mean nor give the same
idea as it did in previous ages.
This motto of Don Bosco
is found in Genesis, chapter 14, verse 21. Four kings form an alliance and wage
war against five others, among whom is the king of Sodom. When the city
was being sacked Lot the nephew of Abram and his family are among those taken
prisoner. Abram is told about this and having armed the men he sets out with
his tribe. He defeats the invaders, recovers the loot and rescues the people.
Then in his gratitude the king of Sodom says to him: “Give me the people the
rest is for you.” The presence of Melchisedek, a priest whose origin is
unknown, gives a particular religious and messianic significance to the story,
especially on account of the blessing he gives to Abram: a situation therefore
anything but “spiritual”. However, in the request of the king there is a clear
distinction between the “people” and the “rest”, the things.
Don Bosco gave the
expression a personal interpretation according to the religious-cultural view
of the last century. “Anima” indicates a man’s spiritual quality, the centre of
his freedom and the reason for his personal dignity, where he is most open to
God When Don Bosco gives the biblical text an accommodated, allegorical,
prayerful, liturgical interpretation, the expression from Gen. 14,21 takes on
particular characteristics: animas are the men and women of his
day, they are the real youngsters he is dealing with; cetera tolle means
detachment from things and creatures, a detachment which in him is certainly not
equivalent to the annihilation of self, the annihilation in God, as for
example the contemplative theologians or mystics understand it. For him
detachment is a state of mind that is necessary for the most absolute freedom
and availability with regard to the demands of the apostate itself.
The links between these
two meanings, that of the Bible and that given by Don Bosco, in our own culture
point to very practical choices.
In the first place
pastoral charity takes the individual person into consideration, and is
concerned with the whole person; first and foremost it is concerned with
developing all the person’s potential. Giving “things’ comes later; providing
some service is in view of the development of the person’s conscience and sense
of his own personal dignity.
In addition, a charity
which above all considers the person is guided by a "vision” of that
person. who does not live by bread alone: he has immediate needs but also
infinite aspirations. He wants material things but also spiritual values. According
to the expression of St Augustine “He is made by God, athirst for Him”.
Therefore the salvation that pastoral charity seeks and offers is that which is
full and definitive. Everything else in ordered in relation to that: charitable
works to education; this to religious initiation; religious initiation to the
life of grace and to communion with God.
In other words it could
be said that in our education or development we give the first place to the
religious dimension: not for the sake of proselytism, but because we are
convinced that religion is the deepest resource for a person’s development. In
a time of secularism, this approach is not easy to implement.
The saying “da mihi
animas” also points to some form of method: in the formation or the
re-generation of an individual it is necessary to re-awaken his spiritual
powers, his conscience, his openness to God, thoughts about his eternal
destiny. Don Bosco’s pedagogy is a pedagogy of the soul, of the
supernatural. Once this has been realised the real work of education can begin.
The rest is really background or preparatory work.
Don Bosco clearly says
this in his biography of Michael Magone. This boy comes in off the streets into
the Oratory. He is happy, and from a human point of view a good lad: he is
spontaneous and sincere; he plays, studies and makes friends. There is only one
thing missing: his understanding of the life of grace, of a relationship with
God and how to achieve it. From a religious point of view he is ignorant or
inattentive. He breaks into tears when he compares himself with his companions
and recognises that this is missing. Then Don Bosco speaks to him. From that
moment the educational journey described in the biography begins: the awareness
and the adoption of his own religious-Christian dimension.
There is therefore an
ascetical process for someone moved by pastoral charity: “Cetera tolle”, “Leave
all the rest behind”. One has to give up many things in order to preserve the
main objective; many things can be entrusted to others, and many activities can
be left to one side so as to have the time and be available to open up
the youngsters to God. And this not only in one’s personal life but also in the
programmes and the apostolic works themselves.
“Whoever examines the
life of Don Bosco, following his thought processes and exploring the results
finds a matrix: salvation in the Catholic Church the only repository of the
means of salvation. He feels the challenge of abandoned, poor, aimless young
people awaken in him the urgent need for education in order to enable these
youngsters to take their proper place in the world and in the Church through
methods using gentleness and love. Yet with a tension that has its origin in
his desire for the eternal salvation of the young person.”[28]
As a summary we can take
up again the fundamental ideas of our reflection.
• Ours is an
apostolic spirituality: it is expressed and grows through pastoral work.
• The apostolate becomes
a genuine spiritual experience, and not merely the expending of energy, stress,
and wear and tear, and is animated by charity; it is a source of effectiveness,
confidence and joy in pastoral work.
• Charity gives unity to
our personal lives; it resolves the tensions that arise between activity and
prayer, between community life and apostolic commitment, between education and
evangelisation, between a professional approach and the apostolate.
• The whole thrust of
our spiritual life consists in revitalising pastoral charity, purifying and
intensifying it: “ama et fac
quod vis”.
If it is true that
Christian spirituality has common elements valid for every calling, it is also
true that it is experienced through particular differences and specifics
according to one's state in life: priestly ministry, consecrated life, lay
faithful, family, youth, the elderly … they all have their typical spiritual
experience. The same is true for Salesian spirituality.
There are elements of
spirituality common to all the groups of the Salesian Family: they all draw
inspiration from Don Bosco, who is the Founder of the Salesians, of the
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians together with Mother Mazzarello, of the
Salesians Cooperators and of the Association of Mary Help of Christians; the
other groups refer to their own Founders. These elements are listed in the
“Charter of Identity of the Salesian Family”, which needs to be known and
reflected on since it constitutes the frame of reference for our spirituality
of communion and for our formation to communion.
The features that are
characteristic and recognised by all the groups can be found especially in the
third part of the “Charter of Identity”. They regard our life in relation to
the Trinity, the links with Don Bosco, communion for the mission, the
spirituality of everyday life, contemplation in action following the
example of Don Bosco, dynamic apostolic charity, the grace of unity,
a preferential love for the young and for the working class, loving kindness,
optimism and joy, work and temperance, initiative and flexibility, a spirit of
prayer, entrustment to Mary Help of
Christians.
We should not forget
that the Preventive System is an expression and practical application of this
shared spirituality. It once again links us to the spirit, the attitudes and
the gospel choices of Don Bosco. The «ingenuity» of his spirit is tied to the
implementation of the Preventive System. It is a successful system, which is
the model and the inspiration for many people nowadays who are engaged in
education in the various continents, in multicultural and pluri-religious
contexts. It is a model that demands from everyone continuous reflection so as
to bring about more and more the centrality of the young as those for whom and
with whom the Salesian mission is carried out.
On the other hand each
group of the Salesian Family has its own spiritual elements. Quite rightly, on
account of their origin and development, the various groups have their own
particular history and special aspects of the common spirituality that
they have demonstrated in a special way or others that are original to them.
These elements are the specific difference of each group; they need to be known
and constitute richness for the whole Family.
Variety is a gift of the
Spirit, who does not like uniformity and standardisation; the differences and
the specific features, however, must not become excuses for divisions or
arguments but should enrich everyone and converge on a unity, which is
communion to be welcomed as a gift and to be brought about by commitment. These
identifying elements are present and made explicit especially in the
Rules of Life, but also in the traditions of the various groups.
As time passed a
Salesian youth spirituality also developed. In addition to the three
biographies of the boys Michael Magone, Dominic Savio and Francis Besucco,
written by Don Bosco we can think of the pages he addressed to the young people
themselves in the “Companion of Youth,” and of the “Sodalities” Don Bosco
set up as an opportunity for them to take a spiritual and apostolic lead
…
It would be interesting
to know the developments that have taken place throughout our history and tradition
in Salesian youth spirituality, up to the present time when an official formal
arrangement has been formulated and spread among the young through the
Salesian Youth Movement. Spirituality is the basis of the Salesian Youth Movement,
which grows with the commitment of the young people themselves and which needs
the support of animation on the part of the various groups of the Salesian
Family. The Salesian Youth Movement in fact is an opportunity, a gift and
a task for all the groups of our Family.
Salesian youth
spirituality is a spirituality suited to the young; it is lived with and for
the young, planned and lived out as part of a young person’s experience.
It aims at creating a blueprint for today’s young Christian living in and
prepared for the world of today; offered to all the young because it
applies to the “poorest” but at the same time capable of providing goals for
those who make more progress; it also sets out to make the young person a role
model for his peers and in the place where he finds himself.
Salesian youth
spirituality sees daily life as the place of encounter with God. The basis of this
very positive view of daily life and of life itself is faith and an
appreciation of the Incarnation. In this kind of spirituality one shows oneself
to be guided by the mystery of God Who with His Incarnation, Death and
Resurrection affirms His presence in all of human reality as a saving presence
For a young person,
daily life is made up of duties, socialising, sport, growing pains, family
life, the development of personal gifts, future prospects, demands, and
aspirations. It is all of this that needs to be taken on board, reflected
on and lived in the light of God. According to Don Bosco, to become a saint all
that is needed is to do well what you have to do. He considers being faithful
to one’s obligations in life as the touchstone for virtue and as the sign of
spiritual maturity.
What is needed so that
daily life can be lived as spirituality is the grace of unity which helps
to harmonise the different features of life around a heart in which the Holy
Spirit dwells. This makes conversion and purification possible; through the
power of the sacrament of Reconciliation it enables the young person to
maintain a free heart that is open to God and given to one’s brothers and
sisters
Among the attitudes
and experiences of daily life to be lived deeply in the Spirit could
be considered: one’s family life; love for one’s work or studies, cultural
development and scholastic experience; the need to combine extraordinary
experiences with the “daily grind”, a positive and reflective view of one’s
times; the responsible acceptance of one’s own life and spiritual progress day
by day; the ability to guide one’s life according to a vocational plan.
The decisive truth of
the Christian faith is that the Lord has truly risen! Therefore eternal life
with God is our ultimate goal and it is already now our goal since it has
become real in the body of Jesus Christ. Salesian Youth Spirituality is paschal
by nature and is imbued with this eschatological reality.
The most deeply rooted
inclination in the hearts of the young is the desire and the search for
happiness. Joy is the noblest expression of happiness and, together with
celebration and hope is the characteristic of Salesian spirituality. Christian
faith is the proclamation of supreme happiness promised and conferred by
«eternal life». However, this is not something to be won but rather a gift
which shows us that God is the source of true cheerfulness and hope. Without
excluding its pedagogical value, cheerfulness has above all a theological
value; Don Bosco saw in it an essential manifestation of the life of grace.
Don Bosco understood and
helped his boys understand that commitment and joy went hand in hand; that
holiness and cheerfulness are inseparable. Don Bosco is the saint of the joy of
being alive. His boys learned this lesson about life so well that they could
say in terms typical of the Oratory that ‘holiness consists in always being
cheerful’ Salesian youth spirituality offers a path of holiness that is simple,
cheerful and serene.
The appreciation of joy
as something spiritual, the source of commitment and its consequence,
requires that certain attitudes and experiences are fostered
in the young: it demands that the opportunity for their close
involvement is fostered; in friendly and fraternal relationships, with the
joyful experience of affection; youthful spontaneous celebrations and group
events; a sense of wonder and a taste for the joys that the Creator has placed
on our path: nature, silence, things achieved together; the demanding joy
of sacrifice and solidarity; the grace of being able to endure suffering under
the sign and with the consolation of the Cross of Christ.
Salesian youth
spirituality is intended to lead the young person to an encounter with Jesus
Christ and to make possible a relationship with Him of friendship and trust,
creating an enduring trusting fidelity. Many young people have a sincere
desire to know Jesus and try to respond to the questions about the meaning
of life, to which, however, only God can give a real answer.
Friend, Teacher, Saviour
are words that express the central role of Jesus in the spiritual life of the
young. It is interesting to recall that Jesus is presented by Don Bosco as the
friend of the young: «Young people are the delight of Jesus» he used to say; as
the teacher of life and of wisdom; as the model for every Christian; as the
redeemer who gave his whole life in love until death for our salvation; as
being present in the little ones and the poor.
Following the path of
conformity with Christ requires that certain attitudes and experiences
are developed: the participation through faith in the community that lives with
the memory and in the presence of the Lord and that celebrates Him in the
sacraments of Christian initiation; the pedagogy of holiness, that Don Bosco
demonstrated in reconciliation with God and with one’s brothers and sisters in
the sacrament of Reconciliation; learning how to pray personally and with
others, special moments in which to grow in love and in a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ; a systematic study of the faith, enlightened by reading and
meditating on the Word of God.
An adequate experience
and understanding of the Church is one of the points in the discernment of
Christian spirituality. The Church is a spiritual communion and a community
that becomes visible through shared gestures and works; it is the service of
men and women from whom it does not detach itself like a “sect” that considers
good only those works that bear its own imprint. It is the place chosen and
offered by Christ where He can be encountered. He has consigned to the Church
the Word, Baptism, His Body and Blood, the grace of the forgiveness of sin and
the other Sacraments, the experience of communion and the power of the Spirit,
which move people to have love for their brothers and sisters. Among its
household treasures, the Family of Don Bosco has a rich tradition of filial
fidelity to the Successor of Peter and of communion and collaboration with the
local Churches.
Precisely because of its
ecclesial dimension, Salesian youth spirituality is a Marian spirituality. Mary
was called by God the Father to be, through the grace of the Spirit, the
mother of the Word and then give Him to the world. The Church sees Mary as
the example of faith. Don Bosco did so and we too are called to do the same in
communion with the Church. Mary lived her life as Mother of God and our Mother;
as the Immaculate One full of grace, totally open to God, to holiness and to a
Christian life lived with total fidelity; as the Help of Christians in the
great battle of the faith and the building of the Kingdom of God. She is the
one who protects and guides the Church. Therefore Don Bosco considered her Our
Lady of difficult times, the support and buttress of the faith and of the
Church. In Mary Help of Christians we have a model and a guide for our
educational and apostolic work.
Therefore the
attitudes and the experiences that need to be created are: making the
practical setting of the Salesian house a place where one experiences a true
model of the Church, one that is fresh, attractive, active, capable of
responding to the expectations of the young; with groups and especially the
educative community, that unites the young people and the educators in a family
atmosphere in a project of total education; with participation in the local
Church, where all the faith-filled forces of Christians come together in
a visible communion and an evident spirit of service in a given locality; with
respect for and trust in the universal Church understood and expressed in
love for the Pope; a special love for, devotion to and imitation of Mary the
Immaculate Help of Christians; knowledge of the saints and of those other
significant Christians distinguished by their thinking and achievements in
various fields.
Life lived as an
encounter with God, the path of identification with Christ, the Church seen as communion
and service where each one has a place and where the gifts of everyone are
needed lead to and bring to maturity a conviction that life brings us into a
vocation of service. Don Bosco wanted his young people to become “good
Christians and upright citizens”.
Don Bosco, as a young
man and an apostle, saw and lived his life as a vocation starting from his
dream at nine years of age. With a generous heart he responded to the
invitation: to be among the young in order to save them. Don Bosco used to
invite his boys to engage in “a practical exercise of love for their
neighbour”. Salesian youth spirituality is an apostolic spirituality because it
reflects the conviction that we are called to collaborate with God in His
mission, responding with dedication, fidelity, trust and total availability. So,
apostolic vocations and vocations to special consecration should be
proposed to young people.
Responsible service implies
some attitudes and experiences that need to be fostered: openness to the real
situation and to personal contacts; the promotion of the dignity and the human
rights of the individual, everywhere; living in one’s family with a generous
spirit and preparing to form one on the basis of mutual self-giving;
encouraging solidarity especially towards the poorest people; undertaking one’s
work with honesty and professional competence; promoting justice, peace and the
common good in politics; showing respect for creation; fostering culture;
identifying God’s plan for one’s life; coming gradually to mature and
consistent decisions with regard to serving the Church and others; bearing
witness to one’s own faith and living it in a practical manner in some sphere,
such as educational, pastoral and cultural animation, voluntary service and missionary
commitment; knowing about and being open to vocations of special consecration.
The groups of the
Salesian Family involve many lay people in their mission. We are aware that
there cannot be total involvement without also sharing the same spirit. It is a
fundamental task for us to communicate Salesian spirituality to the lay people
who with us are co-responsible for the educational ministry. The Salesians, in
conjunction with the other groups of the Salesian Family, undertook the task of
formulating a Salesian lay spirituality in the XXIV
General Chapter.[29] Certainly the lay groups of the
Salesian Family especially the Salesians Cooperators and the Past Pupils
constitute a source of inspiration for such spirituality.
Having become more aware
that there cannot be a youth ministry without a family ministry we are thinking
about the right kind of Salesian family spirituality to elaborate
and present. There are family-style groups which draw their inspiration from
Don Bosco. In this area we are only at the beginning but it is a way ahead
which is helping us to develop our mission not only to the young but to
ordinary people. We need to develop a family ministry and so share some
spiritual experiences with families, with couples so as to prepare young people
for setting up their own families.
4.1. Let us commit
ourselves to a better understanding of what Don Bosco’s spiritual
experience was; his spiritual profile, so that we can discover “Don
Bosco the mystic”; in this way we can imitate him by living a spiritual
experience with charismatic identity. Unless we make Don Bosco's spiritual
experience our own we cannot be truly aware of our Salesian spiritual identity;
this is the only way we can be disciples and apostles of the Lord Jesus, with
Don Bosco as our model and teacher of spiritual life. Salesian spirituality
reinterpreted and enriched through the spiritual experience of the Church after
the Council and through reflection by today's spiritual theology, offers us a
spiritual journey leading to holiness. We recognise that Salesian spirituality
is a true and complete spirituality: it has tapped into the history of
Christian spirituality, especially that of Saint Francis de Sales; it has its
source in the specific and original experience of Don Bosco, has been enriched
by the Church's experience and has arrived at the reinterpretation and mature
synthesis that we have today.
4.2. Let us live
the core and synthesis of Salesian spirituality which is pastoral charity.
Don Bosco lived it by seeking the “glory of God and the salvation of souls”
which became a way of prayer for him and a programme of life in the “da mihi
animas, cetera tolle”. This charity needs to be nourished through prayer and
rooted in it by looking at the Heart of Christ, imitating the Good Shepherd,
meditating on the Scriptures, experiencing the Eucharist, making time for
personal prayer, taking on a mindset of service of the young. It is a charity
which translates into and is made visible by concrete neighbourly gestures,
affection, work, dedication. Let us take up the preventive system as a
spiritual experience and not just as a proposal of evangelisation and
pedagogical approach; it finds its source in the charity of God “who provides
in advance for all his creatures, is ever present at their side, and freely
gives his life to save them”[30]; it prepares us to see God in the young
and calls on us to serve Him in them, recognising their dignity, renewing our
faith in their resources for good and educating them to the fullness of life.
4.3. Let us pass on our
proposal for Salesian spirituality according to the diversity of our
vocations especially to the young, to lay people involved in Don
Bosco's mission, to families. Salesian spirituality needs to be lived according
to the vocation each one has received from God. Let us recognise the common
spiritual traits of each of the various Groups in the Salesian Family as
indicated in the “Charter of identity”; let us make the witnesses to Salesian
holiness known; let us invoke the intercession of our Blesseds, Venerables and
Servants of God and ask for the grace that they may be canonised. Let us offer
Salesian spirituality to the young we accompany. Let us offer Salesian
spirituality to lay people who are committed to sharing Don Bosco's mission:
and by focusing on family ministry, point to a spirituality for families that
is appropriate to their circumstances. Finally, let us also invite young
people, laity, and families in our educative and pastoral communities to
have a spiritual experience, as also those in our groups and associations that
belong to other religions or those who finds themselves somewhat diffident
about God; because a spiritual experience is also possible for them, there is
room there for inwardness, silence, dialogue with their own conscience, openness
to the transcendent.
4.4. Let us read some
of Don Bosco’s writings that can be considered as sources of
Salesian spirituality. Above all I invite you to read again and to put into
practice the “Dream of the ten diamonds” This offers to us a spiritual image
for each one of us who draw our inspiration from Don Bosco. I then
propose to you an anthology of the spiritual writings of Don Bosco's where he
is a true master of the spiritual life.[31] In this way we can draw on some
pages, less well-known but which speak to us directly about Salesian spiritual
life.
This time I conclude the
commentary on the Strenna not with a fairy tale but with the testimony and the
message that Fr Pasquale Liberatore has left us. For many years he was the
Postulator for the Causes of our Saints, and a saintly man himself. This is his
poem entitled “The Saints”.
It is a short personal
“credo”, which brings together everything about Salesian spirituality that can
be seen being put into practice in a genuine and authentic way in the wealth
and diversity of the fruits of holiness in the Salesian Family starting with
our beloved founder and father Don Bosco. We found this poem in his office on
the day he died. In it he praises the saints and uses a variety of images
which we find very beautiful. Reading this poem we can almost reach out and
touch the unmistakable and delicate human and spiritual sensitivity of our
Saints, and sense their yearning for the fullness of life, love and happiness
in God; we observe their interior strength and the spiritual experience we
ourselves are called to live and to know how to present with passion and
conviction to others, especially the young.
My first letter as
Rector Major was entitled “Salesians, be saints!” and I saw it as setting out
the programme for my period as Rector Major. Now I am happy that my final
letter written as the successor of Don Bosco is a heartfelt invitation to drink
deeply from his spirituality. This is really what I should like to be able to
do myself and to propose to all of you, my dear members of the Salesian Family
and young people.
THE SAINTS
“They shall be like the
stars of heaven: they shall shine out like the firmament”
Like the stars of
heaven visible
in their thousands to the naked eye, but infinitely more numerous to the
telescope which views those without haloes.
Glowing volcanoes like peep-holes into
the mystery of the Fire of the Trinity.
Adventure stories written by the Holy
Spirit in which surprise is the norm.
Expressions of the most
varied literary forms yet always fascinating: from the style of a drama to the flavour
of a fable.
Classics of the
grammar of the beatitudes always convincing thanks to their joyful existence.
Cosmonauts in space to whom we owe the most
astonishing discoveries only possible for those who distance themselves from
the earth.
Giants as different
from us as
the genius always is yet made from the same stuff as ourselves.
Capable of mistakes and
failures but
always exceptional people: not to be under-estimated with the excuse of making
them our fellow travelers.
Expressions of God’s
utter gratuity which enriches and raises up according to the mysterious criteria
of his liberality.
They are dwelling in
unchanging peace above the normal human conflicts yet always dissatisfied because
they never cease to strive for even more.
In orbit around the
essential they
are prophets of the absolute.
Great artists in the forge of the
Beautiful before which the human heart is ecstatic.
Men and women
fulfilled witnesses
to the secret harmony between nature and grace.
God’s fools so much in love as to
speak in disconcerting ways.
The furthest removed by instinct from
every kind of sin, always the closest to every sort of sinner.
The stages on which the
Divine performance takes place and yet themselves humble spectators thanks to a merciless
awareness of their own nothingness.
Engaged in a
continuous hiding of themselves and yet inevitably shining out like a city built on a hilltop.
Bearers of eternal
messages beyond
time, progress, cultures and races.
Fiery words which the Lord speaks to
shatter our laziness, raps on the desk with which the Divine Master awakens us
his distracted pupils.
Living miracles before whom no experts
are needed to acknowledge the extraordinary quality of the Gospel lived sine
glossa
Heroically detached from
what is human, they are the supreme experts in human nuances.
True masters of
psychology who by the pathway of love reach the most hidden recesses of the
human heart.
Able to quicken our
finest roots and touching ancient strings of harmony they instill homesickness
for the future. Like the stars of heaven So different among themselves yet, at heart lit
up by the same fire.
Fr Pascual Chávez V.,
SDB
Rector Major
REFERENCES:
[1] W. NIGG, Don
Bosco. Un santo per il nostro tempo, Torino, LDC, 1980, 75.103.
[2] Cf. G.
Bosco, Piano di regolamento per l’Oratorio maschile di S. Francesco di
Sales in Torino nella regione Valdocco. Introduzione, in P. Braido
(ed.), Don Bosco Educatore. Scritti e Testimonianze. Roma, LAS
1997, 111.
[4] D. Ruffino, Cronache
dell’Oratorio di S. Francesco di Sales, n. 2, 1861, 8-9.42.
[5] G. Barberis, Cronichetta, quad
4, 52.
[6] Bosco Giovanni ,Costituzioni
della societa di S. Francesco di Sales [1858] - 1875,Testi critici a cura
di Francesco Motto, Roma LAS 1982 70-71.
[8] Epistolario, ed.
Motto, vol. I, 406.
[9] Epistolario,
ed. Ceria, vol. III, 544.
[10] Epistolario,
ed. Motto, II, 386.
[11] F. Motto, Ricordi
e riflessi di una educazione ricevuta in “Ricerche Storiche
Salesiane”, 11 (1987) 365.
[12] F. Motto, Verso
una storia di Don Bosco piu documentata e piu sicura in Ricerche Storiche
Salesiane” 41 (2002) 250-251.
[13] BS 8 (1884) n. 6,
89-90.
[14] SDB Constitutions
21
[15] SDB Constitutions
21
[16] Cf. SDB
Constitutions 10; FMA Constitutions 80
[17] Cf. Saint Francis
of Sales, Treatise on the love of God, Vol II, Book X, c. 1
[18] BM XV, 148 (The
whole of the famous "Dream")
[19] Cf SDB
Constitutions 196
[22] J. Bosco, Life
of Dominic Savio, in Dominic Savio ed T O’Brien Guild Publications London,
1969, chap VIII, 10.
[23] Cf. Prayer for the
Liturgy on the Solemnity of Saint John Bosco
[26] P. Brocardo, Don
Bosco profondamente uomo - profondamente santo, LAS, Roma 1985, 84.
[28] P. Stella, Don
Bosco nella storia della religiosità cattolica, vol. II, Zurigo, PAS
Verlag, Zurigo, 13.
[29] GC24, Salesians
and Lay People: communion and sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco,
Rome 1996, nn. 89-100.
[30] SDB Constitutions 20.
[31] Saint John
Bosco. Teachings on the spiritual life. An anthology. Edited by A.
Giraudo, LAS – Rome 2013
