Pallottine Reflections

In communion with Mary
III. “Mary, Queen of Apostles, exemplary model of apostolic zeal”.
This month we conclude our three part reflection on article 3 of the General Statutes of the UAC and take as the theme for our reflection ‘Mary, Queen of Apostles, exemplary model of apostolic zeal’. As such Mary is the Model for the Apostolate of All. Vincent Pallotti’s 1835 appeal to the Catholics of his time to join the “Union of Catholic Apostolate,” was born out of an urgent need to awaken the whole Church to serve the mission which Jesus had entrusted to her. Vincent’s was not a movement in the Church but a movement of the Church. His vision of apostolate was world-embracing, it was not to take over the official apostolate of the Church (of which as he was accused) but to be of service to it. He was aware of the mobilization of anti-Christian forces that intended not only the unification of Italy but the creation of a new humanistic secular society with Rome at its centre. In response Vincent sought to mobilize all, especially religious and lay people, in a collaborative work of “Catholic Apostolate.”

Mary, Queen of Apostles: trigger releasing the Church’s hidden potential
How could he do this when the official Church was opposed to any seemingly laicist movements? The theology of that period was that Catholic Apostolate belonged only to the Pope and the Propagation of the Faith to those trained for it. Vincent found his answer in the title given to Mary in the Litany of Loreto as Queen of Apostles. She was neither a priest or bishop, she did not preach, yet the Church acknowledged that she was superior to the Apostles. He wrote, “The Church honours Mary as having the merit common to the Apostles without the office of preacher” (OOCC IV:325). Mary’s unique role is as a lay person who, nevertheless, is endowed with the title and merits of the Apostles. Her role is extended to include not only Apostles with a capital “A” but the myriad of small “a” apostles in every sphere of life. “One who is not a priest can be honoured with the name apostle, and his/her work an apostolate” (00CC III: 140, cf. 182).

Mary’s life: a Gospel beyond words
In 1976 a French Church Commission consulted women on their role in evangelisation. One woman wrote, “A woman is more suited to what pertains to life rather than structure, more suited to activity involving personal relationships. A true life is a life lived according to the Gospel. This goes before any other consideration. If you would preach a sermon, you must yourself be a sermon.” This was especially true of Mary, honoured three-fold as Queen of Apostles: by “her true Catholic zeal and perfect love;” her “surpassing the Apostles in merit”; her “cooperation in spreading the faith far beyond the Apostles” (OOCC I:7).

Catching the fire of the Spirit
Mary evangelised in a unique way by her faithful mothering of Jesus and the apostles. Mary’s radical openness to God’s Word and Will sprang from a strong, realistic self as she enquired, “How can this be?” A self coupled with a readiness to surrender, “Let it be, let it be done, let it become flesh in me.” Mary remained faithful under the cross. She put courage into the disciples by her presence, and readied them for the transforming experience of the Spirit. Did they ask Mary, “Oh tell us, tell us what happened when the Spirit came on you?” Mary would not only tell them, but lead them to prepare for the Spirit in the ways she knew: of silence, unceasing prayer and by interceding powerfully with her Spouse the Holy Spirit. What came first was the desire, wanting to be used by Jesus, to carry on his mission. Mary led them further in disciplined learning, to await the Spirit who ignited them into action. That desire disposed them to receive the Spirit who brought all they had learned from Jesus on fire within them. “If you lack courage,” Mary says to priests, “pray to me with confidence. I shall ask the Holy Spirit (my Spouse) that he may set you on fire with his infinite charity, so necessary to exercise the apostolate of Jesus Christ” (Month of May for Clerics, 80). Vincent’s own life, his initial devotion to Mary, Queen of Apostles in the Cenacle, became a dynamic reality after his Espousals of December 31st, 1832, when Mary, Spouse of the Spirit and Queen of Apostles, empowered him for ministry through the graces of her Son. When Vincent wanted to rouse apostolic idealism in people he invoked the image of Mary as Queen of Apostles; when he wanted to awaken the inner life of the people, to nurture them, he spoke of her Motherhood.

Holiness: living from the heart outwards
Vincent was convinced that holiness gives power to apostolate. “Holiness consists in fulfilling with exactness and pure intention the duties of one’s state of life” (OOCC X:111), and doing it from an apostolic intent. “With all her power Mary cooperated in the propagation of the faith without preaching but, in the ordinary circumstances of her life, doing it with such perfection that she surpassed the Apostles in merit ….” (OOCC III: 145). When we try to live the virtues of Jesus and Mary in an inner way we become transparent of God, not for ourselves but for others. Vincent described this process for lay people, “Internal holiness of heart enlivens and vivifies the exterior of a person so that all may glorify our heavenly Father” (Month of May for Lay People, Day 18). The external act had to mirror the inner intent. Mary modelled the interior quality of holiness linked to a gospel following of Jesus in her daily life. It was lived holiness.
Every aspect of Mary’s self was consciously used to bring Christ to birth in herself and in others. How Mary used things to nourish the humanity of the incarnate One, inspired Vincent “to understand and imitate [Jesus] in the use of created things … to do the Will of the Father according to the designs and ends of infinite Love.” (OOCC X: 260). Her divine maternity nurturing Christ through faith, became a spiritual mothering of all under the cross. In her zeal, “Mary, burning with love, desired to give her life with her Son for the salvation of the human race” (OOCC IV: 450). She journeyed from a mother’s love to the dedication of a disciple. Vincent taught people that they could share in the merit of the apostolate corresponding to their zeal in cooperating in the spread of the Gospel (OOCC IV:136).

Mary, model of ministry
By her life Mary witnessed to that essential aspect necessary in every ministry, whether priestly or lay, namely, spiritual motherhood: a faith-filled and loving openness to God’s power giving birth to Jesus. Mother Mary uses her intercessory power to produce Christ in us (cf. OOCC III: 78-9); and discipleship: a conforming of herself to Jesus, that is, a faithful imitation of him in her whole life, body, mind and heart, thereby making Christ present to men and women so that they may experience God’s saving power. “Mary walked so faithfully in the footsteps of her Son that she surpassed all the angels and saints” (Ep Lat 20). Mary, Queen of Apostles, stands at the very heart of the one mission and diversity of ministries within the People of God. When the title of the Union “Catholic Apostolate” came under fire, Pallotti placed it under the special protection of Mary Queen of Apostles. That name said it all. She was his advocate, intercessor, and the great missionary.

Shared reflection:
- In what way can Mary, Queen of Apostles, help us catch fire as apostles?
- How would Vincent motivate people to live the spirit of UAC?
- What is your experience of Mary reawakening your faith-relationship with
Father, Son and Spirit?

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Segretariato Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italiauac@uniopal.org}

In communion with Mary.
I. Mary, Patroness of the Union of Catholic Apostolate

Introduction: the month of May is traditionally a month dedicated to Mary, Jesus' beloved mother; in this month we celebrate the feasts of Mary, Queen of Apostles, and of the Visitation of Mary. St. Vincent entrusted his nascent foundation to Mary, he put it under her protection, he entrusted it to her as patroness and relied on her prayers and intercession. Article 3 of the General Statutes of our Union reads: "The Patroness of the Union is the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, exemplary model of the spiritual life and of apostolic zeal". We propose to reflect on Mary and pray with her in three issues of Apostles for Today.

St. Vincent wrote: "The pious Society operates under the efficacious protection of the Immaculate Mother of God, Queen of Apostles, for two holy purposes: the first is to obtain through the merits and the intercession of the great Mother of God, the Immaculate, all the graces and all the gifts in order that the Pious Society considered both as a moral body and in the individual (members) present and future may exist always in the Church of God and be fruitful and that it spread rapidly according to the needs of souls in any part of the world. The second purpose is that they all, lay people, secular clergy and religious of any order, state and condition have in Mary most Holy, after Jesus Christ, the most perfect model of true catholic zeal and of perfect charity …". (OOCC I, p. 6-7, cf. also OOCC III, p. 6).

Mary, our Mother, our Protector, our Patroness.

This month we take the first purpose, Mary as our Mother, protector and patron. Fr. Vincent had a particularly strong devotion to Mary throughout his life even though the foundational experience of his life was his experience of God and his one over-riding purpose was to correspond to the three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity, individually and as One God. His relationship with Mary did not take from this centrality of God in his life, rather Mary was Mother to him, and as the years went on Mary undertook to reveal to him her Son Jesus Christ, to obtain for him from her Son all the graces necessary for his life and mission. It was similar to Mary's attitude at the Wedding Feast in Cana of Galilee (Jn, 2,5), she noticed a need, a lack, and she pointed it out to her Son, then she told those who were there "Do whatever he tells you", and with complete trust and confidence waited until he responded and fulfilled her request.

Fr. Vincent was graced with several mystical experiences during the course of his life, one of these was his experience of January 9th when he received the charism of the Union. A second event that had a lasting effect on him and on his life was a Spiritual Espousal with Mary which took place on December 31st 1832, from this point on his relationship with Mary took on a new dimension, the experience is recorded in OOCC X, 195-6: he experienced it as a special grace which allowed him to enter into an intimate relationship with Mary. It is for him essentially an experience of mercy, first of all the mercy of Mary who mercifully deigned to make a spiritual marriage with him, he who considered himself to be among the poorest of all creatures on earth. Mary does not come empty-handed to this spiritual marriage, she brings her dowry, the dowry she gives Vincent is "all she possessed and helped him to recognize her own divine Son, and being the Spouse of the Holy Spirit she committed herself so that he be entirely transformed in the Holy Spirit." Mary promised to give Vincent the gift of knowing her Son Jesus, and because she is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she commits herself to work for Vincent's inner transformation in the power of the Holy Spirit. Vincent is deeply moved by this manifestation of God's mercy; he speaks of "the mercy of Mary, immaculate Queen, who in love and devotion prays, intercedes and obtains" for him graces. He is convinced that this grace is an expression of the mercy of Jesus as he listens to the pleas of his Mother Mary on Vincent's behalf. He concludes his account praying "Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, Paradise is full of Mary's mercy. I will sing the mercies of God for all eternity, I will sing the mercies of Mary for all eternity. My God and my all." In this account we see that Mary was not merely an object of devotion for Vincent, far from it, she was an active presence, it was she who took the initiative here, it was she who gave all of herself to him as dowry, she who committed herself to reveal her Son to Vincent.

We see here that Mary was Mother for Vincent, concerned for him, for his well-being, for his growth, for his happiness. She was a merciful Mother, mother of mercies. His experience was of Mary as Mother, a mother who was so moved by the 'wretchedness' of her son that she prayed, interceded and obtained for him this special grace. Recently a woman asked me how Vincent's term of address for Mary can be translated, he referred to her as "la mia più che innamorattissima Madre", I suggested 'my beloved Mother', she was not satisfied with this and suggested 'my mother who is deeply in love with me and most dear to me'. She as a woman and mother was struck by the intensity of Vincent's feelings for Mary, fruit of her love for him and her activity in his life.

It was after this experience that Vincent began to prepare and write his treatises on the Month of May (of Mary) for the faithful, for religious and for the clergy. In fact he prepared all three texts in 1833, so full was he of enthusiasm and zeal to lead others to a deeper relationship with May. In the meditations for the faithful, Vincent puts words into Mary's mouth, she speaks lovingly to her children, invites them to learn of Jesus, through her, she invites them "…I, as a heavenly teacher will teach you with motherly affection to way of Paradise." (Preliminary meditation). Mary encourages the faithful who engage in these exercises by saying "I assure you my child in the joy that comes from the Most High, that my heart with maternal affection, and the heart of Jesus with infinite love, burn with a living desire to see you a saint, to see you a saint soon, to see you a great saint." OOCC XIII, p. 573. Mary goes on to assure the retreatant that the road to holiness is simple, it consists in listening in faith to her Son, who with his Word and his message of salvation offers us the means to attain it.

Mary is presented as Mother, as Teacher, as Mother of Mercy, as Advocate. This is clearly evident in the text of the day of preparation for the exercises; "Jesus said on the Cross: 'Behold your Mother' (Jn.19,27), my divine Son Jesus, in his agony on the Cross forgot the sins of his creatures … and left me to his beloved disciple John as Mother, and in John Mother of all the children of the Church … he (Jesus) wishes that you, my child, even though you may be a sinner, in this month consecrated to me, recognise me as your Mother, experience me as Mother of Mercies … I, as your heavenly Teacher will teach you with maternal affection to way to heaven … and even though you know your sins I do not want you ever to lose courage because I am your Mother, your Advocate, the Refuge of sinners, and as the Daughter of the Eternal Father I am able to help you in all your needs…" OOCC XIII; 550-51.

However, in all of this devotion and love of Mary Vincent never loses sight of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All the exercises are based on an attentive listening to the Word of God as seen though the eyes and heart of Mary, the purpose of the meditations is the building up of the Kingdom of God. The entire spiritual exercise is oriented towards an increase of faith, hope and love, and to lead the person to a greater commitment to the works of faith and charity in the world.

Let us meditate together:

John 19, 25-27: "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son'. Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother'. And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home."
John 2, 3-4 "…the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine'. Jesus said, 'Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tell you'.

And with the Church let us sing Mary's hymn, the Magnificat.

Sharing of experiences

Which is my preferred title of Mary? Can I express why one of Mary's titles or attributes is more important to me than others? How do I live my relationship with Mary?
Let us end with prayer:

1. "St. Vincent Pallotti, from your earliest days you were ardently devoted to the Mother of God. You were indebted to her in a special way for your growth in grace and in the love of God.
2. We ardently desire the same effects of her intercession that you experienced in your life. Intercede for us, therefore, St. Vincent, that we may obtain an enlightened conscience and be able to understand the greatness of the Mother of God, to have an unshakable faith in her, and to leave our lives in her hands. Obtain for us also a child-like and truly dedicated love for her and a courageous heart to follow her virtuous example." Pallottine Community Prayers, page 241.

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Segretariato Generale, Unione dell'Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italiauac@uniopal.org}

“Lord Jesus … may Your life be my life”

(OOCC X, p. 488)
St. Vincent Pallotti’s invitation

We have meditated on the 33 points of the Fundamental Rule each month during the past few years, in them St. Vincent exhorted us to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ and to make of his holy life the rule for our own lives. “The fundamental Rule of our little Congregation is the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Fundamental Rule 1, OOCC III, p. 40). He was convinced of the basic truth that “If all Christians are obliged to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ, then with how much greater perfection, diligence and fervour must we imitate him? Have we not received the gift of the very life of our Lord Jesus Christ as the fundamental rule of our little Congregation? Do we not receive daily in the congregation numerous and special graces that allow us to imitate him? We should keep before our eyes God made man who is our example, our model and the practical rule of both our interior and exterior life. With trust in his omnipotent grace we should do everything in the best possible way and with the utmost diligence, attention, fervour and humility, trusting in the graces that our Lord Jesus Christ with infinite love wishes to lavish on us so as to imitate him. A person who believes in Jesus Christ and who in humility and trust strives to imitate him, receives (as grace) that Jesus destroys in him/her all faults and deformities. Jesus Christ enters into that soul and operates in it and Jesus Christ continues his very life in that soul, He lives in it and communicates to it the merits of his holy works, thus the promise of Jesus Christ is verified “I tell you solemnly the one who believes in me will perform the same works I do and will perform even greater works” (Jn. 14.12), this is indeed true, because Jesus Christ does everything in us” (Daily Practical Memorandum, OOCC III, 35-37).

St. Vincent, with bold assurance, affirms that if a person seriously undertakes to imitate Jesus Christ with humility and trust, Jesus Christ himself will destroy and straighten out in that person all that is to be destroyed and straightened. When everything is clean and orderly He himself enters in and takes possession of the person and fills his/her faculties, He lives and operates in the person, and his/her actions acquire the value and the merit of the holy actions of Jesus Christ himself.

Let us ask ourselves in silence:

What fruits we have drawn for our spiritual and apostolic lives as Pallottines from these meditations? Do we share in our hearts the same desire that St. Vincent had: “Lord Jesus … may Your life be my life”?

Let us pray using the invocations written by St. Vincent during a retreat he made in 1841 (OOCC X, p. 656- 681)
“My Jesus (…) Your prayers will become my prayers.
My Jesus (…) may the communication of Your holy life with all Your virtues and merits be in me and in all persons now and always.
My Jesus, infinite Wisdom (…) may Your life be my life.
My Jesus (…) make Your conformity my conformity.
My Jesus, my Judge (…) give me Your life, I want to live with it, I want to die with it and with Your life to present myself before Your divine tribunal.
My Jesus (…) give me Your purity, thus Your purity will be my purity.
My Jesus (…) form in me the Eight Beatitudes through the communication of Your life, and thus I will possess them in true fullness.
My Jesus (…) grant me all Your prayers and all the infinite merit of Your sacrifice.
Jesus my Truth (…) give me all Your life which is Truth, is true and eternal light.
My Jesus (…) give me Your charity, and transform me into Your charity so that I may live it.
Jesus is the most amiable, the most loving and is little loved. My Jesus (…) grant me and all persons, now and always all of Your love.
Jesus, the proof of love that You want from me is the salvation of Souls, therefore destroy in me all that stops me from being fully occupied and effective for the well-being of souls, give me all of Your life, all of Your virtues, all of your characteristics, all of Your energy, all of Yourself so as to bring the souls of every person living and who will be born to Your heart.
My Jesus (…) give me Your life, and with Your life may I always work and exercise all the different parts and functions of the Gospel ministry.
My Jesus (…) grant that the fullness of Your life may be in me and in all persons always so as to prepare all people for heaven.
My Jesus with the holiness and perfection of Your life destroy all of my life, give me Your life and I will always live with Your life”.
“My God I firmly believe that every moment you destroy all my life in me and bring Jesus Christ to life in me so that in everything and always it be Him who thinks, speaks and works in me with all of His being, all of His virtues and all of His works” (OOCC X, p. 261).

To pray with the life of Jesus

The journey of growth and the maturity that takes place in the life of each one of us helps us to understand its deepest meaning which is the gift of the infinite love of God. This consciousness or awareness reveals a reality to us, be it the revelation of what is good or the revelation of that which comes from evil. The season of Lent is an ideal time to rethink our lives and to adapt them more to Christ.
In the writings of St. Vincent we find numerous prayers which are the fruit of profound reflection on his life and go right back to the moment of his conception. Particularly fascinating are his attitude of humility and gratitude to God, his optimism and the search for the fullness of life. In his prayers his desire to live the life of Jesus is strikingly and ardently shown. One of these prayers is the “Benedicite” composed by St. Vincent shortly before his death.
It is a hymn that wells up from his heart with a singular thirst: “Lord Jesus expel me from within me and put Yourself in me. May my life and every action of mine be destroyed and may Your life be my life”. This prayer, like many others written in diverse moments of his life, show us how Pallotti prayed (with) the life of Jesus. In the light of the life of the Lord Jesus Pallotti would find the deeper meaning of the different stages and the events of his life and he allowed himself to be totally transformed in Jesus.

Suggestions for personal meditation:
The letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 3,7-12.

Sharing of experiences
We have seen from the letters that were received in the General Secretariat of the Union that many members, collaborators and friends of the Union in various parts of the world have been following this journey of the imitation of Jesus according to the teachings of St. Vincent. At the conclusion of this period spent meditating on the 33 points I feel as if I am at the start of a new stage in my life! As I reflected on the Fundamental Rule I used to ask myself: ‘what does St. Vincent want from me in proposing that I follow his path? I looked for a response to this question in his writings, especially in volume X which is called “I Lumi” (the enlightenments). There I discovered meditations, prayers and litanies which have all helped me to know better the treasure that has been hidden from my eyes up to now: the life of Jesus is a gift to me, but one to be shared with others! When I read in the Gospel of St. John a passage which was frequently quoted by St. Vincent “God so loved the world that He gave His Son …” I asked myself what these words mean to me and what God is teaching me for my life. And I borrow the words of St. Vincent and say “My God (…) with infinite love You thought to give me your beloved Son Jesus, and with Jesus You have given me everything” (OOCC X, 479).
It is true that:
“Jesus Christ, true God and true man, in soul, body and divinity is ours and is all ours; and all the life of Jesus Christ and all his infinite merits and most perfect virtues are all ours!
Jesus Christ is mine, the Word became man, in soul, body and divinity is mine;
the virtues (…) of Jesus are mine, and mine are the works that Jesus has done on this earth…” (God the Infinite Love med. XXII) As I meet with other members of the UAC what can I share of what I have experienced, felt and discovered in the itinerary of imitating Christ which we have lived in these 33 months?

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^{Segretariato Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italiauac@uniopal.org}

Fundamental Rule 6

“Since the life of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fundamental rule of our little congregation before we start any work and in all the different circumstances of the day, we should consider what our Lord Jesus Christ would think, speak or act in similar circumstances, and we must strive to do what is the most perfect in all things and always” (OOCC III, p.42).


As I sat down to write on point number 6 of the Fundamental Rule many feelings and thoughts came together and amongst these was a need to ask St. Vincent Pallotti to help me with this and to pray for the grace necessary to be faithful to what he understood by it and how he lived it. It was also an opportunity to rethink what it means for me and my life to live like Jesus in the light of the spiritual experience of the community to which I belong.

The spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti is the lived expression of his experience of the Spirit which developed throughout his life on earth from birth to death and attained sanctity. This, in the special plan of God, was communicated in the original charism of the foundation of the Union of Catholic Apostolate. In continuing to understand and develop the charism, the Union as a whole and every member of it, discovers and follows the same spiritual path of St. Vincent.

The spiritual inheritance he left to us is abundant, superabundant, and is comprised of works and activities, writings and illuminations, prayers and letters, directories and supplications, appeals and initiatives, inspirations and commitments. On the one hand in looking at this inheritance one admires and loves, with the devotion of a child, the profundity of St. Vincent and his limitless and unique figure, on the other hand, with the same admiration and the same love, one feels gratitude to him because due to this superabundance the Lord does not exclude anyone: one can experience what it is to be like St. Vincent at least in some thing – however big or small it may be – and like him one can give back with an act of pure love that which the Lord has already given one.

Through the working of the Holy Spirit, the Church in her saints, has shown one or other of the qualities of Jesus Christ, Son of the Father and Spouse of the Church, in order that each person and all of humanity, in the course of history might redirect themselves to re-establishing the image and likeness of the Creator. For saints such as Francis, Clare, Catherine, Dominic, Teresa, Ignatius and on up to the saints of our time, nothing was more important that reciprocating the love of “the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety” (Spe Salvi, 31). St. Vincent Pallotti felt the same and this is the very basis of his heritage. When he founded the Union of the Catholic Apostolate he wanted the fundamental rule to be the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he composed the Rule for the foundation in 33 points that recall the number of years which Jesus lived amongst us. Jesus Christ is at the centre of the Fundamental Rule and of each of its points because His very life itself is the Fundamental Rule: “Since the life of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fundamental rule of our little congregation…”

Point number 6 continues with expressions that are part of Pallottine spirituality, “any work”, “in all the different circumstance of the day”.

The most pressing desire of St. Vincent was always that of not limiting the Christian life to any one specific characteristic but that it include and embrace universality, it is not coincidental that the Union as a whole and in each of its parts, also embraces in its title its catholic, or universal, identity.

This universality even if it apparently gives less criteria for a sure identification and therefore is less ‘ordinary’, is not less practical, indeterminate and made up of vague intentions nor is it fickle when it comes to activity; the contrary is true because it is always Jesus who is the measuring rod for the start and the end “what would our Lord Jesus Christ think, speak or act in similar circumstances”. The identity of each person and of every created thing is to place oneself before him in order to open oneself to his love.

To become Jesus means to do the will of the Father in every single minute out of love, to do it in every action and activity (“seek God in all …”); to live the sacramental life fully; to increase charity in a life of communion; to know how to recognize and love him in every person we meet, “that no soul (person) pass by me in vain” and also to recognize him when he visits us in times of suffering and pain.

This is the path to take in order to be totally transformed in Jesus and to be able to say with St. Paul “it is no longer I who live but Christ living in me”.

To live in Christ is a path or journey that begins with Baptism and continues throughout our life on earth, on this journey we can listen to the voice of Jesus, hear him who knocks on the door of our hearts, open this door to him, welcome him and bid him enter into our lives.

In saying ‘yes’ to the life of Jesus in our own lives we become, as St. Vincent, ready to serve others in accordance with the demands of justice and of charity in so far as we are able; it also means that when we ‘become like Jesus’ the places in which we work and live are also changed because wherever Jesus enters everything is reborn and renewed.

Furthermore, the Church today points the Pallottine family towards the path of a “spirituality of communion” (NMI 43) as the privileged ‘place’ in which to live the experience of charity; it is not so much a physical place it is more the occasion and the circumstance in which the different expressions of each vocation, gathered in the name of Jesus, make him present in reciprocal love “By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (Jn. 13,35).

If the life of Jesus really has become our life we would meet the expectations of St. Vincent for whom charity should be exercised according to the commandment of Jesus Christ “this is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15,12) (cf. OOCC I, 8).

To live like this does not mean that it is necessary to invent something new, it involves opening ones eyes and heart to what is encompassed in a Christian life which, in the final analysis, is centered on Christ himself, who is to be known, loved, imitated and lived, and through our witness, is to be presented as a “Person”, the only one capable of drawing to himself and of giving credibility and spiritual unity to the life of every person.

Point number 6 ends with a call and an exhortation which are true to the soul of St. Vincent “we must strive to do what is the most perfect in all things and always”. In our following of him, as we are being formed in his ‘school of formation’, even our sins, limitations, betrayals, abandonment, discouragement, illness and failings can become occasions for the grace of God to act in us and for his mercy to abound, it is enough that we ask Him to come and save us, the abyss into which we may have fallen does not matter. Knowing that we have been saved and are being saved continuously enables us to know what love is, it is the charity that makes everything perfect, always.

The points of the Fundamental Rule are written in the first person plural, “we should … we must strive”; perhaps in this special historical moment of the development of the Union we are called to give greater emphasis to the bond of reciprocal charity within each community, each group, each association and in this way the life of each person will be enriched, strengthened and supported.

The fruits that will come from this will be worthy of St. Vincent, they will be perfect and forever, in gratitude we will give them to the Church and through her to humanity.


“My almighty God, Father of mercies and God of all consolations, I thank you for deigning to create us in your image and likeness, you have transformed us into living images of Charity itself, because you are the self same Charity itself.” (cf. Regole Fondamentali, edited by A. Faller SAC)
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^{Segretariato Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italiauac@uniopal.org}

Fundamental Rule no 5

In number 5 of the Fundamental Rule St. Vincent Pallotti calls us to live “Perfect common life”.

“They must live a perfect common life. Therefore, anything that the member acquires after having made solemn consecration is acquired for the congregation. Only inherited property is excepted. However this are to be administered and used as indicated by the holy constitutions, and may be disposed of by a will.” (OOCC III, p. 41-42)

Reflection

Every Christian community is made up of persons with their unique qualities but also with their weaknesses, an ideal community does not exist. The community is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it is a place where one becomes a brother or sister (“Fraternal Life in Community” 11), a place of formation and of growth, of forgiveness, patience, a place where Christ is present (Mt 18, 20). Community is where one lives a life that is based on sharing and is in contrast with the individualism and selfishness of our time.

St. Vincent chose as his model for a common life the community of the Cenacle, the first community in Jerusalem, and also the community formed by the holy family of Nazareth. There one grows together with others in faith and love, one’s capacity for the apostolate is developed and the criteria for the apostolic mission are chosen together.

St. Vincent was convinced that authentic apostolate in the Church cannot exist without the activity of the Holy Spirit. He saw this was true for Jesus, he was moved by the Spirit to fulfil his apostolate which was the work of salvation; he also saw it in Mary who, in opening herself to the Spirit, became the mother of the Apostle of the Father and also of the disciples of Christ; in the Cenacle she remains in prayer while waiting for the Holy Spirit. We know just how important the meaning and value of the Cenacle was for Vincent. While he was still a seminarian he expressed his desire to always be in the Cenacle with Mary and with all creatures in order to receive the fullness of the Spirit.

“Wherever I find myself, I intend to imagine myself to be with all creatures in the Cenacle in Jerusalem where the apostles received the Holy Spirit. I shall remind myself to renew this desire often. Just as the Apostles were there with Mary…” (OOCC X, 86).

While Vincent was forming the base for his foundation he found himself immersed in misunderstandings and trials, however in the community of the cenacle filled by the Spirit, he discovered the true nature and the ideals underpinning his foundation: “Having finished writing the rule for the Pia Casa di Carità, while reading how the Blessed Virgin and the apostles after the coming of the Holy Spirit, were moved to preach the most holy Gospel in the different regions of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ placed in my mind the true idea of the nature and work of the Pious Society, its general aim is the growth, the diffusion and the spreading of piety and the catholic faith” (OOCC III, 27).

Thus the Cenacle becomes the place where Christians, with the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary, listen to the Word, share reflections and experiences, examine their lives, pray and prepare themselves for the daily commitment and the apostolate.

According to Vincent an essential norm which permeates community life is mutual love as lived by Jesus, who loved even unto giving his life (Jn 13, 34-35), “By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples”. Vincent insists: “Pray to God that he will give you the precious virtue of charity”. This is an essential aspect of an evangelizing community, it requires “unity in charity”, working as a community for salvation. Vincent recognized the validity and worth of the activity of the individual, but he also recognized from his experience that “the good that is done individually is limited, uncertain and often of short duration, the efforts of the most generous individuals cannot achieve anything great, either in the moral or religious order, but if they unite and work for a common goal … the concentration of their efforts and their unity will obtain abundance, certainty and long lasting results”(OOCC V 228).

What is important for St. Vincent is the sense of community (OOCC V, 228; IV, 124). His vision of the Church is based on a pluralistic unity which is expressed in a diversity of means, of gifts and of charisms. It is only the Holy Spirit who creates unity in love, a reciprocal acceptance of diversity, who can liberate humanity from the constant temptation to seek worldly power which seeks to dominate all and render it uniform. To accept the diversity of others is enriching, it is not a danger.

A characteristic of the community which lives the joy of sharing life and mission is the welcome it extends to others: “The entrance of a new member to the Community is to be greeted in the same way that the birth of the Saviour was greeted, because the new member of the Community will be one who will be a true imitator of Jesus Christ … and the Community, like Bethlehem, is the city of bread since it is rich in spiritual food which are all the means necessary to … cooperate for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls”(OOCC II, 15).

The first Christians “… were assiduous and united in prayer”. Prayer was the principal activity of the early Church, in prayer she received the gift of unity from the Lord and in prayer she allowed herself be guided by his will. Before he becomes a man of activity, Pallotti was first of all a man of prayer; his effectiveness came from his intimate communion with God. He wrote: “Since prayer is a powerful means of ensuring the success of each apostolic activity … no person, of any age, sex, state or condition is excluded from being part of the Catholic Apostolate…” (OOCC IV, 358). He had “the gift of praying a great deal” (OOCC X, 265). A Word gushed forth like a spring from his meditation on the Gospel, this Word was light for his actions and his behaviour, so much so that he wrote the “Daily practical memorandum” (OOCC III, 34-39). This is a path to becoming a community which lives the Gospel in the pursuit of holiness. We are invited to become aware of an interior desire to live common life in a new manner: by being open to others, in sharing work, difficulties, sufferings, joys, living in an atmosphere of true fraternity born of faith and nourished by the Word.

The community is united by the one Bread and the One Chalice (cf. Jn 6, 56). The Community at Jerusalem lived this reality: “They remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.” (Acts 2, 42). We too can live this reality by celebrating the Eucharist as the central moment of the day, and by seeing the community as an instrument to create communion.

The mystery of the Eucharist is the mystery of the life, passion and death of Jesus. Jesus was sent by the Father and he realizes the Eucharist fully in his self giving. St. Vincent, a man of communion, said: “God who became man also made himself food for my soul, he wants to nourish me with his essence and his divine nature, because in the Eucharist not only is the Incarnate Word present, but also the Father and the Holy Spirit: God…leads me to trust that he fills me with favours, gifts, mercies … for the good of … my neighbour” (OOCC X, 451-454). Therefore the gift received cannot be kept for oneself, it needs to be turned into giving, into evangelizing activity, the Eucharist is “…the source and the apex of the whole work of preaching the Gospel” (PO 5). We need to place the Eucharist at the centre of all our choices and set out again from “Emmaus” (Lk 24, 13-35) so that our missionary commitment may be credible.

The ecclesial Community, with Mary’s attentive presence, grows as a family renewed by a powerful outpouring of the Spirit and ready to take on the challenges of a new evangelization. It contemplates the merciful face of Jesus in others, especially in the poor, the needy, in those who are far from faith and from the Gospel. The Community is not afraid to proclaim Christ who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14, 6); it is not afraid to show with joy that the person of Christ is both the centre and the content of the good news. When all is said and done the decisive element of the proclamation is the witness of a lived life. Only the believer who lives that which he or she professes with the lips has a hope of being heard. The apostolate of the community is made up of words and deeds, but above all of witness.

Texts for reflection:

Acts 1, 12-14; 2, 42-47;

Rm 12, 3-18; Mk 3, 13-19; 34-35;

1 Thes 4, 9-12; 1 Cor 13, 1-13.

Let us pray with the Psalmist:

“How good,
how delightful it is for all to live together as brothers:
fine as oil on the head,
running down the beard, running down Aaron’s beard
to the collar of his robes;
copious as a Hermon dew falling on the heights of Sion,
where Yahweh confers his blessing, everlasting life.”
(Psalm 132).