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JESUS MASTER:
A SPIRITUALITY FOR THE MISSION
Orientations by Fr. Alberione to the Daughters of St. Paul
Acts of the International
Seminar
on "Jesus, the Master"
(Ariccia, October 14-24, 1996)
by Caterina Antonietta Martini fsp
IV. THE RESPONSE
TO THE ALBERIONE PROPHECY:
Jesus Master in the works of the FSP and in spiritual experiences
Inasmuch as I have underlined that all the whole of Alberione’s teaching is in view of life, it seems important to me to consider briefly how the FSP have reacted to the teaching of the Founder on the apostolic and spiritual levels. (return to summary)
1. Some apostolic initiatives in relation to Jesus Master
I put the premise that what follows is not a fruit of a systematic research but simple informative notes. Among the FSP the solid conviction began to form, that the apostolate with modern means is preaching the divine Word and hence of the Divine Master; and this awareness was gradually translated into works. I list some of them, only as a stimulus for an indispensable and urgent deepening.
The Gospel feasts. The mandate of 1929 to make known the Divine Master to everyone (cf. CVV 14), which we spoke about above, is especially concretized in the Gospel feasts or Feast of the Divine Master. Started in the House as a whole in 1925, in concomitance with the publication of the Gospel, they eventually become the primary activity of the FSP. They were celebrated on the parish and diocesan levels, in that form which is almost a liturgy: capillary diffusion often accompanied by group conferences, orders for Gospels, eucharistic celebration in the parish, blessing and solemn distribution of the Gospel by the Parish Priest or by the Bishop.(47) I quote a testimony of 1932, coming from a community of Palermo, a house opened in 1930: "The Gospel for all! How sweet and consoling it is to be able to let the good word enter into all homes and especially to leave the Holy Gospel... Three thousand six hundred copies of the Gospel were diffused. Many Protestant books could as well be withdrawn and destroyed. Deo gratias! Victories for the Divine Master and may he be light, way, truth and life for all men.(48) The Gospel feasts or Bible weeks continued in tight rhythm until World War II. Reduced during the hardest times of the war, they were immediately taken up again and augmented.(49) The initiative is included in the Constitutions of 1953.
It would be very interesting to study further the role the relationship between the devotion to the Divine Master and the capillary diffusion of his Word in the development of our spirituality. I believe there was an awareness of this correspondence when the FSP, in 1955, on the occasion of the year of Jesus Master, within the feast of the Gospel, they prepared the statistics of the copies of the Gospel diffused until that time: Gospel-18,861,500 copies; Bible-2,258,069.(50)
An extension of the mission of the Divine Master, diffusion requires that the apostle incarnate, live and communicate the sentiments of the Master. It is the prayer with which the FSP begin their day, according to the formula given them by the Founder perhaps in 1949 and which is still present in the Manual of Prayers. I quote the original text: "Jesus Master, I offer you my propaganda with the same intentions as yours in preaching the Gospel: glory to God and peace to men. Mary, my Mother, place your hand over my head and guide my every step. St. Paul, the Apostle, obtain the grace that the Gospel reach everyone and dispose the hearts to docilely receive it." (51)
The bookstore, place of proclamation of the Master. Four years after the opening of the first timid bookstores, a bit more than storerooms, in the autumn of 1933, Fr. Alberione writes to the Daughters: "The bookstores are your centers of light, of love, of prayer. Behave in a manner that the Divine Master chooses to willingly sit there as he did for the discourse on the mountain; sanctify your bookstores with silence, modesty, and prayer. Have you thought that the bookstore is a church? Let your bookstore be always church; let it be always the place of your sacrifice, mortification, love for souls" (CVV 34). The approach does not seem forced to me: in the bookstore immolation and proclamation fuse together. They are like a eucharistic liturgy celebrated and lived in a place that is profane for others.
The editorial for proclaiming the Master. We cannot ignore a small icon of 1931, or the cover of the first issue of Famiglia Cristiana: the Baby Jesus in the appearance of the small blessing Master. The FSP, conceiving the idea of the cover, wanted to express the close relationship that exists between the Master and the content of that modest 12-page magazine. That was the appearance of Famiglia Cristiana.
In 1938 the Founder entrusts some editorial initiatives to the Daughters who have finished the course of studies geared to forming sister-writers. They concerned the sectors of the catechism, liturgy, children’s books, the Fathers of the Church, Popes, periodicals, etc. The Daughters lived that historical moment with great feeling: "The moment has finally come wherein our beloved Congregation begins to assume the mark thought of and wanted by the Primo Maestro... As a body made up of members, we shall help each other in every manner to follow the Divine Master... In the Church, we shall occupy the place which he, in his infinite wisdom, has set aside for us." (52) Some spheres in fact have a special relationship with Jesus Master.
— The biography of the Popes, required by the Founder as an examination test to be admitted to write (1937-1938), are presented by a very meaningful introduction of us, here summarized: "Jesus Christ is the divine Master given by the Father to men. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.’ But Jesus Christ did not have to remain always on earth. After his mortal life, He continues to live and to teach in the person of the Pope. Just as the host in the Tabernacle is changed and yet remains always the same Jesus Christ, so did the Popes succeed on the throne of St. Peter, and the same Jesus Christ lives in the Papacy". Then, writing to all the Daughters, he would say: "After having printed all the prepared books, it would be nice to celebrate a beautiful feast of the Divine Master" (CVV 72).
— Also the series on the Fathers of the Church was introduced by the Founder, and he attributes to it a precise value in view of the knowledge of Jesus Master: "The Fathers, the Doctors, the Writers of the Church are Teachers of the faith; they are apostles in their writings, they are faithful interpreters in the revelation... They are those who have written well of God, of his Christ and of the Church... In the Fathers and the Doctors, one shall know of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life." It is precisely in this series that the Daughters would pay special attention to publish some writings of the Fathers that present the Divine Master. Let us recall: St. Augustine, La vera religione e il Maestro (1951?); St. Bonaventure, Della Scienza di Cristo (1951); St. Thomas, Il Maestro (1958).
— The whole Christ, a method of proclamation. It refers to that intuition which can be called method but has as source and manifestation the whole person of the Master in his magisterium addressed to all men and to the whole man. It defines the nature itself of the apostolate and one of its most visible concretization. I refer to the catechetical apostolate specifically entrusted to the Daughters.(53) For Fr. Alberione it is the fundamental sphere wherein the method of bringing man to Christ and the whole Christ to man can be applied. He wrote to Sr. Lucina Bianchini, editor of the texts: "The work of the catechisms is an apostolic work that makes known Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life and requires dedication and innocence of life." (54) In 1952 the catechetical initiative which is related even more to the Divine Master is born: the magazine Via, Verità e Vita. And here, more than the work itself, the spirit with which it is done counts. Every morning the FSP began their editorial work with the beautiful prayer composed by the Founder and perhaps precisely for them: "O Jesus, Divine Master, I offer you this pen of mine and this work of my apostolate with the intentions with which you have preached your Gospel. May everything, only and always, be for the glory of God and peace to men. May every creature know you, O Jesus Truth! May everyone docilely follow you, O Jesus Way! May all hearts love you, O Jesus Life!" (cf. Manual of Prayers).
A meditation of 31 July 1954 expresses well how the mystery of the Master contemplated in the totality of his life is reflected in the apostolate: [Jesus Master] is the great wealth of the Congregation: we must give the whole of Jesus Master: Way, Truth, Life; we must not reduce him! We must not allow ourselves to deviate! What we need is a catechism full of liturgy and of Gospel. We need a Gospel full of catechism and liturgy. We need a liturgy full of catechism and the Gospel. These three things are always united. We must always come out that way. Do not lose our wealth for little money. It is a wealth Jesus gives us. So that the book may be smaller and costs two or three lire less, one risks in not giving the whole of Jesus Christ. Those who must keep this wealth are above all the writers. Be careful about becoming colorless. If we become colorless, the Congregation loses its value. Hold very tightly to your method. It is a very special grace: it is up to you to correspond to it." These words do not need further comments; instead they could be objects of deep examination of conscience.
The FSP not only took care of publications that have a close relation with the Divine Master, but some of them braced themselves to write on Jesus Master. They are significant works although they remained unpublished and not always completed. Written by sisters, who listened to the Founder from the very start and worked under his guidance, the works express well his vision. They are the studies of Sr. Giovannina Boffa, Sr. Crocifissa Benvenuti, Sr. Dolores Farci, Sr. Marisa Ampon, Sr. Anna Maria Cutrupi, all of them prepared between 1940 and 1966.(55) (return to summary)
Jesus Master yesterday, today and for ever
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