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Letters of Fr. General |
Lent 2009 |
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The Vocationary |
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To the Vocationist Family Beloved, May the Holy Spirit unite us always more with the Son to the Father For us, Vocationists, the year 2009 is dedicated to the Vocationary. In our epistolary meetings of this year, we will talk about the Vocationary, of its formative methods, of its life and of its actuality. At the beginning of this year dedicated to the Vocationary, on January 20, to be precise, we opened a new Vocationary in the city of Pereira, Colombia. This new Vocationary is known and functions as Fr. Justin’s Vocationary and houses four Colombian novices and one transferred there from Ecuador; it is the beginning of an international Novitiate for Latin America. This reality has been made possible, thanks to the generosity of those who responded to the missionary appeals of Fr. Carandente. We hope to open, before the end of this year, another Vocationary in Quito, Ecuador for the formation of our students of theology. Fr Justin writes that ‘all life is vocation’. In the light of this belief, as all the world is considered as the ‘great sanctuary of God’, so it could be considered the ‘great Vocationary of God’. Everywhere, there are vocations to be discovered, assisted and cultivated. Finding, in a certain sense, the word ‘Seminary’ rather generic as it etymologically refers to the adapt environment to make every seed become a plant, Fr. Justin coins the word ‘Vocationary’ to indicate specifically the place where a vocation can be welcomed ,helped and developed. ‘Seminary’, from the latin semen and the suffix arium indicate the place where the seed develops. In the Seminary, vocation is taken care of as a plant(‘seminarium’ means also ‘nursery’). Similarly, from Vocatio and arium, the word ‘Vocationary’ is formed, which means the place where a vocation is made to grow. The word ‘Vocationary’ concretizes, incarnates, actualizes the concern, the love and the service of Fr. Justin and of his children for vocations. The charism for the search and cultivation of vocations does not exist in the abstract, it becomes reality only in and through the Vocationary. In our life, the divine union is our ultimate goal the universal sanctification is our intermediate goal and the Vocationary is the immediate goal or the necessary means for arriving at the ultimate goal (Cfr. Opere, vol. 12, 220). The Vocationist is like a mother to her child and, vice versa, the Vocationary is like the child to the mother. The Vocationist cannot be conceived without the Vocationary and the Vocationary, without the Vocationist. This is because the Vocationary is, for us, the work of works, the essence of our vocationistality. That is, the good reason why the Vocationary is not one of the three fields of actions of the Vocationist, but the soul of each of them. It is like the leaven that makes every activity to grow and prosper. A Vocationist activity that is not intimately bound and animated by the Vocationary remains an unleavened bread. Our Rules after having clarify that ‘…the activity of the Congregation is all pedagogical, pastoral and missionary… which develops itself in the various fields of apostolate, both our own or of others’, of colleges, of parishes, of external and internal missions’(Rules, 11), add emphatically: ‘But its most characteristic work and its most special field is always the Vocationary, from which every religious house takes its name and activity. The Vocationary must be in perennial relation of mutual nourishment and increment with the Parishes, Colleges and Missions’(Rules, no.12) ‘The Vocationary is everything for the Vocationist charism!’ Fr. Justin writes: ‘The Vocationary, being the principal, most special, central and essential work of our Congregation must arouse enthusiasm in us, even in those who are engaged in other assignments. All our good resources converge toward the Vocationary, as to our heart and head. The Vocationary is the flower and fruit of the work of the Vocationist who, in the Church, concretizes his service through the Vocationary’. One can venture to say that without the Vocationary there is no Vocationist charism’(Sarnataro, Vocation and service of vocations). History of Vocationaries in the Congregation. On September 20, 1913, during his priestly ordination, Fr. Justin made a vow to found a Congregation for the service of vocations. We celebrate April 30, 1914 (date of the beginning of the first attempt at common life) as the date for the foundation of the Vocationary. We celebrate the birth of the Congregation on October 18, 1920. As a concept, the Congregation comes before the Vocationary, in historical reality, the Vocationary precedes the birth of the Congregation. On October 18, 1920 with the welcoming to community life of the first 12 aspirants in the Parish house of St. George the Martyr in Pianura, the first Vocationary, cradle of the Congregation, came to life. Recognizing the fruits of this first Vocationary, on May 27, 1927, the Society of Divine Vocations with the first diocesan approval, comes canonically to life! Immediately after the diocesan approval of the Congregation, the construction of the Deus Charitas Vocationary, the Mother House of the Congregation, was started. Within a few years, the Vocationaries at Baronissi, Cava dei Tirreni, Salerno, Gorga, Sezze, Montesano, Montesardo, Marsiconuovo, Mola di Bari, Acqua Viva delle Fonti and Roma were opened. The golden period of the Vocationary extends from the beginning of the 30’s to the beginning of the 60’s. To this golden period followed a long period of ‘standstill’. At the end of the 20th century, with the openings in Africa and in Asia, a flowering period started once more. Actually, the Congregation consists of two provinces, two delegations and sixty communities, serving 64 parishes and living its charism in 24 active Vocationaries: Pianura, Posillipo, Rome, Riachao do Jaquipe, Vitoria da Conquista, Rio de Janiero, Florham Park, Pereira, Medellin, Vilcabamba, La Plata, Oparanadim, Ibadan, Mati, Davao, Maasin, Thalore, Mulayam, Thalassery, Antananarivo, Ambatondrazaka, Ruteng, Maumere, Holywell (I consider as active Vocationaries those that have at least two young men in formation. Altavilla Silentina and Riberia are actually inactive for lack of candidates). It is good to see and understand that in the recent years, the Congregation continues to strengthen and to multiply her work in the Vocationaries. Of the 24 active Vocationaries, 11 have been opened in the last eight years. All the new constructions and acquisitions of these years are Vocationaries: Ibadan, Mulayam, Davao, Maasin, Medellin, Antananarivo, Thalassery, Vilcabamba and Pereira. Ruteng and Maumere are Vocationaries run in rented houses, while Holywell and Ambatondrazaka are active in diocesan premises. Actually, we have 351 young men in formation with 38 confreres who work in formation. While we thank the Lord, for the great steps that have been taken, and the confreres who sacrifice themselves, carrying the cross of fire, there is yet much to be done to arrive at vocationalizing all our communities and parishes. Our objective is to make it possible for all our communities to be formative communities and that the Vocationists be truly all vocation animators and formators. One cannot and must not ignore the fact that all those who work and sacrifice for the sustenance of vocations, work also(and much!) for vocations. Various types of Vocationary ‘For this reason and to this end, the residence of the Servant of the Saints must be called ‘Vocationary’, that is a religious, missionary institute of suitable and willing young men, who prepare themselves for the service of the kingdom of God, in dioceses, in religious families and in the world. With his Vocationaries, the Vocationist, shunning deliberately every form and thought of competition, must help needy youngsters, lacking financial means, and those who are not yet well-oriented towards a specific religious institute, until they make their choice’( Rules, 924-925). Vocationaries in the large sense: These are all the Vocationist residences and communities, since therein the vocations of the confreres are nourished, cultivated and come to maturity; and all those who need vocational discernment must be well accepted, guided and assisted there. Ideal Vocationaries: These are those Vocationaries that respond to the founding inspiration of Fr. Justin, where they receive and form young men who have signs of vocation, but are not yet decided to become Vocationist, or members of secular or religious clergy. Actually, the unique ideal Vocationary that receives and forms candidates for the Congregation and for the local clergy, is that of Mati (Philippines). Ambatondrazaka (Madagascar) could also be a Vocationary for all vocations; our mission in that diocese is that of bringing forward the vocational pastoral for all the diocese, but the first 5 candidates welcomed seem to be all oriented towards our family. In the spirit of the ideal Vocationaries, actually, on request of the bishops or religious superiors, we have non -Vocationist young men in our houses of formation in Rome, Posillipo and Medellin. Classical Vocationaries: In the manner of those developed in Italy in the golden period of the Vocationary, we can consider those of Pianura, Davao (Philippines), Thalore and Thalassery(India) as classical Vocationaries. Vocationaries - Houses of Formation: These are our novitiate and Student houses, where exclusively Vocationist young men are formed. The majority of our Vocationaries belong to this category. External Vocationaries: are considered those agglomerations of young men who show interest in the parish activities and gravitate towards a priest who becomes a vocational assistant and guide. Starting point for the external Vocationaries can be the oratories, youth groups and young catechists. For an external Vocationary to function, it is not enough to have only one interested confrere; the whole community must be opened and disposed to accept the interference of young men in the community life. The young men of the external Vocationary could have access not only to some of the rooms of the community, but could also share moments of prayer and, at least some moments of recreation and some meals with the community. An encouraging vocational reality For more than a decade, our province of Brazil has suffered a true and proper vocational aridity. During this time of vocational crisis, our Brazilian confreres have never gotten tired of speaking, forming and perfecting their plan of vocational pastoral, parish vocation teams, the institute of vocation pastoral, apprenticeship and types of formation, etc. During a General Chapter, some confreres tried to ridicule these activities of theirs, pointing to the fact that they did not have any vocations! Today, our Brazilian province has 18 young men in formation and, the beauty of it is that 14 of these young men belong to our 9 Brazilian parishes, and the other four have known the Congregation and started their vocation journey through our parishes. Young men always flock around our communities of Brazil. Their liturgical celebrations are enriched by a huge number of ministers, by cheerful young men who sing and play various instruments. In India, for the scholastic year 2007-2008, we didn’t have any new candidate. With a renewed zeal of consistent vocation work consisting of parish apostolate, involvement in catechesis, visits to parishes and schools, vocation-camp-schools and seminars on personal development, for this year, 2008-2009, we have 15 new aspirants. Once more, Fr. Justin makes us touch the truth of his teaching: the vocations are not lacking, but only the searchers and cultivators of vocations are lacking! In Italy, we have 44 parishes, 7 young Italians in formation and of these only 3 come from our parishes. Wouldn’t it be good to perform the same miracle in Italy? The Vocationary as the characteristic work of the Vocationist Saying that the Vocationary is the most characteristic work of the Vocationists, Fr. Justin tells us, it is the work more properly ours; it is what distinguishes and characterizes us in the Church of God. We can be good and holy Vocationists without parishes, without missions, as we are good Vocationist without schools, but cannot be Vocationists without Vocationaries. All other pastoral, academic, charitable activities etc …are in view of the Vocationary and for the Vocationary. The idea, the philosophy, the theology of the Vocationary must permeate and reinvigorate all other activities and ministries of ours. Schools, parishes and missions are places where the Vocationist exercises his vocation work. ‘The Vocationary must be in perennial relation of mutual nourishment and increment with the parishes, schools and missions’ (Rules, 12). The Vocationary provides teachers, parish priests and missionaries to the parishes, to the schools and to the missions. The missions, the parishes and the schools must provide candidates for the Vocationary. Near every parish must rise a small Vocationary that is fed and increased by the parish and which, in turn, animates in the parish, the apostolate of prayer, the liturgical, catechetical, charitable apostolate etc. A parish that says ‘my interest is to do my apostolate and I am not interested in the future priests’ would commit a true and proper suicide. The same is the case of schools and missions. The good people of our parishes seem to understand more and more the duty to nourish and increase the Vocationaries. Thank God, everywhere we have Vocationaries, there is an ongoing and ever growing chain of generosity for the sustenance of the vocations. A Vocationist can serve the people of God as parish priest, as spiritual director, as teacher, as missionary, as chaplain, preacher, writer etc… always and only if he is capable of vocationalizing every one of his activities. According to article 933 of the Rules, the Vocationary is necessary and absolutely indispensable: ‘Around the internal Vocationary, the external Vocationary may be assembled and held in full efficiency ... and where the internal Vocationary is not possible, the external Vocationary is necessary for the sake of religious observance. Every one of our house must absolutely be, in one way or the other, a Vocationary’(Rule, 933). The Vocationary cannot ever be the work of works, the most characteristic work, absolutely indispensable and necessary for the Society of Divine Vocations, if it is not the first for every member. With this I intend to say that it is not enough to lament the lack of interest for the Vocationary and for vocations in others, each of us can and must do his part for the external and internal Vocationary. The Vocationary and the people of God The Vocationary is not an entity on itself and for itself. The Vocationary is the most precious service that one can render to the Church. The Congregation gives this service free of charge. For its gratuitousness the Vocationary becomes a true act of love, in as much as it is something that offers itself without waiting for a reward, without any personal benefit. Bishops, priests and lay people remain enchanted by and attracted to our charism for its specificity and altruism. ‘More than recruiting its own members, with his Vocationaries, the Vocationist intends to serve the dioceses and all the religious institutes, providing good candidates, searched and chosen among the people and assisted until they make a definite choice for the secular and regular clergy. In dioceses that do not have a seminary, and until there is one, the Vocationary, with the consent and under the control of the local bishop, can take its place; in this case they welcome and form candidates for the diocesan clergy, destined to the service of the diocese. In dioceses that already have a small seminary, the Vocationary, always with the consent of the Bishop, will be only an apostolic school and missionary institute, welcoming aspirants to consecrated life and to the external missions, so that through it every diocese may be as a metropolis of catholic religiosity in the world’(Rules, 926-927). Describing and listing the dioceses and religious orders to which the Vocationary had sent vocations, Fr. Justin showed his palpable joy, and an exquisite discretion in not interfering afterwards in the work of the new formators! He was burning with desire of sending every year a great number of candidates to every diocese and every religious institute (Cf. Works, vol. 8, p.278). ‘His work: universal sanctification! And for sanctification, the clergy! And for the clergy, the vocations and for the vocations, the seminaries and at the service of all and in all, the small Society of Divine Vocations and its Vocationaries…. One can correctly say that all the faithful of the whole world have trembled for the emptying of many Novitiates; for the closing of many seminaries, for the scarcity every day more grave and more felt of sacred ministers’ (Spiritus Domini, Easter, 1927). The Vocationary at the service of all is like a small rescue-package for the recovery of the vocation crisis in the world. Fr Justin alone could not carry on the work of the Vocationary, hence, he founded the Pious Association to ensure its functionality and perpetuity. ‘….as this work was not possible for one person alone, he contemporaneously organized groups of people to this end, and after various efforts and diverse experiences, it was born the society of Divine Vocations in the present form of Religious Congregation (ibid). According to our spirit, the Vocationary needs the prayer, the cooperation of the Fathers, the Vocationist Sisters and of the people of God, not only in the economic and administrative sector, but also in the personal , spiritual, academic and social formation. I ask those in charge of the Vocationaries at every level to open themselves to and seek the cooperation of other religious and of the laity in the programmes of formation. The Vocationary and the divine providence The history of the Vocationary, just like that of all the works of God, is strictly bound to divine providence. Every day, providence came through the charity of the good people of Pianura and the zeal of our Vocationist Sisters. To sustain the Vocationary today is not less difficult than yesterday. As yesterday, so also today providence is bound to our fervor, to our sanctity of life. The miracles of divine providence existed and still exist. How many times even today, when we suffer for not having enough to satisfy the just request for economic help of our more numerous Vocationaries, gifts arrive unexpectedly, to satisfy at least their hunger! Our confreres who work in the Vocationaries often suffer for the lack of necessary things for themselves and for the students. They constantly count on and pray for divine providence every day. So that divine providence may not be lacking for our Vocationaries, it is necessary to attend to our sanctification and to prayer, even as one must endeavour to find channels of providence. One cannot claim for miracles every day. Many of the superiors of the Vocationaries cooperate in finding the means to sustain themselves and our young men. Besides finding benefactors, some help themselves with some agriculture work, others with poultry-farming, others creating means of transport, others doing personally works that usually are given to employees. Our Nigerian confreres reduce to the barest minimum the indispensable use of the generators to save some money. In our Vocationaries, both superiors and candidates do heroic acts in one way or the other in order not to lack the essentials. From the very beginnings of the Vocationaries, (even before the birth of the Vocationary) Fr. Justin had founded the Pious Association for the maintenance of the vocations, then he formed twelve teams of lay people, precious helpers of the Vocationary, and then he founded the Vocationist Sisters so that as true mothers for the vocations, they may play the role of mothers in the life of the Vocationary and of the students of the Vocationary. Both individuals and families must be inflamed with love for vocations and work for the vocations. The Vocationary survived between the first and second world war, only because it was sustained by the immense generosity of the people of Pianura, who provided food, wood and services of every kind, and for the heroism of the Vocationist Sisters, who, with good reasons, can be called the mothers of the Vocationary, and I don’t refer only to the Sisters who worked in the Vocationary, but also to all those who went begging alms to sustain the Vocationary. Also those that never worked in the Vocationary or begged for alms sacrificed themselves and worked hard to send their savings to Fr. Justin. How can one forget that the acquisition of the land for the Vocationary of Pianura was made possible only thanks to the generosity of Sister Clara Loffredo? The very first Vocationists, Frs. Francesco Sepe, Nicola Verde, Salvatore Polverino, George Mele, George Saggiomo, Joseph Di Fusco, Anthony Palmieri, Louis Fontana, as well as many others who came after them, believed in Fr, Justin and in the ideal of the Vocationary and for it they became teachers, prefects, beggars, cooks, servants, making themselves truly all things to all in order to bring forward the vocations. ‘The Vocationist, to work efficiently for universal sanctification, must win and attract to the religious ideal , one by one, all the families of the parishes in which he resides, so that they may be truly the image and likeness of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the small nurseries of saints’ (Opere, vol. 1, 769) ‘So the Vocationist will dispose every Christian family to welcome the divine vocations of the children to more perfect states; to grow for the Holy Church the elects to the priesthood and to religious life; and to become then the beginning of other religious houses of new Christian families living in the parishes, the life of the Holy catholic Church’ (Opere, Vol. 1, 777). Today it may seem that there are no more acts of heroism, not the heroic sacrifices of the past, the ideals of service and of zeal for the vocations. In reality these seem to have increased under diverse forms. The alms, once collected by the Sisters, are taken over today by the Cooperators of Vocationist Missions, Fr. Justin’s prayer groups and other good persons that sponsor our students with scholarship and adoptions in distance. With much sacrifice and love they do it! The Volunteers of the Vocationary and the Friends of Fr. Justin multiply and do all they can with highest altruism. I have been touched by the industry and love of a Vocationist Sister who embroidered by hand a bed spread and then raffled it off for the Vocationary, raising and donating the considerable gift of €7, 000,00. What can one say of the good Fathers that work in the Vocationary? Their love, their sacrifices are not any less than those of yesterday. All the Vocationists, also those that seem less attracted to the ideal of the Vocationary, work with generosity for the Vocationary, channeling all their small savings for the Vocationaries, present today in 11 nations. One cannot forget to note also the Vocationary-appeal that is gradually finding its way within our parishes, thanks to the encouragement and to the insistence of our parish priests. Also this is becoming a good channel of divine providence for the Vocationaries. The charity and the generosity of many good people encourage and sustain us in our work and in our growth. Conclusion ‘And so began (Fr. Justin) to persuade himself that the most simple and most efficacious way for sustaining vocations is: to attend to one’s own personal sanctification; to spend oneself in catechetical work, integrating it however with the religious assistance of children, every day; and much more with the Eucharistic life so understood as to request for daily communion; and he convinced itself that the best way to cultivate vocations remains the daily pasture of the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist. In the ministry then of the Word of God, there is need to make wide use of the examples of the Saints, that are more appropriate to arouse enthusiasm in the young ones’ (Spiritus Domini, Easter, 1927). The service of divine vocations is the founding inspiration of our Congregation. This charism, inspired in Fr. Justin by the Holy Spirit, was placed under the scrutiny of holy mother Church and from then from the Church it has been entrusted to us as our particular mission. The Vocationary remains for us the precious pearl for which it would worth the pain to sell and renounce every other field… I report here, for your edification and mine, what Fr. Justin wrote in the first volume of Spiritus Domini: ‘There are souls who, in the mercy of grace, have not only learnt but felt that every divine truth is understood eminently in charity, and every Christian virtue is eminently practiced in charity, and every heavenly gift is bestowed and received eminently in charity and even as everything is irradiation of the Holy Spirit. They (the first Vocationists) understood in the same light, and felt, in the same flame, that all the needs of humanity call for Clergy and Saints; and all the internal and external apostolate of the holy Church call for the Clergy and the saints, and all the empire of glory of the love of God requires the Clergy and the Saints; and that all this comes to us by the Spirit sanctifier. They understood that all creation and redemption leads necessarily to sanctification, and therefore, according to divine will, all, the duty of man, is the divine imitation, and all the desire of the Heart of God and of our heart is the reciprocal possessing one another in the Divine Union, and all this comes from the Holy Spirit-Sanctifier. They felt strongly, in the interior life, to unify all the aspirations and to converge all the energies, and to simplify all the acts of charity towards the Divine Union, with the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Was it the beginning, a sign, or a promise, the baptism of fire and of Holy Spirit? How will they not orientate themselves towards the altars, the seat of ‘God with us’, Sacrifice and Sacrament; and not consecrate themselves, as consequence, to the education of the divine vocations of the elects to the priesthood? How will they not orientate themselves towards the centre of the substance of the soul, seat of divine inhabitation of the Most Holy Trinity in us, and not consecrate themselves to the education of divine vocation of every soul to sanctity? Ambassadors and cooperators of the Spirit. While there are distinctions of gifts, of mysteries, of operations, there is, however, the same Spirit and Lord that makes all in all. An esteem, an affection and a marvelous concern took these men (the first Vocationists) to all and to individual souls, to the Parishes and the dioceses; to all the associations and the works, to the religious institutes; to the theory and practice of every form of past, present and future holiness, hidden and glorified in the Holy Catholic Church. They were enraptured by the interior universal mission of the Servant of God, (now Blessed) Catherine Emmerich, spread with every form of apostolate, of prayer, sufferings, actions; and wounded like St. Paul’s by the ‘instantia mea quotidiana, sollecitudo omnium Ecclesiarum - omnia possum in Eo qui me confortat- omnibus omnia factus sum’ and much more illuminated by the words of Jesus: ‘quicunque voluerit inter vos maior fiery sit vester minister, et qui voluerit inter vos primus esse erit vester servus sicut Filius hominis non venit ministrari sed ministrare, et dare animam suam redemptionem pro multis’ And they wanted to intone the song of glory of the Apostle: In quo quis audit (in insipientia dico) audio et ego; Hebraei sunt et ego; Isrealitae sunt et ego; semen Abrahae sunt et ego; Ministri Christi sunt ut minus sapiens dico plus ego. So they, in their folly, thinking of all religious said: they are monks and we, too; they are knights and we, too; they are hospital workers and we too; they are friars and we too; they are regular clerics and we too! They are missionaries and, we, too. But how? Children cannot be that in an only family. The servant and worker instead can lend service to more families, and so, in certain way, belong a little to everyone, rendering this service with his blood, with his spirit, through his life! And they spent and abandoned themselves, and consecrated themselves to the spirit of every good spirit, to the virtue of all virtues, to the work of all works, to the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, and now want to bring everywhere the remembrance of Him, and to light the desire of Him, and to spread the knowledge of Him, and to transmit the messages of Him, and to apply the directions of Him, and to promote the union with Him, and to serve His work. His work, the universal sanctification! And for sanctification, the Clergy! And for the Clergy, the vocations and for the Vocations, the Seminaries, and to the service of all and in all, the small Society of Divine Vocations and its Vocationaries. So that within the spheres of the Society of Divine Vocations, around the Vocationaries, their centre, they could welcome those who work closely or distantly, directly or indirectly for the protection and the sanctification of the clergy, for the search and cultivation of vocations, respecting their every task in similar or related , modern or ancient, general or particular works. In the spheres and around the Vocationaries, they welcome the pastors of souls who feel the duty of cultivating in a special way those that seem to be favored with divine predilections, with the signs of supernatural vocations; that feel the need of priests-fathers, with whom to share the care of the flock that multiplies itself under their eyes, in numbers and in needs; that suffer to death for slowdown, interruptions, extinctions of all the good initiatives, for lack of able cooperators. In the sphere and around the Vocationaries, they want to accept those who hear the universal call to holiness and want to follow it; those who aspire to form everyone of their brothers into an intimate friend of God; these are priests and religious, who fear justly the curse of the sterile plant, if they do not bring, each its own fruit, that is essentially the reproduction of itself, i. e, if the Priest does not make other priests, if the religious does not make other religious! In their sphere and around the Vocationaries they want all those who feel, with supernatural pain, the divine cry, Messis quidem multa operarii audem pauci- and those who want to imitate all the work of Jesus in his public life, that is the formation of the twelve apostles and of the seventy-two disciples; those who aspire to take the place and office of St. Joseph, the putative father, and of the Most Holy Mary, the Virgin Mother, in the formation of the baby, the child, the young Jesus, in the person of his disciples and future ministers: the elected one of the divine vocations! Well, one can say that the world of our time has trembled for the emptying of many novitiates, for the closing of many seminaries, for the ever more grave scarcity of sacred ministers. Everywhere the same inspiration led all lay and consecrated people to the divine imperative: rogate Dominum messis and united them all in the same hearty prayer: ‘Mitte Domine operarios in messem tuam’. We believe that this inspiration may have been accepted and corresponded to its maximum extent by (saint) Annibale di Francia, with his congregations that take name, work and spirit of ‘Evangelical Rogation by the Divine zeal’. The small Society of Divine Vocations, seems to be the specific fruit and fulfillment of all these desires, condensed and expressed in so many prayers, accompanied by the many sacrifices of all the dioceses and their pastors, of all the Orders, congregations and religious institutes, of all the holy works flourishing in the Church. Meanwhile, providentially many important questions about divine vocation, its nature, its signs, its culture were raised, stirred and, at least, partially answered (for example in the volume of Can. Lahitton); these enlightened us light and alerted us about some great dangers on the way to follow. on July 16, 1912, the Sacred Consistorial Congregation in Rome issued this recommendation: ‘It is necessary that the Bishops excite the zeal of the pastors, and of zealous priests, in order to search in their parishes for young men of good character and of sufficient intelligence, inclined to the things of the Church; and finding out that they may have signs of vocation, they will care for them and cultivate them in piety and study, with patience, love, industry and some temporal help, so that, if God calls them, they would be able and prepared to respond and to enter, at the appropriate time, the Seminaries! These dispositions were fixed and perpetuated by canon 1335: Dent operam sacerdotes, praesertim parrochi, ut pueros, qui indicia praebeant ecclesiaticae voctionis peculiaribus curis a saeculi contagiis arceant, ad pietam informant, primis litterarum studiis imbuant, divinaeque in eis vocationis germen foveant. This very canon is the base, foundation and root, of the small Society of Divine Vocations and their programme of study, prayer and actions for her members’(Opere, vol. 8, pp. 22-28). Let us be enthused as our first confreres, by the enthusiastic ideal of the vocations. Let us love our vocation and that of others, and in fidelity to our vocation and to our charism, we will enjoy the greatest satisfactions and experience the most glorious transformations. From poor mission countries, the requests for the opening of real new Vocationaries for the formation of indigenous clergy continue to arrive, both for the local church and for consecrated life. We also get requests to for help in formation and teaching in major seminaries. On our part we need an ever greater opening to work with and for all vocations with generous disinterestedness both in our houses and in those of others. I look at the future of the Vocationaries with confident hope and great optimism. Our direction is to move always more in the specificity of our charism and not to accept or open new residences that do not include our vocation service. The temptation to undertake many and beautiful forms of apostolate, leaving our charism, must be treated as temptations and, therefore, must be driven out individually and collectively. May this Lenten period of 2009 purify us, sanctify us and elevate us ever more to higher ascensions through the work of the Vocationary and for the Vocationary. In union of prayer, I greet, embrace and bless you. Always at your service Fr. Louis M. Caputo, S.D.V. Of the most Holy Trinity
1. From December 27 to January 10 there were priestly ordinations of six of our Indian deacons: Frs. Matthew Vettath, Joseph Kannanaickal, Anthony Vellappallil, Linto Sangurikkal, Biju Chittuparamban and Alan Tony Ookken. Congratulations to our newly ordained priests and to the Indian mission. 2. The Mother General of the Vocationist Sisters has graciously offered to foot the bill for the publications of the Letters of Fr. Justin, that should be published between June 2009 and June 2010. This gesture is a great encouragement and incentive to continue the publication of the Complete Works. 3. In the recent visit to Argentina, it was decided to close the community of St. Juan and hence to leave the parish of Marquesado; the two confreres Frs. Edgardo Herrera and A. Ciardi have been transferred to the community of La Plata. 4. We have accepted the invitation of the Bishop of Valparaiso in Chile and by the beginning of March, our confreres Frs. Oscar Zamora and Jesus Norbey Rendon will go there. 5. In Ecuador, we had a meeting with the Archbishop of Quito, who showed himself highly benevolent and very much interested in our charism. Probably, we will establish in Quito a small Vocationary for the formation of our students of theology. 6. In the chapel of our house in Medellin, on January 17, our professed brother, Robinson Gonzalez received the ministry of acolyte. On the 18th, the postulants Jonathan, Eduard, Manuel and Herman were admitted to the novitiate, while the professed brothers Rubiel, Robinson and Daniel renewed their vows. 7. On the 18th, anniversary of the birth of Fr. Justin, in the parish of Reina de los Angeles in Medellin (Colombia), the novices Jonathan Tabon and Ever Carrillo, took their first vows in a church filled to capacity by parishioners, friends, relatives and benefactors. 8. On January 18, in the chapel of the Vocationary of the Most Holy Trinity of Davao in the Philippines, the confrere, Alfredo Briones took his final vows. 9. On January 20, the Vocationary of Fr. Justin in Pereira Colombia, was opened. Fr. Nicolas Caradente is the rector and Master of Novices, Fr. Linto Sanguirikkal, vice rector and Bro. Robinson Gonzalez, the economo. 10. On January 18th, Fr. Emmanuel Iroh was appointed as Superior and Econmo of the community of Medellin and Fr. Victor Eke as Vice-Rector and the vocational animator. 11. From January 26 to February 5 at Salvador, Bahia, the third provincial Chapter of Brazil took place. The confreres deepened their study in fraternal life, in spirituality and vocational apostolate. Fr. Jose Carlos Lima was re- elected as Father Provincial, Fr. Ademir Martini, as Provincial Vicar, Fr. Wesdras Dos Santos, as dean of the studies, Fr. Rogelio A. Dos Santos, Sas ecretary and Fr. Jose Lino Oliveria, as economo. 12. The 5th Vocationist Dinner Dance for the missions will be held, on March 28, 2009, at the Tiberio Palace Hotel, Via Galileo Ferraris 159, Naples. For bookings contact, Frs. Limone, Capraro and Ferrara.
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