Friday, December 23, 2011

Who Passes Away and Who Remains



          Once upon a time there was a King, a strong, tyrannical King who, at the head of the Mongol hordes, left the borders of his Kingdom and entered into the neighbouring countries, putting villages and towns to fire and the sword, and making slaves of those inhabitants that his barbarity had not managed to massacre: before him even the wild beasts fled: behind him he left nothing but blood, slaughter and death!


He had his deeds carved on the rocks of the mountains, so that his name and his fame should bring terror even to future generations.  When he felt his end approaching, he had a big mausoleum built, destined to be his eternal tomb; the stones were colossal, real blocks of the hardest sandstone, quarried from the centre of gigantic mountains.  He wanted his body to be embalmed with precious essences, so that death would not affect it; the centuries would see him pass on unchanged, untouched, even by death.  He then ordered his dagger to be placed in his hand and his shield on his arm, and his visor to be lowered over his proud, grim brow - terrible and frightening even in death!
But nowadays among us his name only lives on in a few dictionaries, in old dusty history books, useless notebooks for our hard working students.
Whoever reads or encounters that name by chance, wonders just as Don Abbondio del Manzoni asked about Carneade: Who was that man? His name no longer lives among us: Genghis Khan!


We give no sign of recognition and our hearts do not beat faster, even when we hear talk of him, one of the greatest conquerors of the world.
Rain and bad weather have already destroyed the last stone of his monument, and even the most dogged archaeologists sought in vain among the ruins for the tomb of the terrible Mongol who is no longer here.
The sand of the desert has rubbed out even the traces, and the avenging wing of time has destroyed his name, although it was carved into the living stone of those worlds that saw him pass triumphant, that heard the valleys echo with the cries of the savage attacks, and the earth tremble and groan under the feet of his elephant. (...)
 There was, however, another King, a mild King and, even more than King and Lord, a gentle father of his people.  He did not have soldiers, neither did he ever want them. He did not spill the blood of anyone, he did not burn the house of anyone. He did not want his name on the rocks of the mountains, but in the hearts of men!  This King never did anyone any harm, he did good to everyone, even as the sun's light shines on the good and the wicked.  He held his hand out to the sinners, He went out to meet them, even sitting and eating with them, to inspire trust, to release them from their passions, their vices and, having rehabilitated them, direct them towards an honest life, to good, to virtue.
He gently placed His hand on the feverish brows of the sick, and healed them from every weakness.  He touched the eyes of those born blind and they saw, and saw the Lord in Him!
He touched the lips of the dumb, and they spoke and blessed the Lord in Him! To those stricken with deafness He said: "Hear!" and they heard; to the lepers and outcasts He said: "I want to cleanse you," and the scales fell from their lips, and they were cleansed.  He brought the light of comfort into the slums, and evangelised the poor, living in the poorest region of Palestine.


He did not seek a following among the great.  He did not exalt those strong in intelligence, in muscle, in pocket, but rather the humble and the poor, being extremely poor Himself.  "Foxes have holes, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head," He said.  He lived frugally, getting his followers accustomed to the discipline of mortification, of prayer, of work, so as to fortify them in the life of the Spirit.  He was the first to mortify Himself, to pray, to work hard, thus sanctifying work by His own hands and His own life.
Of simple appearance, He loved purity, free of any trimmings; the sanctity of life and doctrine He possessed in such abundance as to show that He was the One sent by God.  His eyes and face were illuminated with such heavenly bliss that no honest person could feel unhappy after seeing such a face.
To those who asked Him how they should live, He replied: "Love God above everything and your neighbour as yourself; strip yourself of all that is unnecessary to give it to the poor, and then, if you want to be perfect, renounce yourself, take up your cross and come, follow Me...!"
To the crowd that surrounded Him, in order to listen to Him, or because a wonderful healing power came from Him, He spoke words of superhuman gentleness and eternal life: "A new commandment I give you: Love each other in the Lord and do good to those who do you harm."


About children He said that their Angels can always see the face of God and that happy is the person who remains always a child at heart and as pure as children. He blessed innocence, and out of the greatest Divine love He loved the little ones, to the extent that - although He never raised His voice - he cried: "Woe to those who give scandal to the innocent..."
He multiplied the bread, but not for Himself, for the crowds.  He never made anyone cry, He cried for everyone, and He cried blood!  Instead He dried the tears of so many people and so many lost souls.
To the dead He said: "Rise up!" and, with that all-powerful voice, death was conquered, and the dead rose to a new life. He had a word of pardon and peace for everyone:  He blew a breath of refreshing charity on everyone, a life-giving ray of light, lofty, divine!
Wickedly persecuted and betrayed, He loudly invoked His Heavenly Father even on the Cross, to forgive the barbarians who had crucified Him.  He, who had returned Peter's sword to the scabbard, who had never spilled the blood of anyone, willingly gave all His Divine Blood and His life for men without distinction between Hebrew, Greek, Roman or Barbarian: a true King of peace: God, Father, Redeemer of all!
         He willingly died with His arms stretched out, between heaven and earth, while inviting all - both angels and men - to His open, torn Heart: yearning to embrace and save everyone, everyone, everyone in that Divine Heart: God, Father, Redeemer of everything and everyone!


         No, Jesus did not have a mausoleum built for Himself like Genghis Khan, like the ancient kings; and yet we see everywhere raised up to Heaven, in the big cities and the little villages, a house consecrated to His memory; even where there are no human dwellings, among the eternal snows, a chapel is built - a poor hut perhaps very similar to the grotto in Bethlehem - and above it, on its own, is a Cross, which recalls the work of love and immolation of Jesus Christ Our Lord; that Cross speaks to people's hearts about the Gospel, about peace, about the mercy of God for men...! 
It is not His miracles, nor His Resurrection that won me, but His love:  that love that has conquered the world! (...)

And today, throughout the world, "Christmas" is celebrated, the "Holy Night" of the "Birth of Jesus".  And it is a serene joy for all, a great, universal joy!
It is the gentleness of God that is felt, it is the holy power of the goodness of the Lord that is greater, oh yes, much greater and longer lasting than the noise of all the battles of this world, of all the conquerors of this poor earth!
The goodness of the Lord draws us closer amid the arid and painful wrong turnings of life; the celestial light of this mystical night of Holy Christmas attracts even the souls furthest away - travellers who are misled or lost - just as the light of the paternal home attracts in the dark forest!  Oh Divine Light of the Baby Jesus!  Oh sweet and holy goodness of God and of the Church of God!


Brothers, let us be good in the goodness of the Lord, and then never fear that your efforts will be in vain.  Every good word is a breath of God.  Every holy and great love of God and of men is immortal! 
Goodness wins always: It has a special veneration even in the coldest, most solitary, most distant of hearts.  Love conquers hatred; good conquers evil; light conquers darkness!  All the hatred, all the evil, all the darkness of this world, what are they before the light of this night of Christmas?  Nothing!  Before Jesus, Baby Jesus, they are really nothing!
Let us comfort ourselves and exult in the Lord!  The effusion of the Heart of God will not be lost through the evils of the world, and the final conqueror will be Him, it will be the Lord!  And the Lord conquers always in mercy! 
Whoever conquers in another way passes on, and is no longer talked about!  Kings pass on; the conquerors of the earth pass on; cities fall, kingdoms fall: sand and grass cover over the pomp and grandeur of men, and the wind and the rain scatter the monuments of their civilisation.  "...The ox - in the urns of the heroes - quenches the thirst," sang Zanella.
Everything passes away: only Christ remains!  He is God, and He remains.  He remains to enlighten us, He remains to console us, He remains to give us, in His life, His mercy!  Jesus remains and conquers, but in mercy!
May Your name be Blessed for ever, Oh Jesus!

Father Luigi Orione


Christmas letter written in 1920

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Don Orione: Lunch with the Poor after the Nativity Play


During the Christmas holidays in the nineteen thirties and inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, Don Orione produced spectacular Nativity plays, religious performances featuring the mysteries of Christmas. They were expressions of faith and art which attracted thousands of people.

Don Orione commented to his seminarians: “We were the first to do this: at first it was regarded as merely amusing, but good has come of it. They are “a truly splendid manifestation of faith and art, unique in Italy”.
He organized dozens of nativity plays, in Tortona, Voghera and Novi Ligure.
There is a photograph, found in our General Archives, which records an event connected with  those religious performances: “With the donations received we will offer a lunch for 200 poor people”, said Don Orione. “The lunch will be served by the angels and the shepherds in the nativity play at the Dante school.”


The picture shows the lunch which Don Orione spoke about in the dining room of the Dante school. The people standing and wearing a folded blanket on their shoulders are the seminarian-shepherds, who acted as waiters, serving 280 poor people. “Although everything was done with perfect order and discipline” Don Orione wrote, “Not a single glass was broken amidst all the happiness and peaceful enjoyment.  Everyone was delighted, and they left the Dante school with hearty thanks, cheering the generous benefactors and blessing Divine Providence."
That was the genius of Don Orione, “his ability always to combine the cultural with the charitable in his works.”
Merry Christmas!
Fr. Flavio Peloso

Saturday, December 10, 2011

St. Luigi Orione´s Sense of Humor, part 3: Three Days in Bed, Drinking Only Water!


            In two letters, one to Fr. Sterpi and the other to Bishop Albera, St. Luigi Orione wrote about his health, informing them of what had happened to him, his symptoms, how the doctor had diagnosed his diabetes, the treatment and other details. Besides all this, he joked because the doctor (a former student of his) would not allow him to drink wine for three days. 

From the letter to Fr. Sterpi: 
            "I have felt absolutely exhausted for over a month, and I thought it was due to the pressure of my work; I couldn’t even write nor do any useful work. Then, as I was extremely thirsty, I began to wonder if there was something wrong, so when they tested my urine, they found I was diabetic. They wanted me to stay in bed for at least three days, drinking only water! Can you imagine it? If they had told me to stay in bed drinking only wine, maybe I could have accepted it, but drinking only water!!! and in bed, that’s asking too much!" [1] 


From the letter to Msgr. Albera: 
             "I am quite well; I am slightly diabetic, but that is already better. They wanted me to stay in bed for at least three days, condemned to drink nothing but plain water. Can you imagine it?
              And do you remember Gonella? He was one of our students at San Bernardino for his first year, and then he went on to St. Chiara. He is a doctor here now, a medical authority. (…) Do you know what I told him? “Listen to me, Gonnella, if you tell me to stay in bed for three days drinking only wine, such as "nebbiolo, barbera or grignolino"[2], then I would be quite willing. I might then sing all day long, and it would be fine. But drinking only water, come on! show a little respect! Is this your gratitude to me for allowing you into our school?"[3]







[1] Letter to Fr. Sterpi. Buenos Aires, June 12th, 1935.
[2] Three different kinds of Italian wine.
[3] Letter to Bishop Paolo Albera. Buenos Aires, June 22nd, 1935.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Don Orione and the Sacrament of Penance (1): his First Confession with Don Bosco


During his three years in Valdocco, the young Luigi Orione had the privilege of going for confession with St. John Bosco. His first confession with the great Turin saint was an event which would remain etched on Don Orione’s heart. Here, we can see his concern for confessing all his sins and the merciful attitude of Don Bosco. 

 
Don Bosco sensed, as saints do, the personality of the little boy who had come from Tortona and who reminded him of one of his pupils, Gavio from Castelnuovo Scrivia. He allowed him the privilege of coming to him for Confession, even though he was not yet in the fourth high school year. 
Here is Don Orione's account of his first Confession, as he described it to the Salesian Fr. Carletti. 
"...In my examination of conscience I filled three notebooks with my sins." 
"You were a great sinner even then," Fr. Carletti wittily noted. 
"A truly great sinner, no," replied Don Orione, "but, you know, at the beginning it was normal to be a bit scrupulous and we did not know the full meaning of sins. In order to make sure that I did not leave anything out I had looked at two or three printed lists that assisted the examination of conscience by setting down the commandments of God and of the Church, the seven capital sins, the sins against nature, etc.  I copied them all down, filling three notebooks. I accused myself of everything: setting traps for my neighbour, refuting known truths, etc. I replied in the negative to one question alone: 'Have you killed anyone?' 'Not this one,' I wrote next to it. I awaited my turn in trepidation, with one hand in the notebook pouch and the other on my breast. 'What will Don Bosco say?' I wondered, 'when I read all these things out to him?' My turn came. Don Bosco looked at me for a second and, before I could open my mouth, he stretched out his hand and said: 'All right, give me these sins of yours.' I held out the first notebook, which I had taken, all dog-eared, from the bottom of the pouch. 


He took it and, without even opening it, tore it to pieces. 'Let's have the others.' These suffered the same fate. 'And now,' he concluded, 'your confession is made. Don't give another thought to what you have written and don't dwell on the past.' He then smiled at me in his special way." 


Fr. Carletti reports that, when Don Orione was asked about revelations of the future that Don Bosco was presumed to have made, he replied: "I cannot vouch for this, although I know that others have said so. Perhaps Don Bosco revealed it to them." After the Salesian persisted he added, after a little hesitation: "Don Bosco did say one thing directly to me, as he looked me straight in the eyes: 'Remember that we will always be friends.' I did not then understand the significance of what he said."






Source: D. Sparpaglione, Il Beato Luigi Orione7, Roma, Ed. Paoline, 1980. [Unpublished translation].