The theory becomes true: “God’s laborers”
A concrete example of the meaning of
work for Don Orione was the building of the shrines of Our Lady of Safe-keeping
in Tortona and of Our Lady of Caravaggio in Fumo, where his religious worked
side by side with the builders.
On the occasion of the start of the building of the shrine of Our Lady of Safe-keeping on 23rd October 1926, Don Orione called his seminarians together and gave them a new name: God’s laborers, and he organized a procession of the boys, carrying tools. In his book, Papasogli said:
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“He spoke to them about Our Lady
later. From the very first day, in his idealism, he handed them spades, hoes,
shovels and buckets of whitewash. It was a new honor for them, and he called
them ‘God’s laborers’
The
master builders would have been there, of course, but these seminarians were
performing the most humble tasks, fetching and carrying what was needed up and
down the makeshift ladders, always higher and higher, over and over again. How
many times?
Those boys were fifteen, eighteen, twenty years old. Tasks and tools had to be given according to the strength of each. But the real strength was one which could not be seen and which was not limited by any age: it was faith, simple strong faith, ideas and a routine that was manageable but strict on them, too. It was a strength which became all the greater by being used.” [1]
Talking about the building of the
Fumo shrine, Don Orione wrote in a letter: "At the new shrine, the poor priests of Divine Providence work
energetically side by side with skilled
masons. Our priests mix
the lime, carry bricks
and stones, toiling like true porters of God, as they already did at Tortona." [2]
In a speech to a group of newly ordained priests who had worked on the
building of the shrine of Our Lady of Safe-keeping, Don Orione praised Our
Lady: “Oh, our Mother, from their first
steps along this new path, always protect these priests of yours, laborers and
porters at Your Shrine” [3]
The testimony of “God’s laborers”, a concrete image of the Orionine
work, touched people’s hearts, even of
those against the Church: “The wife[4]
of a certain Pattarelli, an ardent Socialist who had broken the crucifixes in
the Bishop’s Palace, said: ‘Even my children married in Church after they saw
Don Orione’s priests at work.’”[5]
Living Examples of the Orionine Work
Many religious understood what work meant to Don Orione, embodying the Founder’s teaching in their lives.
We can find an enlightening example of Orionine work in the then blind
seminarian Cezar Pisano, who was later to become Brother Ave María. He even
worked at night on the construction of the Grotto of Lourdes in the formation
house in Villa Moffa: "Everyone
got involved enthusiastically
(...) Recreation time was
entirely dedicated to that
heartwarming and bold effort. Seminarian Pisano even spent time on it at night. He was able to use pick, spade and wheelbarrow with a confidence
resulting from practice and the
compensatory development of his other senses."[6]
Together with him, we should also remember the religious who worked on
the construction of both the shrines of Our Lady Of Safe-keeping and
Caravaggio, and others who were true workers of God, as the Founder wished.
Conclusion
The images used by the
Founder are not only a definition of his own vocation, but an expression of his
work and ministry, too.
Don Orione wanted to serve the poor
and the Church by doing the simplest and most humble work, following the
example of many saints and our Lord: “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not
regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied
himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human
in appearance.” (Philippians 2:6-7).
The Orionine sense of work would also be a precious
inheritance, a concrete way of following Jesus, and a constant challenge to
those who desire to follow in the footsteps of God’s porter, Don Orione.
[1] G. PAPASOGLI, A Life of Don Orione,
St Paul, London, 2000, p. 333.
[2] Letter to a distinguished gentleman, (distinto signore, he did not specify who
the addressee was). Tortona, 26th July 1938. Scritti 47,242.
[3] Speech to a group of newly ordained priests.
Tortona, 18th December 1938. Scritti
95, 253.
[4] In the English edition there is a mistake: the
Italian word moglie which means
“wife” was translated as “mother”. Cf. G.
Papasogli, Vita di Don Orione,
Gribaudi, Turin, 1974, p. 373.
[5] G. Papasogli, A Life of Don Orione, St.
Paul, London, 2000, p. 345.
[6] d. sparpaglione, “Frate Ave Maria. L'eremita cieco di S.
Alberto”
Messaggi di Don Orione 40, 1978,
15-16.
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