Confession and Coffee

            Men usually do not like to go for confession, because of pride, prejudices, shame or other reasons. Knowing this, Don Orione thought about an interesting way to invite them for confession. He published in a pamphlet:

To Men and young men,

            My dear friends,

            It is no longer a novelty this year, but it's always something good and holy to come to confession for Our Lady of Sake-keeping feast. 

             I invite you all to come to Our Lady of Sake Keeping Shrine overnight from Saturday 25^th to Sunday 26^th August. There will be a celebration for you, only for you: - No women! It's nice not to have women around! - At night, it is convenient for the woman to stay at home to keep their seriousness and good names (…) You can ask me: girls and young ladies? - Girls and young ladies leave you in peace, at least at night. They can go to sleep and to dream! We men, however, are another kettle of fish: the man must always stay on his feet, day and night, if it is needed.

            And when we go to the Lord, we must not deny Nicodemus, the one in the Gospel, who went to visit Jesus by night, when nobody saw him, (…)

            The man has to work during the day. You, young men, have also to sweat, you have to read the Gazzetta dello Sport; you do not have time and I do not pretend it – so, come at night: Jesus will wait for us at night.

            Come willingly and without fear; perhaps sins, you know, are confessed better at night because you cannot see them. (…)

            You can also tell me your sins in good Tortona dialect. Begin from the biggest ones, even if they are not from Tortona. You can come to confession either to me or others, but especially to me, I go around the world and know all the sins. Sometimes, I also guess them; sometimes I smell them too. If you do not say your sins to me, I will say them to you with the help of God. I will put you in order in a jiffy and you will go happy and with peace in your hearts.

            Come on, good friends, courage! Say goodbye Saturday night. I expect you all.

            It's time to God, I call you in the name of God, Our Lady is waiting for us.

            If we do not put in order our conscience now, when will we do it? When death comes?

            But, will we have time then? Will it be a confession or confusion?

            It's time that you and I begin seriously to live as good Christians: the one who has time, does not wait anymore. My dear friends, we're not beasts, we have a soul, we must save it!

            Our Lady of Sake-keeping calls us: her voice is motherly and merciful: Come! - I'll be waiting for you.

            Yours

            Fr. Orione

            P. S. Confession and coffee – After the Communion, please, do me the honour of receiving you all in the house behind the shrine. I'll offer you good coffee. I want to send you home, to your wives or mothers, leaving a sweet taste in your teeth and having happiness in your hearts. You can take two or three cups of coffee, but not twelve!! Or you will ruin me! [1]

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[1] Scritti 52, 154, 52, 255 and 52, 256.

St. Luigi Orione and Pope John XXIII

On various occasions John XXIII told of his first meeting with Don Orione when, at the start of his service at the Holy See in the twenties, he was invited to seek his advice. 

 He went out by Porta San Giovanni to the San Fillipo Institute, and the caretaker told him he’d find Don Orione in the yard. In a corner, a group of boys were playing pitch-and-toss with an elderly priest. The latter looked round, left his friends for an instant and asked: «Monsignor, are you looking for someone?» «Yes, I want to speak to Don Orione», Monsignor Roncalli answered. «I’m Don Orione. Be patient a minute: I’ll finish the game, wash my hands and I’m with you». 

These words, said with great politeness and a smiling look greatly struck the then young prelate, shortly arrived in Rome from his native Bergamo, who wrote in his diary that evening: «28 March 1921. Easter Monday. In the afternoon with Monsignor Guerinoni I visited the church and the parish works of Ognissanti, outside Porta San Giovanni; and spoke at length with Don Orione, of whom one can well say: contemptibilia mundi eligit Deus ut confundat fortia. What is foolish to the world, God has chosen that it may confound the strong (1Cor 1, 27)» (Messaggi di Don Orione, 102, pp. 46-48). 

 That respect and friendship never diminished. To Douglas Hyde, an English journalist who asked what was the quality that emerged from Don Orione, the then patriarch Roncalli replied: «Don Orione was the most charitable man I’ve ever known. His charity went beyond the normal limits. He was convinced that the world could be conquered by love» (ibid, p. 49).

Source: http://www.30giorni.it/articoli_id_3656_l3.htm

Love for the Pope and the Poor

 In his letter “Which love for the Pope?”, Fr. Flavio Peloso shows us how our love for the Pope is expressed on the love and service to the poor.

 "Dear Confrères, let us renew today our childlike commitment to the charism of Don Orione. Our love for the Pope is not (only) for intellectuals, but for the “porters of charity”; it also calls for the apologia of the word and of the pen but above all for “the apologia of charity”. Our love for the Pope does not mean special strategies of pastoral work, but it means that everyone practices the “the strategy of charity”.

Don Orione was a saint that “belonged wholly to the Church and to the Pope” and yet people know him better as the “saint of charity”, “the father of the poor, the benefactor of suffering and abandoned humanity” (Pius XII). May it be said a little bit of us as individuals and as Congregation, that we are the “the Pope's men”, through the works of charity. 

 At this point, a story comes to mind. A few years ago, when I was a counselor, I visited Oradea, in Rumania, and met Basile Hossu, the Greek–catholic bishop of the town, a wonderful and good man. He recalled the many sufferings and humiliations undergone during the era of the communist oppression, especially aimed at the Greek-catholic communities. Then he cheered up speaking of the work of the Don Orione people in Oradea: “Your work, the way you care for the youth and for the poor, has brought about in the people a new attitude and new idea of the Church. I remember that one day I was traveling by car with Father Lazzarin: the police stopped us and were very rude and insulting towards me. Father Lazzarin, to justify himself, said that we were in a hurry to reach Oradea, where the Confrères and the boys of the Youth Center would be waiting for us. ‘Are you going to Father Luigi's?' the policeman broke in. ‘Yes, we are his Confrères'. The policeman changed attitude and spoke favorably of the Youth Center (Oratory) and of the boys. You see? – concluded Mons . Hossu – the work that you are doing in the Youth Center, on behalf of the boys and the youth, is making the whole Church of Oradea loved and respected.”

 

Another great churchman, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, Archbishop of San Paolo in Brazil , some years ago, put our Little Cottolengo forward as the beneficiary of the offerings of the “campaign for brotherhood” organized by the Bishops' Conference. He stated that the work of charity was “the door opener of the Catholic Church in the city”. It meant that the work done by the Congregation for the needy and for those affected by serious mental and physical handicaps, made the Catholic Church and its Pastors believable and closer to the people.

If you want to read the whole letter, please visit:

http://host-lime.com/do/messaggi/articolo.asp?ID=485#ing

Peace is Worth More Than Anything!

Some serious problems had arisen in a family of benefactors due to misunderstandings.

Don Orione, ill and suffering, (as we can see from the date of the letter, he had only a few more days to live...) forgot his own problems and became a mediator of peace. With great tact and strength. He had performed so many works of charity during his life.  But helping people to live in peace once again was not among the least of them.  It was certainly one of the most difficult.

It was also one of the most useful, because, it is true to say, "peace is worth more than anything."

Tortona, 16 January 1940.

Peace! Peace! Peace!

Dear Messrs. G. and A., my distinguished benefactors.

May the Lord be always with us!

At this time I am praying especially that peace, which is Christ's gift, will be a source of benefit for your good selves and for your distinguished Families.

With this in mind, but without anyone knowing, I have arranged a day of prayer for my patients with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for tomorrow, Wednesday.

And today I make bold to write this letter because I would like, with Divine help, to prevent the scandal that is about to happen...

- And I would like to write with holy freedom as a priest

... and, if you allow me, as a friend and a sincere one also.  I beg and urge you, in the holy name of God, to make peace among yourselves.  If you go any further along the road you are travelling it will become less and less possible.

You know that the longer the differences go on between relatives, the more the hearts are hardened.

Are you waiting for death to come?  But death would be even more terrible without peace!  You must therefore make peace, and do it now.  If not, there will be no more time!

- Thinking of your deceased parents and children.

You yourselves must make every sacrifice with the greatest and best will in the holy memory of your Mother and your Father.  Then everything will turn out right.

You will then leave a good example to your Children!  I understand that, in order to reach the peace that is hoped for, you will have to overcome a good bit of self-esteem; you will have to surmount many not inconsiderable difficulties, but everything can succeed where there is good will.

For peace and harmony you have to leave aside all other interests.  No sacrifice is too great for peace; with good will everything is possible: peace is worth more than anything!

I tell you in the name of the Lord that, if there is reconciliation in your souls, a great light of grace in the peace of the Holy Spirit will extend over your Houses.  Your health, and that of your Dear Ones, will be better and your lives will be longer and more serene.

Please excuse me if any words may have come out which could have displeased you; it was certainly not my intention.  You have known Don Orione for many years; you know the respect and the affection that I have for you.  You must look at the reasons for which I have written; you must look at the spirit and not at the words.

I remain always your most humble and faithful Servant in Jesus Christ.

Fr. L. Orione

"I leave you peace, I give you my peace."

(Jn 14. 27)