As
master of spiritual life, Don Orione reminded the need and benefits of frequent
confession to a group of priest gathered during their annual retreat. His
advice and teachings are always valid.
My dear Priests, may the
grace of Our Lord and His peace be always with us!
I am following on from my
letter, which I sent yesterday, and I am using the knowledge that you are
gathered together in that House of religious formation for our novices in order
to tell you a few things about the practices that there should be in the
Congregation, in respect of the Sacrament of Penance.
We, who are called by the
goodness of God to serve Our Lord and the Holy Church in the Little Work of
Divine Providence, must go to Confession at least once a week. The more careful
we are in examining our consciences, the more frequently we will feel the need
to approach the Sacrament of Penance. Our Constitutions say clearly:
"Religious will go to Confession at least once a week," (Paragraph
II. Clause 105).
It must therefore be a special
duty for the Superiors of the Houses to see that all our religious, as well as
the staff working in the Institutions of Divine Providence, have every
possibility of going to Confession regularly once a week. And the Superiors
must be the first to go to Confession, giving even in this a good example of
edification and observance of the rule. And it will be a good thing if it is
known in the House, to whom the Director goes to Confession, and even better if
he is seen to be going to Confession with recollection and devotion. This is
what Fr. Bosco and Fr. Rua did, as well as other saints and true servants of
God.
Confession is always very
useful, even if we do not have grave matter, which God forbid. Fr. Bosco used
to recommend saying a Hail Mary beforehand, invoking the motherly help of Mary
Most Holy, in order to make a good Confession and also to draw a great benefit
of spiritual life from the Sacrament.
Let us also do this, my dear
priests. This practice of saying a Hail Mary before Confession was encouraged
by me to our pupils from the very first year when San Bernardino was opened,
and also to the boys of the first Sunday School. Oh how happy I would be if the
directors of the Houses and all our priests would encourage such a good
practice, especially in our young people.
Before confessing, do not
take offence, my dear sons and brothers, if I humbly exhort you to a feeling of
repentance and living faith in the power of the Keys. We must sincerely and
with a deep humility confess our weaknesses, and the Lord, who knows how
brittle we are, will have compassion on us and His Fatherly mercy will come
down generously on us and on our labours. He will renew us with His holy grace
and strengthen us in His own divine power.
What a good spirit we have,
after Confession! How much more enlivened we feel for the battle, as good
soldiers of Christ, against our passions! We have so much more of a desire to
advance in virtue and in the observance of the religious life!
As regards the choice of a
confessor, we should go to the one who is best able to enlighten us in our
duties and encourage us to live well, according to the heavenly vocation that
God has given us. When our bodies are ill we want to have the best doctors. Why
then, in order to heal the sicknesses of our souls, do we not look for the best
confessors? Although we give our dependents, or let them retain, the full
freedom of going to Confession, as an exceptional measure, to other priests
that we have not chosen, we use as far as possible, and advise our people for
spiritual direction to go to, confessors belonging to our Congregation, or at
least, to those suggested by the superiors because, even though they may not
belong to our Congregation, they have such a spirit of piety and have such
wisdom as to give the best guarantee of confidence.
So, my dear people, with
wise sensitivity and good manners, you must exhort your colleagues, especially
if priests, to avail mainly of confessors from the Little Work, the same also
for seminarians under vows. Unity of spirit and of direction is of such benefit
for a religious community that any sacrifice to obtain it should not seem
grave.
Having chosen a good
confessor we should not lightly or easily change him. A person who changes
confessors, without a true and grave necessity, does not benefit from religious
life, on the contrary, he generally goes astray. Similarly, whoever is always
changing doctors ends up not knowing what medicine to take and runs the risk of
coming to a premature end. Thus, my brother priests, exhort our seminarians and
pupils.
Every four months then -
that is to say, three times a year - priests, seminarians, novices, candidates
and all those belonging, or wishing to belong, to our Congregation, must obtain
from their confessor a certificate saying that he has heard their confession
weekly. Through the respective directors the certificates must be sent to Don
Sterpi. This obligation will begin for everyone at the start of this coming
September, beginning with me. Thus the first certificates must be sent during
the first ten days of next January. At the four occasions, as I have already
said, I advise you to go to another confessor.
Of what use is a frequent
but unfruitful Confession? Faber says: For want of purity of intention we must
set our sights wholly and solely on God. A day of the week must be arranged,
preferably not a Saturday, and we must go to Confession in order to become more
acceptable to God, to increase in grace, generosity and steadfastness.
Superiors must take care not
to probe those dependent on them for the feelings of their conscience. However,
the priests, seminarians, and candidates of the Little Work must with the
greatest filial confidence be open to their directors and to the superior. It
is also desirable, if not strictly necessary and an actual duty, for them to
speak to them about any doubt or anxiety of conscience. This is apart from the
monthly Reports, which particularly concern external matters of health and the
rule.
During our Spiritual
Exercises, and in those given to the young people of our Houses, it is good if
the Confessions begin early, so that each one may have the time that he needs,
and so that the word of God may immediately find hearts that are ready and that
the heavenly seed may fall on good ground and not among thorns.
I am with you in these
Exercises, dearly beloved, and I pray greatly for you. Remember me and these
brothers of yours who, though far away, are united with you in spirit.
I encourage you and bless you with all my heart in
Jesus and Mary Most Holy.
Yours most affectionately,
Fr. Orione
O.D.P.
Letter to the Priests of the
Congregation who attended their Annual Retreat. Buenos Aires, 4th
August 1935. A Priceless Treasure,
Sons of Divine Providence, London, 1995, volume two, p. 150-153.
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