Restore Christ to the People and People to Christ’s Vicar

This year, however, I am spending the feast of the apostle of the Faith and the first Vicar of Christ on a river, where I saw many fishing boats. Yet St. Peter was a fisherman, and Christ made him a fisher of men, and on him built His Church. He gave him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven and the power to confirm in the Faith his brethren, the Bishops: so, he was given the fullness of Faith and infallibility, since in order to be always able to confirm others in the Faith, his Faith must never diminish, nor be deflected.

Such is Peter: infallible teacher, with full power: Shepherd of Shepherds: Primate in Honour and Jurisdiction: Supreme Head, universal Father of souls and of people. And such is the Pope.

The Pope is Peter: when the Pope speaks, Peter speaks; when Peter speaks, Christ speaks; to love the Pope is to love Peter and to love Christ: in Peter the Pope is honored, and Christ is honored.

What a great consolation is this feast of St. Peter today for our souls, this dear feast of the Pope! Everywhere today people are praying for the Pope, exalting him, and looking with the most tender love towards Rome and the Pope, ‘the sweet Christ on earth’.

Here I am on the river Paranaˆ, thinking about the brothers and sons I left last night, at the distant border of Argentina with Paraguay. I think of the others in the Chaco: of those I will see again this evening at Rosario; of our people in the Pampas at Quenca, at Mar del Plata and in other parts of this Republic: I think of others in Uruguay, in Brazil, in Albania, in Rhodes, in England and in Poland, as well as all of you who are in Italy. Today, all of you with me, distant but not divided, dispersed yet all united in a common Faith and the same love of most affectionate sons, today let us console one another together, let us pray together for the Pope, let us celebrate Jesus Christ and Peter in our Pope.

Oh! the great joys of the Faith! How the Faith and love for the Pope make us feel, especially on this feast, that the Roman Catholic Church is really the Mystical Body of Christ, and that all take unity and growth , vigour and love from Christ and from our most Holy Father, the Pope!

When we feel and, I should say, touch the truth of the expressions of Paul, which is this: how the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, is one and that all the members of this body, though many, are a single body; so too for the Pope, its visible sweet Christ on earth, the Church feels and is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: the same everywhere, in every region, inseparably united through the Pope to Christ, its Head.

            A marvellous, vital and organic unity of the Holy Church! Through Baptism and through the Pope, we form but a single body, given life by one and the same Holy Spirit: a single fold under the guidance of a single shepherd, the Pope.

The feast of St. Peter is the feast of the Pope, and, for this reason, has become a feast for Catholics. It is precisely our Patronal Feast, O sons of Divine Providence. It is the feast of the Congregation which has for its special goal to consecrate all its love and all its strength to unite the Christian people of the lowest classes and the children of the people, by the sweetest and closest bonds of heart and mind, to Blessed Peter and to his successor, the Pope. We hope, with God’s help, to give Christ back to the people and the people to the Vicar of Christ.

The Pope is the living synthesis of the whole of Christianity; he is the head and the heart of the Church; he is the light of indefectible truth; he is the perennial flame which burns and shines on the holy mountain. Where Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is Christ; where Christ is, there is the way, the truth and the life!

Our hearts must beat, and we must make thousands and millions of hearts beat, around the heart of the Pope: and, especially, we must bring to him the little ones and the humble working classes who have been so ensnared. We must bring to the Pope the poor, the afflicted, the rejected who are dearest to Christ and who are the real treasures of the Church of Jesus Christ.

 From the lips of the Pope the people will hear, not words stirring up class hatred, destruction or extermination, but the words of eternal life, of justice and of Charity: words of peace, goodness and harmony, inviting us to love one another, to shake hands, to walk together towards a better Christian and civil future. The Pope is the Father of the rich, as well as of the poor; for him there no nobles or commoners, but only children: from the Pope comes the Faith, the light and the meekness of the Lord, who brings balm to hearts, and comfort and consolation to the people. "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it".

In the Pope we recognize, not only the Vicar of Christ, not only the infallible Head of the Church, inspired and led by the Holy Spirit, not only the foundation of our religion, but also the unshakeable rock of human society.

From a letter of 29/6/1937,

Mary, Mother of Divine Providence

 What is Providence?  It is the action of God which takes care of all things, and, by doing this, continually creates and directs them, ordaining them towards their purpose.  But Mary Most Holy, as she is co-redeemer, also by that same Providential action directs and consoles the Church towards her purpose and by her virtues supports our lives in their purpose.

 These are the two points: the Providential action of Mary in the life of the Church; the Providential example and help of Mary in our lives.

The prophecies had foretold about Mary: the symbols and the types had somehow photographed her.

She was born in a poor little house in Nazareth, surrounded by all the signs of poverty, but heaven exulted and earth rejoiced:  "May the whole universe, therefore, rejoice and quiver with the deepest joy, because of the birth of the holy Virgin who has brought light to it." (from a sermon attributed to St. Augustine; PL 39. 2104-2105).

The annunciation informs Mary of the ineffable plan of Divine Providence: Mother of God, Mother of Divine Providence, who is God.  The curse laid upon Eve turned into a blessing.

Mary of Nazareth, now the Mother of God, does not neglect for one second to comply with the plans of Providence.  

At the wedding feast of Cana the Divinity of the Son is made manifest, but so also is the power and providence of Mary.

The Virgin instructs the apostles in wisdom, of which she is the seat, and edifies them by her example of holiness, of which she is the model.  With them she lingers in prayer:  All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. (Acts 1. 14).

St. Jerome says that, after Jesus Christ, no-one takes greater care of us than Mary Most Holy.

Mary's intervention at times of persecution and heresy was Providential.  Mary, the new mother of the Maccabees, stands at the side of Christians, encouraging them in the catacombs.

The Fathers of Ephesus call her the conqueror of heresies.

Does unbelief raise its head?  Mary puts it down.  Does piety languish?  Mary revives it.

Mary is the Lady of Italy especially in her most anxious moments.  The princes of Savoy and the Doges of Venice kneel at her feet.

Our Little Work is and means to be completely of God: and it is the work of Divine Providence, especially through Our Blessed Lady.  To Our Lady today, as it was yesterday, and will be tomorrow and always, we have entrusted all of us with an unshakeable faith, with a trust that has never been broken.  And if a little bit of good has been done, and is being done, then it is Our Blessed Lady who is doing it all!

From the writings of St. Luigi Orione

(DOLM. IV. 1890-1891).

Brother, let us forgive...

A wonderful fragment of a letter to Sir Domenico Brago of Tropea.

We can gather that he has been wronged by someone and is having difficulty in forgiving.

At the same time some serious misfortunes have occurred...  Don Orione decides to write to him, warmly inviting him to forgive and to be reconciled with God, as well as with those who have offended him.

If his friend wishes, he is ready to drop everything even to go to Tropea in order to hear his confession.  He finishes:  “Do not be offended, but rather return my affection even more, as I have written as a true friend and a Priest of Christ.”

*   *   *

...God is calling you.  He wants you to be reconciled with Him.

Perhaps God is chastising you because He loves you and wants to save you for eternity.  You know how fond I am of you.

Do you want to wait for other misfortunes to happen?  Do you want to wait until death before making your Confession?

My dear friend, I am ready to drop everything here and to come and accompany the beloved Deceased to Tropea, if I knew that you would be ready to make your Confession and receive Holy Communion for the repose of the soul of your Wife and your Cesare. I would help you so much!  You would find great consolation in your spirit.  Come on, my friend and brother in Christ, let us be reconciled with God!

 If you do not do it now, will there be time later?  I don’t know.  We should not wait for death, so act now!  Please allow me to ask you, with the humble spirit of a Priest and a sincere friend, to allow Raffaella to accompany the beloved body of her husband to Tropea. Do this for the memory of Cesare, so as not to grieve his Spirit and you will also please Don Orione greatly.  God will take note of this act of mercy of yours, one which is worthy of you.

 My brother, let us forgive!  We must forgive, if we want to be forgiven.

I expect an urgent telegram to my address here.

Do not be offended, but rather return my affection even more, as I have written as a true friend and a Priest of Christ.

I embrace you with a great and consoling love, and I bless you.

Your Don Orione.

Scr. 43. 262

“Forgive one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

(Eph 4. 32)

The Communists in Avellaneda

Remarks made by Don Orione to his Italian religious while at table, concerning the work and activities of the Congregation in Argentina.

16^th September 1937, while at table:

The Communists in Avellaneda.

There are many Communists in Avellaneda, near Buenos Aires. There is frequent disorder, and killings and murders take place nearly every day… It was impossible for any priests to set foot in that neighborhood, either by day or by night, but since the development of our charitable work of the Little Cottolengo, things have changed... We have taken in their aged and their orphans, we have entered into their suffering, sharing it with them, and we have opened a free clinic for workers...

So now, if we go in the daytime, they not only allow us to come, but they even raise their hats to us. If we go at night and they recognize us, they will even accompany us to the door. Many become Communists simply because they are driven by hunger. They see the high class leading idle and dissolute lives while they go hungry, and so they rebel.

If you desire to save a society, it is essential to look after the neediest, most wretched and most neglected among its people…

Parola VII, 41