Rome, Italy
September 30th, 2016.
Dear Fathers, Brothers, and Seminarians:
This coming 16th of October, the Holy Father will raise the Argentine priest José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero (1840-1914) to the honors of the altar, who was a distinguished promoter and director of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and Saint John Paul II called him “the Curé of Ars of Argentina.”[1]
In addition to filling us with joy, his canonization entails particular importance for us, since, as an Institute, we aim at “accomplishing [the] evangelization of culture through the sanctification of individuals. […] This will be done preferably by preaching the Spiritual Exercises according to the method and spirit of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.”[2]
For this reason, I considered appropriate to remind all the members of our religious family of the importance that the apostolate of the Spiritual Exercises has as an effective means for the proclamation of the Word of God and their “irreplaceable value . . . for the renewal of Christian life.”[3]
1. The Example of Father Brochero[4]
José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero was ordained a priest on November 4, 1866, at the age of 26. In December of 1869, at the young age of 29, he was appointed pastor of the vast curate of San Alberto, west of the province of Córdoba (Argentina), with an extension of 4,336 square kilometers of steep mountains and inhospitable paths. The population was just over 10,000 inhabitants who lived in remote areas, without roads or schools, entirely in isolation because of the Sierras Grandes, which rise above 2,000 meters high.
There, in the midst of the moral and material poverty of his parish, suffering from the undeserved criticisms and incomprehension of other priests and the indifference of authorities, the merciful heart of this heroic priest urged him to the preaching of the Spiritual Exercises for his unrefined and simple people.[5] His belief and conviction in the miraculous fruits of holiness from the Spiritual Exercises—which he had known as a seminarian—were so strong that he did not hesitate to throw himself completely into this apostolic endeavor.[6] Thus, he would say: “The priest who has scarce pity for sinners is only half a priest. These blessed rags that I wear are not what make me a priest; if I do not have charity in my heart, I am not even a Christian.” Far from being intimidated by the difficulties or making excuses because of the lack of support, he wrote in one of his letters: “I trust in God and in the Virgin Most Pure,” and in this way, this man of faith bore witness that being a pastor and a missionary are one same reality.
His biographers report that he would put together caravans of over five hundred people, to undertake a journey of more than two hundred kilometers (which required three days journey on mule) in order to withdraw from the world for nine days where he would teach them to conquer themselves and to order their lives according to God. At the end of the Exercises, he would bid them farewell, saying: “Well, now go on and be on guard not to offend God by returning to your old ways. The priest has already done his part so that you might be saved if you want. But, if anyone insists on being condemned, may a thousand devils carry him off.”[7]
Years later, Father Brochero himself, together with parishioners, built his own House for the Exercises, and God—who does not let Himself be outdone in generosity—hurried to reward him with abundant blessings. The story is told that his happiness was so great when the foundations were laid for the Retreat House that he himself wanted to lay the first stone and, foreseeing hell’s opposition against the building from which he expected so many fruits, he threw it with brio, as if he were crushing the head of a serpent with it, and exclaimed: “Devil, you are defeated!”
The house was opened in 1877 with groups of over seven hundred people. The following year, the exercitants grew to four thousand. More than forty thousand people did the Exercises in the House during the parochial ministry of Father Brochero. Even more, since the opening until the present no less than one hundred thousand persons have taken the Exercises in that house,[8] thus being renewed (Father Brochero called the Spiritual Exercises “baths for the soul”).
It is worth mentioning that as soon as the construction of the House for the Exercises was finished, Father Brochero brought a religious community—the Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—to look after it.
Eager to fulfill an old dream, he also built a school for girls (attended to by the same sisters) and a residence for priests. In his inexhaustible missionary zeal, and in an effort to bring his beloved parishioners out of the poverty in which they lived, he built more than two hundred kilometers of roads, several churches, founded towns, and planned the railway line that would unite Valle de Traslasierra with Villa Dolores y Soto. “[We are] abandoned by everyone but not by God,” he used to say.
Leaving aside the misunderstandings of his peers because he preached the Exercises to the men and women of the mountains, who were simple, suspicious, and often illiterate, he recommended to the priests who sometimes came to help him: “The more sinful, more rough, more unrefined my parishioners, the more sweetness and friendliness you must treat them with in the confessional, from the pulpit, and in daily contact.”
Convinced that the “parish must produce faithful people who are able to make the seed of the Gospel blossom in the place where they are,”[9] “Cura Brochero preached, confessed, directed, and helped the participants, by dedicating himself entirely to them.”[10] He would often say: “I would be happy if God would take me from this earth [while] seated hearing confessions and preaching the Gospel.”
Authentically Ignatian in his preaching, the holy priest invited all to serve under Christ’s standard. He would tell the exercitants: “Jesus invites you to follow Him and to place yourself under His standard with a most pleasant manner and with the sweetest words. Our salvation and our life, the strength of our heart, the joy of our spirit, and the hope of heaven are in the Cross.”
At last, when he was diagnosed with the terrible sickness of leprosy, which he contracted through his care of and companionship with a man sick with the same illness, even to the point of sharing his mate, Brochero could see how many of those in whom he had trusted had abandoned him, frightened by his awful infirmity, his sister Aurora being his only companion.
On February 2, 1908, at the age of 68, almost blind and deaf, Brochero gave up his parish, impossible as it was for him to care for it. With admirable resignation, he embraced the heavy cross with which God wanted to test his arduous old age, and his last years were an eloquent lesson of tried virtue. Both his leprosy and agonizing solitude revealed in an unexpected way the fruitfulness of his surrender as a priest.
When he was already sick, he was heard to say: “I am very content with what God has done with me with regard to my sight, and I give Him great thanks on account of it. When I was able to serve others, He kept my senses healthy and robust. Today, when I cannot, He has rendered useless one of my bodily senses. It is a great favor that God our Lord has done for me in freeing me entirely from the active life and leaving me the task of seeking my end and of praying for men of the past, present, and those who will come until the end of the world.”
Our Founder calls our attention to the following point: “His life of faith was nourished by the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, the daily Mass, even during his long trips and on his sick bed, his rosary, and the breviary that he carried at his waist and that he prayed daily. ‘He lived by faith,’ noted one witness. From there arose his great pastoral charity and his death on the cross; in it he found his support and strength in his long illness and, thanks to it, before he died, he could say, ‘I trust in God’s mercy.’”[11]
He died, a leper and blind, on January 26, 1914, at the age of 74.
2. Spiritual Exercises in Order to Evangelize
“The preaching of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in our parishes is a characteristic proper to the Institute. The way in which said Exercises strengthen the life of the parish by means of the strengthening of the spiritual life of the faithful has been proven.”[12] For this reason, “we must enthusiastically return to this practice, which has given so many fruits of holiness,”[13] and which constitutes one of the preferential apostolates of our Institute.[14]
In this sense, Blessed Paul VI wrote: “We know that the most effective preaching is precisely that of the Spiritual Exercises […] We must spread this fountain of salvation and of spiritual energy; we must make it accessible to all categories of people.”[15] Our spiritual father, Saint John Paul II, encourages us: “I hope that . . . priests, religious, and lay people continue to be faithful to this experience [of the Spiritual Exercises] and make it grow.”[16]
For this reason, dear brothers in the Incarnate Word, by means of this circular letter I want to exhort you all to renew your fervor for the preaching of the Spiritual Exercises, which each one should take as his own responsibility, each one cooperating accordingly in his own capacity.[17] I urge you not only to preach the holy Exercises, but also to do everything to organize them, even at the cost of great sacrifices, benefiting from the assistance of the lay members of our Third Order and of the Sisters Servants of the Lord, who can be of great help. God will not cease to bless the efforts undertaken so that He can reign in souls! We too, like the Saint Father Brochero, have offered ourselves totally to “our Lord, the Eternal King,” whose “will [it is] to conquer the whole world.”[18] Hence, we should not spare any sacrifice in carrying out this magnificent apostolate. This “should bring us to know the Exercises deeply, to prepare ourselves to preach them fruitfully,[19] and to have the necessary dispositions so as not to miss any opportunity to preach them.”[20]
It turns out to be of great importance to know how to adapt the Exercises to all classes of exercitants and to promote them “so that in all parts of the world [people] take advantage of the benefits” of the Exercises.[21] We must make use of “new methods for evangelization, as the use of the Internet can be, also for the preaching of the Spiritual Exercises”[22] according to the language of the place. We must also seek—in the measure that it is possible—to have an adequate and proper place dedicated to the preaching of the Exercises, even if many times this entails great sacrifices and, in the end, this might be a cross.
It is from this same cross that are born innumerable blessings for our souls, for our Institute, and for the universal Church, as the great work of Saint Cura Brochero shows. Among the most valuable and outstanding fruits of the Spiritual Exercises we can include: the effective influence that they have on personal holiness, the numerous conversions, the great number of vocations to the path of perfection that are decided during the Exercises, the grace of perseverance, etc. All of these are fruits that promote an authentic and profound renewal of the Christian life,[23] in this way collaborating in the instauration of Christ’s Kingdom.
Therefore, may our desire always be to know how to benefit from this precious instrument in order to advance the new evangelization, which is “a ‘fascinating adventure,’ one that is ‘arduous and exciting, that summons all of us together.’”[24]
In this context, I cannot help but mention another great grace for the Argentine nation and for the universal Church that has recently taken place. I refer to the beatification of María Antonia de la Paz y Figueroa, Mama Antula, that heroic woman who was a great apostle of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, above all after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Americas.[25] She also founded the House of Exercises in Buenos Aires (which still operates), fighting against innumerable misunderstandings and difficulties due to her being a woman in the era, and from certain ecclesiastical spheres. The strength and apostolic drive of this apparently frail female figure of holiness should move us to put into place the means and to know how to suffer discomfort ourselves so that the greatest possible number of souls might benefit from that spiritual bath which are the Exercises.[26]
For this reason, on the occasion of the canonization of Saint Cura Brochero, I raise with all fervor my prayer to our Lord that the enthusiasm for the Exercises might be renewed. May the efforts and initiatives directed towards promoting, improving, and increasing the opportunities for preaching the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius as a most appropriate means for the evangelization of the culture be intensified, that is, as a means to transform the world from within through the influence of grace. This is because, as the saint said so well, the Exercises help to “promote man here on the earth, but with the gaze fixed on heaven.” In a special way, I urgently recommend that Provincial Superiors put into place the means so that the priests of the Institute may deepen their knowledge of the Exercises of Saint Ignatius, and that the preaching of these Exercises to all classes of exercitants might be increased. Neglecting this aspect of our apostolate, or to not properly encourage it, would be a lack of respect to our specific purpose and to our mission in the Church, which awaits from us the exercise of the apostolates proper to our charism.
May the new saint José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero intercede for our beloved Institute and obtain for us the grace of a total, permanent, and happy surrender in the exercise of our priesthood, and the immense grace of preaching authentically Ignatian Exercises everywhere, for the glory of God alone and the good of many souls.
Wishing you a beautiful feast for the canonization of Blessed José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, I greet you in Christ, the Incarnate Word, and His Most Holy Mother,
Fr. Gustavo Nieto, IVE
General Superior
[1] When the time of the diocesan process about an alleged miracle attributed to the then venerable “Cura Brochero” had come to an end, the Archbishop of Córdoba recalled Saint John Paul II’s words when someone had explained to him who Fr. Brochero was: “So, Cura Brochero would be Argentina’s Curé of Ars.” Likewise, during the homily on the day of his beatification, Fr. Brochero was compared to the holy French priest.
[2] Constitutions, 171.
[3] See Directory of Spirituality, 105.
[4] The information regarding Fr. Brochero has been taken extensively from Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Ejercicios Espirituales y Nueva Evangelización (IVE Press: Washington DC, 2015), unless otherwise indicated.
[5] Fr. Buela proposes him as an example of heroic mercy in his book Sacerdotes para siempre, see Chapter 2, Las Bienaventuranzas sacerdotales. [In English, see You are Priests Forever, Vol. 1, Ch. 17, p. 253 (IVE Press: New York, 2012)].
[6] Cf. Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Mi Parroquia – Cristo Vecino, (IVE Press: New York, 2011), Part 3, IX, B, 464. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[7] https://curabrochero.wordpress.com/el-admirable-cura-brochero-modelo-de-apostol/
[8] https://curabrochero.wordpress.com/el-admirable-cura-brochero-modelo-de-apostol/
[9] Directorio de Parroquias, 89. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[10] Card. Angelo Amato, Homily of Beatification of Blessed José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, September 14th, 2013.
[11] Cf. Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Ejercicios Espirituales y nueva evangelización, (IVE Press: Washington DC, 2015), p. 90. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[12] Directorio de Parroquias, 86. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[13] Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Ejercicios Espirituales y nueva evangelización, ch. 2, p. 16. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[14] Cf. Constitutions, 171.
[15] Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Mi Parroquia – Cristo Vecino, Part 3, IX, B, p. 468. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[16] Saint John Paul II, Angelus, December 16, 1979.
[17] See Directorio de Parroquias, 86. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[18] Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, [95].
[19] Directorio de Ejercicios Espirituales, 11: “Given the importance of preaching the Spiritual Exercises, the priest members of our Institute must diligently prepare themselves for this ministry. This begins with the time of formation in the seminary with the theoretical study of the Spiritual Exercises in the subjects that correspond to it. Likewise, it is advisable that the seminarians have a practical introduction which they can undertake as assistants or collaborators in the Exercises.” Translated from the Spanish edition.
[20] Directory of Spirituality, 105.
[21] Paul III, Pastoralis Officii, July 31, 1548, cited by Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Mi Parroquia – Cristo Vecino, III Parte, IX, B, p.466.
[22] Cf. Directorio de Ejercicios Espirituales, 81. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[23] Saint John Paul II, Message to the Jesuits in Rome February 27, 1982.
[24] Fr. Carlos Buela, IVE, Ejercicios Espirituales y nueva evangelización, art. 5, p. 43. Translated from the Spanish edition.
[25] She was beatified by Cardinal Angelo Amato in Santiago del Estero (Argentina) on August 27, 2016. Along with other distinguished apostles of the Spiritual Exercises, her figure is represented in the “ante-cave,” that is, in the hall of the Basilica that leads to the Holy Cave of Manresa (Spain) where Saint Ignatius, according to tradition, wrote the Spiritual Exercises as dictated to him by the Virgin Mary.
[26] It is estimated that during the life of Blessed Antula, in Buenos Aires alone more than seventy thousand people made the Exercises. In fact, the bishop of Buenos Aires, Sebastián Malvar y Pinto, wrote to the Pope saying that in the first four years of the Blessed’s presence in Buenos Aires alone some fifteen thousand people made the Exercises, and this without having been asked “for any money whatsoever for their abundant provisions during their ten-day stay.”
