The “Absolutely” and “Totally” “Essentials”
Cf. Constitutions, 17, 95, 174 and 210; Directory of Spirituality, 37
Upon reading our proper law, especially the Constitutions and Directory of Spirituality, which are our principal documents, you notice that the term essential is used five times.* On two of these occasions, our proper law adds the adverbs “absolutely”[1] and “totally.”[2]
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “essential” as: an adjective, absolutely necessary; extremely important; fundamental or central to the nature of something or someone.[3] In this sense, both in the Constitutions and in the Directory of Spirituality we read:
- “We want to manifest our love and gratitude to the Blessed Virgin by making a fourth vow of slavery to Mary according to the spirituality of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort. This will secure her essential help in perpetuating the Incarnation in all things.”[4]
- “Joy, the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the effect of charity, requires us to make use of any and all means so that ‘nobody may be disturbed or grieved in the house of God.’[5] It is totally essential to live fraternal charity …”[6]
- “In order to evangelize the culture, charity is essential, for it is both the end of the one who works and the end of the work itself; otherwise, the ‘civilization of love’[7] will not be reached.”[8]
- “Christ became flesh in order that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). To have this life in Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:21-22) it is absolutely essential to be united with His Person, have His Spirit, assimilate His doctrine, frequent His sacraments, imitate His example, profoundly love His Mother, and be in perfect communion with the Church hierarchy by a double bond: by faith and charity themselves, and by the governance of one, Peter, over all.”[9]
- “We must always remember that for persecution to be blessed, it must fulfill two essential requirements: first, that we may be ‘persecuted for the sake of Christ,’ and second, that what is said against us is false.[10] We must be very careful not to dwell on our burdens, nor to spend time taking pleasure in them, nor to succumb to the ‘self-complacency of Lucifer which makes you imagine you are somebody,’ and that we are suffering a great deal.”[11]
Each with its various implications, these paragraphs manifest precisely what is indispensable, vital, irreplaceable – that is, essential – for us if we are to accomplish with greater “perfection our service of God and His people,”[12] which is the same as a “true service of the Church.”[13]
In light of the weight of these texts, it behooves us to delve into those aspects whose absence would prevent us from living our vocation fully and would be a great detriment to the work of the Institute.
1. Absolutely Essential
We would like to begin by expounding what the Constitutions in number 210 define as absolutely essential, emphasizing with this expression the indispensable character of its consequences.
The first thing mentioned is precisely the end of the Christian life: “to unite ourself to his Person,” that is to unite ourselves to Christ. In this resides “the true greatness of the Christian and religious vocation: union with God.”[14]
In fact, this is why we became religious, for this we consecrated our lives, and for this the Directory of Consecrated Life, citing the Magisterium of the Church, indicates: “The religious who consecrates himself to God in a particular way seeking union with God through the practice of perfect charity, ought to do so through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. He is called to unite himself to God in Christ, and to imitate more closely and perennially represent in the Church ‘this form of life, which He, as the Son of God, accepted in entering this world to do the will of the Father’[15] and which Christ presented to his disciples to follow.”[16]
Moreover, “if this applies to all religious, ‘this truth is even greater for us, the religious of the Family of the Incarnate Word.’ [17]”[18] The tireless search for union with God is essential for every religious and must be so for us. Even more, this Christocentric impulse must be branded in us and in our apostolate of evangelizing the culture. Thus, “the reality of being other Christs is central to our spirituality.”[19]
Our proper law expresses this idea magnificently with a line that ought to become the banner that we raise every day: “If we are religious, it is in order to imitate the Incarnate Word, chaste, poor, obedient, and the son of Mary.”[20]
Now then, the religious life as the following of Christ in order to reach the perfection of charity “must be carried out in line with one’s proper Institute: ‘this increasing configuration with Christ is realized in conformity with the charism and norms of the institute to which the religious belongs. Each institute has its own spirit, character, end and tradition, and it is in conforming oneself to these that the religious grows in his union with Christ.’[21]”[22] For this reason, the Mystical Doctor, St. John of the Cross in his Counsels to a Religious writes: “Do not desire to know anything in any way except how better to serve God and keep the observance of your institute.”[23] In order to do this, one must know deeply the founder’s spirit, the sanas tradiciones of the Institute, be ‘experts’ in the proper law and from it draw the criteria of discernment for one’s own activities and conduct. It also requires familiarity with the Founder’s writings and becoming attached to what is ours, the ideals and the holy interests of the Institute. Each one of the members of the Institute ought to make his own the non-negotiable elements, interiorizing them and living them out.
God has called us to live out precisely what we find so well explained and developed in each one of these elements, and for this God has gathered us from so many different countries and cultures. We dedicated ourselves to this very thing before God and before men when we made our religious profession. Did we not say that we consecrated ourselves in poverty, chastity, and obedience “in accordance with the evangelical way traced in the Constitutions of the Institute of the Incarnate Word”?[24] For this reason it is indispensable that “All members of the Institute must observe the evangelical counsels with the greatest possible perfection. They must also surrender to Jesus through Mary, and ‘direct their lives according to the Institute’s own law and so strive for the perfection of their state.’”[25] Since, ultimately, in all of these elements that we have just mentioned we have the concrete expression of the way we must follow to achieve union with the Incarnate Word. We must keep this in mind because there are those religious who nourish themselves on other spiritualties, which would be great, excellent even, for religious of that other congregation. But it is not our spirituality; it is not what God wants of us. This must be made very clear.
All throughout our proper law and the abundant treasure of the patrimony of our Institute we find a whole range of guidelines that converge precisely in union with God. Among these, we would like to highlight a few:
- Prayer: It is in prayer – either vocal or mental prayer – that the soul finds a proportionate means to union with God, and is in prayer that the soul finds the familiarity with the Incarnate Word[26] that is so fundamental to anyone who calls themselves His religious. For this reason, each document of our proper law directs us with paternal insistence to the call for “prayer and incessant contemplation,”[27] since it is in prayer that the soul clothes itself in the “purity, pleasure, and will”[28] of our Lord.
Blessed Giuseppe Allamano said to his religious: “Piety will unite us to God and everything else will follow; the Lord will give us the grace we need if we pray well.”[29] And Blessed Paolo Manna wrote in the same vein: “without prayer there is no union with God, and without union with God, there is no consistency in goodness.”[30]
At the same time, within the environment of prayer, silence is a privileged means for union with God: “Silence is a necessity for the soul, in order to manifest in the most profound way that, in the presence of God, there is nothing more to say.”[31] It is a means for achieving union with God, and as such, it should lead to the heights of prayer.
- The practice of the religious vows: the vows “contribute a great deal to the purification of heart and spiritual liberty. They continually stir up the fervor of charity. But especially they are able to more fully mold the Christian man to that type of chaste and detached life, which Christ the Lord chose for Himself and which His Mother also embraced.”[32] Thus, if the specific end of the Institute consists in achieving the perfection of charity “the practice of the evangelical counsels ‘fosters the perfection of love of God and love of neighbor.’”[33] Consequently, “the evangelical counsels have an eschatological meaning and, in particular, consecrated celibacy announces the life to come and union with Christ the Spouse; poverty corresponds to a treasure in heaven; the commitment to obedience opens the way to the possession of the perfect freedom of the children of God in conformity with the will of the heavenly Father.”[34] All of this is expressed marvelously in our very formula of profession: “… chaste, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, poor, manifesting that God is the only true wealth of mankind, and obedient, even until death on the cross, to follow more intimately the Incarnate Word in His chastity, poverty, and obedience.”[35]
- The apostolate and work, whatever it may be, conduces to union with God since: “every apostolic activity should be animated by union with Christ, and religious cannot tend to anything less, in virtue of their profession.”[36] Because “the apostolate is a supernatural – completely theological – reality, its fruitfulness depends on union with God and with the Church.”[37] At the same time, “identification with Christ should bring us to work like Him, of whom they said, he has done all things well[38]”[39], “bearing our load of work in union with Jesus.”[40]
- The cross in our lives: namely, sufferings. “Neither Jesus without the Cross, nor the Cross without Jesus”[41] – this should resonate like a refrain in the depths of our soul. Both are indispensable in our life, and because of this we must learn to make the most of the crosses that God sends us, which are always accompanied by the intimate and real company of the Incarnate Word. The Directory of Spiritual says it splendidly: “The co-redemptive efficacy of our sufferings depends on their union with the Cross, and in the measure and degree of that union. […] No pain is redeeming unless it is united to Christ’s Passion. If we do not learn how to be victims with the Victim, all our sufferings are useless.”[42] Thus, we “must lead a dying life.”[43] “This is the secret of all supernatural fruitfulness! Everything is in knowing how to die! This is the great science!”[44] And to encourage us to suffer in union with Christ, we are told: “Nothing attracts the divine benevolence as much as suffering.”[45]
The cross is so fundamental to our lives that our proper law makes the affirmation of the Mystical Doctor of Fontiveros its own when he says: “If… anyone should persuade you… of a broader and more relaxed doctrine, do not believe it nor embrace it, even if it is confirmed by miracles, but rather penance and more penance and detachment from all things, for you will never come to possess Christ if you look for him without the cross.”[46]
- The assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, since no one was united to God like her, who was espoused to the Holy Spirit and carried the Word of God in her most pure womb. She is “our proximate end, our mysterious intermediary and the easiest way of reaching [Christ].”[47] Each member of the Institute must learn to “depend totally and completely on God through Mary”[48] if we want to reach union with God, given that there is no other way that is more direct, easier or shorter for us to go to God than “through Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary.”[49] Without this, we cannot say that we are essentially Marian.[50]
All of these things, if they are lived out well and consciously practiced with conviction, will bring about certain attitudes, ways of acting, and the criteria to undertake or set aside apostolic endeavors which ought to transform us from the inside into ‘other Christs.’ Our Spiritual Father, Saint John Paul II, expresses this beautifully and with great insight:
“The truth of the consecrated life as union with Christ in divine charity is expressed in certain basic attitudes, which must grow throughout the whole of one’s life. Generally speaking, they can be summarized as follows: the desire to transmit to all the love that comes from God through the Heart of Christ, and, therefore, the universality of a love that does not stop at the barriers that human selfishness erects in the name of race, nation, cultural tradition, social or religious conditions, etc. The manifestation of a special solidarity with the poor, the persecuted and those who are victims of injustice; the solicitude to help those who suffer most, such as the countless handicapped, the abandoned, the exiled, etc.; the witness of a humble and meek heart that refuses to condemn, renounces all violence and vengeance, and forgives with joy; the will to promote reconciliation everywhere and to welcome the evangelical gift of peace; the generous dedication to every apostolic initiative that tends to spread the light of Christ and bring salvation to humanity; and assiduous prayer according to the great intentions of the Holy Father and the Church.”[51]
It is likewise absolutely necessary to “have the Spirit of Christ and assimilate his doctrine.” This is the case simply because the Spirit of Christ, namely the Holy Spirit, is the spirit of our Religious Family.[52] Our Constitutions say that this is accomplished through the proper charism of the Institute, “without coercion of any kind; […] by scrupulously respecting each individual’s conscience, promoting healthy pluralism, bringing others to fully live the freedom of God’s children,[53] because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom[54]”[55]. Consequently, it is vital to make use of the means so that our soul is constantly ready for whatever God might determine.[56]
Inexorably linked to docility to the Holy Spirit is the assiduous reading of the Sacred Scriptures “deepened in the Church.”[57] Sacred Scripture must always be the “soul of our soul, of our spirituality, theology, preaching, catechesis and pastoral work”[58] because it is there that we find the doctrine of Christ as understood in the Church.[59] In short: “The effective apostle is the man who is completely faithful to Christ’s teaching.”[60]
It’s not surprising then, that one of the non-negotiable elements connected with our charism is precisely docility to the Magisterium of the Church so that our members be formed in the “the strictest fidelity to the Supreme Magisterium of the Church of all times,”[61] solidly educated in a sound theology—which “comes from faith and tries to lead us to faith”[62]—built on “profound knowledge of the philosophy of being.”[63]
The Constitutions also mark out that it is absolutely essential for each member of the Institute to “frequent His sacraments [and] imitate His example.” We can find an ample supply of material on this subject in our proper law. Not only does it prescribe and encourage us to receive the Sacraments fruitfully—making the sacramental life an essential part of the discipline of the Institute—but it makes the sacramental life central to the mission. “Authentic evangelization must lead to and culminate in the worthy reception of the Sacraments, since they are the ordinary means of communicating grace and the Holy Spirit.”[64] Indeed, many of our documents develop the sacramental life, from different points of view, just as much for our members as for the faithful in our missions. It comes naturally then that Eucharistic devotion and the worthy celebration of the Holy Mass, the liturgical act par excellence of the mystery of the Redemption, be another of our non-negotiable elements.
We have already spoken with respect to the imitation of Christ’s example. Here, we simply add that if “all Christians, truly, should live a life in imitation of the Incarnate God,” building upmed and work for the edification of the only ng that it is absolutely essential then “this truth is even greater for us, the religious of the family of the Incarnate Word. Not only are we to live Christ’s life looking for God in everything, but we are to spread that life to others, and to endow cultures with Christ’s life in order to elevate man.”[65]
Our proper law insistently underlines how indispensable it is for us to be “‘other Christs’ to be ‘like a new incarnation of the Word,’ ‘like another humanity of Christ,’[66] so that the Father may only see ‘his beloved Son’ in us.”[67] In fact, it is precisely this that we commit to under vow by when we profess that we want to “to follow more intimately the Incarnate Word” so that our lives “may be a living memory of the way that Jesus, the Word made flesh[68] lived and behaved before the Father and before mankind.”[69] All of our documents are nothing other than a collection of guidelines, attitudes, criteria, explanations, etc., on how to best imitate the Incarnate Word. Truly, if our spirituality is to be as serious as we want it to be, the imitation of Christ is irreplaceable.
“Profoundly love His Mother.” We have said it before and will say it again: the love of the Mother of the Savior, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary—which must be great, tender, and constant[70]—is indispensable in the life of all the members of the Institute. For ours is a consecration to the Mother of God in slavery of love. And as such, we must “invoke her, salute her, think of her, talk about her, honor her, glorify her, entrust [ourselves] to her, rejoice and suffer with her, work, pray and rest with her.”[71] For this reason from the moment we enter the Institute we can say that our formation is a “school of filial and profound love of the Most Holy Virgin Mary.”[72]
She is, moreover, not only the Model and protector of our consecrated life[73] but also our Model as missionaries.[74] Since it is from Her that we learn everything, particularly “docility and promptness in the execution of what the Holy Spirit asks of us”[75] and, strictly speaking, Her “help is indispensable in perpetuating the Incarnation in all things.”[76] For this reason, no one can belong to the Incarnate Word without belonging also to the Mother of the Incarnate Word.
Finally, the paragraph in our Constitutions that we have been expounding concludes by saying that it is absolutely essential to “be in perfect communion with the Church hierarchy by a double bond: by faith and charity themselves, and by the governance of one, Peter, over all.” This is so because the Institute was born in the Catholic Church and of the Catholic Church and for the Catholic Church. That is, all the members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word are formed and work for the building up of the one Church of Christ.
In this sense, we read in our Directory of Spirituality that “to love Jesus Christ and to love the Pope is the same love,”[77] since “to love the Pope, [and] to love the Church, is to love Jesus Christ.”[78] This is why “our motto is with Peter and under Peter.”[79]
This could not be otherwise, since in the very spirit of the Institute of the Incarnate Word we find the foundation for our love and fidelity to the Church. Ours is in an authentically ecclesial spirituality, since “the same Christ is embodied in his Body, the Church;”[80] and in every man, because “for us Christ is mysteriously identified with each man,”[81] “in Him we are Christs and Christ.”[82] What’s more, as true devotees of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Model of ecclesial communion”[83], we could not have a more tender love for the unity of the universal Church. By making perfect communion with the Church essential for each one of us and for the works of the Institute, we strive “by prayer, penance, study, dialogue, and collaboration, […] to reach full communion in the unity of the Church ‘which Christ bestowed on his Church from the beginning. We believe that this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.’[84]”[85] From this we see how essential should be our fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, our unfailing love for the figure of the Holy Father, our embracing of the cause of ecumenism, and our missionary work in favor of the Church with the impetus of the saints, with the sole objective that Christ may reign.
2. Charity is Essential
In this second point we would like to consider, although briefly, what our Constitutions say in numbers 17 and 174 speaking about the necessity of charity. This is of cardinal and capital importance in our task of evangelization if we are to accomplish it fruitfully and joyfully.
Citing the words of Saint Paul VI, our proper law says: “In order to evangelize the culture, charity is essential, for it is both the end of the one who works and the end of the work itself; otherwise, the ‘civilization of love’[86] will not be reached.”[87]
Because “to love God manifests itself in concrete love for our brothers, which, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, is the only way to love God,”[88] thus, “our Religious Family, as another prolongation of the Incarnation of the Word, ‘incarnating Him in all that is human,’ is humbly dedicated to achieving this through the spiritual and corporeal works of mercy.”[89]
In this way we are convinced, and we have experienced over the years, that the specific and singular end of the Institute is in absolute harmony with the spiritual works of mercy, and these are precisely what propagate the most good.[90]
However, we also dedicate ourselves to the corporeal works of mercy,[91] especially with the disabled and those most in need, since “love of God and love of neighbor are founded upon each other; in the lowliest we find Jesus Himself and in Jesus we find God”[92] and moreover because our Redeemer did so. That is, our preferential option is to serve those in more vulnerable situations, and thus, in greater need,[93] recognizing that “charity with the poor [and] assistance to the sick and those who suffer, contribute in a significant way to the mission of the Church.”[94] Subsequently, we consider the members of our Institute who work in this class of apostolates as “the cornerstones of the apostolic endeavor of our Institute.”[95]
Our proper law indicates that the works of mercy, by “giving concrete testimony to charity, will win over many men for the kingdom of Christ, giving glory to God and saving many souls, thus fulfilling our universal end and also the specific end of our Religious Family.”[96]
In our Institute, conceived as missionary with active and contemplative members, we must say that the mission itself is already a work of charity, and that the works of charity form “an essential part of the mission of the Church.”[97] Consequently, “along with the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments, the exercise of charity also forms part of the essential activities of evangelization.”[98]
“The works of mercy have manifest advantages in carrying out the charism of our Institute, especially in countries where the silent testimony of religious is the only way to do so, since explicit proclamation of the Gospels is forbidden. For example, in Islamic countries, it might become the only means of evangelization. But even in places where it is possible to preach the Word, works of mercy corroborate with deeds the message that has been announced.”[99]
“For this reason, in the various apostolates in our Institutes, we reserve a preferential place for charitable works, which are an essential component of the mission of evangelization in the Church and an indispensable element for the evangelization of the culture.”[100] Thus, as Pope Benedict said, this “continues to be the royal road to evangelization.”[101]
It is understood then that the works of mercy or charitable works, whatever they may be, are essential to our missionary work and are a non-negotiable element connected to the charism of our Institute.
But we must notice that in the same paragraph 174 of the Constitutions, immediately after it states that “we must give privileged attention to the poor, sick, and all those in need” because the love of Christ impels us,[102] it exhorts us to practice “concrete charity, in the first place, with all the members of our own Institutes, as a witness that ‘charity and only charity will save the world. Blessed are those who have the grace of being victims of charity!’[103].”
“In this apostolic work where ‘we are missionaries above all because of what we are… even before we become missionaries in word or deed’[104] our testimony of life – the ‘first and irreplaceable form of mission’[105] – occupies the first place so that the charity of Christ[106] may shine among the faithful.”[107] If this witness of charity is lacking among the members of our own Family, not only is the message that we preach not credible, but many are prevented from embracing it, to the great detriment of the missionary work entrusted to us.
This “practice of charity is manifested in our spirit of serving others: in imitation of the Incarnate Word who, with His gesture of washing the feet of His disciples, revealed to us the depth of the love that God has for man: in Him, God puts Himself at the service of men! In this way, He exemplifies that our religious life is fully realized in the love of self-oblation, through concrete and generous service.”[108]
“If in a missionary land, religious communities are truly such and each and every one of its members is intensely living fraternal charity,[109] then much fruit can be expected. If, on the other hand, a missionary does not know how to live alongside others, forgets the fundamental principles of dialogue, does not practice fraternal charity de facto, and makes everything revolve around himself, this community will have to spend a good deal of energy just to put up with this weak brother.”[110]
There are many who say they are very faithful to the Institute because they have been here for many years, because they quote phrases of our proper law with certain ease, because they occupy or have occupied some important position, or because they occasionally participate in some feast without realizing that “it is not enough to participate in some meeting or festivity to be fully religious,”[111] etc., and, yet at the same time, they indulge in grave faults against charity. Among these faults, “the one that is sometimes committed with the least remorse is murmuring.”[112] These religious our proper law calls “‘Two faced men’ because they destroyed many who were at peace[113]”[114] and they do not realize that they are threatening concord, the union of brothers of the same Family, and the peace of the community. They instill sadness, many times as a fruit of their bad spirit and the injustice of their comments, squandering as a result the basic foundation of their consecration in this beloved Institute, which is precisely the love and service of Christ, “the physical Body of Christ, the Eucharist, as well as His Mystical Body, the Church. His Church consists of us… and of all men”[115] among whom are the members of the Institute. We must be ready to die for each other, to defend the Institute with all of its non-negotiable elements, to firmly guard our rich patrimony that has been handed down to us: thus, whoever adopts a relaxed attitude and does not fight for the interests of the Institute or hold high the standard of our ideals… this person has, in a way, already deserted us. Have we not read, perhaps, that each one of us must “be willing to give up his life, if necessary, for the good of the Institute in the service of Jesus Christ”[116]?
Let us understand these words well: if we do not concretely practice charity with the members of our Institute, we are straying from the path of perfection to which God has called us. “The missionary is a person of charity,”[117] and without charity, we are not missionaries nor can we even manage to be a ‘good Christian.’ St. Paul tells us: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.[118] One may know many languages, have much knowledge, have published books and given innumerable dissertations, may have seen the entire world, may have influential friends, may have considerable personal abilities and abundant means for the apostolate, but again… if I do not have charity, all of this is of no use to me.
“This is the reason that we must nurture fraternal charity[119] in our religious communities. It is true that there will always be difficulties because we are fallible creatures and thus, we can fail. But these difficulties can be overcome; problems can be resolved. This is why the lack of charity and, specifically murmuring in fraternal life, arises from a lack of understanding or from a not wanting to understand the commandment of love in all of its precision. I hope that they will be able to say of the members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word what they said of the first Christians: Look how they love each other!”[120] And if anyone believes that these are just sappy words for beginners, read what the very Constitutions say in this regard: “Do not believe that charity is [merely] utopian, since we have heard expressions like these before. We should always be determined to preserve charity even though there might be false friends,[121] who interfere to spy on our freedom in Jesus Christ[122], who pretend to be with us but do not belong to us.[123] Love is eternal![124]”.[125]
All of our members must always remember the advice of Saint Benedict: “They should each try to be the first to show honor to the other (Rom 12:10), bearing with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly vying in obedience to one another. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for the other. To their fellow monks they show the pure love of brothers; to God, loving fear; to their abbot, unfeigned and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life.”[126]
Without the practice of charity there is no joy. Because “Only the one who is joyful in love is truly joyful.”[127] Therefore, the more faithful we are to these essentials, our striving for perfection will be more vehement, our charity will be more extensive and creative, our sacrifice will be more selfless, we will better fulfill our purpose as religious of the Incarnate Word, our joy will be greater and we will be in all our glory.
* * * * *
Perhaps we will be persecuted for all of this, in which case we must give thanks to God for having found us worthy and then reread the essential requisites for persecution to be “blessed,”[128] being very careful not to wallow in our afflictions by indulging in subtle self-complacency, nor to succumb to the devilish belief that makes us think we are somebody and that we are suffering a great deal.[129]
When the tempest rages, May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, who knows all our interior battles and needs, repeat the same maternal words to us that she said to the servants at the wedding in Cana, do whatever He tells you,[130] so that the waters of our weakness and frailty be transformed into the wine of His strength.
* In the Spanish original of this letter, the term Father highlights is imprescindible, which is used in each of the five paragraphs cited of the Spanish Constitutions. For consistency, we will use “essential” in each of these contexts.
[1] Constitutions, 210.
[2] Constitutions, 95. In Spanish: “es totalmente imprescindible vivir la caridad fraternal”.
[3] Also see Oxford Dictionary “indispensable”: “too important to be without”; The Real Academia Española defines “imprescindible” as: “adjetivo que se aplica a una cosa o persona de la que no se puede prescindir; aquello que es necesario, que es obligatorio”.
[4] Constitutions, 17.
[5] Saint Benedict, Holy Rule, 31.
[6] Constitutions, 95.
[7] Paul VI, Homily during the Closing of the Holy Year, December 25, 1975; AAS 68 145.
[8] Constitutions, 174.
[9] Constitutions, 210.
[10] Cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on Saint Matthew, 15, 5.
[11] Directory of Spirituality, 37.
[12] Cf. Constitutions, 6.
[13] Constitutions, 272.
[14] Directory of Spirituality, 117.
[15] Lumen Gentium, 44.
[16] Directory of Consecrated Life, 36.
[17] Directory of Spirituality, 29.
[18] Directory of Consecrated Life, 37.
[19] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 30.
[20] Directory of Consecrated Life, 325.
[21] Essential Elements of the Religious Life, 46.
[22] Directory of Consecrated Life, 324.
[23] Saint John of the Cross, Counsels to a Religious, 9.
[24] Constitutions, 254, 257.
[25] Constitutions, 378. Cf. CIC, c. 598 § 2.
[26] Cf Constitutions, 231.
[27] Directory of Spirituality, 22.
[28] Saint John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love, 98.
[29] Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, This I Want You To Be, 175.
[30] Blessed Paolo Manna, Apostolic Virtues, Chapter 9, section 9.
[31] Directory of Contemplative Life, 107.
[32] Lumen Gentium, 46. Cf. Directory of Consecrated Life, 63.
[33] Directory of Consecrated Life, 60. Work cited: Lumen Gentium, 45.
[34] Saint John Paul II, Catechesis, 8 February, 1995. [Translated from Spanish]
[35] Constitutions, 254, 257.
[36] Saint John Paul II, Catechesis,11 January, 1995. [Translated from Spanish]
[37] Directory of Consecrated Life, 257.
[38] Mark 7:37.
[39] Directory of the Novitiate; 31.
[40] Directory of Consecrated Life, 110.
[41] Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, 14, 1. qtd. in Directory of Spirituality, 144.
[42] Directory of Spirituality, 168.
[43] Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 2, 12.
[44] Directory of Spirituality, 178.
[45] Cf. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Orationes, 18; qtd. in Directory of Consecrated Life, foot note on page 115 Spanish Edition.
[46] Saint John of the Cross, Epistolario, letter 24; qtd. in Directory of Consecrated Life, 92.
[47] Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, The True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 265.
[48] Directory of Spirituality, 84.
[49] Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, The True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 257. qtd. in Directory of Spirituality, 307.
[50] Cf. Constitutions, 31.
[51] Saint John Paul II, General Audience, 9 November 1994. [Translated from Spanish].
[52] Cf. Constitutions, 18.
[53] Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th., I, 34, 3.
[54] 2 Cor 3:17.
[55] Constitutions, 30.
[56] Cf. Constitutions, 74.
[57] Directory of Spirituality, 238; Saint John Paul II, Address to the Bishops of Mali, March 26, 1988; OR (4/24/1988) Spanish Edition; cf. Saint John Paul II, Discourse to the International Council of the Bishop of Our Lady, September 19, 1979; OR (9/30/1979).
[58] Directory of Spirituality, 239.
[59] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 111.
[60] Paul VI, Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, 88; cf. Directory of Ecumenism, 106.
[61] Constitutions, 222.
[62] Constitutions, 223.
[63] Constitutions, 227.
[64] Directory of Evangelization of the Culture, 62.
[65] Directory of Spirituality, 29.
[66] Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Elevations, 33, 34 and 36.
[67] Directory of Spirituality, 30.
[68] John 1:14.
[69] Constitutions, 254; 257.
[70] Cf. Directory of Minor Seminaries, 28.
[71] Constitutions, 89.
[72] Directory of Minor Seminaries, 27.
[73] Directory of Religious Brothers, 38; op. cit. CCC, c. 663.
[74] Cf. Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 172.
[75] Directory of Spirituality, 16.
[76] Cf. Constitutions, 17.
[77] Saint Louis Orione, Letters, I, 99; OR (7/24/1992), 1 Spanish Edition.
[78] Saint Louis Orione, Letter of July 1, 1936.
[79] Constitutions, 211.
[80] Saint John Paul II, Discourse during the Prayer Meeting in Toronto, September 15, 1984; OR (9/30/1984) Spanish Edition. Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 244.
[81] Directory of Spirituality, 28.
[82] Saint Augustine, Exposition on the Book of Psalms, 26, 2, 2. CCL 38,154 ff. Cf. Directory of Consecrated Life, 350.
[83] Directory of Spirituality, 304.
[84] Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.
[85] Directory of Spirituality, 278.
[86] Paul VI, Homily during the Closing of the Holy Year, December 25, 1975; AAS 68 145.
[87] Constitutions, 174.
[88] Directory of the Works of Mercy, 15.
[89] Ibidem.
[90] Cf. Directory of the Works of Mercy, 17.
[91] Ibidem.
[92] Directory of the Works of Mercy, 18.
[93] Directory of the Evangelization of the Culture, 155.
[94] Cf. Ibidem.
[95] Constitutions, 194.
[96] Cf. Directory of the Works of Mercy, 18.
[97] Cf. Directory of the Works of Mercy, 70.
[98] Directory of the Evangelization of the Culture, 62; op. cot. Cf. Deus Caritas est, 22.
[99] Directory of the Works of Mercy, 70.
[100] Directory of the Evangelization of the Culture, 156.
[101] Benedict XVI, Discourse to the bishops, priests and laity participating if the IV Italian National Ecclesial Assembly, Feria de Verona (10/19/2006).
[102] 2 Cor 5:14.
[103] Saint Louis Orione, Christmas Greeting 1934.; Constitutions, 174.
[104] Redemptoris Missio, 23.
[105] Redemptoris Missio, 42.
[106] Cf. Eph 3:19.
[107] Constitutions, 166.
[108] Cf. Directory of Religious Brothers, 71.
[109] Cf. 1 Pet 1:22.
[110] Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 121.
[111] Directory of Fraternal Life, 93.
[112] Directory of Fraternal Life, 71.
[113] Sir 28:13.
[114] Directory of Fraternal Life, 74.
[115] Cf. Constitutions, 7.
[116] Constitutions, 113.
[117] Redemptoris Missio, 89.
[118] 1 Cor 13:1-3.
[119] Cf. Carlos Buela, IVE, Sacerdotes para siempre, IVE Press, New York 2011, 125. [Translated from Spanish]
[120] Directory of Fraternal Life, 82.
[121] Cf. 2 Cor 11:26.
[122] Gal 2:14.
[123] Cf. 1 John 2:19.
[124] 1 Cor 13:8.
[125] Constitutions, 96.
[126] Saint Benedict, Holy Rule, LXXII, 4-11; cited in Directory of Contemplative Life, 17.
[127] Directory of Spirituality, 212.
[128] Directory of Spirituality, 37.
[129] Cf. Ibidem.
[130] John 2:5.
