25TH YEAR OF OUR CONSTITUTIONS!

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Prot.n.2009.031

Circular Letter to the Congregation and to the Passionist Family on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Approbation of the Constitutions

Dear brothers of the Congregation and the sisters and brothers of the Passionist Family,

In 2009 we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the approbation of the Constitutions by the Holy See through the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, signed by the late Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, now the “Servant of God”.

We want to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their approbation in a spirit of faith, immersing ourselves in them once again as if we were washing ourselves in the pool of Siloam that refreshes us and heals us, giving us the capacity to open our eyes to the light of life like the man born blind in the Gospel of John (Jn. 9:1-41). Therefore I invite the Configurations, the Provinces, the Vice-Provinces, the Vicariates, the communities and the Passionist Family to celebrate this year as a special event for remembering and deepening our appreciation of the values and the contents of the Constitutions by means of studies, symposia, community meetings and special liturgies, assemblies, publications and whatever other means that might be useful in each particular setting and culture.

It is surprising how after twenty-five years the Constitutions still have the same freshness and authenticity as when they were first approved and published. They were composed through dialog, discernment and prayer during the General Chapter of 1982 that was celebrated at Sts. John and Paul, I remember the enthusiasm of the Chapter, the first one that I attended. The Constitutions were the fruit of a process that began during the years following World War II and which received significant growth with Pope John XXIII and with the celebration of Vatican Council II.

They have visible roots, not only in their inspiration, but also in the formulation of the text, in the Chapter Document that was the fruit of the General Chapter of June, 1970. In the preface to the Chapter Document which the Servant of God, Fr. Theodore Foley, addressed to the Congregation, the then Superior General wrote: “On June 19th, the 39th General Chapter completed the work that was entrusted to it by means of the “Motu proprio” entitled “Ecclesiae Sanctae” of His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, i.e. to study, in a spirit of prayer and reflection, the Rule of life that was left to us as an inheritance from our beloved Founder, St. Paul of the Cross, making the revisions that seem to be necessary and proper today for appropriate renewal of religious life in our Congregation.”

And Fr. Foley added that, overcoming “the differences of opinion in the innumerable discussions on every aspect of our life…gradually we arrived at mutual comprehension and understanding, and a fundamental agreement about the essential elements of Passionist life… This now becomes the true heart of our Rule of life, i.e. an authentic interpretation of the spirit of St. Paul of the Cross, which was first expressed in his hand-written texts, and which remains a permanent and indispensable source of inspiration.”

The Constitutions approved in 1984 have their roots in the pages written by the Founder in Castellazzo and they are alive in the Spirit who confirmed what was written in those pages and in the various versions of the Rule that written successively whether during the life of the Founder or during the centuries that followed even until today.

After the long travail that led to the approbation of the initial version of the Rule, until the final approbation of 1775, the year of his death, St. Paul of the Cross believed in the relentless energy of the Spirit and the dynamic presence of God in the history of the world and in the Church and therefore, in the Congregation.

And to offer a point of origin and a source of inspiration, the text of the Rule that was solemnly approved by Pope Pius VI in 1775 is the preface to the Constitutions and has “its own special vigour and importance for understanding the genuine inspiration and intention of the Father and Founder, and should always be kept in mind by the Religious of the Passion of Christ.” (Decree of Approbation).

The first words of the Constitutions at No. 1, Chapter 1, “The Fundamentals of our Life”, are the name of the Founder: “Saint Paul of the Cross gathered companions to live together and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all.”

And at No. 2: “Recognizing in Saint Paul of the Cross the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church with her supreme authority approved our Congregation and its Rule, and entrusted us with a mission: to preach the Gospel of the Passion by our life and apostolate…We come together therefore in apostolic communities so that we can fulfill this mission of ours by working for the coming of God’s Kingdom.”

And at No.3: “We are aware that the Passion of Christ continues in this world until He comes in glory; therefore, we share in the joys and sorrows of our contemporaries as we journey through life toward our Father. We wish to share in the distress of all, especially those who are poor and neglected; we seek to offer them comfort and to relieve the burden of their sorrow. The power of the Cross, which is the wisdom of God, gives us strength to discern and remove the causes of human suffering. For this reason, our mission aims at evangelizing others by means of the Word of the Cross. In this way, all may come to know Christ and the power of His resurrection…”

These are parts of the first three items of the Constitutions that open the horizon and serve as the basis for the eight chapters that comprise them and which are the inspiration and the rules of life for all the religious of the Congregation that live and work today in 58 nations. Furthermore, they are a point of reference for the women religious and for the laity of the Passionist Family who feel themselves called to live the charism of the Passion. Looking back on our history, and the life and apostolate of so many religious, including innumerable saints and martyrs, imbued with so much grace since the early days beginning with the Founder, I am reminded of the words of the prophet Joel: “A fountain shall spring from the house of the LORD, to water the wadi of Acacias.” (Jl.4:18); we would say: the valley of the present world. And for this we thank God because it is all a gift.

The 25th Anniversary of the approbation of the Constitutions should find us working at ascertaining whether we are still living refreshed by the waters that come to us, in continuity with the original source. The Constitutions are our patrimony: “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” (Mt.13:52)

But the heart of this patrimony and the pearl of great price for which “everything is sold” by us and to which we dedicate ourselves with great energy and love is the “Memoria Passionis”. This is the constitutive element of the Congregation and reason for our existence in the Church. It is the mandate that God has given to us and to the Passionist Family by our vocation: Call to mind! Remember! This is to be understood in the biblical sense of the command to Israel which from the very beginnings of its history lived out the experience of continually recalling the saving acts of God in the past and in anticipation of their continual renewal in the present. For us “Memoria” is making the paschal mystery the center of our life, lovingly dedicating ourselves to follow Christ Crucified and proclaiming his Passion and Death not only as an historical event of the past, but as a present reality in the life of people who are “‘crucified’ as they are by injustice, by the lack of deep respect for human life…” (Const. No. 65)

The Memoria Passionis inspires and enlightens all of the Constitutions especially the four most important chapters: Fundamentals, the Apostolate, Formation and the Constitution of the Congregation. The other teachings and norms revolve around these chapters. And the same traditional Passionist values of solitude, silence, poverty, detachment and penance--obviously in addition to prayer and meditation—are the environment, the greenhouse in which to cultivate and bring into blossom the flower of the Passion. So too the specific vow of the formula for profession -- “to recall to mind with greater love the Passion of our Lord and to promote its memory by word and deed…” (Const. No.96) -- precedes and elucidates the other three vows of religious life: “In light of this, we seek to incorporate this vow into our daily lives by living the evangelical councils.” (Const. No.6)

This 25th anniversary is an opportunity that the Spirit and history is giving us to re-read the Constitutions with new eyes and a new heart.

In his Circular Letter to the Congregation of 15 April 1985, on the occasion of the publication of the Constitutions, Bishop Paul Boyle, then Superior General wrote: “On the feast of the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion, March 2, 1984, the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes formally approved our revised Constitutions as an authentic expression of our charism and purpose in the Church. Once the Constitutions were approved there followed months of tedious work in controlling technical details such as spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and references and proofreading galley sheets of the official Latin text of the inspirational Rule, the Constitutions and our Regulations. At the same time several language commissions were hard at work translating these three documents into the vernacular.”

He invited us to receive it as “a precious text” and, among other points, he recalled what Pope John Paul II said in a special Audience with over 400 Passionists: the "new Constitutions… intend to indicate the manner of observing the Rule of Saint Paul of the Cross in the present historical situation and according to the directives of the recent Council and the new Code of Canon Law."

The Circular Letter of Paul Boyle further stated: “This Rule and these Constitutions should be received in a profound spirit of faith. We firmly believe, indeed it is fundamental to our commitment, that these approved texts express the Will of God in our regard.” And he continued: “Every document issuing from the Church has a human author, often a small group of persons. But we all recognize that it would be a serious lack of faith to view these documents exclusively or primarily as the work of a particular individual or commission. Such documents come from the Church.”

This 25th Anniversary is an occasion to review and become familiar with the development and the richness of the charism in the Constitutions and in the wider context of the history of the Congregation. These have been studied in depth in timely and specific publications, books, symposia, congresses and reviews, and also in various issues of the series entitled: “Studies in Passionist History and Spirituality” that were sent to the communities.

This Anniversary offers us an opportunity to also reflect on the particular time period in which we are living out the process of Restructuring which has as its goal to give renewed vitality to the Congregation. We are at the mid-point in this process of crossing over; we are in the middle of the river and we have to get to other shore. The period in which we are living is very fragile because, enlightened by solidarity, we are moving toward reconfiguring ourselves into something new. Solidarity in the various areas of formation, personnel and finances will allow us to share wealth and poverty and to reciprocally reach out to one another in order to be mutually enriched.

Frequently, during General Chapters, Synods, in our communities and in personal conversations we have asked ourselves: what would St. Paul of the Cross think about the Congregation considering the problems of today’s world and the realities in which the Congregation is living in its historical areas and in those recently established areas? Would he remain inert or would he theorize about solutions and new possibilities in order to revive fraternal life in the communities and greater effectiveness in ministry? The Restructuration would be an answer to these questions. It is an arduous task and we know this; but we are moving ahead with faith, with prayer and with great courage and trust in the Lord. One can also choose to remain in Egypt; but Promised Land of new spiritual energy and effective planning would remain far away, beyond the Red Sea of inertia. It may seem to be wise and prudent to preserve what little we have; the talents can be buried in the ground. But in the parable, the Lord called that servant “wicked, lazy” and took away his talent and he had him thrown out into the darkness. Instead he rewarded the servant who was trustworthy and faithful, who dared to risk his own five talents. (Mt. 15:14-30) Life is conquered by faith! Faith generates life as in Abram, in Mary and in the miracles of Jesus.

We trust that the leaven of the “Memoria Passionis” will enliven the search for the will of God and the lantern of faith and hope placed on the lamp stand of the communities, of the Synods and on the lamp stand of next General Chapter will illumine our way and the choices we have to make.

I would like to conclude with the act of faith in No.2 of the Constitutions: “Confident that God will help us to overcome our human limitations, we are determined to remain faithful to the patrimony and evangelical spirit of our Founder.” Amen.

Rome – Sts. John and Paul
2 March 2009





Fr. Ottaviano D’Egidio, CP
Superior General