Symposium on the Filotea

This morning at the UPS we celebrated the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales (summer 1609) with a symposium.

Speakers at today's seminar: Eunan McDonnell, Valentín Viguera, Anne-Marie Baud, Joseph Boenzi, Eugenio Albuquerque, Moran Wirth, Aldo Giraudo

 It is almost two years ago that Aldo Giraudo and I began to speak of this and to plan for it. Originally my suggestion was for a scholars seminar, similar to what takes place in Stella Niagara every second year. Aldo and I contacted Salesians who study Francis de Sales and invited them to take part. We got a good response.

When the word reached the Formation Department at the Salesian General Headquarters, the formation councilor, don Francesco Cereda, invited all the formation houses of the Salesian family in Rome to attend. Thus, instead of a three day scholars' seminar, we were slated to give a one-day formation workshop with the scholars making their contributions.

And then… to complicate things a bit, the outgoing rector of the Salesian Pontifical University, don Mario Toso, was appointed secretary of the Vatican Commission on Justice and Peace, and named Archbishop. This afternoon is his ordination at St Peter's. This meant that we had to cut the seminar down to the morning.

Eight interventions in four hours? We did it, with over 300 people in attendance. It was all received very well, but of course we are all reeling from the intensity of it. At this point, most are hurrying off to St Peter's for an episcopal ordination. Aldo and I have just caucused to discuss publishing the Acts of this seminar… but we also intend just to bring some of the speakers into Rome this evening for a little tourist relaxation and a thank you supper in the old city.

Since it is all about the Introduction to the Devout Life, we will have to order something that is made with honey.

The just shall flourish like the palm tree

St Joseph has always been an important saint in my family. My paternal grandfather and grandmother were both named for St Joseph and 19 March was always the occasion for my father to take us all to their home, armed with le zeppole di san Giuseppe (a special southern Italian pastry made only for the feast of St Joseph). My grandparents celebrated this day more than their birthdays (which they really did not celebrate) and, since I was named for them, this was the day that I celebrated. I soon figured out that St Joseph was worth a lot more than my birthdate, and so this day became special to me.

In all the years that I passed this feast in Italy, it was always a very important feast day. For Italians, it is Fathers Day. For the Salesians, it is the feast of the lay Salesians… On this feast in 2007, there were 8 of us in the Gesù Maestro community that celebrated this day as our own. The memory of it keeps me glowing still.

So this year at Don Bosco Hall, we celebrated the day in great style… and there are three of us with the name. I had the sense that it was like my birthday also because the wishes were directed toward me. I am grateful for it all…

St Francis de Sales not only had special devotion to St Joseph; he was one of the first, along with St Teresa of Jesus, to promote this devotion. Since I was the principal celebrant at the community mass this morning, I was looking for some words from our St Francis about St Joseph. Only later in the day did I find something that a friend sent to me. It comes from the Spiritual Conferences.

In Conference XIX, St. Francis de Sales made the following observation about the virtues of St. Joseph:

St. Joseph is most justly said to resemble the palm tree, for he was always constant, persevering, strong and valiant. There is a distinction to be made among these virtues. We call people constant when they remain firm and are prepared to suffer the assaults of the enemy, without surprise or loss of courage during combat. Perseverance has chiefly to do with a certain weariness of mind which comes upon us when we have suffered a long time, and this weariness is as powerful an enemy as we can meet: perseverance enables us to disregard this enemy by a continual calmness and submission to the will of God. Strength makes us vigorously resist the attacks of our enemies, and valor is a virtue that makes us not only hold ourselves in readiness to fight or to offer resistance when the occasion presents itself, but also to attack the enemy at the moment when our adversary least expects it.

Wishing one and all a very happy feast of St Joseph (buona festa di papà).

Retreat day with Don Rua Community at Sacrofano

The new director of Don Rua Community, Fr Jose Chunkapura, invited me to facilitate the trimester retreat for his community today. The retreat day was held at Sacrofano, at the Fraterna Domus. This was my third trip to this center.

Fraterna Casa preserves the natural environment to offer a place for prayer, reflection, study and fellowship as an innovative retreat center

The Fraterna Domus is called a Casa dell’Accoglienza (a hospitality house) rather than a retreat center. In reality, it is like an entire village. As usually happens, we left the UPS at 8.30 and reached Sacrofano by 9.00. The director had asked me to give a conference in the morning on Don Bosco in the Salesian constitutions. I gave this talk in the morning. That was followed by quiet time, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 11.30, dinner at 13.00, group sharing at 15.00, Mass at 17.00, followed by evening prayer.

Roman woods at Sacrofano

As I just said, I gave the morning talk. I also facilitated the group sharing, and presided and preached at the mass, which was the liturgy of the last Saturday of the liturgical year.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Don Rua Community at Prayer

In my talk I centered on Don Bosco’s efforts to give the Salesian Society the constitutions in accordance with the standards and demands of the Church during the years of the founding experience. The fact that he had to revise the constitutions repeatedly became a learning process for him. He began to realize that the norms were important, but that it was crucial to name the spirit that animated his emerging community. This experience was similar to that of all the great founders, and in a particular way, to that of Francis de Sales who gave the first community of the Visitation of Holy Mary not only the constitutions but also the directory.

Village of Sacrofano. In the distance you can see Roma. The minaret of the Great Mosque at Parioli and the cupola of St Peter’s Baslica stand out… okay, you need extremely good eyes!

Don Bosco’s original purposes risked dissolving when the revision of Canon Law in 1917 meant a more juridical interpretation of religious documents such as constitutions and regulations. The call of Vatican II to religious and consecrated persons to “return to the spirit of the founder” offered the Salesians the opportunity to rethink the constitutions. The re-writing of these moved them away from language of dry demands to become an exhortation. In fact, there is more of Don Bosco to be found the constitutions today than in the official text between 1917 and 1971.

Roman pines and park within the grounds of Fraterna Domus

In my mind, these are all known facts. However, the bulk of the Salesian priests on this retreat were born in the 1970s. The only constitutions that they have ever known are those approved in 1984, which are the fruit of the long effort to renew religious life in the spirit of Vatican II. They did not know the history, and they did not know the stories of what Don Bosco went through to found the Salesian Family, and what the Salesians have gone through to faithfully bring the Salesian Family into changed times and new cultural realities.

Fraterna Domus is built as a series of buildings of various sizes, with rooms for hospitality, for group work, for conferences, and for worship. Each has its own character

At this point, I do not yet know how all this was received by the Don Rua community. They seemed happy and were certainly responsive. Yet, since the day was spent in silence, it is hard to tell what they really felt about it. On the other hand, I was happy to have the down time too. It rained off and on most of the day, but I wandered around the grounds of Fraterna Domus, through the woods and around the porticoes. I listened to podcasts from Vatican Radio, and let my imagination flow.

Don Albino Ronco, Paul Rabha (India) and Paolo Liu-Qing-Chun (China) in group sharing

Following the Eucharist we celebrated the Evening Prayer. We could not integrate them into the mass because we did the Saturday liturgy, but with Vespers we move to the opening of the next day… that is Sunday… and the first Sunday of Advent. The prayers were well done; the music helped involved everyone, and we ended the day with the sun down and hearts at peace. The return trip to Rome and the UPS went very well, in spite of the rain.

And at the evening meal with my Gesù Maestro community, I heard thay they enjoyed their retreat day at Salesianum, in via della Pisana. We can now turn our thoughts toward Advent and the Christmas season.

Padre Rafael Montenegro (Venezuela) chats with director Fr Jose Chunkapura (India) over a cup of coffee before leaving Sacrofano after the retreat day.

Rainy day and some art to appreciate

This afternoon the storm became more intense than in the morning. The downpour was continuous. The thunder and lighting were very loud and alarmingly close. It remained dark most of the day.

But there were some bright elements. Aldo Giraudo showed me one of his latest artistic finds. It is the bozzetto of a painting by Mario Caffaro Rore of St Francis de Sales… bozzetto being the first draft or rough sketch of a work. Some artists do this in charcoal or pencil. Caffaro Rore (1910-2001) used make his preliminary sketches by painting on a small wooden board or on masonite, as in this case from the looks of it. This draft was on sale in Torino, and Aldo bought it for €400 this past summer. The final product is in the chapel of the Salesian Sisters in Chieri.

In fact, Aldo has been telling me about this great find of his for months, and he was quite excited in showing me the actual piece. I became excited too when I saw it. As Aldo pointed out the intricacies of the bozzetto, I reached for my little camera and tried to make a few photographs.

In this painting of Francis made for the Salesian Sisters, the saint is depicted at his desk, plume pen in hand, body posture intense and at work, but his face turned toward the viewer. It is a Francis de Sales composing the Treatise on the Love of God, or writing a letter of spiritual direction. He is every bit the master, ready to teach; he is the founder of a school of Christian life, ready to direct. The painting is magnificent and classical, but immediate as it brings us into the saint’s environs.

Last year Aldo was able to purchase another Caffaro Rore’s bozzetto. The subject, again, is Francis de Sales. The destination for this piece was Tempio Don Bosco, the church on the birthplace of St John Bosco at the Becchi (Colle Don Bosco). Aldo has had this piece framed, and it is now in the chapel of the provincial community of the UPS, which is named Comunità San Francesco di Sales (St Francis de Sales Community).

This painting destined for Colle Don Bosco is very different from the one done for the Salesian Sisters in Chieri. Francis de Sales is again at his desk, but desk and writer are almost lifted up into heaven by strong, angel youths. Francis looks up to the sky (not to the viewer) with astonishment and joy. This is a moment of contemplation — of mystical union. The pen is suspended as Francis contemplates Divine Love. To look at this depiction, the viewer almost feels the urge to remain there, gazing with Francis at a loveliness that cannot be described but that can only be fathomed deeply in the heart and soul.

Well I say this because I have seen the actual painting several times, and my experience has been that I have never wanted to tear myself away from it. I would have rather loved to jump into the canvas and let myself be lifted up with Francis by those same angels to see what he sees in that moment of fascination, of mystery and of mysticism.

Ahhhhhhhh … incredible.

So now, thanks to Aldo, we have a little piece of these Salesian wonders on our university campus.

Finally, let me just make the note that Mario Caffaro Rore studied art history under don Alberto Caviglia, a great Salesian historian. Don Caviglia called upon the young Caffaro Rore to collaborate in recreating the image of Dominic Savio based on family photographs of his siblings (there were no photos of Dominic, who died in 1857).

Caffaro Rore’s 1940 portrait of Dominic became the standard by which all later images have been based. Through the 1950s until his death, Mario Caffaro Rore painted many works for the Salesian family in churches and in residences throughout Italy. If I call him a Salesian artist, it is done advisedly.

John Roche defends his thesis

This afternoon John Roche successfully defended his thesis. The theme he chose was Spiritual Accompaniment. The Salesian Pontifical University has awarded John with the Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) and is now qualified to teach theology. He will join the teaching team at the Institute of Salesian Studies at Don Bosco Hall in Berkeley.

Accompaniment? Is that about music? What is spiritual accompaniment?

Ah… you will have to read John’s thesis to find out! (j/k). It is a way of considering spiritual direction in the style and spirit of St Francis de Sales and the praxis of St John Bosco. Instead of sitting impartial in the role of spiritual guru, the Salesian guides those seeking spiritual direction by walking with them, journeying alongside them… and in the process, experiences everything of the same journey.

John entitled his thesis: The Salesian Youth Spirituality of Accompaniment: Fr. Juan Vecchi’s Vision of Youth Spirituality for a New Moment. However, in the course of the writing, John opened up three areas of investigation. I thought that he could have reduced all this to one, because he has the topics of three different theses really. Throughout the writing and correcting, he attempted to narrow it down, narrow it down… but in the end he wanted to be comprehensive in all this.

Well the defense went well, as I said. John had a huge group following the exchange, so much so that we had to move the examination to a bigger room. John was very articulate as well, and did extremely well on the oral examination. My own thought is that he will have a lot of material from this thesis that he can develop into courses for the ISS when he gets there for the Autumn Term.

Great work, John! Congratulations.

Annecy retreat - Thorens and La Roche

Today on the retreat, Fr Morand Wirth led us through the first day according to Part Five of the Devout Life in his morning conference. In the afternoon, we took a tour of the birthplace of St Francis de Sales (Thorens) and the town of La Roche, where he had his early schooling.

Birthplace of St Francis de Sales

Thorens - Salesianum: the first stop in the talking tour or retreat pilgrimage was the birthplace of St Francis de Sales. Nothing remains of the original chateau, burned during the 30 years war. Over the site of the place where the master bedroom stood is now a chapel to commemorate the birth of our saint. It is a bit of a disappointment for us, but the best we can have now, 400 years later. It brings home the undrstanding that these placid hills were outraged by generations of wars. So if we could not visit the actual home of the child Francis, at least we can stand on the same spot.

Saint Maurice, Thorens

Church of Saint Maurice, parish church of Thorens. It is here that Francis de Sales was baptized on 28 August 1567. He chose to be ordained bishop in this same church. This took place on 8 December 1602.

Thorens: Monument to St Francis de Sales

Just beside the parish church is a simple monument to St Francis de Sales. It serves as a welcome sign to the town and divides the town's principal street. Among the monuments to Francis de Sales, it is quite simple and, for this reason, also quite lovely.

The De Sales Family Castle

Salesianum: this is the name of the home of the De Sales Family. It is also known as Chateau De Sales, and it is a real castle. This terrain and structure predates the arrival of the De Sales Family to Thorens. It was orginally a fortress, built to defend the valley from the onslaught of the French. Francis' father and uncle were responsible for this line of defense in the years after Savoy regained its independence in 1559. Francis' younger brother Louis de Sales, also a military man, secured this castle as the family home. After the birthplace of Francis and his brothers and sisters was destroyed by fire during the Thirty-Years War, this became the main residence for the de Sales family, and remained so until just a year ago when the last descendent of Louis de Sales died. His widow has closed it to the public in the past year.

La Roche-sur-Furon

La Roche is a town of medieval origins, rich in history and significance for Savoy. It is today the tenth city in size and influence in Haute Savoie. It is also the town where Francis de Sales and his three cousins received their primary schooling. The parish church has an onion dome. This is a sign that the townspeople fought with Napoleon in the campaign against Russia. Napoleon lost the war and many in his empire lost their lives, but the onion-dome belltowers still proclaim the heroism of the townspeople. It is, I suppose, a consolation prize.

The house of Francesca Romana

Before it slips out of my memory, I want to record something about a little expedition that a number of us SDBs and FMAs took on Sunday, March 5th.

It was a simple thing, really: after dinner (Romans have their main meal at mid-day), a small group of us caught the bus to downtown Rome and met a group of FMA at the Tomb of the Unknowns (L'altare della patria) in Piazza Venezia. From there we rounded the corner, moving to the right of the monuments of the unknowns (20th Century), past the Ara Coeli (a church of the 4th Century built on the remains of a temple dedicated by Caesar Augustus 15 years before the birth of Christ), past the Capidoglio (the municipal center of Rome, designed by Michelangelo in the 16th Century), to a monastery built at "Tor de' Specchi" by a widow named Francesca de' Leoni Ponziani in 1425.

This widow is known to the Romans as "Ceccolela", but to the rest of the world as Francesca Romana (or in English: "St Frances of Rome"). I found this painting (at right) of her by Gentileschi (painted in 1615). Although she lived to a ripe old age, she is always depicted as a young woman.

Ceccolela gathered a group of women at the time of the plagues and organized relief for the poor and sick of the city of Rome when civic and church leadership was too inept to do anything. She also created a community of women that included widows and mothers of families who acted as a support group to one another and to their families in the years of chaos that was the 15th Century. The group of laywomen prayed the liturgy together, and eventually became a semi-religious community, but with the freedom of the women (who were all called "mothers" and not "sisters") to care for their families whenever needed. St Frances of Rome's feastday, by the way, is tomorrow: 9 March.

But why did we go to see the house of Ceccolela? Because in 1878-1879, when Don Bosco was visiting Rome to try to complete the regulations and gain approval for the Salesian Cooperators, he found lodging in a house owned by the "mothers" of St Frances of Rome, right across the street from the monastery of the "Oblates", as they are also called. He went there because the Oblates of Frances of Rome had heard about his work among the street kids of Turin as early at 1850, and they had been instrumental in getting support for him from many parts of Italy. So, on the feast of St Francis de Sales, in January 1879, the first ever meeting of the Salesian Cooperators took place -- and it took place in the chapel of the monastery built by St Frances of Rome, in the presence also of her community.

From that experience, Don Bosco not only launched the Cooperators in their organizational structure, he also launched the Cooperators on the national scene in Italy, and on the international scene, since a number of ambassadors to the Holy See and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome also participated in that first "Conference of St Francis de Sales".

The house where don Bosco stayed later became the first residence of the Salesians, who came to Rome permanently two years later. That same house, by the way, was also the place where St Francis de Sales and his brother stayed on their first visit to Rome in 1599. Unfortunately, the house no longer exists. Mussolini tore it down to beautify Rome and liberate area around the Roman Forum so that archeologists could do their work. The only thing that remains of the house is the front steps, which were incorporated into a stair that climbs the Palotine Hill. But the monastery of "Tor de' Specchi" remains…

Okay -- too long a post, but tomorrow is the feast of St Frances of Rome. In Rome it is very festive in spite of Lent. On this day it will be good to remember that the Cooperator Salesians got their start in the house of his mighty widow and mother and mystic who not only gave herself to save the poor, but organized a great force of laywomen to make a social and religious impact on their ancient city that was falling into ruin. It seems to me that her family concerns and lay activisim inspired Francis de Sales and Don Bosco both in their own missions; and in their admiration for her, they make her a model of Salesian laity and family people.

St Thomas

Celebrating the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas today in a very intellectual way by correcting examinations in the area of theology. Okay, that's not completely true. We had a nice community liturgy this morning, and I was struck by the prayers in Italian as Thomas was described for as someone who always sought the truth while giving himself deeply to the love of God and the love of neighbor. I also heard a little report on Vatican Radio that told of Thomas giving himself to popular preaching throughout Italy (that, in other words, he did not simply remain in the professor's chair in Paris all his life). That was refreshing to hear.

For all of that, I did manage to send off greetings to the faculty members at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) back in Berkeley.

Yesterday, while researching in the library on a different topic, I found a quotation from Francis de Sales regarding Thomas: "St Thomas is the great star of theology and a model of humility" (Treatise, book 10, chap. 16). Now that is really wonderful imagery!

Feast of Francis de Sales

Today, the 24th of January, is the feast of Francis de Sales. We had a festive mass this morning in community, and now all the students of the UPS are getting in one last day of cramming before exams start tomorrow. I presided at our community liturgy and invoked the memory of Francis' student years in Padua: "I studied law to please my father, and theology to please myself". Since we have people studying canon law, education and theology in our house, I figured that covered everyone. Hopefully, they are embracing today what Francis called the Eighth Sacrament: study!