INSTRUCTION II
THE CONSTITUTIONS: LAW AND SPIRIT
Means for the Retreat
We need a special light and grace of the Holy Spirit as we begin this present reflection. Let us ask it of
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Mary, our Mother, Teacher and Queen; and of Saint Paul, our Father, Teacher and Protector.
Far back in our memories of holy days we experienced a quite special fervor: it was the dawning prospect of a life dedicated wholly to God and to others, a rich harvest of merits, the daily sacrifice of our lives - all in view of a magnificent mansion in heaven. No longer were we reduced to do what is indispensable for salvation - the observance of the commandments. We asked instead for what is perfect, and because we wanted to be perfect, we took up the invitation, leave everything, come and follow me.
To this end: there are natural means,
there are Christian means,
there are religious means, and
there are priestly means.
To each series of duties there are corresponding graces and rewards.
We wanted the maximum. Well then, let us joyfully embrace the book of the Constitutions, kiss it and meditate on it, for herein are set out the best means to achieve the optimam partem,1 which is holiness. Total faith, buoyant hope, and loving zeal will have us accept in saintlike joy every article of the way of perfection. We will gladly give God everything in order to get everything in return! our life running always on high voltage power!
Obligations and guidelines
Before undertaking these longer spiritual exercises I thought it proper to ask for an audience with the Pope and thus guarantee us
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his paternal blessing. So characteristic of him in things both big and small, he gave it wholeheartedly. I likened it to the patriarchs of old blessing their sons.
If the main purpose of these exercises is to upgrade our life to the Constitutions, we need to read them and meditate on them, and then bring our thoughts and our whole life into conformity with them. The Constitutions outline our particular way of life as regards our spirit, study, apostolate, and poverty.
Every religious Institute, whatever it is called (Order, Family, Congregation) is always a society. Thus it requires a rule. People with high ideals come together to achieve a determined goal, viribus unitis,2 under an authority which organizes their potential. If not, it is better to work as individuals. As the saying goes: Serva ordinem, et ordo servabit te.3
To train the aspirant means, first and foremost, to introduce him to poverty, scrupulousness and obedience; to our Pauline prayer life and apostolate; fortiter et suaviter, attingens a fine usque ad finem,4 just like a mother acts with a child she wants to grow up healthy and strong.
The first two articles are the basic ones, the others are explanations and practical applications. It helps to read the last chapter first.
How do the Constitutions oblige? It is a grave mistake to propose, as a general principle, that the Constitutions do not oblige under pain of sin.
Art. 458. In the present Constitutions: 1. The prescripts which refer to divine and ecclesiastical laws, retain their own obligations, as usual.
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For example: all the commandments, the Christian virtues, work, avoiding sin and the occasions of sin, daily Mass, the Visit, the Rosary, the Breviary; all the canonical prescriptions that regard admission to the Novitiate, how it is regulated, professions, departures, studies for the candidates to the priesthood, ordinations; and in general all the canons of Canon Law from n. 499 to n. 672; because religious life is, in reality, regulated by the Church. Of the 463 articles of the Constitutions, over 300 are ecclesiastical laws, which fall under obligation.
2. The prescripts which concern the vows, as they define their remote and proximate matter, and point out the manner of observing them, oblige in virtue of the vows themselves.
Consequently, articles 104 to 151 which refer to the vows, their matter, and their observance, receive their binding force from the vows themselves of poverty, chastity and obedience. For example: the arrangements regarding cloister, the way of administering goods, the monthly meetings of priests and brothers, the residence of the superiors, common life, role assignments, drawing up financial reports, and so on.
3. The prescriptions bearing upon the government of the house as well as those defining the necessary performance of it, or the duties and offices by which it is exercised, insofar as general statutes are concerned, or those prescripts which determine and consecrate the nature and special end of the Society, oblige in conscience according to the gravity of the matter.
For example: the elections of the Superior General, the Councillors general, Procurator, Bursar general, Secretary general, Provincials, local Superiors, Masters
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of Novitiates, censors for books; everything that concerns our apostolate, its organization, our pastoral-oriented productions - magazines, books and films - marketing, technical work, and so on; the duties of the major and local Superiors… All this constitutes at least 85 per cent of the articles of the Constitutions, which oblige in conscience, because they contain either divine or ecclesiastical laws, or those of Canon Law.
4. Prescripts merely disciplinary or ascetic, which are not covered by the foregoing rules, by themselves do not oblige directly under pain of sin although they may constitute matter of both the vow and virtue of obedience. However, transgression, even of the least of them, out of formal contempt, constitutes a sin. And if the transgression is committed for an evil motive or purpose, or gives scandal, or serves to promote laxity in the religious life, a sin is likewise committed against the virtues concerned in each particular case.
For example: the community and particular notices for the day, vacations, games, orderliness in things and activities, the way of praying, and so on.
Formal contempt can be internal or openly manifest, in word or in deed, either for the matter concerned or for the person giving the order. Such transgressions can often lead to laxity or scandal in young people. Neglect of disciplinary or ascetic prescriptions ends up, generally, undermining the commitment and basic duty of religious life, which is perfection. If this is the basic and prime duty there is also the obligation to use the means to achieve it.
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In Italy, incidentally, at the beginning of the Institute, the study of liturgy and the participation of the faithful in the liturgy was almost unknown, even though there was a missal translation available, published in another country. Our students, with great good will, set to and prepared our own Missal, which has now had several reprints, and is judged the best among those published in the meantime.
Nonetheless, while a worthy place is to be given to liturgical prayer, the various forms of personal prayer, especially the meditation, the examination of conscience and the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, must not be neglected.
The soul of the Constitutions
The articles of the Constitutions are cold and bare. What they need is a soul. This soul was given to them with the composing of prayers, chaplets and instructions as are found in our prayer book. Love them and recite them with all your heart; little by little the spirit of the Congregation will take over your mind.
The articles that establish the prayer practices for each day, week, month and year retain the whole of their value.
The manner of carrying them out, instead, can be an ascetic prescription. Even so, it has its importance, because it always considers prayer life as a means for living Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life; while not having, each and every time, the obligatory nature of the other articles. Nonetheless, overall, it too obliges in conscience.
Without exception, the best praise and summing up of a religious is that he is observant. Contrariwise, if one has to say that he is not observant it would be the total condemnation of a religious as such.
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Art. 459. The Apostolic See alone enjoys the power to render an authentic interpretation of the Constitutions. However, Superiors, for just causes, and each in proportion to his authority, can exempt, temporarily, individual members, or the entire community, if it is a question of a major Superior, from the observance of some prescripts of the Constitutions in matters merely disciplinary.
Art. 460. No one is permitted to pass out the present Constitutions to persons outside the Congregation without the permission of the major Superior.
Art. 461. The Constitutions must be read publicly in each house in such a manner that, at least once a year, they are gone through completely. Superiors ought also to foster diligently the private reading of them.
Art. 462. Long established practices and customs which are according to the nature and purpose of the Society are to be held in honor and faithfully observed by all religious members.
Authentic interpretation is reserved to the Holy See.
Treat dispensations from the prescriptions like the plague. Moreover, minimize requests to the Holy See for dispensations regarding age, admission to Professions and Ordinations, and so on. The consequences would be quite distressing; it would diminish esteem for and the observance of the very Constitutions which, in turn, would imperceptibly lead to general neglect and disorder, and thus the best fruits of religious life would be lost. Fidelity assures the blessing of God, dependability, the spirit of discipline and the very joy of religious life.
The Constitutions are to be read in public every year, or during the spiritual exercises. Or again, some articles can be
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read each day before the meditation, or at other times, for example, as spiritual reading.
Having considered the articles individually and as a whole, their spirit and interpretation, and their consequences, we could well ask which articles do not oblige under pain of sin. In the instructions, particularly during novitiate, do not leave any uncertainty, or allow people's consciences to be upset; everything is to be explained clearly, and all doubts dispelled.
As regards article 462. On the monthly day of recollection, it is a practice and custom that the group Master himself or the house superior should give the sermons, at least the final one. This is a more practical instruction and acts as a moral balance sheet of the past month and a preview for the incoming month. The Master is, moreover, to listen to all those who present themselves spontaneously, or to call those in greater need.
The sure way
The Directory, which clarifies the meaning and the spirit of the Constitutions, also sets out our traditional uses and customs.
Art. 463. The Constitutions contain for us the certain will of God and point out to us the secure and necessary path to attain sanctity (Canons 488, 1; 593), which is the sole purpose and reason of the religious state. Hence, all the members should strive to conform their whole life to the norms of the Constitutions which they must hold in great esteem, be familiar with, and observe faithfully. Upon this fidelity depends to a great extent not only the progress of everyone, but the prosperity and growth of the Society as well. Wherefore, not
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so much the fear of sin and punishment should impel all the members to the exact, faithful, and constant observance of them, but rather the desire and eagerness for their own personal perfection, the love of God and of Our Lord Jesus Christ as well as the love of the Society, always mindful of the divine promise: You who have left all, and have followed me, will receive a hundredfold and will possess life everlasting.
Thus the Constitutions are the sure way. We can err; but the Holy See does not.
When the Constitutions are presented for the nulla osta, they are examined in various ways and by several people; likewise for the Decree of Praise5 and the definitive approval; the examiners have already the result of the experiments made and the letters of recommendation of the Ordinary where there is at least one house. When the Constitutions are consigned to the Institute, suitably revised and corrected, it is the voice of the Vicar of Christ who speaks as Supreme Superior of Religious. He says with the facts: Here is your way of holiness, follow it faithfully. Moreover, he recognizes that the Institute is useful to the Church and its people, in accordance with the times. At this point, the Founder steps aside and the Holy See steps in as Supreme Moderator. This gives complete assurance to the newly-professed member who has recited the formula of his consecration to God in our beloved Congregation. The Superior who has received this profession declares: And I, in the name of the Lord, declare that if you remain faithful, you will receive a hundredfold and you will possess eternal life.
Once we make profession, the Constitutions become our one way of sanctification. What is done contrary to them, or even just outside of them, is against God's will
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or outside of God's will. On the day of eternal recompense God will pay only what is in conformity with his will. Beware, then, of the magni passus extra viam,6 even if we believe that they are more useful and necessary than what the Constitutions teach. You cannot follow a subjective morality or asceticism depending on the situation, the moment, or on what is better. This is a grave error! The best is within the Rule, always. An example: Are you free to administer independently, as you see fit? No! it has to be sub ductu et dependentia superioris.7 Likewise for the way of governing, and so on.
Once we make profession, the principle we hold as valid for all practical reasoning is the si vis esse perfectus,8 which is the raison d'être of the Religious State.
The Rule for everyone; the whole Rule.
The Rule for Superiors and subjects: always and everywhere.
Live the spirit of the Institute. The prayer that Jesus recited for all the members of the Church, ut unum sint,9 is just as valid for the Pauline Family. Such union is accomplished by conforming our lives to the Constitutions in every house and in every country.
The spirit of the Institute
The spirit of an Institute is defined as such a characteristic and stable way of seeing, experiencing and desiring, that we reproduce it in our way of living. It comes down, basically, to this: to live wholly the Gospel of Jesus Christ Way, Truth and Life, as interpreted by Saint Paul, under the gaze of Mary, Mother, Teacher and Queen. The Congregation is not confined to national borders. Once an Institute becomes iuris pontificii, that is, directly subject to the Pope, it assumes universality. You no longer look to see where the Congregation originated. In Italy, Institutes originating
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in Canada, Spain and France are freely welcomed - all of them, once they are recognized by the Church. Is it the case not to accept the Gospel because Jesus was a Jew? Or because he was born of Mary, a Jewess? Would we refuse the Letters of Saint Paul because he is a Jew? We are duty-bound to show affection for the people of our country of origin. To give them Jesus Christ Way, Truth and Life and to bring them the riches of the Congregation is a sign of true, supernatural and dutiful affection. But Jesus sent his Apostles out with these words: Go and make disciples of all nations [Mt 28:19]; Saint Paul, become Magister gentium,10 lived for this bidding and died for it.
Our Constitutions are among the best; from the finest that were consulted we took what was best. And I must say that if I had found something better, more suited to the times, either as regards prayer life or the apostolate, I would have introduced it. To you, dearly beloved, I have proposed the best; I have tried - how to put it? - to prepare the table with the richest fare; and the Holy See has given it its highest seal.
There are articles, in the latest edition, which are marked with an asterisk. These set out the latest proposals, ad experimentum, for twelve years. After that trial period it will be judged whether to make them definitive or not.
DECREE OF APPROVAL
(N. 5611-38 A. 77)
The Pious Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, on the 10th of May 1941, was granted the Decretum Laudis11 and the approval of its Constitutions, for a period of seven years, by way of probation.
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The growth and the success of the Society during this period of time, its sound structure, the spirit of religious perfection by which its members are animated, the apostolic zeal with which the religious members pursue its special aim, are also manifested by the letters of recommendation of the Bishops of the Dioceses in which houses exist. The Society, indeed, is producing abundant fruits for the good of the Church, not only in the countries of Europe, but of America and Asia as well, especially by extending the Apostolate of Communications, namely, the press, the motion picture, and the radio for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of Catholic doctrine throughout the world.
Moreover, the Superior General and his Council have submitted the Constitutions to the Apostolic See for examination - with several additional articles and a few modifications - humbly petitioning the approval of the Society together with its Constitutions.
Therefore, our Most Holy Father Pius XII, by Divine Providence Pope, in an audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Luigi Lavitrano, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious Affairs, on the 27th day of June 1949, considering the abundance of salutary fruits which the Pious Society of Saint Paul the Apostle has produced; having studied also the letters of recommendation of the Most Reverend Bishops of the Dioceses in which houses of the Society exist; and having approved the vote of the Committee of the Most Eminent Consultors, has graciously vouchsafed to approve the aforementioned Society under the government of the Superior General; and also to grant definitive approbation and confirmation to the Constitutions, written in the Latin language, as they are drawn up in this copy - namely the Latin text - whose authentic original is kept in the Archives of the Sacred Congregation; and therefore, by the tenor of the present Decree, the Society
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itself and its Constitutions are approved and confirmed without prejudice, however, to the jurisdiction of the local Ordinaries, according to the sacred canons.
Anything to the contrary, notwithstanding.
Given in Rome, from the Secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, on the aforementioned day, month, and year.AL. CARD. LAVITRANO, Prefect
l.s.
FR. L.E. PASETTO, Secretary
Incidentally, Dogmatic Theology specifies that the Church is infallible when it
definitively and solemnly approves the Constitutions of a religious Order, inasmuch as it cannot approve Institutes that are contrary to the faith or morals, because it would not be the true guardian of revealed doctrine if it could err in such a solemn matter and regarding the whole Church. It is not infallible however for what concerns the opportuness of a determined Rule in time and in the circumstances of place or persons; but even here the Pope's opinion carries a very great weight (A. Tanquerey).
12The religious state Lastly, let us meditate on the consoling conclusion of the Constitutions: the assurance of the hundredfold and eternal life.
What the Lord asks of us is always very little; it is always a wise and loving request in view of giving us the
aeternae gloriae pondus.
13 Pius XI puts it this way: In religious life you advance along the path of perfection in such a sure and straightforward way that
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you feel you have already dropped anchor in the harbor of salvation.
The religious state has its roots deep within the Gospel.
Christianity will always be seen by this world as a living paradox, a madness for some, a scandal for others. For us it is a divine truth and reality. It is implied in the eight beatitudes announced by the Divine Master. The religious state, which is the full development of Christian life and a complete living out of the whole Gospel, seems even more of a paradox: to sacrifice one's life in order to save it; to lose everything to gain everything. And the peak of the paradox is that poverty becomes wealth; abasement, exaltation; virginity, motherhood; slavery, freedom; sacrifice, beatitude; service, apostolate; death, life. You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God [Col 3:3]; I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me [Gal 2:20]. The mystical crucifixion of the religious is accomplished with the nails of poverty, chastity, and obedience. This is the greatest and most meritorious act, after that of the Mass, and martyrdom. Every morning, in the renewal of the sacrifice of Jesus, I affix my being to that same cross of his, renewing my three holy vows.
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1 “The better part” (cf. Lk 10:42).
2 “With combined strength.”
3 “Keep watch over order and order will keep watch over you.”
4 “Mightily and sweetly, reaching from one end of the earth to the other” (cf. Wis 8:1).
5 See below: I:52, note 11.
6 “Great steps, but out of step” (Virgil).
7 “Subject to and dependent on the superior.”
8 “If you would be perfect” (Mt 19:21).
9 “That they may be one” (Jn 17:21).
10 “Teacher of the Gentiles” (that is, of the pagans).
11 “Decree of Praise.” The nulla osta for the erection of the male Institute Pious Society of Saint Paul as a religious Congregation of diocesan right, with public and simple vows, already bears the date 30 July 1926 (and the signature of Cardinal Camillo Laurenti). The official decree of erection of the Pious Society of Saint Paul as a religious Congregation, issued by Bishop G.F. Re, of Alba, bears the date 12 March 1927, which was then the feast of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church. Fr Alberione suggested to the bishop to sign this decree on 19 March, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, [the bishop's] feast day. He replied: “The Pious Society of Saint Paul is a work of Divine Providence, not a merit of mine.” - The date of the Decree of Praise (decretum laudis) and of pontifical approval of the Constitutions of the Pious Society of Saint Paul, is 10 May 1941, experimental for seven years. After the seven years the approval became definitive. - The Holy See, giving definitive approval to the Constitutions (27 June 1949) intended to reward what had already been done, especially from 10 May 1941 onwards, to live out the Constitutions and to implement the special aim of the Society, in other words, the apostolate of the press, cinematography and radio, defined globally also by the pontifical Decree as “apostolato dell'edizione.” In the 1949 Constitutiones Piae Societatis a Sancto Paulo Apostolo, in article 2 which speaks of the special aim of the same Pious Society, it mentions that the said aim consists in the “spread of Catholic doctrine by way of the publications' apostolate, that is, the press, films, radio, and television as well as with whatever other effective and rapid means that human progress will provide, and the conditions of the times require.”
12 Cf. also UPS II, 14. A. TANQUEREY, cf. The Spiritual Life. A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology. This book, still kept in Fr Alberione's study room, together with the four volumes of theology by the same author, had several editions and influenced generations of Paulines. A knowledge of the structure of the work can thus be useful. Part First: Principles. 1. Origin of the Spiritual Life; 2. Nature of the Spiritual Life: a) The role of God in the Spiritual Life (the Blessed Trinity, Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the Angels and the Saints); b) The part of Man in the Spiritual Life (the fight against spiritual enemies, Merit, the Sacraments); 3. The Perfection of the Christian Life (consists in charity); 4. The Duty of Tending towards Perfection (Christians in general, Religious, Priests; Obligation incumbent upon Priests of tending to Perfection); 5. General Means of Perfection (Desire, The Knowledge of God and the Knowledge of Self, Conformity to God's Will, Prayer, Spiritual Direction, A Rule of Life, Spiritual Readings and Conferences, Social Relations). Part Second: The Three Ways. Book One: Purification of the Soul, or, The Purgative Way. 1. The Prayer of Beginners (Method of St Ignatius and of St Sulpice); 2. Penance (Mortal Sin and Venial Sin); 3. Mortification (of the body, of the memory and imagination, of the passions, of our spiritual faculties); 4. The Struggle against Capital Sins and Vices (Pride, Sensuality, Avarice); 5. Struggle against Temptations; (The Discernment of Spirits). Book Two: The Illuminative Way. 1. Affective Prayer (Nature, Advantages, Dangers, Methods); 2. The Moral Virtues (Infused, Moral; Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance); 3. The Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity - The Sacred Heart, model and source of charity); 4. Counter-attacks of the Enemy (Capital Sins, Lukewarmness). Book Three: The Unitive Way. 1. The Simple Unitive Way (the Gifts of the Holy Ghost; The Prayer of Simplicity); 2. Infused Contemplation (in general and its different phases: “Arid” Quietude, “Sweet” Quietude, Full Union, Ecstatic Union (Spiritual Espousals) - Quietism or False Mysticism); 3. Extraordinary Mystical Experiences (Private Revelations, Various Psycho-physiological Phenomena, Supernatural and Morbid Phenomena; Diabolical Phenomena: Obsession, Possession); 4. Controverted Questions. Appendices. Here we find also The Spirituality of St Paul (Putting off the Old Adam and Putting on the New Man, Christ). There is also a chapter on The Study of Characters.
13 “An eternal weight of glory” (cf. 2 Cor 4:17).