Opera Omnia

INSTRUCTION IV
COMMUNITY VISITATION
…When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

The approval of the Institute

In 1927 I was in Rome for the practices of approval. The Congregation of Religious sent me to a famous Jesuit, a professor of Canon Law, already an experienced and specialist consultor of the Congregation itself, and a spiritual director.¹ He read our Constitutions very carefully, and then he called me. Very

good, he said to me these are a step forward over ordinary Institutes; the spirit is good; as for the apostolate you have foreseen and provided for everything. Not everyone will agree to approve an Institute that wants to dedicate itself to such an apostolate; but my opinion is favorable, very favorable. The approvals then followed on quite regularly, as everyone knows.

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Art. 167. The enclosure is to be strictly enforced in all the houses. Under no pretext whatsoever are women to be admitted inside the premises of the houses or even within the pressrooms and classrooms used by the members, unless it is a question of those mentioned in Canon 598 of the Code of Canon Law, or of those who, according to the judgement of the Superior, may be admitted for just and reasonable motives.
Art. 168. If special quarters for the Aspirants or buildings for the apostolate are attached to a house, a separate place should be reserved, as far as possible, for the exclusive use of the Religious. This part should be subject to the enclosure, as prescribed in the foregoing article. Except for a good reason, and with the permission of the Superior, women shall not be admitted even to the above-mentioned places.
Art. 169. Superiors and those concerned shall diligently take care that the doors of the house are conveniently opened and closed at the proper time. Moreover they shall also watch that religious discipline is not relaxed, nor the religious spirit weakened by

useless, vain, and futile conversations of indiscreet visitors.
Art. 170. No one should leave the house without the permission of the Superior, who should be informed of the reason and the whereabouts of his going; the Superior is likewise to be notified upon his return.
Art. 171. It is not lawful for Superiors to permit their subjects to remain outside the house of the Society, except for a just and grave reason and for as brief a period as possible. Moreover, for an absence of more than six months, except for the purpose of studies, the permission of the Holy See is always required. In this case, however, care must be taken that the student resides in some ecclesiastical or religious house, approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority.
Art. 172. Letters of religious members, both Professed and Novices, either forwarded or received, are subject to the inspection of the Superiors. Those letters are excepted which are sent to or received from the Holy See or its Legate in the country, the Superior General and his Councillors, another major Superior, and the Superior of the house if he happens to be away. Superiors, however, must not forget that they are held to secrecy in regard to whatever they have read in the letters of their subjects. Likewise, the use of this right of regulating the correspondence of their subjects must be exercised with great prudence and charity.
Art. 173. Members should so foster religious observance as to be of example to all and profit greatly therefrom. Let them, therefore, thoroughly examine themselves on their obligations and severely reprove themselves before God.

The visitation of God and of Mary

The Church, in referring to the apparitions of Our Lady to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, uses the words: Visitasti terram, inebriasti eam; multiplicasti locupletare eam [Ps 65:10]. You, Mary, have visited the earth, you have gladdened it, you have enriched it with many gifts.
Likewise, much before, the Son of God assumed flesh, and came to visit humanity to enlighten it, comfort it and enrich it with his many heavenly gifts, and to take upon himself our sins in order to atone for them, and to reopen heaven.
Here, now, is the model of every visitation to be made to religious confreres and to every community, or to family, or friends: In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.' And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour' [Lk 1:39-47].
Mary remained in that house which she sanctified with her virtues and her prayers, enriching it with heavenly gifts: Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; her child (the Baptist) was made holy in the womb of his mother;

Zechariah regained his speech, for he had been left dumb over his doubts about the angel's message. Mary helped Elizabeth for three months.
There are paternal visitations. These are a joyful meeting between father and sons; the same to be said of the Superior General or of the Provincial, or of Bishops or other people in authority.
The purpose of such visits is to establish closer links, exchange greetings and news, to cheer up and to be cheered. Together to pray, exhort and console.
These are visits that are awaited, meetings that are longed for; they are like a ray of sunlight that brightens up everything. The greater the frequency the better will be the results.
Let the sons willingly invite their Father; the Father accepts their invitation most willingly.
Think of the visit of the shepherds of Bethlehem to the crib where Jesus was born; think of the presence of Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana together with Mary; think of the visit of Jesus to the house of Peter at Capernaum; think of the visit of Jesus to Bethany, where he was welcomed with faith and love by Martha, Mary and Lazarus. What a source of light, comfort and blessings from those visits!
Such visits, however, must always reflect the sense of intimacy that exists between Father and sons.

Fraternal visitations

These are between religious confreres. Their purpose can be manifold: they can be spiritual encounters

for edification; they can be educational meetings where useful knowledge can be imparted or gained; they can be visits of simple and religious friendship, for confidence building, encouragement or edification. Such visits can also be for simple enjoyment; but as such it must be healthy and conclude in moral and spiritual peace of mind. Scripture warns: hospitales invicem sine murmuratione.²
See that meetings, visits or festivities are not marred by slander, especially of those not present; no sowing or reaping of wrongdoing, either on the part of those giving hospitality or on the part of the guests. Excel in doing good!, in accordance with the words of Saint Paul: Aemulor vos Dei aemulatione.³ Remember the words of Saint James (3:17): But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity; no pretext of superiority, but modest zeal. Persuasiveness, not imposition, but mild persuasion; inclined to all that is good and holy. Full of mercy. Excuse everyone, encourage everyone, approve of all that is good; the fruits of holiness are sown in peace. After good example a joyful leave-taking.

Canonical visitations

These are to be made every three years to the individual Houses; in particular cases even more often. If the Superior General is unable to do so, he is to delegate a person of trust. The aim of such visits could simply concern a particular topic and a specific object.

The purpose of the visits that are made every three years is to have a picture of the Province or particular House on the four points, that is, spirit, study, apostolate and poverty.
To this end the Visitor will proceed with great charity. First of all, when the community is assembled, the Veni Creator is sung. The Visitor will then address a few words of guidance to the members and invite them to express their opinion on the good that needs to be reinforced and the wrong that needs to be eradicated.
The Visitor is to listen to each of the professed members. All must be heard. If he considers it opportune he can prudently ask opinions of other persons. The Visitor is to be given a complete report of the trend of the community or Province vis-à-vis its various operations, its administration, the state of its personnel, studies and overall discipline.
The Superior who, after the visitation has been announced, transfers the subjects to another house without the consent of the Visitor; and all Religious, whether Superiors or subjects, who personally or through others, directly or indirectly, induce the Religious to remain silent when questioned by the Visitor, or to conceal the truth in any manner, or not to answer with sincerity, or who under any pretext molest the Religious because of the answers given to the Visitor, shall be declared by the Visitor disqualified of holding any offices which entail government over others, and the Superiors shall be deprived of the office which they hold [Art. 437].

After the announcement of the visitation, two things are to be done: 1) preparation by means of prayer; for example, a novena to the Holy Spirit for a fruitful outcome to the visitation; 2) all are to prepare themselves to be well-disposed to receive the one who comes in the name of the Lord, to welcome him as if he were our Father, Saint Paul.

Take note: 1) to supply the list of pupils, the school texts and the class grades; 2) to prepare the list of what was done in the past three years in the apostolate, or since the last visit. As regards accounts make a comparative résumé between one year and the other, and set out the difficulties, projects and hopes for the progress of the House or Province.
After the visitation the Visitor needs to give appropriate admonitions and exhortations and to make known those decisions he believes need to be taken for the good of the community. Such matters, faithfully recorded in the Register of Visitations of the house and undersigned by the Visitor, must be carried out by those concerned. Recourse to the Superior General against the decision of the Visitor is permitted, but only in devolutivo. It is obvious this can happen only in the case of a Visitor delegate priest [cf. Art. 438].
The Visitor delegate must submit to the Superior General a complete and thorough report of all that he has come to know and what has been done during the course of the visitation; together with his own remarks and opinions given, for the purpose of conveniently providing for the house's needs. The Superior General must refer the same things to the General Council [Art. 439].

Jesus pays a visit

[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.' So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.' And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost' (Lk 19:1-10).

Omnia in caritate fiant.⁴ In caritate radicati et fundati, solliciti servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis.⁵
The final prayer will be: Visita, quaesumus, Domine, habitationem istam; et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle: angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant; et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum…⁶