José Carlos Fernández Jorajuría

The piarist we need

Educating for Piarist Religious

Life in postmodernity.

A psycho-pedagogical proposal

www.edicionescalasancias.org

95

The piarist we need. Educating for Piarist Religious Life

in postmodernity. A psycho-pedagogical proposal

Author: José Carlos Fernández Jorajuría

Year of publication: 2025

ISBN: 978-84-7278-???-?

Translated by Fr. Antonio Marco Moreno

Copyright is reserved.

Reproduction, publication and distribution, whether total or partial, of all the original material contained in this book is expressly forbidden unless written authorization has been given.

For further information contact: www.icce.es

The piarist we need

Educating for Piarist Religious

Life in postmodernity.

A psycho-pedagogical proposal

Foreword by Fr. General

THE PIARIST WE NEED

Educating for Piarist Religious Life in postmodernity.

A psycho-pedagogical proposal

You have in your hands a precious book by Fr. José Carlos Fernández Jorajuría Sch.P., a Piarist religious and priest who has developed most of his mission in Brazil. He has carried out his ministry in the various platforms of Piarist mission, but has especially reflected on everything related to the Vocation Ministry and Initial Formation for Religious Life in the Pious Schools.

At the time he published “Buscando mi estrella” (In search of my star), dedicated to Piarist Vocational Accompaniment. It was a book that greatly inspired the vocational processes in our Provinces, which consolidated the “AVE” (Piarist Vocational Accompaniment) as a valuable proposal for vocational accompaniment of young people who were looking for a process that would help them to clarify their vocation.

With this new book, Fr. José Carlos focuses on the Initial Formation of the young Piarist religious, trying to offer a formative reflexion that illuminates the formative challenges that we live in the context of postmodernity. It is a book intended especially for those in formation but, precisely for this reason, it is important for those who assume the task of formative accompaniment of young people who are preparing to be one day, if it is God’s will, Piarist religious and priests throughout their lives.

Father José Carlos tries to present the challenges posed by postmodernity, and enters into six fundamental areas of the formative process: the four vows proper to the Piarist religious (poverty, chastity, obedience and education), community life and the service of the formator.

The chapters have a homogeneous structure, and are enriched with various Calasanzian and Piarist sources that help the reader to deepen his own identity, which is the central object of the formation process. The dynamics of the text is very pedagogical and progressive, and seeks to raise numerous questions that help the young and the formator to walk together in search of the precious challenge of vocational fulfillment.

The 48th General Chapter of the Order, held in Mexico in 2022, raised in depth a new reflection on “the Piarist that we need”. There is no doubt that this book seeks to respond to this formidable Chapter´s challenge: children and young people need Piarists authentic, faithful, and aware of the treasure they are bearers of.

Our Constitutions synthesize the formative task in a precious way, explaining that Initial Formation tries to help that the response of young people to the Lord’s call be “sincere and generous” (C104). I think that this publication of Fr. José Carlos Fernández Jorajuría can help a lot in the path we are trying to follow.

Good reading, good work, good formative journey!

Fr. Pedro Aguado Sch.P.

Father General of the Order of the Pious Schools

Presentation of the whole work

What is the relationship between consecrated religious life and postmodernity?

In what way does the era we are living in affect the Religious, specifically us, Piarists?

Are there fundamental elements of consecrated religious life, such as the Vows or Community life, that are being ‘contaminated’ by postmodernity?

Were they also contaminated by modernity?

How should we respond: by resisting and maintaining our principles and the centenary tradition of our consecrated religious life or by adapting ourselves to the current reality and its new parameters, in order to try to survive?

Or, perhaps, are there possibilities of envisioning a re-foundation of our Order starting from the crisis produced by the passage from modernity to post-modernity?

Where to begin, or how to continue?

These questions are the north of the work you have in your hands. Especially we are concerned about the influence of postmodernity in youth, the marks it imprints in our Prenovices, Novices, Juniors and in all of us, Piarists. The Piarist Initial Formation (IF) is one of the spaces where we should begin and continue the re-foundation of the Order. Therefore, this work intends to be, within the Initial Formation, a support and a help for the formators and for the formandi; and also for every Piarist who wishes to follow with passion and humility the steps of the Lord Jesus and Calasanz in this post-modernity. Not to live it only as ‘chronos’, but also as ‘kairos’, as a moment of salvation, as a theological time for the refoundation of our beloved Order.

This work is divided into seven parts: the first part offers a general analysis of the situation of post-modernity as the context of the present topic; the second part deals with the vow of poverty; in the third, the vow of chastity; in the fourth, the vow of obedience; in the fifth, the vow of the ministry of education; in the sixth part community life is analyzed, considered by many authors as a vow more, because of its importance; and finally, a last part addressed to the formators, authorized companions and those responsible for the personal accompaniment of vocations in initial formation.

The seven parts have the same outline: The starting point is a analysis of the reality of the vow in question; then, the vow is placed in its foundation; the study of its components follows; to - in the next chapter - present a series of criteria that help the internalization of the vow; a last chapter is concluded with , offering concrete, practical indications, so that the vow can be lived deeply and positively in the life of the young Piarist.

The five parts have, on the other hand, an explicit Piarist style, by gathering all the points of the Constitutions concerning each vow, as well as by the educational and didactic way that the text develops from the innumerable questions that are raised, which help to deepen and internalize each vow; likewise, the work has a simple, practical, formative, pedagogical and pastoral style -typical Piarist characteristics- that configure and accompany the whole reflexion.

We sincerely wish that this work collaborates, from its humility, in the Piarist Initial Formation, in such a way that each Young called by God for our Order can configure in himself the “Piarist personality”, as a gift and as a task.

The work can be an aid in the formation classes, or in the Community meetings, or a help in the personal accompaniment of each one in formation. But it is convenient to begin always by this part, the ‘Vow of Poverty’, because in it you will find the general presentation of the whole work and the analysis of the postmodernity, valid for all the vows.

Analysis of postmodernity

Having presented the work as a whole, explained its various parts and the chapters that make up each part, we can take a step forward, entering into the analysis of postmodernity.

Two great thinkers enlighten us as we cross the threshold of postmodernity in order to better understand it: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, on the one hand, and Zygmunt Bauman, on the other. We will update their intuitions and thoughts from the perspective of consecrated religious life.

1. What is essential is increasingly invisible to the eyes

In 1943, in the middle of World War II, Saint-Exupery published his precious book “The Little Prince”. He wrote it for a divided and confronted world, proposing the alternative of building bridges instead of erecting the walls of hatred and revenge. He wrote that work analyzing the difficulty of the human being in giving himself, in offering himself, in caring with otherness, with the other -especially with the other who is different.

What does it mean to ‘domesticate’?”

asked the Little Prince,

“It is too much forgotten“, said the fox;

”it means to create bonds.

“Creating bonds?”[1]

The Little Prince

Today we have discovered that captivating (taming) is an art and that, really, it is forgotten. It is hard for us to waste time with people; it is hard for us to create bonds. We are looking for a type of relationship with facility to disconnect (maybe that’s why Facebook and Instagram have been so successful). In truth, building ties is something very laborious and it takes time to do so. And time is what we don’t have for that; although for other things that interest and attract us, we have plenty of time...!

We are building an ever faster and more dynamic world; never in the history of mankind has there been such immediacy as today (news and all kinds of information travel at the speed of light from one side of the planet to the other). This makes us beings in constant movement, with difficulties to stop our steps and ask ourselves how we are walking.

Haste seems to be the ally that saves us from having to ‘stop to think’ at some point. The ‘liquid man’ does not dare to face reality and look at his life, ask himself about the meaning of his existence, based on the type of relationships he has built. He is afraid to ask himself deep questions; he prefers superficial questions, which do not affect his life.

Thus, more and more, what is essential remains invisible to the eyes of this hurried, technical, cold, superficial and liquid world.

2. Relationships built by connections, not by links

According to the philosophy of the fox, we only know those we have captivated (domesticated); and since we have no time to waste with people, we do not captivate each other; therefore, we do not know each other. However, in order to love it is necessary to know; you can only love what you have come to know and captivate.

In this world where everything is liquid

(liquid life, liquid love, liquid commitment),

relationships built on connections are sought.

Z. Bauman[2]

The connection is quick to enter and quicker to leave; it is virtual, much easier than if it were real; it is ephemeral, it does not require muchtime; since it does not last, it does not create bonds or ties. Connections like this are the liquid relationships proper to postmodernity.

–“Create bonds?” (asked the Little Prince).

–Of course,” said the fox. You are still nothing more to me tan a child similar to a hundred thousand other children. And I don’t need you. And you don’t need me either. I am nothing to you but a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But, if you tame (captivate) me, we will have need of each other. You will be for me unique in the world. I will be for you the only one in the world... “[3]

The Little Prince

Creating bonds, building ties, makes any person become someone special in your life. You only have to dedicate time to her; to create bonds is to build the bridges by which that person can move towards your life, and you can do it towards her life.

In Consecrated Religious Life, it is more important than ever that our communities be living spaces, where bridges are built that allow us to enter into the lives of others and let them enter into ours. That would be to create community bonds, links that unite us and help us to know each other and to love each other, based on freedom and respect.

That would be the art of captivating within the consecrated religious life: the art of creating bonds that unite us more and more among the brothers and sisters of the Community, starting from the ideal that we were called to live.

This art will lead us to build stronger relationships and not connections; it will encourage us to build bridges and not walls; it will recreate us weaving lasting bonds and not ephemeral moments that pass without leaving any mark in the memory of the heart.

The deformed definition of Voltaire about the Religious continues to shock and frighten us today: “They enter without knowing each other, they live without loving each other and they die without crying”.

So, in this postmodern world, which lives from loose threads and ephemeral connections, where to find Jesus, as Lord of the life? Pope Francis tells us:

“The Lord is not found virtually, but directly, discovering him in the little things of life; otherwise, Jesus becomes a beautiful memory of the past (...) Life consecrated religious is not survival, it is new life. With Jesus we will find the courage to go on and the strength to be firm. The encounter with the Lord is the source; it is important to return to the sources: to return with the memory to the decisive encounters we had with Him, rekindling the first love (...) God calls us to find Him through faithfulness in the little things: daily prayer, the Eucharist, confession, true love, the Word of God every day”[4].

3. Liquid modernity’ or postmodernity

Bauman does not use the term postmodernity, popularized by the French philosopher Lyotard in 1979; he created the expression ‘liquid modernity’ to define the time we are living in. A concept that encompasses a series of very enlightening characteristics to understand our time; we highlight below those that most influence our young people, within the Piarist Initial Formation:

a) Relationships in ‘liquid modernity’ are marked by objectification or reification: people are treated as if they were things, objects; the person is worth or useful according to what he or she has (not according to what he or she is); and - just as today he or she is useful - tomorrow he or she can be discarded. It is the “throwaway culture” that Pope Francis criticizes so much.

b) There is a reification of feelings: the relationships with people have no consistency, breaking any bond with the same ease with which it was initiated, whether they are particular bonds (courtship, engagement) or institutional (vows).

c) This inconsistency of relationships and bonds leads to a constant insecurity: young people, today, do not know what they want; they say YES to a commitment, but - at the same time - that option chosen has the same consistency as a cigarette paper, remaining insecure and uncertain when they see other possible options. They want and they don’t want to. The shadow of uncertainty obscures the thought, making other seductive fantasies emerge.

d) Another element typical of ‘liquid modernity’ is the fleeting feeling of everything; Bauman repeated many times that in this liquid society we are building, “nothing is meant to last”.

e) On the other hand, subjectivism - which, as Benedict XVI rightly denounced, leads inexorably to relativism - together with the tendency to accommodation (being, doing and living according to “I feel like it / I don’t feel like it”), dominate in this ‘liquid modernity’.

Thus, for example, in the area of sexuality, the “gender ideology” has been gaining space; in this regard, the Church positions itself in the document “Man and woman created them”, No. 22 (Vatican - Rome, 2019):

“This ideology induces educational projects and legislative guidelines that promote a personal identity and an affective intimacy radically detached from the biological difference between male and female. Human identity is given over to an individualistic choice, changeable over time, an expression of the way of thinking and acting, today widespread, which confuses “genuine freedom with the idea that everyone judges as they see fit, as if, beyond individuals, there were no truths, values, principles that guide us, as if everything were equal and everything should be allowed””[5].

f) We also believe that ‘liquid modernity’ brought in its midst elements that helped consecrated religious life: the importance of individual freedom; the positive elements of subjectivism; the attention to personal reality and not so much to structures; the valorization of the community as a space for fraternity and encounter; the importance of the mystical dimensión, with its various expressions.

Questions that help to think and to share

1. From the dialogue between the fox and the Little Prince, what is it that you are building: connections or relationships? what do you perceive it as?

2. How do you think we can become more captivated/domesticated, within the Community?

3. When analyzing your personality, do you discover that your life is quite marked by some of the negative characteristics studied, typical of postmodernity: hasty life, technical, relationships on the basis of connection, liquid and ephemeral, difficulty to build bonds, insecurity when making decisions, uncertainty in front of ‘the definitive’, fragile bonds, subjectivism, accommodation of your life (or certain gentrification), etc.?

4. What characteristics do you perceive in yourself that come from the positive aspects of postmodernity?

5. In what way do these and other characteristics influence your life and your vocation?

6. Do you think that they can create some kind of personal conflicts or difficulties for you when it comes to configuring in you the “Piarist personality”, which is the fundamental objective of the whole Initial Formation? What conflicts or difficulties?

4. The Charism and its functions in the vocational process

Any conceptualization is incomplete, it tends to be reductionist, because always something of the concept is not captured in the definition. But, to advance in the configuration and in the maturity of the “Piarist personality”, it is necessary that the young person in formation defines what he is and expresses what he is called to be. This equation is always found at the base of the process that the Piarist Initial Formation must carry out with each young person in formation, throughout the different stages of the same.

To be configured to Christ, in the Calasanz Charism, is a gift and is a task; it is a gift because, if it is true, it is a call that comes from God; and it is a task because the divine gift needs to be humanized, made concrete, real, through a process of inner configuration.

The centrality of the whole vocational process within the Piarist Initial Formation lies in CALASANZ´ CHARISM; something alive and dynamic in the heart of the Order and of the Church that, from its revealing function, manifests the Piarist ideal in the interior of the candidate. This charismatic revelation is realized at from the affective knowledge of the life, the words and the gestures of the Founder himself, transmitted through the ‘pedagogy of the hero’ (which happens being next to the Piarist with whom the young identifies himself); transmitted also when the young person participates of a beautiful and attractive Piarist Mission, in favor of the poor; or when he lives the joy of participating in a Piarist Community, praying with the Piarists, sharing the table with the Piarists. All these are transmitting channels of the Calasanz Charism that perform the revealing function of the same.

The Piarist ideal manifested by the Calasanz Charism awakens in the young person -now from the provocative function of the Charism-, what was already inside him: life as a vocation, and the vocation as a proposal of consecration to be totally and only of God. That is why the Charism makes some young people vibrate a lot and others little or nothing; in the first ones, life as vocation, as call, was already inside, it already existed; the only thing that the Charism did is to awaken it, to provoke it, uncorking the already present call.

The Charism is never ‘implanted’ in the young person, as if it were an invasive prosthesis inside his body; the Charism is aroused, awakened, provoked, emerged... This inner process of the young person is found expressed in the deep Calasanctian concept of the ‘inner inclination’; spiritual and pedagogical concept in which one of the great and impressive intuitions of St. Joseph Calasanz is collected.

In the same way we can say that, when speaking of “Piarist personality”, there is no supplanting, absorption or diminution of the human personality of the candidate; his own human personality is becoming Piarist as he discovers and internalizes what has been revealed and provoked in a natural and non-invasive way, by the Charism. That is why, in Retreats on the “Personal Life Project” (which is the pedagogical tool to work the functions of the Charism), many young prenovices expressed it with this phrase or similar: “The more Piarist I feel, the more I am myself...”.

Finally, after “revealing” and “provoking”, the Charism of Calasanz has a third function, the function of “configuring”. It helps to configure the “Piarist personality” in the life of the young candidate through the ‘guidance of the Holy Spirit’, which is another deep Calasanctian concept through which Our Holy Father expresses the importance of placing the educational - and vocational! - process of children and young people in the hands of God, trusting, because He guides life.

To be configured to Christ (“clothed in Christ”, as Rom 13,14 says), by the Charism of Calasanz, is realized from the perception that the candidate and the Order have on the configuration and maturity of the genuinely Piarist characteristics that arise from the “Piarist personality” of the candidate himself.

Thus, what the young person is called to be, the final point of the Piarist Initial Formation, is reached when the characteristics of the Piarist life are a natural part of his personality, giving rise to the “Piarist personality”, expressed in the Piarist identity and in the feeling of belonging to the Piarist Order.

And this configuration and maturity of the “Piarist personality” are realized in the young person in formation thanks to the Charism of St. Joseph Calasanz, which is a ‘two-time engine’:

a) On the one hand, from Education: process through which emerges what the young person already brings within him. It is a subjective process (from inside outwards), which starts from the interior of the young person, from his intimate reality. This process seeks to give sequence to the vocation, to the personal experience of having been called by God; vocation that already exists and dwells within him, and that was awakened and provoked by the Charism.

b) On the other hand, from Formation: process through which the young person assumes the characteristics of the Piarist life. From the interiorization and internalization of the values of the Charism, is configured by it. Objective process (from the outside to the inside), which starts from the Order and its identity in history as a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church and for the world. This process aims to develop and confirm in the young person the genuine characteristics of the Scholastic life.

“Yes, God welcomes me and accepts me as I am,

so that I can be as He wants me to be...”[6].

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

A young person feels, identifies and defines himself as a Piarist when are growing, simultaneously and in balance, the two processes; in that is the configuration and maturity of the “Piarist personality”. Until reaching a fundamental experience: when the young person perceives and recognizes himself from the Piarist identity and belonging, and the Order confirms it. It is the point of arrival of the Piarist Initial Formation.

This inner, personal and deep process that consists of the internalization (following the concepts and dynamisms defined and studied by Rulla and his disciples Cencini, Manenti and others) of the objective and transcendent values of the Calasanctian Charism, carried out progressively, by stages. It is the process that confers and makes the “Piarist personality” mature. The engine of the whole process cannot be other than the Calasanz´ Charism that acts as the “ideal self” in the young person, being able to push, encourage and bring closer to him the “real self” of the same. The Charism, throughout the process of the Piarist Initial Formation, will be perceived by the young person as an expression of his deepest identity: “Being Piarist I am more myself...”.

The stages, objectives and means of the process of configuration and maturity of the “Piarist personality” are very well collected and expressed in the FEDE (“Formation and Studies of the Piarist”; Rome, 2015), which we follow as a reference along throughout this work.

5. “Liquid Piarist” vs. “Solid Piarist”

Concluding the part on the analysis of postmodernity in the consecrated religious life, we can perform an exercise to internalize what we have studied.

Following the concepts analyzed, we propose two columns in which different tendencies in the Piarist life are confronted, defining a more “liquid” style or a more “solid” style. We remember what was said before: no conceptualization is complete, because there is always something left out; but, by caricaturing (exaggerating) a little the tendencies in the Piarist and confronting them, we can reach a discussion that helps us to dream more about the ideal Piarist, the one that moves our life. We must keep in mind that it is not about two different Piarists, conflictuating or quarreling in their Community; but they are different positions, attitudes and tendencies within each one.

“LIQUID PIARIST”

“SOLID PIARIST”

1

Individualistic (he tends to be the center of the common life and of the mission)

Communitarian (he gives as much importance to the life of Community as to its own)

2

Subjective (he works from its impulses and emotions)

Objective (he works from common principles and criteria)

3

Frenetic consumer (he does not measure his expenses; influenced by consumption; snobbish)

Austere (he does not create needs; not anxious to buy the latest)

4

He creates connections with people (liquid, ephemeral, without depth)

He builds adult, solid relationships (without remaining dependent on them)

5

Insensitive to the pain of others (because of being self-centered; no empathy)

Empathetic, sensitive to pain and to the experience of others (decentered from self)

6

Unstable in what it assumes, fickle (no permanence in responsibilities)

Stable, serious in his commitments (he does everything to carry out and conclude his responsibilities).

7

He participates in closed networks, united by interests; he has difficulty for confrontation

He likes open relationships, without forming cliques or lobbies; without fear of being confronted

8

He lives a mystique that solves his problems; he is fan of intimate groups, of self-help and self-improvement

His mystique is centered on the saving mission of Jesus; he is not afraid of being sent as missionary.

9

Tendency to unique thought, without criticism; he avoids debates

He seeks a plural thought, open to criticism; he grows in the debates and discussions

10

He lives from a relativism that leaves it without north, without values, without principles; what works is the “I feel like it or I do not feel like it”

He lives from principles transcendent, universal, that guide and configure its life; he seeks to be faithful to them

11

12

To complete the missing lines in the table, you can ask yourself: how will each Religious Vow be understood and experienced, from one style and from the other; how will the role of authority and obedience be internalized, one and the other; what positions and attitudes will emerge on the issue of social commitment from one style and from the other?

“The poverty of a Piarist”

1. Introduction to the ‘Vow of Poverty’

In this reflection, we will address one of the most exciting topics in the life of a Piarist: his poverty! Our ‘Vow of Poverty’ is not so much a law as a horizon for the journey; it is not so much a rule as a perspective of value, a value that we assume as part of the “Piarist personality” that is being shaped in us.

We believe that today, more than ever, the authenticity and truthfulness of the Piarist life depend on the experience of our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

In all this reflection, we will understand the ‘Vow of Poverty’ in a broad sense; the discourse on poverty always tends to expand and spill over into other fields; for example: its relationship with obedience, with availability, with dedication... This broader perspective of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ highlights a certain transcendence of poverty and its intimate connection with the truth of man before God and even with the truth of God himself, who revealed himself to us in the poverty and simplicity of Jesus of Nazareth.

A ‘Vow of Poverty’ isolated from the context of the whole Piarist life, especially from fraternal charity and the commitment of life for the poor child, can degenerate into an ambiguous pauperism (the desire to be ‘poor’ for pure ideology).

Only through the process of internalizing the value of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ – without ideologies – can we all experience it as a source of God’s Grace in our lives. This is how Calasanz understood poverty, placing it as the great and firm wall that will defend the Order from all obstacles and all evil.

1. How do you understand the Piarist ‘Vow of Poverty’?

2. What does ‘being poor’ mean to you?

3. Do you perceive the deep relationship between ‘poverty’ and other areas of Piarist life?

4. Comment on this relationship between poverty and any of them.
2. Our ‘Vow of Poverty’ and its relationship

with material things

The considerations and – even more so – the reality of being poor lead us to the heart of the life of the Son of Man, who had “nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8:20).

“Our spirit of poverty must be manifested in total austerity of life, in submission to the common law of work, in the equitable and moderate use of goods, in the care of common things. Encouraged by this same spirit, we do not hesitate to joyfully place at the service of others our natural and spiritual talents, our capacity for work, and our very time.”

Constitutions of the Order of the Pious Schools (CC), no. 66

It is very simplistic and reductive to equate Jesus’ poverty only with its material aspect. However, that dimension of poverty—with all that is immediately concrete in it—is a necessary step toward achieving the spiritual poverty that already makes the Kingdom present, now.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:3), he was not advocating a disembodied, “airy” poverty. Specialists emphasize the present form of the verb “to be” in Jesus’ statement; in the other beatitudes—except for the last one—we find the future tense. Therefore, the exemplary austerity and simplicity of Jesus and his disciples/friends is an incessant and continuous call to examine our relationship with things, with material goods, which we can use, but not become their servants.

“Meditating on the words of the psalm ‘you are responsible for the poor’, I considered this sentence as expressed for me...”[7]

Saint Joseph Calasanz

From the moment you began the process of “Piarist Vocational Accompaniment”, you began to perceive the importance that all of us fathers attach to our ‘Vow of Poverty’. Our Piarist existence seeks to demonstrate our following of Jesus in the poverty of the Lord’s first friends, the Apostles. Like them, we too have found the “pearl of great value” (Mt 13:46).

We will never cease to encourage and educate you in the maximum affirmation of our ‘Vow of Poverty’ – and of the others –: Jesus, the Lord, is our absolute good, before whom the riches of this world become relative; before the Son of the Father’s love, all good loses its seductive power. Let us make St. Paul’s words our own: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:7-8).

- The Piarist poor does not despise the real goods that society offers him; on the other hand, keeping alive our charism of “evangelizing through education” demands it. But the important thing – as in all things – is to know how to use them with discernment and judgment.

- The Piarist poor cannot passively submit to the tempting and seductive proposals of unbridled consumerism.

- The Piarist poor learns – through an educational process, with all that this entails – to abstain from things when they stifle the values of the Kingdom and render his apostolate fruitless.

- The Piarist poor lives the freedom that is indispensable for the service of his ministry, not normally having sophisticated and powerful means at his disposal, but using with balance and esteem the small and humble means, the simple structures, which still leave room for the creativity of the Spirit within his heart.

- The Piarist poor tries to live each day incarnated in the reality of the people he accompanies: a suffering people, who struggle and hope for something better in this life. He knows how to be a witness to the hope of the Kingdom of God, always being careful not to lose his class, not to forget his own humble and simple origins.

5. How do you feel about the world of consumerism: free or enslaved? How do you perceive it?

6. Do you discover any tendency within yourself that leads you to seek “big and flashy things” or do you seek “small and simple things”? How do you perceive it?

7. What does it mean for you to be “austere”?

8. What elements would characterize an “unclassed Piarist”?

9. How do you think this aspect can always be taken care of?

10. To what extent is the “preferential option for the poor” important in your life as a Piarist? How do you live it now?
3. Our ‘Vow of Poverty’ and its relationship with people

“Our decision and our choice, free and firm, to leave everything for the Kingdom in order to commit ourselves to living the mystery of Christ poor are, at the same time, proof and demand of our love for Christ and for men; and we make them evident when we truly share our goods with those in need.”

CC 65

There is another context in which to analyze our ‘Vow of Poverty’; delving into the mystery of our personality as Piarists, we find the world of interpersonal relationships.

It is in the network of relationships that most mark and affect us - in the depths of our affectivity and sexuality - that we are most provoked and it is there that we hear the Lord Jesus saying to us: “I assure you that no one who has left home, wife, brothers, parents, or children for the Kingdom of God will fail to receive much more in the present and, in the world to come, eternal life” (Lk 18:29).

Beyond many other implications, it suffices to think of the wonderful and always tense adventure of our chastity, lived for the Kingdom of the Father. We have already delved deeply into the AVE (“Piarist Vocational Accompaniment”) on our affective and sexual world; at this moment, it is not the psychological side that interests us; we propose to follow the profound, existential gaze; that gaze of the Father that penetrates us until it touches the depths of our being, where the most precious values are generated, where we make the most radical and important choices of our life.

We can highlight the profound relationship between chastity and the “Vow of Poverty” in the Piarist; from the Word of Jesus emerges a characteristic feature that marks our poverty and explains the internal dynamics of our lifestyle.

Only by being poor can I live my chastity as a gift from the Father and as a call to live my life united only to Him. Only by discovering myself to be small and poor, needy and incomplete, can I lift my eyes to heaven to give myself to that ‘first love’ that captivated me and helped me to come out of myself, leaving other loves and other ways of loving behind. We learn, thus, to love as poor people, without possessing what we love (people, places, objects).

- The poor Piarist knows how to renounce rewards when they are offered as a way of establishing human relationships, seeking no other return than the relationship itself.

- The poor Piarist knows how to renounce emotional and power constraints, not only personal ones, but also those that come from social structures.

- The poor Piarist lives freely! Perhaps, this is one of the greatest fruits that God offers us through our Perhaps, this is one of the greatest fruits that God offers us through our ‘Vow of Poverty’. As the poet sang, “the slave, the poor slave, cries out ‘freedom’; the free man cries out ‘love’!”[8] (Miguel de Unamuno). We are freer to cry out ‘love’ in favor of children and young people for whom we have hung our lives only from one point of attachment: the love of God.

- The Piarist is called to live, to a certain extent, that deeper poverty which is loneliness; among us, by sharing our life in Community, that loneliness is a little more stifled. But the cry, the clamor of that human life, in which the affective capital has been invested “in another way,” only for love, always springs forth. The loneliness of the Piarist can only be lived - and not merely endured with bitter resignation, for lack of another alternative - in the apostolic following of the Son of Love. Thus, the Piarist - apparently alone with himself - feels with joy that one is never less alone than when one is alone with God (Jn 16:32); just as when he climbs the mountain to participate in Christ’s prayer alone (Mt 14:23); or when Christ truly enters his life and enriches it like a precious pearl (Mt 13:46); and, above all, when he dwells in his house as father and mother, wife, brother, and son (Lk 18:29; Mt 12:50); in all these moments, solitude takes on the meaning that comes from love and the apostolic misión to which the Piarist is dedicating his life.

- The poor Piarist discovers that it is this personal and multiform presence of the Lord Jesus that satisfies his fundamental desires, giving him balance and serenity. It is only through the power of that presence that the Piarist - poor in himself and rich in Christ - enters, in turn, into the lives of children and young people as a true friend, brother, father, and mother (Lk18, 29; Mt 12,50). in all these moments, solitude receives the meaning that comes from the love and the apostolic mission for which the Piarist is giving his life.

- The poor Piarist discovers that it is the personal and multiform presence of the Lord Jesus that satisfies his fundamental desires, giving him balance and serenity. It is only by the power of this presence that the Piarist - poor in himself and rich in Christ - enters, in turn, into the lives of the children and young people as a true friend, brother, father and mother.

- The poor Piarist, therefore, is called out of his comfort zone by the opportunity for the extreme freedom of Christ, who privileges those who are rejected and marginalized in society; at the same time, he does not abandon those who are in a better social position (in Jesus, his relationship with the family of Lazarus, for example, or with Zacchaeus, is significant).

- The Gospel clearly shows us that the criteria of closeness and intimacy with the Lord – in human relationships – is not dictated by reductive social schemes, but by the real need to encounter Him and be saved. And in that encounter, – as St. John Paul II said – the Lord never fails, never abandons us. Thus, the quality of Christ the Good Shepherd giving himself, will always be manifested, transmitted to the Piarist as Apostle committing his life to the fullest for others, personally paying the ransom for all, revealing to them the dignity of children of a God who is Father.

- The poor Piarist will always be a witness, for his children and young people, of the presence of Christ, who became the measure of all human relationships.

11. What do you look for in your relationships with people?

12. What kind of human relationships do you build?

13. Do you carry in your life any relationship that was not well lived? Analyze it with someone you trust and conclude something good for your formative journey.

14. Are you happy with your style and way of loving?

15. Are you afraid of a certain loneliness that is part of the life of a priest? Do you know how to live it, giving it meaning?

16. What relationship do you see between “poverty” and “chastity”?

“I don’t know if life is short or very long for us, but I do know that nothing we experience has meaning if we don’t touch people’s hearts.”[9]

Cora Coralina

4. The basis of a Piarist’s ‘Vow of Poverty’

After establishing the right relationship with material things (chapter II) and analyzing the evangelical openness to children, young people, and those around us who call out to us, seeking freedom and salvation (chapter III), in this chapter we delve into the foundation or ultimate root of our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

“We follow Christ who, being rich, became poor for us to enrich us with his poverty. Voluntarily poor for Christ’s sake and free from the seduction of material goods, we bear witness to having placed our trust in God alone and to putting his Kingdom before all the goods of this world, in order to consecrate ourselves totally to the service of mankind.”

CC 63

Throughout the “Piarist Vocational Accompaniment,” the essential point on which we always placed the centrality of the entire Vocation was in the Lord’s history with you and his covenant of fidelity for your life.

The foundation of our “Vow of Poverty” - and the only reference point for our overall lifestyle - is also found in that point: in the history of Jesus; specifically in his Paschal and Eucharistic gesture that the Maundy Thursday Supper represents for the life and contemplation of the Piarist.

Thus, the ultimate and central objective of our ‘Vow of Poverty’ is not simply poverty for poverty’s sake; the goal we pursue with this Vow (and with the others, since, in reality, there are not three different Vows, but a single and total consecration to God) is to make visible and effective the pastoral and saving love of Christ, through an ever deeper identification with the unconditional gift of self, in favor of the Father and of children and young people.

In St. Paul, a radical expression appears in this sense; for him, poverty was “clothing” himself with Christ so that Christ could be all in all (Rom 13:14; Col 3:9). The Apostle had this experience, a unique experience, yet one open to all who retain nothing but themselves and for themselves.

It is the moment when we allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ until we exclaim: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal 2:19).

This statement implies the utmost poverty: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me!” It is the utmost human poverty in the total expropriation of our being and doing. It is also the utmost wealth and Piarist meaning of life: a life dedicated to God for the little ones and the poor, for children and young people, in love. Without calculations or fears, without demands or limits, without infidelities or strange compensations. A gratuitous love, full of joy, always new and exuberant with vitality, attentive and discreet, strong and delicate.

- The poor Piarist is called to be a contemporary icon of the Lord Jesus, priest and teacher, who gives his life for the people, for his poor little ones.

- The poor Piarist lives a radical identification with Christ; on this point, everything depends on not defining the “following of Christ” (the supreme norm of all religious orders and, ultimately, of every Christian) as a bourgeois substitute; following Jesus means not only admiring him or taking him as a model, as a theology influenced by the bourgeois neoliberal style in this “liquid modernity” might define it; following Jesus is something much more radical and dangerous: “clothing oneself with Him”, “clothing Christ,” as we mentioned earlier; in this sense, a great philosopher affirms:

“Just as the statement that Christ’s doctrine resembles a banquet is the most energetic expression of assimilation, so too the statement in the epistle ‘clothe yourselves with Christ’ is the strongest expression to indicate that following him must go as far as possible. You must clothe yourself in him; ...clothe yourself in him, in the same way that someone bears a striking resemblance to another, and not only strives to resemble him, but reproduces him. Christ gives you his clothing, ...and asks you to reproduce him”[10].

Sören Kierkegaard

- The Piarist poor lives this identification with Christ not only in a rational way, but above all from the existential and experiential level of life, from that depth of being in which the presence of Christ becomes an intimate, loving, living, and transforming presence in the heart of the Piarist. This profound identification with his Master and Lord is expressed by the Piarist throughout his life, especially when he makes Christ present among humble children, fighting for them and making him visible as nourishment for the journey and strength for life.

- The Piarist poor does not seek false compensations or small comfortable shelters that cool his radical love. He surrenders with all his being and heart to that which one day he loved and for which he bet his life. And he prays -and sings- in every moment, with St. Joseph Calasanz:

“I exhort you, as much as I know and as much as I can, not to lose your inner peace because of any event however serious it may be, but that you always try to keep your heart calm and united to God, having recourse to prayer when you are most troubled, because the Lord usually calms the storm of the sea”[11].

St. Joseph Calasanz

- The Piarist poor is not in the Order to ‘claim his rights’. Democracy - great conquest of society -, is a secondary value in the life of the Piarist.

- In the daily reality of the Piarist poor, the poverty of Christ is lived as freedom and adherence to the saving plan of the Father; poverty makes us free to be able to love and serve more.

- Only that poverty in Christ will be able to remove, in the life of the Piarist poor, all the bitterness resulting from the fear of not being able to retain and possess neither things nor persons, or from the nostalgia for all that has been left behind.

- The Piarist poor learns to love his poverty, because through it he identifies himself with the poor and humble Jesus who went through life doing good, who blessed the children, who encouraged the life of all...

- The freedom of our ‘Vow of poverty’ is a freedom to love more, to give myself more - as we said before -; it is a freedom that helps me to get out of myself and to set out to meet the child or young person who is waiting for me. It is not a freedom to create ‘my plans’ nor to build a life ‘around my navel’.

- For Our Holy Father it was very clear: “He is not poor who does not experience the discomforts of poverty”.

17. What does this “clothed with Christ” mean to you?

18. What kind of ‘false compensations’ and ‘particular stoves’ can appear in the life of the Piarist?

19. Answer with a sentence: what is the foundation of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ of the Piarist?

20. What is the foundation of your option for ‘poverty’?

21. What does the ‘Vow of Poverty’ generate in you: joy, fear, identification, feeling of difficulty?
5. The components of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ of a Piarist

After the foundation of our ‘Vow of Poverty’ we can enter now into a deeper chapter. In it we will analyze the two great dynamisms that structure our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

“We will be recognized as authentic disciples of Christ if, deciding to ignore everything except Jesus Christ, and him crucified, we keep his New Commandment. He, who gave his life for his friends, makes us sharers in his love with which we love each other as he loved us, and we give our lives to evangelize children and the poor so that, while death acts in us, life grows in others.”

CC 18

Our ‘Vow of Poverty’ - like the other Vows - has a double structure: there is a mystical and a political component (or practical-situational, so to speak). The “spirituality of the Piarist” is a spirituality of ‘two times’, mystical and prophetic; spirituality that is expressed in the two dimensions of the Vows; both dimensions do not grow in opposite directions, but in the same sense and in the same proportion.

The radicality of our ‘Vow of Poverty’ comes from the development, at the same time, of these two dimensions, mystical and political. The mysticism of the Vows can never be disconnected from reality, from the concrete and practical situation that is lived; it is the called “incarnation principle”, the deepest category and key of understanding the Revelation of God the Father in his Son Jesus.

Our consecration to God through the Vows has that double perspective mystical and political, not to be ‘a’ way for the ethic perfection of the Piarist (to be better or holier), but because –in last term- what the Piarist does, is to walk ‘his’ way, the way of Jesus to the Father.

This is so important that where this doublé perspective of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ is not taken into account, it ends up appearing a divided image of our consecration to God in the following of Jesus: on the one hand the act of pure interiority and, on the other hand, a simply humanistic or political idea of the Vow.

This would be a serious reductionism: the Vow would be reduced to a dimension of simple political action, or its content would be reduced to a private, disincarnated religious spirituality. In any case, the living of the Vow (of the Vows) is eliminated as a living “clothed” in Christ: to live as Jesus lived, acted and existed, for the greater glory of God and the life of the people.

“You gave nothing to Jesus Christ if you did not give him your whole heart”.[12]

St. Joseph Calasanz

- The Piarist poor lives his poverty as a consequence of experiencing the love without measure of the Father by giving his own Son. This poverty comes from the desire to identify himself more deeply with the Lord, by whom he feels loved without conditions. The ‘Vow of Poverty’ is not a law, nor a rule, but one of the most beautiful expressions that has that “wanting to follow Christ more closely”, which we affirm in our Profession.

- The Piarist poor internally takes care of the mystical dimensión of his consecration to Jesus; he takes care of it through everything that supposes growing spiritually in the identification with Jesus: personal prayer, meditation of the Word and living of the ‘Sacraments of the Way’.

- The poor Piarist also dimensions, together with the mystical component, the other component of the Vow: the prophetic or political. The poverty of the Piarist is an efficacious way of resisting against the imperative of a society so turned in on itself and forgetful of the other. Our ‘Vow of Poverty’ has a strong prophetic charge, capable of questioning the values of the world that are followed and the way of living of the developed countries in front of the needs of the others.

- In the Piarist poor, taking care and dimensioning the political side of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ leads him to grow and to value ‘counterculturally’ (going in the opposite direction of the world) the forgotten values of the Kingdom: betting on gratuity; taking care of relationships, especially relationships with the most abandoned; always affirming with gestures of life the invincible hope of those who walk with Jesus; generating projects in favor of the last, the little ones and the poor; visiting the sick; worrying about families and their most dramatic situations; etc.

- The Piarist poor does not accept a romantic or spiritualized interpretation of the ‘Vow of Poverty’. There is no more spiritual interpretation of the poverty of a Piarist than the literal one itself!

- Thus, the Piarist poor is learning - in the great school of our life, which is the Community - to place and experience in his heart, in an integrated and profound way, both dimensions: the mystical and the political; for this, he fights so our Religious Communities are spaces in where the poor are welcomed, cared for, and educated. It is not only about praying for the poor, but together with the poor. It is not only about crying out to God in favor of the abandoned, but together with them.

- The Piarist poor, in the midst of his children, is a precious prophetic sign in the world, affirming with his joy and with his dedication to the mission that we cannot forget the promises of Jesus in favor of the little ones, the poor and the abandoned.

- The Piarist poor knows that his poverty is not a goal, a certain point to be reached; he is discovering that his ‘Vow of Poverty’ is more a way, a horizon of meaning, a way of giving himself for Jesus and for his Kingdom; and a way of knowing that he is accompanied by Christ always with him.

- And the Piarist poor knows that -like every road never done-, the ‘Vow of Poverty’ is never completed, never finished... It is his way of living “following naked the naked Christ...” (motto of the Waldensians).

22. How do you perceive, in your life as a Piarist, the two components of the ‘Vow of Poverty’; do you live them in any way?

23. Look for and comment on concrete situations (taken from real life ), in which that “division” or reductionism of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ can occur.

24. From where do you think the greatest or strongest threats to your living of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ can come to you?

25. In which environment do you feel more at ease: among the poor and humble, or among the richest; which was your environment of origin?

26. Is there anything else you would like to comment on the dimensions of the ‘Vow of Poverty’?
6. The criteria of the ‘Vow of Poverty’ of a Piarist

The Word of God enlightened our steps in the search for the fundamental outlines of the life of a Piarist poor, encouraged to announce the Good News to the little ones and the poor.

“This following of Christ, supreme norm of our life, is concretized in the charism of our Founder, which consists in the evangelization of children and young people, especially the abandoned, with patient and generous love”.

CC 17

We can enter, now, in the indication of some basic criteria that help to orient and situate all who are initiating the life of the poor Piarist, in the concrete and incarnated living of our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

- In relation to the Gospel and to the personal life of the Piarist:

- We are called to announce Jesus without shame, and not as a title of glory, but in any way and freely.

- Criterion of discernment of our ‘Vow of Poverty’ will be, then, our identification with the life of Christ, poor and always available for all those who needed his love and salvation.

- The poverty suggested by the Gospel is not destitution; is, above all, a great interior and operative freedom that must be lived with the joy and vigor of the Holy Spirit.

- For the Piarist poor, Christ must become - more and more - the greatest good, the most friendly person, the most intimate of his intimacy.

- Everything that can oppose this interior process of progressive identification with Christ, of “putting on Christ”, is contrary to our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

- In relation to the Religious Community:

- A great criterion of discernment about our ‘Vow of Poverty’ is its capacity to generate authentic attitude of sharing and communion of life that crosses all the instances of the person (material and spiritual); it would be the fraternal and delicate concern for the brothers of Community, and not the personal isolation in ‘my things’.

- The Piarist poor knows how to destroy his personal mechanisms of defense and aggressive possession that many times end up influencing negatively in his community life and in his Community.

- The Piarist poor becomes available to form a single body in which the various members take care of each other.

- Everything that can oppose to the availability to share more and more and to the community growth in the construction of the Piarist life, is contrary to our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

- In relation to Mission and Ministry:

- Another criterion of discernment is the apostolic charity that the poverty of the Piarist must evidence and make transparent.

- The Piarist poor expresses his poverty and lives it whenever he puts his personal dedication before the use of structures.

- The Piarist poor makes his poverty transparent, also, when he places respect and affection for other persons before any criterion of human efficiency.

- Likewise, he shows his poverty with authenticity whenever he is critical and reacts against the treacherous infiltration of an irresponsible power and of an uncontrollable consumerism.

- The Piarist poor, whenever he expresses with his life the ‘preferential option for the poorest and most humiliated’, makes present, in the midst of the little ones, the living and acting presence of Jesus and his Kingdom.

- Whenever he “breaks the mold” and shows his loving dedication for the last and excluded, he makes Jesus present.

- Whenever he initiates and takes care of human relationships, especially with the poorest, with those who will not ‘pay back’ anything -perhaps not even thanksgiving (Lk 14:12)-, he makes the Kingdom come about.

- In front of the proposals that the ‘society of welfare’ and consumerism offers to our children, the concrete and challenging poverty of the Piarist poor, will be worth more than any word and will be more valuable than any other testimony.

- Everything that can oppose - in the Piarist poor – to the dedication and the silent dedication of life for the small and poor children, will be contrary to our ‘Vow of Poverty’.

- In relation to other criteria:

- Honesty in the fulfillment of one’s own ministerial service: the Piarist poor accepts to be questioned about his work; he knows how to account for his responsibilities, because he wishes to grow more and more with a heart poor and detached.

- The lack of obsessive concern for the future: the Piarist poor is not obsessed with wanting to provide for his own future. It is poor who - in the depths of his heart - does not assume an attitude of vindication, does not seek unlimited guarantees and at any price, but lives a serene and confident abandonment in the providence of God.

- Availability: perhaps this is one of the clearest and most defining criteria of the Piarist’s life of poverty. His availability to leave for another mission will be one of the most accurate thermometers to register his level of detachment and ease on people, positions and places.

- The Piarist poor has nothing to defend, because has nothing; poverty makes him insightful, capable of being able to read better than anyone else the signs of the times; only in this way will he be able to be a prophetic sign of God in among his children and young people.

- The Word of God evokes for us once again the foundation and the pastoral dimensions of our ‘Vow of Poverty’: 1Pt 5,1-3.

- The communion of life, the sharing: the Piarist poor perceives that there is an intimate link between the living of his poverty and the different forms of communion of life, since he -poor and detached-, has a mind and heart open and capable of welcoming with affection all his brothers of Community and all the brothers and sisters of the Fraternity, perceiving the connection of his life with theirs. Therefore, another fundamental criterion that evaluates the poverty of the Piarist is his capacity to share life and gifts with his Community.

27. Comment those criteria that helped you the most to think about the poor Piarist.

28. Do you consider that those criteria about our ‘Vow of Poverty’ can help you to orient your steps? How?

29. Put some other criteria that can help the Piarist to review its ‘Vow of Poverty’ to live it more authentically.

7. Concrete indications about our ‘Vow of Poverty’

for you, who are being initiated in the life

of the Piarist poor

As we said before, our ‘Vow of Poverty’ is a path that must be built and traveled by each Piarist, by each Community; is not a rule that must be fulfilled or a law that must be obeyed; therefore, we are convinced that poverty is a value that must be evoked and invoked many times.

Our Constitutions make very clear the road to be traveled, the horizon for which we must look:

“By the vow of poverty, we renounce the right to use and dispose of material goods, without the permission of the Superiors”.

CC 68

“The responsible practice of religious poverty does not consist only in having the permission of the Superiors for the use of the things, it demands that we are poor in spirit and, in fact, the professed of solemn vows lose the ability to acquire and possess. Therefore, all that the religious of simple vows acquires with his initiatives and personal work, or in concept of pension, even social, subsidy or insurance, or by reason of the Order, and the same all the goods that the professed of solemn vows obtains by any concept, they give them to the House, to the Province, or to the Order. And all money, and all titles, they deposit them in the common treasury, feeling happy to be able to share everything with the brothers, without looking for comforts and satisfactions outside the house”.

CC 69

“In our house and in our works, poverty should also shine . Taking into account the social milieu in which we live , we give witness, even collectively, to our poverty. We totally reject even the appearance of luxury, of excessive profit and of accumulation of goods”.

CC 70

“We use material goods to the extent that they are necessary for the exercise of our ministry. We always try to strengthen our works and to acquire new instruments. We always try to strengthen our Works and to acquire new pedagogical and auxiliary material that will benefit the poor, the young, and our apostolate.

CC 71

“Poverty also demands that the administration of the gods be wise and prudent. We ask for an exact account of it in the spirit and criteria of the Gospel. And we do not allow to disappear by our negligence, nor to deteriorate by our carelessness, goods that should serve our Communities, our Works and the needy”.

CC 72

The Houses and Provinces will gladly help those who suffer hardship and will contribute their goods, to the extent of their possibilities, to the needs of the Church and to the promotion of the poor. Practicing hospitality, we give a joyful welcome to brothers and strangers, in accordance with our poverty. In addition to the use for scholastic activities, we grant a constant and wider use of our Houses and our Works, for the good of the community and, above all, of the poor”.

CC 73

“By devoting ourselves with our educational work to the reform of society, we collaborate wholeheartedly with the Church, which proclaims the rights of the person and of the human community and denounces the unjust situations in which the poor live. We participate effectively in initiatives that promote justice and peace. We treat those who work with us humanely and in accordance with the demands of justice.

CC 74

“This is the poverty that we love as the most faithful defense of the Order, and we preserve it in all its integrity. Even more , guided by the Spirit, we try to discover new forms of poverty, more adapted to our charism and to the demands of our time”.

CC 75

- The Piarist poor learns to live his ‘Vow of Poverty’ in the different situations, moments and realities that make up his daily life (both in his personal life and in the life of the Community or Mission); we propose in this chapter to reflect on daily elements, of our daily life, in which we can express and live our ‘Vow of Poverty’:

a) The allowance: does it have a community meaning or is it a personal resource that depends only on the religious? How could also become a communitarian expression of fraternal sharing?

b) To discover and identify in my style of living, the tendencies that may threaten a deep living of the ‘Vow of Poverty’, and to see how I can and should work on them.

c) To habituate myself to be a person who does not create needs.

d) To educate myself in the austerity of life, having as reference the key to live always as the simple people (without calling attention in concrete things: way of dressing, people with whom I relate, places I frequent, etc.).

e) To be transparent when using and utilizing the money of the Community, always and promptly rendering the accounts of the expenses made (in a trip, or in a retreat, or wherever).

f) To learn to always share with clarity the things that happen to me with the money, with the expenses, without looking for other alternative forms that - in the end - hide the situation.

g) To educate myself in sobriety; to make it a virtue that forms part of my being, little by little: avoiding disproportionate reactions; responding without imbalances in the normal things of life; without falling into exaggeration in food and drink, knowing how to control myself.

h) To accept with openness of heart the criticisms that other people -who love me and know me-, can make to me.

i) To learn not to fall in the trap of the ‘gifts’ (the temptation of feeling poor because I do not spend anything, but I am always waiting for the ‘gifts’ that can arrive for my actions).

j) To suppress what can be “scandalous” in the eyes of the simple people : schedules, get-togethers, parties, unbalanced expenses, things that I buy or use.

k) To live a lifestyle in accordance with my option for the simple people; is not my root simple, too? or do I come from a cradle of princes?

l) To take care of my body and my health, without exaggeration.

m) To analyze and to revert any narcissistic characteristic: excessive preoccupation for the image, for the clothes, for the physique, etc.

n) About studies and academic formation: to know that everything I can receive is by the people and for the people, and not to distance myself from reality; beware of ‘declassification’.

o) To live from a deep inner humility, seeking the simple things (both in material elements and in relationships with people: those who occupy and fill my heart are the poor, the small, those on the periphery).

p) To learn not to waste time: to know how to distribute my schedule, reinforcing those sides where I feel weaker (an exaggerated tendency to watch TV, a constant use of whatsapp, mobile, instagram, music at all times, etc.)

- The Piarist poor lives his story as a worn out life for those he loves: his children and young people. For this reason, opts for the “law of maximums”: maximum dedication, maximum donation, maximum tear (and not for the “law of minimums”). He does not spare his life; he gives it with a smile.

- The Piarist poor -especially in his Initial Formation-, goes building his dream of life from the ideal that he would like to become. He dreams his own style of being a Piarist: the concrete Piarist profile with which he identifies himself and which he feels called to be; all this is well embodied in the ‘Personal Project of Life’ -deep, real and incarnated-, in which can express and share the characteristics of his Vocation.

“EDUCATING FOR THE PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN POST-MODERNITY”. has a clear and explicit psycho-pedagogical approach.

Other very important approaches, such as the Calasanctian one, should be added at the moment of working this work with the young people in the Initial Piarist Formation.

Calasanz unites us more!

“The Chastity of a Piarist”

Introduction to the ‘Vow of Chastity’

Within the work “EDUCATING FOR PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN POSTMODERNITY. A psycho-pedagogical proposal “, we studied the ‘Vow of Poverty’; now, taking a step further, we begin the analysis of another fundamental element that defines and characterizes the “Piarist personality”: chastity.

The ‘Vow of Chastity’ is the most characteristic sign of our life as Religious. There is no other “watermark” in our way of living that attracts so much attention.

And so it was from the beginning, from those first followers of Jesus who felt ‘on fire’ for the Risen Christ, for the Christ alive, present and acting in personal life and in the history of humanity... They adopted this sign in their lives in an absolutely normal, natural way, without forcing anything that was human in them. From that first dawn, from that first Advent, this ‘mark’ was the characteristic of those who discovered themselves pierced by a love that never passes, by a surrender that never ends.

Thus, Religious Life was born... As God’s advent for history and for the Church... What the season of Advent is for the liturgical cycle, Religious Life is called to be for the Church and for the whole of humanity: a breach opened by God for a hope that never dies!

When we speak of the ‘Vow of Chastity’, we are speaking from a symbolic and meaningful language; we are not speaking from the norm, from the ‘should be’; we are speaking - as in the ‘Vow of Poverty’ - from a horizon of meaning that is capable of making us live in such a special way.

To speak of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is to speak of excessive love – rather received than given -; to live the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is to express my absolute and definitive way of loving and being loved; to dream of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is to dream of a utopia for me -a body that cries out in the solitudes of life-, and that can only be true from the Grace of Him who first loved me; to desire the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is to desire a fullness of love already intuited, already caressed, ... though not yet embraced.

May your ‘Vow of Chastity’ be a joyful and hopeful expression of that “Greater Love” that is unifying and integrating your human heart.

1. What does the ‘Vow of Chastity’ mean to you?

2. What do you understand by “being chaste”?

3. In studying this Vow, what doubts would you like to clarify?
I. Sociocultural situation of young people in relation

to the option for virginity

We take two traits that characterize the current situation of the world of young people: the loss of mystery and the inconsistency of a referential culture. These two elements lead to a series of difficulties on regarding the possibilities of option for virginity.

The loss of mystery

The young man of today is progressively losing the sense of mystery. In fact, he is satisfied with his own condition. He no longer lives the great contrasts with the world of adults; and he does not possess particular expectations and aspirations, neither for himself, nor for others. As a sociologist says:

“Today’s youth is a youth without great aspirations or high ideals. It is a pragmatic youth, more interested in living in the best possible way the present moment than in projecting and preparing for the future. It is a “now generation”. As a consequence of this phenomenon, we have an increase in consumerism and a great ignorance of the sense of mystery that permeates life”[13].

Amedeo Cencini

This loss of the sense of mystery has a particular reflection in the field of sexuality. In all cultures and at all times, sexuality was considered a mystery deeply related to the sources of life and death, and for this reason it was approached with respect, and even with fear itself. In such a way that, in the most diverse peoples, it has always been surrounded by a careful mesh of rules, prescriptions, prohibitions that our mentality neo-Enlightenment quickly qualifies as taboos and superstitions. However, we are not able to perceive that all this normativity had the function of preserving the depth of the mystery, thus preventing an eventual profanation, with negative consequences for the community. Our society imagined to be able to eliminate those limits that, in its opinion, do not go beyond pure and simple repression.

Sex thus became an object of consumption like so many others; it became the most common, the most massified element. Today’s society managed to exorcise its tremendous and fascinating power, trivializing and flattening it. Our beers, our gasoline brands, exhibit sex as a symbol of consumption; on TV bodies are exposed in their nudity without any complex; our teenagers learned to insert fleeting sexual experiences among the elements of a ‘quality of life’ desired with anxiety, as a value that is equated to the first bicycle obtained, or to the first vacation trip.

Thus, sexuality ceased to be a mystery. And when it lacks the mystery, man is reduced to a poor mutilated being, homologated, uniformized, reduced to a ‘single dimension’, the dimensión of epidermal stimuli.

If the sex-mystery provokes man to search with creativity for the meaning of life and of the future, in the same direction of mystery, sex deprived of the category of mystery is reduced to a parody of itself, reduces life and the perspective of the future to a measure that is no longer the human one. Above all, it ceases to stimulate the search, it does not inspire any path, it does not provoke any restlessness, or tension towards a meaning that must be discovered and lived responsibly.

An inconsistent culture

The weakness of the culture of postmodernity -or ‘liquid modernity- is a natural consequence of the loss of the mystery. We understand here by culture a general mentality, an enveloping atmosphere, a way of understanding life and everything that which has value in it. This is the origin of the weakening of desire, of thought and of the sense of self.

The fall of desire and of wishing for something

The more a person is habitually gratified and satisfied in his pleasures, the less he learns to bear the lack -or to live the renunciation-, and to strive to conquer what he desires. Nor does he learn to desire with true intensity what really deserves to be desired.

“No one desires what is easy to obtain”[14].

Ovid

In the same way, no one learns to desire (that is, to suffer the lack and to suffer whatever is necessary to conquer what is lacking) if everything is given to him without having to pay any price. Where does not develop the courage to impose a renunciation in view of a higher value, the capacity to desire will not develop there either.

The project of our Piarist life -by its very nature-, demands and supposes a remarkable and significant capacity of desire and of renunciation.

To love God with body and soul -to love with the heart of God all children and young people-, means to have heart-mind-will opened for an infinite horizon; it means to have learned to educate and form one’s own desire, in order to come to desire God’s own desires.

But it is this education of desire (or asceticism) that today proves to be deficient, in a society in which young people have many more things than they could desire, and ignore that renunciation is the condition for being free, for being able to desire great things. When the desire is inconsistent, also the attraction for the value of virginity can only be inconsistent.

4. What do you think of the above underlined statement about renunciation? Explain it in your own words, giving normal examples, of every day.

5. Comment on the previous statement that relates ‘inconsistent desire’ to the lack of attraction to virginity.
The crisis of beauty and aesthetic sense

It is another sign of our cultural decadence, whose origin is clear: the inconsistency of thought in this ‘liquid modernity’ – as we commented in the previous part. When thought lacks consistency, it loses its capacity to reach truth. Then, beauty ceases to exist or its criterion becomes ambiguous, and the human being becomes incapable of understanding and contemplating it.

As a consequence, beauty no longer succeeds in fulfilling its mission: to manifest the fascinating character of truth, being both a proposal and a motivation for personal decisions. Every human being is naturally attracted to truth, goodness and beauty. The current crisis of taste and the very low level of aesthetic sense that can be perceived, for example, in television programs, cultural proposals, soap operas, etc., are alarming.

Therefore, to make a deep and radical choice for the Piarist life, several motivations are necessary:

- Theological motivation: “I experience that God is calling me”

- Ethical motivation: “I want to give my life for the children and young people”

- Aesthetic motivation: “I feel attracted and fascinated by the Piarist life”

- Piarist motivation: “I have the capacity to be a Piarist”

To authenticate a vocational option for the Piarist life and guarantee the fidelity to it, we expressed the necessity that the 4 dynamisms of the Vocation (heart-head-capacity-courage, collected in “Ion window”[15]) exist; so, in the same way, these outstanding motivations are also necessary.

The aesthetic motivation is fundamental within the process of integration of vocational life; it supposes the capacity to let myself be attracted by something that I consider beautiful, and that can communicate beauty to my life.

It is to discover, therefore, that it is beautiful -and not just good and holy-, to give myself totally to God, to love Him, to sing Him, to celebrate Him, to announce Him and to serve Him... Virginity is beautiful! Because it has its roots in the mystery of the unfathomable beauty of God; and the Piarists -from our ‘Vow of Chastity’-, we are called to be as artists or poets who express with our joyful life and full of hope, that it is beautiful not only the love of a couple, but also is beautiful, immensely more beautiful, the love of God for the human being and the love of the human being for God... This is a love of such beauty that it is capable of abundantly filling the heart and life of the Piarist. For this reason, we proclaim that “It is worth being Piarist!

Perhaps, our great challenge appears here. It is that language of the beauty that today is more difficult to be heard and understood. It is difficult to create gestures that make beauty understandable, that produce and transmit beauty, that arouse fascination and charm...

If our Piarist life were not beautiful, if our ‘Vow of Chastity’ were not understood from its beauty, it would not be more than a tremendous weight that oppresses and hardens the heart; if we do not transmit it as something beautiful, it cannot be a value that attracts other young people to approach it to know and love it.

“When affective energy is stolen from God and neighbor, when it is directed to my ‘ego’, it is transformed into a kind of mortal embrace of one’s own image. I become more and more apathetic, losing my enthusiasm, being dominated by coldness, unmotivated and incapable of enthusing others...”[16].

Amedeo Cencini

The narcissistic distrust at the base

Narcissism is the evil of the century. In order to understand well the concept, we could say that narcissism is a syndrome not so much of who was never loved, but of those who do not recognize the affection received, does not rejoice with the attitudes of affection given to him, reaching - even in a disguised form - to despise them, because he considers that they were limited gestures or gestures made by limited persons.

In such a way that, if in the normal evolution of affective maturity we must pass from gratitude to gratuitousness, the narcissist is a mixture of ingratitude and voracity, a sad and strange person in love with himself, full of rage because life has not given him what he considers sufficient for himself; and more angry with himself because he perceives that - on the one hand - he needs the affection of others but - on the other hand - he is incapable of benevolence, of recognizing the love that someone wants to give him. He has the physiognomy of the ‘rich young man’ described in the Gospel (Mk 10:21), who did not even notice the look of love that Jesus gave him and so he went away ‘sad’.

In reality, the narcissist is in love not with his own ‘I’, but with his image, his external appearance. He is condemned to become attractive, to always have to attract the attention of others; he remains dependent on the esteem and the benevolence of some. His life can become an incessant search for love; but a search that is never satiated and only finds frustration, because the success of the external image does not mean an increase in self-esteem or the experience of a kindness for himself.

There is not even coincidence between the external ‘I’ (the false ‘I’, which is often a “caricatured I”, trying to become convincing), and the internal ‘I’ (or the true ‘I’, that which we all are, with our qualities and defects).

Consequently, as he instrumentalizes the other, the ‘I’ of the narcissist is gradually weakened by the lack of the two certainties that make a person free, from the affective point of view:

- the certainty of already having been loved;

- the certainty of being able and knowing how to love.

Without these two certainties, any project of living the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is very difficult, or of very high risk. Virgins are not heroes; nor are they, much less, depressed or angry with life.

6. How do you understand the renunciations in your life; what do they mean to you; how do they leave you?

7. What have been the last important renunciations you have made; for which reason(s)?

8. In what way do you perceive the aesthetic motivation in your vocation; what does it mean to you; do you attach importance to it?

9. Do you discover any narcissistic element or characteristic in yourself; which one?
2. The foundation of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist

Whoever feels called -from those vocational motivations that we mentioned- to choose the Piarist life, must be simply a young man of faith who recognizes the greatness of the love that he received from God and -in the face of this realization-, discovers that he cannot do anything else but give thanks, offering his own life to God.

“You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced...”

The basic nuclear experience, the radical foundation of our ‘Vow of Chastity’, is what Jeremiah experienced and expressed it in that precious way: it is God who seduces me and it is I who allow myself to be seduced. A seduction of love experienced as a personal relationship; a seduction in which I perceive that it is in the Lord -and only in the Lord-, where I find truth, beauty, the goodness and the fullness of life.

“Chastity for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven is an eminent gift of the Father’s love that we receive in the Church. By it we follow Christ with undivided love and imitate the Virgin Mary, and thus unite ourselves more closely to God and love all men with singular charity.”

CC 53

The young man called to be a Piarist perceives the value of the gift of himself in virginity as a natural and inevitable response to immense love that he received, seeing that this value is the most precious and authentic thing that he can do before the love found; love that is not just any kind of love... Love that is transformed in the ‘First Love’, in a ‘Greater Love’...

Saint Charles de Foucauld, in love with God, expressed it in a precious way: “Since I discovered that God exists, I felt that my life could only be for Him ”[17].

“You made us, Lord, for you, and our heart will be restless until it rests in you”[18].

With this expression St. Augustine affirmed in an incomparable way the thirst that the human being has for the absolute of God, for his love unique. In such a way that the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist is a consecration to that ‘Greater Love’ that we have found in God alone.

Therefore, virginity becomes the most natural and fullest expression of the love received that is transformed into love offered. Our ‘Vow of Chastity’ is born of the coincidence between two loves, of the freedom to give and receive affection.

The Piarist discovers in the covenant of that love that the most precious gift received, life, is a gift that tends - by its very nature - to be a gift offered; with his life he is called to repeat the gift that he himself received. Thus, by the dynamism that God imprints on our life, the gift received is called to become a gift offered; without sighing loudly, without feeling like heroes of anything... Simply, discovering that I am more me to the extent that I am able to give in love that which I received for love: my whole life.

The most that I could expect from the Father was shown and given to me in his Son Jesus, the Son of the Father’s Love; the Piarist bases his ‘Vow of Chastity’ on the encounter personal and experiential with that overflowing love of God, his definitive word, offered in Jesus.

“...so that I may love you more and follow you more”

St. Ignatius of Loyola liked to end his prayers with this affirmation: “...so that I may love you more and follow you more”. The ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist -founded solely on the love of God and on the personal alliance with Him-, makes our life become an offered gift. What the love of God makes arise in the life of the Piarist is an incomparable joy; it is like the blind man on the road who recovers his sight and places himself next to Jesus to love him more and follow him more (Mk 10:46-52).

“I like to contemplate with great intensity the faces of the priests I meet in the street, to see if a life of love has left some perceptible trait in them... I look for the traces of love and many times I only find resignation or tenacity”[19].

Edward Hoagland

The ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist is the greatest launching pad we can have; it is a ‘rocket propellant’ to follow Jesus on the path of life. It is a following that means total donation for those to whom the Lord sends me. From the ‘Vow of Chastity’, the Piarist professes a total dedication to be able to love in the way Jesus loved, to be able to desire and feel as Jesus did.

10. What is the ultimate foundation of your dedication, of your desire to be Piarist?

11. How are you living your personal encounter with God; do you live it intimately; is God ‘someone’ or ‘something’ in you?

12. Do you consider your experience of God as the rock on which your Vocation is based?

13. Do you perceive in you the naturalness of transforming the gift received into a gift offered?

14. Do you discover in you some ‘perceptible trace’ that is already leaving a life given out of love?
3. The components of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist

We expressed in the previous part that our vows have a double structure: they have a mystical component and a political component (or practical-situational); both components do not grow in opposite directions, but in the same direction and in the same proportions. The radicality of our ‘Vow of Chastity’ is - at the same time - mystical and political: The mysticism of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ can never be disconnected from the reality, from the concrete and real situation that we are living.

“Moved by this love which we freely and joyfully asume with all the ardor of our existence, by our consecration we configure with greater authenticity to the love of Christ revealed in his Paschal Mystery. Thus, made all for all, we enjoy in Christ a more extensive paternity and we give more luminous witness to the excellence of the Kingdom and its goods”.

CC 54

The mystical component is the foundation of our ‘Vow of Chastity’ in God alone, in his gratuitous love that converts my life into a gift received and then offered. That component mystical of our vow is intimately linked to the ardent waiting that the Piarist (as every Religious) lives; it is the waiting for “the day of the Lord”; in that sense, we commented previously that the consecrated religious life is called to be in the world what the time of ‘advent’ is in the liturgy.

The Piarist gives all his heart and all his life for the Kingdom of God; we feel totally apprehended by that Kingdom that already is coming (advent!) and by an unreserved dedication to it.

We serve the Kingdom of God in the evangelization and education of children and young people, especially the poorest. The Piarist develops, thus, the political component of our ‘Vow of Chastity’: always at the service of the Kingdom.

But how is the ‘Vow of Chastity’ forged? What is the educational path that helps to give mystical and political consistency to our vow?

To awaken the capacity to desire (to educate us to modesty

and continence)

Virginity is the expression of a heart capable of desiring great things. To be virgin is to be one who - being loved by God and loving God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his strength - learned to have the same desires as God. However, humanly speaking, the way to reach the great desires is the way of discipline. Discipline understood as the ordering of one’s life so that the young person becomes capable of advancing in the search for the objectives he wants to achieve. In this case, the objective is to reach an affective maturity that enables the Piarist to live the vow of chastity. What used to be called “education of desire”.

And this area of affectivity is a naturally ... disordered area; and, therefore, it needs to be considered with particular attention.

The first thing I must do is to identify that which -in some way- brings disorder to my life (some affective immaturity, the selfishness that has its roots in the deepest part of the human being, that need we all have to give and receive affection, that gratifying impulse -but which closes me off from others-, etc.).

This whole process necessarily leads to the decision to renounce; that is, to the courage to say ‘no’ to that which remains immature in oneself. We know that a human being who does not contain himself, who does not renounce anything, becomes an unsustainable myth, as if he did not really exist. Renunciation - as we saw before - is a fundamental part of life.

In the field of education for chastity-virginity, this renunciation has its own name: it is continence. And a continence that is associated with another behavioral dimension typical of the person who lives the ‘Vow of Chastity’: modesty. In a general way, modesty is the “vigilant conscience that defends the dignity of man and authentic love”. Modesty refers to the image of man as mystery and of sexuality as mystery.

From this is born in the young person the image of modesty as respect for one’s own body and the body of the other. From it are born the clean look and imagination, the respect for sexuality and its values, as well as the affective encounter with the other in the fullness of what is human and what is spiritual.

The young Piarist must learn to maintain the proper distance between himself and others, but also - in a certain sense - between him and himself, in order to be able to leave the space that the reality of mystery requires in the intimate. He must understand that true love is modest, decent. It is a love that does not pretend to conquer the other completely, that does not reveal itself entirely to the other -since true love never expresses itself completely-, always preserving something mysterious and, for this reason, always with some reason for surprise.

Love is a value that must be very well guarded; and that, little by little, must become transparent; more insinuated than openly stated, explained, or demonstrated with gestures and tangible signs (the famous ‘proofs of love’ which, in the end, prove absolutely nothing).

Modesty is synonymous with trustworthiness, elegance of spirit. It reveals a person’s style. This is true even in our relationship with God, because our contact with divine things must not be impudent (it must not become a market product that we need to examine with a discerning eye), but must remain in the relationship of pure gift. Even in the history of a vocation, what we need is unpredictable, what has not yet happened, has a greater place than what has already happened.

Modesty, thus, configures love in that which is mysterious. And continence makes it visible, externalizes its mode of action. Continence is the path to chastity. And it is a condition and an indispensable requirement for sexuality to be able to fulfill well, with perfection, its natural purpose, that is, its receptive-oblative capacity.

- An uncontrolled genital activity, in fact, could divert the person from the total gift of self and stop the dynamism that leads sexuality towards its natural end.

- The practice of autoeroticism, pornographic fantasy, the subtle desire to dominate others and to violate one’s own modesty as well as the modesty of others, impudence in the ostentation of oneself, seduction lived as the conquest of others and of the sincerity of their affections,... all these are external expressions of sexual infantilism still badly contained, and which lead the young person to move away from the highest or loftiest aspirations he or she could dream of.

On the contrary, intelligent and motivated renunciation, well done, carried out through a serious and profound “Vocational Accompaniment”, which touches the inner fibers of the person, causes new desires to be born. It is as if the young person enters a new space in which the things of the past are gradually disappearing, losing their attraction, perceiving that happiness and the fullness of love no longer come from them.

In such a way that the renunciation of a certain type of sexual satisfaction opens the way for the discovery of new desires; and that means acquiring a new sensibility, a new way of thinking about life in love, a review of everything that is really worth looking for.

Now, there is a fundamental condition: that the renunciation be motivated by a great value. This is an essential pedagogical law: one renounces something only to the extent that this renunciation leads to greater freedom and leads to the encounter with a greater good than that which one has renounced. In this way, continence and modesty become a discipline and a pedagogical method, directing the heart to desire the very desires of God.

15. What are my desires and wishes?

16. What are the desires that move my life the most?

17. Do I feel that I am a person capable of making renunciations?

18. Every choice implies renunciations: what am I giving up? What do I aspire to achieve?

19. How do I perceive that my choice is better, more beautiful and authentic than what I am giving up?

20. Does the way in which I currently live my sexuality facilitate or hinder the living of my ‘Vow of Chastity’?

21. How do I live continence and modesty in my life? Do I attach importance to them, or do they not have much value for me?
The discovery of beauty (educating ourselves for chastity)

Today, as we mentioned earlier, the aesthetic motivation has declined, and beauty runs the risk of no longer being a reason for life, or a motive for choice. Young people make their choices driven by practical, functional motives, by particular interests. Rediscovering beauty in order to fall in love with the fascination caused by the values of the spirit is a specific education for the virtue of chastity, which is already an important step in the itinerary that leads to the option for virginity.

Generally speaking, chastity is the virtue that regulates the use of sexuality in accordance with the state of life chosen by the person and in function of the values and objectives that he or she wishes to achieve. Seen more closely, chastity is “the virtue that promotes the fullness of sexuality” and sets in motion the typical dynamism of sexuality, as a capacity for openness to others and as a gift of oneself to others.

The value of chastity is hidden in the double dynamic of the desire to possess oneself as a gift received (passive-receptive direction) and, at the same time, as a gift offered (active-oblative direction).

The Piarist chaste is not so much the one who must control his disordered sexual impulses, but the one who discovered himself as a gift, in all parts of his being, because he received life in a gratuitous way. Therefore, if life was given to him gratuitously, it is a gift, and the Piarist has no other way of self-realization but within the logic of the gift.

Chastity means respecting this logic of gift in everything: in gestures, in thoughts, in affections, in projects, in relationships. It means making sure that everything, in terms of behavior, expresses the grateful awareness of having received the gift of life, of being what one is and what one has, associated with the free and consistent decision to offer, to give back, to carry forward what the person is and what the person has. This is perfect coherence, for there is nothing more logical than to give back with grace which we receive with grace: that the good received becomes a good offered.

In that perfect coherence (or perfect chastity) is the secret of the Piarist chaste to be able to integrate all his dynamisms, his impulses, his drives and his instincts, as precious energy that must be learned to lead and control, and not put it aside, repressing it.

Chastity means, therefore, harmony, balanced design, equilibrium of forms and lines, symmetry of relationships, unique inspiration that embraces all forms of expression. For this reason, the virtue of chastity has the specific effect not so much of suppressing carnal pleasures, but of ordering them for other things. Moreover: “the virtue of chastity is a specific capacity to love; it allows a person to love with his whole being; it is to love passionately; it is the love of love...”

If chastity has this origin, if, therefore, it is not born of an imposed law or of a ‘duty to be,’ it is called to be ordered within the person. This is how it becomes an aesthetic norm, a measure of perfection and beauty. It is chaste, it is beautiful, the love that renounces to turn in on itself, or to bend the other to its own will.

That is why the chaste love of a Piarist has a deep and attractive charm. To live and present the beauty of our life, the beauty of our way of loving; is to help rediscover the beauty of existence for any young person who approaches us. Our way of living love is and will always be the most authentic and beautiful vocational invitation.

It is not celibacy that is the cause of vocational crises; the cause lies in an erroneous presentation of the virtue of chastity, both on the human and on the Gospel level. The ‘Vow of Chastity’ can never be understood as a castration of my desire to love without measure. The ‘Vow of Chastity’ can never be presented by faces discolored by sadness or demotivation. The ‘Vow of Chastity’ can never be understood as a pruning of my humanity.

The ‘Vow of Chastity’ is the beauty of being able to love with a fruitfulness that you yourself could never have imagined...

22. In what do you perceive the beauty of chastity?

23. What kind of people, situations, thoughts or things help you to live the ‘Vow of Chastity’ with greater authenticity and enthusiasm? And what are the ones that do not help you?

24. What does love in this way arouse in you: fear, distrust, doubts,... or, on the contrary, enthusiasm, joy, hope...? Why?

25. What kind of fruitfulness do you think chastity can give you?
The ideal of ‘affective freedom’ (educating ourselves

for virginity)

Virginity is the ultimate point of chastity. It shows well how far chastity can go. It orders sexual energy in a positive sense, making an intelligent use of continence in view of the supreme object of love: God, the Good of life. The human being is “capable of God”; the human being can come to love God as the greatest love.

Our Holy Father understood authentic chastity in this way: “Love with a well-ordered love and remain united to Christ, the Lord, desiring to live only for Him and to please Him alone”.

Constitutions of Our Holy Father, no. 34

But what are the conditions that allow a young Piarist to embark on this adventure of loving God “above all things”, as the supreme Good, far superior to any other creature? What are the conditions that can launch a young Piarist to place love for God above a desire -so strong in the human being-, such as wanting to love a woman and build a family?

These conditions can be summarized in a very precise expression: ‘affective freedom’. Education for virginity is an education for ‘affective freedom’. Only those who have a free heart can open themselves to God’s love and decide to love him with their whole being - that is, with a virgin heart.

What does ‘affective freedom’ mean?

By ‘affective freedom’ we mean the possibility of loving what I am; loving my own being and what I feel called to be and to live for.

As we saw before, for a Vocation to exist, it is not enough only the theological motivation (whose risk would be to make a merely cerebral choice); nor is it enough only the ethical motivation (whose risk would be to determine a purely voluntary choice); it is necessary the Piarist motivation, confirmed by the Order; and it is also necessary, together with the previous ones, the aesthetic motivation, the motivation that leads me to discover as beautiful, precious, and deeply desirable, the Piarist Vocational option.

To love in fact, and to love intensely, are further and indispensable steps; but I must feel, first of all, attracted and fascinated by that which one day I will be able to love with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength.

I need to discover my ideal identity, my own ‘I’, following in the footsteps of that which burns and fascinates me, that which fills me with pleasure; and all this because the Vocational option communicates to me, little by little, the maximum truth-beauty-goodness of my life, and it communicates it to such a high degree that I end up choosing that value as the ideal of my own existence.

On the other hand, ‘affective freedom’ does not only mean loving one’s own Vocation, but loving -also- according to one’s own Vocation. As you can see, the problem of freedom is not situated in terms of independence, but in terms of love or, to be more precise, of ‘affective freedom’.

- Man is affectively free to the extent that he does not depend on anything or anyone, but only on that which he loves, or on that which he is learning to love, and which he feels called to love. Free is he who, having several paths, chooses the path that will bring the most goodness-beauty-truth to his life.

- Man is a slave when he depends on that which he cannot and should not love -or because that which is not worthy of being loved, or because his deepest identity is not there-.

- Man is free if in everything he does, thinks, feels, expresses, chooses... he depends only on what he loves and on what he feels called to love, and to that he surrenders himself, because he will be surrendering himself to love. Only if this coherence (or freedom) exists, each one will be able to discover or confirm his Vocation.

What are the conditions for this ‘affective freedom’ to exist?

Affective freedom’ is based, basically, on the two certainties that we have already expressed above:

- The certainty of having been loved.

- The certainty of knowing and being able to love.

The stronger and surer these two certainties are, the stronger and surer I will be able to run for the adventure of God’s love. And what is the attitude that arises from these two certainties? Gratitude! Which is the fertile ground where great vocational stories are born.

We must doubt the Vocation that is not born of a grateful act. When I discover the good I received, the affection I received (not by merit, but by pure gratuity), then I begin to discover another meaning for my life that is emerging on the horizon... This meaning of life now recovers meaning for me, in the light of the concept of chastity: Life is a good received that tends - by its very nature - to become a good offered.

Pope Francis expresses this fundamental law of the logic of gift in a beautiful way in this text that has already become very famous:

“Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit. The sun does not shine for itself; and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves. To live for others is a rule of nature (...) Life is good when you are happy. But life is much better when others are happy for your sake”.

To decide, therefore, to give what one has received, to give all that has been received, has nothing strange or heroic about it. On the contrary, for the person who has felt deeply loved in his reality, and who knows that he can love, there is nothing more logical than this choice of life, because it means that he wants to be himself to the end, being coherent with his own nature, with what he lived without expecting it: The gratuity received and experienced is transformed into gratitude that leads to a gratuity offered and given; it is the freedom to let oneself be loved and to choose to love.

In short, giving one’s life to God in this way means fully realizing and blessing one’s sexuality and all that is mysteriously written in it; it means being free of heart, mind and will.

What does it mean to be a virgin?

At this point virginity shines with all its meaning, demonstrating, also, in what way it is accessible. It ceases to be a strange thing, a renunciation as heavy as lead, an ecclesial obligation, a repression.

The virginity of a young Piarist is not only the discovery of the love received through some person (usually another Piarist) who has loved him so much; it is also the discovery of a sure path that:

- starting from the blessing of sexuality,

- walking along the path of education for modesty, which respects and makes the mystery present,

- continuing through the formation for the choice of continence - to learn to desire the desires of God,

- discovering the beauty of chastity,

- arrives, finally, at the point of destination: The discovery of God’s love as the greatest love, a love that is capable of filling your life and that leads you to give your life so that you can be life for so many children and young people, loving and educating them.

“To be a virgin, and to choose to be a virgin, means - at the point of arrival of this educational itinerary - to decide to love God much more than any other creature (= to love God with all one’s heart, with all one’s mind, with all one’s will), so as to be able to love all creatures with God’s heart and freedom (= loving all of them intensely, without being united to any of them for life - which would be marriage - but also without rejecting any of them)”[20].

Amedeo Cencini

26. How do you live in your life, how have they been in your history, the two certainties that are the matrix of every vocational decision?

27. Do you feel affectively free, or do you notice in yourself some kind of dependence or slavery?

28. Does your desire to give yourself, to serve others your whole life, spring from gratitude? Why? How do you perceive it?

29. Finally, what does being a virgin mean to you?

30. Has the concept you had of virginity changed at all, based on what you are discovering now?
4. The criteria of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist

We began this part by analyzing the socio-cultural reality of young people with regard to the option for virginity. In the following chapter we will go deeper into the foundation of our ‘Vow of Chastity’. Now - in this chapter - we want to offer a series of criteria that can help you to discover the ‘Vow of Chastity’, to understand it and to live it as one of the most beautiful and characteristic elements of your Piarist life.

“The evangelical counsel of chastity, embraced with a vow for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, is a sign of the future world and a source of greater fruitfulness, in an undivided heart; and it entails the obligation of perfect continence, lived in celibacy.”

CC 55

The ‘Vow of Chastity’: A profound way of loving

and being loved

Sexuality is a relational faculty because it is through it that we unite ourselves to others in mutual affection and care. When it is repressed, it also represses the energy within us that is called to be spent in loving.

Authentic chastity is the fruit of an honest encounter with my sexuality, and it is not easy to achieve... It is the result of a struggle against the impetuous energies of sexuality, and it is achieved as our sexual impulses are ‘tamed’ and converted to a loving use.

Our ‘Vow of Chastity’ seeks to produce a life - yours! - perceptibly marked by love. Sexuality is a source of life-giving power not only in procreation but, above all, in daily human relationships. We bless and give glory to our Creator whenever we establish relationships of love - centered on others - but which also offer us deep human satisfaction and personal fulfillment. Let us always remember that before being concept, God is relationship; before being thought, God is encounter; before being ethics, God is covenant.

On the other hand, sexuality can also have a destructive power. The sexual impulse (or sexual drive, as Freud defined it) can be transformed into a disintegrating force by our lack of concern, or by our weakness, or by some well-intentioned mistake...

Thus, the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist is called to be the way through which he learns to love and to be loved.

For Our Holy Father the first step to live authentically the ‘Vow of Chastity’ was to desire to be united to the Lord and to live only for Him, as we said in another moment; likewise, another fundamental step for Calasanz consists in stripping oneself of disordered affections; he himself writes to us:

“See to it, then, that you divest yourself of all disordered affection for family and friends, and transform it into spiritual affection.”

Constitutions of Our Holy Father, No. 34

The religious should give to the spirit according to its needs and to the body the same, and no more to the body, because it kicks against the spirit and makes it commit mortal sins, becoming, as St. Paul says, “animalis homo” (1 Cor 2:14)[21].

“By consecrated chastity we have chosen to share life with our brothers and sisters, in the love of Christ, for a new reason and more freely. Moreover, we embrace such a way of life which, put into practice with joyful and growing fidelity, draws the hearts of children to God, confirms them in the love of purity, and impels all to a sincere love and generous dedication to others”.

CC 56

Going out to meet the erotic

There are no shortcuts to achieve a chastity that produces the integrity of my heart, my mind and my will. Mature love is a continuous process of development - which implies a lifelong effort to be more and more chaste, wanting to walk towards the horizon of virginity, integrating and ordering my sexuality.

And this path also requires an encounter - sometimes an encounter that hurts, that harms - with my erotic world. From that encounter a human life emerges, because the ‘wild life in the bones’, is disciplined, little by little, on the road to integration. That integration is what we call chastity: Freeing all the forces of life through a coordination performed by an ‘I’ governed by transcendent values and desires to which I totally adhere.

When I am afraid of my sexual feelings, I try to cover them up through a defense mechanism called ‘denial’. This mechanism is produced when the person identifies sexual feelings and likens them to potential terrorists threatening to hijack the ship of self and steer it out of control into stormy waters. Consciously or unconsciously the person feels that the best way to avoid this danger is to pretend that these potentially disturbing forces do not exist.

When denial is unconscious, it is called ‘repression’, which is another defense mechanism. Through repression, the person manages to block unwanted feelings or impulses in his consciousness.

Thus, both denial and repression are ineffective and invalid ways of dealing with sexual feelings, because they exclude or annul personal consciousness. Knowing what we experience allows us to place order and harmony in sexual desires and feelings, which are dependent on the orientations provided by personal knowledge and choice. Ironically, the denial of the sexual and the erotic, destroys the control that is sought. A person who lives his sexual drive through denial or repression is running the risk of becoming a head without a body, thinking that he is very integral, when - in reality - he is not, because he is denying his dependence on the body and all that this body represents, risking to deny his dependence on God, who made us dependent on the body.

It is very easy for a ‘pure spirit’ to become a spirit of pride. Only by going to the direct encounter with the erotic can I hope, one day, to overcome my own sexual fears.

Today, we see that, although sex is very influential in the life and behavior of the person, it is not the fundamental or decisive element. Today, it is perceived that the meaning that I manage to give to my life - through the values, principles and virtues that I pursue and adhere to - can influence my life choices and actions much more than sexual gratification. It is not necessary to deny or repress the personal erotic world in order to maintain order, balance and harmony in life, always moving towards greater fulfillment.

‘Suppression’ is the term used to express a type of conscious control over one’s own sexual desire, in favor of clearly chosen values and purposes.

Suppression differs from repression and denial in that it implies and supposes a conscious taking and a personal choice. Contrary to what happens with repression, suppression allows me to confirm my sexual feelings and to decide how I am going to respond to them. By allowing me to have more alternatives for action, it increases my freedom.

This mechanism can be appropriate in countless occasions in which the sexual drive can disturb the vocational process: A Father counseling a disconsolate widow; a young Piarist working closely with a catechist; a strong nostalgia for the old flirts when meeting a girl; a feeling of loneliness; etc. There are various such moments when I must know how to suppress my sexual fantasies in order to continue on the path I love.

“Suppression is a ‘no’ that is grounded in a much more important ‘yes’.”[22]

William Kraft

Suppression involves distancing myself from those sexual and erotic feelings until a time I can pause to reflect on them. Sometimes treating sexual fantasies with a certain benign neglect helps to relax sexual tension, since they seem to recede when the person does not pay much attention to them.

Since sexuality involves a desire or appetite as strong as the need to eat or sleep, it is natural for fleeting sexual fantasies to pop up... The mechanism of suppression helps me to give them the attention they deserve, but prevents these fantasies from disturbing or disrupting the fundamental movements of my life and vocational process.

Ironically, in the attempt to escape from a direct encounter with the erotic and sexual world of my life, I can end up being obsessed by it. Denial, in other words, can lead to ‘fixation’. As with other types of fixations, sexual obsession generates a myopia that prevents one from seeing the broader purposes of sexuality, which are about giving life and establishing relationships.

Those people who live this way suffer from a kind of puritanism that leads to ‘projection’ (another defense mechanism!). I project onto others what I do not accept in myself. I project onto others those sexual desires and instincts that are unwanted, unrecognized or unaccepted in me.

A story tells that, one day, two monks -one young and the other old-, were walking through a forest in medieval France. Arriving at a river, they came across a beautiful blonde-haired girl, unable to cross the river alone. Without a moment’s hesitation, the old monk took the girl in his arms and crossed the river with her on his lap. After walking for a while, as they continued walking, the young monk confronted the old man, reminding him of what had happened with the pretty girl in the river. The young monk confided his total disappointment with the other religious, supposedly more experienced than him. Complaining, the young monk asks with virtuous indignation:

“How could you, a religious who promised chastity, be so casual and careless in your contact with such an attractive woman!”

The wise old monk replied peacefully, “True; but I left her on the other side of the river; you, however, still carry her with you...”[23].

Avoiding eroticism

Fixation easily leads to eroticism. Generally speaking, we can understand eroticism as the impersonal use of others for one’s own gratification. It is sexuality deprived of relational concerns and isolated from interpersonal love. It is the corruption of the gift of sexuality, because it leads to interpersonal alienation, instead of leading to interpersonal intimacy.

Out of fear, many times, we let our sexuality separate us, instead of uniting us to others. The essence chastity for a Piarist is to love people in the way Jesus loved. Chaste people are able to establish and maintain good relationships with others, without harming them with disordered sexual instincts. A good thermometer to check our growth in the way of chastity is to always ask ourselves about the depth and quality of our relationships. Keeping a safe distance from others is not a sign of chastity. On the contrary, it is a fault against chastity if that distance prevents us from uniting ourselves deeply and carefully to the life of others.

31. How do you love people: do you get very close, do you get involved, do you get distant, do you show yourself, do you not show yourself...?

32. How would you talk about your being: “I am a body” / “I have a body” / “I inhabit a body” / “I am imprisoned in a body”?

33. Do you feel good about your sexuality? Do you talk about the issues or topics that concern you about your sexuality with a trusted priest who can help you and guide you?

34. What did you understand about each of the ‘defense mechanisms’ mentioned above: denial - repression - suppression - projection - fixation? Give examples of them.

35. In the story of the monks, which of these ‘defense mechanisms’ do you think is behind what the young monk says to the old monk?

36. How do you find your sexual feelings and thoughts? Do they provoke fear, doubt, peace, serenity? Why?
Reaffirming the value of friendship

In the world in which we live, ‘close friends’ are sought after more than ever. The loneliness in the reality of the great megalopolises, the massified and depersonalizing society, the accelerated pace of life, the poverty and misery of so many..., all this leads us to seek deeper, more authentic and true relationships: that which can only be experienced with a ‘close friend’.

“You become eternally responsible for the one you have captivated...”[24].

The Little Prince

However, establishing intimate friendship is something more complex than we might suppose; already Erich Fromm stated that -by the very nature of love-, we must place a greater force in the process of loving, and not in the object of love.

Having friends and caring for them is one of the most sacred things in life. We, being Religious who live the ‘Vow of Chastity’, do not fail to establish that kind of friendly relationships that help us grow towards an adult and mature love. We are also called to know how to have and care for friends, especially those who are most significant in our lives.

Especially we Religious, because of our way of being and living, run the risk of building our affective reality without ‘bonds and bridges’ that truly unite us to those with whom we walk in life. It is of fundamental importance to grow in the ability to create and maintain deep, intimate and lasting bonds of friendship with those who are called to be my “brothers on the way”.

We will always remind one another that the Word of God is transformed into life for my life every time I unite my heart with the brothers and sisters he has placed on my path; with those whom God has chosen to be, together with me, “friends in the Lord” (as St. Ignatius said); those whom I did not choose, for it was God himself who placed them in my history.

37. Do you know what it means to have a “close friend”?

38. What does it mean for you to take care of those special people in whom God is present in your life?

39. “Which holds the cattle: the fence or the shepherd?” (what do you think this saying means?)
Friendship and emotional support

The ability to make and care for friends to meet the legitimate need for emotional support is a sign of maturity, and should always be encouraged and accompanied in the early stages of formation for Piarist Religious Life.

When you leave your families and friendships to enter our Piarist Life, the pain and homesickness you feel is normal. It is not surprising that the young Piarist feels a deep emotional void. Opening up to others and starting to establish new relationships will help him a lot to fill this affective emptiness. But, on the other hand, there are young people who are troubled by a deep and persistent loneliness. This painful emptiness can lead them to a desperate search for someone who can be the final answer to their loneliness.

The relationship that may arise from this situation is destined to fail, because it is motivated and sustained by false assumptions and irrational expectations. Let us comment on some of these irrational fantasies:

There is the false belief that a single person can satisfy all those affective needs that were previously met by a network composed of parents, friends, classmates, workmates, etc. It must be clear that no person can fully satisfy the affective needs of another. Failure to recognize this fact leads some young people in Religious Life to move from one frustrating and stormy relationship to another.

On the other hand - and linked to this search for a ‘special person’ who can satisfy all my emotional and affective needs - there may be an unconscious attempt to transform this ‘special friend’ into a ‘substitute spouse’.

Young people who enter Religious Life begin their journey having made the conscious decision to renounce the person who would accompany them throughout their lives; and that renunciation is taken in order to be able to love and live in a different way, from the ‘Vow of Chastity’. However, at an unconscious and affective-emotional level, sometimes, you may feel the need for a deeper, more intimate and intense relationship, which replaces the one you gave up. Psychologically, this process is called ‘transference’: The affective-emotional energy is transferred from its original connection with an unacceptable idea to a connection with an acceptable idea.

In the context of the Prenovitiate, Novitiate or Juniorate this law means that that affection and intimacy between the spouses can be transferred to a brother of the Community. This transfer blocks healthy friendship, since it means the focusing of romantic feelings - sometimes even erotic ones - which are appropriate when directed towards the spouse, but are inappropriate when linked to a brother of the Community. Expecting a Community brother to be the center of my own affective universe - as if he were a spouse - is unrealistic, impractical and frustrating for both persons.

“No friend, no lover, no husband, no wife... will be able to reassure our deepest longings for unity and wholeness”[25].

Henri Nouwen

The dynamic of our ‘Vow of Chastity’ is the dynamic of the universal love of Jesus, the Lord. By growing in that dynamic, I will achieve a greater inclusion of others in my life, and not a selection of those who appeal to me.

Thus, a friendship that -consciously or unconsciously-, seeks to find a ‘substitute spouse’ in a brother of the Religious Life, is destined not only to fail, but can lead to an obsession that could block the young religious in his formation process.

A third fantasy that threatens the building of healthy and true friendships is the illusion that there is someone, somewhere in the world, capable of pulling out from within me the essential loneliness that is part of existence.

Those who act out of this fantasy of finding the definitive solution to their loneliness in human friendship tend to place heavy messianic expectations on their friends. The final result is always disillusionment, frustration and the collapse of friendship.

40. How do you understand the solitude of the Piarist: As a space from which all your dynamisms are integrated, together with God, or as a negative feeling of abandonment and emptiness?

41. How can this solitude be filled so that it can be truly enriching?

42. What do you think of the three fantasies we are trying to demystify?

“The ‘Vow of Chastity’ promotes a radical style of interpersonal relationships, a style that is based on the universal character of love.

The ‘Vow of Chastity’ allows the priest to love deeply and warmly, but without necessarily moving toward exclusivity.

If married love is characterized by being centered on one another - while remaining open to others - the love born of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is characterized by being centered on others, while being open to all...

The priest desires to be united to all, without marrying anyone...”[26].

R. Rolheiser

The life of a Piarist chaste: a life perceptibly marked by love

“Shema, Israel! the Lord, our God, is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength”.

Dt 6:4

The ‘Shema’ is the biblical and anthropological foundation that has accompanied us throughout this essay on the ‘Vow of Chastity’. From this same foundation also sprang “The window of Ion “[27] (analysis of the dynamisms of the heart - head - courage - capacity, applied to the vocational option).

The principle and foundation of the ‘Shema’, deployed in the different levels, offers us the following scheme to be worked deeply in the Initial Formation:

Human faculty

Generated movement

Desired wholeness

Vocational motivation

Indicative expressions

and response through the Vows

Heart

Feelings

Beauty

Aesthetic motivation

“I feel attracted

and fascinated by

the life of the Piarists” (Vow of Chastity)

Mind

Thoughts

Truth

Theological motivation

“I know that God calls me and invites me

to give myself” (Vow of Obedience)

Will

Acts

Kindness

Ethical motivation

“I want to dedicate

my life to the most needy children”

(Vow of Poverty)

Capacity

Aptitudes

Satisfaction

Piarist motivation

“I found the definitive way to serve God by educating these poor children, and I will not give it up for anything in the world” (Vow

to Educate the Poor)

In the Vows the young Piarist responds to the vocational invitation, consecrating himself to the love of God. Each Vow responds to one of the ‘totalities’ that the young man dreams and desires, through being Piarist. A totality that:

- bring him the ultimate beauty for your life: VOTE OF CHASTITY

- show him the greatest truth of your being: VOTE OF OBEDIENCE

- help him to live from all the goodness that can exist in him: VOW OF POVERTY

- make him reach full satisfaction as a person: VOW OF EDUCATION

It is in this way of loving, as was that of Jesus, that the young Piarist finds the way to consecrate himself to the God of life, who first loved him. The Piarist testifies that he discovered that precious pearl, that hidden treasure (Mt 13:44-46), through his life, perceptibly marked by love and joy.

The Vows have a fundamental role in the configuration of the “Piarist personality” of the young person. The ‘Piarist Initial Formation’ will accompany, form and educate him on the path of consecration of his life, through the internalization of the values expressed in the Vows.

The Vows are the expression of a life consecrated to the Lord. They are the ‘watermarks’ of the Piarist; ‘tattoos’ engraved on our body; signs that point to something much greater. The Vows are our ‘rocket propellants’ to love in a unique and singular way, as is the way of loving of the Consecrated: To love totally, exclusively, available, universally, perennially (forever) and undividedly (undivided heart).

43. Comment on the relationships, doubts or questions that arise in you with respect to the previous table that presented the Vows.

44. Why do you think that many times the Vows are represented as water pitchers?

45. Do you consider that you are on the way to internalizing the values that the Vows express and contain? In what way do you perceive this?
5. Concrete indications about our ‘Vow of Chastity’

for you, who are initiating in the Piarist life

After studying the criteria that can help you understand and live the ‘Vow of Chastity’ as our concrete way of loving and being loved, at this point we would like to enter into a more practical part: The part of the concrete indications, the ‘clues’ to grow in the way of chastity.

Indications for your personal and spiritual life

“The special gift of consecrated chastity must be discovered, acquired and preserved with daily effort. This is achieved above all by those who, not trusting in their own strength, enter into a familiar relationship with God and, in a humble attitude, await the necessary strength from Him”.

CC 57

“Our familiar relationship with God is nourished by the Sacred Scripture, the prayer and the sacraments, and in such a way that it transforms the heart and makes our dedication to God and to mankind more generous each day. Our filial devotion to the Virgin Mary and her repeatedly implored protection increase our strength to vigorously imitate her example of fidelity.”

CC 58

If the ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist is a grateful consecration to the absolute love of God, the first and most important indication to grow in this vow will be the care of the interior life so that God, the source of our love, may be the center of our heart, of our mind and of our will. That is the central issue. Let us take care of the interior man, because the truth dwells there. Only God is capable of integrating all the dynamisms of your life, generating within you an undivided heart.

How can I remain united to God, so that He may always be the center of my whole being? Our Constitutions expresses it very clearly: Familiarity with God, through his Word, through prayer and through the ‘Sacraments of the Way’ (Eucharist and Reconciliation). Familiarity and intimacy with God will always sustain me, from that first joy, when I discovered Him as the absolute of my whole being, and I perceived that my life could only be for Him (as St. Charles de Foucauld said).

Indications for your personal life, in the area of sexuality

- Sexual continence: Learning to suppress (saying ‘no’ for a greater ‘yes’) sexual expressions already mentioned in this essay (attending inappropriate movies or videos, provoked and compulsive autoeroticism, thoughts and desires that seek sexual arousal, etc.).

- Modesty: To take care of your body and its beauty, but without the need of exhibitionism (postures, clothes, conversations...). The mystery dwells in the inner man, and modesty preserves it.

- Learning to sublimate: Process by which I channel my sexual energies elevating them (spiritualizing them), placing my affective-sexual thoughts and desires in the hands of God. This mechanism is not ideal, but there are times when it helps a lot.

- To integrate the sexual dimension of my life through the internalization of the values that I love and want to follow: This is the authentic process to integrate sexuality. To internalize means to assume the values that I love and by which I consciously want to be governed (final values such as God and the Kingdom and instrumental values such as the Vows and the virtues that help to build a human being from the inner man).

- To take care of the body: Sports, necessary food, regular hygiene, medical control, appropriate clothing, good habits.

- We don’t want a superhero: Don’t think you can control everything that happens in your heart. Be a little suspicious of yourself.

- Sincerity and transparency: Whatever may concern you, share it with serenity and confidence with your Father formator. He will always welcome you with affection. He is there for you.

- To recognize my weaknesses, limitations and shortcomings.

Indications for your community life

“Our chastity grows when, united in fraternal love, we pray and work with enthusiasm and consecrated life develops in a joyful community atmosphere. The practice of human virtues and everything that favors mental hygiene and bodily health also help. On the other hand, a good formation in this matter endows the soul with a certain spiritual instinct to discover and avoid the risks that threaten chastity”.

CC 59

The ‘Vow of Chastity’ of a Piarist is cultivated in a joyful atmosphere of community life. The joy and concern for one another makes our chastity stronger.

Indications regarding your community life

- Take great care of the moments of prayer and community sacraments.

- Be open and communicative at home.

- To consider the Piarists as the most important thing in the Pious School.

- Carefully take care of relationships with the brothers at home: To generate among all an affectionate and loving relationship.

- Not to close oneself in particular relationships: Not to generate cliques of friends that isolate themselves from the Community. To trust in the group, in the Community. To open oneself to all.

- Not to look for groups or “support” persons outside the Community.

- Let be guided by the Father formator and by the Community.

- To value community decisions more than personal ones: To participate in all that was agreed upon in Community. To respect schedules. To value what the other does.

- Do not function as if you were a ‘pirate’: Be careful not to set up personal plans without community mediation.

- Learn to work as a team: Without individualism, without always having to be in the front line to ‘receive the medal’. And, as far as possible, not to function in a solitary way.

Indications for your human and pastoral relationships

“In human relationships, in reading and entertainment, and in the use of social media, we should proceed according to our identity as consecrated persons.”

CC 60

“Consecrated chastity - fullness of life and love - demands of us sobriety and constant vigilance, affective maturity in our friendly relations with people, a daily renewed choice of our faith, and a constant desire to deepen our knowledge of Christ and to direct our whole life towards him with unique love”.

CC 61

The balanced and harmonious living of the ‘Vow of Chastity’ is perceived by the capacity of a Piarist to generate positive and enriching relationships, to open himself to others, to involve himself with people but without creating dependencies, etc. We propose the following indications regarding relationships outside the Community:

- Preserve privacy indoors: Avoid talking about one’s own life, and still less about the life of the Community, with other people.

- Learn to build relationships with the feminine sex: With eyes wide open so as not to fall where it is so easy to get lost.

- To be present in people’s lives, but without affective dependencies.

- To grow in adult friendship: Knowing how to maintain the appropriate closeness and distance.

- To maintain family relationships that do not stifle the Vocation.

- To carry out seriously the pastoral and educational entrusted responsibilities.

- Not to be imprisoned in the external image: Not to need to impress others. To be discreet.

- To analyze what kind of environments I frequent.

Indications before the media and in other environments

“We keep on striving to live only for God, serving our fellow men. In this way, already in this life, we participate in the Resurrection of Christ and experience the power of the Spirit, while we await the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus, who will transform our mortal body by fashioning it according to the model of his glorious condition.”

CC 62

Today, the crisis of bad taste and the loss of aesthetic and poetic sense cause a shudder. A notable flattening is perceived in the cultural and intellectual field (for example, the so-called ‘TV-trash’). The young person, as a consequence of this loss of the mystery that pervades life, becomes unmotivated and is content to live with what each day brings. He does not question himself, does not ask himself, does not elevate himself. And he ends up swallowing everything.

On the other hand, the mass media transmit to us the type of information that interests the ‘system’. It is very important to educate ourselves in a critical vision that analyzes the information, filters it, and contrasts it.

Indications from the ‘Vow of Chastity’ on the Mass Media

- Choose the TV programs you want to watch: do not remain stunned in front of the TV, swallowing everything they put on, or in a continuous ‘zapping’.

- Know how to suppress those videos, scenes, images, readings, that do not help you, or that affect you negatively. “Nobody is made of iron”.

- Build your own scheme of thought to know how to interpret reality: Interesting readings, dedication to study...

- Choose the environments you wish to frequent: They do not all influence in the same way in the construction of the “Piarist personality”.

46. Of all of them, which are the indications that can help you the most to live your ‘Vow of Chastity’? Why?

“The Obedience of a Piarist”

Introduction to the ‘Vow of Obedience’

In this extensive work “EDUCATION TO PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE POST-MODERNITY, A Psychopedagogical Proposal”, we examined the ‘Vow of Poverty’ in part 1; then, in part 2, the ‘Vow of Chastity’; we will now - in this part - address the ‘Vow of Obedience’, as it is another distinct and defining element of our “Piarist personality”.

We begin again - if you remember -, with a central biblical text of the Old Testament, which summarizes the founding experience of Israel: the fundamental and absolute primacy of love for God. It is the famous and eternal ‘Shema’ (Deut 6:4-9 - Mt 22:37):

“Shema, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength”.

We return to the explanatory diagram in which we have expressed the reality of the person as an integrated whole (heart, mind and will), from a biblical and holistic view of the person: Everything that happens in my life has to do with my whole being, affects my whole being, and is reflected in my whole being; and, also, every choice or decision I make will affect my whole being.

Human faculty

Movements generated

Desired totality

Vocational motivation

Piarist Vows

Will

Acts

Kindness

Ethical

Poverty

Heart

Feelings

Beauty

Aesthetic

Chastity

Mind

Thoughts

Truth

Theological

Obedience

Capacity

Aptitudes

Satisfaction

Piarist

Education

The young person feels called to follow the Lord Jesus as the only absolute in his existence; and in this following he tries to achieve the greatest goodness - beauty - truth - fullness for his life. The vocation motivations lead the young Piarist to respond to this search with values and options that define him, and that are expressed in the Vows:

- “I feel that God is calling me to become a Piarist” (theological motivation). ‘Vows of Obedience’.

- “I want to work for the poorest children and young people, like the Piarists” (ethical motivation). ‘Vow of Poverty’.

- “I feel that my life will be worthwhile if I love like the Piarists” (esthetic motivation). ‘Vow of Chastity’.

- I have found the definitive way to serve God by educating poor children and young people and I will not give it up for anything in this world; I believe that I am suitable for this service and the Order confirms me in it” (Piarist motivation). Fourth vow, the ‘Vow of Education’.

In this essay, obedience is understood as an attitude that embraces the whole of Christian existence; the ‘Vow of Obedience’ is one of the ways in which we religious, the Piarists, affirm the primacy of God and his Kingdom of justice and love in our lives.

The Vows are the vital response of the person who wants to follow the Lord Jesus by loving him completely: “with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength...”, and each one of the Vows expresses the wholeness of this love and the wholeness of the person in God. Each Vow carries and brings within itself the others; they are different dimensions of the same, deep, ardent and total desire:

“My life (everything!), be for God (everything!)”.

1. Do you feel that the previous sentence also expresses your desire? How do you perceive it?

2. How do you understand the Piarist ‘Vow of Obedience ‘ ?

3. What does it mean to you to ‘be obedient’?

4. Discover a relationship between the ‘Vow of Obedience’ and your vocation; highlight one element of this relationship.

5. Name links between the ‘Vow of Obedience’ and other realities of Piarist life (mission, poverty, chastity, community, etc.)

“The renewal of solemn vows, or profession made out of pure love for God, is an act so pleasing to God that it surpasses in merit anything that man can do, except martyrdom”[28].

St. Joseph Calasanz

1. Today’s socio-cultural situation with regard

to obedience

We have recently seen a revaluation of ‘poverty’ and a certain appreciation of ‘chastity’ (at least, it is no longer seen as negatively as it used to be); but the same is not true of obedience. The general political climate, the awareness of a new social order demanded by democracies, the issue of human rights, the emancipation of women and the liberation of groups that used to be “hidden” emphasize other aspects such as autonomy, self-realization, individual freedom, etc. Let us analyze these elements in more detail.

Crisis of the sense of obedience in postmodern culture

Liberal modernity emerged politically with the French Revolution; socially, with the bourgeois revolutions in Europe; philosophically, with rationalism, and economically, with capitalism. The spirit of this modernity was a resounding critique of the authoritarian concept, and fundamentally questioned a certain kind of experience of obedience; it broke with authoritarian structures, and introduced the culture of democracy. The source of power was moved: from its sacred origin, to the delegation of the people.

Today’s postmodernity (without discussing whether or not it represents a break with modernity), affirms in a more radical way some elements that already appeared in modernity. Some of these features were already explored in the first part: the affirmation of the autonomy of human realities; the awareness of one’s own freedom; the irreplaceable and non-negotiable character of one’s choices; the dignity and self-respect, up to and including the refusal to submit to authority; the right of conscientious objection (in the past, one could only disobey an order if it was objectively wrong; today, one can disobey an order on the basis of personal convictions, religious or social positions, etc.). In postmodernity, then, one way of expressing authority and one way of experiencing obedience continues to be strongly criticized.

In the first part, we analyzed that, postmodernity brought with it an intensification of individualism as a consequence of the affirmation of subjectivism. As a result, because it becomes the fundamental criterion in personal life, the practice of obedience is called into question. The public and private spheres are separated, from each other, with the private sphere, taking on a high status and the common and the social being lost from view. The ‘I’ is defined as being free from ties, from stable bonds, from definitive obligations. What Bauman has defined as ‘liquid modernity’.

The emergence of the ‘individualistic self’

The theoretical basis for the glorification of subjectivism lies in the lack of objective criteria for distinguishing between good and evil, between truth and falsity, between sense and absurdity, value and counter-value, true and false religion, and so on.

These are personal feelings that have become the moral guideline for actions and decisions: ‘I like it / I don’t like it’, ‘I feel good / I feel bad’, ‘I feel attracted / I don’t feel attracted’,.... They have become normative criteria that determine the lives of so many young people and adults today.

This subjectivism leads to an ‘individualistic self’, that has an impact in many areas. We highlight just three areas where the influence of subjectivism is most clearly felt:

In the area of love

Psychological gratification profoundly shapes love, marriage and even friendship. Love today is understood as a response to and satisfaction of personal needs: Each is satisfied by the other; the other is important to me as long as he satisfies me. It is the “I will love you forever, until Thursday...”. Love, , is therefore a purely psychological satisfaction, a spontaneous and immediate expression. A love that is no longer directly linked to the constitution of a family, for example. Any renunciation of one’s own interests for the good of the other seems to be a repressive and authoritarian demand.

In this reality of ‘liquid love’, one of the great difficulties is to convey to young people that renunciation and obedience do not arise from a repressive or authoritarian attitude of one or the other, in the world of the couple, but have to do with the play of the two people who are looking for a greater love on which to build their lives and their union as a couple.

“To continue in us the obedience of Christ, we let ourselves be guided in faith by Divine Providence, placing our own will at the service of God and of our brothers and sisters. In this way, we willingly accept the particular form of Piarist life contained in our Constitutions and approved by the Church. And, consequently, through the vow of obedience, we submit ourselves to what the superiors order in accordance with the Constitutions”.

CC 76

In the area of social commitment and work

Individualism weakens any commitment demanded by the community. The group or community is sought for the pleasurable experiences of ‘being together’, but without obligations of any kind. Postmodernism emphasizes community experiences, but not community life (a permanent, regulated life, etc.; for this reason, among others, diocesan seminaries are more sought after by young people than religious houses of formation).

Work itself, which is by definition and by nature social, is distorted by this individualism; now the fundamental issue of work is the wage and not the meaning of work as a social contribution to building a more just world, or the meaning of work as a vocation.

“So that all of us religious can do what pleases the Father, we try to discover his will in an exchange of opinions and in the communion of prayers. This will is revealed to us in the promptings of the Spirit, in the desires of the community and in all kinds of signs, through the mediation of superiors, brothers and events.”

CC 77

In the area of the Vows of consecrated religious life

Our consecrated religious life is, basically consecration to God, community life and apostolic service. In postmodernity, however, the desire to contribute and serve is lost, diluted in the stagnant waters of individualistic bourgeois conformity that so many young people - already in consecrated religious life – live. This is the product of a serious loss of status, which we have already analyzed in the first part on the ‘Vow of Poverty’.

Thus, the Vows are read only from an almost exclusively personal and intimate point of view, suppressing the prophetic charge of their political dimension. To live the consecrated religious life seriously must mean for the young Piarist to renounce some dreams, desires, individual projects, etc., which must be put in the background, in favor of the project of the community, the Province and the Order (remember how Father General Pedro Aguado emphasized this point: “You profess yourselves in the Order!”) Individualism is very obstructive and causes community life to be distracted from its proper characteristics of communion and service to others.

Loss of the vision of wholeness in all things

We will not repeat the aspects already commented on in previous essays, when we analyzed “the loss of mystery”, “the “inconsistent culture”, “the fall of desire”, and the “narcissistic self” (which gives rise to the “individualistic self”). In these lines, we want to highlight some points of this “inconsistent culture” or “liquid culture” of postmodernity that have to do with the meaning and experience of the “Vow of Obedience”.

Postmodernity and the destruction of the ‘grand narratives’.

That which had sustained people’s lives for centuries, those grand narratives that motivated the best exploits of men and women who gave their all for the values in narratives, all that has been destroyed. Great stories like the Gospel, or the life ideals of people who were role models at other times (St. Francis, Gandhi, Luther King, St. Teresa of Calcutta), or political ideals, philosophical, ... all that fell down. They formed the central core of the foundation on which personal and social life was built.

In postmodernity, we live in pieces, in fragments. Fragments of meaning, loose pieces of history, everything fragmented. The past has no echo or psychological resonance, as facts age rapidly. The future presents itself with a nebulous character, with uncertainty and unpredictability. Only the present (although it has become opaque due to the avalanche of information in the age of telecommunications) is today the experience through which everything passes. It is the ‘no-time’. Tradition (past) and dreams (future) have no place.

Postmodernity and the inconsistency of values

The dissolution of the foundations has a full impact on the world of values that determine people’s lives. The consistency of the ultimate, fundamental values of societies and people’s behavior is lost. They used to fulfill the function of giving a unified and structured meaning to human life. When the reference elements of a person or a society, such as values, fall, this has a direct impact on the understanding of the relationship between authority and obedience. Without values that are seen as universal, objective, and transcendent, capable of orienting and unifying human existence, the lives of our young people will take on characteristics such as the following:

- Rejection of everything that is presented as a definitive certainty, or that pretends to be something absolute.

- Fragmentation of personal identity. Young people construct themselves in pieces, without a center, without a backbone to support them.

- Polarization of existence around the transience of the present, without continuity with the past and without reference to the future.

- Inability to make decisions that connect them to the future. Fear of accepting risky options that require courage and responsibility.

- Inability to accept life projects that go beyond the fleeting and ephemeral present. The present is only lived in response to basic needs.

- Difficulty thinking about dreams, and utopias. They do not feel able to project a future based on changing the present.

- Construction of a ‘weak thinking’ that weakly asserts that man only has a chance to live in the demise of truths, values and ideologies.

- Religious disorientation, turning away from the historical churches and jumping from one Pentecostal church to the next, which are attractive because they develop emotional, mystical- evasive faith, etc.

In the midst of this new personal and social map, the relationship between authority and obedience has been completely compromised, because this postmodern mentality is against commitment, against duration, against the affirmation of the common mission beyond the personal elements. For a young person living in the intimate and individualistic emotional current, it is very difficult to accept obedience in the sense of accepting the objectivity of a project that is different from their individual experience.

Young people who surrender to fundamentalist movements also do not understand the true meaning of obedience, even if they appear to be obedient young people.

“In community gatherings, we promote unity of criteria and cooperation in our work, while freely expressing our opinions, united by the bond of brotherly love. In this way we can devote ourselves more effectively to the service of God and the good of our neighbor.”

CC 78

Postmodernity and the crisis of socialization instances

The great socialization instances are: the family, school, religion and the mass media. They are all in crisis. The socializing power they have always had is being lost.

The family has lost its fundamental role as a means of education: Divorces and separations, as well as the loss of parental authority over children, are the causes of this loss. Today, the ‘environment’ comes first - and no longer the family - as the space that leaves the greatest traces and influences in the lives of children and young people.

The school is terribly deteriorated: it lacks a project that gives global meaning to existence. Young people leave school more informed and less educated, with great difficulties for personal critical reflection. Teachers do not know what to transmit in the great fields of morals, ethics and religion, so that young people are incapable of internalizing values, since they are not even presented to them. All this is notably diminishing the capacity of young people to desire, to aspire to something more, to marvel at life, to be enthusiastic about a worthy project.

Religion, with its socializing power, is vanishing. There are various and very complex reasons: The urban world (which has nothing to do with the rural world, which revolved socially around the Church and religious events); the great offers in the ‘supermarkets of faith’; the variety and validity of any ‘religious menu’; the inability of the Churches to find a language capable of reaching the world of the young, etc. All this has destroyed the socializing role of religion.

Today, the mass media actively collaborate in the fall of socializing values. Never as now - in the age of telecommunications - have young people lived in such isolation. Our young people receive vast information, but they are not formed. They spend hours in front of the TV or ‘surfing’ the Internet, on Whats App, Facebook, Instagram and games, but their relational world ends up being purely a virtual world. Reality is no longer real; it is virtual.

Thus, for our young people, it is very difficult to understand obedience (especially if it is in the old parameters), because the subjective, closed, intimate, individualistic and emotional world has prevailed over the objective, communitarian, participatory and social world.

6. What do you understand by ‘postmodernity’? Do you perceive in your world of friends, in your neighborhood, at school, etc., any of the characteristics of it?

7. What are the elements of this ‘postmodernity’ that you consider negative? And which ones do you consider to be positive? Why?

8. In what aspects of your life do you perceive yourself to be influenced by this culture of ‘postmodernity’?

9. How do you see that these aspects affect your vocational growth?

10. Do you think you should do something? What?
2. The foundation of the ‘Vow of Obedience’ of a Piarist

What is the essence, the basis of the ‘Vow of Obedience’ of a Piarist religious? In this chapter we will focus on the central point of our discourse: What prompts a young man today to commit his life to a Religious Order in which the communal and objective elements predominate rather than the personal and subjective?

“Our obedience is at the service of the Church; and this is why we recognize in the Pope, to whom we must also obey by virtue of our vows, and in the bishops, the most important interpreters of Christ’s will. Just as our Holy Father did even in the most difficult moments”.

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Is God the decisive influence in my life?

When you are fortunate enough to feel loved by Love; when you understand that a Father has preceded you and is waiting for you; when you realize that your existence comes from his hands and you sense that he, the Creator of the universe and of all that exists, is thinking of you and accompanying you on a path that was dreamed up especially for you, then adoration and praise arise in your heart as an immediate response, giving rise to the question: “What do you want from me, Lord?

Thus, the desire arises in the grateful heart of man, as a creature, to seek the will of God, the Creator, to make it his own will and to follow it forever.

“You, Lord, who thought of me before the creation of the world, and created me for yourself.

You, who deem me worthy of your gaze, who give me constancy and sustain me in every moment...

You, who provide a way for me to reach You with certainty...

You, my God and my Lord, what do You want from me...?”

It is the same process as the previous Vows: Those who feel loved by God realize that their lives only have meaning when they go out of themselves to:

- love everyone as Jesus loved (chastity),

- give yourself freely, as Jesus gave himself away (poverty),

- accept the will of the Father, as Jesus accepted it (obedience).

In contrast to the rationalist and secularized mentality, that claims that the emancipated human being creates himself, and that he finds in himself the light and strength to go through life, the Christian proposes a different vision: Man is a creature that comes from the loving hands of the Creator; and the most important thing in life is to seek these hands and this face, in order to grow together with him in security and joy. The Christian is convinced that the Plan of God that he has dreamed for each person and for the world is the best plan, and that we can only reach this plan if we follow Jesus, the definitive Word of the Father, revealed to us all. So, an important question in relation to our ‘Vow of Obedience’ is: Is God becoming the decisive influence in my life?

The obedience of the Son

Obedience is basically the confirmation of the good news that we are God’s children, that we are chosen to be part of God’s family. He has chosen us in Jesus, to be part of his life.

“God desires our autonomy; we attain it when, we stop striving for it in our own strength and ‘withdraw’ to God”[29].

Dag Hammarskjöld

At this point, we cannot continue without meditating on the great “portal of faith” that is the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians (1:3-14). Let us read and meditate with great affection on what is revealed to us in this text.

God has chosen us in Christ to be his adopted children... The heart of the ‘Vow of Obedience’ lies in the joyful and solemn ‘yes’ to this intimate relationship with God. Through obedience, we humbly acknowledge that we were created by a God of love and are called to express our gratitude through loving service. By accepting our creatureliness, we confess and affirm that God is at the center of our lives, the reason for our existence.

“The obedience of faith!!!”, a phrase that Paul is so fond of.... For him, this expression aptly describes our acceptance of God as the loving source and the final and definitive destiny of our lives. When Paul speaks of his own calling as a missionary to the Gentiles, he affirms, “Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship, to preach the obedience of faith and the glory of his name among all the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:5).

His mission was to preach the Gospel so that people would surrender to God in faith. When we surrender to God in faith, we give up our illusions of being self-sufficient and recognize our relationship of obedience to God, who is Creator and Lord. In this basic and fundamental sense, obedience is faith and disobedience is lack of faith. To put it negatively, disobedience is the denial of our creatureliness, and the failure to open ourselves to the Creator.

Jesus, autonomous, but obedient

The most important role model for Christian obedience should be Jesus as an adult. In the footsteps of Jesus, we can combine autonomy and obedience, initiative and willingness, creativity and availability.

The Gospel gives us a picture of a deeply autonomous Jesus. He lived with a strong sense of personal autonomy. He knew who he was and what he wanted in life. He knew where he came from and where he was going.

His identity and principles, so deeply rooted, enabled him to remain true to his goals, despite the incomprehension of some of his family, the turning away of the first followers and the negative attitude of the Jewish religious power. Despite this widespread opposition, Jesus continued his mission with dogged determination. Luke reminds us: “And it came to pass, as the days of his acceptance drew near, that he was determined to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

Jesus was an independent man who stuck to his convictions despite fierce opposition. He also remained determined to fulfill his mission. For this reason, he always gave us a strong sense of identity. He lived out this identity and his freedom deeply, while at the same time, holding firmly to the will of his Father. In this way, Jesus shows us that the autonomy and identity of the person are not incompatible with obedience to God.

In the Gospel of John, we discover how closely Jesus was connected to the Father and in what way the task of his life was to fulfill the Father’s will; let us read: John 4:34; 5:30; 8:28.

Jesus valued obedience to his Father as much as his personal autonomy. More than that, this unique relationship with God was the basis for knowing himself. No one will know or understand Jesus without reference to the one who sent him. His central identity as Son inextricably links him to God as Father. It is the same with us: Our original identity as creatures inextricably links us to God as Creator. ‘Creation’ and ‘Creator’ are correlative terms; they cannot be understood separately, just as ‘above’ cannot be understood without ‘below’.

Our condition as a creature leads human beings to be “hearers of the Word”[30], as Karl Rahner said. The term obedience already alludes to this listening (to obey comes from the Latin oboedire, ob + audire = to hear beforehand). Jesus was the great listener to the word of the Father! So much so that he accepted it in his life as the definitive meaning of his being, and carried it to the end, “...even to death, and death on the cross...”.

“Our obedience is an act of perfect freedom, rooted in faith and love, which leads us to the inner freedom that is proper to the children of God. In this way, it enables us to give ourselves fully in love and creates a true maturity in our person.”

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Jesus’ obedience is described in a deep and dense way in the Letter to the Hebrews. When he received the glory of the priesthood of God, he did not exercise it in triumph, in dominion. Jesus, “who in the days of his mortal life with loud cries and tears offered up prayers and supplications to him who was able to save him from death, was heard because of his reverent attitude, and though he was a son, he experienced obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:7-8). This obedience of Jesus is a model for every Christian, especially for every religious, for every Piarist.

11. Is God the decisive influence in your life? How do you perceive him?

12. Does your vocation stem from necessity or from taste (pleasure, love)? Why?

13. We realize that all Vows have the same basis. Define it in your words.

14. How do you live the relationship between autonomy and obedience in your life? Are you more dependent or more ‘loose’?

15. Do you feel free to give your life autonomously in obedience?

“Obedience, animated by charity, unites the members of an institute in the same witness and mission, respecting their individuality and the diversity of their gifts. In fraternity animated by the Spirit, each enters into a precious dialog with the other in order to discover the will of the Father....”.

Vita Consecrata, 92

3. The components of the ‘Vow of Obedience’ of a Piarist

In the previous essays we have defined the components of the religious vows on the basis of the twofold structure they possess: mystical and political.

- The mystical component refers to the transcendent element of the Vows: their relationship to God. The religious, the Piarist, is consecrated to a Greater Love; the Vows are an expression of this consecration and dedication. When the Piarist looks at Jesus, he discovers that he himself has lived the three characteristics, the perceptible signs of love experienced and accepted: Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.

- The political component refers to the prophetic mission, which in concrete reality presupposes such a life, the taking of Vows. It is the prophetic side, the historical consequence of these Vows, the insertion into social reality.

This double articulation is not exclusive of the life of the religious; it belongs to the structure of the following of the Lord Jesus. It is an articulation that applies to every baptized person, to every Christian, because it springs from the following of the Lord himself. It was He who created and developed it.

Throughout history, the Church has affirmed - in many ways and with different gestures and words - this double experience of following Jesus. Let us remember the words of Bishop Enrique Angelelli, who was assassinated during the Argentine dictatorship: “The Christian must live with one ear for people and the other for the Gospel”. We cannot separate the two components, because we would fall into a fatal reductionism, that divides our following of Christ. If we suppress the political side, the vows would remain an intimate act, without projection into society. If we suppress the mystical component, they would be a simple humanistic ideology, without a transcendent dimension. Like the other Vows, the Vow of obedience has this double structure, its two components.

The mystical and political components

of the ‘vow of obedience’

As we have already seen, Jesus’ obedience to the Father was the essential element of his life. This obedience of Jesus is the root of the mysticism of his Passion. We cannot understand the Passion of Our Lord by comparison (there are many actual sufferings: whole peoples, specific persons, cultures, etc.). The problem of the extent of Jesus’ pain in his Passion is answered with the question of whether someone can suffer for the sake of God himself, in an unbearable way and with no compensation... Jesus’ suffering was a suffering for God, because of God, because of his powerlessness in the world. And the radical nature of his obedience, of his ‘yes’, is measured precisely by the extent of this suffering.

Jesus’ cry on the cross is the cry of one abandoned by God, who, for his part, never abandoned God. His obedience is based on this suffering. “Obedience unto death, even death on a cross...”.

Jesus, abandoned by God on the cross, agreed to a God who is different from the deity we always imagine, different from the echo of our desires; a God who is more and who goes beyond our questions (however pompous they may be).

“All unnecessary scandals must be removed so that the scandal of the cross can emerge”[31].

Hans Urs von Balthasar

We can recall the response of an old rabbi, experienced in suffering, to his disciples who were disoriented in a conflict situation: “God, my friends, speaks, this is true, but he does not answer”. This is the mystical root of Jesus’ Passion: his absolute and unconditional obedience to the Father, no matter what, no matter what happens... It is also the mystical root of our ‘Vow of Obedience’.

The ‘Vow of Obedience’ also has a political or prophetic component in its structure. What does it consist of?

The Vows lead us to go out of ourselves to seek the other. If Pope Francis calls us to be a “Church going out”, how much more should we be a “Pious School going out”! (a theme already addressed by our Father General, Pedro Aguado). Because... would a life of poverty, chastity and obedience make sense if it were not about something else...?

It makes no sense, for the religious, to live a life dedicated to himself, closed in on himself. The vows “shape the character” of the young Piarist, and awaken the desire, to always want more: The desire to love more, to serve more, to fight more. They are our ‘rocket fuels’ that always lead us to more...

Through the ‘Vow of Obedience’, every religious, every Piarist, feels compelled to go out of himself, to put aside his plans and projects, his illusions and pretensions, and to place himself at the service of others, wherever he or she is sent. It is our vow of ‘emergency’, that always puts us in a ‘state of alert’ to leave the place we are in and go to another where we can continue to love and serve better.

The ‘Vow of Obedience’ means a radical and incalculable surrender of one’s life to God, our Father. It is an obedience that urges us to practical closeness and concrete commitment to the children and young people who expect and need you.

The ‘Vow of Obedience’ is that “watermark”, that “inner seal”, that always reminds us that we follow, belong to and love the Crucified One, in the religion of the Cross, and not in the religion of prosperity.[32]

Amedeo Cencini

But, is it possible to live obedience in this way? What is the path that a young Piarist must follow in order to have an experience of obedience in the style of Jesus in his life and vocation?

Autonomy and obedience

Autonomy is the ability to take care of oneself. It implies a strong sense of one’s own identity, self-confidence, and the perception of one’s own uniqueness that is different from others. It is acquired in a gradual process that extends throughout life, especially in the stages from childhood to young adulthood. The autonomous ‘self’ is acquired in this process called ‘development of the self’.

Adult autonomy is achieved when the person is ready to leave home and lead their own life, taking responsibility for their own being, with these characteristics:

- The adult autonomous person is ready to assess situations on the basis of the criteria he or she has formed, to make decisions and to bear the resulting consequences.

- The autonomous adult feels secure in his independence, values his own opinion and is open to the opinions of others, without perceiving them as a threat.

- The autonomous adult has a positive self-image and a balanced assertiveness, without lapsing into aggression or submission (remember card 5 of the “AVE”).

- As the autonomous adult gains self-confidence, dependence on family and friends decreases.

“The path of seeking the will of God and obeying his wishes inevitably leads to a trusting surrender.

Those who surrender to the will of the Lord experience what the prophet says: “You will be fed, you will be carried in arms, and on your knees you will be caressed. As one who is comforted by his mother, so I will comfort you” (Is 66:13)[33].

Pier Giordano Cabra

Balanced autonomy allows us to enjoy our individuality, to open up and to respect the individuality of others.

Autonomous people are able to live in peace in a group amidst the inevitable restrictions on personal freedom imposed by the characteristics of social life. The rights of others always limit our own freedom. A healthy and balanced sense of autonomy enables people to recognize the rights of others’ individuality in the midst of the community.

It is likely that a young person who has not succeeded in achieving a minimum, healthy and balanced sense of autonomous individuality will have difficulty with authority and will find cooperation with others threatening. If he has problems with authority, it is because any person who has any kind of responsibility for the young person (formator, teacher, superior, coordinator of the Calasanz movement) is perceived by him as a “shadow” (in the Jungian sense), as a threat. The young person will always find himself with one foot behind in the affairs of the community , and will constantly resist following the plans proposed by others. It is not uncommon for him to be irresponsible and stubborn, not appreciating common rules and regulations, and resisting obligations. This behavior reveals the dark side of autonomy. When the young person turns his autonomy into an idol, it can easily lead to sin, disobedience and disorder. An expert in this field writes: “The healthy impulse towards autonomy is seduced and corrupted by an unhealthy impulse towards selfishness and pride”.

Human autonomy can never be absolute, otherwise we would soon end up as fanatics, all against all. It is certainly very significant that, in the Bible, original sin is portrayed as disobedience arising from an arrogant desire for autonomy - own autonomy in front of God (Adam, Babel,...).

For this reason, we must always be reflected in Jesus, in his personality, in his way of being before God and men: autonomous, but obedient.

To be a Piarist religious, the young person must constantly show signs of having conquered a certain personal autonomy and, at the same time, have the capacity to be open and to appreciate what is different from him (persons and proposals). Without aggressiveness or submission.

16. Do you understand and recognize the double dimension of the ‘Vow of Obedience’? Explain it in your own words.

17. Are you growing in autonomy in your life? How do you perceive it?

18. How do you deal with authority? Do you find it difficult to accept orders from others?

19. How do you feel in front of people who are an ‘authority’ for you (parents, teachers, employers, formators, provincials, etc.)?

20. How do you react when things are not or do not go as you expect? Give examples.

21. How do you deal with people who are different from you? Give examples.
4. The criteria of the ‘Vow of Obedience’ of a Piarist

Having looked at the basis (Chapter II) and the components (Chapter III) of the ‘Vow of Obedience’, we would now like to look at some important criteria that will serve as educational pointers on your vocational journey. The criteria are like lights on the path; they are aspects that we suggest you pay attention to and internalize so that they help you to be more and more configured by the ‘Vow of Obedience’, in your “Piarist personality”.

Some young people, in their following of Christ, in search of God’s will, feel the call to take on the Piarist mission in their lives. Because of their history, their personal background, their identification with some Piarists, or their affinity with our charism and mission, these young people begin their process of discernment about the call of God. They discover that our life is much deeper, more meaningful and richer than it first seemed. The Piarist life is not just the life of a Priest, it is a much fuller life, characterized by five great signs: poverty, chastity, obedience, service and community. These are the elements that make up the “Piarist personality” from the charism of St. Joseph Calasanz.

As the young man grows in his vocation, he will realize how much his life is identified with each of these ‘watermarks’, the signs of love, of following Christ.

We will deepen one of them in particular, the ‘Vow of Obedience’, but without being able to separate it from the others, because then the meaning of the Piarist’s life as a whole would be lost. There are five ‘signs’ of our Piarist life that are profoundly united and interconnected; one cannot be understood without the others; and what remains half in the dark in one, is clarified by the others.

“Obeying does not mean renouncing one’s own freedom, but accepting that the other makes us go beyond our desires and our insecurities (...).

Far from stifling him, obedience frees man from himself, reveals to him unsuspected possibilities, his vocation to be much more than a simple son of man and to grow every day to the full stature of the Son of God. It is an obedient love like that of Christ that builds up the new man day by day”[34].

Pier Giordano Cabra

So, where does the desire of a young person to take the ‘Vow of Obedience’ in our Piarist Order come from? Normally, this desire is not separate from the general desire to get to know and love the Piarist life itself. This desire deepens on the path of “Piarist vocation accompaniment” and in “Piarist initial formation”; the young person gets to know our life better and better and discovers in it this very important element, which is our ‘Vow of Obedience’.

At this moment of his vocation process, when he is more mature, we must give the ‘vow of obedience’ a deep and essential meaning, just as we did with the Vows of poverty and chastity. This is the aim of the criteria proposed below.

The Piarist Order in his following of Christ

The desire to take the ‘Vow of Obedience’ in the Piarist Order stems from the young man’s conviction that the best way to seek and follow the will of God in his life is to live in a religious community such as ours, to which this young man feels called for one of the reasons described above.

This young man feels that the Piarist group speaks loudly in his heart. He sees that there is concern for spiritual life in the group, harmony in the community, joy in the mission; and he believes that the authority structure in our religious group can be a mediator of God’s will for his life. This means that this young man - when he discovers that God is calling him to live in the life of the Piarist Fathers - will also realize that everything the Order ordains for him will be understood by him as God’s will for his life.

On the other hand, the young man, is convinced that in the Order of the Piarist Fathers, together with other brothers who desire and dream the same, he will be better able to discern God’s plan for his life than on his own, and at his own risk.

And, finally, the fact that the Order of the Piarist Fathers has been recognized by the Church for more than 400 years, leads to a great certainty. The young man has the guarantee that the Church recognizes in us the existence of a spiritual path that can lead to holiness (definitive goal of every Christian, ultimate desire of all of us).

Is your Piarist Superior the representative of God’s

will for your life?

This criterion, in the context of the ‘Vow of Obedience’, poses a major problem for many, today. In what way and to what extent will your superior - whoever he may be - represent the will of God for your life? How can this criterion be understood today?

In the past, the ‘Vow of Obedience’ was understood and lived as blind, absolute obedience; it did not allow for the possibility of questioning, clarification, evaluation. The voice of the superior was infallible, as it represented the will of God, and could not be questioned. You just had to obey it, period! Situations arose that sound ridiculous to us today: The more absurd the obedience was, the more it went against the will of the Piarist, the more it was seen as holy, necessary and educational (for example: sweeping the stairs from bottom to top).

This idea of obedience did not only exist in the Church and religious Orders; this understanding of obedience existed throughout the world, in its social, political and family systems. It was the time of Absolutism. Until the world and the church became ‘enlightened’ and woke up.

This way of living obedience denied and suppressed personal maturity and the conquest of human autonomy. To be a good piarist, it was only important to obey and not to think for oneself. The superior’s word was incontestable because it was confirmed as the word of God.

“The religious to whom the office of authority is entrusted has the pastoral care of the brothers as his most important and proper task. He has the last word in every decision. He strives to be the sign and foundation of unity in the community. In a humble and docile attitude, he tries to discover the will of God for each one of the brothers, in order to fulfill it faithfully together with them; and he leads them to holiness with the word of God and, above all, with his own example”.

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Today, after stories and experiences that have made people suffer and grow, and with a greater maturity in the vision of the ‘Vow of Obedience’, we can identify the following criteria for your life and vocation:

The Church, Body of Christ, Interpreter of God’s Plans

Jesus commissioned the Church to continue to proclaim the Gospel to all peoples. She received the Holy Spirit, light and guide for this great journey, so that she can continue the mission without getting lost in the intrigues of the world. Having received the enlightening Holy Spirit, the Church is able to interpret the ‘signs of the times’ from the Word of God, of which she is the herald. The Church has received and developed this ability, among other things, through the hierarchical ministry, the orientations that emanate from our Popes, Superiors General, Bishops, Priests, etc. (Mt 16:18).

The Holy Spirit guides each individual, the community and the whole Church, through the mediation of authority. The Holy Spirit does not ignore human mediation; on the contrary, he demands and needs it.

It was the Holy Spirit who, in a movement initiated by Himself, led you to ask to join a religious Order like ours, with a specific mission within the Church, at the service of the world, wasn’t it? And it all happened through the mediation of people you met along the way: Your parents, priests, juniors, children you have worked with, communities that have welcomed you, experiences you have had, etc.

For this reason, the Order of the Piarist Fathers, welcomes you in the name of the whole Church, and welcomes you to examine with you whether this movement that the Holy Spirit has awakened in you is truly a call from God. On the other hand, we live within the Order, in a certain country, in a certain reality, with certain priests, in certain presences, etc. We could summarize all that we have analyzed in the following scheme:

Holy Spirit  Church  Order of the Piarist Fathers

 Superiors  MI

So, you can live the words that you receive from those who accompany you and are your superiors, as the will of God, as long as they are words that come from the community that is expressed in this schema.

Something similar happens with the words and requests, advice or comments of your mother or father. You do not regard them as anything, because it is not just anyone who is speaking to you. On the contrary, you respect them, because through them, you also recognize that the Word of God and his love for you have reached your heart.

Obedience, say the spiritual masters, does not make the one who commands infallible, but the one who obeys[35].

Authority/obedience in the life of the Piarist

The term auctoritas is connected with the verb augere, which means to grow, to increase. True authority allows others to grow. The religious, the Piarist, should not be afraid of this word (authority), because - within the Church, within the Piarist school - it is its task to keep the group together in order to grow and guide each of the brothers (following the “interior inclination” of each one’s heart, as Calasanz said), so that he can love more and serve better within the Order and our charism. From the moment the Church approved and recognized the Piarist way as an authentic and real way to search for and realize God’s will in view of the Kingdom, you can be convinced that by obeying the one who legitimately is your Superior - formator, rector, provincial, bishop, general-, you will never be deceiving yourself.

Obedience to the Superior is an expression of your obedience to God (our ‘Vow of Obedience’, is ultimately to God Himself). Just as Jesus obeyed the Father and His plan for Him, you obey the Father, who has a plan of dedication for you and our Order for the Kingdom of God. You obey the Father through the mediation of the community and the Superior, because you are called to follow and obey God’s plan in your life, which you see realized through your membership in our Order.

By recognizing the Order of the Piarist Fathers in her body, the Church is telling you that the one who is your superior is “God’s representative” for your life and that by obeying him you are “uniting yourself in a solid and sure way to the saving will of God”. These are strong expressions and difficult to place in the context of our postmodern culture. But they are affirmations of the Second Vatican Council (PC 14). And, on this point, the tradition of the Church is unanimous, even if it has different explanations according to the various trends or models of the Church.

The great men and women of God, our saints, never had full confidence in themselves. They sought and accepted the mediation of a ‘spiritual’ person (‘master of the heart’) when they had to deal with the most serious and difficult matters. In this way, consecrated religious life always sought the will of God. For Our Holy Father Calasanz, obedience was the most important virtue of the Piarist.

Jesus’ obedience was direct to the Father, without any mediation; but we are not Jesus... There must be mediation between each of us and the Father so that we can live our obedience with authenticity. Even the obedience of the apostles went through the mediation of the risen Jesus. They obeyed God by obeying the one sent by God, Jesus, their Master. The first communities that the Holy Spirit awakened also gathered around the disciples and “held fast to the apostles’ teaching”.

Between us and God there is an infinite space in which all illusions are possible. This is why the mediation of the Church is felt to be necessary, which is expressed in the Order, in the priests who accompany you, in your superiors; it is a mediation willed and wanted by God.

“We must render prompt and joyful obedience to the presiding religious; he, for his part, will endeavor not to command out of holy obedience, except in grave cases. We submit even personal charisms to his approval and judgment, in the service of the community.”

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“In assigning ministries and tasks, he entrusts to each one the office that corresponds to his temperament and qualities. He tries to plan the progress of community life as it should be, taking into account the needs of the Works and, above all, of the persons.”

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Your Piarist community, a privileged space

for the interpretation of God’s will in your life,

on the path of synodality

The superior or formator cannot function in his ministry as animator of other religious on the basis of orders and commands, norms and laws. Obedience is necessary, yes, and it is part of the Piarist way of life and of all religious. We entered this life knowing what we would have to face. The basis of everything was a completely free decision that each Piarist made at the moment of taking his Vows.

But the superior or the formator can ask the religious to be obedient after they have made an effort to create a path characterized by the following synodal elements:

- an atmosphere of communion and fraternal interaction;

- a style of participation in the projects of the House, the Work or the Province;

- the promotion of co-responsibility at the various levels of the community.

To create this community atmosphere and style, dialog and communication in the community must be developed with intense common effort; communication nourishes the growth of fraternity. In an environment where communion and participation grow, thanks to dialog and encounter among the brothers, the superior, together with the brothers, will make clearer and more fraternal decisions. This is the way of synodality. Only in this way - within synodality -, authority is recognized as such, at the service of the community. And only in this way it is truly discovered that authority is service and one of the synodal ways.

Meditate on this precious letter of St. PETER CANISIUS to St. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, on the possibility of opening a college in Sicily

“I declare, first of all, that - with God’s help - I find myself in a situation in which everything attracts me equally: that you order me to stay here, to go to Sicily, to India or to any other place.

And if I have to go to Sicily, I am ready to take on any task, be it as a cook, a porter, a student or a teacher in a subject I know.

Therefore, today and for the rest of my life, I vow never to seek what seems comfortable to me, but to leave this, once and for all, to the care of my Reverend superior in Christ. I entrust to him the direction of my spirit, my body, my intelligence and my will, of everything.”

“We fulfill our duty with active and responsible dedication, putting everything we are and possess at stake, aware that the common good of the religious family is the work of all, according to the function of each one.

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It makes no sense to say that somebody is authoritarian because the other brothers, whether in the house or in the province, do not take initiative.

In general, the lack of initiative comes from an authoritarian environment in which the things of the community are not consulted, in which everything comes to the table already decided, in which the opinion and presence of the brothers are not valued, in which the initiatives that are taken are useless or despised.

By creating conditions in which everyone can assume their own responsibilities, initiatives are born; when each brother feels valued in the community, new and creative proposals are born. When the superior in the local or provincial community develops these two synodal principles (taken from the social organization), he facilitates and promotes the living of the ‘vow of obedience’:

- Participation: a principle that allows each Piarist to feel as protagonist in the community or the Work, thus promoting the active presence and increasing availability of the religious.

- Representativeness: a principle that allows the Piarist to express his word and voice and to feel himself in the leadership of the community or the Work.

In contrast to what happens in the political and social world, the Christian conditions for the exercise of authority (and therefore obedience), are where the greatest possible care is given to the promotion of persons and the community. The ideal condition for obedience is that which matures in a community that functions on the basis of these two “synodal principles”, and which promotes communion and co-responsibility.

In this type of community life, the Piarist receives with openness and joy - without trauma or drama -, the word of his superior; it is the privileged space to experience the confirmation that the superior is the representative of God’s will for the life of the religious. On the one hand, because the superior’s own attachment and interest in the life of the community or province and in the life of each brother is perceived; and, on the other, because when all the Piarists look to the same horizon (more love and more service to poor children and young people), authority is not experienced as opposed to the person, but as a driving force for the project of the house, the work, or the province. This is why it is so important to work from projects and with responsible teams, in order to continue growing in communion and participation.

22. Of all that has been mentioned in this chapter, what has struck you the most?

23. Is there any point from the themes analyzed that you would like to expand on or clarify?

24. Comment on what Peter Canisius’ letter to Ignatius suggested to you as you thought about it.

25. After reading and studying this chapter, what are the great truths or affirmations that stand out for your life? Why?

26. Is there a problem or concern about the ‘vow of obedience’ and what it entails? Which one? Why?

27. Do you perceive the ‘vow of obedience’ as a diminishment or castration of your personality, or as ‘wings’ with which you can fly more freely and love more?

Since Jesus, authority is service. Today, in religious families, the function of the superior is understood as a function of spiritual service to the brothers.

The superior is called to be the ‘spiritual animator’ of the brothers (C. Boff). Already in the tradition of the Benedictine monks there was this understanding that the Abbot is constituted as the ‘spiritual father’ of the community and of each individual brother.

When authority is perceived in this way, the negative and presumptuous aspects of the image of the superior are displaced, and he is perceived as the one who is closest to the brothers and cares for them the most.[36]

5. Concrete indications on the ‘Vow of Obedience’

for you, who are initiating in the life

of the obedient Piarist

We begin our essay with a social and cultural diagnosis of obedience and then go on to examine the basis and nature of the ‘Vow of Obedience’. In a third moment, we analyze the components of the vow in order to approach in the fourth chapter, the criteria that will help you to internalize our ‘vow of obedience’ in your life and in your heart. In this fifth and final part, which is more concrete and practical, we want to give you a series of indications and important points of reference so that you can develop and positively live the ‘Vow of obedience’ and make it one of the ‘driving forces’ of your Piarist life.

“Whoever believes that a burden has been imposed on him that is beyond his capacity should simply explain to the superior the difficulties he encounters in this service and confidently await the final decision.”

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Advice for your personal and spiritual life

One of the motives that leads a young man to take the ‘Vow of Obedience’ is the desire to place his life confidently in the hands of God. With this surrender of his life, the young man hopes that, by accepting his sacrifice, the Lord can penetrate deeper into his heart and mold it according to his desires. At this moment, we must remember that God always offers the best. He never takes anything away from the young person. On the contrary, he gives him everything (as Pope Benedict XVI said to a crowd of young people in Cologne). The Lord always offers the most precious, the most important.

By taking the ‘Vow of Obedience’, you give up control of your life, and put many things in the background (self-realization, preferences, desires, etc.). We trust that God will offer us the best! In order for you to embark on this experience, we suggest the following indications and points of reference:

a. You must have reached a minimum level of personal autonomy. This autonomy must be confronted with the priest who accompanies you. Without a minimum of autonomy, there is no freedom. A true vocation can only come from a free decision: for love, and only for love.

b. Center your spiritual life on the experience of God. Develop with seriousness and dedication moments of encounter with Him. Have frequent conversations with God, through His Word, through mental prayer and through the ‘sacraments of the Way’ (Eucharist and Reconciliation). In this mode you can grow in trust in God.

c. Choose a ‘spiritual master’, the master of your heart. Together with him you can align your life, understand your heart better and interpret the inclinations and movements that arise in it. There should be an adult relationship between the two of you, in which you recognize him as an authority.

d. Perform concrete acts of obedience. Obey the people around you, in concrete matters. Then meditate on your behavior (on what naturally arises in you when you hear a request, a command) and draw from it something valuable for your inner growth.

e. Seek acceptance for yourself. It is the first obedience we are called to. The quiet (as much as possible) acceptance of yourself - with all your gifts and with your limitations - is an act of obedience and wisdom.

f. Accept everyday life as a space in which God shows his will. Everyday life, the humble and silent everyday life, is God’s own space in which he reveals himself and shows you his will. Don’t wait for stellar moments to know the Father’s will (1 Kings 19:9-14).

g. Practice detachment. Those who are not detached from themselves will find difficult to seriously fulfill the demands of obedience. Detach yourself from things, situations, and people (this is the most difficult detachment). Whoever wants to be ready to realize the will of the Lord must cultivate the attitude of detachment. The spiritual energy and affective capital that arise from detachment are only visible and perceived after years.

h. Growing in availability. Combined with the previous point: Availability arises from detachment. It is the basic attitude that confirms a deep and mature life of the ‘vow of obedience’. If you want to ask yourself about your obedience, ask yourself better about your availability, and you will receive the answer. Offer yourself, go out to meet before you are asked, show yourself open to any change, consider the lives and work of others important,.... All this will help you grow in the blessed and necessary attitude of availability.

i. Watch and pray. The vows can only be understood and lived from a view of time that is different from the evolutionary one to which we are accustomed (Darwin). Our life of poverty, chastity and obedience only makes sense if it is embedded in an understanding of history that is biblical rather than evolutionary. Consecrated religious life was born in the gaps of history, just as the dawn arose to announce that the “Day of the Lord” was coming. If it is not in this way, from this understanding, our life is very difficult and complicated. Therefore, it is important that you cultivate in your spirituality the ultimate and radical availability; the availability that springs from the knowledge that we are messengers of the “Day of the Lord”, pilgrims without land, lovers without beloved, because the things of this world are passing away... Tell yourself, daily, that you must be ready, must live prepared for everything, must love the children whom no one loves, must give everything without keeping anything... for the “day of the Lord” is coming... In vigilance and prayer, you will purify your availability. The roots we put down with people, in places and even in small habits, are very deep and bind us. That is why Jesus’ exhortation is so important: “Watch and pray” (Mt 26:36-41).

j. Cultivate renunciation and sacrifice. What the Lord requires of you is not so much success, as dependability; He does not require success, but He always expects loyalty from you:

- in your work and your studies, which you pursue seriously and with commitment;

- in your responsibility for domestic matters (cleaning, cooking, punctuality, housework, dress and gait, etc.);

- in your love for children and young people you are allowed to accompany in groups;

- in your gentle and friendly way of dealing with all people;

- in your special care for the little ones and the poor.

In all this, express your faithfulness through concrete acts of sacrifice (where you ‘lose’ so that someone else ‘wins’). Also do everything with self-sacrifice, that is, with a dedication that overcomes the obstacles that arise (a lack of self-sacrifice would be, for example, “I didn’t go to the group because I was tired”).

k. Ask for the gift of unconditionality. It is the gift that God gives to those who surrender in obedience. It can only be begged for, asked for, because it is a gift. It is the final characteristic of love, after faithfulness. Like Ittai the Gittite, the stranger who did not abandon King David at his worst moment, you can say to God, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever the king my lord be, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also” (2 Sam 15:13-22).

“The ultimate criterion for the genuineness of thirst for God is obedience. Obedience is what makes your work, authentic and orients it toward transcendence.

Obedience transforms an imperfect religious experience into a perfect one. It allows us to pass from a God at our disposal to a God who can dispose of us”[37].

Pier Giordano Cabra

Tips for your community life

If at any time the decision of the superior and the conscience of the religious seem to be in conflict, both parties, should calmly weigh their motives with a view to the common good of the Order and the brethren, and try to discern the will of God, without neglecting prayer and the appropriate consultations. If, despite everything, they do not come to an agreement and it is necessary to take further steps, the religious is obliged to obey while respecting charity.

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As we have already said, the Piarist’s ‘vow of obedience’ grows and is cultivated in a community where communion, participation and co-responsibility - the great synodal principles - exist. This is not only the task of the superior, but of everyone.

So that you can fulfill your ‘vow of obedience’ joyfully and freely, we suggest the following guidelines of the community:

l. Build up the community, your task! The motto of St. John XXIII was “Obedience and Peace”; and how much peace this saint of God brought to the world! The Piarist community must also be built in peace; and this peace comes from obedience to one another. Obedience does not only refer to the superior; we also owe obedience to the brothers. This environment can only be achieved through fraternal dialog, direct communication and the sharing of life. No one must be excluded. The community either belongs to everyone or it is not a community.

m. To appreciate small gestures. We are used to attaching importance to the big things, to those that are conspicuous. In the life of the community, the little things, the small details, are very important. Give importance to small details and carry them out at home: To go out today with one, tomorrow with the other; don’t forget the brothers’ important dates; take an interest in everyone’s life (family, worries); invest ‘lost time’ to be together; set up spaces for shared pleasures (look for different diversions, so that all the brothers can participate); pray together; play together - like Jesus and John having fun together in the picture next door. The better you know your brothers, the closer you will feel to them and the less obedience will cost you.

n. Take care of common things. Because we are used to our mother taking care of everything in the house, we sometimes forget that we are the ones who have to do it now. Take care of everything that belongs to all and don’t wait for someone else to do it. Don’t wait for the formator to comment, but lead the way whenever you can. This will help you internalize and assume the attitude of obedience more each day.

o. Pray for one another. The power of prayer is that it opens the pores of our faith and heart to receive the life of the other. In this sense, the prayer of intercession, in which you pray for your brother - in his heart - is very important to create the right climate for obedience to flourish.

“Obedience does not cancel out the spirit of initiative, as long as it meets the demands of the vocation we accept. This means that we must not take initiatives that run counter to our charism, and take us away from the service we are called to render to the Church and society. It is therefore important to submit our initiative to others - superiors - in order to avoid individualism, egoism and the desire to appear”.[38]

Fr. Joseph Lisboa

p. Put the community project above my own projects. The Piarist Community, of religious, is the meeting of people who have freely gathered around a common project (expressed in the Constitutions), and who want to help each other to live the following of Christ from this rule of life or common project. It is at this point that the relationship between authority and obedience finds its proper place and meaning. The proposal of the Piarist Community is not the spiritual growth of the brothers (everyone goes to some kind of prayer group, for example), but the configuration of the whole community life with a view to the realization of the common Piarist project.

In this sense, my plans and desires are determined by the Piarist project. And, within the framework of this community project, I receive the appropriate instructions (destiny, work, function, expectations, etc.) from my superior. At that moment, I understand and accept what my superior proposes to me as God’s will, because he speaks to me in the name of the Order and in the name of the common project of all of us. A project that I love so much to feel called to participate in it.

q. Learning to face conflicts in the community. Conflict usually arises when a matter of personal project is put before the project of the community: individual plans, personal preferences, certain tasks... are put before the community project. In this case, the words of the Superior and the community are very important to put everything in its proper place. It must be taken into account that, if no solution is found, the superior’s word must be obeyed, because he speaks in the name of the community and in the name of the charism. And it is for this community and this charism that the Piarist has sacrificed his life. By listening to the words of the Order - expressed through the community and the superior -, the Piarist listens to the will of God.

Notes for your human and pastoral relationships

“By following this way of life and always being ready to serve the Kingdom of God, we live our obedience with living faith as a witness to the world of the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection. And by taking the Virgin Mary as our model, wonderful example of fidelity, we fulfill the Father’s plan with a spirit of readiness and joy.”

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The project of our Order includes the pastoral mission. Obedience means accepting and embracing the project of the apostolic work of the Order and renouncing special projects. We, the Piarist Fathers, understand ourselves as a social body at the service of the Kingdom of God and the Church. We are not a group of individuals held together by affinities. As we pray in Ephesians 4:4: “We are one body and have one Spirit”. Therefore, we respond in the mission as one body.

Here are some pointers to help you live our existence as a ‘body for mission’ in a positive way:

r. Always be ready and willing for the mission. Always put yourself in this readiness for mission (especially when it comes to educating the poor). This is a sign that you have internalized and positively received the ‘vow of obedience’ and all that it entails.

s. Living a certain indifference in relation to pastoral work. It is good that you work where you feel comfortable and identify yourself. But, within the Piarist Community it is important that you gradually realize that the main criterion is common need, and not particular taste.

t. Create open relationships. In your pastoral work, always remember that “we are “passing through”, we are “in transit”. Do not create or maintain bonds that extinguish your ‘rocket fuel’.

28. Which of the indications presented, do you think you should nurture with greater care? And why?

29. Is there a point you would like to expand on after reading this essay about our ‘vow of obedience’?

30. Can you think of another reference that would help you to internalize the ‘vow of obedience’ with joy? Which one?

31. The last word is up to you: you can write it down and read it out to everyone...

“The ministry of a Piarist”

Introduction to the ‘Ministry of the Piarist’

We go one step further in this work “EDUCATING FOR PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN POSTMODERNITY. A psycho-pedagogical proposal”.

In the first part we studied the ‘vow of poverty’; then, in part 2, we deepened the ‘vow of chastity’; in part 3 we analyzed the ‘vow of obedience’; now, in this part, we go into the study of the fourth element that characterizes and shapes the “piarist personality” as such.

It is about the ‘service of the Piarist’, which we Piarists, call the “fourth vow”, because - since Calasanz’s time -, it plays an important role in the life of religious and is one of the most defining ‘watermarks’ of the “Piarist personality”.

We begin again, if you remember, with a central biblical text for all Jews, including Jesus, and for every Christian. In it is gathered the founding experience of Israel, the fundamental and absolute primacy of God’s love. It is the famous and eternal ‘Shema’ (Deut 6:4 - Mt 22:37):

“Shema, O Israel! The Lord, our God, is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength”.

In the book “In Search of My Star”[39], we presented the theory of the ‘Window of Ion’ for the process of finding a vocation.

This theory is based, precisely, on the Shemá and develops the career finding process from the following dynamics:

Heart - Head (Mind) - Courage (Will) - Ability

In the work that concerns us now, it is these same dynamics - or human abilities - that the ‘Shema’ assembles that lead the human being to seek the totality of existence. And from this schema, which springs from ‘Hear, O Israel’, we deduce not only what man seeks to achieve, but also the way to achieve it: through the vows, for the religious.

We thus resume the explanatory diagram (which has accompanied us from the beginning), as the biblical-anthropological scheme of the whole work. In this diagram we start from the unitary view of man as an integrated whole (heart, mind and will), something that is proper to biblical revelation. To these three human powers or faculties we add another: ‘capacity’, which is actually the capacity from which the vocational motivation can emerge that we will analyze in this essay: The ‘Piarist motivation’, from which the ‘Fourth Vow’ or ‘Piarist service’ emerges.

The ‘Piarist motivation’ can be accompanied and differentiated from the inclinations, dispositions, qualities and abilities that the candidate for the ‘Piarist service’ shows.

In the field of initial formation, this ‘Piarist motivation’ is of fundamental importance, since the Order of the Piarist Fathers is able to support and confirm the vocation process of religious with simple vows on the basis of objective elements.

Human faculties

Movements generated

Totality that

I wish to reach

Vocational motivations

Piarist’s Vows

Will

Acts

Goodness (good)

Ethical

Poverty

Heart

Feelings

Beauty (beautiful)

Aesthetic

Chastity

Mind

Thoughts

Truth (holy)

Theological

Obedience

Capacity

Aptitudes

Satisfaction (full)

Piarist

Education

The young Piarist feels called to follow the Lord Jesus as the only absolute of his existence. And in this following he seeks to achieve the greatest goodness-beauty-truth-fullness for his life. The vocation motivations lead the young Piarist to respond to this search with values and options that define him, and are expressed in the vows:

- “I feel that God is calling me to become a Piarist” (theological motivation). ‘Vows of obedience’.

- “I want to work for poor children and young people like the Piarists” (ethical motivation). vow of poverty’.

- “I have the feeling that my life will be more beautiful and attractive if I love like the Piarists” (esthetic motivation). vow of chastity’.

- I have found the definitive way to serve God by educating poor children, and I will not give it up for anything in this world; and the Order confirms my vocation” (Piarist motivation). Fourth vow, the ‘Piarist Ministry’.

The vows are therefore the vital response of the religious who wants to follow the Lord Jesus and love him completely: “with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their strength”, ...and with all their abilities.

1. How would you define ‘Piarist Ministry’? What is its essence?

2. What does this service mean to you? Do you identify with it?

3. As you reread the previous sentences, do you perceive that you also formulated a similar phrase that motivated your vocation? Which one?
1. Current youth situation with respect to commitment

As we have seen in previous essays, postmodern culture emphasizes the subject’s focus on self (what Pope Francis defines as self-referentiality), which gives rise to individualistic and narcissistic traits. Combined with the slow maturation of today’s youth, this leads to a rejection of the responsibility that adult life imposes.

Tendencies in youth influenced by postmodernism

“Lacking the power of idealism and utopia, and focused on the present, they (young people) easily resort to escape mechanisms to face the harshness of reality”

(Libânio, ‘Para onde vai a juventude’;

São Paulo: Paulus, 2011; p. 19).

For example, some extend bedtime or take a break every time a problem arises. It seems that today’s youth is born tired... If we draw on the classics of Greek mythology, the figure of Prometheus (symbol of modernity) is replaced by the figure of Narcissus (symbol of postmodernity or ‘liquid modernity’).

Today’s young people tend to disconnect happiness from time. They seek intense moments of happiness, without worrying about the future. Libânio, whom we follow at this point, continues, “This means that adolescence is extended and prolonged, which leads to a loss of awareness of history, and everything is perceived as “now”. But, as we have already seen in recent decades, with the disappearance of historical consciousness, ethics is also dissolving.

Trends in youth in terms of social engagement

As far as trends in society and social engagement are concerned, today’s young people attach much less importance to social criticism, because they have no historical awareness. They flirt shamelessly and without remorse with the values that the previous generation - the youth of modernity - criticized and fought against, such as: Competition; success in the labor market achieved by any means, profit as the supreme value and, above all, a quiet life, social comfort, etc.

Another characteristic element of postmodern youth is the fact that it has abandoned the criticism of colonialism and consumerism, typical of the culture of the United States and has fully embraced it, to the point of elevating it to a model of life and cultivating it as a reference.

Narcissus is eternally dissatisfied with himself. Prometheus is arrogant, and dares to steal the fire of the gods. Do you find any Promethean and/or Narcissistic tendencies in our Piarist religious life today?

In the same way, we notice a great distance of today’s young people from social commitment and even more from political militancy.

The youth of modernity was characterized by a strong link to social and class movements, with great social and political leaders emerging from the many groups of “Youth Pastoral” that existed all over Brazil. The postmodern young person is characterized by a much ‘lighter’ experience, without much interest in commitment to social change. Their commitment is much more focused on emergencies (e.g. helping with a solidarity campaign, ) and on festive, sporting and musical events.

Similarly, the modernist young person was not very concerned with their outward appearance or image. This is not the case with the postmodernist young person, who invests and devotes a lot of time in cultivating the body, image and outward beauty (narcissism).

Finally, we can highlight the disconnection of today’s postmodern youth from ideals, from the ‘great stories’, as we explored in the first part. The great deeds and narratives that live in the precious biographies of men and women who have changed the world (from Jesus to Irmã Dorothy, via St. Francis and Joseph Calasanz) are losing their power. The youth of ‘liquid modernity’ is much more pragmatic and less idealistic.

But, in this postmodern, ‘light’, empty, ideal-less, narcissistic and self-centered young person, there is a heart waiting for an educator who will help him discover himself and who will propose to him “the supreme adventure” of his life: The proposal to follow the Lord, in a group of young people of the Calasanz Movement.

Today, more than ever, we need leaders-educators who know how to provoke young people to bring out the best in them.

2. The foundation of the ‘Piarist Ministry’.

It was an afternoon of reflection with the educators of the “St. Joseph of Calasanz Social Center” in Serra (ES-Brazil). We asked ourselves about our being and doing: What are we? What do we do? What is the essence of our mission? What do we want to achieve with a work as beautiful as this “Social Center”?

As we do every time, we want to reach conclusions that are supported by everyone and in which everyone participates. We apply the method of the ‘School of Barbiana’ of the great pedagogue Don Milani. On the blackboard on the wall, the educators wrote the key words. We thought about them, analyzed them, put them in order and managed to form a “creed”, our creed. This is what we, the Piarist educators - religious and lay people of this present time -, are and want:

- “Evangelizing by educating  is the goal

- the small and poor  to whom

- in piety and letters  how

- for the transformation of the person and of society” 

for what

How do we arrive at this ‘CREED’ that inspires and guides us?

By immersing ourselves in our Founder and listening to the inner call of each individual. The ‘Piarist Ministry is born in the light of the life and work of St. Joseph Calasanz and the charism that he left us as a legacy and that continues to call and summon us. Calasanz idealized it and, later, formulated it in detail, with three great realities (the ‘for what’, the ultimate goal):

Anthropological foundation: for the human being,

for the child

The impact of homeless children in the streets of Rome’s periphery touched Calasanz deeply. He began to look for help in other groups and communities experienced in working with children, but nothing was happening, there were no positive responses...

So, he realized that he had to accept this challenge. His heart understood that God had placed this mission in his hands.

The first purpose for which Calasanz idealized the ‘Piarist ministry’ was therefore to rescue the most abandoned children and young people, who were in a state of social neglect. This idea still moves the hearts of so many young people today who give their lives to God in the Order of the Piarist Fathers.

Our Holy Father expressed this anthropological reality of ‘Piarist ministry’ as follows:

“If the child is imbued with piety and the letters from earliest childhood, a happy course of his whole life can be foreseen”.

CC 5

Sociological foundation: for a new humanity

The second goal that St. Joseph Calasanz pursued with this mission was the transformation of society. It is not enough to transform the individual, but it is also necessary to transform society by building together God’s dream, God’s proposal for all humanity: the Kingdom of God!

St. Joseph Calasanz expressed the sociological reality of the ‘service of the Piarist’ as follows:

“The ecumenical councils, the holy Fathers, and the philosophers of right criterion unanimously affirm that the reform of Christian society lies in the zealous exercise of this mission”.

CC 5

Today, more than ever, we are aware that education is the great tool for transforming social reality. When Pope Francis calls on us to join forces and bring the new “Global Pact for Education” to life, it is because education is the seed of hope.

“Education is, above all, a matter of love and responsibility that is transmitted over time from generation to generation. Consequently, education is seen as the natural antidote to individualistic culture”[40].

Pope Francis

It is so important for the Church and for our Order to launch and join the “Global Pact for Education” that our Father General, Pedro Aguado, has enthusiastically welcomed this pact, and offered the Pope our strength and experience - as an Order dedicated to education for more than 400 years - to collaborate in its development.

Pope Francis believes that it is necessary to renew the educational path in order to create new paradigms, capable of responding to the challenges and emergencies of today’s world, since education - according to the Pope - “is one of the most effective means of humanizing the world and history”.

To this end, the Pope encourages us to commit ourselves with courage to launch a new educational project, by investing our best energies and initiating creative and transformative processes in collaboration with civil society. The “Global Pact for Education” is addressed to the younger generations, families, communities, schools and universities, religions, institutions, governments and the whole of humanity, in order to educate mature human beings.

The institutions that join the “Global Pact for Education” commit to putting people at the center, listening to the voices of children, youth and families, investing in girls’ education, educating in welcoming, finding new ways of understanding economics and politics, and protecting and nurturing the common home.

Theological foundation: for the greater glory of God

In the heart of St. Joseph Calasanz, the ‘Piarist Ministry’ has a third finality: to praise God, our Lord. On March 25, 1617, the day of the Annunciation, Calasanz and 14 associates donned the Piarist habit in the General House of St. Pantaleon and took religious vows to love God by loving poor children.

“The Holy Spirit, who gives everyone their own charism for building up the body of Christ, inspired our founder with the work of the Pious Schools. Our Order participates in a special way in the evangelizing mission of the whole Church through the integral education of children and young people, especially the most needy, as expressed in the fourth specific vow”.

CC 90

The ‘Piarist Ministry’ is a way of loving and praising God, our Lord. Whoever undertakes this service in his life does not only educate poor children, nor does he only collaborate in the promotion of humanity. To do all this, it is not necessary to be a Piarist.

The ‘Piarist Ministry’ consists precisely in doing all this in a greater sense: for the praise and glory of the Father. Calasanz recognized that in this mission the light of the divine shone. And it is this divine foundation that gives the ministry its Piarist meaning: when I take care of and educate children and young people, I love, praise and serve God, our Lord.

Calasanz concluded his Constitutions thus: “To the glory of Almighty God and for the benefit of our neighbor”. And elsewhere he wrote: “(...) use your talent for the benefit of poor children, for they represent the person of Christ” (EP c. 4465 of 29/05/1647).

3. The components of the ‘Piarist Ministry’

A great theologian, Johann Baptist Metz, recognized and justified the double dimension that religious vows possess: the mystical and the political component. In previous parts we have examined these components in relation to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In this study of the ‘Piarist Ministry’ - considered the fourth vow -, we use the same scheme to better understand it:

- The mystical component refers to the transcendent element of the ‘Piarist Ministry’. Through this service, the religious consecrates himself to a greater love, God. The four vows are an expression of this consecration and dedication. In this mystical component, the Piarist will always find the meaning, strength and motivation to maintain his dedication, in the face of all difficulties.

- The political component refers to the prophetic load that, concretely, means to live in this way - to develop the ‘Piarist Ministry’ -, especially when we dedicate ourselves to the little ones and the poor. It is the prophetic side, the historical and real consequence of the four vows, the involvement in social reality. That is why we were born. That is why Calasanz gave us life, form and spirit.

And it was in the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti” that our Holy Father Calasanz - moved by a great inspiration of the Holy Spirit -, expressed in a unique and precious way the two dimensions of the ‘Piarist Ministry’.

The four Piarist Vows nourish each other and each of them is sustained by the others.

For this reason, we cannot move forward in the ‘Piarist Ministry’ without pausing to immerse ourselves in the “Memorandum to Cardinal Michael Angelo Tonti”. This document is Calasanz’s masterpiece on the Piarist mission. The specialists in Our Holy Father confirm that in this text Calasanz “defines with complete clarity the essence, meaning and finality of the Pious Schools”[41] (Claudio Vilá Palá, Sch. P.)

Context of the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti”

Calasanz was very enthusiastic when he wrote the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti”. It was a moment of rapture, of strong inner impulse. Specialists discover these characteristics when they analyze the document and perceive the number of epithets he set, the force of his thoughts and the impetus that drives his well-tuned pen to write. For this reason, it was not easy to translate it into other languages. In 1979, the General Congregation of the Order published a work with the “Foundational Documents”; in it, translated into Spanish, we find the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti”.

Calasanz was very interested in the Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (founded by Pope Paul V in 1617), being recognized as an Order within the Church, with its duties and rights. In this way, he would be able to give his institution more stability. Cardinal Tonti, relying on the minutes of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, that prohibited the foundation of new religious orders, rejected the possibility that the Congregation of the Pious Schools could be declared an Order.

Calasanz, typical of him, did not give up. He replied to the Cardinal with this impressive letter in which he explained the reasons why the Pious Schools deserved to be elevated to the status of a religious Order. The letter, not only disarmed Cardinal Tonti, but also made him the greatest supporter of the schools and a personal friend of Calasanz. So it was that in August 1621 Pope Gregory XV signed the decree elevating the Pious Schools to the rank of an Order with solemn vows. (We are the last order recognized by the Church). As for Cardinal Tonti, his admiration for the new Order led him to donate part of his fortune to Calasanz. With this value, the famous ‘Collegio Nazareno’ was erected in Rome, in honor of Cardinal Tonti, titular Archbishop of Nazareth and Bishop of Cesena.

Text of the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti”

Most Eminent and Reverend sir

1. There is no doubt that, among the greatest tasks reserved to Popes as representatives of Christ on earth, the approbation of religious congregations occupies perhaps the first place after the canonization of saints.

2. As something that, when it comes from God, means great honor for the Church, help and edification for the neighbor, grace for the religious and glory for His Divine Majesty. For it is His divine majesty that gives men the ability to live like angels, in the midst of the world and dead to the world, endowed with sensibility, and insensible in the flesh and without carnal affection, making slaves of the free, madmen of the wise, lonely ones of the sociable, and spiritual and heavenly ones of the earthly. If they are not of God, confusion arises instead of religion; instead of council and convention, hush-hush meeting and conventicle; and instead of holy and divine work, shameful and diabolical.

3. And so, with great zeal, the Fathers of the Lateran Council, by a special decree contained in the last chapter on “Religious Institutes”, forbade the creation of new religious orders, because they considered this - as they expressly affirm in the decree - a sufficient means of avoiding confusion and the superfluous multiplicity of religious institutes: for both those who sought their personal conversion and the new founders could serve in the subjects of the institutes already approved.

4. These reasons led the popes to be much more prudent in such a matter; but they also led them to exent it, or rather, to declare tacitly that the Council was only alluding to superfluous and similar religious orders, in that they themselves had approved many others, which mainly exercised a different, necessary and specific ministry in the Church of God.

5. And among these latter is the work of the poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, with an irreplaceable service - in the common opinion of all, clergy and laity, princes and citizens - and perhaps the most important for the reform of corrupt morals. This service consists in the good education of boys, for on this depends all the rest of the good or bad life of the future man, as the Chalcedonian and Tridentine Councils, and Saints Basil and Jerome, Benedict and Ignatius, who were enlightened by God, rightly judged.

6. Therefore, being already a reality, it cannot be doubted that it will be favored and honored with the name of a true and observant Order; a title that so many others have received so far, which may not be as useful and necessary, may not have received as much acclaim from all, may not be as much desired, and may have been less in demand for a long time compared to the persistence with which our ministry has been demanded in this short time.

A very worthy office indeed, very noble, very meritorious, very useful, very necessary, very rooted in our nature, very in harmony with reason, very grateful, very pleasant and very glorious.

7. Very worthy, because it is about the salvation of the soul and the body together.

8. Very noble, because it is an angelic and divine ministry, carried out by the guardian angels, who are available to people as collaborators.

9. Very meritorious, because, with the fullness of charity in the Church, it introduces and puts into practice an effective remedy, that prevents and cures evil, that leads and enlightens towards good, that is intended for all boys of every rank - and, therefore, for all men, passing through this age for the first time - by letter and spirit, good habits and manners, the light of God and the world...

10. Very beneficial, in that it helps all in everything: without any partiality of persons, and, therefore, in that it provides what is necessary and becomes pedagogue of all children, accompanying them even to their own homes.

11. Very useful, because life has changed so much, as you can often see in children, that they are not recognized as they were previously.

12. Very necessary for the corruption of morals and the predominance of vice that prevails among the poorly educated, and for the needs of the Church, which are met in turn by the constant prayer of the children in the oratory, .

13. Deeply rooted in the nature of all men, who instinctively desire the good upbringing of their children.

14. Entirely in the nature of reason, for princes and cities, for whom it is very important to have vassals and citizens who are temperate, obedient, well-disciplined, reliable, quiet and fit to sanctify themselves and be great in heaven, but also to promote and ennoble themselves and their country by attaining positions of government and dignity here on earth. This is made still more evident by the contrary effects of ill-educated persons, who, by their vituperative acts, disturb the peace of the state and alarm the citizens.

15. It is very welcome on the part of the people, who unanimously welcome it and want it in their homeland. Perhaps it is a foretaste of the good of the general reform of corrupt morals, which is a consequence of the careful cultivation of these tender and easily straightened plants, that are the children, before they harden and become difficult, not to say impossible, to direct; as we see in the people who have already made it: in spite of all the help of prayers, conversations and sacraments, only a small minority change their lives and convert. She is also very grateful to God, much more than the conversion of a sinner, although this brings joy to heaven. For not only do many repent of many offenses against God in the school, but many others are daily preserved in the innocence of baptism, and consequently are spared of condemnation the majority of those who, if they were to die in their youth, would be condemned for faults which they may have committed without scruple and recklessly, and confessed without contrition, if they are not silenced,.

16. Very pleasant for those who are called to work in this vineyard and reap such a rich harvest.

17. Very glorious for the religious and for those who favor and promote it with their authority and mercy; for the Pope, who establishes and approves it as a religious order, no less than the approbation of the other religious families by their predecessors; glorious also for God Himself, for by making amends for so many offenses against Him, by saving from so many punishments, including corporal ones, by saving and sanctifying so many souls, they will give the new Order eternal graces and everlasting glory to God.

18. Neither the great number of existing religious orders should be an obstacle to such a holy desire, nor the prohibition of the mentioned council, for not only do they admirably embellish the Church with such variety - as David said, “At your right hand is the Queen, adorned with gold, clothed in variety”, and a little further on, “clothed in a golden garment variously embroidered” -, since the abundance or lack of things is not measured by their number. If they are useful and necessary, though abundant, they are not superfluous. And if they are harmful and hollow, though scarce, they are superfluous. Thus, even if there were hypothetically an excessive number of orders or to be feared, this would not refer to the useful and necessary institutes, but to the superfluous ones, that is, those that have no particular offices, but remain in general and in common with the others. Of these, every lack is a superfluity, just as of those that are particular and specific, every superfluity is a necessity. For it is God who, for the help of his Church, inspires this multiplicity in his true ministers at various times, especially in great emergencies, when the zeal of the old orders wanes and that of the new takes their place; and then, in due time, the multiplicity is introduced and approved by the Popes, without scrupling to violate the canons of the above-mentioned council.

19. This fact should suffice to understand the correct interpretation of the spirit of the Council, which not only does not contradict this diversity, but even encourages it and, while explicitly censuring the abundance of superfluous orders, ends by tacitly praising the abundance of useful and specific orders.

20. For, when it comes to the other orders, the confusion can come either from habit, and ours is already different; or from ministry, and that is quite different. This danger is therefore so small that the majority of these orders, such as the Capuchins, Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians - and even among them, the most qualified Fathers - praise and desire our work, send candidates to it and get foundations for it.

21. If it is a question of the bishops, so much the less, for many of them are making a special effort to introduce it in their dioceses This is a reason that deserves mature consideration.

22. Begging does no harm to the other orders: for if they are of mendicant religious, it gives them more occasion to rely on divine providence, and to keep themselves in observance and good example, in order to find sufficient alms; and if they are secular, no one is determined to take anything from them, much less to give them alms, though it would be sacred violence to make them partake by force of the banquet of this Father of the family of the Gospel. Nor does it harm them themselves: for, besides trusting in God, they have as many guarantees of being able to provide for their needs as there are children in their schools; so that, it would be more wrong than any other order to let the joy of holy poverty be taken out of their hands.

23. And if anyone should nevertheless insist that the lack of this service has already been covered by the seminaries, the Jesuit and the lay teachers, he would only be confirming the general agreement on the necessity of education as perhaps the only means of reforming morals. For even supposing that the lay teachers were not deprived of the necessary charity, did not shirk from fatigue, and, when necessity ceased, did not do what the Gospel says: “The hireling runs away, for a hireling cares not for the sheep,” so that the young learn vice rather than virtue. And even if one assumes that the seminaries in the dioceses, after the Council, were not so much to train good shepherds as obedient sheep, apart from the fact that they are only designed for a small number of students. And even if the Jesuit Fathers were authorized by their ministry to be used among small and poor populations and persons - which abound in the world - and were admitted to many states and republics, which, would deprive themselves of the greatest good if they did not receive them: Yet the land is large and “the harvest plentiful and the laborers few.”

24. Having thus proved the usefulness and necessity of this work, which embraces all persons, all conditions and places, all fundamental instructions and all means of subsistence, it follows with rigorous consistency that it must be stably constituted as a religious Order, so that it may never disappear. This might happen if the one who begins it abandons it because of a secret deception of the devil or of the world, and even of nature itself, which, persuaded by self-love to prefer what is reasonable, easily turns back and throws off the arduous and repulsive yoke, unless it is firmly bound with strong ties, as are the solemn vows. It also follows that it is necessary to extend and spread it according to the needs, desires and requests of so many people. This cannot be done without many workers, and it is not possible to win them unless they have a great spirit and are called with a particular vocation; Those who are generally called to leave the world, having the spirit of beginners, must still wean themselves from the comforts of the world, and, as experience shows, will always prefer a religious order already recognized, in which, after the novitiate, they can have a secure life and attain the priesthood, than to enter a congregation where, instead of these advantages, they will find other difficulties resulting from a life humiliated by the obligatory contact with boys, arduous because of the constant effort of their profession and despicable in the eyes of the flesh, which regards the education of poor children as shameful; Added to this is the inability to accept those who have taken their vows in another order, which increases the obstacles.

25. And if the Holy Church is accustomed to grant this grace to so many other ministries, why not also to this one, which can be considered the compendium of all ministries, not only because it helps the neighbor in need in all that the others help him, but also because it prepares and dispositions souls by a good education to receive the service of all other ministries? By the dawn one recognizes the day, and by the good beginning the good end, and the course of life depends on the education received in childhood - its good odor is never lost, just as the odor of good liquor is never lost in the vessel -: Who does not see, then, that the greater the preparation of well-trained persons, the greater the benefit and the less the difficulty, not the confusion, that other religious institutions will experience in the exercise of their ministry?

26. If the Holy Church has granted this grace to so many institutes of general and common ministry, why not to a specific and particular one? If she has granted it to many particular institutes that are perhaps not so necessary and at least not so much in demand, why not to this one, that is most necessary and most in demand? If those who help to heal the sick and save prisoners have been found worthy of such grace, why not those who heal, preserve and save souls? If it has been granted to those who hold a general or specific office with an exclusively active or exclusively contemplative life, why should it be denied to those who, with one or the other office, lead a mixed life, that is more perfect? If it was granted to the Jesuit Fathers, with such a variety of vows, especially for large cities and nobles, why not to the Poor of the Mother of God, with only three solemn vows, after a long probationary period of two years of novitiate, for cities and persons who are preferably small and poor and very needy? If it was not denied to those who help to die well, why, is it not granted with greater justification to those who help from infancy to live well, on which depend the good death, the peace and tranquility of nations, the good government of cities and princes, the obedience and fidelity of subjects, the propagation of the faith, the conversion and eradication of heretics - especially children, whom heretics try to infect with their false teachings from childhood, almost certainly for the rest of their lives -, and, finally, the reformation of all Christendom, installing men of apostolic life, who are very poor and very simple, as St. Vincent Ferrer prophesied, a prophecy interpreted and applied to these religious by a man with a holy and meaningful life in the early days of this Institute?

Therefore...

Most important dates in the history of the Religious

Order of the Pious Schools

Date

Subject

Document

Pope

1597

Beginning of everything in Santa Dorotea (Rome)

Paul V

1617

Approval of the Pious Schools as a Congregation of simple vows

Ad ea per quae

Paul V

1621

Elevation of the Pious Schools to the category of Religious Order, with Solemn Vows

In supremo Apostolatus Solio

Gregory XV

1622

Approval of the Constitutions of St. Joseph of Calasanz

Sacri Apostolatus ministerio

1646

Reduction and almost dissolution of the Order, withdrawing

St. Joseph of Calasanz as Father General

Ea quae pro felici

Innocent X

1656

Partial restoration

Dudum felicis recordationis Paulus Papa V

Alexander VII

1669

Complete reintegration of the Pious Schools to the status of Religious Order

Ex iniuncto nobis

Clement IX

1686

Softening of the original ‘supreme poverty’, with the possibility of possessing goods in common

Exponi nobis

Innocent XI

1731

The Order can teach higher sciences, receive all kinds of pupils and other points

Nobis quibus

Clement XII

1767

Canonization of St. Joseph Calasanz

Clement XIII

1948

St. Joseph Calasanz is declared universal patron of the Christian Popular Schools

Providentíssimus Deus

Pius XII

2017

“Jubilee Piarist Year”

Francis

Context of the “Memorandum to Cardinal Roma”

The memorandum to Cardinal Tonti, that we have just studied, was written by Calasanz in 1621 and achieved the expected result: the Pious Schools were declared an Order of Solemn Vows in the same year.

There is another memorandum written by our Holy Father, but it is not as well known as the previous one, nor did it have the desired success.

It is the “Memorandum to Cardinal Giulio Roma”. We can refer to this document because it preserves the charm of the old saint’s writing on the Piarist mission and because it helps us to better understand the essence of the components of the ‘Piarist ministry’.

The context of this Memorandum is set in 1645. Calasanz is 88 years old, worn out and aged (three years later, in 1648, he will die). In 1621 - when he wrote the previous document, to Cardinal Tonti - he was 64 years old, much more energetic and faced with far fewer problems than at this time.

Cardinal Giulio Roma was the president of the Pontifical Commission that dealt with the serious crisis of the Order and concluded with the “Innocentian Reduction” of 1646.

The serious decree of the Holy Office of January 15, 1963 brought fatal decisions. It decided in favor of Father Mario Sozzi, and removed Calasanz from the office of Father General; it ordered an Apostolic Visitation of all houses and provinces and appointed the Jesuit Pietrasanta as Visitator; and it set up a Cardinal’s Commission to analyze the situation of the Pious Schools. Dark times for Calasanz and for the Order.

In the “Memorandum to Cardinal Giulio Roma”, Calasanz demanded that the commission should not listen to the voices of those who, under the pretext of helping the Pious Schools, only wanted their ruin or their complete denaturalization through false reforms.

In the Commission, Cardinals Roma and Spada voted for the extinction of the Order. Other cardinals, such as Ginetti, a friend of the Order and of Calasanz, proposed softening some points of the Constitutions - especially with regard to the rigor of religious life -, and reforming the style of the Order’s leadership, suggesting that new assistants be appointed and Calasanz be reinstated in his office. This benevolent opinion was thwarted by Pope Innocent X’s decision to demote and downsize the Order, following the advice of the other cardinals.

We can pray with our Holy Father this prayer of unconditionality, which was written at the same time:

“I am not moved, my God, to love you the heaven you have promised me, nor am I moved by the dreaded hell to stop offending you.

You move me, Lord. It moves me to see you nailed to the cross and mocked. It moves me to see your body so wounded. It moves me to see your insults and your death.

Finally, your love moves me, in such a way that I would love you even if there were no heaven; and I would fear you, if there were no hell.

You don’t have to give me to love you; for even if I would not expect what I expect, I would love you just as much as I love you now”.

The “Memorandum to Cardinal Roma” was unable to change the Cardinal’s views against the Order; he stood by his decision to eradicate the Pious Schools. On the other hand, it is known that he did not agree at all with the idea of teaching and educating the children of the people (the poor), something that was indispensable for Calasanz.

The text is characterized by a central idea: No consideration should be given to those who demand a change in the Constitutions of the Pious Schools, especially with regard to three points:

- the abolition of the teaching of Latin, so that only reading, writing and the abacus may be taught.

- the reduction of the Order to a secular congregation without vows.

- the mitigation of ‘supreme poverty’.

For Calasanz, accepting one of these points meant pronouncing the death sentence for the Order.

Text of the “Memorandum to Cardinal Roma”

Most Eminent and Reverend Lord

1. The Superior General and Founder of the Institute of Pious Schools, humble and most devoted servant of Your Eminence, recalling the toil, work and sweat expended on this Institute during the fifty uninterrupted years in which he has served (as Superior General), and aware of the great fruits it has produced and is currently producing in all the places where it is located, sees with infinite sorrow that it is now in danger of disappearing. He therefore turns with confidence and humility to Your Eminence, and asks you to protect with your great authority this ministry, which is so fruitful and so useful to poverty.

2. And although the petitioner is absolutely certain that your Eminence has no thought of suppressing it, he nevertheless informs you - in all reverence and submission - that some strange changes that persons with little affection for this office may wish to propose to you, are nothing but hidden machinations to bring it down secretly.

3. For, firstly, if the Order is reduced to the level of a simple Congregation of secular priests, apart from the discredit it would suffer as a result, it will be very unstable, because its members can so easily leave it; and, then, its dissolution will be very easy.

4. Secondly, the prohibition to teach the Latin language will probably lead to immediate expulsion from all places, as the Municipalities called upon them to replace the schoolmasters, who were employed for an official salary and taught not only reading, writing and arithmetic, but also grammar.

5. And finally, if the ‘supreme poverty’ and the little austerity in lifestyle and dress prescribed by the Constitutions, approved by Gregory XV, of happy memory, and maintained to this day, are eliminated, that splendor which alone ensures that she is admired and desired - even by the unbelievers - as experience shows and as Cardinal Giustiniani the Elder, of pleasant memory, the first Protector of the Institute, has already predicted. Also the poorest towns and villages will be deprived of the possibility of benefiting from our service, since they will have no means of supporting the schoolteachers who demand financial income and comfort.

6. So that Your Eminence, because of your refined piety, has the firm intention of preserving this service for the benefit of the poor, pay no attention to the loosening changes proposed for subtle governmental motives by those who want to uproot it at the root. And both this Order and poverty will always pray to God our Lord for the perfect happiness of Your Eminence. To whom God..., etc.

4. Explain in your own words: What is the basis of the ‘Piarist Ministry’, in its three aspects?

5. Comment with examples: What are the components of the ‘Piarist Ministry’?

6. Did you resonate in any way while reading the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti”? What does this valuable text by Calasanz make you think about your life?

7. Name some points of the “Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti” related to the mystical component and name others that have to do with the political or prophetic component.

8. Do the same with the “Memorandum to Cardinal Roma”? Which components emerge? Do you feel identified with any of them?
4. The criteria of the ‘Piarist Ministry’

Now that you have studied the basics (Chapter II) and the components (Chapter III) of the ‘Piarist Ministry’, we suggest you go a step further and deepen in this chapter, some important criteria of our ministry that will serve as a reference for your vocation journey. The criteria point to building up attitudes (virtues) which, if cultivated and developed in your life, will help you to internalize and assume the ‘Piarist Ministry’, so that the Holy Spirit continues to confirm the “Piarist personality” in you.

Especially for the little ones

“In order to consolidate the inspiration and mission received in the Church, Calasanz, through a supernatural movement, proposed to his companions to practice the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, adding a fourth vow, that of consecrating himself especially to the education of children.”

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Our Holy Father founded the Pious Schools to educate children, the little ones. The Piarist works with all age groups, with young people and adolescents, with adults and college students, with families. But his priority is the little ones: Piarist’s specialty is children. It was the same from the very beginning, when Calasanz himself wrote:

“We know from experience that those who were instructed in Christian doctrine from earliest childhood and who drank in piety and letters, together from childhood generally became perfect, as the examples of the saints in the history of the Church clearly show”

Rome, 1621; in handwritten copy of the Constitutions, with corrections and marginal notes by Calasanz

“From earliest childhood” This expression is peculiar to Calasanz, nuclear for him and, therefore, an essential part of the Piarist charism. Calasanz firmly believes in education and in the possibility of changing people if they are educated in ‘piety and letters’ from an early age.

Everything that is transmitted and planted in children, in the little ones, grows with a unique force and later manifests itself in attitudes, virtues, postures and behaviors. The time as a child is important period for “equipping”, for equipping the person by sowing what is most important: human and spiritual values, that are planted in the child’s heart through gestures and words.

From the youngest child, and as a consequence of his love for him, the Piarist continues to educate in the later stages, in adolescence, in youth, in adulthood.

First and foremost for the poor

“Our Institute is a charitable institution that carries out its educational apostolate without seeking profit.”

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“This educational mission aims at the integral formation of the person, so that our students may always love and seek the truth, commit themselves as true collaborators of the Kingdom of God for the construction of a more human world, and cultivate a lifestyle consistent with their faith. In this way, by making daily progress in freedom, they will achieve a happy course throughout their lives and attain eternal salvation.”

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“In order to achieve the goal of our ministry, in addition to our example of evangelical life, we are unceasingly concerned with our preparation in the spiritual and profane realms, and strive to mature and develop our human and religious talents. Our proper consecration - above all, the nobility of chastity and the witness of poverty - gives us not only a solid educational and apostolic effectiveness, but also a certain spiritual attachment and active solidarity with poor children.

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The Pious Schools were founded by St. Joseph Calasanz especially for the little ones and above all for the poor, for the poor children he met in the outskirts of Rome. In this way, the option for the poor became another fundamental Piarist criterion, part of the original, foundational Charism, because our Holy Father Calasanz clearly wanted it that way.

As for welcoming the poor students, work holy by welcoming all who come, because our Institute was founded for them; for ‘what is done for them, is done for the blessed Christ, which is not said of the rich’”[42].

St. Joseph Calasanz

Especially in the early days, Calasanz cared exclusively for the poor; he even demanded that they hand in the ‘certificate of poverty’ signed by the parish priest of each student. From 1617, he began to admit both rich and poor, but always affirmed that his school was “more for the poor than for the rich”[43].

After much urging, he agreed to open the ‘School of the Nobles’ in Florence, which was to benefit them exclusively, although he always and everywhere upheld the free nature of education, which was rigorously adhered to.

For many of these needy children, free education was not enough because they had no means. Calasanz provided them with paper, ink, pens, books and - often -, food and clothing, just as we do today in our “social centers” and elementary schools.

Quite a few of these Calasanz children had no opportunity to do their homework at home. These children were allowed to stay at school, after lunch, in a room accompanied by a Piarist, to study until afternoon classes began.

Both the “especially for the little ones” and the “above all for the poor” became ‘cross axes’ in Calasanz’s topics: they can be found in his Constitutions, letters, memoranda, discussions... And they are the same for all Piarists: transversal axes that define the life, vocation and Piarists personality.

Especially in the peripheries

Today, Pope Francis invites us to be ‘Church going forth’, ‘Pious Schools going forth’; he invites us to go to the ‘existential peripheries’. These expressions are ancient, they are already part of the treasure of the Church, which calls its religious to be “in the deserts, on the peripheries and on the frontiers”. These terms are so dear to us, so deep, so precious - and so repeated -, that it is better to let their own author speak to explain the meaning, because we can fall into a poetic understanding of them, while their real understanding is theological.

Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit priest in El Salvador, was not murdered along with the other six Jesuit brothers because he was not at home, that morning of November 16, 1989, when the Salvadoran army (the same army that had murdered St. Oscar Romero nine years earlier) attacked them. He is the author of those beloved terms which today are already part of the treasure and tradition of the Church, especially of consecrated religious life:

“By ‘desert’ we mean that the religious is where - in reality - there is no one... By ‘periphery’ we mean that the religious is not at the center of power, but where there is no power, but powerlessness. By ‘frontier’ we mean that religious are where it is most necessary to experiment, according to the necessary Christian imagination and creativity; where the risk can be greatest; where prophetic activity is most needed to shake the inertia in which the Church as a whole is frozen, or to denounce with more energy”[44].

Jon Sobrino

The Itaka-Escolapios Foundation was founded in 2001 to support the development of our ministry and to extend it throughout the world, especially in the “peripheries, deserts and frontier areas”. The institution is supported and promoted by the Order of the Pious Schools and the Piarist Fraternity (we will deal with in the fifth part of this publication).

The ‘Itaka-Escolapios Foundation’, which is now present on several continents of the world, develops and supports actions, activities and projects of the ‘Piarist Ministry’ in the most vulnerable areas “where the asphalt does not reach”, such as: Literacy projects, canteens for children, school support, school centers, social orientation; also boarding schools, social centers, homes and shelters (like the ones we have in Brazil-Bolivia).

Today, the Itaka-Escolapios Foundation cannot be missing from the ‘Piarist map’ that each young person in training creates in their professional project and that is made up of dreams, experiences, desires, studies and options. It is one of the platforms for our mission that best summarizes the following elements:

- It is a unique instrument that helps to develop the ‘Piarist Ministry’ all over the world, especially in the most needy places that are difficult to reach by other means.

- It works in a network, with international recognition, with clarity about its mission: to implement the Pious Schools throughout the world, in order to build the Kingdom of God from the charism of Calasanz.

- It helps all those involved in the Piarist mission (religious, members of the Fraternity, partners, collaborators, volunteers) to feel more like protagonists, through the sharing and contribution of each one, according to the sacred rule of the Acts of the Apostles: “give each one according to his ability, each one according to his needs” (Acts 2:44-47).

- All those who are passionate about Calasanz will find in ‘Itaka-Escolapios’ a unique space to participate in the Calasanzian charism. The fraternities do not need to look for other missionary spaces, because in this platform of Piarist service they will always find the space for the desired participation.

- It is one of the best instruments to grow and promote the Order and the Fraternity, in every way: in terms of human resources, by inviting more volunteers; in terms of economic resources, by creating a structure that allows for better financial support; in terms of vocation, if we know how to take advantage of their vocational potential.

Always in Piety

“The Piarist ministry is exercised today in the Church by religious and also by many lay people who are associated with our Order in various degrees and modalities. They are active and valuable members of our apostolic work and bear responsibility in our institutions, according to their availability and commitment, as well as their human and spiritual, professional and pedagogical preparation”.

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“The responsible exercise of our ministry requires the constant renewal of good vocational preparation, embodied in the concrete human reality that inspires our efforts. Therefore, in accordance with our authentic tradition, we must use simple and effective methods, that are compatible with the progress of educational science.

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“Education in the faith is the highest goal of our ministry. Following the example of our holy Founder and in accordance with our tradition, we consider catechesis - which enlightens the faith, introduces us to the liturgy and prepares us for apostolic action - to be the fundamental means of our apostolate in the Christian community in which we live.”

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For our Holy Father Calasanz, education in the faith was the fundamental and central element of his schools. That is why they were founded. The foundation and originality of Calasanz’s school was education in piety, because our Founder was firmly convinced that man’s salvation depended on education in faith, which he understood as an encounter with the Lord Jesus. For Calasanz, it was important to transmit the values of the Gospel, without neglecting academic training. Our saint expressed it as follows:

“It will therefore be, , the task of our institute to teach children, from their earliest beginnings, correct reading, writing, arithmetic and Latin, but, above all piety and Christian doctrine, and to do so with the greatest possible skill”.

Constitutions of the Holy Father, n. 5

Calasanz has no doubt: The mission that God has given to the Pious Schools is education in the faith. In another letter, our Founder writes:

“As for the schools, since they are our most important institute, we must try to make them with great diligence with regard to the letters, in order to attract students to the schools. But our chief aim must be to teach the fear of God”[45].

St. Joseph Calasanz

The “holy fear of God” is a typical expression of that time. For Calasanz it meant the centrality of God in the life of the child and the young person. In the Calasanctian school, the education of faith was realized through various acts; the most important was the celebration of the ‘sacraments of the Way’: Eucharist and confession. Therefore, Calasanz wanted the teachers of children and adolescents to become priests, because they could administer the sacraments to their students. There was also the ‘continuous prayer’, and on Saturdays there was the study of Christian doctrine.

But, the fundamental action of Calasanz and his Piarist sons in educating children in the faith was the witness of their lives.

Since the most important part of the ‘Piarist Ministry’ is faith formation, the Piarist is called to be a good catechist, well formed and prepared, who loves the catechetical mission:

To proclaim – To educate – To transform

Today, we call “Calasanz Movement” (CM) the whole process of catechetical work. The Calasanz Movement was born from the hands of good Piarist catechists. It was idealized as a way, a process through which a child can grow in Piety as he/she grows older, in an experiential encounter with Jesus (personal and in community).

Normally, our Piarist candidates come from the groups of the Calasanz Movement. The Piarist vocation is transmitted by contagion, through contact with good Piarist catechists (pre-novices, novices, juniors, priests, lay people), who sow the word of Jesus with their gestures, words and attitudes. This, then, is another criterion for verifying the “Piarist personality”, because every young piarist should feel strongly drawn to be a catechist in order to proclaim the Good News of the merciful love of the Father, a love that has become incarnate in the Son and that continues to be present through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

9. Explain in your own words what the criteria of the ‘Piarist Ministry’ are.

10. To what extent do you believe that these criteria can help you to shape the “Piarist personality”?

11. With which of the four ‘P’s that define the criteria, do you feel more identified and with which less? Why?

12. What do the following texts by Calasanz tell you about your vocation? With which criterion do you associate the individual texts?
“He who does not want to teach the poor, does not have the vocation of our Institute, or the enemy has stolen it from him”[46].

“The shortest and easiest way to rise to your own knowledge, and from this to the attributes of mercy, prudence, and the infinite patience and goodness of God, is to condescend to give light to children, and especially to those who are like the helpless of all, who, since an office is so low and base in the eyes of the world, few are willing to condescend to it. And God usually gives a hundred for one”[47].

“The alms must come from the piety which our teachers show towards the students, and not from the Masses; and because the main thing is lacking, we must help ourselves with the secondary thing”[48].

5. Concrete indications of our mission for you,

who begin the ‘Piarist Ministry’

We have examined the foundations (Chapter II), the components (Chapter III) and the criteria (Chapter IV) of the ‘Piarist Ministry’. In the last chapter of this part, we would like to give you some concrete pointers that will help you as objective points to get you on the right track. The ‘criteria’ pointed to the formation of attitudes and virtues. Now, the ‘concrete indications’ point to gestures, actions and attitudes - objectives, that are more precisely defined and concrete -, that will help you in the precious challenge of building your “Piarist personality” under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “.

“Our school, which has enjoyed great popularity since its foundation and is inspired by the evangelical spirit of freedom and charity in its atmosphere of school community, works towards enlightening the view of the world, life and man through faith and developing and maturing the abilities of the students. And, with justice and holiness proper to truth, they can live clothed with the new humanity and be a leaven of salvation for society”.

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“Education, which is the most important work and task of the family, needs the help of the whole of the society and especially of the local community. Therefore, in our centers we promote the collaboration of all those who make up the educational community. And, for our part, we collaborate in this common educational effort with all the institutions of the Church and of the society”.

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“According to our vocation, in addition to catechesis and schools, preferably primary and secondary schools, which form the basis of popular education, we can be active in any activity that promotes the education of youth. In the parishes and missions entrusted to us, we devote special attention to the education of youth in the Calasanctian spirit”.

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“Through our ministry, we support the needs of the local Church in a Calasanzian spirit in the context of a comprehensive diocesan pastoral care”.

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“In planning our activities, we adapt ourselves, as far as possible, to the legitimate laws and customs of each region, and we endeavor above all to adapt our educational work to the culture of each people.”

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“Our communities love equally the religious who work in our centers and those who, carry out their mission outside these centers on behalf of the superiors, so that in the diversity of tasks, the community of religious life is preserved in its entirety. And let the religious who carry out their ministry outside our works be aware of their belonging to the community that sends them”.

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Concrete advice for your personal and spiritual life

There is a sequence in the process we are following: The ‘foundation’ of a vow makes clear its essence, which unfolds into its ‘components’, from which emerge the ‘criteria’ (attitudes  virtues) of the vow, which are internalized and expressed through gestures, actions and attitudes (the ‘concrete indications’), as they are transformed into habits.

To internalize and assume a vow - or any other transcendent value -, one must begin with small gestures and concrete virtuous actions that, when they become habits, give rise to virtues (attitudes towards life). The whole process must be accompanied by study, meditation and prayer of the fundamentals and components of the vow in question, so that it is an experiential, spiritual, and rational process. This is the process of internalizing the vow, in which life (the ‘real self’) is always compared to the dream, to the call (the ‘ideal self’), in order to better recognize the human inconsistencies - which are sometimes unconscious - that lie behind our pure, beautiful, sacred motivations.

In this process of internalizing a value - the vow - the experiential side is the engine, not the logical-rational one.

Therefore, we suggest some concrete pointers for your personal life that will help you grow in the ‘Piarist ministry’. Develop these and other pointers that you discover for yourself and make them a habit:

Make it a habit, to put your life at the service of the poor with gestures and concrete actions: Participate in campaigns, make visits, share your allowance, boldly participate in the “Social Center” or in ‘Itaka-Escolapios’ projects. Always choose the poor as the center of your life and mission in a concrete way.

Make it a habit, to be with the little ones, to learn with the children: develop some kind of work with the little ones. The young people of today need the Piarist very much, but do not forget the children.

May your desire - to get used to serving the poor little ones - lead you to offer yourself for the ‘periphery, the desert, the frontier”.

Train yourself, prepare yourself well, to be a good catechist: A good Piarist is a good catechist. You must be happy to be a catechist!

We always grow by “models”. Try to grow from worthwhile and meaningful Piarist role models: join them; compare your life with them; let them be a source of inspiration and identity for your vocational life.

Pray from life: Let your prayer be full of names, of experiences, of people who are part of your life and mission. Names and stories - especially those of the little poor, the sick - are what give color and life to prayer; otherwise it becomes cold, empty and sterile.

Concrete tips for your life in Community

Participate with joy in the Project of the Community: It is fundamental that the ‘Piarist Ministry’ is both personal and community. If you have new proposals, different ideas, share everything in the community so that they can be evaluated and gradually become part of the community project.

Be assertive and proactive in your community: Above all, by proposing elements related to the ‘Piarist Ministry’, such as the criteria we have studied: Analyze the reality of children and young people in the neighborhood, participate in events that deal with the situation of the most vulnerable, choose study topics in the community that Prepare community prayer by taking up the deal with all this, ...

Prepare the community prayer by picking up the echoes of social reality. That the cries of the street, the joys and hopes, the fears and worries of our people, especially children and young people, reach our prayer at home. That our prayer be filled with the life produced by the ‘Piarist Ministry’.

Concrete indications for your human and pastoral relationships

Analyze what kind of people you are in relationship with: We have already asked ourselves this question in another part of this work, but this analysis is an important point that can help you a lot, if you are sincere.

Concrete and real experiences of immersion in the world of the small, the poor, the periphery and the desert during your initial formation will help you greatly: As part of your Personal Life Project (PLP), commit some of your time to this kind of special immersion in the ‘Piarist Ministry’ by having some kind of educational or pastoral experience in a vulnerable environment.

Be attentive and available: In the place you are in, offer yourself to help in anything. Be attentive and ready to love and serve in any mission field.

13. Do the little poor have weight in you? To what extent?

14. What kind of periphery, geographical or existential, do you know?

15. Do you feel comfortable in the midst of the poor, the needy?

16. What habits do you develop in your initial formation that help you to be attentive and to recognize the social reality?

17. What appeals to you most about the ‘Piarist Ministry’, and what appeals to you least? And why?

18. What model of Piarist do I identify with? How do I imagine a Piarist priest? What to do, where, how...?

“The Piarist Community”

Introduction to the ‘‘Piarist Community’

We have reached the end of the work “EDUCATING FOR PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN POSTMODERNITY. A psycho-pedagogical proposal”.

In the first part we studied the ‘Vow of Poverty’; in the second part we looked at the ‘Vow of Chastity’; in the third part we analyzed the ‘Vow of Obedience’; in the fourth part we looked at the ‘Piarist Ministry’. In this final part, we now look at the fifth element that characterizes, configures and defines the profile of the “Piarist personality”.

It is the ‘‘Piarist Community’. For many specialists in consecrated religious life, community life is just another vow. And within the profile of the “Piarist personality” that we so eagerly seek, community has a fundamental value, for it is a structuring value and guarantor of the “Piarist personality”, being another of our profound ‘watermarks’ that define our identity - along with poverty, chastity, obedience and mission.

As in the previous studies, in this part we take as our starting point the biblical text that underlies our entire study and in which the founding experience of Israel is gathered. It is the absolute primacy of love for God, the prayer that Jesus, like all Jews, prayed three times a day, facing Jerusalem, the ‘Shemá’ (Deut 6:4 - Mt 22:37):

“Shemá, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength”

The dynamics - or human faculties - that the ‘Shemá’ gathers (heart, mind and will), are those that move man to seek the totality of existence. And from the schema that springs from ‘Hear, Israel’, we infer not only what man wishes to achieve, but also the way to achieve it: through the vows, for the religious.

We therefore resume the explanatory diagram (which has accompanied us from the beginning), as the biblical-anthropological schema of the entire work. In this diagram, we start from the unified vision of the person, as an integrated whole (heart, mind and will), something that is proper to biblical revelation. To these three classical human powers or faculties, we add two more:

- The ‘capacity’: we have defined it as the capacity from which the ‘piarist vocation motivation’ emerges, expressed in the form of a vow in ‘Piarist Ministry’.

- The ‘relational capacity’: it is the human capacity that leads us to go out of ourselves in search of the relationship with others and with the “totally Other”. A dynamic that helps us - through the creation of bonds - to build relationships, to build bridges and not walls. This ability gives rise to the ‘fraternal vocation motivation’ that is formulated “as a vow” in the option for the ‘‘Piarist Community’.

Human faculties

Generated Movements

Totality

that I wish

to reach

Vocational motivations

Piarist

vows

Mind

Thoughts

Truth

(holy)

Theological

Obedience

Heart

Feelings

Beauty (beautiful)

Aesthetics

Chastity

Will

Acts

Goodness (good)

Ethical

Poverty

Capacity

Aptitudes

Satisfaction (full)

Piarist

Education

Relationship

Bonds

Communion (united)

Fraternal

Community

The young man feels called to follow the Lord Jesus as the only absolute in his existence. In this following he seeks to achieve the greatest truth - beauty - goodness - fullness - communion for his life.

The vocation motivations lead the young Piarist to follow the Lord Jesus through values and options that he defines, and that are expressed in the vows:

- “I analyze, reflect and come to the conclusion that God is calling me to become a Piarist” (Head/Spirit: theological motivation). The ‘vow of obedience’.

- “I feel that my life will be worthwhile if I love like the Piarists” (heart: esthetic motivation). vow of chastity’.

- “I will drop everything to work with the Piarists for poor children and young people”. (courage/will: ethical motivation). ‘Vow of poverty’.

- “I am capable, I am worthy of educating poor children and I want to prepare myself better for this service” (capacity: Piarist motivation). Fourth vow, ‘Piarist Ministry’.

- “I see myself as part of the Piarist community in order to live communion” (relationship: fraternal motivation). Living in Community’.

The vows are therefore the vital response of the religious who wants to follow the Lord Jesus and love him completely: “With all his heart, with all his mind, with all his strength”, ... with all his abilities and with all his relational capacity (or sociability, ability to be social).

This is the question that guides us in this study: In what ways is the ‘‘Piarist Community’ called to participate in the shaping of the “Piarist personality”?

We have placed the image of the “Merciful Trinity”, a precious bas-relief by Sister Caritas Müller, on the home page. We would like this image to form the axis of this part on the ‘‘Piarist Community’, because “The Most Holy Trinity is the best community”[49].

In this image - which by no means classically stands for the Holy Trinity -, a Trinitarian movement can be recognized, a movement that arises through the dynamics of communication ‘ad intra et ad extra’ (within and outside) of itself. Communication, the Trinitarian dynamic, is love: the love that surrounds it (ad intra) is the love that radiates it (ad extra).

The Trinitarian movement is characterized by the decentering of the self: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit leave the center of the image; the Holy Trinity goes out of itself to place fallen man (for us, the poor little one) at the center of its enveloping love. He is placed at the center of the image. Divine love detaches itself from itself in order to focus on the other...

The community of love that surrounds the three is transformed - through the dynamic of love itself - into loving care for the poor, helpless, sick and oppressed human being. The divine love that emanates from the Trinitarian community places the human being at the center of everything. The entire history revolves around the human being, and it is understood as History of Salvation (the Kairos takes place in the Kronos).

Thus, the ‘‘Piarist Community’ is called to reflect this intratrinitarian dynamic of love-communion, which in the extratrinitarian dynamic becomes a relationship, of love for the world. Therefore, the fraternal relationship that we build among the brothers, places the mission, the ‘Piarist Ministry’, at the center of the community. We would place the lives of our children in the hands of the Father that carry the man. Into the feet that are washed by the Son, we would place the feet of the poor. And to the living, refreshing and firm breath of the Holy Spirit we would entrust the path of our most lost young people.

Community life has been a profound ‘watermark’ for the Piarists since the time of Our Holy Father Calasanz. A deep ‘watermark’, fundamental element that collaborates effectively in shaping the Piarist identity and personality. Let us see how.

1. The current situation of youth in relation

to sociability

Two authors help us to delve deeper into this area:

- On the one hand, sociologist Helena W. Abramo presents the trajectory of youth and its traces in Brazilian society[50].

- On the other hand, our esteemed teacher and theologian, João Batista Libânio, describes the current characteristics of youth in terms of sociability, the ability to embrace the social and the communal[51].

Generational typology of youth on the communitarian/

social level

The researcher Abramo affirms that youth in the 1950s, was characterized as a social problem. They were branded as “rebels without a cause” (like the title of the movie), which reinforced the image of how difficult the transition process of youth is - requiring care and attention - and that the young person needs to be sheltered and guided.

In the 1960s and 1970s, youth appeared as a category of social change due to the political onslaught against the Brazilian dictatorship, through social and countercultural movements. Intense years with strong social content and political commitment for the youth of the time:

“The issue of youth gained greater visibility precisely because of the commitment of middle-class youth, high school and college students, in the struggle against the authoritarian regime, the mobilization of student organizations and militancy in left-wing parties, but also cultural movements that questioned the norms of behavior (sexual, moral, in terms of property and consumption). It is worth remembering that this fear provoked violent reactions in defense of this order. Young people were persecuted by the repressive apparatus, both for their behavior (drug use, clothing, etc.) and for their political ideas and actions.”

Abramo[52]

Over time, the image of the youth of the 60s and 70s was revised and socialized in a positive and somewhat idealized way. What remained was the image of a generous, creative, idealistic generation that dared to dream and was committed to social change. And, on the basis of this image, a stereotype or ideal model of youth was created: rebellious against the system, idealistic, innovative and utopian.

In the 1980s, youth was portrayed with a completely different connotation than in previous years. It appeared as pathological, in contrast to the ideal model of youth that had been stereotyped in the previous decade. It did not take on the role of cultural innovation that was expected of it - projected by the idealized image of youth -; in this sense, the problem becomes the inability of youth to offer alternatives to the system.

In the 1980s, youth turned away from political issues and became more individualistic, consumerist, and conservative, less interested in the political context, and prone to social and community apathy.

In the 1990s - the sociologist continues - the social presence of young people changed a little compared to the 1980s. What is noticeable now is the presence of countless young people on the streets, involved in various types of individual and collective actions. Actions characterized by individualism, fragmentation and - more than ever - by violence, debauchery and deviance (the “meninos de rua”,” wheelies, railroad surfing, gangs, urban tribes, acts of pure vandalism).

And all of this was – and is the result of an unhealthy social situation: the collapse of socialization institutions, a deep divide between the integrated and the excluded in our Brazil, a hedonistic culture that takes individualism to the extreme. Young people thus appear as victims and promoters of a “dissolution of the social”, as echoes of an unhealthy society.

Characteristics of today’s youth in relation to community/social issues

Father Libânio helps us to better understand the situation of our youth today, as he did in the previous essay when we dealt with the ‘Piarist Ministry’. In this case, the analysis deals with sociability or the capacity of youth to be involved in the social/community fact.

The theologian highlights many ‘tendencies’ that characterize the youth of today. From these, we select those that are related to the topic we are dealing with:

FROM a compact youth consciousness TO a fragmented, weak and incoherent consciousness. Youth has lost its sense of the “social category” - as the sociologist says - and with it the ability to participate in the transformation of reality. It has begun to live without self-consciousness, and in a fragmented way (the ‘urban tribes’ are an example of this).

FROM a stable youth, with sporadic adventures, TO a youth involved in the violence of drugs and crime, with a short life span. One of the saddest characteristics of our youth, especially black youth, from the periphery: their vulnerability and their takeover by drug traffickers. Serra (ES-Brazil) was one of the cities with the highest murder rate of young people (15-18 years old) in Brazil, both by drug traffickers and by the police. This was one of the reasons why the Church (through Msgr. Luiz Mancilha) asked the Piarist Fathers to open a mission in this city. Today - more than 15 years later -, this index has dropped remarkably. Certainly, the Piarist mission has contributed and continues to contribute to protecting the lives of many children and young people.

FROM “youth ministry” TO youth within new religious movements, with ‘hot’ moments. One of the options of the Piarist Fathers in Brazil has always been to vigorously revitalize youth ministry, which today is integrated into the youth groups of the Calasanz and the Piarist Youth. We believe and bet on “the young person who evangelizes the youth”, who matures in his faith, who walks in a group and gets involved in the Church and in society.

FROM a constant, solid, slow, structured spirituality TO a dazzling, explosive, short, short-term spirituality. As we analyzed in the previous essay, the spirituality that most young people are looking for today is of this type. Hence our strong support for Youth Ministry and all groups of young people within the Calasanz movement who are committed to a biblical, communal, ecclesial, processual, rational (not just emotional), inserted and transformative spirituality.

FROM critical youth TO those who espouse the values of competition and success at any cost in the labor market. Young people who are very attached to the system and seek career success above all.

FROM a youth bound to ideals TO a pragmatic youth that lacks praxis and history. The ‘liquid modernity’ also puts an end to the ‘grand narratives’ and the ideals that moved the life of a young person (God, justice, love, solidarity). Today, young people live a shallow life, that is becoming increasingly superficial and alienating.

Two films and a book, to further study of Brazilian youth:

- “O que é isso companheiro?”, film by Bruno Barreto; 1997.

- “Como nascem os anjos”, film by Murilo Salles; 1996.

- “Para onde vai a juventude”, book by P. Libânio; Paulus: São Paulo, 2011.

2. The foundation of the ‘‘Piarist Community’

As we said at the beginning, the foundation of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ stems from the nature of the Holy Trinity. Its essence is communion in intra-Trinitarian love: the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved and the Holy Spirit is personal love. And this love has gone out of itself, has decentered itself, and placed at the center of this loving relationship the human being who suffers, who is helpless, who lacks something, who is sick, small, and poor.

The father bends down lovingly; one knee on the ground, both hands trying to carefully lift the injured human being. The expression the Father shows us is one of tenderness, of care; his face draws near and kisses the inert face of the helpless person. The Father reveals his merciful love in the warmth of the embrace, that welcomes and regenerates the human being. Which text or parable from the Gospel do you think of at this moment, when you meditate on this image of the Father?

“Gathered together in the community of faith through the love that the Father has given us and through the Calasanctian vocation, and imitating the Piarist lifestyle of Christ with his disciples and of the early Church with Mary, we are in a certain way servants of the hope of the future Kingdom and of fraternal union among men”.

CC 25

“In our community life, chastity moves us to love our brothers in abundance; poverty, to share everything; obedience, ourselves closely in order to fulfill the will of God with greater certainty. And we encourage one another to live faithfully the demands of our baptism and our religious consecration in a spirit of interior conversion.”

CC 26

“Called by the Word of God to a life of communion, we are a sign of unity in the Eucharist, realizing in ourselves the death and resurrection of Christ, so that we may grow ever more in service to our brothers and sisters.”

CC 27

“Our religious community is centered on the Eucharist, grounded in faith and strengthened by interpersonal relationships. We wholeheartedly accept others as they are, and actively help them to mature in their abilities and grow in love, ensuring that the community environment helps each one to fulfill their own vocation”.

CC 28

“Community life requires, on the one hand, the ability to live together, and on the other, it promotes full maturity through charity and the human virtues that lead to fraternal communion, especially sincerity, kindness, respect for persons, without becoming a judge of anyone. This creates an atmosphere of dialog and avoids everything that can lead to division among brothers”.

CC 29

The foundation of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ thus lies at the heart of God’s revelation and follows this order:

- The first revelatory experience Israel has is the experience of God the liberator (revealed in Exodus); later, it will elaborate the experience of God the Creator of the people (revealed at Sinai); and, finally, Israel comes to the conclusion that God, its creator, is also the creator of the whole world and creation as a whole.

- God reveals himself as love that communicates itself: Jesus was born in the midst of the Jewish Community, the people of Israel. Jesus was not a Christian, he was a Jew, and he deeply loved the Community to which he belonged, from which he received roots, tradition and history. As Pope Francis affirms:

“Jesus did not grow up in a closed and exclusive relationship with Mary and Joseph, but moved willingly within the extended family, where relatives and friends were found”[53].

- He formed a new Community, a sign of the New Covenant, which he sealed with the gift of his life. He invited his disciples, who were called one by one, to become part of this Community: It was the Apostolic Community, the Community of the Lord. Jesus did not invent love, because love was already there. Jesus did not invent forgiveness, because it was already there. What characterized Jesus was Community, but not just any kind of community, but a new, sacramental Community: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). In this apostolic Community, the disciples learned everything: to love, to forgive, to share, to fight for the Kingdom of God and to understand the new dynamic of the Kingdom of God, which was so closely linked to the dynamic of the New Community.

- This apostolic Community was the one that received the Holy Spirit, personal love, from the Father and the Crucifiedand Risen One , at Pentecost. Thus, the Church was born, which - guided by the same Holy Spirit -, went through the history of mankind and proclaimed the Good News of God’s love for every human being to the whole world. Despite all its errors and sins, the Church is still the matrix for “a new heaven and a new earth” (Is 65:17; 2 Pet 2:13; Rev 21:1), the dream of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the dream of a new world: The Kingdom!

- Within the Church, communities (Religious Orders) were born “in closer imitation of Christ”, for mission (to spend their lives for the benefit of the most needy) or for contemplation (to praise, love and adore God alone). And - as the last of these Orders - the Church has recognized ours (we have gone through the cat flap like a cat). So, from the time of Our Holy Father Calasanz, community life has been a fundamental element for the Piarists.

In the letters of our Holy Father, the founder, there are expressions of encouragement and care for the community; here are just a few of them:

“I wish that all may be of one heart and soul in the service of God”[54].

“The religious outside the convent is like a fish out of water, who does not know how to do the usual work and relaxes easily[55].

“Oh, how I wish that we all live in holy simplicity and are not bitter against each other, but help and defend each other, especially in matters concerning lay people”[56].

“They should strive to be united and meet for common exercises, for in this way they will increase holy charity, without which the meetings are a great confusion”[57].

“For the common good, all intrigues must be combated by all means, among which the devil is certainly a counselor, and they are the poison of the Order”[58].

“I have always liked this convent of St. Bernard very much and still do, because I know that community life is always maintained there, which is a sign that true charity reigns there, and, therefore, the blessed God is there”[59].

Since that first Pentecost - and to this day -, all the new Orders, congregations, religious institutes and communities of life and covenant that have arisen in the heart of the Church, have looked to the Apostolic Community, revealed in the Acts of the Apostles, for in it lies the ideal image of every Christian and religious Community.

1. Explain in your own words: What is the ‘‘Piarist Community’ based on?

2. Comment on some of Calasanz’s sentences: Are they relevant for us? And why?

3. Which elements of the youth reality that we are studying hinder and which favor the communitarian and social option of a young person today?

4. Which of the points of Constitutions 25-29, would you emphasize?

5. Do you value your Community life? In what way? In what?
3. The components of the ‘‘Piarist Community’

In each of the previous parts we have unfolded the double dimension that the religious vows possess: the mystical component and the political component. We have examined the two dimensions in relation to the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service.

In this part on the ‘‘Piarist Community’ - which is treated as another vow because of its importance -, we will use the same scheme to understand it better:

- The mystical component refers to the transcendent element of ‘‘Piarist Community’, in two ways: the Piarist religious, who love one another in Community are a living expression of Trinitarian communion; and, on the other hand, they point to the eschatological dimension, by being an anticipated sign of the future Kingdom.

- The political component points to the prophetic side of consecrated religious life. The ‘‘Piarist Community’ demonstrates this prophetism by not turning in on itself, and not fleeing from an unhealthy society, but by standing up for the little poor. On the other hand, the Church affirms that fraternal life is already a mission.

The Son is on his knees and, like the Father, bends down to the wounded man. He bends down in the same state as the man. He holds and supports the wounded man’s feet with his hands, heals his wounds and kisses his feet. The Father, bends down, and kisses the man’s face; the Son, bends over him, and kisses his feet. The kiss is one of the greatest gestures of love and tenderness, together with the embrace. In this way, God heals us... With which Gospel text or parable do you associate this gesture of the Son bending down at the feet of man?

“The Spirit of Christ, who is always present in us, makes our charity be imbued with a tender simplicity, so that we may advance in mutual respect, loving one another as brothers and sisters, helping one another with kindness and tolerance, and even with fraternal correction.”

CC 30

Relationships in the Community become lively and powerful through charity and co-responsibility: “The spirit of cooperation makes us forget ourselves”.

CC 31

“We are authentic community when we feel concern and interest for the situations in which our brothers find themselves; when we participate in acts of community prayer in which Christ makes himself present; when we actively participate in community meetings to plan and review our spiritual life and apostolic activity; and when we faithfully adhere to the schedule established by the community and approved by the Major Superior with his Council”.

CC 32

“With special care and fraternal love, we take care of those who have just adopted our way of life, those who are in personal difficulties, the sick and the elderly. Finally, with our consecrations, as prescribed by the rules, we help in the Lord those who have gone before us with the sign of faith.”

CC 33

“This obligation to create and maintain community is one that we all assumed when we accepted religious life, but it falls above all on those who have assumed responsibility for the animation of community and on those who have the task of establishing communities in each province.”

CC 34

Mystical component: Image of the Trinity

Trinitarian life is communion; and the life of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ is called to be a reflection of this communion. John is the evangelist who best develops the experience of unity between the Father and the Son: “The Father and I are one” (10:30); “The Father is in me and I am in the Father” (10:38); “That they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you. And that they also may be in us (...); that they may be one, as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in unity” (17:21-23).

The Apostolic Exhortation ‘Vita Consecrata’ (1996) by Pope John Paul II is one of the best documents of the Church’s Magisterium on consecrated religious life. It would be worthwhile to study it in its entirety. With regard to the mystical dimension that we are analyzing here, the Pope affirms:

“The Church is essentially a mystery of communion, “a plurality united by the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (St. Cyprian, De oratione Dominica, 23: PL 4, 553). Fraternal life seeks to reflect the depth and richness of this mystery, by establishing itself as a human space inhabited by the Trinity, thus pouring into history the gifts of communion proper to the three divine persons. The spheres and modalities in which fraternal communion manifests itself in ecclesial life are manifold. Consecrated life certainly has the merit of having contributed effectively to keeping alive in the Church the need for fraternity as a profession of the Trinity. By constantly promoting fraternal charity in the form of common life, consecrated life shows that participation in Trinitarian communion can transform human relationships, and create a new kind of solidarity”[60].

Vita Consecrata, 41.

The ‘‘Piarist Community’ is a beautiful reflection of Trinitarian life and relationship when the brothers of the Community support, communicate and help each other, and live the Piarist vocation with joy. The joy that unites, the communication that values each brother’s life, and the protection that is caring are the elements of fraternity that best express Trinitarian life.

Religious will feel more comfortable in their Community, and those called will feel more encouraged to enter the Order, if they find affection and appreciation (affection and recognition) in our communities.

Mystical component: Eschatological sign of the Kingdom

The second aspect of the mystical dimension of consecrated religious life - always emphasized by the Church - is to be an eschatological sign of the final Kingdom. The common life of the Piarist (and of all consecrated religious life) points in only one direction: as the only absolute now, in this life, to affirm the experience of love with the Crucified-Risen One through a “conformative adhesion” (to be formed in Christ, as we have said), and to aim at its fullness in the final Kingdom; it is the “already yes, but not yet, fully”.

“The consecrated life is entrusted with the task of pointing to the incarnate Son of God as the eschatological goal towards which everything is heading, the splendor before which every other light fades, the infinite beauty, the only one that can fully satisfy the human heart. Consecrated life is not just about following Christ wholeheartedly, and loving him “more than father or mother, more than son or daughter” (cf. Mt 10:37), as is required of every disciple, but rather it is about living and expressing this with a “conforming” adherence of one’s entire existence to Christ, in a totalizing tension that, as far as possible in time and with the various charisms, anticipates eschatological perfection”[61].

The community of religious is an anticipation of the future Kingdom as long as it lives its Vows with passion and with a certain tension between the two poles of the Kingdom, the historical-prophetic and the definitive-apoccaliptic. This is the eschatological nature of consecrated religious life:

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21): the unique treasure of the Kingdom arouses desire, expectation, commitment and witness. In the early Church, the expectation of the coming of the Lord was lived in a particularly intense way. In spite of the passing of the centuries, the Church has not ceased to cultivate this attitude of hope: it has continued to invite the faithful to direct their gaze towards the salvation that is going to be manifested, “because the appearance of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:31; cf. 1 Pet 1:3-6)”[62].

This tension between the two poles of the Kingdom is the natural matrix in which the prophetism of consecrated religious life unfolds, which we will analyze below.

The political component: prophecy of love in a sick world

In addition to the mystical dimension, consecrated religious life, the ‘‘Piarist Community’ also has another component in its structure: The political component. In all the vows we have examined this double dimension, which is inherent in consecrated religious life, and makes it a “sign and a prophecy”.

Over the centuries, with the delay of the ‘parousia’ (Jesus did not return for the second time, as initially expected), with the passage of the Church “from the catacombs to the basilicas”, with the recognition of the Church as the official religion - unique and of the State -, with the arrival of feudalism and its theory of the two swords (Emperor and Pope), ...with all this, consecrated religious life lost some of the attraction that came from martyrdom and the tense expectation of the final Kingdom.

And from a counter-cultural lifestyle (anti-system, critical of the Roman Empire and any empire that massacred people), it was transformed into a lifestyle called ‘status perfectionis’ (‘state of perfection’), as if there were different states or classes in the Church; if one is perfect, it means that others are imperfect, or less perfect. In this change, consecrated religious life lost something of the prophetic character of its essence, abandoning the tension between earthly and eternal values, adapting too much to the world, and forgetting that everything passes.

In the image of a great theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, consecrated religious life is called to be not the ‘status perfectionis’, but the ‘status confessionis’.

In the midst of the Nazi dictatorship, Bonhoeffer founded a community that was critical of Hitler, the ‘Confessing Church’, a community that confessed, protested and stood up for life and affirmed that National Socialism was the opposite of what a Christian reality should be. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and executed by the SS. His most famous work, which he wrote from prison (“Resistance and Submission”), and his life, have immortalized him.

In this sick world, where a few live well, live in peace, grow economically, celebrate Olympiads and visit the outspace, while many others die of hunger - literally! - it is part of the task of the Church, and of consecrated religious life in particular, to be a community that protests, that cries out and stands up for those who suffer the most, for those who are already born impoverished.

Consecrated religious life, the ‘‘Piarist Community’, has embraced the sign of being prophetic, since we were born in the Church as “sign and prophecy”, against the system and the ‘status quo’, both the first monks when they retreated to the desert - as a criticism of the Roman Empire and of a Church that lost its charm, its first love -, and our St. Joseph Calasanz, when he initiated something new, prophetic and revolutionary in the Church, at the service of the world.

With the above concepts, consecrated religious life, the ‘Piarist Community’, is invited to focus not on the ‘status perfectionis’, but on the ‘status confessionis’. Not to fall into clericalism, in order to preserve prophetism.

Our Father General, Pedro Aguado, affirms this in his “Letter to the Brothers” of May 2021; (it is worth reading it in its entirety in a community session):

“Clericalism has nothing to do with wearing the Piarist habit or with the careful and beautiful celebration of the liturgy. I have known religious in jeans - or with a suit and tie - who were extremely clericalist, and Piarists with a well-sweated cassock and full of work, humble and helpful, with whom the young people took deep joy when they approached them to be heard by them (...).

If the ‘clericalist attitude’ can be defined as that of “those who consider themselves superior by virtue of their ordination or vocation”, then the crystallization of this mentality in a culture could be defined as “the conscious or unconscious effort to promote the special interests of the clergy and to protect its traditional privileges”. This ‘clericalist culture’ always degenerates into a dynamic that is not conducive to the building up of the Church (...) Problems such as authoritarianism, lack of co-responsibility, devaluation of the role of women in the Church, excessive dependence on the priest or superior, emerge immediately.(Conference of Major Superiors, 1983)

(...) And, there is no doubt that clericalism brings with it the most serious consequences: the overstepping of boundaries, which has led to painful consequences that we all know. The lack of respect for others, based on the idea that we have the right to overstep the boundaries of that respect, is at the root of everything to do with abuse within the Church. Many scholars associate this dynamic with a certain idea of the priest as the representative of a sacred power, a self-sufficient and closed God, instead of God Father of Jesus Christ. The phenomenon already known as the ‘chosen one syndrome’ deepens these considerations. (...)

(...) The contributions that the Pope (Francis) makes in different moments can be summarized in this clear-sighted statement: “In the people of God, the fine and silent one, lies the immune system of the Church” (Letter to all the People of God in Chile, 2018).

Some challenges to reflect on (...) Changing a ‘culture’ requires processes, but it also requires choices:

a) to be ‘clerics regular, not clericalists’. Calasanz founded us as ‘clerics regular’ (...) I believe that delving into the keys from which Calasanz made his decisions, and following the paths he took will help us to be religious and priests who are not subject to the temptation to live our condition as a privilege. Let us not forget that ‘Clerics Regular’ emerged at a very special time in the life of the Church, and as an alternative to a priestly model characterized by ambition and poor formation. They emerge as a new form of religious life in search of authenticity.

b) An initial formation that can solve this problem. There is no doubt that initial formation is crucial in this, as in all other areas. Young people in formation are sponges capable of absorbing all the good they perceive in their elders, but also, unconsciously, all the contradictions (...)

c) Synodality is part of the horizon of the renewal of the Church and, therefore, of all religious institutions (...). Areas in which we can and should renew our efforts: the role of the weekly community meeting (the ‘theology of the table’); more participative chapter processes; a greater deepening of all that communal discernment means; the generation of co-responsibility between religious and laity (...)

d) The ever more authentic, balanced, mystical and prophetic life of our vocation. These four characteristics of our vocation (...) are truly the ‘key to a better future’ for the Pious Schools”.

Father General highlights, precisely, the two components of our vocation that we analyze in all the parts of this work: the mystical and the prophetic. Throughout initial formation, these dimensions should be internalized in the life of the Piarist, and contribute to the formation of what we define as the “Piarist personality”.

Pope Francis puts it even more clearly: “When there is a lack of prophecy in the Church, clericalism results”[63]; and we can also apply this to consecrated religious life, to the ‘‘Piarist Community’.

Prophetism in consecrated religious life is therefore the side that must be radically embraced in order to make visible in the ‘deserts, frontiers and peripheries’ - from the presence of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ -, the protest and proclamation, the announcement and denunciation, that imply the total, passionate and risky surrender of our lives. This is the meaning of the ‘status confessionis’ we spoke of earlier.

In its original meaning, ‘confessors’ were those Christians who, courageously confessed Jesus as Lord and God, rather than the Roman Caesar, and who, for some reason, survived the pain of martyrdom.

In the same way, we can say that consecrated religious life can grow and be fruitful if it achieves, in a communal way, what these ‘confessors’ did individually. In the beginnings of consecrated religious life, they did this by going to the deserts of Thebaide. Today we have other ‘deserts, frontiers and peripheries’, even existential ones.

A consecrated religious life conceived in this way is far from the image of ‘status perfectionis’ that we mentioned earlier. As Father General tells us, it is presented as “more authentic, more balanced, more mystical and more prophetic”. It is to this model of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ that we must commit ourselves and go.

In this way, we can also better understand another theologian who has accompanied us through this work, Johann Baptist Metz, when he defines consecrated religious life with the evocative title: “The Passion of God”[64]. The consecrated religious life of the future will have to mean, by the very fact of its existence, a proclamation of God’s passion for our world. The author affirms that in such an absolutely pluralistic society, ‘mercy” will be the Christian hallmark of the Church and - in a special way - of consecrated religious life and the ‘‘Piarist Community’.

Based on the prophetic dimension of consecrated religious life and the ‘‘Piarist Community’, not as ‘status perfectionis’, but as ‘status confessionis’, the vows take on a new meaning, as we have shown in the previous chapters or parts:

- The ‘vow of poverty’ is understood as a radical option for the little poor and as a sharing with others what the Piarist is and has.

- The ‘vow of obedience’ is the renunciation of one’s own freedom and the renunciation of shaping one’s own life as one sees fit.

- The ‘vow of chastity’ is the public cry, the proclamation, that the life of the Piarist is dedicated in a special way to love for the many mistreated little ones in this world.

- The vow of ‘Piarist ministry’ means that the Piarist, who has so many life options, chooses ‘popular education’ as the best tool for transforming reality.

- The ‘‘Piarist Community’ is a passionate commitment to fraternity, in the midst of a world that is increasingly individualistic and self-contained.

Political component: lived fraternity is already a mission

The second element of the political dimension of the ‘Piarist Community’, emphasized in ‘Vita Consecrata’ (1996) of Pope John Paul II, is the importance of fraternal life in the religious community, which is already considered a mission. The document of the Magisterium takes up this assertion in various places:

“In order to show her true face to humanity today, the Church has an urgent need for such fraternal communities. Their very existence is a contribution to the new evangelization, because they show in a convincing and concrete way the fruits of the ‘new commandment’”[65].

Vita Consecrata, 45.

“The life of the community “thus becomes a sign to the world and an attraction that leads to faith in Christ (...) In this way the community opens itself to the mission, and becomes a mission itself”. Moreover, ‘the community generates communion and is essentially organized as a missionary community’”[66].

Vita Consecrata, 46.

“Fraternal life itself is a prophetic act, in a society in which, sometimes without realizing it, there is a deep longing for fraternity without limits”[67].

Vita Consecrata, 85

“If you kindle a light in the life of a child, that child will be the light of your life”

Don Luciano Mendes de Almeida,

founder of the Pastoral Care of Minors

The fragmented interior of man and the divided heart of this world seek unity, communion and a more fraternal life. Pope John Paul II further affirms this: “Consecrated persons, in fact, live ‘for’ God and ‘from’ God. For this very reason they can proclaim the reconciling power of grace, which destroys the corrosive forces in the human heart and in social relationships”[68]. Vita Consecrata, 41.

6. Explain in your own words the two components of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ and any new unfolding you sense.

7. What do you think of the statements in our Father General’s “Letter to the Brothers”? Which would you emphasize? Which one makes you think the most?

8. Do you perceive elements of ‘clericalist culture’ among us? Which ones? Where?

9. What does Pope Francis’ phrase remind you of: “When there is a lack of prophecy in the Church, there is clericalism”?

10. What would you emphasize in the points of Constitutions 30-34?

11. Is there a gesture, an attitude, an attitude or a decision that can be taken in your religious community or in your Presence to promote the prophetic dimension of our life?

12. Define in your words the following terms: parousia - eschatology - “consecrated religious life is sign and prophecy” - ‘syndrome of the elect’ - clericalist attitude - clericalist culture - consecrated religious life is not a ‘status perfectionis’, but a ‘status confessionis’.

13. Comment on the title given to consecrated religious life by the great theologian Metz: “Passion of God”. What does this make you think of and what does it suggest for the ‘‘Piarist Community’?
4. The criteria of the ‘‘Piarist Community’

The Holy Spirit is the figure that, descends from above on the bas-relief, and, also, approaches the wounded. Some see the image of a dove, others imagine flames, still others clasped hands that bring life. The dove of fire flies over the wounded man to illuminate and warm him. The dove also kisses the wounded man with its beak to give him the breath of life. God wanted and created man as an interlocutor, as a being capable of responding to his call for a fulfilled life. Which New Testament text reminds you of the relationship between the fire Dove and man at the center?

In Chapter II we have analyzed the essence and nature of the ‘Piarist Community’, by examining its foundation; Chapter III has led us to deepen its structure, and analyze its basic components or dimensions. In Chapter IV, we now take a more concrete step (in accordance with one of the principles that illuminate this work: moving processually from the general to the particular), and offer the criteria that define the ‘Piarist Community’, accompanied by the Magisterium of the Church, in the Apostolic Exhortation “Vita Consecrata”.

The criteria are elements that make the ‘Piarist Community’ much more concrete, characterize it and point to the virtues and attitudes of the Piarist that are necessary for building this community. Since fraternal life is fundamental in the life of the sons and daughters of Calasanz, the ‘‘Piarist Community’ is a very convincing element of the “Piarist personality”; therefore, the criteria that we present here can help you considerably in building this identity, because we are aware that the one who does not serve to live in community will hardly be able to embrace the Piarist life.

“We are concerned that everyone has enough time to regenerate their strength, for personal prayer and to renew themselves culturally and spiritually. For our part, we place our energy, our time and everything we have at the disposal of our confreres. In order to promote the intimacy of the religious family, we reserve some rooms only for the community, as prescribed by the Rules”.

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“The Piarist Family, formed by Piarists of all times and places, becomes concrete and visible in the Local Community, which is formed by the religious assigned to it. The entire Local Community, in turn, is part of larger Piarist communities, such as the provinces and the entire Order. Non-professed formandi and the laity, who share our vocation in various modalities, also participate, in their own way, in the life of the Piarist community”.

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Celebrating in the Leitourgía (consecration

and praise of the Lord)

The icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord, recounted in the three synoptic Gospels (Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 8:28), has been a symbol of the contemplative life since the ancient tradition of the Church, when it is associated with Jesus’ prayer on Tabor. But it not only reflects monastic life, it is also an expression of apostolic life, because Tabor means ‘going up the mountain’ to be close to God and ‘coming down the mountain’ to be in the midst of human reality.

So, one of the criteria of the ‘Piarist Community’ is to be a community that prays, that celebrates, that sings of the Lord’s mercy and God’s love for life, placing in its hands the history of the men and women of this world, the little poor.

The ‘Piarist Community’ is called to be the “Tent of Encounter” (Ex 33,7): a space of love, forgiveness and celebration for the Piarist brothers themselves; and a “school of prayer”, a tent erected in the midst of children and young people, where they can go to live and celebrate this unique encounter with Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One.

Every Christian is consecrated to God through the grace received at baptism/confirmation. The life of the Piarist as a ‘consecrated person’ is a grateful response to this grace received. In his consecration - expressed in the taking of vows -, the Piarist gives his life as a complete and total surrender to God.

Consecration is therefore a two-way street: through baptism we are consecrated to God, we become God’s property, sons of God; and through the vows the religious consecrates himself/herself to God in order to love him in a special and appropriate way. We have expressed it in this way in the essay on the ‘Vow of Chastity of a Piarist’:

The vows are the expression of a life consecrated to the Lord. They are the ‘watermarks’ of the Piarist; ‘tattoos’ engraved on our bodies; signs that point to something much greater. The vows are our ‘rocket engine’ to love in a unique and singular way, as is the consecrated person’s way of loving: totally, exclusively, available, universal, perpetual (forever) and undivided (with an undivided heart).

The Magisterium of the Church reminds us that the fundamental means of receiving and nourishing this gift of love for God and the world is, undoubtedly, the sacred liturgy:

“Above all the Eucharist, (...) the heart of ecclesial life and also of consecrated life. Whoever has been called to choose Christ as the sole meaning of his life in profession of the evangelical counsels, how can he not desire to establish an ever more intimate communion with him through daily participation in the sacrament that makes him present? It is in the nature of things that the Eucharist is at the center of consecrated life, both personal and communal. It is the daily viaticum and the source of the spirituality of every institute. In it, each consecrated person is called to live the paschal mystery of Christ, and to unite himself to him by offering his own life to the Father through the Holy Spirit. The extensive and prolonged adoration of the Eucharist allows us to relive Peter’s experience at the Transfiguration: “It is good for us to be here”. In the celebration of the mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the unity and love of those who have consecrated their lives to God are strengthened and grow. Together with the Eucharist, and in intimate relationship with it, the Liturgy of the Hours (...) manifests, in union with the prayer of the Church, the vocation of consecrated persons to praise and intercession”[69].

Vita Consecrata, 95.

The ‘Piarist Community’ is called to celebrate the one who loves and knows that he is present and active in life, to sing of the one who lives, and to place on the altar those whom he carries on his shoulders. Fundamental criterion of communion and fundamental criterion of every Piarist: To value and celebrate the liturgy in order to live intimacy with the Lord and to build a communion based on love, forgiveness and dialog.

United in koinonia (fraternal communion among brothers)

One of the most attractive features of the ‘‘Piarist Community’ in the world today is fraternal life. Perhaps because of the weariness and emptiness created by individualism, many young people are attracted to fraternal life, always bearing some of the characteristics of ‘liquid modernity’ society (hedonism, subjectivism, consumerism, relativism).

Fraternal life is one of our great flagships, yes, but we must be educated to live as brothers in community, because the religious community has its own characteristics that every Piarist must observe: Above all, common schedules and responsibilities as well as principles that are different from any other type of group or community: taking the brother more important than myself (empathy); tolerant dialog; renunciation and sacrifice for the benefit of the brother; mutual support and care; etc.

One of the oldest texts reporting on the life of the early church is the Letter to Diognetus from the 2nd century. Its author may be Quadratus, one of the apologists writing to the emperor Helius Hadrian (it was customary to call the princes Diognetus), who wanted to get to know better the new religion that was spreading in the Roman Empire, because he was impressed by the way the Christians despised the world, death and the pagan gods, and also because he missed the love with which they loved one another. He wanted to know which God was the one they loved so much and for whom they devoted themselves and what kind of worship they gave him. This is how this jewel of early Christian literature came into being.

“Christians are not different from other people, neither by the place where they live, nor by their language, nor by their customs. Indeed, they have no cities of their own, they have no unusual way of speaking, and they do not lead a different life. Their system of doctrine was not invented thanks to the talent and speculations of learned men, nor do they profess, as others do, a doctrine based on the authority of men.

They live in Greek and barbarian cities, according to their destiny; they follow the customs of the country, both in dress and in their whole style of life, and yet they show an admirable and, in the opinion of all, incredible way of life. They live in their own country, but as strangers; they take part in everything like citizens, but endure everything like strangers; every foreign country is a home to them, but they are in every home as in a foreign country. Like all others they marry and beget children, but they do not get rid of the children they beget. They share the common table, but not the bed.

They live in the flesh, but not after the flesh. They live on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the laws in force, and by their way of life they transcend these laws. They love everyone, and everyone persecutes them. They are condemned without knowing them. They are sent to their death, and thereby receive life. They are poor, and they enrich many; they lack everything, and they are rich in all things. They suffer shame, and it is an honor to them; they suffer the loss of their reputation, and this testifies to their righteousness. They are cursed, and they bless; they are treated with dishonor, and they, return, honor. They do good, and are punished as evildoers; and, when they are punished to death, they rejoice as if they were given life.

The Jews fight them like strangers and the Gentiles persecute them, and yet those who hate them do not know how to explain the reason for their enmity.

To make a long story short: Christians are to the world what the soul is to the body. The soul, is indeed scattered over all the limbs of the body; so are Christians scattered over all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, but does not proceed from the body; Christians live in the world, but are not of the world. The invisible soul is shut up in the prison of the visible body; Christians live visibly in the world, but their religion is invisible. The flesh hates and opposes the soul, without having taken offense at it, only because it prevents it from enjoying its pleasures; the world also hates Christians, without having taken offense at them, because they oppose its pleasures.

The soul loves the body and its members, even if the body hates it; Christians also love those who hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, but it is the soul that holds the body together. Christians are also trapped in the world as in a prison, but they are the ones who hold the world together. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tent; Christians also live as pilgrims in perishable dwellings, while they wait for heavenly imperishability. The soul is perfected by mortification in eating and drinking; even Christians, who are constantly mortified, multiply more and more. The place God has assigned to them is so important that it is not permitted to leave it”[70].

Available in the Diakonia (ministries

and services to the church)

It is very beautiful to study how the primitive Christian community was structured; the book of Acts tells of the needs that arose in the midst of the community and the responses that were given - in creative ways - to build up the church. Acts 6:1-6 tells of the moment when “seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” were chosen to serve the tables; they were called Deacons or servants; they ministered to the needs of the poor (widows, orphans, foreigners); so the apostles could devote themselves “wholly to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).

From the beginning, the characteristics of the church were defined as follows:

- Ministering/serving church: the ministries are service for the life of the community, appointed according to the needs (1Cor 12:27-31: Apostles, prophets, teachers, deacons, bishops, presbyters, etc.)

- Community church: concern for the community, for the good of all, for the life of all (Heb. 2:42-45); the common good is paramount.

- Participatory church: all could express themselves and make their opinions known within the community, creating a new community and social relationship, that even elected its leaders and pastors (deacons, bishops,...); this was an expression of a beautiful synodal way.

- Incarnate, inserted Church: The pains and hopes of the people were heard in the community; they did not accept the Gnostic teachings that showed an airy Jesus, a ‘tourist’ on earth, but preached the Jesus who is incarnate in the history of man, who takes his pains upon himself and gives himself out of love, with the aim of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1).

The ‘‘Piarist Community’ - and consecrated religious life as a whole -, has made these elements its own and integrated them into its community life, especially in serving the needs of the Church. Therefore, the Piarist grows in his community and discovers the importance of being a catechist, pastor, deacon and priest, always depending on the needs of the community, and understanding the various ministries as ministries in favor of the Body of Christ, his Church (1 Cor 12,27).

Surrendered in Martyrdom (mission and witness in society)

There are three types of martyrdom in the Church:

- Red martyrdom (the life shed with blood for God and for others): This is what is normally understood by martyrdom, namely the shedding of blood - the losing of one’s life - for the sake of the Gospel and the Lord.

- White martyrdom (a life exhausted in love for others): It is martyrdom without bloodshed in the midst of a reality that is difficult for the faith; it is the Piarist’s silent dedication to his mission, in a society that runs counter to the ideals of the Gospel; it is the life of chastity in a totally hedonistic culture. White martyrdom always refers to the dedication of life lived sacrificially for the Gospel and the Kingdom of God, without shedding blood, but with sweat and tears.

- Green martyrdom (the life that goes out of itself for the sake of others and never returns): This type of martyrdom goes back to the devotion of the lives of Irish monks who left their monasteries - their green mountains - to proclaim the Good News and never returned.

In any case, all these forms of martyrdom point to the same thing: the giving of one’s life for others, in the name of the Crucified and Risen One. The ‘Piarist Community’ not only develops ministries and services within the Church, but also joyfully bears witness to the message of the Kingdom of God in the midst of society. This dimension of witness has to do with the prophetism of which we have spoken in the previous pages.

The ‘Piarist Community’ gives witness:

- When it opens a socio-educational mission in a periphery, desert or frontier of the world, and establishes itself as a “Tent of Encounter” for children and young people.

- When the ‘Piarist Community’ becomes a “school of community” and/or a “school of prayer”.

- When it loses something of itself (assets, resources, people), and gives it away in favor of others, especially the little poor.

- If it does not fall into the traps that discredit consecrated religious life. In his profound and critical work on consecrated religious life, José María Castillo analyzes the motives of the primitive monks who were sent to the deserts of Theba in the III and IV centuries. He compares this beginning of consecrated religious life with the reality of consecrated religious life today:

“It is obvious that the thousands of men and women who fled this society and founded ‘their society’ in the desert, hardly made a decision of an ascetic or spiritual nature. Rather, under economic and political conditions that were degrading and unjust, they confronted the unjust system in which they were forced to live, resisted the system and, eventually excluded themselves from the system. The result was an alternative way of being and living. This, I believe, was the great contribution that the first monks made to society, culture and the Church.”[71]

“What else did these men contribute apart from a firm decision to give themselves to Jesus, the Lord? Quite simply, with two things that become very clear in the first monastic literature: The genuine and effective renunciation of money.

And the renunciation of being privileged in society.

At least these two things become clear if one reads carefully the documents left to us by these first religious”[72].

Therefore, for the authenticity of consecrated religious life, its witness and its impact on society - in the world today and always -, depends on not falling into these two traps of the established system: money and privilege.

Sharing the Charism (‘Piarist Fraternity’)

The word “charism” - from the Greek ‘chárisma’, ‘cháris’ -, means gift, grace, gratuitousness (Rom 5,15). Charisms are special or extraordinary gifts that serve the well-being and growth of the church community. Paul gives a list of charisms for the building up of the body of Christ and for the sanctification of people (1 Cor 12:8-11).

“The charisms, whether extraordinary or simple and humble, are graces of the Holy Spirit that have, a direct or indirect ecclesial use, since they are directed to the building up of the Church, the good of men and the needs of the world” (Christi Fidelis Laici, 42)[73].

The charism that the Church has received through the life and work of St. Joseph Calasanz is not something monolithic and mummified, but something living and dynamic. The ‘Piarist Community’ opens up to share the charism that he received and spread over the centuries, and in which not only religious, but also some lay people want to participate.

This is how the ‘Piarist Fraternity’ was born; a Piarist space for lay people who feel attracted by our life and mission to live their ecclesial belonging: to feel as Church, Piarist style. In the ‘Fraternity’ the three sides of the charism are developed: spirituality, community and mission. It is the possibility of living the faith in a small community, where bonds and warm human relationships are built, where religious and laity share the Calasanctian charism, where all kinds of initiatives are born that unite everyone, in prayer and relationship, in favor of the Piarist mission.

Today, the construction of Piarist schools means, at the same time, the consolidation of the ‘Piarist Community’ and the ‘Piarist fraternity’. Piarist religious and lay people walk more and more united and committed to the Piarist mission, because it is the ultimate meaning of everything.

14. Explain in your own words what each of the criteria presented refers to: Leyturgy - Koinonia - Diakonia - Martyrdom - Charism.

15. These criteria for the ‘Piarist Community’ point to a set of attitudes and virtues that should characterize the “Piarist personality”: Emphasize those that you consider most important, based on the criteria examined.

16. Do you realize in your life that you are developing these virtues and attitudes and that they are part of your “Piarist personality”?

17. Does Piarist initial formation help you to build and develop Piarist attitudes and virtues; how?

18. What would you emphasize from the points 35 and 36 of the Constitutions?

19. Comment on what you noticed in the “Letter to Diognetus”.

20. What do you think of the text by José Maria Castillo on consecrated religious life?

21. What relationship should there be between the ‘Piarist Community’ and the ‘Piarist Fraternity’?

22. Do you feel identified with the ‘Fraternity’? How do you participate in it? Is there any element that you do not understand? Which one?

5. Concrete indications about our Community

life for you, who are initiating yourselves

in the ‘Piarist Community’

We studied the foundation (chapter II), the components (chapter III) and the criteria (chapter IV) of the ‘Piarist Community’. In the last chapter of this part, we want to offer you some concrete indications that will help you to advance in the construction of the ‘Piarist Community’: they are concrete points to get the way right. If the ‘criteria’ pointed to the formation of attitudes and virtues, the ‘concrete indications’ point to develop gestures and postures, objective and more defined, that help you in the precious challenge that is to build -under the guidance of the Holy Spirit-, your “Piarist personality”.

“Feeling intensely the experience of authentic communion with the Church, we establish fraternal relationships with dioceses and parishes, with the sister Congregations of the Calasanctian Family and with other religious Institutes, especially those involved in educational works, and we encourage mutual collaboration as much as we can”.

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“Our community, a member of the whole human family and always ready to serve, readily and resolutely makes its own the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of all people, especially those of the local community in which we live.”

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“With this community life we respond better to the Lord who calls us. And this response, with the grace of God, will be our best recommendation, so that those who have more to do with us, especially children and young people, will be strongly drawn to labor in the Lord’s harvest.”

CC 39

The ‘Piarist Community’ as an “Oasis of Life”

“The evangelical basis of consecrated life is to be sought in the special relationship that Jesus, established in his earthly life, with some of his disciples, inviting them not only to receive the Kingdom of God in their own lives, but also to put their own existence at the service of this cause, leaving everything and imitating his way of life exactly. Such a “Christ-like’ existence, which has been proposed to so many baptized people throughout history, is only possible through a special vocation and thanks to a special gift of the Spirit” (VC, 1996; n. 14).

The ‘Piarist Community’ is called to be an “oasis of life” in the midst of a society that depletes people and relationships. In the oasis, the parched, withered person receives again the water that brings life, and is replenished to continue his journey. Children and young people seek the water of life in our communities. So that our communities can be “oases of life”, we offer you some tips and concrete gestures. Develop these and others that you discover, on your own and make them a habit:

Get into the habit of lovingly receiving, smiling and welcoming all people who come to your community - even those who come unannounced. Welcome is a fundamental element that makes the community an “oasis of life”; we must give the welcome the great importance it has: “I would like to remind you once again that the renewal of religious life is not possible if the dimension of welcome is not taken into account in this project”[74].

Get into the habit of receiving and welcoming the poor who knock on the door of your community in a very loving way. Saint Benedict used to say: “Make a special effort to receive the poor and pilgrims, for it is in them that Christ is received”[75].

The ‘Community of a Piarist’ as a “lung of hope”

Hope - one of the three theological virtues - is indispensable for the journey of life, because it is the one that rises first, and awakens faith and love, to begin a new day. Without hope, faith decays, love atrophies, life falls into situations of fear, panic and even depression.

The ‘Piarist community is called to be a “lung of hope”, that reactivates in each person who seeks us the vital breath, the breath of the spirit, the new breath, necessary for this journey of life.

Essential gestures so that your community can be hope for all:

How many children and young people have found the spark of life in the ‘Piarist Community’! And the only thing that matters is that they feel well cared for in their need - which they bring with them and place in your hands. May your response be attention, time, space for them - in the midst of an already full day -, comfort and always the affirmation of faith (to paraphrase St. Teresa of Avila):

“Let nothing worry you, let nothing frighten you, EVERYTHING WILL PASS, God does not change, patience accomplishes everything, he who has God, lacks nothing, God alone is enough.”

The hope that animates life is injected through the Word. Through your word and through the word of the one who is the Lord of hope. Those who come to your community in search of ‘being’, of the meaning of life, will always find a word from you - an echo of the living Word - through your smile, your tight embrace, your hands that catch their tears, your words of comfort and hope.

The ‘‘Piarist Community’’ as an “engine of encouragement and energy”

People wear out, life wears out. That is why we always need a source from which we can recharge our energy. The ‘Piarist Community’ is directly connected to this source of life and energy (Jn 4:13; Ps 87:7), in order to pass it on to all those who need it.

Gestures and concrete actions so that your community is an “engine of encouragement and energy”:

An inserted and open community - especially for young people and for the Fraternity - where they can recharge their lives with love, encouragement and strength, especially through the sharing of the Eucharist; it is the great source of energy. And constant prayer to the Lord, intercession for all those he has entrusted to us.

In order to be an “engine of encouragement and energy”, the ‘Piarist Community’ must invest heavily in the formation of leaders and members of the Fraternity who will become multipliers of God’s grace and Charism.

The ‘Piarist Community’ is called to be a therapeutic space where the people who arrive there are healed for life. May there be room in your community - in one way or another -, for those who are worn out by life, the unmotivated, the seriously wounded,... those who call and want to drink from the fountain of life.

I was a servant,

and you made me a friend.

I was ignorant,

and You entrusted me with Your word.

I was scattered,

and You made me a keeper.

I was barren,

and You helped me to bear fruit.

I was fearful,

and You made me capable.

I was proud,

and You gave me humility.

I was unstable,

and You taught me to stay.

What other answer can I give You, my Lord, in the face of so many transformations, than to strive with all my might to become like You?

With Your grace, Lord,

I will love the world and the children in Your way.

“The Piarist Formator”

Introduction

Dear Piarist Brothers! We offer you the last part in this comprehensive work “EDUCATION FOR PIARIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE POSTMODERNITY. A psycho-pedagogical proposal”.

In the first part we studied the ‘Vow of Poverty’; then - in part 2 - we delved deeper into the ‘Vow of Chastity’; in the third part we analyzed the ‘Vow of Obedience’; in part 4 we dealt with the ‘Piarist Ministry’; and in the fifth we delved into the depths of the ‘Piarist Community’. With these five parts the “Piarist Pentalogy” would be complete, because the construction of the “Piarist Personality” -which is the essence of this work-, is based on these five elements.

However, we have been asked to do something very important: to present the profile and functions of an essential figure in the Formation process: the ‘Piarist Formator’. This concluding part is therefore intended to be a small ‘manual’ and an aid for the Piarist who is called to undertake this fundamental work, initial formation (IF), at every stage.

The basis of this study is based on the Word of God, on the Magisterium of the Church and, more precisely, on the Piarist Magisterium and Tradition (which also exists!).

Documents of the Magisterium of the Church

- Vatican II: ‘Optatam Totius’ (1965) OT

- John Paul II: ‘Pastores dabo Vobis’ (1992) PdV

- Benedict XVI: ‘Verbun Domini’ (2010) VD

- Francis: ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (2013) EG

- Congr. for the Clergy: ‘Directory for the Ministry and Life of Priests’ (2013) DIR

- Congress for the Clergy: ‘The Gift of the Priestly Vocation’ (2016) RFIS

- Congr. IVCSVA: ‘Guidelines for Formation in Religious Institutes’ (1990) OR

Documents of the Piarist Magisterium and Tradition

- St. Joseph Calasanz: Letters, Constitutions and other writings

- Religious Order: Constitutions and Rules

- General Congregation: ‘Formation and Studies of the Piarists’ (2015) FEDE

- Father General (Pedro Aguado): ‘Letters to the Brothers’ and other writings.

1. Initial formation and the ‘Piarist Formator’

in the Order

‘Pastores dabo Vobis’ ask us the fundamental question that will accompany us in this essay: “How to form [Piarist] priests who are truly up to date and capable of evangelizing the world of today?” (PdV, 10).

In the previous points (8 and 9), the document addresses the difficulties and the elements that help in the formation of young vocations. The impression remains that the difficulties outweigh the helpful elements. Difficulties and challenges that affect the principles of formation. It is not a question of helping the young person discover an ideal, or encouraging the consolidation of a virtue forgotten by the apprentice; it is a question of the concept of formation itself.

For this reason, we are guided in this essay by the previous question, which, to paraphrase Zygmunt Bauman (a thinker who has provided us with one of the outlines of this work), is as follows: How can we educate Piarists in a cultural milieu in which the most valuable things no longer seem to be the ‘solid elements of Formation’ (principles, contents and forms), but the more ‘fluid elements’ expressed in the living of experiences that transcend forms and blend them, dissolving contents and ceaselessly “actualizing” principles? How can we educate the Piarist so that he does not lose the vital principle of formation, capable of forming a human heart in the image of the priestly heart of Christ?

Young people feel more than ever the attraction of the so-called “consumeristic society”, which makes them dependent and prisoners of an individualistic, materialistic and hedonistic interpretation of human existence. Materialistically understood “well-being” tends to impose itself as the only ideal of life; a well-being that must be achieved under all conditions and at all costs. Hence the rejection of anything that smacks of sacrifice and the renunciation of efforts to seek and live spiritual and religious values. The exclusive “concern” for having displaces the primacy of being, with the result that personal and interpersonal values are not interpreted and lived according to the logic of the gift and gratuitousness, but according to that of selfish possession and the instrumentalization of the other”. PdV, 8.

Concern in the Order about initial formation

For a long time, the Order has also been concerned with initial formation, with formators/formandi and with the formation of the ‘Piarist Formator’. In recent years, numerous proposals have been made to address this concern: the election of new formators, the preparation of formators, refresher courses, the renewal of the framework documents defining the processes of Initial Formation in its various phases (FEDE), the new formation team at the Order level, with a new person in charge, etc.

According to Fr. General’s presentation in the “Calasanzian Course for Formators - 2020”, these are the dates of initial formation in the Order, this year:

HOUSES OF FORMATION

- Pre-novitiates and houses of welcome: 7 in Europe, 13 in America, 6 in Africa and 6 in Asia. Total: 32

- Novitiates: 4 in Europe, 3 in America, 2 in Africa and 2 in Asia. Total number: 11

- Juniorates: 6 in Europe, 11 in America, 5 in Africa and 3 in Asia. Total: 25

FORMANDI

- Candidates and prenovices: 206

- Novices: 60

- Juniors: 275

- Professed and Ordained: 50

Father General goes on to affirm in this presentation: “At this moment, there are about 600 young men in the Order in the various stages of their initial formation. They are six hundred people who have placed their lives in the hands of God through the Pious Schools, so that, we can help them in our best way to become what God has sown in them. Each one of them is a call from God to our ability and willingness to accompany them”.

Priority of Initial Formation in the Order

Father General expresses in this document that Initial Formation is a priority for the Pious Schools, because “the renewal of the Order will not be possible without an initial formation that stimulates and consolidates it”. And he highlights some elements that make it a priority:

- Ensuring processes of growth and fidelity in young people; creating religious who always live “in process and in accompaniment”.

- Our young people grow up in a mentality of belonging to the Order.

- The formandi learn to live in community.

- To emphasize in them a love for the Piarist mission; well formed.

- An integral initial formation that takes into account all the dimensions of the Piarist. The balance between the human, Christian, religious and calasanzian dimensions must be emphasized.

- Formators who are called, prepared and identified with this mission.

- The axes of Piarist life: men of God; fraternal life in community; the dedication of life to the mission.

- It is necessary to walk and grow in the three axes; this is only possible if we have a center: Following Christ on the way of Calasanz.

- And the three axes are one: to focus on the Lord; we consecrate ourselves to him through the vows and we must always grow in them. It is important to offer our young people mechanisms of growth in the vows they take as consecrated men.

- Identification with our Charism and love for our Holy Father Calasanz. We are Piarists, a particular form of religious life.

- We identify with a family, with the Order. We love the Order and feel part of a defined group (the Demarcation) and a larger family (the Pious Schools).

- And this family presents us today with exciting challenges: missionary work; building an intercultural Order; a passion for youth; a preference for the poor; the search for a fulfilled and not mediocre life;...

2. The foundation on which the ‘Piarist Formator’ rests

As in the previous essays on the vows, the foundation that supports and sustains the ‘Piarist Formator’ is his living and deep, relational and dialogical experience with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Most Holy Trinity, manifested in the personal history of the formator, is the foundation that sustains his life and ministry.

As Pope John Paul II affirms:

“Priestly identity (...), like every Christian identity, finds its source in the Most Holy Trinity (...) Thus we can understand the essentially ‘relational’ connotation of the priest’s identity” (PdV, 12).

The Piarist Magisterium also expresses itself in this sense:

“Formation is essentially relational: We are formed together with others. Therefore, the Piarist will cultivate, as a permanent formative attitude, openness to the relationship with God (...), the source of every vocation; to the relationship with oneself (...); to the relationship with the formator in order to feel accompanied (...); to the relationship with the brothers of the community (...); and to the educational relationship with the social world that surrounds him” (FEDE, 29).

The ‘Piarist Formator’ understands and experiences that his life is based on the relationship with God and that his mission is - fundamentally - also a question of a positive and educational relationship with the young people who are in the process of formation.

The ‘Piarist Formator’ considers that his committed relationship with the Church and with the Pious Schools are fundamental mediations of God’s presence in his life, so that the proposal to become a formator is not only understood as an institutional call to a concrete mission, but as an invitation from God to develop this formative ministry, and to help those in formation to respond to the vocational call.

3. The components that define the ‘Piarist Formator’

Just as the foundation points to the essence of the ‘Piarist Formator’, the components point to the characteristics that define his formative identity. It would be very interesting and instructive to draw up an ‘ideal profile’ of the ‘Piarist formator’. José María Fernández Martos (SJ), in his work “The Formator of Priests and Celibate Religious”[76] provides a poetic and profoundly valid approach to the profile of the formator. On the basis of his description, we are encouraged to present the following characteristics of the ‘Piarist Formator’.

Human components

These refer to the human characteristics that are inherent in the ‘Piarist Formator’ in order to carry out his ministry. Some of them are innate - gifts given by the life and grace of God -, others are acquired through dedication, openness to others, study and perseverance.

He should be more of a guide through the woods than an usher

at the movies

We tend to expect the instructor to be ‘orderly’ in every way; as if he were an usher in a movie theater: he knows everything about the seats (the free ones, the empty ones, the broken ones); he knows how to put everyone in their place; everything is laid out in a plan; the times are fixed; ... but how does he react if someone arrives late for the session - and thus breaks his schedules and schemes - or makes demands other than those he has always answered, ?

In the world of formation for consecrated religious life, things are no longer so clear and simple. The formator must be more of a guide, penetrating the dense forest of each young person, than a movie usher. And we can expect more from young people who have doubts, who are indecisive, and whose lives are a veritable forest of uncertainties and imperfections, than from the others who present themselves as ‘complete’, where everything is clear, who have no doubts and no personal problems, and who present their lives like a perfect, clean and tidy movie theater.

The ‘piarist instructor’, as a good guide, knows how to place himself in front of the young man who does not show and tell himself from his ‘true self’, but from a role or function to be fulfilled, adopting attitudes and positions that are artificial, forced or invented (hiding from work and effort).

The Church warns us clearly:

“It would be very unwise to admit a seminarian to the sacrament of Holy Orders who has not developed a serene and free affectivity, consolidated in celibate chastity, through the exercise of the human and priestly virtues, understood as openness to the action of grace and not only as an effort of the will” (RFIS, 110).

“The lack of a well-structured and balanced personality constitutes a serious and objective obstacle to the continuity of formation for the priesthood. For this reason, seminarians will be accustomed to educate their character, they will gain spiritual strength and, generally learn human virtues” (RFIS, 63).

And the ‘Piarist Formator’ knows that this strong, structured and robust personality is not born suddenly in every young person; this personality is born from the academic effort, from the moral effort (to become better every day), from the self-denial and dedication on the part of the young person who is being formed. A ‘Piarist Formator’ cannot feed the immediate desires, stimulate the passion for the self (narcissism), the intimate pleasure or the materialistic comfort of things that are easy to obtain without any effort; all this would inevitably lead to the emergence within the Piarist community of ‘little tyrants and dictators’ who are only focused on themselves.

The ‘Piarist Formator’ helps his young people to to enter into the density of the vocational process of each one, and to learn to put their trust in God and not in conveniences. In this way, the elements that are part of the Piarist identity are saved from the dictatorship of “I like it / I don’t like it” or “I feel like it / I don’t feel like it”.

The good Formator cannot look for shortcuts in the dense forest (with its difficulties and hardships). Only when the young person being trained faces his own reality and walks through his forest, will he ultimately discover himself and recognize his deepest motivations.

1. To pray (also with those who are in training): Sir 2:1-12

2. Comment on this sentence by Pope Francis: “If we confess a Christ without a cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly” (1st homily; March 14, 2013).

3. As a ‘Piarist formator’, do I perceive and insist to my students that becoming a good Piarist is a matter of constant effort?
More authentic and coherent than a friend of appearances

The ‘Piarist educator’ tries to “educate in the truth of his own being” (RFIS, 63). He questions himself about his own congruence, and discovers his masks. He affirms his love for truth and not for appearances. He knows that he must first make a value his own if he wants to pass it on.

And the starting point is always the human reality, the personal story. The good formator helps the young person in formation to know his ground, his floor, to know his imperfections and how to interpret the cries or pains that emerge in each of his stumbles. Isn’t my own story - as a religious and now as a formator -, just that? A struggle against helplessness, in search of other refuges and truths, starting from my poverty, my lack and my imperfection, until I reach God... It is clear: children do not believe in what parents say, but in what parents live!

The ‘Piarist Formator’ knows how to recognize in the person to be educated the “purely external and formal compliance with the educational requirements addressed to him” (RFIS, 92). Pope Francis also warns against the “pastoral care of clothes and habits” if it only expresses appearances and not service.

And Jesus was very clear:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness! So, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt 23:27-28).

In the document Ratio Fundamentalis, we read:

“Seminarians are accompanied to recognize and correct ‘spiritual worldliness’: the obsession with outward appearances, presumptuous doctrinal or disciplinary certainty, narcissism and authoritarism, the presumption to assert oneself, the purely external and ostentatious care of liturgical acts, vanity, individualism, the inability to listen to others, and all kinds of race for success” (RFIS, 42; cf. EG, 93-97).

Against this, the ‘Piarist Formator’ promotes - in himself and in every young person being formed - the inner man, the inner life. The coherence of life, the congruence between believing/speaking/living, comes from the inner man. Without interior life, authenticity of life is not achieved: “This path of authenticity with oneself requires a special concern for one’s interior, through personal prayer, spiritual direction, daily contact with the Word of God, the ‘reading of the faith’ of life.” (RFIS, 43). Authenticity of life and coherence are demonstrated in ministry, in the Piarist mission.

On the other hand, the world, the people, the youth, easily recognize an ‘unhabited’ Piarist (expression of a pre-novice); the search for the external and the resulting immaturity lead him to see the center of life in the external: In the expected looks of girls, in the coveted recognitions, in the almost forced gifts, in the stolen applause... And, he often ends up in other loves, without realizing that this is exactly what he has provoked: “He who seeks the cab, spots the green light”...

4. To pray: 1 Peter 3:3-4

5. As a Formator, do I look at the heart and inner dimension of the young man, at the jewelry and his outer pearls?

6. If a young man in formation is not coherent today, will he be able to be so tomorrow, when he will be a solemnly professed religious and priest, with ministries, responsibilities and a much more autonomous life?
Rather a nurturer of friendship in the community

than a ‘lone fighter’ on his own.

What characterizes the Church is the closeness, the proximity, the fact of being at one’s side: being a close brother, feeling what the other is going through. Closeness and proximity means to touch, to touch the flesh of Christ in one’s neighbor. As one mystic said, we are judged according to Mt 25: “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was in prison...”.

In the house of formation, it is fundamental that the ‘Piarist Formator’ creates an atmosphere of friendship and closeness between all; especially with the formation community (even if it is only one or two religious), since they are all formators; and it is very important that the formandi perceive this friendship and harmony of the formation community working as a team: distributing the tasks, sharing the celebrations, sharing the situation of the formation process, etc. This is the only way to create the atmosphere that the Church demands:

“Formation to the priesthood, must therefore, take place in a community climate that fosters the attitudes proper to priestly life and ministry” (RFIS, 90).

In this sense, the good formator is attentive to young people who isolate themselves from the group, because the solitary young man tends to seek sterile virtual compensations or to develop unreal affective fantasies; and he can become a future ‘sniper’, working on his own, and neglecting the common projects. So, if our young people are formed in “social friendship” (Fratelli Tutti) and in “pastoral charity” (Pastores dabo Vobis), they will bear much fruit. The apostolic fruitfulness of the Piarist will depend on the quality of the bonds and relationships he establishes with children and young people, with families and communities.

7. How can we adapt to closeness without becoming dependent?

8. As an educator, am I close or rigid and distant?

9. Have I ever been told that I am being led by preferences?

10. Do I work in a team, with the other Piarists in the formation community, or do I go my own way, like a ‘lone wolf’?
More free than anxious approval seeker

The well-developed formation process “helps seminarians to center all aspects of their personality on Christ, so that they become consciously free for God and for others” (RFIS, 29). Since the prenovitiate, the young formandi know that one of the fruits of taking Piarist Formation seriously is self-mastery, the ability to control oneself.

Self-control means being free and being able to choose not only what I love, but above all to choose to love what I have been called to love.

At the end of the Initial Formation, the student should leave with the ‘Piarist desires’ freely assumed. In the part on ‘Piarist Ministry’ we have deepened them: the three “feet” of the Piarist (small, poor, in the peripheries). All our affective capital is invested in these ‘piarist loves’; they are what make us free, so that the piarist does not lag behind other wants, other loves (“I have found the definitive way to serve God...”).

As a ‘Piarist Formator’ I must feel free and not like a slave: without dependence on money, consumption, social networks or the approval of others. Even free in front of the students themselves, to be able to say to everyone what needs to be said.

Autonomy and shared intimacy go hand in hand in the educational process, and promote the maturity of the young person. The good Formator knows how to control freedom without lapsing into permissiveness: The immature Formator either loses himself by merging with the other, or he shields himself in order to save his autonomy. For this reason, closed, authoritarian communities are not suitable, because they lead to infantilism and fundamentalism.

11. As a formator, do I live and convey the ‘freedom of the children of God’?

12. Do I feel free in front of my formandi, or do I seek their approval?

13. What moments have I experienced where I did not feel free?
Deeper inside than dispersed on the outside

The path of formation helps young people to look into their own lives and develop their inner self. The aim of this path - as we will see in a moment - is for the person in formation to get to know themselves. Our Holy Father has already said: “It is a good beginning of the spiritual life to know oneself and the misery into which we are all born...”[77].

Helping the formandi to build up their interiority is not easy, because this path leads through virtues that are outdated today: Enjoying solitude, self-control of the senses, affective mastery, a sense of duty, sobriety,.... We live in a culture that neither supports nor enjoys solitude, but God speaks alone and to the heart (Mt 6,6).

Man is viscera and epidermis; turned inwards and outwards; interiority and exteriority. The viscera are called identity, interiority or heart, depending on whether they are considered from the point of view of psychology or the Word of God.

The ‘Piarist Formator’ tries to make the student recognize what guides his life: whether it is his heart or his senses; whether he enjoys silence or noise. The Piarist life requires sobriety, poverty and austerity to form interiority. Without interior there is no intimacy to be shared. It is in this interior and intimacy that the way of being and dealing with oneself, with God and with the world is forged.

The formandi who live in the epidermis, from the emotions, will persevere in the consecrated religious life until they are no longer able to detach themselves from his superficial feelings. In the visited interiority, fidelity is purified and the memory of the heart (the affective memory) is filled with “all the way that the Lord your God has made you go” (Deut 8:2). As the poet Unamuno said, “Withdraw into yourself to give yourself to others as a whole and undivided whole”. In interiority, the Piarist ceases to be ‘uninhabited’ and becomes inhabited by the God who loved him and by the children to whom he gives himself.

14. To pray: Mt 6:6 15.

15. As a formator, am I an ‘indwelt’ Piarist? What dwells in me?

16. How do I take care of my own interiority?
Paying more attention to processes than snapshots and clichés.

Formation presupposes a process - a time assumed as personal salvation history - but today’s world lives time as something ‘loose’, without the experience of phases welded together, without historical perception, where everything is constantly being put together and taken apart again.

Formation also speaks of identity and belonging, although our postmodern world and culture develops partial affiliations and multiple identities. We find ourselves, following Bauman, in the “liquefaction of forms”: the fixed elements of formation for consecrated religious life (values, principles, content and forms) no longer seem to matter in relation to the fluid elements, based on punctual experiences and fleeting commitments.

And if we agree that this could be the greatest problem in Initial Formation for Piarist religious life today, then the challenges lie on the side of knowing how to accompany processes, how to be attentive in the decisive moments of the formandi’s life, in constant attention (without pause) to help them before the currents - internal or external - take their life to other sides, and dissolving the assumed forms ... and so on, until the grace of God, human maturity and the Pious School help them to forge and taste the solidity of definitive forms and absolute values, that express themselves in a solid, real, robust and forever valid ‘Personal Life Project’.

For this reason, the ‘Piarist Formator’ welcomes, accompanies and guides the changes that take place in each person in formation. To those who are closed, he invites them to leave their hard shell and venture into the vastness of their inner forest. And those who are too flexible and easily accept any newness in life, he encourages them to anchor their calling in non-negotiable convictions. The good Formator knows that he must stand by each person until the inner Master solidifies the forms.

17. To pray: Mt 7:24-27 (formation is a construction).

18. As a Formator, am I living too anchored in rigid beliefs and arguing about secondary issues that have no meaning?

19. Do I believe in processes, or do I want the ‘end product’ as quickly as possible?
Rather a lover and servant of the world than distant from it

The ‘Piarist Formator’ must always convey a great love for the world and the history in which we live. One of the great dangers today, in many seminaries, is the ‘flight inwards’, the return to the ‘great discipline’, because the fluid society generates fear and insecurity, and the usual forms are watered down.

Faced with this false return, the ‘Piarist Formator’ is convinced that only what is loved can be saved; it is necessary to love this world as God loves it - with its faults and evils - in order to save it in Jesus.

The good formator knows that he has it in his hands to form young people who are called to be “coworkers of joy” (not only of truth), because joy is the antidote to depression and despair; and this conviction leads him to always drink from the fountain of joy. God, our Father, is still determined to bless this world, here and now, and he continues to need these apostles (messengers) of joy and hope. The good ‘Piarist Formator’ teaches his students to climb up to the fountain of true joy, so that they can kiss it with their own lips and drink from it.

My joy, as a Piarist, is not in having found happiness, but in having found “the definitive way to serve God, by educating poor children; and I will not give it up for anything in this world”. This is the joy that does not fade, that does not wither, because it comes directly from the source, from the spring: the Lord Jesus and Calasanz.

20. To pray: 2Cor 1:24 (Are you a joy to those who are in formation?)

21. Who will believe in an apostle of the Good News, who is sad and gloomy? How do you communicate joy and hope to your formandi? Tell us your ‘tricks, hacks and skills’!

22. Are you with your young people, by their side, “in joy and sorrow, in health and sickness, all the days of their lives”?
Spiritual components

These refer to the inner, spiritual qualities that the ‘Piarist Formator’ should cultivate. The Formator’s life in the Holy Spirit must be very deep, because he wants to form someone whose “heart and life should be conformed to the Lord Jesus, and would be a sign of God’s love for every person” (RFIS, 40). The good formator never stops seeking the richest possible spiritual formation for himself.

The Lord Jesus installed in the depths of his person

Every vocation springs from a passion, from love for the Lord Jesus, who crossed your path in life and gave you a small white stone with a new name written on it (Rev 2:17). The ‘Piarist Formator’ spreads this passion for Jesus and for the Kingdom of God by assuring his young people: “But we will love, because he first loved us” (1Jn 4:19).

Unconditional passion is not possible for those who are not able to go out of themselves. Without this human basis, it is not possible to walk this path. Only those who allow themselves to be seduced by the summit can climb the great mountains. The ‘Piarist Formator’ asks himself again and again whether he is in love with the Lord Jesus and whether, when he looks back, he rediscovers the moment when he was called by him in a very personal way. And he says to those who are in training: “My children, for whom I am laboring again until I see Christ formed in you” (Gal 4:19). Here, too, ‘until Christ takes form in you’ we could say:

Being conformed to Christ is the end point of all formation, as we will see later. It is something processual in our young people, progressive, gradually advancing. But the most important thing that the good formator looks for is that there is a process, that the line of progression is clear in each person being formed. And to recognize if the friendship with the Lord, with the friend, becomes the central element and the guarantor of the existence of each of his young people.

23. Do I transmit the passion for Jesus to my formandi? How?

24. Do I educate people to empty themselves to give themselves for the Kingdom of God?
Man of the Eucharist, builder of the community, of the Church

The ‘Piarist Formator’ - and every priest - pronounces the words of Jesus and makes them true with his own life: “Take, , and eat: This is my body, which is given for you. Take, all of you, and drink: This is the cup of my blood (...) Do this in remembrance of me”.

What are we doing? The repetition of rites that are empty of life and love, or the repetition of the Lord’s paschal gesture: his self-gift of love for all?

The ‘Piarist Formator’ introduces his formandi in a precious, mystagogical way, to this meaning of the Eucharist, and to the deep identification between the being and action of the Piarist and the Eucharist.

The formandi should find in their Formator an immense love for the Eucharist, in all the forms of its unfathomable presence: Eucharistic sacrifice, memorandum, common life, daily bread that nourishes, communion, Word that gathers and makes the Lord Jesus present in our midst,... Benedict XVI said to the new priests: “The celebration of the Eucharist must be the heart and center of all your days and of all your ministry”

In the Eucharist, the ‘Piarist Formator’ reinforces his mission and his responsibility to build up the Community and the Church with his young people:

- The formator educates the formandi in the ability to share the life of each one in the light of the Word of God;

- The Eucharist is also the space where young people learn to pray for one another, out of the deep sense of intercession;

- It transforms us into one body and one Spirit;

- In the Eucharist the formandi discover the praise and adoration that ascend to God as Church. Eucharist is always ‘thanksgiving’;

- The Eucharist builds up the community, the Church; and the Church celebrates it as adoration and thanksgiving to the Father for the presence of the Son in the Spirit;

- It is a sending forth for the mission. We place in it the names of our boys and girls entrusted by God and their families and all our loved ones; and it sends us to the Piarist Mission, filled with the Spirit of the Lord, to continue the building up of the Kingdom of God.

25. To pray: Jn 17,20-24

26. What do I convey to my formandi at Mass: ritualism or life?

27. Do I understand that it is also ‘my flesh for the life of the world”?
Listener to the Word of God and attentive to its whispers

Candidates for the “priesthood are called to a profound personal relationship with the Word of God... for it is from this relationship that their vocation is nourished (...), keeping the plan of God in their hearts, so that faith, in response to the Word of God, becomes the new criterion for judging and evaluating people and things, events and problems” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 82).

The priesthood recognized very early that the prayer and the Word must not be neglected. In the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles affirm: “It does not seem right that we should give up the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will entrust them with this ministry, while we devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:2-4). This means that there can be no excuses for the essentials.

The ‘Piarist Formator’ should use an attractive pedagogy to show the richness of prayer based on the Word of God, which becomes an unceasing source of personal and apostolic enrichment. The disciple discovers that God wants to tell him something new every day, through the Word when he sets his eyes on the horizon (Ha 2,1).

For the ‘Piarist Formator’, the Word is “like a burning fire, that burns in my bones” (Jer 20:9). The appropriation of the Word is not something voluntary; St. Paul says: “I have become a minister [of the Gospel] according to the gift of God’s grace given to me by the power of his might” (Eph 3:7). The more we listen to his word, the more we come to know God. We are hearers of his word and learn to silence our own so that his echoes and whispers reach our hearts.

On the opposite side of the word-loving formandi are the ‘virtual predators’ who live connected only to the internet to fill their emptiness. It is said that there are fewer and fewer seminarians in Catholic bookstores looking for “solid books”...

28. Do I convey to my formandi that I am in love with the Word?

29. How do I educate so that young people don’t become ‘virtual predators’?
Advanced discerner of vocations, motivations,

attitudes and inclinations

The ‘Piarist formator’ faces a great challenge in this respect:

“To make of the future priest a ‘man of discernment’, capable of interpreting the reality of human life in the light of the Spirit, and thus to choose, decide and act according to the divine will (...) is a humble and constant work on oneself (...) through which the priest opens himself with honesty to the truth of life and the real demands of ministry, and learns to judge the movements of conscience and the interior impulses that motivate action” (RFIS, 43).

The ‘Piarist Formator’ must be a specialist in discernment in order to understand, analyze and guide the personal vocation stories of each of his formandi. Pope Francis emphasizes:

“It is necessary to study well the history of a vocation. Examine well whether he is from the Lord; whether he is healthy; whether he is balanced; whether he is capable of giving life; whether he is capable of evangelizing; whether he is capable of founding a family and renouncing it to follow Jesus” (Address to the Congregation for the Clergy; 03.10.2014).

The good Formator always discerns from the light of the Holy Spirit and uses other instruments and mediations to recognize the maturity of the formandi and the motives for their vocations. The cards of the Piarist Vocational Accompaniment and the dialogs in the personal encounters (which point to the conscious); the process of the formandi as a whole; the attitudes they show (and those they do not show); what they repeat -despite the calls for attention-; the relationships established; the likes and dislikes; the phobias and philias; what comes naturally to them (indicating the subconscious); what the educational Community evaluates; the study of the family; tests and other means.

Appendix 5 of the FEDE provides criteria for discernment that are very well organized by levels and dimensions.

30. To pray: Mt. 9:35-38

31. What means do I use to discern people in formation?

32. And to recognize my work as a ‘Piarist Formator’?

33. Do I feel ‘trapped’ by a young person so that I cannot let them go?
Humble before the merciful God and bewildered by the surprises

of the human condition

A bad Formator is one who only offers absolute and total certainties. “The experience of one’s own weakness can lead the priest to greater humility and trust in the merciful action of the Lord, whose ‘strength is fully revealed in weakness’ (2 Cor 12:9)” (RFIS, 84a).

The ‘Piarist Formator’ shows great patience in the face of the incomprehensibility of human reality (of others and of himself). When it seems that all is calm in the Community, a problem emerges with the people from whom one least expects it... The good Formator opens his hand to the desirable clarification of this problem and teaches his young people to live humbly with the perplexity and the error. Human reality is ambiguous...

The ‘Piarist Formator’ who accepts the dark side that every human being possesses, will be able to make breaches (even with a sledgehammer) in this dark side through which the light of a new hope for the young person’s life can penetrate. Learning to accept the irrational side of people (others and oneself) helps to lead a more rational life (and one suffers less...).

In the rehabilitation of young drug users, one of the principles guiding the work is the following: “Relapse is part of recovery”.

Where to start, or how to proceed?

A) The good formator begins by being more understanding of his own limitations and those of his formandi. It is the way to become a child, humble, as Jesus invites us to be (Matt. 18:1-4). To move forward, one must reconcile oneself to one’s own poverty and imperfection.

B) Jesus distrusted and dismantled those who presented themselves before him as pure and without blemish: “Let him who is without sin among you, cast the first stone at her” (Jn 8:7).

C) On the other hand, it is good to “return” to the previous point with the person. Whoever returns becomes more human and heartfelt.

D) And always he strives to reach the light, but learns to deal with the darkness that accompanies us.

34. On prayer: 2 Cor 4:7 35.

35. How do I respond to what I don’t understand about myself and others?

36. Do I know how to “go back”, and become a child?
The Piarist, teacher of prayer, from the ‘spirituality of the child’

The document “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation” explains in a valuable way the concept of discipleship and the central importance of prayer in the life of the Formandi and the Formator:

“A disciple is one who has been called by the Lord to be with him (cf. Mk 3:14), to follow him and to become a missionary of the Gospel. The disciple learns daily to penetrate the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and to live a deep relationship with Jesus. This ‘abiding’ with Christ implies a pedagogical-spiritual journey that transforms existence, in order to be a witness of his love in the world” (RFIS, 61).

It is not enough for the ‘Piarist Formator’ to pray. He must also be a teacher in prayer, who teaches the best methods and encourages each formandi to find his own with creativity. He accompanies his young people to the living source of prayer - the very source of joy - by listening to the Word: the heart will be anchored in it.

On the day of the Solemn Vows and on the day of ordination to the priesthood of the young men he trains and accompanies, a deep joy arises in the heart of the ‘Piarist Formator’, which is transformed into prayer:

“I thank you, Lord,

because you have given me life

so that I can live this day.

If I had other lives,

I would give them all

in love and service to you.

I thank you, Lord,

for the calling to be for you!”

And, as the experienced mystagogue that he is, he introduces his formandi into the ‘spirituality of the child’, which is characterized by these beautiful traits:

Amazement: The child exclaims the amazed and delighted “Oh!” of a person who feels attracted and captivated by the sacred, by that which towers above him and opens his horizon (the mighty and fascinating God).You, Formator, never lose the ability to marvel at the wonders that God works in people, in your young formandi and in yourselves...

Admiration: The child easily admires, the one who has captivated him, identifies with him and follows him. You, too, Formator, learn to admire, to go out of yourselves and - carefully - to look at God and the Kingdom of God.

c) Devotion: The child gives himself to the one he admires, he throws himself in adoration, with complete trust. You, too, Formator, throw yourselves like a child, without calculation, trustingly, into the arms of God.

The Piarist who lives among children, young people and the poor

The Formator cannot be an abstract person; he must have a real and concrete history of love and service, entering “the world of mud, to throw the mud of the world” (Don Luciano Mendes de Almeida, founder of the “Pastoral of the Minors”). The ‘Piarist Formator’ preserves and lives within himself the ‘Piarist aspirations’ that we spoke of another time (the three feet of the Piarist: small, poor, in the periphery). And this cannot be a mere abstraction.

The credibility of the ‘Piarist Formator’ - and of every priest - does not come from what he says or preaches to his formandi, but from what he lives. The formandi recognize with clarity whether what the ‘Piarist Formator’ expresses is truly lived life or pure ideology. So much so that the good formator leads by example, with the testimony of his life, which takes place next to the neediest children in the “Social Center” and in the school, or meets the poorest with affection and attention, or visits the sick, and always rolls up his sleeves in physical community work (setting up chairs, washing floors, cleaning toilets, helping to pick up everything). He always goes out of his way to serve and love. This is why his uniform is the apron.

The ‘peripheries’ that Pope Francis speaks of occupy the central place in the mission of the ‘Piarist Formator’ (beyond his commitment to initial formation). We must remember that much of the identification of those who are formed by the Piarist Ministry on behalf of the ‘little ones, the poor, the peripheries’ comes from what they discover in their formators.

Our boys and girls, our poor little ones, are the best reference for recognizing what longings live in the heart of every youth in formation, who must learn from his Formator to see the world from below, from the poor little ones: “When you see a poor person, do not turn your face away, and God will not turn his face away from you” (Tb 4,7).

37. To pray: 2 Cor 8,9

38. Are you, as formator, also becoming poor in order to serve the poor?

39. Ask your formandi if they recognize that you serve the poor above all, .

40. What are your desires? Are they “Piarist desires”?
4. Functions and criteria of the ‘Piarist Formator’

in his mission

In Chapter II, we analyzed the nature of the ‘Piarist Formator’ by studying his foundation. In Chapter III, we deepened its structure, examined its characteristics and outlined an ‘ideal profile’ of the ‘Piarist Formator’. In Chapter IV, we now take a more concrete step, and present the functions and criteria of the formative mission of the ‘Piarist Formator’.

Functions of the ‘Piarist Formator’

Functions are the specific and appropriate tasks that the Order assigns to the ‘Piarist Formator’ in order for him to carry out his formative service. In order to define the functions of the Formator, it is necessary to know the ultimate goal towards which these functions are aimed and the goal of initial formation.

What is the Piarist model that the Order and the children expect?

The whole of Annex IV of the FEDE is dedicated to “describing the profile of the Piarist whom we wish to educate and accompany” (FEDE; Annex 4, n. 4). The FEDE organizes this profile according to the classical division into consecration, communion and mission and adds a very interesting last part entitled ‘Essential human foundations’. In these pages, the ‘Piarist Formator has, so to speak, the final profile of the Piarist that the Church and the Order expect at the end of the initial formation.

More concrete and charismatic, our Father General, Pedro Aguado, has defined the Piarist model that the Order and the children and young people need; we find it in the “Letter to the Brothers” of November 2020; from this text, we select some elements that can help every ‘Piarist Formator’ in defining his formation Ministry.

“The identity and lifestyle of the Piarists are expressed in our Constitutions, in the long and rich tradition of the Order and in the present witness of the Piarists themselves with their lives and in the exercise of their own Ministry; they are the horizon towards which we want to move in the entire formation and educational process” (FEDE; Annex 4, n.1).

Father General begins with a text from our Holy Father Calasanz, which we reproduce here because of its importance:

“The expansion and diffusion of the Pious Schools, according to the needs, desires and requests of so many, cannot happen without many workers, and it is not possible to attract them unless they have a great spirit and are called with a special vocation; since those who are generally called to leave the world, and have only the spirit of beginners, have still to wean themselves from the comforts of the world, and, as experience shows, will always prefer a religious order already recognized, in which, after the novitiate, they can have a secure life and attain the priesthood, than to enter a congregation where, instead of these advantages, they will encounter other difficulties arising from a life humiliated by the obligatory contact with boys, arduous because of the constant strain of their profession, and contemptible in the eyes of the flesh, which regards the education of poor children as reprehensible (...)”[78].

Father General continues in this “Letter to the Brothers”:

“(...) which Piarist do the Order, the children, the youth, the Church, the world need? Calasanz answers: a Piarist with a great spirit, who is aware of his vocation, who does not seek security or comfort, but is passionately dedicated to children and young people, even if no one appreciates or understands his vocation, because the values of the world are different. This is the Piarist loved by Calasanz. That is why he is the founder, because he thought big”.

Father General then proposes five convictions about the Piarist that the Order needs:

The piarist we need will not come, and he will not remain if we are not and do not witness. We have already established that young people are attracted by the example of life and witness, not by what is spoken or preached.

There is a need to raise the standard. We are not here to accept mediocre options or offer a cheap life. In the Order we must breathe aspiration, conviction, and a defined lifestyle.

We will have the Piarists we need if the formation they receive helps them grow, to become Piarists.

To care the vocational fidelity. The piarist we need needs to take care of his vocation and be professionally mentored.

The Piarist that the Order dreams of and needs must be well equipped and prepared to follow the paths that await him.

41. On the basis of the above (FEDE, Father General’s letter and everything studied in point 5), create two columns:
A) Seven basic elements that should characterize The piarist we need.

B) Seven elements that should not be present in the profile of The piarist we need.

What is the overall goal of ‘Piarist Initial Formation’?

According to the FEDE, the overall aim of initial formation is to help the formandi:

“to “respond to the call of God through a process of maturation and autonomy of the person, in order to identify himself freely and reliably with the life project and mission of the Piarist Order and, thus, to incarnate it in the Church and in the world today” (FEDE, 31).

a) To respond to the call of God. The person in formation must experience, as a central fact of his life, that he has been called by God. A personal experience, unique, limited in time and space, with a small and beautiful history between God and him. God has called him and he wants to respond to this call.

b) Initial Formation, with its methods and procedures, therefore helps the person in formation to respond to this personal call from God. To this end, two processes must be set in motion:

- The process of human maturity through the realization of oneself and one’s deepest motivations.

- The process of autonomy through the assumption of tasks and responsibilities that help him to grow.

c) And the final objective of Initial Formation is the person in formation identifies with the Piarist project and makes it present in the world. This means that with his life and dedication he further anchors the Pious Schools in the world.

And this point is so important that, every time the formator falls into a crisis, the ‘Piarist Formator’ helps him to return to his axis, by reaffirming and confirming the ideal: “You have always dreamed and thought, my boy, that your life is the answer to a call; let us go forward!

What, then, are the main functions of the ‘Piarist Formator’?

Based on the Piarist profile that the Order needs and the defined goal that Initial Formation pursues, we can summarize the functions of the ‘Piarist Formator’ in the following tasks:

To educate and form the young candidate according

to the ‘Piarist model’

In the formation of future priests, the Church strives to:

- the seminarian ‘may be configured to Christ the Good Shepherd’ (as CELAM recalls in the Aparecida Document, n. 319);

- and that his service as a father is guided by ‘pastoral charity’, which presupposes “self-giving, total self-giving to the Church” (PdV, 23).

These essential tasks that the Church, asks of us, Piarists, in our Initial Formation are fulfilled through the Calasanctian Charism. For us, the right and characteristic way to configure ourselves to ‘Christ, the Good Shepherd and Teacher’ is through full identification with St. Joseph Calasanz; for he - “desiring to follow Christ more closely” -, assumed in his life one of the aspects of the threefold Ministry of the Lord Jesus (teaching - preaching - healing: Mt 9:35). Calasanz felt urged to adopt the teaching, idealizing the “Piarist teaching”, which was so innovative, complete and holistic that he integrated and developed in it the other two sides of Christ’s Ministry: preaching and healing. This is ‘Piarist pastoral charity’, which takes on its own specific face in the life and mission of a Piarist.

For this reason (as we affirmed in the general introduction to this work, in Document 1, on the ‘Poverty of the Piarist’), the center of the accompaniment of the vocational process in initial formation lies “in the CHARISM OF CALASANZ; something living and dynamic in the heart of the Order and of the Church” (ibidem), which carries out the tasks of education and formation in the life of the young person being formed.

42. Is your life entrusted to Christ the Master through the Calasanctian charism? How do you perceive it?

43. Are you aware of the ‘Piarist model’ that the Order needs?
The Calasanctian Charism develops the functions of education and formation in the life of the young candidate through its own dynamic:

- Revelatory dynamic: the Calasanzian Charism manifests itself in the young person, generating movements of attraction and identification for the Piarist ideal, for Piarist life and mission.

- Provocative dynamic: The Calasanzian Charism provokes and awakens in the life of the young person an interior and exterior transformation characterized by the gradual emergence of the “Piarist personality” and its traits or characteristics.

- Shaping dynamic: The Calasanzian Charism configures the existence of the young person in formation to Christ, the Good Shepherd and Master; consolidating his Ministry through ‘Piarist pastoral care’. It is the solidity of the ‘definitive forms’, thanks to initial formation and the Calasanctian charism, as opposed to the liquefaction that we have referred to elsewhere and which is typical of postmodern culture.

The dynamic of CALASANZIAN CHARISM, thus manages to educate and form, the “piarist personality” in a solid way, “in the life of the young person in formation: We could say that the Charism is a ‘two-stroke engine’ that achieves:

- On the one hand, education: A process by which the Charism uncorks the interior of the young person, and brings to light what he already carries within himself. It is a subjective process (from the inside out), that starts from within the person who is formed. This process aims to give a sequence to the vocation that already dwells within him and that has been evoked, revealed and uncorked by the Charism.

- On the other hand, formation: A process by which the Calasanctian Charism gives the formandi the characteristics of the Piarist ‘form’ through the internalization and interiorization of the great values of the Charism. An objective process (from the outside in), that starts from the Order and its identity in the world as a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church and society. This process aims to transmit to the young man the authentic characteristics of the Piarist life.

To accompany and evaluate the traces of the “Piarist personality” in him

The ‘Piarist Formator’ - in addition to educating and forming his young people from the dynamics of the Calasanctian Charism, promoting the emergence of the “Piarist personality” -, also has the task of accompanying and evaluating the traces of this “Piarist personality” that, will slowly and gradually emerge and define the person of the formee.

This function is required by the Church as follows:

“The Spirit of the risen Jesus makes himself present and acts through a series of ecclesial mediations. The entire religious tradition of the Church testifies to the decisive character of the role of educators in the success of formation work. It is their task, in the initial phase of formation, to discern the authenticity of the call to religious life and to help religious to orient their personal dialog with God while discovering the ways in which God clearly wants to lead them. It is also their task to accompany the religious in the ways of the Lord through a direct and regular dialog (...) One of the main tasks of those responsible for formation is also to ensure that novices and young professed are effectively accompanied by a spiritual director. They should also provide religious with solid doctrinal and practical nourishment, depending on the stage of formation they are at. Finally, it is their duty to review the progress of those entrusted to them in the light of the fruits of the Spirit, and to evaluate progressively and judge whether the person called has the abilities required at that time by the Church and the Institute” (OR, 30).

Organizing and enumerating the above, the actual and specific functions of the ‘Piarist Formator’, required by the Church, can be summarized as follows:

- To recognize the authenticity of the vocation in the formandi.

- To orient his personal dialog with God, his prayer.

- To discover the ways in which God seems to be leading him.

- To accompany him in the ways of the Lord through a direct and regular dialog.

- To make sure that the young person has a spiritual director and that he visits him.

- To nourish the formandi with solid doctrinal and practical food.

- Gradually to review and evaluate the progress made.

- To assess whether each person in formation has the skills required by the Order.

44. Do you develop these functions of the ‘Piarist Formator’? Which one do you find most difficult?
Basic criteria of the ‘Piarist Formator’ in his mission

Just as the functions include the specific tasks and actions that the formator must carry out, the criteria indicate the virtues and attitudes that help the ‘Piarist Formator’ to carry out successfully the functions proper to his ministry of formation. Among the various criteria proposed by the Church, we highlight the following:

The primacy of the Holy Spirit of God

The document “Pastores dabo vobis”, which deals with the ‘Formation of candidates for the priesthood’ (Chap. V), structures its remarks by firstly listing the ‘Dimensions of priestly Formation’ - human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral -; secondly, by explicitly mentioning the ‘Environment of priestly Formation’; and thirdly by speaking of the ‘Leading role of priestly Formation’; it does not go very far in this last point, but the greater depth of the PdV declaration is echoed in it. Pope John Paul II had a habit of placing the core of his thought at the center of his writings. Well, at the heart of the draft PdV we find point 33: ‘Renew in them the outpouring of your Spirit of holiness’; in which the Holy Spirit himself is emphasized as “the great protagonist” of the priestly spiritual life:

“Certainly, the Spirit of the Lord is the great protagonist of our spiritual life. He creates the “new heart”,” animates it and guides it with the “new law” of love, pastoral love. Crucial to the development of the spiritual life is the certainty that the priest will never lack the grace of the Holy Spirit, as a completely gratuitous gift and as a mandate of responsibility. The awareness of this gift instills in the priest an indestructible confidence in the difficulties, temptations and weaknesses he may encounter on his spiritual journey” (PdV, 33).

“The awareness of the gift”, of what the Piarist has received through grace, is at the heart of vocation, initial Formation and ongoing Formation. And it is a charismatic awareness - it is not psychological or moral -; it is lived simultaneously as a free gift and as a responsibility. It will be a fundamental criterion for the ‘Piarist Formator’ to collaborate in clarifying and consolidating this awareness of the gift in each one in formation, letting God be God in the heart of each young person.

The conviction of the ‘self-formation’ of the formator

Just as it is an important criterion to affirm the primacy of the Holy Spirit in the Formation of young people, another important criterion is the affirmation of the principle of ‘self-formation’, according to which the subject and protagonist of Formation is the one who is being formed.

The main role in Formation is played by the person being formed, together with the Holy Spirit of God; the two will build the vocational journey as a gift received and a responsibility assumed. The ‘Piarist Formator’ - in the name of the Order - nourishes the formandi with the most important thing: the Calasanzian Charism, the north and the point of reference in the Piarist process of configuration to Christ.

The FEDE recalls the importance of ‘self-formation’: “Candidates who feel called to the Piarist way of life and mission are protagonists of their own formation and through the exercise of the Order’s formation proposals feel called to the Piarist way of life and mission”. (FEDE, 4).

45. How do these two criteria (the primacy of the Holy Spirit and ‘self-formation’) influence your formation work?

46. How do you form yourself to achieve a greater “awareness of the gift received” and a greater responsibility for service?
The life testimony of the ‘Piarist Formator’

The third criterion that we must emphasize is the life testimony of the ‘Piarist Formator’, which is also fundamental to the formation process. Following Pedro Finkler (Brazilian Marist Brother), we can state that “the most dynamic element of the entire formation process always lies in the degree to which the formator concretely embodies the vocational and apostolic ideal of the formee”[79].

The formee can grow on the path of the ‘ideal self’ thanks to a process of imitation and identification with a model who embodies the Calasanzian Charism; this model must be his ‘Piarist Formator’.

The first model in any human identification process - in the developmental phase - is always a person who is recognized as worthy of imitation. To admire this person means that the process of identification has already begun. Admiration is naturally followed by imitation.

It is the ‘pedagogy of the hero’, or model that is always so important, especially in the stages of Piarist Vocation Ministry and Initial Formation. The first sign - the author continues - that shows that the Formation process is underway is the formee’s admiration for their formator. This admiration leads to the model person’s being and actions being made one’s own. This first human relationship helps the subject to better define their identity and self-image, as they see themselves reflected in the person they admire.

Be careful when the formandi admire, identify with and follow other people who are “not from home” (for example: priests who are famous as singers - and have many fans -, preachers in the virtual media, etc.); this can be the beginning of a serious problem caused by the lack of vocation identity in the house of Formation.

Therefore, the main concern of the ‘Piarist Formator’ will always be himself: the aspiration to embody and witness more and more the Calasanctian Charism in his life.

This process of initial identification will lead to further stages in which the ‘center of gravity’ of the formative process in the life of the formandi will be the Piarist life project itself (with its final ‘forms’ adopted in a stable and solid way: solemn vows, consecration, community life, service to the little ones and poor young people).

Observation

In addition to the above criteria, we also emphasize the importance of ‘observation’ as a formative criterion and virtue. Perhaps this is the only thing that the ‘Piarist Formator’ must do acutely and constantly: to observe the inner and outer movements of each disciple.

Observation is not only done with the eyes, but with all the senses, which leads the ‘Piarist Formator’ to ask himself “what is going on in the formee”? (for example: why does he not sleep well; why is he late; why is he not good in his studies; why, has he been treating me distantly lately and does not want to meet me; why is he aggressive towards everyone; why this relationship with so-and-so, which isolates him more and more from the others; etc.).

Pope Francis to Formators:

“The figure of St. Joseph is the most beautiful model from which formators should draw inspiration to protect and nurture vocations. Be for your formandi what St. Joseph was for Jesus”[80].

Curiosity-driven observation leads the ‘Piarist formator’ to hypothesize various things about what is going on in the life of the formandi; everything in his heart. The time will come the observed data and the hypotheses raised will be contrasted with the formee.

Attention to the formandi is the basic and essential virtue of the work entrusted to the ‘Piarist Formator’. The formator cannot pay too much attention to himself, nor to the parish, nor to the school, nor to the Social Center; for his center - that which has been uniquely entrusted to him by the Order - is the young people who need his constant attention.

It is important that the ‘Piarist Formator’ pays attention to what the young person communicates through his non-verbal language: Cries that come from within - sometimes unconsciously - in tears, in disproportionate reactions, in long silences, in repetitive postures, in omissions, in harsh words, in senseless complaints, or in constant forgetfulness. By observing these expressions of non-verbal language, the Formator will recognize that the young person is telling something of himself and can confront him later.

Teamwork

Observing together, with several people, is even more balanced and adapted. It is said that in Africa it takes the whole village to educate a child. To educate and shape a young person in formation, we need the whole Order. This means that the ‘Piarist Formator’ must do his formation work as a team, with the other Piarists in the formative community, as they are all formators. In the next chapter we will talk about this point in more detail, but we include it here, as a criterion, that expresses the importance of formation work in a team. It must be an attitude and a virtue of the ‘Piarist Formator’.

When formation work is done as a team, decisions can be made more easily as a team, without them resting solely on the shoulders of the ‘Piarist Formator’. Working as a team in Formation helps to uncover contradictions, listen to other opinions, involve everyone in the formation work, and avoid the personalism that makes everything dependent on a single formator (even if he is the responsible for the formandi).

Teamwork in the Formation community is also a way of affirming that the one who is ultimately responsible for the formandi is not the formator, but the Provincial. And, most importantly, the formandi also learn to work as a team, to recognize that their own formation is a work of the whole village...

The return/dialog in the personal encounter:

Listening to and respecting the young person

Yes, now it is time to make available to the formandi what the ‘Piarist Formator’ had within him: His observations, hypotheses and questions, in the context of the so-called “Personal Accompanying Encounter” (PAE). In the following chapter, which offers hints and concrete points of reference for the ‘Piarist Formator’, the personal encounter is approached from its methodology. At this point, the Personal Accompanying Encounter is presented as a fundamental criterion for the ‘Piarist Formator’ to carry out his formative functions, as explained above.

There is no structure that automatically educates and forms; people are always required.

In Christianity, in the Church, in the Order, everything is a question of relationships between persons. As we said another time, “education is basically relationship” (FEDE, 29).

The Lord Jesus had to come in person to train his disciples! Benedict XVI makes a valuable reference to the time of initial Formation as a time of being with Jesus: “The time of the seminary must be understood as the actualization of the moment in which the Lord Jesus, after calling the apostles and before sending them out to preach, asks them to be with him, to remain with him (Mk 3:14)”[81].

Just as the Lord Jesus came personally to educate and train His own, so today, in order to educate and train our own (who are also His own), we need ‘Piarist Formators’ who are dedicated to the task of “being with them”. It is not possible to form a ‘half-time’, either virtually or remotely. It is necessary to be full-time and face-to-face with the young people, as a formative community, to help them integrate into the studies, into the community and into the mission, to accompany and confirm the emergence of the “Piarist personality” in their lives. When specific areas of the hearts of our young people are wounded by life situations, they need to be attended to in real time. Just as values and forms are dissolved, so are problems and crises. The ‘Piarist Formator’ does not have to have an answer to everything, but he must be there every day for what is necessary.

The “personal accompaniment encounter” (PAE) between the ‘Piarist Formator’ and the formandi is, today, an essential criterion that points to the virtues of dialog, respect, spiritual openness between two people who pursue the same goal: to be close to the Lord, to be prepared by him, to be formed by him, to walk in the truth.

47. How do you work as a team in the formation community and in the Demarcation?

48. How do you observe your formandi? Do they worry you? How do you express it?

49. What do you understand by personal accompaniment? What aspects do you think belong to it? Life review, therapy, spirituality, vocational life...?
5. Concrete indications for the ‘Piarist Formator’.

We have examined the basics (chapter II), the components (chapter III) and the functions and criteria (chapter IV) of the ‘Piarist Formator’. In this final chapter of the part that occupies us, we offer some ‘concrete pointers’ that can help in the task of the ‘Piarist Formator’. These are the concrete points to find the right path. The ‘functions’ expressed the tasks incumbent on a formator; the ‘criteria’ pointed to the formation of attitudes and virtues to successfully fulfill these tasks; now, the ‘concrete indications’ present more specific actions and activities that will help to develop the functions of formation on a daily basis.

Notes on the person of the ‘Piarist Formator’

These are indications for the person of the ‘Piarist Formator’, in the desire to protect and prepare him well, because often the formator is expected to be a ‘super-man’, or a hero, but it is not so...

To take care of his ongoing formation as a religious and Formator.

Like every Piarist, the formator should also take care of his ongoing formation and participate in all the activities and proposals of the Demarcation that are offered for this purpose.

In a special way, however, he must take care of his formation and ongoing formation as a ‘Piarist Formator’ by participating in the ‘Calasanctian Course for Formators’ and other initiatives at Order level. There are also good refresher courses for formators in Catholic faculties.

Be accompanied by the Order and by a professional

To be a good companion, he must be accompanied. He must be accompanied because of the heavy demands of his life and mission as a formator. On the one hand, by the Order, in the person of the Major Superior who takes care of his life and service; on the other hand, he must be accompanied by a professional whom he has confidence and on whom he can rely, by organizing regular meetings.

To energize the Formative Community, making it an agent

for the Initial Formation

The ‘Piarist formator’ is the one who coordinates the formation process in the Formation House. He is aware that the other religious are also formators. It is up to the formator to promote this dynamic through “synodal mechanisms”: Participation, delegation and communion.

- The religious of the formative Community should participate in the monthly meeting convened by the ‘Piarist Formator’ to evaluate the formation process and the situation of the formandi.

- Likewise, the formator delegates some formation activities to other religious: teaching, intensive courses, responsibilities.

- And all should strive for harmony and communion in the formation mission: the same line, the same definitive Piarist model, common accents, the same formation emphases, etc.

Only in this way will the formation community be a real actor and protagonist in the Initial formation of young people and help the ‘Piarist formator’ not to feel alone or isolated in the formative mission.

Participate in the Initial formation team of the demarcation

Each Demarcation should have its Initial formation team, with a project and a coordinator. Participation in this team is essential for the Formators of the different phases, to exchange with some people about the current situations and concrete concerns and also to feel accompanied. Also, by the Initial Formation Team itself.

In order for the Team to fulfill its purpose, and achieve the expected effect, it must work according to a certain rhythm, program and written minutes for each session.

50. What are the biggest pressures you face as a ‘Piarist Formator’?

51. Comment on the four tips presented and suggest others that will help the ‘Piarist Formator’.

Notes on his educational mission with the formandi

We leave the person of the ‘Piarist Formator’ and move on to his educational mission by giving the following specific notes that can help him to fulfill the educational functions and tasks.

How to stimulate and accompany the vocation process of anyone in formation?

This is one of the most complex questions that the ‘Piarist Formator’ is confronted with; we will briefly indicate some indications that can help him:

- To have many moments of life together with the formandi, in order to get to know them better: moments together, in community and alone.

- To initiate with each formee the process of accompaniment through the Personal Accompaniment Encounter, and make it a method through familiarization (the Personal Accompaniment Encounter method is presented below).

- To share moments of housework and free time with the formandi, and use them for informal conversations.

- To accompany each formandi in all aspects of their life: prayer, vocation, relationships, community, faculty or studies, Piarist mission, family, etc.

- To make an effort to get to know each formandi’s family and visit them whenever possible; share in the problems that each family is going through.

- To evaluate with each formee the course of his vocation process and the traces or signs of the “Piarist personality” that will emerge.

How do you make decisions about each young person

or about the group of formandi?

Making decisions is always something difficult, but the ‘Piarist Formator’ cannot help but try to make the right choices:

- Don’t make the decision hastily; it’s important to take the necessary time to weigh up all sides and options.

- Do not make the decision without consulting other people, especially the religious of the formation community and the Major Superior.

- The ‘Piarist Formator’ should always feel supported by the formative Community and the Demarcation. This is why the ‘teamwork’ we referred to earlier is so necessary.

- The decision should always be based on the formation guidelines.

- If necessary, discuss the decision made (or to be made), with the formandi and listen to them.

The ‘Personal Accompaniment Encounter’ (PAE)

with each person in formation

The ‘Personal Accompaniment Encounter’ (PAE) is one of the most suitable instruments for fulfilling the tasks of the ‘Piarist Formator’ defined above (point 5.3.)

“Modern science has not yet produced a soothing medicine as effective as a few good words”[82].

S. Freud

To deepen the methodology of the Personal Accompaniment Encounter, the process of AVE (Piarist Vocation Accompaniment) can be consulted[83].

Click in “1. Accompaniment for Vocation Ministry” and in this folder you will find numerous materials on the subject of “Personal Encounter” and Piarist Vocation Accompaniment.

Basic characteristics of the Personal Accompaniment Encounter:

- Each personal encounter - between the formator and the one being formed - is divided into several moments:

- Prayer between the two: Important because it is not a psychological conversation, but a personal encounter centered on God and the young person.

- Review of the elements that are evaluated at each meeting: personal prayer, the sacraments of the journey (Eucharist and Reconciliation), personal reading, bi-monthly personal retreats, community life and studies (all of these are evaluated at each personal accompaniment meeting).

- Sharing on the specific theme of the meeting: the specific theme of the meeting is addressed (be it a vocation card or the questions suggested for reflection at the previous meeting, or some of the personalization documents).

- Written conclusions in silence: at the end, , the young person writes down in his “life book” what has come together in the meeting and what it has meant to him; the ‘Piarist Formator’ also makes his notes now (otherwise he forgets them...).

- Concluding prayer: Remembering and giving thanks for the miracles of God in the life of each individual.

- In order to be effective and bear the expected fruits, personal accompaniment should be regular, gradual and progressing, using the method of Piarist vocational Accompaniment based on the Vocation Cards and the documents of personalization.

- The ‘Piarist Formator’ must be aware of the importance of the Personal Accompaniment Meeting: “according to the Piarist model and to evaluate and confirm the traces of the “Piarist personality” in the life of the young person” (cf. point 5.3)

To nurture and promote the “personalization process”

of each person in formation

“Personalization” is the process by which the person takes charge of his own life, starting from his “true self” and before God, without idealizations that obscure the reality of the person. It is a path in which it is important to grow in authenticity. It focuses on the process and not on the end. It is not a question of whether the person becomes a father or a priest, but rather that the process of vocational discernment starts from the authenticity of being and not from a role or ideal function that one wishes to assume. (E.g. being a priest to gain prestige or status).

The Formandi are well accompanied by the ‘Piarist Formator’ in the process of personalization, if some signs are perceived:

- The young man is able to analyze his life without justifying himself and gradually dares to touch his ‘inner wounds’ (ability to give a name to each situation experienced).

- He discovers that his motivation for consecrated religious life is not so pure, unique or holy, but that it is a mixture of different motivations (acceptance of human dialectics and ambiguity).

- He accepts the responsibility he has to bear better and better, without needing anyone to control him (autonomous responsibility).

- He is not afraid to enter and analyze earlier phases of his life (experience of the ‘welded life’ in its various phases).

- He begins to develop a historical and incarnated spiritual experience in his own reality (experience of the real God, not an abstract one, starting from the books of the Old Testament - especially the Psalms -; growing relationship with Jesus).

- He develops a process of deep self-knowledge, starting from his own human limitations (“Know yourself; accept yourself; overcome yourself”: the tripod of initial formation).

- He internalizes the values of the ‘ideal self’ (the Piarist model), which is expressed in attitudes and virtues (openness and availability).

- The traces of the “Piarist personality” emerge gradually and progressively (concern for the life of the community; Piarist preferences - small, poor, marginalized -; dedication to study; interest in pastoral work; etc.)

- The maturity of the “Piarist personality” is perceived in the different areas of his life, especially in his affectivity and relational skills.

- He develops and is guided by his own “personal life project”, which he builds together with his community and which is based on the experience of having been called by God.

Annual report of each person in formation for Father Provincial

At least once a year, the ‘Piarist Formator’ must send a report on each person to the Major Superior, who will forward it to Rome. This report expresses - according to the dynamics mentioned above - not only the opinion of the formator, but also that of the entire formative Community, since it must be elaborated by listening to the thoughts of the other Piarists.

The report is a good instrument for the Personal Accompaniment Encounter, since it should also be prepared together with the formee himself, who should know his inconsistencies and consistencies, as well as the opinion of the Formator and the Formation Community about his vocation process.

Formative meeting with the formandi

Regular formation meetings - with formandi only - are important because they contribute to formation by giving everyone the same content, style and language, with the same accents. Aspects of the initial training and the life of the formandi can be discussed with the Formator, leaving room for suggestions and ideas. They are not open forums neither be characterized by an academic style.

Preparation of the schedule of internal formation in the house.

Within the framework of this “teamwork” expected of the ‘Piarist Formator’, the sharing of some topics (following the FEDE) with the other religious of the Formation Community will promote harmony and the experience of communion between all. On the other hand, the view of the other religious on the individual formee will help the ‘Piarist Formator’ in his task.

Participate with the formandi in intercongregational

formation meetings

Intercongregationality is a principle that is becoming more and more important. The formation meetings are suitable moments to live the communion between the different congregations and to participate in formations that are -really- enriching.

Presence of professionals in the formation process

Another ‘concrete reference’ is related to the presence of professionals in the educational process, such as psychologists, extra teachers, doctors - when necessary -… They are important persons called to collaborate in the initial formation of our students.

Piarists who are invited to complete the formation

of the young formandi

It is also very positive when other Piarists are present in intense moments, and are invited for a specific course or topic. It helps to open up the formation process to other religious, who collaborate with the ‘Piarist Formator’ by sharing other visions about the formandi.

Notes on his role as superior of the community

These are concrete indications in case the ‘Piarist Formator’ is also the superior of the community.

Taking care of the atmosphere of the community

The most important thing is to create moments in which the brothers share life together (community meeting, celebrations), as well as to reserve moments for fun or outings together, in order to promote the joy of the community.

To revitalize the spirituality of the formative community

This is the essential task entrusted to the superior/formator. He carries it out by encouraging the other brothers to take care of the Eucharist, to prepare retreats with dedication, to open spaces to share the faith experiences of each one...

To animate the community through the project

and the programming of the community

The Superior/Formator is committed to building up the fraternal community and, together with all the previous indications, works to develop the Community Project with its Annual Programming.

Notes

1 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (2009), Le Petit Prince, chapitre XXI.

2 Z. Bauman (2005): Liquid love: about the fragility of human bonds.

3 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (2009): Le Petit Prince, chapitre XXI.

4 Mass for the World Day of Consecrated Religious Life; St. Peter’s Basilica - Rome; 02/02/2021.

5 Pope Francis, Amoris laetitia, no. 34.

6 St. Alphonsus Liguori (n.d.). Conformity to the will of God. Retrieved from https://spiritualreading.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Conformidad- con-la-voluntad-de-Dios.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

7 Severino Giner (1992): San José de Calasanz. Maestro y fundador. Nueva biografía crítica, p. 388.

8 Miguel de Unamuno (1907): Poesías, Madrid.

9 Cora Coralina (1965): Poemas dos Becor de Goiás e Estórias Mais, Brazil.

10 Soren Kierkegaard (1991). Practice in Christianity (H. V. Hong &amp; E. H. Hong, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1850). Also see: Soren Kierkegaard (1997). Christian Discourses (H. V. Hong &amp; E. H. Hong, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1848).

11 Opera Omnia, II, 0826, p. 333.

12 St. Joseph Calasanz (1620). Spiritual sentences. In Espiritualidad y pedagogía de San José de Calasanz (p. 45). Ediciones Calasancias

13 Amedeo Cencini (2000): Someone is calling you. Letter to a young man who is called.

14 Ovid (n.d.). Amores. Retrieved from https://www.humanidades.unam.mx/bibliotheca/ amores-de-ovidio.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

15 J. C. Fernández (1997): Procurando Minha Estrela: acompanhamento vocacional de adolescentes, RJ Editora Vozes.

16 Amedeo Cencini (2005): Fraternity on the way: towards otherness, Madrid.

17 R. Lebreton (2005): Charles de Foucald, Universal Brother, p. 35

18 Augustine of Hippo, Confessions I, 1.

19 E. Hoagland (1998): Heaven and Nature. Harper’s Magazine.

20 Amedeo Cencini (2004): For love, with love, in love: an educational journey towards consecrated chastity.

21 Opera Omnia, IV, 2148. pp. 473-474.

22 W. Kraft (1979): Ways of the Desert: Becoming Holy through Difficulty and Deprivation.

23 Anonymous (n.d.): The two monks and the woman. In Zen stories. Retrieved from https:// ciudadseva.com/texto/los-dos-monjes-y-la-hermosa-muchacha/

24 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (2009): Le Petit Prince, chapitre XXI.

25 Henri Nouwen (1996): The return of the prodigal son: meditations before a Rembrandt painting.

26 R. Rolheiser (2007): Chastity and fire: celibacy as desire and consecration.

27 J. C. Fernández (1997): Procurando minha Estrela. Acompanhamento Vocacional de Adolescentes. Petrópolis, RJ: Editora Vozes.

28 Opera Omnia, VIII, 4024, p. 35.

29 Dag Hammarskjöld in H. J. M. Nouwen (1996). The return of the prodigal son: Meditations before a Rembrandt painting.

30 Karl Rahner (1976): Hearer of the Word: Foundations for a Philosophy of Religion (2nd ed.), Barcelona, Herder.

31 H. U. von Balthasar (1990): Cordula o el caso serio, Johannes Verlag.

32 Amedeo Cencini (2000): To obey is not to humiliate oneself: obedience as listening and dialogue.

33 Pier Giordano Cabra (1988): The obedience of consecrated life. From canonical norms to the experience of faith, in IV Symposium on Theology of Religious Life. Christ obedient, consecrated obedient.

34 Ibid.

35 J. Rivera, and J. M. Iraburu (2003). Síntesis de Espiritualidad Católica. Pamplona. Retrieved from: file: ///C:/Users/JulioAlbertoAlvarez/Downloads/S%C3%ADntesis% 20de%20espiritualidad%20cat%C3%B3lica.pdf.

36 C. Boff (1985): Religious life: Theology, history, spirituality and perspectives.

37 Pier Giordano Cabra (1988): Obedience in consecrated life. From canonical norms to the experience of faith. In V Symposium on Theology of Religious Life. Obedient Christ, obedient consecrated.

38 Pier Giordano Cabra (2005). You, follow me! A short course on consecrated life. Also, in Cabra, P. G. (1988). Obedience in consecrated life. From canonical norms to faith experience. In the obedient Christ, obedient consecrated: Proceedings of the IV Symposium on the Theology of Religious Life.

39 J. C. Fernandez (1997): Procurando Minha Estrela: Acompanhamento Vocacional de Adolescentes. Petrópolis, RJ: Editora Vozes.

40 Pope Francis launching the Vatican “Global Education Pact” (Rome), October 2020.

41 Claudio Vilá Palá (1959): Thinking about a theology of education, Revista Española de Pedagogía, 17 (66).

42 Opera Omnia, 2812, VI, pp. 28-29.

43 Opera Omnia, 2434, V, pp. 264-265.

44 Jon Sobrino (1981): Resurrection of the true Church. The poor, theological place of ecclesiology. Sal Terrae; Santander, p. 335.

45 Opera Omnia, 2876, VI, pp. 89-90.

46 Opera Omnia, 1319, III, pp. 310-311.

47 Opera Omnia 1236, III, pp. 234-235.

48 Opera Omnia 2994, VI, pp. 207-208.

49 As Leonardo Boff affirms (Editora Vozes: Petrópolis-RJ, 2011).

50 Helena W. Abramo (1997): Considerações sobre a tematização social da juventude no Brasil; Revista Brasileira de Educação, nº 5-6, p. 25-36, mayo-dic.

51 Joâo Batista Libânio (2011): Where youth is going; São Paulo: Paulus.

52 Abramo (1997): p. 31.

53 Amoris Laetitia (2016), 182.

54 Opera Omnia 4028, VIII, pp. 36-37.

55 Idem 1894, IV, pp. 258-259.

56 Idem 1392, III, pp. 374-375.

57 Idem 1068, III, p. 77.

58 Idem 2756, V, pp. 526-527.

59 Idem 2961, VI, p. 172.

60 John Paul II (1996): Vita Consecrata; Vatican-Rome, n. 41.

61 Idem, n. 16.

62 Idem, n. 26.

63 Mass in Santa Marta Chapel; Vatican-Rome; 17/12/2013.

64 “Memoria passionis. Una evocación provocadora en una sociedad pluralista”; Sal Terrae: Santander, 2007; p. 165.

65 John Paul II (1996): Vita Consecrata, n. 45.

66 Idem, n. 46.

67 Idem, n. 85.

68 Idem, n. 41.

69 Idem, n. 95.

70 We transcribe it as found at https://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/ spirit_20010522_diogneto_en.html

71 José María Castillo (2008): O futuro da vida religiosa; Lisboa: Paulus, p. 185.

72 Idem, p. 193.

73 John Paul II (1988): Christi Fidelis Laici; Vaticano-Roma, n. 24.

74 José Carlos Pereira (2015): Novos ventos nos conventos; SP: Paulus, p. 83.

75 Rule of St Benedict; V century; Cap. 53,15.

76 Theological Institute of Religious Life; Cuadernos Frontera, n. 97; Vitoria, 2017.

77 Opera Omnia 1339, III, pp. 328-329.

78 Memorandum to Cardinal Tonti; Opera Omnia, IX, pp. 305-306.

79 Peter Finkler (1984): The formator and formation for religious life”, p. 236.

80 Audience to formandi and formators; Vatican, 10/06/2021.

81 Vatican; General Audience 19/08/2009.

82 Sigmund Freud (1910): Psychoanalysis and Medicine, in Collected Works, XII.

83 Acompañamiento Vocacional Escolapio at: https://www.escolapios21.org/procesos/ pastoral-vocacional-vocacional-especifi ca/documentos-formativos/

Foreword by Fr. General

Presentation of the whole work

Analysis of postmodernity

“The poverty of a Piarist”

“The Chastity of a Piarist”

“The Obedience of a Piarist”

“The ministry of a Piarist”

“The Piarist Community”

“The Piarist Formator”

Notes

Table of Contents

Foreword by Fr. General

Presentation of the whole work

Analysis of postmodernity

“The poverty of a Piarist”

“The Chastity of a Piarist”

“The Obedience of a Piarist”

“The ministry of a Piarist”

“The Piarist Community”

“The Piarist Formator”

Notes