From the Salesians of Don Bosco:
Presentation of the theme of the Strenna 2022: “Do everything for love, nothing for force” (St François de Sales)
(ANS – Rome) – Dear Brothers, Sisters and Friends, Just six months ago, we handed over the Strenna of the New Year to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians – as our tradition since Don Bosco has dictated – and to the whole Family Salesian.Six months later, I am asked to present what could be the common thread of the new Strenna for the year 2022 and this, in advance to respect the different rhythms of the hemispheres where the Salesian presences are located. I do so willingly and hope it helps in some way.And obviously, for this year 2022 when we will be celebrating the IV Centenary of his death, the theme could only be that of the Spirituality of Saint Francis de Sales, source of the Salesian spirit of Don Bosco , where our Father drank and Founder and to whom he referred at all times, especially when it came to defining the style of education and evangelization – to put it in our current language – of the nascent Salesian Congregation: “We will be called Salesians. . “
We know that Don Bosco was truly amazed by the extraordinary figure of this saint who was for him a real source of inspiration, especially because he was a true pastor, a teacher of charity and a tireless worker for the salvation of souls.A young seminarian, John Bosco made this resolution before his priestly ordination: “The charity and gentleness of Saint Francis de Sales will guide me at every moment. “And in writing the ” Memoirs of the Oratory ” , Don Bosco declares:” [The oratory] began to be called Saint-François-de-Sales […] because this form of ministry demanding on our part much calm and great gentleness, we placed ourselves under the protection of this saint so that he obtained from the Lord the grace to be able to imitate him in his extraordinary gentleness and in his conquest of souls. “Naturally, the Strenna of this year will also be a magnificent occasion to recognize oneself and to find oneself in the spirituality of Saint Francis de Sales, and to appreciate even more the beautiful characteristics of the Salesian spirit of Don Bosco , as well as the values of the Salesian spirituality of young people .
Without a doubt, we will find ourselves very much in them and we will feel called today to be “more Salesians” in our Salesian Family, that is to say more imbued with the spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, a spirit which permeates our Salesianity as the Family of Don Bosco .Belonging completely to God, living the presence in the world to the fullOne could say that this is the most “revolutionary” proposal of Saint Francis de Sales. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI expressed it with the depth and beauty customary in his writing when he said that the great invitation that Francis de Sales extends to Christians is “to belong completely to God by living full presence in the world and the duties of one’s own state: “My intention is to instruct those who live in cities, in households, in the yard […]” ( Preface to the Introduction to the devout life ). The document by which Pope Pius IX, more than two centuries later, proclaimed him doctor of the Church will insist on this broadening of the call to perfection, to holiness. It is written there: “[true piety] has penetrated to the throne of kings, in the tent of the chiefs of armies, in the praetorium of the judges, in the offices, in the shops and even in the huts of the pastors. ..] “(Brief Dives in misericordia [Rich in mercy], November 16, 1877). This is how this call to the laity was born, this care for the consecration of temporal things and for the sanctification of everyday life on which Vatican Council II and the spirituality of our time will insist. The ideal of a reconciled humanity was manifested, in the harmony between action in the world and prayer, between secular condition and the search for perfection, with the help of the grace of God which permeates man and, without destroying him. , purifies it, raising it to divine heights. “
Of course, we find the source of this spirituality in so many actions and words of our Lord in the Gospel; and we find it in the simplicity of Don Bosco’s proposal to his boys, in the language and in the ecclesial context of the 19th century.So how can we fail to ensure that it is also for us our source of inspiration and our pastoral and spiritual proposal for today?The centrality of the heart During his training in Paris, what triggered his conversion with François was an in-depth reading of the Song of Songs , under the direction of a Benedictine Father. It is a light which colors at the same time all his perception of God and of human life, of the individual journey and of the relations with every person.Even in the symbol he chooses for the Visitation, we see how the heart is the most telling sign of all his human and spiritual heritage: a heart pierced with two arrows: love of God and love of neighbor , to which would also correspond the two treatises which synthesize all his thought and his teaching. The first – the “Treatise on the Love of God” – is the fruit of his patient work of training for the first group of Visitandines: these are the lectures written and edited in a book. It is also the basis of the formation of Marguerite Marie Alacoque who, 51 years after the death of François, receives the revelations which open the way in the Church to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Of the other treatise – on love of neighbor – only the index remains, due to the untimely death of François on December 28, 1622, at the age of 55.Francis’ humanism, his desire and his ability to enter into dialogue with everyone, the great value he places on friendship, so important for personal accompaniment in the way Don Bosco interpreted it … , everything is built on the solid foundations of the heart, as Francis lived it.Between Providence and loving kindness (” amorevolezza” )Two reflections of his way of feeling the heart of God and of opening his heart to his brothers, intimately linked with each other, are his sense of Providence and his way of approaching and interacting with each person. , that is, his proverbial gentleness or his loving kindness ( “amorevolezza” ).Confidence in the Providence of Francis has roots which come to him from his training in Paris and Padua: “holy indifference”: I entrust myself wholeheartedly to the heart of God, and this prepares me to embrace every detail presented to me by sequence of events and circumstances, day after day. I have “nothing to ask and nothing to refuse” in relation to all the things that I know are in the hands of God. Paul was looking in the same direction when he wrote to the Romans: “We know that when men love God, he himself makes everything contribute to their good, since they are called according to the design of his love. Those whom he knew in advance, he also intended them in advance to be configured in the image of his Son, so that this Son would be the firstborn of a multitude of brothers. »( Rom 8, 28-29)The sweetness of the heart , before being in the first place directed towards the next, even when he is unfriendly and far from being a pleasant character, it is the reflection of the same confidence, this time with regard to the human heart. , always open to the action of God and always destined for the fullness of life. Sweetness and loving kindness (“amorevolezza”) are missionary approaches aimed at facilitating as much as possible, in all circumstances and situations, this encounter between grace and freedom in the hearts of those I have before me. So it’s not just a question of good manners.If we think of the way in which Don Bosco reinterpreted this loving kindness in his educational system, we understand how deep are the motivations that nourish him, just as it was with Francis de Sales.
The missionary internship in Chablais and the “Da mihi animas” of Don BoscoThe hard experience of evangelization in the Chablais between 1593 (speech as Provost) and 1596 (Christmas Masses in Thonon) is one where the mission sets the concrete tone of his whole life . It is extremely difficult (“here everyone has insults on their lips and stones in their hands”) but it is a crisis which makes the missionary grow and transform first, even before his addressees.It is also very interesting to read those years as a Eucharistic pedagogy. The visible Eucharist, celebrated, with a great crowd of people, carried in procession … after years of emptiness (Christmas 1596 …), is the point of arrival of a long desert where it is he who lives of the Eucharist and makes its presence in a hidden way, among previously hostile people, and to whom he approaches to make friends, one by one.Taking into account the fact that our Salesian presences are largely to be found among non-Catholics, this Eucharistic spirituality becomes prophetic: from within the missionary, it reaches with great patience and perseverance those to whom we have been sent, without renouncing the explicit announcement, but knowing how to wait for the long times of God, and without waiting for the faithful to fill the churches, but mixing with the flock wherever it is and as it is …
And with the Eucharist and on the same wavelength, we find the centrality of the cross and trust in Mary.And all this speaks to us of Don Bosco’s educational passion and passion for evangelization: in the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist and in the strong presence of Mary in the life of the Oratory, he found daily strength. , in the midst of its young people, to make “Da mihi animas, cætera tolle” a reality.But how to communicate?François de Sales is the patron saint of journalists and it is worth understanding his charisma as a communicator. On the one hand, in his charisma, we see a splendid harmony between love and interest in reflection, culture, humanism in its finest expressions to promote, encourage, harmonize by creating and fostering dialogue. between those who are the most capable and the richest in these fields. On the other hand, François de Sales is a master of communication for all, a great broadcaster given the means and conditions of his time. It suffices to think of the enormous quantity of letters on which was condensed a part, certainly not negligible, of his apostolate of Bishop and Saint.In this too, we have in Don Bosco a disciple who espouses the zeal of the master, with the new means at his disposal (the popular “mass” press): 318 works published by Don Bosco in 40 years … on average one published in less than two months each time. And at the same time, it is a very topical message for us and a real challenge, in today’s world where communication is at the center of reality.François de Sales in the way of accompanying the young people of Don Bosco: the charisms flourish and bear fruit in each other.There is a real “communion of saints” in the educational and spiritual art of Don Bosco, which does not come from nothing, but is nourished by deep roots, the work of the Spirit in the history of the Church which looms large. ‘preceded. It is neither an addition nor a replica: it is rather a new flowering and a new fructification which is nourished by this work of the Spirit which animated the Church with Francis of Assisi and Ignatius, with Dominic and Thérèse. from Avila.A beautiful proposal for today of the Church and, without a doubt, of the Salesian Family of Don Bosco, will rightly be to grow in the art of accompanying the path of faith, especially of so many boys, girls and young people all over the world who do not know God and who, at the same time, also hunger and thirst for Him often without knowing it. It is very Salesian to truly feel and believe that each person needs a “friend of the soul” in whom he can find advice, help, accompaniment and friendship.I conclude this brief presentation of the main lines that could develop the Strenna of 2022 intended for the whole Salesian Family of Don Bosco, with the invitation given to us by Pope Benedict XVI, at the end of his speech, asking us that in “Spirit of freedom”, we followed the exemplary testimony of François de Sales, a true example of this Christian humanism which makes us feel that in God alone we find the full realization of the desire and nostalgia that we feel for Him: “Dear Ones brothers and sisters, at a time like ours which seeks freedom, sometimes through violence and anxiety, must not escape the news of this great master of spirituality and peace, who gives his disciples the “spirit of freedom “, the true one, at the top of a fascinating and complete teaching on the reality of love. Saint Francis de Sales is an exemplary witness of Christian humanism; with his familiar style, with parables which sometimes fly on the wings of poetry, he reminds us that man carries nostalgia for God inscribed in him and that only in Him is true joy and joy. most complete achievement. “Father Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, Rector Major