Misericordia et misera – The misery of sin has been clothed in the mercy of love
From St. Augustine, En. in ps. 50, 8
Remansit adultera et Dominus, remansit vulnerata et medicus, remansit magna miseria et magna misericordia.
The adulterous woman remained and the Lord; she who was wounded remained and the physician; the great misery remained and the great mercy.
From St. Augustine, Serm. 16/A, 5
Remansit solus et sola; remansit creator et creatura; remansit miseria et misericordia; remansit quae suum reatum agnoscebat, et qui peccatum dimittebat.
He and she remained alone; the Creator remained and the creature; misery remained and mercy; she remained, aware of her crime, and he who forgave her sin.
‘Mercy cannot become a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church’ because the encounter of Jesus and the adulterous woman is the ‘icon’ not only of the extraordinary Holy Year that has just come to an end but also of the style of a Christian: ‘Mercy cannot become a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church; it constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father’.
The Jubilee has ended; the Jubilee continues. In his apostolic letter Misericordia et misera Pope Francis states that ‘it is the time of mercy’ and hopes for ‘pastoral conversion’ which places the poor and listening to people at the centre of things. ‘May our communities reach out to all who live in their midst, so that God’s caress may reach everyone through the witness of believers’: the temptation to ‘theorise about of mercy’ can be overcome ‘to the extent that our daily life becomes one of participation and sharing’.
ROME – THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE
8 December– Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
It was the evening of 7 December 1591 when in the same place Camillus de Lellis and his first disciples decided to give their lives to service to the sick. Since that day, the Camillians have never ceased to travel the roads of the world, everywhere bearing witness to the charity of God towards the suffering. Men Camillians, Daughters of St. Camillus and women Ministers of the Sick of St. Camillus from every part of the world, it is our intention to commemorate that historic day and reaffirm our wish to imitate Camillus and his first companions by renewing our vows and confirming our wish to spend our lives as he did.
At 16.00, Fr. Leocir Pessini presided over the celebration of the Eucharist during which our young confrere, Giuseppe Salvatore Pontillo, of the Province of Sicily and Naples, will make his perpetual religious vows.
Formula of Life of the Ministers of the Sick (1599)
If someone inspired by our Lord would like to exercise the works of mercy, physical and spiritual, according to the Spirit of our Institute, he should know that he has to die to all the things of the world, that is parents, friends and possessions and to himself, in order to live solely for the crucified Jesus under the most gentle yoke of perpetual Poverty, Chastity and Obedience and service of the poor sick, even if plague stricken, to their physical and spiritual needs, by day and night, according to what it will be commanded to him.
He will do all for the true love of God and as penance for his sins: remembering the Truth, Jesus Christ, who says “insofar as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me”; and also elsewhere: “I was sick and you visited me, come to me all you blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world”. The Lord also says: “For the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you”.
Therefore he who has been thus inspired by the Lord, should consider the sense of such perfect truth, regard this extraordinary means to attain the precious “pearl of charity”, of which the holy Gospel says: “the man who found it, put up for sale all that he had and bought it”. Therefore this “pearl of charity” is that which transforms us in God and purifies us of every strain of sin, because: “charity covers a multitude sins”.
Everyone, therefore, who would like to join our Institute, should know that he must die to himself, if he is given such a great grace by the Holy Spirit and should not worry about death nor life, neither infirmity nor health, but entirely dead to the world, he should give himself completely to the will of God, under perfect obedience to his superiors, giving up totally of his will. He should consider it a great gain to die for the crucified Jesus Christ our Lord, who says: “there is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s friends”…
Thus renewed he should prepare to suffer a great deal for the glory of God, for the salvation of his own soul and that of his neighbour.
THE DELEGATION OF HAITI
We share with you the interview with Fr. Paulo Cipriano by TV2000 on the recent Hurricane Matthew which struck the island of Haiti. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
THE PROVINCE OF THAILAND
On 9 December an assembly was organised for all the Superiors and directors of the activities of our Province in Thailand in order learn about the new laws on the taxation of land and buildings. We hope that as a ‘moral entity’ we will have some small benefits…
In Sampran we made a crib for the centre for elderly people.
On 8 December, a celebration in Thailand: a day that stands out not only to demonstrate our devotion to Our Immaculate Lady but also to renew our commitment to being consecrated to the Lord following the example of St. Camillus!
CADIS – BANGKOK
The third annual meeting of the leaders of the Camillian Disaster Service International (CADIS) took place on 20 November to 1 December in Bangkok at the Camillian Pastoral Care Center. The theme of the meeting was ‘Constructing the Resilience of Vulnerable Communities through Pathways of Innovation, Partnership and Networking to Reach our Goals by 2020’.
READ HERE THE DAILY BRIEFINGS OF THE MEETING
MADAGASCAR
THE E.V.A. CENTRE of the diocese of Fianarantsoa
The E.V.A (‘Education in Life and Love’) Centre has been active in the diocese of Fianarantsoa since 2013. From its motto we can understand its vocation: ‘Protecting Life, Promoting Love’. This centre is therefore at the service of life and the family.
This centre provides:
- Welcome
- Listening: young people, couples
- Advice and accompanying: natural birth control, alcoholism, violence…
- Documentation: audio-visual materials, books, reviews…
- Formation: talks on subjects connected with the interests of the E.V.A.
The visitors to this centre have available about ten volunteers – a priest and lay people. In addition to what is offered by the centre, the team deals with external requests made by various institutions interested in the concerns of the E.V.A. – schools, parishes, prisons…
TAIWAN
On 12 November we celebrated the closing of the holy door of the church dedicated to St. Camillus in Lotung. A solemn mass was celebrated with the participation of many faithful, who came from Taipei and Hualien as well.
On 16 November we celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Health, bringing together men Camillian religious, women Ministers of the Sick, members of the Lay Camillian Family and people who work with our works, at St. Mary’s Hospital.
On 26 November, preparing for Advent, many Christmas trees were lit up in many churches to remind people of the ‘light’ brought by Jesus. Hundreds of people, including non-Christians, from the surrounding area took part in this ceremony in our church as well. Some disabled young people of our centre were welcomed to a government institution for the traditional Christmas singing of ‘Clear Star’ which is very popular in Taiwan.
THE PROVINCE OF INDIA
Here you can download the new bulletin of the Camillian Province of India ‘Consecrated to be Merciful’
For the end of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Province of India produced a musical CD entitled ‘With the eyes of Mercy’. Texts and music by Fr. William Eronimoose
THE DELEGATION OF COLOMBIA AND ECUADOR
The Delegation of Colombia and Ecuador celebrated on 7 December – the eve of the feast day of the Immaculate Conception – the renewal of their temporary religious vows. Here are the six professed. From left to right in the photograph:
Frank Jhordano CASTRO G., Luis Alejandro RUIZ B., José Miguel LUGO A., Luis Eduardo PÉREZ V., Anibal VASQUEZ O., Miguel Ángel GONZÁLEZ J.
With joy we share with you the good news of the perpetual profession of two of our religious:
– SAMIR EMITH LOZANO VALENCIA (this took place in Medellín on 6 November 2016),
– FRANKI JAVIER PENAGOS CAICEDO (in Cali on 13 November 2016),
and their subsequent ordination as deans which took place on 11 December in Bogota at the hands of Msgr. Jorge Enrique Lozano Zafra, the Bishop Emeritus of Ocaña (Colombia).
THE PROVINCE OF BRAZIL
On 17 December the Camillian religious Mauricio Gris will be ordained a priest. The celebration will be presided over by H.E. Odelir Magri.
On the day of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the four Camillian communities of San Paolo, Brazil (Santa Cruz, Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Henrique Rebuschinni and São Pio X) came together to celebrate the Eucharist and renew their vows. The celebration was presided over by the Provincial Superior, Fr. Antonio Mendes, in the chapel dedicated to St. Camillus.
Meeting of the People who Provide formation and the Promoters of Vocations of the Province of Brazil.
The formation team of the Province of Brazil met for the fourth time to have moments of thought and the sharing of views about the formation process. The last meeting of 2016 took place on 29-30 November.
THE DELEGATION OF KENYA
On 19 November, the perpetual profession was celebrated of four young Camillian religious at the St. Camillus Seminary of Nairobi: Dennis Gekondo Atandi; Dominic Mutuku Nthenge; John Mwangi Kariuki; Patrick Kamuya Makau.
Another four ‘definitive’ ‘yeses’ bring joy to the Delegation of Kenya by Fr. Paolo Guarise. Inside the interviews with the four young professed as well.
THE PROVINCE OF SICILY AND NAPLES
At the same time as the evening of evangelisation held in Rome, in Naples, at the Church of Divine Love (known as the Church of St. Camillus), an evening of adoration, evangelisation and listening to young people was also held. About fifteen evangelisers went into the very central Via S. Biagio dei Librai. In the shadow of the red cross of St. Camillus, many young people entered to light a candle, write a prayer, or perhaps go to confession. All of this took place within the framework of the ‘Night of Art’ organised by the city council of Naples to create greater appreciation of the historic centre of the city.
THE PROVINCE OF GERMANY
The way of merciful love – a challenge for Christian vocations
With this theme, we organised a weekend in Germany at the end of October. This was a celebration of the Year of Mercy by the various German groups who have a CAMILLIAN vocation.
Fr. Provincial Malinowski invited the members of his Provincial council, representatives of the Daughters of St. Camillus, two lay volunteer groups and some doctors and nurses, who try to do their work in the spirit of St. Camillus, to a meeting house in Neustadt/Weinstraße.
Together with us was Fr. Franziskus Knoll OP, a former nurse and now professor of ‘diaconal spirituality’ at Vallendar. He gave us some inputs and explanations and moderated parts of the meetings of the gathering.
We shared our different experiences and the personal motivations for doing as we do. We agreed on the very varied character of this special vocation. A personal vocation to serve the sick, to whom we feel dedicated, is the common denominator.
Beside this work, this was an opportunity for the different groups to talk and to acquire greater knowledge about what happens in Germany in the name of St. Camillus.
There was an open and fraternal atmosphere at the meeting. And there will be a follow-up in October 2017.
THE PROVINCE OF SPAIN
‘Las cinco pulgas del duelo’
The Centre for the Humanisation of Health has produced a new publication – ‘The Five Fleas of Mourning’ (‘Las cinco pulgas del duelo’), published with PPC.
The fleas are the additional conflicts experienced by people in mourning. A great deal of pain is produced and the process of mourning can be interrupted; in some cases they can complicate or produce a pathology. Suffering can be added to the suffering that already exists in the process of mourning caused by the loss of a loved one. Inheritance, a feeling of guilt, sexuality, economics, the virtual world.
The St. Camillus Centre of the Province of Spain Receives the ‘Excelencia en dependencia’ for ‘Understanding Care as Art’.
On 29 November at the College of Architects of Madrid an award-giving ceremony was held of the seventh edition of the CASER Foundation. This was a moving, intimate and enthusiastic ceremony for initiatives that improve the quality of life of people who are dependent and for all citizens.
At this edition of the awards of the CASER Foundation, the prize for excellence was awarded to the St. Camillus Centre for ‘understanding care as an art’. Brother Jose Carlos Bermejo, the General Delegate of the Province of Spain, received this prize and encouraged those who were present to maintain high levels of quality of care for elderly people and for people near the end of their lives.
‘Volunteers to Serve and Provide Care’
On Sunday 18 December the third Meeting of Volunteers of the St. Camillus Centre of Tres Cantos (Madrid) will take place. Volunteers of the centre for listening and the centre for care will take part in this meeting. The theme of this year is ‘Volunteers to Serve and Provide Care’.
The meeting will begin at 11.00 with a Holy Mass celebrated in the chapel of the centre by Msgr. Bishop Carlos Osoro. This will be followed by the greetings of Brother José Carlos Bermejo, the Director of the St. Camillus Centre, and a session of formation led by D. Sebastian Mora, the General Secretary of Caritas Spain. The meeting will end with a lunch.
This meeting will also be an opportunity to thank the volunteers of the St. Camillus Centre, who number almost 300, for their work, their enthusiasm and the affection with which they place ‘more heart in their hands’.
ROME – CAMILLIANUM/CADIS
Course of Advanced Formation in ‘Pastoral Care in Health’
This course, placed within the activities of the Centro Lateranense di Alti Studi (CLAS), provides formation to researchers and professionals in the Christian culture of care and health.
Course of Advanced Formation in ‘Pastoral Care for Humanitarian Workers’
This course, in cooperation with the Camillian Disaster Service, forms a part of the activities of the Centro Lateranense di Alti Studi (CLAS). It seeks to offer a Christian pastoral approach to the management of humanitarian emergencies.
Photographic gallery of the inauguration of the academic year 2016-2017 held on Wednesday 23 November.
ROME–CAMILLIANI/ CAMILLIANS
On the site of the Order – www.camilliani.org – you will find on-line the latest edition of Camilliani/s: 3-4/2016 NN. 205-206 – Year XXX – JULY-DECEMBER 2016. CLICK HERE
TO THE MAJOR SUPERIORS OF THE ORDER LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT GENERAL CHAPTERS OF THE PROVINCES, VICE-PROVINCES AND DELEGATIONS
Religious assume responsibility for the life of the Order primarily in chapters. All who have the right participate in them in order to express their viewpoint and to decide on matters pertaining to religious life, under the direction of the superior or the presiding officer (cf. Constitution, n. 112).
Esteemed Camillian religious, Superiors of Provinces, Vice-Provinces and Delegations, greetings!
Following our shared reflections of the recent meeting that we held together in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) on 9-16 October last, by this letter I wish to suggest some elements for thought for the by now imminent General Chapters of Provinces, Vice-Provinces and Delegations that you will celebrate at the beginning of the year 2017.
The Camillian Project ‘Towards a Faithful and Creative Life: Challenges and Opportunities’ can be a useful instrument in the preparations for these General Chapters, both for individuals and for communities, with an assessment and planning of your Provincial initiatives according to the three priorities that the Project identified: (initial and ongoing) formation; transparency and rigour at an economic level; and commitment in communication in order to create greater communion. The same may be said of the Messages that I sent you at the end of my fraternal and pastoral visits to you.
I invite everyone to address certain questions which I believe are of vital importance for the future organisation of our communities in the Order and thus for the growth of our Camillian lives, the quality of our fraternity, and profound belief in our ministry in all its forms.
DIARY OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL
On 13-20 December, Fr. Leocir Pessini visited the Camillian communities of the Province of Germany in Germany and Holland. PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY
READ HERE THE MESSAGE TO THE PROVINCE OF GERMANY. ITA/ENG/PT
On 27 November to 6 December 2016, together with Fr. Cipriano, he visited the Camillan religious of Haiti. READ THE MESSAGE HERE. ITA/ PT/ ENG / FR
On 9-12 December 2016, with Fr. Laurent Zoungrana, he met the Camillian religious of the community of Lourdes (France). PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY READ THE MESSAGE HERE IT/ ENG/ PT
On 6-29 January 2017, he will visit the Camillian religious of the Province of Thailand, the Delegation of Vietnam and the Delegation of Taiwan.
A HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF ST. CAMILLUS. THE PROVINCE OF LOMBARDY AND VENETO
PRESENTATION Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon
After organising the direction – together with a group of scholars and researchers – of the methodology, research and writing of a systematic exploration of the foundation, development and interpretation offered by individual Provinces over time of the Camillian charism, Andrea Ciampani now provides us – as his own personal work – with the last piece of a complex and variegated polyptych on the oldest Camillian Provinces: Storia dell’Ordine di San Camillo. La Provincia Lombardo Veneta (‘A History of the Order of St. Camillus. The Province of Lombardy and Veneto’).
Read here
ROME – The Pope Meets the Superior Generals on the Occasion of their Eighty-eighth Six-monthly General Assembly
A few days ago the eighty-eighth six-monthly general assembly of the Union of Superior Generals (USG), entitled ‘Go and Bear Fruit. The Fecundity of Prophecy’, came to an end. Our Superior General, Fr. Leocir PESSINI, took part in the event.
On Friday 25 November, the 140 people taking part in this assembly met Pope Francis in the New Hall of the Synod in the Vatican.
The meeting with the Holy Father, which lasted for three hours, was characterised by a long fraternal and cordial conversation made up of questions and answers. We here offer a short summary of what was said.
“The Church was born moving outwards”: first it was closed in the Cenaculum and then it was pushed outside. The poor push the Church outside: “If the Church does not work with the poor, it is not the Church. And this is not pauperism! The Church must be poor with the poor!” Referring to the question of migration, Pope Francis added “The lives of those people are more important than international agreements!” It is specifically in the service of charity that it is possible to find a very good terrain for ecumenical dialogue: “It is the poor who unite us”.
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 54th WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
Led by the Spirit for Mission
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the last few years, we have considered two aspects of the Christian vocation: the summons to “go out from ourselves” to hear the Lord’s voice, and the importance of the ecclesial community as the privileged place where God’s call is born, nourished and expressed.
Now, on this 54th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I would like to reflect on the missionary dimension of our Christian calling. Those who drawn by God’s voice and determined to follow Jesus soon discover within themselves an irrepressible desire to bring the Good News to their brothers and sisters through proclamation and the service of charity. All Christians are called to be missionaries of the Gospel! As disciples, we do not receive the gift of God’s love for our personal consolation, nor are we called to promote ourselves, or a business concern. We are simply men and women touched and transformed by the joy of God’s love, who cannot keep this experience just to ourselves. For “the Gospel joy which enlivens the community of disciples is a missionary joy (Evangelii Gaudium, 21).
Commitment to mission is not something added on to the Christian life as a kind of decoration, but is instead an essential element of faith itself. A relationship with the Lord entails being sent out into the world as prophets of his word and witnesses of his love.
IN FAITHFULNESS TO THE CHARISM, THINKING ANEW ABOUT FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Message of the Holy Father to those taking part in the second international symposium on financial administration organised by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Rome, 25-27 November 2016.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank you for your readiness to meet together to reflect upon, and pray about, a subject that is so vital for consecrated life – the economic management of your works. I thank the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for having prepared this second symposium; and, in addressing you, I will allow myself to be guided by the words that make up the title of your meeting: charism, faithfulness, thinking anew about financial administration …
OBITUARIES
GIOVANNI AQUARO (1945-2016)
Read here the obituary that Fr. Giovanni himself wrote before his death: a text of an autobiographical character.
Dearest Confreres,
On 20 November 2016 I crossed the threshold of time and entered the ultimate dimension, awaiting a new heaven and a new earth. I would have liked to remain a little more time with you. We know, however, that the plans of God are different from the plans of men.
The community of the Daughters of St. Camillus have announced the death of Sr. VALERIA CASERA at the age of 91, after 69 years of religious profession. Sr. Valeria died at the community of Trento, on Friday, 2 December 2016. She was the sister of our confreres Fr. Domenico and Fr. Antonio Casera.
The Camillian Confreres of North Italian Province, announce the death of FR. FRANCESCO MARSAN (94 years old), which took place in the Camillian Community of Capriate San Gervasio (Bergamo). Remember fr. Francesco in our prayers to the Lord!
‘Now they live in Christ whom they met in the Church, followed in our vocation, and served in the sick and the suffering. Trusting that the Lord, the Holy Virgin our Queen, St. Camillus, the Blessed Luigi Tezza the Blessed Giuseppina Vannini, and our deceased religious brothers and sisters, will welcome them in their midst, we commend them in our prayers, remembering them with affection, esteem and gratitude’.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2017!
Tonight “a great light” shines forth (Is 9:1). This Child teaches us what is truly essential in our lives. He was born into the poverty of this world; there was no room in the inn for him and his family. He found shelter and support in a stable and was laid in a manger for animals. And yet, from this nothingness, the light of God’s glory shines forth.
From now on, the way of authentic liberation and perennial redemption is open to every man and woman who is simple of heart. This Child, whose face radiates the goodness, mercy and love of God the Father, trains us, his disciples, as Saint Paul says, “to reject godless ways” and the richness of the world, in order to live “temperately, justly and devoutly” (Tit 2:12).
Pope Francis
MIDNIGHT MASS SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
The Superior General and members of the General Consulta of the Camillians, Fr. Leocir PESSINI, Fr. Laurent ZOUNGRANA, Br. Ignacio SANTAOLALLA, Fr. Aris MIRANDA, and Fr. Gianfranco LUNARDON, and the religious of the community of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2017
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