Salesian Spirituality

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Francis de Sales

Under Salesian Spirituality is meant:

  1. The personal spirituality of Francis de Sales . In a nutshell, this is as follows: Living Salesian means living in the presence of the loving God in everything you do - and in a lovable, heartfelt way.
  2. The spirituality of the Salesians , which has its roots in the spirituality of Francis de Sales. A distinction is made between the spirituality of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales , the Oblate of St. Francis of Sales and the Salesians (sisters of the Visitation of Mary) on the one hand and the Salesians of Don Bosco and Don Bosco sisters on the other hand, differed, as the specific founding charisma is added to the common roots . See also: Salesian family .

The Salesian Spirituality of the Don Bosco Salesians and Sisters

The coat of arms of the Salesians of Don Bosco

The congregations, institutes and religious associations that can be traced back to the charism of St. John Bosco and therefore belong to the so-called Salesian family have several spiritual cornerstones in common. The following presentation focuses mainly on the two religious orders founded by Don Bosco.

people

First of all, Salesian spirituality is shaped by the charisma of different people. There are three levels:

1. The spirituality of the Doctors of the Church called upon by Don Bosco , especially of:

2. The spirituality of the order's founders themselves:

  • St. John Bosco wrote church history as a simple boy from the country by founding a new kind of apostolic religious order that specifically cares for the poorer and poorest youth ( youth pastoral care ).
  • Saint Maria Mazzarello (Maria Dominica Mazzarello), who comes from the simplest of circumstances, extends Don Bosco's idea to the pastoral care of girls and, together with Don Bosco, brings the Don Bosco Sisters into being.
  • Michael Rua , Seliger, 2nd Superior General
  • Philipp Rinaldi , Seliger, 4th Superior General

3. The spirituality of two young saints:

Salesian spirituality expressly grants young people the possibility of sanctification and thus also holiness . In this respect, young vocations were promoted, which ultimately lead to the canonization or beatification of two young people. They are Saint Dominic Savio , a disciple of Don Bosco, and Blessed Laura Vicuna , a disciple of the Don Bosco sisters .

Apostolate

The Salesians of Don Bosco pursue four main apostolic goals: firstly, to serve the youth , secondly, to be involved in missions (with due regard for inculturation ), thirdly, to be close to the people (using the means of social communication ) and fourthly, vocational pastoral care .

Preventive system of pedagogy

Don Bosco left behind a pedagogical system which, with foresight, aims to promote the balance between religion and reason in the adolescent youth by encountering them with Amorevolezza (not translatable; adjectival: loving).

Two column models for church and life

Don Bosco represented a model of the church that rests on the two foundations of the Eucharist (closely related to Confession ) and Mary . This model goes back to a dream by Don Bosco in which two pillars guide the nave of the church through all the dangers. He saw the Eucharist on one pillar and Mary on the other. Similarly, his model of life has two foundations: on the one hand there are contemplation / prayer / liturgy , on the other hand action / work / social commitment. Both condition and complement each other. The focus is on the service to the young people, in which the Salesian Don Bosco or the Don Bosco sister meets the face of God. One therefore speaks of “contemplative in action”.

vow

The Salesians, like many other religious orders, take a triple vow: obedience , poverty , chastity

Virtues

In addition to the generally valid theological virtues of faith , hope and love , the Salesians try to realize the following virtues in particular:

Life in the community

Life in the community is characterized by the interaction of the superiors (director - provincial - superior general ) and the confreres made up of priests and lay people ( coadjutors ). Essential elements are fraternal correction, spiritual guidance (" rendinconto ") by the superiors, personal daily examination of conscience , daily spiritual reading and meditation (at least 30 min) as well as regular participation in spiritual exercises ( days of reflection , retreats ), not at last also in celebrating together.

Liturgy and popular piety

Don Bosco attached particular importance to the following liturgical and devotional forms, which are still constitutive for Salesian spirituality today:

The Salesian Spirituality of the Oblates of St. Francis and Salesians

Mission statements

Francis de Sales

The main aim of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales is “to carry out the following of Christ and the ministry of the Church in the modern world by applying the teaching of St. Francis de Sales live and spread. ”In this respect, their spirituality is largely based on the teaching of St. Francis de Sales and treads paths to implement his message in our time.

Louis Brisson and Maria Salesia Chappuis

Louis Brisson
Maria Salesia Chappuis

The two founding personalities, the Superior of the Salesian Sisters in Troyes Maria Salesia Chappuis and Louis Brisson wanted to found an order of men based on Francis de Sales. Francis of Sales himself had founded the Order of the Salesian Sisters on his own, but he also had in mind the establishment of a priestly community. A first attempt at this idea after the death of St. Implementing Francis de Sales was started by Raymond Bonal and the Bonalists. However, this attempt failed. In the 19th century, Maria Salesia Chappuis took up this idea again and was able to win over the spiritualist of her monastery, Louis Brisson. Father Brisson introduced the essential theological ideas of St. Francis de Sales into the statutes of the Order and took over the Spiritual Directory, which is the basis for the spiritual life of the Salesian Sisters.

Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul I.

The special relationship of the Sales Oblates to Pope John XXIII. can be explained based on an incident during the General Chapter in 1961. At a papal audience of the members, John XXIII. them according to their activities. Some of what John XXIII. not impressed. However, when the aim of the order came up to translate the message of St. Francis de Sales into the present day, the Pope was very pleased.

As John XXIII. regarded the Sales Oblates as companions, the Pope is also seen as a model in the religious community. John XXIII very early on Francis de Sales had named one of his favorite saints. If he were like Francis de Sales, he wrote as a theology student, he would not mind if he was elected Pope. In this respect, his pontificate was strongly Salesian. On the other hand, John XXIII sat down. is deeply concerned with the question of how the gospel message can be applied to the present day. This was exactly the aim of the Second Vatican Council , which he convened .

In terms of their self-image, the Sales Oblates are essentially concerned with responding to the signs of the times with the message of St. Francis de Sales. In this respect, John XXIII. similar to Pope John Paul I , who was led by John XXIII. was not insignificantly influenced and also greatly admired Franz von Sales, an important model for the community.

Content

Love for God and people

Since Francis de Sales is considered to be the teacher of joyful love for God, Christian love in its threefold form of love for God, neighbor and self plays the first role in the spirituality of the Sales Oblates. The experience that God loves people and gives himself to people is at the beginning. It makes people happy and everything else grows out of it. In this respect, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales live according to the sentence originally coined by St. Augustine and realized by Francis de Sales: "Love, and then do what you want".

Love for one's neighbor becomes concrete above all in the fundamental acceptance of the other as a person: Because we are all children of God and are loved by God, we must also value one another as a person. This does not mean, however, to forego your own point of view and criticism. Francis de Sales expressed this in the sentence: “Clear in the matter - but friendly in nature.” In this respect, the pastoral care of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales is shaped by the image of the “Pastor bonus”, the “Good Shepherd”, the believes in each other's good qualities. The Sales Oblates are convinced that by living an attitude of love, the value of love can also be discovered in other people. They are based on the motto of St. Francis de Sales: “Everything out of love - and nothing out of compulsion.” This attitude of benevolence and belief in the good in the personality of the other also has consequences for the leadership style within the religious community.

Alignment with the will of God

As a spiritual guide, Francis de Sales has always recommended entrusting oneself to God's will. This is exactly what characterizes the spirituality of the Sales Oblates, who live from the awareness that God's will is always God's love (according to the Sales Oblate and theology professor Fr. Anton Mattes OSFS). So man can entrust himself to God's will, because God is guaranteed to mean well with man.

World piety

Francis de Sales wanted to help people of all classes, i.e. priests and religious as well as people who are in other professions or have a family, to find their personal piety. In their pastoral work, the Sales Oblates also want to be companions in the search for the personal path to God and Christ in the variety of church offers.

Joy in the life of faith

Francis of Sales always pointed out the joy of faith in his teaching: "Have joy in your heart, because God looks at you in love". This joy, which is essential to the spirituality of the Sales Oblates, arises from the love of God. Therefore Christian action should also be joyful action. Attending church services and fixed prayer times, for example, should not be seen as annoying compulsory exercises, but as opportunities for deepening the joyful relationship with God.

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