Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

Page 17 text:

now every ch1ld could make h1s Flrst Holy Communlon as soon as he reached the use of reason About a mile outside of Rlese, along a country road, there IS a shrme dedl cated to the Madonna delle Cen drole Th1s shrlne conslsts of a beau tlful statue of the Blessed Mother and a small altar at whlch Mass was cus tomarlly celebrated once a week Here Beppo would stroll m the summer and devoutly pray the beads It was at th1sl1ttle countryslde shrlne that Beppo enklndled a last1ng love for the Im maculate Mother and her favorlte prayer, the rosary Truly xt was his home and early surroundlngs that planted 1n h1m the first dellcate roots of prlestly sanctlty Then, 1n an outburst ofH1s D1v1ne Love, God made If known to Gluseppe that He had chosen hlm from all etermty to be the medlator between God and man, to be the sacrlficer at the altar, to be Chrlst s other Self It was Gods uncontalnable love that oH ered Gluseppe H1s greatest glft the prlesthood Don Txto Fusarml, the parxsh pr1est of Rlese, sent G1useppe to Padua that he mlght take part 1n the scholarshlp examlnatlons sponsored by the sem mary of Padua The cond1t1ons ln the Sarto home had never been such as to afford to send a ch1ld of thelrs away to school Fortunately for G1u seppe he won the scholarshlp and was enrolled at the sem1nary of Padua At that moment began the happlest tlme of Giuseppe s l1fe G1useppe was well aware of what lay ahead of h1m He reallzed what the nature ofthe Work of the sem1nary was, he reallzed that to be made mto a pr1est meant not only a development of the intellectual powers, not only a development m the physlcal aspect, but most of all, a tremendous development ln the llfe of the soul There l1es the supreme task of the sem1nary nour lshmg young, lmmature souls, repro duclng Chrlst ln the soul of the young semmarlan To accompllsh ltS task, the seminary first of all appoxnts 1ts most competent prlests as spxrltual dlrectors I thelr charge to gulde the progress IH hollness of every single semmar1an The spmtual dlrectors see to lt that the semmarlan s prayer, mortlficatlon, and frequent receptlon of the sacraments become eH ect1ve IH the development of pr1estly sanct1ty Both 1n and out slde of confesslon the sp1r1tual dlrector searches deeply mto the semmarlan s soul and advises how to uproot lmper fectlon, and replace It wlth perfectlon The splrltual dlrector teaches the sem 1nar1an how to pray well, and especlally how to medltate Truly the splrltual dlrectors play a major part m the sem marlan s quest for holmess True, G1useppe had always prayed at home and at the h1lls1de shrlne but praymg ln the sem1nary was alto gether dlfferent He had never before heard of medltatlon, the kmd of prayer stressed most at the semmary H could v1v1dly remember how each nnght after supper h1s mother would read a passage from the B1ble to her ch1ldren and draw a lesson from the text that they were to follow the next day but that had never penetrated nearly so deeply 1nto the life of Jesus Chrlst as medltatlon I3 . H . . . ' 1 ,, . . . . , - - - . . . tlS . . . . , . . . Y . . . . , - . . . . , . , .. . , . . . . D , - . a . C , - s 9 . . . , . - ' a . .

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It IS 1n the sem1nary that these re lat1ons Wlth God are developed and lI'lfCI'lS1f'iCd It IS there that the sem 1nar1an reahzes that he must beg1n the long journey to perfectlon He reallzes too that personal perfectlon IS not h1s goal, but the means to h1s goal that the acqu1s1t1on of v1rtue IS not an end but a requ1rement for 1nt1macy w1th God That IS hlS goal un1on Wlth God' It IS w1th th1s goal constantly before h1m that the sem1nar1an hears Mass, rece1ves the sacraments prays mortlfles h1mself and cultlvates vlrtue These are the means God IS the end In real1ty the b1rth of pr1estly sanc t1ty IS not found 1n the sem1nary nor can the sem1nary really be called the sower of sanct1ty For the soul of the semmarlan felt ltS first seed of hol1 ness planted ln It at the t1me of Bap hol1ness was lmbedded 1n h1s soul by h1s home envlronment It was really at home where the seeds of sanctlty were first sown It IS 1n the sem1nary where these seeds are nurtured, cult1 vated and made to grow lt w1ll be 1n the pr1esthood where the rxpened sanctlty w1ll bear ltS frult G1useppe Sarto was born of God fear1ng parents Blessed 1n h1s b1rth and surround1ngs Beppo as he was called had from the outset full l1berty to learn of God It was 1n h1s ch1ld hood 1n the humble town of R1ese that Beppo was 1nst1lled Wlth the be glnnlngs of a hol1ness pr1estly sanc t1ty that was destlned ever to grow unt1l lt would reap 1tS reward 1n heaven 1n glor1ous un1on w1th h1s Creator Perhaps Beppo d1d not real1ze then how blessed he was to have such par 1 ents who placed an atmosphere of f1l1al fear of the Lord about the Sarto home Perhaps h1s parents never reallzed how much they were mfluencmg h1m when every n1ght they would read from the B1ble to Beppo h1s brother and h1s seven s1sters perhaps they never re ahzed that they were weld1ng character to the souls of the1r ch1ldren by teach 1ng them to pray Perhaps they never reallzed how much the1r ch1ldren looked to them for example But no doubt they were aware of the fact that they, by the1r prayers works, and suffermgs held a m1ghty sway over the tender souls of the1r ch1ldren Truly h1s Chlld hood was the b1rthplace of h1s pr1estly sanct1ty As soon as he was b1g enough Beppo was put 1nto a cassock and served Mass or carr1ed a taper or a censer fam1l1ar w1th the house of God The par1sh church of R1ese became a fav or1te spot for Beppo often he would spend a spare moment there, talk1ng to the Pr1soner of Love chamed to the altar After he made h1s FIFSC Holy Commumon h1s customary v1s1ts to the Blessed Sacrament took on a new meanmg They were both a pro longed thanksg1v1ng for the Great G1ft and a premature preparat1on for the next recept1on Beppo longed to re CCIVC the Blessed Sacrament It grleved h1m that he had to Walt unt1l he was eleven years old before he could re CCIVC Chrlst for the first t1me L1ttle d1d he reallze then that as Pope Plus X he would send out a decree to all the world statlng that no longer would a chlld be kept from Holy Commumon unt1l he was eleven years old that . . . . , . , . J Q Y . 3 3 3 ' 3 Q . x ' ' ' 5 ' 9 tism. Perhaps he never realized it but As he grew he became more and more . . 4 Q ' x 1 Q - 3 . , , . 9 ' ' , . . 3 . . ' , - . , 2

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As Gluseppe, every semmarlan finds ln medltatlon, coupled w1th the Eucharxst, the secret of perfectlon From medltatlon, he draws the hungry deslre to plerce the hldden meamng of the words and actlons of the D1v1ne Savlour The more he medrtates, the more he wants to learn about Chr1st, the more he medrtates, the more he 1S asslmllatmg hlmself to Chrlst, the more he medltates, the more he IS lncreasmg hls pr1estly sanctlty whlch accord1ngly experxences a momentous growth Through medltatlon, the semlnarlan cultlvates a profound adm1rat1on for the Man God an admlratlon that IS 1nev1tably converted to 1m1tat1on It 1sn t easy to medltate, It doesn t come naturally It requires self d1sc1 plme and a strenuous effort Its perfect cultxvatlon calls for the purlficatlon of mmd, and of w1ll Its development calls for mort1ficat1on and spxrltual readmg The semmarlan must qulckly come to reallze that splrxtual readlng pro v1des the foundatlon upon whxch the work of medltatlon IS to be bullt, lt affords an lmmedlate preparatlon for the exerclse of medltatlon In realxty, splrltual reading may be called the seeds of medltatlon, the actual exer CISC of medrtatlon causes these seeds to grow to maturlty, and the fru1t pro duced IS prlestly sanctlty Splrltual readlng offsets ev1l tendencles ofnature by awakenlng supernatural tendencies ln the soul, It substltutes for the maxlms and example of the world the ldeals and example of Our Lord and the samts It IS an 1nv1tat1on to look beyond the world to God and 14 the things of God Mortlficatlon loos ens the soul from any earthly bond that mlght be holdmg It down, whlle spmtual readmg ra1ses the soul to the supernatural plane on wh1ch the sem marlan can medltate on the dynamlc Personallty of the Gospel Every mornmg the semmarlan adds an lndlspensable lngredlent to the transformatlve process when he w1t nesses the most thr1ll1ng act ever per formed Every mornlng he IS a spec tator at the Dlvme Drama But yet he IS not only a spectator or a wltness, he hlmself IS offered wxth the Sacred Humanlty IH the perfect eXp1at1on Never a more thr1ll1ng moment, never a more preclous moment ln h1s day as that moment when Omnlpotence Itself humbles I-Ilmself so much as to obey the call of the prxest and descend tzm for s1n H1m whom the heavens cannot contaln, and yet Hlm VVho answers the call of the prlest and l1ke a gentle lamb submxsslvely offers I-I1m self to the Immolator for the sacrlfice Every mornlng the semlnarlan IS part of thls sacrlfice, one w1th Chrlst ln offermg to the Father, one ln mind, one m w1ll, one ln oblat1on Thls oneness wlth Chrlst IS preclsely the essence of prlestly sanctlty Chrlst offers Hlmself not only to the Father 1n the sacrlfice, but also to man 1n Holy Communlon The recep t1on of the D1v1ne V1s1tor IS the ful fillment of the sem1nar1ans oneness wlth Chnst, the confirmatlon of hrs unlon wlth Chrlst And every slngle day the semmarlan IS the object of such outpourmgs of D1v1ne Love The Blessed Sacrament IS the perfect com U . , . . . , conscience, purification of heart, of to the altar to become again the Vic-