Lettera Madre July 2020

My dear Sisters …

CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
ROMA

 1 July 2020
“All things in the world,
both great and small are in hands of our heavenly Father,
and nothing happens except as He disposes…
everything for the good of those who trust in Him…” (Max IV)

My dear Sisters,
This year the 1st July 2020 commemorates the 165th anniversary of the death of our Fr Founder, Blessed Antonio Rosmini.
United with you for this occasion – when it is not possible to gather physically in large groups – we ponder simply on the following consideration.
A “central” point of the thought and spirituality of Bl. Antonio Rosmini is the fact that he remains focussed on God’s will through the circumstances of everyday life. Everything that happens is “providential” and embraced within the will of God.

From the beginning, Rosmini esteemed it a great privilege and grace to be born on the Vigil of the Annunciation of the Angel to the Virgin Mary, and to be baptized on the Day itself. This was a powerful reason for his love of the Incarnate Word and of His Blessed Mother.
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to your word”. In one of his Diaries, we find: “God showed me that Our Lady was always to be my mother and protector, and this I have always experienced”. (Pagani, Life of Antonio Rosmini p.1)

From a young age, Antonio Rosmini was in communication with the God of his life. The annotation in his Diary at the beginning of the year 1813 sheds light on this orientation in his adolescent years: “This year was a year of grace for me, God opened my eyes to many things and I knew that there was no other wisdom than in God”. He feels that God must come first and this sentiment illumines the whole of his life.

When the current was hostile to him and continued to oppose his thought, he did not allow his peace to be disturbed in the face of rumours and ‘fake news’. His words from 1854 leave no room for doubt: “My adversaries give themselves no rest”, he wrote “but I trust in God and I hope that with His help I shall never lose resignation and tranquillity; indeed I shall never cease to praise him for everything He is pleased to do or to permit”. (ibid. p. 337)

In fact, Pius IX addressing the Bishop of Cremona, in 1854, after the decree Dimittantur, in speaking of Rosmini said, “Not only is he a good Catholic, but a saint: God uses saints to secure the triumph of truth”. (ibid. p. 333)
When, in 1855, Manzoni arrives in Stresa at the bedside of his friend now close to death, he murmurs in tears: “Oh my dear Rosmini, how are you?” The faith and trust of Antonio remain unshaken: “I am in God’s hands and therefore well”.
A period photo of Villa Bolongaro, in Stresa, where Rosmini retired from 1850 to 1855, the year of his death
And while Manzoni continues, “We hope that the Lord will still keep you among us, and give you time to complete many beautiful works that you have begun, your presence among us is so necessary”… Rosmini replies: “No, no, nobody is necessary to God: the works he has begun, he will finish them with those means that he has in his hands, which are countless, an abyss we can gaze upon only to adore. As for me, I am completely useless, indeed I fear I am a hindrance; and this fear not only makes me resigned to die, but it makes wish for death”. (ibid. p. 355)

The testament of Antonio Rosmini, summed up in the words: “Adore – Be silent – Rejoice” is part of our inheritance.
Without a doubt, the 1st July is an occasion to give thanks to God for the life of our Blessed Founder, in whose footsteps, after Jesus, we have freely chosen to walk …

On this day, wherever we find ourselves, we are united in prayer, as Rosminian Family, with our brethren and Ascribed members in various parts of the world, with the Parish or School or with other communities where we are involved, as we move forward each day, with trust in God’s goodness to us.

Greetings to all the Sisters who joyfully celebrate their jubilee anniversaries of religious life!
Happy 1st July to all! God bless.
With love, c.m.