70 Musings of a Mystic: Santo Vincenzo Pallotti
Dear saintly Padre Vincenzo,
It was per chance I came to know of you and the Society you had established.
Half a century ago, as a teenager I was all set to join the Jesuits. All on a sudden, one of my relatives, who knew about you and about your Society suggested to me and to my father and successfully persuaded me to change my mind and join your Society, the Pallottines.
I didn't have sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice between the Jesuits and Pallottines.
Now I am convinced it was not by chance but by the Divine Providence i chose to become a Pallottine.
In hindsight, I am happy with my decision to join the Pallottines which had led me to know more of you.
It was during the novitiate I read more about you and came to know more:
of your life,
of your activities,
of your charism,
of your ideals and
of your vision for the Church and for the world.
Your saintly life rooted in the deep union with God,
Your life of simplicity and
Your untiring apostolates and activities,
continue to marvel me and
keep challenging me,
inspiring me and even egging me
to emulate you in my life and apostolates.
Oh, saintly Padre Vincenzo,
The mystic in you has always fascinated me and keeps making me wonder about your magic of being a mystic in midst of your manifold apostolates.
Though you neither called yourself a mystic nor claimed yourself to be one,
your very own being and your ways of behaviour and apostolates benevolently betray the mystic in you.
Your constant awareness of the image and likeness of God in you and in the fellow humans and your continuous experience of the same in your personal life is the essence of being a mystic, right?
The mystic in you keeps inviting me to imbibe and embody your deep mystical spirituality with a rare blend of active apostolates.
As I am near seventy I feel drawn to the mystic in you.
According to my ancient, ancestral Indian spiritual heritage every human being, especially the elderly, is strongly recommended to pursue actively, to foster avidly, and embrace gladly the natural yearning of the humans to reduce worldly activities and to begin a life of closer communion with God the Creator. This would ultimately lead to a mystical relation with and an intimate experience of the Divine.
As you know, I have big strides to make and a long way to trudge in imbibing your mystical spirit and emulating your ideals and vision!
Oh, dear saintly Padre Vincenzo,
permit me to peep into your musings:
......... ....... ......
Santo Vincenzo:
"I consider myself truly blessed to have been gifted with fifty-five years life on earth, and that too right in Rome, the cradle of Catholicism. As you know, I was born and brought up just twenty minutes of walk to Vatican! My pious parents who were devoted and dedicated to Jesus and to the Catholic faith did bring me closer to Jesus and to the Blessed Mother. My mother regularly took me to the nearby church of Lorenzo in Damaso, our parish church. I loved to kneel before the statue of the Blessed Mother and pray to make me a good boy.
I was rather slow in studies. So I prayed a Novena to the Holy Spirit as was suggested by our parish priest.
Dear saintly Padre Vincenzo,
It was per chance I came to know of you and the Society you had established.
Half a century ago, as a teenager I was all set to join the Jesuits. All on a sudden, one of my relatives, who knew about you and about your Society suggested to me and to my father and successfully persuaded me to change my mind and join your Society, the Pallottines.
I didn't have sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice between the Jesuits and Pallottines.
Now I am convinced it was not by chance but by the Divine Providence i chose to become a Pallottine.
In hindsight, I am happy with my decision to join the Pallottines which had led me to know more of you.
It was during the novitiate I read more about you and came to know more:
of your life,
of your activities,
of your charism,
of your ideals and
of your vision for the Church and for the world.
Your saintly life rooted in the deep union with God,
Your life of simplicity and
Your untiring apostolates and activities,
continue to marvel me and
keep challenging me,
inspiring me and even egging me
to emulate you in my life and apostolates.
Oh, saintly Padre Vincenzo,
The mystic in you has always fascinated me and keeps making me wonder about your magic of being a mystic in midst of your manifold apostolates.
Though you neither called yourself a mystic nor claimed yourself to be one,
your very own being and your ways of behaviour and apostolates benevolently betray the mystic in you.
Your constant awareness of the image and likeness of God in you and in the fellow humans and your continuous experience of the same in your personal life is the essence of being a mystic, right?
The mystic in you keeps inviting me to imbibe and embody your deep mystical spirituality with a rare blend of active apostolates.
As I am near seventy I feel drawn to the mystic in you.
According to my ancient, ancestral Indian spiritual heritage every human being, especially the elderly, is strongly recommended to pursue actively, to foster avidly, and embrace gladly the natural yearning of the humans to reduce worldly activities and to begin a life of closer communion with God the Creator. This would ultimately lead to a mystical relation with and an intimate experience of the Divine.
As you know, I have big strides to make and a long way to trudge in imbibing your mystical spirit and emulating your ideals and vision!
Oh, dear saintly Padre Vincenzo,
permit me to peep into your musings:
......... ....... ......
Santo Vincenzo:
"I consider myself truly blessed to have been gifted with fifty-five years life on earth, and that too right in Rome, the cradle of Catholicism. As you know, I was born and brought up just twenty minutes of walk to Vatican! My pious parents who were devoted and dedicated to Jesus and to the Catholic faith did bring me closer to Jesus and to the Blessed Mother. My mother regularly took me to the nearby church of Lorenzo in Damaso, our parish church. I loved to kneel before the statue of the Blessed Mother and pray to make me a good boy.
I was rather slow in studies. So I prayed a Novena to the Holy Spirit as was suggested by our parish priest.
Slowly and steadily,
I began to perform better in my studies.
I was and am glad to be guided by the Holy Spirit and protected by the Lord Jesus and by the Blessed Mother.
Though the people used to call me a 'santarello'.
I don't think I was that holy. I used to have occasional fights with my companions and once I threw a stone at a bullying boy whose face was bruised!
As a pleasant and cheerful young lad, I was a bit quiet, gentle, and reserved. Thus I must have given the impression of being saintly. Just like any other lad of the time I too had my share of struggles. My Mom and Dad were real role models for me. My Dad was an ordinary grocery shop keeper and Mom a very devout house mother. Both of them excelled in their vocation to parenthood. My Dad was a daily church goer and was very active in the parish. My Mom would take me along with other siblings to the many nearby churches in Rome.
From the very childhood on I wanted to be a Capuchin priest as i was fascinated by St. Francis of Assisi. But due to my frail health, Don Fazzini, my spiritual mentor dissuaded me becoming a Capuchin priest. So I joined the Roman Seminary.
My seminary days were academically educative and spiritually enriching. I loved to go the chapel and spend as much time as possible in silence in the grace-filled presence of the Eucharistic Jesus!
It is from these moments of silent adoration and encounter with the Lord that I began to savor the bliss of the deeply personal experience of the Lord and of the Blessed Mother. Slowly but steadily the Lord was guiding to a deeper or mystical awareness of the Divine Presence in me and in other humans.
After my ordination to the holy priesthood I wanted to be all things to all..
Everyday I felt the unworthiness of myself to be an anointed one of the Lord. Besides teaching in the university, I did involve myself in various types of apostolates. Hearing confessions, visiting the sick, the prisoners, and caring for the orphans began to be some of my favourite apostolates.
I wished and wanted:
everyone a Catholic,
every Catholic a good Catholic, and
every good Catholic an Apostle.
They used to call me the apostle of Rome.
I began to perform better in my studies.
I was and am glad to be guided by the Holy Spirit and protected by the Lord Jesus and by the Blessed Mother.
Though the people used to call me a 'santarello'.
I don't think I was that holy. I used to have occasional fights with my companions and once I threw a stone at a bullying boy whose face was bruised!
As a pleasant and cheerful young lad, I was a bit quiet, gentle, and reserved. Thus I must have given the impression of being saintly. Just like any other lad of the time I too had my share of struggles. My Mom and Dad were real role models for me. My Dad was an ordinary grocery shop keeper and Mom a very devout house mother. Both of them excelled in their vocation to parenthood. My Dad was a daily church goer and was very active in the parish. My Mom would take me along with other siblings to the many nearby churches in Rome.
From the very childhood on I wanted to be a Capuchin priest as i was fascinated by St. Francis of Assisi. But due to my frail health, Don Fazzini, my spiritual mentor dissuaded me becoming a Capuchin priest. So I joined the Roman Seminary.
My seminary days were academically educative and spiritually enriching. I loved to go the chapel and spend as much time as possible in silence in the grace-filled presence of the Eucharistic Jesus!
It is from these moments of silent adoration and encounter with the Lord that I began to savor the bliss of the deeply personal experience of the Lord and of the Blessed Mother. Slowly but steadily the Lord was guiding to a deeper or mystical awareness of the Divine Presence in me and in other humans.
After my ordination to the holy priesthood I wanted to be all things to all..
Everyday I felt the unworthiness of myself to be an anointed one of the Lord. Besides teaching in the university, I did involve myself in various types of apostolates. Hearing confessions, visiting the sick, the prisoners, and caring for the orphans began to be some of my favourite apostolates.
I wished and wanted:
everyone a Catholic,
every Catholic a good Catholic, and
every good Catholic an Apostle.
They used to call me the apostle of Rome.
Though I feel honoured,
I wonder whether I deserve it!
I wished and wanted to involve the laity with their active participation and enlist everyone's cooperation in reviving faith and rekindling charity.
I always felt:
'Caritas Christi urget nos'
(The love of Christ urges us)
I wonder whether I deserve it!
I wished and wanted to involve the laity with their active participation and enlist everyone's cooperation in reviving faith and rekindling charity.
I always felt:
'Caritas Christi urget nos'
(The love of Christ urges us)
In essence, the love of Christ for us humans and
our love for Christ form the core of mystical spirituality and experience, don't you think so?
God is love and an image and likeness of this love is imprinted in each one of us.
In the computer language of your present age,
it would be something like a 'Microchip' of God's love is implanted on each of us humans, right?
I wanted to dedicate all my apostolates:
'Ad infinitum Dei gloriam'
I tried to see the image and likeness of God in everyone I met.
I looked forward to go up to Camaldoli Monastery in hilly outskirts of Rome.
I loved the serenity and silence of the place and went as often as possible to spent time in silent reflections and prayer and adoration to replenish my zeal for the Lord.
The faithful in Rome used to refer to me as the second Philip Neri.
Once again i felt honoured.
I kept asking myself whether I deserve it?
I consider myself just an instrument in the hands of Jesus.
I had my share of frustrations and humiliation.
I wanted to dedicate all my apostolates:
'Ad infinitum Dei gloriam'
I tried to see the image and likeness of God in everyone I met.
I looked forward to go up to Camaldoli Monastery in hilly outskirts of Rome.
I loved the serenity and silence of the place and went as often as possible to spent time in silent reflections and prayer and adoration to replenish my zeal for the Lord.
The faithful in Rome used to refer to me as the second Philip Neri.
Once again i felt honoured.
I kept asking myself whether I deserve it?
I consider myself just an instrument in the hands of Jesus.
I had my share of frustrations and humiliation.
The society I had formed was forbidden by the Pope as he was misinformed.
After knowing actual facts the suppression was revoked
The young priests with whom I had shared the rectory often locked up the sacristy and hid the keys!
Well, it did humble me.
The young priests with whom I had shared the rectory often locked up the sacristy and hid the keys!
Well, it did humble me.
I gladly took them all as little crosses.
I am convinced every human being has the innate yearning for the Creator.
I am convinced every human being has the innate yearning for the Creator.
But sadly this constant yearning goes unnoticed by many of us.
I am also convinced that the basic element in developing a mystical awareness of the Divine Presence consists of recognizing and fostering this innate yearning. The abundance of which the Lord envisions for us consists of this constant awareness of awesome majesty as well as utter simplicity of the Divine.The innate human yearning to be in constant touch with the all-loving God and the yearning for the abundance of life go beyond
I am also convinced that the basic element in developing a mystical awareness of the Divine Presence consists of recognizing and fostering this innate yearning. The abundance of which the Lord envisions for us consists of this constant awareness of awesome majesty as well as utter simplicity of the Divine.The innate human yearning to be in constant touch with the all-loving God and the yearning for the abundance of life go beyond
any gender or
any age or
any educational qualifications.
The children or the elderly,
the women or men,
the literate or illiterate,
any and every human being is capable of fostering a mystical awareness and the presence of God.
Be it, Abraham or Elijah,
be, it Miriam or Moses,
be it, David or Nathan,
be it, the blessed Mother or St. Joseph,
be it, the good old Simeon or Prophetess Anna,
be it, Mary or Martha,
be it, you or me,
everyone of us has this gift to be aware of and to experience the mystical presence of God, right?
It is up to us to develop it by constant practice.
All religions, especially the Religions of the East give much importance to the mystical and devotional awareness and approach to the Divine in our daily lives.
I am glad many of you my spiritual children are trying to be in touch with and interested in developing the constant awareness and the presence of the Divine in their daily lives.
Remember:
In that Silent Night, when the Illiterate Shepherds in Bethlehem
The children or the elderly,
the women or men,
the literate or illiterate,
any and every human being is capable of fostering a mystical awareness and the presence of God.
Be it, Abraham or Elijah,
be, it Miriam or Moses,
be it, David or Nathan,
be it, the blessed Mother or St. Joseph,
be it, the good old Simeon or Prophetess Anna,
be it, Mary or Martha,
be it, you or me,
everyone of us has this gift to be aware of and to experience the mystical presence of God, right?
It is up to us to develop it by constant practice.
All religions, especially the Religions of the East give much importance to the mystical and devotional awareness and approach to the Divine in our daily lives.
I am glad many of you my spiritual children are trying to be in touch with and interested in developing the constant awareness and the presence of the Divine in their daily lives.
Remember:
In that Silent Night, when the Illiterate Shepherds in Bethlehem
worshiped the innocent Infant Babe in swaddling clothes, they had the mystical experience of the Messiah, didn't they?
Remember :
When the Three Wise Kings from the East came from afar and worshiped the Babe of Bethlehem, didn’t they have the sublime and mystical experience of the Messiah?
All of them had the instant awareness and experience of the Divine as they gazed at the Babe of Bethlehem!
They were in a sense, little Epiphanies of the mystics who had the awareness and experience of the Divine, weren't they?
They were in a sense, little Epiphanies of the mystics who had the awareness and experience of the Divine, weren't they?
Remember :
When the Roman Centurion who was guarding the lifeless body of Jesus, he spontaneously cried out, 'Surely, he was the Son of God.'
Remeber:
When Mary Magdalene bursts out with one of the best and most spontaneous mystical experiences and expressions when she called out the Risen Lord:
'Rabboni.'
Wasn't this a spontaneous mystical experience of her Master?
Remember :
Remember :
When Thomas the Apostle cried out in ecstasy,
'My Lord and my God'
he had the instant and intense mystical awareness and experience of the Lord, right?
'My Lord and my God'
he had the instant and intense mystical awareness and experience of the Lord, right?
How I wish and want that everyone of my spiritual children is able to have this mystical awareness and experience of the Lord!
And have it constantly!
I shall keep holding you all in my prayers from here in heaven!
The Lord brought me into this world on 21st April 1795 in a small apartment on Via Pellegrino, less than half an hour stroll from St.Peter's Basilica. After spending fifty-five years of humble service in the vineyard of the Lord in and around the Eternal City, the Lord called me back from my small little room attached to the Church of San Salvatore in Onda on via Pettinari just less than fifteen minutes stroll from where I was born!
To go from Via Pellegrino to Via Pettinari, It took a good long fifty-five years to cover a mere distance of fifteen minutes on foot.
It was the pilgrimage of my life!
It was a pilgrimage in search of the eternal and everlasting mystical experience of my God, my Creator, and my Redeemer!
By the way,
don't you remember, while on earth I kept telling,
'In heaven we shall rest'?
Sorry, I have to correct myself:
Even in heaven there is no rest as we are happily busy in relishing the blissful and mystical awareness and experience of our Triune God!"
Your Vincenzo.
Dear Santo Padre Vincenzo,
Thank you for sharing your deep conviction and above all thank you for your life which itself is a marvellous Epiphany of the constant mystical awareness and experience of the Lord!
May we your children keep trying to have similar mystical awareness and experience of the Divine.
As you used to repeat :
'Sempre piu' - always more
And thus we too, in turn,
be Little Epiphanies of the constant mystical awareness and experience of the Lord.
All for: 'Ad infinitum Dei gloriam.'
And always: Sempre piu!
Amen
JoAchen
Friday, August 28th, 2015
Joachenmonologues@gmail.com
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