FMM Missionary Spirituality

FMM Missionary Spirituality

Part II – Book 11

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Unfolding of the gift of God in the

journey of Mary of the Passion 4

Founding of the Missionaries of Mary 5

Spirituality of Missionaries of Mary 5

Spirituality of the Franciscan

Missionaries of Mary 6

Values and attitudes to live

this spirituality 12

Recent General Chapter Orientations

and Conclusion 13

Endnotes 15

FMM MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY

Introduction

The rediscovery of the contemplative dimension of missionary spirituality appears to be one of the emerging elements in mission in the third millennium.[1] For us Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, our Missionary Spirituality has always been contemplative and its development is directly rooted in the development of the charism God confided to Mary of the Passion. She discovered this in the process of a long journey,lived it and integrated it into the life of the Institute and has left it as a heritage to all those who would embrace the fmm way of life.

This Missionary Spirituality is the gift of Mary of the Passion to the Church.[2] It bore fruit as early as in 1900 when seven fmm’s offered their lives in martyrdom for mission and in 1905 when Sister Assunta offered her life for the people of China. The Church by acknowledging their sanctity has put its seal on the spirituality of the Institute. The beatification of Mary of the Passion in our own times, is a clear sign that the spirituality she lived and offered to the Institute is a great means for all fmms today to reach the goal she set for the Institute.

The decree for the introduction of the cause of beatification of Mary of the Passion says, “Seeking before all and in all, the glory of God, she devoted herself with great solicitude to the spiritual formation of the FMM’s whom she wished to be victims, adorers, missionaries, so that they could continue efficaciously by their life, the mission of the virgin Mary…”[3]

Unfolding of “the Gift of God”

in the journey of Mary of the Passion.

Her journey towards the discovery of this spirituality began with her retreat in 1856 which she calls her conversion. Looking back at it she says, “During Benediction, I was totally overcome by these words, `I will always love you more than you will ever love me`…This love has always remained with me, only God seems beautiful to me.”[4] One experience followed another. In the depth of her heart she heard, “What do you owe me in return for my taking possession of you?” And her answer was “The gift of my entire self”[5]

This gift of self became clearer to her in the experience of 23rd January 1861 at the Poor Clares, Mary victim of Jesus and of Jesus crucified and later in the name she received as a member of the congregation of Marie Reparatrix, Mary of the Passion.

Sent to the Madurai Mission in India, at her Profession she asked for a greater devotion to the Blessed Virgin and she says, “the love of my Immaculate Mother was engraved in my heart for ever.”[6]

In 1871 with the effort to unify Italy, Victor Emmanuel laid siege to the Papal States, in view of taking away the temporal power of the Pope. At that time the Pope declared himself “Prisoner in the Vatican. Hence Mary of the Passion offered herself to God to break Peter’s chains.

Later regarding the question of closing the Reparatrix community in Madurai, she wrote to Mother Mary of Jesus “Your little Passion,…she is capable of suffering everything to keep Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Madurai,”[7] A few days later, she again wrote, “…Even at the price of the Cross, keep Adoration in the Missions. If we do only that, I will say, Mother, leave Our Lord his altars in Madurai.”[8]

Founding of the Missionaries of Mary

Divine providence led her to a new path of founding the of the Missionaries of Mary in 1877 and in 1882 she was led back to Francis, “who gave back to earth the reign of the Gospel.”[9] The time, from her entry into the Poor Clare’s in 1860 to the Franciscan adoption in 1882 was a period of gestation where the aspects of the charism were formed in the contemplative heart of Mary of the Passion.

The decree of the Holy See approving the Institute in 1885 affirms that “greatest praise is due to this Institute and its special work of devotion towards Foreign Missions”[10] Already in 1877, in the first plan of the Institute she wrote, “…the Institute…pledging itself to make foundations wherever the Holy See may desire, since the aim of the Institute makes it universal”[11]

Spirituality of the Missionaries of Mary

With the lived experience of mission, Mary of the Passion set out to form her sisters for mission. In the first Constitutions,

Article 1 gives the general aim of the Institute – the imitation of our Lord.

Article 2 gives the special aim:

“As our Lord Jesus Christ became man and immolated Himself on the Cross for the salvation of mankind, the sisters missionaries of Mary will dedicate themselves to expiation and apostolate as far as their state permits, offering themselves as victims for the Church and for souls. According to the Holy See they will establish themselves even in the most dangerous and remote Foreign Missions.”

Article 3 gives the special path:

Our Blessed Lady was the most perfect imitator of her Divine Son. She should, therefore, be her missionary daughters’ special path to go to our Lord, to imitate Him and give Him to souls.

Article 5 speaks of the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

In order to imitate Our Lady in her life of companionship with our Lord Jesus Christ, the sisters Missionaries of Mary are dedicated to daily adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed…”

The above three articles sum up the convictions of Mary of the Passion, in the language and the theology of her times and they motivated and instilled in the fmm a spirit of self emptying and self giving in working for God’s reign. With Vatican II and in the light of the renewal taking place in the Church the Institute reflected on the fmm charism at the General Chapter of 1972-73. After six years of lived experience on those reflections expressed in the Chapter Document 1972-73,the Constitutions were updated at the General Chapters of 1978 – 79 and 1984.

The Spirituality of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary

The core elements of this spirituality are found in Article 2 of our present Constitutions:

“Our charism which God confided to Mary of the Passion

commits us to follow Christ as He gave himself up to the Father for the salvation of the world in the mystery of his Incarnation and his Pasch;…”

Our vocation is situated in the mission of God and in the dynamic relation of love between the Father and the Son to accomplish God’s plan. In the formula of vows “Following Christ in the Spirit, I give myself unreservedly to the Father…” we commit ourselves to enter into this relationship of love with the Father and Son for the same purpose. The spirit with which we live our vocation is therefore the spirit of the Son who said, “Behold I come to do your will” all through His life.

Through the contemplative gaze on the Father Jesus learnt the Father’s will which embraced the whole of His life from the moment of “behold I come to do your will” to the “Into your hands I commend my Spirit.” Contemplation of the Father’s design actualized in Christ’s offering of Himself to the Father out of love is central in our following of Christ. Our offering too embraces the whole of our life in an on-going and unconditional YES to the Divine plan for the salvation of the world.

Two particular moments in Christ’s life are considered as fundamental, namely, the Incarnation and Pasch. They are of special significance for our spirituality as they reveal the depth of the offering in humility and abandonment in the self-emptying and self-giving of Christ. By Incarnation He embraces the Father’s project,does not cling to divinity and lets Himself be an ordinary human person, incullturating Himself in humanness As missionaries, ready to be sent anywhere, at any time, the incarnation of Christ becomes our pattern, ready to follow the Father’s call, letting go of our own plans to the extent of total self-emptying. Like Him we want to go with an open heart, embracing the other without conditions.

The Pasch (passion, death and resurrection) is the culmination/consequence of His public life. In spite of putting his life at the service of the people, especially the poor, those on the periphery, he is rejected, misunderstood etc. Yet He continues to give Himself, as “bread broken” and “wine poured out” because of His love for the Father and the people. His was an unconditional offering.

This offering is actualized in the mystery of the Eucharist and each time we participate in it, uniting our offering to His, we join in His self-offering for the life of the world. As we participate in the Eucharistic sacrificial Communion, He shares His life with us; remains present within us, enabling us in our turn to become “bread broken” and “wine poured out.” continuing His mission.

“The Eucharist, the memorial of the Lord’s sacrifice, the heart of the life of the Church and of every community, fashions from within the renewed offering of one’s existence, the project of community life and the apostolic mission…We need it to bring every day life into sacred time which is made present in celebration of the Lord’s memorial.”[12]

Our dedication to Eucharistic Adoration renews the offering made at the celebration. Contemplating the Christ present in the Eucharistic Host, gradually leads us to put on His heart and mind, energizing us in becoming a “Host” of praise, thanks and intercession.

In the words of the orientation of the General Chapter of 1990

“May our whole life become Eucharist, celebrated, adored, lived …

May our “Passion for the Eucharist” commit us to a radical offering of ourselves…

May our community gathered around Christ, Word and bread, become authentic communion, a joyful and credible sign of the Kingdom…

May our missionary service draw from the Eucharist a new dynamism for the transformation of the world in a Franciscan spirit.”[13]

In his Passion, Suffering and Death on the Cross his self-offering becomes complete. Mary of the Passion wanted our offering to be in union with his Passion, suffering and death “in order to plead the cause of the Church and of souls which is above all else our raison d’être, our special vocation.”[14]

The living out of this spirituality is placed in the context of the letter to the Romans (Ch.12:1) and the Colossians(Ch1:24). It invites us to live our offering as aliving sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God, and includes the cross in our life to actualize the mission already accomplished by Christ. The cross brings fecundity to the mission as in the case of Mary of the Passion and the valiant missionaries who sowed the seeds of God’s reign for the Church in the far away places.

The General Chapter of 2002 has appealed to us to “revitalize our encounter with Jesus Christ,

live as women disciples

passionately in love with Christ,

simpletransformed by the Word.”[15]

The formula of vows confirms this spirituality that springs from the offering.

I offer my life for the Church and the salvation of the world, I dedicate myself to the Eucharistic adoration and the evangelization of peoples.”

Article 2 continues:

This charism is lived in the fundamental attitude

that was Mary’s in her Ecce and Fiat: she offered her whole being in complete and loving disponibilityin faith and humble service, so that the Spirit might carry out the Father’s work in her.”

The surrendering “Ecce” of Mary opened a complete new path for her life. She let herself be led by the Spirit to accomplish the Father’s plan for her and in her. She closely followed her son, and became his first disciple offering her life along with him.Mary’s spirituality was nothing but, “behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Thy Word.” She lived it at every moment of her life, in the joys and struggles of everyday life and in the painful moments of her son’s life.

“Behold the servant of the Lord” is the spirituality, Mary of the Passion proposes to us, as we give ourselves unreservedly to the Father after the example of Mary. It is the way of life of a servant, who waits on the master, wanting only his will. There are no claims, but only a readiness in obedience to fulfill God’s will.“Behold the servant of the Lord” embraces our whole being in every situation, in every stage of life, be it sickness or health, be it here or there, where the good pleasure of the Lord has need.“Behold the servant of the Lord” is an invitation to a life of faith, in the poverty, simplicity and humility of Nazareth.“By imitating her life, hidden, yet full of zeal for the glory of God and salvation of souls, we shall fulfill the purpose of the Institute’s existence.”[16]

Article 36 gives us the specific way of carrying out our mission in the Church

“Sent in our turn and dedicated to universal

mission in accordance with our priorities,

we commit ourselves to this mission in the Church in a specific way,surrendering our lives like Mary in complete disponibility, and drawing our apostolic dynamism from the Eucharist.”

The radicality of Mary’s surrender in complete disponibility and the offering of Christ in the Eucharist for humanity dominate our spirituality of mission.

In Francis, Mary of the Passion found the radical person, who for the sake of God renounced everything he had, became poor and minor, to follow the path of Jesus. She found, that this spirit of Francis “God and God alone”[17]expressed the deepest longing of her heart. Besides she found in Francis a man who lived the whole Gospel by following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and she wanted to lead her sisters to the spirit of the Gospel[18] Hence she inserted the whole spirituality of the Institute within the Franciscan Spirit. She prayed:

“…grant that I may be chosen to follow the Franciscan path, which is that of the Gospel; grant that I may glory in having been chosen to take my place among the simple, the little ones, the meek and the humble…”[19]

Inserting our spirituality into the Franciscan way, we have been led to give praise to God who is good, to exalt Him by our deeds, to become pilgrims free to live the Gospel, follow in the footsteps of Christ and making this experience available to all, as brothers and sisters by the witness of our life.

This missionary spirituality is an outcome of contemplation and flows into every aspect of one’s life, making the missionary first and foremost a living witness of God’s love.

Concretization of this spirituality is seen in life when we renounce ourselves and everything that up to this point we considered as our own, and make ourselves everything to everyone. This we do by poverty which sets us free for the Gospel, overcoming attachment to people, places and things about us, so that we may become a brother and a sister to those to whom we are sent and thus bring them Christ the savior… “To the weak I became weak…I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel…” (1Cor.9:22-23)[20]

Values and attitudes to live this spirituality:

Some basic values and attitudes are necessary to live this spirituality.

Faith and trust in the God who loves us and calls us to fulfill His plan are fundamental.

Contemplation is an indispensable value in the life of a missionary.

An openness to search for God’s will and surrendering to it makes us ready for necessary disappropriation and frees us to set our hearts on Christ and His mission. “Courage, perseverance, and the strength necessary to hold our ground in mission, the risk even of losing our life, give back to the Cross its full place in our lives as the path that leads to resurrection,”[21]is the plea of the General Chapter 2002.

It makes us to be dependent on God, and interdependentin our relationship with others.

Communion, lived in our intercultural communities is of great value and is an essential part of our mission as it witnesses to our universal inclusiveness and openness to the diversity of the Reign of God.

Simplicity, poverty and humility will mark our life. We will be living beatitudesready to live and give life for others.

The spirit of joy, simplicity, poverty and minority will help us to approach others with a humble heart.

Recent General Chapter Orientations and conclusion

The General Chapter of 1978 – 79 in updating the Constitutions and in giving a spiritual orientation to each Chapter has placed the FMM life in a contemplative context.

Subsequent General Chapter’sorientations in responding to the needs of our times have also spelt out our specific ways of living our universal mission today.