Fr. Piero Trabucco, IMC
(Father General)

My Dear Missionaries,

On Sunday, November 4, 2001 during a solemn liturgy of Beatification in St. Peter's Square in Rome, Pope John Paul II pronounced the following words: "In Father Paul Manna we see a special reflection of God's glory. He gave his entire life to the cause of the missions. On every page he ever wrote we find the clear image of Jesus as the center of life and the raison d'être of the missions. In a letter to his missionaries Manna writes: 'The missionary is nothing if not the representative of Jesus Christ… Only the missionary who imitates Jesus Christ faithfully… can reproduce His image in others.' (Letter 6). In reality there are no missions without holiness as I stated in the encyclical Redemptoris Missio: 'The Church's missionary spirituality is a journey toward holiness. What is needed is the encouragement of a new "ardor for holiness" among missionaries and throughout the Christian community, especially among those who work most closely with missionaries' (90)."
It was precisely this call to holiness Blessed Paul Manna voiced so insistently that led the General Councils of our Institutes to choose him for our Protector in 2003. For Blessed Paul holiness was an indispensable element of the missionary vocation - his life is exemplary witness to this fact. Although this was the principal motive for our choice there were two other closely related reasons that demonstrate this new Blessed's relevance to our lives as Consolata Missionaries.
1. Paul Manna carried out his vocation and completed his journey of sanctity within an Institute that was exclusively missionary. He lived its life, its spirit and its ideals to the full. He invites each of us to identify completely with the spirit and charism of our Institute. It is the privileged path Providence provides for our life's journey in service to the Church as bearers of the Gospel ad gentes. This is how we will achieve the holiness to which our Blessed Founder calls us.
2. The last General Chapter and the Institute's centenary celebrations urged us to reflect on the ad gentes element with courage and an open mind, eager to learn from the Holy Spirit who guides and accompanies the Church and the missions. Blessed Manna was neither a scholar nor an academic. His life and work took place in the field both on the missions and in Europe but he was always quick to read, study, ask questions in an effort to determine new ways to be a missionary; he sought the most appropriate methodology for proclaiming Christ to the people of his own time. He gives ample witness of the need to accompany apostolic work with constant reflection and examination of the signs of the times - something that goes beyond sympathy for the cultures of those people among whom we work.

WHO IS FATHER PAUL MANNA?

Paul Manna was born in Avellino on January 16, 1872. He was the fifth child of Vincenzo Manna and Lorenza Ruggeri. The Manna family were members of the middle class of Campania which comprised businessmen, traders and politicians. In 1874 his mother, Lorenza, died and the young boy was sent to Naples to live with his uncles. At the age of 10 he came back to Avellino and found a new mother; his father had married a second time. Young Paul's life was untroubled in spite of the somewhat rigid spiritual and moral upbringing that marked the family atmosphere.
He was diligent and committed at school and received high marks - especially in literary and scientific subjects. He spent his summers with two uncles who were priests and who were happy to take care of their nephew. When it came time for the young Paul to make a vocation choice these two uncles were a secure point of reference. In 1887 Paul chose to enter a young German congregation and was sent to Rome to study philosophy and theology. Four years later and after deep reflection he left the Catholic Teaching Society and entered the Institute for Foreign Missions of Milan - his desire to dedicate his life to the missions was still uppermost in his mind. He brought with him a letter of introduction from a Canon in Avellino that stated: "… he is above all a man of excellent morals and I believe he will be a great addition to your seminary."
Once in Milan he prepared himself for the missionary priesthood with passion and dedication. Along with his theological studies he eagerly read all he could about the missions and sought out returned missionaries to hear what they had to say about missionary life. On May 19, 1894 he was ordained to the priesthood in the Milan Cathedral and left for Burma (Myanmar) where he would work as a missionary on October 3, 1895. He spent the first two years studying the language and culture of the people and engaging in genuine apostolic work. His health did not stand up to this intense activity and he suffered repeated bouts of malaria. Within the space of a few years he had to return home three times and on July 4, 1907 he returned definitively. He wrote at the time: "My future is very unclear. So many hopes and plans have come undone; at thirty-five I feel that even in the seminary I am almost useless - an obstacle, a bother to myself and others…" 1
His premature homecoming would not represent a defeat for this zealous missionary - rather a providential turning point.
After a few months of convalescence Father Manna was put in charge of the periodical "Le Missioni Cattoliche." This would be the beginning of his life's work: mission and vocation promotion. He did this work through the press 2 and through the Missionary Union of the Clergy which he established. In 1916 along with Msgr. Guido Maria Conforti, Founder of the Xavierian Missionaries and Bishop of Parma, he presented a plan for the Missionary Union of the Clergy to Pope Benedict XV. Its purpose was to foster a missionary spirit among bishops, priests and consecrated people. The Pope heartily supported the project.
In the early 1920's a new field of endeavor opened up for the dynamic missionary from Avellino: the foundation and direction of the "Southern Seminary for Foreign Missions" at Ducenta in Campania. To launch a missionary vocation project in Southern Italy was a dream he cherished in his heart for more than twenty years.
In 1924 the Institute of the Foreign Missions of Milan celebrated its first General Chapter and Father Manna was elected Superior General. The Chapter represented a moment of special significance for the Institute: it marked the beginning of a process that would terminate with the birth of the P.I.M.E. (Pontifical Institute for the Foreign Missions) which united the two "mission seminaries" in Milan and Rome. Previously they had been simply presided over by a "director" who depended entirely on Propaganda Fide.
During his ten-year term, Father Manna helped draw up the new Constitutions; he welcomed lay brothers into the Institute and he increased the number of houses throughout Italy for recruiting and training future missionaries. He undertook a long and complicated journey to all the missionary foundations outside of Italy. It was during that trip that he conceived the idea of writing "Osservazioni sul metodo moderno di evangelizzazione in Asia" (Observations on the Modern Method of Evangelization in Asia). One of Father Manna's most remarkable projects as Superior General was laying the groundwork for the foundation of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate - the female branch of the Institute.
Ten years later during the second General Chapter Father Manna insisted that a new Superior General be chosen. When he was finally free of this commitment he was able to return to those projects that best suited him. He watched closely over the birth of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and took an active role in promoting the Missionary Union. He collaborated in the growth and development of the Southern branch of the P.I.M.E. and was elected the regional superior. Although his health went into decline, his zeal for the missions did not. He continued to write, publish and make appeals to the Church that it take the missions to heart; he maintained a frequent correspondence with bishops and cardinals for this purpose. In the meantime the illness that had developed over the years won the upper hand. Father Manna died in Naples on September 15, 1952. On June 23, 1961 his remains were translated to "his" seminary at Ducenta. Ten years later the canonical process began which culminated with John Paul's declaration of Blessed Paul Manna on November 4, 2001.

PAUL MANNA - A MASTER OF THE MISSION

I will try to extract from Blessed Paul's voluminous writings those elements of methodology and spirituality that are closest to our IMC charism and tradition. Since agreement among the saints is not to be marveled at, it is no surprise that Blesseds Allamano and Manna have so much in common when it comes to: the missions, the spirituality of missionaries, the needs of an apostolic vocation and how best to serve the missions. In my effort to outline useful guidelines for our missionary spirituality and apostolic work I will follow Manna's writings as closely as possible.

1. The missionary: a life enveloped by Christ
Manna begins with the observation that too often the missions and the apostolate are identified with activity or tasks to be accomplished and the very foundation of the missions - spirituality - is overlooked. For Manna, spirituality, making oneself conform to Christ, is the heart of the apostolic life. He states forcefully, "The missionary must be as another Christ to people without the faith. The missionary is nothing if not an incarnation of Jesus Christ." (Virtù Apostoliche [VA] 90). It is only when he has been transformed in Christ that he can present himself to people as a true apostle. Here are some of his other more striking statements.
"A missionary who holds back, who is reluctant or does not give himself wholly and only to Jesus is a missionary in name only […]. A genuine missionary must live the spirit of Jesus Christ and be able to say with St. Paul: 'For me to live is Christ'" (VA 161).
"The action which the head and the heart perform over the whole body is an example of the vital action which Jesus Christ must perform over your entire spiritual life. He and only He is the principle of your activity; this activity must lead you to think, act, judge, will and suffer all things with Him, in Him and through Him. To the extent that all your actions are external manifestations of the life of Jesus Christ within you. To put it briefly, you must make a reality that ideal of the interior life that was described by the greatest missionary: 'I live now, not I but Christ lives in me' (Ga 2,20)." (Discorso ai partenti, 1925).
"It is said that missionaries are few, but how much fewer are genuine missionaries, missionaries whose entire lives reveal the face of Christ! How can missionaries reveal Christ or imitate Him if He is not the subject of continual meditation? … Only that missionary who faithfully imitates Christ in his own life can say the words of St. Paul to others: 'Make yourselves imitators, as I am, of Christ. Only that missionary can reproduce the image of Christ in the souls of others. Whoever does not do this labors in vain and when his efforts achieve nothing he complains in vain." (VA 91).
"We are united to God through meditation and we become the wondrous channels of His mercy. Let us not deceive ourselves: apostolic zeal - without which we are nothing as missionaries - only pours forth from a heart ablaze with the love of God. When our hearts are united to God in the intimacy of meditation and prayer, it is then that the 'flame will ignite' and our love will give birth to that ingenious, practical, persevering and tireless zeal which marks the authentic apostle of Jesus Christ." (VA 93).

2. Active, yes, but not excessively so!
Missionary zeal burned in the heart of Blessed Manna to the extent that it was a genuine passion. He inculcated this same zeal in his missionaries. He could not conceive of an apathetic or indifferent missionary, one who did not burn with enthusiasm. In spite of this he lays constant emphasis in his writings on the need for balance between apostolic activity and time for study, the demands of community life and prolonged periods of prayer. He understood only too well how easy it was to be consumed by activity which could diminish the effectiveness of the mission and deprive the missionary of everything that was indispensable for his own life. Let us hear these concerns in his own words.
"Our missionaries are sometimes too much missionaries. Their work is too external - too other-oriented. They must learn how to avoid excess and balance the active life with the contemplative life. To put it bluntly, they must balance their outside life visiting the faithful with their life at home, their preaching with prayer life, their work with study. God forbid that I would suggest omitting or neglecting zealous work - I'm talking about the excesses of unbridled activity. Excess is what frightens me and I fear I see this inclination in our young people today." (VA 201).
"This feverish activity in which we invest so much heart and soul, so much energy of body and spirit that must be balanced with the greater recollection and interiority that commitment to community life fosters. It may well be that our activity, our works may not be willed by God or willed exactly as we are carrying them out. I have seen missionaries so absorbed in work and external activities that they fear the solitude of their rooms. They need to be on the go, to be involved in work at all times. When there is nothing to do they seem unaware of the possibility of spending time studying or praying in the quiet of their own rooms." (Ibid.).
"It is sad to see someone go to the missions, throw himself body and soul into work and say goodbye forever to his books - which are abandoned to mould and mices… This missionary is going forward in a slapdash manner. How many mistakes he will make in carrying out his sacred ministry - mistakes for which he must answer to God, mistakes that were the result of culpable ignorance…To say there is no time for study on the missions is to affirm something that is not true… How painful it is to hear the preaching of missionaries who neither study nor prepare their sermons! The same old improvisations and platitudes." (VA 212-213).

3. To save one must suffer
John Paul II indicated the path the Church must follow in this new millennium; he invites us to contemplate the suffering face of Christ and to listen to His words on the Cross: "My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?" (Mt 27,46). The Master's disciples will understand those other words of Jesus: "If someone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." (Mt 16,24). The cross, discipleship and the missions always constitute an indissoluble whole, an enormous challenge for every missionary. Blessed Manna frequently returns to this theme since - as he says - our missions pass through the crucible of so many trials.
Nowadays to be a missionary in Colombia, the Congo, Roraima and any other part of our mission world means that the cross is present not just to be contemplated but to be carried on our shoulders. Let us listen to what Manna says so effectively on this subject.
"Anyone who devotes himself to saving souls must expect suffering - this is especially true of missionaries whose only goal is to provide God and the Church with new children in heathen lands. One does not give birth to children without pain. It was through his death on the cross that Jesus gave us birth into eternal life. It was at the foot of the cross that Mary became our mother. In the supernatural order suffering and even death are often the source of fruitfulness. "If the grain of wheat does not fall to the earth and die it remains alone; if instead it dies it will bear much fruit." (Jn 12,24). To save one must suffer. Those young aspirants and missionaries who do not understand this reality should stay at home - one doesn't save souls without paying a high price." (VA 223-224).
"To the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice!" (1 Pet 4,14). It may seem madness to hope for this but in fact this is the philosophy of the Apostolate - this is plan of God. If we understand this and cooperate by living as holy missionaries we will achieve the final victory. We may not necessarily live to see this victory with our own eyes." (VA 226).
"The daily discomfort, deprivation, inclement weather and sickness missionaries endure to propagate the faith represent a slow martyrdom that is no less meritorious or great in the eyes of God. Had they remained at home they would probably not have faced these sufferings. Read our obituaries. Only one or two have shed their blood for the faith but so many, so very many have spent their life for the faith, drop by drop. How many have sacrificed and shortened their lives worn out by fever or crushed by cruel disease!" (VA 228-229).

4. Obedience, the mother and guardian of all virtues
Our Father Founder always considered obedience the most important of our vows and virtues. Our Constitutions state: "the practical spirit of obedience is the fundamental virtue of our missionary Institute." (Const. 36). This is a reaffirmation of the teaching and orientation of Allamano. We read in the Spiritual Life: "I can never repeat often enough: absolute obedience if you want to be successful missionaries… This must be a virtue, I would say, that is inbred in us. We must make it a habit before we take off for the missions. If this obedience is not present we will accomplish nothing. It would be better not to be missionaries." (VS 344).
A few passages from a long letter on obedience Manna wrote in 1931 reflect the convictions and attitudes our Founder had on this virtue and how to acquire it.
"I want to speak about this because without a serious and convinced spirit of obedience our Institute cannot possibly exist. Neither can our missions prosper nor our common work succeed. This virtue is the great tie of discipline that must unite all of us. It is the hinge on which our work depends. […] Moreover I would like to speak about this virtue because in our times the missionary is more likely to be seen as a zealous, indomitable, courageous soul than as a man of obedience. Certainly the missionary must be a zealous, indomitable and courageous soul; like the soldier he must be a man of valor; frequently he must push his daring, endurance and spirit of sacrifice to the point of heroism - but his obedience, the queen of virtues, is neither zeal, courage nor heroism. He will only be a good missionary, an invincible soldier of Christ, if he is obedient. Courage, self-denial and heroism that are not guided by obedience are often a waste of energy or genuine madness." (VA 252).
"Superiors must take care that our young people learn obedience not just for reasons of faith (I spoke of this earlier) - rather their obedience should be prompt, complete and affectionate." (VA 281).
"We must obey in all things - not just those that please us. We must obey thoroughly and in detail. We are often happy to accept an assignment but unwilling to listen to suggestions or criticism about how to carry it out. This is not virtue - it is amour- propre." (VA 281-282).
"One must obey everyone - not just those superiors who think like us. Whoever obeys only those with whom he agrees is not obeying God but creatures." (Ibid.)
"Finally, one must obey joyfully, affectionately. "God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor 9,7). Obedience in difficult and painful things can only be joyful if it is inspired by faith and love. Love renders the sacrifices of our vocation easy and even desirable. Let it be thus with our obedience." (Ibid).

5. Every missionary Institute is at the service of the Church
An authentic missionary cannot but breathe for the Church. A profound love of Christ and the Church is a characteristic of our vocation. Recent documents on the missions and consecrated life emphasize this principle. Blessed Allamano called this love of the Church and the Supreme Pontiff "attachment." Our Constitutions expand upon this concept: "The missionary must be bound to the Church's work of evangelization and must share ever more closely in this mission. The Institute and each of its members must be distinguished by their love, fidelity, adherence to the Pope and the Bishops and compliance with the directives of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples." (Const. 13).
In his writings Manna insists on the need for the missionary to be completely at the service of the Church. He warns the missionary to avoid turning his own interests elsewhere or limiting his horizons to the concerns of his own Institute. At times his statements are forceful: "Where the missions are stronger, the Church is weaker!" The following thoughts of Manna could serve as an examination of conscience.
"We are Apostles! The apostles had no ulterior motives, their only goal was to serve Jesus Christ. We are Apostles! we roam across vast horizons, we work generously and without self-interest for souls, for the Church and for the kingdom of heaven!" (VA 196).
"For us the mission is never an end in itself: congregational, national or economic interests must never prevail over the interests of God and the Church. This would be a betrayal of our apostolic mission and would delay the establishment of the Kingdom of God. In certain instances emphasizing the careful formation of a local clergy is tantamount to self-destruction… this will not be pleasing to anyone lacking an apostolically pure and disinterested spirit." (Ibid).
"To grow in numbers and expand the field of activity is an innate tendency in Orders and religious Institutes. We share this attitude and it is praiseworthy as long as we do not lose sight of the ultimate goal of all our work: God, the Church, souls. To grow in number and strength, yes, but only to serve better not to dominate." (Ibid).

6. The hope for the harvest rests in the seed
Manna returns repeatedly to the subject of vocations but his New Year's greeting message (January 1, 1930) to missionaries in the field is especially relevant. He gives an overview of Institute's current status and expresses the hope that each missionary assume personal responsibility for reaching the goal of his vocation. He singles out three "woes." Woe - if we slacken our efforts; woe - if the missions turn into an end in themselves; woe - if we abandon daily scrutiny of what can be done, what is being done, what is the best that can be done for God's cause! (VA 176). Within this context he goes on to speak about vocation recruiting and the formation of new missionaries.
"The principal duty of our Institute in Italy and of those Fathers who are obliged to remain here is to recruit and educate numerous and holy Gospel workers. This is the most noble, most difficult and most essential form of apostolic work. Without missionaries there would be no missions. Without many holy, educated and enterprising missionaries souls would not be converted, churches would not be founded. […] My greatest and most heartfelt desire is that everyone engaged in this work accept responsibility for their mission and recognize the importance, delicacy and merit of their work. If it is something great to make new Christians, how much greater to create apostles. This work is absolutely divine." (VA 177).
He emphasizes the fact that the model to be used in forming young missionaries and the foundation of all formation is Jesus.
"Jesus Christ - He is the model which must inform and transform the lives of our aspiring missionaries. He is the light that must illuminate their ideals, the fire which must be ignited in their hearts, the food which must strengthen their souls. We must make our aspirants feel Jesus not just in their intellect but in their hearts and souls as well. Spiritual education must balance intellectual and scientific education; prayer must balance theology." (VA 178).
He recommends the greatest possible diligence in vocation discernment:
"Our Rectors should not feel guilty following strict criteria for accepting postulants nor should they hesitate to dismiss candidates who had been received but then proved unacceptable. Severity is better than indulgence. If discernment is not practiced early enough the Institute will end up with men who are in one way or another lacking. As I said in my circular letter last year - the Institute really doesn't need mediocre men." (VA 180).

7. Let us not place too much importance on money
In all his writings but especially in his brief treatise on the methods of evangelization Manna is both hard and demanding on the subject of how money and other resources are used in the missions. He goes so far as to hope for a sort of economic moratorium on the missions when he writes: "We could almost hope that the missions would receive no help from the outside. It would be a great purification and a decisive step towards establishing an indigenous Church." (Formazione Missionaria, PUM 1988, p.118). This is not a Manichean position that sees only evil and sin in money and material goods. He arrives at this conclusion by examining the mission situation closely from the perspective of evangelical requirements. He treats this theme from two different perspectives: the spiritual and ascetic perspective of missionary formation (detachment) and the pastoral and methodological perspective (authentic growth in the local Church). Here are some passages that spell this out.
"If what we needed to convert the world was money - the Gospel would have told us so. Nowadays there are those who seem to think if we only had money - if we only had unlimited financial resources we could do anything! But when we have a great deal of money and little else - how many demons accompany the money! How often we have seen this in the history of the missions: money and power but little holiness - not only have people not been converted but even the missionaries begin to lose their faith." (VA 170).
"With regard to requests for money for the missions - sometimes high pressure requests - I would recommend other methods - but to make a long story short let me make one suggestion: we should not place too much importance on money as a means for carrying out the apostolate. Let me clarify the expression "too much importance." The Gospel will make little progress if it depends on money as a crutch; there may appear to be advances but this progress is neither lasting nor genuine. Even today souls are converted by the Holy Spirit, through prayer and the holy, penitential life of zealous missionaries; the Gospel makes more progress through the virtue and zeal of neophytes than it does through the work of hired hands. Publicity based on money clips the wings of the Holy Spirit - its effects are as short-term as all other human efforts." (VA 170-171).
"The extent to which preoccupation with money has invaded the thinking of today's missionaries is cause for genuine concern. One begins to worry about it even before leaving for the missions. On the missions we can meet the missionary who is unhappy or dissatisfied with his bishop who, he believes, is not giving him everything he needs. The missionary begins to write to people all over the world, send photographs - perhaps exaggerating the dire situation, in an effort to raise money. And if the money to carry out his projects does not materialize he is discouraged, he can be heard complaining 'without money we can do nothing!'" (Formazione Missionaria, PUM 1988, p. 114).

CONCLUSION

I realize that I have gone on at length quoting from Manna. It is always fascinating to come upon the writings of these great witnesses of the missions … I would recommend that each of our missionaries read these texts during 2003 - especially "Virtù Apostoliche" (Apostolic Virtues) and "Osservazioni sul metodo moderno di evangelizzazione" (Observations on the Modern Method of Evangelization). 3
I entrust each of you as well as your mission work to the intercession of Blessed Allamano and Blessed Manna. Schooled in the "lived theology of the Saints" our vocation will gain in depth and apostolic efficacy.
I greet you fraternally in Our Lady, the Consolata,

P. Piero Trabucco, IMC
(Father General)