A Simple Tool - Holy Cross Institute
A Simple Tool - Holy Cross Institute
A Simple Tool - Holy Cross Institute
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“A SIMPLE TOOL”<br />
The Mission and Message<br />
of<br />
Father Basil Moreau<br />
Brother Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
Editor<br />
__________________<br />
Rome - 1998
“A SIMPLE TOOL”
This work is dedicated to<br />
vocation promoters and formators,<br />
whose lives and ministries are tools<br />
shaping the future of the<br />
Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.
TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />
FOREWORD .................................................................................................................................................................. i<br />
Claude Grou, C.S.C.<br />
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................iii<br />
THE MAN AND HIS TIMES<br />
THE WORLD IN WHICH BASIL MOREAU LIVED............................................................................... 6<br />
Jean Proust, C.S.C.<br />
FATHER BASIL MOREAU AS A PERSON........................................................................................... 14<br />
Jacques Grise, C.S.C.<br />
BASIL MOREAU: MAN OF GOD ............................................................................................................ 23<br />
Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C.<br />
SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY OF FATHER BASIL MOREAU ................................................................ 29<br />
Jacques Grise, C.S.C.<br />
DISCOVERING A MAN THROUGH HIS HANDWRITING ................................................................ 41<br />
Gerald Dionne, C.S.C and Jacques Grise, C.S.C.<br />
BASIL MOREAU: THE SEVEN YEARS OF HIS RETIREMENT 1867-1873 .................................... 49<br />
Graziella Lalande, C.S.C.<br />
SPIRITUALITY FOR APOSTOLIC RELIGIOUS LIFE<br />
A REFLECTION ON BASIL MOREAU’S SENSE OF MISSION......................................................... 66<br />
Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
LEADERSHIP STYLE OF REV. BASIL MOREAU ............................................................................... 72<br />
Mary Kay Kinberger, M.S.C.<br />
HOLY CROSS: A PATH OF EVANGELICAL WITNESS AND EXPERIENCE ................................ 96<br />
Gerald Dionne, C.S.C.<br />
FATHER MOREAU AND PREFERENTIAL SERVICE OF THE POOR........................................... 110<br />
Graziella Lalande, C.S.C.<br />
THE FAMILY OF HOLY CROSS<br />
FOUNDER AND FATHER MODEL, INTERCESSOR AND FRIEND .............................................. 126<br />
Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C.<br />
SOME NOTES ON COLLABORATION ................................................................................................ 133<br />
Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
SOLIDARITY AND INTERNATIONALITY: HERITAGE AND FUTURE FOR HOLY CROSS .. 140<br />
Aline Marie Steuer, C.S.C.<br />
THE CHARISM OF HOLY CROSS ........................................................................................................ 151<br />
Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.
FOREWORD<br />
Father Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, was born in Laigné-en-<br />
Belin, France, in 1799. The first part of this anthology provides a good view of the setting in<br />
which he grew up. It was the era immediately following the French Revolution,<br />
understandably therefore, in a troubled social and ecclesial context. The Church in France<br />
faced important challenges and sought to cope with a society in search of equilibrium after a<br />
period of instability and change.<br />
In this period of history when the Church was being questioned, the Moreau family remained<br />
faithful to the Church. Basil Moreau grew up during this time of transition and chose to<br />
serve the Church by becoming a priest. The Diocese of Le Mans destined him to be directly<br />
involved in the formation of future priests. He was given the opportunity to prepare himself<br />
spiritually and intellectually through studies at the Sulpician school in Paris. It was in this<br />
context that the quality of his spiritual journey became more apparent. He was imbued with<br />
Ignatian and Sulpician spiritualities, very much interested in Scripture, and strongly<br />
influenced by the teachings of Saint Paul.<br />
On his return to Le Mans, Father Moreau, though very actively involved in his ministry at the<br />
seminary, helped in the neighboring parishes. He gathered a group of priests to work with<br />
him in the task of evangelization. In 1835, however, a particular incident was to mark the<br />
rest of his life. He was asked to take responsibility for the Brothers of Saint Joseph, a small<br />
group founded by Father Jacques François Dujarié. In accepting this new challenge, Moreau<br />
began the Association of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. His dream was to found a religious congregation of<br />
priests, brothers and sisters. The work which he began continues today through one<br />
congregation of Priests and Brothers, and three congregations of Sisters.<br />
The foundation of the Association of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> enabled Father Moreau to broaden his<br />
sphere of activity. He was now prepared to meet new challenges and anxious to address the<br />
needs of the Church in other countries. The work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> spread to four continents<br />
within the first fifteen years of its foundation.<br />
Moreau often said that the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was God’s own work. However, this work is<br />
also in the image of the one who founded it. Father Moreau was truly an educator in the<br />
faith; thus, he transmitted to the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> the will to be educators in the faith.<br />
As a man of action and apostolic commitment, his zeal inspired the Church.<br />
The life and work of Moreau deserve to be better known. For several years, I have wanted to<br />
see the fruits of the research and reflection done by many members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, on the<br />
person, life, thoughts and works of Father Moreau, published in a single volume. Reflection<br />
on Moreau’s life and work has been particularly stimulating during the past twenty years,<br />
especially through the sessions on our heritage organized by the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
These sessions have been significant in helping to create greater interest in the spiritual<br />
i
heritage of Father Moreau and <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Many of the articles in this anthology were first<br />
presented as conferences during those sessions. Other articles have been prepared explicitly<br />
for this publication. This anthology meets a need, often expressed by the women and men of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, to have material for reflection on Moreau’s life and teaching in contemporary<br />
language. There was also a desire to have texts which deal with the concerns of the men and<br />
women of our time. This anthology is therefore addressed first to the members of the <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> Family. However, in my opinion, these texts can be of interest to many others also.<br />
Those who are associated with our works in different ways, will find in reading the contents a<br />
better understanding of the spiritual thrust that impels <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
I want to express my appreciation to the Marianite Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> who, through the<br />
international heritage sessions, have sustained the interest of the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in<br />
this heritage. I wish to thank Brother Joel Giallanza for his patience as editor. I also want to<br />
thank the women and men who have worked together in spreading the Reign of God.<br />
This anthology will enable readers to better understand Moreau’s life and work, as well as the<br />
lives and works of those men and women who have chosen to join this religious family in the<br />
service of the Lord.<br />
Claude Grou, C.S.C.<br />
Superior General<br />
ii
INTRODUCTION<br />
Members of the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> around the world have often asked for an anthology of<br />
writings about Father Moreau, his life and his teachings. Such an anthology could serve as a<br />
resource for vocation promotion and formation, individual study, prayer and reflection,<br />
community discussions, and retreats. This present collection of writings is an initial response<br />
to that request.<br />
This book reflects the progress within Moreau studies in recent years. The articles represent<br />
a variety of perspectives: historical, biographical, analytical, theological, and spiritual. These<br />
perspectives are not mutually exclusive; rather, they speak of the complexity and breath of<br />
vision of the person to whom the men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> look as the founder of their<br />
religious family.<br />
Each of the authors who contributed to this volume has been involved in some aspect of<br />
Moreau studies and research.<br />
Father Thomas Barrosse, former superior general and member of the Sacred Heart Vice-<br />
Province, was instrumental in making Father Moreau more widely known, studied, and<br />
appreciated throughout the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Father Barrosse’s death in Bangladesh in<br />
1994 was a genuine loss to contemporary Moreau scholarship.<br />
Brother Gérard Dionne, of the French-Canadian Province of Brothers, has examined Father<br />
Moreau’s person and teaching from a variety of perspectives. During his years as a general<br />
assistant, he contributed significantly to the research and documentation required for the<br />
cause of Father Moreau’s beatification. Brother Gérard resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.<br />
Father Jacques Grisé, of the French-Canadian Province of Priests, is the former general<br />
archivist for the congregation and the current assistant archivist for the province. His<br />
research, writings and conferences on Moreau’s life and spirituality, and his work for the<br />
cause of Moreau’s beatification have been of benefit to many members within the Family of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Father Jacques resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.<br />
Sister Mary Kay Kinberger is the Congregational Leader for the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
She has explored many ways of making contemporary applications of Father Moreau’s<br />
perspectives and practices as a religious leader. Because her present ministry demands<br />
extensive travel, Sister Kay divides her time between New Orleans, Louisiana, United States<br />
and Le Mans, France.<br />
Sister Graziella Lalande, of the Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, is a former assistant superior general.<br />
She has been involved in Moreau studies and research for many years. Her teachings and<br />
writings clearly demonstrate the caliber of scholarship with which she has worked to make<br />
iii
Father Moreau better known and understood. Sister Graziella resides in Montreal, Quebec,<br />
Canada.<br />
Father Jean Proust, of the French Province, is an avid student of French history and<br />
particularly of the geographical areas in which Father Moreau lived and worked. His<br />
continuing studies are facilitated by his residence and ministry as assistant pastor at the<br />
church which Moreau built for the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, in Le<br />
Mans, France.<br />
Sister Aline Marie Steuer is a general councilor for the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Sister<br />
Aline Marie brings the richness and wisdom of her experiences as a missionary and an<br />
administrator to her reflections on the implications and challenges of living the tradition of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, for today and tomorrow. Sister Aline Marie resides at St. Mary’s, Notre Dame,<br />
Indiana, United States.<br />
In addition to these authors, several others made an indispensable contribution to this<br />
publication, and to them I want to express a very special word of appreciation and gratitude.<br />
Father Claude Grou, superior general, was generous in his support and encouragement<br />
throughout the development of this project. I thank him also for writing the foreword to this<br />
volume. The task of assuring accurate translations was generously accepted and<br />
accomplished by Sister Rollande Bastien, Brother Gérard Dionne, Father Jacques Grisé,<br />
Father Bernard Lafrenière, and Sister Laura Therrien. Brother Edward Dailey provided<br />
valuable assistance with the electronic transmission and retrieval of documents. Father<br />
Robert Morin, with his customary finesse and expertise, designed the cover and guided the<br />
entire printing and publication process. I am truly grateful for the generosity and giftedness<br />
of these religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
“A <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Tool</strong>”<br />
Shortly after mid-year in 1841, Father Moreau saw his original vision of the Family of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> becoming a reality. The brothers and priests were growing and expanding in numbers<br />
and in geography, and the first sisters were in the novitiate preparing for profession and for<br />
the mission on which they would soon be sent. Much had happened in the six years since he<br />
had become the superior of the Brothers of Saint Joseph and had founded the Auxiliary<br />
Priests.<br />
On September 1, 1841, Father Moreau wrote his important circular letter 14, presenting an<br />
overview of the characteristics and quality of religious commitment and mutual relationships<br />
essential to the continued integrity and effectiveness of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Near the opening of that<br />
letter he describes himself with an image which clearly reveals his understanding of his own<br />
role in the evolution of this religious family.<br />
Far from me be the thought of attributing to myself the merit of the truly<br />
providential works which have just arisen under my direction. After God, who<br />
alone is the author of all good, it is to the devotedness of my confreres and to<br />
iv
your own that we owe what can be seen today at Sainte-Croix which astounds<br />
everybody. I have been but a simple tool which the Lord will soon break that<br />
He may substitute for it others more worthy. In His plan they are to develop<br />
or, at least, to solidify what I have begun. In the midst of the most painful<br />
trials, I have never lost hope in Providence or in your fidelity to the sublime<br />
vocation which God has given you.<br />
A simple tool who remained selflessly committed to the good and growth of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> - and<br />
of its individual members - throughout his life. At the beginning, six years earlier in his first<br />
circular letter, Moreau promises that he “will stop short of no sacrifice when your welfare or<br />
the glory of your institute is at stake”. He never did stop short when confronted with<br />
sacrifice. At the end, twenty-five years later in his last circular letter, he promises that the<br />
members can “count always on my devotedness to the Congregation”. His devotion never<br />
wavered.<br />
The strength to fulfill these promises remained firmly rooted in God’s fidelity to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
and in the individual members’ fidelity to their vocation in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. For his part and from<br />
his perspective, Father Moreau was merely a tool to be used for a time.<br />
A simple tool who, by God’s grace, fashioned an astounding work, the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
It is our privilege and our responsibility to be a part of that work. May the present volume be<br />
a tool for us to explore yet deeper the rich heritage which graces this work of God called<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
11 February 1998<br />
199 th Anniversary of Basil Moreau’s Birth<br />
v
In the aftermath of the French Revolution<br />
THE WORLD IN WHICH<br />
BASIL MOREAU LIVED<br />
By Jean Proust, C.S.C.<br />
When Basil Moreau was born, February 11, 1799, France had just gone through - and was<br />
barely finished - ten years of revolution. To understand the mentality of the French people in<br />
the 19th century, it is important to recall the tragedies which they had witnessed and had been<br />
victims of during those ten years. The trauma caused by the Revolution remained with French<br />
Catholics for many years. The memory of destruction, upheaval, persecution will haunt their<br />
minds and re-emerge during the other revolutions - 1830, 1848, even 1871.<br />
Le Mans was not spared by the turmoil. In 1793, the year of the king’s execution, the<br />
European coalition against France, the reign of Terror, ended for Le Mans in a bloody battle:<br />
the “Vendéens” army (counter-revolutionaries from western France) was crushed by<br />
Republican troops sent from Paris. In full rout, this army passed across the La Sarthe and<br />
Mayenne departments (the region of Le Mans) leaving behind thousands of dead.<br />
The poor people could barely survive. Frequently, starving people came from the woods and<br />
attacked travelers, invaded markets or looted castles. The people had been particularly<br />
wounded by the rivalries between priests who had taken the oath to the Civil Constitution of<br />
the Clergy and those who had not, 1 and by the fate reserved to the latter. In many parts of La<br />
Sarthe riots erupted. As people suffered during the Revolution, it was the clergy,<br />
proportionately, who suffered most. There were 900 priests in the diocese of Le Mans; they<br />
were divided in two camps, almost of equal number: those who had taken the oath and those<br />
1<br />
Before the French Revolution became violent, the “États Généraux” began to meet in Versailles on May 4,<br />
1789 to promulgate a Constitution. No one was against the Church: many priests favored a “Revolution”. On the<br />
night of August 4, the clergy agreed to relinquish their privileges, their possessions were offered spontaneously<br />
to the “nation”. But on October 18, under the pretext of reforming the monasteries, religious vows were<br />
abolished. The situation worsened. On July 12, 1790, the National Assembly was committing what has been<br />
called “its biggest political mistake”, that is, voting a Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The intention was to<br />
reorganize and renovate the Church of France; but this was done without consulting the Pope, from whom many<br />
rights were taken away, among them the right to choose bishops or confirm their nomination. King Louis XVI<br />
suspended the promulgation of this Constitution until the Pope (Pius VI) had given his opinion. But when the<br />
Pope delayed, the king signed. Then in March and April 1791, Pius VI condemned the Civil Constitution of the<br />
Clergy and declared null all episcopal appointments that had been made. But already the Assembly had decided<br />
to force all priests to pledge an oath to the new Constitution under the threat of losing their functions and being<br />
sued by law. Thus the division of the clergy between those having the oath and those not. There followed the<br />
persecutions against those priests who refused to take the oath of fidelity to this Constitution condemned by the<br />
Pope.<br />
6
who had refused. Many of the latter, following their bishop, Jouffroy-Gonssans, immigrated<br />
to foreign countries.<br />
In 1792, 150 priests were put in jail at the Le Mans Mission and later were taken, like galley<br />
slaves, to Angers and Nantes, and from there deported to Spain. In 1798, there was a second<br />
deportation of 55 priests to Rochefort, La Rochelle and the Isle of Ré. Forty-two priests were<br />
guillotined, massacred, or died in exile. Some abandoned the priesthood and married. Many<br />
hid themselves and exercised their ministry underground. Finally, in 1801, with the concordat<br />
between the Church and Napoleon when some exiled priests returned, the diocese of Le Mans<br />
numbered 300 priests, 150 who had taken the oath and 150 who had not. So, two out of three<br />
priests had disappeared since 1789 when they were 900 in the diocese.<br />
The people could not but remember the repeated attacks against religion and the priests, the<br />
sacrileges for which no one was punished. This was enough to tempt them to completely<br />
change their traditional religious beliefs! Bewildered by the division among the clergy, the<br />
Christians who had become accustomed to the lack of pastoral ministry were tempted to<br />
discontinue their religious practice. Such practice was diminishing everywhere; in some<br />
regions of France, it was very low. In Paris, many children were dying without have been<br />
baptized and the proportion of children who had been taught catechism was less than 30% in<br />
some poor suburbs. Around 1825, it was calculated that one out of eight Christians in Paris<br />
practiced their faith with any regularity. In La Sarthe, the revolutionaries who had been<br />
fighting religion within the diocese of Le Mans, were still hostile to the Church.<br />
It is known that the horrors committed by the revolutionaries were considered by Catholics as<br />
a chastisement sent by God because France had followed the anti-religious ideas of 18thcentury<br />
philosophers and especially the anti-clericalism of Voltaire. These ideas were still<br />
spread among the “bourgeoisie” (the middle class). The 19th century thus developed the idea<br />
of reparation. Parish priests and retreat preachers emphasized the judgment coming from<br />
heaven through these revolutions, and individual judgment at the moment of death,<br />
brandishing the threat of eternal damnation. From this appeared new devotions, or traditional<br />
ones took on special meaning, highlighting the suffering which the romantic thrust of the<br />
time amplified.<br />
The 19th century, however, is also a period of reparation in the sense of religious restoration<br />
and reconstruction. Many families remained deeply Christian (as did Fr. Moreau’s) and were<br />
a source of vocations to the priesthood and religious life directed toward the renewal of<br />
Christian life. In general, it can be said that the 19th century, entangled in a past which was<br />
tearing it apart, was a great Catholic century with impressive vitality and creativity.<br />
Political aspect<br />
The Revolution delivered a deadly blow to the principles upon which States were founded to<br />
that point. To the aristocratic and monarchic system was now opposed the democratic ideal.<br />
The authority of divine right, transmitted by birth, was replaced by the authority coming from<br />
7
popular free choice. The political history of nations in the 19th century was dominated by the<br />
struggle between these two principles or systems.<br />
France saw the succession of many governments. After the transition of the Consulate, of<br />
which Napoleon became the first Consul (1799-1804), there was a return to absolute power<br />
with the First Empire (1804-1814), followed by the Restoration of the monarchy (1815 to<br />
1830). The word “restoration” itself says well what was happening. Louis XVIII, the new<br />
king, entered Paris on July 8, 1815. He reigned until his death in September 1824, trying to<br />
grant the demands of the electors but not without difficulty. Charles X, his brother, succeeded<br />
to the throne. He was more intransigent regarding the powers of the king, thereby bringing<br />
about the July 1830 revolution.<br />
Louis-Phillippe, who had voted for the death of his cousin, Louis XVI, succeeded Charles X.<br />
He is called the “bourgeois” king and his reign could be described as a republican monarchy.<br />
But this does not prevent him from loosing his throne in the 1848 revolution. He abdicates on<br />
February 24, 1848. Until December 2, 1852 France experiences a revolutionary period which<br />
does not have the bloody side so evident in 1789. This period leads to the Second Empire and<br />
the reign of Napoleon III. At first, the Empire is quite authoritarian; then, from 1864, more<br />
liberal; finally, it became parliamentary in January 1870. A few months later, on September<br />
4, the Empire collapses as German troops invade the country.<br />
Another, brief, revolutionary period followed the fall of the Empire. This was particularly<br />
true in Paris where, beginning on March 18, there was an uprising which was crushed at the<br />
end of May. The revolutionary party, which almost restored the monarchy, then lost its<br />
leaders. In 1875, a new Republic was organized which was politically stable until 1940.<br />
By tradition and conservative spirit, and due to the anticlericalism of those who wanted a<br />
republic, the majority of Church authorities and Catholics did not like the new political<br />
changes. Thus Catholics are suspected of being against the republic and for the<br />
reestablishment of the monarchy. They are henceforth considered mediocre or bad citizens.<br />
As a result, the Church and religion in general, in 19th-century France, suffered considerably<br />
and lost much prestige.<br />
Economic and Social aspects<br />
The 19th century also saw the first industrial revolution with the use of coal, steam and steel.<br />
In spite of the fact that France was a traditionally agricultural country, it could not but be<br />
influenced by this industrial mutation. In 1814, the country was still essentially agricultural.<br />
Of the 29 million inhabitants, 21 million were still living from their work in agriculture.<br />
Having begun in 1817, the industrial revolution continues until the middle of the century. The<br />
city of Le Mans, during the first half of the century and long after, remained the head of an<br />
essentially agricultural region. This city is really a big village with its fairs and markets where<br />
regional products, some with excellent reputations, were brought to be sold.<br />
8
In the countryside, life was hard. Peasants sustained themselves with black bread, vegetables,<br />
a little pork and cheese. Wheat, chickens and meat in general were sold at the markets and<br />
served as staples for city dwellers.<br />
The candle and the wool fabrics factories, which gave Le Mans its reputation before the<br />
Revolution, had almost completely disappeared. This meant unemployment for hundreds of<br />
workers. However hemp fabrics were developing and the postal and transportation services<br />
prospered. The commercial activity of the city was helped by the creation of a network of<br />
roads throughout the department and by works being done to generate navigation on the La<br />
Sarthe river. This explains the development of several transportation enterprises which<br />
connected Le Mans to Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux and Rouen.<br />
Agricultural goods and cattle were thus shipped to Great Britain and even to the United<br />
States.<br />
The construction industry, which followed the growth in population, ranked second after<br />
textiles. Other specialized industries appeared: a foundry in Saint-Pavin in 1841, the Bollée<br />
bell factory in Sainte-Croix in 1842, etc. The city also organized its financial institutions.<br />
The poor constituted about one-fourth of the city’s population. These people gathered in the<br />
lower sections of the city and even in Sainte-Croix, living in conditions which lacked any<br />
hygiene. Victims of undernourishment and alcoholism, the poor could not resist epidemics.<br />
The death rate was high: more than 22 in every 1000. Weavers especially were affected. They<br />
worked as a family, or at home, 14 to 16 hours a day, for a very low salary, lower than that of<br />
farm or construction workers. The birth rate was higher than deaths because there were many<br />
illegitimate births (33% in 1844). The population in Le Mans is thus increased artificially<br />
because the city received all the abandoned babies within the department.<br />
In 1846, bad weather affected wheat and other cereal crops. The price of bread doubled and<br />
more people were starving. This agricultural crisis caused an industrial crisis as well. The<br />
textile industry almost shut down and thousands of workers were left without employment. A<br />
year later, the construction industry was affected. The revolution in February 1848 increased<br />
unemployment yet more because the economic crisis was intensified by a general lack of<br />
confidence among the people.<br />
The Church in France: The Diocese of Le Mans<br />
Reestablished in 1801 with its boundaries from pre-Revolution times, the diocese of Le Mans<br />
was among the largest in France. It covered two departments: La Sarthe and Mayenne.<br />
9
Bishops<br />
The brief episcopate of Bishop Carron (1829-1833) - favorable to young Abbé Moreau - was<br />
stamped by the 1830 revolution which reintroduced the revolutionary and anticlerical spirit<br />
and fostered hostility among the middle class. Also, with it came a diminishment of religious<br />
practice in certain sections of Le Mans city and in rural zones of the department.<br />
Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bouvier (1833-1854), who had been vicar general under the former<br />
bishops and, simultaneously, superior of the Major Seminary, brought to the diocese his<br />
administrative and organizational qualities. He tried to forestall the latent hostility by<br />
avoiding any special political commitment. When he died, the diocese of Le Mans was<br />
limited to the La Sarthe department, while that of Mayenne formed the new diocese of Laval.<br />
Under the episcopate of Bishop Nanquette (1855-1861), the diocese was reorganized and was<br />
able to face all its material and spiritual needs. Bishop Charles Fillion occupied the see of Le<br />
Mans from 1862 to 1874. His episcopate is noted for the disaster of 1870-1871, the Franco-<br />
Prussian war which brought about the occupation of Le Mans, the effects of which were<br />
disastrous for the Church.<br />
Priests<br />
In 1802, the bishop of Le Mans had but a little more than 800 priests, most of them elderly,<br />
instead of the 1700 the diocese had prior to the Revolution. In 1806, the bishop opened a<br />
minor seminary which could hold only 36 students. Two hundred others were scattered in the<br />
colleges of Château-Gontier (where Basil Moreau studied), Laval, Evron, Mayenne and Le<br />
Mans. In 1810, the Hotel 2 of Tessé, in Le Mans, received about fifty major seminarians. In<br />
1816, Tessé was reserved for the students of philosophy (Basil Moreau spent one year there)<br />
and the former St. Vincent Abbey became the theology seminary. The number of ordinations<br />
increased gradually (on August 12, 1821, there were 42 priestly ordinations one of which was<br />
Basil Moreau); the maximum was reached in 1830 with 68 ordinations.<br />
As superior of the theology seminary from 1818, Fr. Bouvier greatly contributed to the<br />
quality of the seminarians’ formation by composing a theology course which was used in<br />
more than 60 French seminaries and went through eight editions. At the request of Rome,<br />
certain passages which had a Gallican touch were corrected. But it is in the moral field that<br />
this work was most innovative. It followed the teaching of St. Alphonsus of Ligori to<br />
counteract the Jansenist tendencies among the clergy.<br />
During the 1840's, some priests of La Sarthe (among them Fr. Moreau) made efforts to<br />
address the spiritual and material needs of workers. In Le Mans, evening courses were<br />
organized for them, reading rooms and playing grounds were put at their disposal. The first<br />
St. Vincent De Paul Conferences were formed (one also for the students at Sainte-Croix<br />
2<br />
The word “Hotel” here refers to the city residence of a wealthy person.<br />
10
College), bringing together the efforts of the nobility, workers, civil servants and<br />
shopkeepers.<br />
The clergy of La Sarthe at that time was not without spiritual qualities. Almost all priests<br />
followed a detailed rule of life. They lived with great austerity and practiced real poverty (to<br />
be better able to help the poor) and imposed on themselves spontaneous mortifications. Such<br />
were the common traits of these priests who were also very attentive in fulfilling their<br />
pastoral responsibilities: teaching catechism, preaching, welcoming people, visiting the sick...<br />
Still, the clergy was not against progress. Immediately after the Concordat of 1801, Bishop<br />
De Pidoll encouraged the priests to see that children were vaccinated against smallpox.<br />
Bishop Bouvier praised the merits of the savings banks and the progress in agriculture. He<br />
supported efforts to provide instruction for all and solemnly blessed the opening of the first<br />
railway in Le Mans. More than one sermon, even in the most remote countryside, celebrated<br />
scientific accomplishments and refused to consider them in opposition to faith.<br />
Religious<br />
The Revolution had eliminated monastic orders and religious congregations. Given the<br />
glaring needs of French society, Napoleon was compelled to recall some congregations for<br />
popular education, the De La Salle Brothers and the Ursuline Sisters; and, for the care of the<br />
sick, the Augustinians and the Daughters of Charity.<br />
The government of Louis XVIII (1815-1824), on the contrary, was very liberal in allowing<br />
“religious associations”; thus, there was a restoration of monastic orders (among them the<br />
Benedictines in Solesmes by Dom Guéranger, a friend of Fr. Moreau), and the foundation of<br />
many new religious congregations. 19th-century France was a privileged country for the<br />
foundation of new congregations of men: Fathers of the Sacred Heart, Oblates of Mary<br />
Immaculate, Marists, Marianists, Brothers of Christian Instruction, Brothers of St. Gabriel,<br />
Clerics of St. Viator, Assumptionists, religious of St. Vincent De Paul, priests of the Blessed<br />
Sacrament...all this even without mentioning the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. As for<br />
women’s congregations, 400 were founded in France between 1800 and 1880.<br />
In the diocese of Le Mans, religious foundations followed a regular rhythm: Sisters of the<br />
Sacred Hearts and of the Adoration in Le Mans (1805), Sisters of Providence of Ruillé<br />
(1806), Sisters of Charity of Evron (1808), Cistercians of Port-du-Salut in Entrammes (1816),<br />
Jesuits in Laval (1818), De La Salle Brothers in Le Mans (1820), Brothers of St. Joseph in<br />
Ruillé (1820), Benedictines in Solesmes (1833), Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Le Mans<br />
(1833), Sisters of the Child Jesus in Neufchâtel-en-Saosnois (1835), priests and brothers of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in Le Mans (1837), Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in Le Mans (1841), Franciscan<br />
Sisters in St. Fraimbault of Lassay (1844), Little Sisters of the Poor in Le Mans (1855),<br />
Servants of Mary in Le Mans (1855), Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (1861),<br />
Benedictine nuns in Solesmes (1866), Jesuits in Le Mans (1870), Little Sisters of St. Francis<br />
(1873), Capuchins in Le Mans (1875)...<br />
11
These religious congregations placed a considerable part of their membership in teaching<br />
ministry. Between 1861 and 1876, brothers constituted 21 to 22% of the teachers and sisters<br />
63 to 64%, without counting the unapproved congregations. Among the working class of La<br />
Sarthe, however, illiteracy was high. In the years 1816-1820, less than 30% of the men could<br />
sign their marriage contract. In 1829, 14,000 children of both sexes went to school, which<br />
represents 14% of the children between 5 and 15 years of age and, moreover, absenteeism<br />
was frequent. The Guizot law of 1833 paved the way for considerable progress. By 1846,<br />
there were 33,000 students in the primary schools. But, in 1848, 40% of the people in Le<br />
Mans were still illiterate. As for boys, secondary education was provided in about fifteen<br />
schools, which were controlled by the bishop since 1818.<br />
Missions within France<br />
With the reestablishment of the monarchy in 1815, the Church organized “missions” to re-<br />
Christianize city and country people. The Missionaries of France, founded by Fr. De Rauzan,<br />
and then others founded by the Jesuits, the Fathers of Picpus, etc., preached throughout<br />
France in the parishes. Weeks of preaching were punctuated with spectacular ceremonies<br />
made to stimulate the imagination and bring about the necessary conversions: asking<br />
forgiveness for injustices committed during the Revolution; renewing baptismal promises;<br />
putting up stations of the cross...<br />
These missions did bring about conversions but they also provoked a new anticlericalism<br />
which was often violent (as was the case during the mission preached in Paris in 1821-1822,<br />
which Basil Moreau witnessed). Stopped by the blow of the 1830 revolution, these missions<br />
were soon begun again but with fewer public demonstrations. Henceforth they are called<br />
retreats. In the diocese of Le Mans, as early as 1816, the Jesuits gave a mission in Laval and<br />
then in Mayenne. In the parishes of Le Mans city, in 1818, seven Jesuits had two difficult<br />
weeks but the mission concluded with the organization of charitable or pious associations<br />
which brought together the Christian elite. Another mission was given in Le Mans in 1826. In<br />
the meantime, in 1823, Fr. Dujarié tried to organize some mission-preachers. He discussed<br />
this project with young Abbé Moreau who eventually took up this work by founding the<br />
“Auxiliary Priests” in 1835.<br />
Gallicanism and Ultramontanism<br />
On May 25, 1815, Pope Pius VII, who had been prisoner of the French emperor for two<br />
years, reentered Rome in triumph. The prestige of the papacy then reached a level unknown<br />
since the Middle Ages. This was due to the fact that the pope, during the troubled times of the<br />
Revolution and of the Empire, had been considered a stronghold of resistance to the outbursts<br />
of national and ideological passions.<br />
Within Catholicism a new trend was developing which, contrary to Gallicanism, highlighted<br />
the important role of the papacy. Three writers are considered as the creators of this “Roman”<br />
thrust which came to be called Ultramontanism. Joseph De Maistre, in his book Du Pape,<br />
showed that the Roman Church and the papacy were the only strengths able to oppose the<br />
12
destroying wave of revolutionary ideas. Louis De Bonald emphasized that the world had but<br />
one monarch: Jesus Christ, whom the pope represented. But the most ardent apostle of the<br />
papacy was Félicité De Lamennais - admired by Fr. Moreau. In his book, Essai sur<br />
l’indifférence en matière de religion - meant to shake up the spiritual apathy and lack of<br />
intellectual curiosity among his contemporaries - Lamennais took a decisive stance against<br />
Gallicanism, becoming a champion of papal infallibility.<br />
He proclaimed that, if the Church was to be effective, it had to be free in the face of political<br />
powers. To the Roman and Ultramontane currents, Lamennais will soon add Catholic<br />
liberalism. With his friends and disciples, Lacordaire, Guéranger, Montalembert, filled with<br />
enthusiasm by the 1830 revolution, he founded the newspaper “L’Avenir” under the slogan:<br />
God and Freedom. The movementasked for liberty of conscience, cult, press, association, and<br />
teaching, and suggested separation between Church and State.<br />
This Roman trend will become a new cult for some people. Everything coming from Rome<br />
will be piously imitated: from the Roman liturgy which, thanks primarily to Dom Guéranger,<br />
eliminates most of the venerable local liturgies; to the Roman collar which many priests<br />
started to wear in place of the Gallican “rabat”. Pope Pius IX began a systematic policy in<br />
favor of Roman centralization and the assertion of papal powers. This policy reaches its<br />
highest point in 1870 with the dogmatic proclamation of papal infallibility by the First<br />
Vatican Council.<br />
Conclusion<br />
This brief exposition of the general situation in France and in the Le Mans region during the<br />
19th century and of the difficulties encountered by the Catholic Church - in France and<br />
especially in the area where Fr. Basil Moreau lived - should suffice to situate the founder of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> for those who do not know French history during this period. It can also refresh<br />
the memory, or complete the knowledge, of those already familiar with this history.<br />
13
FATHER BASIL MOREAU<br />
AS A PERSON<br />
By Jacques Grisé, C.S.C.<br />
Introduction<br />
These reflections will focus on the following aspects of Father Moreau’s personality: 1) He<br />
was a natural leader and a man of action; 2) earnest and enterprising; 3) austere yet cheerful;<br />
4) demanding yet kindly. To these aspects are added the conclusions of a scientific analysis<br />
of his handwriting.<br />
1. NATURAL LEADER AND MAN OF ACTION<br />
A) direct testimony from his former school friends<br />
Our founder showed his personality at an early age. We have this testimony from his<br />
nephew, Father Charles Moreau, also his first biographer, who says: “According to some of<br />
Basil’s first school friends who are still alive, he was the one to organize the games and<br />
gather everybody to participate... He was the one to teach the more pious to serve mass...” 3<br />
Already he was a leader. This is not merely a pious reflection from the first biographer;<br />
it is based on direct testimony of people who knew well the young Basil Moreau.<br />
B) he inherited his father’s temperament<br />
We can go back further and speak of an incident which occurred in the village of Laigné-en-<br />
Belin, the birthplace of Father Moreau. The maid of a neighbor, late in the evening, heard a<br />
sound similar to whining in front of her house. She went out and found an abandoned baby.<br />
She brought it to her employer. The latter did not know what to do, so he went to see his<br />
neighbor, Louis Moreau, Basil’s father, to ask his advice. Louis Moreau decided to take the<br />
child into his house for the night and the next morning go to the city hall with his neighbor to<br />
make an official declaration of the discovery and have the child placed with some family by<br />
the city administration. Louis Moreau did not think he could adopt the child himself. He<br />
already had four at the time and the last one was only two weeks old. It is evident that<br />
Basil’s father seems to have been the person in the village to whom others came when they<br />
had a problem. They knew he would be able to take the proper initiative. I am convinced that<br />
Basil inherited his father’s temperament. He will be the one in whom others put their trust,<br />
and whom they will be ready to follow.<br />
C) other examples of young abbé Moreau’s attitudes and spontaneous reactions<br />
There are not many examples of Basil Moreau’s attitudes during his years of study; through a<br />
few of his letters, we can see his strong personality. In 1822, while studying in Paris, he<br />
3<br />
Basil Anthony Moreau by Father Charles Moreau; volume 1, p.2.<br />
14
dares to tell his former superior at Tessé, the philosophy seminary in Le Mans, that the latter<br />
should be more attentive and demanding in the formation of the seminarians. The superior is<br />
somewhat offended by what appears to be a reproach, and Basil will have to explain why he<br />
had written so bluntly. It was because he had heard that some young priests of the diocese<br />
had caused scandal. All the same, a few years later when he began teaching at the major<br />
seminary in Le Mans, he tells the superior that the rule of the house was too permissive in<br />
some aspects, and again he was reproached for his boldness by his spiritual director.<br />
Another example is from the time when Basil began to gather his auxiliary priests and found<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. He attracted the strongest personalities among the young priests of the diocese:<br />
Edward Sorin, Victor Drouelle and Louis Champeau. For years these three will remain the<br />
strongest personalities in the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The bishop of Le Mans was rather<br />
upset at seeing his best young priests join <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Father Moreau must have been a very<br />
strong leader to attract such strong personalities from among young diocesan priests.<br />
D) open to the new trends of his time<br />
As a natural leader, Father Moreau was open to all the new trends in the Church of his time<br />
and wanted to take part in them. First, he was open to the new philosophy and theology of<br />
Lamennais. Even though this doctrine was later condemned by the Church, it appeared first<br />
as a real renewal, a new breath of air in the fields of philosophy and theology which were<br />
greatly influenced at the time by eighteenth-century rationalism. Father Moreau carefully<br />
studied Lamennais’ doctrine. He was conscious of the objections that were made to it by his<br />
teachers in Paris, still, he was ready to present it to the seminarians when he began teaching<br />
philosophy.<br />
Basil Moreau was open also to the liturgical movement of his time: the adoption of the<br />
Roman liturgy and Gregorian chant. Young abbé Moreau took part in this movement in his<br />
diocese; he encouraged young abbé Guéranger who was to be the main promoter of the<br />
Roman liturgy in France. The latter was about five years younger than Father Moreau; it is<br />
possible that abbé Guéranger had been Moreau’s student. When abbé Guéranger began to<br />
gather some priests of Le Mans to prepare this liturgical reform, Moreau took part in some<br />
meetings, and this did not please the bishop (Bouvier). Later on, Father Moreau put pressure<br />
on the bishop to adopt the Roman liturgy for the diocese of Le Mans.<br />
Another field Father Moreau entered and even became a leader at the time was the battle in<br />
France for freedom for Catholics to open colleges. Again, he was not just in favor of it, but<br />
took part in this movement by corresponding with the leaders, setting up his own college and<br />
finally obtaining the right to develop it fully.<br />
Another trend in which Father Moreau took part was to associate lay people with his<br />
foundations. The Association of the Good Shepherd and that of St. Joseph were meant to help<br />
Father Moreau’s foundations financially; at the same time their goal was to give lay people<br />
the opportunity of growing spiritually through annual retreats (for which Father Moreau<br />
invited the best preachers of France), and through a bulletin called: Étrennes spirituelles. His<br />
bishop hesitated at times in approving the choice of some preachers for the associates’<br />
15
etreats. Bishop Bouvier found them too ultramontane; that is, following the ideas of abbé<br />
Lamennais, they favored a closer link between the Church of France and the <strong>Holy</strong> See and<br />
more freedom for the Church of France in its relations with the government. For example,<br />
pontifical documents were published in France only if they were approved by the king or the<br />
government. Bishop Bouvier was in favor of maintaining the traditional independence of the<br />
Church in France toward the <strong>Holy</strong> See, which was the source of some misunderstandings<br />
with Father Moreau. Ultramontanism was another new direction in the Church to which<br />
Father Moreau was open and for which he worked.<br />
By participating in these trends, Father Moreau appears as a natural leader, a man of action,<br />
and a man open to the new ideas which were emerging for the future.<br />
2. EARNEST AND ENTERPRISING<br />
A) he wanted to give himself to the utmost<br />
Another aspect of Father Moreau’s life showing his natural tendency to action is his<br />
earnestness in doing the most he could in his personal dedication to God. This is evident in<br />
the fact that he made private vows before his subdiaconate. He seems always to go a step<br />
further than what the rule asked. Not only did he criticize the laxity of the major seminary<br />
rule but was himself, by austerity and faithfulness, a living example for the seminarians and<br />
even for the other directors of the major seminary. Some directors in the seminary, like abbé<br />
Mautouchet, the steward, did not appreciate this lesson.<br />
He also wanted to become a missionary to give himself totally to the Lord. He was probably<br />
influenced in this by his own philosophy teacher who was transferred to the Foreign Missions<br />
Seminary in Paris right after having taught young Basil. We know how easily a student is<br />
influenced by an admired teacher. But it was also in Father Moreau’s very temperament to<br />
desire to become a missionary, it was another way to give himself completely to the Lord’s<br />
service.<br />
The same dedication can be seen in Moreau’s life when, after several years of working in<br />
formation in the seminaries of Le Mans, Monsieur Mollevaut convinced him that he was<br />
made to spend his whole life in a seminary. Father Moreau thought of becoming a Sulpician<br />
like Monsieur Mollevaut since that charism focuses precisely on work in seminaries.<br />
B) natural ability to undertake more<br />
At the same time he wanted to become a Sulpician, he could not be content with only his<br />
work at the seminary. He wanted to do ministry in the parishes of Le Mans which requested<br />
his help. He would soon involve himself to the fullest in the foundation of the Good<br />
Shepherd institution in Le Mans which cared for delinquent girls.<br />
Father Moreau showed the same earnestness when he assumed the direction of the Brothers<br />
of Saint Joseph. He was more demanding in their formation and active in defending them<br />
against mayors and prefects who were more or less anti-clerical, or unwilling to give the<br />
brothers their rights. The prefect of Le Mans, a civil authority, wrote to the minister of Public<br />
16
Instruction in Paris saying that Father Moreau was the type of person who if thrown out the<br />
door would immediately reenter through the window.<br />
Father Moreau demonstrated the same characteristic in developing the college of Sainte-<br />
Croix in Le Mans despite much opposition from civil authorities. He did the same in the<br />
foundation and organization of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, even having to take a stand<br />
against his bishop. He tried all he could to obtain the right to develop his college to the full<br />
and to obtain public recognition for his congregation from the <strong>Holy</strong> See. He found that<br />
Rome’s answer was very slow in coming; but for a new congregation to be approved after<br />
only 20 years of existence was something rare. Again, this was the fruit of Father Moreau’s<br />
earnestness and perseverance.<br />
3. AUSTERE YET CHEERFUL<br />
Another aspect of Father Moreau’s personality is a certain austerity and at the same time<br />
genuine kindness and cheerfulness.<br />
A) one photo served for his portraits<br />
We have become accustomed to seeing Father Moreau looking rather stern in his portraits.<br />
All those paintings were copied from the one existing photograph. The photo, in which Father<br />
Moreau was already 55 years old, was taken against his will. He had forbidden his religious<br />
to be photographed because it was something new at the time and considered a luxury and<br />
vanity. He agreed reluctantly to the request of a nobleman, the father of two students at <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> College in Le Mans, to be photographed with a group of confreres teaching at the<br />
college. However, the confreres had arranged with the photographer to leave Father Moreau<br />
alone in the center of the room at the moment the photo was actually to be taken.<br />
When photographed Father Moreau was sad and angry, he had a cataract in one eye which<br />
gave less liveliness to his expression. When presented with the first print of the photo, he tore<br />
it up and threw it in the waste basket. We still have the two pieces of the torn photo.<br />
B) usually cheerful<br />
Throughout the life of Father Moreau, there are many circumstances in which he is laughing<br />
and smiling. In her correspondence, Mother Mary of the Seven Dolors even speaks of the<br />
habitual cheerfulness of our founder. Father Charles Moreau also speaks of the lively and<br />
cheerful spirit of Father Moreau. Elsewhere the same Father Charles speaks of the warm<br />
welcome, the ability to place others at ease, and the cheerfulness that Basil had in all his<br />
contacts. 4 Father Moreau himself wrote in a letter to one of his sisters when he was<br />
studying in Paris: “Let’s be cheerful without flightiness.” 5<br />
4<br />
5<br />
ibid., p.12a.<br />
ibid.<br />
17
One day Father Moreau stopped by a group of novices who were peeling some<br />
vegetables and so started to peel some with them. One brother there with the novices<br />
was born in the same village as Father Moreau and began to tell of the mischief that<br />
Basil got into when he was young. The founder, it is said, laughed heartily at these<br />
stories. 6<br />
There are some letters from the first two, young American <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious who<br />
went to Rome to study theology. They stopped in Le Mans on their way. In a letter to<br />
Father Sorin, Neal Gillespie (one of the two, the other being Louis Letourneau) writes:<br />
“You know with what a paternal affection (Father Moreau) receives everyone.” Louis<br />
Letourneau some years later, returning from Rome to Notre Dame, Indiana, was on the<br />
same ship as Father Moreau who was going to visit the foundations in North America.<br />
He says: “There were fourteen other religious on board and (Father Moreau) charmed<br />
them all by his marvelous light-heartedness. We assembled daily for the recitation of<br />
the rosary and spiritual reading. During the latter, Rev. Father often made clever<br />
comments which amused us greatly. The crossing was pleasant except for two nights<br />
during which the weather was so rough that many of us were badly frightened. One<br />
young cleric, a converted Jew, came at midnight to make his confession to Rev. Father,<br />
so I was obliged to walk the corridor for a full half hour. Though amused at the young<br />
man’s terror, Father General did admit that the weather was a little rough; but he<br />
remained calm and smiling.” 7<br />
4. DEMANDING YET KINDLY<br />
Another aspect of Father Moreau’s personality is that he was demanding and very kind.<br />
A) absolute sense of righteousness<br />
Father Moreau had an absolute sense of righteousness and believed in the power of truth,<br />
almost to the point of appearing naive sometimes. It was easy for him to defend himself<br />
because his ways were never biased. He seemed to think that it sufficed merely to clarify the<br />
truth in order to be justified in the eyes of others. But reality proved it was not quite that easy.<br />
B) able to reproach and also forgive<br />
He would reproach any religious who did not act in conformity with religious commitment; at<br />
the same time he was always ready to forgive and forget the past. He did so several times<br />
with Brother Leonard who tried to separate the brothers from the priests. This brother later<br />
said that he never had the impression Father Moreau held any grudge against him. We see<br />
this same attitude in his relationships with several others religious. We have only to recall<br />
how Moreau acted with Father Sorin when the latter wanted to separate the mission of<br />
6<br />
7<br />
Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, by Catta/Heston; volume 2, p.65.<br />
Annals of the Marianites, 1841-1941; p.65<br />
18
Indiana from the mother house, and of his complete forgiveness after Father Sorin changed<br />
his mind.<br />
C) kind and even tender<br />
He could also show much affection to those who were living according to the religious spirit.<br />
For example, he wrote to Brother Vincent, at Notre Dame, in 1850: “How are you doing, very<br />
dear Vincent. How much I would like to see you again. I feel that the direction of your<br />
establishment is a burden on your conscience, but you have obeyed and so you may be sure<br />
of doing the will of God... Courage, then, and confidence!” On another occasion, he wrote to<br />
the same Brother Vincent: “How happy I have been, my dear Vincent, to learn from you of<br />
your convalescence! Do not fall sick again, and spare what is left of your strength.” And he<br />
ended his letter saying: “My most tender remembrance to all your novices.”<br />
There is also Father Champeau’s testimony in a story he published promoting the college in<br />
Paris. In this booklet, Father Champeau speaks of an alumnus of the college in Le Mans. This<br />
former student comes back after ten years and again meets Father Moreau. Father Champeau<br />
has the alumnus say: “The first person I met as I left the chapel was the venerable and wellloved<br />
Monsieur Moreau, the founder and superior general... My heart was all aflutter, like<br />
one who sees his aged father once more after a long absence. I ran toward him... He<br />
recognized me... and the sparkle in his eyes and his kindly smile did a world of good for my<br />
soul. I let myself be caught up in his arms... For me Father Moreau was... a father who had<br />
admitted me within the inner circle of his beloved family and who loved me as a child...”<br />
This is a fictional story, but if Father Champeau represented Moreau in this manner, it is<br />
certainly because our founder was truly such. We have a confirmation that he was; an old<br />
brother also wrote about Moreau: “He was the tender father, the discreet friend,<br />
compassionate toward all his children...”<br />
Such was Father Moreau according to the original documents. Possibly we are not<br />
accustomed to viewing him in this way. For today, we need a portrait of him looking younger<br />
and more cheerful. Father Thomas Barrosse tried to have our community artists produce a<br />
better portrait of our founder. He was not completely successful, but we do have better<br />
portraits now. In 1991, when the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> celebrated the sesquicentennial of<br />
their foundation in Le Mans, they invited some members of the Moreau family with whom<br />
they had been in contact. There came a young man, in his twenties, a great grand-nephew,<br />
who so strikingly resembled Basil Moreau - at least from the photograph and portraits - that a<br />
photo was taken of him. It can certainly help us to imagine how Father Moreau looked when<br />
he was younger... and smiling.<br />
19
5. HANDWRITING ANALYSIS<br />
For Father Moreau’s cause of beatification, there was a scientific study made of his<br />
handwriting. It is incredible to see all that can be drawn from three letters by Father Moreau<br />
from different stages of his life: 1836, 1853 and 1866. Father Barrosse used this analysis for<br />
his study of Father Moreau’s virtues for the cause of beatification. I will summarize some<br />
passages from the study, without using its technical jargon, to illustrate Moreau’s personality.<br />
A) strong personality and a man of action<br />
First of all, the analysis of Moreau’s handwriting shows a strong personality with a great<br />
amount of energy, allowing him to take many initiatives without much effort. In fact, it shows<br />
that if such a person had nothing to do he would find something to do; he would create<br />
something original, a personal project which he could pursue in a way not yet tried by others.<br />
B) open to others and a natural organizer<br />
His is open to his milieu, to others, to working for others and with others. And he has a plan;<br />
he knows where he is going and what he wants. He is earnest and bold. He gives himself<br />
totally to what he does. He is not just a spectator watching what is going on around him, but<br />
participates without sparing his time or energy; and he does so not for himself but always for<br />
others. He does not work for praise; he is realistic, efficient, committed, and a man of selfsacrifice.<br />
C) quick to react but acts according to a plan<br />
His handwriting reveals that his basic temperament showed great energy, with quick<br />
reactions, and even an impulsiveness which helped him overcome obstacles. At the same<br />
time he was capable of reflecting, planning, and organizing. Once convinced of something, he<br />
did not give up easily. The analysis shows an earnest personality, extremely committed, and<br />
sure of what he wants once he made up his mind about something.<br />
The comparison of the three letters shows that by 1853 Father Moreau attained a greater<br />
degree of order, regularity, clarity. He is surer of his means; his handwriting is more intense,<br />
strong and controlled. It shows greater decisiveness and firmness. His vital energy seems to<br />
be used to the utmost as if he had an enormous struggle to face and to win. The handwriting<br />
also shows suffering and tiredness and even signs of aging. But it is also evident that he does<br />
not intend to give up on anything. In the 1866 letter, age can be noted even more and<br />
suffering also. Even though the lines have a tendency to go down they end by going up<br />
again, showing that his strong character is always present with a determination to go to the<br />
end in pursuing his ideals.<br />
D) not easily influenced<br />
This person is not easily influenced by the people around him but rather influences them. He<br />
has clear ideas and is able to put them into practice. He is interested in social, moral matters,<br />
in the problems of his time, especially those of higher value, like religion. He will put all his<br />
strength at their service even to sacrificing everything else. He never wastes his time but, in<br />
spite of his tendency to action, there are indications of a taste for the mystical life. He is<br />
20
constant in his ideas and his actions to the point of appearing rigid, but he can be affectionate<br />
when he encounters good will even if there is human weakness accompanying it.<br />
From all this, there appears a certain seriousness in his projects and his conduct. He follows a<br />
straight line, he knows where he is going and where he is leading others. He has a sense of<br />
discipline, not only by imposing things on others but especially on himself, and he is faithful.<br />
He is convinced and convincing; he works with others and feels a solidarity with the group,<br />
but not to the point of following all conventions and traditions; he is very personal in his<br />
initiatives and ideas. He is so concentrated on his ideals that he feels compelled to bring<br />
others to work with him. He is conscious of his power to share and even impose the values in<br />
which he believes. He could even appear inflexible by the very fact that he is not easily<br />
influenced by others.<br />
E) self-control<br />
Father Moreau has good control of his instincts and tends to spiritualize them. He has a great<br />
sense of responsibility. He feels responsible for the group and is never tired of leading others<br />
to a better life, even if he has to fight energetically in accomplishing this. But after having<br />
fought fully for something, he can find peace easily enough.<br />
Conclusion: What did grace add?<br />
After examining all that was revealed about Moreau’s personality through this scientific<br />
analysis, I asked myself, “If the founder had all those qualities already on the human level,<br />
what did grace add and how can we show that he practiced heroic virtue?”<br />
First of all, the results of the analysis merely confirm what was already clear about the<br />
personality and virtues of Father Moreau from the documents which have been preserved. We<br />
can say that Moreau developed his talents to the utmost and put them at the service of a very<br />
special project, that of founding a new religious congregation with three societies. It was an<br />
enterprise that would have been impossible if Moreau had not had a very strong personality.<br />
Moreover, our founder put his numerous and rare talents at the service of the Lord and the<br />
Church. He always remained faithful to the Lord and the Church in spite of his tendency to<br />
create something new and not be stopped by human traditions. He could have been a reformer<br />
like Luther, having a similar temperament.<br />
Father Moreau worked a great deal at correcting his faults and acquiring the virtues he<br />
needed, especially meekness and patience. It is on these virtues that his spiritual director,<br />
Monsieur Mollevaut, always insisted. Near the end of his life, Moreau fought for justice to<br />
the point that he can be considered a martyr for justice. Finally, he always tried to<br />
accomplish God’s will rather than impose his own projects which he could have easily done<br />
given his temperament.<br />
Father Moreau often repeated that <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was not his work but that of Providence. It was<br />
the circumstances, the request or the approval of his bishop that brought him to found <strong>Holy</strong><br />
21
<strong>Cross</strong>. Afterwards, of course, he had to fight to organize this project and to give it full<br />
development. Our founder always saw the work of Providence and the plan of God for <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>. He considered recourse to Rome a matter of duty and obedience, even though it was<br />
against his bishop (Bouvier), and so placed him, as it were, between two fires. He said once<br />
that he felt like other founders, responsible for a congregation still diocesan but spreading<br />
outside the diocese and becoming international.<br />
Before obtaining pontifical approbation and thus making the international character of his<br />
foundation recognized, Moreau had to take decisions which shocked his bishop and which<br />
may have appeared as disobedience or uncontrolled initiative. How could he act otherwise?<br />
Our founder would say that, without his fiery temperament, he would never have been able to<br />
found <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
This temperament, this strong personality of Father Moreau, finally, was providential for him<br />
and for the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. I believe this is how the personality of our founder can be<br />
and should be presented today.<br />
22
BASIL MOREAU: MAN OF GOD<br />
By Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C.<br />
Basil Moreau, man of God. What is meant by the expression “person of God”? I mean those<br />
for whom God is real, those in whose life God is a real presence, those who live in the<br />
presence of God, enjoy the intimacy of God and convey by their lives that God is real for<br />
them. This admits of degrees. The individual most fully a person of God, then, will be the<br />
one for whom God is really present always and everywhere, at all times in everything, and for<br />
whom God is the meaning of life. A Christian person of God (for the Old Testament and<br />
religions outside the Judeo-Christian tradition also speak of people of God) - a Christian<br />
person of God is someone for whom the God of Jesus and Jesus himself are real, really<br />
present and the meaning of life.<br />
Since the Risen Lord and his Father are present to us only by faith, a Christian person of God<br />
will necessarily be a person of faith, and since it is impossible for the most important one in<br />
our lives to be present to us by faith and for us to be negligent, then the Christian person of<br />
God will also be a person of prayer.<br />
First, a person of faith. Let us see more in detail just what this means. I noted a moment ago<br />
that God is present to us - becomes real for us by faith. Let me explain this a bit. God, of<br />
course, is real and really present even if we do not believe just as you may be present, even<br />
right next to me (let us say behind me), without my noticing you. You will be present for me<br />
only if I can see, hear, touch you since we are present to one another by our senses. God is<br />
present to us by our faith. Faith means seeing - recognizing - God as present where he is<br />
present, and, of course, he is present everywhere and in everything.<br />
The New Testament uses the expression “to accept” as the equivalent of “to believe”. For<br />
example in John 1:12 we read that the Word made flesh gave the power of becoming children<br />
of God to all who accepted him, that is, to those who believed in his name. In other words,<br />
those who accepted Jesus as God’s “Word”, or self-communication, in human form, received<br />
this power. To accept him in this way - to “see” in Jesus God’s Word made flesh - is to<br />
believe in him, and to accept, or recognize, God as the Father - as Abba - is to believe in the<br />
God of Jesus. Jesus saw his Father present and at work in everything and always, and so<br />
really and fully to believe in the God of Jesus is to recognize the Father as present and at<br />
work in everything and always. Such faith transforms our life as Jesus himself points out. It is<br />
only when we are people of little faith that we are anxious about...what we are to eat or what<br />
we are to drink or what we are to wear; the man or woman of faith is well aware that the<br />
heavenly Father knows that we need all these things (Matthew 6:25-34). It was because they<br />
had little faith, Jesus tells the disciples, that they feared the wind and the waves during the<br />
storm at sea (Matthew 8:23-26).<br />
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Next, a person of prayer. The person of faith will also be a person of prayer. Anyone for<br />
whom God is always and everywhere present and at work and for whom God is the meaning<br />
of life cannot possibly neglect, not communicate with, not be in communion with God.<br />
Rather this individual will be someone who lives with God and also someone who, like Jesus,<br />
will keep withdrawing to the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:16), even spending the night in<br />
prayer (Luke 6:12).<br />
Basil Moreau was a person of God. This means that he was a man of faith and a man of<br />
prayer. We must now see how our founder was both of these.<br />
Was Father Moreau a man of faith? Did he regularly see God everywhere and in everything?<br />
To find an answer to this question, we turn to his writings and what was written or said about<br />
him by his contemporaries.<br />
At the start of each new year the founder wrote a circular letter to the congregation and in it<br />
reflected on the events of the preceding twelve months. He described to the membership how<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had grown, its successes and what had been accomplished by particular works,<br />
houses and religious. He indicated also the difficulties <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had faced and failures or<br />
setbacks. For us the important thing is that he saw every one of these things in reference to<br />
God. Either each event was a blessing provided by God, or it was a failure on the part of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> to correspond with God’s grace but, even then, having its place in God’s providence.<br />
Each event was something for which to thank God or something about which to ask the<br />
question, “what does God want us to learn from this?” Surely one of the most impressive<br />
things about these letters is how he sees the crosses - even, or especially, extremely heavy<br />
ones - as divine blessings. In earlier circular letters he often asks whether particular crosses<br />
are not God’s corrections or a way of calling the religious to greater fervor. But in 1865 when<br />
the future looked darkest shortly before he resigned as superior general, he could write:<br />
For my own part, Reverend Father and dear Brothers, I am not the least surprised by all<br />
these trials. Thanks be to God, they have only increased my confidence in him who alone<br />
has founded and maintained this Congregation... Bear in mind and do not forget...that<br />
just as Divine Providence has willed its greatest works to begin in humility and<br />
abjection, it has also decreed that they should expand only at the price of difficulties and<br />
contradictions, trials, crosses, contempt, calumny, and detraction. (After illustrating<br />
this from the life of Jesus, he continues:) Rejoice, then, instead of being worried or<br />
discouraged, when you find temptation striking at the Congregation or at yourselves.<br />
(After citing the experience of several saints who faced humiliating temptations, he<br />
concludes:) Thus it follows that the many different trials to which we have been<br />
subjected are indubitable marks of the divine will in regard to our congregation, and of<br />
the presence of the Lord in our midst... Be glad, then, Reverend Fathers and dear Brothers,<br />
that you have been found worthy to suffer in body and soul and to share in the sufferings<br />
of this institute. Be glad and increase your confidence in proportion as I suffer<br />
24
personally more tribulations, since these trials are a sure guarantee of the divine will<br />
towards us and the work whose instruments we are. (CL 179)<br />
Was this perception of God’s presence and action in the events of his own life and in the<br />
Congregation’s experience something Father Moreau had only when he reflected on them as<br />
he wrote his annual circular letter, or was it his habitual and spontaneous perception of events<br />
as they were happening? It was his habitual and spontaneous perception of whatever<br />
happened. We read again and again in his life how, when events, sometimes unexpectedly,<br />
turn out well, he immediately thanks and praises God for what providence has arranged. So<br />
too, when events take a turn for the worse, he instinctively recognizes this as a cross offered<br />
him by God, perhaps because of his own sins or as a chance to share in the redemptive cross<br />
of Christ. His personal correspondence is full of such reactions, and anecdotes from his life<br />
provide repeated illustrations of this. I give only one example.<br />
The foundation in Louisiana had suffered a long series of frightful setbacks: numerous<br />
religious and very many children for whom the brothers and sisters cared were struck down<br />
by epidemics of yellow fever and other diseases; they all lived in a poverty that bordered on<br />
destitution; they suffered from the delayed arrival, departure or death of successive superiors;<br />
and conflicts with Father Sorin in Indiana caused turmoil in the Louisiana community. The<br />
general council met to discuss whether the foundation should be suppressed. Each member<br />
spoke his opinion. At the end Father Moreau put his head in his hands for a few minutes and<br />
then said that since God had demanded so much from <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in the Louisiana<br />
foundation, this must be surely a sign that God planned great things for our future there;<br />
hence, he said, he thought we should stay. The council adopted his view and voted to stay.<br />
Not only did our founder see the many events of his life and all of our history as so many<br />
individual acts of God’s providence, but he saw them all as working together - or rather he<br />
saw God working in all of them to achieve his aims. Thus he could write in his presentation<br />
of the 1858 Rules:<br />
If I could have foreseen the development of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> from the<br />
outset, I could then have regulated and coordinated everything in advance. If such were<br />
the case, however, the congregation would have been a merely human combination and not<br />
the work of Divine Providence. The fact is that it began and developed in a manner so<br />
mysterious that I can claim for myself neither credit for its foundation nor merit for its<br />
progress. Therein lies the indubitable proof that God alone is its author, since, according<br />
to St. Augustine, “when we cannot find the cause of a good work, we must recognize that<br />
the Lord is its beginning and author.” In the light of this truth, I had to follow the designs<br />
of Providence by modifying our rules according as God’s plan unfolded before our eyes...<br />
(CL 94)<br />
He wanted all the religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to have this same sense of God as present and at<br />
work in everything and always. In his rules he wrote of faith:<br />
25
The religious will try to have a faith which is so simple, solid, and lively that it will not<br />
only enlighten their minds but animate their thoughts, their affections, their words, and<br />
their actions...<br />
To put this virtue into practice, they will walk in the presence of God and fear to offend<br />
him and to incur his judgments more than any evil on earth. They will adore him as the<br />
absolute master of all things; they will love him as a father; they will pray to him with<br />
respect, attention, fervor, and confidence; they will undertake all things out of<br />
obedience for his glory and the salvation of souls; they will have pure intentions, an<br />
ardent zeal, a burning charity.<br />
There is no need to point out that this ideal, held up by the founder to his congregation, was<br />
his own. I trust that the texts I have cited show how close he came to realizing it. Must we not<br />
say that Basil Moreau was a man of faith who, as his Rule on Faith urges, walked in the<br />
presence of God?<br />
A person of faith is a person of prayer. Was our founder a man of prayer? I think we can take<br />
it for granted that he did what he prescribed for all the religious, who, according to the<br />
constitutions he gave us, must “never omit...through their own fault the regular exercises of<br />
piety”. But he did not limit himself to the prescribed prayer. He wrote numerous hymns or<br />
poems, many for use by others but some extremely personal, a number of which express the<br />
desire to spend hours alone with God, a desire that surely was his and that he certainly<br />
satisfied when he found moments - or hours - of leisure time during his retreats, when<br />
traveling, and especially in his last years when he was no longer superior general.<br />
As for the routine events of everyday life, in his activities, in his difficult moments as in his<br />
joys, he spontaneously turned to the God whom he saw always at work in all that was taking<br />
place. In his most difficult moments, like Jesus in his agony in the garden, he prayed all the<br />
more earnestly (Luke 22:44). He explained how, in his great trial of 1855,<br />
...when the community had retired, I remained in the chapel for long hours. What did I do<br />
there? I went from station to station, searching for light, for an inspiration, and I found<br />
nothing, absolutely nothing. I came back to the sanctuary, went up to the altar, and<br />
knocked on the door of the tabernacle. I waited and received no answer, not the least<br />
encouragement. At that moment I understood something of our Lord’s abandonment in his<br />
agony as he went from his Father to his disciples without finding any consolation... I<br />
would have yielded to the temptation (to flee), had I not kept my eyes fixed on the crucifix. I<br />
kept looking at it for days... Finally, convinced more than ever that everything was<br />
crumbling around me... I saw myself mocked and stoned, and I said, “My God, I consent,<br />
provided that the congregation be saved and that you be glorified .”<br />
26
This God for whom and with whom Basil Moreau lived - was he also habitually on our<br />
founder’s lips? Did others find God in and through his life?<br />
They certainly found God through his preaching. From his earliest years as a priest, Father<br />
Moreau was a popular preacher, much in demand. One of the brothers said of him: There was<br />
energy and fire in his preaching, and he never did so well as when he was called on to preach<br />
unexpectedly and without preparation. People remembered sentiments he aroused or certain<br />
details of his sermons decades later. The parish missions he preached were usually marked by<br />
numerous and lasting conversions.<br />
As for whether people found God in the way our founder behaved and in the way he lived, we<br />
have an interesting text from 1846, when Father Moreau was 47 years old and had been<br />
superior of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> for more than a decade. After having had supper with our founder, the<br />
French writer Louis Veuillot wrote of him:<br />
He has...the manner of one of those peasant priests from whom you do not really expect very<br />
much, and this impression is hardly offset by his Le Mans accent, in which he makes<br />
statements of the greatest simplicity... After you have spoken with him for a little, you see<br />
that he has eyes full of delicacy, a mind which is simple, solid and fertile, a heart eaten up by<br />
love. He is a man of noble character and a saint. God has supported him wonderfully...<br />
In 1868 even Bishop Fillion of Le Mans, who had taken sides with Father Moreau’s<br />
opponents and persecutors, had to admit that there might some day be question of canonizing<br />
Father Moreau, as his friends seem to think there will be. Among the witnesses for his cause<br />
in the 1940's were two ladies in their 80's who remembered having seen Father Moreau when<br />
they were children. They recalled how many people were then calling him a saint. One of<br />
these ladies said that he was like a grandfather to the little ones, that the children would run<br />
after him and kneel down to get his blessing, and that while his body was exposed before<br />
burial, people touched their rosaries or other religious articles to his remains. The other<br />
remarked that, when she met him, she was struck by his appearance, which betrayed an<br />
intense interior life, a profound humility and a limitless condescendence and charity for his<br />
neighbor.<br />
Basil Moreau, a man for whom God was real, really present and at work in the whole of his<br />
life, a God with whom and for whom he lived, a God others found through him. We naturally<br />
expect the reality of God to have a profound effect on such a man’s behavior. Already several<br />
of the texts I have cited illustrate this. I add only two more to show how profoundly his faith<br />
penetrated and transformed his attitudes and outlook.<br />
In his later years as superior general and even more after his resignation, he underwent a<br />
veritable persecution - a trial more terrible, especially in its great length, than his great trial of<br />
1855. It is amazing to find him saying repeatedly in his correspondence of this period that,<br />
despite the storms that raged around him, he found his heart at peace. Three years before his<br />
death he wrote to the sisters in New Orleans:<br />
27
You are kind enough to write to me your condolences for the trials of the year which has<br />
just ended. I thank you with all my heart, and I bless the hand which has struck me. It is a<br />
great honor which our Lord grants me, and also a true source of happiness, to drink his<br />
chalice. Thus, thanks to the prayers offered for me, I have not been troubled or<br />
discouraged... With all my heart I pardon those who have persecuted me, and I wish them<br />
well.<br />
Six months before his death he wrote to a sister in France:<br />
Do not feel sorry for me because of the trials (the good God) has sent me. They are a grace<br />
for which I bless him, and my mind is no more troubled by them than my heart is saddened.<br />
A man of faith, a man of prayer, a man whom others saw as one close to God, a man who<br />
spoke enthusiastically and persuasively of God and through whose words and life others<br />
found God - is this enough to characterize someone as a person of God? If so, Basil Moreau<br />
was surely a man of God.<br />
28
SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY<br />
OF FATHER BASIL MOREAU<br />
by Jacques Grisé, C.S.C.<br />
Introduction<br />
My intention in these reflections is to give a spiritual biography of Basil Moreau, founder of<br />
the religious family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 8 Of course, such reflections are just a sketch; I chose<br />
to emphasize those points which appear to me to be most important.<br />
This essay is centered around what I call “the mystical crisis of Fr. Moreau in the fall of<br />
1855.” Fr. Barrosse, former superior general who had studied extensively the life of the<br />
founder, called this crisis the great trial of Fr. Moreau. We could add, the great<br />
spiritual or mystical trial, corresponding to what spiritual authors describe as “the dark<br />
night of the soul,” which usually occurs just before perfect union with the Lord, near<br />
the complete evolution of one’s spiritual life.<br />
I will focus on the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> from the spiritual point of view: prior to this<br />
crisis, around 1840; and then around 1870, shortly before his death. The insights which<br />
emerge can be compared with what the classical authors of ascetical and mystical life<br />
have to say.<br />
These reflections, then, will address neither the infancy nor the school years of Fr.<br />
Moreau, and almost nothing about his formation to the ecclesiastical life. There is more<br />
precise information concerning these years of his life than is usually the case with the lives of<br />
holy individuals. Father Moreau’s first biographer was his nephew who had been a priest of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> for thirty years. Thus we have access to some precise knowledge of Moreau’s<br />
infancy and youth and even some direct testimony from those who had been the companions<br />
of his childhood games. This same biographer collected the memoirs of some family and<br />
friends. But since there is almost nothing “mystical” in these first years, they do not provide<br />
much information about what the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was destined to experience later<br />
from the spiritual perspective. This first biography, however, testifies that Basil came from a<br />
Christian family where faith had been reinforced by the trials of the French Revolution.<br />
8<br />
Around 1840, Father Basil Moreau (1799-1873) wanted to unite into one religious congregation, priests,<br />
brothers and sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Pope Pius IX did not approve the inclusion of the sisters, who later became<br />
three distinct congregations, French, American (1869) and Canadian (1883). Here the designation “religious<br />
family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>” includes the four congregations which recognize Father Moreau as their founder.<br />
29
Around 1840<br />
Most striking in entire first half of Fr. Moreau’s active life, between 1830 and 1850, is a basic<br />
attitude, a conviction which brought about a fidelity to some very simple principles of the<br />
spiritual life: a rule of daily life, the constant fight against one’s main fault, a certain<br />
asceticism and regular spiritual direction. There is also in his life a tendency to go beyond<br />
what is requested, as in the private vows he made before subdiaconate. He was thus entering<br />
into the spirit of the vows of religion, a spirit which he maintains throughout life.<br />
a) Daily rule of life. The need for a daily rule to progress in the Christian life appears to have<br />
been a personal conviction for Fr. Moreau even when he was a college student. In those days,<br />
it was insisted upon in a young clerics’ formation. Moreau, with his active and creative<br />
temperament, 9 assigned special importance to it. Around 1830, he criticized the rule of<br />
the major seminary of Le Mans which struck him as too liberal when compared with<br />
the schedule of the philosophy seminary. He himself does more than the rule demands,<br />
as is evident by the three private vows he made before the subdiaconate, or by what can<br />
be read in the various retreat resolutions he left to us.<br />
In 1831, he responded to one of his blood sisters who was asking for some spiritual<br />
guidance: “My first thought,” he said, “was to make a plan of life or a rule of conduct<br />
for you. But I do not know enough of your interior life...” We can see how fundamental<br />
this is to him and how much he must have insisted on this point with the major<br />
seminarians and later on with the religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
b) Fight against one’s major fault. The advice that frequently appears in Fr. Mollevaut’s<br />
letters of spiritual direction 10 to Fr. Moreau is the importance of working to acquire<br />
meekness. With the fiery temper that our founder had, there is nothing surprising here.<br />
Even when Monsieur Mollevaut speaks of humility or patience, it is always in relation to<br />
meekness. We see, for example, Fr. Moreau having a tendency to scold seminarians who<br />
do not correct themselves quickly enough and telling the superior of the major<br />
seminary, Fr. Bouvier, that he does not agree with the rule of the house, or the lack of a<br />
rule. Monsieur Mollevaut corrects Fr. Moreau on this matter and advises him to have<br />
more patience, humility and meekness, to be more sparing and have more respect for<br />
9<br />
This enterprising temperament is evident all through Fr. Moreau’s life. This aspect of his personality was<br />
strikingly illustrated in a scientific study of his handwriting undertaken in relation with his cause for<br />
beatification.<br />
10<br />
The letters addressed by Basil to M. Mollevaut have not been preserved. It was current practice among the<br />
Sulpicians to destroy the letters of spiritual direction they received. On the other hand, Moreau safeguarded the<br />
letters he received from M. Mollevaut. They number 108. Several were destroyed, apparently by Moreau’s first<br />
biographer. However, quotations from them have been preserved in a biography of M. Mollevaut written by a<br />
Sulpician to whom Fr. Moreau had loaned the letters. The letters that still exist, including the quotations from<br />
those destroyed, have been published in French: Le très Révérend Père Moreau, d’après ses écrits, ses<br />
correspondants et les documents d’époque (1799-1846). Pro manuscripto, General Administration, 1945, 335p.<br />
The quotations in the following pages are borrowed from this work.<br />
30
his superior. Consistent with his temperament, Fr. Moreau goes beyond this advice and<br />
apologizes to Monsieur Bouvier. We have here a typical reaction of Fr. Moreau. And we<br />
can well imagine how he worked with the same earnestness to control his quick temper<br />
and impatience. This is so much the case that Monsieur Mollevaut can congratulate Fr.<br />
Moreau for the progress he is making, and we can see this progress in the letters of<br />
spiritual direction he receives and in his other correspondence.<br />
For example, in 1829, Monsieur Mollevaut writes to young Fr. Moreau: “The more you<br />
strive to keep peace in your heart, the more you will find in it treasures and<br />
enlightenment. There is no other way to belong to God and to acquire virtue. What you<br />
have seen in the seminary has saddened your heart, and you feel ready to attribute to<br />
your severity the good that has been done, but experience will convince you that peace,<br />
patience, meekness, prayer are the true source of all good... that it can be attained only<br />
by a continual exercise of humility, love of the cross and a perfect confidence in divine<br />
Providence.” Four years later, in 1833, the same spiritual director writes: “You are<br />
working with all your heart to become humble; it will remain your main consolation<br />
and insurance... but you must stir yourself to have confidence... I am afraid that you are<br />
doing more than you can.”<br />
In 1840, we sense there has been further progress when Monsieur Mollevaut writes:<br />
“You know perfectly well what has to be done in your position: peace, self-control, an<br />
unalterable calmness, prudence, discretion, meekness and union with our good Master.<br />
Ask and you will receive.” It is an indirect way of giving his disciple the essential advice<br />
he needs while at the same time telling him: you know already perfectly well what you<br />
need and you are already working at it and progressing in it. And the spiritual director<br />
adds: but remember that it is not through the human effort of your own will that you<br />
will reach the goal; it is by depending on the grace of God. “Ask,” concludes Monsieur<br />
Mollevaut, “and you will receive.”<br />
A few years later - when Monsieur Mollevaut is addressing a 44-year old disciple, he<br />
again writes: “I bless a thousand times our admirable Master who is granting you one<br />
of the most important graces and one of the most decisive in your position; namely, to<br />
know what it is to be a superior.” Mollevaut adds: “A superior should... give the<br />
example of all the virtues: prudence before all... a continual and deep humility, an<br />
unalterable meekness, a fervent prayer, a constant union with God, an unshakeable<br />
peace.” Again, this is a reminder and an affirmation that Fr. Moreau has already<br />
received this grace.<br />
Many authors of spiritual treatises insist on this struggle against the dominant fault. By<br />
fighting one’s principal fault, there is less chance of falling into illusion and emphasizing<br />
some other virtue which would be easier to practice. Some authors, however, insist on<br />
the same virtue for everyone: humility like St. Benedict, or obedience in St. Ignatius, or<br />
poverty like St. Francis of Assisi, etc. This facilitates a concentration of energies with a<br />
certain nuance of spirituality. In any case, as St. Thomas Aquinas said, by progressing<br />
in one virtue, one progresses in all the others at the same time.<br />
31
It is evident to me that Fr. Moreau concentrated his efforts against his main fault and<br />
certainly taught his seminarians and his religious to do the same. Our founder thereby<br />
attained great control of himself with the conviction that it was done by God’s grace,<br />
working through his own generosity and constancy.<br />
c) The founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had, by temperament (and Monsieur Mollevaut reminded him<br />
of this several times), a tendency to a certain asceticism; that is, to impose<br />
“mortifications”on himself. He was demanding on himself (and then, on others, at least in the<br />
beginning). His tendency was to live in austerity. From my perspective, the fact that Moreau<br />
made private vows before the subdiaconate is not significant other than it reflects his natural<br />
tendency to go beyond what was requested. What strikes me as more important is that,<br />
through all this, he learned to depend on the Lord before all else to progress in the spiritual<br />
life, and even to succeed in his enterprises.<br />
In 1832, when Bishop Carron of Le Mans wanted to save the Christian Brothers’ school in<br />
the city, which the civil authorities had stopped subsidizing, he consulted Monsieur Bouvier,<br />
superior of the major seminary. Bouvier responded without hesitation that he knew only one<br />
priest who could succeed in taking a collection among the rich people: Fr. Moreau. In fact,<br />
our founder did succeed and in a very brief time. However, Fr. Moreau counted on prayer<br />
more than anything else. He developed a certain devotion to the founder of the De La Salle<br />
Brothers to the point of obtaining through his intercession a striking physical cure for one of<br />
the Good Shepherd sisters. He depended on prayer in the foundation of the Good Shepherd<br />
monastery in Le Mans. Fr. Moreau went from one family to another, one chateau to another,<br />
his rosary in hand, counting more on the Lord to open hearts than on any arguments he could<br />
use, even though he had all the talents necessary to convince people.<br />
This I believe is essential in the life of our founder: by struggling against his dominant fault<br />
he acquired a deep conviction that, finally, everything comes from God alone. With the<br />
foundation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Fr. Moreau expresses this conviction through devotion to St.<br />
Joseph (acquired, without doubt, at least partly, through his contacts with the Brothers of St.<br />
Joseph of Ruillé-sur-Loir 11 , Le Mans diocese, founded in 1820 by Fr. Jacques Dujarié).<br />
Fr. Moreau entrusted to this great saint all his material needs, which were many as his<br />
religious foundation was developing. He was able to say, as had many saints, that he<br />
never had been deceived. Faith is most important, not miracles; such faith can move<br />
mountains. Thus he learned to count on grace more than on his own efforts and<br />
sacrifices.<br />
Austerity can become heroic when maintained permanently, especially when there are a<br />
thousand good reasons to avoid it because of the amount of work involved. Fr. Moreau<br />
fasted three days a week and experienced a mid-life crisis - around forty years of age -<br />
11<br />
These Brothers were to become part of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, which was to include priests and<br />
sisters. Fr. Moreau became the brothers’ superior general in 1835.<br />
32
without anyone noticing a decrease in his fervor. It is true that at the time he was<br />
motivated to maintain his austerities because he saw himself becoming the founder of a<br />
large community; he realized that he needed to give example and even do more than his<br />
share because the Lord would judge him more severely.<br />
Even though he fasts, he writes in the rules for his religious that it is better to bear the<br />
pain of work than fasting when one cannot do more and is called to the service of others.<br />
Clearly, the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> learned the difference between what he himself could<br />
do and what he should demand of others. He learned, through the advice of his director,<br />
to be indulgent towards others, even if they must do penance - in their own way,<br />
according to their capabilities - since they too must grow in the spiritual life.<br />
d) I will not say much here about the importance Fr. Moreau attached to spiritual direction.<br />
Through this practice Moreau triumphed in the fight against his main fault as we have just<br />
seen. This would have been sufficient to convince him of the importance of this practice.<br />
During the time of his studies in Paris, Basil Moreau copied by hand an entire treatise on<br />
spiritual direction to prepare himself for this function with the seminarians of Le Mans. He<br />
became a much requested spiritual director in the seminaries. He continued to correspond<br />
with his director, Monsieur Mollevaut, until 1846, when the latter was unable to continue<br />
because of sickness. Even at this date - Fr. Moreau is 47 - he takes again his former spiritual<br />
director, Canon Louis-Jean Fillion, whom he had while in college and as a student in the<br />
major seminary. This demonstrates the importance Fr. Moreau assigned to spiritual guidance.<br />
In his very first circular letter, November 8, 1835, he strongly insists on spiritual direction for<br />
his religious. He returns to this topic very often afterwards.<br />
e) Concerning the private vows Fr. Moreau made before his subdiaconate, around the<br />
beginning of 1820, it will be sufficient to quote what he wrote. We can see that he was<br />
already striving, as a seminarian and student in theology, to practice the spirit of the<br />
evangelical counsels with all their requirements. Thus, he had no difficulty later on, in 1840,<br />
with making public profession of the three vows of religion. Here is what he wrote about the<br />
private vows he made with the agreement of his spiritual director:<br />
Vows which I made before subdiaconate:<br />
1. Vow of perpetual chastity;<br />
2. of obedience, that is not to ask for any function and accept any of them;<br />
3. of poverty, that is not to accumulate riches but wear common and ordinary material, never silk.<br />
4. To fast on Fridays and drink only water between meals, as long as I live in a seminary, this in order not<br />
to put myself in embarrassing situations during holidays. The first motive of this mortification is to do<br />
penance for my sins; the second to obtain more and more the love of Jesus Christ. 12<br />
This spirit of the evangelical counsels, this fervor and austerity, was maintained by Fr.<br />
Moreau through all his life. There is no hesitation about this even during the period which is<br />
12<br />
op. cit. p. 71.<br />
33
commonly called the mid-life crisis. Fr. Moreau transmits this spirit to his seminarians and<br />
later on to his religious, as much and maybe more by his example as by his exhortations. The<br />
constant reminders he addresses to the religious have a tone of profound conviction which<br />
cannot be mistaken. Fr. Moreau received, both from his family and from his formators, a<br />
strong Christian spirit which he kept and developed and, without doubt later on, cultivated<br />
into heroism.<br />
During the crisis of 1855<br />
Let us turn now to the mystical crisis of 1855 and see, fifteen years after 1840, how the<br />
spiritual life of the founder had developed. In examining this privileged moment of his great<br />
trial in the Fall of 1855, I will summarize what happened, then examine its various aspects to<br />
show what really took place. Fr. Moreau himself tells us about this crisis, one year after the<br />
experience. He did this while speaking to a group of priests; one of them, Fr. Seguin, his<br />
secretary, took extensive notes of this narration.<br />
“I began”, said Fr. Moreau, “to become very preoccupied by the political upheavals I was<br />
afraid of, and by the high cost of food which could be a real problem for the community. I<br />
saw or I believed I saw very clearly the imminent, complete ruin of the congregation, even<br />
abroad. An unusual clarity about this struck me. There was no possibility of doubt... I was<br />
reproaching myself over the injustice of the bread I was eating... my only thought was to<br />
recommend myself along with the entire work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to the prayers of a desolate<br />
community... This is what saved me.”<br />
Notice that the only thing he was still able to do was to pray. “However,” added Fr. Moreau,<br />
“what I have just said was but the beginning... I sent away all the employees, stopped the<br />
construction (of the church choir). Each stone I heard being lifted up on the choir of our<br />
church was for me a frightful torture. I did not dare to look at this construction and I said to<br />
myself: Great fool, what a scandal you have committed here in the Church of God.”<br />
“But,” added Fr. Moreau, “I did not give up my prayer... Every evening... when the<br />
community had retired, I would remain there... in the chapel, for long hours, and what was I<br />
doing? I was going from one station to the other, looking for a light, an idea, and I was<br />
finding nothing, absolutely nothing.”<br />
Another aspect of this crisis has been reported to us by Fr. Chappé, a general assistant. The<br />
latter found Fr. Moreau one morning “in a pitiable state”, he said, “but on his knees and in<br />
prayer”. And Fr. Chappé heard, “Come, my son, this is the third day that the devil is<br />
appearing to me; he throws me down and tells me: Moreau you are damned, and all the<br />
religious under your direction will be damned also. They must all leave (the community).”<br />
Finally light would dawn as suddenly and as mysteriously as the darkness had come. Fr.<br />
Moreau concluded: “This lasted for two months when I received a letter coming from more<br />
than 50 leagues away (250 kilometers), from a person who could not know my state...” She<br />
wrote to me: “I see you in the same state as Peter sinking into the waters.” “In the wink of an<br />
34
eye,” added Fr. Moreau, “the light came back into my soul; my confidence returned<br />
completely; the trial was over.”<br />
Over and above the extraordinary phenomenon in this crisis - the devil appearing and<br />
throwing Fr. Moreau out of his bed - most noteworthy, in my opinion, is that the founder of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was very conscious that this was a trial and a temptation. This kind of dark night<br />
led him to stop construction on the church and even to send the novices back home. He went<br />
as far as getting his passport and a ship ticket to go hide at the furthest corner of the world.<br />
But at the same time, his unique refuge in prayer is remarkable; clearly, his faith was not<br />
completely obliterated. He says he neither saw nor felt anything; yet, he had the strength to<br />
continue praying and be somewhat encouraged, even without noticing it, by the fact that the<br />
whole community was praying for him. He was convinced, after the crisis ended, that prayer<br />
had saved him.<br />
It was at this time that our founder was thought to be mad; the rumor spread throughout the<br />
community. Those who saw him in that state had reasons to wonder, his assistants even had<br />
to take his hand to make him sign checks. Some religious today, especially historians and<br />
psychologists, wonder if Moreau simply had a nervous breakdown. As for me, I am<br />
convinced, without a single doubt, that it was an authentic mystical experience.<br />
The saints who experienced a similar mystical night often gave the impression that they were<br />
going through a nervous breakdown or that they had lost their minds. Fr. Moreau had no<br />
tendency to depression; there is no indication of this in his life. He went through difficulties<br />
much more serious than the political crisis of a rapidly spiraling inflation. Even though trials<br />
were beginning to multiply for him at the time, there is more than depression going on here.<br />
During this time many missionaries drowned in Bengal and several religious died of yellow<br />
fever in Louisiana. But even all this does not strike me as sufficient to explain this dark night.<br />
We see similar trials in the lives of many saints. St. Teresa of Avila speaks about one of her<br />
sisters who was favored with mystical experiences, and who was caught suddenly one day in<br />
a dark night which St. Teresa describes. “I saw”, she says, “a cloud darker than the darkest<br />
night come upon her and suddenly surround her.” St. Magdalena of Pazzi, while in ecstasy,<br />
heard a voice telling her, “Know, my daughter, that, in five years, you will be deprived of all<br />
awareness of my grace but not of my grace itself.” And when this trial came, the devil<br />
appeared to her also and she experienced such aridity, such dryness, that she could no longer<br />
attend any community exercises, not even meals. At the same time, she had temptations of<br />
gluttony and despair. But occasionally the Lord came to console her. Mary of the Incarnation<br />
also had a similar trial: “I saw myself”, she said, “going down into an abyss. All consolation<br />
was taken away from me; and even the remembrance of the graces I received just added to<br />
my suffering. I was even convinced that they had not been true mystical graces.” After this<br />
trial, she received even stronger graces.<br />
Notice this last remark: after this trial, she received stronger graces. I believe this happened to<br />
Fr. Moreau. He is prepared, after this trial in 1855, to face the numerous contradictions he<br />
encountered in the administration of his congregation.<br />
35
I have quoted these examples simply to reiterate that, in my opinion, Fr. Moreau’s trial was a<br />
true mystical one. This has been verified at least twice in the work done for the process of<br />
beatification. And the Vatican Relator, the priest who now directs the work to be done for the<br />
process on the virtues of Fr. Moreau, considers this 1855 trial very important in<br />
demonstrating the holiness of our founder.<br />
What must be kept in mind is that one emerges from such a trial with greater spiritual<br />
strength. This leads to what is called spiritual marriage, or complete union with the Lord.<br />
Nothing after that can alter the interior peace of the person. We can discern that Fr. Moreau<br />
was much stronger and much more serene in facing new trials after 1855 than he was before.<br />
During the period after 1855, and especially between 1860 and 1870, new difficulties will<br />
multiply to such a point that a specialist in French spirituality, Fr. Rayez, S.J., is struck by the<br />
amount of moral trials that our founder had to endure near the end of his life, even from the<br />
authorities of the Church.<br />
Let us look at a few examples of this new strength and serenity after Fr. Moreau’s 1855<br />
crisis. In 1857 he writes to the community: “Allow me to desire for you the heritage of Jesus<br />
Christ and the one that his saints have left to us. This heritage is that of humiliations, of<br />
poverty and sufferings; it is that of trials and temptations, of works and persecutions of all<br />
kinds. In vain will we look for another way... than that of Calvary. All the Gospel doctrine”,<br />
he says, “is summarized in this science of the foolishness of the cross.” To write these words,<br />
with this depth of conviction, he must have lived and experienced them. When Fr. Moreau<br />
mentions “trials and temptations”, he certainly recalls the great trial and temptation he went<br />
through just ten months before.<br />
The author of the letter which brought an end to Moreau’s trial is the Countess de Jurien, a<br />
true mystic also, who had the gift of reading hearts even from a distance. This explains how<br />
she had been able to write to Fr. Moreau that she was seeing him as St. Peter sinking into the<br />
waters. She wrote another letter in 1857 to Fr. Drouelle, procurator in Rome, in which she<br />
said: “He is a saint, your Father Moreau. Do you know this, Father? I believe he is, at least,<br />
and I must say that God gives me such an interior light on the souls... that I am sometimes<br />
saddened to see so much misery... in those who are pointed out to me as holy. While in your<br />
Father, my soul finds rest. I see in him the spirit of God untouched by anything else, a true<br />
humility, and finally a resting in God.”<br />
“A resting in God”: this peace, this rest in the Lord in the midst of multiplying difficulties, is,<br />
I believe, characteristic of Fr. Moreau in the latter part of his life. In the midst of the most<br />
difficult trials, he can say or write many times over: “...but the Lord keeps me in his peace”;<br />
“but I have nothing against anyone and I forgive all”.<br />
To encourage his religious, Fr. Moreau would often repeat the sentence that saved him during<br />
his trial. He would simply say, “I see you as Peter sinking into the waters.” To Fr. Sorin, who<br />
at that time also had many difficulties, he said that he should do as Christ did at the hour of<br />
his agony: prolong his prayer. Fr. Moreau recalled again that it was prolonged prayer that<br />
saved him from his terrible trial. In 1860, he writes to Mother Mary of the Seven Dolors: “I<br />
36
see, my dear Mother, that you are troubled, agitated, as St. Peter sinking into the waters. Do<br />
not be surprised that the devil is active as your chapter is approaching... have more<br />
confidence... after all, why be preoccupied? For me, I have no doubt about the future of your<br />
congregation... Let us pray, let us humiliate ourselves and let us count only on grace... If it<br />
would please God to destroy everything... I would submit myself with all my heart (but) the<br />
Lord willed and wants the Work as it is.”<br />
To write this, one needs a virtue which has been purified over a long time. Again we can see<br />
the basic convictions of our founder on the importance of prayer for succeeding in the works<br />
of God. We sense an even greater conviction and strength, a serenity that only God’s power<br />
can give.<br />
Around 1870<br />
Finally let us look at some traits which characterize Fr. Moreau’s spiritual development at the<br />
end of his life. These can be identified through: a) his correspondence; 13 b) his spiritual<br />
testament; c) his Meditations published in 1872; and finally, d) his earnest apostolic<br />
activity of preaching.<br />
a) Correspondence: On April 20, 1869, Fr. Moreau wrote to Mother Mary of the Seven<br />
Dolors: “As for me, I want to kiss always with love the paternal hand of God and be<br />
preoccupied only with doing his ever adorable will...” In June of this same year, he wrote to<br />
Brother Hilaire, his friend: “The two Solitudes (that is: the two novitiates) will be sold on the<br />
17th (of June). While I was away preaching, everything that was in my room was sold. May<br />
God’s will be done!” To conclude in so serene a way, “may God’s will be done”, when<br />
everything in one’s room has disappeared, requires great spiritual strength, strength which<br />
comes only from God.<br />
To Cardinal Barnabo, on November 19, 1869, Fr. Moreau wrote: “My conscience bears me<br />
witness that I have never... done anything like what I am accused of... to Propaganda, and<br />
thanks be to God, I am happy to have received nothing but contradictions.” “I am happy to<br />
have received nothing but contradictions”, this is yet another sign of the serenity our founder<br />
possessed near the end of his life, and of his perfect union with the Lord. Finally, Fr. Moreau<br />
wrote to a Sister in New Orleans, on January 14, 1870: “It is... a great honor that the Lord<br />
gives me and a true joy to drink of his chalice. Thus, thanks to the prayers that have been said<br />
for me, I have been neither troubled nor discouraged. After the storm,” he added, “come<br />
calmness and tranquility”. “It is a true joy to drink of his chalice... calmness and tranquility”,<br />
this is the way Fr. Moreau lived his last years and his final trials.<br />
13<br />
The only letters from Moreau’s correspondence which have been published are from his years of formation<br />
and teaching, in the book cited above in footnote 3. The other letters - those quoted here - are found only in the<br />
general archives of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> (priests and brothers) and of the Marianite Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>. This is not in reference to his circular letters which were also published, in French and English, during<br />
1941-43.<br />
37
) Spiritual will: Fr. Moreau wrote his spiritual testament on June 13, 1867, during a retreat<br />
at the Trappists’ monastery of Mortagne, about 150 kilometers northeast of Le Mans, one<br />
year after his resignation had been accepted by the <strong>Holy</strong> See.<br />
Fr. Moreau begins by placing himself before God and the Trinity, asking pardon for all his<br />
sins and of all those whom he may have offended. Then he says: “With all my heart I pardon<br />
those who have harmed me in the exercise of my ministry by their calumnies, probably<br />
without evil intentions. I beg God to pardon those of our own religious who have<br />
unknowingly paralyzed the development of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>...” Notice these<br />
expressions: “probably without evil intentions..., unknowingly”. Fr. Moreau does not accuse,<br />
he excuses; he shows no resentment; he forgives and simply regrets that what happened was<br />
not according to the religious spirit. He adds: “If they could read the depths of my heart, they<br />
would see there no bitterness, but only indulgence and love for all the members of our<br />
family.”<br />
Near the end of his life, Fr. Moreau saw everything in the light of God, in the spirit of the<br />
gospel. He was at peace with his own conscience. In his heart he was at peace with everyone<br />
and with the whole situation that was created for him, though not with what the community<br />
had become. He would liked to have seen a revival of the original fervor and union of hearts<br />
which marked the Congregation during its first twenty years. He wrote that he would be<br />
ready to suffer even more; “I would gladly suffer much more, if I could thus strengthen the<br />
congregation which has been so severely rocked.”<br />
The founder of the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, at the end of his life, was truly seeing everything<br />
through the mystery of the “holy cross” and, we could say, with God’s heart, with God’s<br />
love, mercy and peace.<br />
c) Meditations published in 1872: We find in Fr. Moreau’s Meditations, published a few<br />
months before his death, topics which were not addressed or were addressed differently in his<br />
previous meditations, the Exercises of St. Ignatius, published in 1855 and 1858. This again<br />
confirms what Fr. Moreau experienced during his mystical experience and subsequent trials.<br />
For example, for Thursday of the first week, Fr. Moreau speaks of the Lord’s conduct toward<br />
his accusers; he writes: “His conduct toward them should serve as a model for us... The Lord<br />
answered his accusers by challenging them to reproach him with anything that could be<br />
proved... he simply denied the accusations with calm... even if, in their malice, they do not<br />
want to listen.” It could be said that this is exactly what our founder did during the final years<br />
of his life.<br />
38
In his meditation for Tuesday of the fourth week, Fr. Moreau speaks about discernment of<br />
spirits and writes: “When God acts in a soul, he spreads in it a sweet and tranquil joy, and the<br />
devil on the contrary brings sadness and trouble.” Fr. Moreau applies here the rules of St.<br />
Ignatius for the discernment of spirits, yet speaks of it as something he has experienced.<br />
He has an entire meditation on the meekness which Jesus showed to all those who came to<br />
him. In another meditation on the two spirits, he speaks of meekness which suffers everything<br />
from everyone, and causes suffering to no one.<br />
Finally, there is a meditation on the peace of Jesus Christ, where it is said: “...this peace<br />
cannot be acquired except... through abnegation, meekness, humility... One should moreover<br />
prefer solitude, and if one is living... in the world, one must find a solitary place... in one’s<br />
own heart... because the peace of God is found only in the peace of silence.” He adds this<br />
prayer: “That is why, O Lord, I will bless you until my death for you have freed me from the<br />
inseparable preoccupations about the works you have been pleased to make me an<br />
instrument, and have allowed me, finally, to live alone with you alone.” “Freed me from the<br />
preoccupations...”, this refers to his resignation as superior general. This was true already<br />
after his great trial because the Lord gave him the means of maintaining peace in all<br />
circumstances, even in the midst of persecutions and the concerns related to his<br />
responsibilities.<br />
d) Extensive apostolic activities: There were more than 50 parishes at which Fr. Moreau<br />
preached between 1867 and 1872; some asked for his services more than once. Fr. Moreau<br />
did not note short weekend retreats in his personal calendar. Often the long retreats extended<br />
for three weeks: one week for men, one for women, and one for youth. One striking example<br />
shows the zeal and spiritual success of Moreau in his last years of preaching.<br />
In March 1867, he wrote to his blood sister Josephine: “The retreat of Coulombiers worked<br />
marvels of conversions; some poor sinners, and a great number of them, finally came to<br />
confession, which they had abandoned for 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years. I was obliged to ask<br />
two pastors from nearby to help me in hearing confessions.” And a few days later, he wrote<br />
again: “Finally, my dear Josephine, I am at the end of my retreat at Coulombiers. I am<br />
leaving within a few hours for St. Christophe-de-Jambet. I am filled with thankfulness for<br />
God who was pleased to renew completely this parish which I leave to a poor crippled pastor.<br />
I am tired but I hope to be back (in Le Mans) on Easter Monday still alive. Really, I did not<br />
think I was capable of so much work. Yesterday I spoke to the women at 6:30, to the men at<br />
8:15, to both of them at 10:30; to the women at 2:00, to the men at 4:00, to both groups<br />
together at 6:30, each time speaking almost one hour, always with a full church. They say my<br />
face looks very tired, but if I do not loose my voice, I will start another retreat this evening.”<br />
Spiritual authors note that when the soul is perfectly united with the Lord through spiritual<br />
marriage, it feels a new ardor to make the Lord known. St. Teresa of Avila says: “The goal of<br />
all these graces (of the spiritual marriage) is not so much to fill the soul with pleasure but to<br />
make it more able to bear many things (for the Lord).” “These graces”, she adds, “make the<br />
39
person undertake apostolates and many apostolates: it gives an interior rest and a great<br />
exterior strength.”<br />
St. John of the <strong>Cross</strong> writes almost the same thing, saying that these graces of mystical union<br />
lead to interior recollection, to an immense tranquility. At the same time, he says, one feels a<br />
great desire to save souls, whether it be only through prayer and self-sacrifice. All this strikes<br />
me as corresponding to what our founder lived and to what he became at the end of his life.<br />
Knowing this and meditating on his life, we can consider him a saint already. We can imitate<br />
him and pray to him and desire to reach this perfect union with the Lord, being stimulated by<br />
his example and taking our inspiration from the means which the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> used<br />
to reach the very summits of the spiritual life.<br />
40
DISCOVERING A MAN<br />
THROUGH HIS HANDWRITING<br />
Reflections on the graphological analysis of three letters from Father<br />
Moreau<br />
By Gérard Dionne, C.S.C. and Jacques Grisé, C.S.C.<br />
SHORT HISTORY OF THE GRAPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS<br />
a) Why an analysis of handwriting?<br />
A graphological analysis, a scientific study of Father Moreau’s handwriting, was requested<br />
by the person at the Vatican in charge of the cause for the beatification of the founder of the<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> family.<br />
Graphology is a modern science defined as the study of the particular features of an<br />
individual’s handwriting which indicate the psychological profile and tendencies of the<br />
writer. This type of analysis became a science in France and above all in Germany toward<br />
the end of the nineteenth century. More recently, it was improved especially through<br />
psychological studies of character or personality traits.<br />
To study Moreau’s handwriting, the G. Moretti <strong>Institute</strong> of Graphology, from Urbino, Italy,<br />
was called upon. G. Moretti was a Capuchin priest who worked for many years at the<br />
Vatican studying the handwriting of candidates for beatification and canonization. His<br />
findings indicate that these individuals, with the help of grace, had succeeded in controlling<br />
and overcoming the harshness within their personalities. Father Moretti was using René Le<br />
Senne’s characterology as fundamental categories for his study of temperaments. He actually<br />
improved its applications and, after him, his associates continued to develop them with even<br />
more nuance and precision.<br />
The study of Father Moreau’s handwriting was suggested by the Vatican, specifically by the<br />
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as simply strengthening or weakening the conclusions<br />
from the study of virtues based on all his documents and writings. The science of graphology<br />
has become so precise that it usually and marvelously illustrates the conclusions of the study<br />
of virtues and thus even adds something of interest to it.<br />
b) Reason for choosing three letters for analysis<br />
The Moretti <strong>Institute</strong> asked for three of Father Moreau’s letters, written at different periods of<br />
his life: one when he was relatively young, another when he was about 50 years old, and the<br />
last one written toward the end of his life. This would reveal any evolution in the<br />
41
handwriting of the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>; the interpretation of that evolution would<br />
contribute to the analysis of the handwriting itself.<br />
The first letter submitted was written in 1836 (Father Moreau was 37 years old); the second<br />
in 1853, and the last in 1866. Father Moreau died in 1873. These letters provided sufficient<br />
material for the specialists to make a thorough analysis, to determine the evolution of his<br />
handwriting, and to interpret the meaning of such an evolution. We can look now at what the<br />
graphologists discovered about Father Moreau’s personality.<br />
RESULTS OF THE GRAPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS<br />
a) Principal characteristics of Moreau’s temperament<br />
The scientific analysis reveals a personality that is both complex and rich. A personality<br />
which, in fact, can be difficult to describe with simple and well-defined perceptions. This<br />
explains, at least in part, why some of his first associates found it difficult to relate with him.<br />
Of course, we must take into consideration their own psychological make-up and the<br />
relational dynamics capable of amplifying the tensions and divisions which emerged over<br />
time.<br />
Father Moreau’s personality cannot be described in a few words. However, at the very<br />
beginning of their report, the graphologists indicate very clearly that they are dealing with a<br />
dynamic personality and a fighter. The analysis of the letter of 1836 -- Father Moreau had<br />
just founded the Auxiliary Priests and become the superior of the Brothers of Saint Joseph --<br />
describes a person who appears to have a high level of intensity and of vital energy<br />
predisposing his entire being to action, movement, expansion within the existential context,<br />
and a sense of power and well-being which do not rest upon external help or encouragement<br />
but upon his vital power... His gestures do not reflect any preoccupation with meekness and<br />
flexibility; there is in him something incisive, almost cutting and stern. This trait was very<br />
much pointed out particularly by his detractors. But the document also mentions a<br />
temperament structure which unites intensity, exuberance and self-control. 14<br />
All this contributes to shaping a strong and impulsive temperament, moderated by the<br />
effort to control himself which he succeeded in doing eventually and which marks the<br />
evolution of his personality. Father Moreau worked intensely to acquire this selfcontrol,<br />
especially during his formation and his first years of priestly ministry at the<br />
major seminary under the guidance of Fr. Mollevaut, his spiritual director. Besides, this<br />
very effort reflected the intense and almost absolute attributes which characterized his<br />
temperament. 15<br />
14<br />
The authors then state: In reality, we will see how much he tried to control such basic exuberance, almost<br />
spasmodically, with the inevitable difficulty of always gaining control over it.<br />
15<br />
His nature predisposed him to sustain his efforts to the utmost in activities and organization... His was a<br />
temperament which did not allow inactivity, indolence, disinterest, lack of commitment, lack of imperfect inner<br />
42
Among the first members of the congregation, some saw in the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> an<br />
austere and even severe person. This perception, added to the accusations brought<br />
against him by his enemies, (who had to be reprimanded occasionally for their twisted<br />
means and political games), could create an image of Father Moreau as a tough person,<br />
a stubborn and uncompromising man. However, the testimony of an alumnus of Sainte-<br />
Croix College in Le Mans as well as Moreau’s own personal letters show his affection,<br />
his empathy and his generous kindness towards others. At first glance, these two<br />
aspects do not appear to be easily reconcilable. 16<br />
From the study we also learn that the combination of graphological signs reveal a highly<br />
emotional character; that is, he reacts intensely to stimuli... He is not a passive observer of<br />
phenomena and facts of life; rather, he responds and gets involved unreservedly, totally,<br />
often boldly and above all in a way that is not self-centered but other-centered and<br />
empathetic. However, he has no preoccupation to look nice and lovable in the eyes of<br />
others. What matters for him is reality, efficiency, involvement, sacrifice even to the end.<br />
Both primary and secondary<br />
According to Le Senne’s categories of temperament, Moreau was quick-tempered<br />
(emotional-active-primary) and passionate (emotional-active-secondary). The analysis states<br />
that his temperament presents a combination of primary and secondary characteristics which<br />
indicates that the impulsiveness which pressures him to act immediately is moderated by<br />
reflection and a long-range perspective. The primary aspect thrusts him into action in a<br />
decisive, bold, generous way, with a resolve that is almost a bit violent. However, this could<br />
diminish his perspective for vision and programming, with the risk of ‘assaulting’ obstacles<br />
without, as would be expected, calculating the risks and resistance, leading to short term<br />
results only... The corrective of the secondary aspect not only significantly reduces the risks<br />
of impulsive moves, of rash boldness, but it even changes their direction and purpose...<br />
Undoubtedly, what surfaces here is a general impression and the reality of harshness, but<br />
this secondary aspect accentuates availability apart from the fact that tenderness can emerge<br />
where it becomes necessary as support. In this present case, tenderness is surely not inherent<br />
in the temperament and cannot express itself except by a conscious decision.<br />
Obviously the secondary aspect does not cancel the basic temperament characterized by an<br />
uncommon energy, quick reactions, impulsiveness, a truly active resolve to attack any<br />
obstacle, and a logic which allows no exceptions. But even here, the secondary aspect<br />
modifies something; the impulsiveness stays, but while the quick-tempered is always and<br />
logic or the absence of good performance. Consequently, in unfavorable conditions and in very difficult<br />
situations, he can tend to exaggerate somewhat the use of his energy, not only in action but also in self-control.<br />
16<br />
His innate, affective emotional instincts and tendencies to be tender are certainly not predominant, but<br />
rather the active, ruling and forceful instinct in confronting obstacles. Following his nature, he has to act not<br />
only with intensity but also with autonomy...If he is not involved in activity doing something, he creates projects<br />
of his own and by ways others have not yet discovered.<br />
43
solely impulsive, the secondary first reflects, programs, organizes and then the impulsiveness<br />
results from the decision and the organized assault. He is far from willing to yield and<br />
withdraw from what he has decided because the process has brought him to a conviction and<br />
a faith which are unshakeable.<br />
The simultaneous presence of the two temperament profiles within Moreau - primary and<br />
secondary - reveals the possibility of two emotional behavior patterns depending upon the<br />
internal state and the situations being experienced. However, this does not result in<br />
instability or incoherence, and still less any lack of psychic and emotional maturity. The<br />
whole graphological context brings to light an intense personality, extremely committed and<br />
concise in thought, action and existential awareness.<br />
The analysis notes some consequences of this shifting from the primary to the secondary.<br />
The shifting of the temperamental axis from the primary to the secondary has another<br />
advantage. The emotional- active-primary functions for the sake of action, but without really<br />
stable and above all high ideals on the scale of existential values. The interiorization of the<br />
secondary deepens any existential and experiential content; then highly introspective, social<br />
and religious ideals emerge, a passion for spiritual and social challenges. Mercy and charity<br />
come from a generous drive which tends to be superficial, as the primary might tend to be,<br />
but they become more personal and true.<br />
The graphological analysis of the other two letters -- of 1853 when the tensions became more<br />
acute between the mother house and Notre Dame du Lac 17 , and of 1866, the year his<br />
resignation as superior general was accepted -- shows the same essential traits of Father<br />
Moreau’s personality. Some aspects differ because of the difficult circumstances he had<br />
to face which questioned his authority and even his deepest convictions concerning the<br />
religious ideal. 18 Concerning his letter of 1853, the analysis notes that everything seems<br />
more intense, more powerful and more acute. 19 Two years later (1855), Moreau<br />
experienced the terrible crisis which led him to think that everything was lost and that<br />
17<br />
In the fall of 1852, Father Sorin refused to leave Notre Dame to become superior of the mission in Bengal. In<br />
addition, there were difficulties related to the nomination of the superior of New Orleans which led the members<br />
of the chapter at the Lake to declare that, since they could no longer do everything in their power to prevent<br />
separation from the mother house on the part of any house to which they might be assigned, they could no<br />
longer in conscience prevent this separation and that they felt obliged to free themselves for five years. (Cf.<br />
Catta, Vol. I, p.969).<br />
18<br />
In a letter to Bishop Blanc, bishop of New Orleans, Father Moreau wrote: It is high time that certain<br />
individuals return to the submission we want to see in them. I would rather see the orphanage and the Lake<br />
collapse entirely than make the slightest concession to the insubordination which is cropping up in some<br />
heads...(Catta, ibid., p.967).<br />
19<br />
The writing reveals a vital and psychological energy engaged to the utmost, as if straining under great<br />
pressure to confront and conquer obstacles. The author feels the need to withdraw from a situation that weighs<br />
heavily upon him...In spite of the great strength revealed by his handwriting, Moreau acknowledges fatigue<br />
thereby indicating that the struggle which he is undergoing is truly heavy...but the power he shows in that<br />
struggle reveals that he does not intend to quit.<br />
44
he was the only one responsible. His fiercest enemies interpreted this crisis as a fit of<br />
madness.<br />
The handwriting of the 1866 letter accentuates what already appeared in the letter of<br />
1853. But it shows that, in spite of everything, the strength of his personality had not<br />
been vanquished. 20<br />
b) Family heritage: Significant influence of his parents<br />
Although it is not a fully developed part of this handwriting analysis, the influence of family<br />
on Father Moreau’s temperament is important enough to be mentioned. The hypotheses<br />
presented are difficult to verify historically but they do offer an interesting viewpoint to<br />
consider.<br />
The study reveals that, of both parents, his mother clearly had the greatest influence. She is<br />
the one who had a dynamic role in shaping the biotypological structure described here.<br />
Given the strength of the mother figure, Father Moreau searched intensely for the father<br />
figure, but this is certainly not the one who gave him the feeling of a liberating tenderness; on<br />
the contrary, it was perceived more as an obstacle to his free progress than as a prototype<br />
which would have created a feeling of freedom to grow toward the future.<br />
The results of the analysis indicate that the family methods used in rearing would have been<br />
so strict that Basil would have uncritically assimilated them. Thus, he built within himself a<br />
rather harsh superego, but fortunately without destroying his innately intense personality. 21<br />
The graphological analysis makes evident the violent level of self-control which the writer<br />
imposed on himself. But that may make him suppress the impulsiveness inherent in his<br />
temperament and in his strong emotional constraint (corresponding to the mounting<br />
pressures which, at the critical moment, might be prevented from exploding). This does<br />
not happen in normal situations, but rather when faced with obstacles and situations<br />
which, because of the iron-clad logic of his temperament, appear to him to be illogical and<br />
unjust. In general, however, he discharges his tensions quite effectively through actions.<br />
According to the analysis, the predominance of the mother figure always influenced the<br />
founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and was felt with particular intensity at different moments of his<br />
life. The difficulties encountered from 1853 onward would have caused this deep<br />
20<br />
Again we see his determination, vivacity, style, and fighting spirit and conviction; and even firmness<br />
emerges, expressed by using his abilities to their maximum. The end has not yet come although it is alluded to.<br />
To curb such intense vitality and dynamism, there had to be intervening factors of fatigue and emotional<br />
suffering, and it is evident that it was impossible not to have affected the full emotional control of a character<br />
which the analysis has constantly emphasized as being exceptionally strong.<br />
21<br />
Whatever the case, the context of the signs clearly states that he must have greatly curbed his spontaneity<br />
and spontaneous reactions; that he must have done this by using his willpower to the utmost, consequently<br />
emphasizing a psychological awareness and guidance which added psychological tension to the already<br />
numerous tensions of his temperament.<br />
45
emotional experience to emerge again. 22 Father Moreau’s spontaneous reactions when<br />
facing these difficulties would recall those of his earlier years, to free himself from this<br />
strong maternal influence which tended to restrain and contain him too much.<br />
c) How he succeeded in directing his strengths and not remaining prisoner of his<br />
limitations<br />
The preceding material already provides an insight into how Father Moreau dealt with the<br />
strengths and vulnerabilities of his personality.<br />
The authors of the analysis emphasized that his strength of character remained a principal<br />
trait of his personality in spite of the trials he had to go through and the obstacles he had to<br />
confront on his journey. 23 Well tempered by reflection and self-control acquired in the<br />
course of his personal development, his spontaneous impulsiveness does not seem to<br />
have been expressed through noticeable excesses. Evangelical ideals illuminated his way<br />
and served as integrating elements for his personality; from those ideals he drew his<br />
deepest convictions. Justice and truth, among others, were dominant values and found<br />
an immediate echo within him on the affective level.<br />
Thus, Moreau was able to put both his family heritage and the fruits of his maturity at<br />
the service of people and institutions. This is particularly and concretely evident when<br />
he is faced with countless difficulties during the foundation and development of his<br />
work. 24 Power of resolve and direction in action, constancy, inflexibility regarding preestablished<br />
lines based on norms of the surroundings or of his own decisions are some<br />
aspects of his will. The analysis states that a high level tenacity can be seen in him, a<br />
tenacity which could appear as harshness to superficial eyes.<br />
But when encountering the good will which reveals itself even through weaknesses or<br />
human frailties, this apparent harshness disappears in favor of meekness. Hence, his<br />
ability to “forget”, to forgive, to renew the dialogue where it has been broken, and to<br />
keep<br />
22<br />
The author (of the 1853 letter) experiences the need to withdraw from a situation which weighs heavily and<br />
which evokes again the influence of the predominant mother figure and the incapability of a paternal figure to<br />
free him from this influence.<br />
23<br />
Strength is characteristic of him and determines the clarity and precision of his ideas, and consequently,<br />
determines the capacity to transform his ideas into action...It is not Moreau who is influenced by the<br />
environment, but vice versa.<br />
24<br />
Just as the instinct of domination and power prevails even on the level of its possible sublimations, so a<br />
fighting spirit, the boldness of thought and action are also important to him. There is in him a clear feeling that<br />
time is running out and that he must not lose a moment. That is why we do not find in him, as we say, a playful<br />
tendency and why there is no time or energy lost, no whims, no illusions, no day-dreams. In spite of his<br />
impulsiveness, fighting spirit and his forceful reaction, we also find in him indications of a potential mystical<br />
life.<br />
46
his trust in those he already trusted, even when this might give the impression of<br />
naivete. 25<br />
d) Passage through suffering<br />
Suffering was hard and painful apprenticeship for Father Moreau, through which he was able<br />
to reach a remarkable inner peace and surrender. 26 After having struggled to the end, 27<br />
convinced he had to defend justice and truth, he surrendered, as he had done at other<br />
less critical moments in his life, to God’s Providence whose presence and activity in his<br />
life and work he never doubted. 28<br />
The analysis of his letters of 1853 and 1866 highlights very well the impact of suffering<br />
on his personality. 29 He does not allow himself to give way. 30 He even comes out of<br />
these experiences with greater strength and peace. These few lines from his spiritual<br />
testament witness eloquently to this: “With all my heart I pardon those who have<br />
harmed me in the exercise of my ministry by their calumnies, probably without evil<br />
intentions. I beg God to pardon those of our own religious who have unknowingly<br />
paralyzed the development of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, by having recourse to<br />
means which are both out of harmony with the spirit of our constitutions and rules and<br />
opposed to religious obedience, simplicity, truth and abnegation. If they could read in<br />
the depths of my heart, they would see there no bitterness, but only indulgence and love<br />
for all the members of our family. My conscience tells me that I would gladly suffer<br />
much more, if I could thus strengthen the Congregation which has been so severely<br />
rocked.”<br />
The last sentence of the analysis sums up well the personality of the founder of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>: Above all, what emerges is the strength, the rationality and the seriousness of a<br />
25<br />
We have only to think of his attitude towards Fathers Sorin, Champeau and Drouelle in particular.<br />
26<br />
Apparently, this is not referring to calmness, at least not when he is in the heat of struggling to make<br />
distinctions; but later upon reflection, given his power of concentration at least in a second time around, he can<br />
then come again to interior peace.<br />
27<br />
He is the one who plunges into the melee boldly and impulsively. For him it is a question of consistency,<br />
coherence, and morality.<br />
28<br />
His spiritual testament is exemplary in this respect.<br />
29<br />
In their analysis of the 1866 letter, the authors note: Being unable to control his handwriting at this point, as<br />
he usually does, the overall content indicates a contrast between strength and fatigue, between clarity of<br />
precision and confusion.<br />
30<br />
In spite of this, the traits of the author are always the same. Determination is still there and even firmness<br />
emerges, expressed by using his abilities to their maximum.<br />
47
way of thinking which can sin by a little bit of harshness, but never by conventionalism<br />
and instability.<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
In conclusion, this analysis of Moreau’s handwriting illustrates and confirms what was<br />
known already from many documents which he left or from texts written by others who knew<br />
him.<br />
From his youth, Father Moreau worked hard to acquire meekness, which indicates that it was<br />
not natural to him. The graphological analysis confirms this. Spontaneously, he was<br />
demanding on himself; hence, his tendency to be demanding on others also. But by dint of<br />
hard work to learn self-control, he manifested great patience towards others, and he was<br />
always ready to forgive.<br />
The only photograph we have of him, when he was fifty-five years old, portrays him as a<br />
stern man. However, many documents present him smiling, jovial, capable of making others<br />
laugh and of laughing heartily himself. Here again, we can see his impulsiveness and his<br />
capacity for meekness and tenderness that he acquired with time.<br />
There is one story which illustrates very well his impulsiveness. A Prefect of La Sarthe, that<br />
is, a regional representative to the French central government, once wrote to the Minister of<br />
Public Instruction in Paris that Father Moreau was the type of man who, if shown the door<br />
and kicked out, would come back through the window immediately. Besides, Moreau said<br />
and repeated that, in founding the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, he had in mind what he<br />
wanted to do from the very beginning.<br />
Thus, Father Moreau was both impulsive and reflective, demanding and capable of much<br />
patience, austere but also knowing how to show tenderness.<br />
Finally, even if it does not add anything significantly new to what we know about Father<br />
Moreau, this scientific analysis of his handwriting confirms what knowledge we do have with<br />
the strength of a modern science. In highlighting the most prominent features of his<br />
temperament, this analysis sheds some light on a number of documents and facts, and<br />
illustrates clearly the virtues which this candidate for beatification acquired, with God’s<br />
grace, for controlling some of the severity within his temperament.<br />
48
BASIL MOREAU:<br />
THE SEVEN YEARS OF HIS RETIREMENT<br />
1867-1873<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
By Graziella Lalande, C.S.C.<br />
In recent years, the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has had the opportunity to acquire a better<br />
knowledge of its founder through different circumstances and activities. 31 Basil Moreau as a<br />
person, through his accomplishments and teaching, the different stages of his life and<br />
spiritual journey, has become more familiar to his sons and daughters. For many of us,<br />
gradually he has become closer as “founder and father, model, intercessor and<br />
friend.” 32<br />
However, there is a period in Basil Moreau’s life which remains relatively unknown<br />
even now; namely, his “retirement years”. This period of seven years began with the<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> See’s acceptance of his resignation as superior general in 1866 and extended until<br />
his death in 1873.<br />
Basil Moreau, removed from the responsibility of authority, isolated from his<br />
community, and experiencing declining health due to aging, stands out with particular<br />
dignity and light throughout the new circumstances in which he is now placed.<br />
The purpose of this article is to examine this period of his life.<br />
PRELIMINARY EVENTS<br />
Basil Moreau was 67 years of age when he retired in 1866. As founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and<br />
superior, he had experienced thirty years of intense apostolic activity and service.<br />
Nine years earlier, in 1857, his foundation had reached a highpoint. The constitutions of the<br />
Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had been approved by the <strong>Holy</strong> See; 33 the consecration of the<br />
conventual church, Our Lady of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, had been celebrated with exceptional<br />
31<br />
The work related to the process for the beatification of Father Moreau, as well as workshops, retreats,<br />
meetings, publications, etc.<br />
32<br />
33<br />
Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C., CL 22, August 24, 1984.<br />
Basil Moreau, CL 86, July 3, 1857.<br />
49
solemnity, 34 and Father Moreau’s visit to the North American foundations had brought<br />
him great consolation. 35 The year 1857 had been truly blessed and important for the<br />
founder and for the work in which he was instrumental. But the course of history<br />
would be significantly modified in the coming years. The opposition and constant<br />
criticism of a few religious, 36 his confreres and sons in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, had already begun<br />
to undermine his authority and threaten the stability of his work.<br />
This article is not the forum in which to explore what Basil Moreau called a “mystery of<br />
opposition” 37 , nor to reconstitute the plot, nor to judge those who in the coming years,<br />
sparked and sustained this opposition. To understand the founder’s resignation as<br />
superior general of the Congregation, it will be sufficient to recall the essential elements.<br />
In short, a few religious whose views on <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and its government differed from<br />
those of the founder, and whose interests contradicted his in many respects, did not<br />
recognize 38 his authority in circumstances which challenged those views and interests. 39<br />
Father Barrosse, former superior general of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, describes the escalation of<br />
their resistance as “occasional flagrant disobedience, passive resistance to his authority,<br />
and finally, direct persecution when they tried to make him accountable for all the evils<br />
in the Congregation” at the time. 40<br />
At this stage, the opposition spared nothing: neither the founder himself nor his<br />
character, neither his leadership nor any of his administrative acts. He was denounced<br />
to the authorities in Rome 41 , and discredited in the congregation. Doubt spread<br />
concerning his integrity and his ability to fulfill his duties as superior general. And yet,<br />
being fully aware of the consequences, Father Moreau’s detractors did not truly want<br />
34<br />
35<br />
Id., CL 79, January 1, 1857; CL 84, May 1, 1857; CL 86, July 3, 1857.<br />
Id., CL 86, July 3, 1857; Cl 89, August 11, 1857; CL 90, Sept. 25, 1857.<br />
36<br />
Religious who were influential in Rome on behalf of the community, partly because of the positions they<br />
held.<br />
37<br />
The meaning of this phrase is very similar to the “mystery of wickedness” mentioned by Paul in 2 Th. 2:7.<br />
Father Moreau used this expression for the first time in CL 174, January 31, 1864.<br />
38<br />
39<br />
40<br />
The term “not recognized” is used by Moreau in his letter to Cardinal Barnabo, May 15, 1865.<br />
cf. Catta II, pp. 347-375.<br />
Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C., CL 22, August 24, 1984.<br />
41<br />
“The Cardinal (Barnabo) is overwhelmed with signed letters, and especially with anonymous<br />
communications...”, November 14, 1863.<br />
50
his resignation. 42 They would have been satisfied with the founder’s “personal reform”<br />
and with the ability to supervise his administration:<br />
If some higher authority imposes upon him a well-defined line of conduct<br />
and then takes steps to see that he follows it, the most important<br />
improvements can be worked out even while he remains in office. 43<br />
This is the context in which, between 1858 and 1866, Basil Moreau frequently asked the<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> See or the general chapter to accept his resignation. 44 The main reasons he gave<br />
were the following:<br />
- he perceived himself as an obstacle to the good of the congregation 45 , to the<br />
peace and union of hearts in the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>; 46<br />
- he sensed that, because of the accusations repeatedly brought against him, he<br />
had lost the confidence of the <strong>Holy</strong> See and of his administration; 47<br />
- he felt that, as superior general in the present circumstances, it was impossible<br />
to govern the congregation according to the constitutions and his conscience:<br />
“...feeling that I do not have the freedom to act in the scope and limitations of<br />
our Constitutions...” 48 “...seeing myself under supervision from all sides...” 49 In<br />
addition, towards the end, he expressed a great need for rest, “not physical, I do<br />
not expect it, but morally...” 50 And, much weariness: “I no longer have the<br />
42<br />
“If Father Moreau’s resignation were to be accepted in the present circumstances, it would infallibly result in<br />
much more embarrassing problems than I could describe.” Drouelle to Barnabo, cited by Catta II, 525. After the<br />
resignation, Father Chappé confirmed these views. cf. Father Chappé’s letter to Cardinal Barnabo, June 25,<br />
1866: “His presence in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is necessary to reassure the many creditors who know only Father Moreau<br />
and who have his signature.”<br />
43<br />
cf. document following the 1860 general chapter, cited and analyzed by Catta II, 399.<br />
44<br />
He strives as much as possible, to justify his administration and to show the appropriateness of his actions.<br />
In Rome, however, the balance tips increasingly in favor of his detractors.<br />
45<br />
46<br />
Basil Moreau to Cardinal Barnabo, December 18, 1858.<br />
Request made to the general chapter, August, 1860.<br />
47<br />
Basil Moreau to Cardinal Barnabo, October 25, 1861, December 24, 1862, September 25, 1863. To Bishop<br />
Fillion, Bishop of Le Mans, August 25, 1963.<br />
48<br />
49<br />
50<br />
To Bishop Fillion, August 25, 1863.<br />
To Cardinal Barnabo, May 12, 1865.<br />
Recorded in the minutes of the 1863 general chapter.<br />
51
courage to continue my duties in a work where I have been regarded for so long<br />
as a hothead and a meddler...” 51 “Mystery of opposition!”<br />
His resignation, which had always been refused until then, was finally accepted by the<br />
Sacred Congregation of the Propagation on June 4, 1866.<br />
A few days later, with the mother house community gathered to hear Rome’s decision,<br />
Basil Moreau would give his confreres in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> yet another reason for his<br />
resignation:<br />
Very often, in the works of God, there are individuals so compromised by<br />
the troubles inseparable from their foundation, that it is useful for them<br />
to disappear in order to calm passions and eliminate opposition... That is<br />
why, for the last nine years, I have frequently offered my resignation,<br />
either to the general chapters or to Propaganda and, last November, to<br />
the Sovereign Pontiff himself. 52<br />
Consistent with his desire for the good of the congregation, on the evening of June 21,<br />
1866, Basil Moreau became once again a simple, professed religious in the community<br />
he had founded. Finally, his retirement had begun.<br />
RETIREMENT<br />
As it is with most people after completing their career responsibilities, Basil Moreau<br />
experienced a kind of exodus: a transition from one status to another, from one ministry to<br />
another, from certain living conditions to others which were new and different. And in the<br />
midst of these exterior changes, there was an interior experience of separation, detachment,<br />
but also - for him - relief.<br />
Basil Moreau experienced this in unusual circumstances which, in fact, were associated with<br />
events that shook the community and the work which he founded, and with the upheaval<br />
which struck him personally.<br />
All this caused sufferings of varying intensity which, in other circumstances, could have been<br />
for this good servant a peaceful movement to a new period of achievement. Likewise, this<br />
was the cause of an ever-present cross in his life which weighed heavily on him emotionally:<br />
...after having spent my entire life in the service of the Church, I was not<br />
expecting such an ample harvest of trials from some of my confreres... 53<br />
51<br />
52<br />
53<br />
To Cardinal Barnabo, October 15, 1863.<br />
Address given to the mother house community, June 21, 1866, cited by Catta II, pp. 698-699.<br />
Basil Moreau, letter to Pope Pius IX, November 27, 1865.<br />
52
In examining how Basil Moreau lived his retirement during these seven years, it is<br />
important to note that, from a historical and factual viewpoint, there are two distinct<br />
phases. The first takes place when, after having been removed from the ministry of<br />
authority and its related responsibilities, he retired discreetly to the mother house and<br />
began - no less discreetly - what could be called a second apostolic career. This took<br />
place between 1866 and 1869; he lived in his community.<br />
The second phase coincides with the gradual liquidation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> property in Le<br />
Mans, 54 the abandonment of the works which he established there and the departure of<br />
members for other locations. 55 Alienated by the general administration who informed<br />
him that “they could not make any contribution to his support”, 56 he withdrew to his<br />
sisters’ home, 57 near the former mother house. 58 This was to be his home for the last<br />
four years of his retirement. This is where he died, outside his community, January 20,<br />
1873.<br />
The years 1866-1869<br />
Marking the transition<br />
As previously mentioned, this is the first phase. It was initiated by some important gestures<br />
which resembled a closing liturgy. To mention but a few which Basil Moreau did with all<br />
simplicity and loyalty. Following the announcement of his resignation, he left his place in<br />
the chapter room and invited Father Chappé, designated interim superior, to occupy it; he<br />
took his seat among the confreres according to the rank of his profession, that is, after the<br />
general councilors; he removed the purple rabat from under his Roman collar which he had<br />
worn by special privilege as a distinguishing mark of the superior general.<br />
He left his room and office without delay and moved his personal belongings 59 himself to the<br />
room he had been assigned by the superior. Now, nothing distinguished him from other<br />
religious in the house.<br />
54<br />
55<br />
56<br />
On this liquidation and the surrounding circumstances (1868-1869), see Catta II, pp.943 ff.<br />
Mainly, Paris, Rome and North America.<br />
cf. Catta II, p. 949.<br />
57<br />
His two sisters, Victoire and Josephine, were single and lived together in a small house near the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
property. Victoire was then 76 years of age, and Josephine, 61.<br />
58<br />
59<br />
In these circumstances, the Pope permitted him to choose his place of residence.<br />
Reduced to the bare necessities appropriate to his new situation.<br />
53
His apostolic commitment<br />
Life continued for the founder in this new arrangement. Freed now from the work imposed<br />
on him by the office of superior, 60 he took up once again the first ministry he had wanted<br />
for his own and for the auxiliary priests: he offered his services to the neighboring<br />
pastors.<br />
During the years 1866-1869, he went to twelve parishes of the diocese of Le Mans for<br />
missions, retreats, days of recollection. The length of these apostolic activities varied<br />
from a few days to two, three or four weeks. 61 At the end of each, he returned to the<br />
mother house and lived as discreetly as possible in the obscure observance of the<br />
common life.<br />
His deep feelings<br />
What were Father Moreau’s feelings throughout this experience? A few excerpts from his<br />
correspondence provide us with important insights. Regarding the events which brought on<br />
his retirement, he wrote:<br />
God grants me the greatest peace and frees me from all other<br />
preoccupations... 62<br />
Rejoice with me for having been released at last from my frightening<br />
responsibility. In the eyes of faith, that is a great grace and a sweet<br />
consolation in my old age. 63<br />
Our Lord gave me the grace to be at peace with him in the midst of the<br />
upheaval and to want nothing but his own good will. 64<br />
In his last circular letter to the Associates of Saint Joseph he says that he will<br />
60<br />
Freed from his work, however, Moreau is not free of all the trouble caused by events within the congregation<br />
at this time: the 1866 and 1868 general chapters and their consequences, the obligation to go to Rome at the<br />
express order of the <strong>Holy</strong> See, etc.<br />
61<br />
The archives of the Marianites, at Le Mans, contain a small notebook in which Father Moreau noted very<br />
precisely the place, date, length and object of his ministry. He also indicated the “stipends” he received in return<br />
for his services.<br />
62<br />
During his retreat at the Solitude, at the time of the 1866 chapter to which he had not been invited.<br />
63<br />
From the Trappist monastery in Mortagne, June 19, 1867, in a letter to all the religious who had sent their<br />
greetings on the occasion of Saint Basil’s feastday.<br />
64<br />
Mother Mary of Seven Dolors described him: “he is cheerful (...) In his looks and his words, I see only<br />
contentment and the most perfect calm.” Letter to Mother Mary of Saint Alphonse Rodriquez, provincial<br />
superior in Canada, July 10, 1866.<br />
54
..wait in peace and with confidence for the moment when it will please<br />
God to justify me in the eyes of the world, if indeed this enters into the<br />
designs of his Providence in my regard... 65<br />
In his ministry, despite his age and fatigue, Basil Moreau is filled with zeal and ardor.<br />
In a letter to one of his sisters, he described his ministry:<br />
At last, I have completed my mission at Coulombiers 66 and I am leaving<br />
within a few hours for Saint Christophe-de-Jambet(...)I am tired but I<br />
hope to return still alive on Easter Monday. I really did not think I could<br />
handle so much! Yesterday I was able to preach to the women at six<br />
thirty in the morning; to the men at eight-fifty; to the entire parish at tenthirty;<br />
and again at six-thirty in the evening. Each sermon lasted close to<br />
an hour... They tell me that I look very tired but, unless I lose my voice, I<br />
shall begin another mission this evening... 67<br />
As is evident, the auxiliary priest that Father Moreau had once again become, remained<br />
remarkably young in his self-dedication!<br />
Joy in the desert<br />
During this period which was in many ways so painful, Providence had reserved a great joy<br />
for Father Moreau: the approbation of the Constitutions of the Marianites by the <strong>Holy</strong> See, in<br />
1867. 68 He expressed his joy to Mother Mary of Seven Dolors in these words:<br />
Until the end of my life, I shall bless Divine Providence, for having<br />
provided me with the great consolation of seeing your congregation<br />
approved by Rome, along with the rules which I submitted to the <strong>Holy</strong><br />
See, notwithstanding continual opposition, and for having enabled me to<br />
find in you, for the<br />
foundation of this congregation, a soul so generous... 69<br />
Later, he would recall this event and the basic trials which made it so distinctive:<br />
In 1866, when I saw everything collapsing around me, and at times when<br />
calumny and persecution were unleashing their darts against me, God<br />
gave me the strength to support everything with resignation, and in 1867,<br />
I had the joy of seeing your congregation rise up out of the ruins of<br />
65<br />
66<br />
67<br />
Basil Moreau, circular letter to the letter to the Associates of Saint Joseph, January 16, 1869.<br />
This mission, during Lent 1867, lasted two weeks.<br />
This undated letter, addressed to his sister Josephine (March 1867), is in the archives of the Marianites.<br />
68<br />
An approbation for ten years, “on an experimental basis”. These constitutions had been studied by<br />
Propaganda since 1863.<br />
69<br />
Basil Moreau to Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, May 16, 1867.<br />
55
Sainte-Croix, approved by the <strong>Holy</strong> Church and taking on new strength<br />
without human resources. 70<br />
“The ruins of Sainte-Croix”. Near the end of his life, this is how Basil Moreau<br />
experienced what remained of his work as founder. The collapse of his work constituted<br />
his heaviest cross during the last part of his retirement.<br />
Had it not been for the sisters, he said one day, I would have nothing left<br />
and God would have taken away from me everything that I had done for<br />
him... 71<br />
The years 1869-1873<br />
The historical background concerning <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> at this time has been referred to above. It is<br />
important, however, to add to those events already mentioned, the Franco-Prussian war of<br />
1870-1871 72 and its effects on daily life: the German occupation of Le Mans, 73<br />
restrictions and annoyances of all kinds that are common in such situations. Along with<br />
his fellow-citizens, Basil Moreau suffered the consequences and constraints. His<br />
itinerant ministry would move at a slower pace, 74 but another ministry would beckon<br />
him, as will be seen later.<br />
New transition<br />
This second phase begins with another move. Since the mother house had been sold and the<br />
furniture was in the process of being auctioned off, Basil Moreau took whatever personal<br />
belongings he had to his sisters’ home: a bed, chair, 75 clothing, and a few books...There was<br />
so little that it could fit into the room which measured six square meters.<br />
70<br />
Father Moreau’s on the occasion of his golden jubilee of ordination, August 12, 1872. cf. Annals of the<br />
Marianites, 1841-1941, p. 143.<br />
71<br />
Annals of the Marianites, p. 142.<br />
72<br />
This war ended with a humiliating downfall for France, which ceded to Germany two of its provinces:<br />
Alsace and Lorraine.<br />
73<br />
From January to March, 1871.<br />
74<br />
His notebook contained only one commitment during the Le Mans occupation; Teillé, “from Passion Sunday<br />
to Low Sunday”.<br />
75<br />
Which had been bought at the auction by Mother Mary of Seven Dolors; Moreau did not have the fifty-two<br />
francs required.<br />
56
At that moment, the founder was totally dispossessed. The Marianites were well aware<br />
of this and offered to provide meals for him and his sisters. 76 The founder very humbly<br />
accepted, but not without a certain apprehension: Wouldn’t he become a heavy burden<br />
for the Marianites, just when he wanted to relieve their poverty? 77<br />
It is in these conditions that Basil Moreau organized his life after his departure from the<br />
mother house, observing the Rule as best he could, even outside the community.<br />
Pursuit of ministry<br />
Even before the completion of the Le Mans auction, Father Moreau resumed his missionary<br />
activities. He experienced from a distance all that was taking place in Le Mans, including his<br />
own deprivation. 78<br />
In examining his notebook, it can be estimated that, between 1869 and 1873, he<br />
preached nearly three hundred days in thirty-one different parishes. 79 And he was<br />
seventy years of age! From these places he wrote:<br />
I am happy in my solitude, and in the midst of my retreats and missions,<br />
praise be God for having freed me from all responsibility in the<br />
administration of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and inspired the Pope to let me live where I<br />
choose. 80<br />
I am as happy as I can be in my small ministry... In spite of all the<br />
calumny spread against me, I find the clergy sympathetic. I pardon all<br />
and pray that God will have pity on the ruins of the congregation. 81<br />
By 1871, his health had changed and he was in danger of becoming blind. He obtained<br />
an indult to celebrate from memory the votive mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<br />
Nevertheless, he continued his difficult ministry.<br />
76<br />
cf. Letter to Father Moreau from Mother Mary of Egypt, in the name of Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, April<br />
11, 1869. The Marianites had recently established their mother house in a building located near the home of<br />
Father Moreau’s sisters.<br />
77<br />
cf. Basil Moreau to Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, April 22, 1869. The Marianites, creditors of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>,<br />
were themselves in dire need.<br />
78<br />
79<br />
80<br />
He wrote to a friend: “While I was away on mission, they sold everything that was in my room”.<br />
He returned frequently to certain parishes.<br />
To Brother Hilaire, June 13, 1871.<br />
81<br />
Letter to a Brother, 1870. The same attitude is evident in a meditation on “The Peace of Jesus Christ”:<br />
“Lord, I will bless you until my death for having delivered me from the preoccupations inseparable from the<br />
works of which you made me the instrument, and for having allowed me, finally, to live alone with you alone.”<br />
Méditations chrétiennes, 1932 ed., p. 178.<br />
57
I am not dying and I hope to be able to preach the next Lenten season in<br />
one of the parishes of our diocese, even with my seventy-two years of age.<br />
Old age is warning me, however, that I am nearing the end and I am<br />
anxious to see God and to offend him no longer. 82<br />
Relationship with the Marianites<br />
Between his preaching engagements, Basil Moreau returns to his sisters’ home and finds<br />
openness and comfort with the Marianites who are close by. It is in their chapel that he<br />
celebrates daily mass and fulfills the spiritual exercises prescribed by the Rule. 83 With the<br />
Marianites he celebrates his golden jubilee of ordination on August 12, 1872. 84<br />
Together with Father Charles Moreau, his nephew, they accompanied him in his last<br />
illness; and it is to them that he gave his last blessing as “Founder and Father”.<br />
Christian Meditations<br />
Moreau’s apostolic activities during the years 1869-1873 were not limited to preaching,<br />
though this ministry remained important. The founder used his leisure moments - especially<br />
during the occupation of Le Mans by the Prussian army when it was difficult to come and go<br />
- to edit a work entitled, Christian Meditations for use by the faithful and the secular clergy.<br />
This work is in fact a complete revision of Meditations according to the Ignatian method,<br />
published primarily for the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in 1848, then re-edited with important<br />
changes in 1858 and 1859. 85<br />
The 1872 text incorporated a new plan, following the liturgical cycle. 86 The gospels are<br />
in the order presented by that cycle. 87 The other difference which influenced the content<br />
and the spirit of the work was the intended audience. The preceding editions were<br />
written for Moreau’s religious family, this edition was for a completely different public:<br />
the laity and secular clergy. The work was published in 1872, a few months before<br />
82<br />
83<br />
84<br />
To the superior in New Orleans, 1871.<br />
Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, stations of the cross, Liturgy of the Hours.<br />
Only a few of his relatives attended.<br />
85<br />
Each society, Salvatorists, Josephites and Marianites, had its own edition, but the differences among them<br />
were minimal.<br />
86<br />
The preceding editions followed the order of the Exercises of St. Ignatius. The meditations for feast days<br />
were an appendix in the 1858-1859 editions.<br />
87<br />
The meditations proposed for the feast days followed the weeks of the ecclesiastical year. The author adds<br />
this comment: “We limit ourselves to the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Saints, especially those<br />
honored in the diocese”.<br />
58
Father Moreau’s death, after receiving approbations from the Bishop of Le Mans and<br />
the Bishop of Rennes.<br />
At the very end of this work, on a final page, Basil Moreau expressed a wish: that of an<br />
apostle, having reached the end of his life and mission, making these Meditations an<br />
ultimate offering:<br />
May these Meditations, undertaken only for the greater glory of God and<br />
the salvation of souls, continue to make religion known and loved, when I<br />
am no longer able to write, talk, or act.<br />
He appended his name and the date: Basil Anthony Moreau, S.S.C., Le Mans, August<br />
12, 1872. 88<br />
Last Sermon and Death of Basil Moreau<br />
Towards the end of his parish ministry, Basil Moreau felt his strength diminishing as is<br />
evident in his correspondence. But he was not a man to spare himself for that; “let’s not be<br />
sick except for the love of God” he once wrote to his nephew! 89 It is in this same spirit that<br />
he continued his “little ministry” as he called it. He went to the neighboring village of<br />
Yvré-l’Évêque on December 31, 1872, to visit the pastor, an old friend of his, who was<br />
ill. It was understood that Basil would replace him the next day, the first day of the<br />
year, for the Eucharist and the sermon. But suddenly during the night, he felt the effects<br />
of the illness which was to cause his death. At the cost of a heroic effort, because he was<br />
in such great pain, he managed, nonetheless, to celebrate liturgy and say a few words<br />
after the gospel. This was to be the last activity of his extensive ministry. Literally<br />
overcome by his illness, he asked to be taken to Le Mans. After three weeks of suffering,<br />
he died at the home of his sisters, surrounded by the Marianites and comforted by his<br />
nephew, on January 20, 1873. 90 Throughout those three weeks, he never stopped<br />
praying and uniting his will to God’s will.<br />
“Thus dies the just one, in the arms of his God; and his last sigh is the beginning of his<br />
glory and of his new life.” He had written these words in one of his meditations. 91<br />
In his notebook, there were still three commitments that he was unable to honor and<br />
which preoccupied him until his final days. 92<br />
88<br />
In 1932, Father Philéas Vanier, C.S.C., prepared a new edition of the Meditations with a valuable<br />
introduction.<br />
89<br />
Moreau was preaching at Commerville in December, 1868.<br />
90<br />
In a circular letter dated February 8, 1873, Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, related at length the illness and<br />
death of the founder.<br />
91<br />
92<br />
Méditations chrétiennes, 1932 ed., p.322.<br />
cf. Catta II, p. 1000.<br />
59
Basil Moreau’s funeral took place on January 23, in the Marianites’ chapel where his<br />
body was placed and watched over day and night by the sisters. Permission was<br />
obtained from the mayor of Le Mans to have the mortal remains of the founder of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> interred in the cemetery chapel “for which he had obtained authorization as the<br />
legal place of burial for members of his <strong>Institute</strong>”. 93<br />
Among those already buried in this cemetery were Jacques Dujarié, founder of the<br />
Brothers; Basil’s mother and father, whose remains he had transferred; and his dear<br />
friend, Canon Fillion.<br />
News of his death<br />
The news of the founder’s death gradually reached all the establishments of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and<br />
of the Marianites, far and near. Everywhere - Notre Dame du Lac, Louisiana, Canada and<br />
France - solemn services were celebrated for the deceased. The religious were invited to<br />
fulfill the suffrages “prescribed by the Rules for superiors general”. 94<br />
For a whole year, the Marianites continued their prayers in memory of the founder,<br />
according to the instructions which Mother Mary of Seven Dolors had indicated in her<br />
circular letter when she announced and described Father Moreau’s death. 95<br />
Commemorating the founder in this way was a means to address their grief and to<br />
encounter God in the one who had been their father in religious life.<br />
Two testaments<br />
It would be incomplete to focus on the last years of the founder’s life, those of his retirement,<br />
without considering two documents written by him and disclosed after his death. He wrote<br />
two testaments, one in 1867, the year after his resignation, and the other in 1871, following<br />
his exodus from <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Both are in the same vein. Basil Moreau reveals himself as a<br />
person, superior and founder, and as one who experienced his share in the cross of Jesus<br />
during the last years of his life.<br />
These documents speak so well by themselves that any comment risks undermining both their<br />
intent and their impact. The following notes will be sufficient, therefore, to situate large<br />
excerpts of the documents to link them together.<br />
Testament of June 13, 1867<br />
93<br />
94<br />
95<br />
cf. Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, circular letter of February 8, 1873.<br />
cf. Catta II, p. 1006.<br />
cf. Above-mentioned circular letter.<br />
60
On this date, Basil Moreau was on retreat at La Grande Trappe in Mortagne; it was the eve of<br />
the feast of Saint Basil, his patron. The founder was experiencing a period of calm regarding<br />
the issues related to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The 1866 general chapter 96 had elected Pierre Dufal,<br />
C.S.C., Bishop of Dhaka, as his successor, his arrival in Le Mans 97 was expected soon;<br />
the constitutions of the Marianites had finally been approved by Rome. Furthermore,<br />
he had just completed a series of preaching engagements which had taken him to four<br />
parishes in the diocese of Le Mans, from March to May, during which he felt God’s<br />
blessings on himself and on his ministry. 98<br />
His stay at La Trappe offered him a peaceful respite and an opportunity to sum up his<br />
experience before God and for himself.<br />
This is my spiritual testament, which I make on this second day of my<br />
retreat, at La Grande Trappe of Mortagne, in the name of the Father, and<br />
of the Son, and of the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit, whom I humbly beg not to allow it to<br />
contain anything which may be dictated by nature, because in this, as in<br />
everything else, I wish to heed only the voice of grace.<br />
I thank the Lord and hope to thank Him eternally in the sojourn of His<br />
glory for having had me born in the bosom of the Roman Catholic<br />
Church, to whose judgment I submit myself respectfully and with the<br />
docility of a son for his mother, in everything I have written, published,<br />
and done until this day, as also whatever I shall say, do, write, or publish<br />
in the future...<br />
With all my heart I pardon those who have harmed me in the exercise of<br />
my ministry by their calumnies, probably without evil intentions. I beg<br />
God to pardon those of our own religious who have unknowingly<br />
paralyzed the development of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, by having<br />
recourse to means which are both out of harmony with the spirit of our<br />
constitutions and rules and opposed to religious obedience, simplicity,<br />
truth and abnegation. If they could read in the depths of my heart, they<br />
would see there no bitterness, but only indulgence and love for all the<br />
members of our family. My conscience tells me that I would gladly suffer<br />
much more, if I could thus strengthen the congregation which has been so<br />
severely rocked...<br />
I must, in truth, ask pardon of all those whom I may have unintentionally<br />
saddened, offended, or scandalized. I ask all of them to forget any word or<br />
96<br />
97<br />
98<br />
A chapter to which he had not been invited.<br />
He was to arrive there in 1867.<br />
The letter to his sister Josephine, cited above, is from this period.<br />
61
action of mine which may have seemed unworthy of my priestly character<br />
and the mission entrusted to me on earth, in the path of which I know I<br />
have placed many obstacles. Hence I beg our Lord Jesus Christ to wipe<br />
out through the power of His Blood, in those whom I may have given bad<br />
example, the faults of which I may have been the occasion, and to make<br />
up by His mercy for my own deficiencies toward the souls whose salvation<br />
depended on my ministry...<br />
I sincerely thank all those who were kind enough to assist me in the<br />
foundations of which I was the instrument. I recommend myself to their<br />
faithful prayers, promising not to forget them before God if, as I hope<br />
from His infinite mercy, He deigns to make me live and die in His love.<br />
But it is to you that I address myself in conclusion, my dearest friends,<br />
Priests, Brothers, and Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, beloved sons and daughters<br />
in Jesus Christ, who, in the midst of my trials, have never ceased to show<br />
for me the deepest interest, the most tender attachment, and the most<br />
generous devotion. Receive here the last expression of my gratitude,<br />
esteem, and affection. Although separated in body, let us remain united in<br />
spirit and in heart and by constant fidelity to your Rules, by your<br />
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,<br />
obtain the grace of entering into eternal union with God and his elect. It is<br />
there that we shall meet after the farewells of this earth, if you are faithful<br />
to your vocation and acquire its spirit and its virtues daily, in an ever<br />
increasing degree. To this end, observe inviolably the three vows of your<br />
religious profession, meditate on your Rules and my circulars and, lastly,<br />
pray for the poor priest who has been to you a father and who has turned<br />
his dying looks and last thoughts to each one of you, to bless you all. Fiat,<br />
Fiat!<br />
Testament of August 3, 1871<br />
The founder stayed with his sisters where he had experienced the war and German<br />
occupation. Once peace was restored, he again dedicated himself totally to his ministry as<br />
auxiliary priest, in spite of his age and declining health. Isolated and in required silence, he<br />
saw his foundation disintegrate. Nevertheless, he was at peace with himself and with God.<br />
He wrote: “It is enough for me to have no qualms of conscience over all the groundless<br />
accusations made against me”. 99<br />
99<br />
To the superior in Vendôme, January 14, 1870.<br />
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Our of concern for truth and honesty he wrote the text of 1871. He wanted to show<br />
clearly that his sentiments regarding his own had not changed 100 and that “they<br />
remained as God had inspired them.” 101<br />
I declare before God, who will soon judge me, that I have never regretted<br />
my resignation as Superior General, and that I never took steps to either<br />
take back or hinder the administration of the congregation; that I never<br />
even so much as thought of refusing to go to Rome at the request of the<br />
Pope, as soon as I had assurance that His Holiness did not accept my<br />
excuses...<br />
I declare also that I never diverted to the foundation of Sainte-Croix<br />
anything given me for the house of the Good Shepherd.<br />
Neither have I ever enabled my family to profit by any public alms I<br />
received for the Good Shepherd, Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, or any<br />
other good work.<br />
I declare before the Sovereign Lord who searches our consciences, that, as<br />
I was satisfied with receiving only free-will offerings, I never sought out<br />
any legacy of donation in favor of the foundations which Providence<br />
entrusted to me, aside from the public subscriptions for the Good<br />
Shepherd and our conventual church of Sainte-Croix.<br />
I beg all creditors of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix to be convinced that, at<br />
the time of my resignation as Superior General, I left the congregation<br />
with more than sufficient assets to pay off its debts and that I have never<br />
ceased to defend their interests in the meantime.<br />
With all my heart I pardon and humbly beseech the Divine Mercy,<br />
through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, to<br />
pardon all those who have harmed my reputation or the goods which I<br />
held in trust, thanking God for having found me worthy to suffer<br />
something on the occasion of undertakings which I accepted for His glory.<br />
This final paragraph contains the last “picture” that Basil Moreau projects of himself.<br />
As a man of action, initiative and zeal, throughout his life he worked for God, for God’s<br />
glory. It was his vocation, his profound call, his way of belonging to the Lord. It was<br />
also his way of bearing fruit consistent with his own gifts. And <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was born of<br />
his gifts, his action, diligently adapted to the unpredictable movements of the Spirit.<br />
100<br />
He uses the same form in both documents: “With all my heart I pardon”.<br />
101<br />
Note that his protests concern accusations made against his administration, excluding those aimed directly<br />
at him.<br />
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<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>:<br />
evangelization.<br />
a family, an inspiration, a special place of sanctification and<br />
It is precisely these enterprises for the glory of God that became for Basil Moreau,<br />
through those who were closest to him, the occasion for suffering, the occasion and the<br />
honor of suffering, after the example of his divine Master.<br />
He praised God for this at the end of his life, as an exceptional grace. 102 And he did so<br />
with touching serenity, with few words void of all bitterness, somewhat remote from his<br />
very suffering. Words which are very revealing, however, to those who care to<br />
remember and to understand.<br />
Death can now come. It will find him “on guard and awake”, his heart filled with joy<br />
that finally, by grace and after so many trying struggles, he is “free, detached from<br />
everything and clinging to nothing which passes away”. 103 The one “who has Jesus has<br />
everything”.<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
Basil Moreau’s retirement was the last threshold of his exodus, the last stretch before the end<br />
of his long journey. Committed to following Christ from his very first self-offering, he<br />
accepted and chose to be conformed to the Lord through a life totally dedicated to the service<br />
of God, the Church and those who had been given to him. 104 The royal path of the holy<br />
cross was opened wide before him.<br />
At the end of his life, we see him identifying more and more with Paul’s words to the<br />
Corinthians which he had so often pondered, “to know only Jesus Christ and Jesus<br />
Christ crucified”. 105 Also with the text from Galatians, placing his “boast in the cross of<br />
our Lord Jesus Christ” 106 . His pride and his joy!<br />
On this day, January 20, 1873, all is now consummated for him: his call, his life, the<br />
work that he had to accomplish. God received everything in mercy: his retirement<br />
outside the community, to which people and events had contributed to leading him; and<br />
102<br />
“It is a great honor that our Lord has given me (...) To drink of his chalice”. To the community in New<br />
Orleans, 1870.<br />
103<br />
104<br />
cf. Basil Moreau, CL 47, December 8, 1851.<br />
Parallel to the text in St. John when Christ says: “those you have given to me...”<br />
105<br />
1 Cor. 2:1-2. His long sermon on the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which dates from 1837, opened with this<br />
passage of Paul to the Corinthians.<br />
106<br />
Gal. 6:14.<br />
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what appeared to him to be the end of the foundation in which he had been<br />
instrumental.<br />
But following his death and the long silence surrounding his memory, 107 <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has<br />
been renewed slowly with the grace of its origins; gradually it has become the mighty<br />
fruit-bearing tree 108 which Basil Moreau once perceived. All this is like the grain which,<br />
put into the earth, springs up and multiplies in the mystery of the furrow.<br />
We can reflect that, from a paschal perspective, the surprising survival of the<br />
congregation and the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, and their living presence in the Church<br />
today around the world, owe something to the merit of Basil Moreau. Across time, they<br />
come from God’s gift to him that <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> might be born.<br />
This birth happens again each day, in and through us, to the degree that we are willing<br />
to accept our ancestry and the demands which flow from it.<br />
107<br />
108<br />
Except for the sisters and a few of the men religious.<br />
cf. Basil Moreau, CL 65, June 15, 1858.<br />
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A REFLECTION ON BASIL MOREAU’S SENSE<br />
OF MISSION<br />
By Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
We are committed by our vocation to extend the reign of Jesus Christ in the hearts of all<br />
people.<br />
(1855 Exercises)<br />
In this brief sentence, Basil Moreau sums up the nature and content of our apostolic religious<br />
life in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. By nature, it is a commitment, a vocation, a response to God’s call. By<br />
content, it is a continuation of the mission of Jesus, planting the Word among all people,<br />
thereby working “to hasten along the kingdom” (Constitutions, Brothers and Priests of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>, 2:10).<br />
Already this sentence gives us a glimpse into Moreau’s sense of mission: a commitment to<br />
continue the mission of Jesus, to extend the reign of God in the hearts of people. But this is<br />
only a glimpse. To reflect more fully on Moreau’s sense of mission, I would like to focus on<br />
three areas:<br />
1. The profile of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. An insight into Moreau’s sense of mission by looking at how<br />
he envisioned the congregation he founded. What did he hope it to be?<br />
2. The driving force which provides dynamism and direction to the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
What is the principal apostolic quality of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious?<br />
3. The practical dimension of that profile and that driving force. How is that apostolic vision<br />
and that quality practiced?<br />
PROFILE OF HOLY CROSS<br />
For Basil Moreau, the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was to be, above all, an apostolic religious<br />
community, within the church, in service to the people. Each of these three components<br />
warrants a brief comment.<br />
A. apostolic religious community - <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was founded in response to the needs of<br />
Moreau’s time; from the beginning, the community was to be apostolic. Clearly and quickly<br />
his responsiveness to needs brought the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> beyond the boundaries of Le<br />
Mans, of France, of Europe. There were no aspects of our life which would remain<br />
untouched by our commitment to the mission, the apostolate. Even the constitutions would<br />
66
e reviewed and revised as necessary when the living and working situations of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
religious warranted such review and revision.<br />
Soon after merging the Auxiliary Priests and the Brothers of St. Joseph, Moreau began<br />
speaking about introducing religious vows into <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. He saw the profession of vows,<br />
the religious life, at least in part, as a means of stabilizing and organizing <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> for the<br />
future effectiveness of its ministries. Moreau most certainly understood the sanctifying<br />
aspect of the vows and the other elements of religious life. Even the sanctification of the<br />
members was to be directed toward mission.<br />
Community was a passion for Moreau. He believed the unity among us was a powerful<br />
apostolic force which could have a transforming effect upon the whole world. Even in<br />
Moreau’s time, <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was to be inclusive, collaborative, multi-cultural, and<br />
international. Those same characteristics shape the priorities we hold for our presence and<br />
activity in ministry.<br />
B. within the church - For almost 20 years, Basil Moreau worked for papal approbation of<br />
the constitutions. Though we cannot pretend this had no political implications for him and<br />
for the congregation; it is important to note that even those implications were apostolic. Once<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> could move easily beyond the boundaries of Le Mans, its apostolic effectiveness<br />
and prestige would only be enhanced. Nevertheless, it was important to Moreau that <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> be a recognized part of the universal church, planted deeply within the church, moving<br />
ever with the spirit of the church in responding to the needs of the people.<br />
C. in service to the people - This is self-explanatory. Apostolic sensitivity and<br />
responsiveness were to remain focused on the needs of the people. As those needs changed,<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> would need to change or become apostolically obsolete and thus ineffective. A<br />
significant means of fostering that sensitivity and responsiveness is respect for and<br />
integration into culture. Our service to the people is also a service with the people. Our<br />
presence and activity are influenced by and responsive to the richness and depth of the<br />
cultures in which we live and minister.<br />
As we continue the mission of Jesus today, as we seek to change in response to the needs of<br />
the people, how do we assure that we remain an apostolic religious community within the<br />
church in service to and with the people? How do we assure that we continue to respond to<br />
present needs?<br />
DRIVING FORCE OF HOLY CROSS<br />
The primary apostolic quality for Basil Moreau is zeal. Simply described, zeal is a hunger for<br />
mission, a passion to continue what Jesus of Nazareth began through his life, teaching, and<br />
example.<br />
By zeal is understood that flame of burning desire which one feels to make God known,<br />
loved and served and thus save souls. Apostolic activity is therefore the essential<br />
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character of this virtue, and (ministers) who are animated by this virtue will fulfill their<br />
duties with eagerness, affection, courage and perseverance... Our zeal is always guided by<br />
charity, everything is done with strength and gentleness: strength because we are<br />
courageous and unshakable in the midst of pain, difficulty and trials...and with<br />
gentleness because we have the tenderness of our Divine Model.<br />
(Christian Pedagogy, I:1, art.4 - 1856)<br />
By reading Moreau’s comments on zeal we can formulate a more exact description of what<br />
he means by this apostolic virtue. Zeal is that power, that grace, through which the<br />
convictions of our hearts are translated into the actions of our hands and directed toward love<br />
of others.<br />
A. convictions of our hearts - Zeal begins in faith. Without faith, what can often be<br />
described as zeal is workaholism. If any of the energies and efforts we expend in ministry are<br />
truly to be continuations of Jesus’ mission, then the motivation for expending those energies<br />
and efforts must be rooted in the life and example of Jesus. Our love for the Lord and our<br />
faith in God’s Word are why we continue the mission of Jesus in response to God’s call.<br />
B. translated into the actions of our hands - Zeal, like the faith in which it is rooted, is work.<br />
Zeal takes energy and effort; never is it a theory or a feeling about what should done. Zeal is<br />
in the doing; it is, essentially, incarnational.<br />
C. directed toward love of others - Zeal ends in love. Without love, what can often be<br />
described as zeal is humanitarianism. Zeal responds to the needs of others in generosity and<br />
love, it does not perpetuate areas of expertise merely for their own continuation. As needs<br />
change, we bear the responsibility to see that we are skilled and flexible to meet those needs.<br />
Love for the Lord and for others demands an ever-fresh pastoral competence and flexibility.<br />
So, as we strive to be genuinely zealous apostles of the Lord Jesus, how do we assure that our<br />
efforts in the mission begin in faith, do the work that needs to be done, and end in love? How<br />
do we overcome any resistance within ourselves to acquiring new skills and competencies so<br />
our view of the mission and our involvement in it do not stagnate?<br />
PUTTING HOLY CROSS INTO PRACTICE<br />
In our first papally approved constitutions, Moreau outlined the “ends” - or purpose - of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
The ends of the Congregation are as follows:<br />
1. the perfection of individuals by the practice of the evangelical counsels;<br />
2. the sanctification of others by preaching the word of God, especially in the country and<br />
foreign missions;<br />
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3. the instruction and education of youth by means of schools where letters and sciences will be<br />
taught, and agricultural and technical schools; these latter are especially for poor and<br />
abandoned children. (1857 Constitutions, I)<br />
Even before that, in the Rules of 1847, we read:<br />
The aim of the Congregation is to work, not only at one’s own salvation, but also at the<br />
sanctification of others by ministering to them...<br />
(1847 Rules, Part 2, Rule XI, 120)<br />
In summarizing what Father Moreau says in this and related texts, we can say religious of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> are called to holiness to call others to holiness so our work is truly the Lord’s<br />
own.<br />
A. For mission, we are called to holiness. For Basil Moreau, the place where mission begins<br />
is within the minister. Personal holiness is requisite for effective ministry. In fact, it is<br />
necessary for any ministry to be ministry; without a commitment to personal holiness what is<br />
called ministry becomes merely work. If we do not claim holiness to be a priority for our<br />
own lives, then it is unlikely that we can sustain any effective communication of the call to<br />
holiness to others. Calling others to tap the transforming grace which comes through a loverelationship<br />
with Jesus of Nazareth assumes we have tapped and continue to nurture that<br />
same grace.<br />
B. Through mission, we call others to holiness. As apostolic religious, our holiness must<br />
reach beyond us if it is to be spared becoming a new pharisaism. Whatever our ministry, it<br />
must be a means for us to call others to holiness; even those ministries which address basic<br />
human needs are ways for us to improve the quality of life so others can hear and respond to<br />
God’s Word in their lives. Wherever we go in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, whatever we do, we bring with us<br />
the good news of Jesus of Nazareth, we extend to others the invitation to “be holy as God in<br />
heaven is holy” (Mt. 5:48).<br />
C. In mission, our work is the Lord’s own. On more than one occasion, Moreau reminds us<br />
that “<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is God’s work.” Continuing the mission of Jesus, ultimately, is the work of<br />
grace. We participate in and cooperate with that grace, but the mission and work of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> is the Lord’s own mission and work. That our work is the Lord’s own is no<br />
justification for complacency, we always bear the responsibility to be and to remain<br />
competent in ministry.<br />
As we work to practice what we preach, to live what we profess, how do we assure<br />
attentiveness to personal holiness so we can call others to holiness with integrity? How do<br />
we see and even experience our ministry as the Lord’s own work?<br />
GOD’S CHOICEST GRACE<br />
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Encounters with the cross are inseparable from the apostolic life. To continue the mission of<br />
Jesus is to trace the lines of Jesus’ life and example upon our daily lives and experiences.<br />
Moreau understood that the cross is multi-faceted; he was insistent “these trials are the<br />
hallmark of the works of God” (CL26).<br />
The cross is no theory, we experience it from without and from within. From without, the<br />
struggles, pain, hopelessness, injustices we encounter in ministry are touches of the cross in<br />
continuing the mission of Jesus. And that touch is particularly acute at those times we<br />
discover that we cannot do anything to address those realities. From within, the weakness<br />
and sinfulness and selfishness we encounter within ourselves are tastes of the cross we bear<br />
in continuing Jesus’ mission.<br />
Moreau says of the cross that “this is (God’s) choicest grace, a grace reserved for the<br />
purification and strengthening of the saints...” (CL28). For Moreau, the only response worthy<br />
of that grace is thanksgiving. Thus, he recommends that we “thank God for having initiated<br />
us into this secret of his providential action on those he loves because, as you well know, this<br />
is how his goodness deals with us” (ibid.).<br />
We can be confident, the cross is the means to resurrection. Our own imperfections cannot<br />
be reasons for not preaching the gospel. Human weakness does not disqualify our<br />
involvement and effort in Jesus’ mission. We must do what we have been called to do to the<br />
best of our ability, then trust that grace will make up whatever is lacking. There are no limits<br />
to the power of God’s grace at work within us and through us.<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
The constitutions of the four congregations within the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> articulate the<br />
current understanding of mission. That understanding has evolved within the history of the<br />
congregations given the diversity of contexts and cultures in which the men and women of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> live and minister. Nevertheless, mission has remained a principle element<br />
affecting and characterizing every dimension of religious life within <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The<br />
following text is a composite statement drawn from the four constitutions and will serve as<br />
the conclusion to this reflection.<br />
God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that we might have life and<br />
have it abundantly. In the fullness of time the Lord Jesus came among us<br />
anointed by the Spirit to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, love and peace. 109<br />
Thus the Congregation sends us among God's people in our apostolic<br />
ministries of education, health care, social work, parish ministry, and<br />
community service. We insert ourselves into the social and cultural<br />
conditions of our times in whatever part of the world we find ourselves and<br />
109<br />
Brothers and Priests of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitutions 9<br />
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in whatever we do to spread the good news. 110 Recognizing our own<br />
powerlessness and need for God's love we rely on the Spirit in opening<br />
ourselves to experience Christ's liberating salvation in and with the people<br />
we serve. Everything we are and do must communicate our commitment to<br />
his desire for the transformation of human hearts and human relationships.<br />
Our awareness of sin and its consequences in the world obliges us to<br />
examine our own lives to see to what depth we have assimilated the gospel<br />
message. 111 All the members participate in the mission of the Congregation<br />
by the holiness of their life, by the authenticity of their witness, and by the<br />
quality of their service. They are especially careful to develop those<br />
dispositions and human qualities that render charity effective. The<br />
Congregation arouses in its members the courage for new and renewed<br />
beginnings in faith. It stimulates audacity in initiatives, constancy in<br />
commitment and humility in service. 112<br />
110<br />
111<br />
112<br />
Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitutions 7<br />
Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitution 3<br />
Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitutions 40-41<br />
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LEADERSHIP STYLE<br />
OF REV. BASIL MOREAU<br />
By Mary Kay Kinberger, M.S.C.<br />
“Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw how good the light was”<br />
(Gen.1:3-4).<br />
Leaders appear at a time of need. They use their charismatic gifts to respond to the current<br />
needs while they focus their vision on a distant light. Thus, an effective leader is one rooted<br />
in the present with an eye on the future. This article will discuss the leadership style of Fr.<br />
Basil Moreau. Since leadership is always situated in time and space, the article will include a<br />
brief biographical sketch of Moreau, an examination of the historical moment in which he<br />
founded the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, a short summary of leadership theory and, finally,<br />
the style of Basil Moreau.<br />
Biographical Sketch<br />
Basil Anthony Moreau was born on February 11, 1799, at Laigné-en-Belin. At the time of his<br />
birth, the Church in France was under persecution. During the years 1792-1795, Christianity<br />
was abolished by law and in 1797 there were new deportations of priests. Church services<br />
were few and quietly held. Religious orders of women were almost non-existent and religion<br />
was taught secretly or in the homes. This remained the state of affairs in France until an<br />
agreement was reached between the Church and state and the Concordat was signed in 1802<br />
which permitted the re-opening of churches (Catta, I, 10).<br />
In 1814 Moreau entered the minor seminary at Chateau-Gontier and in 1816 he began the<br />
major seminary at Le Mans. He was ordained for the diocese of Le Mans, and after two years<br />
with the Sulpicians in Paris and Issy, returned to Le Mans to be a professor of philosophy,<br />
dogmatic theology, and Scripture in the seminaries there. He became the ecclesiastical<br />
superior of the Good Shepherd Convent in Le Mans in 1833. Two years later he organized a<br />
small group of diocesan priests for the purpose of preaching parish missions and teaching,<br />
and took the leadership of the Brothers of St. Joseph, founded by James Francis Dujarié in<br />
1820. Basil Moreau gathered these two groups together in a house in what was then a Le<br />
Mans suburb called Sainte-Croix. Thus was born the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> (Mork 22).<br />
In 1840 the members made their profession as religious. In the following year two important<br />
events occurred: the foundation of the sisters -- the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, and the<br />
departure of the first missionaries for Indiana. A foundation in Montreal was made in 1847,<br />
and in Bengal in 1852. By 1850 when the men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> were becoming<br />
active in mission work in France, full freedom of education was granted and <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
72
egan to educate in Christian Doctrine. By his foundations, Moreau played a leading role in<br />
the movement to restore freedom to Catholic education in France by weakening<br />
governmental monopoly in this field. The college that he opened in Le Mans was one of the<br />
first Catholic colleges to receive full teaching rights (Heston 1142).<br />
Pressured by internal intrigues, burdened with unmerited blame for tribulations in the<br />
Congregation, rendered ineffective by opposition, Basil Moreau resigned his position of<br />
Superior General in 1866. In the few years left to him he lived in a little room in his sisters’<br />
house across the street from the former Motherhouse, Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, which<br />
had been sold after his resignation. He was virtually cut off from his Congregation and he<br />
was even denied any support for his livelihood. The Marianites alone remained faithful to<br />
him during his last years (Mork 23). Moreau died on January 20, 1873.<br />
Father Moreau’s original vision was one Congregation comprised of three societies: the<br />
Salvatorists for priests, the Josephites for brothers, and the Marianites for sisters. The<br />
Indiana Sisters became a separate congregation in 1869, and the Canadian Sisters separated in<br />
1883. Today the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> consists of four independent congregations: the<br />
Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> priests and brothers with the generalate in Rome; the Marianites<br />
of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, with the generalate in Le Mans, France and New Orleans, Louisiana; the<br />
Congregation of the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> with the generalate at St. Mary’s Convent in<br />
Notre Dame, Indiana; and the Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> with the generalate in Montreal, Canada.<br />
In 1931, the priests returned to Le Mans and repurchased the former Motherhouse Church of<br />
Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix, which at that time was being used as an army warehouse. The<br />
Church was reconsecrated in 1937 and in the following year Father Moreau’s remains were<br />
exhumed and interred in the crypt of the Church (ibid. 24).<br />
Historical Background<br />
To understand the leadership style of Basil Moreau it is necessary to examine the historical<br />
moment in which he lived. According to Kenneth Latourette, the nineteenth century was<br />
marked by the phenomenal growth of knowledge in all fields (9). Physics and chemistry<br />
opened up the vistas of molecules and atoms. In the astronomical field, more became known<br />
about the stars and planets. The history of the earth and the development of life on the planet<br />
was being studied in geology. Biology was busy investigating the many manifestations of<br />
life and the functions of living bodies. The human body was under new scrutiny in<br />
physiology and in psychology the function of the mind was being researched.<br />
Another feature of the nineteenth century was the development of the scientific method. This<br />
method comprised the determination of facts by observation, the discovery of the relationship<br />
between these facts, and the use of these relationships or hypotheses to uncover additional<br />
data. An essential feature of the scientific method was an emphasis upon objectivity and an<br />
insistence that the individual mind must be transparently honest and unhampered by<br />
prejudices and bias. This necessitated freedom of thought for the individual and an absence<br />
of any coercion which would curb the search for truth (ibid. 10).<br />
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During this period, wealth rapidly mounted and what had once been the luxuries of the rich<br />
were placed within reach of all and were esteemed indispensable. The factory system<br />
appeared and populations increased. Methods of education were transformed to admit the<br />
new branches of learning and to take advantage of the scientific method. Universal primary<br />
education was made possible by the increase in riches and became essential if people were to<br />
take their part in the machine age. In industrial communities the family ceased to be the<br />
important source of social and economic unity and thus the family tended to disintegrate<br />
(ibid. 11).<br />
According to Richard McBrien, these features of the nineteenth century proved both a<br />
hindrance and a help to Christianity (640). Since this period was characterized by its<br />
confidence in reason, its optimistic view of the world and of human nature, and its<br />
celebration of freedom of inquiry, it had a decidedly hostile attitude toward the supernatural,<br />
the notion of revelation, and extrinsic authority of every kind.<br />
Increased knowledge of the physical universe also brought its difficulties to Christianity.<br />
Now that the chronology of creation which arose out of accepted interpretations of the first<br />
chapters of Genesis had been disproved, people wondered if it was possible to retain any<br />
confidence in the Biblical accounts of the origin of the universe. Did evolution leave any<br />
place for the creative activity of God? Many questioned whether, even if there was a God<br />
who created and sustained the vast universe as Christians declared, could this God be<br />
concerned with the inhabitants of one of the least planets of the solar system. Furthermore, to<br />
many it seemed preposterous that this Being should have become incarnated as an apparently<br />
insignificant creature. Consequently for many, a central conviction of the Christian faith was<br />
shattered (Latourette 16).<br />
Since Christianity and the Church were closely intertwined within the social structure, when<br />
the latter was altered so profoundly the former were also shaken. Some new programs for the<br />
reorganization of society made little room for Christianity and even regarded the Church as<br />
an enemy. The exaltation of the nation tended to place loyalty to the state above loyalty to<br />
God and to make the Church a tool of the state. As a result, many political leaders of the<br />
century were anti-clerical and thought they saw in the Church a major barrier to human<br />
advancement. The antagonism was directed more against the Catholic Church than against<br />
Protestant bodies. It led to the confiscation of much of the property of the Catholic Church<br />
and, notably in France, to disestablishment (ibid. 17). The question of Church property also<br />
touched the papacy and in 1813 Napoleon forced Pius VII to renounce control of the papal<br />
states (ibid. 14).<br />
During this whole period the spirit of Jansenism pervaded society as an insidious influence.<br />
It preached teachings which held that human nature was depraved because of original sin;<br />
that sin was irresistible and grace only achieved through mortification of the senses. In<br />
essence, what is lofty is correct but what is stricter is better. Jansenism was used by<br />
unscrupulous fanatics, both religious and political, to control the people who were less<br />
knowledgeable and who were hungry for anything “religious.” Although Jansenism did not<br />
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have many organized adherents, its influence extended widely in piety and asceticism (ibid.<br />
14-16).<br />
In the schools, Gallicanism insisted that the French King and his government possessed the<br />
right and privilege to fill ecclesiastical positions, to tax Church property, and to be the final<br />
judge in ecclesiastical courts. The Pope could not interfere, even in spiritual matters. Trust<br />
in salvation through Christ gave way to trust in salvation through reason. Belief in society<br />
superseded belief in divinity, or rather equated them; for to serve the nation and the people<br />
was to serve God (ibid. 16-18).<br />
On the positive side, the individualism of the nineteenth century found partial expression in<br />
the courageous initiative of missionaries who dared to bring their faith to areas previously<br />
untouched by Christianity. The spirit of adventure which impelled Europeans to delve into<br />
the mysteries of the earth and the heavens also drove them to carry the Christian message<br />
beyond their borders (Latourette 18). Consequently, while the nineteenth century presented<br />
problems for Christianity, its spirit aided the spread of Christianity to other countries and<br />
peoples.<br />
However, while Christianity was being spread abroad, in Italy the Catholic Church was being<br />
confronted with a different problem -- that of the temporal power of the papacy. Joseph<br />
Mazzini (1805-1872) headed a political party in Italy that aimed at educating the public to<br />
embrace a unified Italy. The capital of this new Italy was to be Rome, but Rome rid of the<br />
papal yoke, and in turn ridding the entire world of the yoke of Christianity. When Gregory<br />
XVI died in 1846, his successor, Pius IX (1846-1878) found himself in the midst of this<br />
turmoil (Raemers 432).<br />
This situation escalated and violence against the papacy mounted. On November 24, 1848,<br />
Pius IX fled in disguise to Gaeta in Naples. The dispossession of the Sovereign Pontiff<br />
immediately aroused the interest of the entire Catholic world, and created what became<br />
known as the “Roman Question.” In the summer of 1849, Pius IX re-entered the city after<br />
other countries in Europe had come to the aid of the papacy through the assistance of their<br />
armies. This was short-lived, however, for France had to withdraw its defending troops from<br />
Rome as it became engaged in the Franco-Prussian War. On September 20, 1870, a breach<br />
was made in the Roman walls and Rome was occupied by the King achieving Italian unity<br />
(ibid. 434-435).<br />
The year 1870, which witnessed the end of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope, also marked<br />
another memorable event. McBrien tells us that for every authentic attempt to deal<br />
constructively with the new intellectual currents there seemed to be as many, if not more,<br />
forces moving in the opposite direction (642-643). A rigid religious traditionalism developed<br />
in France distrustful of all rational reflection in theology and excessively dependent upon<br />
papal direction. The papacy, under Gregory XVI and Pius IX, set its face against these winds<br />
of liberalism, and nowhere more defiantly than in the latter’s Syllabus of Errors (1864),<br />
where he proclaimed that “the pope cannot and should not be reconciled and come to terms<br />
with progress, liberalism, modern civilization.” This trend of defensive thought and action<br />
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eached its culmination at the first Vatican Council when Pius IX secured the dogmatic<br />
definition of papal primacy and papal infallibility.<br />
In France after the fall of Louis Napoleon in 1870, and the establishment of the Third<br />
Republic, the Church enjoyed a period of peace which lasted for five years. Up to 1875, the<br />
new government, which assumed the name of National Assembly, was regarded as only<br />
provisional in character. Yet a few years later it gave France the definite form of government<br />
which it has today. At the beginning, the majority of the members of the National Assembly<br />
were Catholics. The Assembly openly favored Catholic interests and was sympathetic<br />
towards Pope Pius IX. However, subsequent to its definitive establishment in 1875, the Third<br />
Republic inaugurated a violent persecution against the Catholic Church. The causes of this<br />
persecution were both political and religious. After the failure to restore the Count of<br />
Chambord (Henry V) to the throne of France, the Republicans came into power. The latter<br />
erroneously supposed that genuine democratic principles were necessarily anti-Catholic and<br />
began to oppose monarchists, clericals, and Catholics alike as revolutionaries (Raemers 465).<br />
The principal grievance against the Catholics was that they continued to remain monarchists.<br />
It was true that, mindful of the violent and unjust attacks upon their Church by the<br />
Revolution, the Catholic population of France frowned upon the Republican administration.<br />
Leo XIII, in 1884, issued the encyclical Nobilissima Gallorum Gens, recommending that<br />
French bishops make every attempt to remove any ill-feeling towards the Republic. This<br />
brought about a short interval of peace which was soon followed by the stipulation that all<br />
religious associations had to obtain special authorization to operate in France. Moreover,<br />
even after a congregation had received authorization to remain in France, it was regarded<br />
with suspicion and subjected to close surveillance (ibid. 467).<br />
Only a relatively small number of these authorizations were granted, and, in 1902, all<br />
petitions of teaching and preaching congregations were rejected. By 1903 -- 13,904 Catholic<br />
schools had closed in France; 3,040 preachers had been expelled; and 15,964 teaching<br />
religious had been banned. Shortly afterwards eighty-one congregations of women were<br />
forced to disband and their members condemned to exile. The suppression of religious<br />
congregations in France was followed in 1905 by the Concordat and the separation of Church<br />
and State. Immediately all ecclesiastical buildings were placed at the disposal of the civil<br />
communities, and the goods of diocesan sees, presbyteries, seminaries, and episcopal palaces<br />
were confiscated (ibid. 467-468).<br />
This complex historical moment paints the picture of a world in a multi-faceted revolution<br />
and of a Church which had armored itself against any attack. In the midst of this world, the<br />
Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was brought to birth by Basil Moreau. What style of leadership<br />
did he manifest in this endeavor? To answer this question, it is necessary to discuss<br />
leadership theory in brief.<br />
Leadership Theory<br />
Stogdill describes effective leadership as an interaction between the members of a group that<br />
initiates and maintains improved expectations and competence of the group to solve problems<br />
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and attain goals (Bass 584). Harold Reed views leadership as the act of one person<br />
influencing another person or a group (11). Robert Greenleaf defines a leader as one who is<br />
able to function at two levels of consciousness (26). The leader functions in the real world --<br />
as one who is concerned, responsible, effective, value-oriented and as one who is also<br />
detached from the world and somewhat above it all. The leader sees today’s events and sees<br />
oneself deeply involved in those events but in the perspective of a long sweep of history and<br />
projected into the indefinite future. With this perspective, able leaders are usually sharply<br />
awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace because they have their<br />
own deep inner serenity and security (ibid. 28).<br />
These various definitions offer background to the different theories of leadership. The “great<br />
man” theory of leadership focuses upon the personality of the leader. This theory claims that<br />
different degrees of talent, energy, and persuasive force separate the leader from the follower<br />
(Benjamin and Hall 17). The leader has certain innate characteristics and qualities and is<br />
predestined by his or her unusual capacity to become a leader by controlling events while<br />
managing situations and molding followers. This theory declares that the leader is sent into<br />
the world and gives leadership to a particular day and time (Reed 86). Similar to the “great<br />
man” is the “organizational man,” leader and follower. This person is loyally devoted to the<br />
institution, to the bureaucracy. Competence and productivity are valued but always within<br />
the “system.” Although a bureaucrat, this one may also be seen as a benevolent paternalist<br />
who listens to followers but usually supports ideas only if they reflect deep loyalty to the<br />
organization (Benjamin and Hall 58).<br />
In contrast to the “great man” is the theory of the situationist. For the situationist, leadership<br />
is molded and determined by the social situation. Stogdill reports that any theory of<br />
leadership must take into account the interaction between the situation and individuals (Bass<br />
29). The social situation has a determining effect upon the leader, and the leader in turn<br />
attempts to shift and turn in such a way as to take advantage of as many of the factors in the<br />
situation as possible to meet established goals and objectives (Reed 96).<br />
The humanistic theories propose that leadership is a relative process; leaders must take into<br />
account the expectations, values and interpersonal skills of those with whom they are<br />
interacting. Leaders must present behaviors and organizational processes perceived by<br />
followers as supportive of their efforts and their sense of personal worth. These theories are<br />
concerned with the development of effective and cohesive organizations. The human being is<br />
by nature a motivated organism; however, the organization is by nature structured and<br />
controlled. It is the function of leadership to modify the organization to provide freedom for<br />
individuals to realize their own motivational potential for fulfillment of their own needs and<br />
at the same time contribute toward the accomplishment of organizational goals (Bass 33).<br />
Today more theorists explain leadership less in terms of the individual or the group. Rather,<br />
it is believed that a synergistic response occurs in which the characteristics of the individual<br />
and demands of the group interact in such a manner as to permit one, or perhaps a few<br />
persons, to rise to leadership status. Groups become structured in terms of positions and roles<br />
during the course of member interaction. A group is organized to the extent that it acquires<br />
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differentiated positions and roles. Therefore, leadership represents one or more of the<br />
differentiated positions within a group (ibid. 38).<br />
For a group to be effective, however, some degree of management must also be present. The<br />
manager is an active manipulator of constraints and of the social setting in which the<br />
organization is embedded. The manager is also a processor of the various demands on the<br />
organization. Through organizational action, the manager seeks to enact or create internal<br />
and external environments more favorable to the organization (Pfeffer 19). A leader may or<br />
may not be a manager; and a manager may or may not be a leader.<br />
Olan Hendrix distinguishes between leadership and management:<br />
1. Leadership is a quality. Management is a science and an art.<br />
2. Leadership provides vision.<br />
Management supplies realistic perspectives.<br />
3. Leadership deals with concepts. Management relates to functions.<br />
4. Leadership exercises faith. Management has to do with fact.<br />
5. Leadership seeks for effectiveness.<br />
Management strives for efficiency.<br />
6. Leadership is an influence for good among potential resources.<br />
Management is the coordination of available resources organized for maximum<br />
accomplishments.<br />
7. Leadership provides direction.<br />
Management is concerned about control.<br />
8. Leadership thrives on finding opportunity.<br />
Management succeeds with accomplishment. (Engstrom 23)<br />
Religion or spirituality adds another dimension to the theory of leadership. Helen Doohan<br />
tells us that religious leadership must be grounded in a personal divine call that results in<br />
deep religious convictions (22). The theological understandings of the leader must be<br />
grounded in tradition but must also be capable of reinterpretation and development. Concrete<br />
situations must be addressed, but from the insightful perspective of faith. Therefore, true<br />
religious leadership is not merely the reflection of human ability or talent, but it is also<br />
recognized as the work of the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit (ibid. 23).<br />
The first essential component of Christian leadership is an understanding of the mystery of<br />
Christ and an authentic reinterpretation of his message. A second component is a radical<br />
openness to the working of the Spirit and an appreciation of the gifts of the Spirit within the<br />
community of faith. From this understanding, spiritual leadership becomes the mutual<br />
response and responsibility of the community. It is this leadership which is perceived as an<br />
animating force and a mutual commitment (ibid. 23-24).<br />
Religious leadership also encompasses the concept of creative caring. In the first and second<br />
chapters of Genesis the authors portray the Lord in two very different styles of leadership and<br />
yet in the same act of creative caring. In the first story we see a very organized style of<br />
leadership -- “let there be...there was...God saw that it was good.” The created world flows in<br />
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a distinct order -- heavens above, waters below, creatures, human being. In the second story<br />
the style is almost haphazard. The human being is formed first, as the story progresses the<br />
Creator provides different elements needed for the person.<br />
Both styles of leadership incorporate an essential element, the element of creative caring.<br />
Creative caring is an essential element in religious leadership. This aspect caring relates to<br />
Benjamin and Hall’s fourth level of consciousness (44). The leader views the world as<br />
unfinished, as a world in-process, and as a mystery-to-be-cared-for. From the two stories of<br />
creation it is obvious that creative caring can be manifested in very distinct styles of<br />
leadership; however, the presence of creative caring is essential.<br />
Creative caring is person-centered. It is a way of relating to self, to others, and to the world<br />
that involves development in the same way that friendship can only emerge in time through<br />
mutual trust and qualitative transformation of the relationship. This creative caring as<br />
development implies process and assumes continuity. The relatedness must remain constant<br />
and in process for the necessary changes to occur. Thus the emphasis is more on the process,<br />
than on the product. Milton Mayeroff describes caring as a process of alternating rhythms of<br />
activity and inactivity, of moving back and forth between a narrower and wider framework<br />
(16). This alternation is exemplified in the creation story. The Lord brings into existence and<br />
then steps back, as it were, and delights in creation allowing the world and its creatures time<br />
and space to grow. This movement of intimacy and distance enables growth to occur and is<br />
crucial in religious leadership.<br />
In summary, leaders act as models, cues, and molders of expectations and satisfaction. Their<br />
behavior often is a response to the followers’ competence, level of maturity, interpersonal<br />
behavior, and objectives of the group. Besides needing leadership, a group also requires<br />
some degree of management. The manager focuses on getting the job done and the goals<br />
accomplished. Religious leaders add another dimension to this theory. This leadership is<br />
rooted in a divine call, is enmeshed in the mystery of Christ, and is seen, not merely as<br />
human activity, but also as the work of the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit. It is leadership which manifests itself<br />
in creative caring. These elements will now be discussed in light of the leadership style of<br />
Basil Moreau.<br />
The Leadership Style of Father Basil Moreau<br />
The “great-man” theory of leadership was prevalent in the nineteenth century and during the<br />
first two decades of the twentieth century. During this period of time, the leader was the<br />
person who had the skills to organize, to increase efficiency and productivity; the leader’s<br />
style was authoritarian; the organization was hierarchical and bureaucratic (Benjamin and<br />
Hall 16). Basil Moreau emerged as such a leader; the organization that evolved was the<br />
Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
From the historical discussion above, it is evident that at the time that Basil Moreau founded<br />
the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, his experience of Church was one of a rational system.<br />
Such a framework is characterized by a limitation of individual decision-making, constraints,<br />
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authority, rules and regulations. Integration occurs by issuing orders through the<br />
management hierarchy (Lawrence and Lorsch 12). According to Max Weber, this rational<br />
system is most prevalent in a bureaucracy where the elements of precision, unambiguity,<br />
discretion, continuity, unity, strict subordination, and reduction of material and personal costs<br />
are raised to the optimum level (Perrow 20-21).<br />
The leadership of Moreau did reflect the bureaucratic model described by Weber. As the<br />
community grew and his vision of a Congregation of priests, brothers, and sisters came into<br />
focus, he began to establish an organization for the group (Appendix A 20). He established<br />
detailed rules and regulations that covered all aspects of life (Appendix A 41). He was most<br />
meticulous about the management of the schools and his regulations concerning classes,<br />
textbooks, school supplies and budgets were quite precise and meticulous (Appendix A 21).<br />
This may have been partially due to the precarious situation of Catholic education in France<br />
that was discussed in a previous section. For whatever reasons they were established, these<br />
rules did emphasize unity, continuity, strict subordination and reduction of material and<br />
personal costs. His role as manager is clearly seen in his organization of these schools. He<br />
organized for maximum goal accomplishment.<br />
Moreau’s authoritarian style is further emphasized in Circular Letter 104 where he clearly<br />
articulated the need for hierarchical power in the government of the Congregation to avoid<br />
disorder and confusion among the members. This style is also evident in some of his<br />
responses and resolution of problems. He used the word “forbid” on many occasions<br />
(Appendix A 13) and in dealing with some issues he showed an inclination to take reactions<br />
personally (Appendix A 50).<br />
While he was an autocratic leader, he was also interested in the growth and development of<br />
the members. He seemed cognizant of the maturity level of the group and yet he did not view<br />
their growth as completed (Appendix A 28). He saw that the members were educated in their<br />
fields of ministry and reminded them that “we need to cultivate our intellects and enrich our<br />
minds with the knowledge proper to our state...” (Letters II 75). He insisted that formal<br />
study did not end with the conclusion of the novitiate or with the completion of college<br />
studies (Letters II 150, 217). At a time when the Church was skeptical about rational<br />
reflection, he encouraged ongoing education and he established a house of studies in Rome<br />
which was to grant degrees in philosophy, theology, and canon law (Letters I 275, 358). He<br />
also stressed the importance of spiritual updating and renewal; many of his letters exhort the<br />
members to fidelity to the annual retreat and to regular spiritual reading and spiritual<br />
direction (Appendix A 1, 46).<br />
Through his circular letters we get a glimpse of Moreau’s interpersonal skills and his level of<br />
trust in the followers. Benjamin and Hall tell us that interpersonal skills are learned through<br />
the good experience of organizational management (69). These skills include the ability to<br />
cope with conflict, to remain calm in high-stress situations, to articulate personal goals, to<br />
identify one’s own feelings accurately, to share emotion quickly and creatively, to state anger<br />
objectively. Moreau honestly shared both the joys and struggles of the Congregation with the<br />
members (Appendix A 43). He did not attempt to protect the members, as a parent might try<br />
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to protect a child, rather a real sense of equality is present in these excerpts. “Our work here<br />
is the work of each and everyone, and we are all, individually and collectively, responsible<br />
for it in the eyes of God and humanity” (Letters I 56).<br />
He discussed his concerns and frustrations, his problems and the difficulties of the Institution<br />
both within the internal environment of the community and the external environment in<br />
which they lived. Almost every letter of the new year included some information about the<br />
Congregation: “It is my duty to help you to understand, year by year, the status of the Society<br />
to which you have consecrated your lives and to point out to you how Divine Providence has<br />
guided our work” (Letters I 75). In these letters, he laid bare the state of his own soul and the<br />
state of the Congregation with his “customary frankness” (Letters I 189). Because of his<br />
honesty, the members had a sense of the ongoing status of their Founder and their<br />
Community (Appendix A 23). Thus the commitment of the members to the Organization<br />
was situated in light of the real situation, not an illusory ideal.<br />
Moreau demonstrated qualities of the servant-leader. The servant-leader is distinguished by<br />
the kinds of questions he raises regarding the institution (Benjamin and Hall 81). Moreau<br />
raised questions about financial responsibility and he viewed this responsibility as a corporate<br />
involvement. He was adamant that monetary obligations incurred by individuals in the<br />
Congregation should be paid and that it was the responsibility of all the members to meet the<br />
Congregational debts (Appendix A 12, 40). He also raised questions about equality in the<br />
<strong>Institute</strong> and insisted that there should be no distinctions among the priests, brothers, and<br />
sisters (Letters I 43; Appendix A 11).<br />
The servant-leader is interested in the impact of the organization on the quality of life in<br />
society (Benjamin and Hall 81). Moreau was greatly concerned about the education of the<br />
young, especially of the poor who were suffering physically and emotionally as a result of the<br />
social upheaval discussed earlier. “At this moment, when the whole of France has been<br />
shocked by the terrible disclosure of the government...everyone of us feels the need of<br />
providing genuinely religious education for the masses” (Letters I 199). He also included<br />
among the specific aims of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to form teaching brothers, especially for the country<br />
places; and to train brothers and sisters to teach the poorer classes (Letters I 338). His<br />
concern for education urged him to take over a foundation for the education of poor and<br />
abandoned children in Rome (Letters I 207).<br />
The servant-leader seeks to give life to the global world (Benjamin and Hall 81). Moreau’s<br />
vision extended far beyond the boundary of France and even of Europe. His zeal for the<br />
spread of the gospel was reflected in the rapid expansion of the Congregation to other<br />
countries: Asia, Africa, and America (Appendix A 47). Among the goals of his vision was to<br />
have each mission established as a unified effort of the priests, brothers and sisters, so the<br />
family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> could be present in each foundation of the Congregation (Appendix A<br />
11). Therefore, these missions were usually begun by a group which comprised a priest,<br />
several brothers and sisters.<br />
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Leadership calls for the utilization of various skills. Moreau demonstrated “the intellective<br />
aspect” of leadership in his skills of imagination and in his creative use of synergy and<br />
intuition. Through these processes he was able to join together apparently disparate or<br />
different elements (Benjamin and Hall 21). His initial vision was to have the three groups<br />
under one administration and to have the sisters work in the houses of the Congregation.<br />
When Rome questioned this, Moreau did not see it as a setback but as an opportunity to<br />
broaden his own vision. “This should not arouse misgivings. On the contrary ...instead of<br />
being simple lay sisters, destined, according to the wishes of our former bishop, solely for the<br />
service of our houses, you will henceforth form a society apart, like the brothers and priests,<br />
devoted to the education of youth” (Letters I 359). Because of this, he developed separate<br />
rules and regulations for the men and women. In addition, the leadership of the women was<br />
to come from within their own Community (Appendix A 44).<br />
Another skill of leadership is knowledge integration. Benjamin and Hall tell us that<br />
knowledge integration implies that the leader has technical competence in his cognitive and<br />
imaginal skills, so that the leader can personally manage and make sense of crisis situations<br />
(77). Throughout his letters, we find Moreau faced with one crisis after another (Appendix A<br />
51). There was often an absence of financial resources, there were lawsuits against the<br />
Congregation, there were epidemics that caused numerous deaths among the members, there<br />
was the ongoing precarious political situation in France and Italy. In each crisis, Moreau<br />
manifested a broader perspective and he also demonstrated the ability to bounce back from<br />
these situations. He did not allow these crises to prevent him from pursuing his own vision<br />
and insights (Appendix A 39).<br />
We have seen that Moreau’s leadership was autocratic, that it included the skills of<br />
management and that it also contained elements of servant leadership and skills of leadership,<br />
in general. A key question remains to be addressed: How did the leadership style of Basil<br />
Moreau exemplify religious or spiritual values?<br />
His writings reflect his belief that he was called by God, that the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was<br />
truly the work of God and not merely a human endeavor (Appendix A 17). Concrete<br />
situations were addressed realistically, but included the insightful perspective of faith. In the<br />
crisis situations mentioned above, his response was also of a person rooted in the firm belief<br />
in God and in the Lord’s providential care of the Congregation. Belief in Divine Providence<br />
was greatly challenged in his time as a result of societal advancements; Providence is one of<br />
the most frequently recurring religious words in his circular letters (Appendix A 52).<br />
Although Jansenism pervaded the religious thinking of his time, his preaching and teaching<br />
went beyond this religious thought. Wulstan Mork writing on Moreau’s spirituality explains<br />
that in Moreau all was synthesis (176). Moreau blended the natural with the supernatural so<br />
the result is a unity, a whole. He taught that grace may build on nature, but the former is not<br />
a top layer resting on a bottom layer. Grace uses nature, as it fulfills and completes nature.<br />
The supernatural works with the natural, vitalizes it, and makes it whole. With Moreau the<br />
Christian life is always a synthesis of the divine and human, but the divine always takes over<br />
the human. “Here, notwithstanding differences of temperament and talent, the inequality of<br />
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means, and the difference of vocation and obedience, the one aim of the glory of God and the<br />
salvation of souls inspires almost all the members and gives rise to a oneness of effort which<br />
tends toward that more perfect union of hearts which is the foundation of the unity and<br />
strength of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>” (Letters I 41).<br />
Moreau had a keen understanding of the mystery of Christ and of incarnational theology. At a<br />
time when Catholics were doubting the Incarnation, his spirituality was rooted in it and he<br />
attempted to make it relevant for the world in which he lived. Christ must be the vitality and<br />
power of the religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> (ibid. 85). It is Christ who prays, Christ who teaches, Christ<br />
who labors, Christ who thinks and wills. <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious life is simply cooperating with the<br />
Head who lives by means of the parts. “Your whole life should have only one purpose, that is,<br />
assimilating more and more the thoughts, judgments, desires, words and actions of Jesus Christ”<br />
(Sermons 144-145).<br />
From the historical discussion above, it is evident that the concept of family was battered by the<br />
societal revolution of his day. However, the charism he visioned for the Congregation was the<br />
founding of three societies which would form the unity of a single family, but not a human<br />
family. Mork discusses Moreau’s thinking on the idea of a family as only a means to an end, the<br />
unity of the Trinity (81). Moreau saw grace and nature intertwined. The relationship that the<br />
members have had and still have with their own families is brought to the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
However, the life of God that is in Christ elevates, transforms, and energizes them, so they<br />
become a relationship within the family of the new Adam. Moreau saw <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> not as a<br />
human family but as the unity of the Trinity; “...it follows that, just as in the Adorable Trinity, of<br />
which the house of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix is still another image, there is no difference of<br />
interests and no opposition of aims or wills, so among the Priests, Brothers, and Sisters there<br />
should be such conformity of sentiments, interests and wills as to make all of us one in somewhat<br />
the same manner as the Father, Son, and <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit are one” (Letters I 43).<br />
His own radical openness to the Spirit is very evident in his leadership. His letters portray a<br />
person of deep personal prayer and discernment (Appendix A 34). He would often delay<br />
making a decision until he had presented it in writing to the members, asked their prayers,<br />
and discussed it with his council. As stated earlier, his circular letters abound with references<br />
to the necessity of trust and confidence in God’s Providence. Again he breaks through the<br />
horizon of his day because the age of reason and the scientific method promulgated that<br />
everything should be proved or disproved rationally. While his use of logic is evident in his<br />
writings, his ultimate trust in God’s providential care is always the overarching paradigm of<br />
his life (Appendix A 7, 52).<br />
He did not perceive himself as someone apart or above the membership. He allowed the<br />
community to be a support to him in his ministry of leadership: “I have you ever present in<br />
mind and heart. Thus, it is from this intimate union with you that I draw the courage I need<br />
in the midst of all my labors and trials... Your devotedness to our common undertaking and<br />
your friendship for me give me strength” (Letters I 103). Later in his letters, this same theme<br />
is repeated: “Aid me yourselves, as far as you can. Continue to strengthen me, to console me<br />
by your devotedness...” (Letters II 231).<br />
83
He was able to adapt to changing needs. Early in the Congregation’s history, all the property<br />
and temporal interests of the men and women were put under a common name (Letters I 90).<br />
As circumstances changed and he saw the Congregation evolving into distinct Communities,<br />
he negotiated the separation of the interests of the two groups (Letters II 34). He also<br />
mandated that the temporal government of the sisters was to remain entirely separate from<br />
that of the brothers and priests (Letters II 41). As Moreau witnessed the growth of the<br />
Community, he began to view leadership as a mutual response and responsibility. He<br />
decentralized the government structure: “Up to the present, you have been so accustomed to<br />
address yourselves to me for almost everything, that it is now imperative for us to respect the<br />
rights of the different authorities. In other words, in each Province you will have recourse to<br />
the Provincial, who in turn, will correspond with the Superior General” (Letters II 86). While<br />
maintaining the generalate in France, he established provinces in America and elsewhere, so<br />
the local government of the Congregation would be in the immediate area and not across an<br />
ocean (Appendix A 20).<br />
His creative caring for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is best illustrated in two examples. He had sent one of his<br />
most trusted members to establish the mission in Notre Dame, Indiana. His fondness for this<br />
priest, Edward Sorin, is exemplified in many of his letters (Appendix A 45). After several<br />
years and numerous difficulties, this mission was finally getting established. Soon after, in<br />
the summer of 1852, the general council requested that Sorin be sent to help establish a<br />
mission in Bengal. Moreau sent a letter to Sorin stating that he was being transferred to<br />
Bengal, but Sorin refused to leave Indiana because of the harm he felt his departure would<br />
bring to Notre Dame. This must have been quite a blow to Moreau and the general<br />
administration. No one in such a position (at this time, Sorin was provincial of Indiana) had<br />
refused an obedience prior to this. Circular letter 65, referring to this incident, is one of the<br />
rare times that Moreau’s language is vague and impersonal in discussing a problem. Rather<br />
than publicly humiliate Sorin and cause further grief and dissension, Moreau called the<br />
Congregation as a whole to cultivate a spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.<br />
It seems safe to assume that Moreau was more interested in maintaining his relationship to<br />
Sorin and Sorin’s relationship to the Community than in forcing him to choose between<br />
obeying or remaining in the Congregation. Moreau’s level of consciousness as a leader was<br />
able to shift from duty/obligation and loyalty/respect to a consciousness that recognizes selfdirection<br />
and trust in another (Benjamin and Hall 91). At that moment Moreau had the<br />
wisdom that comes from creative caring to view the broader, rather than the narrower<br />
framework, to be more concerned with the person and the process than with the product.<br />
The second example of Moreau’s creative caring for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was, without doubt, the most<br />
difficult for him. He had experienced the birth of the Congregation, had participated in its<br />
joys and sorrows, had watched it grow and develop into a world-wide community of men and<br />
women -- and now had to relinquish it. In 1866, he resigned his position as Superior General<br />
amidst doubts about his management skills and amidst questions about his leadership<br />
abilities. While he still longed to be involved in the Congregation, he was also functioning as<br />
a leader at the second level of consciousness which sees the events of the present in a long<br />
sweep of history and projected into the indefinite future. He was rooted in the present but<br />
84
always with an eye on the future. His serenity and consolation in these last years of his life<br />
came from his firm belief that the foundation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was truly the work of God. He<br />
had been a force in the creation of this work, now he needed to step back and allow it the time<br />
and space to grow under the care of others.<br />
Out of his lived experience of the Church on the defensive and a society in upheaval, Father<br />
Moreau’s leadership style evolved -- a leadership that was rooted in his experience and yet<br />
went beyond it. From this discussion, it is evident that Moreau was both a leader and a<br />
manager; he brought the special charism of leadership and also demonstrated the science and<br />
art of management. He provided vision and supplied realistic perspectives. He exercised<br />
faith and confronted the facts. He sought effectiveness as well as efficiency. He provided<br />
direction and was also concerned with control. He used his influence to further task<br />
performance and the personal welfare of his followers.<br />
As the religious leader, par excellence, when the time arrived, he was able to let go of the<br />
Congregation and yet he did not leave the Community leaderless. He showed a responsibility<br />
for and a belief in the future by preparing leaders all along the way. He was confident that<br />
when his time came to place the Congregation in other hands, it would continue: “I have the<br />
firm hope that God will, in His own quiet and strong way, finish what He deigned to<br />
begin...and I hope that my resignation or my death, far from stopping His work, will only<br />
bring His action into clearer relief...” (Letters I 372).<br />
The final departure was extremely painful for Moreau and, yet, the sentiments of his last<br />
circular letter are words of comfort to the Community: “Count always on my devotedness to<br />
the Congregation...” (Letters II 378). Moreau was able to say this because he looked at <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> and his vision was filled with a special light for he “saw that it was good.”<br />
Some Reflections<br />
Today we know much about the rapid decline in the number of members in Religious Life<br />
and the reality of some Orders ceasing to exist. We are faced with the staggering statistics<br />
that:<br />
Between 1979 and 1989, the number of sisters declined by 48,576; the number of<br />
religious priests by 4,581; and the number of religious brothers by 4,559 (Catholic<br />
Almanac; Schneiders 158).<br />
In 1965, there were 1 million religious sisters world-wide whereas in 1980 there were<br />
half that number (Wagner 26-28).<br />
Research scholars have observed that any given form of Religious Life has a life cycle<br />
of approximately 200-300 years. Towards the end of that period, rapid disintegration<br />
takes place, followed by the emergence of new forms (Hostie, 1972; Fitz and Cada,<br />
1975; Arbuckle, 1987; O’Muchu, 1991).<br />
85
While taking seriously these facts, there are also instances of growth in some “conservative”<br />
religious groups and congregations in Europe (Walsh, 285). Also an additional side to the<br />
above statistics are the vocations to Religious Life in Africa, India, and some South American<br />
countries (Schneiders 160; Shorter 167). However, while third world countries are<br />
sometimes held up as examples of high rates of vocations to the Priesthood and Religious<br />
Life, another aspect to the story not usually narrated is the high rate of resignations which<br />
occur in these countries (Murphy 2).<br />
The above research gives some sense of the statistics in Religious Life. Paradoxically, the<br />
same time-frame seems to indicate a flourishing interest in religion. In the 1970's numerous<br />
tightly knit religious groups formed around autocratic, self-styled gurus who demanded<br />
intense loyalty and devotion. In the 1980's this style began to change, with large numbers<br />
around the world embracing a more open, yet elusive, movement known under the umbrella<br />
term of the New Age (Murphy 2).<br />
The New Age ideology embraces, among other concepts, Eastern religions, higher<br />
consciousness, crystal healing, reincarnation, altered states of consciousness, meditation<br />
techniques. It is a mixture of spiritual, social, and political forces that encompasses<br />
sociology, religion, physical science, medicine, psychology, and history. Millions have been<br />
influenced by the view of reality presented by the New Age. Figures from North America<br />
alone indicate that 34 million people are concerned about “inner growth” and 10 million are<br />
engaged in some aspect of Eastern mysticism (Chandler, 20-21).<br />
Thus, while there is a decrease in the number entering and remaining in Religious Life in<br />
some areas and while mainstream Christian Churches report declining attendance, religion in<br />
a full range of diverse forms, Eastern and Western, is widespread. Christianity has seen a rise<br />
of fundamentalism and of contemplative-mystical approaches. Non-Western disciplines such<br />
as yoga, Zen, and transcendental meditation flourish. There are also signs of rejuvenation in<br />
the Catholic Church through the emergence of non-ordained lay leaders-ministers and the<br />
formation of basic Christian communities (Murphy 3; Mananzan 389; Murray 80).<br />
The challenges facing our day and time seem little different from the monumental political,<br />
economic, and religious factors facing Moreau in his day. Some authors warn us that if<br />
radical changes in present attitudes and values, with consequent implications for community<br />
and ministry, are not fully accepted and acted upon quickly, then dire consequences can be<br />
expected. Deeply spiritual and creative religious who are searching for ways to become more<br />
relevant in today’s society, and who desire the support of like-minded, idealistic people, will<br />
either succumb to the inertia and passivity within their own congregations, or decide they can<br />
more effectively live and work for God outside Religious Life as they now experience it<br />
(Turner 207). Moreau rose to the challenges of his day by founding a Congregation of<br />
women and men to respond to the needs of his time.<br />
This is a critical moment in the Church, in Religious Life, and in the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Complex situations demand new understandings of apostolic religious life and of the<br />
leadership necessary for this form of life. As <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, what is our response to these signs<br />
of our times? What does Moreau’s leadership style teach us for today? How can we rise to<br />
86
the challenges facing us? What types of leaders are needed now in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to journey<br />
with us into the twenty-first century; to continue to insure that <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is relevant for the<br />
present and the future? We have been entrusted with a sacred legacy. Will we have the<br />
wisdom, courage, and prophetic strength to see the light, know that it is good, and creatively<br />
care for this Congregation for future generations of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>?<br />
87
WORKS CITED<br />
Arbuckle, Gerald. Strategies for Growth in Religious Life. Sydney,<br />
Australia: St. Paul Press, 1987.<br />
Bass, Bernard (ed.). Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership. New York:<br />
Free Press, 1981.<br />
Catholic Almanac. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1979.<br />
Catta, Canon and Etienne, Tony. Basil Anthony Mary Moreau Vols<br />
I and II. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1955.<br />
Chandler, R. Understanding the New Age. Dallas: Word Press, 1989.<br />
Doohan, Helen. Leadership in Paul. Wilmington, Del.: Michael<br />
Glazier, Inc. 1984.<br />
Engstrom, Ted. The Making of a Christian Leader. Grand Rapids,<br />
Michigan: Zondervan, 1976.<br />
Fitz, R.L. & Cada, L.J. “The Recovery of Religious Life,” Review for<br />
Religious, 1975, 34(5), p. 706.<br />
Greenleaf, Robert. Servant Leadership. New York: Paulist Press,<br />
1977.<br />
Hall, Brian and Thompson, Helen. Leadership through Values. New<br />
York: Paulist Press, 1980.<br />
Heston, Edward. The New Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 16. New<br />
York: McGraw, 1967.<br />
Hostie, R. The Life and Death of Religious Orders: A Psycho-<br />
Sociological Approach. Washington, DC: Cara, 1983.<br />
Latourette, Kenneth. A History of the Expansion of Christianity Vol.<br />
IV: The Great Century in Europe and the United States of America. New York: Harper and<br />
Brothers, 1941.<br />
Lawrence, Paul and Lorsch, Jay. Organization and Environment.<br />
Boston: Harvard University, 1967.<br />
Mayeroff, Milton. On Caring. New York: Harper and Row, 1971.<br />
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism. Minneapolis, Minn.: Winston<br />
Press, 1981.<br />
Moreau, Basil. Circular Letters Vols. I and II. Edward Heston (ed.).<br />
Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1943.<br />
Moreau, Basil. Sermons. Montreal: Congrégation de Sainte-Croix,<br />
1923.<br />
Mork, Wulstan. Moreau Spirituality. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave<br />
Maria Press, 1973.<br />
Mananzan, M. “The Philippines,” in A. Hastings (ed.), Modern<br />
Catholicism. London: SPCK, 1991.<br />
Murphy, Desmond. The Death and Rebirth of Religious Life.<br />
Connecticut: Morehouse Publishing, 1995.<br />
Murray, R. “Revelation,” in A. Hastings (ed.), Modern Catholicism.<br />
London: SPCK, 1991.<br />
O’Murchu, D. Religious Life: A Prophetic Vision. Indiana: Ave<br />
Maria Press, 1991.<br />
Perrow, Charles. Complex Organizations. New York: Random<br />
House, 1986.<br />
Pfeffer, J. “Management as Symbolic Action: The Creation and<br />
88
Maintenance of Organizational Paradigms,” in L. Cummings and B. Strow (eds.), Research<br />
in Organizational Behavior Vol. III.<br />
Poulet, Dom Charles. A History of the Catholic Church Vol. II: The<br />
Modern Period -- Contemporary Church History. St. Louis, Mo.: Herder Book Co., 1937.<br />
Raemers, Sidney. A History of the Catholic Church. St. Louis, Mo.:<br />
Herder Book Co., 1948.<br />
Reed, Harold. The Dynamics of Leadership. Danville, Ill.: Interstate<br />
Publishers, 1982.<br />
Schneiders, Sandra. “Religious Life.” in A. Hastings (ed.), Modern<br />
Catholicism. London: SPCK, 1991.<br />
Solomon, Ben and Bowers, Ethel. You Can Be A Leader. Claremont,<br />
California: Leadership Press, 1981.<br />
Turner, N. Which Seeds Will Grow? Melbourne, Australia: Collins Dove Press, 1988.<br />
Wagner, S. Into the Vineyard. Melbourne, Australia: Collins Dove<br />
Press, 1991.<br />
89
APPENDIX A<br />
References from Circular Letters of Rev. Basil Moreau<br />
(page numbers, except where indicated)<br />
1. Annual Retreat Vol I - 5, 10, 18, 34, 72, 82, 85<br />
Vol II - 19, 74, 92, 212<br />
2. Association of St. Joseph Vol I - 12, 175<br />
Vol II - 20, 48, 130, 254, 320, 358<br />
3. Budgets Vol II - 175, 216, 224, 234, 262, 263<br />
4. Bureaucracy Vol I - 38, 72, 77<br />
5. Calumny Vol I - 145, 146, 150, 166<br />
6. Collective Responsibility Vol I - 56<br />
7. Confidence in God Vol I - 11, 20, 28, 88, 92, 139<br />
Vol II - 250, 273, 274, 347, 349, 372<br />
8. Decisions at local level Vol I - 9<br />
9. Education of youth Vol I - 33<br />
10. Education of adults Vol I - 56<br />
11. Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> Vol I - 168, 170, 231-233, 308;<br />
Vol II - 38, 39, 152, 153, 293, 337<br />
12. Financial status of Congregation<br />
Vol I - 272, 352, 354; Vol II - 187, 189, 221, 226, 229, 230, 233, 240, 252, 320, 324, 338,<br />
360, 376<br />
13. Forbid Vol I - 26, 57, 77, 85, 86, 93, 102, 164, 193, 331;<br />
Vol II - 77, 121<br />
14. Formation Vol II - Circular Letter 96; p. 371<br />
15. Full teaching rights Vol I - 160, 174, 185-186, 192, 203, 207<br />
16. Government Structure Vol I - 19, 21, 38, 49, 112, 113, 231<br />
17. <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is God’s Work<br />
Circular Letters 1, 14, 179<br />
Vol I - 19, 122, 131, 192, 306; Vol II - 265, 274, 311, 349<br />
18. Jansenism Vol I - 152<br />
19. Judge for yourselves Vol I - 216<br />
20. Management of Congregation<br />
Vol I - 112, 212, 275, 327, 328, 386 ff, 396<br />
Vol II - 36, 45, 57, 86, 87 (hierarchical power)<br />
21. Management of Schools<br />
Vol I - 9, 24, 57, 109, 218 ff, 260, 263, 278, 315, 328<br />
Vol II - 93, 107, 254, 255, 278<br />
22. Mission Vol I - 147, 207, 338 (of H.C.)<br />
90
23. Moreau’s honesty and frankness Vol I - 106, 114, 189, 243<br />
Vol II - 226, 298, 307, 363<br />
24. Moreau’s humanity and closeness to others Vol I - 89, 147, 148, 181<br />
Vol II - 32<br />
25. Moreau’s personal interest in members<br />
Vol I - 4, 45, 48, 53, 73, 76, 103, 111, 117, 267<br />
26. Moreau’s vision for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> Circular letters 8, 14, 47, 75<br />
27. Necessary qualities Vol I - 11<br />
28. Necessity of personal education and study<br />
Vol I - 5, 61, 275, 278, 293, 295; Vol II - 75, 149, 217, 335<br />
29. Needs of society Vol I - 20<br />
30. No distinction in three Societies Vol I - 43, 90, 93, 103, 124<br />
31. Obedience Vol I - 92; Vol II - 159, 332<br />
32. Pius IX Vol I - 144, 153; Vol II - 135, 136, 140, 151, 303<br />
33. Poverty Vol I - 150, 272; Vol II - 57, 127, 194, 203, 204, 205, 209<br />
34. Prayer Vol I - 125, 139, 171, 173, 181<br />
Vol II - 89, 123, 231, 245, 251, 258<br />
35. Priest over Brothers Vol I - 133<br />
36. Problems with government<br />
Vol I - 138, 144, 158, 194, 199, 202, 269, 351<br />
37. Ratification of Priests’ & Brothers’ rules Vol II - 10<br />
38. Reorganization of group in France Vol II - 109<br />
39. Response to crises Vol I - 106, 107, 326; Vol II - 250, 307, 348<br />
40. Responsibility of all to meet debts<br />
Vol II - 57, 157, 190-191, 216, 221, 229, 234, 294, 315<br />
41. Rules and regulations<br />
Vol I - 81-83, 92-94, 108-110, 239-240, 251-260, 277-279, 366-367; Vol II - 130-131, 145-<br />
147, 183-184, 234, 275-276, 291-292, 302-303, 316-318<br />
42. Sensitivity to relations between Priest and Brothers<br />
Vol I - 40, 44, 191<br />
43. Shared concerns with community<br />
Vol II - 68, 97, 98, 100, 136, 185, 191, 198, 216, 218, 226, 229, 233, 280-283, 307, 320, 363<br />
44. Sisters: Rules Vol II - 430, 451-452<br />
Status of Vol II - 358, 369<br />
45. Sorin Vol I - 61, 62, 107, 296, 308, 332; Vol II - 36<br />
46. Spiritual reading and direction<br />
Vol I - 4, 104, 112; Vol II - 61, 72, 203, 251, 371<br />
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47. Spread of Congregation<br />
Vol I - 22, 24, 28, 29, 37, 55, 57, 59-60, 70, 73, 89, 115, 153, 155, 183, 214-215, 268, 287,<br />
292<br />
Vol II - 21, 25, 84, 275, 322<br />
48. Studies Vol I - 275, 278, 293, 295<br />
49. Textbooks Vol I - 93, 255<br />
50. Took responses personally Vol I - 55, 89, 295, 350; Vol II - 172<br />
51. Trials Vol I - 48, 55, 113, 131, 306, 307<br />
Vol II - 98, 100, 228, 250, 265, 347<br />
52. Trust in Divine Providence<br />
Vol I - 11, 20, 28, 33, 76, 88, 92, 131, 137, 139, 145, 149, 151, 156, 162, 192, 273; Vol II -<br />
17, 26, 29, 32, 47, 49, 65, 86, 127, 135, 187, 251, 273, 349, 372<br />
53. Zeal Vol I - 70, 90, 105, 296<br />
Vol II - 90, 166<br />
Important Circular Letters (letter numbers)<br />
1, 9, 14, 47, 65, 77, 79, 82 (Approval of Priests and Brothers),<br />
86 (Approbation of Priests and Brothers), 118, 120, 131, 164,<br />
188 (Moreau’s resignation)<br />
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APPENDIX B<br />
Important Dates in the Life of Basil Moreau<br />
1799: Moreau born at Laigné-en-Belin on February 11<br />
1814-1817: Student at College of Chateau-Gontier<br />
1817-1821: Seminary training and ordination at LeMans<br />
1821-1823: Seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris; then Solitude of Issy near Paris<br />
1823-1826: Teacher at Seminary of Tessé in LeMans<br />
1825: Death of Moreau’s mother<br />
1830: Death of Moreau’s father<br />
1833: Ecclesiastical superior of Good Shepherd Monastery<br />
1835: Leader of Brothers of St. Joseph founded by Jacques Dujarié in 1820<br />
1835: Foundation of Auxiliary Priests<br />
1837: Fundamental Act uniting Brothers and Priests<br />
1840: Foundation of Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
1841: Statement of his vision for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in Circular Letter 14<br />
1841: First missionaries to Algeria<br />
1841: First missionaries to United States<br />
1845: Preaching in 83 missions; Brothers staff 60 schools<br />
1847: First missionaries to Canada<br />
1850: Foundation in Rome<br />
1852: Foundation in Bengal<br />
1857: Foundation in Poland<br />
1857: Approbation of Constitutions of the Priests and Brothers<br />
1866: Resignation as Superior General<br />
1867: Initial approbation of the Constitutions of the Marianites.<br />
1869: Motherhouse in LeMans sold<br />
1869: Separation of Indiana Sisters<br />
1870: War between France and Prussia<br />
1871: Apparition at Pontmain in France<br />
1872: Moreau’s Golden Jubilee<br />
1873: Death of Moreau at age 73<br />
1883: Separation of Canadian Sisters<br />
1885: Final approval of Marianites’ Constitutions<br />
93
APPENDIX C<br />
Chronology of Related Events<br />
1792-1795 -- Christianity abolished by law in France.<br />
1797 -- New deportations of priests; church services held secretly; religious orders of women almost<br />
non-existent; religion taught secretly or in the home.<br />
1799 -- Basil Moreau is born.<br />
1802 -- Agreement is reached between Church and State and the Concordat is signed which<br />
permitted re-opening of the churches.<br />
1817 -- Moreau is at seminary.<br />
1821 -- Moreau is ordained.<br />
1805-1872 -- Joseph Mazzini is head of a political party in Italy that<br />
promoted Rome as capital of Italy rid of papal yoke.<br />
1833 -- Moreau becomes ecclesiastical superior of the Good Shepherd Monastery, an<br />
institution caring for delinquent girls.<br />
1835 -- Moreau takes leadership of the Brothers of St. Joseph.<br />
1835 -- Moreau establishes a Society of Priests.<br />
1837 -- Fundamental Act uniting the Brothers and Priests.<br />
1841 -- Moreau established a Society of Sisters, the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
1841 -- Moreau sends first missionaries to Algeria and United States.<br />
1846 -- Pope Gregory XVI dies.<br />
1846-1878 -- Pope Pius IX flees Rome in November, 1848 and struggles<br />
with Joseph Mazzini over papal states in Rome.<br />
1857 -- Approbation of Priests’ & Brothers’ Constitutions (a mere 20 years after foundation).<br />
1864 -- Syllabus of Errors -- Pius IX postures the Church against progress, liberalism, and modern<br />
civilization. This posture concludes with Vatican Council I and declaration of papal<br />
infallibility.<br />
1866 -- Moreau resigns as Superior General.<br />
1867 -- Approbation of the Constitutions of the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
1869 -- Motherhouse in LeMans is sold.<br />
1869 -- Sisters in Indiana separate from France.<br />
1870 -- Rigid traditionalism develops in France which is distrustful of rational reflection in theology<br />
and is excessively dependent on Rome.<br />
1870 -- War begins between France and Prussia.<br />
1871 -- Mary appears at Pontmain, France.<br />
1871 -- Moreau’s Golden Jubilee.<br />
1873 -- Moreau dies at age 73.<br />
94
1875 -- Third Republic inaugurated violent persecution against Catholic Church in France.<br />
Government supposed that genuine democratic principles were anti-Catholic and began to<br />
oppose monarchists, clericals, and Catholics.<br />
1883 -- Sisters in Canada separate from France.<br />
1903 -- 13,904 Catholic schools closed in France; 3,040 preachers expelled; 15,964 teachers are<br />
banned from schools; 81 congregations of women religious forced to disband.<br />
1905 -- Concordat is signed separating church and state. All ecclesiastical buildings are placed at the<br />
disposal of the civil government; goods of dioceses, seminaries, churches are confiscated.<br />
95
HOLY CROSS: A PATH OF EVANGELICAL<br />
WITNESS<br />
AND EXPERIENCE<br />
By Gérard Dionne, C.S.C.<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was built and came to life from pre-existent elements which do not appear<br />
oriented to realizing an inspiration and a gift of the Spirit which was to acquire unexpected<br />
dimensions even for those who created these elements independently. 113 But very early, these<br />
elements will take a new meaning in Basil Anthony Moreau’s mind, and will come to life<br />
through an innovative integration 114 which opens within the Church a new path of evangelical<br />
witness and experience. Father Moreau himself, guided by his spiritual director, welcomed<br />
the events of his life, joys and trials, as the Lord’s call, directing him in ways he could not<br />
have imagined or seen in advance. 115<br />
AT THE ROOT OF HOLY CROSS: Two men, One intuition<br />
There are periods in history during which the Spirit breathes in a special way on people,<br />
leading them to discover and implement little by little a new intuition for the good of the<br />
Church and society. The end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries<br />
were turning points in European history and especially in France. The congregation of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> comes to life among the fruits which grew during that time of upheaval and renewal.<br />
113<br />
Jacques-François Dujarié in the foundation of the Brothers of Saint Joseph, in 1820, and Basil Moreau in<br />
the foundation of the Auxiliary Priests, in 1835, although the idea itself might have been circulating for some<br />
time as the Catta brothers suggest in their biography of the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>: cf. Catta-Heston, Basil<br />
Anthony Mary Moreau, Vol. I, pp. 39-40.<br />
114<br />
The association within a single community, of brothers and priests for whom religious life is the integrating<br />
force and basis of equality among the members in the diversity of talents, apostolates and ministries; a<br />
perspective which the founder of the Brothers of Saint Joseph, Jacques-François Dujarié had discarded in 1825,<br />
probably because the model was the congregation of the Sacred Heart of Picpus which included priests,<br />
(“coadjutors”) brothers and sisters, and which was flourishing at that time. Before coming to Ruillé with their<br />
proposal for an integration with the brothers, Frs. Mégret and Richard had lived for a little while at Tours in that<br />
congregation of the Sacred Heart following the bishop’s suggestion. Jacques Dujarié did want some priests to be<br />
associated in the government of his two congregations but there was no question that these few clerics (5 or 6)<br />
would be members of the congregation of the brothers; they would have formed a society of their own (cf.<br />
Vanier, Recueil documentaire, le chanoine Dujarié: text of Dujarié-Deshayes’ agreement, p. 274).<br />
115<br />
“If I could have foreseen the development of the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> from the outset, I could then<br />
have regulated and coordinated everything in advance. If such were the case, however, the Congregation would<br />
have been a merely human combination and not the work of divine Providence...” (Circular Letters of the Very<br />
Reverend Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, Founder of the Religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Vol. 2, CL 94, p. 65).<br />
96
Jacques-François Dujarié is one of two founding figures, and the more remote, of what will<br />
become the great work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Devoted son of the Church, unafraid to risk his life<br />
daily for the education of the faithful, 116 Jacques Dujarié knew how to welcome and enflesh<br />
an intuition of the Spirit who, so to speak, was hovering over the chaos of the time.<br />
Already in other dioceses of France, foundations had come to life, offering Jacques-François<br />
Dujarié a model to follow for realizing concretely the plan the diocesan clergy wanted him to<br />
carry out: the foundation of a group of teaching brothers. Like all the founders of his time,<br />
Jacques Dujarié had to deal with the possibilities but also the limitations of a political<br />
institution characterized by unstable governments, and an ecclesial institution deeply affected<br />
by ongoing clericalism. 117 These two factors, among others, seem crucial in order to<br />
understand the initiatives and the disappointments of the pastor of Ruillé-sur-Loir. As at the<br />
time of his ministry in hiding, often he had to walk in darkness hoping to find a light to<br />
brighten his path.<br />
To insure permanency and stability for the small group of the Brothers of Saint Joseph he<br />
founded, thus implementing the desire of his fellow priests of the diocese and of the bishop<br />
himself, Jacques Dujarié thought of adjoining a small group of priests who would hold group<br />
responsibility before religious and civil authorities. 118 The only model available at that time<br />
is that of the clerical congregations in which brothers are auxiliary personnel of the priests<br />
(“coadjutors”); the congregation of the Sacred Heart of Picpus in which there were also<br />
sisters was already in existence and prospering at the time. But Jacques Dujarié does not<br />
116<br />
Jacques-François Dujarié is a seminarian at the height of the French Revolution; after some time spent at<br />
Ruillé with Jacquet de la Haye who helps him complete his priestly formation, he was ordained in hiding in<br />
Paris, December 26, 1795; until 1802 and the signing of the concordat with Napoleon Bonaparte, he ministers<br />
in hiding, daily risking his life.<br />
117<br />
The Revolution had abolished the monarchy and organized a republican government; Napoleon’s empire<br />
will follow, then the restoration of the monarchy and the return to republican government. In the Church,<br />
Gallicanism still had disciples among the clergy, among whom was Bishop Bouvier, of Le Mans from 1834 to<br />
1854; the priests had an indispensable and prevailing role in the spiritual renewal which was just beginning;<br />
clerics were the only ones who could have pursued a solid religious and theological formation throughout the<br />
Revolution. Further, they were recognized by the civil government as persons legally capable of acquiring and<br />
owning goods, which was the not the case with religious communities. All this had a deep influence on the fact<br />
that the priests usually were founders of the religious communities which came to life at that time.<br />
118<br />
On the one hand, it would be easier to maintain the trust in and strengthen the credibility of the<br />
congregation of the Brothers among his fellow priests and the bishop, and, on the other hand, it would avoid<br />
entrusting the University with the goods the Brothers of Saint Joseph would acquire with time, since they could<br />
not legally acquire nor own goods. The 1823 royal recognition merely acknowledged their existence.<br />
97
want that kind of organization. In 1825 he refused to integrate two diocesan priests 119 into the<br />
community of the Brothers of Saint Joseph; on the other hand, he wanted some priests to be<br />
associated with the Brothers and the Sisters 120 but without membership in the Brothers’<br />
congregation. The time of Providence was not yet ripe, and things needed to evolve<br />
further. 121 Man of Providence that he was, Jacques Dujarié accepted this impossibility, but<br />
he remained open to what was to follow; he would leave to another the task of pursuing his<br />
work: Basil Moreau then takes over.<br />
The whole spiritual experience of the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is marked by the deep awareness<br />
of being the instrument of God’s Providence. When the governmental structure of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
was taking definitive shape with the arrival of the first sisters in 1841, this perception is very<br />
clear for Father Moreau. 122 In this spirit that he states with conviction that what was born<br />
through his efforts cannot but be the work of Providence.<br />
His way to discern the call of God in the acceptance of the mission of East Bengal, as well as<br />
his usual way to react to events which affected the congregation, recalls his faith in<br />
Providence. 123<br />
As for the pontifical approval which is constantly delayed, he says: we must be resigned until<br />
the time appointed by Providence arrives. 124 A little later, confronting the fear felt by a<br />
number of religious concerning the survival of the congregation if the superior general would<br />
suddenly disappear, the founder again reiterates his deep trust that God would see to the work<br />
119<br />
Frs. Mégret and Richard (cf. note 2). The brothers at the novitiate during the time stated they did not know<br />
why there was no follow-up to such a plan (cf. Vanier, Recueil documentaire, Le chanoine Dujarié, p. 543).<br />
120<br />
Strangely enough, a project of agreement to that effect between Gabriel Deshayes and Jacques Dujarié was<br />
never pursued (cf. ibid., p. 274).<br />
121<br />
Jacques Dujarié did not want to take the ongoing clerical model, but did not seem to be able to take enough<br />
distance in order to foresee another way to proceed. Father Moreau will take up this intuition and enflesh it in<br />
an original way for the time. In a letter addressed to Cardinal Barnabo, prefect of the Congregation of<br />
Propaganda Fide, in 1856, Father Moreau wrote: “I was also fortunate to develop the society of priests my<br />
predecessor had tried in vain to start... I had also implemented another part of the plan of my predecessor in<br />
founding at the same time a society of sisters...”<br />
122<br />
“I have been but a simple tool which the Lord will soon break that He may substitute for it others more<br />
worthy. In His plan they are to develop or, at least, to solidify what I have begun. In the midst of the most<br />
painful trials, I have never lost hope in Providence or in your fidelity to the sublime vocation which God has<br />
given you....” (Circular Letters of the V. R. Fr. Moreau, Vol. I, CL 14, p. 38).<br />
123<br />
“... my principle with regard to foundations is neither to ask nor refuse anything, when all indications point<br />
to a plan of Providence..” (ibid., Vol. 2, CL 92, p. 56).<br />
124<br />
ibid., Vol. I, CL 65, p. 306.<br />
98
as long as the members of the congregation, through their own commitment, would respond<br />
to this divine initiative. 125<br />
This faith in Providence reveals the secret of the moral strength and perseverance of the<br />
founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> who, in spite of numerous trials, will continue to believe that it is God<br />
who wanted <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to accomplish the work. 126<br />
UNION:<br />
Fundamental and Imperative Call at the Heart of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
In welcoming the diversity of elements in the establishment of what would become a new<br />
religious family in the Church, Father Moreau readily understood that this project was called<br />
to become a concrete and privileged expression of the union for which Jesus had earnestly<br />
prayed at the end of his life. At the same time it was a call to ever greater unity as the<br />
incarnation of the evangelical witness <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was to give to the world. This theme<br />
already appears in the very first circular letter of Father Moreau to the Brothers of Saint<br />
Joseph, November 8, 1835, 127 even before associating them with auxiliary priests who were a<br />
distinct group at the time.<br />
In circular letter 8, June 26, 1839, the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> revealed to the Brothers the plan<br />
he already had in mind when he transferred them from Ruillé to Le Mans; and for the first<br />
time, he mentioned the <strong>Holy</strong> Family as the model of union for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 128 For him, the<br />
only condition necessary to face such a challenge is to work at becoming saints. Thus, it is<br />
not only a question of administrative organization which allows the best possible mutual<br />
understanding, but rather evangelical witness and experience.<br />
125<br />
“Thus I have the firm hope that God will, in His own quiet and strong way, finish what He deigned to begin<br />
twenty-two years ago, and I hope that my resignation or my death, far from stopping His work, will only bring<br />
His action into clearer relief, and will perhaps even remove certain obstacles occasioned by the struggles I have<br />
had to face. But there is one condition which is essential for the future of our Congregation, a condition without<br />
which not even Providence will act. This condition is your own generous cooperation and your faithful<br />
correspondence with the grace of vocation...” (ibid., CL 79, p. 372).<br />
126<br />
“... even if all of you had abandoned me on hearing of our catastrophes, I should have begun all over again<br />
as soon as I could, so convinced am I that what I have undertaken is the will of God. If, indeed, you had then<br />
looked back, Jesus Christ would have chosen other workers to take your place.” (ibid., Vol. 2, CL 179, pp. 350-<br />
351).<br />
127<br />
“... to succeed in the important undertaking entrusted to us, we must be, first of all, so closely united in<br />
charity as to form but one mind and one soul; for, as you well know, In union there is strength and A kingdom<br />
divided against itself shall not stand.” (ibid., Vol. I, CL 1, p. 2).<br />
128<br />
“... the plan I had in mind in bringing you to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>... was to found three houses consecrated to the<br />
Most <strong>Holy</strong> Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. These three communities, although living in separate dwellings<br />
and under different rules, would, nevertheless, remain united among themselves after the model of the <strong>Holy</strong><br />
Family.” (ibid., CL 8, p. 19).<br />
99
As will be clearly shown by Fr. Moreau’s concrete options, union was for him an essential<br />
evangelical aspect <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was to manifest to the world in a special way. And<br />
collaboration, as a concrete manifestation of this union at the service of the Gospel, is not<br />
only an advantageous means or a practical strategy for continuing the mission better, but a<br />
direct witness to the Kingdom already present among us. It would be of the utmost<br />
importance that the members of his religious family, as well as their way of approaching and<br />
carrying on the mission, reflect this fundamental evangelical aim if the mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
is to be understood.<br />
The governmental structures themselves are to be a means, not only to govern the concrete<br />
organization which is the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, but a means for promoting and safeguarding<br />
this unity.<br />
In circular letter 14, September 1, 1841, which is the grand charter of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Father<br />
Moreau explicates his thought regarding union in his religious family. No less than nineteen<br />
times he uses the nouns union and unity or corresponding verbs to make clear that this is at<br />
the heart of God’s call for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 129 He reiterates the condition mentioned in circular<br />
letter 8 for this to be a reality: become saints in reproducing the life of Jesus Christ. 130<br />
The union of hearts seems to be the basis for everything which concurs with this deep<br />
unity. 131 The metaphor of the vine in chapter 15 of Saint John’s gospel is the foundation of<br />
everything. Father Moreau finds there all the necessary motives to tighten the cords which<br />
keep the works of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> closely united to one another. 132 We must remain united with<br />
the vine which is Jesus Christ and reproduce his life if we want to remain united among<br />
ourselves and do God’s work. 133<br />
129<br />
“I firmly trust... that the same God who has begun this work under such favorable auspices will carry it<br />
through to its completion.” (ibid., CL 14, p. 39).<br />
130<br />
“Oh, to what marvels of grace your young Society would give rise if you could succeed in thus reproducing<br />
the life of Jesus Christ.” (ibid., p. 40).<br />
131<br />
“... a oneness of effort which tends toward that more perfect union of hearts which is the foundation of the<br />
unity and strength of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>... Union, then, is a powerful lever with which we could move, direct, and<br />
sanctify the whole world, if the Spirit of Evil, who has been allowed to exercise his power over this earth, does<br />
not set himself up against the wondrous effects of this moral force.” (ibid., p. 41).<br />
132<br />
Among others, “there is the motive of family pride, for it is our duty to avoid the disgrace of sterility and to<br />
win for ourselves the glory of sturdy growth.” (ibid., p. 42).<br />
133<br />
“Unless we wish to ruin the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, it is absolutely essential for us to lead with our Lord a life<br />
hidden in God. If we cut ourselves off from this Mystic Vine, or if we deserve this penalty and thus become<br />
divided among ourselves, we thereby expose ourselves to the risk of ruining God’s work....” (ibid., p. 39, 42).<br />
100
For him, union lived among ourselves has no way of sinking deep roots and growing unless it<br />
emerges and feeds itself from our union with Jesus Christ and draws us to it. 134 Unity has an<br />
obvious missionary dimension for Father Moreau; it makes us enter the huge struggle for the<br />
salvation of the world where light and the powers of darkness face one another. 135 No<br />
surprise then to see the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> pointing to the Trinity as the ultimate paradigm<br />
for his religious family. 136<br />
When we examine the founder’s writings, it is clear that union is not just one among other<br />
elements likely to characterize the physiognomy of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Rather, it appears as the<br />
central axis, the founding element of the existence and mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Union sheds<br />
light on all these other elements which Father Moreau insisted upon in his letters as well as in<br />
his Rules and Constitutions, giving them a special meaning in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. In this sense,<br />
union appears as the content which gives the charism its consistency.<br />
For example, we can ask ourselves whether <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> could have existed as a religious<br />
family of brothers, sisters and priests, three societies in one association, if union had not been<br />
at the center of Father Moreau’s plan. There is an originality in the very structure of the<br />
Association of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> which expresses an intuition, a spiritual inspiration which goes<br />
beyond the mere cleverness of a founder who is specially gifted for organization. Could<br />
Father Moreau’s insistence that the mission be undertaken by sisters, priests and brothers<br />
together, as it was clearly the case in the foundation in Canada, 137 have lasted for long in the<br />
face of the objections he had to face if he had not deeply felt that union was an evangelical<br />
requirement? It is only when he faced the strong objection of Pope Pius IX to the inclusion of<br />
the sisters in the juridical structure together with the priests and brothers that Father Moreau<br />
modified his plan to have three societies in one congregation, but not his plan to see the three<br />
societies working together in the Church. 138<br />
134<br />
“In order to acquire, preserve and fortify more and more this holy union, we shall love one another in God<br />
as his own work; for God in order to please him; according to God as he loved us” (Rules of 1858, Common<br />
Rule XVII, art. 2).<br />
135<br />
“Beholding the fruits of our mutual union, the world will glorify God, and in his jealousy at such great<br />
spiritual and temporal prosperity, the devil will endeavor to destroy it at its very root, and disrupt these works by<br />
sowing dissension in the minds and hearts of the members. For he knows full well that all his efforts will come<br />
to nothing, so long as we remain steadfast in holy union.” (ibid., pp. 42-43).<br />
136<br />
“... among the priests, brothers, and sisters there should be such conformity of sentiments, interests and<br />
wills as to make all of us one in somewhat the same manner as the Father, Son, and <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit are one. This<br />
was the touching prayer of our Lord for His disciples and their successors: ‘That they all may be one, as you,<br />
Father, in me and I in you’” (ibid., p. 43).<br />
137<br />
The intention was exactly the same for the other foundations, even though it was not always possible to<br />
send sisters at the same time with priests and brothers.<br />
138<br />
To the sisters, concerned about their exclusion from the Roman approval, Father Moreau wrote: “... my<br />
dear daughters, this should not arouse misgivings. On the contrary, you ought to thank God for this change,<br />
since, instead of being simple lay Sisters, destined, according to the wishes of our former Bishop, solely for the<br />
101
We have here an essential perspective for understanding who we are and our own vocation in<br />
the Church. In this context, is it possible for a brother, priest or sister of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to think<br />
of his/her vocation and reflect on his/her existence as religious without recalling the bonds of<br />
union which fundamentally links him/her to the two other societies? In moments of tension<br />
or crises concerning unity, is it possible, as members of the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, to rethink<br />
our identity outside the context of union among priests, brothers and sisters without<br />
renouncing at the same time what fundamentally makes us a distinct religious family? Would<br />
we not risk becoming meaningless and curtailing the gift of the Spirit for the edification of<br />
the Church?<br />
Union, the cornerstone of our charism, characterizes the physiognomy of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Translated concretely in collaboration, it gives our zeal, our family spirit, our way of being<br />
Church, and our missionary activity a specific and particular color. And the cross outlines the<br />
path we are treading to pass on the gift received from the Spirit and so become signs of hope<br />
for our times. 139<br />
Father Moreau was convinced that the union willed by Jesus and for which he prayed his<br />
Father could not be realized without the cross. The way of the cross was Jesus’ only way to<br />
gather God’s children. 140 The name of the Association which at first seemed to result of a<br />
historical accident 141 became an indication of Providence for Father Moreau’s work. In his<br />
mind and heart, this name acquired a spiritual meaning which went beyond historical<br />
accident. The cross is not a surprise in the unfolding of the “dream” of union of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
It is one essential element and a source of hope; 142 Father Moreau, using the text of the hymn<br />
from the liturgy of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, will add: our only hope. The cross points out the path we<br />
are called to tread together.<br />
service of our houses, you will henceforth form a Society apart, like the brothers and priests, devoted to the<br />
education of youth” (ibid., Vol. I, CL 77, p.359).<br />
139<br />
This is explicitly translated by the motto bequeathed to us by Father Moreau: “The cross, our only hope”.<br />
140<br />
“Union, then, is a powerful lever with which we could move, direct, and sanctify the whole world, if the<br />
Spirit of Evil, who has been allowed to exercise his power over this earth, does not set himself up against the<br />
wondrous effects of this moral force... In his jealousy at such great spiritual and temporal prosperity, the devil<br />
will endeavor to destroy it at its very root, and to disrupt these works by sowing dissension in the minds and<br />
hearts of the members.” (ibid., CL 14, pp. 41, 42-43).<br />
141<br />
Sainte-Croix (<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>) was the name of the place where the Association settled.<br />
142<br />
“... even should persecution redouble rather than diminish, as is the case now, there would be no reason to<br />
fear for God’s work. All the malice of the world and hell cannot change the will of the Lord, nullify His<br />
sovereign rights, render useless the work of His power, or make foolish the designs of His wisdom. No, my<br />
Reverend Fathers and well-loved Brothers, a hundred times no!” (ibid., Vol. 2, CL 179, p. 350).<br />
102
DIVERSITY AND COMPLEMENTARITY:<br />
Richness of our Unity<br />
In his important circular letter of September 1, 1841, Father Moreau spoke not only about this<br />
union among ourselves; through many metaphors he highlighted diversity and<br />
complementarity. Indeed, all these metaphors 143 evoke the interdependence made possible by<br />
diversity, and required by complementarity for the realization of the common mission.<br />
For the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, diversity is not to be feared, and did not constitute a difficulty,<br />
still less an obstacle to the realization of unity, even though, around him, some people<br />
thought his plan a perilous initiative, begun imprudently. 144 He did not, however, hide the<br />
fact that this diversity, considered from a human perspective, contains many elements of<br />
disintegration. 145 But he was also conscious and convinced that the Spirit has breathed on<br />
the various instruments of the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, and that it was him who inspires the<br />
members and empowers them to live this unity in the diversity they are called to by their<br />
vocation to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. They are thus called to be a visible imitation of the <strong>Holy</strong> Family.<br />
COLLABORATION IN THE APOSTOLATE:<br />
Privileged Incarnation and Manifestation of Union<br />
In <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, collaboration takes a different color insofar as it translates a “spirituality” and<br />
enfleshes this essential aspect of the Gospel which is union in Christ. If we, as <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>,<br />
do not translate for our times this essential aspect of the Gospel, we fail in our particular task<br />
as religious family and risk meaninglessness or, as Father Moreau himself put it, the disgrace<br />
of sterility.<br />
If union is the foundation of collaboration in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, apostolic collaboration is<br />
conversely the privileged incarnation and manifestation of our union with Christ, and,<br />
consequently, of union among us in the name of Christ and the Gospel. Here again, the<br />
perspective does not stop at the mere efficiency made possible by the union of efforts and the<br />
coordination of forces and efforts: we do not need to be religious nor members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
to do that. Other human groups do this convincingly with remarkable creativity and<br />
cleverness for motives other than Christ and the Gospel.<br />
143<br />
“The mysterious chariot of Ezekiel propelled by symbolic animals of varied forms in their onward course;<br />
they tended always to the same end, though by ways apparently most opposed to one another; a palace which is<br />
being built and which requires a variety of workers, stones, beams of wood, but each element finds its place and<br />
contributes to the whole; the political parties who gather and constitute thus a power for the achievement of a<br />
common goal; the interdependence between the branches of a tree and the trunk; between the rays of the sun<br />
and its fire; between brooks and their source” (ibid., Vol. I, CL 14, pp. 41, 44).<br />
144<br />
“Considering them only from the standpoint of human reason, it is difficult to explain how they could begin,<br />
organize, develop, and harmonize up to the present...not to mention the ill-will of several who tried in vain to<br />
ruin what was being undertaken in a manner which seemed to them so patently imprudent.” (ibid., pp. 40-41).<br />
145<br />
ibid., p. 40.<br />
103
Collaboration is both fruit and expression of union, but this oneness of efforts, as Father<br />
Moreau called it, must also tend toward that more perfect union of hearts which constitutes<br />
its bond and strength. 146 Thus, union appears like the guarantee of the success and<br />
effectiveness of collaboration to which is connected the development of the congregation. 147<br />
By rooting ourselves in a spiritual experience and deepening it, collaboration for the sake of<br />
the mission can bear fruit for the Kingdom. 148 For Father Moreau this experience is basic for<br />
the very future of the congregation and the apostolic work it is called to achieve. 149 Thus, we<br />
are far from the mere question of apostolic strategy for a greater efficiency in our ministries.<br />
It is the very meaning of our vocation to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> which is at stake here. At the same time<br />
that it is a means to serve the Lord better in our brothers and sisters, the experience of<br />
collaboration brings us more deeply into the work of salvation of Jesus Christ who came to<br />
give his life to gather God’s scattered children inviting us in turn to lay down our lives in<br />
love.<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> leadership sees collaboration as an expression and an unfolding of the founding<br />
grace 150 of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Consequently, collaboration is not a kind of desirable optional<br />
supplement which can be proposed the same way any form of help or support can be offered<br />
for a work we are doing already. If we really want to be what we are called to be in the<br />
Church and in the building of the Kingdom, collaboration is not optional, but constitutes a<br />
fundamental expression of the gift we have to offer and, as far as this is within our power to<br />
do so, it makes the grace of our foundation as a religious family bear more fruit.<br />
Later on, the reflection on this topic made it possible to specify that the requirement for<br />
increasing collaboration springs from the charism of Father Moreau whose prophetic vision<br />
146<br />
The English translation of Father Moreau’s circular letters by Fr. Edward Heston is different than what is<br />
stated here; without being out of place in terms of Moreau’s thinking, that translation conveys a meaning which<br />
goes beyond what he said in this particular letter. Fr. Heston’s translation reads as follows: ...this oneness of<br />
efforts must also tend toward that more perfect union of hearts which is the foundation of the unity and strength<br />
of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
147<br />
“The prosperity and expansion of our Association depend on this unity of purpose and interests, this<br />
solidarity of efforts and work.” (ibid., Vol. I, CL 77, p. 361).<br />
148<br />
Father Moreau invites the members of his congregation to thank “... the Author and Finisher of our<br />
vocation. The fruits of our justice and sanctity will glorify God, just as the fruits on a tree are, at the same time,<br />
the glory of the tree itself and of the gardener. Beholding the fruits of our mutual union, the world will glorify<br />
God...” (ibid., CL 14, p. 42).<br />
149<br />
“Remember that the future of our Association depends less on talents, pecuniary resources, and the<br />
protection of the great ones of the earth than on the spirit of piety, religious poverty, purity of heart, and union<br />
with God... In a word, be what you should be before God, and I can assure you of the future.” (ibid., CL 26, p.<br />
117, 118).<br />
150<br />
Statement of the general councils of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> at one of their bi-annual meetings.<br />
104
included union manifested in heart, mind and action. 151 Collaboration in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is not<br />
only a question of mutual help in mission, nor the mere explicitness of the richness of<br />
diversity and complementarity, but a question of taking advantage of all the richness of our<br />
charism and of making visible for our world -- faith in Jesus as the One sent by the Father is<br />
linked to it -- this fundamental reality of the Kingdom already present in our midst, the union<br />
or unity for which Jesus gave his life.<br />
From their very first meeting at St. Mary’s, in 1983, the four general councils of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
became aware that no one congregation by itself can witness to the wealth of the charism of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. And in 1987, they stated: We believe that we cannot live all the potentialities of<br />
our charism, unless we bring together the richness of our understanding and of our specific<br />
way of experiencing Father Moreau’s charism. The evangelical call then joins with our<br />
awareness of the need to be together in order to make the wealth of the gift we are blossom<br />
and bear fruit for the Church and the world.<br />
Collaboration not only applies to a task to be done together, to the putting in common<br />
energies and efforts in the fulfillment of the mission. It also implies common discernment<br />
and coordination of this same mission and of what it means for us together. It seems to me<br />
this is an essential element of the effectiveness and success of every collaborative effort. If<br />
we do not have a common idea and view of the mission to which we want to respond<br />
together, we risk spending all our energies on internal confrontations, thus creating our own<br />
disappointments and failures. Jesus’ example makes us understand that we cannot follow<br />
him just from a good feeling, it challenges us also concerning collaboration among members<br />
of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 152<br />
TO PUT ON CHRIST TO THE POINT OF TAKING PART IN HIS PASSION<br />
Father Moreau’s insistence that his spiritual sons and daughters have formed in them the<br />
living likeness of Jesus Christ touches his own experience of reproducing the life of Jesus<br />
Christ, and especially, his experience of an ever deeper communion to the Lord’s painful<br />
passion through disputes, accusations of all kinds and the pure and simple rejection from a<br />
certain number of his own. 153<br />
In 1855, the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had to go through the painful experience of a dark night<br />
during which he had the impression, and in practice, the certainty that all his work was<br />
151<br />
ibidem.<br />
152<br />
“If you are planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have<br />
enough money to finish the job.” (Lk. 14:28)<br />
153<br />
“I hope that it will be my lot until my dying to drink uncomplainingly of the chalice of our Lord’s Passion.<br />
It seemed to me so bitter when it was first offered to me ten years ago during a terrible trial, just as it does today.<br />
But it becomes sweet when one drinks it to the very dregs.” (Father Moreau’s letter of August 2, 1868 to clear<br />
himself of the accusations launched against him by the special general chapter of 1868).<br />
105
crumbling and falling into ruin. 154 A year after, he talked about it in a circular letter as a<br />
temptation from which the Lord had rescued him. 155 It is this trial which brought him, as in<br />
advance, to the painful events connected with the chapter of 1868 and its consequences,<br />
which Father Moreau recalled in his letter of August 2 that year.<br />
Throughout his life as superior general, the founder had to face elements of dissension<br />
coming from confreres whom he trusted most, and which were constantly threatening what<br />
for him was fundamental in the design of Providence: the union of the members of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> to Jesus Christ, and, as a consequence, the union among themselves as members of the<br />
same family. His circular letters very often challenge them to live this union. 156 Indeed, at<br />
times in the history of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Father Moreau could have tasted the sweetness of seeing<br />
his sons realize this ideal of union and communion. 157 But one cannot but be struck by the<br />
fact that throughout his life, it is more the harshness and severity of the way of the cross from<br />
which this realization cannot be detached which marked his experience as the founder and<br />
superior general of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. After the example of Jesus, Father Moreau accepted the<br />
apparent disintegration of his whole work in order to hand it over to the Providence of God<br />
who had inspired and sustained it. 158<br />
154<br />
“I saw, or thought I saw, very clearly the impending ruin of the entire congregation, even abroad. A strange<br />
light seemed to flood my intellect, and was doubtlessly the work of the devil. I beheld this ruin so clearly that<br />
there was no further possibility of doubt. The idea obsessed me. Humanly speaking, I could see no way out of<br />
it, and I even felt that I was stealing the bread I ate.” (Catta-Heston, Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, Vol. II, p.<br />
107)<br />
155<br />
“... to be perfectly frank, I must tell you now that, like the Apostle sinking in the water, I was then passing<br />
through a period of trial, the details of which would strike you as strange... God had pity on my weakness, and<br />
His fatherly hand brought me help which was both efficacious and consoling.” (Circular Letters of V.R. Fr.<br />
Basil Antony Moreau, Vol. I, CL 77, p. 352)<br />
156<br />
“It is this union, the fruit of sanctifying grace, which will strengthen us against the world and the devil,<br />
while being at the same time the source of our success and consolations. It is like the mortar which holds and<br />
binds the stones of the building we have undertaken, for without it everything will crumble and fall into ruin.<br />
This is why Jesus Christ so earnestly recommended union to His disciples and why in His last moments from the<br />
heights of that pulpit of which, so to speak, one side rested on the Cenacle and the other on Calvary. He made<br />
of union a formal command, His command of predilection. For this reason also, addressing Himself to His<br />
Father in a most sublime and moving prayer, He earnestly asked that His disciples might be united with one<br />
another, as are the three Divine Persons of the Trinity, making them all as one. Oh, who will grant us this<br />
grace?” (ibid., Vol. 2, CL 170, p. 293)<br />
157<br />
In a projected circular letter of June 19, 1867, Father Moreau let himself be moved by a memory: “I<br />
remember the days already gone by, when, in cordial understanding and perfect intimacy, surrounded by a small<br />
number of confreres and of worthy children of Saint Joseph, I tasted the happiness of a regular and fervent life<br />
in the midst of hardships and hard works of a newborn community. Oh who would give us back these first years<br />
too rapidly gone!”<br />
158<br />
Father Moreau would welcome as a grace a letter from the Countess de Jurien who, in fact, became the<br />
occasion of the light which is suddenly flooding his soul: “Why do you doubt? Renew your courage and peace.<br />
Peace, but in abandonment to God. This work is from God and not from you. It is up to Him, and not you, to<br />
keep His ark afloat. Hope and pray, but do not doubt... God will come to the assistance of your foundation,<br />
106
Oppositions or at least resistances coming from some brothers are felt from the beginning of<br />
the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> “venture”, but especially from one among the more influential. 159 Father<br />
Moreau, throughout his term as superior general would have to work in a certain climate of<br />
suspicion on the part of these brothers that such an association with the priests would<br />
ultimately be to the disadvantage of the brothers. His moves would then be scrutinized with<br />
the intention of finding some bias in favor of the priests. Sometimes in his circular letters,<br />
Father Moreau would feel the need to raise this delicate matter because of the tensions within<br />
the congregation and the accusations which were launched against him. 160<br />
Father Moreau will also see union threatened within the congregation by various factors<br />
which created situations of uneasiness and even opposition to the founder. The multiplication<br />
of areas of mission and the rapid growth of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> are among them. These were<br />
magnified by other factors: distance, decisions taken and implemented, and initiatives started<br />
locally without going through the channels established by the constitutions and particular<br />
rules, misunderstanding on both sides because of differing perceptions of emergencies and<br />
local needs, the balance to be found between healthy autonomy needed for the mission and its<br />
development, and the bonds of solidarity and unity with the whole of the family. All this<br />
greatly contributed to the emergence and strength of personal opposition to the founder from<br />
a number of influential members whom he trusted.<br />
To any opening of reconciliation from opponents, Father Moreau would respond by<br />
forgiveness and the assurance that all was forgotten in the joy of seeing bonds - which were<br />
almost irremediably broken - re-established. 161 He resumes dialogue where it had been<br />
broken and renews his total trust in those who were the cause of tensions or threats to the<br />
unity in the congregation.<br />
The dark night of 1855 was a prelude to a new wave of opposition manifesting itself through<br />
manipulations and pressures on the chapters from 1860 onward. Aware that he had become<br />
which He has willed, begun, aided, and sustained up to now, and which He does not wish to perish.” (cf. Catta-<br />
Heston, Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, Vol. II, p. 114).<br />
159<br />
This is Brother Leonard (François Guittoger), one of the directors of the Brothers of Saint Joseph who asked<br />
Bishop Bouvier that Father Basil Moreau succeed their sick founder, and who had important responsibilities<br />
within <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. He was never able to reconcile himself with the idea of an association with priests as<br />
members of a single religious community. The highly clerical mentality of the time and the experience lived at<br />
Ruillé could explain in part Brother Leonard’s apprehensions.<br />
160<br />
See in particular circular letter 40, January 4, 1850 (Vol. I, pp. 190-191). See also circular letter 35, April<br />
15, 1849 (ibid., p. 166).<br />
161<br />
“...grace triumphed at the very moment when the enemies of good were rejoicing at the prospect of a<br />
scandalous break with the Mother House. My heart still overflows with joy when I recall the spirit of genuine<br />
submission and humility with which steps were taken to draw those two houses together once again... Never, in<br />
fact, have I seen such a splendid spirit in the members of our Association. Even those who had allowed<br />
themselves to be seduced by the illusions of the enemy of all good have returned to those sentiments which I<br />
desired to see in them from the very beginning of our Association.” (ibid., CL 65, pp. 307-308, 310)<br />
107
an obstacle to greater union, Father Moreau offered his resignation which the chapter would<br />
not accept. 162<br />
Again in 1863, Father Moreau offered his resignation to the chapter which again would not<br />
accept it. Tensions continue to increase and he is always held responsible. So much so that<br />
the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> would be called to Rome in December, 1863 by the prefect of<br />
Propaganda Fide to be confronted by his accusers. In 1865, Father Moreau again offers his<br />
resignation, but this time to the Pope himself. His resignation is accepted only in June 1866;<br />
the chapter that year would elect a new superior general.<br />
The premature resignation of Bishop Pierre Dufal, the new superior general, would entail<br />
another general chapter in 1868 in which some influential religious would try by all means to<br />
have the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> participate in order better to confound him, and in a definitive<br />
way. Its deliberations led to the sale of the mother house to pay off debts and to the<br />
estrangement of Father Moreau. The chapter published a circular letter which, for all practical<br />
purposes denounced the founder, holding him responsible for all the misfortunes of the<br />
congregation.<br />
Deprived of the fruits of his hard work and definitively convicted, Father Moreau forgave and<br />
abandoned himself to divine Providence. 163 Abandoned by his own, 164 at 69 years old, the<br />
founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> resumed his work of evangelization through parish missions.<br />
Sustained by his apostolic zeal, he would spend the rest of his energies in that ministry. 165<br />
The feelings he had at the time of his estrangement from the congregation he had founded<br />
carve in a dramatic way the features of the face of the “ordinary servant” of the Gospel: 166<br />
With all my heart, I pardon those who have treated me so badly and I thank God for the calm<br />
and resignation in which He deigns to preserve my soul. I no longer look for any justice<br />
162<br />
Father Moreau ends his report to the chapter of 1860 saying: “Finally, I conclude by beseeching you not to<br />
allow me to be an obstacle any longer to peace and union of hearts in the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, or to the<br />
development of this institute.” (cf. Catta-Heston, Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, Vol. II, p. 391)<br />
163<br />
To one of his legal representatives entrusted by him to see that justice be done to the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> creditors,<br />
Father Moreau, whose personal goods were claimed, would write: “I do not believe that, without injustice, I can<br />
be deprived of what is necessary for a priest to say Mass. But, as I resolve all these things in my mind, I am<br />
satisfied with the absolute sacrifice I have made, leaving entirely in your hands the handling of our sad affairs<br />
and, in the last analysis leaving everything up to Providence which has never failed me.” (cf. Catta-Heston, Vol.<br />
II, p. 958)<br />
164<br />
Only the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> would maintain a regular and affectionate contact with him during the<br />
last five years of his life he would spend in his blood- sister’s house; they would also be close to him when he<br />
died, January 20, 1873.<br />
165<br />
Between the end of 1868 and the beginning of 1873, Father Moreau preached fifty missions.<br />
166<br />
Lk. 17:10: “It is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are<br />
ordinary servants; we have only done our duty.’”<br />
108
upon earth but only for divine mercy in a better life, regarding myself happy to receive<br />
humiliations and contempt as my reward for the foundations of which I have been the<br />
unworthy instrument. 167<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
A religious congregation is not only entrusted with a charism it has the duty to develop for<br />
the good of the Church, it cannot but bear the stamp of him/her who founded it. This more<br />
personal touch linked to the human and spiritual experience of this person shapes its “family<br />
likeness”. It is not indifferent for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> that Father Moreau was the man of Providence<br />
he was, attentive to discover in all events the presence of God who calls.<br />
It is through these daily calls that the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> had, so to speak, sensed that<br />
union was the fundamental and urgent call for the Church and the world 168 and that it had to<br />
be the founding axis of his congregation, conscious as he was that this call was deeply related<br />
to the plan of salvation for the world and a response to the earnest prayer of Jesus at the end<br />
of his life on earth. 169<br />
This “missionary” aim cannot but permeate and nourish the zeal of the members of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>, and bring to life a particular way of being and doing in the Church and the world.<br />
Collaboration in the mission where diversity and complementarity unfold is its important and<br />
visible aspect. Lived concretely, collaboration establishes bonds of interdependence which<br />
incarnate this ideal of unity, and call to a deeper union of minds and hearts.<br />
In the human reality, however, all this is lived; there also, all kinds of limitations and<br />
inabilities manifest themselves and are obstacles to the realization of God’s saving plan<br />
insofar as they serve as instruments of the power of evil. Thus we find again the way of the<br />
cross Jesus himself had to tread in abandoning himself to his Father. But this, we know, is a<br />
way of hope because it leads to the resurrection. This gospel itinerary was clearly Father<br />
Moreau’s own, who invites us to walk after him, even when our cultural context lures us in<br />
the opposite direction, where the quest for well-being and comfort is predominant.<br />
THE CROSS, OUR ONLY HOPE!<br />
167<br />
Letter of August 2, 1868 to respond to the unjust accusations of the circular letter published by the chapter<br />
which condemned him, and to explain his stand (cf. Catta-Heston, Vol. II, pp. 846-847).<br />
168<br />
The Church of France was still struggling with Gallican tensions and the need to take a new stand in the<br />
midst of the consequences of the Revolution (part of the clergy had made the oath to the civil constitution, and<br />
another part, at the risk of their lives, remained faithful). Society in the aftermath of the Revolution was still in a<br />
turmoil, looking for a new social and political cohesion.<br />
169<br />
In his writings, Father Moreau repeatedly used Jesus’ prayer for unity, chapter 17 of St. John’s gospel, to<br />
highlight for the members of his religious family the importance of union with Christ and among themselves.<br />
109
FATHER MOREAU AND PREFERENTIAL<br />
SERVICE OF THE POOR<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
By Graziella Lalande, C.S.C.<br />
“Preferential option” for the poor: origin of the expression<br />
Our general and provincial chapters proposed to the Congregation an apostolic orientation<br />
which was expressed in terms yet unfamiliar in our community vocabulary, and thus might<br />
have caused some ambiguity. In the history of the Church and the Congregation, the<br />
underlying reality of the “preferential option for the poor” is not new.<br />
We generally associate this expression with the Latin American Bishops’ Conferences in<br />
Medellin, Colombia, 1958, and in Puebla, Mexico, 1968. However, to discover the meaning<br />
and importance of this conversion to the poor, for the Church in the modern world, we must<br />
look to Pope John XXIII and to Vatican II. The two great encyclicals of Pope John XXIII:<br />
Mater et Magistra (1961), Pacem in Terris (1963), and that of Pope Paul VI: Populorum<br />
Progressio (1967) are particularly enlightening in this regard.<br />
We find here a clear and firm pastoral concern “to awaken the consciousness of others to the<br />
misery rampant in society and to the urgent need for a more equitable distribution of wealth”,<br />
as Paul Vl writes elsewhere. 170<br />
If we reread the documents of Vatican II, we discover the same pastoral concern for the poor,<br />
as an underlying theme, in document after document. The accent is everywhere the same: the<br />
mission of the Church is universal, but since Jesus wanted it for his own mission, particular<br />
attention must be given to the poor and the lowly. Thus, we read:<br />
-- in the first article of The Church and the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes):<br />
The joys and hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially<br />
those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the<br />
griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ (1).<br />
-- in the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church (Christus Dominus):<br />
With a special concern they (the bishops) should attend upon the poor and the lower<br />
classes to whom the Lord sent them to preach the Gospel (13).<br />
170<br />
Paul VI, Evangelii Testificatio, 18, 20; Constitutions of the Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, art. 20.3.<br />
110
-- in the Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis):<br />
Although he has obligations toward all, a priest has the poor and the lowly entrusted<br />
to him in a special way (6). 171<br />
The Council proclaimed the option for the poor and proposed it to the people of God in these<br />
terms: “especially the poor and lowly”. More recently, Pope John Paul II stressed anew<br />
“love of preference for the poor” and “special option for the poor”. 172<br />
This same perspective and the ecclesial movement are evident in the thrust of our chapters.<br />
Having inspired the conciliar assembly, the Spirit is continually active among the people of<br />
God and is moving us as Church in this same direction at the close of this century.<br />
Purpose of this article<br />
It is not the intent of this article to explain general chapters in this regard, nor to clarify the<br />
option proposed. In response to a question put to me, I will attempt to address the topic. We<br />
have noted an obvious link between the option for the poor and the work of the Spirit in the<br />
post-Vatican II Church. Is there also a link between this option and the orientations given, as<br />
well as the choices made by Father Moreau in the first years of the Congregation?<br />
Yes, this link exists! I will endeavor to establish it both historically and through the writings<br />
of our Founder.<br />
PREFERENTIAL SERVICE OF THE POOR<br />
IN MOREAU’S PLAN<br />
Like all founders of orders or apostolic institutes, Father Moreau called upon his followers to<br />
be actively involved in the Church and society as workers committed to meet the challenges<br />
of the times. Moved by the Spirit and in fidelity to his call as a founder, he chose three<br />
mission fields.<br />
a) The first fields of action<br />
-- Father Moreau gathered the first auxiliary priests for parish ministry in order to encourage<br />
the practice of sacraments, to enliven the faith, to foster a new breath of Christian life, and to<br />
“seek out souls that perish”. 173 These first <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> priests, auxiliaries of the local clergy,<br />
were especially dedicated to preaching, sacramental and pastoral ministry.<br />
171<br />
172<br />
173<br />
cf. also LG 8, AC 5, AA 8, etc.<br />
John Paul II, Christian Freedom and Liberation (68).<br />
Circular Letter 17.<br />
111
-- Youth: The Brothers’ principal mission was Christian education of youth through<br />
teaching. This work also required the services of the sisters and a certain number of priests.<br />
Father Moreau’s goal was to prepare women and men able to build the Church and society of<br />
the future.<br />
-- In response to numerous requests from mission countries, he soon accepted a third service,<br />
the foreign missions. 174<br />
These apostolic endeavors marked the beginning of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and its contribution to the<br />
universal mission of the Church. “United in zeal” 175 the three religious families strove to<br />
accomplish a triple mission with their founder as “leader in the service of God”. 176<br />
b) Preference for the poor<br />
It was Father Moreau’s wish that, as followers of Christ, the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> give<br />
preference to the service of the poor in all their apostolates. He willingly sent the members to<br />
areas where the needs were the greatest, and resources few: “to the humblest and most<br />
neglected of country parishes”, 177 to the young who were deprived of Christian education,<br />
and to the emerging Churches where the laborers were few in number. Without excluding<br />
other types of services, evangelizing the poor had become a priority within the overall<br />
mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The preferential service of the poor spoke eloquently of Father<br />
Moreau and the first generation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. This orientation is highlighted in the first<br />
constitutions, in Pédagogie chrétienne, and many other circular letters.<br />
PREFERENTIAL SERVICE ACCORDING TO MOREAU<br />
a) In 1858, Father Moreau gave the Marianites their first Constitutions approved by the<br />
newly-appointed Bishop of Le Mans, Bishop Nanquette. 178 These constitutions identified the<br />
sisters as educators, thereby reaffirming the statement he had made in 1856 when the<br />
Marianites were separated from the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>:<br />
174<br />
Catta writes: “In the apostolic desires which had haunted the mind of Abbé Moreau in his first years as a<br />
priest, the foreign missions had their place. Nevertheless, his personal attractions, combined with a series of<br />
providential events, had the ultimate effect of singling out the Christian teaching of youth and the preaching of<br />
the Gospel in country places as his main objectives (...) Yet, here again, Father Moreau did not force the hand<br />
of God; instead, it was this hand which reached out to him” (I, p. 457).<br />
175<br />
176<br />
177<br />
178<br />
Circular Letter 14.<br />
Constitutions, 1847, Introduction.<br />
Fontenelle, Msgr René. Articles on the cause of the servant of God, Basil Moreau.<br />
Catta, I, p. 441.<br />
112
...Nevertheless, this should not arouse misgivings. On the contrary, my dear<br />
daughters, you ought to thank God for this change, since instead of being simple lay<br />
Sisters, destined, according to the wishes of our former Bishop, solely for the service<br />
of our houses, you will henceforth form a Society apart, like the Brothers and priests,<br />
devoted to the education of youth. 179<br />
He defined the mission of the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> as follows:<br />
To found and direct elementary schools, boarding schools, trade schools, hostels,<br />
etc. 180 in France or in its colonies, and elsewhere abroad, in order to provide the<br />
youth especially the poor and destitute, with instruction and a Christian education.<br />
(art. 3)<br />
To prepare sisters for this ministry, Father Moreau indicated that after postulancy and<br />
novitiate, they were to serve in “schools, hostels, orphanages, and other charitable<br />
institutions, under the direction of experienced teachers” (art. 4).<br />
The orientation towards the poor was thus inscribed in the first Constitutions. Father Moreau,<br />
however, requested more than the preferential service of the poor in the mission fields he had<br />
chosen; he encouraged a preferential love:<br />
If at times you have a marked preference for certain children, it should be for the<br />
poorest, the most abandoned, the most ignorant, the least gifted by nature, the<br />
Protestants, Jews, or pagans. lf then you surround them with the most assiduous<br />
attention, it is because their needs are greater and it is only justice to give more to<br />
those who have received less. 181<br />
Is it necessary to add that Moreau’s preference was clearly rooted in faith? Drawing from<br />
Matthew’s gospel, (25:40): “you did it to me”, Father Moreau wrote in the Constitutions and<br />
Rules of 1847:<br />
Let us be full of compassion for the poor in whom we see Jesus Christ (XVII, 299);<br />
Welcome them kindly, remembering that behind their poverty hides Jesus Christ<br />
(XXIV, 722).<br />
179<br />
Circular Letter 77.<br />
180<br />
In Father Moreau’s time these “trade schools” were workshops for poor women and girls who were taught<br />
certain skills to enable them to earn their living. The “hostels” for children were like nursery schools for the<br />
poor and abandoned children.<br />
181<br />
Pédagogie chrétienne, p. 10.<br />
113
) In cooperation with the founder, Mother Mary of Seven Dolors fully endorsed the<br />
orientation and implementation of his apostolic plan with regard to the preferential service of<br />
the poor. After his death, it was she who reminded the sisters of the meaning and importance<br />
of article 3 of the 1858 Constitutions:<br />
...the sisters must instruct the young girls, “especially the poor and abandoned...<br />
(Article 3). Especially the poor children (...) because that is the purpose of boarding<br />
schools... 182<br />
...You must not forget that you are dedicated to the instruction of children who are<br />
poor and abandoned (...) The Founder (...) wished to found an <strong>Institute</strong>, according to<br />
the aim of Propaganda Fide, to catechize the poor and to go from one place to<br />
another as need be, without ever seeking the comfort of a quiet life. 183<br />
In 1880, under the administration of Mother Mary of Seven Dolors, the Marianites drew up<br />
Rules for government. In the edition sent to Canada that same year, the following quote<br />
points to this preferential service of the poor as an important element for discerning the<br />
acceptance of a new foundation:<br />
Of the many foundations which were suggested at the time, preference was given (,,,)<br />
to those whose purpose it was to care for the poor and abandoned children and to<br />
provide them with a Christian education, mainly in places where there was neither<br />
school nor home for these children. 184<br />
This rule reaffirmed the administrative guidelines given by Father Moreau in the<br />
Constitutions of 1858.<br />
FIRST GENERATION OF HOLY CROSS AND<br />
EFFECTIVE SERVICE TO THE POOR<br />
Two distinctive types of interventions were initiated by the Founder in a move to work with<br />
the poor and to help improve their living conditions:<br />
-- foundations or endeavors in which his daughters and sons were called to address specific<br />
forms of poverty and to strive to bring about change;<br />
-- timely interventions which required their total dedication: the gift of self and resources to<br />
alleviate suffering.<br />
182<br />
183<br />
184<br />
Letter to Sr. M. of St. Alphonse, Dec. 15, 1872.<br />
id. January, 1883.<br />
Rules of government, 1880, p. 204.<br />
114
a) Addressing specific forms of poverty<br />
The setting for these initiatives was the Mother House in Le Mans. It was there that <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> pursued its work of evangelization in France, mainly in country parishes. At the same<br />
time, effective Christian teaching developed at the College of Le Mans and among the less<br />
fortunate. Soon, Father Moreau was invited to undertake similar works outside France.<br />
In fact, as the apostolic family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> became known, Father Moreau was besieged<br />
with requests from other continents, requests which were frequently the cry of the poor:<br />
“oftentimes, these pleas have been so touchingly insistent that they brought tears to my<br />
eyes”. 185<br />
Thus the heart of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was moved to greater compassion! 186 From the very outset, and<br />
despite a lack of resources, the Congregation chose to work among the poorest. Let us<br />
consider a few commitments outside France which are of exemplary value from the historical<br />
viewpoint and because they are rooted in love:<br />
Africa: 1840 -- the care of homeless children<br />
Bishop Dupuch of Algiers asked for Brothers to take charge of a group of orphans, “children<br />
of poor settlers” whose parents had died on the plains or who were killed by the yatagan of<br />
the Arabs. 187<br />
The Bishop wrote: “I desire, and on my knees I beg you for Brothers. They would act as<br />
teachers and fathers to these poor children, and would acquaint them with the elementary<br />
studies suited to their future way of life.” 188<br />
At this time, the Congregation was entering its third year of existence! After prayer and<br />
consultation, the Founder accepted this service “despite the lack of funds and personnel”, 189<br />
and later in his Rule on zeal he says: “If we had faith and the zeal that faith inspires...” 190<br />
A first group of brothers and priests left to assume different pastoral tasks in the emerging,<br />
poor Church of Algiers; others followed. Father Moreau even thought of sending sisters. 191<br />
185<br />
186<br />
187<br />
188<br />
189<br />
190<br />
Circular Letter 20.<br />
Expression dear to Father Moreau.<br />
Circular Letters 9, 11, 17, 20; Catta, I, pp. 457-489.<br />
Circular Letter 9.<br />
Annales de Sainte-Croix, p. 43.<br />
Constitutions and Rules (1858), Rule XVIII.<br />
115
This mission, which proved to be difficult, lasted twelve years. Five brothers died in Africa<br />
giving their lives for the service of the poor.<br />
It is to be noted that Father Moreau’s first commitment outside France was the service of the<br />
young in difficult situations of plight and poverty.<br />
Throughout Father Moreau’s term of office, the apostolate for homeless children developed,<br />
in Indiana 192 and in Poland (1856-1865). 193 In Bengal, the sisters and brothers also cared for<br />
orphans. 194 The orphanage in New Orleans was so poor that in order to feed the 300 children<br />
and those in charge, they begged in hotels for leftovers. 195<br />
Rome: 1850-1868 -- rehabilitation of young delinquents<br />
Of the many apostolic ventures undertaken by Father Moreau, those he founded in Rome in<br />
1850 to help the underprivileged youth deserve special mention, because of their importance<br />
for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and because of Father Moreau’s special involvement in this project.<br />
The religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> were invited to “help the abandoned children” in Rome. In the<br />
aftermath of the Italian revolution, the young were the first to suffer from the dire conditions<br />
that prevailed. Some were left orphans; others were abandoned, found roaming the streets on<br />
the outskirts of the city. There were no institutions in Rome to provide care for boys. In<br />
writing to Father Moreau, Bishop Luquet stated:<br />
Its end is to gather together poor children who are degraded by idleness and vice, to<br />
instruct them in their religious duties and teach them the trades most necessary for<br />
society and most suited to the background of the children themselves. 196<br />
To elaborate on the experience in Rome would be too lengthy. 197 It is to be remembered,<br />
however, that from 1850 to 1868, 198 <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was a forerunner in helping the young in<br />
difficulty; that an institution was established which would later serve as a model for others: a<br />
191<br />
192<br />
193<br />
194<br />
195<br />
196<br />
197<br />
198<br />
Circular Letter 9.<br />
Circular Letter 41.<br />
Catta, II, p. 195.<br />
Catta, I, p. 908.<br />
Catta, I, pp. 934-935.<br />
Circular Letter 43.<br />
Circular Letters 43, 45, 47, 65 77; Catta, I, pp. 801-809; 812; 815-823; Catta, II, pp. 120-129.<br />
They were succeeded by the Brothers of Mercy after the resignation of Father Moreau.<br />
116
trade school at Santa Prisca. There soon followed an agricultural school for orphans at Vigna<br />
Pia. During the collapse of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Father Moreau wrote of the latter:<br />
Of all the establishments that Divine Providence has led me to since the foundation,<br />
none has been so difficult to leave as Vigna Pia. 199<br />
1852: East Bengal -- “an impossible mission which no one wanted” 200<br />
In 1852, Rome asked Father Moreau to send a group of missionaries to support the works of<br />
Bishop Thomas Oliffe apostolic vicar of East Bengal (later Bangladesh). The bishop had only<br />
three priests to serve a population of 13,000 Catholics dispersed over a large area, and<br />
swallowed up by a large non-Christian population. Since his appointment in 1845, Bishop<br />
Oliffe had tried in vain to obtain help from religious communities in Europe. At the time,<br />
Bengal was considered an impossible mission due to the climate which generated deadly<br />
fevers, 201 the difficulty of learning indigenous languages, extreme poverty, and remoteness<br />
from all forms of support. 202<br />
Rome finally intervened on behalf of the Church of Bengal and asked Father Moreau for<br />
missionaries, knowing full well that this was not the “raison d’être” of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 203<br />
Through an apostolic spirit and love for the Church, 204 Father Moreau accepted.<br />
To the Cardinal Prefect of the Propagation of the Faith, he wrote:<br />
For several years now, not only myself, but also all the priests and brothers of our<br />
Association, as well as the sisters, have felt themselves impelled by the charity of our<br />
Lord Jesus Christ to undertake some apostolate to help the countless number of<br />
persons who are still in the darkness of infidelity and the shadows of death... 205<br />
Thus a first group departed in 1852 and another the following year. During the founder’s<br />
administration, thirty-five missionaries were sent to Bengal, ten were Marianites.<br />
We know the tragic beginnings of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in Bengal. After Moreau’s resignation, the<br />
Congregation was under the leadership of Father Sorin who showed little interest in the<br />
199<br />
200<br />
201<br />
50).<br />
202<br />
203<br />
204<br />
205<br />
Quoted by Father Charles Moreau, p. 333.<br />
Goedert, Edmund M., C.S.C. <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> Priests in the Diocese of Dacca, p. 5.<br />
The Jesuits had worked here for some time; thirty-three missionaries of thirty-nine died (cf. Goedert, p.<br />
The first journey of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> missionaries on a sailboat took seven and a half months.<br />
cf. Father Charles Moreau, II, p. 1.<br />
...and also in the hope that this response would hasten the approval of the Constitutions.<br />
Catta, II, p. 55.<br />
117
difficult outpost. 206 In 1876, Rome dispensed the Congregation of its commitment to Bengal.<br />
For a time, the work was taken up by the Benedictines. <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> later returned to Bengal as<br />
to a missionary heritage. 207<br />
Was Father Moreau wise to accept this mission? He explains it this way:<br />
I have been blamed by some for accepting this mission, on the grounds that all the<br />
other Congregations had refused it and that no good can be done there. To this<br />
criticism I have replied, as in similar circumstances I shall always reply, that my<br />
principle with regard to foundations is neither to ask nor to refuse anything, when all<br />
indications seem to point to a plan of Providence. 208<br />
b) Timely interventions in difficult situations<br />
Throughout the early history of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, there were exemplary choices which inspire us to<br />
this day. Most of them called for all kinds of involvement: the establishment of parishes, and<br />
the creation of places and means to respond to apostolic needs proposed to the Congregation.<br />
This was especially true of the long-term mission in the United States and Canada.<br />
There were likewise occasional involvements in response to urgent situations. These flowed<br />
from the same charity, zeal, compassion, and creative availability characteristic of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
from its very beginning.<br />
1846: Help for the victims of floods in Le Mans<br />
The districts on the right bank of the Sarthe were submerged. The misery of poor families<br />
affected by the flooding touched Father Moreau. Being familiar with this part of the city<br />
where he ministered at “le Bon Pasteur”, he initiated a collection among college students to<br />
assist the victims. Both brothers and priests agreed to save on food and to use the equivalent<br />
savings to help the flood victims. Father Moreau personally distributed bread and clothing<br />
from a boat... 209<br />
1849: Involvement during the cholera epidemic<br />
In Le Mans and in a few other regions of France, the epidemic raged. There were hundreds of<br />
fatalities in the poorer sections of the city. Municipal authorities gathered the sick in the old<br />
chancery and asked Father Moreau for some nursing brothers to assist the sick.<br />
206<br />
Eight missionaries died in Bengal, most from illnesses contracted there. This event is recorded in<br />
Moreau’s Circular Letters 54, 58, 76,77, 92, 136, 175; Catta, II, p. 54 ff; 108-112; Catta, M.M. of Seven Dolors,<br />
pp. 144-148.<br />
207<br />
The Fathers and Brothers were to return in 1888; the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, from 1888 to 1897, and<br />
later from 1927 on; the Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in 1928 and the Marianites in 1947.<br />
208<br />
209<br />
Circular Letter 92.<br />
Fontenelle, Msgr. René, op. cit. p. 170.<br />
118
Moreau’s response flowed from the generosity of his heart:<br />
Gentlemen: As I had the honor to inform you last night in my reply to your petition, I<br />
appealed to our Brothers and priests in favor of the victims of cholera for whom you<br />
are requesting our services. My only embarrassment was one of choice, since<br />
practically all the religious placed themselves at my disposal. Consequently, you can<br />
count on four nursing Brothers, and I myself will help them begin their work of<br />
charity as soon as I receive your orders.<br />
I have but one regret at the present time and that is my inability to offer you and your<br />
personnel our College of Sainte-Croix to serve as a hospital; but we have students<br />
boarding in our home, and their health, no less than their education, has been<br />
entrusted to our care. I can, however, offer you, if need be, our little country house at<br />
Charbonnière, called St. Joseph’s. This will show you, gentlemen, how much you can<br />
count on the devotedness of the brothers and priests of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
I say priests, as well as brothers, even though you requested only brothers. If the<br />
clergy of the parish where you are opening a hospital need help, you have only to say<br />
the word, after having an understanding with them, and we shall be happy to offer the<br />
consolations of religion to the victims of this terrible<br />
plague... 210<br />
Note the openness of this response: not only nursing brothers but also priests for ministry to<br />
the sick; not only service outside our houses, but also the offer of “La Charbonnière”, a<br />
community property, not only at Le Mans, but elsewhere also. For in his circular letter 37, the<br />
Founder added:<br />
I have no doubt, my dear sons and daughters in Jesus Christ, if, in the various<br />
localities where obedience has placed you, this destructive plague obliges the<br />
authorities to call on you for aid, you will answer this appeal with the same readiness<br />
and generosity as the Mother House.<br />
And yet, Father Moreau realized the risks entailed for those who were to care for the sick!<br />
He simply added:<br />
...You will also show that people who are in the habit of dying daily to the world and<br />
themselves in the spirit of evangelical renunciation do not fear death when their lives<br />
can be useful to others.<br />
1848-51: Kindness towards prisoners<br />
210<br />
Circular Letter 37.<br />
119
Following the 1848 Revolution in France, (around 1851), several persons were arrested near<br />
Le Mans because of political activities. Some were imprisoned, others “expatriated in a<br />
designated city”, relates Msgr. Fontenelle. These unfortunate people, knowing Moreau’s<br />
great charity and the Prefect’s appreciation of him, asked him to work towards reducing their<br />
sentence. He always interceded for them without delay. Msgr. Fontenelle wrote that one<br />
person had been interned at about 80 km. from Le Mans. Several times each year, Father<br />
Moreau found work for him in his college to allow him some time with his family living in<br />
Le Mans.<br />
From the preceding, we can well imagine Moreau’s concern for the unfortunate and the poor<br />
as well as the kind of initiatives he could take, both personally and in the name of his own.<br />
He hoped that his sons and daughters throughout the world would do likewise. When they did<br />
so, he approved of their initiatives wholeheartedly and informed the Congregation so all<br />
would be in solidarity with them and supportive of their efforts.<br />
1850: Education of young handicapped women<br />
Around 1850, seeing the plight of the young hearing and speech impaired which no<br />
institution was in a position to help, the sisters of Indiana undertook their education. Their<br />
only means were their good will and dedication. In 1853, an American novice was sent to<br />
France for her novitiate; she was to become Mother Mary Angela. Father Moreau invited her<br />
to make the best of her stay in France, and to learn the techniques for teaching the hearing<br />
and speech impaired. Inspired by the American sisters’ initiative, Moreau expanded the work<br />
of education in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. In the Rules of 1854, he included a chapter entitled: “The<br />
Education of Deaf-Mutes.” 211 In this he wrote:<br />
Divine Providence helped us to finally realize in our society the project for deafmutes.<br />
We shall consider ourselves blessed to be able to instruct and form these<br />
abandoned children. Did not the Divine Master himself show special love for them in<br />
granting hearing and speech to a deaf-mute in Judea?<br />
In the following Rule, he insists that the sisters prepare for the education of these young<br />
women: “Be as close as possible to these unfortunate girls, through study and the use of the<br />
best methods.” 212 The Indiana sisters continued this work in their Bertrand Boarding School<br />
for several years. 213<br />
1862: Care for war casualties<br />
211<br />
212<br />
213<br />
Rules, 1854, p. 325.<br />
This section was dropped in the text approved by Rome in 1867.<br />
Eleonore, Sr. M. On the King’s Highway. Appleton, 1931, p. 170 ff.<br />
120
The Marianites, in particular, were often called upon to care for the wounded, as the Indiana<br />
Sisters were later. In a circular letter to the sisters, April 25, 1862, Father Moreau writes:<br />
My dear daughters in Jesus Christ, Father Sorin kindly sent Sisters to three hospitals<br />
to care for war casualties, victims of the war between North and South America.<br />
While fulfilling this apostolic task, one of these sisters, (Sr. M. Fidelis) died in the<br />
military hospital of Mound City, after a brief illness...<br />
After having praised the Sisters for the good work in this charitable mission, Father Moreau<br />
added:<br />
I am grateful to the religious and 1 congratulate them on the success of their mission.<br />
I praise God and pray that he sustain their courage to the end: I commend to your<br />
prayers the deceased sister, a martyr of charity.<br />
There remains much to be said about Father Moreau and the service of the poor! Of the first<br />
generation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, he asked that some be missioned, and that others sustain these<br />
difficult and demanding works through prayer and sacrifice. 214 Thus he sought to create<br />
solidarity among all the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Union of hearts, so dear to Father Moreau, found therein a new strength:<br />
Let us not limit our interests to the narrow confines of a particular house, a province,<br />
or our own country. This would be egoism and self-seeking. Rather let us be one with<br />
all our houses, and regard none as a stranger to the one in which we dwell. 215<br />
It is this unity which gave a distinctive quality to the mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The Founder’s<br />
timely involvement on behalf of the poor and deprived found him “putting the hand to the<br />
plough” just as he so frequently asked of his own. 216<br />
We see him as a man, a citizen, and a religious, attentive to the needs of the poor and<br />
destitute, wherever misfortune was particularly acute:<br />
-- acting in solidarity with civil authorities who were responsible for the common good, and<br />
with the laity who were also committed to the cause;<br />
-- promoting humanitarianism, his own and that of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, as followers of Christ;<br />
-- exercising leadership based on love for the priests, brothers, sisters, and students, calling<br />
one to go beyond self, even unto death, should God will it. Understandably, this holds true<br />
even more so for long-term commitments.<br />
214<br />
215<br />
216<br />
Circular Letters 20, 75, 77, etc.<br />
Circular Letter 174.<br />
Exercices de S. Ignace (1858), 518; Sermons, 89; Pédagogie, p. 10.<br />
121
CHARACTERISTICS OF<br />
PREFERENTIAL SERVICE TO THE POOR<br />
a) Universality<br />
As a leader, Father Moreau demonstrated a broad vision and loving openness to all. His<br />
apostolic zeal was such that he would have desired to reach out to all of French society, the<br />
emerging Churches, and pagan lands. From the very beginning, he hoped to found a religious<br />
family that would offer the Church evangelical workers who “would be ready to undertake<br />
anything to instruct minds in the eternal truths and form hearts to virtue (...); disposed to<br />
suffer anything and to go anywhere obedience calls to save souls (...) and to spread the reign<br />
of Jesus Christ on earth”. 217<br />
This universal vision inspired his intent to teach the poor and to go to the most difficult<br />
missions. For him, in fact, there is no salvation for all if we do not “open our hearts” 218 to the<br />
poorest of the poor.<br />
In his foundations and apostolic endeavors, there was no exclusivity. Nonetheless, he was<br />
watchful that his members not be caught in a narrow charity reserved for loved ones, or<br />
granting privileges to those who already had access to other resources. Two passages from<br />
one of his circular letters 219 speak rather eloquently of this. Speaking to friends of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>, he stressed the necessity of religious educators for the people:<br />
The rich will always find able teachers, for there is a certain distinction attached to<br />
the education of the wealthy... Teaching the poor, however, offers no attractions. It<br />
holds out very little prospect of financial compensation; there is little to draw one to a<br />
field of teaching which is restricted to so few and simple subjects. There is not even<br />
the hope of being understood and rewarded with gratitude, for only too often,<br />
suffering and misery embitter people and harden their hearts.<br />
Father Moreau insisted on the importance of the quality of formation given to the more<br />
fortunate young men at Sainte-Croix College in Le Mans. But the “new generation” which<br />
he hoped to prepare for “the reestablishment of a weakened society” also included the youth<br />
living in situations of poverty, and for them he pleaded.<br />
In the same letter he recommended to the generosity of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> benefactors one of his<br />
sons missioned to the Indians. He requested help in favor of the orphans in these words:<br />
217<br />
218<br />
219<br />
Constitutions, 1858, Rule 18.<br />
Circular Letter 41.<br />
ibid.<br />
122
Alas, we know that our unfortunate country is in agony of frightful misery. For<br />
sometimes, cries of despair and hunger have echoed from all sides.<br />
We cannot remain insensitive (...) we must not forget that in those distant countries,<br />
there are sufferings which are no less severe. And there you must remember, help and<br />
relief are not so easily available as they are in France. Let our charity keep step with<br />
misfortune...<br />
The fortunate? Yes, but the poor also. Needs here? Yes, but also greater needs elsewhere. The<br />
universality of charity, which, because it excludes no one, makes Christ present to the lowly,<br />
the neglected... the least fortunate. Father Moreau underscored this when he wrote:<br />
Country dwellers, you know many forms of poverty! You suffer ridicule, your children<br />
are neglected, but you are our brothers and we are happy among you. 220<br />
Without doubt, Father Moreau would have fully adhered to this affirmation made by John<br />
Paul II:<br />
The special option for the poor, far from being a sign of particularism (...) manifests<br />
the universality of the Church’s being and mission. 221<br />
b) Justice<br />
Father Moreau was always concerned with justice, a justice which is a way of life, loving the<br />
other as oneself, seeking to endow those who have less, because of our faith in Christ’s love<br />
for all.<br />
In the Pedagogy or Rules, there are numerous passages to this effect. Thus, speaking of the<br />
poor working girls, Father Moreau recommended that the sisters offer “more love to those<br />
who are less gifted”. 222<br />
In the passage already quoted from Pédagogie chrétienne with regard to the poorest children,<br />
he says:<br />
If you surround them with the most assiduous attention, it is because their needs are<br />
greater and it is only justice to give more to those who have received less. 223<br />
Charity was based not on merit nor on personal satisfaction; rather it attempted to narrow the<br />
gap and to respond to the need.<br />
220<br />
221<br />
222<br />
223<br />
To the members of the Assocation of Saint Joseph, September 13, 1837.<br />
John Paul II, Christian Freedom and Liberation, 68.<br />
Rules, 1852, 294.<br />
Pédagogie, p. 10.<br />
123
This is the kind of justice which Moreau taught to his sons and daughters, to the privileged<br />
young men of Sainte-Croix College. For this he established in the institution a Society of St.<br />
Vincent de Paul. Not only did the students collect alms for the poor but they also gave of<br />
themselves. On holidays they “visited poor families, brought food, clothing, and medicine,<br />
etc.” Some even spent part of their vacation catechizing, teaching, easing hidden miseries and<br />
cleaning slum areas. “If you have received much, give much”, said our Founder. Like Christ,<br />
he turned the rich toward the poor, and this became one of the aspects of the formation given<br />
to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> students. 224<br />
c) Compassion<br />
For Father Moreau, the preferential service of the poor and the destitute does not flow from<br />
strategy however apostolic it may be. There is no plan for the redress of inequalities, be they<br />
social or other. This service is rooted in a heart filled with the charity of Christ:<br />
It is that love of the divine Master that impels and drives us forward in his divine<br />
ways... 225<br />
...we feel impelled by the charity of our Lord Jesus Christ to undertake some<br />
apostolate to help countless numbers of people... 226<br />
The charity of the divine Master is one of compassion for the poor, the lowly, and the<br />
unfortunate. Such is the compassion which Father Moreau proposed:<br />
Jesus had compassion for all unfortunates and consoled them in all their trouble. See<br />
him pitying the widow of Naim and returning to her the son she mourned; kindly<br />
receiving the Samaritan woman and explaining to her the truths of the new law;<br />
weeping with the sisters of Lazarus and bringing him back to life; caressing the little<br />
children with paternal tenderness and blessing them as the beloved of his Father;<br />
gathering sinners to himself with engaging kindness, encouraging them by instruction<br />
or by a miracle of grace, even treating his most bitter and treacherous enemies as<br />
friends, praying for them even on the cross and with his last breath... 227<br />
This is the compassion he worked to inculcate when he conveyed requests, informed the<br />
Congregation of needy situations, or when he called upon his own to take over in dangerous<br />
outposts where companions had been struck down by illness or even death. 228<br />
224<br />
225<br />
226<br />
227<br />
228<br />
Catta, II, p. 217-18.<br />
Circular Letter 77.<br />
cf. Catta, I, p. 887.<br />
cf. Exercices de S. Ignace à l’usage des Marianites, 1855, pp. 307-308.<br />
cf. Circular Letters 25, 39, 103.<br />
124
Zeal surged forth as the fruit of compassion. This zeal then gave rise to action: “faith and love<br />
pass into our hands to direct our work”. 229<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
Above all, Father Moreau sought the glory of God. For this he undertook many endeavors<br />
and endured numerous trials! He viewed the society of his time as a mendicant in terms of<br />
values:<br />
Alas! This society marked by impiety is a mendicant society thirsting for order and<br />
rest; neither the masses nor the individuals can live from bread alone, i.e. material<br />
pleasures, commerce and industry; they also seek truth, faith and love. 230<br />
...and he founded <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to provide shepherds who would contribute to the reform of<br />
society.<br />
In the youth he saw the hope of the future; he found them among the rich and the poor, and<br />
founded <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to be at their service.<br />
He saw the harvest of distant lands which were without evangelical workers and without<br />
resources. <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> sent the workers they needed.<br />
...this is why I have founded auxiliary priests, prepared, educated and dedicated<br />
teachers; why I am sending our religious to foreign lands, and finally have gathered<br />
together young people to educate them ourselves... 231<br />
In faith all this was made possible. There is in the gospel, proclaimed and lived, an irresistible<br />
power which transforms the world:<br />
When Jesus is known and loved, the world will be renewed; the light of the Gospel<br />
will dispel the darkness of our times, its morality will influence our manner of life,<br />
justice will reign. 232<br />
The Good News proclaimed to the poor, the lowly, and the suffering is the sign and “proof of<br />
the divine mission of Jesus Christ among humanity”. 233 The Church continues this mission in<br />
the course of time as affirmed by Vatican II. 234<br />
229<br />
230<br />
231<br />
232<br />
233<br />
234<br />
Sermons, p. 89.<br />
Étrennes spirituelles, 1842, p. 41.<br />
Quoted by Fontenelle, op. cit. p. 47.<br />
Sermons, p. 445.<br />
Circular Letter 41.<br />
Ad Gentes (5).<br />
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FOUNDER AND FATHER MODEL,<br />
INTERCESSOR AND FRIEND<br />
By Thomas Barrosse, C.S.C.<br />
[Editor’s note: The following text is an excerpt from Father Barrosse’s<br />
circular letter 22, dated August 24, 1984.]<br />
FOR OURSELVES: FOUNDER AND FATHER<br />
We owe Basil Moreau our existence as a religious community. We owe him the particular<br />
traits that characterize us as religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. If parents, even unwittingly, pass on to<br />
their offspring much of their own personality, a founder does the same to the community he<br />
calls into existence. This is especially true of a religious community, for the first generation<br />
regularly consists of those who come together to share the founder’s vision, spirit, goals and<br />
activities. Succeeding generations inherit and usually measure themselves by these same<br />
elements, whether or not they recognize them as reflections of the personality and spirit of the<br />
founder.<br />
If <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is an apostolic community of many and varied activities, it is because the<br />
founder himself was such a man, because he sent the earliest members of the congregation<br />
into just such a variety of activities and because he wrote into the rule on zeal which we had<br />
until 1968 a readiness “to undertake anything..., to suffer anything and to go anywhere that<br />
obedience may call us to save souls that are perishing and to extend the reign of Jesus Christ<br />
on earth”. These words, though written into the rule only in 1858 (Rule XVIII) are already<br />
found in the personal notes and letters of Father Moreau that date from shortly after his<br />
priestly ordination in 1821. In accord with this ideal, which he set for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> as he had<br />
set it for himself, he scattered the first generation of religious across four continents, accepted<br />
missions that no one else wanted and readily undertook new activities that were needed but<br />
unattended to, provided he felt that we could perform them. Thus he laid the foundation for a<br />
tradition of diversity and adaptability, of internationality and of readiness to undertake<br />
responsibilities that involve risk and hard work rather than promise success. If, on the other<br />
hand, our principal apostolates have been education at all levels, missionary activity and<br />
services rendered by an auxiliary clergy, these emphases themselves have their roots in<br />
Father Moreau’s life before he founded <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. He was himself a professor for over a<br />
decade and had personal experience of the evangelizing possibilities of the classroom. As a<br />
young priest, he had recognized the importance of the Church’s presence in mission lands and<br />
had even dreamed of joining the Paris Foreign Mission Society. Too, as a professor, he had<br />
often been called upon to render auxiliary services. It was his own past that had made him<br />
sensitive to the urgency of the needs to be answered by these apostolates, and therefore he<br />
naturally thought first of satisfying them. (I owe this insight to Sister Graziella Lalande,<br />
C.S.C.)<br />
126
If concern for competence and high quality (today we might say professionalism) has rightly<br />
marked most of our ministries, the same concern can already be noted in Father Moreau’s life<br />
before he founded <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. We need only look, for example, at the thorough treatment of<br />
topics and the close reasoning in those of his sermons which he set down in writing and<br />
which have come down to us. Or we might consider the scholarship of the still extant notes<br />
he prepared for various classes he taught. On becoming superior of the Brothers of Saint<br />
Joseph, he immediately set about reorganizing their formation to assure greater competence<br />
in teaching as well as a more thorough grounding in Christian life. He composed a treatise on<br />
Christian pedagogy for their use. After founding the secondary school at Notre-Dame de<br />
Sainte-Croix, he never ceased to improve the quality of academic and religious formation<br />
provided to the students.<br />
If our life together has been marked over the years by a strong community spirit and a certain<br />
family-like informality, we find insistence on this spirit recurring repeatedly in Father<br />
Moreau’s circular letters and find it exemplified in his personal correspondence with the<br />
religious; it is also clearly written into the rules which he gave us and which he himself lived.<br />
His circular letters speak of union and community. They often use the words “family”,<br />
“friends” and “friendship” to describe the mutual relationship of the religious. Our founder’s<br />
personal correspondence with members of the congregation is usually marked by a disarming<br />
informality and warmth. His Rules of 1858 speak of the “sincere concern and cordial<br />
affection” the members of the congregation should have for one another and add, “They will<br />
always live together as close friends” (Rule XVII). If this community spirit reaches out to<br />
include our three societies as well as the laity and clergy with whom or to whom we minister,<br />
we find that this already existed in our early years and was considered by the founder “[his]<br />
greatest consolation and the glory of [our] institute” (CL 5, December 27, 1837).<br />
I am well aware that we have not, throughout our somewhat checkered history, always<br />
exhibited with equal clarity what I have singled out as some of the characteristics of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>. But they seem always to have reasserted themselves. Why, if not because they form<br />
part of what lies deepest in us and comes from our very roots?<br />
I am also aware that Father Moreau, towards the end of his years as superior general, was<br />
depicted by a small but vocal group of religious as arbitrary, autocratic and quite different<br />
from what I have presented him to be above. There is no doubt that our founder had a strong<br />
personality, that he did not always succeed in controlling it and that he could prove a<br />
formidable foe, especially when he was convinced that he was struggling for the rights or<br />
insisting on the duties of the persons involved. I find it remarkable, however, that none of the<br />
religious who spoke negatively of him had anything but praise as long as they lived with him<br />
at close range, that all of them spoke out only after having been reprimanded by him for<br />
conduct difficult to reconcile with their religious obligations, and that most of them found<br />
themselves in conflict with him in matters that clearly, or at least in his perception, were<br />
matters of justice. I can only invite any who may feel that I have tried to make him seem a<br />
personality much more attractive then he actually was to examine his correspondence and to<br />
study biographies that present the details of the conflicts that marked his life.<br />
127
Most of what I have written above, I have suggested, less directly and with less detail, in<br />
earlier letters. I present it here to help all of us appreciate that what we are as <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> we<br />
owe first and foremost to our founder and that the many great men and women who have<br />
shaped the course of our subsequent history were walking in paths that he and the first<br />
generation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious had opened and had trod. I have no doubt that he lived the<br />
ideal he proposed to the first religious and that, despite his failings and limitations, which he<br />
in no way attempted to hide, he lived that ideal with a certain fullness. Thus the vision we<br />
have inherited and spirit we have had communicated to us, we have received ultimately from<br />
him, and they were first his own. To him, then, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude - or<br />
rather to the God who, as he himself says (CL 14, September 1, 1841), chose to make use of<br />
him in order to bring <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> into existence as the particular apostolic religious<br />
community that we are - the God who, in brief, has given him to us as founder and father.<br />
We should not find it hard to perceive how appropriate was the use which Father James W.<br />
Donahue made of the text of Isaiah 51:1-2 when as superior general he called the<br />
congregation to return to the founder if we wished to enjoy fully the grace of our vocation.<br />
The prophet had said to the Jews returning from exile and starting to rebuild in the Promised<br />
Land:<br />
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,<br />
the quarry from which you were cut.<br />
Look to Abraham, your father,<br />
and Sarah, who gave you birth.<br />
For him, when he was alone, did I call<br />
and him did I bless and multiply.<br />
FOR THE PEOPLE AND OURSELVES:<br />
MODEL, INTERCESSOR AND FRIEND<br />
What might Basil Moreau mean to the larger community of God’s people? Of course, if <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> is a gift of God to the Church and if he used Basil Moreau to found and shape <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>, then the Church has reason to be grateful to God for our founder. But is Father<br />
Moreau’s life of value to the Christian people of today only because <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> still serves<br />
them, or is his life such as to stir the admiration of sincere believers, offer encouragement to<br />
them in the living out of their own Christian lives, invite their imitation, arouse their<br />
veneration and draw them into friendship with him? And if his life can do all this for them,<br />
should it not do the same for us? To attempt an answer to these questions, we must look at<br />
specific aspects of his life and work.<br />
His vision<br />
Though it was very different from our own, the nineteenth century in Europe was, like ours, a<br />
troubled period. Indeed, it was a time of violence, of revolution and of the struggle to rebuild.<br />
The times and the task required or matured strong personalities. A good number of the<br />
builders of a new or renewed society and Church had personalities as vigorous as that of<br />
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Basil Moreau. But he differed from many or most. Many of them did not have origins as<br />
humble as his own: a simple country family many of whose members were illiterate or nearly<br />
so, a family to which he always remained strongly attached. Few of the founders who were<br />
his contemporaries attempted to respond to such a wide spectrum of the needs of the Church<br />
and of society as he did, that is, few had so broad an apostolic vision. None of them founded<br />
a congregation quite like <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, as many of the other superiors general in Rome remind<br />
me.<br />
The nineteenth century saw the foundation of a fair number of communities of priests and<br />
brothers and even of some of men and women religious, but I know of none like our own<br />
officially approved by the <strong>Holy</strong> See as a congregation of societies of clerical and lay religious<br />
on a completely equal footing and meant to collaborate with each other in the achievement of<br />
their respective aims. This vision originally included the society of sisters too: a vision of<br />
clerics, lay men and lay women working together as equals to advance the kingdom of God.<br />
The nineteenth century was a period of struggle at the level of civil government between<br />
highly centralized political structures and more democratic forms. In the Church<br />
centralization was on the increase. But the founder of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> insisted on collegial<br />
structures by which most of the important decisions were to be taken: an annual general<br />
chapter with very broad authority and even local chapters with decision-making powers; he<br />
undertook extensive consultation on matters of congregation-wide interest and he did not<br />
assign religious to the more difficult ministries unless they answered the invitation to<br />
volunteer for them. His vision was one of a community which was “the work of all”, for<br />
which all of its members were “jointly responsible” (CL 17, January 10, 1843).<br />
Father Moreau was very much a man of the nineteenth century. He would have been an<br />
anomaly and irrelevant to his contemporaries, had he not been. But we may ask whether, in<br />
the aspects of his vision mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, he was not a prophetic<br />
forerunner of our own time. Indeed these particular points proved too much for Rome and for<br />
his own contemporaries: the sisters were separated from the men by Pope Pius IX; the<br />
collegial structures were drastically limited in view of papal approval; and the authority<br />
structures of the congregation quickly became more centralized and less participative under<br />
his successors without, however, being completely transformed. We have, of course,<br />
reversed this process. But in the Church at large, despite the direction given by the Second<br />
Vatican Council, is not the vision of our founder still very much only a dream for the future?<br />
There are other aspects of his life and work that show him to have been a man of vision<br />
beyond his own time, but I do not think that in those particular points lies his principal appeal<br />
to the Christian people of today. I propose three marks of his life which I consider<br />
outstanding and as having a special value for many Christians of our age as well as for<br />
ourselves: his sense of Providence, his sense of justice and the place of the cross in his life.<br />
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His sense of Providence<br />
From his earliest writings, Father Moreau shows a vivid sense of a divine Providence that<br />
extends to every aspect of daily life. His overriding desire is to accept and cooperate with<br />
that Providence. In particular, he sees <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> as the work of Providence and himself only<br />
a tool that God can easily dispense with. In the circular letter which he writes at each year’s<br />
end, he recognizes in all that has happened over the preceding twelve months, pleasant or<br />
unpleasant, a manifestation of God’s paternal care. He finds everything, even the heaviest of<br />
crosses, as simply one more reason to trust in Providence. He welcomes trials with gratitude<br />
and insists that he experiences no lingering sadness because of them.<br />
Despite his ability to organize, plan and efficiently carry out any project he takes up (a talent<br />
he considers God-given), he is willing to undertake new initiatives only when he has<br />
discerned clear indications of a “plan of Providence” (CL 92, January 1, 1858), never wanting<br />
“to get ahead of Providence” (Letter from his spiritual director, August 5, 1841). In short,<br />
Father Moreau sees God as present and active everywhere in his life and desires only to<br />
accept and follow God’s lead. It is not surprising, then, that he can write in 1853: “I have<br />
searched for nothing but the spirit of God, and the rest is always secondary to me”<br />
(September 9, to Mother Mary of the Seven Dolors), or that he should write into our rules:<br />
“Nothing is more necessary than the spirit of faith in order to preserve, perfect and develop<br />
the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>” (Rule X, 1864).<br />
His sense of justice<br />
The vigor and forthrightness of Father Moreau’s personality were perhaps never so evident as<br />
when he faced a situation which he deemed unjust. From his childhood he knew what it was<br />
to be the victim of injustice. He had grown up in a society many of whose laws discriminated<br />
against Catholics loyal to Rome, and the heroes of his younger years were priests who has<br />
refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Revolutionary government and had exercised their<br />
ministry at the risk of their lives. At the same time his family background and his<br />
temperament conspired to make him very direct, even confrontative when there might be<br />
need. He did not hesitate, for example, to call a lie a lie, no matter who told it or how, when<br />
he had evidence that the speaker or writer had known the truth. He found it difficult to<br />
understand how clergy, including his bishop, could resort to ways he considered underhanded<br />
or how religious, including religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> with superiors among them, could<br />
rationalize what seemed to him simply disobedience. On the other hand, he was realistic<br />
enough to recognize that he had to live and deal with people who had a less sharp sense of<br />
justice than his own and he never held the least grudge against anyone with whom he clashed.<br />
Throughout most of his years as superior, he had to struggle in the face of discrimination<br />
against a Catholic education intended mainly for the poor - that struggle sometimes brought<br />
him into open conflict with civil authorities. On more than one occasion he had to defend<br />
himself and the work of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> against libelous attacks which sometimes came in print<br />
and even from members of the clergy. He did it with the force of facts but without acrimony.<br />
At times, much to his displeasure, he found himself involved in court cases, though he<br />
130
accepted such involvement only after he had asked advice and when he was sure that<br />
someone’s rights were at stake. The outcome, of course, whatever it was, he recognized as the<br />
design of a paternal Providence.<br />
When he was convinced that the sale of the mother house was being engineered in such a way<br />
as to thwart its debtors of their rights and that the only means to protect those rights was to<br />
provoke a legal seizure of the property, once again after advice, he took the necessary steps.<br />
When his successor and his bishop ordered him to stop, he told them, without anger or<br />
bitterness, that “not even legitimate superiors can command except insofar as their orders<br />
inflict no grave harm on truth, justice and charity”. He then proceeded to show how this<br />
“grave harm” was being inflicted (Letter to Bishop Fillion, December 13, 1868). Since there<br />
was no other means to safeguard the rights of innocent parties, he informed them that “no<br />
authority on earth” could impose a different course of action upon him (Catta, Basil Anthony<br />
Mary Moreau, vol. II, p. 930).<br />
In the end, he himself was the victim of much injustice. However, when it was only his own<br />
person involved, he readily, even gratefully, accepted the cross, pardoning, he writes, “with<br />
all my heart ... all those who have harmed my reputation or the goods which I held in trust<br />
[and] thanking God for having found me worthy to suffer something on the occasion of<br />
works undertaken for his glory” (August 3, 1871; Catta II, p. 1010). But this already brings<br />
us to the third mark of his life that I wish to underscore.<br />
The place of the cross in his life<br />
I cannot name another founder who, to my knowledge, suffered as long, as harshly and as<br />
constantly as Father Moreau. Though his health was good through most of his life and severe<br />
interior trials, at times frightful, do not seem to have been very frequent, suffering occasioned<br />
or inflicted by others was almost incessant.<br />
The sufferings of religious at foundations in different parts of the world - from great poverty,<br />
lack of adequate food or shelter, harshness of climate and exposure to diseases often of<br />
epidemic proportions - weighed heavily upon him. After all, he had sent them there. He also<br />
suffered much from the very numerous deaths of members of the congregation from these<br />
same causes, including religious of young age and outstanding leadership ability.<br />
Opposition on the part of his bishop, whom he respected and admired and who had even been<br />
his spiritual director during his years as a seminarian, smouldered over almost twenty years.<br />
Not rarely this opposition expressed itself in open or devious attempts by the bishop to<br />
frustrate Father Moreau’s activities, and sometimes it flared up in direct confrontation.<br />
Repeated conflicts with hostile civil authorities marked the entire length of his ministry.<br />
Calumny, even in printed form, from opponents, including ecclesiastics, was not rare.<br />
Cruelest of all was what he suffered from religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>: occasional outright<br />
disobedience, more frequent passive resistance to his authority or hidden disobedience, and<br />
finally direct persecution which attempted to make him a scapegoat for all the congregation’s<br />
131
ills. This was, of course, the behavior of very few, but among them were some of the most<br />
influential members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Under their management, the general chapter of 1868<br />
denounced him in a circular letter that was made public, and a small number of individual<br />
religious took frequent occasion thereafter openly to blame or insult him through the later<br />
years of his life. Some addressed repeated letters of denunciation to Rome.<br />
It is not surprising that, in these latter years, Father Moreau thought he saw his life’s work<br />
being completely undone; remember that he had been convinced that it was God’s work and<br />
often at the cost of injustice to innocent bystanders. It was his intolerance of injustice, and<br />
this alone, that led to an occasional vigorous reaction on his part. Yet through all this he<br />
could repeatedly say that he was at peace, that he harbored no ill will towards any of his<br />
opponents and could write to one of the Marianites of the “trials which the good God has sent<br />
me”: “They are a grace for which I bless him” (July 17, 1872). Mother Mary of the Seven<br />
Dolors could even write, in the letter describing his last days, of his “customary cheerfulness”<br />
during the later years of his life. In this he was simply being consistent with the attitude he<br />
had had in his earlier years: that of an all-encompassing vision of faith which recognized God<br />
as present and active in every event and especially in the cross, present and active<br />
accomplishing the benevolent designs of paternal providence, mysterious and<br />
incomprehensible as those designs might be.<br />
Our time is an era of sweeping changes in a society with an uncertain future, a period in<br />
which we have grown accustomed to speaking of the need to discern the signs God may be<br />
giving of the direction in which God wants us to move. Ours is a troubled time, an era of<br />
rampant oppression and institutionalized violence matched by a growing hunger and outcry<br />
for justice. Ours is a time when the cross, and often a heavy cross, is not absent from the lives<br />
of many people, though so many do not know how to shoulder it. It is my opinion that Basil<br />
Moreau has much to say to the Church of today by the type of community he dreamed of for<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and that he has much to say to the Christian people and particularly to ourselves<br />
by his life of faith, his struggle for justice and the way he bore the cross.<br />
A number of laity and clergy, after reading Father Moreau’s life, have expressed their<br />
astonishment at his sufferings and at the faith with which he bore them or at other aspects of<br />
his life. People can react only to what they are aware of; they can be influenced only by a<br />
person whom they know. Today those who are not members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> are likely to know<br />
our founder only to the degree that we make him known. If we feel that God has meant the<br />
life of Basil Moreau to serve the good of the Church beyond using him as an instrument to<br />
found <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, then we will make him known indeed, we will recognize this as a<br />
particular responsibility of ours.<br />
132
SOME NOTES ON COLLABORATION<br />
By Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
The word “collaboration” has been used frequently within <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in recent years. The<br />
wide range of situations and settings, projects and processes to which it is applied assumes a<br />
rather all-encompassing definition. At the same time, this assumption reflects a lack of<br />
precise meaning. Collaboration has been used to describe community and apostolic<br />
relationships and activities among the four congregations within the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> as<br />
well as relationships and activities within each congregation. It has been applied somewhat<br />
unevenly to a diversity of realities, from committee meetings to major commitments, from<br />
events lasting but a few days to endeavors representing years of presence and work. Thus,<br />
collaboration also runs the risk of being over-used and applied so generically that its<br />
significance and distinctiveness are diminished.<br />
Collaboration is a relatively recent acquisition to <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> vocabulary. The frequency with<br />
which it is used became more evident after 1973 and the celebrations of the centennial of<br />
Father Moreau’s death. Still, it seems to touch something deep within the spirit of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> men and women which speaks of the ideals marking our history and heritage from the<br />
very beginning. These present notes will focus on that heritage from the perspectives of Basil<br />
Moreau and the constitutional texts of the four congregations within the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> Family.<br />
My hope is to contribute to our continuing discussion concerning the evolution, meaning, and<br />
implementation of collaboration.<br />
BASIL MOREAU<br />
The term collaboration does not appear in Father Moreau’s writings. To trace its roots to his<br />
circular letters, personal correspondence, and administrative activities, we would need to<br />
explore his understanding of community, the congregation as family, mutuality in its<br />
relational, communal, and ministerial dimensions, and inter-societal cooperation. Such an<br />
exploration goes far beyond the scope of this article. However, some aspects from each of<br />
those areas will be incorporated here to focus on three points which reflect Father Moreau’s<br />
perspective.<br />
Source<br />
For Moreau, the first of all collaborations is our obedient response to God’s will for <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong>, to the presence and activity of Providence among us.<br />
There is one condition which is essential for the future of the Congregation of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, a condition without which not even Providence will act: the<br />
cooperation of our good will, the fidelity to correspond to the grace of our<br />
vocation. (CL79)<br />
133
This cooperation and fidelity characterize our share in “God’s Work” 235 , the designation by<br />
which Moreau usually describes <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Providence, God’s loving presence and activity, has called us together as the Family of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> to continue the mission of Jesus. That call and our united response to it constitute the<br />
source of a “family identity” by which we understand ourselves to be interdependent with one<br />
another. That call and response are also the source of our willingness to work together and the<br />
sustenance for our efforts to assist and encourage one another.<br />
This “family identity”, this interdependence, is articulated in several of Father Moreau’s<br />
letters to the community. Circular letter 14 remains a significant document for understanding<br />
his deepest convictions about what <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is to be and become. Addressing the very<br />
nature of the unity which must identify the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, he writes:<br />
Notwithstanding differences of temperament and talent, the inequality of<br />
means, and the differences of vocation and obedience, the one aim of the glory<br />
of God and the salvation of souls inspires almost all the members and gives<br />
rise to a oneness of effort which tends toward that more perfect union of<br />
hearts which constitutes its bond and strength. (CL14)<br />
Even a brief reflection on this text reveals the depth of meaning which Moreau assigned to<br />
unity in diversity. Personalities, talents, capabilities, tasks and responsibilities in ministry are<br />
many and varied among us. They constitute the richness of our diversity. Father Moreau was<br />
keenly aware that these very realities which distinguish us among ourselves could become<br />
sources of division unless directed toward a common end by a powerful and unifying force.<br />
The common end, the “one aim” 236 , he places before the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was nothing<br />
less than “the glory of God and the salvation of souls”. This was to be the inspiration, the<br />
catalyst, which put the members into action.<br />
The unifying force directing us toward that goal is the “oneness of effort” it inspires.<br />
Precisely because we are on this journey together toward that common end, we desire and<br />
choose to work together, to unite our efforts. Even as this unity of effort supports us on the<br />
journey, it leads us to that deeper “union of hearts”. This union constitutes the true “bond<br />
and strength” of all our efforts. For Moreau, union of hearts enables us to unite and sustain<br />
our common efforts in working for the glory of God and the good of others. Thus,<br />
interdependence and the apostolic effectiveness which stems from it are, first of all, rooted in<br />
the heart.<br />
Vision<br />
235<br />
“<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is not a human work, but God’s very own” (CL40). Often, when referring to the congregation,<br />
Moreau would speak or write simply of “the Work”.<br />
236<br />
“Zeal” is used by Moreau in the original. However, “one aim” was chosen by the English translators<br />
because the context refers to various elements moving togther toward a common goal. In this instance, then,<br />
“one aim” articulates clearly his intention and meaning.<br />
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Father Moreau’s vision of the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> began to take shape in 1835 when he<br />
founded the Auxiliary Priests and became the superior of the Brothers of Saint Joseph.<br />
Moreau was a pragmatist. He knew that specific steps had to be planned and implemented if<br />
the vision was ever to become a reality. In 1839 he writes a brief letter to the community<br />
announcing the annual retreat. He uses this occasion to provide a sketch of “the plan I had in<br />
mind in bringing you to Sainte-Croix” (CL8).<br />
This plan was to found three establishments consecrated to the Most <strong>Holy</strong><br />
Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, although living in separate dwellings and<br />
under different rules, would, nevertheless, remain united among themselves<br />
after the model of the <strong>Holy</strong> Family. (ibid.).<br />
Though not developed as elaborately as in circular letter 14, this sketch indicates the<br />
interdependence, the unity, which was to be the hallmark of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious. Father<br />
Moreau uses the powerful metaphor of the <strong>Holy</strong> Family to emphasize the dignity and equality<br />
of each society and the depth of unity which forms the bond among the three societies. 237 As<br />
indicated earlier, that bond is rooted in the heart. Elsewhere, Moreau writes that the <strong>Holy</strong><br />
Family “were one at heart by their unity of thought and uniformity of conduct” (CL14).<br />
Collaboration, and the interdependence and unity which characterize it, are apostolic realities.<br />
They extend far beyond the boundaries of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> to touch the people for and with whom<br />
we minister. In fact, apostolic effectiveness, from Moreau’s perspective, depends upon our<br />
interdependence and unity.<br />
Let us be “one”, just as our Lord Jesus Christ asked this unity for us of His<br />
Father. It is only on this condition that God will give us His own strength;<br />
this strength which flows from charity, mutual harmony, oneness of wills, and<br />
the mild bonds of the heart. From this there arises a twofold power, without<br />
which we can do absolutely nothing for the salvation of souls: power before<br />
God, who is the source of union, and power before the people, whom it<br />
captivates, because it is the effect of grace and consequently of supernatural<br />
help. (CL153)<br />
Father Moreau envisioned our union as a prophetic power and presence and witness among<br />
the people. It is not surprising, then, that he describes union as “a powerful lever with which<br />
we could move, direct, and sanctify the whole world” (CL14). This lever will be an effective<br />
instrument for the world’s transformation only to the degree that we live the “prayer of our<br />
237<br />
Other metaphors used by Moreau when speaking of community and interdependence include: the <strong>Holy</strong><br />
Trinity to emphasize the common interests and aims among the societies, the Pauline image of the body (1<br />
Cor.12) to emphasize the relational qualities of cooperation and concern, and the Vine and Branches (Jn.15) to<br />
emphasize that inter-societal unity is rooted in the Lord.<br />
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Lord for His disciples and their successors: ‘May they be one, Father, as you and I are one’”<br />
(ibid.). 238<br />
Practice<br />
This vision of interdependence remains but a theory unless it takes flesh through the very<br />
practical means by which we organize our common life and mission. Father Moreau<br />
identified three principal areas through which interdependence was to be practiced: mission,<br />
structures, and relationships.<br />
Diversity of ministries is not a new reality in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Though that diversity may be<br />
wider today than in the past, even in Moreau’s time the men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> were<br />
involved in a variety of works. The bond linking those different apostolic activities was the<br />
mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. By our vocation and profession we are called and so commit<br />
ourselves to continue that mission and to be accountable for it. Quite simply, “our work here<br />
is the work of each and everyone, and we are all, individually and collectively, responsible<br />
for it in the eyes of God and humanity” (CL17).<br />
The design of congregational structures needed to be fashioned by interdependence if it was<br />
to facilitate effectively the continuing and expanding mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. In Father<br />
Moreau’s original plan, all members were involved in the decision-making processes through<br />
their representatives. Chapters were the highest authority, even at the level of the local<br />
community. Government was decentralized and subsidiarity was practiced. Though some<br />
governmental structures were modified in 1855 to obtain initial Roman approval, Moreau<br />
remained convinced that they should facilitate union and apostolic effectiveness. Those<br />
structures must establish among the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> “the same dependence which<br />
exists between the branches of a tree and its trunk, between the rays of the sun and its fire,<br />
between brooks and their source” (CL14).<br />
Extensive personal contact among the members assured that diverse ministries and<br />
decentralized structures would not inadvertently draw them apart from one another. For<br />
Moreau, the three societies of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> “have been founded on such close mutual<br />
relationships as to constitute but one work by their common interests and unity of hearts”<br />
(CL14). In fact, “among the priests, brothers, and sisters there should be such conformity of<br />
sentiments, interests and wills as to make all of us one in somewhat the same manner as the<br />
Father, Son, and <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit are one” (ibid.). It is especially through our mutual relationships<br />
that we learn to see ourselves as interdependent, as called to accompany one another by<br />
vocation, in mission and for mission. “By these relationships of mutual friendship and<br />
dependence we shall help one another correspond with the designs of Providence in our<br />
238<br />
see John 17:21. Very often, Father Moreau cites gospel texts from memory, according to the Latin text but<br />
in his own words, rather than citing a particular translation as we are accustomed to do today. Here, he rephrases<br />
the text, omitting the words, “you are in me, and me in you”.<br />
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egard” (CL26). Apart from the interdependence nurtured by such relationships, any efforts<br />
at collaboration will have a very brief life span.<br />
The practical dimensions of Father Moreau’s vision of interdependence for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> are<br />
pervasive, touching our mission, structures, and relationships. The union underlying that<br />
interdependence is substantive to the very nature of apostolic religious life in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Thus, the call to this way of life is simultaneously a call to interdependence with others, in<br />
everyday tasks and responsibilities and throughout life.<br />
CONSTITUTIONS<br />
These present notes on collaboration will only mention what the four <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
constitutional texts say about interdependence and collaboration. In 1987, the general<br />
councils of the four congregations affirmed “that the charism is broader than what each of our<br />
Congregations can implement and that there should be an active interrelationship which<br />
promotes the living out of the original charism in its totality”. It is important, then, to view<br />
the present constitutional texts in light of that statement; together, the texts provide insight<br />
concerning the nature of interdependence and collaboration.<br />
The method to be used here is simply to indicate three points from each of the constitutions.<br />
Actual excerpts are indicated by quotation marks and are without commentary. Additional<br />
wording is used only to identify the context in which the excerpt appears within each<br />
constitution. The points cited are not the only ones found in a particular constitution, nor are<br />
they present only in that constitution. Thus, there is correspondence and parallelism among<br />
the four texts.<br />
Priests and Brothers of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> want interdependence to characterize the witness they<br />
strive to give through their “mutual respect and shared undertaking” (11). Their apostolic<br />
presence is marked by a solidarity through which they “stand side by side with all<br />
people...supporting...efforts to form communities of the coming kingdom” (12). This spirit of<br />
interdependence is transmitted in initial formation so members will have “access to the<br />
distinctive benefits of being in the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>” (72).<br />
Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> emphasize a congregational inclusiveness which extends to “all our<br />
sisters throughout the world,...to all the members of the family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and to our<br />
brothers and sisters in the church” (2). In ministry, they “endeavor to collaborate with clergy,<br />
laity and other religious in order to discern and to respond to the needs of God’s people” (8).<br />
Fostering “interpersonal relationships ...[and welcoming] both the support and the challenge<br />
this implies” (10) are primary means for maintaining interdependence.<br />
Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> plan their ministerial activities through a congregational<br />
coordination which includes “consulting those with whom we work and whom we serve”<br />
(4.2). In community, they accept responsibility “for creating a climate which promotes the<br />
personal growth of each sister, openness to others, and the well-being and apostolic vitality of<br />
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the community” (11). To support individual and communal discernment, “life in community<br />
and in mission is facilitated through our...structures of government” (21).<br />
Sisters of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> develop an “ecclesial awareness...[which] intensifies their solidarity<br />
with the Christians of their milieu and with all their brothers and sisters in Christ” (35).<br />
Through their community life, and “cognizant that they have been drawn together by the<br />
power of God, they recognize and accept one another as members of one same family in<br />
Jesus Christ” (42). “Continued collaboration in the creative and sanctifying work of God<br />
allows each sister, through her commitment, ‘to grow and become strong until Christ is<br />
formed in her’” (74).<br />
Such a brief overview does not and cannot reflect the full brilliance and beauty of these texts.<br />
It is meant only to provide a glimpse into their insights concerning interdependence and<br />
collaboration. That glimpse, however, reveals the pervasive character and influence of these<br />
aspects of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> heritage. Almost everything about life in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> is touched by<br />
them: our presence and relationships in ministry and community; congregational structures;<br />
the programs and processes of formation; our relationships with the institutional church; and<br />
our individual and communal responses to God’s presence and activity in our lives and in our<br />
world. Though we sometimes use other terms and phrases depending upon the particular<br />
context, interdependence and collaboration are fundamental as a principle and a practice by<br />
which we designate our identity in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, determine our response to God’s work among<br />
us, and delineate our efforts in continuing the mission of Jesus.<br />
ATTITUDE AND APPROACH<br />
What emerges from the writings of Basil Moreau and the texts of the constitutions are an<br />
attitude and an approach. I believe the attitude can be described as interdependence and the<br />
approach as collaboration. By nature, the first is interior, the second is practical; both are<br />
apostolic.<br />
Interdependence is the attitude by which we recognize our essential complementarity as three<br />
societies within the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. It is the perspective with which we want to<br />
develop and conduct all our relationships and activities. Interdependence is interior, rising<br />
from the heart and extending outward - to the community, the church, the people. It can<br />
fashion our identity as <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
Collaboration is the approach which puts this attitude into action. We strive to use it as a<br />
guide for our planning and a standard for implementing our plans. Collaboration is practical,<br />
made real through actions born of the desire and choice to work together with other <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> religious and with all people. It can mark our means and methods in ministry.<br />
Because these two are so intimately linked, as attitude and approach, as principle and<br />
practice, they have eluded distinct and durable definitions. Equally elusive has been the<br />
development of clear criteria for determining when, how, and to what extent they are present<br />
and operative in one or another situation. Father Moreau encouraged us and left an example<br />
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to us, but he never said that living the vision would be easy. Our reflection and conversation<br />
concerning interdependence and collaboration as fundamental aspects of our heritage must<br />
continue. The vision is ours to live and to place before the church and the world as a<br />
powerful and prophetic sign.<br />
The members of the association are to form but one same family, united by the<br />
sweet bonds of mutual charity and the three vows of religion. In this way,<br />
Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix will grow like a mighty tree and constantly shoot<br />
forth new limbs and branches, which will be nourished by the same life-giving<br />
sap. If this is to be so, however, all the members must cultivate the spirit of<br />
mutual love and cooperation, and have at heart the welfare and success of the<br />
association as a whole rather than the private interests of egoism and selflove.<br />
Were it otherwise, rivalry and dissension would be inevitable. If it is to<br />
take root and grow, our association must necessarily be based on evangelical<br />
abnegation and unselfishness. Only grace can produce these dispositions in<br />
our fallen nature, but with them, there will not be a single member of our<br />
association who will not make a personal contribution to its progress,<br />
according to strength, intellectual ability and particular aptitudes. One will<br />
do intellectual work and another, manual labor; this one will teach, that one<br />
will administer; and all the while this activity of the individual will help the<br />
community, and the activity of the community will, in turn, help each<br />
individual. Joys and sorrows will be mutual. If any fail in health or are<br />
incapacitated before their time, the others will support them and provide for<br />
their needs. Then it is that we shall taste the happiness of a life of poverty,<br />
chastity, and obedience in the midst of priests, brothers, and sisters in Jesus<br />
Christ, and we shall sing with David: “Behold how good it is and how<br />
pleasant to dwell together in unity” (CL65).<br />
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SOLIDARITY AND INTERNATIONALITY:<br />
HERITAGE AND FUTURE FOR HOLY CROSS<br />
by Aline Marie Steuer, C.S.C.<br />
Solidarity and internationality touch the very foundations of our being. They are part of who<br />
we are, part of the rich heritage received from Father Moreau. They give shape to our identity<br />
and mission. They affect how we see ourselves and our future, and they are issues which will<br />
give us direction for the new millennium.<br />
The direction for our future cannot be undertaken in isolation from the reality of the world in<br />
which we find ourselves. If we hope to be true to who we are at the core of our being, our<br />
choices must be in touch with our past and critically aware of where we are at present.<br />
This reflection, therefore, will begin with a description of some of the major changes which<br />
have affected society and religious life in our recent past. Then an examination of our basic<br />
identity as disciples of Jesus and members of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> family will point to solidarity<br />
and internationality as contemporary expressions of Moreau’s heritage.<br />
Changes in Religious Life<br />
OUR RECENT HISTORY<br />
If we look back to the years before the II Vatican Council, we might be tempted to feel<br />
nostalgic about our sense of being one, of knowing what our mission was. We knew who we<br />
were and what we were about during those years. Vatican II challenged us, however, to look<br />
more closely at our mission and at the modern world which we were serving. We had, as the<br />
expression went, “left the world” to serve the church in our schools, hospitals and parishes.<br />
Suddenly, we were being asked to be incarnated, inculturated, immersed in the wider world.<br />
Renewal and aggiornamento became part of our everyday vocabulary. From then on, the<br />
changes occurring in the reality around us were to become part of the definition of our<br />
mission and of our understanding of who we are as members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
During these thirty years since the II Vatican Council, religious life has undergone a most<br />
profound renewal. With a sense of accomplishment, religious throughout the world can point<br />
to certain aspects of growth common to us all. The following six seem to be of particular<br />
importance for us at this time:<br />
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1. Areas of growth: a) scripture has become the object of study and the basis for a deeper<br />
spirituality; b) inculturation has become a major theme of reflection for religious in all<br />
countries; c) the prophetic dimension of religious life has received renewed emphasis as<br />
religious have become conscious of the global crisis provoked by unprecedented poverty,<br />
environmental destruction, and social disintegration; d) the growing awareness of the<br />
masses of marginalized, impoverished people in today’s world has led religious to<br />
commit themselves to greater solidarity with the poor in a variety of ways; e) a growing<br />
consciousness of the dignity of women and of the social determinations which limit their<br />
full development have brought many religious into greater solidarity with other women<br />
and, at the same time, into conflict with both society and the institutional church; and f)<br />
worldwide concern with the future of our planet has moved many religious to become<br />
actively involved in ecological activities.<br />
At the same time, this renewal seems to have hit certain blind spots which prevent God’s<br />
Spirit from moving religious to further growth.<br />
2. Limits: a) a number of religious demonstrate little appreciation for the critical thinking<br />
and intellectual growth necessary for understanding the causes of the world crisis and for<br />
the ability to direct our mission in a manner adequate to the transformation of society; b)<br />
many religious see little connection between ministerial service and personal or spiritual<br />
development. For them, ministry is not a primary place of encounter with God, nor is<br />
prayer a coming to grips with God and God’s reign as they are manifest in the world in<br />
which they live and work; c) many religious do not perceive the danger nor the extent to<br />
which capitalism, technology and affluence threaten the very core of religious life, nor are<br />
they sufficiently aware of how the dominant culture influences our values and choices; d)<br />
ethnically or racially distinct groups feel that their cultures are either unwelcome or<br />
unrecognized. The presence of a predominant number of members from one cultural<br />
group promotes unconscious prejudice and makes it difficult for minority populations to<br />
be and to feel accepted; and e) efforts made on the part of leadership toward promoting<br />
personal initiative and responsibility among religious have been perceived by some as a<br />
lack of definition of a congregation’s identity or mission. 239<br />
Changes in Society<br />
Our world as we knew it before the 1960's also appeared to be fairly stable. In spite of the<br />
impoverishment of masses of workers caused by liberal capitalism and the industrial<br />
revolution, in spite of the exaltation of human reason and the human person beyond all limits,<br />
in spite of the weakening of solidarity among peoples which these movements provoked, we<br />
believed that a common sense of values existed in the world, and that among us there was a<br />
common understanding of the world and of our place in it.<br />
239<br />
See “Research Executive Summary: Future of Religious Orders in the United States.” Origins, September<br />
24, 1992, pp. 257-72.<br />
141
The 1960's, however, marked a turning point. The euphoric hope of John XXIII that<br />
economic development would eliminate misery and poverty throughout the world, proved<br />
false. In the U.S., the Kennedy era gave way to the Vietnam War and then to the escalation of<br />
nuclear arms production. Rural populations throughout the world fled to the meccas of large<br />
cities because of the impossibility of maintaining their lands against government regulations<br />
and practices which favored agri-business. Wars of liberation and the demand for human<br />
rights became household topics.<br />
New technologies have been applied in every sector of our lives: industry, commerce,<br />
finance, medical services, and agriculture, to name a few. These advances in technology<br />
could be of great benefit to humanity, and no one denies the achievements and possibilities<br />
which exist. Unfortunately, technology and economic superiority have become today’s<br />
dominant values. The use of technology permits a tremendous increase in productivity, to be<br />
sure, and by an ever decreasing number of persons.<br />
The results of the increased productivity, however, are controlled by and function according<br />
to the interests of a few, very powerful transnational corporations. As a result, the world’s<br />
population, already impoverished by past colonialism and the industrial revolution, now finds<br />
itself under the control of the Group of Seven. Seven industrialized nations determine the<br />
economic destinies of the entire world. In 1970 these nations came together to stave off a<br />
possible market crash equal to that of the 1930's. They elaborated new economic policies in<br />
order to secure economic stability. In so doing, they imposed death-dealing regulations on<br />
the rest of the world. Two devastating results of these neo-liberal policies are 1) increasing<br />
levels of permanent unemployment, even in the industrialized nations, and 2) increasing<br />
poverty of seventy-five percent of the world’s population.<br />
The primacy of economics and technology over all other dimensions of life is presented today<br />
as the only model for economic and social development. It is put forth as the purpose for<br />
human work and the guarantee of personal happiness. It has become the good news, the<br />
‘gospel’ of the modern person! Everything is transformed into a source of profit: the earth<br />
and its riches, human wisdom and its inventions, relationships among people, and work with<br />
all its accomplishments. Everything is being judged by, valued by economics and<br />
consumption. In order to fit into this world one must consume. In order to survive, one must<br />
be able to obtain a job. For this, one must have an education, be quick and efficient, able to<br />
negotiate, to question, and to take initiative. People who cannot ‘perform’ are left by the<br />
wayside or used and discarded with no regard for their human worth. What we see around us<br />
is a brutal increase in the number of persons excluded from participation, from production,<br />
from a basic human level of well-being, and from citizenship. Whole cultures, traditions, and<br />
ways of understanding the world are being destroyed and with little consideration of the<br />
impact on the human person.<br />
Our world is no longer that of the 1960's. The Cold War which dominated the ‘70s and ‘80s<br />
has ended. As the world changes, our understanding of who we are as religious of <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> and of our mission in this world must also change. If our charism can be defined as<br />
“responding to need,” if we are to be engaged in the “compassionate, prophetic, liberating<br />
142
action,” 240 to which we call ourselves, it is the masses of impoverished people who are<br />
voicing the call of God to us today. Fortunately, we do not face the magnitude of this crisis<br />
alone. As we move into the next century, it is becoming evident to many that the production<br />
of material goods cannot continue to be the measure of “progress”; that unsustainable<br />
development does not benefit the majority of the world’s peoples, nor does it fulfill people’s<br />
hopes. It is obvious that the world cannot sustain the level of consumption that characterizes<br />
the developed nations. The abuse of nature in order to arrive at this level has meant a<br />
destruction which threatens the future of human existence more urgently than the nuclear<br />
threat did in the past. Unlimited progress is a recognized synonym for ecological suicide as<br />
well as for the death of human values.<br />
A number of worldwide movements have come into being in the reaction against these<br />
dehumanizing forces in our world. The feminist movement, the ecological movement and the<br />
struggles for liberation from colonial regimes and from racial or economic apartheid are some<br />
of the strongest signs of hope in our times; signs of the victory of Jesus’ resurrection over the<br />
forces of death. To witness to the God of mercy and compassion in this post-modern age,<br />
will demand of us a new spirituality, one shared with people of many races and many beliefs.<br />
As disciples of Jesus, we must take care that this spirituality “take its bearing. . .from the<br />
suffering of those in the underside of history, prize human solidarity and peace and find life...<br />
in affective kinship with the extended family of the cosmos.” 241<br />
OUR BASIC IDENTITY<br />
This is the reality which must be held in mind while we plan for the future of our<br />
congregations. Basic to our vocation as religious and basic to our response to this reality is<br />
the fact that we are called to be disciples of Jesus, and we are members of congregations<br />
shaped by Moreau’s life and vision.<br />
Followers of Jesus<br />
We have all made public profession of our desire to live the gospel of Christ in a <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
congregation by professing anew our baptismal commitment to be followers of Jesus. What<br />
we mean by this discipleship, which is the root of our identity, can only become clearer by<br />
examining Jesus’ life, his words, attitudes and actions. As in Jesus’ life, our relationship with<br />
God and others must be immersed in world reality and in the Word of God.<br />
To be immersed in world reality and in the Word of God: What does this mean? First,<br />
immersion in God’s word is not an automatic accomplishment. It takes effort, a certain<br />
amount of critical thinking, of meditation, of prayer, of reading. Immersion in God’s word<br />
also requires shared reflection within a community on how that word is being made evident<br />
240<br />
Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Pastoral Letter of the Twentieth General Chapter, p1.<br />
241<br />
Elizabeth Johnson. “Between the Times: Religious Life and the Postmodern Experience of God.” Review<br />
for Religious, January-February 1994, p. 19.<br />
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in the world around us and how it is being incarnated in our lives. The same is true for world<br />
reality. We are not immersed in it simply because we live in the world, read the newspaper<br />
and view the daily news broadcasts. To be immersed in world reality also requires effort,<br />
critical thinking, meditation, prayer, and reading. But, even more it requires presence in<br />
cultures different from our own and with people of different levels of society, bringing with<br />
us the insights that come from our immersion in God’s word.<br />
Walter Breuggemann suggests that, if we wish to be prophetic, this immersion in world<br />
reality and the word of God must “nourish and evoke a consciousness and perception<br />
alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” 242 This<br />
statement implies, first of all, that we become aware of the fact that there is a dominant<br />
culture. To the extent that we are ignorant of the mechanisms of control used by the dominant<br />
culture around us, we will be unable to develop an alternative to it, we will be manipulated by<br />
it and we will not be faithful to our vocation nor to the gospel.<br />
Being aware of the dominant culture, however, is not enough. To be prophetic people we<br />
must “nurture and evoke an alternative consciousness and perception.” That is where the<br />
word of God comes in. By constantly reflecting on “our total life situation is the light of the<br />
gospel” 243 , we become conscious that “God’s people cry out from a fragmented world. . .[we<br />
can perceive] that the social-political-economic system in which we live and minister is<br />
unjust. . .[and that] to sustain such a system has profound consequences for all people of<br />
God.” 244<br />
Reflection on the gospel repeatedly calls our attention to the signs by which we are to know<br />
“if this is the one who is to come or shall we wait for another?” Those signs are, as we well<br />
know, that “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,<br />
the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news brought to them” (Mt. 11:3-11). We<br />
know too, that in Jesus’ time these categories of blind, lame, lepers, deaf, dead, and poor are<br />
not simply cases of physical limitations or illness. They are categories of marginalization, of<br />
exclusion from society. These are the persons Jesus points to in identifying his mission.<br />
Scholars tell us that Jesus’ mission has the reign of God as its starting point and context. The<br />
basic origin for this metaphor ‘reign of God’ is the saving relationship between Yahweh and<br />
Israel. God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt and from forced migration in Babylon. Jesus<br />
inherited this understanding of God as Savior of the oppressed people of Israel from his<br />
culture.<br />
In his words and actions, Jesus modeled for us what the reign of God is like. In the intimacy<br />
of his relationship with God, Jesus emphasizes mercy and compassion. God is ‘abba’ to him<br />
242<br />
243<br />
244<br />
Walter Breuggemann, The Prophetic Imagination. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.<br />
Statutes. Congregation of the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>: 1979, # 10.1.<br />
Pastoral Letter of the Twentieth General Chapter, p. 1.<br />
144
ecause God is the gracious, loving and compassionate One who saves. Jesus’ actions,<br />
therefore, are not simply to heal but to save, that is to re-integrate into society those whom the<br />
“dominant culture” counts as of no worth. Jesus understands and enacts this mission to<br />
people on the periphery. He himself is poor and lives and associates with the poor and<br />
unwanted. In the gospel Jesus teaches us to go beyond economic boundaries as well as those<br />
of racial or religious prejudice, so all people will come to know God as the God of mercy,<br />
compassion, and justice (cf. story of the Canaanite woman - Mt. 15:21-28).<br />
Jesus’ insertion into his reality, meditated on in light of God’s will, brought him into conflict<br />
with the religious-political powers of his country. He questioned their oppressive<br />
interpretation of the Law which was too heavy for the ordinary working class poor to follow.<br />
He opposed the temple because it was part of the economic and religious exclusion of the<br />
majority of the people from access to material and spiritual blessings. His association with<br />
publicans, tax collectors, women, the sick, and those called the ignorant poor was both a<br />
criticism directed at those who excluded such persons from participation, and also an<br />
invitation to the powerful to join him in becoming the incarnation of God’s compassion<br />
among these people. 245<br />
Because of the way Jesus envisioned and lived out his mission, he was rejected by the<br />
religious, economic and political leaders of Israel. To follow Jesus is to put into practice his<br />
attitudes, his commitments, his teachings, without falling away. The disciples’ flight at the<br />
time of Jesus’ arrest is a symbol of the community’s failure not just to embrace its own<br />
crucifixion when that becomes necessary, but to embrace the choices and actions of Jesus<br />
which are so contrary to what “the world” proposes. God’s choices are diametrically opposed<br />
to the logic of exclusion operative in our society. 246<br />
Moreau and the Mission of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
Now, let us look back to our roots, to our foundation in the nineteenth century, and ask how<br />
Moreau’s life was immersed in the word of God and world reality. It is difficult for us to<br />
capture the dynamic synthesis, which occurred in his life, of the experience of God with the<br />
experience of the needs of the people around him, and of the subsequent creation of possible<br />
modes of response. Every project of apostolic religious life originated from the coming<br />
together of these three elements experienced simultaneously: the experience of God; the<br />
perception of God’s call from within a real life situation of poverty, suffering and need; and<br />
the choices of action which translate the response to this double appeal from God and from<br />
reality.<br />
245<br />
Many of the ideas in this paragraph are based on The Biblical Foundations for Mission, Donald Senior and<br />
Carroll Stuhmueller. New York: Orbis, pp. 141-60.<br />
246<br />
63.<br />
See Donald Senior in The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Wilmington: Michael Glazier, pp. 62-<br />
145
Nineteenth century France was the real life situation of Moreau. The French Revolution,<br />
followed rapidly by the Napoleonic wars and subsequent revolutions and wars throughout the<br />
century, marked a period of time in which the need for orphanages, for schools for the young,<br />
and for personnel to assist in understaffed areas is well known to us. The industrial<br />
revolution was beginning to produce generations of impoverished masses. The church was<br />
embroiled in conflicts between itself and the State over the question of church independence.<br />
European nations were enlarging their colonies in Asia and Africa. The United States was<br />
being populated by masses of Catholic immigrants.<br />
It is immersed in this reality that Moreau himself developed into a person whose apostolic<br />
zeal was characterized by an awareness of God as the absolute foundation of his being, by a<br />
critical awareness of his times and his culture, and by a deep affection for those with whom<br />
and for whom he labored. It is these characteristics which became woven into the design of<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> as its members incarnated their lives into the diverse missions and ministries of<br />
the second half of the nineteenth century. In Moreau’s vision, <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> was to be<br />
grounded in God and the gospel of Jesus, responsive to human and ecclesial needs throughout<br />
the world, and especially attentive to the “poorest, the most abandoned, the most ignorant, the<br />
least gifted by nature.” 247 This small group of apostolic persons, spread as far apart as<br />
France, Canada, the United States, and Bangladesh, was to form and maintain ties of<br />
friendship, in fact was to be known for this quality; friends, not only among themselves but<br />
with those peoples of the various cultures in which they lived.<br />
Identity and Mission<br />
HOLY CROSS:<br />
CHALLENGES AS WE FACE THE 21 st CENTURY<br />
How do all these reflections come together for us as we look at our identity and mission?<br />
Jesus’ vision of the reign of God among us, his awareness of his mission to this world; the<br />
charism planted by Moreau which has come to such fruition in this past century and a half:<br />
What do they say to us as we look at the ever increasing material and spiritual<br />
impoverishment around us? Since the Vatican Council we have spent many hours in many<br />
different settings discerning our identity and submitting our ideas to Chapters. Through this<br />
process, we have been clarifying the formulation of our identity and mission. Here are some<br />
of the salient things the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> have said about themselves:<br />
Our 1979 Constitution defined us as “an apostolic community of women for whom the<br />
teachings and councils of the gospel are rule of life.” We are to share in the proclamation “of<br />
the Good News to the poor, freedom to the oppressed and healing to the afflicted.” We are<br />
marked by a charism of missionary service and response to need. We are to live in such a<br />
247<br />
Pédagogie chrétienne, p. 10. Cited by Sister Graziella Lalande, C.S.C. in Like a Mighty Tree. Montréal.<br />
Fides, page 101.<br />
146
way that “human hearts and human relationships” be transformed, as we strive to build “up in<br />
Christ. . .a society of justice and love.” 248<br />
Subsequent Chapters furthered our understanding of what it means to be converted to the<br />
poor, in mission with the laity, open to multiculturality, and in solidarity with women.<br />
These brief references point to an ongoing process of clarifying who we are and what we are<br />
about, that is, of continually refining our identity and mission within the complex, rapidly<br />
changing world in which we live. In the light of all we know, is our identity not clear to us?<br />
Psychology tells us it is not just what we think or say which defines our identity. It is not<br />
intellectually conceived definitions which make us what we are. We know the nature of a<br />
thing, its identity, from the way it acts. Hands, feet and heart are involved; not just the head!<br />
It seems obvious that we need to come to consensus around the meaning of what we have<br />
already said and find adequate means for incarnating these words in our lives as<br />
congregations and as individuals. The commitment to work toward implementation of an<br />
already defined identity will strengthen a sense of shared purpose and mission and better<br />
focus our human resources. It will permit us to enter the 21 st century open to the Spirit’s<br />
promptings as we continue to unfold what it means to be a member of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, at this<br />
time, in each of the cultures in which we serve.<br />
Internationality and Multiculturality<br />
The issues of internationality and multiculturality are intimately connected with that of our<br />
identity. Moreau sent the members of the Congregation to many parts of the world. He made<br />
every effort to maintain bonds of unity through letters and visits. We know that <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
on many continents began almost immediately to receive new members from various ethnic<br />
backgrounds.<br />
However, in spite of this awareness of our origins, from the time that we became four<br />
independent congregations in the last century until now, we have not always been open to the<br />
reality of being international and multicultural. What developments have taken place to reemphasize<br />
internationality and multiculturality as an issue of our time?<br />
The decolonization of Africa and Asia has made the value of these people evident and<br />
gradually awakened us to the value of other cultures and to the desire of peoples everywhere<br />
to be seen and treated as equals. The Second Vatican Council opened the church to a process<br />
of inculturation which implied an end to the identification of Catholicism with its exclusively<br />
European cultural expression. The affirmation of tribal and ethnic groups and the valuing of<br />
different cultures have made us aware of our prejudices toward persons because of<br />
differences. Worldwide migrations have brought an ethnic mix of people to countries that<br />
had not experienced this phenomenon in their recent past.<br />
248<br />
Congregation of the Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitution, paragraphs 1-3.<br />
147
It is obvious that we have been and are developing congregation-wide acceptance of our<br />
internationality and multiculturality. We all point with pride to the growth in the number of<br />
new members in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Yet, we are still some distance from<br />
sensing our oneness with people who never enter directly into our lives and, in particular, of<br />
being conscious of our oneness as a religious family inclusive of all the cultural, national, and<br />
personal diversity which this implies. Although we do not all have an equal degree of<br />
sensitivity, we are moving in this direction. 249<br />
Now awareness invites us to take new steps. We know that internationality does not mean<br />
mere physical presence in different countries of the world. The attitudes and characteristics<br />
which mark a congregation that is international and multicultural need to be assimilated by all<br />
of us. In order to work at this in a consistent way, some initial steps are indicated: a) that we<br />
consciously name and own our internationality and multiculturality: b) that we, as individuals<br />
and as a whole group, be open to and appreciative of persons of other racial or ethnic groups;<br />
c) that our historically dominant culture group recognize its habitual tendencies to think and<br />
act as if other cultures were inferior, and then change this attitude of superiority; d) that our<br />
global vision of mission and charism seek to know and understand other world views, other<br />
inculturations of mission, other ministerial experiences; e) that our government reflect<br />
internationality and multiculturality in its composition and manner of operating; and f) that an<br />
openness to learning languages mark all cultural groups. 250<br />
Internationality and multiculturality are both a blessing for us and a responsibility. We must<br />
be open to the increased breadth of vision possible through the coming together of different<br />
cultures and willing to spend the time and money necessary to achieve this.<br />
Solidarity<br />
To some the idea of solidarity might seem like jargon or a new value to be assimilated. I<br />
would like to suggest, on the contrary, that it is at the heart of our tradition. It seems to me<br />
that solidarity is a contemporary understanding of compassion. We have traditionally<br />
associated strength, commitment, fidelity, and personal involvement in the suffering of<br />
another, with the image of “our Mother of Sorrows who, full of compassion for the world,<br />
stood courageously at the foot of the <strong>Cross</strong> united with her son in the work of salvation.” 251<br />
A definition of solidarity as: “commitment to action flowing from a shared vision,” points to<br />
the fact that solidarity is not just tolerance nor mere acceptance of people of other cultures,<br />
value systems, races or economic levels. It implies choices. Solidarity is not something we<br />
acquire by defining it. It, too involves the hands, the feet and the heart. It can be seen as<br />
249<br />
See article by Thomas Barrosse: “<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> a Multinational?” in Transmission, November 1986, pp. 1-3.<br />
250<br />
See article by Janet Malone “Internationality - at What Price?” in Review for Religious, January-February,<br />
1992, pp. 109-17.<br />
251<br />
Constitution, paragraph 4.<br />
148
asic to Moreau’s desire that the members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> be one with each other and with the<br />
people we serve.<br />
The question solidarity raises for us at this time, the question intimately related to our identity<br />
as <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, as congregations striving to be faithful disciples of Jesus is: In solidarity with<br />
whom?<br />
We have been invited to reflect “on the present day crucifixion of so many of our sisters and<br />
brothers through violence, poverty, rejection, exclusion. . .[and to] embrace them with<br />
courage and compassion so that hope can be renewed in all hearts.” 252 Today’s world still<br />
presents great challenges to our understanding and practice of solidarity. The numbers of<br />
excluded, marginalized persons is increasing. The causes are embedded in economic and<br />
political structures which are very difficult to transform. The first demand solidarity makes<br />
on us is to open our hearts to conversion so we may be filled with compassion and moved to<br />
solidarity; to allow ourselves to be converted by the strength of Jesus’ incarnation and to<br />
follow more closely his commitment to those on the periphery of society, those who are<br />
excluded, impoverished and who suffer the direct results of internationally organized<br />
injustice. We cannot be in solidarity and remain distant from those who suffer.<br />
But solidarity cannot be limited to taking care of the “refuse” of the world’s dominant<br />
economic system. It requires us to go beyond active, caring involvement in the alleviation of<br />
others’ suffering, to the transformation of the society which produces this suffering, and to<br />
the promotion of solidarity among nations “so that a real international system may be<br />
established which will rest on the foundation of the equality of all peoples and on the<br />
necessary respect for their legitimate differences.” 253<br />
Solidarity is also at the root of community. Our understanding of and manner of being in<br />
community -- a primary value for Moreau -- will deepen as we continue our journey of<br />
inculturation and of attempting to become prophetic communities. Solidarity with one<br />
another, with the excluded, with others who seek the reign of God, and with all of nature will<br />
mark <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> in different ways in each of the cultures in which we live and minister.<br />
Community is not something we enter into merely for our own benefit or convenience. It is<br />
primarily an act of solidarity with other broken human beings; a declaration that God is acting<br />
here. It is the good news that human beings can, indeed, overcome that which divides and<br />
separates, gathering together persons of different origins and backgrounds in the one cause<br />
which is that of Jesus.<br />
252<br />
253<br />
Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, General Chapter Decrees 1984: Introduction.<br />
On Social Concern, John Paul II, #39.<br />
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CONCLUSION<br />
Our concerns, our heritage in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, our vocation, the society in which we live all<br />
present a challenge to us as we come together in fidelity to “discern and to celebrate what the<br />
Lord is calling us to do and to be in the Church” and in society. We are at a moment of<br />
decision when we must define the direction which will take us into the next century. May our<br />
listening to the Spirit, to the work and to one another enable us to “challenge the community<br />
to the continuing transformation of mind and heart demanded by the gospel.” 254<br />
254<br />
Sisters of the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, Constitution, paragraph 38.<br />
150
THE CHARISM OF HOLY CROSS<br />
by Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.<br />
What is the charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>? This question emerges among us in almost every context<br />
and culture when we reflect on the identity of our religious life within the church, our<br />
heritage, our ideals, and our hopes for the future. It would be wonderful to present a single<br />
word to which the men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> could respond, “That’s it!” But the<br />
question is not addressed so simply. It is weighted with some assumptions and influenced by<br />
some internal considerations which shape any response that can be proffered.<br />
The following reflections are meant to assist us in continuing the discussion surrounding our<br />
charism as men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Together we can explore and celebrate the full<br />
richness of the heritage which is our privilege to live and share as the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
TWO ASSUMPTIONS<br />
When the question of the charism’s identity is submitted to closer examination, it very often<br />
reveals other questions which may be the actual ones being asked. Usually, these other<br />
questions are based on some assumptions or principles concerning the nature of a charism<br />
which, while not explicitly articulated, have a definite influence upon our understanding of it.<br />
I identify two such assumptions which represent a spectrum of interpretive analysis.<br />
1) Assumption of Exclusivity<br />
What is the charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>? When exclusivity is assumed to distinguish a charism,<br />
the actual question being asked can be formulated this way: What is that unique quality<br />
which <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has that no other religious congregation within the church could possibly<br />
have precisely because it is ours alone?<br />
The assumption or principle of exclusivity states that the giving and receiving of a particular<br />
charism is never repeated. This does not take into account that there is no solid evidence for<br />
this perspective in either the Christian scriptures or in the early church. Admittedly, the way<br />
in which a particular spiritual gift is used or expressed may be quite unique to a period in<br />
history, or the personality of an individual, or the profile of a group. Nevertheless, we cannot<br />
limit the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit’s freedom in giving the same gift to many people or several groups even<br />
if that gift is manifested in different ways by each of them.<br />
If we acknowledge that this assumption is faulty, then we can acknowledge also that any<br />
answer to the original question regarding charism may not be so unique that no other<br />
religious congregation can make a similar claim. However, what remains exclusively <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> are the person of Basil Moreau and the men and women who gave shape to what has<br />
151
unfolded as the personality, profile, and apostolic presence of our religious family since its<br />
beginnings. The men and women of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> today continue to fashion and enrich that<br />
personality and profile even as they live them.<br />
2) Assumption of Inclusivity<br />
What is the charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>? When inclusivity is assumed to designate a charism, the<br />
actual question being asked can be formulated this way: How is <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> like the Society<br />
of Jesus or the Order of Preachers or the Franciscans or the Salesians, etc.?<br />
The assumption or principle of inclusivity states that religious institutes are the same for all<br />
practical purposes, thus they can be placed randomly side by side to see clearly the<br />
similarities and any distinctions among them. The difficulty with this principle is its<br />
disregard for historical periods and the determining influence which those periods had on the<br />
particular character of the institutes which emerged during them.<br />
Religious communities born in the nineteenth century cannot be casually compared with<br />
communities whose roots reach to the Middle Ages. In general, communities emerging<br />
during the Middle Ages were not as blended into the society surrounding them as were those<br />
of the nineteenth century. By contrast, communities founded during Father Moreau’s time,<br />
by ministry and often by living style, were very much inserted in the culture and society<br />
which surrounded them. And, because of the many similarities among nineteenth-century<br />
apostolic religious institutes, it is difficult to create sharp distinctions among them. In fact, it<br />
becomes a rather arbitrary exercise.<br />
This is not meant to imply that all nineteenth-century religious communities are<br />
indiscriminately identical; rather, their spirituality and apostolic direction have significant<br />
parallels. This is precisely why many communities merged during this period. Father<br />
Moreau himself had discussions with two religious institutes about possible mergers. 255<br />
Eventually, one of them did merge with the Congregation of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. 256<br />
If we acknowledge that this assumption is faulty, then we can acknowledge also that any<br />
answer to the original question cannot disregard the culture, period, and context in which the<br />
religious institute was founded. The similarity between <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> and other communities<br />
remains the reality of our vocation to religious life as a means of following Jesus and<br />
continuing his mission. The distinction is expressed through those specific ways in which<br />
our own heritage and histories and experiences in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> have shaped our understanding<br />
and interpretation of living that reality.<br />
THREE INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS<br />
255<br />
Augustinians of the Assumption in 1856, and the Missionaries of Saint-Brieuc (Missionaries<br />
of Our Lady of Hope) in 1859.<br />
256<br />
Missionaries of Saint-Brieuc in 1859.<br />
152
In addition to these two assumptions, there are at least three internal considerations which<br />
influence the question of the identity of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>’ charism. By “internal considerations,” I<br />
am referring to realities within the history and experience of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> itself which have<br />
shaped our self-understanding as a religious family.<br />
1) No Oral Tradition<br />
If we look to the early church and the initial methodology used to keep alive the story of<br />
Jesus and the message of the gospel, we quickly learn the importance of an oral tradition.<br />
During the apostolic period the Christian community would gather to tell the story of Jesus,<br />
his life, his message, his promise. As those who knew Jesus personally began to die, and as<br />
Christianity grew numerically and geographically, various communities commissioned<br />
individuals to write the story. Those commissions resulted in what we know today as the<br />
gospels.<br />
That initial method which preserved and communicated the gospel story before it was written<br />
is precisely something which <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> does not have: an early oral tradition about the<br />
founder. Because of the controversies surrounding Father Moreau during and after his final<br />
years as superior general, the community focused its attentions elsewhere and did not attend<br />
to remembering and retelling the story of the early years. In general, “family stories” of<br />
Father Moreau - his personality profile, his likes and dislikes, his daily routines, his humor,<br />
his sensitivities, his relationships with others - were not passed on to the next generation by<br />
those who knew him personally.<br />
Today, more than a century and some decades after his death, we are still learning stories<br />
about him which usually would constitute an early oral tradition. In a variety of ways, we<br />
have attempted to create an oral tradition from the early documentation because we do not<br />
have an extensive collection of anecdotes. The drawback of this, of course, is that a<br />
documentary tradition can be quite different from an oral tradition, especially in terms of<br />
experiential impact.<br />
2) Moreau’s Relationship with <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
Closely related to and in fact underlying this lack of an early oral tradition is Father Moreau’s<br />
relationship with <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> during the period when such a tradition would have emerged<br />
and been transmitted.<br />
The members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> did not speak about Basil Moreau to any significant degree from<br />
the 1870's until almost the 1920's and 1930's. By then, everyone who would have known<br />
Father Moreau personally and well was either quite elderly or deceased. And since <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> was growing most rapidly in North America during that time, stories from the “Old<br />
World” were not a priority.<br />
During the administration of James Donahue as superior general from 1926 to 1938, and<br />
153
especially during and since the administration of Thomas Barrosse from 1974 to 1986, <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> has begun reclaiming Father Moreau as the founder and thus exploring once again the<br />
richness and wisdom of the heritage he passed on to us. We are still in a period of research<br />
and development concerning Moreau studies.<br />
Within our religious family, the Marianites of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> are something of an exception to<br />
these first two points. To a certain degree, they did maintain a rudimentary oral tradition<br />
through a close relationship to the person of Father Moreau while he was alive and to his<br />
memory after he died. The other branches within the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> varied in the<br />
priority and practice they assigned to maintaining that tradition and relationship. Thus, many<br />
anecdotes were lost because there was no regular forum for exchange of information among<br />
the four congregations within the <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> Family until relatively recently.<br />
3) Spirituality<br />
Father Moreau did not develop a distinctive spirituality to characterize <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Rather,<br />
he drew from various sources - Ignatian, Sulpician, Benedictine, Carmelite, etc. - to create a<br />
synthesis of many elements. This reflects the general nature of nineteenth-century apostolic<br />
religious communities. They tended to borrow elements from the classical spiritualities and<br />
adapt them, in varying degrees, to the realities of apostolic religious life within contemporary<br />
society and culture.<br />
What distinguishes <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> much more than any original spirituality is the structure<br />
which Father Moreau built into it - three equal societies of men and women, lay and ordained<br />
religious - and most especially the interdependence that he insisted mark all the relationships<br />
among them.<br />
INCOMPLETE CHARISMS<br />
I would like to offer a comment concerning one-word responses that are often given in<br />
answer to the question; responses that I call incomplete charisms. I frequently hear three in<br />
particular: Family, Community, Hospitality.<br />
None of these is untrue or inaccurate in itself, but I think each one is inadequate as a response<br />
given the extent of what can be included in a <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> heritage and spirituality. While<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious acknowledge family and community and hospitality as genuine aspects<br />
of who we are and what we do, there is also a basic dissatisfaction with the incompleteness of<br />
any one of these answers. More accurately, these three themes could be referred to as values<br />
that we hold in common.<br />
IDENTIFYING COMPONENTS<br />
With the above background, then, we can return to the original question - What is the charism<br />
of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>? I respond to this question with what I call the identifying components of the<br />
charism. I will note three which are inseparable. While these components are not necessarily<br />
unique to the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, I believe they do reflect our heritage as a religious family<br />
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and that they present some significant challenges for us to reflect upon and discuss.<br />
1) Providence<br />
The charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has a definite component of providence. This is a basic element<br />
in Father Moreau’s spirituality. Very simply, in our heritage, providence represents the<br />
presence and activity of God among and around us. God is present and active in our world.<br />
There can be no qualifiers here. Nothing can change the reality that God is present and<br />
active. Do we believe that? Do we communicate that to one another and to others through<br />
our daily life and ministry?<br />
Our acceptance and proclamation of this truth is built upon the realization that God is faithful.<br />
Again, there can be no qualifiers to this. God’s fidelity spans times and events. More<br />
immediately, however, through our example and service among others, it can bring a beacon<br />
of light to those who are searching, a promise of hope to those who have given up on life, and<br />
a touch of love to those who know only the loneliness and isolation of society’s rejection or<br />
persecution or negligence. By heritage and by profession, we are entrepreneurs of God’s<br />
faithfulness to the world.<br />
It is not difficult to see that we live in a world where the conviction that God even cares - let<br />
alone is present and active and ever-faithful - is at a minimum. Part of our witness, given the<br />
heritage we have received as members of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, is to proclaim without compromise that<br />
God has not abandoned and will not abandon this world. God’s fidelity pervades and<br />
persists; it can touch and transform all of life, all of the time. By the sin and evil operative in<br />
our world, we may be swayed to ignore that truth. Nevertheless, we cannot alter God’s<br />
irrevocable love for us. Are we convinced of that? Such a conviction is fundamental to our<br />
heritage as <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. Such a conviction is a significant part of the gift we bring to the<br />
church and the world through community and by ministry.<br />
2) Community<br />
The charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has a definite component of community. This is also a basic<br />
element in Father Moreau’s spirituality. While community is not our primary ministry in<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, it is important to understand that it is essentially an apostolic reality. We commit<br />
ourselves to live apostolic community. Thus, community is in itself a ministry to the world<br />
and to the church, it is a witness that we give. In fact, community may be among the greatest<br />
gifts that we can share with others as religious of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
It is quite evident that our world needs the witness of men and women, from diverse cultures<br />
and ethnic origins, living and working together in peace and with justice. It needs the witness<br />
of people who know and live the truth that stripping human life of dignity or killing it<br />
altogether is not even an option to be considered when settling differences or advancing<br />
causes. Such a witness proclaims that selfless, other-centered love and forgiveness are<br />
humanly possible, a possibility which is not readily acknowledged or accepted in today’s<br />
world.<br />
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And, we live in a church that needs the witness of men and women, lay and ordained, living<br />
and working together in equality without the encumbrances of clericalism, anti-clericalism,<br />
sexism, and any number of other isms. Such a witness proclaims the priority and<br />
irreplaceability of the fundamental truth of our creation: we - all of us - are made in the<br />
image and likeness of God. Our baptism builds upon that truth and graces us with the dignity<br />
of likeness to Jesus Christ. Everything else in our life is founded upon that truth and that<br />
dignity.<br />
The Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> bears the responsibility and the challenge of demonstrating that<br />
interdependence is possible. If we can live and work among ourselves and with others in<br />
ways which celebrate and confirm our desires and our efforts to be inclusive, multicultural,<br />
international, and collaborative, then <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> will indeed be a symbol and source of<br />
transformation for our world and for our church.<br />
3) <strong>Cross</strong><br />
The charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> has a definite component of the cross. In Father Moreau’s<br />
spirituality, the cross is the summit of the spiritual life and journey. It stands as the choicest<br />
of all gifts, the clear demonstration of God’s love for us, and the means through which we are<br />
transformed into the living likeness of Jesus.<br />
We live and minister in so many places and situations, in every country where <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
religious are present, where the people know only the experience of suffering or persecution<br />
or difficulty of one kind or another. We must be fluent in the language of the cross precisely<br />
to proclaim with integrity and authenticity that God loves these people, that they have not<br />
been forgotten even though their immediate experience speaks only of God’s abandonment.<br />
That proclamation will be true only if we are convinced that the cross is one expression of<br />
God’s love for us, only if we believe it is the means through which we journey to new life<br />
even as it was the means for Jesus. That proclamation will be true only if we can love the<br />
very people whose life-experiences have brought them to the point of believing that God does<br />
not love them any longer, that God does not care, that God does not see.<br />
We do and will continue to encounter such people through our daily lives and ministries. The<br />
issue is not whether they believe God loves them, it is whether we believe, proclaim, and<br />
demonstrate it through our love and care and concern for them. They may be given no<br />
opportunity to know of God’s love other than our presence and activity among them. That<br />
opportunity is our responsibility by vocation.<br />
A note on Mission<br />
<strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> religious may find it surprising that mission and ministry, the apostolic<br />
dimensions of our religious life, are not listed among these identifying components of our<br />
charism. Our commitment to continue the mission of Jesus through the wide spectrum of<br />
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ministries within <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> throughout the world is more than a single component. The<br />
apostolic character of our life in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> constitutes the very framework in which we live<br />
providence, community, and the cross. This same character gives meaning and direction to<br />
our prayer and our vows. Thus, our life is oriented to the person of Jesus.<br />
In brief, mission and ministry and the apostolic dimensions of our life are assumed in these<br />
reflections. The spirituality of Father Moreau and the present constitutions of the four<br />
congregations within the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> highlight the significance and even the<br />
centrality of Jesus and his mission as the realities which touch every dimension of our<br />
religious life. However the charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> continues to unfold for the future, mission<br />
will remain an essential characteristic of it, reflecting the rich heritage which has been passed<br />
on to us.<br />
“NEW GLORY FOR THE CHURCH”<br />
What is the charism of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>? The answer offered in these reflections is far from<br />
complete. In one sense, it can never be complete precisely because our heritage as <strong>Holy</strong><br />
<strong>Cross</strong> is living and evolving. Our charism continues to adapt itself to the manifold cultures<br />
and contexts in which we live and minister. Any perspective on charism within <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong><br />
must take into account those cultures and contexts. And, such a perspective must incorporate<br />
and celebrate that we are four international, multicultural, apostolic religious congregations.<br />
We are women and men. We are lay and ordained. We have grown from the same root, but<br />
each branch has the wealth and wisdom of its own history to contribute to that perspective.<br />
These reflections, then, are and can only be a starting point for our continuing discussion.<br />
Each of us must bring to that discussion the experiences of life and ministry, the richness of<br />
culture and country, the love for the Lord, <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, and one another, and the aspirations of<br />
God’s people. Together, we can probe yet deeper into the heritage which is our privilege to<br />
live and to share.<br />
Incomplete though these reflections may be, I invite you to use them to look closely at your<br />
own experience of life and ministry and to examine how providence, community, and the<br />
cross have influenced the way you live and minister, the way you understand your vocation to<br />
religious life in <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>. The challenge is before us.<br />
If we want to be men and women of providence, then we must be people of faith, people<br />
convinced of and committed to proclaiming the constant and loving presence and activity of<br />
God in our world; living that faithfulness which stands undaunted in the face of every<br />
adversity.<br />
If we want to be men and women of community, then we must be people of love, people<br />
convinced of and committed to demonstrating a union which can rejoice in diversity and<br />
celebrate differences, yet heal divisions; living that unity to which all people have a right by<br />
creation.<br />
If we want to be men and women of the cross, then we must be people of hope, people<br />
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convinced of and committed to communicating the comprehensive and captivating power of<br />
God’s compassion and concern; living that love which endures and triumphs far beyond the<br />
extent of all suffering and pain and evil in our world.<br />
In his book Christian Education, Father Moreau tells educators that, through their ministry,<br />
they “will contribute to preparing the world for better times than ours.” This applies to all the<br />
ministries in which we and our coworkers are engaged. Making this contribution, assuring<br />
the effectiveness of Christian faith and values, rebuilding society – such is the charismatic<br />
mandate given to the Family of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> by our founder.<br />
I conclude with a text taken from our history. In 1851, as Father Moreau was petitioning for<br />
papal approbation for <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>, a formal study was done on the institute to determine its<br />
worthiness for such approval. Among the questions to which the study had to respond was to<br />
determine “What hopes can the church base on such an institute?” The following text is an<br />
excerpt from the response to that question, it provides a perspective from one who was not a<br />
member of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong>.<br />
In truth, among all the pious and religious <strong>Institute</strong>s which charity has so<br />
ingeniously caused to spring up in our times for the good of poor humanity,<br />
there is none, that I know, which resembles this one, which, in its own sphere<br />
of activity, can render greater service to society, and which, more than this<br />
one, can present a counter-weight to the miserable condition of our<br />
unfortunate times. I do not believe that I belong to that class of those who in<br />
our days are called visionaries. Nevertheless, I offer my candid opinion that<br />
this <strong>Institute</strong>, once developed in all its branches, if the Lord continues to bless<br />
it in the future as He has done so abundantly up to the present, will take on<br />
extraordinary importance in the course of time. Thus it will be enabled to<br />
exercise an influence such as we cannot imagine for the present and even less<br />
put into writing. To the present time, the Church has known no lay association<br />
so far-reaching and beneficial, more directly and more essentially destined to<br />
its service and under its direction. The Association of <strong>Holy</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> will be a<br />
new glory for the Church of God. 257<br />
The challenge is to be that “new glory for the Church of God”. This is our heritage and this<br />
is the horizon before us. We have been given the grace and the duty of living and sharing<br />
providence, community, and the cross among the people, for our world and for our church.<br />
This is an urgent challenge to which we must respond if we truly are committed to “preparing<br />
the world for better times than ours.”<br />
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Report from Father Augustine Theiner, an Oratorian, to Bishop Alexander Barnabo, Secretary<br />
of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda, 1851.<br />
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