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seminar on the memoria passionis6Concerning parallelism, the nothingnessof God and nothingnessof the soul join in a “germennihil” of non-being. But theempty tomb and the Sign of theCross of Easter morningannounce the era of the newworld, the era of the resurrection.Then the becoming of the worldand the Reign of God hiddenwithin “this oblique earth” proceedby means of Christ on thecross “ex nihilo Dei et animae”.And it is at this point that Passionand resurrection are reunited. Thetwo moments are original inChristian becoming that demandnot so much being of the crossand passion, as being the “pneumatic”of the Resurrection.Additionally, we are reminded in the work LeVerbe e la Croix (1981) that “free being is being causeof itself”. The stupidity and the weakness of the crossforce us to overcome this system of self-determination.These tell us that we cannot control things, orpeople, or God, or, above all, ourselves. The crosswould therefore be the ultimate critique of privateproperty, in the broadest sense of the word “property”.The blessed or the “living beings” know that the worldof faith is a world turned upside down. All institutionsdeserve the invectives concerning these wanderers thatare powerful in their total devastation; they know thattheir weakness is the best argument against the powerful.They feel at ease and within their natural element,in the midst of the poor in every sense of the word, thatis, those “that don’t exist according to the world.” Thefolly of the cross tolerates with difficulty this means ofmeasurement. The critical function of the “crazy person”is to demolish “that which moves by its ownmeans”.And Fr. Breton raises a song and a poem to one ofthese “crazy-chosen ones” that we admire for theirwitness: Francis of Assisi.Francis of Assisi is one with the stigmata of Vernaand the canticle of the sun. The exceptional, in him, isso perfectly under control that one forgets that, assuch, under the appearances of a man, there movedamong us a flower of the fields. He moved so naturallyin the reign of nature and grace, which characterizeand distinguish him, causes him to be quickly dismissedas a common wanderer of our streets. Theextraordinary, that can only flower, takes its melodyfrom a song, in which the elements of water, air, fireand earth dance in an ethereal space so much so thatwe are not certain whether we are here or in heaven.That love that is not of this world,and which the Cross reduces to aninterrogative, thus respectful ofour decisions, dwells in the silenceof nakedness. Indescribable by ourwise discourses, he easily passesthrough our streets, merely a soul,inebriated by his presence, heloans him his dwelling and disappears.The little poor man barelyhas what he needs so that theinstrument doesn’t become anobstacle. Like Paul, “he wantsnothing else than to know ChristCrucified”. But this familiarity, sonatural, ignores the refinements of“wise ignorance”. It is because ofthe fact that he “bears the woundsin his body” of his Lord. This isenough for his happiness, if thisvery unworthy word still serves the Mediterraneanicon of the Beatitudes.Francis preaches to the birds as easily as he doesto people, as if he reads in the earth, and in the figuresof shadow and light, the universal transparency of thesign of contradiction. In the beauty of beings and intheir ephemeral consistence, he recognizes theNothing that gave them that face that he doesn’t have.As different from so many others, that proclaim theirpower, he avoids raising his voice. Doesn’t the necessaryand sufficient judgment come from that Cross bywhich he identifies himself, and which he no longerhas to put on his shoulders?Francis of Assisi, like Paul of the Cross remembersthat the Cross unites the “nothing of the soul”with the “Nothing by excess” that the Sign signifies.Those that have lived heroically are themselves signs:they indicate where ones needs to go to become thatwhich we are and that which “we should be”. Bretonfurther states that the mystical life which Paul of theCross allows us to glimpse is the union of spirituality,of the mystery of faith and metaphysics, exercisedmore than theorized and to see things and the world“from the height of the cross.”In restating our best wishes to Fr. Breton on his91th birthday, of which 75 were spent as a professedreligious, celebrating the 75th anniversary of his professionon October 10, 2003, it is my sincerest hopethat these two study days will help us to preserve theyouthful spirit of Fr. Breton and to always begin fromChrist and from Christ Crucified, in the witness of thebaptized, in the missionary endeavor of all, religiousand laity, for the hope of the world.
seminar on the memoria passionisTHE CHRONICLES OF AN HISTORICAL CELEBRATIONFr. Fernando Taccone, CPPartial view of the assembly during the SeminarThe Pius XI multimedia hall of the LateranUniversity of Rome was the site of an extraordinaryevent: the celebrations of the long and interesting life ofFr. Stanislas Breton, Passionist, characterized by hisoutstanding contributions to the field of philosophy,and the inauguration of serious and specific interdisciplinarystudy about the Passion of Christ.The Passionists and representatives of the internationalcommunity gathered around Fr. Breton andacknowledged him as a model of fidelity to the contemplationof Christ Crucified.Among the 40 works and 311 articles that composethe monumental literary work of Fr. Breton, the Crossrepresents the beginning point from which everythingoriginates and toward which everything converges.The cultural chronicles of the Passionists havealways noted the name of Fr. Breton, beginning withthe publication of the work, “La Passion du Christ etles Philosophies” in 1954. There has never been a studyseminar at which he has not been a speaker. The topicof the Passion and the Cross was studied in the Word, inthe mysticism of St.Paul of the Cross, in the non being,in the city of men, in the history of theology, in the actualityof the Passion, in the noise of the City and theSilence of the Cross, in the knowledge of the world andin the wisdom of the cross, in the mysticism and theesthetics of Paul of the Cross.Considering these themes, the celebration of the 90 thbirthday of Fr. Stanislas Breton was necessary andopportune. The Superior General, Fr. OttavianoD’Egidio, gave voice to the common sentiment of theCongregation with regard to Fr. Breton and was insistentthat this vital event be celebrated by the PassionistFamily.At the beginning of the millennium the invitation tostart again from Christ was addressedon all levels of the Church. The memoryof the strong staurological thought ofBreton must necessarily constitute themeans for a renewal and deepening ofthe charism and the presence of thePassionists in the Church and in society.It will serve as a challenge to respond toour charismatic identity, to be dedicatedto knowledge of the Passion of Christand all people.The well-attended Study Seminar onthe Memoria Passionis in the work ofStanislas Breton, on the occasion of his90 th birthday, took place on Wednesday,29 - 30 October. Those attendingreceived much matter for profound reflection providedby Breton, which he gives as an inheritance to allPassionists. The 143 participants (Passionists fromItaly, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Latin America,England, Ireland, Scotland, USA, Africans and Asians;Italian and Mexican female Passionists of the variousinstitutes; laity of the lay Passionist movement; studentsof theology and philosophy) were noted inL’Osservatore Romano of 29 October and by RadioVaticana referring to Breton. With the intention of makingthe name of Breton known to a wider audience,publicity was sent to all of the University Colleges ofRome, all higher Institutes of Religious Sciences ofItaly and all of the departments of Philosophy of thepontifical and state universities of Italy.Congratulatory letters and messages were receivedfrom the Cardinal of Vienna, Christoph Schonborn;from the Rector of the Pontifical Urban University,Msgr. Ambrosio Spreafico; from the Bulgarian ambassadorto the Holy See, Professor Vladimir Gradev, fromProfessor Giacomo Cannobiio, the ex-president of theItalian theological society, from the Passionist communityof Colonia Caroya, from the Passionist missionariesof Mozambique and from Fr. Antonio María Artola.We especially note the Municipio of Esine in theprovince of Brescia (Italy), where Fr. Breton visited fornearly fifty years, doing priestly ministry and buildinga fraternal and cultural relationship with the pastor DonGiovanni Antonioli.The Lateran University was represented by the Pro-Rector Professor Msgr. Ignacio Sanna and by the Deanof the Department of Philosophy, Prof. Msgr. AntonioLivi. For the inauguration of the Cathedra Gloria Crucisthe Vice-Dean of the department of Theology, Prof.Msgr. Piero Coda was present.7
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