Talking about Ven. Justin gives me deep delight. I see him as my Second Christ, in the sense of being my second saviour. After Christ saved me from eternal loss of vocation to life, Fr. Justin saved me from transitory loss of vocation in life. He was misunderstood and died a slow death that I may realize my vocation and his perseverance unto death makes him another martyr. His long-suffering made possible a religious family that accepted me, in spite of the difficulty of becoming a priest in my country. Being underprivileged in my own country does not particularly mean coming from a poor family, - it is extensive to not going through the minor seminary, dismissal from any previous religious family or seminary, age limit, etc. All these could make one ineligible for consideration to the holy call of priesthood or religious life in my country. As a result of this, I speak about Fr. Justin with great passion and gratitude. Nevertheless, before going to the major issue of my presentation, that is, how Fr. Justin became a martyr for vocations, I would like to refresh our memory on who Fr. Justin is. Concise Biography Born on January 18th, 1891 at Pianura of Naples, Fr Justin is the fruit of the Russolillos – Luigi and Giuseppina. He was born a delicate boy, who would accomplish tremendously in the household of God. As a result of fear of impending death, he was baptised earlier than usual. His personality explained the biblical passage that says that God chooses what is weak to shame the strong. The frail looking one became a strong edifice upon which the Vocationist Family is founded today. God chose him even before he was born as could be seen in these two witnesses: On the night Fr. Justin was born our Lady appeared to Fr. Di Fusco, a priest of Pianura who was at the point of death, and told him, ‘Today a baby is to be born in Pianura whom they will call Justin and he will be a glory for the Catholic Church’ Similarly, at his birth a prophesy came from the midwife, ‘Listen to what I am telling you, this boy will be a priest, and from this moment I expect a Mass for my soul’ Fr Justin passed through considerable poverty in his family right from his early years and in his seminary training. This led his mother to appeal to Baron Zambaglione for assistance. The Baron turned down the initial appeal by suggesting ridiculously that Fr. Justin should become a shoe-maker. Fr. Justin became chill at this remark that threatened his aspiration. But his mother comforted him saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Mama will make you a priest even if it costs me my own eyes’ At this juncture I wish to recognize in passing the essential role Giusseppina played in Fr Justin’s vocation. It is hard to think about him without the mother, just as we cannot speak about Jesus without Mary. I remember that touchy instance when she fainted on her way to see Fr. Justin in the seminary. She was unconscious alone on that sun-scorched road. May God reward her for her courageous sacrifice that saw partly to our own profit today as Vocationists.
The superiors, who appreciated his precocious intelligence made some exceptions for him: they allowed him longer holidays, provided him with a private room instead of the traditional dormitory, and sometimes even gave him more nutritious food. All those on whom God’s favour rests are treated kindly by their masters, superiors and even their enemies. As a matter of fact, however, the little joy he found in the seminary was soon shaken by the death of his aunt, Enrichetta – who provided significantly for his tuition. Then a little while more, his father fell from some scaffolding and was unable to work any more. These two incidences made the seminary tuition hard to foot. When the family intimated Justin the plan to withdraw him from the seminary, he prayed and cried to the hearing of his superiors. The superiors reported it to his bishop who, in turn, sought baron Zambaglione’s intervention, and he accepted this time to paying the tuition. Fr. Justin was ordained to the priesthood September 20, 1913. As a pastor of souls he was very zealous and never asked for money in anything he did. In the Vocationary, and among the Vocationists, according to occasion and need, Fr. Justin took the role of Founder, Father, Superior General, Confessor, housekeeper, Teacher, Spiritual Director, Preacher, Writer, etc. His industriousness made him to promise, ‘never to waste time’. As such he defined rest as not giving up activities but changing from one activity to another. His working day began at 4:00am and finished around midnight. Unfortunately, Fr. Justin did not see his dream materialize. His health was quickly depreciating. His body has been subjected to severe penance and had endured sicknesses; his mind had been disturbed by fear of financial debacle. On August 2, 1955, surrounded by his Religious, he submitted his soul to God. Fr. Justin: A Martyr for Vocation. From the patristic teachings we can classify three kinds of martyrdom: white, green and red martyrdom. White martyrdom is regarded as “apotaxis”- a total renunciation of the world for the love of God. Green martyrdom is explained in the overcoming of evil passions, the attempt to sublimate one’s sexual feelings for the glory of God. Red martyrdom is the shedding of one’s blood for the faith. In the case of Fr. Justin it is difficult to categorize his own martyrdom. I think the three apply to him, though not in a strict interpretation. His tears could be as painful as shedding of blood as he himself wrote in the book “Spirit of Prayer”. We remember the first paragraph of the book, “Fr. Justin and the Society of Divine Vocations” the incidence that shows the beginning of the shedding of bloody tears in the life of Fr. Justin. “On the morning of September 20, 1913, the Cathedral of Pozzuoli was filled to capacity. A young man dressed in a simple alb and cincture lay prostrate before the altar in the presence of a bishop. Those who observed this young man about to be ordained a priest noticed he was nervous. As the liturgy progressed and he approached the bishop for the imposition of hands, his eyes were full of tears; his face flushed and his whole being seemed absorbed in deep thought. Was he another emotional seminarian frightened by the responsibilities of priesthood? Many people thought so. Yet the real truth was to emerge many years later”. At this joyous time when the newly ordained is lost in the festivities of ordination ceremony, Fr. Justin was soaked in sweat and tears contemplating the major work of vocation he was to embrace, and he looked weak like Jesus contemplating mount Calvary in Gethsemane. After his death, in his notebook dated September 20, 1913, these words were found, “while prostrate in the cathedral of Pozzuoli waiting for my ordination, I vowed to the Lord our God to found a religious congregation to cultivate an Apostolate for God’s vocation to faith, priesthood and holiness”. From his first years as a seminarian, Fr. Justin had shown his strong inclination to the apostolate among the young, a group he had in mind while he took the vow of finding a religious family. Fr. Anella remarked, “The daily catechism taught to the young people was the first and greatest Apostolate that the servant of God, Fr. Justin began in his native town every time he returned for vacation”. His intention was to fulfil two objectives: first, guide the children of his own town in the knowledge of our Religion and second, identify among them those who showed some signs of a call to priesthood or religious life. When his health kept running down, Bishop Zezza decided to send him back to Pianura, a move that led to the April 30, 1914 first attempt at common life at his father’s house. This was stopped by automatic sanction after 15 days from Bishop Zezza – a first arrowed that pierced his heart and to be followed by many others. Before disbanding these young boys he said, “We are all children of the Cross: let us submit our will to our superiors and be like Jesus who sacrificed His will to His Father’s wishes” The burning zeal for vocations did not leave Fr. Justin even as he was in the war front of 1st World War 1915. He kept communicating with his young group in Pianura. He was so sick and emaciated that one day a medical officer who felt so moved by this ‘walking skeleton’ recommended for his permanent discharge. Even in that state he was writing to the young group who in turn devoured his letters. Thinking about this group, he wrote his aunt Giovannina, “Please I beg you transmit privately and as secretly as possible a renewed plea to all the teachers of Pianura asking their cooperation for the teaching of Catechism after school. This has seemed to me to be God’s will and as such I am addressing it to you” As soon as he was discharged from the military so that he could rest, he renewed his desire to continue with the work of saving vocations. After his relentless effort to overcome the inhibition placed by Bishop of Pozzuoli, Fr. Justin appealed to Fortunato Farina to establish a congregation for vocations in his diocese. Though his request was not refused, he got more direct opportunity to realize his intention by the simultaneous invitation from Bishop Ragosta, to be a parish administrator in his diocese. On October 18, 1920, in the rectory of St. George Martyr, with the blessing of Bishop Ragosta, the Society opened its door to all those young men who wished to dedicate their lives to the service of vocations. Their increase in number necessitated the erection of the first vocationary, “Deus Charitas”. On the evening of October 1st, 1921, Fr. Justin opened the female branch with the first six aspirants from the group he consecrated previously. Nonetheless, another moment of trial came. Alleged rumours were spread around about the poor maintenance and support of the young boys in the vocationary and about the irregularity of studies of the candidates. These accusations found their way to Rome and consequently brought much distress to Fr. Justin. Later, anonymous letters were sent to Rome by those expelled from the Congregation reporting vague issues that would have aborted the existence of the Congregation. By the recommendation of the Sacred Congregation Fr. Justin was removed from the government of his Congregation for many years. The matter became more complicate when those who were prejudiced against him were appointed the Superior General of the Congregation and some of them ruled the Congregation with malice. The letter that Fr. Justin wrote to his sister, Giovanna, while undergoing this suspension describes his patience and resignation to the will of God through his superiors: …If we think of these measures as human instruments we may suffer; yet if we look at the Divine Mind that uses them for our own good we shall rejoice. …The real reasons for these measures are not those in the heads of people who caused them or imposed them. The real reasons are to be found in God… and they are a mystery of predilection for our persons and our congregations. …With these measures, according to the world we fall down but according to the Lord, we really rise up. …With this purification, we receive a very sure sign that the Lord wants to admit us to his Divine Union and partake in the holiness of the saints. …This is the real gift that the Divine Trinity has entrusted to us and only in heaven we will understand its incomparable value. That was not all. Fr. Justin also faced slow death while trying to save the vocations that were lost. It cost him a good deal of work, sacrifice and humiliation. As a genuine good shepherd Fr. Justin rejoiced and celebrated whenever a lost sheep returned to the fold. But this apostolate of ‘recovery’ brought him dislike in the heart of the then Secretary of the Congregation for Religious. In 1934, the Congregation was no longer allowed to admit anyone to the novitiate, to vows and to holy orders. It really was a slow death! It was not until April 10, 1947, that Fr. Justin was re-elected as the Superior General of the Congregation – but how many years were left for him to die? As if that was not enough, another storm did hit his heart. This time the Congregation ran into acute financial crisis. This was the last odyssey Fr. Justin faced. He suffered under the weight of debts for many years. It has been leaked that on the occasion of the financial debacle, Cardinal Montini prepared a bull of dissolution for the Congregation, when he presented it to Pius XII to sign the Pope said, “Prune, yes: but don’t pull up by its roots a Congregation that has helped many priests”. Under this crucible Fr. Justin spent sleepless night. In these years he wrote his most touchy treatise, “TEARS”. I would like to transcribe some of the points of “TEARS”, and this would give us more clues to his martyrdom. …I cry, You know it, because I feel so lonely in this world without having anyone totally for me, without being myself totally for anyone and a cold, like that of death, closes my heart to its life: to love. …Now I cry, You know it because I feel so poor in every way, full of obligations, common needs, and I cannot find any resources, I feel weak, and the pressure is mounting on every side. …Now I cry, You know it because I feel tired, so tired, and I see before my eyes all my burdensome duties and my serious responsibilities, and one labour follows another, one war follows another war. …Now I cry, You know it because I see dying in me and around me, so many things that I loved, so many people without whom I could not survive, and my entire being mined all over by death. …Whenever a newcomer knocks at my Spiritual Family, the newcomer becomes mine and is all mine, more than a brother and friend, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones, and I am unable to separate myself from him without a physical and mortal torment, the most cruel of all. [That was why in 1948, when a mother begged Fr. Ugo to accept her son into the Vocationary and he was at pains to make her understand that there were no room and beds. Fr. Justin, who happened to be passing by, realized and saw what was going on and with a friendly smile said, ‘Look, Ugo, there are at least another two beds free: mine and yours’]. …These tears that I am shedding, My Lord, seem to be of blood! And those who could wipe them away have gone far away into abysses; those who caused them are not here any more. …O my Lord, grant that none of those you have given me may ever get lost, I beg You, in the name of the church, in the name of every Religious Family, I pray for them as I pray for my own self, poor man and priest {Is this not similar to the farewell prayer of Jesus for the redeemed souls for whom he was going to be crucified finally on the Cross}. Finally, he said…Free me from these pains, O my Lord, I beg you free me from any influence of the spirit of evil, which is always total hatred from the beginning. I know you want this, too! Grant that I may never be damned, never! Unfortunately, or according to Divine Will, Fr. Justin did not see his dream bloom. His health was quickly failing. His body has been submitted to penance and had endured numerous sicknesses; his mind had been disturbed by fear of a financial debacle. All these shedding of bloody tears, sleepless nights, calumny, malicious gossips, calculated misunderstanding and slanders helped to make Fr. Justin die a painful slow death. His life on earth was just a transition from one war to another for the sake of poor vocations. He never looked refreshed; he became a ‘walking-skeleton’ because his mind was overburdened with the thought of assisting poor vocations and consequently he over-worked himself unto death. Fr. Justin! A true Martyr for Vocation! For the Vocationists Now how does his martyrdom concern us? What is our responsible heritage from Fr. Justin? The Code of Canon Law, no.96, reminds us that by the fact of baptism we are incorporated into the Body of Christ. This compels us to participate actively in the church since we are one body and one soul with the church. All the things that affect the church become our own problem because we are grafted onto the church. This is why St. Paul observed that we all are members of one body – the church, and Christ is our head. The problem of Christ becomes our own problem as the Psalmist said, “Zeal for your house consumes me as fire and those who insult you insult me as well” Ps.69: 10. In a similar manner, by the act of religious profession in the Society of Divine Vocation, we are grafted onto the heart of the founder. We become one in thought and action with the founder; one in body and in spirit, his people becomes our people and his God our God. His worries become our worries. His zeal becomes our zeal. Just as Christians try to perpetuate the person and message of Christ in all ages, those who are initiated in the Vocationist Congregation are called as well to perpetuate the mission of Fr. Justin in the world. This is why the church regards ‘religious profession’ as second baptism. Little wonder during the vows we take a new name as we do in baptism. So we are ‘baptized’ in the Congregation to announce and live the message of the Founder in the church of Jesus Christ. Baptism saved us from eternal damnation whereas Fr. Justin saved us from temporary loss of direction. Baptism requires our cooperation with Christ and makes us act like Christians. Our profession in the Society of Divine Vocations should make us cooperate with and act like Fr. Justin who became a martyr for vocations. The scholastics teach that ‘action follows being’. Our being now is grafted onto that of Fr. Justin and our attitude in life should be Justinian since we have been grafted onto him. And that means, in all our priorities, the highest should be the concern for poor vocations. This is clear in Fr. Justin’s book, “Ascension”. In article 750, he says, “In theory and in reality, the residence of the servant of the saints ought to be called a ‘vocationary’ that is, a religious missionary centre for learning for capable and generous young people who are preparing to serve the kingdom of God in diocese, religious orders, and the world”. The Import of United States’ Delegation to the Vocationist Congregation However, as a delegation, we may be nurturing the guilt-feeling that we are not doing enough. It may be our worry that we are not growing. The fact before us here may suggest that we have not really applied the Vocationist mission in the US. Looking at the number of US citizens that are with us since our foundation close to 50years, there may be the proclivity to be discouraged. But, I wish to remind us that our sacrifice here in the US has borne much fruit for the congregation all over the world. Though we cannot limit the possibilities of God, but I wonder where I would have been now if the Vocationist Conferrers did not extend their mission to Nigeria. The Vocationists in Nigeria, India and lately, Indonesia owe their birth, inspiration and support largely from the US delegation. Many times Fr. General has confessed that he has strained our conferrers in US so much because of money sent to the missions. In appreciation, the major Vocationist living quarters in Nigeria are dedicated to Frs. Ugo, Mario, etc. we feel that our conferrers here understand our need for help and are ready to make more sacrifices for us. I have witnessed by myself when I was at Florham Park, in great admiration, how the fathers and sisters worked tirelessly all day. I believe that the reason for their ceaseless labour and prudent use of wealth is the instinct to help the poor missions. I was glad few days ago when Fr. Armando informed me and Deacon Babu that Fr. Rosario requested for some money from Indonesia. He said that the money he was able to raise from the parish would not be enough and suggested that he will make up the amount from our monthly expenses. That reminded me immediately what Fr. Justin told Fr.Ugo when a mother was begging that his son be admitted as I mentioned recently. I see the incarnation of the spirit of the Founder who was ready to sacrifice his own bed in the simple life lived by the conferrers here. I wish to say this so as to help us recognize the much we have been doing for the Congregation. One day I heard one of the fathers worry about the lack of infrastructures owned by the Vocationists in US and he wondered how the mission would support itself in the future. He thought that the mission has not accomplished much. But I was thinking in some other direction that the mission has helped many people become priests and religious. Fr. Justin rightly observed that, “The ‘good religious’ and ‘holy priest’ are the greatest need of souls, and at the same time, the greatest gift they may be given. Thus, the primary and focal work of the servant of the saints, his devotion and apostolate, is always the search for and nurturing of divine vocations to the priesthood and religious life” (Ascension, art.749). The US delegation has partly provided for this in the missions. Many times, some conferrers have been sent from here to build the growing communities in India and Indonesia. The sisters are not left out in this sacrifice. I remember few days ago, when Srs. Louisa and Gelsy intimated me of the materials they have shipped to help the Vocationist Sisters in Nigeria. I know the impact the Nigerian Vocationists have made. She has sent missionaries to Philippines, Madagascar, Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina, Italy, US, and partly to India. All these are possible thanks to the sacrifices of our conferrers and co-martyrs of vocations belonging to the US delegation. Let this awareness motivate us to do more. Just as it is difficult for any river to forget its source, many Vocationist missions would hardly forget the US delegation and the entire Congregation in general. {Presented by Fr. Ignatius Okoroji, SDV, on the Occasion of the celebration of the Birthday Of Ven. Justin Russolillo}. |
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