Claretian Formation

V. Period of 1991-1997
1. XXI General Chapter. Rome 1991

1.1. This Chapter drafted the declaration Servants of the Word.718 The title Servants of the Word summarises our charismatic mission in the Church and the subtitle Our Missionary Service of the Word in the New Evangelization underscores the adapted direction of our charismatic mission in the present moment. The declaration is a reflection and a functional proposal for the whole Congregation on Our Missionary Service of the Word. As “keys” of interpretation of the SW we may point out the following:

1st. From the standpoint of the Word of God, the Chapter directs our reflection towards our life and activity. It also offers operative proposals with a view to fostering community life, the proclamation of the Gospel, spirituality, the renewal and revision of apostolic structures and means, initial and ongoing formation, and the apostolic diversification in the five continents where the Congregation is established. The Word of God and our missionary service of proclaiming it are the fundamental keys to interpret the renewing effort that the Chapter asks from the Congregation. We may say that this is the great NOVELTY of the contribution of the XXI General Chapter to the Congregation and to the Church.

2nd. The missionary service of the Word appears in the declaration as an integrating dynamism of our being and of our doing, and not just as a mere pastoral action or an appendix to our apostolic mission. Following the example of Jesus and of our Fr. Founder, everything in us should become a sign and expression of the Word of God.719

3rd. As regards formation, it is said that one of its core aspects should be the initiation in the ministry of the Word, understood as an authentic way of being, doing and signifying.720 From this perspective, some formative orientations are given:

* To form the missionaries, centred in the real conformity with Christ the Evangeliser, in communion and friendship with him, and adopting his own attitudes.721

* To take Mary as Mother and Formatrix in the style of our Fr. Founder,722 letting her form us in the forge of her Heart.723

* To see to it that the Word is one of the hinges of the whole formative process.724

* To give a serious academic formation, giving a relevant place to the sapiential and exegetical knowledge of the Bible, and to put into practice the daily reading of the Word of God in Claretian key, the “Lectio Divina” and other forms of reading.725

* To promote in the young missionaries community orientation; capacity for silence, listening and dialogue, discernment and analysis of reality; the use of techniques of communication and language, as well as openness to the universal mission, through availability and the study of languages.726

* To accompany the young men in insertion, so that they may learn how to read the reality as the word of God and listen to it with evangelical attitude.727

* And to take special care of the young priests and of the brothers during the first five years following their initial formation.728

1.2. After a process of discernment, the Chapter approves that a General Plan of Formation (GPF) be prepared in these terms:

“During the six-year period a Plan of Formation for the Congregation should be drafted, in which the core elements of our charism are gathered together.
The Prefecture General of Formation will be responsible for this drafting, relying on the help of an International Commission, in which the different cultural areas of the Congregation will be present. It will be an object of study and revision in the provinces before its promulgation by the General Government.”729

2. Fr. Aquilino Bocos

Within the many interventions of a formative character interspersed in his teaching, it is good to highlight those written on the occasion of the beatification of our Martyrs of Barbastro.730 We can synthesise the central idea of his message in the expression “The martyrs, models of perfect Claretian formation.”

2.1. The Testament of our Martyrs

On the occasion of the beatification of our martyrs of Barbastro he wrote the circular letter Missionary Testament of our Martyrs.731 With it he invites the Congregation to live this event both as a memorial and a commitment.

Although the entire circular has a clearly formative reference – after all, the martyrs were all formators and persons in formation –, however there are certain proposals that have a special incidence in the field of formation.
In general, we can say that they are for us a true model of what a Son of the Heart of Mary should be, from the Magnificat (discovery and acknowledgement of the vocational gift) to Calvary (total and definitive self-oblation till death).732 Thus:

1st. The martyrs made it clear that martyrdom belongs to us as a charismatic heritage. It is the martyrial spirituality that our Fr. Founder lived and embodied for the Congregation in the “definition of the Missionary” or “memorial of the Son of the Heart of Mary,” which has shaped the great men of the Congregation.
733

2nd. The martyrs, moulded in the forge of the Heart of Mary by the action of the Spirit to proclaim the Gospel,734 felt Mary’s presence in their martyrdom. Mary, Mother and Teacher of Missionaries all along their formative itinerary, was omnipresent at the crucial moment of their vocation, martyrdom.735 Mary, the New Eve and the Woman victorious over the Evil One, sustained them in the test, encouraged their fidelity till the end and introduced them into the mystery of Jesus’ death.736

3rd. The young Martyrs showed a very high degree of vocational maturity. The fact that they were in the period of initial formation was not an obstacle for them to offer in jail the example of an admirable maturity in the living of fraternity and the mystery of community. Being enthusiastic with their priestly and missionary future, they learned to forgo their dreams and projects, because they understood that mission is not only action; it is also passion. They were aware that their fidelity till death was a glory, never a loss for the Congregation. In their martyrdom, their life project and each of the aspects that make it up gained full meaning.

4th. Looking forward to the future, we cannot remain indifferent. Among other endeavours, we must commit ourselves to make the Congregation grow in quality and in numbers.

a) A good human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation has been a distinctive note of the Claretians, who have learned to be in the midst of people, being popular without becoming vulgar. Nowadays, in order to be abreast of the times, we must progress in knowledge and virtue. Only thus can we offer a quality missionary service of the Word.737

b) We should desire that the Congregation grow also in numbers because we want to spread God’s Kingdom throughout the whole world.738 If we want to fulfil the testament of the blood shed by our brothers, we must assume the pressing task of promoting and taking care of vocations. Let us pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.739 We should also remember that our words and missionary lifestyle are the best invitation to welcome God’s call.740

c) The formators are charged with the task of having new blood revitalise the Congregation. Everyone is fully aware of how delicate and demanding this mission is. For this reason, their generous and joyful dedication is more worthy of our gratitude. This beatification should be a source of encouragement for them and a unique opportunity for both formators and formandi to revive enthusiastically those values of the Claretian vocation that made possible in our martyrs their heroic and moving fidelity till death.

2.2. To the Missionaries in Formation

On the occasion of the renewal of vows of the students from IBERIA in Rome on the Feast of our Fr. Founder and on the eve of the Beatification of the Martyrs of Barbastro, Fr. General wrote the Letter of Father General to the Claretian Missionaries in Formation.741 After writing the previous circular to the whole
Congregation, he addresses this letter to the missionaries in formation in a more confidential and familiar way, “because its dense and vibrant message belongs to you in a special way.”742

On reading the testimonies of the martyrs, he was impressed and touched, especially by the interest of those young men in letting the then Superior General know of their state of mind and their final will. In this new context, Fr. General, moved by the testimony left us by the martyrs, exhorts the formandi to bring their own missionary restlessness and hopes face to face with those that they exhibited.743

1st. To feel happy to be Sons of the Heart of Mary and to belong to the Congregation. To be attentive to the missionary challenges of their time; prepared with a universal outlook for their future ministry; capable of
integrating persecution into their spirituality and disposed to face death for what they had professed.

2nd. Having a little more passion and enthusiasm in sharing the life and mission of Jesus, daring to leave everything for the sake of the Kingdom; reviving our faith and increasing our love for Mary, the Church and the Congregation. To revise our criteria and our attitudes of indifference, scatteredness, laziness and cowardice.

3rd. To be consistent and adjust our everyday life with the demands of our unconditional commitment to the cause of Jesus, which is the cause of the poor, the marginalised, the defenceless and, as Claretians, not to abdicate  our resolve to follow Jesus because of some momentary whim or caprice.744

4th. To be faithful to the future which the martyrs opened up with their sacrifice and to the “prophetic cry of their blood,” loving the Congregation as they did, to the extent of giving up their life for it.745

The martyrs thought of the Congregation as an open-ended project to be carried out by all its members, those living at that time and those who were yet to come. In this sense, “the Congregation is awaiting your personal contribution.”

3. The General Plan of Formation (1994)

Regarding the General Plan of Formation we refer to the next chapter. It will be treated in a broader and deeper way.

4. “Heart of Mary” School of Formators746

The General Government, after several consultations, definitively approved in March 1996 the creation and beginning of the “Heart of Mary” School of Formators (HMSF)747

4.1. The idea of organising a School of Formators has two motivations. The first is the urgency of forming formators, insistently mentioned in ecclesial and congregational documents, especially regarding the charismatic and congregational elements. And the second is the present situation of the Congregation which, after publishing the GPF, must help the formators study, assimilate and deepen it.

4.2. Therefore, the objective of the HMSF is clear. It is a matter of forming the formators of the Congregation in the charismatic and formative elements proper of our Congregation. It is addressed, above all, to the formators who are beginning their formative mission. It will be conducted for two and a half months, with the Claretian experiences of Vic and Barbastro and the study in Rome.

4.3. From the juridical viewpoint, the School will depend on the General Government. Its management is entrusted to the General Prefecture of Formation, with a Director appointed by the General Government.