The 150th anniversary

Very often those who hear mention of Betharram for the first time ask us: “Would you have some reading matter to propose to get to know St Michael and your Congregation better?” Well the booklet which has just come out “From the Heart of Christ to the heart of the world” ought to respond to this need and arouse interest in those, whether religious or laity, are keeping alive the gift which the Holy Spirit has given to the Church and the world.

“Can this be the end of the Adventure? God, the Eternal, has no ending and today the dough continues to rise, the seed to germinate. Can you not see it? The Spirit is still at work!” It is with these words, full of hope that this little publication ends. The idea was the General Council’s two years ago in view of the celebration of the 150 years since the death of St Michael Garicoits. In this booklet of 40 pages, called “From the Heart of Christ to the heart of the world” the author, Fr Benat Oyhenart SCJ, relates brilliantly and with spirit, St Michael’s adventure in four chapters: the most important stages of his life; those who as faithful instruments of the Holy Spirit helped him to discern his vocation, as a priest first of all, then as a religious and founder; the places where he carried out his ministry; the difficulties which he met in the work of foundation. There then follows a peep at the presence of the Congregation today in the world, which helps us to see that the “dough is still rising“ and that the Spirit is still at work. The booklet has numerous colour photographs making it much more interesting to read and appreciate the recent works inspired by the life and work of St Michael, especially the icon, realised in 2008 by Fr Giancarlo Monzani scj and the retable by Sister Mercedes osd, in the oratory beside St Michael’s bedroom in Betharram.

The object and aim of this publication in five languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) is to draw the attention of an ever growing public to the life and works of St Michael. But this aim can only be reached with the help of the religious and Betharramite friends, who thanks to this booklet can bring them closer to St Michael and the Betharramite mission in the world.

Each Vicariate of the Congregation has already received (or is about to receive) the numbers they ordered – in their language – and will decide how best to distribute them. We are heartily grateful to all those who, thanks to their specific gifts, have made the realisation of this publication possible and to all those who will make it known.

The year 2013 saw the finalisation of some important works: the translation into Spanish, English and Italian of the three volumes of St Michael’s letters:
- Recently, Fr Angelo Recalcati reedited and completed the work realised by the late Fr Miguel Martinez;
- Fr Dominic Innamorati finished translating the letters together with the raft of notes;
- Finally a Betharramite lay person, Mario Grugnola, has translated the letters into Italian together with a large part of the notes.

Before undertaking printing, all these translations will have to undergo a thorough revision.

It will no longer be the privilege of French speaking Betharramite religious to read the correspondence of St Michael. Each one can, not only appreciate St Michael’s spirituality, but also get to know his daily life as a spiritual guide and then be inspired by the counsels which St Michael offers to religious and laity, young or old, community superiors or young men researching their vocation, men or women whose difficulties and questions are those which we meet with ourselves.

There is another task which awaits us and of which we are beginning to see the fruits, namely the digital text of the note books - dating from the end of the 19th century - containing St Michael’s manuscript copies which are kept at Betharram, and which were presented for the Diocesan Process in view of the beatification of our Founder. Fr Graziano Sala, General Secretary, has undertaken this project, with the help of Fr Jacky Moura and the novices. It is also the source of the extracts published each month in the NEF under the heading “St Michael Garicoits wrote”.

If there is anything else en route towards publication, please let the team at NEF know who will be only too happy to pass on the information.

Enrico Frigerio, scj

Mario Grugnola and his wife Laura attend the San Guglielmo church, at Castellazzo di Bollate, whereas they live in another part of Milan Province. When we asked the question “Why ever?” they answered without hesitation “Because there we find the real Betharramite welcome”, a welcome to which Mario replies with a special brand of goodness. After the publication of a booklet on The Spirituality of the Betharramite Fathers he got down to the translation of more than 600 letters from St Michael in our possession. Once this monumental work was finished we asked him for his impressions.

The complete translation of the three volumes needed a little more than a year and a half. A year if you include the holidays and other activities. The first two volumes were finished last spring and I was able to give the good news by phone to Father Graziano on 14 May.

Problems? There were plenty of them! Obviously the first one was getting used to St Michael’s spirituality so as to interpret faithfully the ideas which gradually I was going to meet. To do this I had priceless help from Fr Ernesto Colli. His devoted collaboration, thanks to Skype, spared me the type of errors into which as a layman I could easily have fallen. Similarly for certain technical terms in Church vocabulary! Another problem was the desire to preserve the style and language of the Saint (on this point see the long introduction to Volume 1 of the Correspondence by Father Mieyaa) I don’t know whether what I set out to do was achieved; if it was then how far? I tried to let my Italian reflect the period when the letters were written, at the same time avoiding unsuitable neologisms. Here I am appealing to the reader’s leniency!

I would like to conclude by saying that this work was for me a great discovery. Discovering a man who, besides his stature as a religious, was deeply human and blessed with unbelievable energy. It is surprising in this day and age to see that his charism is very modern, and expressed in everyday language: humility and obedience, abandonment to the will of God, love for the Incarnation, his role as confessor and spiritual director, his ability to rouse vocations.

It doesn’t often happen to be invited to translate a saint’s letters. So, I would like to thank the Congregation for giving me the opportunity of enjoying this experience.

Mario Grugnola