Bull "Dum Levamus" Latin
Bull "Dum Levamus" Latin
Benedictus episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilectis filiis ... generali et universis prioribus et fratribus Servorum sante Marie ordinis sancti Augustini, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.
Dum levamus in circuitu oculos nostros et gregem dominicum nobis, licet immeritis, divina dispositione commissum, undique, iuxta pastoralis officii debitum, contemplamur, vigilem, quantum nobis ex alto permictitur, curam libenter impendimus ut cultores vinee Dei Sabaoth sic cultui salutis intendant, quod eadem vinea palmiter diffusos extendens salutarium producat fructuum ubertatem. Et licet erga singulos cultores huiusmodi, personas videlicet ecclesiasticas, apostolica sollicitudo versetur, erga tamen viros religiosos qui contemplationi celestium mundanis relegatis illecebris pie vite studio sine intermissione desudant, eo propensiorem nos decet diligentiam adhibere, quo ipsi pro religionis favore sunt amplius apostolicis presidiis confovendi. Sane vos qui ordinem sancti Augustini per sedem apostolicam approbatum profitemini et servatis, ex devotionis affectu quem geritis ad beatam Mariam virginem gloriosam, assumpsistis vobis vocabulum ab eadem, vos servos eiusdem virginis humiliter nominando, dictumque ordinem sancti Augustini nichilominus iuxta pias et honestas institutiones vestre regule in honorem ipsius virginis editas laudabiliter servastis hactenus et servatis, ac vobis per specialia privilegia dicta sedes indulsit quod celebrare possitis capitulum generale ac in eodem capitulo priorem vobis generalem eligere, qui in fratres vestri ordinis correctionem et alia que ad suum spectant officium libere valeat exercere, quodque ad sepulturam possitis recipere illos qui apud loca vestra elegerint sepeliri. Ex quibus clare inspicientibus satis innuitur dictam vestram regulam per eandem sedem existere quodammodo confirmatam. Nos autem, qui ad virginem ipsam dominam nostram libenter devotionem quam possumus exhibemus, nolentes quod aliquis contra vos et regulam ipsam quicquam possit detractionis impingere, quin eadem regula plenam habeat apostolici muniminis firmitatem, ad omnem hesitationis materiam circa hec de quorumvis animis amovendam, vestris supplicationibus inclinati regulam et eius institutiones predictas expresse auctoritate apostolica confirmamus et etiam approbamus et presentis scripti patrocinio communimus, eamque vobis concedimus, decernentes ipsam per vos fore perpetuis temporibus inviolabiliter observandam. Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam nostre confirmationis, approbationis, concessionis et constitutionis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario contraire. Si quis autem hoc attemptare presumpserit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei et beatorum Petri et Pauli apostolorum eius se noverit incursurum.
Datum Laterani, tertio idus februarii, pontificatus nostri anno primo.
Letter of the Prior General
"A family with a future after 700 years of life"
Letter of the Prior General to all the brothers and sisters of the Family of the Servants of Mary on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the definitive approval of the Order
(Bull Dum levamus of Benedict XI, 1304-2004)
Ave Maria
When I was asked to write some reflections on the theme: "The Order of the Servants of Mary, an Order alive after 700 years", I immediately thought of another title, "a family that has a future", not simply as something which lives and breathes, but rather as a being that has a future, that is moving, believing, struggling, that has hopes and dreams, although, of course, not without its difficulties, its statistical situation and its concrete problems. In these pages, after two years serving as Prior General of this great little family, I want to try to share with you some ideas I think I have gleaned from my ministry, during my visits to the various different jurisdictions, my sharing in all the Elective Chapters in 2003, from my meetings with the cloistered nuns and the sisters, my contacts with the Secular Order and Secular Institutes, the fraternities, diaconie and the many laypeople who happily and faithfully share our charism, spirituality, our "imaginings" and – why not? – our problems and failures.
Let me make it clear right away that I do not intend to offer any thoughts of a historical nature, nor do I want to reflect on any of the many interesting themes contained in our spiritual, cultural and ecclesial patrimony. I just want to "have a chat" with you about what I have seen and heard, what I have experienced, what we have gathered from criticisms, about some signs of life and vitality and others that, in our communities, are signs of "death", and about the possibilities and prospects before our family.
We shall attempt to see what emerges from all this. I intend these considerations of mine to be viewed in a perspective of faith and hope, of enlightenment for the way forward, a climate of trust and fraternity, closeness and walking together all of you, so that together we can build and move onwards, discern and make concrete, see and judge, above all, "bring to realisation" the plans the Lord has mapped out for all the brothers and sisters of the Servants of Mary, for whom the past, present and the future are a reason for pride and gratitude, a challenge and a genuine sharing in the salvific design of God.
- Pride in a charism
A theme that is constant and often emphasised in the basic texts of our history and liturgy is, without doubt, the conviction that our patrimony was and is of the highest relevance for our own times. Personally, I have never had any doubts about this. The charism of the family of the Servants of Mary, which came to birth with our "first brothers-fathers", is a pearl of great price. It is certain, as the theology of the consecrated life tells us, that every charism is a gift of the Spirit that enriches the Church. Our most recent General Chapter (2001) recognised this in speaking about the priorities for the Order’s path in the period 2001-2007 (cf. 2001 Gen. Chap., Texts, no. 13).
However, we who have been given this treasure, what are we doing with it? How are we going about sharing it? What are we doing to make it known? Sometimes, we give the impression that we do not know what do to do or that we are too frightened to do anything; we give the impression that it is very difficult to start something up, that we do not have the strength to do it; we do not have the means, or it is up to someone else. All this can lead to an unreasoned state of resignation, an unfounded fear of taking a risk, to indifference and passivity, to a "humility that is but cowardice", or to taking shelter in our own "home, sweet home."
I think that commemorating the seventh centenary of the definitive approval of our Order by Benedict XI on 11 February 1304 should make us reflect about that happy period of our origins, a marvellous time for our family. I think of our first "brothers", their docility to the voice of the Spirit leading them along unexpected paths; I am reminded of their strong yet delicate love for the Mother of the Lord, whom they chose as mother, companion and guide in their search for God and encounter with their brothers. We cannot but think of their formative journey in the solitude of Monte Senario, of that dying to self that allowed them to be re-born as spiritual men, entirely dedicated to God and to the Church. I think of their "going up and coming down" from the mountain as coherent witnesses to "the things that are above" and "the things that are below", real tellers of the Gospel of peace and mercy. I think of the friendship that bound them together and of their great unity, which is much more than sterile uniformity. Living, one in heart and mind, always looking toward God, they achieved something that is rare in the Church: they became a community of saints.
Perhaps that is the challenge that we have to take up today. Our identity is something more than an abstract idea carried forward across the centuries. Our identity is a way of being, of living, loving, weeping, struggling, believing, hoping, sharing and blessing. Our identity is life, and we can be proud of our charism only when we are able to generate and be bearers of life. If we behave differently, instead of being proud of a charism and a heritage, we falsify the meaning of our life as Servants of Mary, of being servants of that which is most sacred of all, of being servants of life.
- Signs of new life and vitality
A few weeks ago, I had to reply to a questionnaire in preparation for the International Congress on Consecrated Life that is going to be held in November 2004. It gave me an opportunity to think about different aspects of consecrated life in general. The questionnaire talked about challenges and opportunities, signs of new life and vitality, the religious life of the future, the obstacles in the way, etc. I must confess that, while setting out replies of a general or global nature, I was thinking more about the circumscribed area of my own religious family of the Servants of Mary. A sort of twofold examination of conscience, therefore, one that forced me to look at questions, before which, strange to say, one has a feeling of powerlessness and, at the same time, a strong sensation of hope. The gift of our vocation is, of course, a mystery, and this mystery becomes meaningful only when it obeys the command to be bearers of life, in all its manifestations in society and in the Church.
And so, I thought once more of our origins, of St. Philip Benizi, whose action was decisive in "saving" the Order, in giving it life. He was a worthy disciple of our first brother-fathers, from whom he learnt humility and holiness of life, the spirit of penance and apostolic zeal. Philip teaches us that holiness does not take us out of the world, does not distance us from temporal things. He knew how to keep his union with God when meeting the poor, serving the brethren, solving the problems besetting our newborn Order. He was convinces that true wisdom is born of long periods of solitude, prayer and reflection: it is born of the search for God.
And what to say about the others, St. Peregrine, Joachim and Francis of Siena, Bonaventure of Pistoia, Ubaldo of Borgo Sansepolcro or James da Villa (the Almsgiver), the seventh centenary of whose death in defence of the rights of the poor we are also celebrating in 2004; of St. Juliana and all the many others? Their holiness shows that, above all else and in spite of all the insurmountable difficulties that the times can place in our way, we must always have in place a solid and optimistic search for God, on whom depends the future of our family.
Starting out from these origins of ours, among the possible signs of new life and vitality that our ancient charism contains for the modern world (the question is mine, and for the whole of our Servite family), the following can be mentioned: solidarity, understood as simplicity of lifestyle and attention to the world around us; a sincere desire to reinforce our community life (fraternity and friendship); fidelity in the quest for God, for his Word, prayer and silence; commitment to the least of all, those taken for granted, for justice and peace; working alongside laypeople; the world of culture, study and research; drawing close to young people; inculturation, etc. In our origins, we encounter countless examples that can enlighten us about all these things.
- The quality of community life
Community life is not just a question of numbers, of identity, of requirements or of the three classical aspects of fraternity, the Marian dimension and service – with which we so often identify and present ourselves; there are also other values, such as compassion, justice, cultural and intellectual preparation, the way of beauty, etc. It has to do, basically, with coherence and credibility, the experience of faith and convictions, the integration of talents and service, words and life, ideals and witness.
I remember that a few years ago we spoke much about reaffirming our consecration and improving the quality of our service; about the need to know where we are coming from in order to understand where we want to go. We became aware that that our ideal and our real "I" and "we" had to be made converge and not give rise to an unending, futile search. Nowadays, we are convinced that the quality of our community life has to be improved. The General Chapter and the last two meetings of the Provincials with the General Council have forcefully insisted on this. Dialogue, the community chapter, collegiality, personal and community projects are all intended to further the quality of community life. It does not matter whether our communities consist of old or young men, whether they are parish-based or not, modern or traditional. We want people who are satisfied and happy, friars who are enthusiastic and want to move forward. How sad it is to have to listen to the complaints of communities that are unhappy and full of tittle-tattle, or comfortably resigned and settled in their ways. We could say they have lost their reason to exist, their prophetic life force, their real Marian dimension that is based on a "yes", a fiat that is, above all, openness and docility to the will of God.
There are obstacles in the path of community life, and they have to be fought against. For example, that sort of "gossip" that creates bewilderment and prejudices, that extinguishes trust, that does not "speak well" (bene dicere) about others. Before speaking or criticising, we must ask ourselves about the basis, the usefulness and worth of our words. All murmuring, all harmful speech must be avoided. We have to insist on what unites us, on the work of our group, on our aims, on mutual trust. The future of our family lies in our communities, since they pass on our charism and are the projection of our way of life and represent our family, who testify to who we are and what we do. It is in communities that are convinced and happy that knowledge of our family is born; they are, in the world of today and for the people around us, the nearest and most accessible sign of Servite life. It is within our communities, as our Constitutions tell us (art. 10), that we strive for brotherly friendship by giving ourselves and accepting one another with each one’s talents and limitations. The glory of the Lord is not just the man who is alive, but the community that is alive, the community faithfully loved in times of joy and in times of sorrow. It is in community that we live united, of one heart and mind, in prayer, in listening to the Word of God, in the breaking of the bread of the Eucharist and the bread earned by our work.
Once again, I think back to the beginnings of our family. The approval of the Order is for us an invitation to revisit our origins, where the ideal of life of the Servants of Mary was lived in a genuine way. We can see that invitation to be like the first Servites, seekers of the God of Jesus Christ, to live the Gospel sine glossa, in the 2001 General Chapter; first of all, in the message of the Pope: "Yes, seek Christ, seek his face" (Psalm 27, 8). "Seek him at the dawn of every day (Psalm 63, 2), with all your heart ... seek him with the tenacity of the Sunamite woman (Cant. 3, 1-3), with the wonder of the apostle Andrew (Jn 1, 35-39), with the burning desire of Mary Magdalene" (Jn 20, 1-18). Secondly, in the documents of the Chapter, which, drawing upon the collective ideas of friars who came from around the world, map out the path for the Order at the start of this new millennium. Our communities must be poorer, show more solidarity and be less arrogant, closer to the people and their world, formed in a better way, more faithful, coherent and radical and, in line with the Gospel, more prophetic and attentive to the signs of the times, more ecumenical and collegial. The communities of our first brother-fathers attracted vocations because of their witness of authentic holiness and through the quality of their life of prayer and service. This is a real challenge for all of us who want to keep alive this charism of brotherhood and life as a family.
- Communion with the whole of the Servite family
Some Church documents and our own General Chapter (2001) speak of the new millennium as marked with the sign of communion in diversity, the signs of the openness and historical creativity of our charism, with its mosaic of various ways of belonging to the Servite Family, all drawing inspiration from Our Lady (cf. 2001 Gen. Chap. Texts, no. 86). It is the age of the family, the age of the laity. Our Seven Founders were themselves laymen; consecrated life belongs to the charismatic, lay and non-hierarchical structure of the Church. The largest expression of our spirituality in the world today is lay. The Secular Order, the Secular Institutes, the sisters, the enclosed nuns, the diaconie, friends, fraternities and so forth all consist of laypeople.
We want to give renewed life to something precious that belongs to us. That requires effort. Sometimes we break down. There are brothers (and sisters) who are more aware of this, and others who are not. We are convinced about it, but we do not do anything, we leave the work to others, to those "whose job it is". I declare that I really believe in this communion and I consider it important that we continue to work at it. The last UNIFAS Convention was judged to be highly positive for the Family. We received testimonials and evaluations that are full of hopes for the future. The General Chapter invited us to revitalise our regional UNIFAS. Some are being established, others still have to be revived. The whole family has to be more committed to these forms of life, which ensure communion, continuity and Servite presence in the world. I think it important to give everyone due space and to share our ideals, joys and hopes, times of rejoicing and of sorrow in our everyday life, as happens in a big family, full of charisms and treasures, of men and women who are "pioneers", people who have dreams and plans.
So once more, I think back to our history, to the first steps taken by our family, to its journey down through the centuries. "Many religious congregations and lay groups, inspired by the ideal of the Servants, have grown up around our communities. While each group is a unique expression of lay or consecrated life, all participate in our common vocation" (Const., art. 5). "The Friar Servants of Mary, continuing an ancient and living tradition, constitute a single family with the women religious and with the members of the Secular Institutes, the Secular Order and lay groups that share the same ideal, commitment to the apostolic life and dedication to the Mother of God" (Const., art. 305).
I invite the different expressions of the Servite family, all the brothers and sisters in our family, to work to build up awareness of, and commitment to a cause that is, doubtless, beyond our little, circumscribed experience; to a charism that is based on a single expression of faith and a characteristic way or style of living the Gospel: that of being brother and sister Servants who are inspired by Our Lady, who are dedicated to having with all creatures relationships marked only peace, mercy, justice and constructive love, who seek to stand with Mary at the foot of countless crosses to bring comfort and redemptive cooperation, who want to servants of life and promoters of a boundless brotherhood and a family spirit which has much to offer to a divided and individualistic world that suffers because of the confusion caused by egoism and violence. To be a family is to believe in each other, to share faith and doubts and to live united in both sunlit days and dark nights. Our family, our great little family, must be able to sing its own Magnificat, recounting the great things God accomplishes in our lives.
- The risk of adventure
We are well aware that the Gospel itself is an adventure, and that we, as heralds, proclaimers of the Good News, must be ready to set off on an adventure. Servants of Mary, by their very nature, insofar as they say they have Mary as their inspiration and guiding light, are adventurous men and women, front-line people. Mary ventured to pronounce a yes that led her into the "adventure of God" for ever, a yes full of risks and the unknown, a yes that was transformed into a pilgrimage of faith, that led her to unconditional service. It seems to me that being a Servant of Mary and not running the risk of faith and adventure is a contradiction. Comfortable communities, those that are resigned, frighten me. There is a Gospel resignation, which is right and necessary, but there is also a human sort of resignation that is cowardly, the product of our society of prosperity and consumerism.
Recently, I have seen various different communities choosing adventure and setting off for new lands, laypeople and diaconie taking on new forms of service, Secular groups getting to grips with new forms of poverty. Friars who believe that all is not yet over and, instead of contemplating the ars moriendi, think about the charismatic impact of we can have as Servants of Mary and the art of living life to the full. All this is good and beautiful. At the beginning of the Third Millennium, the Pope invited us to put out into the deep, to run the risk of an adventure, with Jesus. He reminded us we have only one story to tell, one plan to work for. He told us that we are the vanguard of the Church. In his message to our General Chapter in 2001, he reminded us that we have to be attentive to the signs of the times, and to take into careful consideration the prospect of ceasing some of our usual activities in order to meet new missionary demands, in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. We have the task of risking taking, like Mary and in the same way as her, new decisions that are full of hope.
From time to time, we are the recipients, either directly or indirectly, of proposals, criticisms and suggestions from brothers and sisters who are concerned about the future of the Order. Some criticisms are very ironical, others less so, still others constructive and some are, frankly, contradictory. We cannot satisfy every demand, but we want to assure you that neither are we indifferent to them; we listen to and try to evaluate them all. I always consider that we must concentrate, above all, on the open and constructive criticisms, in those that are less of a "local" importance - because the family is not just regional – those that look beyond the situation of the immediate surrounding locality. The "grassroots" are all of us, the solution is all of us, the response is from us all and, as the poet Rilke puts it, sometimes we just have to learn to love the questions, because we do not always have the answers.
The risk of starting out on an adventure turns my thoughts, yet again, to our origins, and the whole history of our family; it makes me think of the mendicant inspiration of the Order, of the mandate to live the Gospel dimension of insecurity and availability to go wherever there are urgent needs (cf. Const., art. 3). We have so many witnesses in our family of men and women who knew how to run the risk of adventure and who today remind us how important it is to say yes, to the Lord and our brothers and sisters, to life and the events of history, by taking up faith projects that will enable us to build a future of life, a really possible happy tomorrow, which will again show us the newness of the Gospel, the eternal youthfulness of Christ.
- Another anniversary?
We are now well acquainted with celebrating anniversaries. Commemorative occasions give us a lot of satisfaction; we publish books and articles enquiring into history, of high quality and academic rigour. We can take pride in an extraordinary cultural and spiritual patrimony. Nevertheless, when we hold a celebration of this kind, we do not often ask: What exactly do we want to celebrate with this anniversary? The 700 years of the definitive approval of the Order must not just simply be a remembrance of the 700 years that have gone by since the date of official recognition on the part of the Church. After all, in 1304, the Order had already achieved 70 years of life, a whole journey of decisions, constitutions, acts of poverty, spirituality and exemplary holy and clever people. I think that these 700 years can make us become aware of many things. I want to point out some of them:
- That our life has a meaning, it is significant, "recognised", one that, in the Church and society, is of value for others. It is a life that is worth recognising, as something that has existed, still exists and has the right to exist, especially if it maintains the meaning of its being and acting, its identity and the way this is put into practice, its specificity and its credibility.
- That our life is in communion with the Church, in which the Order was born and developed, because, as I said at the beginning of this letter, our charism is a gift of the Spirit for the enrichment of the Church, our Church, sinful and holy, contradictory and truthful, lost and always assisted by the Spirit, our small and universal Church, so often abusing power, yet, at the same time, the instrument of salvation. It is within this Church that we have to show the worth of our charism, that we have to be what we are and do what we must.
- That our life is being renewed. Perhaps, after many years of struggling with constitutional and organisational reform, the time has come to make a bigger effort to improve the quality of our life as religious, of our vocation and consecration and of our mission, by adopting a new style, a new way of living the perennial values of the Gospel and the essential characteristics of our charism.
- That our life must keep on being of a high standard. We must not lower our guard, give way to discouragement, mediocrity, the easy life or resignation. Fidelity to our vocation is worthwhile, being anchored in Christ, in deep relationship with Him alone who can give full meaning to our life. We must continue to be significant by our attitude of continual conversion through grace lived and the coherent manner in which we prolong the presence of Christ through the inspiration of Mary.
- That we must to take up the demands that concern and challenge us with hope, such as, for example: our older friars, with their immense richness of life, talents and experience; our young men, loaded with fears and expectations; our lay Servites, with whom we must walk hand in hand in mutual respect, and all the different expressions of our Servite religious family who are all features of the face of full, Servite, Marian identity.
- That we must not be afraid of dialogue, collegiality, projects of life, chapters, new forms of service, a missionary dimension, new forms of presence, the world of the young, the commitment to justice and peace, the practice of mercy, the challenge of a renewal of devotion to Our Lady, or of our statistics and the reduction in our financial resources and properties, of an ever more demanding formation, of specialising in academic, cultural and theological subjects, of new forms of leadership or inter-cultural communities, etc., etc.
- That our family, after 700 years has a future.
Conclusion
Let us draw to a close. Perhaps these considerations could have been set out better, but, for the moment, I shall leave them like this, in the hope they will help us all to reflect on these things. I believe that revisiting our origins, looking again at our roots, commemorating this anniversary have to do with the future, not the past. We cannot go on, stuck in a sort of inert "ecstatic fundamentalism" which stops us being more prophetic. Life, our life, has to be understood as a "dream", a plan, not just a series of sterile rules and regulations. A passion for God and for the men and women of our time is what motivates our way of living the Gospel. We do not exist for ourselves or for our communities; we are here for the Kingdom, starting with our fraternal life, a real, fraternal life (cf. Const., art.111). Our Order arose as an expression of evangelical-apostolic life, as a community of men gathered together in the name of the Lord. We are sent out by Christ to serve as living witnesses to the Gospel (Const., art. 112): witnesses, not mere functionaries. A witness speaks about Christ, tells the story of the Lord in a living way, he enfleshes Christ, he incarnates his sentiments by "clothing himself" in them. Therefore, we have to journey more with the people, with their problems and learn to recognise the face of Christ in the faces of others. This will help us take the drama out of our own problems, problems that we have and that we create in our communities, provinces, and our religious family. This will help us get away from that middle-class life without risks that so often allows us to forget that we have to be conformed to Christ, who came to serve and to give his life for others (Const., art. 2) It will help us be more merciful, one of the characteristics of Servite life (Const., art. 52), so as to be able to "bend down" with reverence towards the misery of human beings and free them from their state of prostration. We have someone to help us on this journey. From our very beginnings, we have been dedicated to her, the blessed of the Most High; we have taken inspiration from her, the Mother and Servant of the Lord; we have learnt from her, humble woman; we have honoured her because she is our Lady, we have sought to imitate her, highest example of a person of prayer; above all, she has been our guiding image in our task of service and our desire to stand at the foot of the countless crosses where the Son of Man is still being crucified today, in the persons of his brothers and sisters.
May the Lord grant us true wisdom and discernment, and Holy Mary always point out to us the way that leads to Christ.
From our Priory of San Marcello de Urbe
15 January 2004
Memorial of Blessed James da Villa the Almsgiver
Fra Ángel M. Ruiz Garnica, O.S.M.
Prior General
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