SOCIETA’ DI SAN FRANCESCO DI SALES
sede centrale salesiana
Via Marsala 42 - 00185 Roma
The Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
SEMINAR FOR THE PROMOTION OF CAUSES OF BEATIFICATION
AND CANONISATION IN THE SALESIAN FAMILY
Rome 1 November 2017
Solemnity of ALL SAINTS
Program - - - Rector Major′s letter
To Rev. SDB Provincials and Superiors
To Rev. FMA Provincials and Superiors
To General Superiors and Central Heads
of the Groups of the Salesian Family
After the celebration of the 1st Seminar on Promoting the Causes of Beatification and Canonisation in the Salesian Family in April 2016, with the participation of over 110 people from all the world, there was a request from various places to organise a new gathering to consolidate the journey undertaken.
While we express a deep and religious sense of gratitude and praise for the holiness already recognised in our Family and for what is on the way to being recognised, we are aware we have received a precious heritage that deserves to be known and valued under various aspects: liturgical-celebratory, spiritual, pastoral, ecclesial, educational, cultural.
The Seminar initiative aims at promoting knowledge, imitation and the intercession of these brothers and sisters of our charismatic family that the Lord has given us as life models, traveling companions and intercessors.
The General Postulation undertakes to invite Vice Postulators and collaborators in ongoing cases, who will take part in agreement with their respective superiors and heads. It is up to you to indicate other participants to whom the Seminar may be addressed.
Find below the organizational details. It is important that participants are indicated and registered by 31 January 2018.
Thanking you for your attention and hoping that the initiative, which we entrust to the intercession of Mary Help of Christians, will be fruitful for the spiritual and apostolic growth of the Salesian Family, I send you my fraternal greetings
Don Pierluigi Cameroni SDB
Postulator General
postulazione@sdb.org
General Indications
1. For whom intended:
- Vice-postulators and collaborators in individual causes.
- One or two people linked to the places where the candidates for holiness lived or where devotion is particularly widespread.
- Representatives of groups of the Salesian Family.
- Representatives from Turin-Valdocco, Colle Don Bosco and Mornese.
- Represented of particular formation and spirituality centres.
2. Objectives:
- Appreciate the spiritual, pastoral, and educational heritage of the holiness sprung from Don Bosco.
- Offer guidelines and good practices to promote the causes of candidates for canonised holiness of the Salesian Family.
- Help in the investigation and accompaniment of presumed miracles.
- Understand the true meaning and purpose of a canonisation process.
3. Where:
Generalate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle)
Via Aurelia 476 - ROMA[1].
a Salle è situata all’inizio di Via Aurelia, a soli 250 m dalla fermata
4. Date:
Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 April 2018.
5. Language:
The Seminar will be held in Italian.
If necessary, translation into English will be provided.
6. Entries:
Must be made by 31 January 2018, filling in the registration form and sending it to Fr Stefano Vanoli svanoli@sdb.org Seminar Secretary.
7. Programme:
The Seminar Programme will be sent by the end of December 2017.
8. Cost:
Cost for attending the Seminar from supper on Tuesday, 10 April to lunch on Saturday, 14 April 2018 and inclusive of overnight stays, breakfast, lunches and dinners, two coffee breaks, use of halls, municipal tax, speakers:
Euro 350 (attending Seminar + overnight board in single room - 95 rooms available)
Euro 300 (attending Seminar + overnight board in double room - only 10 rooms available)
Euro 200 (attending Seminar, no overnight boarding)
For any stay before or after the Seminar, please contact the Seminar Secretariat.
Payment must be made in € (EURO) through BANK TRANSFER to:
RECEIVER: DIREZIONE GENERALE OPERE DON BOSCO
BANK: BANCA POPOLARE DI SONDRIO
BRANCH: N. 2 ROMA
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 000004655X77
IBAN: IT54 O 056 9603 2020 0000 4655 X77
BIC / SWIFT: POSOIT22
NARRATIVE: Postulazione. Seminario 2018
9. Requests to participants
In order to facilitate the sharing of current experiences, it is advisable to come to the Seminar documenting the causes with which participants are working:
• Bibliography of the Servant of God and about the Servant of God.
• Website, CD, DVD information.
• Significant experiences and activities in promoting causes.
Organising Committee
Fr Francesco Cereda, Vicar of the Rector Major
Sr Piera Cavaglià, Secretary General of the Institute of FMA
Sr Sylwia Ciezkowska, Vice-Postulator of FMA causes
Fr Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General.
SOCIETA’ DI SAN FRANCESCO DI SALES
sede centrale salesiana
Via Marsala 42 - 00185 Roma
Il Postulatore Generale per le Cause dei Santi
SEMINAR FOR THE PROMOTION OF CAUSES OF BEATIFICATION
AND CANONISATION IN THE SALESIAN FAMILY
Entry form
Name
Surname
Cause of beatification
Assignment
Group of the Salesian Family
Address
Email
Need English translation
Type of participation
* attending Seminar + overnight board in single room (95 rooms available - € 350)
* attending Seminar + overnight board in double room (only 10 rooms available - €300) – Sharing the room with: …………..
* attending Seminar, no overnight boarding (€200)
The form should be completed and sent to the Seminar Secretariat by 31 January 2018 to Fr Stefano Vanolisvanoli@sdb.org Seminar Secretary.
[1] The building is easily reached by car or public transport. For those arriving by car or bus: Come off at exit number 1 of the Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA), continue on Via Aurelia to Piazza San Giovanni Battista de La Salle where you will be able to make a U-turn and enter by the main gate. (Coaches are allowed enter from Via Aurelia 476) From Termini Station by public transport: Take underground line A towards "Battistini" and get off at "Cornelia" stop.
From Fiumicino Airport: Take Bus Shuttle to Terminal 3 and get off at Aurelia stop near the property. From Ciampino Airport: Take the Pullman "TERRAVISION Shuttle Bus" which departs directly from Ciampino Airport and arrives at Termini Station. From there, take the underground line A towards "Battistini" and get off at the "Cornelia" stop.
⇑ ⇑ ⇑ ⇑ Lettera del Rettor Maggiore in Conclusione al Seminario ⇑ ⇑ ⇑
SOCIETÀ DI SAN FRANCESCO DI SALES
SEDE CENTRALE SALESIANA Via Marsala, 42 — 00185 Roma
Jl Rettor Maggiore
Prot. 18/0213
Rome 20 May 2018
Solemnity of Pentecost
Letter of the Rector Major at the conclusion of the Second Seminar on the promotion of the Causes of Beatification and Canonization of the Salesian Family
Dear Superiors/and those Responsible for the Salesian Family Dear Provincials and those animating and promoting the Causes
The celebration of the Seminar for the promotion of the Causes of Beatification and Canonization of the Salesian Family, held in Rome between 10 and 14 April 2018, with the participation of about 90 people coming from various parts of the world, was an occasion of grace to examine the spiritual and pastoral progress of the whole of our Salesian Family.
The meeting highlighted how the process and the witness of Salesian holiness in the Salesian Family are above all the gift of the Holy Spirit to be welcomed with humility and gratitude. They confirm the fact that it is not enough to offer services and to do things but that it is necessary to bring Jesus and to bring to Jesus, by proclaiming the joy of the Gospel.
From Don Bosco down to our own times we recognise a tradition of holiness to which we need to pay attention, since the incarnation of the charism that had its origin in him found its expression in a variety of states of life and in different forms, it is a question of men and women, young people and adults, consecrated persons and lay people, bishops and missionaries who in certain historical, cultural and social contexts, different in time and place, made the special light of the Salesian charism shine out, representing a heritage that continues to play an effective role in the life and in the communities of believers and of men and women of good will.
In my closing address I expressed this hope: “I would like to look at the witness of our saints, blesseds and all the members of the Salesian Family on the way to holiness recognised by the Church, as those who accompany us in the ways and in the life of the Spirit. Their life-witness and the unfolding of their vocations and often their writings are for us outlines of ways of life from which we can learn how to place all our lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to be ready to In this year in which the Church devotes the Synod of Bishops to the Young and their yourney of faith and of vocation I should also like to look at both the young saints of the Salesian Family, of which there are 45 under 30 years of age – a sign of the dynamism of the Salesian spirit incarnated in youngsters, teenagers and young people – and also at the youth of saints as a manifestation of the way God can act in the lives of people in a variety of the most different ways.
By means of talks of the highest quality, opportunities for sharing ideas in group work, the aim was achieved of being able to present the material and the processes that assist in the verification and follow up of any presumed miracles but above all this gathering has been further confirmation of the fact that the promotion and the care given to the Causes of Beatificaton and Canonization of our Family give rise to the dynamics of grace that are the source of evangelical joy and to the sense of belonging to the charism, renewing resolutions and commitments to fidelity to the call received and creating apostolic and vocational fruitfulness.
This seminar – which will have its third edition between 13 and 17 April 2021 – gives rise to some reflections that involve the General Office of Postulation and those bodies that are coordinated by it at local level, but also makes some demands on the Government of the Congregation and on the Departments of which it is composed, in order to then branch out into the local situations, under the direction of the Provinces and of the Salesian Family, in accordance with the local Churches: a process that unfolds with two different timescales or, if you prefer along two different paths – the institutional and the pastoral – which need to act in harmony as they give each other support. In this area some challenges have surfaced that need to be recognised and faced up to:
(1) To continue in the Salesian Family, in communion with the local Churches, the process of promoting the Causes by means of initiatives to make our candidates for holiness known, imitated and prayed to. As a challenge I would like to ask “Do we keep in mind and pray to our Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God? Do we have confidence in the communion of saints? Do we believe in the power of intercession of the saints?”
(2) To coordinate as well as possible the process of “Government” and that of the Postulation Office it is necessary that for each Cause at local level there are some people who take on the responsiblity of following up our Causes, keeping them on track and keeping them alive, and spreading devotion to the Servants of God, the Venerables, and the Blesseds in commmunion and collaboration with the local Churches. Vice-postulators, collaborators and promotors need to raise awareness, inform, and encourage approaches to the local Bishops and superiors. To keep things moving there is no need to wait quietly for the Bishops to make their decisions and give recommendations from on high. What is needed is to be responsible and to awaken a sense of co-responsibility, in a spirit of communion with the Church and of pastoral creativity. A first initiative could be that of proposing to/in the local Churches and within the Salesian Family a day on which to present and make known the findings of the Seminar.
(3) To increase our awareness of the crucial importance of a miracle and the need for it for the successful outcome of a Cause. In the light of the talks by Card. Amato, Mons. Pellegrino and Father Turek it is necessary to reflect on the twofold aspects of a lack of scientific explanation and of intercession; to committing ourselves to praying and getting others to pray to our candidates for the altars, overcoming laziness and spiritual superficiality. Again here I ask: “Do we think that it is important to pray to obtain miracles? Or do we believe that miracles can no longer happen? Unless we pray to the Blesseds and Venerables, we shall not be able to obtain miracles from God”.
(4) To appreciate the manifold richness of the one Salesian Family, made up of 31 different groups some of which are distinguished by being essentially lay in character: a richness in its own way unique in the Church. This richness that is expressed at the charismatic level, could now also be transformed into a new form of collaboration in the Causes of Beatification and Canonization, with all that this implies, and a very real movement in the Church to which it would give rise.
Holiness already recognised or in the process of being recognised, on the one hand is itself the realization of the evangelical radical approach and fidelity to the apostolic project of Don Bosco, which one can recognise as a spiritual and pastoral treasure; on the other hand, it is a challenge to live one’s own vocation with fidelity and to be ready to bear witness to love right to the end. Our Saints, Blesseds. Venerables and Servants of God are the veritable incarnation of the Salesian charism and of the Constitutions or Regulations of our Institutes and Groups in the most diverse of times and situations, overcoming that worldliness and spiritual superficiality that undermine the roots of our credibility and fruitfulness. They are true mystics of the primacy of God in the generous gift of oneself, prophets of evangelical fraternity, servants of their brothers and sisters with creativity.
I thank the Lord for the grace of this Seminar which has helped us to appreciate ever more the mystery of the Communion of Saints and has placed us within that “circle of saints” which in artistic language Blessed Fra Angelico wanted to describe and which in Salesian terms is like a “gift of the Spirit” which enables us to come together and to journey together along the joyful and demanding path of holiness. These initiatives are a privileged means for the promotion among the whole people of God of that common vocation to holiness which is so dear to us in our Salesian tradition and to which Pope Francis with his Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate is exhorting us.
May Our Mother Mary Help of Christians, given to little John in his dreams at 9 years of age as his «teacher, under whose guidance you will become wise and without whom all wisdom becomes foolishness» take us by the hand and with a motherly gaze accompany us on the way of holiness.
Secondo Seminario per la promozione
delle Cause di beatificazione e canonizzazione
nella Famiglia Salesiana
Roma, Casa generalizia Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane
10 – 14 aprile 2018
Programma
Martedì 10 aprile
Un’esperienza di comunione nello Spirito
Arrivi e sistemazione
16.00 Eucaristia (per chi desidera)
17.00 Celebrazione di apertura
17.30 Presentazione dei partecipanti
Saluti
Obiettivi del Seminario
18.30 Break
19.00 Vespri – Buona notte
19.30 Cena
Mercoledì 11 aprile
Miracolo: accertamenti scientifici
07.00 Meditazione
07.30 Eucaristia – Votiva dello Spirito Santo, con omelia, presieduta dal Card. Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefetto della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi.
08.30 Colazione
09.15 Valore e necessità dei miracoli nelle Cause di beatificazione e canonizzazione.
Relazione del Card. Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefetto della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi
Domande in sala
10.45 Break
11.15 Il cammino della Postulazione negli anni 2016-2017
Relazione di Don Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, Postulatore Generale
Domande in sala
13.00 Pranzo
15.30 La Procedura nei miracoli:
la discussione e la valutazione medico-legale
Relazione del Padre Bogus?aw Turek, CSMA, Sottosegretario della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi
17.00 Pausa
17.30 Lavori di gruppo
18.15 Condivisione in assemblea
19.00 Vespri – Buona notte – Madre Yvonne Reungoat, Superiora Generale FMA
19.30 Cena
20.30 Santo Rosario
Giovedì 12 aprile
Miracolo: valutazione teologica
7.00 Meditazione
7.30 Eucaristia - presieduta da Don Rossano Sala, SDB, Segretario Speciale per il Sinodo sui giovani
8.30 Colazione
9.15 I santi come intercessori.
Fama di santità, fama di segni e rilevanza ecclesiale delle Cause
. Relazione della Dott.ssa Lodovica Maria Zanet, collaboratrice della Postulazione Generale.
Domande in sala
10.45 Break
11.50 La procedura nei miracoli:
discussione e valutazione teologica.
– Nota sulla nuova via di “Offerta della vita”
Relazione di Mons. Carmelo Pellegrino, Promotore della fede presso la Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi
Domande in sala
13.00 Pranzo
15.30 Lavori di gruppo (I tempo)
16.30 break
17.00 Lavori di gruppo (II tempo)
18.00 Assemblea
19.00 Vespri – Buona Notte
19.30 Cena
Venerdì 13 aprile
Comunione dei santi: modelli e intercessori
07.00 Meditazione
07.30 Eucaristia - presieduta da Don Francesco Cereda, Vicario del Rettor Maggiore
8.30 Colazione
9.15 Il “girotondo dei santi”: la teologia dei santi mistero di comunione
Relazione di Padre François-Marie Léthel, OCD, Docente di spiritualità al Teresianum, Consultore presso la Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi
Domande in sala
10.45 Break
11.15 Lavoro di gruppo
12.15Assemblea
13.00 Pranzo
In pomeriggio: visita alla Chiesa di Santa Prassede con momento di preghiera in occasione dell’anno giubilare. Successivamente visita alla presso la Basilica del Sacro Cuore, con possibilità di visita alle camerette di don Bosco.
19.30 Cena
Sabato 14 aprile
Accompagnati
camminiamo sulla strada della santità
07.30 Lodi
08.00 Colazione
09.00 Assemblea e condivisione
09.45 Accompagnati dai nostri santi nel cammino di santità
Intervento del Rettor Maggiore, don Angel Fernández Artime.
10.30 Break
11.00 Eucaristia, con omelia, presieduta dal Rettor Maggiore don Angel Fernández Artime.
12.30 Pranzo - Partenza
