05291978 Paulo VI al General Chapter OFM conv

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Dear sons:

With affection of charity we greet you and address you, members of the General Chapter of the Friars Minor Conventual, a Chapter that, in order to deal with matters of great importance to your Order, you have just celebrated at the tomb of your Seraphic Father, whose sacred remains, with our authorization, have recently been recognized. In a peculiar way we must greet our beloved son Vital Bommarco, who has once again been entrusted with the grave office of Minister General, and we wish him the fruitful discharge of this office.

So, then, you have gathered where your religious family was born, that is, in Assisi, a beautiful and renowned city that nobly exudes Franciscan piety. Certainly, you were and are convinced, as we rightly judge, that it is necessary to constantly return to the mentality and life examples of Saint Francis, who presented to a stupefied world the Gospel of Christ marvelously put into practice. The Second Vatican Council, as you know, called for this same "return to the original inspiration of your Institute" (cf. Perfectae caritatis, 2), and enriched the religious way of living with healthy prescriptions and recommendations, as no Synod had ever done before. universal.

Therefore, it is necessary that the Franciscan charism always flourish in you, which constitutes one of the main tasks of the General Chapter. Correctly, then, in this chapter of yours, examining in greater depth previous deliberations, you have applied your spirits to renew the practice of prayer and the common life that you lead.

Well, in these times, when everything happens at a very fast pace and men are often separated from superior and lasting realities by the different tastes of doctrines and by the seductions of the world, it is of the utmost importance for you that you dedicate yourselves to pity. Contemplate your father, of whom St. Bonaventure wrote: «True piety...had filled Francis' heart in such a way... that he seemed to have reduced the man of God entirely to his domain» (LM 8,1). In truth, today men who consecrate themselves entirely to God and live for Him alone are absolutely necessary, and who as such turn to men in order to win them for Christ.

With the diligent and daily effort of each one, the unity of charity or the perfection of fraternal communion must be desired and preserved in your homes. In this regard, your intention to give more participation to the lay brothers seems laudable, so that a true family is constituted in the convent, which serves God in joy. When dealing with a matter of such importance as this, we like to recall what is contained in the decree of the Council on the comfortable renewal of religious life about the nature of life in common (PC 15); it is indeed a very excellent thing. We want to illustrate one of the sentences contained therein, namely: "Great apostolic vigor derives from the unity of the brothers."

Certainly already Saint Francis, with deeds and words, taught the diligent and painstaking practice of the apostolate: "He did not believe he was a friend of Christ if he did not love the souls He had loved" (2 Cel 172); and "walk... through the various parts of the earth, announcing to men peace and penance for the remission of sins" (1 Cel 29). And so, having followed this teacher of life, it is necessary that you yourselves in some way insert yourself into this time in which we live, it is necessary that you know their needs, it is necessary that you strive to remedy them. Because you, as children of Saint Francis, are concerned as much as possible by the exhortation of the Council, according to which, uniting contemplation with apostolic love (PC 5), "you must bear an eminent witness that the world cannot be transfigured or offered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes" (Lumen gentium, 31).

Your Order, in recent years, has spread to some regions, having created new convents, which is a sign of growth and a reason for praise and joy. Well known are the difficulties encountered in these times as far as vocations are concerned. Consequently, although your family has undergone quite considerable development -to which many members of it have dedicated their efforts-, nevertheless, you will always have to strive so that there are more numerous who provide assistance to so many needs of the Church and of human society. This is done mainly through prayer, according to that of "beg... the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest" (Mt 9,38), and through the example of one's own life, assuming that, as it says the Seraphic Patriarch: «All the brothers preach with the works» (1 R 17,3). These words are in perfect harmony with what the Council said in this regard: "Remember the brothers that the example of your own life is the best recommendation of your institute and invitation to embrace religious life" (PC 24).

The school of your behavior, as well as that of other religious and even that of the Christian faithful, is the very life of the Blessed Virgin Mary (cf. PC 25), to which, immune from the stain of original sin, you you profess a peculiar cult. Blessed Maximilian Kolbe, who is the clear light of your Order and who cultivated "the Franciscan-Marian evangelical life" in a very admirable way, and who left you as a spiritual heritage, encourages you to imitate it.

Dear children, we have exposed these things to you so that you can meditate on them, we have wanted to offer you these advices with paternal encouragement, since we have a great hope and expectation deposited in you. So that all this may have a happy realization, we wholeheartedly impart to those of you present here and to all your brothers the Apostolic Blessing, a sign of our benevolence.

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