Praying
with
Blessed
Joseph Allamano
in
the Year of Consecrated Life
God requires holiness from everyone,
even from simple Christians who achieve it through observance of the
commandments of God and the Church, the exercise of Christian virtues and the
perfect performance of the duties of one’s state of life. We must never let
ourselves be held back by human considerations or by those who are less
fervent. The holiness I want for you is not that you perform miracles but that
you do all things well. We must be happy to become saints in the ordinary way.
The more we hunger and thirst for holiness, the more we hunger and thirst for
God, the happier we will be. We cannot be sure of having the same grace
tomorrow that we have today. Be courageous and take the first step. Today, not
tomorrow. Do not lose courage because of our limitations or the fact that the
goal seems to recede into the distance.
Prayer
God
our Father, Joseph Allamano said: “Be strong and steadfast in the type of holy
life you have chosen. May you achieve holiness through faithfulness in little
things. May God help you understand this and give you strength and grace!”
Lord, make us fully aware of our nothingness and trust fully in you. Mother
Consolata, Mother of Missionaries, intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 2 - Our Missionary Vocation
From all eternity God has been thinking
of you. Even though you in no way merited it He loved you. I have loved you,
you specifically and not someone else. In His generosity He called you to be an
apostle. He needs no one, He needs nothing. He gave this grace to you and not
to someone else. A vocation is Jesus’ loving glance. The missionary vocation
belongs to those who love the Lord very much, wish to make him better known and
are ready for any sacrifice. Nothing more is needed. God chooses and endows
with the talents needed to evangelize non-Christian countries or groups. All
one needs is a great love of God and a passion for souls. Think of all the
vocations that bind an individual to the Lord and you will find none more
perfect than your own. When he gave you the missionary vocation, He has asked
you to continue His own mission. You must not just respect your state in life –
you must love it. If everyone knew or understood what it means to be a
missionary everyone would want to be one.
Prayer
God
our Father, you have called us to be missionaries. Through the intercession of
Blessed Allamano, help us to respond to your call; and thereafter, to trust
blindly in your assistance. Bless us to be generous, and to renounce our own
will. Bless all consecrated missionaries to be detached of their own self-will,
of any possession and comfort; and from their own relatives. Mother Consolata,
Mother of our vocation, intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 3 - Missionaries full of Faith!!
If everyone needs this spirit of faith
how much more necessary it is for missionaries. If we have the spirit of faith
we will never feel abandoned. In everything we do the spirit of faith must be
our guide. If a missionary does not possess the simple and total faith one
finds in adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, what will he accomplish?
Let us move forward with humility and simplicity in our faith. If we doubt
everything we will soon begin to doubt our faith.
Prayer
God, our
Father, through the intercession of Blessed Allamano help us so that all our
thoughts conform to the faith. Bless the Church and our communion. Lord, make
us humble so to have the privilege to know the Truth. Mother Consolata, Mother
of Faith, intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 4 - Hopeful Missionaries!
God’s mercy is infinite. We must count
on salvation because the Lord knows our weaknesses, all we need is a little
good will. Really outstanding, robust hope is called confidence. We must have
an abundant supply of confidence if we are to inspire it in others. It costs so
little to trust in God! Why then should we not trust in Him? Do what you can
and the Lord will assist you! We are really foolish when we lack confidence.
After confession we should think of virtue and not of sin any longer. Cheer up,
a little love of God will fix everything. Never lose heart, always begin anew!
If we have this confidence we will avoid the stumbling block of anxiety and
scruples. “The love of God washes away everything!” –St Joseph Cafasso, his
uncle, used to say. A missionary without confidence can accomplish nothing; he
is a torment to himself and others as well. Confidence shows a loving trust in
Divine Providence
Prayer
Father,
open our hearts to living hope. We know that “everything works for the good of
those who love God”. Give us the grace not to get discouraged because of our
mistakes, or poor results, or loneliness, but to put our trust in you. We
abandon ourselves to you and leave everything in your hands, as we raise our
hearts to you. Mother Consolata, Mother of Hope, intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 5 - Missionaries full of Charity!
Love for God is not just a sentiment,
it is an act of the will. St Thomas
Prayer
Father,
we know that the mission is entrusted to the ones who love much. Lord, that I
may love you! Lord, that I may know you and your holy will! Grant me your love
and your Grace and it will be enough for me! You alone can bless and console
us. All for the greatest Glory of God! Mother Consolata, Mother of Holy Love,
intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 6 - Consecrated life – Poverty
What does consecrated life in the
religious state mean? It means a state of perfection – not that we are perfect
when we embrace this life but because we strive for perfection continually and
with total commitment. In other sacrifices we offer the Lord external things
but in religious life we give Him ourselves. And one gives to God not just what
one does but one’s freedom as well. The vows do not eliminate our freedom
rather they increase it. Never forget that our religious vocation is not a
contract but a vocation. The Lord does not like contracts. He is always
generous. We should make a vow to serve the missions even at the cost of our
lives. Jesus became poor to enrich the others. Essentially the vow of poverty
consists in the renunciation of the right to use or dispose at will of temporal
possessions without the proper permission. A spirit of poverty involves taking
care of everything. We must work like poor men.
Prayer
Lord,
you said “Blessed are the poor” to all. Bless those, signs of the Divine
Providence, who sustain the missionaries and the missionary work of the Church
in different ways. Mother Consolata, Mother of Poverty, intercede for us! Amen.
DAY 7 - Consecrated life – Chastity
Chaste for the Kingdom. We must empty
our hearts of all worldly affections and fill them with the love of God. Virginal
chastity is not a prerogative of the body but rather of the spirit. Chastity is
the virtue of the heart. Do not lose courage if you are tempted. Gold is
refined in the fire. If we pray, God will grant us the precious gift of
life-long chastity. Pray, pray well and pray always. Mortify the sense of
taste, mortify your eyes…
Prayer
God,
as we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, help us to be always vigilant and
pray. Mother most pure, mother most chaste, Virgin of virgins, pray for us! Amen.
DAY 8 - Consecrated life – Obedience
Obedience must become a habit for all
of us. We must obey our superior “as if he were the Lord Himself”. God does not
want us to obey for human motives. Universal –everyone without distinction-,
prompt –without hesitation and always ready-, heartfelt –from the heart and not
forced upon us-.
Pray
Father,
we want to be of the same mind as Jesus Christ, who although He was by nature
divine did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. He emptied
Himself and took the form of a servant. We know that you love a cheerful giver.
Bless us to be ready to search, to accept and to do your will. Amen.
DAY 9 - To Jesus through Mary
I would be failing in my duty and my
special affection for the blessed Virgin
if I did not take advantage of every possible occasion to speak about
her. Our Lady is the Queen of all missionaries. Devotion to Mary is a
necessity. If you have no devotion – and not just devotion but tender devotion
– to Our Lady you will never become saints. Anyone who wants to become a saint
without Our Lady is someone who wants to fly without wings. She –Our Lady
Consolata- is our very tender mother who loves us like the apple of her eye…
she has supported us both materially and spiritually. Undoubtedly everything we
accomplish is the work of Our Lady, the Consolata.
Prayer
(adapted from a prayer of Bd. Allamano to Our Lady, after which he says “I
believe Our Lady smiled at this)
“I
thank you, Mary, for your protection all these years. If I have done poorly you
will take care of it, you will repair the damage, and that will be the end of
it. Please accept everything as if I had performed perfectly. I do not want to
rationalize – I will accept things as they are; but since you have kept me here
you must be satisfied with my work”. Intercede for us all. Amen.
God Our Father, we thank you for having numbered Joseph
Allamano among the Blessed of the Church. He has made your fatherly tenderness
shine among us; he has honoured Mary Consolata as a mother full of love and an
inspiration of the Mission
you with confidence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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