Consolata Missionaries (The)Founder : Blessed Giuseppe Allamano A religious congregation of priests, brothers and sisters dedicated for life to missions abroad, based in Turin (Italy) where they were founded by a diocesan priest Fr Giuseppe Allamano on January 29, 1901. | 1. | The birth of the Consolata Missionaries.
The founder of the Consolata Missionaries, Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, was born at Castelnuovo d'Asti (near Turin) on 21st January 1851. Castelnuovo was the birth place of great saints: St Giuseppe Cafasso and Don Bosco are two outstanding ones. Allamano ’s mother was a sister of St Cafasso, whom Allamano called the exemplary uncle. Allamano would later be called “a perfect copy of his great predecessor and uncle”. As a young boy, Allamano had Don Bosco as his confessor.
| 1a. | In 1866, feeling a call to the priesthood, he entered the diocesan seminary, where he prepared himself with great dedication and intensity, in order to become not only a good priest, but a holy one. He developed a style of life, centered on the imitation of Christ that would be the backbone of his entire priestly life and growth in holiness. From his first year in the seminary the frailty of his physical health became apparent as well, a condition that would last throughout his life and bring him several times to death’s door.
| | 1b. | Ordained a priest on 20th September 1873, he would have liked to devote himself to pastoral ministry, but his Archbishop appointed him first as assistant to the Rector and then as spiritual director in the major seminary. In this task, as well as in his later work with newly-ordained priests, he showed to be endowed with such excellent qualities as to be regarded a true “model for education of the clergy”. |
| 2.
| Rector of the Consolata Shrine in Turin (October 1880) turning point in Allamano’s life, was his appointment as Rector of the main Marian Shrine of the diocese of Turin, the Consolata Shrine.
The picture of Our Lady of Consolata (Italian for “consoled” or “consolation”) of Byzantine style, representing the Blessed Virgin Mary sitting with the little Jesus on her lap, is venerated since ancient times in the city of Turin (Italy).
A very ancient tradition of an icon of the Consolata, hidden somewhere in the city of Turin, had been kept alive among the faithful of the city for many centuries.
In 1104, John Ravais, a blind man from Briançon, France, in a dream had a vision: buried under the ruins of an old church, he saw a painting of Our Lady. It was revealed to him that the site was in Turin, and that through him Our Blessed Lady would again be honored in that place. She also promised him that his sight would be restored.
He journeyed to Turin as the vision directed. The excavation works began at the site: upon the blind man's urgings the crowds brought picks and shovels and uncovered first the remains of an old chapel and then the undamaged painting of Our Lady, the Consolata icon! It was June 20, 1104. Deeply moved by the miracle of the recovery of the icon and the healing of the blind man, which had occurred, the citizens of Turin rebuilt the little chapel into a large Shrine where they have continued, through the centuries, to venerate Our Lady Consolata. The devotion to the “Consolata” was given added impetus when Pope Leo XIII, consenting to many requests, established a proper Mass and Office of the Consolata, to be celebrated in the Diocese of Turin each year on June the 20th. | 3.
| On 8th May, 1902, the first four missionaries, two priests and two lay-brothers, left for Kenya, soon to be followed by others. They were helped by the Vincentian Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who worked side by side with them. Later on, urged by Pope St. Pius the X, on 29th January, 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
He devoted his best care and attention to his missionaries, through personal contacts, letters, and formation meetings. Convinced that mission deserved the best, he aimed at quality rather than quantity. He wanted them to be well-trained evangelizers, “outstanding saints”, zealous to the point of sacrificing their life. For over twenty years, every Sunday he talked to his communities on liturgy, spiritual life, vocation, mission, the characteristic spirit of the Institute. This constant and gradual formation was particularly effective because his teaching was practical and solid, his convictions evident, his love and trust toward God and his beloved Consolata unbounded. God’s word, Eucharist, Liturgy, Marian devotion, love for the Church, zeal for the salvation of people, are the foundations of a spirituality he lived and transmitted to his sons and daughters.
3a.
| Fr. Allamano consecrated to the missions the rest of his life even though he carried on his usual ministry as a priest of the diocese of Turin. In his opinion, in fact, every priest, all Christians, each local Church, ought to be open to the missions. To make people sensitive to this essential and constitutive dimension of the Church, in 1912 he promoted the initiative of sending a petition to the Pope in order to obtain from him an official document on mission cooperation. It was the seed, which in time brought about the establishment of “Mission Sunday”. The last words that came from his lips, “Amen” and ‘Ave Maria” witness to what had been his life-long aspiration: to seek “God alone and his holy will”, to do “everything for Jesus, nothing without Mary”. This yearning of his was perfectly fulfilled when he finally met his Lord on 16th February 1926. | 3b.
| His Beatification seals the acknowledgement rendered to him, both in life and in death, by those who said he was “the Saint of the Consolata”, ‘a prudent father and educator of the clergy, a priest for the world”. |
| 4.
| Allamano’s Missionary Spirituality.
The missionary teachings of Blessed Allamano can be found in the Constitutions he wrote for the Consolata Missionary Institute, in the four volumes of conferences to his missionaries and in the many letters he wrote to his missionaries. The main characteristics of his spirituality are the following:
4a.
| “God alone”: A tender love for God who manifests Himself in creation and in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.
| 4b.
| “Holiness”: Allamano's goal in life was to do only God's will in everything.
| 4c.
| “Our Lady Consolata”: The Mother of Jesus is the model of a person who has experienced God’s tender love and responded in total commitment. Mary Consolata becomes the model and companion of this person’s life, who will feels inspired by her to spread God's consolation to the whole world.
| 4d.
| “The Missions”: Everyone should know about the love God revealed in Jesus. Allamano was not satisfied with sharing God's consolation in Turin only, he felt compelled to share it with those who still had not received the Gospel. No sacrifice would stop him until he established a missionary community for this purpose.
| 4e.
| “Family spirit”: Only a community that lives as a family can share God’s consolation with other people. Joseph Allamano experienced this family spirit first in his friendship of 42 years with James Camisassa, his co-worker in his every project.
| 4f.
| The Ten Commandments of Joseph Allamano.
(i)
| Rise above the narrow ideas of your environment
| (ii)
| Love a religion which, besides promising you happiness in the afterlife, makes you happier in this world too
| (iii)
| Choose Meekness as a way of transformation
| (iv)
| Aim at the transformation of the environment, and not only of the human beings
| (v)
| Be strong courageous and enthusiastic in your ministry
| (vi)
| Rather than channels, be pools of spiritual gifts; rather than pools, be channels of material gifts | (vii)
| Do well your good deeds, without a fuss
| (viii)
| Search only for God and his holy will
| (ix) | Set holiness as your priority
| (x)
| Don't ever say, it is not my turn
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