The Church has been richly blessed with a variety of charisms and spiritualities. These unique paths for living the Christian vocation are the fruit of much prayer and discernment, often concrete responses to the signs of the times, and often have heroic saintly founders. Contemplatives like Benedictines and Carmelites epitomize a life of prayer for the life of the world. Mendicants like Dominicans and Franciscans emphasize poverty and preaching. Missionaries like Jesuits or Vincentians specialize in various apostolic works like teaching or service to the poor.
There is also a unique spirituality in the Church that has gleaned from the wisdom of such major traditions and provides a means to live Christ and give Christ in our modern media age. This is the Pauline charism, which, according to the founder Blessed James Alberione, “aspires to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, in the spirit of Saint Paul, under the gaze of Mary Queen of the Apostles.”
Founder
A strong faith and industrious character came to Blessed James Alberione from his Italian farming family and provided the backbone for his legendary media apostleship. It also prepared him to establish numerous religious communities and gave him a zeal for souls.
After he initially expressed a desire to become a priest when in first grade, Alberione spent the rest of his childhood preparing for that goal. Despite having once been asked to leave seminary, Alberione’s vocation was confirmed and emboldened during an all-night Eucharistic vigil on New Year’s Eve, 1900, when Alberione heard a call to reinvigorate the Church’s mission in the new century, with an eye to the ever-developing field of media. “Particular enlightenment came from the Host,” Alberione later wrote of his experience that New Year’s Eve, “and a greater understanding of that invitation of Jesus, ‘venite ad me omnes’ [‘Come to me, all of you’ (Mt 11:28)].” This lies at the heart of Pauline spirituality.
After his ordination to the priesthood in 1907, Alberione’s first years were spent in parish work and then as a spiritual director at the seminary at Alba, Italy. Fueled by a deep interior life, Alberione was filled with the zeal of the apostle St. Paul, who was the namesake, patron and intercessor of the apostolates he founded. His efforts began in 1914 with the foundation of the Society of St. Paul, a religious community for men. The following year, with the help of now Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo, he established the Daughters of St. Paul for women. In total, over the course of his 64 years of priesthood, Alberione established five religious institutes, several other secular institutes for diocesan priests and laity alike, and an association for lay cooperators.
Together, all the foundations begun by Alberione constitute what’s known as the Pauline Family, the spirituality of which is built upon Alberione’s vision. “There is a strong family bond among us because we were all born from the Tabernacle,” he described. “We all share the same spirit — namely, to live Jesus Christ and serve the Church.” Also according to the “media apostle,” “the means of evangelization are varied but the method is one: to give Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life.” This ministry of evangelization is accomplished primarily through the media, in all its forms.
Like many founders, Alberione encountered many obstacles and difficulties and experienced much suffering as he established the various institutions of the Pauline Family. In boldness and humility, facing the challenges that lay before his new religious family, Alberione made a pact with God, known as the Secret of Success. It was succinct and specific in its request. Knowing the vast work that lay before the apostolate, Alberione asked God to multiply their work, in promise for his religious family’s compliance with God’s will in pursuit of holiness. In later explaining this unique approach to total trust in God’s providence, Alberione once said, “The greatest offense that God receives from our House is lack of trust in Him. He shows that it is He who does all things; we are stupid not to trust Him.”
“There is a strong family bond among us because we were all born from the Tabernacle. We all share the same spirit — namely, to live Jesus Christ and serve the Church.”
Blessed James Alberione
Never really in robust health, Alberione experienced a spiritual darkness amid suffering related to tuberculosis. Thinking he would die, but later miraculously recovering, Alberione credited his healing to St. Paul. From this time on Alberione insisted Paulines regard St. Paul as their founder, not himself.
Alberione was indefatigable in his pursuit of finding new, effective means of bringing Christ to the citizens of the world. He wanted to reach everyone. He saw the emerging medium of mass communications and media as the perfect means to do so. And a necessary one, considering all the evil also brought into the world through the media. Alberione wanted Paulines to press on, like St. Paul, in bringing Christ to society and the culture throughout the world. “For the Pauline,” Alberione once said, “there are no races. Only people created for heaven and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.”
Hearts and minds were increasingly being formed through the media, and Alberione knew that the Church needed to be at the forefront. “We are not called to save the people of two centuries ago, who had no radio, television or cinema,” Alberione told Paulines. From his early beginnings as editor of the Catholic newspaper in his home diocese, to the publication of what was at one time the largest Catholic periodical in the world, to his innovative and pioneering film productions, Alberione was truly a media apostle. And he was always looking ahead, too, even prophesying the internet in the 1960s, hypothesizing newspapers would one day come through telephone wires.
Alberione’s final years remained active, and, like St. Paul, he traveled the world many times in service to the spread of the Gospel and to build up the communities he established.
“We are not called to save the people of two centuries ago, who had no radio, television or cinema.”
Blessed James Alberione
But Alberione’s active life was only possible and fruitful because of his intense prayer life, spending around six hours in prayer each day. His time for mission seemed multiplied and expeditious because he gave Christ his time first. He is a model for what it means to bring the fruits of prayer and contemplation to bear fruit in the active life of working, praying and suffering.
Increased physical suffering plagued his last years, aggravated by a deformation of the spine that caused severe pain most of his life and often prevented him from finding physical comfort. Other sufferings of the heart, similar to those known by other religious founders, weighed on him as well. Just before his death on Nov. 26, 1971, Alberione received a visit from Pope St. Paul VI, who held Alberione in high esteem. Paul VI once heralded him as “humble, silent, tireless, always vigilant, ever recollected in his thoughts, which run from prayer to action; always intent on scrutinizing the ‘signs of the times,’ that is, the most creative ways to reach souls.” Alberione was beatified in 2003 by Pope St. John Paul II, who called him “the first apostle of the new evangelization.”
Pauline Family
In the Pauline Family founded by Blessed James Alberione, there are 10 branches: five religious congregations, four secular institutes and an association of lay cooperators. His approach in establishing a family recognized the diverse gifts and talents of the Body of Christ, a diversity needed for effective evangelization and a model of the collaboration and teamwork also needed in such an endeavor.
The Society of St. Paul and the Daughters of St. Paul, founded in 1914 and 1915, respectively, are active contemplatives, committed to evangelization through modern means of communication. The Pious Disciples of the Divine Master were founded in 1924 as a contemplative branch of the family tree, dedicated to Eucharistic adoration and an apostolate of liturgical artistry. The Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, were established by Alberione in 1938 for work in parochial ministry and catechesis. The Sisters of Mary Queen of the Apostles were founded in 1959 for assisting others in vocational discernment.
The four secular institutes are: The Institute of Jesus Priest, for diocesan priests and bishops; the Institute of Gabriel the Archangel for single men; the Institute of Our Lady’s Annunciation for single women; and the Institute of the Holy Family for married and widowed men and women.
The Association of Pauline Cooperators was founded by Alberione in 1918 as an integral part of the Pauline Family. He was inspired by St. Paul’s collaboration with various constituencies, especially laity, in his apostolic ministry. Cooperators work to proclaim the Gospel according to their state in life, according to the spirit of the Pauline charism and spirituality, for God’s glory and for the sanctification of all.
Pauline devotional life
Alberione fostered a robust devotional life in Pauline spirituality, albeit clear that there are no “unusual devotions, or excessive formalities,” aside from “the aim is to live in Christ the Master and in the Church.” Alberione composed the book of Prayers of the Pauline Family, which is a treasury of resources to assist Paulines in spiritual practice and growth, including the daily spiritual program of daily examen and meditation, prayers connected to reception of Holy Communion and celebration of Mass, as well as a specific method for making a daily Eucharistic visit. There are prayers of intercession and offering for the media and media professionals, and prayers of reparation for bad media and the souls it ruins.
The days of the first week of each month are dedicated to particular devotions: the Souls in Purgatory; St. Joseph; Guardian Angels; the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the Queen of the Apostles; Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life; and St. Paul. Alberione’s broad study of Scripture and the early Church especially informed and shaped the last three, the principal devotions of the Pauline Family.
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In addition to Blessed James Alberione’s active canonization cause, which continues after his 2003 beatification, there currently are six other active canonization causes promoted by the Pauline Family. Blessed Timothy Giaccardo (1896-1948), the first priest of the Society of St. Paul and close collaborator of Alberione, was the first member of the Pauline Family to be beatified, in 1989. Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo (1894-1964), co-foundress of the Daughters of St. Paul, was declared venerable in 1991. At her deathbed, Alberione remarked to her spiritual daughters, “You will have other superior generals, but not another mother.” Venerable Canon Francesco Chiesa (1874-1946), Alberione’s teacher and spiritual director and early supporter of the Pauline Family, was declared venerable in 1987. Venerable Maggiorino Vigolungo (1904-18), one-time altar boy and spiritual directee of Alberione who longed to join the Paulines before his death at age 14 from meningitis, was declared venerable in 1988. Venerable Brother Andrew Borello (1916-48), attracted to the Pauline Family after reading the story of Maggiorino Vigolungo, was declared venerable in 1990. Venerable Mother Scholastica Rivata (1897-1987), first Pious Disciples of the Divine Master sister, was declared venerable in 2013. |
Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life
Invoking Christ as Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life was an all-encompassing title for Alberione. Alberione believed that Jesus’s own self description in John 14:6 — “I am the way and the truth and the life” — was the fullest description of who Jesus is, as well as where all devotions to Christ converge. Alberione also understood it as relative to the invitation he heard from the tabernacle in 1900 — “come to me all of you” (cf. Mt 11:28) — because we must bring to Christ all of our humanity so that Christ may dwell in us fully. The whole human person is a composite of mind, will and heart. Alberione understood each of these constitutive elements of the human person as relating to Way, Truth and Life.
This correspondence means Jesus is the truth for our mind, the way for our will and the life for our heart. This method of understanding and relating to Christ means that the whole Christ can come to and be received by the whole human person who develops, matures and finds his or her truest meaning in union with him. Alberione said this “cart” of giving everything to Christ and for Christ has the wheels of “sanctity, study, apostolate and poverty.”
“Evangelization with the instruments of social communication,” Alberione said, “must be carried out by persons who have conformed their entire existence to Christ, who have modeled their lives completely on Him, who are living witnesses to Him, who have made Him the whole meaning of their lives.” In art, Jesus Master is depicted raising his right hand in blessing and holding the open gospels on his left, with “I am the Way, Truth and Life” written on the pages.
Amid the serious health difficulties Alberione experienced in 1923, he had a dream in which Jesus Master appeared pointing to the tabernacle, and said: “Do not fear, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Live with a penitent heart.”
Alberione found the devotion to Jesus Master in the writings and life of Paul, who came to know Jesus by his experience on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:1-19). Paul’s bond with Christ was intensely real, as Paul himself wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:19-20).
“Evangelization with the instruments of social communication must be carried out by persons who have conformed their entire existence to Christ, who have modeled their lives completely on Him, who are living witnesses to Him, who have made Him the whole meaning of their lives.”
Blessed James Alberione
Living completely in and for Christ is what Paul exhorts Christians to do. Like Paul, then, we can live as witnesses of Jesus Master by offering all of ourselves, as Paul put it, “as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1). This is Christification; this is Christ living in us. This is the heart of Pauline spirituality.
Mary, Queen of the Apostles
Most religious families tend to have a special and unique devotion to the Blessed Mother. Alberione regularly referred to Mary as Mother, Teacher and Queen. Alberione retrieved from the early Church one of the first titles given to Mary — Queen of Apostles — and fostered devotion to Mary under that title in the Pauline family. As the first of the apostles, Mary is Queen of Apostles, the first one through whom the world was introduced to Jesus. “The world needs Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life. [Mary] gives him through apostles and their apostolates. She raises them up, trains them, assists them, and crowns them with good results and glory in heaven,” Alberione wrote.
Mary also accompanied the apostles with motherly care and inspiration, as an example and confidante. In her person, Mary reveals Jesus to us and announces his saving mission to us all. “Mary is the one chosen by God to give Jesus Christ to the world,” Alberione wrote; “in a certain measure, we too participate in her apostolate.”
In artistic depictions, Alberione said that Mary’s presentation of Christ, the way she holds him up and presents him to the world, mirrors how the Eucharist is held up and presented to us in holy Communion.
St. Paul
“Be St. Paul living today,” Alberione charged members of the Pauline Family. For most Catholics, while we hear from Paul regularly at Sunday Mass, our attention to him, regrettably, rarely goes beyond that. Alberione, though, saw everything in Paul. He saw such depth in Paul, he saw Christ in Paul. “Saint Paul is possessed by one idea: Jesus Christ,” Alberione wrote. “He has one ideal that he strives after with all his might: Jesus Christ. He has one passionate love that is the wellspring for his entire life: Jesus Christ.”
Alberione saw Christ in Paul’s heart, in his character, in his relationships, in his teachings, in his zeal for the souls of all. Alberione saw Paul as the saint of universality, the saint every apostle could draw from. Alberione said that “the life of the Pauline Family comes from the Eucharist. But it is St. Paul who communicates it.” Alberione wasn’t a scriptural exegete, he wasn’t a scholarly researcher. He was attentive and open to the Spirit; he was like you and me — searching for the meaning of life, looking for the means to live as we ought. In Paul, Alberione found the synthesis of Christian living that leads to apostleship and holiness. He saw Paul as the one who lived and expressed the Faith in a most complete way.
Word and Eucharist
If we want to be like Paul, Alberione showed that we have to live and pray like Paul. In his conversion, Paul experienced Christ in a most profound way. That’s why Eucharistic adoration is key to Pauline life; Paul heard Christ speak to him, so every word of the Gospel is food for the Paulines. But in the formative years of Alberione’s priesthood, it was not the norm for priests to study Scripture, nor were the faithful regularly reading from the Bible or receiving holy Communion. He knew these to be indispensable keys to holiness all Catholics needed in their daily lives.
To live like Paul means that we allow Christ to live in us; that he is reproduced in us. Paul’s readers and hearers read and hear Christ in Paul, and so it should be with us. To be Paul today, we must think, work, pray and sanctify ourselves like Paul. But it doesn’t stop there. We must have the same zeal and missionary commitment as Paul. Christ lives in us to become all to all.
To nourish us in this dual quest — to live like Paul, for Christ to live in us and to communicate Christ with all the world — Alberione bequeathed to the Church the Pauline spirituality.
The spirituality Alberione was inspired to develop situates Eucharistic adoration as a constitutive element of each day. He described this time as “an audience or school where the disciple engages with the Divine Master,” insisting it be called “the visit” instead of a holy hour, to illustrate its intimate character. The Eucharist contains the grace we need to live Christ and give Christ. The Eucharist is our roadmap to virtue, the blueprint for holiness. The Eucharist is the key to open up the tabernacle of our hearts and let Christ live in the world. “Everything comes from the tabernacle; without the tabernacle there is nothing,” Alberione said.
Alberione’s love for Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist was complemented by his love for Scripture, in which Christ is also really present to the Church. Scripture was at the heart of Alberione’s own life and work, and he was zealous in his goal to get the Bible in every home, in their own languages. “Do not let a day go by without reading Sacred Scripture because that would be a lost day,” Alberione said.
Alberione knew that growth in holiness meant we must read, meditate on and imitate Scripture daily. He inaugurated carrying the Gospels in Eucharistic processions and emphasized the importance of venerating the Word of God in our churches and homes. When Alberione died, a copy of the Bible was placed in the casket under his head, an ode to the fact that he had overseen the distribution of more than 22 million Bibles during his ministry.
