MARCH
23
1861. Fr. Currius leaves Claret in Madrid and moves to El Escorial with different responsibilities.
1862. Claret participates in the episcopal consecration of Gregorio Martinez, Archbishop of Manila.
EXPANSION (1906-1922)
NEW FOUNDATIONS IN SPAIN AND PORTUGALMeanwhile in Spain the Congregation continued to spread: In Seville (1906), the work of the sleepless nights of a man who would shine so brightly in the origins of the Province of Betica, Fr. Antonio Maria Pueyo (future Bishop of Pasto, Colombia), Cartagena (1906), San Fernando (1908), Berga (1909), Beire y Baltar (1910), El Ferrol, Salvatierra, Jativa, etc.
In 1906 the Buen Suceso house was founded in Madrid, and soon after the church was built. There the activities of El Iris de Paz, La Buena Prensa [The Good Press], etc. were established. And from there they attended to the spiritual direction of the new diocesan Seminary of Madrid, inaugurated that year. At that time, the section dedicated to priests in El Iris de Paz grew to the point that they decided in 1906 to create a specific magazine for them: Ilustracion del Clero. Its acceptance, from the beginning, was great both in Spain and in Latin America. Later it became Mision Abierta [Open Mission].
In Portugal, however, the revolution in 1910 expelled the missionaries, who would return in 1920, this time to Freineda.
Nicolas Gonzalez, CMF
Apostolic Vicar of Fernando Poo (1860-1935)La Nuez de Arriba (Burgos, Spain). Ordained a priest in 1893, he spent a few months in Spain. In January of 1894 he arrived at the mission of Equatorial Guinea. Batete, Annobon and Elobey were the great fields of action of his youth. In 1912 he went as a delegate to the General Chapter of Vic, being named that same year Quasi-Provincial of Guinea. At the death of Fr. Coll in 1918 he was elected Apostolic Vicar. Following a motion of the General Chapter of 1922, he created the mission magazine El Misionero [The Missionary]. He raised more than seventy reductions (missions) with a chapel, a house for the priest, a school, etc. He created the Seminary of Santa Isabel, ordaining Fr. Joaquin Sialo and many others. He established the missions of Ebinayong and Nkuefulan. He moved the mission from Elobey to Kogo. He established the association of Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was able to see the Santa Isabel Cathedral finished. He cooperated in the Missionary Exhibitions of Birmingham, Cologne, Barcelona and Rome. He died in Santa Isabel.
The Means of Catechizing Adults
The Third Means. The most productive means I have used has been adult instruction. It has helped me rescue adults from an ignorance that is greater than one might imagine, even in the case of persons who hear sermons frequently. Preachers often take it for granted that their listeners are well instructed, while the fact is that instruction is precisely what most Catholics lack. The use of instruction has the further advantage of informing adults of their respective obligations and teaching them how to go about fulfilling them. (Aut 287)
During a parish mission, I gave these instructions every day except the first…the subject was always the Commandments of God’s Law, which I explained at greater or lesser length…For the occasion, I brought along a portfolio containing explanations of the commandments in general, as well as leaflets on individual commandments with topics related to each commandment. I used these materials on the basis of the number of days I had to preach in the town and also on the basis of particular local customs or vices that needed to be corrected and virtues that needed to be cultivated or fostered. For it was my practice, before I went to a town, to make inquiries in advance, and in view of what I was told or discovered on my own, I applied the proper remedy. (Aut 288)
FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION
- What place does adult Christian formation occupy in your apostolic life?
- Do you think that there are large gaps of formation in the people who frequent our centers of apostolate?
- Do you try to contextualize the content of your evangelization to the reality in which you find yourself?
- From your ministerial experience, what are the evangelizing challenges in working with adults?
- To answer any questions, a round table composed of believers and non-believers could be organized.
through a style of life and an apostolic action
that go to the very root of domination and oppression,
in the attempt to create and consolidate a truly inclusive world,
in which no-one is marginalized from human fraternity.”
(Josep M. Abella Batlle, Missionaries, p. 44)