I've Never Heard of the Passionists:
Questions In Uncovering
The Passionist Past.
by Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Province Historian
No longer can we presume that we Passionists know our own story. A new generation of United States Passionists have become members without ever visiting Dunkirk, New York. The Kremlin (the endearing name given to the provincial wing of St. Michael's Union City) or St. Gabriel's Retreat House in Brighton, Massachusetts evoke no strong memories. To them 425 G Salisbury Street will mean nothing at all.
Passionist history in the United States has always maintained a proper respect for our founder St. Paul of the Cross. Compelled To Speak (Newman Press, 1967) by Cassian Yuhaus, C.P. provided a good basic foundation of our nineteenth century period. Together, recent work by Roger Mercurio, C.P. The Passionists (Glazier/Liturgical Press, 1992), Caspar Caulfield, C.P. Only A Beginning (Passionist Press, 1990) and my own "Life, Death and Memory: Three Passionists In Hunan, China and The Shaping of An American Mission Perspective in the 1920s." (Georgetown, Ph.D., 1992) provide us an international, domestic and missionary perspective. Even with these works, and others, we find ourselves at a critical moment in Passionist history.
Quite possibly, the statement "I've Never Heard of the Passionists" can be made by Passionists and non-Passionists. As North American Passionists, we continue to preach the Gospel and minister. Yet we suffer from historical amnesia. We are at a point where we are in danger of losing our identity and memory as Passionists. We will not know our past members, foundations, or legacy.
Creation of a Passionist Historical Commission does not represent panic. Rather, it acknowledges that since 1852 our Congregation has shared in domestic and overseas ministries. It is because of our longevity in ministry that historians are going to ask how have we served the church of the nineteenth century? What impact has the Passionist retreat movement had in the United States? Over time, how have the Passionists preached the message of the passion?
Feed