The Importance of Passionist History for a Contemporary Understanding of Our Congregation
by Fr. Clement Pavlick, C.P.
With this issue of the Passionist Heritage Newsletter, we welcome Fr. Clement Pavlick, C.P., to the Historical Commission of St. Paul of the Cross Province.
Fr. Clement's publications on the Pittsburgh foundation, the retreat movement and many other ministries and individuals show the extent of his researches and his love for the Congregation and the people of the Church. His style has been able to provide historical data in the context of an interesting Passionist story. He has made it possible for the average person to learn about the diverse Passionist ministries and all the Passionist personalities.
The following article was written by Fr. Clement. It is a thoughtful and inspiring reflection, and we thank Fr. Clement for sharing his thoughts with us. Passionist history is a responsibility for the members of the Congregation and all those affiliated with it.
Morgan P. Hanlon, C.P., Co-Editor
People and events usually go together, and they tell a story. The retelling of that story in writing or speech, chronologically, constitutes history. How important is Passionist history for a contemporary understanding of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ?
In the Passionist story, which needs faithful and constant retelling, there are events that are compelling and significant. And there are persons associated with those events who have helped to clarify and shape our identity and destiny. We need to know something about them.
The most important event in our history was the founding of our Passionist Congregation, which was but the beginning of many subsequent events that have taken place during the two hundred seventy-five year history of our institute.
We believe it was the Lord Himself who instituted this marvelous work in His Church in 1720—the Passionist Congregation. And for its foundation He provided a charismatic leader, mystic and saint: Paul of the Cross. Paul, his companions and their successors became God's chosen instruments for keeping alive the paschal mystery, with its special emphasis on the Passion of Jesus. "Lift high the cross!" became the slogan of the spiritual sons and daughters of Paul of the Cross as they marched down the highways and byways of many lands—from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the present time when we stand on the threshold of the third millennium of the Christian era.
The cross of Christ whose ignominies and glories we Passionists proclaim stands at the crossroads of history—at the very center of history—for all time. For that reason the cross is as meaningful for the world today as it was when Jesus hung upon it for the salvation of humankind and when Paul Daneo raised it high above the heads of the multitudes to whom he preached so eloquently and powerfully in the 18th century.
Our constitution states:
We Passionists make the Paschal Mystery the center of our lives. This entails a loving commitment to follow Jesus Crucified, and a generous resolve to proclaim His Passion and death with faith and love. His Passion and death are no mere historical events. They are ever-present realities to people in the world today, "crucified" as they are by injustice, by the lack of deep respect for human life, and by a hungry yearning for peace, truth, and the fullness of human existence. Our vocation as Passionists prompts us to familiarize ourselves with the Passion of Christ, both in history and in the lives of people today, for the Passion of Christ and the sufferings of His Mystical Body form one mystery of salvation. (Constitutions, no. 65, pp. 140-141)
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