Commemorative IssueCommemorative IssueCommemorative Issue

XAVERIAN MISSION XXXAVERIANAVERIANAVERIAN MMMISSIONISSIONISSION

Make of the World One Fami ly

Volume 59—No 4 ● November 2011

Website: xaviermissionaries.org ● Mission Blog: xaverianmissionaries.blogspot.com

Saint Guido Maria ConfortiSaint Guido Maria ConfortiSaint Guido Maria Conforti

Canonized October 23, 2011Canonized October 23, 2011Canonized October 23, 2011

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Honoring Saint Guido Maria Conforti

Xaverian Missionaries

Provincial Headquarters 12 Helene Court Wayne, NJ 07470-2813 Tel.: (973) 942-2975 Fax: (973) 942-5012 Email: missionmedia@xaviermissionaries.org

Xavier Knoll Mission Center

4500 Xavier Drive Franklin, WI 53132-9066 Tel.: (414) 421-0831 Fax: (414) 421-9108 Email: franklin@xaviermissionaries.org

Mission Center & Fatima Shrine

101 Summer Street P.O. Box 5857 Holliston, MA 01746-5857 Tel.: (508) 429-2144 Fax: (508) 429-4793 Email: holliston@xaviermissionaries.org

Xaverian Mission Newsletter

Official publication of the Xaverian Missionaries of the United States

Publisher Fr. Carl Chudy,SX

Editorial Team Fr. Tony Lalli, SX Fr. Joseph Matteucig, SX Fr. Alfredo Turco, SX

Editor

Mary Aktay

Printing AlphaGraphics, Totowa, NJ

Email & Web:

missionmedia@xaviermissionaries.org

www.xaviermissionaries.org

http:xaviermissionaries.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/catholicmissionaries

http://www.twitter.com/worldcatholic

Donation: $5.00 per year

Dear Xaverian Family, As you can see, this is a very special issue of our quarterly news-letter commemorating the canonization of our founder, Saint Guido Maria Conforti. His name says it all: Comforting Guide, for he has in deed and in spirit comforted and guided his flock of mis-sionaries to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus

Christ. A Bishop who went beyond the boundaries of his own dio-cese to embrace the whole world, Saint Guido continues this work to this day with Xaverians serving in nineteen countries world-wide. Our pilgrims to Italy for his canonization in Rome were comforted and guided by his spiritual presence as travelers became friends visiting his episcopates of Parma and Ravenna and touring the Motherhouse of the Xaverians. Saint Guido’s gentle hand directed our thoughts and prayers in Assisi and Padua, Florence and Venice as we participated in liturgies and shared meals and wonderful times together. We are called to continue his legacy and make his vision of the global mission of the Church and the world as one family become a reality by seeing Christ in all. May Saint Guido Maria Conforti continue to guide us in this effort and comfort us all the days of our lives.

In Christ, Father Carl Chudy, SX

Please Help the Global Mission of the Church. Contact:

Fr. Frank Grappoli, SX 12 Helene Court Wayne, NJ 07470 Tel: 973-942-2975

or visit: www.xaviermissionaries.org for online donations

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

E ven as a young seminarian, Saint Guido Conforti was captivated by Christ’s invitation to proclaim the good news to all nations. He cultivated in himself and his fellow seminarians a love of the mis-

sions and corresponded with missionaries who worked in China. He was greatly impressed with the life of St. Francis Xavier and his travels throughout Asia. The great missionary’s dream was to go on to China, but unfortunately he died on his way there on Shangchuan Island off the south-ern coast.

Guido Conforti wanted to be a missionary himself and follow in the foot-steps of Francis Xavier but health concerns prevented this. So he stayed in the diocesan seminary where he was ordained. An idea matured through dialogue with the bishop: “I cannot go myself; therefore I want to start a missionary congregation in the Church.” He established the St. Francis Xavier Society for the Foreign Missions also known as the Xaverian Mission-aries and he sent his first missionaries to China to continue the work of St. Francis Xavier. The Xaverians were there about fifty years until the Com-munist takeover in 1950.

Saint Guido was perhaps only slowed down by obedience. He was made Vicar General of the Diocese of Parma and then Pope Leo XIII made him Archbishop of Ravenna. Saint Guido begged not to have this responsibility because he was concerned about forming the new congregation. Pope Leo said, “Go where the Lord sends you. That’s your mission: Ravenna.” How-ever, because of health problems he had to renounce his position two years later. He returned to Parma hoping to devote himself totally to his new missionary foundation. But Pope Pius X made him Auxiliary Bishop of Parma with “the right to succeed” the Bishop. He was in tears in Rome before St. Pius X who told him that the Lord would provide for his obedi-ence and for his new missionary order. So, sooner than he thought, Saint Guido Maria Conforti became a shepherd of two flocks. He was Bishop of Parma and he had a connection with the Church’s global mission. This is what makes the Xaverians the spiritual sons of Bishop Conforti: that a bishop had this openness to the whole world. He took care of his diocese; and his concern was also for beyond the boundaries of the local Church.

Father Paolo Manna of the Pontifical Institute for the Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E) approached Bishop Conforti with an idea to mobilize priests and reawaken their awareness of having been ordained for the whole world. Together they founded the Missionary Union of the Clergy to create mis-sion awareness, the proper dimension of the Gospel. Bishop Conforti was glad to help promote this project and presented it to the Propagation of the Faith in Rome. Pope Benedict XV issued the great missionary Encycli-cal, "Maximum Illud” in 1919. In 1925 Pope Pius XI instituted the World Exposition on the Missions at the Vatican. This incorporated the idea that the entire Church is projected toward bringing the Gospel to the four cor-ners of the earth. Bishop Conforti was made the first president of the Missionary Union of the Clergy and he held the presidency until 1927, four years before he died.

Saint Guido Conforti’s legacy continues to create true mission awareness in the local Church. Christians are not limited to a certain location: we act locally but we think globally. We should be involved where we are but we should not lose sight of the true dimension of the Mission and the Mes-sage given by our Lord Jesus Christ: “Go into the whole world and pro-claim the Good News.”

Father Frank Grappoli, SX

Xaverian Missionaries in the World

Shepherd of Two Flocks

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Xaverian Missionaries in the World

You can help build churches

with a click!

Share in the Global Mission of the

Church and the legacy

of Saint Guido Conforti.

Visit: www.xaviermissionaries.org

We now accept PayPal and credit

card donations online.

A bell from the prestigious Pontifical Foundry in Agnone,

dedicated to Saint Guido Conforti, was placed in the

tower of the new church built in Bangladesh with the

help of benefactors and Italian American neighbors. The bell of

110 pounds is a gift from a benefactor, bestowed by a “strange

game of Providence.”

Under the relief of St. Conforti the inscription is written: "For

Saint Guido M. Conforti, Founder of the Xaverian Missionaries in

the year 2011 commemorating his canonization."

From Isernia, in the high Molise, the bell will ring for Christians of

Chuknagar. The new church is dedicated to Pronam Mary Dori-

droder Rani "Mary, Queen of the Poor."

Father Antonio Germano, SX

Chuknagar, Bangladesh

Ringing In the Canonization

Raising the bell of the new

church

Grateful worshipers gather for Mass in the

Church of Mary, Queen of the Poor.

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Xaverian Missionaries In the US

T he Berceto Foun-

dation was formed

in 1962 on the

occasion of a dinner held at

the home of attorney, Lino

Pietrantoni of Eastchester, NY

to host Fr. Bonardi who visited

the United states from July 31

through September of that

year. Father Bonardi was born

in Boston on February 2, 1881,

had returned to Italy in 1889

where he joined the Xaverian

Missionaries in 1898. He was a

close friend of and advisor to

Saint Guido Maria Conforti.

Father Bonardi was present for

the first profession of Fr. Tony

Lalli and at the blessing of the

Minor Seminary in Holliston by

Cardinal Richard Cushing on

September 9, 1962.

At this dinner Fr. Bonardi met

his brother Giuseppe who had

immigrated to this country

after Fr. Bonardi had gone to

China. The two brothers had

not seen each other since

1904. Mr. Pietrantoni, Esq.,

located Giuseppe Bonardi and

made it possible for the two

brothers to reunite.

Present at the dinner were a

number of descendants of peo-

ple who had lived in the

mountain villages outside of

Parma, They were called the

“Bercetesi.” Mr. Pietrantoni’s

family was from Pagazzano,

the same area of Parma where

Fr. Bonardi came from.

The friends present at the

reunion decided to form a

group to support the Xaverian

Missionaries. Some of these

same people had been con-

firmed by, or had remem-

brances of Saint Guido Con-

forti himself.

This group of friends has held

a banquet annually to benefit

the Xaverians from 1963 to

the present. They also ran

fund raising activities to ben-

efit the Casa del Riposo of

Berceto. Known as the

“Friends of the Xaverian Mis-

sionary Fathers, and later as

the Bercetesi Club. With all

the support they have given

the Xaverians, these friends

might even be called

“family.”

We wish to express our sin-

cere gratitude to our devoted

“Berceto family.” We cherish

your commitment to the Xa-

verian Missionaries.

Father Bob Maloney, SX

Foundation in Faith...

Elsa and Hugo Bacchioni, members of the Berceto Foundation were confirmed by Saint

Guido Conforti in 1930.

Fr. Frank Grappoli, SX speaks at the

Berceto Gala.

Foundation Members

6 Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011 Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Pilgrimage for

the proclamation of a Saint

From top left: Fr. Alfiero Ceresoli, SX, presents relics of St. Guido with miracle recipient, little Thiago Joào, and his mother. Xaverians from all over the world join the Mass of the People in the Cathedral of the Diocese of Parma. Chinese worshipers pray during the Mass in St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Fr. Alfredo Turco SX (in white) guides pilgrims in the Shrine of St. Guido Conforti at the Motherhouse in Parma. Pilgrims participate at Mass in the Cathedral in Ravenna.

7 Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011 Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Pilgrimage for

the proclamation of a Saint

From top right: His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, blesses 50,000 pilgrims at the canonization Mass. Fr. Carl Chudy, SX reads the First Reading at the Mass of the canonization. New Xaverians profess their final vows during the international liturgy in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Xaverian Missionaries surround the altar at the Mass of the People in Parma. Pilgrims pray under the crucifix which inspired St. Guido Conforti.

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

The Spirituality of Saint Guido Maria Conforti

G uido Conforti, as a child and throughout

his lifetime, often queried about him-

self with the Lord. There was a large crucifix

in a chapel along his way to school, where he

would often visit. In later life, his self-

questioning and his visits to the Crucified

Christ would almost merge together and pro-

vide answers to his queries about the plight of

peoples of his day. These were a profound

concern to his mind and heart and absorbed

his priestly and pastoral attention throughout

his life. The stark crucifix, which he visited,

represented the life of Christ, His death, and

the measure of His love for all—and it beck-

oned: “come, see, reach out, respond”—

“Love one another.”

In Omnibus Christus! “Christ In All!” was his

motto when he was called to be Archbishop of

Ravenna. Caritas Christi urget nos! “The love

of Christ impels us!” was the calling card

which he passed to his Xaverian family.

The Crucifix, before which he paused, gazed

and wondered, “seemed to call him by name”

and “attract his attention.” Christ was central

to his life. Christ gave him his vocational call.

Christ invited him and enabled him to contem-

plate his lifetime as he worked in the semi-

nary of Parma, and when Christ was heard as

a constant cry from the “fields afar” in distant

China.

Our times are challenging and varied. The

world is one and diverse. Our points of refer-

ence are varied and changing. The Founder’s

statement: “He told me so many things.” pro-

vides us with fundamental and basic insights.

The Lord had told him many things and contin-

ued to guide his life: For him, Christ was ever

and always in charge, until the Lord called

him home in 1931.

Caritas Christi remains a refrain, a challenge.

It helps us to better understand who we are,

to whom we have been sent, and what truths have been imparted anew to enable us to be-

come a single family of Xaverians the world over and to share our lives, love, gifts to those

who also look to the Crucifix and listen.

Father Bob Maloney, SX

I Looked at Him. He Looked at Me. It Seemed that He Told Me

So Many Things!

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

The Spirituality of Saint Guido Maria Conforti

The Eucharist Calls Us to Make of Humanity a Single Family

F or Conforti,

participation in

the Eucharistic banquet

was the most authentic

motive for looking upon

humanity as a family

made up of brothers and

sisters, all with the same

dignity, independently of

race, religion and social

condition:

“At the Eucharistic ban-

quet we should experi-

ence more intensely than

usual the sentiment of

the universal brother-

hood, which is an indis-

pensable duty for every

Christian; we should also

experience a profound

sadness when we think of

the many brothers and

sisters who do not have

the good fortune to par-

ticipate with

us at the

table of the

Angels, and

to taste the

same de-

lights as we

do…

Christ instituted the Eu-

charist to bring about an

intimate union with him

and between us and our

brothers and sisters. Just

as the wine is pressed

from many grapes, and

the bread is made up of

many types of wheat, so

too we, after taking part

in the divine mysteries,

form one single body,

which is made up of dif-

ferent members, but who

are all connected by very

close bonds. It is in this

sacrament that all sit down

at the same table and feel

that they are truly brothers.

The Christian life, nourished

and strengthened by the

Eucharist, is a light that

must not be restricted to

the family. It is a powerful

force that looks for a wider

field: from the family it

must reach out to society,

to assert itself there and to

conquer and sanctify socie-

ty. This life is light … there-

fore it must shine in the

holiness of our exam-

ple.” (Palermo, 6 Sep-

tember 1924).

Father Guglielmo

Camera, SX

Christ instituted the

Eucharist to bring about

an intimate union with

him and between us and

our brothers and sisters.

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Saint Guido’s Kids’ Korner

How the Xaverians Came to Be Written by Oliviero Ferro,

Drawings by Fabrizio Zugani

Translated by Mattia Sallemi

Can you tell us about the special thing that happened to

Guido Conforti, Angelica?

There he would stop to pray in front of a big

crucifix

When Guido was a boy he went to the Church of Peace and Glory before school each day.

When He finished elementary school, Guido told his dad that he

wanted to be a priest.

His dad got angry… “I need you to take care of our fields!”

But his father had a big heart and he let him go. So Guido

started his new life.

In the seminary Guido studied and worked hard. But during the winter he suffered from

the cold.

One day a friend gave him a book about Saint Francis Xavier.

I want to be a missionary like

him!

When he was 18 years-old he became very sick. He fainted and fell to the ground.

Doctors didn’t know what was wrong. The bishop said,

But the Blessed Mother helped him to recover. So at 23 years old, on September 22, 1888 he

became Father Guido Conforti. “You are ill! I can’t

ordain you a priest!”

I was looking at the crucifix and He was looking at me. He seemed to say many things. It’s because of Him that I

have my vocation.

A Saint For a Friend!

Word Search Puzzle

Find the following hidden words: GUIDO, CONFORTI, SAINT, BISHOP, PARMA,

CHINA, XAVERIAN, MISSIONARIES, FRANCIS, XAVIER, CANONIZED, ITALY

D E S S P O E H C X F A D O I

S A N S A I N T N A S E A V W

E A V A M I M E G V Z D A Y M

L N C O N F O R T I O S L N D

P X A V E R I A N E P A R M A

A K A G U I D O H R T V I O U

M I S S I O N A R I E S R R T

C C H I N A I A E E M E E S E

F R A N C I S H Q R Z Y L W H

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011

Saint Guido’s Kids’ Korner

Andre, Do you know how the Xaverians got their name?

After he read the life of Saint Francis Xavier, Guido wanted to go to China. Guido prayed in front of the crucifix:

“Jesus, what do you want me to do?”

But Bishop Francesco Magagni needed him in Diocese of Parma and He appointed him Vicar General.

But I’m only 30 years old!.

I know you are young but I need your help.

Sure!

I won’t lose heart, because this is God’s will. It’s a big sacrifice but I trust Jesus, who

suffered for all people.

So Guido wrote to Rome to the Cardinal in charge of missions. So Saint Guido started the Congregation of Xaverian Missionaries in 1895.

Conforti’s missionaries are called Xaverians because their model is Saint Francis Xavier, the great missionary to Asia.

Father Guido welcomed his first missionaries to his house in Parma; on the wall he wrote the words of Saint Paul: “The Love of Christ Impels Us.”

Dear Cardinal,

I have always had the desire

to go to the missions. Since

I can’t go I want to found a

congregation of missionar-

ies. I’ll call it the Saint

Francis Xavier Foreign

Mission Society.

Parma, March 9th

1894 Rome, April 24th 1894

Dear Fr. Conforti, I applaud your desire and I encourage you to make your dream a permanent reality.

This house is like an eagles’ nest: from here they will fly all around the world to let people know of the love of God.

Andre, do you remember the exact date they started?

On December 3, 1895 the new institute was inaugurated. The bishop was there, and it was put under the protection of Saint Francis Xavier. Fourteen men became Xaverians.

It’s true: but then more young men came and on April 24, 1900 new headquarters were established in Campo di Marte, the Xaverians’ current “Mother house.”

Help the Xaverian Missionaries Get to China

Start at the Mother house in Parma.

End in

China.

The Xaverian Missionaries serve in:

Bangladesh

Indonesia

Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011 XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES

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Wayne, NJ 07470-2813

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Wayne, NJ 07470

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A new HD DVD on the life of the founder has been produced with the

help of Cadge Productions. You can see it on our website and

YouTube and Odyssey Networks. Call our Wayne office to obtain a

copy. 973-942-2975

What will your life story be? Explore a vocation

with the Xaverian Missionaries.

Contact: Father Rocco Puopolo, SX

frrocco@xaverimissionaries.org

Father Adolph Menéndez, SX

noblewolf@xaviermissionaries.org

508-429-2144