From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On The Royal Road of the Holy Cross (VII)   
      
   You are greatly mistaken if you look for anything save to endure   
   trials, for all this mortal life is full of troubles, (Job 14:1) and   
   everywhere marked with crosses. The further a man advances in the   
   spiritual life, the heavier and more numerous he finds the crosses,   
   for his ever-deepening love of God makes more bitter the sorrows of   
   his earthly exile.   
   --Thomas à Kempis--Imitation of Christ Book 2, Ch. 12   
      
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   October 5th - St. Luigi Scrosoppi   
      
   Luigi Scrosoppi was born on the 4th of August 1804 in Udine, a city in   
   the region of Friuli in the north of Italy. He grew up in a family   
   atmosphere of faith and Christian charity. At 12 years of age he   
   began preparing for the priesthood at the Udine diocesan seminary, and   
   was ordained in 1827. At his side were his two brothers Charles and   
   John Baptist, both of them also priests.   
      
   The wretchedly poor conditions during the 1800s in a Friuli devastated   
   by famine, wars and pestilence were for Luigi an invitation to care   
   for those most in need. With other priests and a group of young   
   teachers he dedicated himself to gathering together and educating poor   
   and abandoned girls from Udine and the surrounding countryside. To   
   them he devoted all his material possessions, his energies and his   
   affection. He did not spare himself, and when the situation called for   
   it he went around begging; he relied on people's help, and above all,   
   trusted in the Lord. In fact his whole life bears witness to his great   
   trust in Divine Providence. Regarding the works of charity in which he   
   was engaged, he wrote: "The providence of God, who prepares minds and   
   hearts to undertake His works, was alone the foundation of this   
   Institute... that loving tender Providence that never deserts those   
   who trust in Him". He lost no opportunity in fostering this confidence   
   in the girls he gathered together and in the young women devoted to   
   their education. They came to be called "school mistresses" because   
   they were skilled in sewing and embroidery but were also able to teach   
   "reading, writing and arithmetic" as they used to say. They were women   
   of different ages and backgrounds, and in each of them there matured   
   the decision to place their lives in the hands of the Lord and to   
   consecrate themselves to Him, serving Him in the family of the   
   "outcast". On the evening of the 1st of February 1837, as a sign of   
   their definitive decision, nine women put aside their possessions and   
   chose to live their total dedication to Him in poverty. In this simple   
   manner the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence, the religious   
   family founded by Father Luigi, came into being. Others came to join   
   the first group. Some were rich, others poor, some educated, others   
   illiterate, some from the nobility, others of humble origins. In the   
   house of Providence there was room for all and all become sisters.   
      
   The founder encouraged them to make sacrifices and urged them to take   
   affectionate care of the girls, whom they were to regard as the "apple   
   of their eyes". He said to them: "More than anything else, these   
   daughters of the poor need to be educated in affection and to learn   
   all that is necessary to live an honest life". And once again: "The   
   weariness, persevering effort, constant work and the tiresome   
   attention needed to assist and teach them should not cause you   
   discouragement because you know you are doing all this for Jesus".   
      
   In the meantime, Luigi was reflecting on the need to make a more total   
   consecration to the Lord. He was attracted by the ideal of poverty and   
   universal brotherhood of St. Francis of Assisi, but the events of his   
   own life and of history led him to follow in the footsteps of St.   
   Philip Neri, the singer of joy and freedom, the saint of prayer,   
   humility and pastoral charity. Luigi followed his "Oratorian" vocation   
   in 1846, and at the mature age of 42 he became a son of St. Philip.   
   From him he learned that meekness and tenderhearted spirit which would   
   make him ever more suited to the task of founder and father of the   
   Congregation of the Sisters of Providence.   
      
   Showing great regard and concern for the human development of the   
   Sisters and their growth in holiness, he spared neither help, nor   
   advice nor encouragement. He carefully watched over their vocation,   
   putting their faith to the test so that they might grow strong. He   
   condemned vanity, the desire to be noticed, and could be severe when   
   he saw attitudes of hypocrisy and superficiality. Yet what paternal   
   tenderness he showed in the face of frailty and the need to be   
   understood, supported and consoled!   
      
   Gradually Father Luigi took on the fundamental traits of a spiritual   
   life centred on Jesus Christ, loved and imitated in the humility and   
   poverty of his incarnation in Bethlehem, in the simplicity of his   
   working life at Nazareth, in his total immolation on the cross on   
   Calvary, and in the silence of the Eucharist. And since Jesus had   
   said: "Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brethren you   
   did it to me", it is to them that every day Father Luigi devoted his   
   life with the practical commitment to "seek first the kingdom of God   
   and his justice" convinced that all the rest will be given according   
   to the gospel promise.   
      
   All the works he set in motion during his life reflect this   
   preferential option for the poorest, the lowliest, the abandoned. "I   
   shall open 12 houses"-- he prophesied -- "before I die" and so it   
   was. 12 houses in which the Sisters of Providence devote   
   themselves to a service that is humble, enterprising and joyful on   
   behalf of young girls left helpless, of the poor, the sick and   
   neglected, of the elderly left alone.   
      
   At the same time, however, deeply committed to doing good, Father   
   Luigi did not limit himself to his own works, in which the Sisters   
   collaborated with generous people ever ready to give them a helping   
   hand. He willingly gave his spiritual and material assistance to other   
   initiatives undertaken in Udine by people of good will. He supported   
   all the activities of the Church and showed particular concern for the   
   young men in the Udine seminary, especially the poorest of them.   
      
   In the second half of the 19th century, the different regions of   
   Italy were being united. The political and military aspects of this   
   unification resulted in a particularly difficult period for Udine and   
   the whole of Friuli, which is on the frontier and at the crossroads   
   between the north and south of Europe and between east and west. One   
   of the consequences of the unification, which unfortunately took place   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)