Passionist Saints

Passionist priests, brothers and nuns awoke on October 19, 1775, to the realization that the future of the congregation was in their hands. Father Paul was no longer with them. He died the day before.

The founder had worked hard during those final months to leave the congregation "well-founded and established in the church." During the recent general chapter he and the chapter members had gone through the constitutions paragraph by paragraph. At his request the new pope, Pius VI, solemnly approved the revised Rules and Constitutions. Even as he received Viaticum on August 30 Paul announced his final legacy to all the religious, those present and to all future Passionists.

Yes, he felt that he had left everything in good order. Now the congregation could endure until the end of time. His followers needed only to follow the path he had set before them, to preserve the records of those founding years. The modern Passionist historian, Father Carmelo Amadeo Naselli, has pointed out that the historians of that earlier period did exactly that, for they spent more time in preserving and reworking the records of the Congregation during Paul's life than in writing about the events of their own times!

Actually St. Paul of the Cross did not leave the congregation without problems. Serious matters about the health of the religious, especially the younger men, had to be solved. The norms for the intellectual formation of the students were not completely satisfactory. Father Paul had not clarified the proper balance between the home life of prayer and study and the apostolate of preaching and serving the faithful. The nuns also felt the need for further counsel and inspiration from Father Paul. The congregation would confront these problems for many years to come.

Moreover, neither Father Paul nor his first religious realized what lay ahead in the immediate future. Father Paul died even as the first shots had been fired in Lexington and Concord. The following year colonists in North America would dare to write a Declaration of Independence. The revolution would strike France within fourteen years, and when it would be over two popes would have been exiled and all the houses of the congregation closed, even the Corneto convent!

We must not demand that the first Passionists foresee the future. Our purpose is to see how they followed the Passionist calling in the times in which they were living. What immediately awaited the first Passionists was to recapture the "dream" of the founder, as it were to re-dream his dream. But in that hour of loss these first Passionists sought to be faithful to the charism of the Founder by enacting more regulations. Each succeeding chapter passed further and detailed legislation. The Passionist charism would be preserved by laws!

The second general superior after St. Paul, his own spiritual director, Father John Mary Cioni (1784-1790), did seek and obtain from the Holy See a rescript which allowed the religious to eat meat and to shorten the time of the midnight prayer. This dispensation was felt to be necessary for the health of the religious, to provide sufficient nourishment and rest. Of course, not all agreed.

Moreover, out of respect for the founder, this re-script was not inserted into the constitutions. No one wished to insert changes in the final rule of St.Paul. Interestingly, Father John Mary Cioni was not re-elected general in 1890, but his more conservative and rigid predecessor also became his successor, Father John Baptist Gorassio.

Many of these problems became academic as the impact of the French Revolution reached into Italy and even to the Papal States. During this difficult period the congregation was blessed to have among its membership a saintly man of prayer, a zealous preacher, a learned theologian, the priest and bishop, Vincent Mary Strambi. His story shows how he dreamed the "dream" of St. Paul of the Cross in those troubled times even as he supported his brethren and the church amid the problems of the Revolution.

Vincent Strambi was born in Civitavecchia, the port city of Rome. The date was January 1, 1745. Father Paul had already opened three monasteries and received the first papal approval. Vincent was an only child, the joy of his parents. As a lad he had been educated by the Franciscans. When he was fifteen he begged his parents to allow him to enter the clerical state. His father granted this permission. Vincent received clerical "tonsure" and entered the seminary at nearby Montefiascone (November 1762).

Two years later he decided to continue his studies, not in the seminary, but in Rome. There he attended lectures on sacred eloquence or preaching. The following year he went to the Dominican house of studies in Viterbo to study theology. While in Viterbo he lived with the parish priest and then was hired to teach the two sons of the Ctaci family who provided a room for him in their home.

Ordained a subdeacon in 1766 he became prefect of the seminary at Montefiascone, while continuing his own studies under two learned priests. Ordained a deacon in March of 1767 he became rector of the seminary at Bagnorea.

That December he made his ordination retreat at the Passionist monastery in nearby Vetralla, where he met St. Paul of the Cross for the first time. He was ordained on December 19, 1767, and celebrated Christmas with his family as a priest.

The Lent of 1768 Vincent preached the great Lenten sermons at the parish of Viteriolo and then returned to Rome to study at the Dominican house of studies on the Aventine. But he finally decided to join Father Paul's community. He went to the novitiate on Monte Argentaro in September of 1768, and took his vows a year later.

Father Vincent had just six years to absorb the spirit of the congregation from St. Paul. He was sent to Vetralla for two further years of scripture study and sermon writing. He then gave his first mission with the man who would succeed St. Paul as general, Father John Baptist Gorassio.

In 1773 Father Paul wanted this zealous "new" Passionist close to himself at the newly acquired monastery of Sts. John and Paul in Rome. There Paul put the former seminary prefect and rector in charge of the training of the young students for future missionary preaching. Eventually Father Vincent would write a manual on Sacred Eloquence.

In this way Father Vincent was able to be with St. Paul during the final years of his life. Paul saw in this young man the apostolic spirit of holiness he was bequeathing to his congregation. We are told that as he was dying St. Paul one day turned to Father Vincent Mary and told him he was entrusting the congregation to his care.

Vincent, like the others, missed the founder very much as he continued to prepare young Passionists for the missionary apostolate. He also went forth to preach missions as often as possible.

In 1780 he became rector of the Community of Sts. John and Paul. In 1781 he was elected provincial. He also served as provincial and general consultor. During this time that he published a biography of the founder. Father Vincent used the testimonies of eye-witnesses as given in the canonization processes. It is said that he wrote the life of St. Paul on his knees, out of reverence for the founder.

His "Life" of Father Paul became a classic and was greeted with enthusiasm by many. It has become a life of a saint by a saint. Incidentally, the English translation was published in London with a preface by Blessed Dominic Barberi. If Dominic is one day canonized then we would have a life of a saint by a saint, with a preface by a saint!

Pope Pius VI had encouraged the superiors to gather testimony about Father Paul from those who knew him. Testimony was taken in Rome, Alessandria, Orbetello, Gaeta and Viterbo, beginning in 1777. When this work was concluded the cause of the founder could be presented in Rome. Father Vincent was asked to "promote" the cause as the postulator. This he did quite successfully. Later on, after the turmoil of the French Revolution, Pope Pius VII would issue the decree stating the heroic virtues of Venerable Paul of the Cross.

In the meantime the French Revolution broke out in Paris with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Pope Pius VI on March 10, 1791, condemned the Civil Constitution of the Church and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Louis XVIII was executed as the Republic was established. The Reign of Terror soon followed.

All Europe became involved. The directory sent General Bonaparte to Italy and into the Papal States. Rome was occupied by the French as the Roman Republic was proclaimed. Pius VI fled. Several times Father Vincent was called upon to give a public mission to help the people face this oppression from the French. Outstanding were his missions at the Piazza del Populo in Rome and at the Piazza di Colonna. Most of the Passionist houses were closed for a year or more at this time. Pius VI was taken into exile at Valence, France, where he died on August 29, 1799. Early the next year he was succeeded by Pope Pius VII. Napoleon Bonaparte became first consul and signed a concordat with the new pope in 1801.

Shortly after his election, the new pope, Pius VII, appointed Father Vincent as bishop of Macerata and Tolentino. Vincent was consecrated on June 26, 1801 and took possession of his two sees within a few months. He began his Episcopal ministry with Passionist missions at both see cities, he himself doing some of the preaching. He insisted on the reform of the clergy, promoted studies among them, frequently met with pastors, visited the religious, tried to improve seminary education, etc. He was a post-Tridentine bishop who strove to live up to the council's ideals and the example of St. Charles Boromeo.

Even though he lived in the Papal States over which the pope was the only temporal authority, Vincent saw his role entirely as bishop. He in no way infringed upon the authority of the civil government regulated by the Holy See.

In spite of the earlier concordat with the pope, Napoleon invaded the Papal States. Pius VII was taken into exile to Fontainebleau in France, in May of 1812. Napoleon demanded of the bishops in the now occupied Papal States that they too take the oath of allegiance to himself. Vincent refused because his allegiance was to the pope as the temporal lord of the Papal States. In fact, he and the other bishops presented a common front by refusing to acknowledge the Emperor as the legitimate ruler of the papal domains.

Napoleon now required more. He decreed the suppression of religious orders. On June 2, 1810 he had the imperial decree published in Rome on the stately columns of the Campidoglio. All religious orders which were not engaged in hospital care or teaching were to be suppressed. The religious must leave their monasteries and return to their native towns. There they would be expected to take the oath.

Of the 243 in the congregation in 1810, 9 took the oath, 27 died, 65 left the congregation, 151 returned. Several were put in prison and even exiled to the dungeons of Corsica. Among the nuns there were 29 religious in the convent when it was closed. Of these 4 died during the suppression, one left and was not heard of again, and one other was dispensed.

During these years Bishop Strambi was exiled from his dioceses and confined to religious houses in Milan and Novara. There he proved a support to his fellow bishops and a source of strength to his people. He assisted his Passionist brethren as best he could.

But the end was to come quickly. The revolution, begun in the name of liberty, equality and fraternity, brought forth the horrors of the reign of terror, burst into the glory of a brief imperial victory, only to perish in icy snows of Russia and the flames of Moscow. The events worthy of the magnificent musical composition of the Overture of 1812 reached into the lives of men and women all over Europe.

But now it was over. Defeated at last, Napoleon abdicated on April 20, 1814. Pope Pius VII returned to Rome on May 20. At this news religious prepared to return to their monasteries and convents. A number of exiled Passionists returned to Rome and to Sts. John and Paul on June 27. They were the first religious to be re-established. Shortly after the community had gathered at Sts. John and Paul on the Coelian Hill, Father Joachim (of the Holy Spirit) Petrelli exhorted the brethren in the words of I Maccabees: "Let us now go up to cleanse and renew the Holy Place" (1 Macc 45:36). Explaining this text he stated: "We have a great need of reform, but not in our rules, nor in our regulations, nor in the authority of the superiors (as is suggested by some who have lost their vocations); but our great need for reform is in our own conduct!" Passionists contributed to the restoration by giving missions in Rome August 14-23, and elsewhere in the Papal States. With fervour they exhorted the people to conversion, repentance and reform.

Fifteen Passionist Nuns on December 23, 1815 returned to their convent at Corneto (Tarquinia). They found that the convent had been used for orphans and sick women. The nuns had to find a place for these poor people. Then they began once again their life of prayer and penance for the church and the Holy Father.

By the Treaty of Vienna the Papal States were restored to the Holy See. Almost all Catholics felt that the pope had a "divine right" to this territory in central Italy. Without it he would not be free to guide the Church and communicate with his bishops. To safeguard this "right" the popes became deeply involved in the "restoration" of the old order.

After all the horrors that had taken place in France and in the rest of Europe, e.g. two popes driven by force out of Rome, priests and nuns executed in Paris, it is no wonder that many in the church looked to the "legitimate monarchs" and the possession of the Papal States for safety and security. The popes were content to follow a policy of "Concordats" with the rulers, whether Catholic or not.

There is no doubt that the possibilities of a new dawn, based upon "liberty, fraternity and equality," could have emerged from the storm and thunder of the French Revolution. But few could see such an effect coming from the horrors of a revolution which appeared more as an unleashing of passions than the birth of basically Christian values.

Bishop Vincent returned to his Episcopal sees and began the necessary reform and renewal. The pope had him come to Rome to give the retreat to the Cardinals, and then to the Roman clergy in 1820. When Pius VII died and was succeeded by Leo XII, Vincent resigned his two sees. The pope insisted that he live with him in the Quirinal. There he offered his life for the ailing pope and died on January 1, 1824.

Yes, at that very critical moment for the Church and for the new Congregation of the Passion, God had raised up a saintly man, priest and bishop, one honoured by the Church in 1950 as a saint.

As the Vatican Council has reminded us, God calls Christians from both the lay and clerical states to the religious life. Father Vincent Strambi came to the Passionists as a priest who had been formed and educated in a small Tridentine seminary of that period, but who had also experienced university life in Rome and Viterbo. But even more he had shown the talent for teaching and training other young men for the priesthood. These talents and experiences he brought to the congregation at this critical period following the death of the founder and throughout the revolutionary suppressions and during the restoration.

As a Passionist Vincent was a man of prayer and community observance. He was also a zealous and effective missionary preacher. He helped to develop the methodology for Passionist missionary preaching and also exercised roles of authority and leadership in the congregation. As biographer of the founder he did much to preserve St. Paul's spirit for future generations.

As a bishop, Strambi was loyal to the pope and Holy See. He was a true pastor of souls, and not involved in political matters unless forced by circumstances of the times. He brought to the episcopacy a spirituality of prayer, prudence, and pastoral dedication.

In the history of the Passionists we will meet other men called to the order of the episcopacy. They will be bishops in the Church of God, serving God's people in the Episcopal ministry. Some, like St. Vincent Mary Strambi, will undergo imprisonment and persecution for the cause of Christ. For again and again a pope has called Passionist priests to join him in the collegial service of the people of God.

Finally, the "story" of St Vincent Mary Strambi shows us "the breadth and length and height and depth" of the Passionist charism. For it is not something possessed by St. Paul of the Cross alone, nor by him in its entirety. It cannot be preserved simply by laws and regulations. In the generations after the death of the founder this charism will manifest itself in various ways: in prayer and teaching, in preaching and writing, in administration and pastoring , in exile and even martyrdom. It will be shared by priests and brothers, nuns and sisters, laymen and laywomen, even by bishops.

Fr Aidan Troy CP Fr Gary Donegan CP Fr Myles Kavanagh CP Fr Salvian Maguire CP Tel: +44 2890 748231 Fax: +44 2890 740340 Email the parish Submit a newsletter item Holy Cross Church Crumlin Road Belfast BT14 7EA Northern Ireland	St. Vincent Mary Strambi Passionist priests, brothers and nuns awoke on October 19, 1775, to the realization that the future of the congregation was in their hands. Father Paul was no longer with them. He died the day before. The founder had worked hard during those final months to leave the congregation "well-founded and established in the church." During the recent general chapter he and the chapter members had gone through the constitutions paragraph by paragraph. At his request the new pope, Pius VI, solemnly approved the revised Rules and Constitutions. Even as he received Viaticum on August 30 Paul announced his final legacy to all the religious, those present and to all future Passionists. Yes, he felt that he had left everything in good order. Now the congregation could endure until the end of time. His followers needed only to follow the path he had set before them, to preserve the records of those founding years. The modern Passionist historian, Father Carmelo Amadeo Naselli, has pointed out that the historians of that earlier period did exactly that, for they spent more time in preserving and reworking the records of the Congregation during Paul's life than in writing about the events of their own times! Actually St. Paul of the Cross did not leave the congregation without problems. Serious matters about the health of the religious, especially the younger men, had to be solved. The norms for the intellectual formation of the students were not completely satisfactory. Father Paul had not clarified the proper balance between the home life of prayer and study and the apostolate of preaching and serving the faithful. The nuns also felt the need for further counsel and inspiration from Father Paul. The congregation would confront these problems for many years to come. Moreover, neither Father Paul nor his first religious realized what lay ahead in the immediate future. Father Paul died even as the first shots had been fired in Lexington and Concord. The following year colonists in North America would dare to write a Declaration of Independence. The revolution would strike France within fourteen years, and when it would be over two popes would have been exiled and all the houses of the congregation closed, even the Corneto convent! We must not demand that the first Passionists foresee the future. Our purpose is to see how they followed the Passionist calling in the times in which they were living. What immediately awaited the first Passionists was to recapture the "dream" of the founder, as it were to re-dream his dream. But in that hour of loss these first Passionists sought to be faithful to the charism of the Founder by enacting more regulations. Each succeeding chapter passed further and detailed legislation. The Passionist charism would be preserved by laws! The second general superior after St. Paul, his own spiritual director, Father John Mary Cioni (1784-1790), did seek and obtain from the Holy See a rescript which allowed the religious to eat meat and to shorten the time of the midnight prayer. This dispensation was felt to be necessary for the health of the religious, to provide sufficient nourishment and rest. Of course, not all agreed. Moreover, out of respect for the founder, this re-script was not inserted into the constitutions. No one wished to insert changes in the final rule of St.Paul. Interestingly, Father John Mary Cioni was not re-elected general in 1890, but his more conservative and rigid predecessor also became his successor, Father John Baptist Gorassio. Many of these problems became academic as the impact of the French Revolution reached into Italy and even to the Papal States. During this difficult period the congregation was blessed to have among its membership a saintly man of prayer, a zealous preacher, a learned theologian, the priest and bishop, Vincent Mary Strambi. His story shows how he dreamed the "dream" of St. Paul of the Cross in those troubled times even as he supported his brethren and the church amid the problems of the Revolution. Vincent Strambi was born in Civitavecchia, the port city of Rome. The date was January 1, 1745. Father Paul had already opened three monasteries and received the first papal approval. Vincent was an only child, the joy of his parents. As a lad he had been educated by the Franciscans. When he was fifteen he begged his parents to allow him to enter the clerical state. His father granted this permission. Vincent received clerical "tonsure" and entered the seminary at nearby Montefiascone (November 1762). Two years later he decided to continue his studies, not in the seminary, but in Rome. There he attended lectures on sacred eloquence or preaching. The following year he went to the Dominican house of studies in Viterbo to study theology. While in Viterbo he lived with the parish priest and then was hired to teach the two sons of the Ctaci family who provided a room for him in their home. Ordained a subdeacon in 1766 he became prefect of the seminary at Montefiascone, while continuing his own studies under two learned priests. Ordained a deacon in March of 1767 he became rector of the seminary at Bagnorea. That December he made his ordination retreat at the Passionist monastery in nearby Vetralla, where he met St. Paul of the Cross for the first time. He was ordained on December 19, 1767, and celebrated Christmas with his family as a priest. The Lent of 1768 Vincent preached the great Lenten sermons at the parish of Viteriolo and then returned to Rome to study at the Dominican house of studies on the Aventine. But he finally decided to join Father Paul's community. He went to the novitiate on Monte Argentaro in September of 1768, and took his vows a year later. Father Vincent had just six years to absorb the spirit of the congregation from St. Paul. He was sent to Vetralla for two further years of scripture study and sermon writing. He then gave his first mission with the man who would succeed St. Paul as general, Father John Baptist Gorassio. In 1773 Father Paul wanted this zealous "new" Passionist close to himself at the newly acquired monastery of Sts. John and Paul in Rome. There Paul put the former seminary prefect and rector in charge of the training of the young students for future missionary preaching. Eventually Father Vincent would write a manual on Sacred Eloquence. In this way Father Vincent was able to be with St. Paul during the final years of his life. Paul saw in this young man the apostolic spirit of holiness he was bequeathing to his congregation. We are told that as he was dying St. Paul one day turned to Father Vincent Mary and told him he was entrusting the congregation to his care. Vincent, like the others, missed the founder very much as he continued to prepare young Passionists for the missionary apostolate. He also went forth to preach missions as often as possible. In 1780 he became rector of the Community of Sts. John and Paul. In 1781 he was elected provincial. He also served as provincial and general consultor. During this time that he published a biography of the founder. Father Vincent used the testimonies of eye-witnesses as given in the canonization processes. It is said that he wrote the life of St. Paul on his knees, out of reverence for the founder. His "Life" of Father Paul became a classic and was greeted with enthusiasm by many. It has become a life of a saint by a saint. Incidentally, the English translation was published in London with a preface by Blessed Dominic Barberi. If Dominic is one day canonized then we would have a life of a saint by a saint, with a preface by a saint! Pope Pius VI had encouraged the superiors to gather testimony about Father Paul from those who knew him. Testimony was taken in Rome, Alessandria, Orbetello, Gaeta and Viterbo, beginning in 1777. When this work was concluded the cause of the founder could be presented in Rome. Father Vincent was asked to "promote" the cause as the postulator. This he did quite successfully. Later on, after the turmoil of the French Revolution, Pope Pius VII would issue the decree stating the heroic virtues of Venerable Paul of the Cross. In the meantime the French Revolution broke out in Paris with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Pope Pius VI on March 10, 1791, condemned the Civil Constitution of the Church and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Louis XVIII was executed as the Republic was established. The Reign of Terror soon followed. All Europe became involved. The directory sent General Bonaparte to Italy and into the Papal States. Rome was occupied by the French as the Roman Republic was proclaimed. Pius VI fled. Several times Father Vincent was called upon to give a public mission to help the people face this oppression from the French. Outstanding were his missions at the Piazza del Populo in Rome and at the Piazza di Colonna. Most of the Passionist houses were closed for a year or more at this time. Pius VI was taken into exile at Valence, France, where he died on August 29, 1799. Early the next year he was succeeded by Pope Pius VII. Napoleon Bonaparte became first consul and signed a concordat with the new pope in 1801. Shortly after his election, the new pope, Pius VII, appointed Father Vincent as bishop of Macerata and Tolentino. Vincent was consecrated on June 26, 1801 and took possession of his two sees within a few months. He began his Episcopal ministry with Passionist missions at both see cities, he himself doing some of the preaching. He insisted on the reform of the clergy, promoted studies among them, frequently met with pastors, visited the religious, tried to improve seminary education, etc. He was a post-Tridentine bishop who strove to live up to the council's ideals and the example of St. Charles Boromeo. Even though he lived in the Papal States over which the pope was the only temporal authority, Vincent saw his role entirely as bishop. He in no way infringed upon the authority of the civil government regulated by the Holy See. In spite of the earlier concordat with the pope, Napoleon invaded the Papal States. Pius VII was taken into exile to Fontainebleau in France, in May of 1812. Napoleon demanded of the bishops in the now occupied Papal States that they too take the oath of allegiance to himself. Vincent refused because his allegiance was to the pope as the temporal lord of the Papal States. In fact, he and the other bishops presented a common front by refusing to acknowledge the Emperor as the legitimate ruler of the papal domains. Napoleon now required more. He decreed the suppression of religious orders. On June 2, 1810 he had the imperial decree published in Rome on the stately columns of the Campidoglio. All religious orders which were not engaged in hospital care or teaching were to be suppressed. The religious must leave their monasteries and return to their native towns. There they would be expected to take the oath. Of the 243 in the congregation in 1810, 9 took the oath, 27 died, 65 left the congregation, 151 returned. Several were put in prison and even exiled to the dungeons of Corsica. Among the nuns there were 29 religious in the convent when it was closed. Of these 4 died during the suppression, one left and was not heard of again, and one other was dispensed. During these years Bishop Strambi was exiled from his dioceses and confined to religious houses in Milan and Novara. There he proved a support to his fellow bishops and a source of strength to his people. He assisted his Passionist brethren as best he could. But the end was to come quickly. The revolution, begun in the name of liberty, equality and fraternity, brought forth the horrors of the reign of terror, burst into the glory of a brief imperial victory, only to perish in icy snows of Russia and the flames of Moscow. The events worthy of the magnificent musical composition of the Overture of 1812 reached into the lives of men and women all over Europe. But now it was over. Defeated at last, Napoleon abdicated on April 20, 1814. Pope Pius VII returned to Rome on May 20. At this news religious prepared to return to their monasteries and convents. A number of exiled Passionists returned to Rome and to Sts. John and Paul on June 27. They were the first religious to be re-established. Shortly after the community had gathered at Sts. John and Paul on the Coelian Hill, Father Joachim (of the Holy Spirit) Petrelli exhorted the brethren in the words of I Maccabees: "Let us now go up to cleanse and renew the Holy Place" (1 Macc 45:36). Explaining this text he stated: "We have a great need of reform, but not in our rules, nor in our regulations, nor in the authority of the superiors (as is suggested by some who have lost their vocations); but our great need for reform is in our own conduct!" Passionists contributed to the restoration by giving missions in Rome August 14-23, and elsewhere in the Papal States. With fervour they exhorted the people to conversion, repentance and reform. Fifteen Passionist Nuns on December 23, 1815 returned to their convent at Corneto (Tarquinia). They found that the convent had been used for orphans and sick women. The nuns had to find a place for these poor people. Then they began once again their life of prayer and penance for the church and the Holy Father. By the Treaty of Vienna the Papal States were restored to the Holy See. Almost all Catholics felt that the pope had a "divine right" to this territory in central Italy. Without it he would not be free to guide the Church and communicate with his bishops. To safeguard this "right" the popes became deeply involved in the "restoration" of the old order. After all the horrors that had taken place in France and in the rest of Europe, e.g. two popes driven by force out of Rome, priests and nuns executed in Paris, it is no wonder that many in the church looked to the "legitimate monarchs" and the possession of the Papal States for safety and security. The popes were content to follow a policy of "Concordats" with the rulers, whether Catholic or not. There is no doubt that the possibilities of a new dawn, based upon "liberty, fraternity and equality," could have emerged from the storm and thunder of the French Revolution. But few could see such an effect coming from the horrors of a revolution which appeared more as an unleashing of passions than the birth of basically Christian values. Bishop Vincent returned to his Episcopal sees and began the necessary reform and renewal. The pope had him come to Rome to give the retreat to the Cardinals, and then to the Roman clergy in 1820. When Pius VII died and was succeeded by Leo XII, Vincent resigned his two sees. The pope insisted that he live with him in the Quirinal. There he offered his life for the ailing pope and died on January 1, 1824. Yes, at that very critical moment for the Church and for the new Congregation of the Passion, God had raised up a saintly man, priest and bishop, one honoured by the Church in 1950 as a saint. As the Vatican Council has reminded us, God calls Christians from both the lay and clerical states to the religious life. Father Vincent Strambi came to the Passionists as a priest who had been formed and educated in a small Tridentine seminary of that period, but who had also experienced university life in Rome and Viterbo. But even more he had shown the talent for teaching and training other young men for the priesthood. These talents and experiences he brought to the congregation at this critical period following the death of the founder and throughout the revolutionary suppressions and during the restoration. As a Passionist Vincent was a man of prayer and community observance. He was also a zealous and effective missionary preacher. He helped to develop the methodology for Passionist missionary preaching and also exercised roles of authority and leadership in the congregation. As biographer of the founder he did much to preserve St. Paul's spirit for future generations. As a bishop, Strambi was loyal to the pope and Holy See. He was a true pastor of souls, and not involved in political matters unless forced by circumstances of the times. He brought to the episcopacy a spirituality of prayer, prudence, and pastoral dedication. In the history of the Passionists we will meet other men called to the order of the episcopacy. They will be bishops in the Church of God, serving God's people in the Episcopal ministry. Some, like St. Vincent Mary Strambi, will undergo imprisonment and persecution for the cause of Christ. For again and again a pope has called Passionist priests to join him in the collegial service of the people of God. Finally, the "story" of St Vincent Mary Strambi shows us "the breadth and length and height and depth" of the Passionist charism. For it is not something possessed by St. Paul of the Cross alone, nor by him in its entirety. It cannot be preserved simply by laws and regulations. In the generations after the death of the founder this charism will manifest itself in various ways: in prayer and teaching, in preaching and writing, in administration and pastoring , in exile and even martyrdom. It will be shared by priests and brothers, nuns and sisters, laymen and laywomen, even by bishops.	Passionists on the web: www.passionist.org Passionist Saints: St. Paul of the Cross, Mother Mary Crucified Constantini, Dominic Barberi, St. Gabriel Possenti, Caesar Silvestrelli, St. Gemma Galgani, You can get a web page translated here. If you know of another AA site email us.	Home How to find us Parish History Parish Council Parish Groups Contacts Bulletin Music Pages Readers' Rota Parish Programmes Baptism Programme First Communion Confirmation Marriage Links St. Gabriel's Boys' College Holy Cross Girls' School Holy Cross Boys' School Mercy Primary

	Holy Cross
	Roman Catholic Church, Ardoyne, Belfast served by the Congregation of the Passion (CP)