This was the tribute Pope Paul VI paid to Blessed James Alberione two years before his death on 26 November 1971. Pope Paul VI also called him a MARVEL OF OUR TIMES. Others referred to him as a modern day St Paul because Fr Alberione took inspiration and example from St Paul under whose protection and patronage he placed all his religious institutes.
Mission: To do something for God and for the people of the new century
The story of Fr James Alberione’s life, vocation and work, goes beyond our imagination and expectation. From an obscure farming background but solid Christian family, James Alberione rose to become an international figure, achieving religious recognition and becoming an apostle of the media world. James Alberione knew he wanted to be a priest in First Grade. Steadfastly pursuing his life-dreams, he walked the path towards God overcoming many obstacles. As a 16 year-old seminarian, he experienced a powerful and life-changing encounter with the Lord in the Eucharistic adoration in the Cathedral of Alba on the night of 31 December 1900. He felt obliged “to do something for God and for the people of the new century.”
“Do not be afraid, I am with you …”
Ordained at 23 in 1907, Alberione intensified his search for God’s Will to tell him what to do for the people of the new century. From his own social and religious context, he saw the need to use the modern mass media to bring the Gospel to everyone. This very new and bold approach to evangelization was not acceptable to the conservative and timid people. But God assured him he was on the right path by a revelation after his miraculous recovery from a life-threatening illness. He heard Jesus tell him: DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM WITH YOU. FROM HERE I WANT TO ENLIGHTEN. BE SORRY FOR SIN. He was so convinced of God’s Will that he had these words inscribed in all the chapels of the religious institutes he subsequently founded called the Pauline Family.
His Legacy: Give our total selves to God in mind, heart and will
His enduring legacy to the Pauline Family was not “gold or silver” but the integral devotion of Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life. He taught that Jesus must be lived, loved and given to the world in his totality. Jesus is the Truth of God, he is the Way to the Father, he is the life of our soul. And the human person must also give their total selves to God in their mind, heart and will.
The Pauline Family: 10 religious and secular institutes all over the world
Fr Alberione started his first religious congregation, the Society of St Paul, (priests and Brothers), on 20 August 1914. One year later, he established the Daughters of St Paul, then came the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master in 1924. In 1938 he founded the Pastorelle Sisters – Sisters of the Good Shepherd. And the fifth religious congregation was founded in 1959 called Queen of Apostles Sisters.
He founded three secular institutes, one for diocesan priests called INSTITUTE OF JESUS THE PRIEST, one for men called INSTITUTE OF ST GABRIEL and one for women called INSTITUTE OF MARY OF THE ANNUNCIATION. Two institutes are for lay people, the INSTITUTE OF HOLY FAMILY for married couples and ASSOCIATION OF PAULINE COOPERATORS for lay people.
On the way to sainthood
Father James Alberione was declared Venerable(first step in the process of sainthood) on 25 June 1996. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 April 2003.
The whole Pauline Family are now in the process of preparing to celebrate the centenary of the Pauline Family in 2014.
Only five institutes of the Pauline Family are found in Hong Kong and Macau: the DAUGHTERS OF ST PAUL, THE SOCIETY OF ST PAUL, THE SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER, members of the INSTITUTE OF MARY OF THE ANNUNCIATION known as IOLA, and the ASSOCIATION OF PAULINE COOPERATORS known as APC.
“There he is: humble, silent, tireless, always vigilant, recollected in his
thoughts, which run from prayer to action; always intent on scrutinizing the
‘signs of the times’, that is, the most creative ways to reach souls. Our Fr. Alberione has given the Church new instruments with which to express herself, new means to give vigor and breadth to her apostolate, new capacities and a new awareness of the validity and possibilities of his mission in the modern world with modern means. Dear Fr. Alberione, allow the Pope to rejoice in your long, faithful and tireless work and in the fruits it has produced for the glory of God and the good of the Church.”
BLESSED JAMES ALBERIONE,
FOUNDER OF THE PAULINE FAMILY
Our foundress
Venerable Thecla Merlo
night of 31 December 1900 and felt obliged “to do something for God and for the people of the new century.”
Our founder Blessed James Alberione
Fr James Alberione encountered the Lord in the
Eucharistic adoration on the
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