life of luigi gentili

SPECIAL EDITION

WITNESSNUMBER 24 JUNE 2009

A JOURNAL FOR THE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARITY

CONTENTS

A Brief Life of Fr. Luigi Gentili ........................................................3

Introduction ......................................................................................4

Chapter 1: Early Years ......................................................................8

Chapter 2: Meeting with Blessed Rosmini ......................................15

Chapter 3: Novice and Novice Master at Calvario ........................38

Chapter 4: Mission in England at Prior Park, 1835-1839 ..............47

Chapter 5: Mission at Grace Dieu, 1840-1842 ..............................60

Chapter 6: Mission at Loughborough, 1842-1845..........................69

Chapter 7: Itinerant Missionary, 1845-1848 ..................................83

Chapter 8: Mission in Ireland, April – September 1848................100

Rosminian Views ..........................................................................109

A Small Taste of Tanzania ............................................................110

Mother of Sorrows, Mother of Joy ..............................................113

Mother Maria Giovanna Antonietti of Baceno ............................116

With thanks to Joe Breidenback, David Tobin and P.M. Rodriguesfor their help

All editorial correspondence to:

A Belsito, Rosmini Centre, 433 Fosse Way, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake,Leicester, LE7 4SJ – Tel. 01509 81 3078; Mob. 07828781537; e-mail:[email protected]; website, www.rosminicentre.co.uk

A BRIEF LIFE OFFR. LUIGI GENTILIAPOSTLE AND DISCIPLEOFBLESSED ANTONIO ROSMINI

At the recent General Assemblyof the Institute of Charity therewas some trepidation about thedecision to amalgamate into onethe three English speakingProvinces – USA, Ireland, UK;there was, however, unanimousagreement about the name of thenewly constituted greaterProvince: it was to be known asthe “Gentili Province”.

It seemed appropriate and fittingthat such Province should takeits name from Fr. Luigi Gentili.Even from his early days as atheology student in Rome,Gentili had received a pressinginvitation to evangelise Americafrom the Bishop of New YorkMons. Dubois. He valued theinvitation, but he could notaccept it since Divine Providencewas guiding his steps, throughobedience, to the immenseapostolic work in Great Britainand in Ireland. His name,however, constitutes a powerfulsymbolic link of the three oldprovinces into the unity of thenew Gentili Province.

But there is another reason whythe figure of Fr. Luigi Gentili isof great importance to themembers of the new Province,

and of the whole Institute ofCharity. He is a powerful sourceof inspiration, both in his life asa Rosminian religious and in hisapproach to apostolic work.

He was one of the earliestcompanions of Blessed AntonioRosmini, and had the fortune ofbeing “formed” into thereligious life by him. It wasBlessed Rosmini who nurturedhis vocation in the Institute fromthe beginning, encouraging himto develop his exceptionalspiritual gifts, and demandingfrom him far more than hedemanded from others. Theircorrespondence is a classicexample of sustained spiritualdirection: robust, open,challenging, severe, yet informedby profound spiritual love andfatherly concern. Fr. Gentilivenerated Blessed Rosmini, eventhough the difference in age wasslight; he saw in him a true manof God, a holy Founder, a mostpersuasive philosopher andtheologian. Blessed Rosminigrasped immediately the hugepotential to holiness of the smartlawyer who had left everythingto pursue the Will of God in thereligious life with all his energyand talents.

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INTRODUCTION

Fr. Gentili died at the age of 47,consumed by his apostolicfatigues and by the severity ofhis ascetical life. Thecircumstances of his deathprovoked extreme admiration,and the word ‘martyr’ wasspontaneously applied to him bythe people, and by many of thebishops, priests, and religiouswho knew him well.

Fr. Gentili never committed themistake of dissociating thecontemplative life from theapostolic life. He remained a“contemplative” all through hisreligious life, even in the midstof his most pressing apostolicendeavours, for he knew that theapostle, to be such, must be trulya man of God, whether in thesecrecy of his cell or in thepulpit. He was immersed in hiswork of personal purification,intense life of prayer, tender lovefor God while, at the same time,instructing, preaching,organising, leading people on theway to discovering the source oftheir faith in the depth of theirheart.

Yet, he was cast in the mould ofthe great Apostles of the Church,Paul, Francis Xavier, Augustineof Canterbury. His burningdesire, when he first arrived inBritain, was for the conversionof Protestants to the one, holy,

catholic, apostolic Church, andhe succeeded, with the grace ofGod, in bringing to theobedience of the faith thousandof people. Conversions to theCatholic Church remained animportant dimension of all hisapostolic endeavours, and hismissionary success wasacknowledged and quoted, byBishops in England and inRome, as evidence of the“Second Spring” of the Catholicfaith in Britain.

But he soon came to therealisation that conversionsneeded the fertile soil of a trulylived Catholic faith by theCatholic community, andwithout losing sight of the firstobjective, he dedicated all hisenergy to the evangelisation ofCatholics, to “convert” them toa revival of their ancient faith, tohelp them re-discover the beautyand the power of worship, of theSacraments, of ethical obedience,of the pursuit of holiness. In this,he was immensely successful,reaching out to priests andreligious by means of private andpublic retreats, and to parishesall over the country by givingMissions.

Retreats and Missions had aspecial place in the heart ofFr. Gentili, as the privilegedmeans for renewal of the

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Catholic faith. He oftenreminded Blessed Rosmini of theprovidential fact that SacroMonte Calvario, the cradle of theInstitute of Charity, had been forcenturies, before the foundationof the Institute, a place forRetreats and for Missions.

Fr. Gentili’s first missionaryefforts in Britain were dedicatedto the educational establishmentsat Prior Park. He saw in thiscalling the hand of DivineProvidence, indicating to theInstitute the huge value of theeducation of young people. Heresponded with great generosityat Prior Park, and for seven yearsthe Institute sent many religiousfrom Italy to the College,working tirelessly for no financialremuneration. It was Fr. Gentiliwho believed so firmly in thespecial calling of the Institute tointellectual charity in the field ofeducation, that he put pressureon Blessed Rosmini for thebuilding of Ratcliffe College, inLeicestershire.

This issue of Witness isdedicated to Fr. Gentili, on theoccasion of the formation of thenew Gentili Province. It wasDivine Providence that guidedthe Institute towards taking thisimportant decision, and isguiding now the members of theProvince to discover the signs

behind the enthusiasticagreement on the name and thefigure of Fr. Luigi Gentili.

Fr. Gentili was a faithful discipleof Blessed Rosmini, and a greatApostle. As a disciple, Fr. Gentili isa powerful example of a lifecommitted to the daily purificationof conscience and to the pursuit ofvirtues, through poverty, austerity,humility, obedience, intense love ofGod, and of neighbour. He lovedcommunity life, and he longed forit whenever his duties made itimpossible for him to be with hisbrethren.

He was also a great Apostle,burning with a holy desire tobring people to the fullknowledge of Christ and of HisChurch and to rekindle in thehearts of the Catholic populationthe power of the faith received atBaptism, in obedience to theChurch, by way of theSacraments, through worship,and traditional devotions.

Fr. Gentili was at the same timeon Mount Tabor and on MountCalvary, to use one of hisexpressions: a contemplative andan apostolic man, fulfilling at thesame time the twocommandments of JESUS: “LoveGod with all your heart, mindand strength; and love yourneighbour as you love yourself”.


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What are the providential signs tobe gleaned from the life ofFr. Gentili? We may perhaps like toreflect on the following landmarks,to guide us on the journey of thenew Gentili Province:

1 Profound personalcommitment to holiness,through the contemplativeand the apostolic life, Taborand Calvary at the same time;

2 Intellectual charity, throughthe evangelisation of culture,and through the formation ofyoung people in Catholiceducation;

3 Pastoral shift towards moreuniversal forms of spiritualcharity: Retreats, both privateand public, to clergy, religious,and lay people; and Missionsin parishes, with the expresspurpose of reviving the faith ofthe Catholic people throughinstructions, meditation, andthe celebration of theSacraments, especiallyConfession and the Eucharist;

4 Re-discovery of traditionalforms of devotion: to theBlessed Sacrament

(Adoration, processions), andto Mary, the Blessed Motherof God;

5 Interest for and nurturing ofvocations, following theexample of Blessed Rosminiwith Fr. Gentili, and ofFr. Gentili with Frs. Furlong,Hutton, Lockhart, and manyother.

This issue of Witness celebratesalso the bicentenary of the birthof Sr. Giovanna Antonietti ofBaceno, the first Mother Generalof the Sisters of Providence. LikeFr. Gentili, she was a faithfuldisciple of Blessed Rosmini, aswe learn from the article writtenby Sr. Maria Michela Riva.


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Blessed Antonio Rosmini

NB: For ease of reading, all references to quotations have beenomitted. They have been taken from the short list of books listed inthe Bibliography on page 108; for more detailed information pleasewrite to the Editor.

CHAPTER ONE

EARLY YEARS

“My parents were saintly parents, towhose care, vigilance, and goodexample I owe everything under God.May He reward them for the good theyhave done me, which I did not deserve”(Fr. Gentili)

Luigi Gentili was born in Romeon 14th July 1801, on the feast-day of St. Bonaventure, a Doctorof the Church noted for the depthand beauty of his philosophicalwritings, and for his greatdevotion to the Virgin Mary.

His mother, Anna MariaGnaccarini, was a saintly womanof Roman origins. Luigi was thefirst-born of her 12 children. Hisfather, Giuseppe Gentili, wasfrom Citta’ Ducale, near Naples,and had qualified in Rome as alawyer with the help of hisuncle, a zealous priest andlecturer of theology at theRoman College, by the name ofGiuseppe Marconi. The successof Gentili’s practice guaranteed acomfortable existence and agood education for the children.

“Luigi Bonaventura FrancescoCamillo” was baptized the dayafter his birth; one of hisgodparents was a FrancescoBrunatti from Rovereto, thebirthplace of Antonio Rosmini, afact which the mature Luigiinterpreted as an earlyprovidential sign of his future life.

He had a happy and carefreechildhood, naturally open tobeauty, friendship, and love oflearning. His exceptionalqualities and diligent applicationallowed him to win top prizes all

through the years of his primaryand secondary education. Theprize he won in 1815 – at theage of 14 – was explained thus:“Luigi Gentili is a young manwith a bright future, of strongintellectual ability, passionateabout his studies, and endowedwith great love for honesty andintegrity”.

The young Luigi was a man in agreat hurry. He was admitted atthe Sapienza University in Romeat the age of 16, to study civiland canon law, and although hewas the youngest member of hisclass he outperformed everyonewith his power of thought andthe strength of his application.He was 21 years old when heobtained, summa cum laude, thedouble Doctorate in civil andecclesiastical law. His wideracademic interests had alsogained him membership in thetwo prestigious Academies ofRoman society, the Roman andthe Arcadian, the first centred onItalian Literature the second onarchaeological studies andresearch. He had a profoundunderstanding of Dante andknew by heart nearly all of theDivine Comedy.

He worked for two years in wellknown legal practices in Rome,gaining experience and makingimportant contacts in the

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profession. He then opened hisown legal studio, soon acquiringa good reputation for a series ofhighly successful legal victories.But he was ambitious andforward looking and succeeded inarousing the interest of the mostpowerful and influentialecclesiastic of the day, CardinalErcole Consalvi, the Secretary ofState of Pius VII and well knownleader of the Sacra Romana Rota,the most important ecclesiasticaltribunal of the Church.

Luigi began a thorough study ofall of Cardinal Consalvi’s legalcases, producing tables andannotations of the variousarguments and identifying thewisdom running through eachcase right up to its successfulresolution. The study, which wasmeant for publication, involvedmeetings with the Cardinalhimself, who became soconvinced of the outstandingskills of the young lawyer thathe promised him the post ofjudge at the Sacra Romana Rota.Luigi was about 23 years old,and it looked as though he wasabout to fulfil his dearestambitions.

The sudden death of CardinalConsalvi, however, brought toan end all his legal projects andhis dream of becoming rich andfamous by means of the legal

profession. He took the drasticand extraordinary decision ofquitting altogether the legalcareer, to the astonishment offamily and friends alike.

His brother, Antonio Gentili,writing a few years later, tried toexplain this unpredictabledecision, providing, at the sametime, an insight into the mindand heart of Luigi. Thesuccessful young lawyer wasvery conscious of his manytalents and gifts, and burnedwith the ambition of reachingthe top in all his endeavours.He was determined, and hadlittle patience; and even failuredid not deter him, he simplylooked for alternative routes toreach the summit. It will be this“ruthless” quest that will drive,at a later stage, Fr. Gentili toembark with all his energies andtalents on the way to personalholiness and to offer himselfwithout reservations to the loveof God and neighbour in hisapostolate.

One of these alternative routesled Luigi, on this occasion, tolock himself up in his room forone whole year, immersed in thestudy of three modern languages,Spanish, French, and English.His family and friends worriedabout his mental stability, but hecame out of it at the end of the

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year with a sound grammaticalknowledge and with the abilityto speak with sufficient fluencyall three languages - quite anachievement!

Luigi then turned his attention tothe many foreigners who hadmade of Rome their residence orwho lived in Rome either asrepresentatives of their countryor by reason of their office in themany ecclesiastical houses orcolleges, or who simply choseRome as their place of residenceduring the winter months. Luigifound himself at ease with themall. A lawyer by profession, afine linguist, a man of wideculture, especially knowledgeableof the many archaeological sitesof Rome and surrounding areas,a handsome man, tall, with deepblue eyes, and a captivatingvoice, Luigi became a familiarface in the many socialgatherings at embassies and inthe private homes of the rich andwealthy members of foreignaristocratic families.

He soon realised that musicalskills would considerablyenhance his standing andpopularity among the morenoble families, and so he madethe decision to learn to playsome musical instruments, andto sing. One day, his brotherAntonio reports, Luigi arrived at

the house with three mencarrying a piano and had it putinto his room. Ignoring theamused comments of themembers of his family, heengaged top piano teachers andbecame quite proficient in a veryshort time. He took singinglessons from the best teachers inRome, who trained hismelodious voice both for choirand for solo singing.

He then joined the PhilharmonicSociety, which gave publicconcerts, and was soonrequested to take the solos,which he did with greatsatisfaction. The AustrianAmbassador, Count Appony, andthe French, Viscount DeChateaubriand, began invitinghim to play and to sing at thereceptions at their Embassies,and soon his reputation grewamong the aristocratic familiesof Roman society. He attendedsuch events not as a paidmusician but as a welcome guest,mixing with the high nobility,joining in sophisticatedconversations, and singing whenasked by the other guests.

Mixing regularly with princes,dukes, counts, marquises andbarons, Luigi looked for a wayof raising his own socialstanding by acquiring a title ofnobility, and he was fortunate to

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strike a friendship with the DukeSforza Cesarini who possessedthe hereditary privilege of beingable to confer the title of “Countand Knight of the Golden Spur”.The Duke was delighted to fulfilthe desire of his talented andnoble friend, and bestowed onLuigi the written title and itsdecorations. From that day, ashis brother Antonio reports,Luigi appeared at publicfunctions or receptions as oftenas he could, to have the pleasureof hearing himself announced as“the knight and count Don LuigiGentili”.

It is not clear how Luigimanaged to support himselffinancially during this veryambitious period, but heprobably had earned a good dealin his legal practice. He mixedwith foreign visitors andresidents not for the sake ofmoney but because he found thewhole experience stimulating,and rewarding as far as his ownsocial position was concerned.But unsolicited money began tocome in, in an unexpectedmanner.

Some of his society friends askedhim, as an expert linguist, toteach them Italian. He refused atfirst, thinking the task inferior tohis social standing, but seeingtheir insistence he agreed to do

it, but not for money. He was abrilliant teacher, and soon thenumber of people, andparticularly English visitors,increased considerably to such adegree that they themselvesasked him to accept veryhandsome fees for his lessons. Itwas an occupation that took himalso to Naples, Sorrento, andother cities where the Englishspeaking visitors would oftenspent their summer months.

Luigi was soon able to put asidea considerable sum of money,and decided to invest it in acountry estate, buying a farm onMonte Mario, near the Vatican,which included vineyards andalso some derelict land which heplanned to bring back tocultivation. He was now firedwith the desire to bring backamong his countrymen theancient agricultural love ofRepublican Rome, and heimmersed himself into the studyof agriculture both in relation tothe ancient Roman methods andto modern technology. He beganto give advice to hisneighbouring farmers on how tocultivate the land successfully,and he learned how to use aplough, with his own oxen, andhe spent his days out in thefields, reclaiming the land thathad become derelict, andrenovating his vineyards.

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The experiment could not lastlong, since the strenuousphysical work took a heavy tollon his health and his doctorsadvised him to give up farmingaltogether and to return to hismore gentle occupations.

He was now 27 and as busy andas popular as ever among thecircle of expatriates, especiallythose from England. He decidedthat the time had come for himto take a wife, and he set hisheart on a young girl,Anna De Mendoza y Rios,whose father had been a SpanishAdmiral who had settled inEngland and who had married awealthy English lady. Bothparents had died, and Anna wasstill under two guardians, aMadame Chaussegros andBishop Baines, who was residentin Rome at the time. Luigi had achance of seeing the girl on anumber of occasions at the salonof Madame Chaussegros and itis more than likely that theirfeelings of love were mutual.

Luigi went to see Bishop Baines,as her guardian, to ask forpermission to marry Anna.To his consternation, bothguardians refused their consent,and, to give the clearest possiblemessage, they sent her back toEngland at once.

The refusal of his marriagecaused utter despair and seriouslyshook the self-confidence of theambitious young man. His senseof dejection extended to all thathe had done and achieved overthe previous years, and slowly,but surely, he turned to God asthe only solid rock of his life.He later referred to this period ofthe refusal as the time of his“conversion”, centring in on Godas the source of all wisdom andthe fulfilment of all his mostprofound desires.

Luigi had always led a simplebut sincere religious life. His“saintly parents” brought uptheir children according toaccepted doctrines and a warmdevout love for God, for Mary,all the Saints, and the Angels.One of the rooms of their housewas used regularly as a prayerroom, where the Rosary andother devotions were recited bythe whole family, often led byLuigi as the eldest of thechildren. As a young boy he hadjoined the Sodality of St.Aloysius Gonzaga, taking partfully to processions anddevotions in honour of the Saint.It was at the Sodality that he metthe future Pius IX, then athoughtful boy in charge ofgroups of younger boys, likeLuigi.

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Even as a university student,Luigi joined the Sodality of thePurification of the Virgin Mary,faithfully fulfilling all itsreligious obligations. He had amost striking devotion to Marysince his early childhood, andone custom which was very dearto him all through his life was torecite daily the five Psalmswhose initials make up the word“Maria”, in honour of the VirginMary. He had inherited thisdevotion but contributed to itsspreading it not only in Italy butalso in Great Britain and Ireland.

He had been faithful to hisreligious practice all his life,approaching the Sacraments withprofound love and gratitude toGod, and as often as he could.Even during the summer periodsin the company of his foreignfriends to whom he was teachingItalian, he never neglected hisreligious duties, as he himselfwrote: “When I went to NaplesI continued to approach theSacraments and I never neglected

any of my religious duties. I wasable then to gain much wisdomabout the fallacy of all materialthings, and the permanence ofthe eternal, in which truehappiness is to be found”.

A singular event happened atabout this time, which showsonce again the predominance ofhis Christian convictions overworldly prejudices. He had beenseriously offended, and had beenasked to take part in a duel tohave his name cleared. Luigi washorrified at the thought of thepossibility of killing someone,even if that someone had causedgreat offence to him. He wasimpetuous by nature, and duelswere still an accepted part ofsocial life, but he was notprepared to go against thecommandments of the Gospels.He went straight to the otherperson, offering at once hisforgiveness and his peace.

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CHAPTER TWO

THE MEETING WITHBLESSED ROSMINI

“Father, give me everything” (Blessed Rosmini)

The refusal of his marriageplunged Luigi into a profoundpersonal crisis. But, unlike Lot’swife, he did not allow hisdespair to take over his life or tocurb his aspirations of greatnessand success. On the contrary, heput himself resolutely on to thesteep and winding path thatwould finally take him to thegreat heights of holiness.He used the word “conversion”:he opened his eyes to the truevalues and the true glory, and hesold everything in order topossess the treasure of immensevalue and the pearl of greatbeauty of the Gospel.

He withdrew from “the world”and began a humble life ofservice to God, joining thecompany of learned and devoutpriests, attending all religiousfunctions with commitment anddedication, living at home as in amonastery, reading the life ofSaints, books on spirituality anddoctrine, and visiting the sickand those in prisons.

He joined the Sodality of theSacred Heart, founded with thepurpose of fostering love for theBlessed Sacrament, and also theOratory of Fr. Caravita, whosemembers met for exercises ofpiety and devotion and forlearned discussions about thefaith. It was their custom to

walk home late at night sayingthe Rosary and singing theLitanies in public through thestreets of Rome, as a witness ofdevotion to Mary. His brotherAntonio left this testimony aboutLuigi’s new attitude: “All hisconversation now was of God,Our Lady, the saints andmartyrs, miracles, priests, friars,nuns, hermits, the Holy Bible,and such things”.

This sudden and unexpectedchange of life caused a stir inRome. Quite a few of his oldfriends thought that he had gonemad, others that he was simplygoing through the humiliatingstage of his failure in love, soonto return to his acclaimed andpopular way of life, mixing withthe nobility and the expatriatesas their most welcome guest, andothers finally attributed hiscurrent lifestyle to his volubleand unsteady character.But Luigi would insist, “Let theworld say whatever it likes.He who sees the interior of mymind will decide whether this ismadness, as the world supposesit to be”.

He struck a great friendship withtwo Jesuit priests, Frs. Minniniand Buonvicini, who wereprofessors of theology at theRoman University, and throughthem he was introduced to many

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others of the Society of Jesus. Itwas natural for Luigi to thinkthat the best way of pursuing hisvocation to holiness was tobecome a priest in the Society ofJesus, and he tried to make aformal approach on at leastthree occasions. However, eachtime he was about to enter thenovitiate he had to return homebecause of persistent high fever.

He was advised then toconcentrate on recovering hishealth in the small town of S.Gregorio, near Tivoli, where hisfather had strong connections asthe land-agent of the feudal lordof the small town. He settled atthe Carmelite Monastery ofS. Maria Nova, and the quiet lifeof rest and prayer restored himfully to good health. Notablewas his intervention in thescandalous hatred of two priestsfor each other, the rector of theChurch at S. Gregorio and hiscurate. The whole town spokeabout it, and parish life hadcome to a standstill. Luigi wentto see the curate and spoke tohim with passion, reminding himof his duty to be a witness oflove and forgiveness: “I toosuffered great injury, he said, andwas challenged to a duel, but Iwas the first to go to my enemy,embrace him, and give him thekiss of peace”.

He returned to Rome with hismind firmly set on thepriesthood. Although still alayman, he obtained permissionto attend theology lessons at theRoman College, and it wasduring this period of preparationto the priesthood that he metFr. Rosmini.

Fr. Rosmini had arrived in Romethe previous year, November1828, with the double task ofpublishing his major work onphilosophy (New Essay on theOrigin of Ideas), and onspirituality (Maxims of ChristianPerfection), and of asking thePope’s blessings on the Instituteof Charity which had had itssmall beginning at Calvario,Domodossola on 20th February1828.

Gentili knew well what highsociety had to say about the“abate Rosmini”, of his holiness,of his modesty, of his aristocraticfamily, of his encyclopaediclearning. He had managed toread one of Fr. Rosmini’s earlierbooks, “On ChristianEducation”, about which thefamous Alessandro Manzoni hadsaid, “Reading the book one hasthe impression of listening to oneof the great Fathers of theChurch”.


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Fr. Rosmini was recovering fromsmallpox when he was visited bythe young lawyer Gentili. Thetwo got on well, with Gentiliasking many questions aboutphilosophy, theology, and aboutthe Institute of Charity. Theysaw each other frequently, untilone day Gentili spoke toFr. Rosmini about his desire tobe a member of his Institute ofCharity. Fr. Rosmini gave himthe Constitutions to read, andGentili had the fortune oflistening to Fr. Rosmini’sexplanations of the foundationalprinciples: desire for holiness,passivity and purification ofconscience, indifference,contemplative life, universality oflove and of obedience, etc.

Gentili felt the power and thebeauty of the spirituality ofFr. Rosmini, and was attractedto it by the inner consent of hismind and heart. He askedFr. Rosmini for financial helpthat would allow him tocomplete his theological studiesbefore his ordination to thepriesthood. He made the requestin great humility and in a stateof acute embarrassment, givenhis natural pride. The fact wasthat he had been forced to mixhis studies with giving Italianlessons to wealthy foreigners inorder not to be a burden on hisfamily. But he now felt that

progress in his theologicalstudies depended on his givingthem his full attention.

Fr. Rosmini agreed to assist him,and arranged for him to take upresidence at the Irish College,where Gentili could lead areligious life and attend hisstudies at the Roman College.From that time, Gentiliconsidered himself a member ofthe Institute and he wrote a fewletters to Fr. Loewenbruck, thefirst disciple of Fr. Rosmini,expressing his desire to join himsoon at Calvario for thenovitiate. This is what Gentiliwrote to him on 27 February1830: “I feel more and morethat it was God’s will thatFr. Rosmini should come to myhelp not only to assist me on myspiritual journey but also that Ishould become his disciple, andthat he should be the star to leadme to the Lord”.

On the feast of the Annunciation,1830, Gentili received thetonsure and two of the MinorOrders. Fr. Rosmini was presentat the ceremony, and boththanked the Virgin Mary for thatgreat grace. Shortly afterward,Fr. Rosmini left Gentili andRome and made his way toCalvario, commending the newvocation to God, and speakingabout Gentili to Pope Pius VIII.


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Gentili immersed himself in histheological studies at the IrishCollege. Matthew Collier, one ofhis companions, describedGentili’s time at the College inthese terms: “Gentili’s life at theCollege was the life of a mostperfect saint. He loved to teachItalian to the students so that wewould be able to read the manybeautiful books written aboutspirituality and theology. He hada great devotion to the Motherof God, and a great desire toinflame our hearts with the samelove. He observed with care allthe rules of the College, prayingat all times and fastingfrequently”.

Fr. Rosmini had left Gentili a“small gift” with their commonfriend, Fr. Paolo Barola, a giftwhich Gentili found puzzling atfirst: it was a letter fromFr. Rosmini containing a“brotherly correction” about theway to speak to others: not witharrogance, as though they knewlittle, but with humility andalmost sharing, as it were, acommon truth, so as not tomake them feel inferior orignorant. It is likely that theeloquent lawyer presented hisviews quite forcefully and atlength, lecturing rather thandiscussing. Fr. Rosmini, who hadnoticed this aspect of Gentili’spersonality, had wanted to make

his friend aware wishing him toadopt a more humble andmodest way of talking to others.

It is surprising to learn from thisletter of the great difficultyFr. Rosmini found in speakingabout this to Gentili: “I feltguilty about keeping it quiet, andyet I could not bring myself tosay it openly to you, and eventhough I did try a few times, Inever actually managed to do it.This is certainly a weakness onmy part, because between dearbrothers and friends as we are,there should be much morefreedom and familiarity”. On thepart of Gentili, however, thereply came as expected: “I thankyou from my heart for the adviceto curb my foolish chatter. Butwhy didn’t you rebuke medirectly? Has not the Lord putus together to help each other onthe way to holiness? I beseechyou in the name of our mostbeloved Mother to let me knowopenly all the faults, failings,vices that you see in me, givingme also the indications of howto overcome them, since my onlydesire is to rid myself of the “oldself” and be one with God inholiness. Please, do continue togive me such gifts, not small butbig, and as often as you can”.

Gentili did not know what hewas asking! Fr. Rosmini took it


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as a duty to rebuke him firmlywhenever necessary, for small orbig mistakes, often imposing onhim severe acts of penance asreparation. He did not like thetask, as he explained to Gentili:“You are quite right to reproveme: I confessed my fault in myprevious letter — my fault ofpusillanimity. And the origin ofthis, as I said, is my sense ofunworthiness, to which I did notwant to add the temerity ofwishing to remove the motefrom someone else’s eye while Ihad a beam in my own. I cannotexpress to you how great is theunworthiness I see in myself;I cannot even fully take it in”.

Fr. Rosmini had a clearperception that Gentili was noordinary person, and he felt theresponsibility, as his spiritualfather, to guide him gently butfirmly into the way to holiness.“Only great persons can formgreat persons”, wroteFr. Rosmini: we can see the truthof the statement by observing themanner used by him of makingof Luigi Gentili, by the grace ofGod, a great saint.

The occasion for further “gifts”came soon enough. Fr. Rosminihad agreed to help Gentilifinancially once assured of hisintention of joining the Instituteat Calvario, Domodossola, soon

after his ordination to thepriesthood, planned forSeptember of that same year1830. The day of the ordinationcame, but Gentili continued todelay his departure, for variousreasons, and it was only after avery strong letter fromFr. Rosmini at the beginning ofAugust 1831 that he finally tookthe step of leaving his family andRome for Sacro Monte Calvarioof Domodossola, to begin hisnovitiate.

The period in between wasdefined by both Fr. Rosmini andGentili as the period of“temptations”, orchestrated bythe devil to destroy the youngman’s vocation to the Institute ofCharity.

It seems certain that Calvario, anisolated, cold, austere hermitagein a remote part of the Alps, didnot have a great appeal at firstfor the young lawyer, who hadspent so much of his timefrequenting the company ofprinces, ambassadors, andmembers of the Roman highsociety, and who had enjoyed thecosmopolitan setting of papalRome. He feared the predictablyharsh nature of that place, and,moreover, he expected strongopposition from his family andeven the ridicule of friends on


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account of the fragility of hishealth.

Fr. Rosmini tried, at times, toentice him by describing thegreat spiritual work pursued atCalvario: “I have found thingshere even better than I expected;everything is well organized,thanks to our dear DonGiovanni Loewenbruck; there isperfect unity, much fervour andhumility, both in our gooddeacon Molinari and in thebrethren ... God is clearlypresent in all this. DivineProvidence is blessing the worksdone in the locality, so that greatspiritual fruit is to be seen, andthe people show a disposition toadvance in perfection. Here thereis much going on, there are greatexpectations, and many demandsare made on us. But we are shortof workers. Oh, if only you werehere too! Certainly you would beable to do much good, Godwilling, by working humbly andsecretly. Humility is somethingprecious to me, and to be hiddenaway is most pleasing. The onething I fear is that we may notbe able to continue like this forlong. But we must leave all toGod and our holy Mother,Mary”.

“Oh, if only you were here too!”These words expressed both awish and a worry, the latter

more, perhaps, than the former,as it can be seen from anotherpassage of a subsequent letter:

“Still I confess I have some fearsfor you, since you may face thedeceits of the world during thisperiod when you have not yetentirely escaped de laqueovenantium (from the snare of thefowlers). For I have read about(and unfortunately experiencedwithin myself) how great is thesubtlety, the craftiness, of theenemy of mankind when it is amatter of attacking andupsetting the things for which hehas an unmeasured hatred.

Not that you must suppose thisto mean that I have lostconfidence in you — not at all,my friend. I simply have doubtsabout human nature, aboutmyself, about this sinful flesh ofours, our fickle heart, ourignorance of mind, that spirit ofpresumption that unfortunatelywe have inherited from our firstparents. And this goes for all mypoor, wretched brothers andsisters, the rest of mankind. This,then, is why I am apprehensive(I say this plainly) during all thistime when you are surroundedby so many relatives, friends andvarious allurements”.

The temptations that afflictedthe young Gentili were of diverse


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nature and intensity, some easilyovercome by his own goodsense, others only as a result ofvery strong words fromFr. Rosmini.

The day before Pentecost of1830 Gentili became a deacon,strengthened by the manyprayers offered for him by hisfriends at Calvario. He thankedFr. Rosmini, and wrote to him,“Woe to me, woe to me should Ibe slow in taking advantage ofthe many favours the Lordbestows on me. What will it beof me before the judgment seatof God, without the help of mysweetest hope, Mary?”

It was at about this time that hefound himself under intensepressure to join Bishop Duboy ofNew York with the purpose ofexercising his priestly ministry inthat great diocese. The bishopdid not know of the promisethat bound Gentili toFr. Rosmini, but had heard greatthings about him and was verykeen that he should be part ofhis untiring apostolic mission inthe States. Gentili felt honouredby the insistent request from thePrelate, but he replied explaininghis links to the Institute ofCharity and the fact that he hadnever felt a vocation to do hispriestly work in America.

Next, there was a letter fromBishop Baines, urging him tojoin a strong group of his friendsat the English College whowould be travelling to Prior Parknear Bath to work in a Collegethe bishop had founded for therebirth of Catholicism in Britain.The request, this time, wassupported by the Rectors of theEnglish and Irish Colleges, and itcorresponded to a mostprofound aspiration in his ownheart, to spend his energy andlabours in bringing Britain underthe obedience of the faith. Theconversion of England to itsancient Catholic faith was aburning desire for Gentili, and,looking at his life in its totalityand from a distance, we caneasily discover it to be thegolden thread that boundtogether all the experiences ofhis years of formation.

It would have been easy forGentili to take the pressing callof the Bishop as a clear sign ofGod’s will; but, remembering hispromise to Fr. Rosmini, hereplied to the Bishop that he wasbound to the Institute of Charity,but that he had the hope that inthe near future, after the formalapprobation of the Institute,Fr. Rosmini may be in a positionto send to Prior Park not onlyGentili but a few more membersof the Order besides. The bishop


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accepted his words and keptclose to his heart this expressedhope of future cooperation.

Gentili felt elated at theovercoming of such powerfultemptation, and wrote to Fr.Rosmini in a colourful style:“Even if the crown of theChinese Empire should beoffered to me, I would neverconsider it anything before theglory of Monte Calvario: haecrequies mea in saeculum saeculi,hic habitabo quoniam elegi eam[here I shall find my rest for everand ever, here shall I dwell sinceI have chosen it]. Even if the ruleof the whole world should begiven to me, I would willinglyignore it. My chosen lot is a lifeof obscurity, abnegation,suffering, tied to the cross; andnot great mansions and riches.Even if the universe should fall,I shall not be moved from myholy vocation”.

Fr. Rosmini received furtherconfirmation of the promisingqualities of Gentili from his ownfriend Count Mellerio, who hadbeen to Rome and had met theyoung deacon on a number ofoccasions. He wrote toFr. Rosmini, praising the loyaland sincere character of theyoung Roman, his commitmentand simplicity: “He has a mostbeautiful spirituality, I am

certain he will be extremelysuccessful in the religious life”.

The next temptation originatedfrom within his heart, and it wasperhaps the most dangerous.To Fr. Rosmini’s expressed wish,“Oh, if only you were here too!”Gentili replied with a puzzlingletter in which he produced allsorts of excuses in order to try todelay his departure from Romeuntil the spring of 1831. Hebegan by saying that theeventual departure from Romehad to be in secret, so as not tobe noticed by the many friendswho would not understand itand would call it madness;moreover, it had to be after along period of preparation of themembers of his own family whowould find his departure adevastating experience; andfinally, it could not be doneduring the winter’s months, sincehe feared for his own health.

Fr. Rosmini replied with a mostrobust letter, a precioustestimony of his strong fatherlyaffection for Gentili, and arevelation of the way he himselfhad to deal with a similartemptation brought by his tenderlove for his mother:

“My dear brother in JesusChrist,


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The love which I have for you(and I beg you to treat mehenceforth in the same frankmanner), and the desire youexpress in your letter, that Ishould be generous (as you putit) towards you even while weare at a distance by making younot small presents but big ones,and as often as possible, makesme show you in practice that Iwill not fail to satisfy your holyrequest; and so I will make suchremarks about your letter asseem to me useful, and which Itrust will be well received byyou, with the same fraternal lovein which they are offered.

So I feel prompted to put you onyour guard against the devil,who will certainly do his best toimpede all your goodresolutions. I fear I see in you acertain lack of generosity, andinstead some pusillanimity. Thereis nothing so contrary to theservice of God as this. Noticewell, my dear friend, that I say‘I fear’; and by this I mean thatit may not be so; but I want youto make a diligent examinationof conscience to see if ever thedevil manages to infect you withweakness and faintheartedness,so that (should this be the case)you can immediately banishthese things, and instead showthe generosity of our divineMaster, Jesus Christ the

conqueror of the devil. WhenSatan sees that we arecourageous he loses heart, andafter a few more attacks heleaves us alone. But if he seesthat things are otherwise, thatwe are cowardly and feeble, thisis what he wants: he leaves us nopeace, and if we do not at oncebanish our fear, then he has wonthe victory.

You show in your letter a greatapprehension over the gossip ofthe world. My dear friend, if weare afraid of what the worldsays, we shall never do anythingthat makes for the glory of God.There is nothing I care lessabout than such chattering. Butnotice that I am not saying thatif one course of action ratherthan another excites less gossipwe should not prefer it. What Iam saying is that we shouldnever neglect even the slightestopportunity of doing good onaccount of what the world mightsay. If we took any notice ofsuch things we should soon beinhibited from doing any good;since the world will always go infor gossip, and even persecution.

You say that if people knew ofyour departure from Rome, ‘theywould regard this as a worsemadness than the first, andwould take any steps to preventit, since they would find it


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incredible that someone who forhealth reasons had not been ableto enter a religious house on theQuirinal [in Rome, where theJesuits had their novitiate] couldever truly be called by God to aplace in the foothills of the Alps,if he knew what he was doing.

Really! Is what the world callsmadness truly so? If so, then thecross of Christ is madness too;and so is the gospel; and so isthe action of the apostles, whoexposed themselves to all sortsof dangers and sufferings amongbarbarian nations; so is thewitness of faith given by the holymartyrs ... all madness. But inreality how desirable is this kindof ‘madness’; would that I hadthis same madness, and that itwere incurable and went toextremes! This divine madness issomething I long for, and withtears daily plead to God for.I am certain that you will notreally regard this as madness,but rather see it as truewisdom…

So the world, you think, wouldcompare the Quirinal with thefoothills of the Alps. That is itsway. But Jesus, on the contrarysaid: True worshippers adore theFather in spirit and in truth. Andas for health: if the world judgedas you say, it would be doing soin its usual mistaken fashion,

making no distinction betweenthe time when you were ill andthe present, when you are wellagain. And as for coming here,‘not knowing what you aredoing’: certainly the world hasno idea of what is done in holyretirement. But those who aresent away from the crazy worldby the impulse of the Holy Spiritdo know.

I am quite sure that when JesusChrist went into the desert, theworld had no understanding ofwhat he went there to do. ButChrist did not expect the worldto understand. Indeed, how canthe world ever understand suchthings? But we ought tounderstand them. And if we failto do so, that is because we tooare of the world. ‘Not knowingwhat you are about’? Is itpossible that such a verdict cantrouble you? I will tell the worldvery plainly what I have comehere to do: to fulfil my vocation;to answer the call of God; to getwell away from so foolish aworld; to purify my conscience;to save my soul. That is what isto be done here. And this cannotbe a small matter — not for you,not for me. Heaven help anyonewho does not know what he hasto do in the place where he iscalled by the Lord. How remotefrom the spirit of our Institute isthe world’s reasoning. For


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goodness’ sake examine yourself,look into yourself, so that youmay not be in the leastcontaminated by the slightestshadow of worldliness.

I did not let such attractionsstop me from coming here; I donot think I was held back bysuch considerations for a singleday. I too have a mother whomI greatly love, and who sent meletters and advice, and orderedme not to leave home. I shouldlike you to see what I replied toher. I have kept copies of someof my letters; and I am sure theywould seem to ‘the world’ toohard — because it does notunderstand the love of Christ.I told her plainly that she mustcease to give me orders or sendme requests, because she has noright to do so over such matters;that if I acceded to her wishesI should be doing her will, notthe will of my Father, who is myGod. Therefore she should notwrite to me any more in thisfashion. And she has not doneso. We have to say, Get theebehind me, Satan to our family,as Christ did to St Peter. Youhave made me behave foolishlyin talking about myself…”

Gentili felt the strength of thewise words of Fr. Rosmini, andhurried to reassure him that hisvocation to the Institute was as

strong as ever, and that he hadused some exaggeratedexpressions. In effect, he said, hehad no fear of the contempt ofthe world and was prepared towalk to Calvario with people onthe left and on the right makingfun of him, ridiculing him,offending him; as for relativesand friends, he was prepared tostep over them had they tried tostop his exit from Rome by lyingon the road; and, finally, that hewas truly ready to come toCalvario in the autumn if thatwas the wish of Fr. Rosmini.

This frank exchange had helpedGentili to put aside hisdifficulties and anxieties, and hebegan a period of preparationfor the ordination to thepriesthood. He had to sit thefinal exams, but in the middle ofhis preparation and days beforehis exams, he was taken ill withsevere fever, difficulty inbreathing, and kidney trouble.His response to the new setbackcan be found in a letter he wroteto Fr. Rosmini: “Let theAlmighty God be blessed forever, who deals so tenderlytowards me. It has been theLord’s pleasure to reveal to menot so much the greatness of thepriesthood, which is alwaysbefore my eyes, but the immenseunworthiness of His servant, sofull of sin and guilt”.


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He attributed to “Mary myMother” his sudden miraculousrecovery to health, just in timefor him to pass his final examsand to do his ten days spiritualretreat as an immediatepreparation to his ordination.

Gentili became a priest on 18thSeptember 1830, in the Basilicaof St. John Lateran, and theordination Mass was presided byCardinal Placido Zurla. Likemany other priests, Gentilirefused to speak about the greatspiritual blessings experienced onthat blessed day. But he spoke, attimes, of a detail that heinterpreted as a “sign” fromheaven: “As I lay prostrateduring the litany of the Saints,I had a heavy flow of bloodfrom my nose, and seeing thefloor becoming red as a result,I meditated upon the preciousBlood flowing from the face ofJESUS at the beginning of Hisown Passion in Gethsemani, andI offered my own blood in unionwith His, burning with desire ofa martyrdom of love. I wasamazed to see that the flux ofblood came to an end at theright time, and I was able tostand up and go to my placewith no blood at all on my faceor on my white vestments”.

He celebrated his first Mass atthe Convent of the nuns called

“Turchine”, to please his aunt,Sr. Clair of JESUS, who was amember of that community. Onthe following day he offered theMass for Fr. Rosmini and thecommunity at Calvario.

A few days later, however, hewas taken ill again, and thedoctors recommended a periodof rest on the mountains nearRome. He chose the monasteryof Santa Maria Nuova, run bythe Augustinians. There, heimmersed himself in prayer andin the study of philosophy,learning attentively Fr. Rosmini’smasterpiece, The New Essay onthe Origin of Ideas. Thisprolonged research onphilosophical matters wouldassist him greatly when he wouldhave to teach philosophy toseminarians and priests at PriorPark.

When he returned to Rome, hewas asked to take charge of the“Congregazione degliIgnorantelli”, that is, of a largegroup of children of very poorbackground who gathered onSundays for religious instructionand for prayers. Gentili enjoyedthe pastoral work with them,and, by means of his variousskills he attracted and instructedmany on the way of the Lord.Such experience and skills withthe poorest of children would be


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put to good use in his ministry inthe poor towns in Leicestershire,and during his later missions inGreat Britain and Ireland.

Winter had passed, and Gentiliwas beginning to makepreparations to join Fr. Rosminiat Calvario. He had learned ofthe humble manner Fr. Rosminihad accepted to be the Superiorof the small community, afterrepeated requests from bothFr. Loewenbruck and Molinari.Fr. Rosmini had asked them topray and fast for three days,during which time he hadopened his conscience fully toFr. Loewenbruck giving himpermission to discuss his “pitifuland sinful” condition withMolinari.

Fr. Rosmini accepted withreluctance the nomination, andbegan his ministry to thebrethren by serving them atmealtime for two weeks. Hebegan his novitiate in spirit oftotal submission to the spiritualguidance of Fr. Loewenbruck.

Fr. Gentili closely followed theevents and wished to join hisspiritual father as a novice. Buthe had to overcome twotemptations which would furtherdelay his departure from Rome.The first was brought about bythe insistence of a young convert

who had come recently to Rometo look for a priest who wouldaccompany him back toLeicestershire to serve a smallnumber of Catholics, and toengage in the active conversionof his country to the Catholicfaith.

His name was Ambrose PhillipsDe Lisle, a striking figure of theperiod which became known as“the second spring” of theCatholic faith in Great Britain.A son of the aristocracy,Ambrose had converted toCatholicism at the age of 16,and from that time his heartburned with the holy desire ofbringing Britain back to itsCatholic faith. In his earlytwenties he had also convertedto the faith in an astonishinglybrief time a young Anglicanparson, the Hon. GeorgeSpencer, a son of Earl Spencerand brother of Lord Althorp,who was soon afterwards tobecome Chancellor of theExchequer. After his conversion,George Spencer applied toBishop Walsh for admission tothe priesthood, and he was sentto the English College in Rometo test his vocation and to studyunder young Mons. Wiseman.

Ambrose had come to Rome toaccompany his friend and toseek for a “learned, pious and


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zealous priest” who wouldreturn with him to England,become his chaplain and open amission at Grace Dieu, in a widedistrict where Catholic life hadbeen virtually extinct forgenerations. The Rector of theIrish College suggested the nameof Luigi Gentili, and arranged ameeting between the two.

It was a moving encounter: theyoung Ambrose knelt beforeFr. Gentili, asking his blessingand beseeching him to take pityon the desperate conditions ofthe poor Catholics inLeicestershire, and urging him tocome to England and work therefor the conversion of the wholenation. Fr. Gentili recognised thevoice of God in the words of theyoung aristocrat summoning himonce again to a great mission inthe land that had become theobject of his dearest thoughts.

But he remembered the wisewords of Fr. Rosmini aboutobedience, and limited himself tosay that the matter was indeedvery dear to both him and toFr. Rosmini and that he wascertain that Fr. Rosmini wouldwelcome his request and wouldsee to it that one or more of hispriests would go to England asrequested in the very near future.He promised to write toFr. Rosmini at once.

It was a surprising letter that hesent to Fr. Rosmini, in which hedescribed the meeting withAmbrose and his own words ofencouragement, but he endedwith the following thoughts:“Can it be true that God willsme, who am so full of ignorance,misery and vice, and withoutprudence (I speak sincerely) togo to England? I, who for solong a time played the foolamong the English in Rome – I,who have given them so muchscandal – I, in fine, who am theoutcast of the world, what couldI do there? Increase the numberof sinners?

Ah, my dear Father, the veil ofmy pride and self-love is at timesrent asunder, and my most dearMother helps me to recognisemyself in the mirror of truth.Truly, I once desired earnestly togo to England, and there shedmy blood. But although thedesire has not, at least thepresumption has fallen, of beingamong those chosen to remedythe evils of that unhappy nation.

I beg always of God to sendthere men of holiness andlearning, and not one who, byhis ignorance and sin, might doinjury to the Lord’s cause. WereI among those commissioned,with what reason might I notexclaim, ‘Poor unhappy being


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that I am!’ For there, instead ofbeing in an obscure, hiddenposition, I should be exposed tocontinual warfare, not only withheresy, but with its effects,consisting in corruption and lowdegrading vice. And what are myweapons? My own faults. Butenough, the prospect is toodistant”.

Fr. Rosmini read the letter withgreat pleasure, seeing in theencounter a fresh proof of divineapproval of the Institute, and afurther sign of divine Providenceconcerning a possible mission inEngland. He replied immediately,expressing his keen desire toassist:

“I am not waiting a moment toreply to your letter, in which Ifind ever new signs of the mercyof God and of our Saviour theLord Jesus Christ, to whom wemust always be grateful, as weare consumed with the desire tosuffer something for his sake,and if possible to obtain thegreatest grace of all: that is, tospend our life and shed ourblood for his glory: he is theobject of all our desires and ofour will — of our very existence,since we were created for him.

The English Catholics are sodear to my heart that I do notknow what I would not do to

help them in any way possible:I want to neglect nothingwhatever that Providencesuggests I could do to theiradvantage. I would wish even togive my blood for the glory ofour Lord, little as my blood isworth.

So I have thought about all thatyou said in your letter, in orderto find some way of acceding tothe wish of Mr Phillips at theearliest possible moment as faras is compatible with theprudence required by our Rules(as laid down in theConstitutions), and with thewhole spirit of our Institute. So Ithink that, if you feel insympathy with the idea of thismission, you might do just oneyear of noviciate with us, inwhich to prepare yourself for thework and absorb well our Rulesand maxims, gaining an insightinto them and putting them intopractice; then at the end of thisyear I should be quite happy togive you two companions fromamongst us and send you toLeicester.

There, Mr Phillips will bepleased if you will open a houseand take on the care of souls.Glory be to God through ourLord Jesus Christ for ever. Andso dear to me is an enterprise ofthis sort that in order to omit


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nothing on my part that couldhelp to ensure a favourableoutcome to this work of theLord, I should be ready to partwith my dear Loewenbruck,who is at once my support andmy chief adviser, and to give himto you as one of yourcompanions. I would do this sothat you could have with you aman who is wise and reliable,intelligent and well-versed in ouraffairs, as well as being inflamedwith a tremendous zeal solely forthe things of God — possessedtoo of great physical robustness,and equal to hard exertion anddemanding activity.

Ponder on all these mattersbefore God, in great tranquillityand peace, using long andfervent prayer. And if you feelresolved and ready, get in touchwith Mr Phillips who, I am sure,will feel bound to favour thiswork. Please let me know yourfeelings about this as soon aspossible, because I have the ideamuch at heart. In the meantimewe shall all pray as usual, askingGod to give us the light bywhich to know his will and togrant us the uprightness of soulto wish for and do nothing otherthan this. I put this matter,together with all the rest of ourlittle activities, into the hands ofour dear Mother, so that she will

look after them in her ownfashion”.

Fr. Gentili was delighted with thereply, and went to seek theyoung Ambrose Phillips toannounce the good news. Hefound him surprisingly cold.After repeated requests AmbrosePhillips finally explained that hehad been warned by a number ofecclesiastics in Rome to becautious about Fr. Rosmini,whose ideas and writings wereunder suspicion of heresy, andwhose Institute had, apparently,political and other dubiouspurposes. As a result, he wasthinking of withdrawing hisinvitation unless Fr. Gentiliabandoned his decision to joinFr. Rosmini and his Institute ofCharity.

It was not difficult for Fr. Gentilito produce in a short time plentyof evidence about the highregard Fr. Rosmini and hisInstitute had in the highestplaces in Rome: he showedAmbrose Phillips a brief fromPope Gregory XVI toFr. Rosmini in which heexpressly praised the holiness ofthe founder and gave his fullapproval to the Institute ofCharity, and other referencesfrom Cardinals and Bishops.Ambrose Phillips de Lisle wasreassured, and, on his way back


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to England, he went to meetFr. Rosmini in Milan, startingwith him a strong and faithfulfriendship. Fr. Rosmini remarkedto Fr. Gentili: “I appreciatedgreatly the warm and goodpersonality of Phillips! In thebrief time we were together weinitiated a strong friendshipwhich I hope it will never end.He opened up his heart anddeclared his most profounddesires. May the Lord bringthem to fruition”.

The thought of going to Englandprovided Fr. Gentili with a muchneeded boost to leave Romefinally and enter the noviciate atCalvario. He wrote toFr. Rosmini telling him of hisintention of “walking withoutstaff or purse” all the way fromRome to Calvario, like a pilgrim.He hoped to have as companionfor the journey a young Irishseminarian, Andrew Quinn, whohad often expressed his desire toenter the Institute of Charity.

But it was at this juncture thatFr. Gentili was caught up onceagain in a final “temptation”,caused by circumstanceshurriedly and imprudentlyinterpreted by his vividimagination.

He had received the blessing ofFr. Rosmini for his pastoral

work with the poor children ofthe “Congregazione degliIgnorantelli”. He was asked nowto preach a retreat to anotherlarge group of poor and destitutechildren who were part of the“Opera degli Esercizi”, a wellknown charitable organisationthat prepared such children fortheir First Holy Communion bymeans of regular instructionsand exercises of piety. The“Opera” had won the support ofPopes and Cardinals who hadseen the need for it and had firsthand knowledge of its beneficialinfluence on young people.Canon Muccioli, in particular,had toiled hard to provide goodpriests who would preach,instruct, and pray with thechildren; and such was his zealthat he adapted one of hishouses for the benefit of theolder and more difficult children,making it an “Oratorio” wherethey could continue to receivereligious instruction and engagein exercises of piety whilst, atthe same time, finding in thelarge garden of the house a safeplace for recreation and games.

Fr. Gentili preached the retreatwith outstanding results, andwas consequently begged byCanon Muccioli and by CardinalZurla, the Vicar General, tothink about the idea ofdedicating himself fully to such a


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worthwhile work of spiritualcharity. Fr. Gentili enjoyed thepastoral care of young people,and, seeing the demand and theappreciation of so many inauthority, he began to think thathe may become the tool in God’shands bringing the Institute ofCharity right to the centre ofRome with works of charitydemanded and supportedwholeheartedly by Popes andCardinals.

He spoke at once with CanonMuccioli and Cardinal Zurla,asking their views about his ideaof placing both the Opera andthe Oratory into the hands ofthe Institute of Charity. Theywere both delighted at theprospect, since it would havemeant that their valuable worksof charity would be assured of afuture, in the hands of wellknown and highly respectedpriests, like Frs. Rosmini andGentili.

Cardinal Zurla arranged forFr. Gentili to be granted ameeting with the Pope. The Popein person assured him of hissupport, asking Fr. Gentili tomake all the necessaryarrangements and to get theagreement of all interestedparties before manifesting thewhole plan to Fr. Rosmini.

Fr. Rosmini had not beenconsulted at any of the variousstages of the process; he gotmysterious letters fromFr. Gentili in which he hinted at“grave matters”, “silenceimposed by the highestauthority”, “benefits to theInstitute in Rome”, and similarexpressions. He did not knowwhat to think, whetherFr. Gentili was going to receivesome honorific title, or someimportant appointment; it nevercrossed his mind that Fr. Gentiliwas trying to create a new workof charity for the Institute inRome!

Pope Gregory XVI

He expressed his fears andconcern to Fr. Gentili. He didnot know, but he suspected thatFr. Gentili’s imagination wascarrying the day. When, at last,he was informed of the wholebusiness, he had his doubts


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confirmed and wroteimmediately to Cardinal Zurlaand Canon Muccioli thankingthem for the trust they hadexpressed in the tiny Institute ofCharity but declining their offerfor a number of reasons; then heturned to Fr. Gentili with thefollowing letter:

Trent, 1 July 1831

“My dear friend and brother inJesus Christ,

Your last letter caused me greatpain: I see from it that you letyourself be ruled by yourimagination. What illusions anddeceptions you have fallen into!You say that just when you wereabout to leave for Calvario as aresult of my call, you were heldback by your desire to do apious work. But however piousthis work may be, it was not onewhich you could carry out whileyou had the call to begin to formyourself in the Institute ofCharity. If this is your vocation,then this is the one pious workthat at present is incumbentupon you.

The rest is an illusion thatdistracts you from your properaim. If someone wants to makea journey, but allows every smallbyway to draw him from hisroute out of a desire to see

where it leads, he will neverarrive at his destination. I find inyou a lack of seriousness, and (Ifear) a facile presumption, inthat you let yourself be attractedto works that are not for you atthis stage ¬that is, if you have avocation to the Institute ofCharity.

Did not the Cardinal Vicar giveyou leave to depart? So why areyou still there? You say that youfelt an inspiration to act likethis. Well, what I want from youis fewer inspirations and morefirmness, and especially moreobedience. I am very displeasedby the way you let yourself beguided by your fancies, payingheed to goodness knows howmany interior voices, all ofwhich distract you from gettingyourself to where your vocationsummons you and your superiorinvites you. You give me muchcause for fear.

You ask me to pray to God sothat he may give you a littlehumility, since you feel you havenone. My answer is that I amvery willing to do so, for youseem to be greatly in need of thisvirtue. You speak as if you werea man inspired — you mustthink highly of yourself! Youspeak of doing heroic things, andsay that you have decided tocome here like a pilgrim, on


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foot, without staff or purse. Mydear man, mere words do notsatisfy me: I look at the facts.And the facts are that you havenot come, and that you havebuilt up all sorts of castles in theair, and committed a mass ofserious mistakes.

You jumble up so many things inyour letter, introduce the namesof so many people, that I hardlyknow where to begin to showyou your faults. So I will contentmyself with saying that yourtalking about our affairs, yourblowing the trumpet on mybehalf... it is all totally againstthe spirit of our Institute —which prefers to remain hidden,humble and content within itself.

You add also that you askedaudience several times of theHoly Father, from the momenthe took office, to congratulatehim in the name of our Society.Who gave you this commission?Who made you our ambassador?It was nothing but yourimagination which put suchideas into your head — to thepoint where you made yourselfthe representative to the Pope ofa Society which you have noteven consulted, from which youreceived no authorization. Howmany blunders there are here!Consider how they humiliate me:think of the fine reputation you

create in Rome, for me and forthe poor Institute, pretending tobe an ambassadorplenipotentiary! But God’s willbe done. I have brought thesethings on myself by my sins.

Let me speak plainly to you.I will not accept any moreexcuses, but I want you to admityour faults. Moreover I enjoinyou, if you have not beendeceiving me up to now and if itis true that you have a vocationto the Institute of Charity, to setoff immediately forDomodossola — not on foot(since you have not the strengthfor that, and it would betempting God), but comfortably,by carriage. I am fairly certainthat the Cardinal Vicar will giveyou leave to depart, knowingthat I wish this, for he is verywell disposed towards me.

I must tell you clearly that if youdisobey me again this time onthe pretext of some otherinspiration or some othermysterious business, I shallconclude that you have not beenchosen by God to be one of ournumber. Here we are in the habitof acting quite differently, andthe Lord in his mercy leads ussafely in everything. At presentwe are far from being in aposition to accept the proposedfoundation in Rome — it is a


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mere fantasy. Instead we mustconsolidate the two foundationsalready made, and give nothought to spreading ourselvesuntil we have struck root andcompleted our formation.

I await your reply, and from thisI shall be able to see what theInstitute can expect from you.Goodbye, and may God and ourLady bless you.”

Fr. Gentili understood thatFr. Rosmini meant business. Thefrank and clear words dispelledonce and for all his doubts andhe was able to see through hisinnermost fears and self-deceptions. He resolved to leaveRome, and his family and friendsand to withdraw to the solitudeof Calvario to seek holinessthrough the daily purification ofhis soul.

It had not been an easyresolution for him: he lovedRome, he moved with confidenceand pleasure among the variouscommunities that made of PapalRome a unique cosmopolitancentre, full of life, ofinternational news, of influentialvisitors who had the destiny ofnations in their hands. Thepower of God’s calling haddirected him from a comfortableand ambitious life to the simplestatus of a priest, but now it had

demanded even greater sacrifices,the giving up of family andfriends, the abandoning ofRome, and the going into thedesert, to seek hardship,purification, personal holiness.

He wrote at once to Fr. Rosminiexpressing his sorrow and hisdecision, and he got a consolingreply from him:

“I am very pleased by what yousay, that you wish to recognizeyour faults with sincere humility,all excuses set aside. This is theright path to take, and God willfill you with his blessings if youso act, as I greatly hope you will.Given such a disposition, mydear friend, you need have nofears of failing the test in thecloister; rather, you must putyour trust in God and in Maryour Mother, and believe that youwill certainly win the victory andfind a holy retirement farsweeter than you everimagined... Courage, then! Letour loins be girt and be on yourway at once. May Jesus andMary bless you”.

Fr. Gentili left Rome and “wason his way” without furtherdelay, without even informinghis family and friends. Hetravelled to Civitavecchia, andfrom there he took the boat toGenoa, and on by coach to


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Domodossola, where he arrivedon 26th August 1831. He waswelcomed by Fr. Lowenbruck,Molinari, Alvazzi, and two laybrothers. Fr. Rosmini embracedhim in the evening of the sameday, after a long journey fromTrent, and his joy was as greatas his long waiting for Fr. Gentilihad been.


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CHAPTER THREE

NOVICEAND NOVICE MASTERAT CALVARIO

“Blessed the day I heard about the Institute ofCharity, blessed the day when I decided to be partof it, blessed the day when I arrived here and thetime I spent in here. For, whether through periodsof abandonment or of temptations, I find myselflike in a castle, in paradise, immersed in a mostprofound peace that prompts me to love God moreand more; and this is truly my constantoccupation”. (Fr. Gentili)

Fr. Rosmini remained atCalvario for the next twomonths, and had the opportunityof personally guiding Fr. Gentiliduring the period of preparationcalled “first probation”. Hereceived him officially as anovice of the Institute of Charityon 16th October 1831, full ofadmiration for the greatprospects and talents ofFr. Gentili, as can be seen fromsome of his letters written atabout this time:

“I have Gentili here with me,and I am most pleased withhim”, he wrote to P. Orioli inRome; and to Count Mellerio,“Gentili is a marvellous man”;and to Card. Morozzo, “Gentiliis a most promising subject. Heis an outstanding man, both forthe great power of his intellectand, most of all, for the holinessof his life”.

Fr. Rosmini valued him sogreatly, that he had no hesitationin appointing him NoviceMaster and Assistant to the ViceSuperior, Fr. Lowenbruck, whenhe was barely a few weeks intohis novitiate. Fr. Rosmini, calledurgently by Divine Providence toTrent, entrusted to his care fivenovices, soon to increase innumber, and two seminariansfrom Novara, soon to becomefour, who had been sent to

Calvario to study philosophyand theology.

In typical fashion, Fr. Gentiligathered at once the smallcommunity and confessed tothem his own sinfulness,ignorance, and inexperience,begging their forgiveness,forbidding any sign of honourtowards his person, and urgingthem to dare to become greatsaints with the help of God andof the Blessed Mother Mary. Thefirst obedience they receivedfrom him was to report to himwithout fear any defect and faultthey should discover in him.

Always a man of ideas,Fr. Gentili made changes almostat once in the internalarrangements at Calvario. Hebought furniture, linen,household items, and insisted ontidiness and order. The dailyroutine was demanding, withprayers, meditation, instructions,manual labour, reading of thelife of Saints. He guided hisnovices both by example and byindividual and collectiveteaching. He was outstanding inhis life of prayer, animated by aburning love for Christ and forHis Mother. The austerity of hispenance was a source of awe,admiration, and emulation. Henever took a rest in theafternoon, and at night he slept

NOVICE AND NOVICE MASTER AT CALVARIO

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for four hours at most, oftenless, and occasionally he spentthe whole night in prayer, apattern which he carried for therest of his life.

He was severe towards himself,and gentle with the brethren. Heimitated the fasting patterns ofthe ancient fathers of the desert,and he mortified his body soharshly, that even Fr. Rosminihad to recommend toFr. Lowenbruck to try to restrainhim. On one occasion, as he wasflogging himself without pity inthe refectory before the wholecommunity on account of his“terrible sins”, the brethren hadto stop him in fear that he maycollapse under the strokes. Heoften took his meagre meals onhis knees, as the last and mostsinful member of the community.

The time at Calvario was ablessed time for Fr. Gentili, who,writing to his aunt, Sr. ClaireGnaccarini, said, “It seems to methat I am not on Calvary butrather on Mount Tabor!” Andwriting to Fr. Rosmini, he said,“Blessed the day I heard aboutthe Institute of Charity, blessedthe day when I decided to bepart of it, blessed the day when Iarrived here and the time I spentin here. For, whether throughperiods of abandonment or oftemptations, I find myself like in

a castle, in paradise, immersed ina most profound peace thatprompts me to love God moreand more; and this is truly myconstant occupation”.

It was his holy aunt, however,who warned him to be preparedto expect troubles and sufferingahead: “I am sure that you willsoon descend from Mount Taborto climb Mount Calvary, where,like Christ, you shall be put onthe cross”.

Main Altar at Calvario

His time at Calvario preparedhim well for the tasks ahead. Hekept the same pattern of intenseprayer, especially at night, offasting, and of other forms ofpenance for the rest of his life.


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But he was also trained byDivine Providence for his futuremission by other activities, likethe long hours in theconfessional in the Sanctuary, thefrequent visits to the poor towhom he brought his love andhis help, the long hours spent ininstructing in the faith thepoorest of the children ofsurrounding villages.

Providential was his meetingwith a young English woman,whom he prepared and broughtinto the Catholic Church. Hername was Letizia and she wasthe grand-daughter of Sir HenryTrelawney, the English baronwho had converted toCatholicism and had become apriest. Her two daughters alsohad been accepted into theCatholic Church; but his sonWilliam had remained a memberof the Church of England.

It was now the turn of the brightLetizia, William’s daughter, toembrace the Catholic faith, andshe went to meet Fr. Gentili atCalvario asking him to prepareher. Fr. Gentili, who was familiarwith the Trelawneys from histime in Rome, engaged her inprofound theological discussions,praying for her conversion dayand night. She was a mostlearned young woman, whoknew Latin and Hebrew, and

three other European languages.Fr. Gentili had to produce forher all the commentaries of theFathers of the Church and otherChurch’s documents to prove theCatholic doctrines of Purgatory,devotion to Mary and to thesaints, the importance oftradition, the supremacy of thePope, and the biblicalfoundation of each of theSacraments.

The more she learned aboutCatholic doctrine the more shewas persuaded, until on 7thOctober, on the feast of ourLady of the Rosary, she asked tobe received into the Church. Itwas Cardinal Morozzo whopresided over the splendidceremony at Domodossola,welcoming the young Englishwoman into the Catholic faith.Fr. Gentili regarded her as hisfirst English convert.

The hallmark of Fr. Gentili’smissionary work in Great Britainand Ireland would be publicmissions to large crowds in theirparishes and spiritual retreats forpriests and religious, men andwomen, in their monasteries,convents, and seminaries. DivineProvidence prepared him atCalvario from 1831 to 1834 forthat future great and successfulwork. He began by preachingretreats to priests and religious,


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and although he often preachedpublic retreats to large groups,his favourite form of retreat wasthe private one, in which hefollowed carefully the methodand the themes suggested byboth St. Ignatius andFr. Rosmini.

He would welcome to Calvariosmall groups of priests and guidethem through an intenseprogramme which they had towork out by themselves underhis constant supervision. It wasfrom such private retreats thatthe Institute of Charity gainedpriests of profound spirituality,like Pagani, Toscani, Ceroni,Gilardi, and others. Fr. Gentilireminded Fr. Rosmini thatCalvario had been established byDivine Providence, much beforethe Institute had been founded,as a place of retreats for theclergy, and that, perhaps, it wasthe Will of God that the Instituteshould take a special care ofsuch important pastoral mission.He directed many priests atCalvario, but he was also askedfrequently to preach retreats invarious religious houses andseminaries, all over the region ofPiedmont.

Fr. Gentili preached only onemission in Italy, duringNovember 1833, at PieveVergonte near Domodossola.

It was a very successful mission,and it had some of the structuresthat would later contribute to agreat spiritual awakening inEnglish and Irish parishes, inparticular a methodical andsustained preaching on theimportant doctrines of the faith,on Scripture, on the life of theSaints, combined with powerfulliturgical celebration of theSacraments. Many requests fromparishes followed immediately,but he had to refuse them, sincehe was now beginning to preparefor the great missionary work inEngland which had been thegolden thread recurring moreand more forcefully at variousstages of his life.

Divine Providence wassummoning the little Institute ofCharity for missionary work inEngland through the urgentrequests of English people whohad been acquainted with bothFr. Gentili and Fr. Rosmini, fromwhom they had managed toobtain the promise of futurecooperation and help.

It was Ambrose Phillips de Lisle,who first set things in motion inLeicestershire to have Fr. Gentilias a permanent missionary inLoughborough. He had obtainedthe permission of Bishop Walsh,and together they charged Fr.Hulme, a secular priest, to start


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collecting funds to set up achurch and a house inLoughborough for the Instituteof Charity. Fr. Rosmini wentalong with the project, but withthe arrival from Rome ofFr. George Spencer, it all came toan abrupt end since he referredto Bishop Walsh the slanderousaccusations against Fr. Rosminiand his Institute made by thehighest authorities of a respectedreligious Order. Fr. Spencer, avery good priest and great friendof Ambrose Phillips, did notknow what to think; AmbrosePhillips, who had earlierovercome similar accusationsagainst Fr. Rosmini, rejectedthem at once, whereas BishopWalsh asked for time toinvestigate the matter thoroughlythrough the good services ofCardinal Weld in Rome.

In the meantime, Sir HenryTrelawney approached formallyFr. Rosmini to secure the servicesof Fr. Gentili as the chaplain ofhis castle in England, whichincluded various villages over awide area. It had been his dreamsince the time of his conversionand ordination to the priesthoodto see Britain a Catholic nationagain, and his project envisageda beginning from his own castleand surrounding areas, which hecould imagine as the centre fromwhere fervent Catholic

missionaries would bring the fireof the Spirit to the whole nation.He knew well the fiery religiousspirit of Fr. Gentili, and he sawin him the ideal priest for hisgreat design.

Fr. Rosmini encouraged theelderly priest, who lived in Italyfor most of the year for healthreason, but he insisted that heshould obtain first permissionfrom the local bishop whohappened to be Bishop Baines.He also insisted that the bishopshould know and approve firstthe Constitutions of the Institute,so as to make a well informeddecision. It was during this timeof negotiations that the elderlySir Trelawney died in Italy,comforted by the fact thatFr. Rosmini was considering hisrequest with great interest.

Divine Providence guided bishopBaines to make his bid, and thistime the project came to asuccessful end. Bishop Baineshad to spend time in Rome todeal with his controversial standagainst some of the religiousOrders in his vast territory, andtook advantage of this time toremind Fr. Gentili of the promisemade a few years earlier by bothhimself and Fr. Rosmini to sendpriests of the Institute of Charityto Prior Park near Bath. Hestudied the Constitutions and


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gave his formal approval on 15August 1834 stating his desire tohave and to favour the Institutein his own District. He thenwent to Calvario for a meetingwith Fr. Rosmini; he had ameeting instead with Fr. Gentili,since Fr. Rosmini was stilldealing with urgent matters inTrent.

The agreement made by them wasfully approved by Fr. Rosmini,and it included the sending ofthree religious from the Instituteof Charity to Prior Park, to teacha variety of subjects: Fr. Gentiliwould teach Italian andPhilosophy, Fr. Antonio Reywould be professor of Dogmaticsand Ethics, and the deacon EmilioBelisy would teach French andsome other subject. The bishopagreed to pay all expenses fortheir travel to Prior Park, and toprovide them with food andlodging, with no otherremuneration.

Before sealing the deal withBishop Baines, Fr. Rosminiinsisted on having the approvalof Pope Gregory XVI, whowrote a “Brief” on 17thDecember 1834 congratulatingFr. Rosmini for the blessing ofDivine Providence in wanting thelittle Institute spread as far asEngland, and leaving it to thewisdom and prudence of the

Founder to find men suited forthis great work of charity.

Fr. Rosmini began by askingFr. Gentili for a definitive andclear commitment: “Put yourselfin the presence of God andprovide me with a clear answer:are you ready with God’s help tolead the English mission, and tosuffer all difficulties andopposition for the love of Christand of holy obedience to thepoint of death?”

Fr. Gentili was not slow inreplying: “I have no other wishbut to go to England, and indeedto fly there if only I could! It istrue that my selfish love seeks toobject to it since I have learnedduring my recent retreat that itwill be there that it will find itsdeath. But, should the Will ofGod demand of me that I shoulddie there I will be most happy.

I shall go there alone with myguardian Angel, and endure allthe suffering God will wish meto endure, even on to death. OurBlessed Mother will not abandonme in the land that was knownonce as “dos Mariae”, herproperty, and I shall go andclaim it back for Her. Andshould I fail to convert thewhole of that most unhappynation with the help of Herdivine Son, I will at least start


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the fire of JESUS Christ in asmany places as possible, lettingHim do the rest”.

It was the desire of Fr. Rosminito have Fr. Gentili with him atRovereto for a few months offurther preparation for themission. There, Fr. Gentili had achance of witnessing the greatpastoral zeal of his spiritualfather who was at that time theparish priest of St. Marco, andfull of admiration he wrote toFr. Lowenbruck, “FatherSuperior is truly performingmiracles here, he is indeed agreat Saint. He is totally takenup with hard work for his flock,‘et opportune et importunearguit, obsecrat, increpat inomni patientia et doctrina’ andthus he removes disharmony andscandals, brings peace andserenity, reconciles sinners toGod, in a word, he is doing agreat deal of good”.

The time came, at last, for thelong journey to England. In themind of Fr. Rosmini the missionhad to begin from Rome, and sohe asked the three missionariesto see Pope Gregory XVI,seeking his blessing and hismandate, no doubt inremembrance of the other PopeGregory who many centuriesearlier had sent the firstmissionaries to England.

Writing to his friend Mellerio,Fr. Rosmini manifested his painat the departure of Fr. Gentilifrom Rovereto: “The departureof our dear brother Gentili hastruly broken my heart”; and toGentili, “I felt with intensity thepain of our separation, and I stilldo; I hope it is not too human afeeling, which still persists, but Iam trying my best to overcomeit”.

Fr. Gentili replied in similarterms, “I thank you so much forthe love and care I received fromyou during the blessed sixmonths I spent with you. Godwill give you His blessing. Formy part, I pray to God daily toraise you to such degree ofholiness that we may one dayvenerate you as a Saint, likemany Holy Founders”.

It was with great joy thatFr. Gentili, with his two Frenchcompanions, returned to Romeafter four years of absence. Hehad a chance of being with hisfamily and friends, and he visitedthe many prelates and oldacquaintances, manifesting tothem his joy and also his anxietyfor the work ahead “amongheretics”. Like pilgrims, theyprayed in all the main Basilicas,committing to God and to Marytheir apostolic work, and theywere received by Cardinal Weld


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who assured them of hiswholehearted support which hehad communicated to BishopWalsh and Bishop Baines.

The most memorable event wastheir meeting with Pope GregoryXVI, who expressed his unfailinglove and esteem for Fr. Rosmini,and who granted them hisspecial blessing for their mission:“May the Lord open for you thedoor for great missionary work.On your part, keep faithful tosound doctrine and preachsound doctrine. May the Lordbless you, may He help you, andmay He make you prosper”.

Pope Gregory had a chance ofrepeating his blessing when hemet them again by chance atCivitavecchia, on the boat thatwas going to take them toLivorno. Fr. Gentili was

overwhelmed, and wrote toFr. Rosmini: “Let thanks begiven to JESUS Christ and toour Blessed Mother, who, duringthe month dedicated to Her, hasgiven me the grace of seeingagain the holy city, and thetombs of the Apostles, and themany other holy shrines, and,moreover, has given me the joyof receiving twice the blessing ofthe Holy Father for the work ofspreading the truth and the faithamong the heretics in England”.

Fr. Gentili and his twocompanions left Calvario on 5thJune 1835, on the 11th theywere in Paris, where they stayedfor three days as guests ofNiccolo’ Tommaseo, a friend ofFr. Rosmini, and they arrivedfinally in London on the 16th ofJune 1835.


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CHAPTER FOUR

1ST MISSION INENGLAND AT PRIORPARK, 1835–1839“Education is either religious or is noeducation at all” (Blessed Rosmini)

“We seemed to be really enteringthe City of Pluto: black houses,a black sky, black ships, andblack looking sailors – filthy toan extreme degree – the watersof the Thames were tinged witha colour between black andyellow, and emitted a highlyoffensive stench; on land thereprevailed a confused noise, withhorses, carriages and men ofevery condition running andcrossing each other’s path – infine, to make a long story short,here the devil is seen enthroned,exercising his tyrannical swayover wretched mortals”.

This first impression of London,communicated by Fr. Gentili toFr. Rosmini, has become wellknown, for its melancholic veinand the feeling of a mostdifficult task ahead in a foreigncountry. Although animated formost of his earlier life by thestrongest desire to convert that“most unhappy” nation to theCatholic faith, he knew only toowell that the number ofCatholics had dwindled to littlemore than 60,000 by the middleof the 18th century, and the fewwere still subject to manyrestrictions and strongprejudices, even after the recentEmancipation Act of 1829.

It was true that a “secondspring” of Catholic revival was

in the air, with a renewedinterest on the part of someprominent members of theEnglish high society to ask forthe help of foreign missionariesto evangelise the Catholicpopulation and to dedicatethemselves openly to theconversion of protestant Englandby means of sustainedapologetics of Catholic doctrinesand a return to the ancienttraditions and devotions thathad been so dear to the Englishpopulation up to the time ofHenry VIII.

The Oxford Movement, startedby Edward Pusey and HenryNewman, had initiated a mostprofound study of Catholicdoctrines on the basis of thewritings of the Fathers of theChurch, and of the doctrinaldefinitions of the variousCouncils that had the task ofkeeping in check the manyheretical tendencies of the earlycenturies. The declared purposeof the Oxford Movement wasnot the return to the Church ofRome, but rather a doctrinalstrengthening of the Church ofEngland, seen as the “via media”between the two extremes ofProtestantism and RomanCatholicism.

The result, however, of suchclose and deep study of the early

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history of the Church was oftenthe full recognition of thevalidity and power of all RomanCatholic doctrines and theconversion of honest enquirersto the Catholic faith. HenryNewman became the mostfamous of such honest seekersafter truth who embraced theCatholic faith, but before andafter him many others had doneor will do likewise.

Fr. Gentili came to England withthe double purpose ofstrengthening the faith and thepiety of the Catholic population,and of converting as many of the“protestant” population aspossible to the Catholic faith. Hecame well equippedphilosophically and theologically,and with his heart and mind fullof the sacramental practices andthe many devotions popular atthat time in Rome, in Italy, andin all Catholic countries. Hisappearance in England, with theblack priestly cassock and thewhite priestly collar, broughtimmediately more than fleetingglances.

Pope Innocent XI had dividedthe English Church into fourDistricts during the period of theoppression of Catholics: theLondon Apostolic District, theWestern District, the CentralDistrict, and the Northern

District – and these Districtswere still in place at the time ofFr. Gentili’s arrival in 1835.

He presented himself to BishopBramston of the London Districtwith letters of presentationwritten by Fr. Rosmini, and thebishop welcomed him and hiscompanions and kept them withhim for three days beforesending them on to BishopBaines of the Western ApostolicDistrict. They arrived at Bath on20th June, and were warmlywelcomed by Bishop Baines,who, however, had madearrangements for them to stayfor a month at Trelawney Castle,since construction work at PriorPark made it impossible for themto reside there.

Fr. Gentili, who knew well theefforts of the deceased Sir HenryTrelawney to have him there,saw it as a sign of Providencethat he should begin hismissionary work, albeit for onlya little while, in that part ofEngland. His two companionsimmersed themselves in the studyof the language, while Fr. Gentilibegan his apostolic mission byadministering with great zeal tothe pastoral needs of the peoplein and around the castle. Hepreached for the first time in theEnglish language, and it becameclear that his deep and


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melodious voice and the perfectknowledge of English grammarhelped him to convey the truthof the Gospel with compellingforce and clarity.

Solemn Masses were celebratedat the castle with more and morepeople attending, and Fr. Gentiliasked to be taken to thesurrounding villages to meet theCatholic families and to instructtheir children in the sacramentsof Confession and the Eucharist.During that brief month ofresidence he managed to bring tothe Sacraments many lapsedCatholics, and had the joy ofwelcoming into the Catholicfaith a young woman who hadfollowed his instructions withgreat perseverance.

Writing to Fr. Lowenbruck,Fr. Gentili confessed: “What anabundant harvest is to be foundin here! But it demands the workof many priests, not just ofthree. How many conversionswe could have, if only we couldprovide more instructions andmore preaching”.

A newly refurbished Prior Parkwelcomed Fr. Gentili andcompanions on 21st July 1835.Bishop Baines gave them threeadjacent rooms in his ownquarters, a splendid mansion atthe centre of the great building,

flanked by the two Colleges oneither side. The College of St.Peter was the wider one and setto welcome up to 100 students;the College of St. Paul, instead,was smaller and meant to be theSeminary of the District, and itcould take up to 50 students ofphilosophy and theology.

Fr. Gentili and companionsprepared themselves for thescholastic year ahead with aretreat preached by theirSuperior. Their way of life atPrior Park was not muchdissimilar from the way of life atCalvario, with a commontimetable, meditations andprayers together, and frequentcommunity activities.

Fr. Rosmini followed them veryclosely with letters full of adviceand encouragement: “I beg youto become more and more“English” in all things but sin,so that you also may say with St.Paul, ‘I have become all thingsto all men’. You must not opposeanything except that which issinful: each nation has its owntraditions which are good in theeyes of its people. You too mustadopt the traditions of thenation you are in and you mustrespect them out of the lovewhich is in your heart. It is agreat fault in a servant of God tobe attached unduly to Italian,


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French or Roman customs, sinceour true homeland is Heaven”.

It was not at all easy forFr. Gentili to follow the adviceto “become more and moreEnglish in all things”. He startedthe year quietly, concentratingon teaching Italian andphilosophy, but causing a stirwith his passionate explanationof “Rosminian” philosophy overand against the predominantphilosophical views of theempiricists Locke, Hume, andBerkeley. His arguments weredelivered with such colour,depth, and clarity that eventeachers asked for permission toattend his lessons.

It was in the liturgical and thespiritual that Fr. Gentili broughtin very quickly a quietrevolution. He could notunderstand the virtual banningof any reference to Mary and tothe Saints, the lack of devotions,of novenas, of sacred objects likecrucifixes and statues. The Masswas rarely celebrated, andalways in a mechanical manner,without warmth and realparticipation.

With the full support of BishopBaines, Fr. Gentili introduced atPrior Park the kind of liturgiesthat one could see in Romanchurches, and the celebration of

Mass became a solemn liturgicalmoment for the whole school,with splendid processions, wellprepared singing, large numberof altar servers, incense, bells,and candles. He preached oftenabout Mary, the Mother ofJESUS, and distributed amongstudents scapulars, rosaries, andother similar religious objects.His purpose was a warm pietytowards God, Mary, and theSaints. He introduced at PriorPark, and subsequently inBritain, devotions to Maryduring the month of May.

It was during his first Lent inBritain that Fr. Gentili was askedby the bishop to lead the wholeschool into a period of spiritualretreat. Towering above studentsand teachers from a desk whichhad been raised and with aCrucifix by his side, Fr. Gentilidelivered his sermons andinstructions with the samepassion and eloquence than hehad used when he was atCalvario. Not everyoneappreciated his style, and someof the teachers resented at firstsuch innovations; but, as theretreat went on, even the mostobstinate had to admit that therewas such power, holiness,solidity, and true Christian faithand love that touched the heartsand minds of the whole schoolcommunity. Two of his listeners,


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Peter Hutton, a deacon, andFr. Moses Furlong were soimpressed by the profoundspirituality of the preacher thatwithin a couple of years asked tobe received into the Institute ofCharity.

The reputation and theresponsibilities of Fr. Gentilireached the highest point duringthe second year at Prior Park,from September 1836 to August1837. Bishop Baines had cometo rely on him on so manymatters that he had planned toput Fr. Gentili in charge of thewhole establishment. He beganby appointing him Superior incharge of the College of St. Paul,prefect of studies, and vicepresident of both Colleges. Hecharged him with preparingformal Rules for the Seminary, asclose as possible to theConstitutions of the Institute ofCharity, which he admiredgreatly. He asked him to teachethics, sacred eloquence, andlogic in addition to Italian andphilosophy.

Bishop Baines wrote toFr. Rosmini, praising his men:“I want you to know of my deepsatisfaction for having the threemembers of your Institute hereat Prior Park. They have becomea model to everyone for theirzeal, piety, and virtues, and for

the perfect fulfilment of all theirduties and obligations. Gentili,in particular, is a real treasure,and I am planning to confer onhim great authority over theCollege of St. Paul”. Fr. Gentiliknew that the bishop hadalready hinted at his intention ofasking the Institute of Charity totake full charge of the wholeestablishment.

It was because of the greatexpansion of their role at PriorPark that Fr. Gentili began toinsist with Fr. Rosmini to sendmore men. Fr. Rosmini, partlybecause of the insistence ofFr. Gentili and partly because hehimself felt the urgency of themission in England, sent a firstgroup of five men, guided byFr. Loewenbruck as the officialvisitor. The group includedFr. Pagani, Fr. Bonnefoix, andthree lay brothers. Fr. Gentiliwas not too happy with thissmall group, because apart fromFr. Pagani the others had verylittle to offer in respect toteaching and instructing studentsand seminarians. With the returnto Italy of Fr. Bonnefoix afteronly a few weeks, Fr. Gentiliinsisted again with Fr. Rosmini,begging him to send more menbetter suited to intellectual andspiritual charity. Fr. Founderagreed and sent two excellentreligious, Fr. Rinolfi, and the


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young and promising Signini. Itwas a very wise choice, sinceboth became true pillars of theInstitute of Charity in Englandfor the rest of their lives.

Two years had already passedsince the arrival of Fr. Gentili atPrior Park, and he could saywith St. Gregory of Nyssa that ithad been an “ascending fromglory to glory”: the smallRosminian community hadmarked profoundly the wholeestablishment with solidspirituality, and it had takencharge of many aspects of thelife of both Colleges. The newarrivals had strengthened furthertheir position and it looked asthough the Bishop would notwait much longer before askingFr. Rosmini to take charge ofPrior Park.

But it was not to be, and withina very short time, the fortunes ofFr. Gentili at Prior Park took adramatic turn. It all began withthe arrival of two English priestsfrom Portugal, engaged byBishop Baines as teachers. Theyalmost immediately becameoutspoken critics of the work ofFr. Gentili, starting a fiercecampaign against him and hismethods. They felt that the twoColleges had become more likemonasteries than schools: thediscipline was too severe,

continental devotions tooobvious and frequent, liturgicalcelebrations too time consuming.Fr.Kavanagh, in particular, oftenspoke to the Bishop about theforeign innovations in moral andreligious matters that did notsuit the “English” frame ofmind, which was alien tofanaticism and pious practices.

Bishop Baines listened withgrowing concern, and soon hesided openly with the newpriests, issuing a number of newrules which were meant toreverse the direction Fr. Gentilihad given to Prior Park: hebegan to forbid novenas,distribution of religious booksand objects, talks on Mary andthe Saints, reducing at the sametime the number of liturgicalcelebrations for the students, andasking Fr. Kavanagh to prepare anew book of regulations insteadof the one which Fr. Gentili hadsuccessfully written andimplemented.

At the start of the new scholasticyear, the third for Fr. Gentili, theprophecy of the two priests thatPrior Park would soon beabandoned by parents worriedabout its open “Catholicism”and by students who resentedthe austere discipline seemed tohave been fulfilled by the factthat more than 30 students failed


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to return for their studies.Bishop Baines panicked andconfessed to Fr. Gentili that hehad spent many sleepless nightsover this.

The panic was soon over whennot only the missing studentsmade their way back to theCollege, but 16 new studentsjoined Prior Park on the strengthof the presence of Fr. Gentili.Bishop Baines, who had kepthim at a distance, congratulatedhim, but continued to favour thestand taken by the two priests.They ruled Prior Park for thefirst six months of the newscholastic year, destroying thepatient work of Fr. Gentili notonly in the spiritual and religiousformation of students andseminarians but also in thegeneral organisation ofdiscipline, application,methodology, and curriculum.

The result of this lax attitudeand superficial approach towork, to authority, to moral andspiritual formation soon becameevident. The students becameunruly, difficult to teach, moreinterested in their own pursuitsthan in academic success,performing very poorly in allinternal examinations. Thisobvious dropping of standardsworried the Bishop who had togive an account to the parents,

and he took the decision at lastto dismiss the two teachers andto ask Fr. Gentili to do what hecould to help students in theirsummer examinations.

The relationship, however,between the Bishop andFr. Gentili never recovered andremained distinctly cold.Although this third year at PriorPark had been so humiliating forFr. Gentili, stripped of allauthority and forbidden even topreach without first showing hissermons to the Bishop forapproval, he never raised a voiceof complaint, never lost hispeace and serenity. His letters toFr. Rosmini expressed his joy atbeing able to suffer for his“great sins” and for the good ofthe Institute. Fr. Furlong was soimpressed by the true holiness ofFr. Gentili that he took thedecision to join the Institute ofCharity, causing the Bishop totake a rather drastic actionagainst Fr. Gentili.

During the summer break of1838, Fr. Gentili accepted aninvitation from the Trelawneyfamily to stay with them for awhile, to help them achievereconciliation in their squabbles.His fervent words aboutforgiveness, the living exampleof a man of God immersed inprayer and austerity, his great


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love for all worked wonders inthe hearts of the members of thefamily, and they were soon atpeace with one another andmore determined to carry out thegreat missionary expectation ofthe late Sir Henry Trelawney.But, in the middle of it, BishopBaines asked Fr. Gentili to act ashis delegate to bring peace in aconvent of nuns at Stapehill, inDorset.

Fr. Gentili had developed greatskills in bringing peace totroubled waters, and once againhe was so successful in helpingthis community of nuns ofdifferent nationalities to mendtheir ways and to rediscovertheir vocation to love God inhumility and prayer that he wasvenerated as a saint andcorresponded with many of themfor many years afterwards.

He returned to Prior Park toresume his duties, and it wassoon after, that he approachedBishop Baines with a request toallow Fr. Furlong to join theInstitute. The Bishop baulked atfirst at the thought of the loss ofone of his best priests, fearingthat others may follow. When hegot assurances from Fr. Rosminithat he would leave Fr. Furlongat Prior Park for at least 5 years,he allowed him to join, but soonafter he removed Fr. Gentili from

Prior Park and appointed himchaplain of a convent ofAugustinian nuns at Spetisbury,quite a distance from Prior Park.It was the end, in practice, of thework of Fr. Gentili at Prior Park,even though he returned there asoften as he could, to be with hisbrethren as their Superior.

The move to Spetisbury was ahard blow to Fr. Gentili, whoonly one year earlier had beenconsidered the saviour of PriorPark. The rift with the Bishophad a most profound cause,which was revealed openly alittle while later, on the occasionof a pastoral letter from theBishop, in which he stronglycriticised the new converts to theCatholic faith, claiming that theywere trying to impose on theothers traditional devotionspopular on the continent butalien to the British people. Heordered that all prayers for theconversion of England shouldstop at once since they causedoffence to Protestants, and thatno money should be raised forPropaganda Fide, the body inRome that had the responsibilityof helping the spread of theCatholic faith. He seemed todismiss statues and prayers tothe Sacred Heart and to theImmaculate Conception as beingdistasteful and tactless.


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The letter caused great concern,and the Bishop was called toRome and was asked torepudiate what he had written ascontrary to the official positionof the Church. He did obey, butonce back in Britain hecontinued with a sustainedattack along the same lines, tothe point that Gregory XVI hadto intervene again warning thebishops of the Districts of theunsound doctrines of BishopBaines.

Fr. Gentili had been sent toSpetisbury in the middle ofDecember of 1838. His gloomturned to joy when the newsarrived in England shortly afterChristmas of the solemnapproval of the Constitutions ofthe Institute of Charity on 20thDecember. A jubilantFr. Rosmini had issued a letterasking all his priests andbrothers to prepare to maketheir perpetual vows on the feastof the Annunciation. In Rome,the Pope himself had embraced aprofoundly moved and tearfulCardinal Castracane, who hadfought hard for the approval,kissing him on the forehead as asign of his own deep joy. As forFr. Gentili, he went straight tothe chapel and recited nine timesthe Te Deum, one with each ofthe choirs of Angels; he thensang the tenth with the nuns

who had come to the chapel tocongratulate him.

On 25th March 1839, gatheredat Calvario, at Prior Park, and atSpetisbury all the members ofthe new Order made theirperpetual vows, at the samehour, and with great joy andspiritual fervour. Fr. Rosminimade his vows first and thenreceived the vows of the othersat Calvario; Bishop Baines wasdelegated to receive the vows ofthe members of the Institute atPrior Park; and Fr. Gentili madehis vows before Fr. Pagani andvice-versa, at Spetisbury, in thepresence of the nuns.

At the request of Bishop Bainesand for practical reasons,Fr. Rosmini took the decision toappoint Fr. Pagani Superior of thegrowing community of Rosminiansat Prior Park instead of the distantFr. Gentili, and he communicatedthe appointment to Fr. Gentiligiving him the task of notifying thebrethren at Prior Park.

Fr. Gentili, who had gone throughall sorts of painful humiliations,bearing them all with utter innerpeace and joy, met his brethren tocommunicate the news to them. Hebegan by kneeling before each ofthem asking forgiveness for all hisfailings, kissing the feet of each. Hehandled the whole transfer with


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edifying humility and cheerfulness,but back in Spetisbury he confessedto Fr. Rosmini his great sadness atthe thought of being so far from hisbrethren, deprived of communitylife.

Summer of 1839 was comingand Fr Rosmini issued orders toFr. Gentili and other priests atPrior Park to make their way toRome to make a special fourthvow of obedience to the HolySee. According to theConstitutions, by this vow onebecame a “presbyter” of theInstitute of Charity.

Thus came to an end the firstperiod of Fr. Gentili’ s apostolatein Great Britain, four years ofhard and inspiring work ofspiritual and intellectual charityin an English College. Monthslater, Bishop Baines, realising thegreat loss, tried his best to gethim back to Prior Park, beggingFr. Rosmini with letters thatexalted the great gifts andabilities of the humble and holypriest, but it was not to be.Divine Providence had otherplans for Fr. Gentili.

It was very important forFr. Rosmini that the first“presbyter vows” should be takenin Rome, the centre ofChristendom and the See of St.Peter. It was to Rome, therefore,

that the small group of the choseneight made their way from Stresato Genoa and then, by boat, toCivitavecchia and on to Rome.The eight priests were: Frs.Rosmini, Pagani, Belisy, Gentili,Puecher, Setti, Toscani, and Gilardi.

They arrived in Rome on 14thAugust 1839, and were receivedby the Pope on the 16th,accompanied by Card.Castracane. The Pope wasdelighted to see them, and spokeat length with Fr. Rosmini andFr. Gentili whom he knew verywell.

They made their vow in thecatacombs of St. Sebastian on22nd August, a place dear toFr. Rosmini, hallowed by theblood of the early Christians,and by the frequent and ferventnight prayer sessions of St. PhilipNeri and St. Charles Borromeo.During the Mass, very early inthe morning, they offered theirblood in union with the preciousBlood of JESUS, and made thevow of total obedience to theHoly Father.

It was soon after his professionof the presbyter vow thatFr. Rosmini communicated toFr. Gentili the decision not tosend him to England, but toDomodossola to teachphilosophy to the students at the


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College. It was a most difficultobedience, since it seemed toshatter all his expectations ofgreat missionary work in thatcountry; and a most humiliatingobedience, since the opening ofthe English mission had comeabout at the insistence of many,and of Bishop Baines inparticular, to have Fr. Gentili atPrior Park. Fr. Gentili’ s replywas, “I do not wish nor desireother thing than to do alwaysand everywhere until death themost holy and most amiable Willof my Father in Heaven”.

The next three days, inCivitavecchia and Livorno on hisway to Calvario, were the mostdifficult days of his religious life.He felt the heavy cross ofobedience, his heart in turmoil,his mind restless. He spentsleepless nights worrying aboutwhat the Pope, Card.Castracane, other ecclesiastics inRome and in England would sayat the news that he had beenremoved from the prestigiousmission in England. He tried tofind peace by spending hours ofprayer before the BlessedSacrament, but as soon as hewas out of the church all histroubled thoughts began anew.

It was while praying before theicon of our Lady in theArmenian church in Livorno that

he finally found lasting peaceand inner joy. There,remembering that devotion tothe Sacred Heart of Mary hadbeen established in Rome by hisfather’s uncle, Fr. Marconi, heprayed thus: “O my dearestMother, you know how this feastin your honour came as it werefrom my family, I humbly begyou to take pity on me and tofree me from all temptations,since you know that my onlyand dearest desire is to fulfil theWill of your most beloved Son”.The prayer was accompanied byabundant tears, and it achieved aperfect healing of mind andheart. He arrived at Calvario,and in no time he found himselfimmersed in a strenuousschedule of teaching, preaching,and conducting retreats, incomplete abandonment to DivineProvidence.

The news of the definitedeparture of Fr. Gentili fromPrior Park had reached one ofthe outstanding converts of theSecond Spring, Ambrose PhillipsDe Lisle. He was well acquaintedwith the zeal, the gifts, and thepower of the preaching ofFr. Gentili, and he began tomake repeated requests toFr. Rosmini to obtain from himthe services of Fr. Gentili in andaround his mansion house atGrace Dieu in Leicestershire:


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“If the conversion of Englandwill one day become a reality – asI firmly believe it will – it will beaccomplished by the work of holypriests from Italy. Daily I prayour most blessed Mother to sendme such priests burning with holyzeal, true priests of JESUS Christ,who will make conversions by thethousands… I beg you to give meFr. Gentili, truly a holy man ofGod, who is capable of bringingthe faith ‘apud gentes, coramregibus et principibus’; I ask thisfor the love of JESUS, for Hismost precious Wounds, for themost pure Heart of Mary, for thelove of St. Joseph, of St.Philomena, and for the sake ofour poor England”.

Fr. Rosmini saw in the persistentrequest of the young convertfrom England a clear sign of theWill of God for Fr. Gentili. Itwas true that the previousengagement at Prior Park hadended up in apparent failure, buthe knew well that Fr. Gentili hadthe heart of a great missionaryand was willing to send himback to England, a secondAugustine, to revive the Catholicfaith and to bring Protestants tothe true Church of JESUS Christ.He wrote to Ambrose Phillips:

“My dear friend and brother inour Lord Jesus Christ, to whombe honour and glory for ever.

Amen. Our dear Gentili is at lastcoming to you. Receive him withyour usual love, the love withwhich I send him to you. May hebe for England a new StAugustine: the Lord’s arm is notshortened, and his mercies areinfinite. If we pray we shallreceive: we want only God’s willand his glory. I entrust to yourcare also Gentili’s health, whichis not robust. In this connection,and also to proceed with dueprudence, it would seem to menecessary not to burden himwith too many commitments atthe start, but to take things bydegrees, restraining his zeal”.

After nearly ten months ofabsence, Fr. Gentili was finally onhis way back to England. Even thejourney seemed to him easy and“perfect in every way”, with nohassle from custom officials; heeven managed to find his spectacleslost in a hostel on his way to Italythe previous year. He arrived atPrior Park on 21st May 1840, andmade a short retreat under thedirection of Fr. Pagani, who wroteto Fr. Rosmini: “Don Luigi is noordinary man, he is endowed withextraordinary gifts, and hebreathes through his whole personholiness, intelligence and graciousmanners. I am but an infantcompared to him, and God knowsthat I speak the truth”.


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CHAPTER FIVE

MISSION AT GRACEDIEU, 1840-1842“I do not wish nor desire other thingthan to do always and everywhere untildeath the most holy and most amiableWill of my Father in Heaven”(Fr. Gentili)

Ambrose Phillips welcomedFr. Gentili at Grace Dieu withgreat joy, as the chaplain of hishousehold. The beautiful chapelin the house had been built tohold a large congregation, but atthe time of Fr. Gentili’s arrivalthe total number of worshipperson a Sunday was about 25Catholics. Mass on Sunday wasa most solemn and splendidceremony, with aspersions,processions, and singing ofGregorian chants carefullyprepared and conducted byAmbrose Phillips himself. OnSunday evening they had solemnVespers followed by a sermon onthe Gospel of the day.

On weekdays, the family startedthe day with the litany of OurLady and with Mass, and in theevening they met again forRosary and other devotions.Thursday was a special day, withprayers for the conversion ofEngland and solemn Benediction.

For the first two months atGrace Dieu, Fr. Gentili fulfilledhis duties as chaplain of thePhillips with his usualdedication, spending his time inthe chapel and in a small roomadjacent to the chapel which hada window from which he couldsee the tabernacle. There hestudied, prayed, and had hismeals. The house-maid often

found his bed untouched,Fr. Gentili having spent all nightin prayer.

This initial routine did not lastvery long. His apostolic zealsoon led him out into the threevillages that were part of thegreat estate of the Phillips:Shepshed, Belton, Osgathorpe,with a combined population ofabout 7,000. The Catholicpopulation was of 15 souls: 4 atShepshed out of a population of4,600; 9 at Osgathorpe out of apopulation of 800; and none atBelton out of a population of1,300. If we add the 12Catholics of the Phillipshousehold, and the 2 from thecountryside we reach a grandtotal of 27 Catholics in all.

Ambrose Phillips, burning withthe desire of the conversion ofEngland, saw his own house as acentre from which the Catholicfaith would spread far and wide.He had established at Mount St.Bernard the first contemplativeCistercian monastery since theReformation, and he hadpersuaded Bishop Walsh to opena parish at Loughborough foractive ministry, with theintention of having theRosminians to minister to theCatholics and to engage inmissionary activity.


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Fr. Gentili began his apostolicwork in the villages in a smallway. He started by visiting threeof his Catholics who were ill,taking advantage to gather a fewpeople in their houses to instructthem about the faith; soon hedeveloped his ministry byvisiting more and more people,especially the most poor,comforting them and instructingthem, often in the presence ofProtestants. This form ofapostolate spread widely in thethree towns, and already groupsof Protestants had begun to askto be received into the Catholicfaith. One of them was a dyingyoung man, whom Fr. Gentilivisited almost daily, praying withhim and instructing him in theCatholic faith. He diedreconciled with God and a fullmember of the Catholic Church.

His daily routine had become bynow very demanding. He wouldrise from bed at about 4 am and,after hours of prayer, he wouldlook after the spiritual needs ofthe household, have a smallbreakfast and then begin hiswalking from town to towncovering many miles each day, ingood and bad weather, in themud or in the dust. He wouldvisit and instruct, aiming atreviving the fervour in theCatholic faithful and, at thesame time, inviting Protestants to

come to the fullness of faith inthe Catholic Church. He wouldreturn to the house late in theevening, retire to his room, havea small meal of bread and eggs,immerse himself in prayer, andfinally go to bed at midnight.

It was not long before bothFr. Gentili and Ambrose Phillipsdecided that it would make moresense to hire a large room ineach town to gather the peopleand to instruct them together.The apostolic work at Shepshedwas marked by remarkablesuccess, and within weeks thehall had become too small forthe great number of Catholicsand Protestants who took part inthe instructions and preaching ofFr. Gentili, who was forced toask permission from the Bishopto preach in the square whenevernecessary.

By the end of 1840, during theChristmas festivities, Fr. Gentilihad the joy of receiving into theCatholic Church 52 Protestants,and of baptising many childrenboth of Catholic and ofProtestant families. But manyothers were still underinstruction, and the whole townfelt the powerful presence ofFr. Gentili, who had only begunhis work at Shepshed fromSeptember 1840.


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The mission at Belton andOsgathorpe followed the samepattern, with considerablesuccess. Fr. Gentili visited eachtown, preaching and instructingmany, and baptising Catholicand Protestant children. Thechapel at Grace Dieu was rapidlyfilling up with converts, to thepoint that the need was felt tobuild a church at Shepshed.

Evangelisation, however, was notwithout setbacks and opposition.At Shepshed, the local Anglicanminister mounted a fiercecampaign against Fr. Gentilidistributing literature against“popery” and the perversedoctrines of the CatholicChurch. It did not get vey far,even when he set up rivalcatechism classes: the peoplepreferred to listen to the true“man of God” Fr. Gentili, withhis passionate love for JESUS,Mary, and the Saints, and histrue feeling of compassion fortheir poverty.

It was at Osgathorpe thatopposition to Fr. Gentili was atits strongest, and people theredecided to make up an effigy ofFr. Gentili, parading it in thestreets of the town at the soundof drums and flutes, and then,after firing at it a barrage ofshots, burning it in the squareand throwing the ashes into the

river from the bridge. Fr. Gentiliheard about it, and the very nextmorning he went alone toOsgathorpe, walking the streets,and talking about God to thepeople he met.

The reaction was surprising: outof shame, perhaps, or ofadmiration for the courageouspriest, most people treated himwith more kindness than before,ready to receive his words andshowing interest in hisinstructions. The followingSunday the people ofOsgathorpe were treated to theview of a solemn procession thatcame all the way from GraceDieu, preceded by the Cross. Itrested in the main square, whereFr. Gentili sang with over 200people the Our Father beforeand after preaching them apowerful homily. The event wasso successful that it was repeatedon many other feast-days.

It was Ambrose Phillips that,with some exaggeration perhaps,claimed that Fr. Gentiliconverted to the Catholic faithmore than 1000 people over theperiod of about two years inwhich he remained at GraceDieu. There is no doubt,however, that Fr. Gentili broughtthe “fire” of JESUS Christ in thearea, a fire which continued toburn brightly for many years.


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But the mission at Grace Dieuhad its moments of depression,as we can gather from some ofthe letters that Fr. Gentili wroteto Fr. Rosmini:

“I suffer because I cannot helpeveryone in their poverty. Manyof them cannot even come toGrace Dieu to be received intothe Catholic Church or toreceive the Sacraments, or tohear Mass for lack of shoes, orhats, or clothes, being almostnaked. Once received into theChurch they have no booklets tohelp them prepare for thereception of the Sacraments, orto follow Mass as they should.I do what I can, but at times thedevil tries his best to discourageme. I feel I cannot last longunless I get the help of others ofour brethren. One thing is tosow, another is to bring tofruition; one priest can managethe former, many priests arerequired for the latter. Shepshedis where most of my convertsare, yet they have no church, nopriest to say Mass for them onSundays, no instructions, nosacraments. Feast-days should bethe best occasion for them torevive their souls, but no one canbe with them, hence you’ll findchildren roaming the streets,youngsters in complete idleness,the more devout sad and

discouraged for not having achapel for their devotions”.

The building of a chapel atShepshed became a priority forFr. Gentili, and he began acampaign to raise the necessaryfunds, helped by AmbrosePhillips and by another of thegreat aristocratic Catholics ofthe Second Spring, LordShrewsbury. Ambrose Phillipsprovided the land, and theproject was consigned to anotherconvert who was making forhimself a reputation as the finestarchitect of gothic buildings,Augustus Welby Pugin. He builtthe church at Shepshed in recordtime, and considered it his “littlemiracle”, not only for its beauty,but for creating with a mere£ 700 a stone-built gothic churchwith a nave and two aisles andsanctuary, three altars, threerood-screens and three stainedglass windows, and a crypt.

Chapel at Grace Dieu


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It was clear that the CentralDistrict, which stretched fromthe Midlands all the way toOxford, was fast becoming thecentre of what was termed the“Second Spring” of the Catholicfaith in England. The drivingforces were people like BishopWalsh and his assistant BishopWiseman, Lord Shrewsbury,Ambrose Phillips, Augustus W.Pugin, and Fr. Gentili. The threelay men, animated by powerfulCatholic convictions and wishingto restore England to theCatholic glories of the timesbefore the Reformation, used alltheir possessions and talents tobuild catholic churches,monasteries and schools, anddisplayed a great spirit ofenterprise in obtaining forEngland apostolic men likeFr. Gentili and the PassionistFr. Dominic Barberi.

Whereas Bishop Baines had triedto pour water over the fire of therenewal of the Catholic faith tothe point of forbidding prayersfor the conversion of England,Bishop Wiseman in particularwas employing all his energy andconnections both in England andin Rome to bring about theSecond Spring, relying on menlike the ones mentioned above.Fr. Gentili provided the“evidence”, since news about hisindefatigable missionary

apostolate and the hundreds ofconversions spread far and wide.

The home of Ambrose Phillipswas the ideal place to get all thelatest news about Catholicprogress everywhere in Britainand to meet the majorprotagonists of the SecondSpring, including someprominent men of the OxfordMovement. It was at Grace Dieuthat Fr. Gentili had theopportunity of discussing over afew days the great hopes and thedifficulties of the renewal of theCatholic faith in England withanother fervent Italianmissionary, Fr. Dominic Barberi,who only recently had managedto fulfil his dream of engaging inmissionary work in England atthe request of Bishop Wiseman.

Fr. Gentili’s direct involvementwith some of the prominent menof the Oxford Movement cameas a result of the conversion ofthe Anglican clergyman FrancisWackerbarth, a friend ofNewman and Pusey. He hadcome to Grace Dieu during thefestivities of the Assumption ofOur Lady and was profoundlymoved by the solemn ceremoniesand the powerful preaching ofFr. Gentili. He opened his heartto him, and soon after he made aprivate retreat under Fr. Gentili’sdirection. When it was over, he


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asked that Fr. Gentili shouldreceive him as a Catholic;Ambrose Phillips asked at oncethat bishop Wiseman shouldcome to Grace Dieu to receivehim personally, and the Bishopcame, bringing with him anotherclergyman of the OxfordTractarians, Mr. Sibthorp, whohad recently converted to theCatholic Faith.

On 2nd December 1841, BishopWiseman received Wackerbarthinto the Church and conferredthe sacrament of Confirmationto both Wackerbarth andSibthorp in the chapel at GraceDieu, in the presence ofFr. Gentili and Ambrose Phillips.The opposition of both Puseyand Newman to such individualconversions was well known; intheir view such conversionswould create more resentmentagainst the Catholic Churchimpeding real progress towards afuture reunification of the twobranches of the same Church.But the Spirit was at work in thehearts of many of theTractarians, people like BernardSmith, Boxam, Bowles,Dalgairns, W. Ward, the youngLockhart, and finally Newmanhimself, who came to therealisation that the fullness ofthe Church of Christ subsistsonly in the Roman CatholicChurch.

Fr. Gentili was a docile tool inthe work of the Holy Spirit: hemet most of the Tractarians,corresponded with them, hadprofound discussions when theymet either at Grace Dieu or atOxford, prayed with them, andoffered them guidance duringprivate retreats. On 19thOctober 1842 he went toOxford with Ambrose Phillips,and in the house of W. Ward hemet William Lockhart, who wasstaying with Newman,Dalgairns, and Bowles atLittlemore, where they lived anaustere monastic life. On thatoccasion, Fr. Gentili had theopportunity of visiting Pusey, amost learned and humble man,with whom he had a longdiscussion on the mystery ofTransubstantiation; he met alsoHenry Newman, and this is whathe wrote to Madame Bolongaro:“The one in charge of theMovement [Newman] asked meto give him some instructions ongiving retreats. I sent him thebook written by Fr. General[Rosmini] entitled, “Manualedell’Esercitatore”, which is beingused by the people who livetogether at their Monastery[Littlemore]”.

Fr. Gentili had also sent to eachof them a copy of the Maxims ofChristian Perfection, which theyfound “extremely beautiful,


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edifying, and unobjectionable inevery sense”; and books onphilosophy by Fr. Rosmini,which they read with greatadmiration.

Fr. Gentili stayed at Grace Dieufor a period of two years.Fr. Rosmini had to make anexception to the rule of theInstitute that its members havean obligation to live acommunity life, to help eachother on the way to holiness; buthe knew of Fr. Gentili’s longingfor community life, and waslooking for a way to achieve thiswithout damaging his greatmissionary work and even hisrelationship with AmbrosePhillips.

Fr. Pagani had already startedthe mission at Loughborough atthe pressing request of BishopWalsh. He had arrived atLoughborough with some of thebrethren who were with him atPrior Park in May 1841, and thesmall but vibrant communitywas already engaged in the careof the small Catholic populationin a town of about 13,000people. It was natural to thinkthat Fr. Gentili would soon jointhe community of brethren, butit was important, forFr. Rosmini, that the moveshould happen without upsettingAmbrose Phillips.

Notwithstanding the deepadmiration Ambrose had forFr. Gentili, it happened at timesthat his aristocratic and socialposition caused him to act in anabrupt and imperious mannertowards him, occasions whichhis long training in humilityabsorbed with little consequence.But it was one of such momentsof tension that finally brought toan end Fr. Gentili’s permanenceat Grace Dieu.

With permission from BishopWalsh, Fr. Gentili had began tocelebrate a second Mass atShepshed in the house ofThomas Fox, for the benefit ofthe many who could not attendMass at Grace Dieu. On the lastSunday of May 1842, Fr. Gentilicelebrated Mass, as usual, atShepshed, with such a number ofCatholics present that a secondMass Ambrose had arranged atGrace Dieu with a secular priestwas poorly attended, a factwhich caused him distress andhumiliation.

Ambrose Phillips calledFr. Gentili, and after a heatedexchange of views, forbadeFr. Gentili to say Mass atShepshed on a Sunday. AtFr. Gentili’s clear and firm wordsabout the spiritual damage suchcommand would cause, Ambrosereplied, “From today you are no


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longer my chaplain”. He did notmean it, and it was not longbefore he apologised toFr. Gentili; but Fr. Gentili tookhim on his word, and wrote atonce to Fr. Pagani andFr. Rosmini who agreed that thetime had come for him to leaveGrace Dieu and to join hisbrethren at Loughborough. Afterexchanging letters with bothFr. Rosmini and Fr. Pagani,finally Ambrose Phillips waspersuaded and gave his supportto the move, counting on thecontinued friendship withFr. Gentili.

An entry in his little diary markstwo sad moments of the lastperiod of his mission at GraceDieu: “Wednesday 27th April1842: the death of my goodfather Giuseppe Gentili:requiescat in pace. Amen.Saturday 8th October 1842: thedeath of my good mother AnnaGentili: requiescat in pace.Amen. Two truly holy parents,to whose vigilance, care, andgood example I owe everything,after God. May the good Lordreward them for the good theyhave given me, which I did notdeserve”.


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Grace Dieu

CHAPTER SIX

MISSION ATLOUGHBOROUGH,1842–1845

Fr. Gentili was welcomed withgreat joy by the smallcommunity at Loughborough,and found himself easily at homefollowing a routine very muchsimilar to community life atCalvario, with common prayers,meditations, and instructions.The mission extended beyondLoughborough, and it includedBarrow on Soar, Hathern,Thorpe, Quorn, and, afterFr. Gentili’s arrival, alsoShepshed, and other smallercentres. Fr. Gentili andFr. Pagani, with the help of theyoung Fr. Signini, had succeededin purchasing a stretch of landnear Ratcliffe, with the intentionof building a College and aNoviciate and had alreadyobtained the good services of thegreat architect A. W. Pugin.

Soon after the arrival ofFr. Gentili, the vice-provincialFr. Pagani had to make a trip toItaly and left Fr. Gentili incharge of the Mission. He washelped by Fr. Rinolfi, Fr. Ceroniand by brother Zencher, but,given his experience, he becamethe driving force behind asustained effort at reviving thefaith among the Catholics and atconverting Protestants to theCatholic Church. The approachwas the same as the one he hademployed so successfully in thetowns of the large estate of

Ambrose Phillips, only a fewmiles away from Loughborough:it consisted in the celebration ofSacraments in a solemn and wellprepared manner, involving asmany of the faithful as possible;in preaching strong sermonsabout practical issues of doctrineand morality, animated byevident conviction and a warmfeeling of love for God, Mary,the Saints; in instructing bothadults and children in the faith;and in helping in every way thelong line of poor people in theirhomes and at the Mission.

The results of such methodicalapostolic approach soon becameevident, with real fervour andconversions developing in all theplaces the Rosminian Fathersoperated. The celebration ofMass at Loughborough,Shepshed, and Barrow on Soarwas always a most solemnoccasion, with aspersions,incense, processions, beautifullydecorated altars, and plenty ofcandles. The homily wascarefully prepared and givenwith great eloquence andauthority. Yet, the practical lovefor the poor, the preferentialtreatment of them madeeveryone feel welcome whatevertheir state or condition.

Sunday school for boys and girlsbecame so popular that many

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Protestants sent their childrenfor instruction. The Fatherstaught catechism in a way thatwas not threatening or boring:Fr. Gentili, in particular, enjoyedhis meetings with the childrenand provided entertainment aswell as sound doctrine. It wasFr. Gentili who introduced aspecial day in the year whenchildren would be competingbefore priests and parents formany prizes on the basis of theirknowledge of the catechism. Forthe occasion, clothes and food,religious objects and holy bookswould be given as prizes to thechildren. At Shepshed, such dayswould normally be taken in thesquare with over 1000 people inattendance.

Religious instruction was themeans to achieve the dualpurpose of reviving the faith andof converting to the faith. Theinstruction of children atLoughborough soon wentbeyond the Sunday catechismclasses, becoming a dailyoccurrence for boys and girlsseparately. With the arrival ofthe Sisters of Providence in1843, at the insistence of LadyMary Arundell, it was they whotook charge of the religiouseducation of the girls on a dailybasis, strengthening in asubstantial way the pastoral

work of the Fathers at theMission.

Instruction of the adultpopulation took place in themorning, at Mass, and in theevening. The evening sessionsbecame popular, and Fr. Gentiliprovided his Catholic andProtestant audience with amethodical explanation of thedoctrines of the Church, doingaway with the slanderous mythsand distortions spread around byProtestant ministers and otherpeople jealous of the success ofthe Catholic priests.

It was not controversy, however,that Fr. Gentili had in mind; hisintention was to confirm thefaith in the hearts of hislisteners, whether Catholic orProtestant. He wanted them toknow their faith, to taste thebeauty and the power of thedoctrines they had received, andto live accordingly.

The need, therefore, to start“preaching missions” developedout of this urgent desire, and hestarted this new and successfulapproach at Loughborough,where the very first officialMission in England waspreached by Fr. Gentili in March1843. The Mission lasted 8 days,and it was closed by BishopBriggs, Apostolic Vicar of the


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District of York, with a solemnBenediction with the BlessedSacrament. During the Mission,63 Protestants were received intothe Catholic Church, manychildren were given theSacrament of Baptism, and thefaith of many was made alive bythe reception of the Sacrament ofConfession and the Eucharist.The success of this very firstMission at Loughborough wasrepeated soon afterward atShepshed, where the Missionlasted 11 days as a result ofpublic demand. The converts atShepshed were 65, and it pleasedFr. Gentili to witness theintensity of the faith of the largecongregation made up of peoplewho had been brought back totheir faith by his patientmissionary work when stationedat Grace Dieu.

Equally successful were theprivate retreats given byFr. Gentili to the many bishops,priests, and lay people who cameto him for guidance and spiritualdirection. Bishop Walsh hadchosen him as his confessor andspiritual director, and came oftento Loughborough to see him.Bishop Mostyn of the NorthernDistrict, Bishop Wareing of theEastern District, Bishop Briggs,of the Yorkshire District, BishopWiseman of the Central District,and many others paid him

frequent visits, either for privateretreats or for advice. He alsodirected A.W. Pugin, Lady MaryArundell, and Mary Amherstwho became later a RosminianSister.

In August 1843, Fr. Gentili hadan unexpected visit from thearistocratic young man whom hehad met at the house of theprominent Oxford Tractarian W.Ward. William Lockhart hadbeen allowed to join Newman,only after the promise that hewould stay at Littlemore forthree years and would not“convert” to the CatholicChurch alone but, if truth shouldlead them, as a group.

Life at Littlemore was austere:they rose at midnight to pray theDivine Office, they had one hourmeditation each day, and then,instructions, reading at meals,weekly confession, dailyCommunion, and intenseintellectual work. Lockhart likedthe monastic lifestyle, but he wasdeeply troubled by doubts aboutthe Anglican Church. On oneoccasion, after going toconfession to Newman, hedemanded of him abruptly, “Butare you sure you can giveabsolution?” to which Newmancould only reply, “Why do youask me? Ask Pusey!”


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After their meeting at Oxford,Fr. Gentili received two lettersfrom Lockhart, who had wishedto keep in touch with the man ofGod who had made a deepimpression on him. Lockhartwas now at Loughborough, andFr. Gentili caught at once theanxieties, fears, and doubts inthe young man’s heart, andinvited him to stay for a privateretreat. It was at the end of theretreat that Lockhart reachedcertainty about the CatholicChurch and asked Fr. Gentili toreceive him, feeling that suchglorious and commanding divinetruth could not be subjected tothe promise he had made toNewman. On 26th August 1843,Lockhart made his entry into theCatholic Church at St. Mary’s,Loughborough, and, three dayslater he was admitted as a novicein the Institute of Charity.

Newman was truly taken abackby Lockhart’s submission to theCatholic Church, and a few dayslater he took the decision toresign from his little parish of St.Mary’s in Oxford, and shortlyafterwards he preached one ofhis most famous sermons, on“The Parting of Friends”,alluding in it to Lockhart. AfterNewman himself was received in1845 he visited Lockhart atRatcliffe, where he was studying.He called on Fr. Gentili also, at

Loughborough, to “renew theirformer friendship”. And whenLockhart was ordained, he wentto see Newman at St. Wilfrid’sand Newman there insisted onserving his Mass.

All direct connection betweenPrior Park and the Rosminianshad come to an end in December1842, when Fr. Pagani, Fr. Belisy,and Fr. Lorrain had gone toOscott as teachers, at theinsistence of Bishop Walsh andBishop Wiseman. Two othertalented priests, Fr. MosesFurlong and Fr. Peter Hutton,who had had various importantpositions at Prior Park, had leftthe College in the summer of1842 to go straight toFr. Rosmini at Domodossola, andin the following year they bothcame back to England to assistthe new Rosminian foundationsat Loughborough and Ratcliffe.

It was Fr. Gentili who had putpressure on Fr. Rosmini andFr. Pagani for the building of aCollege and a Noviciate atRatcliffe. He had experiencedthe immense value of theeducation of young people atPrior Park, if only it could bebased on solid Catholicprinciples and traditions. Hisvision of a Rosminian Collegeencompassed all the good thingsthat he had implemented at Prior


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Park, and much more, given thatthe ultimate responsibility nowrested on the members of theInstitute of Charity who hadprofound inspirational principlesto guide them on their work of“intellectual” charity.

Many were the benefactorsapproached by Fr. Gentili toraise funds for the building,among them the Phillips, LordShrewsbury, Madame Bolongaro,Count Mellerio, and many of theEnglish Bishops. A specialmention is due to Lady MaryArundell, who helped with great

generosity both for the buildingof Ratcliffe College and for thesetting up of the school for girlsat Loughborough under thedirection of the RosminianSisters, the first two of whichhad arrived with Fr. Furlongfrom Italy in October 1843, afterinsistent requests from her toFr. Rosmini.

The Novitiate opened atRatcliffe on 21st November1844, with a simple ceremonyconducted by Fr. Gentili whopreached about the future of theInstitute in England, safe and


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Ratcliffe College

secure in the loving hands ofDivine Providence. The firstname of the place was“Calvary”, which was changedin 1847 to “Ratcliffe College”when it opened also as aCollege. Fr. Hutton wasappointed Novice Master, andFr. Furlong the first President ofthe College.

If it is true that during the firstyear of his missionary work atLoughborough Fr. Gentili hadlimited his wide range ofactivities within the local area,which included, as we have seen,Barrow, Quorn, Shepshed,Whitwick, and the smallervillages around Loughborough,it soon became impossible forhim to refuse pressing invitationsto preach retreats and to givehomilies in a far wider area.Accompanied often byFr. Furlong, himself anexceptional preacher, he travelledto Derby, Liverpool, Coventry,Leicester, London, Manchester,York, and even Dublin. Thereasons for such journeys wereoften celebrations of specialfeasts for parishes or for variousCatholic groups, or fund raisingevents to alleviate poverty, or,more often, spiritual retreats forpriests of the various Districts,or for religious, men andwomen, of many Congregations.

In July 1845 he preached aretreat to the clergy in London,and on that occasion he beganhis custom of seeking out theItalian immigrants in the bigcities of England, putting asidesome time to preach to them andto revive in them the fervour oftheir native faith. Whenever hecame to London, he gatheredthem in the chapel of the King ofSardinia.

In September 1845 he crossedthe sea to respond to aninvitation to preach in Dublin, toraise funds on behalf of theChristian Brothers. His sermon,based on the feast of the day, theExaltation of the Holy Cross,moved from the presentation ofyears of persecution andsuffering of that courageousisland to the means given to usby the Cross of Christ toalleviate the sufferings of othersand to transform our troublesinto redeeming moments inunion with the Blood of Christ.His first impression of Irelandand of its people was one ofgreat empathy and admiration.

The year 1844-1845 witnessed aconsiderable shift in themissionary activities ofFr. Gentili. He was still the priestin charge at St. Mary’s,Loughborough and stillcommitted to the great apostolic


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work of which that parish wasits centre. But his apostolicendeavours were being markedmore and more by the frequentpreaching of retreats to theclergy and to the religious inmany parts of the country, andby an increasing number of“public retreats” or missions inmany parishes across Britain.

Fr. Gentili’s first public missionoutside his area was atNottingham, in the church of St.Barnabas, designed by his friendA. W. Pugin. The invitation tohold a public retreat atNottingham had come from theBenedictine Dom Willson, whohad witnessed the power andbeauty of the preaching ofFr. Gentili and had seen theCatholic revival taking place as aresult. He had insisted on thismission, as the parting gift to hisparishioners before taking hispost in Tasmania as the firstBishop of Hobart.

Young Fr. Furlong had developedoutstanding gifts as a popularpreacher, and he became thefaithful and worthy companionin all subsequent missions. Theduration of such missions variedaccording to the will of thebishops or of the parish priests,but they usually lasted from 10to 15 days; the later missions,however, lasted for about a

month and even more on someoccasions.

In September 1844, Fr. Gentiliand Fr. Furlong travelled toAlton Towers, at Lord’sShrewsbury’s invitation, andthere gave a week’s retreat withstriking success. Writing toFr. Pagani, Fr. Gentili said, “Themission went sufficiently well”,but Lord Shrewsbury, writing tothe same, extolled the twomissionaries and called Fr. Gentili“the soul of everything”. Theymade three converts and baptised15 children. Lord Shrewsburybooked the two of them for threeother missions in other placesunder his control and at Cheadle,where a newly built church wasnearing its completion.

From Alton Towers, the mansionof Lord Shrewsbury, they wenton to Liverpool, and to Banburyand to Grantham, displaying atireless zeal in their work. Theypreached to adults early in themorning and in the evening,giving instructions to thechildren and to the adults duringthe day. The demand forconfession was so high that theyhad to spend many hours in theconfessionals, frequently beyondmidnight, to the point that theysometimes had no time even tosay Mass or to recite the DivineOffice.


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In all three places they receivedconverts into the Church,baptised many children, andprepared and administered theSacraments of Confession and ofFirst Holy Communion to manyyoung people. There is writtenevidence from parish priestsconfirming that such increase infaith and devotion was not atemporary phenomenon butsomething that lasted in time,and on which they could buildbetter Catholic communities.

At the beginning of Lent 1845,the two missionaries began aseries of missions in Yorkshire,invited by Bishop Briggs who hadbooked them the previous year atthe end of a very successfulretreat preached to the priests ofthe District by Fr. Gentili. Theystarted at Hull on 9th February,then at Leeds and at Sheffield,for about 12 days in each place,with no interruption with theexception of the time for movingfrom place to place.

The truly admirable BishopBriggs was there to open thethree missions, preparing thepeople to welcome God’s grace,preaching to them on Sunday,and always ready to give adviceto the two missionariesconcerning difficult cases. Hewould also open the strongliturgical ceremony of the Forty

Hours of Adoration of theBlessed Sacrament, which tookplace during the last three and ahalf days of the mission, andconduct the solemn processionand Benediction at the end ofeach day.

In all three cities there was agreat presence of people, to thepoint that the crowds oftencould not fit into the church.At Leeds, the more populatedcity with over 120,000 and thecity with the greater number ofCatholics, the vast church of St.Anne was always full, and thefour priests in the confessionalshad to administer the Sacramenttill 3am nearly every night. AtSheffield, with 100,000 people,the participation of the peoplewas equally strong, and over1,000 received HolyCommunion during the finaldays of the mission. At Hull andSheffield, Fr. Gentili met twostrong Italian communities, andpreached to them, urging themto keep faithful to their Catholictraditions.

Although the missions weredirected at the revival of thefaith among the Catholicpopulation, in nearly all missionsthere were converts, 5 at Hull, 7at Leeds, 23 at Sheffield. It istrue to say that Fr. Gentili, whohad come to Britain with the


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intention of “converting theheretics”, was lead by DivineProvidence more and more toconcentrate on the reconciliationof Catholics with God and onmaking of the Catholicpopulation in the various cities alight of burning faith and love atthe service of God and ofneighbour. Yet, there were manyconversions even during theshort time of a mission.

At the end of the three missionsin Yorkshire, the twomissionaries gave a fourthmission at Leamington, inWarwickshire, once again blessedwith great spiritual success; afterwhich they returned safely totheir own parish inLoughborough, ready for theEaster services in the mainchurch and in the out-stations.

When the Easter celebrationswere over, Fr. Gentili andFr. Furlong went to Newport inShropshire, at the invitation ofLord Shrewsbury, for their nextmission. There they had the joyof baptising 34 children, mainlyfrom Protestant families, and 3adults, one of which was aMethodist minister; 10 otherProtestants were listed forinstructions after the missionended and were received into theChurch some time later.

From there, they made their wayback to Yorkshire, this time toHuddersfield and to Bradford,welcomed by the untiring BishopBriggs. There was a slow start tothe mission at Huddersfield,until the sudden death on theroad of a local lapsed Catholicmerchant who had chosen toconduct his business rather thanto attend the mission, and hadhad to be buried in a Protestantcemetery. This event was takenby many as a sign of divineanger, and the Church filled upin no time!

There followed the usual rush tothe confessionals, the return toGod with their heart, thecelebration in great splendour ofthe Catholic Mysteries. 81Adults who had never in theirCatholic life approached theEucharist, came forth to receiveit, and the number of childrenattending instructions was sogreat that the parish had to hireand then buy a new hall forcatechism lessons. Fr. Gentiliintroduced in the parish the Maydevotions in honour of our Lady,and a special chapel wasdedicated to Our Lady of Mercy.

At Bradford, the mission washugely popular, attended by agreat number of people, andBishop Briggs stayed with themissionaries for the whole


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duration, helping as usual. Thecrowd waiting to go to confessionwas so great that two lines ofstewards had to be employed tokeep order, and on a number ofnights the two missionaries hadto spend the whole time in theconfessionals. 30 Protestants werereceived into the Church and thenumber of children attendinginstructions was so great thatonce again the local priests had tohire another hall for catechismlessons. The mission was such agreat success that Bishop Briggsordered that a Te Deum be sungat the end of the Forty Hours andof the mission.

After Bradford, it was the turnof Coventry, a town of 30,000,renowned in the distant past forthe many convents and for itsstrong faith, expressed especiallyduring the festivities of CorpusChristi, with splendidprocessions and mystery plays,with the presence of members ofthe Royal Family and of manyvisitors. After the Reformation,the Catholic processions wereabolished, and soon afterwardsobscene processions andfestivities took their place onceevery three years. The legend ofLady Godiva was made theobject of celebrations, whichincluded the riding through thetown of a naked lady, with thestreets lined with people cheering

and enjoying all sorts ofamusements.

Fr. Gentili opened the mission onthe feast of Corpus Christi, whenthe city was in a state ofexcitement over the imminentcelebration of the legend of LadyGodiva. The Protestant Bishophad written a strong letter ofcondemnation of the celebration,and the local Catholic priest,Dom Ullathorne, later a Bishopand an outstanding friend ofFr. Gentili, invited him to preacha mission to coincide with thepagan festivities.

During the first three days of themission there was a poorattendance, since people’s mindswere occupied with thepreparations for the paganfestival. On Sunday, however, theChurch was full and Fr. Gentilipreached with such eloquenceand passion against the paganrituals so unworthy of aChristian country that manywere persuaded to attendfaithfully all the services of themission. Children, in particular,were promised a great day withFr. Gentili if they attended themission rather than lining thestreets to watch the ride of thenaked lady.

Moreover, Fr. Gentili asked thecongregation to pray earnestly


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for bad weather and heavy rain,not at the start of the ride – inwhich case it would have beenpostponed – but in the middle ofit, so that it would have to becancelled for the year. Theprayers were answered, andheavy rain soon after the startforced the authorities to cancelthe event. Fr. Gentili kept hispromise to the children,entertaining them for hours byacting and telling stories thathad the children moving fromutter fear to the happiestlaughter. Dom Ullathorne, whowas present with the children,wrote that it was truly amagnificent and brilliantspectacle.

Fr. Gentili asked thecongregation to give thanks toGod, and then he added, “Theyhave had the procession inhonour of their lady, we shallhave a procession in honour ofour Lady!” It was a daringchallenge, since no processionsto Mary had taken place atCoventry since the Reformation,and Fr. Gentili had to overcomethe hostility of magistrates andProtestants. But he got thepeople involved in preparing asplendid baldacchino richlydecorated with flowers and,having obtained a statue of ourLady from a holy woman, MaryMargaret Hallahan, he presented

the Blessed Mother of JESUS tothe veneration of the crowds andthey had a procession throughthe streets of Coventry that hadnothing to envy to the moreelaborate processions he hadseen in Rome.

The mission had to be extendedto three weeks, due to populardemand. Bishop Walsh, who hadmanaged to attend for a dayonly, was so impressed by thespiritual results that he urged allparishes of his vast District tooffer a mission to theircongregations. He bookedFr. Gentili at once for missionsat Birmingham and Nottingham.

It had become evident by nowthat there was a conflict betweenthe responsibilities Fr. Gentili hadas the priest in charge of themission at Loughborough, andhis increasing commitments withpreaching missions and retreatseverywhere in Britain.Fr. Rosmini had kept a keeninterest in the progress of eachmission, and he knew therefore ofthe great blessings of God on thevarious congregations reached bythe intense spiritual charity ofFr. Gentili and Fr. Furlong. Hetook the decision, therefore, tofree Fr. Gentili of his rectorship ofLoughborough, and with a decreeof 9th September 1845 heappointed him “itinerant


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missionary”, giving himFr. Furlong as companion.

It may be appropriate at thispoint, before embarking on anaccount of the last four years ofFr. Gentili’s life, to highlight anevent which caused him greatdistress in his relations withFr. Rosmini and Fr. Pagani. Itwas perhaps one of thosehumiliating moments allowed bythe Lord to help him keep hisfeet on the ground.

Since November of 1843, BishopWalsh, with the support ofBishop Wiseman, had asked theRosminians through Fr. Paganito take charge of the Church ofSt. Peter at Birmingham. It wasindeed a most generous offersince the church had been themain church in town before theopening of the Cathedral of St.Chad, built by Pugin.Fr. Rosmini decided to take upthe offer and urged Fr. Pagani totake the necessary steps.

When the news reachedFr. Gentili, he became veryanxious fearing a near collapseof the pastoral activities in andaround Loughborough, and acessation of his fruitfulmissionary endeavours. Hementioned his fears to AmbrosePhillips who reacted in a trulyunpredictable manner, writing a

strong letter to Bishop Walshthreatening him with thewithdrawal of all financial help,and another to Fr. Pagani with asimilar threat about his help toRatcliffe College and sayingopenly that he would also returnthe badge of Ascription to theInstitute of Charity.

The ploy worked, since BishopWalsh had no intention ofoffending one of the mostgenerous benefactors in hisDistrict, and he wrote toFr. Pagani withdrawing the offer.Fr. Gentili wrote at once toFr. Rosmini, describing the seriesof events and asking hisforgiveness if he thought he hadacted wrongly. What he got fromFr. Rosmini was a firm letterthat brought to mind a similarone he had received years ago inRome when he had presumed toact on behalf of the Institutewithout any authority to do so:

“I have received your letter of 3April, in which you tell me whatyou have done and said withregard to the negotiations overthe Birmingham mission, for thedischarging of your conscience, sothat if I find you at fault I maygive you an appropriate penance.But unfortunately, my dear Luigi,I find you greatly at fault, to myimmense regret. The substance ofyour letter is that, for the good of


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our Institute in England, youhave manipulated things in such afashion as to bring to nothing awork that was arranged in itsentirety by your Superior…. Howcould your conscience allow youto fight against the work of yourSuperior? You reply that youacted so as to ward off a gravedanger which threatened theInstitute.

But had you the authority to actin this way? Why is it that youdid not hold firmly to theprinciple of faith which assuresyou that the man who obeys isnever mistaken? Ah, my dearDon Luigi, open your eyes:recognize how imprudently youhave acted, how you have goneagainst both the virtue and thespirit of your vow of obedience.Ask God’s forgiveness andpromise him sincerely that youwill amend your ways…”

Fr. Gentili was truly shaken bythe reply, and he wrote at onceexpressing his deepest sorrow:“I acknowledge all the faults youmention in your letter, beggingthe mercy of God. I let myself bedeluded by the devil with thethought that had you known thereal problems of our presentsituation you would not haveallowed matters to progress.I did not think even for a

moment that I was doingsomething against holyobedience, but now I can seehow low I have fallen… What Iwant is true holiness, and I amaware that I will never achieve itwithout perfect abnegation anddeep humility: this is my wish,not to go against my Superiors…Believe me, I acted the way I didnot to go against my Superiors,but as a result of being miserablydeluded by the devil that youwould have approved of what Idid…”

Fr. Gentili felt the heavy weightof his guilt to the point that hedid not dare say Mass for twodays, nor had the courage toapproach God in prayer, nor hada desire to preach; it was onlyafter going to confession andcorresponding with Fr. Rosminithat he found peace and serenity.He humbled himself withoutseeking excuses, withoutpursuing a line of justification;he accepted that he had actedwrongly and, with a humble andcontrite heart, he put his trustentirely in God and in hissuperiors. To many who, today,would see no fault in whatFr. Gentili had done, thesincerity and depth of hishumility is the truly outstandingfeature of this unfortunate event.


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CHAPTER SEVEN

ITINERANTMISSIONARY,1845–1848“Oh send us Your heroes, Oh send usYour heroes” (Blessed Rosmini)

It was Bishop Ullathorne whowrote about a privateconversation he had withFr. Gentili, which showed hisprofound apostolic longing forthe good of Britain:

“One idea ruled Fr. Gentili’smind, that England wanted anApostle. He observed thatalmost all great restorations offaith and charity which hadtaken place in the differentprovinces of the Church hadtheir origin in some individual.Raised up by God, filled withHis Spirit, and endowed withapostolic force, such men cameforth unexpectedly, shook theirfellow men out of their day-dreams, forced their way onthrough contradictions,criticisms, and the amazementand anger with which the worldreceived them, and gave a newlife both to clergy and people.Such an Apostle, he felt, waswanting to the Catholics ofEngland before we could thinkof doing much service to thosebeyond the pale. Earnestlyspeaking in this way, he morethan once said to me: “Pray toGod that He may raise up anApostle”.

Those familiar with the shortprayers of Blessed Rosmini mayrecall the one that goes in asimilar vein, “Oh send us Your

heroes, Oh send us Yourheroes”. There is little doubtthat, without knowing it,Fr. Gentili was describing hiswork and his calling to be theApostle of God for Britain, atitle which becomes fullyjustified as we read through hisuntiring apostolic work duringthe last five years of his life.

One could say that if it is truethat Fr. Gentili worked tirelesslyday and night for the sake of theKingdom of God, without amoment for leisure ordistraction, all through hisapostolic endeavours at PriorPark, at Grace Dieu, atLoughborough, his unflinchingconcentration on his apostolicwork seemed to make the lastyears of his life an unbroken lineof retreats to clergy andreligious, and of preachedmissions to the Catholicpopulation in Britain andIreland.

He followed a similar pattern forretreats and for missions,knowing to perfection theManuale Dell’Esercitatore ofFr. Rosmini, from which heborrowed both the method andthe content. His primary purposeat the beginning was to enlightenthe understanding, by taking themind to discover the powerfultruths about God and man,

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natural and supernatural truths;once the intellect had beendrawn to see clearly, then thesecond stage was to inflame thewill to embrace and love theknown truths, causing man toact morally, in accordance withreason and revelation. Fr. Gentiliwas in perfect agreement withFr. Rosmini that “pragmatism”without “knowledge” is totallyblind and leads to confusion;and that “knowledge” without“actions” is empty and sterile:the two dimensions are essentialto each other, both in the naturaland in the supernatural order.

As to the content, taken from theManuale, it was not dissimilar tothat of the modern Catechism ofthe Catholic Church: the destinyof the Christian person, the lastfour things – death, judgment,hell, heaven – the mystery of theIncarnation, the main events inthe life of JESUS, the worship ofthe Humanity of Christ in theEucharist and in the Sacraments,the devotion to the BlessedVirgin Mary and to the Angelsand Saints, the mystery of theChurch, one, holy, catholic,apostolic; and then, the TenCommandments, the precepts ofthe Church, the particular dutiesof the Christian in relation to thespecial calling to each by DivineProvidence.

“Feeling” had also a mostimportant part to play, especiallyduring the last days of retreatsor missions. Exposition of theBlessed Sacrament, the FortyHours, solemn processions,Confessions, Holy Communion,the renewal of Baptismal vowswere all intense moments of faithand of commitment to JESUSChrist and to His Church, andsigns of true conversion to God.

As a trained barrister, Fr. Gentilihad learned to perfection the artof eloquence and of persuasivespeech. The evidence from hislisteners was overwhelming onthe power of his delivery, on thebeauty of his expression;someone said that each of hismovements on the pulpitdeserved to be represented in artform, and a Mr. Patterson,director of a school of Art senthis pupils to the Catholic Churchto watch and to draw the finegestures, the precision and graceof his preaching. Fr. Gentilihimself confessed to BishopUllathorne: “There was a timewhen I would make beautifullyprepared sermons, but I realisedthat people would notunderstand them; now I gostraight to the hearts and mindsof my listeners”.

His listeners saw in him the manof God, fervent in his love, and


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austere in his way of life. Ineffect, he slept three, four hoursat night and occasionally less, heate very little, mainly bread andwater, and he used other meansfor mortifying his body. Duringmissions, he asked to be lodgedin a room attached to thechurch, if possible, saying thathe was “on call” day and night.

The decree issued by Fr. Rosminion 9th September 1845 makingFr. Gentili and Fr. Furlong“itinerant missionaries” cameinto effect immediately, and on21st September both were atLeicester for a 10 days missionat the Church of Holy Cross,called by the DominicanProvincial. There they revivedthe faith of the Catholicpopulation, received into theChurch 4 Protestants, and hadthe joy of converting an ex-Trappist monk who had causedgrave scandal by his disorderlylife. The poor man was trulyshaken by the words he heard,and humbly asked Bishop Walshto allow him to go back to hismonastery, no longer as a monkbut as a mere servant.

On 5th October they were atWorksop, in Staffordshire, topreach a mission in the chapel ofthe Duke of Norfolk. They had afruitful start, with 7 Protestantsasking to be received into the

Church, and a Catholic who hadturned Calvinist asking to bereadmitted into the Church. Thesudden death in the night of aman who had just been toconfession prompted theCatholic men to hurry for theSacraments, and 5 moreProtestants embraced theCatholic faith.

From Worksop, Fr. Gentilirushed to York, invited byBishop Briggs to preach a threedays retreat to the nuns and tothe girls of their school; andfrom York he reachedFr. Furlong at Birmingham on19th October, to preach amission in the Cathedral in thepresence of Bishop Wiseman. Itwas at Birmingham thatFr. Gentili began the custom ofseparating men and women inchurch, as aid to modesty andconcentration, a custom whichfound later some opposition.The mission was very wellattended, and very fruitful, withthe confessionals in constant usetill the early hours of themorning. 33 Protestants madetheir submission to the Church,and 44 children of Protestantfamilies were baptised. BishopWalsh closed the mission with aTe Deum, moved by theoutpouring of God’s grace on hispeople.


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On 1st November, the twomissionaries were in York, calledby Bishop Briggs who insisted onbeing part of the work byopening and closing the mission,by spending hours in theconfessional, and by preachingon Sunday. There was at York astrong party of Catholics whoopposed any form of devotion tothe Virgin Mary. Fr. Gentili, withthe approval of Bishop Briggsand of Bishop Riddell, who wasalso present, delivered apowerful sermon on thegreatness of the Mother of God,and even though he was beinginterrupted all through thesermon with the occasionalshout, “Blasphemy, blasphemy”,he extolled the virtues andpower of Mary with burningwords coming from the heart.There followed anonymousthreatening letters, and opendiscussions with members of theparty, who claimed that it wasthe worship of Mary that hadcaused so many heresies in theChurch.

Fr. Gentili, who had a mosttender devotion to Mary, came tothe conclusion that the party hadto be taken on without mercy.Over a few days, he gave themost detailed explanation of therole and place of Mary inScripture, in the Councils of theChurch, and in the veneration

which the Church has alwaysgiven Her, claiming finally thatdevotion to Mary has alwaysbeen considered a bulwarkagainst heresies. His clear andirresistible evidence broughtconfusion among the members ofthe party, which was soondissolved. A beautiful statue ofMary was then placed in thechapel for the veneration of thefaithful, and Fr. Gentili startedthe practice in that Church of therecitation of the Rosary inhonour of the Blessed Mother ofGod. At the end of the mission11 Protestants asked to becomepart of the true Church of Christ.

On their way to Scarborough,Fr. Gentili made a quick visit toMelton for a three days mission;even so, he received 4Protestants into the Church.From there he went toScarborough to start the missionon 16th November, invited byBishop Briggs. Abundant fruitswere the results of their work,and 15 Protestants wereconverted in the process andreceived into the Church.

The mission at Scarborough hadended on the morning of 30thNovember, and in the eveningthe same Bishop Briggs openedthe mission at Whitby. Theyworked hard, preaching,instructing, and spending hours


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in the confessionals reconcilingsinners to God. 7 Protestantswere received into the Church,and 117 Catholics constitutedthe Confraternity of Our Lady ofthe Rosary.

Once again, they finished themission at Whitby in themorning of 7th December, and inthe evening they opened themission at Egton Bridge, withoutthe assistance this time of BishopBriggs who had been called tothe bedside of his dying mother.This mission was particularlydifficult on account of a verydeep division between the parishpriest and a large group of laypeople of his congregation whohad practically taken control ofthe parish and were trying toforce the priest to do what theywanted. The efforts of the priestto restore his authority overspiritual and sacramental mattershad been met with slanderous

accusations, non attendance atreligious functions and refusal tocontribute financially to theupkeep of the church.

The mission was a mostwelcome event, and it gave thepeople the opportunity ofunderstanding the hierarchicalnature of the Church, and of theneed to work together towardsunity and peace. The clear andfirm instructions of the twomissionaries produced thedesired result, and the priest andhis congregation were reassuredby the promise of anothermission in the following year.

On 14th December, the twomissionaries went to Newcastle,a town of about 60,000 people,in the Northern District. Themission took place in the newCathedral, and it was the turn ofBishop Riddell to display hisfervent zeal by becoming one of


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Missions from 21st September 1845 to 31st December 1845

the missionaries and helping inevery way, often staying in theconfessional till the early hoursof the morning. The town wasafflicted by many vices,drunkenness, hatred, divisions,and rampant immorality,favoured by immodest dancingin the squares and in many hallsof the city. Fr. Gentili, urged byBishop Riddell, spoke stronglyagainst such perversions, and thefruits of this mission were trulyoutstanding, with a hugeparticipation of people day andnight, and a sincere conversionof most manifested by the longqueues at the Confessionals andby the sincere participation inthe Eucharist. 53 Protestantswere received, and over 40children from protestant familieswere baptised.

Moreover, the faithful madegenerous donations for therefurbishment of the Chapels ofthe Blessed Sacrament and ofOur Lady in the new Cathedral.Fr. Gentili had the additional joyof preaching in his native tongueto a strong group of Italianimmigrants who had made theirhome in Newcastle.

The mission in Newcastle closedon 1st January 1846, and in theevening they were already atSunderland for their nextmission. It may be helpful, at

this stage, to provide a table ofthe missions preached by the twooutstanding missionaries from21st September 1845 till 1stJanuary 1846, to see at a glancethe immense apostolic workperformed by them in manyparts of Britain, for the benefitof so many Christians.

1846

The year 1846 witnessed againan unbroken line of Missionsand of retreats, taken on by themissionaries with unflinchingdetermination and greatapostolic spirit. It may be helpfulto provide a table of suchactivities for the year, and toconcentrate on giving details ofsome of the more striking ones.As a rule, Missions did not takeplace during the two months ofJuly-August, since manyactivities in parishes took abreak for summer. There was nobreak, however, for Fr. Gentiliwho spent the summer monthsin preaching retreats to theclergy of the various Districtsand to the religious of manyCongregations.

Memorable were the threemissions at Manchester, a largecity with over 200,000 peopleand many Catholics of Irishdescent. The first Mission, atSt. Augustine’s, encountered a


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Missions and Retreats from January to December 1846

problem with a strong group ofpeople who had heard of thefirm stand taken by Fr. Gentiliagainst indecent forms ofdancing and had organisedpurposely a Grand Ball just afew days before the mission. ButFr. Gentili was not deterred, andhe was helped by thecoincidental death of a Catholicwoman who had set out for theBall and had unexpectedly diedwithout Sacraments on her wayto the hall. The news spread,and the Church began to fill up,and in a short time the queuesoutside the confessionalsengaged 15 priests continuouslywell into the early hours of themorning. Fr. Whittaker, one ofthe priests, wrote to a friend,“The results brought about byDr. Gentili were extraordinary.Inveterate sinners who hadstayed away from the Church for30, 40, 50 years and more lefttheir work to queue patientlyfrom early morning untilmidnight waiting for their turnto go to Confession. Some ofthem had to wait two or threedays for their chance, oftenbegging to be admitted to theSacrament with tears and truesorrow”. 127 Protestants werereceived into the Church, andcommunicants during the lastdays numbered 5600 in thechurch of St. Augustine and3000 in other adjacent churches.

The faithful people offered morethan 3000 candles for use duringthe Forty Hours.

The second Mission atSt. Augustine was equallyimpressive. The number ofparticipants grew so large thatthe sermons on Sunday had tobe given in the square, before anaudience of over 6000 people.69 Protestants asked to bereceived, and the account of thisMission appeared in The Tablet,whose editor Frederick Lucaswas following with deepappreciation the apostolic workof the Italian missionary.

The third Mission at Manchesterwas the longest and the mostdifficult of all missions so far.St. Patrick’s Church was theparish with the greatest numberof Catholics in Manchester, butit was being torn apart by theopen rebellion of many againstthe Bishop who had appointed anew priest, Fr. Roskell, after theremoval of the Irish priest,Fr. Hearne, a very popular figureamong the Irish of the parish.Fr. Hearne, whose political viewsand activities concerning theindependence of Ireland had thesupport of many, had left thecity but had kept in touch withthe leaders of the movementhoping to be re-instated in theparish.


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The new parish priest hadwritten a letter to Fr. Gentilibegging him to preach a Missionto heal the wounds: “The Rev.Mr. Hearne has left the townand my poor congregation is in amost fearful state of excitement.The first Sunday I attempted topreach, the whole congregationrose up in tumult after the firstwords and broke forth intocurses and imprecations andcries of” pull him down, awaywith him, we will have none ofhim, we will have none but Mr.Hearne”, so that it was quiteuseless to proceed in mydiscourse… I knelt for a fewmoments and quietly gave themmy blessing. “We don’t wantyour blessing”, was theindignant reply…”

Fr. Gentili confronted theproblem at once, and his firstsermon was centred on the storyof JESUS sending out Hisdisciples two by two with theinjunction to announce peace atevery house they went. He askedthe congregation to pay heed toGod’s warning, and to acceptHis divine peace in a spirit ofrepentance and sorrow. Hissermon was interrupted againand again by protests and loudcomments; the same rebelliousattitude was evident over thenext two days.

On the third day, from his usualplatform raised high in theChurch, Fr. Gentili addressed thecongregation with fire in hiseyes, and the Crucifix in hishand: “I came among you withthis sign of peace [showing theCrucifix], the image of yourcrucified Saviour, whose Bloodwas shed for your salvation. Ifyou do not wish to make peacewith Him, I have no otheralternative than to substitute, forthe symbol of peace, the emblemof penance”. He thendramatically took off his blackcloak and the cross, and put ona purple stole, the sign ofpenance. He then proposed threedays of solemn fasting, inatonement for the sacrilegiousbehaviour of the previous days.

His action was resented fiercelyby the opposing party, andviolent and disruptive behaviourcontinued on the followingevening, with shouts before andduring the service, andquarrelling of women in theChurch. When one womanstruck another, uproar broke outand the Church was floodedwith noise of shouting andfighting. Fr. Gentili remainedstanding on his platform,refusing to leave, and calling toorder, until silence prevailed. Atthe end of the service, he calledthe police and one of the two


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women had to appear before amagistrate for unruly behaviour.

A sense of shame prevented anyfurther disorders, and theMission had to be extended forweeks to build on theachievement and to satisfy thecrowds that poured into theChurch day and night. 14 priestswere kept extremely busy attheir confessionals by swarms ofpeople flocking to be reconciledwith God. It was during thissecond period that over 100Protestants asked to be receivedinto the Church; and the missionclosed with crowds still flockingto the confessionals and withmany being turned away at theend because it was impossible tohear them all, even withcontinuous confessionsthroughout the night.

In gratitude, the entire clergy ofManchester signed a memorialwhich was presented to him onthe last day:

“Very Rev. Father, sensible of thegreat benefits which haveresulted from the missions whichyou have given in Manchester,we cannot suffer you to go fromamongst us, withoutendeavouring to acknowledgethe favour which you haveconferred upon us, in devotingso much of your time to the

spiritual welfare of the soulscommitted to our charge. Theimmense multitude of degenerateCatholics who have beenreclaimed, and the still moreremarkable number of convertswho have been received into theChurch convince us that thehand of God is with you, andthat the practice of givingmissions, which you haverecently introduced into thiscountry, is one of the greatestblessings which has accrued toreligion in modern times.

When we reflect on the profoundlearning, the practical skill, theprompt decision, and theinvincible courage with whichyou have encountered andovercome the peculiar difficultieswhich surrounded the mission ofSt. Patrick’s, we feel that a stillmore ample tribute ofadmiration and gratitude is dueto you for your charitable andmost disinterested exertions.

We are aware, Rev. Sir, thatthese difficulties were of noordinary magnitude, and thatconsequently a more thanordinary call upon your zeal andcharity has been required toovercome them. We know howforbearingly you watched thestorm of rebellious oppositionwith which you were threatenedby a party of undutiful children


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of the Church… and alas, forthis unhappy town, the stormwhich had been for a long timebrooding, and gradually gainingstrength, soon burst upon it, anddisplayed a most melancholyschism in the Church.

In this sad emergency, it was,Rev. Sir, that we so effectuallyexperienced the powerfulassistance of your talentedexertions. By means of them, theinfluence of the factiousopposition has been nearlydestroyed, and peace andreconciliation are once morebeginning to gladden our hearts.Though the people are stillsuffering from the effects of theirown folly, yet, we hope, by thejudicious counsels which you,Rev. Sir, have suggested, we maybe able to complete the work ofreconciliation which you have sohappily begun; and that in ashort time they may all return tothe one fold from which theyhave strayed…”

In September 1846, BishopBriggs invited Fr. Gentili to visitIreland with him. On this secondoccasion, he had the chance ofmeeting Archbishop Murray,Archbishop Polding of Sydneyand Bishop Murphy of Adelaide,and he joined them in thecelebrations in aid of the Societyfor Propagation of the Faith. His

greatest pleasure, however, wasmeeting many of his oldcompanions from the time whenhe was a student at the IrishCollege in Rome. He wrote toFr. Pagani, “I renewed oldfriendships. I found myselfamong friends – more intimateand familiar than I had yetexperienced anywhere else”.

He heard much of the famineconditions, which had worsenedterribly since the potato cropfailed again completely that year,and of the desperate need forrelief from all sources. Hepromised to obtain subscriptionsfrom friends of the Institute ofCharity in Italy, and was soonable to produce remarkableresults. Fr. Rosmini helped himwhole-heartedly, making publicappeals in the Press of Piedmont,and organising the collection offunds at Turin, Milan, andVercelli. Mons. Cullen in Romewrote enthusiastically about theRosminian Relief Fund by whichabout £1,000 in all was raised.

1847

The Missions preached byFr. Gentili followed approximatelythe same format, both in the styleand order of the functions and inthe content of sermons and ofinstructions. Yet, they were alldifferent, and it is interesting to


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read the account of each to gain afull understanding of theproblems and of the outstandingsuccess. Alas, it is not possible toprovide here such detailedaccounts, since the purpose of thisbooklet is to provide a moregeneral knowledge of theapostolic work of Fr. Gentili. Weshall, therefore, provide a tablewith the inclusion of all recordedactivities of Fr. Gentili during theyear 1847, and we shall thenconcentrate on a few of greatersignificance. There is the addedproblem that records for this yearhave not been kept as accuratelyas in previous years, and thereare, therefore, uncertainties aboutdates and length of someMissions.

It is interesting to notice themany Missions preached byFr. Gentili and Fr. Furlong invarious churches in London.They had preached Missions inLondon before, and Fr. Gentilihad been called on manyoccasions to preach retreats tothe clergy of London atSt. Edmund’s College. It wasFrederick Lucas, editor of TheTablet, who wrote about thespecial difficulties encounteredby Fr. Gentili in London, and heattributed them to the fact thatLondon was “the special abodeof comfortable people”, lessinclined to accept the message ofrepentance and of conversionthan the crowds of ordinary andpoor people all over Britain.


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Missions and Retreats from January to December 1846

Fr. Gentili himself confessed toBishop Ullathorne that he feltthat his Missions in London hadbeen less successful than in otherparts of the country, but heattributed this to the fact thatchurches in London were muchsmaller making it veryunpleasant for the large numberof faithful, crammed for hoursinto restricted spaces; moreover,with the Missions sometimesbeing held in private chapels itbecame much more difficult forthe poor and the Protestants togain access.

Bishop Griffiths, the ApostolicVicar for London, displayedgreat interest and participatedwhole-heartedly, helping the twomissionaries with the functions,the preaching, and with hearingConfessions. The first twoMissions of this year were heldat the Chapel of the King ofSardinia and at the chapel of theKing of Spain: both chapels wereoverflowing with people wantingto hear and to go to theSacraments. The processionswith the Blessed Sacrament weremost solemn occasions, on a parwith similar ones in theContinent for the splendour ofthe arrangements and of thedecorations. 28 Protestantsasked to be received into theChurch, 18 in the first and 10 inthe second Mission. The third

Mission in the chapel ofMorefields, witnessed thegreatest number of people,having had a most solemnopening by three Bishops: theApostolic Vicar, the Bishop ofMontreal, and the Bishop ofAdelaide.

All through the Missions inLondon, Fr. Gentili paid specialattention to the strongcommunity of Italianimmigrants, preaching to themregularly in the chapel of theKing of Sardinia.

Bishop Ullathorne had been amost fervent admirer ofFr. Gentili, and had invited him,a few years earlier, to the famousmission at Coventry where hehad witnessed the indefatigablezeal, the fiery words, and thewhole array of apostolic skillsdisplayed by Fr. Gentili on thatoccasion. He was now theApostolic Vicar of the WesternDistrict, appointed after theuntimely and sudden death ofBishop Baines in 1843. He hadchosen Bristol as his place ofresidence, rather than Prior Park,wishing to be closer to theworking classes of industrialBritain. It was to Bristol thatBishop Ullathorne calledFr. Gentili and Fr. Furlong topreach a Mission. He himself lefta brief account of that Mission:


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“In the month of October, 1847,Dr. Gentili and Mr. Furlongundertook to give a mission forfourteen days at St. Joseph’s,Bristol, where I was then residingas Vicar Apostolic. They camestraight from holding a missionat Manchester where, during itslast days, they had sat up to twoor three o’clock in the morningin the confessional, and theytook no intervening rest beforecommencing their new task.

This mission was remarkablysuccessful. It commenced a neworder of things in Bristol whichhad not since been arrested.Their exertions demonstratedthat the religious wants in thecity were much greater thananyone had calculated upon”.

In the long discussions that theBishop and Fr. Gentili hadduring that time, they exchangedviews on the big topic of the day,the possible establishment of theHierarchy in England and Wales.There was agreement that thedivision into vast Districts wasfar too inefficient and in need ofradical change.

In effect Fr. Gentili had a greatinterest on that matter since hehad been asked by CardinalFranzoni, through Fr. Rosmini,to send full and secret Reports toRome about the real conditions

of the Catholic Church inBritain. Fr. Gentili, who hadacquired a most profoundknowledge of the situationthrough direct practicalexperience in the industrial citiesas well as in London, andthrough his discussions withpriests, religious, and bishopseverywhere in Britain, took thecommission to explain to theHoly See the problems, theaspirations, and the practicalsteps required for a successfulestablishment of the Hierarchywith the most profound sense ofresponsibility and sent morethan a dozen Reports all through1847 to Cardinal Franzoni.

He had the joy of receiving anacknowledgment from Pope PiusIX, which stated that the Popehad read with great interest allof his Reports, and thanked himfor his meticulous presentationof facts, wishing him everysuccess in his apostolicendeavours.

1848

The year opened with Fr. Gentiliand Fr. Furlong immersed intheir Mission at Huddersfield,which had begun on 26thDecember and lasted for 30days, with the usual greatspiritual results. They prepared150 young people for their first


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Holy Communion, received intothe Church 15 Protestants, andeven managed to shut down twobrothels!

When the Mission ended, thetwo missionaries remained inYorkshire, preaching in varioustowns and holding a Mission atBradford. In the middle ofFebruary, they went to Bristol tohold a mission for 30 days, asagreed in the previous missionwith Bishop Ullathorne. Thereason was that both had agreedthat a Mission should last forabout a month, to give moretime for the instruction of thepeople and for drawing themcloser to God as a result of thereal blessings that theyexperienced during the days ofthe Forty Hours, of processions,of renewal of Baptismal vows, ofapproach to the Sacraments.

The experiment worked well,and for the whole duration ofthe Mission the Churchremained full, and more andmore people approached withgreat devotion the sacraments ofConfession and of the Eucharist.Bishop Ullathorne wrote, “Thelabour was indeed excessive…Even to the last day abundantwork was provided for theconfessionals… At this time,though as energetic as ever,Fr. Gentili was visibly much

worn, and I felt anxious abouthim, and urged that after theclose of these missions he oughtto have a good interval of rest”.

But Fr. Gentili had alreadyagreed to preach Missions atBath, and in Ireland. He startedthe Mission at Bath immediatelyafter the one at Bristol, and itwas to be the very last Missionhe preached in England. Weknow nothing about this lastMission, except for the commentof Bishop Ullathorne that “itwas one of the most happy” ofall his missions, and that,between Bristol and Bath, over100 Protestants were receivedinto full communion with theCatholic Church.

Bishop Ullathorne was not theonly one to worry about thedeclining health of Fr. Gentili.Fr. Pagani also became extremelyconcerned, begging him to take arest and to stop for a while hisfasting and his physical penance.He was just forty-seven, but hehad been working for years withfierce intensity, sleeping a fewhours at night, fasting at eachMission for three days with thepeople, and eating very little atall times. Moreover, he had theadded burden of spiritualdirection throughcorrespondence, which he couldonly deal with at night and


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during the few spare moments ofthe day. One such letter, to amarried lady in February 1848,is perhaps an echo of the kind ofteaching he would offer at somestage during his retreats:

“Nothing better than prayers,but we must recollect thathumility is the great ingredientof all sanctity; and a sincere actof humility is more valuablebefore God than many prayers.He who is humble is a saint, andfew prayers are necessary to himin order to be heard by the Lord.We see it in the prayer that thewoman of Canaan made toChrist. She prayed first and wasnot heard; she humbled herselfand repeated her prayer in a veryhumble manner. Christ, Whohad seemed to despise her, heardher at once. So likewise He didwith the Centurion. He said,when Christ offered to go and

visit his servant, that he was notworthy to receive Him under hisroof, and Christ performedinstantly the requested miracle;and so the prayer of the crucifiedthief, and that of the Publicanwas heard, because coming froma profound sense of theirhumility.

Endeavour then, while you areso anxious about your prayers,to be so likewise in laying downmore every year the greatfoundation of all sanctity, thatyou may build its edifice on afirm rock. He who is humble hasall graces, and he who is humblehas patience, meekness, self-denial, and every Christianvirtue; he soon arrives at theperfection of charity, and beginsto foretaste on earth thecalmness and the happiness ofHeaven”.


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CHAPTER EIGHT

MISSION IN IRELANDAPRIL – SEPTEMBER1848“He who is humble has all graces, andsoon arrives at the perfection ofcharity” (Fr. Gentili)

Before departing for Ireland,Fr. Gentili went to Kenilworth tostay with Mrs. Amherst, whosedaughter was now a nun in theRosminian Convent as a Sister ofProvidence in Loughborough. Inthe morning of his departure, ongiving his farewell to the familyhe added, “You will not see me inEngland any more; you will prayfor me at the news of my death”;and then, turning to Fr. P.Mitchell, he told him, “You willsay a Mass for the repose of mysoul”. It was Bishop Ullathornewho reported this conversation toFr. Pagani soon after Fr. Gentili’sdeath a few months later.

The first Mission in Ireland tookplace at the Church of St. Audeon,in Dublin, from 29th April to 4thJune 1848. The concourse ofpeople was extraordinary, andgreat enthusiasm greeted thevarious stages of the Mission, anevent which had not been seenbefore in Ireland. We haveFr. Gentili’s own comments as hewrote to a friend in England:

“I remained in the confessionalmost of the night, and otherswith me. Forty, fifty priestswould have been insufficient togather in the big harvest, andfrom this you may gather that amission in Ireland is twice moresuccessful than one in England.This morning, people came to

Communion in their thousands;two priests and at times fourwere occupied in giving out theBread from Heaven. You will bepleased to hear that theAlmighty God has indeedblessed this first Mission: 55Protestants have been converted,85 Catholics have beenconfirmed, more than 20,000communions, and by thehundreds the people whoreceived the Sacraments for thefirst time or after many years”.

In between the first and thesecond Mission, both Fr. Gentiliand Fr. Furlong spent a few daysas guests of Lady Bellew, at herpressing invitation. She had beenthe cause of Fr. Gentili’s deepcrisis in his younger days whenstill a barrister in Rome. He hadfallen in love with her, but he hadbeen refused her hand by herguardians and she had beenwhisked away to England on thevery next day. The following yearshe married a young Irish baronet,Sir Patrick Bellew, with whom shehad five children. She wasdelighted now to meet Fr. Gentiliand rejoiced at the opportunity ofoffering him a little rest from hisapostolic work.

In the middle of June 1848, thetwo missionaries began theirsecond Mission in Ireland atRathmines in Dublin. It lasted

MISSION IN IRELAND APRIL – SEPTEMBER 1848

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over a month and it received thesame enthusiasm andparticipation as in the previousone. On 23rd of July, near the endof the Mission, Bishop Whelanconfirmed 500 people, mainlyadults. There was the case of agentleman who for years hadrefused the Sacrament ofConfirmation. Having gone toConfession to Fr. Gentili, he saidto him, “Well, don’t you wish tobecome a perfect Christian?”These simple words spoken by theholy man of God were sufficientto break his resistance, and hewas confirmed with the others.

Fr. Gentili’s warm eloquence whenspeaking about the Blessed Motherof God moved the people to a deeplove for Her and, with his help,they formed at Rathmines theConfraternity of the ImmaculateConception. The blue Scapularsneeded by the members of theConfraternity were in short supply,and Fr. Gentili organised the ladiesto produce them for themselvesand for the poor who had askedfor them.

The two events that mostcontributed to the success of theMission were the Exposition ofthe Blessed Sacrament for theForty Hours of Adoration, andthe solemn procession with theBlessed Sacrament through thestreets of Dublin. The profound

faith of the Irish people, tested inevery way by years ofpersecution and oppression,came fully alive at both events.The main altar of the BlessedSacrament, beautifullydecorated, was ablaze withcandles, and the people flockedto worship the Lord.

Even greater was the enthusiasmand joy for the solemn processionof the Blessed Sacrament throughthe streets of Dublin. It was atremendous injection of Catholicpride, a moment of freedom at thechance of affirming publicly themost sacred belief of the Irishpeople. The people of Rathmines,in the Memorial given toFr. Gentili and Fr. Furlong, madethis very same point:

“In giving thanks to you, ourbeloved benefactors, for theblessings you have provided forus, how can we forget the joy weexperienced in carrying inprocession through our streetsOur Lord JESUS Christ in theadorable Eucharist? During thelong years of oppression, wecould carry the Son of theeternal God only in hiddenplaces, and, in more recenttimes, in our churches. But itwas you who brought back theworship of our Lord in the open,followed by thousands of thefaithful, with the greatest pomp


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and solemnity possible to us.You were the first to carry theSaviour of the world throughthis land, most loved by Him”.

A young Irish nun, who hadbeen present at the Mission,wrote an account of herrecollection from a convent atBandon, County Cork:

“I remember distinctly attendingthe mission given by him in theparish of Rathmines, Dublin, inthe year 1848. … Everyone wassimply fascinated by FatherGentili. He was very tall andslight, and exceedingly gracefulin every movement, andespecially so when, clothed in hisreligious habit and cloak, hepreached from a platformerected at the side of the altar.Near this there was a table witha large Cross placed on it. But,beyond all, he looked the verypersonification of sanctity andmortification… The Church wasthronged with people during thedevotions, and indeed all daylong trying to get to Confession.No need to say the good Father’sconfessional was besieged, manyremaining there all night…”

News about the movement ofour two missionaries after thesuccessful Mission at Rathminesis rather patchy. It seems thatFr. Gentili went to preach a

retreat to the sisters of Mercy atBirr, in the diocese of Killaloe,and afterwards he preachedanother retreat to the clergy inDublin. On the last Sunday ofAugust, both preached on behalfof the schools at Rathmines inneed of funds, in the churches ofSt. Mary and of St. Peter.

On the 3rd September 1848, inthe parish of St. John in Dublin,Fr. Gentili and Fr. Furlongopened the Mission in a mostsolemn fashion, being the localfeast of the Blessed Virgin Maryof the Consolation. The peopleof Dublin had a good knowledgeof the outstanding qualities ofFr. Gentili either from directexperience or from reports thathad been spreading rapidlyeverywhere, and they came tothe Mission in huge numbers. Itwas true that the area in whichthe Church was situated wasamong the poorest in Dublin,densely populated by crowdswho lived in abject andunhealthy conditions. It was truealso that many had tried todissuade Fr. Gentili frompreaching a Mission there, forfear that his health may suffer asa result. But Fr. Gentili had beenpressed by his apostolic zeal, andnow the people were filling theChurch eager to hear the wordof God preached by the zealousmissionaries.


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Writing to a friend, Fr. Gentilidescribed moments of the Mission:“The number of people is so greatthat we do not know what to do.Unfortunately, the local priests arealready so busy in their parishesthat they can do little to help us inthe confessionals; and so the heavyburden is on our shoulders, andwe can achieve only a small partof the good we could achieve if weonly had other priests to help us”.

Fr. Furlong himself wrote atabout the same time, “I havenever seen in my life a peoplebetter disposed and willing tobring nourishment to their souland to draw the greatest profitfrom the Mission”.

It was during the first days ofthe Mission that Fr. Gentiliwrote a letter to Fr. Rosminiwhich was to be his last to hisspiritual Father. Fr. Rosmini hadbeen asked by Pope Pius IX toget ready to be made a Cardinal,and Fr. Rosmini had obtainedpermission from the Pope toconsult first with the presbytersof the Institute. Fr. Gentili senthim the following reply:

“My dearest and most lovedFather Superior and General, inChrist JESUS, whose glory weare bound to seek in all things.Amen.

I reply immediately to yourdemand, and I wish to adviseyou to accept the honour theVicar of Christ wants to bestowon you; and since you ask that Ishould give you a command,then I do command you in thename of holy obedience toaccept it. The Lord has answeredmy many prayers, and it is myhope He will grant you evengreater things, not for your sakebut for the sake of the crucifiedBride of the Crucified Lord.

Receive, then, my dear Father,the Sacred Purple, but rememberon that day the purple cloth thatwas placed in mockery on thebruised shoulders of the King ofHeaven, and how it was bathedin the Blood of the Man-God;and do you offer again, unto theEternal Father, your blood inunion with His most PreciousBlood, whence Holy Churchtook its rise. Thus will thewisdom given to you fromHeaven redound to the trueglory of God.

I am here in Ireland giving athird Mission with Fr. Furlong.The Lord has opened for us alarger and more fruitful fieldthan the one in England. Wecould easily have a house and achurch here in Dublin. I haveasked many of the Bishops hereto place the whole island under


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the protection of the ImmaculateVirgin Mary… Should thishappen, I am sure there will be anew dawn for this poor andafflicted land…”

Fr. Rosmini kept close to hisheart these words of Fr. Gentili,and he often quoted them in hisletters. Writing to Fr. Pagani,after Fr. Gentili’s death, he said,“Our dear brother Don Luigiwas truly a prophet, when,having heard of the commandgiven me by the Pope, warnedme to remember that purplecloth that covered the shouldersof JESUS Christ”.

In the meantime, the Mission wasprogressing with great numbers inattendance. The iron will ofFr. Gentili had managed tosustain for a while the increasingweakness of his body, but on theevening of 16th September, as hewas in the confessional, he wasseized by high fever, and after awhile he was forced to abandonthe confessional and made it withgreat difficulty to the house,where he wrapped himself in hisown cloak and laid down on thesofa, unable to move or to doanything.

Fr. Furlong rushed to see him andpersuaded him to get into bed. Inthe morning, they called thedoctor, who did not seem unduly

preoccupied, and so there wassome hope of a speedy recovery.But the high fever persisted overthe next few days, and it affectedhis lungs making his breathingpainful and difficult. In themorning of 24th September, itlooked as though there was animprovement, but in the eveningthe attacks of fever became morepersistent and acute, and in themorning his breathing becamedifficult and his whole body wasshaking with fever.

In the evening of 25thSeptember, his conditionsworsened and two doctorsagreed that it was now aquestion of life or death.Fr. Gentili made a full confessionto his companion, and receivedfrom him the Viaticum andExtreme Unction. During thenight, Mrs. Dolan, the wife of asolicitor and extremely fond ofFr. Gentili, whom she veneratedas a saint, sitting beside his bedwitnessed his last hours. Hespoke most of the night in adelirious state, about his FatherRosmini, about matters of theInstitute, or about the Missions.

At one moment, he spoke atlength of the government ofDivine Providence over the eventsof the world, and he gave alecture on the theological virtuesand on the grace of JESUS Christ.


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He concluded his imaginarysermon saying with a weak andclear voice, “Let us remember atall times the one end for whichwe have been created by God,and to this end let us always turnall our thoughts and affectionsand works”. He then slowly liftedhis hands high and blessed hisimaginary audience with the signof the cross, letting them fallheavily and without life on thebed.

As his condition deteriorated, inthe very early hours of themorning, Mrs. Dolan calledFr. Furlong, who had beenpersuaded to take a few hourssleep; he rushed in and in a stateof distress began repeating shortprayers beside the bed. Thinkingthat death was not yet imminent,he went to Church and offeredMass for him; when he returnedhe recited the prayers for thedying, and gave him the finalblessing.

Fr. Gentili died at 7.15 in themorning of 26th September1848, while the Sacrifice of Masswas being offered for him in theChurch of St. John by theAugustinian Superior and byother priests.

The typhoid fever had prevailedover his weak body; a fever hehad caught while in close

contact, in the restricted space ofthe confessional, with the poorpopulation of the area, many ofwhom afflicted by disease and bythe “famine fever”.

The news of his death spreadamong the long line of peoplewho had been crowding thestreets all around the house fromthe first moment of his illness.Profound commotion andsorrow descended over Dublin,and for the few days the body ofFr. Gentili rested in the Churchof St. John, an endless numberof people came to honour and topray to the holy priest who hadgiven his life for their sake.

The solemn funeral took placeon 29th September. BishopO’Connor and Bishop Devereuxofficiated, with a greatattendance of the clergy. Thepanegyric was preached by Dr.Moriarty, the rector of theAugustinian Community.Immense crowds followed thefuneral procession to Glasnevincemetery, and Fr. Gentili wasburied beside the tomb of thegreat Irish statesman DanielO’Connell.

This is how Fr. Furlongcommunicated the sad news tohis Provincial, Fr. Pagani:


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“Our venerable and holy brotherLuigi Gentili fell asleeppeacefully this morning in thearms of JESUS and Mary. Hesacrificed his life to serve hisbeloved Lord, and died in battlewith the weapons in his hand.I should not have expected histoils to come to an end so soon:fiat voluntas tua! Deus meus etomnia! Our Lord, who hadcalled him first of our brethrento England, has called him firstto the land of the living. Whathappiness we can find in thesacred embrace of religion.”

Fr. Rosmini wrote at once toFr. Pagani, sending comfortingwords: “It is true that we havelost a most dear brother in DonLuigi, and the Lord’s vineyard avalid worker; but do not let oursorrow turn to despair, but let itbe joined to spiritual joy at thethought that the new citizen ofthe heavenly Jerusalem can domore for the Church now than hecould have done here on earth;and moreover, at the thought thatthis was the Will of God”.

Fr. Pagani was the recipient ofhundreds of tributes honouringFr. Gentili: from the manyBishops for whom Fr. Gentili hadbeen a constant advisor, spiritualdirector, friend, companion in theapostolic work – BishopsWiseman, Ullathorne, Briggs,

Walsh, Brown, Griffiths, Riddell,Murray, Redmond, Weedall, etc.– to the hundreds of local priestsand nuns to whom he had beenthe perfect model of holiness andof apostolic zeal; and to manylay people who had been touchedby his spirituality, his holiness,his austerity, his gentleness.Particularly moving were thetributes that came from his ownbrethren, from Furlong toPagani, from Belisy to Lockhart,from Hutton, to Egan, Toscani,Signini, and many others.Frederick Lucas, the editor ofThe Tablet, printed many pagesof tribute, and his own editorialwas most impressive.

It may be appropriate to concludethis brief account of the life ofFr. Gentili with the tributes offeredby three persons closely involvedin the Second Spring, and in therestoration of the Hierarchy inEngland and Wales, AmbrosePhillips, Wiseman, and Newman:

“The news, wrote AmbrosePhillips, was what of all things Ileast expected. I should havethought that his career wasrather beginning than ending. Atleast, when one thought of thespiritual wants of England, andof his wonderful power to relievethem, I flattered myself that hewould have been spared, formany years, to gain souls to


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Christ. But alas! We were notworthy of this blessed saint…Nothing can ever replace him tome in this world; and my onlycomfort is to invoke his prayers”.

It was Bishop Wiseman whoused, on behalf of many, theword “martyr”, to stress thetotal gift of himself to Christ, atthe service of His brethren:

“It is not only the Institute ofCharity that has endured a muchpainful loss, but the entireCatholic Church in England, whohad come to know and appreciatethe zeal, the eloquence, and theholy life of your dead brother. Itis a certainty that he died amartyr’s death for the sake of thesalvation of souls, and I amconvinced that the Lord hasalready given him a most blessedreward”.

We conclude with the wordswritten by Cardinal Newman:

“I write to convey to you thegreat concern both of myself and

of our community, at the afflictingevent which has befallen you andyours. It is very mysterious indeedthat anyone should be taken awayin the midst of a career of suchholy and important services asFather Gentili was rendering toCatholicism in this country. Butmay we not be confident that, inproportion to the greatness of thevisible loss, is the real gain whichwill accrue both to religion and toyour own Institute in particular,by the removal of so holy aperson, who doubtless is able todo more for you and for theChurch, where he is now, by hisprayers than he could do by eventhe greatest exertions on earth?”

Cardinal H Newman


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Ascetical Letters of Antonio Rosmini, edited by J. Morris ICEpistolario Completo di Antonio RosminiGiorni Antichi, 1986, by G. GaddoLa Vita di Luigi Gentili, 1904, by GB PaganiFather Luigi Gentili and His Mission, 1951, by D. GwynnRosmini, Priest and Philosopher, 1982, by C. Leetham

ROSMINIAN VIEWS

If you think you know yourCreed, Gloria, I Confess ...search your heart. You might beable to recite these well-prayedformulas in a familiar group buttry when you’re with aworshipping group elsewhere -in East Africa for example – Godfrom God, Light from Light, trueGod from true God… and then“around the bush” many times... it’s not easy against a churchfull of fervent Kiswahili speakingpeople!

Being part of a worshiping groupin Tanzania was electric. Peopleof all ages dressed in their multi-coloured Sunday best includingnew-born babies, put their allinto celebrating the Eucharist -be it Christmas Eve in Muheza,St Stephen’s Day in Tanga orNew Year’s Eve in Kewdiboma;music, song, dance and drums -all contributed to making this areal time of praise to theAlmighty. Time seemed like apiece of elastic; over two and ahalf hours at Mass, which issomewhat different from whatwe are used to and hardlynoticing the time!

Living here, even for a shorttime, was an amazing experiencein so many ways; not leastcelebrating Christmas in

extremely hot weather whichcould be disorientating exceptthere were Christmas trees, anabundance of tinsel and flashinglights along with highlydecorated cribs, to be seen inevery church. SpendingChristmas night at Mwambaniwith its vast stretch of deep seaseems like a dream. Here weshared a splendid feast with thebrethren, as we sat under anenormous tree while watchingthe fishing boats, one by onemaking their way towards usagainst the backdrop of theIndian Ocean.

I was struck by the contrasts:poor and rich side by side, allsharing an inner happiness andcontentment, clearly visible onelderly and young faces alike –this is extremely contagious.“Enthusiasm” is the single wordwhich sums up the spirit of thepeople and which was soapparent throughout. Our youngpeople in Muheza – thosefollowing or beginning to followa Rosminian way of life - are aninspiration, bubbling over witheagerness, whether in tending asick cow on the shamba ,collecting eggs or mangoes,making a cake, sweeping leaves(and there are plenty of these) orpreparing a liturgy.

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A SMALL TASTE OF TANZANIA

The enthusiasm and joy inwanting to follow the Lord, in asimple and uncluttered way oflife is obvious among theaspirants, novices and youngsisters alike, and not least inthose who are responsible atdifferent levels for theirformation. This zeal for life isalso innate in our sisters whohave come here as“missionaries” and whountiringly give of themselves inso many different ways. The newNovitiate House in Morogoro istaking shape even though amongother things, it has yet towelcome electricity; the noviceshave been nurtured here andprepared for Profession. StJoseph’s, Tanga attracts manystudents and turns out excellentcitizens, some of whom are nowworking in local business; HolyFamily, Primary School inMuheza, is growing daily inpupil numbers and classroomsare being added.

The time-worn phrase “unlessyou’ve been there you don’tunderstand”, certainly applieshere: Kwediboma has a hospitalrun by the sisters - a known factwhich remains simply an imageuntil one actually goes there.Bare and basic and full of lovingcare and human concern,whether it be for a long bench ofmothers-to-be and their babiesor for all sorts of casualties – ayoung man who had fallen off

his bicycle was having the gritand gravel removed from hisgashed head as we came in. Butthe doctor attending him turnedround to greet us (shakinghands). Testing for Malaria wastaking place in a smalllaboratory unit while testing forHIV was being carried out at thematernity unit – all of whichbrings home another grimreality. The delight on the facesof the young mothers was clearas we distributed some baby-clothes, sent from Cardiff; thelittle ones were promptly dressedin these. It was in Kwedibomathat we partook of someChristmas cake, sent from StMary’s Loughborough (amonggifts which are sent every yearand are much appreciated).

Travelling in Africa is exciting;along the way there is a feast forthe eye as well as for the palate.Fields of sisal give way to fieldsof maize; of sunflowersdelighting in the heat of the sunand the breathtaking vision ofthe many flamboyant trees,known also as Christmas trees,with their abundance of deep redflowers topping green leaves.Other exotic shrubs, trees andflowers such as the jacaranda,the fragrant frangipani with itsprofusion of yellow or whiteflowers, various enormoussucculent cacti and the richlyadorned acacia trees provided anamazing sight for the eyes and

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together with mango, paw-paw,pineapple and coconut trees andhosts of other extraordinaryfruit, challenged the senses. Oneof the many fruits I enjoyed wasthe ox-heart fruit which took meby surprise with its rich bitter-sweet succulence.

Near the villages and evenfurther afield were numerouscyclists coming and going onboth sides of the road, someladen with goods: bananas, balesof sisal, wood, trays of eggspiled higher than the rider’s headand containers of water. Once Isaw a large cardboard box ofchickens being carried, withchicken-heads peering throughholes strategically cut into thesides of the box. Often a bicyclebecame a “people-carrier”;father riding with a child or twoon the bar in front and a motherbehind with a child or twosnuggling close to her. Along theway there were women by theroad-side digging or cutting backgrass with a sickle or tendingflower-beds. The villages are fullof people: some busily goingabout their business, others,often men-folk sitting together–people here are goodcommunity builders since theyspend much time sitting on theground, or close to it, chattingand being together.

Once you leave the main roadand follow a dirt track you neverknow how the journey will be orwhere it will take you.I discovered this on more thanone occasion. Nothing howevercould have prepared me for the“short journey” so I was told, tovisit Joseph and other Masaifriends in the Jumane settlement.The track gave way to anopening in the undergrowthwhich the four-wheel driveflattened as it made its way overmounds and tree-stumps,whatever in fact lay ahead, intothe heart of the bush. Here avast crowd of Masai welcomedus into the heart of their kraal.Masai way of life is certainlybased on sharing: Joseph, hiswives and his many smilingchildren, in traditional dress andadorned with ornaments,bracelets and beaded jewellery,live a communal life, along withmany other Masai families,herding their very healthy cattleand mahogany sheep and goats.As well as elaborate necklaceswe were given a fine goat to takehome ... but that’s another story!

Another part of the wholeexperience which will remainindelibly imprinted on my mindis the surprise trip provided byCostal Aviation, the flying SafariCompany, courtesy of Sr Andrew.Seated at the front, immediatelybehind the pilot (!) we had abreath-taking view of the Indian

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Ocean and the surroundinglandscape as the plane, carryingsome thirteen people, made itsway from Tanga criss-crossing tovisit some of the islands on theway. We came down first at smallisland of Pemba, with itsextraordinarily fertile hillylandscape and spectacular deepwater, followed by a drop downto Zanzibar, by comparison alow-lying coral reef with broadsandy beaches; both islands arelaced with a combination of deepturquoise and sapphire-colour

water over dazzling white sands.Before landing at Dar-Es-Salaam,we hovered over the commercialcapital of the country with itspicturesque harbours andhistorical buildings rightly called“haven of peace” which providedan incredibly authenticTanzanian Coastal experience toround off the visit. Magnificent!And there is so much more tosay...

Sr. Antonietta Toomey

Fitful sleep. Brief moments ofpeace and escape from reality.Then the sudden awakening and

the dreadful reminder of soundsand images – the hammering ofnails, the gasping for breath, thetaunts and the insults. Pain. Notonly a physical pain, but atearing, searing pain in the depthsof her being. Mary. Is this what hemeant, that Priest in the Templeall those years ago: ‘A sword shallpierce your soul.’?

Fitful sleep. Happy release fromthe sounds and images of the hill– sounds ands images which comeflooding back the instant sleepwithdraws its protective hand. Butthen other memories – Joseph,dear Joseph, the one above allothers whom she loved. Andthose happy days at Nazarethuntil – so young – Joseph wastaken from her and Jesus becamethe bed-rock of her life and her

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Our Lady of Sorrows, Calvario

MOTHER OF SORROWS, MOTHER OF JOY

home. And now? Nothing. Pain.Such dreadful pain.

Anguish. And the inevitable,hurtful questions: Why? Why this?God’s will? But….Mary stifled theother, more hurtful questions.

Light now. At last, the firstglimmers of a new day, liftingthe deep shadows of the roomwhere she lay. A new day. Butfor what? More pain? Would itnever end? A movement near thedoorway. One of the women, nodoubt, just looking in to see ifshe needed anything. Sarah,probably. Such a good, gentlesoul. She had been so distraughtat – up there, and yet, ever since,she has been a source of strengthto everyone, even to the men. Ormaybe its Mary, from Magdala.So strange, how she had becomeone of their company, almost asif it were her right to be there.

Another movement. She turned,with half-seeing eyes, waiting forthe expected question: ‘Is thereanything…?’ No. There’snothing. Thank you. Take yourrest now – you must be tired….

But the question was never asked.Just one word. ‘Mother’. A half-scream broke from her lips –enough! Surely enough. Not this,too. Not the tormented yearningsof a mother’s heart, broken bygrief. Not the deranged

imaginations of a womanconsumed by the horror of the hill.

‘Mother’. No. No. A slight first-morning breeze moves theshutter at the window, sendingacross the room a shaft of clearlight which left untouched theengulfing darkness of the rest ofthe room. ‘Mother’. Is thisanother part of her tortureddream? But no, Mary is awakenow. She turns – and sees Him.Jesus. But how can….

As she staggers up from the roughblanket on which she had slept,He moved forward into the shaftof early-morning sunlight. Unableto speak, the mother looks at herSon. He smiled. And as He heldout His hands to embrace her, shesaw the wounds in His wrists.Falling to her knees, she gasps‘My Son.’ Silently, the tears come.But now the tears of anindescribable joy – almostdisbelief – hardly able to grasp themeaning of what was takingplace. Gently, so gently, he raisedher up and she sat, still unable tospeak. Almost apologetically, shereached out to take His hand inhers, a gesture repeated so manytimes over thirty years, especiallyin His childhood. Through themist of her tears she could see themark of the nails in His wristsand, as if to heal the pain of thosewounds, she lifted His hand toher mother’s kiss. ‘My Son.’ Now

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the light of day had penetratedeven the darkest corners of theroom. She could see Him moreclearly now – that familiar facewhich she had last seen gaunt andbloodied as they carried Him tothe tomb. But now that face helda curious quality, almost likeburnished metal, but shot throughwith a strange lightness, almost aglow. Without speaking, shelooked at Him and He looked ather. The unspoken question wasin her look, hardly daring to sayit. Why?

Gently, he took her hand and ledher to the now-open windowand her eyes followed His as helooked out over the city andpaused at the Mount of Olivesand Gethsemane, until the hillcame into view.

‘Mother, this is why. God’s people– this city – this is why. So manyhad yearned for the promise of aMessiah to be fulfilled. But formany, that meant power andpolitical dominion. I had to showthem another way – the way oflove and fidelity, justice andrighteousness. I came to be theWay by which to make myKingdom a reality, here and now;I came to remind all who wouldlisten that God has spoken andthat I am the Word; I came toempower weak and frail men andwomen to rise above thatweakness to live their lives in a

new way. But this healing neededto be a response to the demandsof divine justice – demands thatcould not be met by a merecreature. I had to take on myselfthe guilt, the awful guilt of everysin, every rejection of God – I hadto satisfy the demands of divinejustice. Now that it has beenaccomplished, I must console myfriends and prepare them forwhat is to come – but first, Icame to you.’

As He spoke these words Hisface seemed to shine with aninner light. Looking out over thecity of Jerusalem, they stood sideby side, but silent, each rejoicingin the awareness of the events ofthe past three days – the Son andthe Mother, sharing an inner joythat could only be a reflection ofthe glory and praise offered inthe timeless courts of heaven.

Then He was gone.

Now another movement in theroom. Sarah. As she entered theroom, she could see Mary stilllooking out over the city. ‘Mary,are you alright? I thought I heardvoices, but – ‘Mary turned andSarah saw her face, only hoursago seared with the deep furrowsof an intense suffering, nowalight with an inner joy. ‘Sarah,you did. He was here. He isalive. Sarah, my Son is alive.’Sarah needed to ask no further

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questions. Mary showed beyondany doubt that, astonishingly, shehad seen her Son. Imagination,perhaps? A trick of the light? Yether face – and especially her eyes– shone with such joy that itmust be more than imagination.Sarah knew in that moment thatMary had seen her Son and that,in some way which she could notbegin to understand, He wasalive. They embraced, each withher own understanding of whatthis might mean.

The stillness is broken by a shoutfrom outside the house and arepeated banging on the door.‘Peter, Peter.’ Now the confused

complaints of the men in the otherroom and the unmistakable voiceof Peter. ‘Yes, I’m coming.’ Thesound of the locking-bar beinglifted and the door burst open.Three voices, but one message:‘Peter, He’s gone. The Master hasgone. The tomb is empty and wedon’t know where they have putHim.’ ’John, come with me.’ Thedoor is closed and locked. Maryand Sarah, hearing all this lookedat each other and shared a smilewhich said so clearly: ‘Yes, weknow. He is alive, just as He said.Jesus has risen from the dead andis alive.’

Fr. Philip Scanlan

“Regnum Dei sine observatione”.The Kingdom of God happenswithout being noticed. What wecan see of it is only the outer

skin; its core is always and only,in its essence, “a history ofsalvation”. Even baptisedChristians, without the help ofthe Holy Spirit, would not beable to observe its being realised,its moving forward, its coming tomaturity. We could indeed repeat“adveniat” [Thy Kingdom come]without even recognising it,without enjoying its happening,without committing ourselves toits reality.

I am thinking of my elder sisterSr. Maria Giovanna Antoniettifrom Baceno (Verbania), born at

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MOTHER MARIA GIOVANNA ANTONIETTI

OF BACENO

Verampio on 5th January 1809,baptised the following day, onthe feast of the Epiphany of ourLord, and confirmed six monthslater because she was too weakand in danger of going toHeaven before her baptismalinnocence could flourish in thefullness of the Holy Spirit.

Two hundred years have passedsince her birth, but her presencelives today in the Sisters ofProvidence, usually known asRosminian Sisters, nurtured byher from the beginning, with theguidance of the great teacher andeducator Antonio Rosmini, andnow spread over five continents.She was a shepherd girl, whoknew how to read but not howto write, who spoke her dialectand the Valser language. She hadbecome a member of all localguilds; she was up on themountains with her flock duringthe week, and she would comedown on Sunday to attend Massand to be with her family. Sheliked to go to the local chapel ofSt. Anthony to manifest her loveto the crucified JESUS.

It was when she met Fr. JohnBaptist Loewenbruck, the firstcompanion of Antonio Rosminiin the foundation of the Societyof Charity, that she made adefinite offer of herself to Christ,becoming a means forcommunicating His love to all.

At the age of 23, she became thefirst disciple of AntonioRosmini, a “spiritual master”, ashe was called by John Paul II inhis encyclical Fides et Ratio; andshe became the first Sister ofProvidence. Her moral andreligious standing was such thatshe was chosen to be the veryfirst teacher in the first nurseryschool in Italy, which had beenopened in Turin in 1832 byGiulia Colbert, wife of theMarquis of Barolo. Her wisdomand virtues and the help of herreligious sisters contributed tothe opening of many othernursery schools in Turin, and inStresa, this time with thefinancial help of Anna MariaBolongaro.

In 1835 she was sent to Biella byRosmini to set up communities atthe service of the local Church,presided by Mons. Losana, wellknown for his love for socialjustice. The great Bishop had ahigh esteem for Sr. Giovannaand, through her, for the Sistersof Providence; and he asked formore communities of such hardworking young women: one inBiella Alta to look after theschool and the nursery, and twoin Biella Bassa, one as anorphanage and the second as ahostel for girls from poorfamilies. Later, the Bishopintroduced the Rosminian Sistersin many other villages.Sr. Giovanna opened orphanages,

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schools, classes for needlework,classes for the formation ofyoung women involved withhelping families, and, moreover,nurseries, and many other things.

The Industrial Revolution hadcaused men and women toabandon their fields and theirmountains to look for work inindustrial centres populated byso many unemployed people.Workers, men and women, spentthe whole day in the factories,and at the end of it they couldonly manage to lay their tiredbodies on their poor beds. Theyhad no time to care for theirchildren, educate them, playwith them, make themexperience the type of family lifethat generates a zest for life andfor enterprise. Sr. Giovanna andher sisters got up early in themorning to welcome the stillsleepy children brought in bytheir mothers just before rushingto the factories. In the lateevening, the Sisters handed overthe little ones to their mothers,neat and tidy, well nourished,and well rested, having playedand learned many new things.

And so it happened that theyoung shepherd girl who hadfaced the splendour of thecapital city of the Savoy dynasty,the mountain girl who hadworked for the rich and noblepeople in town, the young girl

who had had no chance ofattending regularly the winterschool at the village, was chosenby Rosmini in 1837, at the ageof only 28, to become the firstMother General of the Sisters ofProvidence. She had beenstrengthened by her labours ofcharity and by many spiritualand physical worries; and shehad become a teacher to childrenand young people, a sister to themothers, a spiritual and practicalguide to her companions. Shebecame known simply as the“Carissima” [dearest Mother].

She was a faithful disciple, wiseand resolute in every event, andher virtuous disposition drewRosmini into taking the decisionthat the newly borncongregation of religious womencould progress in anautonomous way, according tothe great Christian principle ofsubsidiarity. He had personallydirected the sisters, and had,later, appointed a priest as hisrepresentative, but he now sawin Sr. Giovanna the religiousperson capable of representinghim before the Sisters, able toexpress faithfully the spirit andthe nature of the Institute whichhe had founded.

Rosmini withdrew progressivelyfrom direct government of theSisters, and when one of theSisters asked him to continue as

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before, he replied to her, “Iknow the Mother I have givenyou, you do not need anythingelse, observe her virtues andimitate her”. In theConstitutions, n. 901, he hadwritten about Superiors, himselfincluded: “Superiors willproduce more good if they knowhow to make use of others,guiding and forming thempatiently, rather than wanting todo everything by themselves”.

On 30th October 1843, twosisters of Providence arrived inEngland: Sr. Francesca Parea fromMilan and Sr. Anastasia Samoninifrom Anzasca valley. They lookedafter the first English and Irishsisters of Providence, convertingmany to the Catholic faith amongthe people.

In the month of June 1855Rosmini was on his death-bed.He died on 1st July at Stresa, anuntimely death when he wasonly 58 years old, whichdeprived of his presence themany works of charity which hehad started, and, moreimportantly, the many personswho had become with him, inEurope and in the world, amovement of truth, love, andgoodness. One may call to mindthe anguished question raised byManzoni as he was by thebedside of his friend, to whichRosmini had given his reply:

“No one is necessary to God: theworks He has started He willbring to completion with meanswhich are far beyond ourunderstanding; we can onlyadore His might. As for me, I amof no use, indeed I fear I may beof impediment, and this fearcauses in me not only anacceptance of but even a desirefor death”. Manzoni’s reply was,“Ah! For God’s sake, do not saysuch things: what are we goingto do?”

Sr. Giovanna Antonietti hadcome from Domodossola toStresa with the same anguish inher heart, and she manifested itto her dying Father. He, inreturn, left her this spiritualtestament: “Do not be afraid, mydaughter, do not be afraid: if I goit will be for a moment, and weshall remain united in spirit…From heaven I will be able tohelp you much more, and withGod’s help, I will do it. Put yourtrust in God, in Him alone haveconfidence. The Institute is Hiswork, and He will continue tosustain it. Keep this firmly beforeyou: the Sisters of Providencewill flourish in proportion totheir fidelity to the spirit ofpoverty and of simplicity”.

Sr. Giovanna governed theInstitute for about twenty yearsmore, until her death, atBorgomanero on 13th November

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1872. She had founded 50houses and works of charity, and350 Sisters mourned her death.She gave her last breath soonafter finishing sewing socks for apoor student girl, displayinggreat love in big as in smallthings. In only forty years, whata great deal of charity,missionary work, power toattract and involve other ferventsouls in sharing a life based onlove of God and neighbour!

In her humility and wisdom, shehad committed herself to theguidance of the holy manRosmini, who had left written inThe Five Wounds of the Church,“Only great persons can formgreat persons”.

Mons. Losana’s two nieces hadfollowed Sr. Giovanna in thereligious life. He comforted themon the occasion of the death ofMother Giovanna: “My holySr. Pierina and my dearest niece,

how is it that I should see youand your companions so sad?Surely, heaven is thrown openinstantly to souls who lived theirlife loving God! Such beings, sodearly loved by us, are sorelymissed in their Community, and itis natural that one should feelafflicted; I too felt sad at thenews, but God is great and willlook after you. Sr. Giovanna shallremain a model to imitate, foreveryone and, particularly, for herSisters; you too, “fac secundumexemplar”, and also your littlesister Maria Sofia and all yourcompanions, since all of you shallhave a holy, joyful, and glorioustriumph at the end of your lives”.

The bicentenary of Sr. Giovannais an opportunity for a seriousexamination of conscience, forher Sisters and for everyone else.

Sr. Maria Michela Riva

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Mother Maria Giovanna Antonietti of Baceno

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St. Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London

life of luigi gentili

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