Solemnity of the Most Holy Redeemer

Redemptoristine Nuns and Redemptorist Missionaries throughout the world as well as this Hermit of the same spirituality celebrate on the third Sunday in July the solemnity of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, 

Redeemer of the world.

The feast of the Title of the Order and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer "stresses those aspects of Redemption which lie outside the scope of history, namely the love of the Father who gave us his Son, and the love of the Son, giving himself up in our place." (Divine Office - Proper CSsR)


Mother Maria Celeste initially founded the Order of Nuns under the title of The Most Holy Savior. This was also the initial title of the group of Missionaries led by St. Alphonsus following the inspiration of M. M. Celeste when years later during the process of approval by Rome the title was changed from Most Holy Savior to Most Holy Redeemer because the former was already in use by other religious institute.

This picture of Our Savior was originally venerated by M. Maria Celeste of the Most Holy Savior and is cherished by her daughters to this day. It depicts the Savior, God Incarnate, Homo Viator, Jesus the Wayfarer dressed in the traditional colors in which artists have depicted the garments of Jesus and Mary: a red tunic and blue mantle. These are also the colors of the habit of the nuns, called to become living portraits of Jesus, resembling Christ in every aspect, including his garments.

Saint Alphonsus took the Rule originally written by Mother Maria Celeste under divine inspiration for the Nuns and adapted it for his group of Missionaries. But he didn't retain the colors for the habit of the men as intended by M. Maria Celeste. This is no surprise given that the red tunic is used in the Church by Cardinals, that is by the men who are the closest collaborators with the Pope.

Eternal Father, 

To conquer death and bring us back to life

You made your only Son Redeemer of humanity.

May we ever remember your kindness,

Cling to you with unfailing love, 

And so enjoy the benefits of your Redemption.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. AMEN

May our Most Holy Redeemer bless our religious family with abundant fruits of holiness, and grant us many and holy vocations in fire with the mystical love of Venerable M. M. Celeste and the apostolic zeal of St. Alphonsus.

Perpetual Profession as a Diocesan Hermit

Today we are celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a title of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, with long and wide tradition in the Church. The Carmelite Orders of women and men have her as their Mother and Patroness under this advocation which connects their lifestyle dedicated to prayer and asceticism with the prophet Elijah and other early hermits who inhabited over the centuries the caves of Mount Carmel in Palestine.

As a hermit myself I too cherish this feast and I'm grateful for special blessings received on this day over the years. I'm especially grateful this year as I prepare to celebrate my perpetual profession of vows as a hermit next month.

The adventure into the eremitic life started for me ten years ago with an intense process of discernment after many years living the cenobitic religious life. The last eight years living as a hermit are the culmination of a long journey of faith and soul search. Initially, when the invitation came strong and clear, I was scared and reluctant to try the path of the hermit. With God's Grace and Mary's powerful intercession I was able to take the first steps and thus discover and embrace my deeper vocation in a lifestyle that is made of paradoxes and rich with the simplicity of what is essential in life.

The accompaniment of an exceptional spiritual director has been a key instrument of God's grace and guidance. There have been many others also who made it possible for me to come to this point in the journey. Their help, encouragement and support, and even their challenge have made it possible. I am deeply and prayerfully grateful to them all.

Mary's Role Deeper than that of Peter

We have heard this week the news of the appointment of Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec as Head of the Congregation for Bishops in Rome. As background for the news release there was an interview he gave in 2003 and was published in the Spanish edition of the magazine 30 Giorni. These are the words spoken by the Cardinal I want to focus on:

The role of Mary is deeper than that of Peter or of the Bishops

Cardinal Ouellet made this statement in the context of ecumenism; but it strikes me as much more urgent to bring to the front this truth in the context of the hierarchy in our days when we see the weakness and failure of an exaggerated relevance of the ministerial priesthood in the Church, and of a primacy of right doctrine over right and holy living of gospel values.

The role of Mary is both unique and irrepeatable as Mother of Christ, but also she is the model and example of true Christian discipleship for everyone, clergy as well as lay people. She is the contemplative par excellence always listening to the Spirit, and the Mediatrix with Christ of all graces. The source of her immense and humble power is not from ecclesial ordination but from her sharing in the highest possible way for a human being in the same life and holiness of God.

And here is the amazing thing: that humble and ultimate power of Mary for bringing grace to the Church and to the world is available to each one of us if we too open our hearts and our lives to the transforming and sanctifying power of the Spirit always at work in making us grow into the likeness of Christ -and Mary. Her total acceptance of and response to the Plan of God for her, and through her for the world is the ultimate road to holiness and the goal of each of our lives on earth.

As important and necessary as the role of the ordained priesthood is in the Church, there is sometimes a tendency to emphasize the ritual aspect of the priesthood, and the channel of authority and tradition over and beyond that of personal holiness and relationship with God in the building up of the life of the Church. It is certainly in the service of the Church that by means of the ordination to the priesthood the person has become an instrument of Christ the Priest so literally that we don't need to guess what is the level of his personal holiness in order to be sure that Christ is really acting through him. But as true as this is, if it is overestimated we can also fall into a magical approach in which the priestly ministry is valued mainly by external performance. This is a permanent temptation because we like to judge and evaluate and we can do that with actions but not with the inner promptings and intentions of the person.

In our days loaded with news of scandals and abuse in the part of the clergy we all need to reflect on the urgency of personal transformation and holiness as means of exercising the powerful common priesthood of all baptized Christians in the building up of the Reign of God.

May Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and Mother of Divine Grace guide us in our journey of discipleship and transformation, as we continue praying also for Pope Benedict, for Cardinal Marc Ouellet, and for all our bishops and priests so that they may always strive to grow in holiness as the first means to faithfully perform their challenging and graced filled ministry in the service of the Church and of the whole world.