BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SOMASCAN ORDER
THE RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT OF THE XVIth
CENTURY
The Somascan Order is part of the religious movement
that developed in the midst of the Christian renewal in the sixteenth century.
Founded in 1532, it is second in the chronological series of the Orders of the
Clerics Regular. In 1525 at Rome St. Cajetan Thiene started the Theatines; in
1532 St. Jerome Emiliani founded the Somascans in Venice. They are followed by
the Barnabites of St. Anthony Maria Zaccaria in Milan, and by the Jesuits of
St. Ignatius at the chapel of St. Denis, Montmartre, in 1534.
The times with their changed social and cultural
conditions, called for variety of activities; they required active spreaders of
the faith, who would indeed come from organized bodies, but who would mix with
the world and deal with the world. Hence a double aspect of these Orders of the
Clerics Regular. Their members were true religious, who took the three vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience. Their poverty was even more absolute than that
of the Franciscans: they lived in common and austerity. They all wore the black
cassock of the secular priests. They all engaged in the same kind of outside
work and apostolate. While first attending to the material needs of the sick,
the poor, the illiterate, they found a way to their soul and raised them up
towards God. Finally, they realized that the pope and the ecclesiastical authority
could effect a thorough reformation and, therefore, they made themselves the
direct helpers of the Holy See and the Bishops upon whom they immediately
depended.
All the religious orders born in the sixteenth century
are influenced by the Oratory of the Divine Love. At that time pious and
religious confraternities were founded in several parts of Italy. One of them
appeared in Rome in 1515, which was called the Oratory of the Divine Love. The
attention of its members was turned toward the inner renewal of the religious
life. The best way of spreading the religious renewal was to reform themselves
through pious exercises, prayer, through the reception of the sacraments and
the performance of works of charity. Humble and modest, they merely wished to set
a good example. Several Christian humanists belonged to the Oratory. Their
association was morally, socially and intellectually distinguished. It was
soon joined by two men who were both to influence deeply the future of the
Church: St. Cajetan Thiene and Cardinal GianPietro Carafa (later, Pope Paul
IV), the spiritual director of St. Jerome Emiliani.
THE FIRST SOMASCAN CHAPTER in 1533: the Chapter of the mats of straw.
It is the heart of the summer 1533. Around Merone the
harvest is almost finished. The moon rises on the sleeping countryside. A few
men walk noiselessly along the deserted field. They look like conspirators.
They suddenly stop and sit on clusters of millet that are scattered on the
ground. These men are going to hold a council, like on the eve of a battle,
trace a plan, and regulate a battle.
At the same hour in the world a conspiracy is being
plotted, inspired by ambition and cupidity. But these evening walkers are the
companions of the Divine Love, the friends of the Lord Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit guides them.
It is a long time since Jerome heard the call for
help. And long, since did he answer. But now he is asked for more. Two
questions must find answer this night: What more should he do for the love of
God? What more should he do for his neighbor?
Men of different talents united in Merone to associate
themselves with the servant of God in the help of their neighbor. There are
priests and lay people. Jerome, who always judged himself unworthy of receiving
the Holy Orders, consults the first ones with a profound respect. Altogether
they plan landmarks, establish a program; little by little a conclusion is
reached. What a clear and inspiring evening! The condottiere calls for a
council the members of his flock, and forms a regular militia glorious through
the centuries in Christ's army. Seated on straw and scornful of the ancient
emblems of the dynasty of the Emiliani, Jerome founds a new family and takes a
new coat of arm: Christ carrying the cross, and a motto: 'My Burden is Light',
and the title: 'The Compagnia of the Servants of the Poor.'
THE ORDER IS NAMED AFTER THE VILLAGE OF SOMASCA
The good grain will abound. Now there must be a
cradle, which will be the mother-house, the novitiate, the residence of the
disciples of St. Jerome. Nevertheless, Jerome is far from thinking that he has
founded a religious order. He thinks of a small institution, a fraternity, a
company like that of the Divine Love.
Later on, accompanied by a few children, Jerome
crosses the St. Martin Valley. Some small villages bordered by ponds,
surrounded by mountains, attract him. Splendid scenery! But at Vercurago where
his friends offer him the hospitality he does not stay. The spot is not
deserted and silent enough, while the neighboring village seems favorable to
peaceful contemplation.
No one can move heaven and earth without kindling the
hatred of Satan. Jerome is struck by the malevolence of a wealthy man:
"Out of here, starving beggar! No tramp in my territory!" Jerome does
go away in search of another house. In the gentle light of autumn here is a
village on the edge of a lake, protected by a mountain, Somasca. Suddenly
Jerome stops. Without difficulty he obtains from the Ondei family a house. It
is not a resting place, but a point of departure. The converted soldier of New
Castle has found his headquarters. Near him, men are going to realize
their vocation and work for the glory of God.
THE SECOND GENERAL CHAPTER IN 1534
The second assembly was held in Somasca. The moment
had come to give the institute stable regulations inspired by the statutes of
the Divine Love, by the Benedictine ideal expressed in the motto: Ora et
Labora.
In the house of the Ondei convened men of different
social classes, priests and lay people, dressed humbly. The name of 'The
Compagnia of the Servants of the Poor' was definitely adopted and many decrees
were approved by the assembly. The administration of the institutions would be
assigned to some honest and capable laymen; thus the religious members would be
free for their spiritual apostolates. As for poverty, they agreed unanimously
to refuse anything that could constitute an assured income, the religious
becoming firm in the desire to live with the unique trust in the Divine
Providence. For the same reason, the servants of God sould never accept family
inheritance of those who would become members of the community. They engaged
themselves to live by daily alms. They would receive the Holy Orders, recite
together the divine office, would preach the gospel and hear confessions.
The great concern of Jerome was always the renewal of
the Church for which he composed a prayer that the children said daily:
"Dear Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask of your infinite mercy to
return the Christians to the state of sanctity that showed forth at the time of
the Apostles."
EXPANSION OF THE SOMASCAN ORDER
By the Bulla of June 6, 1540 Pope Paul III approved
the newly-born Institute and gave faculty to elect superiors, to call for a
general chapter, to issue the constitutions.
In 1565 a prelate of twenty-seven years of age,
Charles Borromeo, made a solemn entry to Milan. He entrusted the Somascans the
direction of St. Maiolus College in Pavia. A few months later, the young Archbishop
of Milan made an official visit to the tomb of the Father of the Poor, opened
the coffin and incensed the relics. It was the first ecclesiastical approval of
the sainthood of Jerome Emiliani.
In December 6, 1568 the Society was officially named
"The Order of the Clerics Regular of Somasca" by Pope Pius V, once
Jerome's friend in Pavia.
In the region of Lombardy as well in Venetia the
example of Jerome Emiliani continued to stir enthusiasm. However, it is only in
1747, under the pontificate of a Somascan alumnus, Pope Benedict XIV, that the
ceremony of the beatification took place in the Vatican Basilica. Twenty years
later, the 16th of July 1767, Clement XlII proclaimed saint Jerome Emiliani.
The 24th of May 1921 by a decree of the Congregation
of the Rites, Pope Benedict XV granted
the Somascan Order the privilege of venerating the Blessed Mother under
the name of “Maria, Mater Orphanorum”,
“Mary, Mother of the Orphans”.
1928 Pope Pius XI proclaimed solemnly St. Jerome
Emiliani "Father of the Orphans and
Univesal Patron Saint of Needy Youth".
Through calamities and difficulties of any kind that
have developed during the four centuries of history the Somascan Order has
never ceased its apostolate for the needy youth. St. Jerome has now on earth
those numerous hands and arms of which he has dreamed. His disciples have
founded seminaries, houses of education, colleges, professional schools,
workshops in Italy, in Switzerland, in Spain, in Central America, in Mexico, in
Colombia, in Brazil, and in the United States of America. In Belgium exists a
branch of the Somascan Order since the Hieronymieten dedicate themselves to
teaching and to the care of the sick under the patronage of St. Jerome
Emiliani. They are established in the Oriental Flanders, at St. Nicholas-Waas,
Gand, Beveren-Waas, Lokeren, Maldegem, Sleidinge, Stekene. These religious
members address to the Founder of the Congregation of the Servants of the Poor
this beautiful prayer: "Your hands
were instruments of prayer and charity. Teach us to pray and love in spirit and
truth”.
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