CHAPTER TWO

THE STARTING-POINT AND GOAL OF OUR FORMATION:

OUR IDENTITY AS SALESIANS

25.“Our living Rule is Jesus Christ… whom we find present in Don Bosco who devoted his life to the young.”¹ This statement of our Constitutions sums up our Salesian vocation: we are to conform ourselves to Jesus Christ and spend our lives for the young, as did Don Bosco. All our formation, both initial and ongoing, consists in acquiring and actualizing this identity in individual persons and in the community. To this end are directed the efforts of every candidate and every confrere, the activity of the animators, and the entire formation enterprise.

For this reason, our Salesian identity is the basis of unity and of belonging to the worldwide Congregation. It is the heart of all our formation, the fountainhead of our formation process and its constant point of reference. It is also the determining criterion of vocation discernment.

2.1OUR IDENTITY AS SALESIANS

26.Don Bosco the Founder, “a man of God and a man of young people”, a man of the Church and a man of his times, the animator of a way of apostolic spirituality, is for us Salesians not only someone to constantly refer to but also our pattern of life. We find the authentic way of living our Salesian identity in Don Bosco’s own experience of his vocation and in that of the first community of Valdocco. In our Constitutions, approved by the Church, we have its most authoritative formulation, expressing the Congregation’s awareness of its own charism.

In Don Bosco and the Salesian Constitutions we find the elements which define that “original style of life and action”² which the Holy Spirit raised up in the Church, that “specific form of religious life”³ in which “we find our own way to holiness”.⁴ By calling us Salesians, Don Bosco wanted to emphasize our spiritual and pastoral closeness to Francis de Sales, a saint whose goodness and pastoral zeal he admired.⁵

What was true for Don Bosco is true for every Salesian: when the living out of one’s vocation is identified with one’s actual journey through life, it becomes the place of encounter between God’s initiative and human endeavour.⁶ And again, for Don Bosco as well as for every Salesian, one’s personal vocation is closely linked with that of the community, itself the bearer of the charism and responsible for the mission.

2.1.1 A project of apostolic consecrated life

27.The Constitutions state that the Salesian vocation is a particular expression of the baptismal vocation, which religious profession recalls and endorses, “giving it a deeper and fuller expression”.⁷

The hallmark of the life of a Salesian as a disciple of the Lord is his apostolic consecration. It is a grace of the Father, who consecrates him with the gift of his Spirit, engrafts him in Christ, and in the Church entrusts him with building his Kingdom by being a sign and bearer of his love for the young, especially the poorest.⁸

In the act of religious profession our apostolic consecration finds its most eloquent expression. It is “a sign of a loving encounter between the Lord who calls and the disciple who responds by giving himself totally to God and to his brothers and sisters.”⁹

28.While this gift of the Spirit - the Salesian charism – effects a particular configuration to Christ, it creates a distinct Gospel awareness that permeates a Salesian’s entire life, his style of holiness and the accomplishment of the mission:¹⁰

- it distinguishes his encounter with God: his relationship with the Father, whose fatherhood and compassion he experiences every day; with the Son, Apostle of the Father and Good Shepherd, whom he seeks to identify with more and more; and with the Holy Spirit, from whom he draws grace to be holy and strength to be faithful;

- it marks his relationship with the Body of Christ, the Church: he loves her, feels himself a living part of her, and works assiduously for her growth;¹¹

- it gives prominence to some particular aspects in the sphere of asceticism, aspects that we can define in the following key-words: work, temperance, loving-kindness, educational expertise, and fraternal rapport;¹²

- it gives a certain Marian tone to his life, drawing him into a relationship with Mary Immaculate, Help of Christians, who epitomises his spirituality and gives him support in his vocation. He contemplates her as the Lord’s disciple who said “Yes” to God’s plan of the Incarnation, and follows her as she cooperates in the work of redemption and symbolizes the Church;

- it determines his outlook on the world about him and the part he is to play in it.

29.The Salesian follows Christ by realizing Don Bosco’s apostolic plan.¹³

“With one and the same call Christ invites us to follow him in his work of salvation and in the kind of virginal and poor life that he chose for himself; and we, in a single response of love and the grace of the Holy Spirit, following the example of the apostles, willingly leave everything and join together in community, the better to work for him and for the Kingdom. The consecration of Salesians is therefore one and undivided: it is inseparably apostolic and religious.”¹⁴

The Salesian therefore devotes himself totally to God, whom he loves above all things, and to his plan of salvation. His life starts from a deep experience of God and the challenges involved in carrying out the mission.¹⁵ He is consecrated for the mission which sets the tenor of his life.¹⁶ God’s call reaches him as he lives out his mission among the young; that is often the place where he begins to follow Christ. In the mission are exercised, revealed and developed the gifts he has received at his consecration. A single movement of love draws him to God and directs him towards the young.¹⁷ He turns his educational activity among the young into an act of worship and a potential meeting-place with God.

It is in “the grace of unity”¹⁸ that the essential elements of the Salesian “project” of apostolic consecrated life are fused together.

2.1.1.1ANIMATED BY PASTORAL LOVE TO BE AN EDUCATOR AND PASTOR OF THE YOUNG

30. What distinguishes the life of the Salesian, as well as that of Don Bosco, is the predilection for the young, and among them, the preference for those who are “poor, abandoned and in danger”.¹⁹ The service to the young gives unity to his whole life: “That you are young is enough to make me love you very much.”²⁰ “For you I study, for you I work, for you I live, for you I am ready even to give my life.”²¹

The predilection for young people and the accompanying gift of oneself to them – the distinguishing features of Don Bosco and of every Salesian – flow from pastoral love, that is, from a “special communion of love with Christ”,²² and not just from the concern of an educator or the generous heart of someone sensitive to their needs.

In pastoral love, the love for Christ as the Good Shepherd and for young people, the Salesian finds his programme of life, his way to holiness, the embodiment of his covenant with God and of his will to become conformed to Christ. It is through the young that the Lord enters to take first place in the life of the Salesian, and the yearnings of Christ the Redeemer find an echo in his motto, Da mihi animas, coetera tolle, which forms the unifying element of his whole life.

31.In Don Bosco pastoral love assumes a further specification as educative love. It manifests itself as a tangible, personalized love concerned with the integral salvation of young people. To some it offers bread, to others trade skills and cultural advancement; to everyone it provides a path that opens them to truth, urges them to develop in themselves a responsible freedom, and leads them to an encounter with the risen Jesus.

As he works with the Oratory as his model, the Salesian responds to the needs of the young by embarking on a vast array of activities and works, each of which is “a home”, “a school”, “a parish” and “a playground”.²³ His generous and creative spirit in the name of the Gospel is his way of being Church and translates into youth projects significant for both Church and society.

32. Moreover, his “apostolic passion, lit up by youthful ardour”²⁴ gives a particular tone to his service of youth: called “the oratorian heart”, it reveals itself in a method which Don Bosco named the Preventive System, and which is based on reason, religion and loving-kindness.²⁵ Drawing inspiration from the example and teachings of Don Bosco, the Salesian lives the Preventive System as a spiritual, pedagogical and pastoral experience.²⁶ His dealings with the young are marked by cordiality and by an active and friendly presence²⁷ that fosters leadership. He joyfully accepts the labours and sacrifices that his contact with young people implies, convinced that through them he will find his way to holiness.

This priority commitment to young people fits in well with pastoral work among the working-classes²⁸ (faith-education of the ordinary people, particularly by means of social communication²⁹) and missionary activity by proclaiming the Gospel message among peoples it has not yet reached.³⁰

2.1.1.2RESPONSIBLE MEMBER OF A COMMUNITY

33. By his vocation the Salesian is a living part of a local, provincial and world community and nurtures a deep sense of belonging to each of them. He lives the two aspects of that vocation – the personal and the community aspects – in his brotherly fellowship, in the realization of his mission and in his spirituality.

Don Bosco was not one to work all alone by himself; he sought the involvement of others and fostered collaboration and the sharing of responsibility. He was clearly aware that his vocation was meant to be shared and passed on to others.

The community aspect is therefore one of the most distinguishing marks of Salesian identity. The Salesian is called to live with brothers who are consecrated like him in order to work together with them for God’s Kingdom among the young. “To live and work together,” our Constitutions say, “is for us Salesians a fundamental requirement and a sure way of fulfilling our vocation.”³¹

In a spirit of faith and with friendly support the Salesian lives the family spirit in his community, contributing day by day to the growth of communion among all the members.

Convinced that the mission is entrusted to the community, he commits himself to work together with his confreres according to an overall plan and a joint strategy.

In his community prayer he rejoices in the presence of the Lord and shares his spiritual experience with others.

2.1.1.3WITNESS TO GOSPEL RADICALISM

34. Prompted by pastoral love and a sense of mission, Don Bosco proposed to his collaborators a pattern of life entirely based on Gospel values that would demonstrate an active solidarity with the young and testify to God’s supremacy, bringing to bear on the world of education their radical witness to the values of the Kingdom.³² He “frequently [pointed] out how the sincere practice of the vows strengthens the bonds of brotherly love and makes our apostolic work coherent.”³³

The way of life according to the counsels of obedience, poverty and chastity is grounded on a love for Christ and for young people. With the groundwork of a solid human maturity for its foundation, and its sustenance deriving from life in community and personal asecticism, it bears witness that the need to love, the urge to possess and the freedom to control one’s whole life, aspects which touch on the deepest inclinations of human nature, find their fullest meaning in Christ the Saviour.³⁴ It is an experience rich in evangelical and human values.

The practice of the evangelical counsels manifests in a particular way the “Da mihi animas, coetera tolle”, the hallmark of the Salesian’s apostolic spirituality and asceticism; it is his badge of identity and test of formation.

2.1.1.4ANIMATOR OF COMMUNION IN THE SPIRIT AND MISSION OF DON BOSCO

35.“Every SDB is an animator, and strives always to fulfil the task more efficiently.”³⁵

Don Bosco’s vocation developed in such a way that it became a shared vocation, a joint mission, an experience of holiness in a communion of gifts. From the beginning of the Oratory there were secular priests and lay people, men and women, taking part in his apostolate in a family environment and having the same spirit and goals. Still others felt they were a part of the Oratory and gave a helping hand in different ways in the work for the young.

In this way Don Bosco’s apostolic drive became the common undertaking of those who joined in his enterprises. His zeal for souls, his style of approach to the young, his method of education and his spirituality became the patrimony of a Family and of a vast Movement.

The Salesian cannot fully think about his vocation in the Church without reference to those who with him share in carrying out the Founder’s will.³⁶ Through his profession he enters the Salesian Congregation and becomes part of the Salesian Family in which, together with the other members who are called to pursue different vocations, he shares the spirit and mission proper to Don Bosco’s charism, and the striving for fidelity through formation in common.³⁷ He takes on the responsibility “to preserve unity of spirit and to foster dialogue and fraternal collaboration for [...] mutual enrichment and greater apostolic effectiveness”.³⁸

36.In the educative and pastoral community (EPC) the Salesian finds practical ways of expressing Salesian communion every day. That is where he shares the Salesian spirit, experiences the interdependence of vocations and roles, and carries out a programme of joint formation. Together with his Salesian community he fulfils his animating role by helping everyone to collaborate and share responsibility.

But the circle of communion goes beyond Salesian works. It takes in the wider area and the local Church, and above all embraces a vast movement of persons who are attracted by the charism and spirituality of Don Bosco or who work for the young.

2.1.1.5A PART OF THE CHURCH, OPEN TO THE FLOW OF EVENTS AND IN TOUCH WITH REALITY

37.In openness to the working of the Spirit, Don Bosco successfully interpreted the signs of the times and responded to new needs in a wise, creative and practical manner.³⁹ The contact with reality was woven into the fabric of his vocation. He experienced firsthand the life of the Church and the history of his country. He grasped their complex reality and played an active role in them. The flow of events was for him a challenge and an urgent summons to discernment and action. “I have always gone along [...], just as the Lord inspired me and circumstances required.”⁴⁰

Receptive to every situation, the Salesian is particularly responsive to the condition of the young, of working-class people and of those still awaiting the Gospel message; he feels invested with a responsibility towards them by virtue of the Salesian charism.⁴¹

He tries to understand the cultural developments taking place in everyday life, reflects seriously on them, considers them in the light of Redemption, the urgency of the “Da mihi animas” and “the coming of the Kingdom”,⁴² and feels constantly challenged to produce bold, new, practical responses.

By keeping in touch with reality he is impelled to grow in his identity as a Salesian out of dynamic fidelity to Don Bosco and to the times.

2.1.2The different forms of Salesian identity

38.Don Bosco wanted the single project of Salesian apostolic consecration to be expressed in its entirety in the two forms proper to it: in that of the Salesian priest [or deacon] and in that of the Salesian brother. Both live out the same profession and take part in one and the same community of life and action.

The vocations of the Salesian priest [or deacon] and the Salesian brother are two complementary forms that enrich fraternal and apostolic life, bringing to it their specific contribution.⁴³

2.1.2.1THE SALESIAN PRIEST

39.The Salesian priest [or deacon] combines in himself the gifts of Salesian consecration and those of the pastoral ministry, but in such a way that his particular manner of being a priest and exercising his ministry stems from his Salesian consecration. As a sacramental sign of Christ the Good Shepherd, from whom he draws his pastoral love, he works within the framework of his community in his bid to “save” the young.

His specific contribution to the apostolic activity of his community lies in his threefold ministry.

Through the ministry of the Word, he brings Christ’s message to bear on a variety of situations and expresses it in different ways: by preaching, by helping and giving advice, by enabling the young to understand their own experience, by giving a sense of direction to activities and works, and by effecting a change of life.

He accomplishes his service of sanctification in different ways, but the most significant and fruitful occasion is the service of initiation into the life of Christ, into liturgical prayer and into the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation.

His activity of “animating the Christian community” is wholly directed to the service of unity in the Salesian community, and on a wider level, in the educative and pastoral community, in the Salesian Family and in the Salesian Movement. He knows how to animate different Salesian pastoral settings.

2.1.2.2THE SALESIAN BROTHER⁴⁴

40.The Salesian brother “combines in himself the gifts of consecration with those of the lay state”:⁴⁵ he lives the lay state as a consecrated person.

He works mainly in the secular field, where he bears witness to his radical love for Christ and is conspicuous for his professional competence.

“The presence of the Salesian brother enriches the apostolic activity of the community. It reminds the priest members of the values inherent in the lay religious vocation and recalls them constantly to an active collaboration with lay people. It also recalls to the Salesian priest the vision of an apostolic goal and ideal that is complex in its reality, because it goes beyond priestly and catechetical activity in the strict sense.”⁴⁶

He has a significant role to play, especially in certain contexts where the priest is seen as a sacred or cultic figure. By his consecrated life he proclaims the presence of God in daily life, the importance of becoming disciples before being teachers, and bears witness to a convinced life of faith not tied to functional or ministerial duties.⁴⁷

The Salesian brother also acts as a link between his consecrated brothers and the lay people in the educative and pastoral community itself.

“To his consecrated brethren he recalls the value of creation and of secular realities; to the laity he recalls the value of total dedication to God for the cause of the Kingdom. To all he offers a particular sensitivity for the world of work, a concern for the locality, and a need for the kind of professional approach he uses in his educative and pastoral activity.”⁴⁸

2.2FORMATION AT THE SERVICE OF SALESIAN IDENTITY

41.The process of growth in one’s Salesian identity is the determining factor of the whole approach to formation. In other words, what distinguishes our formation - which cannot be generic – is our Salesian identity: it spells out the tasks and fundamental requirements.

2.2.1Our formation is determined by our Salesian identity

The Constitutions assert that “the religious and apostolic nature of the Salesian calling dictates the specific direction our formation must take”.⁴⁹ To become a consecrated apostle like Don Bosco is the guiding principle of our process of formation.

It is through formation, in fact, that we achieve our identity as Salesians and acquire the maturity needed to live and work in conformity with the founding charism.⁵⁰ Starting out from an initial state of enthusiasm for Don Bosco and his mission for youth, we arrive at a true conformity with Christ and a stronger identification with our Founder; we embrace the Constitutions as our Rule of life and identity-card, and develop a strong sense of belonging to the Congregation and to the provincial community.

The close relationship between formation and identity “means that each member should study diligently the spirit, history and mission of the Institute to which he or she belongs, in order to advance the personal and communal assimilation of its charism”.⁵¹ It underlines the importance of “Salesianity”, that is, of the spiritual patrimony and the “mind” of the Congregation that need to be progressively studied, assimilated and fostered.

Since the priestly and lay forms are integral aspects of Salesian identity, it is necessary that there be an appropriate formation for growth in one’s specific identity from the very beginning of the process.

2.2.2Formation promotes our identity on a permanent basis

42.The Salesian vocation is an ever-changing reality. It is a continual response to the Father and consists in following Christ the way Don Bosco did. It calls for a constant openness and discernment in the face of the changes taking place in the life of the Church and the world, especially among youth and the working-classes.

As a process of assimilating one’s identity therefore, formation is a lifelong task, a continuing process of being and becoming a Salesian in every phase of one’s life and of living every situation in a Salesian way. It is a response to a vocation that challenges us constantly. It is the responsibility of the Congregation and of each confrere.

In the reality of every day the Salesian turns his identity of apostle of youth into a living experience.

2.2.3 Formation links our identity with the cultural context

43.The Salesian vocation extends to all times and places, expressing itself everywhere and finding ever new and richer ways of being faithful. Called to incarnate himself among the youth of a particular place and culture, the Salesian stands in need of an incultured formation.

Through discernment and dialogue with his own situation, he seeks to imbue his life’s principles with evangelical and Salesian values, and to implant the Salesian experience in his own context. This fruitful relationship gives rise to ways of life and pastoral approaches which are more effective in so far as they are consistent with the founding charism and with the unifying action of the Holy Spirit.⁵²

2.2.4Formation fosters growth in our identity according to our personal gifts

44.The Salesian vocation found its ideal in Don Bosco and its most original historical form in the first community of Valdocco.

There is no doubt that the reality of the Salesian identity is found in different ways in the faces and life-stories of different people, according to the gifts each one has received from God. The communion in fidelity and the different impact of the charism on each person’s life can be clearly seen in the history of “Salesian sanctity” and in an intelligent perusal of the experience of those confreres who have lived to the full the Gospel project of Salesian life.

Hence the need for a formation that can communicate the same nucleus of Salesian identity, the same underlying values, the same fundamental characteristics, the same Salesian “culture”,⁵³ and that at the same time inspires every confrere to express in his Salesian vocation the gifts he has received and to find in it his way to complete fulfilment in Christ.⁵⁴

As a personal attitude and community responsibility, formation has the permanent task of enabling every confrere to acquire his own identity as a Salesian and realize it in his own person.

2.2.5Formation helps us to live out our identity within a communion of vocations

45.Formation gives the Salesian a strong sense of his own particular identity, opens him up to communion in the Salesian spirit and mission with the members of the Salesian Family who live different vocations, and brings him into the broad communion which comprises many varied forms of the Christian vocation. The communion will be the stronger “the clearer each one is about his own identity as a Salesian, and the more the different vocations are understood, respected and benefited from”.⁵⁵

Consequently, when initiatives promoting collaboration among the groups of the Salesian Family and with other Institutes in the field of formation, or promoting joint formation between Salesians and lay collaborators are well conducted, they contribute to “a greater appreciation of the charism of one’s own Institute as well as that of others...” and offer “an eloquent testimony of the communion to which the Church is called by divine vocation”.⁵⁶

Formation to communion in Salesian values increases our awareness of the task of animating in whatever concerns our charism and prepares us for it.

46.Salesian identity is the fundamental reference point for initial and ongoing formation. “The religious and apostolic nature of the Salesian calling dictates the specific direction our formation must take, a direction necessary for the life and unity of the Congregation.”⁵⁷

47.Called to become like Christ, in the footsteps of Don Bosco, every Salesian must nurture a relationship with our Founder, take the Constitutions as his “book of life”,⁵⁸ keep himself attuned to the Congregation’s understanding of its charism, be acquainted with and follow its guidelines, particularly those of General Chapters and of the Rector Major and his Council, and strengthen his sense of belonging to his Province.

48. Particular attention must be given to a personal and community self-examination based on the Constitutions, since they “enshrine the spiritual riches of the traditions of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and define the apostolic project of our Society”.⁵⁹

49. In the course of his process of formation, let every Salesian cleric and brother embrace the characteristics of his specific form of vocation.

Let the animators of the pastoral work for vocations and of formation see to it that the different ways of living the Salesian identity - the Salesian brother, the Salesian priest and the Salesian permanent deacon - are made known and appreciated.

Let the programmes of initial formation ensure that all confreres have “curricula of equivalent level, with the same phases and similar content and objectives” and let the confreres pay attention to the necessary differences determined by the specific vocation of each, by his personal gifts and inclinations and by the duties of our apostolate.⁶⁰

50.Let all the confreres deepen their understanding of the Salesian spirit and acquire a serious and updated knowledge of the history, spirituality and pedagogical and pastoral patrimony proper to our charism.⁶¹ Those responsible at the provincial level ought to ensure the necessary conditions and promote suitable initiatives for these studies to be done during initial and ongoing formation.

51.Let the Provincial Directory contain the general guidelines required by the Ratio for the study of “Salesianity” during initial formation,⁶² and let the Provincial Formation Plan spell out the contents in the form of a gradual and systematic programme.

Let each Province or group of Provinces provide for the preparation of experts in “Salesianity”, making use of the services offered by the UPS⁶³ and by other qualified Salesian centres.

Let every Province ensure a constant updating of the means necessary for knowing, studying and teaching “Salesianity”; let it create and/or maintain a “library of Salesianity” that is sufficiently complete and updated.

52.Every confrere must cultivate a knowledge of, and a sense of belonging to, the Salesian Family. He must be ready for a formation that is reciprocal and carried out jointly, and prepare himself for his responsibility as animator within the Salesian Family,.

53.An esteem for and encounter with various charisms and forms of spirituality can foster a communion of gifts and help one to grow more deeply in one’s own identity as a Salesian.

While the Salesian grows to maturity in his vocation and in his sense of belonging to the Congregation, he should be provided with occasions – during initial formation – for sharing with members belonging to other forms of consecrated life or of Christian commitment. It is not advisable, however, that he take part systematically and habitually in experiences of other spiritualities.⁶⁴

Initiatives for inter-Institute collaboration in formation (by way of events, programmes, or centres) offer a particular experience of communion, provided they maintain a proper relationship between each Institute’s identity and communion in diversity and ensure the communication of one’s own charism through living experience.⁶⁵

After initial formation one needs the agreement of one’s Superior to take part in ecclesial movements or to offer them a service of spiritual assistance.