St John the Evangelist, Turin, 24 February 2014

In presenting the volume containing Fr Michael Rua's Circular Letters, his successor describes them as “the quintessence of the religious spirit”, “a compendium of ascetic features”, “a masterpiece of Salesian pedagogy”, hoping that they would be “often re-read in conferences, the annual retreats and on the days established for the Exercise for a Happy Death”, as “spiritual nourishment for the confreres and everyone who wishes to take a step forward in perfection each day”¹. Thus did Fr Paul Albera offer us the code for interpreting Fr Rua's magisterium and way of governing. The principal aim of his leadership in fact was to point out to Salesians a robust, ascetic set of guidelines which took up Don Bosco's notion of religious and spiritual life and applied them to the circumstances of a Congregation in full development, at a time of rapid change and cultural transformation as was the case while he was Rector Major.