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Giovanni Caputa
SIMON SRUGI
(1877–1943)
IN THE HISTORY
OF BETGAMĀL

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SIMON SRUGI (1877–1943) IN THE HISTORY OF BETGAMĀL
Giovanni Caputa
Published by:
© Studium Theologicum Salesianum Publications
Salesian Pontifical University – Jerusalem
26 Shmuel Hanagid, P.O. Box 7336,
9107202 Jerusalem (Israel)
Tel:(+972)26259171 – Fax:(+972)26259172
email: secretary@jerusalem.unisal.it
web: jerusalem.unisal.it
Giovanni Caputa
Mobile: (+972) 53 864 11 11
email: dongiannici@gmail.com
Translation: Australia-Pacific (AUL) Salesian Province
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights
reserved.
Cover photo: early years 1930 at Betgamāl in front of the Martyrium of St Stephen.
From left: Fr Spiridiōn Rummān, Bro. Simon Srugi, Fr Yūhanna Nahhās, Bro. George Harūni

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Principal places of interest in the life of Simon Srugi 1877–1943

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Table of Contents
Significant Dates
xi
Presentation
xiii
Foreword
xv
Introduction
xvii
Abbreviations and acronyms
xxi
Select bibliography
xxiii
Part 1 THE LIFE AND ACTIVITY OF
SIMON SRUGI (1877–1943)
1
Section 1 Historical & biographical reconstruction
3
1. Prologue: a family of refugees from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine (1550–1772)
3
2. Sim‘ān Srugi: from birth to religious profession. His meetings with M.
Rua (1877–1908)
6
2.1 Infancy and childhood in Nazareth (1877–1888)
6
2.2 Fr Belloni: missionary, founder, spiritual director (1831–1903)
7
2.3 Simon with the “Brothers of the Holy Family” in Bethlehem (1888–1892) 9
2.4 The arrival of the first Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians in the Holy Land (1891)
10
2.5 Simon at Betgamāl (1892–1900): aspirant, novice and professed Salesian 13
2.6 The Betgamāl work: the beginnings and its transfer from the
Bellonians to the Salesians (1878–1892)
15
2.7 Fr Michael Rua’s first visit to Palestine (1895)
19
2.8 Erection of the Middle East Province. Death of Fr Belloni.
Becoming an Italian “protectorate” (1902–1904)
20
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2.9 Fr Rua’s second visit and contacts with Simon (1908)
22
2.10 “Bethgemal”, as seen by Fr G.B. Francesia in 1909
24
3. Simon as educator and apostle in the mid-thirties (1909–1939)
26
3.1 Natural gifts and assimilation of the Salesian spirit
27
3.2 Fr Bianchi as a spiritual guide (1913–1931)
27
3.3 Fr Sacchetti, manager and abuna Sarkīs administrator of the
enterprise (1913–1938)
31
3.4 The upheavals of the First World War (1914–1917)
32
3.4.1 Discovery of St Stephen’s tomb: the contributions of Bro.
Bormida and Fr Gisler (1916–1917)
35
3.5 The post-war period and the beginning of the British Mandate
(1918–1923)
36
3.5.1 Needs: reconciling people, rebuilding, reviving works
37
3.5.2 Priorities: Fr Albera and Fr Rinaldi guide Salesian renewal
(1920–1925)
39
3.5.3 Appreciation for Betgamāl-Cafargamala. The
encouragement of Pius XI (1923–29)
41
3.5.4 The “Work of Christian Forgiveness”: evangelisation and
human development
43
3.5.5 Successes and recognition. Srugi “the best known and most
revered individual” (1924)
45
3.5.6 The construction of the new Martyrium of St Stephen (1928–30) 46
3.5.7 Simon and the lay apostolate of the “Confraternities”
47
3.5.8 A humble confrere and educator
49
4. The “small world” of Betgamāl and Srugi’s mission at its service
51
4.1 Within the walls and nearby to the religious house (deir, “convent”)
51
4.2 Ways and means of connecting with the outside
52
4.3 A wise and faithful administrator
53
4.4 A providential benefactor: Fr Adolfo Tornquist
54
4.5 Sr Tersilla the nurse and Simon the pharmacist in the new clinic
55
4.6 Supervisor of mill works and friend to the least
57
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4.7 A prudent and sought out counsellor
58
5. Simon’s religious life
59
5.1 Spirit of “piety”. Imitation of Christ and St Stephen
59
5.2 Uninterrupted exercise of personal sanctification in the performance
of daily actions
62
5.3 The “little way” of simplicity in community life
64
6. The decade from 1931–1940
65
6.1 The death of Fr Bianchi (1931)
66
6.2 The fame of Betgamāl-Cafargamala. Fr Fergnani’s contribution
66
6.3 New difficulties: personnel, financial, socio-political problems
(1932–1935)
69
6.4 Jewish immigration and “Arab revolution”. The murder of Fr
Rosin (1936–1938)
70
6.5 Srugi ‘s reactions in this circumstance, and his habitual attitude
74
6.6 Departure of Fr Sacchetti (1938)
75
6.7 Premonitions for Srugi. The new Rector Fr Candiani (1938–1940)
77
7. Srugi’s decline and death against the backdrop of World War II (1940–43)
79
7.1 Italy enters the war: imprisonment of Fr Candiani and the other Italians 80
7.2 Fr López the superior “ad interim”. Fr Calīs the nominal Rector
81
7.3 Srugi’s illness and new heavy trials for the house (1941–42)
84
7.4 Danger of military occupation. Requests to house Polish refugees
(1942–1943)
86
7.5 Fr López and Srugi: serving until they had no strength left
87
7.7 The last months of Simon’s life; his death and funeral (1943)
88
8. Epilogue: end of an era and the start of the process towards beatification
(1943–1993)
89
8.1. Downsizing of the farm-school and other activities
89
8.2 Canonical process: from the Informative Process to the
declaration of Venerability (1964–1993)
90
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8.3 Closing of the works for the boys, and new monastic foundations
(1982–2000)
92
8.4 Resumption of studies and excavations on Saint Stephen and
Cafargamala (1969–2006)
93
Section 2 Special “windows”
97
I Arab-Palestinian population in contact with Srugi
97
II Srugi and Muslims in the Betgamāl area
105
III Srugi’s mystical and priestly attitude
112
IV Fr Sacchetti and the CNEWA for Armenian orphans taken in at Betgamāl 126
V Fr Bianchi: spiritual accompaniment guidelines for Bro. Na‘īm Cumbāz
141
Part 2 THE PROJECT OF LIFE OUTLINED IN HIS WRITINGS
153
Section 1 Srugi’s religious writings
155
Introduction
155
1. LETTERS
155
– First Note from Fr Michael Rua
156
– Second Note from Fr Michael Rua
157
– Srugi’s First Letter to Fr Mario Gerbo
158
– First Letter of past pupil ‘Atàllah Selīm
159
– Simon’s Second Letter to Fr Mario Gerbo
160
– Second Letter of past pupil ‘Atàllah Selīm
162
– Simon’s letter to his sister Zàhra
163
2. JESUS’ REVELATIONS TO SISTER MARIE-MARTA CHAMBON
166
– Introduction and notes
166
– Texts
168
3. MAXIMS OF THE MONTH FOR THE CONFRERES
174
– Introduction and notes
174
– Texts
175
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4. MAXIMS FOR THE YOUNG
185
– Introduction and notes
185
– Texts
186
5. SALUTARY THOUGHTS
190
– Introduction and notes
190
– Texts
190
6. PRAYERS
209
– Introduction and notes
209
– Texts
210
7. RESOLUTIONS
214
– Introduction and notes
214
– Texts
215
Section 2 His plan for perfect holiness
227
Introduction
227
1. The vocation to religious life: freely-given grace and commitment
228
2. Intention and goal
229
3. Foundation and building
230
4. Theological love at the heart of consecrated life
233
5. The way forward
237
6. Practices and means of sanctification
240
7. In the vigilant expectation of meeting Jesus, good judge and friend
244
8. The fruits of action on earth, and contemplation of God in Paradise
246
Conclusion
247
Final summing up
251
1. Key players and actors in the Salesian history of Betgamāl
251
2. Simon Srugi: representative figure of the “contemplative in action”
253
3. In conclusion
255
Srugi’s Biblical Citations
257
Names of people
259
Photo Gallery
264
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Significant Dates
• 15.04.1877: Sim‘ān Srugi was born in Nazareth (Palestine) of a Maronite mother and
a Greek-Melkite father.
• 10.05.1877: baptised and confirmed in the Greek-Melkite parish, the former
synagogue in which Jesus began his public ministry (cf. Lk 4:6-30).
• 1888: taken into the orphanage run by Canon Antonio Belloni in Bethlehem.
Apprentice baker, nurse, tailor. Lived with the first Salesians who arrived in
Bethlehem in 1891.
• 1892–1896: aspirant and novice at Betgamāl (Ramlah).
• 12.03.1895: met Fr Michael Rua. Exchange of letters between them.
• 31.10.1896, Cremisan: first profession as a Salesian Brother.
• 20.09.1900, Bethlehem: perpetual profession.
• April 1908: second meeting with Fr Michael Rua.
• 1900–1943, spent the rest of his life in the agricultural school and orphanage at
Betgamāl: worked in the infirmary, clinic, mill. Teacher of Religion and Arabic in
the lower elementary school. Master of ceremonies at solemn liturgical functions.
• 1916, 1917: discovery of the tomb of St Stephen, Protomartyr.
• 1925: copied down Jesus’ revelations to Sister Marie-Marta Chambon.
• 1925–27: animator of the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade”.
• 1926–1939: wrote down his Retreat resolutions.
• 1929 and 1934: chosen to represent the Salesian Brothers at the beatification and the
canonisation of Don Bosco in Turin and Rome; renounced this in favour of other
confreres.
• 1930: began his service in the new clinic, helped by Sister Tersilla Ferrero FMA.
• 1938: forgave and looked after one of the presumed murderers of his Rector, Fr Mario
Rosin.
• October-November 1939: fell seriously ill, taken to the “Daughters of Charity”
hospital in Bethlehem where he received the last sacraments.
• 24.12.1939: wrote to his sister Zàhra, telling her he was close to and ready for death.
• June 1940: the British imprisoned him together with the Italian and German confreres
but once they checked on his Palestinian nationality, they set him free.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
• 1943: frequent recurrences of malaria attacks and bronchial pneumonia. Forced to
remain inactive in his room.
• 27.11.1943: died early on the Saturday morning. Buried in the crypt of St Stephen’s
Shrine.
• 1964–66: Informative Process takes place at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
• 1968: Censors from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approve of his writings.
• 1981–83: Apostolic Process takes place at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
• 02.04.1993: with the decree on the heroic nature of his virtues, approved by Pope
John-Paul II, he was recognised as “Venerable”.
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Presentation
The human being was born to remember, and memory is necessary to be able to live
fully. Obviously not memory as the simple ability to mentally preserve everything that has
happened, but an intelligent and attentive memory, one that can recall and coordinate,
grasp the deeper meaning of events and relive them.
The Salesian community at Betgamāl in the Holy Land, with its 129 years of history,
is heir to and custodian of so many riches and resources; of highly qualified "lived
experiences of holiness", expressions of faith tested in the crucible of difficult political,
economic, social, religious and ecclesial situations that the Salesians have had to tackle in
the story of this community. But this story runs the risk of being forgotten, and thus also
of losing the spiritual wealth that God has given rise to in this land which is the custodian
not only of biblical memories but also of Salesian holiness.
Fr Gianni Caputa offers us a real treasure by presenting us with the life of Simon
Srugi (1877–1943) in his context, the richest hagiographic presentation to date. Also very
interesting are the “windows” that are a clear invitation to explore the richness of the
history of the Salesians in the Middle East.
Simon Srugi is a model for the Christians of the Middle East, the “good Samaritan”
of our times who teaches us that the presence of Christ’s disciples will be significant only
if based on deep faith, if it grows through a serious commitment to communion and is
expressed in a simple but constant witness of practical charity. It is significant to see how
this saint speaks to us, today’s people: the son of a family of refugees, of a persecuted
people, the history of whose family is an intertwining of rites, poverty, orphans, people
who found themselves living amidst wars and guerilla skirmishes. He speaks, through his
life, to so many Christians who experience similar situations: “I am one of you”.
Simon Srugi is a clear invitation to reawaken in the Church the precious vocation
of the consecrated lay person. At times today this is a misunderstood vocation, one that
could find its original evangelical perspective in figures such as Simon Srugi. The gift of
the lay vocation and the gift of consecration come together in a unique movement of love
for God and neighbour, and all this in the simplicity and humility that really does speak
of the Gospel to today’s world.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Simon Srugi is a model for the Salesians of the Middle East and of the entire world:
faith, apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls, especially of abandoned children, a strong
devotion to Mary, love for St Francis de Sales and Don Bosco. Although a man of few
words, Srugi continues to proclaim, including today: “Return to the playgrounds, return
to encountering the lives of the poor and suffering, return to being signs of God’s love.”
Thank you, Fr Gianni, for offering us a documented and critical reconstruction that
helps us to make a “believing interpretation” of Simon Srugi’s life and the story of the
community of Betgamāl. May your book help us to reappropriate the past (convinced
that God was at work in it) and thus better understand in the present the identity of
Christians, consecrated lay people and members of the Salesian Family today.
Alejandro León sdb
Provincial of the Salesians of the Middle East
Cremisan, 24 May 2021
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Foreword
With the publication of Giovanni Caputa’s Simon Srugi in the History of Betgamāl, we now
have the most extensive and complete biography to date of our beloved confrere Brother
Simon Srugi.
Forty years ago, when I was beginning my Salesian life, Zatti and Sandor had not
yet been beatified, and Simon Srugi was the best known Salesian Brother. Today, as I
go around the Salesian world, I realise that Srugi is no longer known to our younger
confreres. Fr Caputa’s book, along with his other writings, will go a long way to remedy
this unfortunate oblivion. I am convinced that Srugi has something very relevant to say
to us at the present moment of history.
First, Srugi is a great prophet of fraternity. Within his community of Betgamāl, which
lived through extremely difficult moments of tension between local and foreign confreres,
Srugi comes across always as the brother and friend of all. He proclaims to us in a heroic
way that only One Thing is necessary. He reminds us that nothing is more important than
God: not language, not race, not caste, nothing. We are children of God and therefore
sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Srugi lived fraternity in an extraordinary and
exceptional way.
Second, Srugi’s fraternity extends beyond his community to embrace the people,
mostly Muslims, who flocked to him. This is a well known fact, but its full significance
must not escape us: in a land where there is usually no love lost between Arab Christians
and Muslim, here is Srugi, an Arab Christian, who not only loves his Muslim neighbours
but is in turn loved and appreciated by them. Here is a Salesian who knew how to
make himself loved, and whose people knew he loved them. In his own simple but
unmistakable way, Simon Srugi lived the universal fraternity that Pope Francis is pushing
so hard. And like his fellow citizen Jesus, he revealed the merciful face of the Father to all,
even to those unable to call God Father. Srugi, I am convinced, will take his place along
with Christian de Chergé and his fellow monks as a model of dialogue with our Muslim
brethren.
Thirdly, Srugi, uneducated as he was, lived his consecrated vocation as a Salesian
Brother in a vital and profound manner, as is so clearly revealed in the writings that Fr
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Caputa has published for us. He offered his body daily “as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God” (Rom 12:1) and became a living memorial of Jesus. In people like
him, the kingdom of God takes shape on earth, quietly and almost unseen, like leaven in
the yeast.
And there is “power in his hands,” as the simple villagers of Betgamāl used to say. I
know by experience that Srugi is a wonderful intercessor – shy and retiring, as he must
have been in life, but truly effective.
We in our turn need not feel shy to ask the Father to bring this son of his into the
light, if that be his holy will. Ask, Jesus said. Seek. Knock. So we will ask, seek, knock.
Our profound gratitude to Gianni Caputa and our congratulations for this very
significant step in making known the figure of this humble yet truly great Salesian
Brother.
Ivo Coelho sdb
General Councillor for Formation
Rome, 14 May 2021
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Introduction
Nature, scope and limits
I am offering the results, in this book, of the study I have done to give more prominence
to the historical coordinates of Simon Srugi’s spiritual biography, thus completing the
process initiated in two recent publications (cf. Caputa 2017; 2018). His life, activity
and writings are in fact located within the hundred years of history between halfway
through the 19th century to halfway through the 20th, taking as indicative of this the
re-establishment of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1847 (“terminus post quem”)
and the partitioning of Palestine in 1947 (“ante quem”). Betgamāl became part of a
region or territory which completely changed its nature over that century from a socio-
economic, political, cultural and religious point of view, due especially to events and
general institutions (First World War; the fall of the Turkish Empire; the colonial era;
Second Word War), particular ones (“Italian schools abroad”; Armenian genocide; the
British Mandate; Jewish immigration; Arab revolution; partitioning of Palestine), ones
involving the Church (the arrival of “Latin” religious Congregations in the Holy Land;
expansion of Anglican and Protestant Churches), and Salesian ones (the merging of Fr
Belloni’s institute with the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; the
canonisation of Don Bosco and the beatification of Mary Mazzarello).
A complete reconstruction of this background clearly goes beyond the limits of my
work, but it is necessary to keep its major aspects in mind in order to correctly understand
the life and writings, activity and message of Simon Srugi. Nor have I had the intention
of writing the history of every aspect of Betgamāl, just those that are pertinent to Srugi
and his specific activity, highlighting (more than has been done previously) the members
of the Salesian community who together with him played a leading and active role in
religious and devotional, educational and scholastic, human welfare and development
activity. This interest of an historical nature has also motivated me to some exploratory
“windows” on special topics: the villages inhabited by Muslim farmers who came to Srugi
for treatment; his mystical and priestly attitude; the taking in of Armenian refugees; Fr
Bianchi’s letters to Brother Na‘īm Cumbāz. Instead, I have touched only peripherally on
the complex “Stephenine question” that began in 1916 and was still being debated in 2006.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Content and its development
Part 1 of the book contains an historical and biographical section; to avoid often
interrupting the thread of the story I refer the presentation of particular topics to the
earlier-mentioned “windows” in the second section. Similarly for Part Two: the analysis
of Srugi’s writings, indicating where they have come from, their context and to whom they
were addressed, is followed by a section in which I sum up his “personal life project”. All
of this is prefaced by a brief prologue that goes back almost 5 centuries to the remote roots
of the Srugi family, and is followed by a similarly brief epilogue that arrives at the recent
monastic foundations at Betgamāl. The specific indexes (biblical and names of people)
follow the conclusion and final summing up and will assist the reader who wishes to
make detailed consultation. The photo appendix offers a significant gallery of historical
photos depicting the people in reference to the most significant places and events in our
story.
Sources
– Unpublished: Srugi’s manuscripts (notes of a religious nature; resolutions; registers of
the clinic ... ) and manuscripts of confreres at Betgamāl (chronicles, correspondence,
school and account registers ... ) kept in the archives of the Salesian house at Betgamāl,
the Middle East Province, and houses at Bethlehem, Cremisan, Nazareth.
– Published: Srugi’s personal books and books from the library at Betgamāl: proceedings
from the canonical process for beatification; biography by Fr Ernesto Forti; research
material available in digital format. Refer to the list of abbreviations and acronyms and
the bibliography.
A word of thanks
While taking the opportunity to renew my thanks to all those who assisted me in writing
the Italian original of this book (“pioneers”, archivists, historians, councillors, those who
revised the drafts) here I would like to express my deep gratitude to a very dear friend
and confrere from “downunder”, who prefers to remain unnamed, for his translation of
this entire work into English. He has done a very accurate job not only from a linguistic,
philological point of view, but also as a creative interpreter to the point where, in dialogue
with him over a number of points, I myself have discovered new content and have learned
new meanings regarding Simon Srugi and the history of Betgamāl.
Up till now, the only item in English was the brief work by Fr Prospero Roero in
2009. Now, with this version, English readers, particularly young Salesians in formation,
brothers and clerics, have a complete text available to them on the life, activity and
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writings of Srugi. I hope it will serve to increase knowledge, encourage imitation,
spread devotion and intensify prayer to obtain from God the miracle required for his
beatification.
Fr Giovanni Caputa
Betgamāl, 6 May 2021
The liturgical feast of St Dominic Savio.
PLEASE NOTE
In the documents that I studied, Arabic, Armenian and Jewish names appear
transliterated in various forms: according to the French, English, German, Italian
alphabets (and depending on who the sender and receiver was), and sometimes they
change from one page to another in the same notebook or registry or chronicle! Without
any claim to uniformity, I have chosen an English transliteration.
In particular, in order to maintain a clear reference to the person of Gamaliel, his
estate and country house Cafargamala, I use Betgamāl; nevertheless when recording
original documents, I reproduce the other transliterations.
I always use the name “Simon” (“Simone” in Italian) and not the original Arabic
“Sim‘ān” since the former is how Brother Srugi was referred to in his own context. He
signed himself “Simone” (since he spoke Italian rather than English), except in the letter
to his sister Zàhra. But for the purposes of this translation, “Simon” is used.
I render the Arabic letter “ayn” with the single inverted comma ‘ (e.g. Sim‘ān).
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3 Pages 21-30

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Abbreviations and acronyms
Manuscripts of Simon Srugi
COR = Correspondence.
DIA = Dialogues with (Revelations of) the Crucified Jesus.
MAC = Maxims of the month for Confreres to copy down.
MAG = Maxims for the young (Giovani) to copy down.
PES = Pensieri salutari Salutary thoughts.
PRE = Preghiere Prayers
PRO = Propositi Resolutions.
Sources and most mentioned works
ABet = Archives of the Orphanage and Salesian house in Bethlehem.
ABG = Archives of the Salesian house at Betgamāl.
□ Acceptances - Pupils
□ Pupils = “List of qualified pupils since 1920”
□ Handwritten chronicles
□ Documents pertaining to Polish pupils
□ Mortuary letters
□ Register of exam results = Scuola Agricola San Giuseppe. Registro dei voti degli
esami trimestrali, semestrali, finali e Licenza. Dall’anno 1919 al 1944–45
□ Register of the deceased = Scuola Agricola di S.Giuseppe di Beitgemal. Registro dei
defunti dal 1886 al 1938.
□ BIANCHI, correspondence
□ POSS = “Pia Opera di Santo Stefano per il Perdono Cristiano” or Pious Work of
St Stephen for Christian Forgiveness
□ SACCHETTI, Annotazioni varie. Beitgemal dal 1913 al 1926. Various notes,
Betgamāl from 1913 to 1926.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
□ SACCHETTI, correspondence CNEWA; Correspondence NER; ... varia.
□ ROSIN, Chronicle notebooks
ACrem = Archives of the Salesian house at Cremisan.
ACS = Acts of the Superior Chapter of the Pious Salesian Society.
ANaz = Archives of the Salesian house at Nazareth.
AIMOR = Archives of the Salesian Province of the Middle East [at Salesian
headquarters].
□ 4.4.1.1 = Chronicle (summary) photo chronicle of the house at Betgamāl
□ 4.4.2 = History of the house at Betgamāl from its foundation until 1937
□ 15.1.1, 15.1.2, 15.1.3 ... 15.1.12 = Documents regarding Simon Srugi
□ Filing cabinet containing personal records of individual confreres
□ History of the Middle East Province = I Salesiani nel Medio Oriente dal 1891 al
1980, ed. Ciro COZZOLINO, Igino GREGO, Emilio PRADUROUX (Cremisan
1975)
ASC = Central Salesian Archives, Rome.
BS = Bollettino Salesiano.
DBS = Eugenio VALENTINI – Amadeo RODINÒ (a cura di) Dizionario Biografico
dei Salesiani, Torino: Ufficio Stampa Salesiano, 1969.
EGS = Elenco Generale della Società di San Francesco di Sales, a cura della Direzione
Generale Opere Don Bosco. Torino (for years relating to Simon Srugi).
FIORA, Biography = Luigi FIORA, official Biography of Simon Srugi, as part of the
Hierosolymitana 1988, pp. 19–156.
Hierosolymitana 1988 = CONGREGATIO PRO CAUSIS SANCTORUM, Hierosolymitana
beatificationis et canonizationis Servi Dei Simonis Srugi, laici professi Societatis
Salesianae. Positio super virtutibus. Romae: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1988.
Hierosolymitana 1993 = CONGREGATIO PRO CAUSIS SANCTORUM, Hierosolymitana
Decretum canonizationis Servi Dei Simonis Srugi laici pofessi Societatis Sancti Francisci
Salesii (1877–1943) in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 85 (9 September 1993). Città del Vaticano:
LEV 1993, pp. 859–862.
RBA = Registro bilancio annuale dell’Opera di don Belloni, con osservazioni: dal 1863
al 1902 (Register of annual budget sheets of Fr Belloni’s Work with observations: from
1863 to 1902).
SDL = Salesian Digital Library (http://sdl.sdb.org)
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Select bibliography
I - BOOKS BELONGING TO SRUGI – BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY AT BETGAMĀL
1 - Books belonging to Simon Srugi (on liturgy, piety and devotion, nursing …)
[ANONYMOUS], La Liturgia degli Infermi = “Biblioteca Liturgica Popolare” n° 3. Vicenza:
Società Anonima Tipografica, 1915.
Mese del S. Cuore cavato dagli scritti della B. Margherita M. Alacoque, con
appendice Massime per ogni giorno dell’anno. Roma: Messaggero del S.Cuore,
1903.
Norme per i soccorsi d’urgenza da prestarsi in attesa del Sanitario, della Antica
Regia Farmacia Schiapparelli di Torino. Torino, s.d.
Nuovo manuale della guardia d’onore al S. Cuore di Gesù. Roma: Direzione
Generale (no date).
Pharmacopoedia of the Hadassah Medical Organization and Kupat Holim and
other approved Village Clinics. Jerusalem: R. H. Cohen’s Press, 1927.
Settimana Santa in Arabo (frontispiece missing.)
Suor M. M. Chambon e le Sante Piaghe di N. S. G. C. – printed in Pisa, Tip.
Sociale « Beato Giordano », 1924, 2nd ed.
Tuhfat al-zuhūr al-zakiyyah li-l-nufūs al-‘abīdah al-masīhyyah [Treasure of
scented flowers for devout Christian souls]. Tabi‘a khāmisa. Tubi‘a fi Urashalym
bimatba‘ al ‘Ard al Muqaddash lil Aba’ al Fransysyyn, sanat 1905 (5th ed.,
printed at the Holy Land Press run by the Franciscans, Jerusalem, 1905).
Uffizio della Settimana Santa coll’aggiunta delle Dichiarazioni in lingua volgare.
48a edizione. Torino: Libreria Salesiana Editrice, 1904.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
BANCHI Jacopo – FRANCA Tommaso, Cura Infirmorum. Manuale di assistenza fisica e
religiosa agli ammalati e ai feriti. Vicenza: S.A.T. fra Cattolici Vicentini, 1917.
BARBERIS Giulio, Il Vade Mecum dei giovani salesiani. Ammaestramenti, consigli ed
esempi esposti agli ascritti ed agli studenti della Pia Società di S.Francesco di
Sales dal Sac. Teol. Giulio Barberis. Editi nell’occasione in cui compiva il xxv anno
della sua carica di Maestro dei Novizi. S. Benigno Canavese, Scuola Tipografica
Salesiana, 1905, 2nd ed.
BATTISTI Edmondo O.S.B., Breviario dei Fedeli Latino-Italiano con note storico-
liturgiche. Torino-Roma: Pietro Marietti Editore, 1922.
BOSCO Giovanni, Il Giovane Provveduto per la pratica dei suoi doveri e degli esercizi di
cristiana pietà. Torino: SEI, 1928 edition.
Regole o Costituzioni della Società di S.Francesco di Sales, secondo il decreto di
approvazione del 3 aprile 1874, new edition 1877; renewed text in ACS 3(1923)
n° 22, pp. 151–169 and 5(1924) n° 23, pp. 205–248.
KEMPIS (à) Thomas, Della Imitazione di Gesù Cristo. Translation by Cardinal Enriquez.
Vicenza: Favero, 1925.
SALES (de) Francis, La Filotea, ossia Introduzione alla Vita Devota. (New Italian
translation by Fr. Eugenio Ceria). S. Pier d’Arena: Scuola Tipografica “D.Bosco”,
1912.
2. - Books in the community library at Betgamāl, surviving items that Srugi could have used
2.1 Most popular works by Don Bosco which he himself published.
2.2 Le Memorie Biografiche di Don Bosco (eds. G.B.Lemoyne and E.Ceria). Various
Lives of Don Bosco in the edifying biography category; I mention just the few that follow:
BONETTI Giovanni, Cinque lustri di storia dell’Oratorio Salesiano, fondato dal sacerdote
D.Giovanni Bosco. Torino: Tipografia Salesiana, 1892.
CAVIGLIA Alberto, “Don Bosco”. Profilo storico. Torino: SEI, 1920.
D‘ESPINEY Carlo, Don Bosco. S. Pier d’Arena: Tipografia S.Vincenzo de’ Paoli, 1890.
FRANCESIA Giovanni Battista, Vita breve e popolare di Don Giovanni Bosco. San Benigno
Canavese: Libreria Salesiana Editrice, 1908, 3rd edition.
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LEMOYNE Giovanni Battista, Vita del Venerabile Giovanni Bosco. Torino: SEI, 1913; then
Vita di San Giovanni Bosco. New edition edited by Fr Angelo AMADEI. Torino:
SEI, 1935.
2.3 The “Circular Letters” and yearly “Strennas” by Rectors Major
BOSCO Giovanni - RUA Michele, Lettere circolari ed altri scritti ai Salesiani. Torino:
Tipografia Salesiana, 1896 (ed. ALBERA Paolo).
RUA Michele, Lettere circolari ai Salesiani. Torino: Tipografia S.A.I.D. “Buona Stampa”,
1910 (ed. ALBERA Paolo).
ALBERA Paolo, Lettere circolari ai Salesiani. Torino: SEI, 1922 (ed. RINALDI Filippo).
RICALDONE Pietro, Pensar bene di tutti, parlar bene di tutti, far del bene a tutti. Torino:
SEI, 1933; Santità e purezza. Torino: SEI, 1935; Fedeltà a Don Bosco Santo.
Torino: SEI, 1935; Povertà. Torino: SEI, 1936.
2.4. Works of an historical, hagiographical, ascetic, devotional nature:
AMADEI Angelo, Il servo di Dio Michele Rua successore del beato Don Bosco. Torino: SEI,
1931-1934.
[ANONYMOUS], Massime e dottrine tratte dalle opere di san Francesco di Sales. Torino
– S.Pier d’Arena - Nizza Marittima: Libreria Salesiana, 1880.
AUFFRAY Augustin, La Pédagogie d’un Saint. Lyon-Paris: Librairie Catholique E.Vitte,
1930.
BARBERIS Giulio, Le virtù del Servo di Dio Don Andrea Beltrami della Pia Società di S.
Francesco di Sales. S.Benigno Canavese: Scuola tipografica salesiana, 1903.
Vita di S.Francesco di Sales. Torino: SEI, 1919, nuova ediz.
Nuovo manuale di Filotea, ossia l’anima indirizzata alla perfezione mediante la
divozione al Sacro Cuore di Gesù. Torino: SEI, 1929.
BELTRAMI Andrea, Massime di Don Bosco. S.Benigno Canavese: Tipografia Salesiana,
1898.
Santa Margherita Maria Alacoque. S.Benigno Canavese: Tipografia Salesiana,
1901.
Il vero volere è potere: ossia chi vuole si fa santo. Torino: SEI, 1920.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
CERIA Eugenio (ed.), La vita religiosa negli insegnamenti di S. Francesco di Sales. Torino:
SEI, 1926.
Don Filippo Rinaldi, terzo successore del Beato Don Bosco. Torino: SEI, 1932.
Annali della Società Salesiana. Volumes 2 and 3. Torino: SEI, 1941, 1946.
LIGUORI (de) Alfonso Maria, Apparecchio alla morte. San Pier D’Arena: Libreria
Salesiana Editrice, 1899.
Del gran mezzo della preghiera per conseguire la salute eterna ..., Stamperia
Remondini, 1759.
Le glorie di Maria. 2 vols. Torino: SEI, 1934, 5th ed.
Massime eterne. Roma: Tipografia di Filippo Cairo, 1852.
Pratica di amar Gesù Cristo. Alba: Scuola Tipografica Editrice, s.d. [prima del
1925].
MACCONO Ferdinando. Suor Maria Mazzarello: prima superiora generale delle Figlie
di Maria Ausiliatrice, fondate dal venerabile Giovanni Bosco. Torino: Libreria
Editrice Internazionale, 1924; Torino: Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice,
1934, 2nd ed.
NAHHĀS Yūannā, Ḥayāt al-Ab Anṭūn Belloni, qānūnī al-qabr al-muqaddas wa-
mu‘assis madāris al-aytām fī Filasṭīn [Life of Fr Antonio Belloni, Canon of
the Holy Sepulchre, and founder of schools for orphans in Palestine]. 2 volumes.
Alessandria d’Egitto: Stamperia Orientale, 1909, pp. 411+272.
PERA Ceslao, I doni dello Spirito Santo nell’anima del Beato Giovanni Bosco. Torino: SEI,
1930.
ROCCA Angelo, Vita di S. Stefano Protomartire. S. Benigno Canavese: Scuola Tipografica
Salesiana, 1923, 2a ediz.
RODRIGUEZ Alfonso S.J., Esercizio di perfezione e di virtù cristiane. Torino: SEI, 1931.
SCUPOLI Lorenzo, Il Combattimento Spirituale. Padova: presso Giuseppe Comino, 1724.
TERRONE Luigi, Il Salesiano. Piccolo trattato di vita religiosa. Genova S.Pierdarena:
Libreria Salesiana Editrice, 1932, 2 volumes.
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II - PUBLICATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS VOLUME
I include the complete title in what follows, while in the text they only have the
author’s surname, year of publication and the relevant page numbers.
ABU SITTA Salmān, review of GAVISH Dov, The Survey of Palestine under the British
Mandate, 1920–1948, in “Journal of Palestine Studies” 35(2/2006) 101–102.
AKÇAM Taner, Killing Orders. I telegrammi di Talat Pasha e il Genocidio Armeno. Italian
version edited by Antonia Arslan. Milano: Guerini & Associati, 2020.
BARLASSINA Luigi, Lettere pastorali. 1920–1945. Jerusalem: Imprimerie du Patriarcat
Latin.
Patriarca di Gerusalemme. Sacerdoti Litanti. Intus lege, comitare affectu, custodi
cæremonias. Jerusalem: ex typis Patriarchatus Latini, 1944.
BARRON J.B., Palestine Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Taken
on the 23rd of October, 1922. Compiled by J.B. BARRON, O.B.E., M.C.,
superintendent of the Census. Printed at Greek Convent Press, Jerusalem.
February 1923.
BEDA Venerabilis, Retractatio in Actus Apostolorum = CCL 121. (ed. LAISTNER
M.L.W.). Turnhout: Brepols, 1983.
Martyrologium = PL 94, 799–1148 (ed. MIGNE J.P.). Paris, 1850.
BERGERETTI Felice Andrea, Opera della Santa Famiglia in Terra Santa. Anche detta
Opera di Betlemme, sotto la direzione di Antonio Belloni, Canonico del Santo
Sepolcro, Missionario Apostolico, Betlemme. Torino, Tipografia S.Giuseppe -
Collegio degli Artigianelli, 1888.
BORREGO Jesús, I Salesiani in Medio Oriente (1891-1980). Betlemme-Roma 1982. Copy
“pro manuscript” in AIMOR.
BOSIO Guido, Martiri in Cina: Mons. Luigi Versiglia e Don Callisto Caravario. Leumann:
LDC, 1977. Note: this is now available in English translation from Kristu Jyoti,
Bangalore, India.
CAPUTA Giovanni, I primi 11 anni del teologato salesiano in Terra Santa (1929–1940),
in “Ricerche Storiche Salesiane” 23(2004) 363–427.
Il Venerabile Simone Srugi salesiano coadiutore (Nazaret 1877-Betgamāl 1943).
Profilo storico-spirituale, in “Ricerche Storiche Salesiane” 36(2017) 261–301.
xxvii

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Vita e Scritti di Simone Srugi, Salesiano Coadiutore (Nazaret 1877- Betgamāl
1943). Jerusalem: Latin Patriarchate Printing Press, 2018 (“pro manuscripto”).
CARMEL of Bethlehem, Anthology. Extracts from Letters of the Blessed Mary of Jesus
Crucified. Jerusalem: LPPP, 2011.
CAUTERO Renato (ed.), Cinquantesimo dello Studio Teologico Salesiano in Terra Santa.
Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1977.
CAUTERO Renato - FIOR Lina, Don Bosco in Terra Santa. Centenario dell’arrivo
dei Salesiani e delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice in Terra Santa. Jerusalem:
Franciscan Printing Press, 1991.
CHARBEL Antonio, Beit-Jimāl identifiata con Caphar-Gamala negli studi di Stephen
Hanna Stephan, in “Salesianum” 31(1969) 667–676.
Beit-Jimāl identifiata con Caphar-Gamala, luogo della tomba di Santo Stefano,
in “Rivista di Pedagogia e Scienze Religiose” 9(1971) 286–292.
Fonti e sussidi per lo studio dell’identificazione di Caphargamala con Beit-Jimāl,
in “Salesianum” 40(1978) 911-944.
CONDER Claude Reignier - KITCHNER Horatio Herbert (eds.), The Survey of Western
Palestine. London: Palestine Exploration Fund, 1876.
CONIL François, Les Salesiens de Dom Belloni, in IDEM., Jérusalem moderne: Histoire du
Mouvement Catholique actuel dans la Ville Sainte. Paris - Lyon, 1894.
COZZOLINO Ciro - GREGO Igino - PRADUROUX Emilio, Cronistoria dell’Ispettoria
Orientale. I Salesiani nel Medio Oriente dal 1891 al 1980. Cremisan 1975
(typewritten).
CREVACORE Alfonso, Un uomo dalle molte vite. Il servo di Dio don Vincenzo Cimatti
salesiano missionario. Leumann [Torino]: LDC 1979.
DESRAMAUT Francis, L’orphelinat Jésus-Adolescent de Nazareth en Galilée au temps des
Turcs, puis des Anglais (1896–1984). = ISS – Studi, 3. Roma: LAS, 1986.
DUMET Giorgio, La scoperta del sepolcro di S.to Stefano Protomartire e dei Santi
Nicodemo, Gamaliele e Abibone suo figlio in Beitgemal, presso l’orfanotrofio dei
PP. Salesiani, in “Rahib Sion” (November 1924).
DUVIGNAU Pierre, Mère Marie-Alphonsine et la Congrégation du Rosaire. Jounieh:
Imprimerie St Paul, 1975.
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ESTRATE Pierre, Mariam sainte palestinienne, ou la vie de Marie de Jésus crucifié, Paris:
Téqui 2005.
FALAH Ghazi, The 1948 Israeli-Palestinian War and Its Aftermath: The Transformation
and De-Signification of Palestine’s Cultural Landscape, “Annals of the Association
of American Geographers”, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Jun., 1996), 256-285.
FANO Estella, Sulle orme del passato, cifre d’amore. Deir Rafat 1927–2009. Primo luogo di
missione in Terra Santa per le Suore Dorotee del Farina. Gerusalemme: LPPP,
2014.
FERGNANI Giovanni, Il sepolcro di Santo Stefano Protomartire scoperto a Beitgemal,
l’antica Cafargamala. Monografia. Torino: SEI, 1930. 2nd ed. edited by
SACCHETTI Alfredo, Cafargamala. Monografia e prove dell’autenticità della
scoperta del Sepolcro di S.Stefano, Beitgemal: Tipografia S.Stefano, 1933.
L’invenzione di S.Stefano Protomartire negli scritti di sant’Agostino. Beitgemal,
Palestina: Tipografia S.Stefano, 1930.
FIORA Luigi, Biografia di Simone Srugi, facente parte della Hierosolymitana 1988….
Roma: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1988, pp. 19–156.
FORTI Ernesto, Un buon Samaritano concittadino di Gesù. Leumann (TO): LDC, 1967.
Un buon samaritano: Simone Srugi, salesiano coadiutore. Genova-Sampierdarena:
LES 1967.
Fedeli a Don Bosco in Terra Santa. Profili di otto Coadiutori Salesiani. Leumann
(Torino): LDC, 1988.
FRANCESCHINI Giorgio, Don Giovanni Fergnani, Salesiano Ferrarese, Missionario in
Palestina = Accademia delle Scienze di Ferrara. Atti degli anni 1986-1988.
Ferrara, 1989.
FRANCESIA Giovanni Battista, Don Bosco in Oriente. Memorie di un viaggio in Palestina.
Torino: Ufficio delle “Letture Cattoliche”, 1912.
GAVISH Dov, The Survey of Palestine Under the British Mandate, 1920–1948 = Routledge
Studies in Middle East History, 3. London-New York, 2005.
GHATTĀS Marie-Alphonsine, Diario - Primo manoscritto: il racconto delle apparizioni,
(a cura di Pier Giorgio Gianazza). Milano: Paoline editoriale libri, 2016.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
GIANAZZA Gianmaria, Don Antonio Belloni. Abulyatama, Padre degli Orfani. Betlemme,
2003 (“pro manuscripto”).
GIANAZZA Pier Giorgio, Don Rua e la fondazione salesiana di Alessandria d’Egitto, in
LOPARCO-ZIMNIAK, Don Michele Rua ..., pp. 805–828.
GISLER Maurizio, Caphargàmala. Il Sepolcro di S.Stefano Protomartire e dei Santi
Nicodemo, Gamaliele e Abibone, ritrovato a Beitgemal (Palestina) dai Salesiani
del Ven. Don Bosco. Münchengladbach: B.Külen, Tipografo Apostolico, 1923.
Il primitivo sepolcro di S.Stefano Protomartire e dei santi Gamaliele, Nicodemo
ed Abibone a Cafargàmala. Edited by SACCHETTI Alfredo = “Studi Stefaniani”,
Documenti, Serie A, n.3. Beitgemal: Tipografia S.Stefano, 1933, pp. 49–87.
GRASSIANO Domenica, Suor Annetta Vergano, ispettrice, in VALENTINI, Profili, p.163s.
GREGO Igino, Sulle orme di Cristo. Il beato Michele Rua pellegrino in Terra Santa.
Gerusalemme: Franciscan Printing Press, 1973.
GUERRA Felice, Alla scuola di S. Giovanni Bosco. Appunti di vita vissuta. Torino: SEI,
1934.
HADAWI Sami, A Survey of Palestine. Village Statistics. = “Facts and Figures no. 34”,
P.O.L. Research Center, Colombani Street off Sadat Street. Beirut-Lebanon,
September 1970.
HEIDET Louis, Cafargamala. Con Note di don G.Fergnani. Beitgemal: Tipografia
S.Stefano, 1931.
KALBIAN Vicken V., The Constant Consul of Jerusalem: Edward W. Blatchford, in
“Jerusalem Quarterly” 76(winter 2018) pp. 46–59.
LACONI Francesco, Beitgemal e Simone Srugi, in “La Terra Santa” 50(1974) 160-167.
LEÓN Alejandro, Lettura credente del vissuto di Simone Srugi e della comunità salesiana
di Beitgemal (1891–1958). Elementi per una spiritualità salesiana in Medio
Oriente. Roma: UPS, 2011 (inedita).
LOPARCO Grazia – ZIMNIAK Stanislaw (eds), Don Michele Rua primo successore di
don Bosco. Tratti di personalità, governo e opere (1888-1910). Acts of the 5th
International Convention on the History of Salesian Work (Torino, 28 ottobre
– 1° novembre 2009). (= ACSSA – Studi, 4). Roma, LAS 2010.
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MacKENZIE Duncan, Excavations at Ain Shems (Beth-Shemesh), in “Palestine Exploration
Fund Annual 1912-1913, Double Volume”. London, 1913.
MILLS E., Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative
Areas, by E.MILLS, O.B.E., B.A., Assistant Chief Secretary, Superintendent of
Census Jerusalem. Printed by the Greek Convent and Goldberg Presses, 1932.
MORRIS Benny - ZE’EVI Dror, The thirty-year genocide. Turkey’s destruction of
its Christian minorities, 1894–1924. Cambridge, Massachusetts - London:
Harvard University Press, 2019.
MOTTO Francesco (ed.), BOSCO Giovanni, Costituzioni della Società di S.Francesco di
Sales [1858-] 1875 = ISS. Fonti, Serie prima, 1. Roma: LAS, 1982.
BOSCO Giovanni, Epistolario di Don Bosco, volume VII (1880–1881). Roma:
LAS, 2016.
ORLANDO Carlo, Articoli di prova testimoniale proposti dal postulatore della causa per
il Processo Informativo sulla fama di santità, virtù e miracoli in genere del Servo
di Dio Simone Srugi, laico professo della Società Salesiana (1877–1943). Roma:
Tipografia Guerra e Belli, 1964.
PAPA Antonietta – FABRIZI Fabrizio, Un’identità conquistata in Palestina. Le Figlie di
Maria Missionarie di Giacinto Bianchi tra l’opera di Antonio Belloni e l’arrivo
dei Salesiani 1890–1893, in LOPARCO – ZIMNIAK, Don Michele Rua, pp.
863–876.
PEDRAZZI Orazio (alias Paolo NOMADE), Una croce in Terra Santa. In memoria di don
Mario Rosin, in “Il Corriere della Sera” 25.07.1938; then printed as a booklet in
Rome: Scuola Salesiana del Libro, 1938.
PIERACCINI Paolo, Il Patriarcato Latino di Gerusalemme, la Santa Sede e il Sionismo
di fronte alla prima traduzione dei Protocolli dei Savi di Sion in Lingua Araba
(1925–1926), in "Qualestoria” (2/2017), pp. 53–82.
Risveglio nazionale arabo e cattolici di Terra Santa: il caso della Società salesiana
(1904-1920). Prima Parte, in “Ricerche storiche Salesiane”, 39(2020) 259-299.
POLÁCEK Jaroslav, I Salesiani di Don Bosco e le Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice nella Palestina.
Specialmente tra il 1891 e il 1910. Exceptum from doctoral thesis. Rome 1976.
POZZO Vittorio, L’Ispettoria Salesiana del Medio Oriente. I primi cinquant’anni
(1902-1952). Betlemme: Centro Ispettoriale MOR, 2003.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Inizi e sviluppo dell’opera salesiana in Turchia durante il rettorato di don Michele
Rua (1888–1910), in LOPARCO-ZIMNIAK, Don Michele Rua ..., pp. 829–860.
PRADUROUX Emilio, Alcune figure di formatori e maestri. Don Raffaele Lopez
(1903–1943), in CAUTERO Renato (ed.)], Cinquantesimo ..., pp. 155–156.
PUECH Émile, Un Mausolée de Saint Étienne à Khirbet Jiljil – Beit Gimal (Pl.I). Jerusalem:
“Revue Biblique” 113(2006) 100-126.
RASTELLO Francesco, Don Pietro Ricaldone, IV successore di Don Bosco. Roma: SDB,
1976.
RICCARDI Andrea, La strage dei cristiani. Mardin, gli armeni e la fine di un mondo. =
Storia e società, 3. Bari: Laterza, 2015.
ROERO Prospero, From Nazareth something good: Venerable Simon Srugi. Jerusalem:
LPP, 2009.
SACCHETTI Alfredo (ed.), Studi Stefaniani, Documenti, Serie A: Prove e testimonianze.
Edizione extra commerciale. Beitgemal (Cafargàmala) Palestina: Tipografia
S.Stefano 1934; Serie B: Documenti Pontifici. Pia Opera di S.Stefano – Scritti
vari. 1934; Serie C: Opposizione. Same place, no date. “Pro manuscripto”.
SALA Rossano, Riflessioni sulla “grazia di unità” come sorgente di carità pastorale. Torino:
LDC, 2020.
SECCO Michelina, Facciamo memoria. Cenni biografici delle FMA defunte nel 1973.
Roma: Istituto FMA, 1974.
Suor Annetta Vergano, Figlia di Maria Ausiliatrice (1866/1935). Roma: Istituto
FMA, 1991.
SHAVIT Ari, My Promised Land. The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel. Melbourne: Scrobe
Publ., 2014.
SHAW J.V.W., A Survey of Palestine. Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the
information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry. Compiled by J.V.W.
SHAW, Chief Secretary to the Government of Palestine. Volume I. Printed by
the Government Printer, Palestine. Village Statistics. A Classification of Land
and Area Ownership in Palestine. Jerusalem, 1946.
STELLA Pietro, Francesia Giovanni Battista sdb, in “Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani”
volume 50(1998) consulted “online”.
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STEPHAN Hanna Stephen, Note on the Definite Article in Two Palestinian Place-Names,
in “Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society” (JPOS) 13(1933) 232-237.
Capharsemelia, in JPOS 17(1937) 45-51; The Personal Names in the Letter of
Lucian of Caphar-Gamala, in JPOS 19(1939-1940) 136-146.
Nekrologue for Mauritius Gisler, in JPOS 19(1939-40) 337-338.
STRUS Andrzej, La crypte de l’èglise byzantine à Beit-Jimal. Jerusalem: “Studium Biblicum
Franciscanum”, Liber Annuus 38(1988) 277-285.
Beit-Gemal può essere il luogo di sepoltura di Santo Stefano?, in “Salesianum”
54(1992) 1-26.
Bet Gemal. Pathway to the Tradition of Saints Stephen and Gamaliel. Roma:
Pontificia Università Salesiana, 2000; translation into Hebrew: Bayt Ghimal,
Nativ lemasoret ha kadoshym Stefan ve Gamaliel, Roma: UPS, 2001.
Khirbet Fattir – Bet Gemal. Two Ancient Jewish and Christian Sites in Israel.
Roma: LAS, 2003.
Bet Gemal: dalle “prime dimore” in Terra Santa agli onori dell’altare in Pisa. Pisa:
Quaderni a cura dell’Accademia dei Disuniti, 2004.
VALENTINI Eugenio (ed.), Profili di Missionari Salesiani e Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice.
Centro Studi di Storia delle Missioni Salesiane = Biografie, 1. Roma: LAS, 1975.
VIGANÒ Egidio, Riflessioni sulla “grazia di unità” come sorgente di carità pastorale.
Leumann.Torino: LDC, 1995.
VISMARA Eusebio, Manuale di Sacre Cerimonie, ad uso dei chierici. Volume I. S. Benigno
Canavese: Libreria Editrice Don Bosco, 1910, 2nd ed., 433 pp.; Vol. II: Funzioni
Straordinarie…., 1912, 297 pp.
ZAMPINI Francesco, Vita e pensieri di Mariam Baouardy, “Il piccolo nulla”. Camerata
Picena (AN): editrice Shalom, 2012.
ZIMNIAK Stanisław, Il contributo di don August Hlond allo sviluppo dell’Opera Salesiana
nella Mitteleuropa, in Id. (ed.), Il Cardinale August J. Hlond, primate di Polonia
(1881-1948). Note sul suo operato apostolico. Proceedings of a study evening
(Rome, 20 May 1999). (= PiB dell’ISS, 18). Roma: LAS 1999.
Yeshua.ilbello.com/yeshua/SantePiaghe/Chambon/le-sante-piaghe-Libropiccolo.pdf.
WALLIS Faith, BEDE: The Reckoning of Time = TTH 29. Liverpool: LUP, 1999.
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Part 1
THE LIFE AND ACTIVITY OF
SIMON SRUGI (1877–1943)
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Section 1
Historical & biographical reconstruction
1. Prologue: a family of refugees from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine (1550–1772)
Following their victory at Dàbeq in 1515, the Ottoman Turks extended their rule over
southern Syria where Hūrān is located. In their records from 1596 “Hàbab” figures as a
village with some fifty or so families who paid a 40% duty or tax on all products from the
land. Currently, Khàbab )خبب(is a Syrian town 50 km south of Damascus with around
8,000 inhabitants, most of whom are Christians, and the headquarters of the Catholic
Greek-Melkite Archeparchy, heir to the metropolitan See of Bosra (established in 1687),
situated in what the Gospels called the Decapolis.
The story of Simon Srugi begins precisely in Khàbab, with a long pre-history
documented in the family memoirs entitled: “Āl as-srūgy wa aşl intimā’ihem li‘āilat fara‘ūn
wa tārīkh bad’i higràtihem min khàbab min a‘māl hūrān – [The people of] the Srugi and
the origins of their belonging to the Fara‘ūn family, and the date of the beginning of their
emigration from Khàbab in the region of Hūrān. ”
Since killing and commanding are only in the hands of the strong, men have, since
ancient times, fought for command and squabbled for supremacy, and many times
wars and occasional raids and revolutions broke out. In Hūrān too, the Arabs and
the Druse battled for supremacy and this led to the departure of many of them from
their towns since they considered them to be dangerous areas; or just to flee from
persecution and fear. Among the inhabitants of Khàbab (a town in the Hūrān region)
around 1550 AD, there was a man called Fara‘ūn whose origins and birthplace were
unknown. This man called Fara‘ūn had a son called ‘Abdàllah. As far as we know,
this ‘Abdàllah was married in Khàbab (Hūrān) in 1607 and in 1609 he had a son
whom he called Fara‘ūn after his grandfather, therefore he was known as Fara‘ūn son
of ‘Abdàllah son of Fara‘ūn. And so it happend that the latter, Fara‘ūn the second,
also married in Khàbab in 1646 and had four children: Iskàndar (1648), Yūsif (1650),
Fransīs (1652) and ‘Abdàllah (1654); and this took place in Khàbab.
At the time things in Hūrān were going from bad to worse, and there were many
instances of murder and persecution: disquiet reigned among the people and the
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government was unstable. After the supremacy and command fell into the hands
of the Druse, it then passed to the Arabs, and so on and so forth. Victory and
vengeance swapped between one or the other. Every time one side won, it punished
and pressured the other; and very often they extorted the populations they had
subjugated with taxes twice or three times in excess. Due to the many abuses and
injustices, the people scattered and fled to the east and west, and the people of Hūrān
found themselves in terrible straits and abandoned their town. Among them were
also Fara‘ūn’s four sons, Iskàndar, Yūsif, Fransīs and ‘Abdàllah, who migrated from
their town (Khàbab) to Damascus in1671; but it is not known if their father left with
them.
They settled in Damascus and were of mutual assistance to one another in order
to survive. They were distinguished for their trade as saddlers for horses. The Lord
saw that they prospered and covered them with the mantle of his grace; thus it
was that their circumstances improved and they became related with the people
of Damascus. Iskàndar married a woman from Damascus in 1676, and then Yūsif
in 1679. In 1680-81 a slanderer made accusations about them to the governor of
the time, called ‘Azāza Hussèin Bàcha, accusing them of living in abundance and
possessing great wealth. Then Bàsha obliged them to pay a fine. He did more than
this, he ordered that they be sent to prison, threatening them with even tougher
punishments. And after he had threatened them and the women wept and hastened
to plead help from the nobility, great and small and whoever was generous and knew
about this cruel potentate, he would not agree to their freedom until he had received
the sum demanded. This happened again and so it was that the family left Damascus
for Fùrzul in 1682 (Fùrzul is a village in the Ba‘àlbak region).
At the time it was the Emirs of the Harfūsh family who were governing there. They
were well received in Fùrzul because they were foreigners; the foreign guest has a right
to hospitality. In the village of Fùrzul these four brothers, Iskàndar, Yūsif, Fransīs and
‘Abdàllah, toiled tirelessly and hard, helping each other, and persevered in their work
in the fields and agriculture. The Lord saw that they prospered and they lived in peace
because they treated the people of Fùrzul well, and they remained there from 1682 to
1699. Fransīs married a woman from Fùrzul in 1684, and ‘Abdàllah did the same in
1697.
However, peace does not last in this world, and this was well put by someone who
said: “The winds blow, but not as the ships want.” Times changed and people arrived
who embittered their lives and clouded the clarity of their existence. For the Harfūsh
emirs, after regaining control and subjecting their enemies, sought to be like all other
cruel and unjust men, and they committed such cruelties that they wrote a black page
in the history of the ages. There were rumblings and grumblings among the people
whose way of living had been disturbed and whose conditions had worsened and
muttering began to spread among the ranks. This was around the year 1699.
During the harvest that year a prince of the Harfūsh family arrived in Fùrzul before
the allotted time. He was surrounded by his courtiers, his entourage and soldiers, and
had come to claim the annual tax from farmers and inhabitants. The important people
and the elders received him very well, and after they came to understand why he had
come, they asked him for a few days extension so they could prepare for their harvest
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and then hand over the tax imposed on them. Three or four days after the prince’s
arrival, and while the inhabitants were showing him and his courtiers the utmost
respect, nobility of soul and hospitality, even feeding and looking after their horses,
he wanted to hear nothing more of it, became agitated, proud, and wanted the tax
paid there and then, no delay. However, they got him to understand that they were in
terrible straits and once again asked him to wait a few days so they could present him
with what he wanted. But he was stubborn, without mercy or pity, and threatened
to beat and whip them. Indeed, he commanded his soldiers to seize everything by
force. They entered the homes on their horses, mistreated everyone, big or small, and
made no distinction between the menfolk and the women. This way of acting and the
show of force increased hatred of the governor, enkindled anger, and at midnight the
inhabitants rose up and killed the prince and his courtiers.
Unfortunately, Fara‘ūn’s sons were among those who revolted and dealt that way with
the haughty prince and his soldiers. The event did not go without punishment, for
when the Harfūsh found out that one of their princes had been killed, they came with
horses and men to Fùrzul, brutalised the inhabitants, and after taking everything,
they took away their murdered prince and buried him. Some days later they seized
20 men, took them away to Ba’àlbak and sent them to prison. From their hiding
place, Fara‘ūn’s sons heard about the imprisonment of the 20 people and were seized
with fear, believing that the accusation of murder would be laid upon them because
they were foreigners. Because of this thought and out of fear, they secretly brought
horses from another town, loaded up their families with some of their belongings
and food for the journey, and migrated from Fùrzul to Màshghara, west of the Beqā‘
valley, where they lived until 1699. After remaining in Màshghara in fear and anxiety
for several months, since they had heard that the Harfūsh were continuing to ask
for news of them and to follow them, three of the brothers, Iskàndar, Fransīs and
‘Abdàllah, migrated from Màshghara to a place that is not exactly known. This was in
1700. The fourth, Yūsif, remained in Màshghara, and there he practised his trade as
a saddler (Srugi) changing his name to Yūsif Srugi. Màshghara is located in western
Beqā‘, which is a region of Lebanon.
This is the story up to that point. In 1965 the sheets of this valuable Arabic manuscript
were made available to the Salesians by Mr ‘Azīz ‘Issa Srugi, Simon’s grandnephew, living
in Beirut at the time; they carefully reconstruct the entire family tree up until his own
time (cf. AIMOR 15.1.1, folder no. 2; 15.1.2, envelope no. 8.6). The document speaks for
itself, has its own impressive narrative impact, and gives us a glimpse into the scene in
which the grandfather hands down the events to his grandchildren, with the memory
typical of the oriental who has carefully learned and jealously guarded a family treasure.
We can note that in less than 40 years (1670-1710 ca.) the Fara‘ūn-Srugi brothers became
refugees four times over, going as refugees from Hūrān to Damascus, and from Lebanese
Beqā‘ to Gallilee in Palestine; for the most part this was not for religious reasons but for
political and socio-economic ones. Already in Damascus they had begun practising the
trade of saddlery (in Arabic sarğ/surūğ, from which comes surūği = Srugi) which would
become their patronymic.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
2. Sim‘ān Srugi: from birth to religious profession. His meetings with M. Rua (1877–1908)
In 1710 Yūsif ’s son, called Gìrgis Srugi moved to Palestine, and in 1720 set up home in
Tarshīha. By his son Faddūl in 1748 another Gìrgis was born and in 1771 he married a
woman from Tarshīha and they settled in Nazareth in 1772: therefore, we can consider
this to be the final date and destination of their wanderings. Gìrgis had 7 sons who took
their wives from various parts (Deir el Kamar, Beirut, Ma‘aleya, Nazareth) and belonging
to various rites (Latin, Maronite, Greek-Melkite Catholic). His second last son Tannūs
(1791–1840) was the father of Hilāne, Daūd, Sim‘ān and ‘Āzar (1815–1880); the latter
married in Nazareth and had ten children by his second wife Dàlleh Ibrahīm Khàwaly,
the last of whom was Sim‘ān.
2.1 Infancy and childhood in Nazareth (1877–1888)
Simon was born in Nazareth on 15 April 1877: his mother belonged to the Maronite
rite, and his father to the Greek-Melkite rite, and because of this the child received the
sacraments of Christian initiation in the Greek-Catholic Melkite parish, then located in
what was considered to be the synagogue in Jesus’ time. On page 46 in the register of the
parish archives we find written:
Today 10 May 1877 the blessed child Sim‘ān, son of ‘Āzar Srugi was baptised and
confirmed. His mother is Dàlleh of the Khàwaly family. The godfather is Ayūb Bùtrus,
son of Y‘aqūb, of the Latin Rite. The minister is Fr Agustīn ‘Aun.[Photos nos. 1, 2, 3,
14]
His father ‘Azàr, who had opened a small greengrocer’s shop, made up for the family’s
poverty, also marked by many premature deaths. After his death (1880) and his mother’s a
few years later, Simon was taken into the home of his paternal grandmother Bàhgiat ‘Aīd,
who with the help of an aunt, sought to fill the fearful void around the poor child. At the
time, Palestine was one of the poorest provinces of the Ottoman empire, by then in decay,
and the socio-economic circumstances were so disastrous that sometimes families were
forced to sell their own children in order to survive. In the city of Nazareth, with its few
thousand inhabitants, there were some orphanages and primary schools run by Catholics,
Orthodox and Protestants; according to the very recent testimony of one of his childhood
companions, it would seem that Simon attended elementary classes at the parish school
run by the Franciscans (cf. Forti, pp. 13–14; Desramaut, pp. 17–22; Fiora, pp. 23–41).
He was then entrusted to Fr Antonio Belloni.
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2.2 Fr Belloni: missionary, founder, spiritual director (1831–1903)
Antonio Belloni was born on 20 August 1831 in the hamlet of Sant’Agata di Oneglia, in
the diocese of Albenga in Liguria (Italy). After his years of formation at the “Brignole-
Sale” Institute in Genoa, run by the “Priests of the Mission” of St Vincent de Paul (the
Vincentians as they are known in English), he was ordained priest on 13 December
1857. He gladly accepted the invitation from “Propaganda Fide” to go as an apostolic
missionary to Palestine in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (re-established in 1847)
where he arrived in April 1859. He was at the Patriarchal seminary in Beitjala as a lecturer
and spiritual director, and from 1863 began looking after poor and orphaned boys, first
of all taking them into a rental property, and then building classrooms, workshops, a
church etc. for them in Bethlehem.1 His hard-working charity for orphans became so
well known that he was called Abù-l-Yatāma, father of the orphans (cf. Nahhās, vol. 1,
passim). [Photo no. 4] Due to his knowledge, wisdom and gift of spiritual fatherhood, as
well as confessor for his confreres and the young people at the orphanage, he was sought
out as a spiritual director by religious and diocesan priests, lay people and nuns. From all
of these emerged Marie-Alphonsine Ghattās, and Myriam Baouardy.
The aforementioned Marie-Alphonsine Ghattās (Jerusalem 1843 – ‘Ain Karim 1927)
made her profession in 1863 in the Congregation of “St Joseph of the Apparition”, and
while she resided at the small school in Bethlehem not far from Fr Belloni’s orphanage
(where some of the Sisters who belonged to her congregation worked in the laundry and
kitchen), she began to have visions of Our lady who revealed to her her wish that she
should start a new local religious congregation. The young girl kept this secret for a while,
then in 1875 she confided in the Patriarch, Vincenzo-Mansūr Bracco (1835–1889).
Patriarch Munsūr helped me by making me feel at ease and calmed my state of
mind with his holy and wise indications. He ordered me to open my conscience and
allow myself to be guided by abuna Antonio Belloni and to carry out what he would
prescribe for me.
After appropriate discernment and the approval of Patriarch Bracco, Fr Belloni
had just founded (1874) the diocesan Congregation called the “Brothers of the Holy
Family”, made up of priests and lay people belonging to various rites, and who took
simple vows each year. So he knew from experience what an undertaking of this kind
meant. Marie-Alphonsine, after visions on the Epiphany 1876, experienced moments of
1 In RBA p. 1, we read: “The first youngster was taken in and clothed with 20 francs from savings on 1 January
1863; then I began to spend on food in a small rented room in Beitgiallah around 20 May”; p. 2: “No. 10
pupils, two serving girls and a prefect-teacher made up the personnel at the orphanage. On 1 July 1864 the
orphanage moved to Bethlehem.”
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great consolation, which alternated with “mortifications and vexations, reproaches and
sufferings”:
I confided in my spiritual director regarding this and asked him to advise me about
everything. He instructed me on how I should act and recommended that I keep it all
a deep secret. He asked me to make a novena, asking the Virgin my Mother to help
me to understand what she wanted from me and to offer myself totally to her service.
He promised me that during the novena he would pray for me at Mass.
Other “dreams” followed regarding the foundation of the congregation; The visionary
wanted to ask Fr Belloni for advice, “but my director had left for a journey to distant
parts”. Some three years went by, and seeing that Fr Belloni was taken up with many
commitments and often abroad, she asked Our Lady to indicate a new spiritual director
for her, “an Arab of our lineage”:
On the day of the Feast of the Annunciation, I saw a wonderful light in which the
Queen of the Rosary emerged in the act of placing her hands on the heads of two
people. I saw that they were priests and were facing the Virgin. The first was Fr
Antonio Belloni and the second Fr Yūsif Tannūs, my spiritual director, on whose head
shone the first mystery of the Rosary.
By this Our Lady was showing that she was pleased with both and would ensure
continuity of spiritual direction from one to the other (Ghattās, pp. 56–57, 61, 63, 72,
74–75).
Fr Belloni exercised the ministry of spiritual guide over the same period in relation
to the other great Palestinian mystic and foundress, the Carmelite Myriam Baouàrdy
(‘Abellīn 1846–Bethlehem 1878), since Patriarch Bracco had appointed him the ordinary
confessor of the Carmelites at Bethlehem in November 1876. On 25 August 1878 he
gave Myriam the last sacraments, and the day after her death, witnessed the removal
of her heart (which in accordance with her will was given to the Carmelites at Pau)
seeing de visu the wound that Myriam had received during the mystical experience of
the transverberation (stigmata).2
These two Palestinian religious, compatriots of Srugi, were canonised on 17 May 2015
by Pope Francis.
2 Let me add three details: also the Baouàrdy family had Damascene-Lebanese ancestry like the Srugis, and
for a certain period resided in Tarshīha. During building works for the Carmel, Fr Belloni offered to house
the first Betharramite chaplain in a special room in his orphanage. Myriam wrote to Fr Estrate on 6 February
1876: “The first carpenter we had asked for more money than Fr Belloni’s, who in fact is much better. If you
approve, he will do all the carpentry work for the monastery: it will cost less and this way we will give the
orphans the possibility of working”: Carmelite nuns of Bethlehem, Anthology of Myriam Baouardy’s letters,
p. 11.
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2.3 Simon with the “Brothers of the Holy Family” in Bethlehem (1888–1892)
When he was eleven years of age, Simon was entrusted to a priest of Fr Belloni’s
congregation who brought him to the agricultural orphanage at Betgamāl (Ramlah).
In the register entitled “Young people of the house at Beit-Jamal 1898. List of Orphans
and Pupils maintained and educated by the ‘Work of the Holy Family of Bethlehem’”,
Simon featured as number 50. It is plausible that because of his frail constitution he
was unsuitable for work in the fields, and so after only half a year, on 8 December
1888 he was transferred to the technical orphanage at Bethlehem, where he became
an apprentice baker, nurse and tailor. [Photo no. 5] Statistics published in the Bulletin
Annuel de l’Oeuvre de la Terre Sainte, say that that year in Bethlehem, there were 110 boys
living in and 160 from outside. The religious, lay staff and orphans, belonging to different
rites, communicated in Arabic, French and Italian. They lived in poor circumstances,
but in a serene family atmosphere, alternating their school duties with religious practices
and recreational activities. Next to the orphanage was a building that functioned as a
parish for the small Greek-Melkite community in Bethlehem; one could believe that
the boarders belonging to that rite, and Simon among them, had this as their place of
reference. The spirit that animated the “Bellonians” in their mission was an eminently
evangelical one:
Although all orphans present themselves to us in the guise of the Saviour, the ones
in Bethlehem have an additional resemblance to him; for us they are clothed with a
very special, and I would almost say sacred, character. They were born where Jesus was
born, they live where he lived, they suffer where he suffered. They are the descendants
of those who were the first to adore the Saviour in the manger at the moment of
his birth. It seems that Joseph and Mary, and especially Jesus, present them to us as
children of his lineage, young people of his homeland, and they tell us: They are dearer
to me than all the others; they are my brothers, my compatriots, and you must love and
help them before all the others. (Bergeretti, p. 9).
Sacramental life, devotion to the Holy family of Nazareth and to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus were among the main sources of inspiration. Simon was imbued with this spirit, and
on 23 May 1892 he had the joy of taking part in the solemn celebrations for the blessing of
the large Church of the Sacred Heart, the building of which confirmed the architectural
skills Fr Bergeretti (1846–1909) had displayed in Australia and especially in Ceylon (Sri
Lanka). (cf. Valentini, p. 206). [Photos nos. 4, 5, 6].
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
2.4 The arrival of the first Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the
Holy Land (1891)
As at Bethlehem, so too at Cremisan and Betgamāl the number of boys being helped grew
year by year, yet the number of “Brothers” was not growing in proportion to the need.3
Therefore, Fr Belloni, wanting to ensure the continuity of his work, visited Turin on
several occasions to ask the help of Don Bosco, who promised that he would, but on
a future date yet to be determined. The intention was to aggregate the Bellonians to the
Salesians: easily said but a complex thing to do. Following Don Bosco’s death, negotiations
were once more taken up by his successor, Fr Michael Rua (1837–1910), who studied the
plan to put in place together with his Councillors, among whom Frs Giulio Barberis and
Eugenio Bianchi (Catechist General and Novice Master respectively), chose the confreres
to send, and obtained the placet of the Congregation of “Propaganda Fide”, organised the
“missionary expedition”. Between June, October and December 1891, backed by solemn
celebrations in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin for the Jubilee Year of Don
Bosco’s Work (1841), 25 Salesians arrived in the Holy Land (SDB: 3 priests, 10 clerics and
12 brothers) as well as 5 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA).4
The Salesians were very young, some just newly professed like clerics Giacomo
Mezzacasa (born 1871), Salvatore Puddu (1874), Carlo Gatti and Mario Rosin (1875),
and Brother Angelo Bormida (born 1870, professed 18 September 1890), and this meant
that they could more easily acclimatise and learn the local language: not all had the
intelligence of Mezzacasa, who in the years that followed learned Arabic, Syriac and
Hebrew, or became specialists like Gatti, but they were all committed to what today
we would call inculturation, and set about the study of Arabic under the guidance of
a Maronite Lebanese priest (cf. Pozzo, p. 8). They began exchanging their first words in
Arabic during recreation with the local boys (among whom the fourteen-year-old Simon
3 We read in the RBA: there were 7 priests, 8 professed brothers, 8 “secular teachers”, 3 Sisters and 6 “Daughters
of Mary”. Fr Bergeretti, pp. 29–30, gave the following numbers for 1888: “Among those employed in the
Work of the Holy Family are the Brothers in Vows and the Postulants, 25 in number.. They act as teachers,
prefects to the boys, and together with the priests of the Work they are the Founder’s right hand.” Nahhās,
on p. 26 of Volume 2, writes that in 1890 the members of the Holy Family numbered 14. In the above-
mentioned RBA for 1890 we read: 8 priests and 12 professed brothers, 3 sisters, 6 Daughters of Mary; and
for 1891: “Personnel is more or less the same as for the previous year.”
4 On 15 June to priests arrived, Fr G.B.Useo and Fr R.Coradini accompanied by the Catechist General Fr
G. Barberis; on 8 October 7 Salesians arrived (4 clerics and 3 brothers) and five Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians; on 29 December another 16 Salesians (only one priest, Fr Antonio Varaia, 6 clerics and 9 brothers),
among whom the only non-Italian was seventy-year-old Adrien Nèple. The most documented and official
chronicle of this, from its beginnings in 1890 to Fr Rua’s first trip in 1895, is offered by Fr Eugenio CERIA,
Annali, vol 2., pp. 174–187. As for the FMA, cf. also Papa-Fabrizi, in Loparco-Zimniak, pp. 863–876.
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Srugi), while telling them about Don Bosco whom they had known personally. The first
impressions that Fr Coradini passed on in private to Fr Eugenio Bianchi are very positive:
My impression is that everything here has the same aspect as our houses; the Canon
is at the centre of everything, dominates the hearts of the young with love, like our
dear Don Bosco. The priests here are very friendly; most are Italians, all with beards.
There are some clerics already professed and others who are aspirants: 18 in all. There
are around 100 orphans, a large number of them postulants, meaning they would
like to become Salesians. We must consider that the Lord has given us a great gift in
bringing us to the Holy Land. Here we have a work brought about through a thousand
hardships by this great man, who is worthily called the “father of orphans”, which in
a number of aspects is formed more in a Salesian way than at the mother house itself;
and we have been given it so easily by this same Canon, who is so keen that this house
conform in every small detail to other Salesian houses (ASC, A8062403; A8062404).
Instead, at the level of official relations, it did not take long for things to become
complicated: while Fr Belloni had always acted in agreement with Patriarch Bracco, who
had given him his full support, the replacement, Ludovico Piavi, a Franciscan and of a
different character, found himself handling this new venture at the beginning of his term
of office (1889–1905), and moved ahead warily. For his part, Fr Rua had to juggle between
the Latin Patriarchate, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the "Propaganda
Fide" section dealing with Eastern Rites affairs, and all without offending the political
and cultural sensitivities of the Consulates General of France and Italy in Jerusalem,
who in those years were very lively and in competition. Unexpectedly, even before the
third group of missionaries departed, Cardinal Simeoni, the Prefect of “Propaganda”,
presented new harsh conditions on behalf of the patriarchate. On 4 December 1891,
Fr Rua took a stance, writing him a long letter which was both dignified and firm: the
Salesian Congregation, which had not come to take, but to give “a strong contingent
of personnel and a considerable financial contribution” to Canon Belloni’s work, could
not accept the conditions that would have reduced the Salesians to “stipendiaries” of the
Patriarch, paralysing their activity. Therefore: “If it is not possible to reconcile the Rule
of our Congregation with the rights of the Patriarchate, we submit ourselves entirely to
the disposition of the Apostolic See: that is, to withdraw or open other establishments;
and always, of course, on the basis of the laws of the Church and in full subordination
to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.” (ASC, G336X101. cf. Ceria, Annali, vol. 2,
p. 179). This intervention by Fr Rua was effective, without, however, solving everything,
such that on 14 July 1892 he insisted with Patriarch Piavi:
It may have seemed to some that we were guided by ambition; in truth, this was so far
from our thinking that we never even thought of trying to enter the Holy Land until
we were warmly begged by the aforementioned Canon Belloni to lend him help to
support his work. We felt our hearts moved when we heard that every breed of heretic
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
and schismatic has large establishments in Palestine and is constantly acquiring land,
while a Catholic establishment as important and popular as Canon Belloni’s was in
danger of disappearing for lack of personal and material resources”: in this respect,
he pointed out that in little more than a year, the Salesians had invested about 100,000
Italian lire to make up the “deficit of 57,540 francs” that Fr Belloni had recorded on
the RBA at the end of 1890 (ASC, G336X105).
We should remember that before the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians arrived, there was no lack of religious congregations in Palestine.5 For all these
reasons, the inclusion of the “latest arrivals” and their integration with the Bellonians
in the houses at Bethlehem, Cremisan and Betgamāl required time and patience to
overcome a number of difficulties. In the end:
Each person had full and peaceful freedom of choice: to join the patriarchal clergy
or to become a Salesian. What is certain is that the Congregation made excellent
acquisitions from among Fr Belloni’s confreres: Fathers Raffaele Piperni, Andrea
Bergeretti, Antonio Josephides, Giovanni Nahas, Charles Vercauteren, Athanase
Prun, Giovanni Belloni (Fr Antonio’s cousin), Brothers George Harūni, Giovanni De
Ferrari, clerics Vincenzo Ponzo and Peter Sarkīs (who later became priests). They
all made a new novitiate and joined the Congregation as part, for then, of the new
All Saints Province that also included houses founded by Fr Belloni. Fr Celestino
Durando, with his headquarters in Turin, was appointed Provincial (ASC 3.129; cf.
Borrego , p. 64; Desramaut, pp. 287–289).
The FMA, too, were relatively young (average age 27); the Superior, Sr Annetta
Vergano was only 25. Having made her perpetual profession in Turin (17 September
1891), on the 24th she received her missionary cross from Fr Rua, who wanted to
spend time with those who were leaving “to give them appropriate advice; he knew
that they would have to overcome delicate moments, not a few sacrifices and initial
limitations.” (cf. Grassiano, p.163; Secco, pp. 5, 9–10). The first few weeks were
devoted to establishing relationships of trust and understanding with the “Missionary
Daughters of Mary”, Sisters founded by Fr Giacinto Bianchi (1835–1914, declared
Venerable in 2008) who provided domestic services at the orphanage from 1876;
thanks to Sister Annetta’s prudence, humility and kindness, “before Christmas, all the
female staff of the orphanage were together in peace”: some chose to go back to Italy,
four asked to be aggregated to the FMA. The new arrivals immediately fraternised
5 For centuries only two male religious congregations ministered in the Holy Land. First the Franciscans
(1218), then the Carmelites (1631). After the re-establishment of the Latin Patriarchate (1847) the Our Lady
of Sion male religious arrived (1855), the De La Salle Brothers (1876), the White Fathers (1878), the priests
of the Sacred Heart of Betharram (1879), the Brothers of St John of God (1880), the Dominicans (1884),
the Assumptionists (1887), the Vincentians and the Trappists (1890). The female Congregations were: the
Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition (1848), the Our Lady of Nazareth Sisters (1855), the Sisters of Our
Lady of Sion (1866), the Carmelites (1873 and 1875), the Rosary Sisters (1880), the Poor Clares (1884), the
Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1885), the Daughters of Charity (1886), the Sisters
of St Charles Borromeo (1886).
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with the Bethlehem girls in what would emerge as an oratory, to the amazement of
the other sisters who ran confessional-type schools for girls in the village, but did not
open their doors during extracurricular hours or mix in the courtyard with Orthodox
and Latin girls; on the other hand, the girls loved it and “took the bait”. The following
year, Sr Annetta accompanied the first of her Sisters to Betgamāl where there were
no girls to deal with in an oratory style, but just poverty, isolation and much work
at the service of the Salesians and the orphans. Adopting the same approach, the
composite community began to amalgamate and after a short time two "Daughters of
the Immaculate" who were already there took the FMA habit, while others returned
to Italy (cf. Papa-Fabrizi, in Loparco-Zimniak, pp. 863–876).
2.5 Simon at Betgamāl (1892–1900): aspirant, novice and professed Salesian
Halfway through July 1891, Fr Belloni, who had returned from his lengthy “search
for funds” in Europe, wanted to accompany the first two Salesians by horseback from
Bethlehem to Betgamāl: skirting the “Hortus conclusus” and “Solomon’s Pools”, they began
the descent towards Jab‘a and after 6 hours entered Betgamāl, escorted by a cortège of
farmers on horseback and youngsters on foot, celebrating the return of their beloved
father. The fist day was memorable for the festivities, the dinner and the academy at
which the boys presented skits, recitals in prose and poetry in 15 ancient and modern
languages, demonstrating such friendliness and affection that the two Salesians were
greatly impressed. Over the three following days they were accompanied on a visit to
all of the huge property and were able to gain direct acquaintance with the Bellonian
staff who animated the community. Returning to Bethlehem, Fr Coradini explained it all
enthusiastically to Fr Bianchi:
Everything here is favourable, and the work seems more beautiful and greater every
day. The staff can be described as truly Salesian. They have a simple, easy-going,
friendly manner that is very pleasing to the eye. We really have to thank the Lord.
At Beitgemal they pointed out a confrere to me who was supervising work in the
fields, as a real St Aloysius: I never took my eyes off him, and I can assure you that he
is a real edification, and seems to me to be even better than Bertarione, because he
combines a most pleasing outer aspect with the solid virtue that is well known to all.6
Fifteen-year-old Simon Srugi returned to this setting on 25 August 1892: we think he
found himself very much at ease, and being of a mild temperament and deep piety, it was
not long before he stood out among the 35 pupils for his exemplary behaviour. Inclined
to embrace Salesian consecrated life, in October 1892 he was admitted as an aspirant (to
be a brother) and on 25 July 1893 he was admitted to the novitiate. Fr Forti explains: “In
6 Letter of 21 July 1891: ASC, A8062407; he also hinted at some shadows: shortcomings regarding “morality”
among the young people; unwillingness of “locals” to work; some decidedly untrustworthy tenants.
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his humility perhaps he never thought of the possibility of becoming a priest: probably
to study would have cost him dearly; on the other hand, it was not appropriate for the
superiors to force such a frail young man to undergo an ordeal that would weaken his
health.” Concerning the novitiate, Fr Fiora writes: “We have absolutely no information
and no documentation regarding this period. The Rector of the house from 1894 to 1896
was Fr Ruggero Coradini and just as Fr Varaia had done earlier, he also had to be the
novice master for the house.” It was not unusual for brother candidates to do a two-year
novitiate. In addition, Simon, who was of the Greek-Melkite Rite, had to wait until Rome
had completed procedures for his transfer to the Latin Rite; a procedure that in those
years took place according to the precise rules of the Orientalium Dignitas Ecclesiarum
just published (30 November 1894), under the vigilant eye of those who were accusing
Western Religious Congregations of “latinising” oriental Christians (cf. Polacek, pp.
23–27, 41). There is a handwritten document of the first profession in the Province’s
archives:
I the undersigned have read and understood the Rules of the Society of St Francis de
Sales and promise to observe them for three years in accordance with the formula of
the vows I have pronounced.
Cremisan, 31 October 1896.
Srugi M. Simon.
The signatures of the two witnesses follow: Fr Ruggero Coradini, novice master, and
Fr Athanase Prun from the new community at Nazareth, showing the ties with Simon’s
birthplace. As a Salesian Brother, Simon became a full member of the community at
Betgamāl where he would remain without interruption for 47 years. In the list of confreres
for 1896, the new Rector, Fr Ercole Cantoni (1863–1942), listed just one priest (himself),
a deacon, two clerics and two brothers: Antonio Baccaro (1866–1938) and Simon Srugi.
Three years later, in the report sent to the superiors in Turin dated 8 January 1899, there
was a description of the classes, subjects and the respective teachers at the “St Joseph’s
Agricultural School”: Srugi taught Arabic in the first elementary class and Accessories
(agriculture, geography, arithmetic) in the same class, for the lower section. One could
think that he was also available for work as infirmarian, the rudiments of which he had
learned at the orphanage in Bethlehem, and had then completed under the guidance
of Fr Cantoni who was a good doctor. After 4 years of temporary vows, the superiors
judged that he was mature enough to make a final commitment, and so he presented the
following request for admission:
Live Jesus
Bethlehem 18 September 1900.
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With a view to conforming to the Holy Rule in everything, I am asking my beloved
superiors in writing to be aggregated to the Pious Society of St Francis de Sales
through perpetual holy vows.
In faith
Srugi Simon.
He made his profession two days later at Bethlehem at the end of the Retreat. It is nice
to think that Fr Antonio Belloni, his great benefactor and father, who had formalised
his adhesion to the Salesian Congregation some years before by making his perpetual
profession on 7 July 1893, was present and rejoiced at this.
2.6 The Betgamāl work: the beginnings and its transfer from the Bellonians to the
Salesians (1878–1892)
Betgamāl is located in the geographical region of the Shefela, some 32 km south-west
of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, 57 km south-east of Jaffa, and with Tel-Betshèmesh 3 km
north, Hebron and Beersheba to the south-east (44 and 71 km respectively) and Gaza
to the south-west (77 km). The entire area is filled with biblical memories, ruins from
the Jewish, Roman, early Christian and Byzantine periods. The Jewish and Roman ones
are linked, among other things, with the battles between the Philistines and Israelites
and Samson’s famous gestures, the passing of the Ark of the Covenant returned by
the five Philistine chiefs (cf. 1 Sam 6:1–18), the duel between David and Goliath, the
prophet Micah... Early Christian records date back to the Jewish doctor of law Gamaliel,
his disciple Saul-Paul and the protomartyr Saint Stephen. This has been confirmed not
only by the toponymy but also by the numerous remains of Byzantine and Muslim
buildings scattered throughout the area. These particulars were among the reasons that
urged Fr Belloni to acquire an enormous area of around 900 hectares (from 1869 to
1878), with funding from Scotsman John Patrick III the Marquis of Bute and other
wealthy benefactors. The area was almost entirely uninhabited, and his hope was not
only to reclaim the marshy land, but to settle Christian families there from Beitjala and
Bethlehem, and revive “the holy places”.7
7 Surprising data, to say the least, can be read about the extent of the land in Betgamāl: on 15 September 1892,
Fr Belloni presented the Patriarch with a complete list of the 7 “properties or real estate belonging to the
Work of the Holy Family”: 2 in Bethlehem; 1 of “around 120 hectares 3 Km from Beitjala above the road
of St John on the Mountain”; “a plot of some 900 hectares in Beitgemal”; 1 plot in Jerusalem, above what is
known as the Mamilla pool; at Temeth near Madaba, around 100 hectares; at Nazareth around 150 hectares”.
Fr Sacchetti, Annotazioni varie ... 1913, on p. 8 writes: “Beitgemal has a surface area of approximately 600
hectares, only half of which are cultivated or able to be cultivated; the other half has two thirds not able to
be cultivated while one third is a forest of small oaks”; the same Fr Sacchetti in September 1932 writes that
Betgamāl was 650 hectares: cf. documents in AIMOR 4.4.1.1, folder A, B; and in ABG, Cronache up until 24
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Fr Belloni’s men placed the first “station” in the valley to the east bordering Fattīr,
where a spring of fresh water gushes out, which ensured the cultivation of crops, while
the water in the wadi Būlos to the west was brackish and ended up in malarial mosquito-
infested rivulets. Then in successive stages, they settled on the hill to the north-west, on
which a few houses of an abandoned Muslim village and scattered remains of Byzantine
buildings remained. On it, they levelled a quadrangular area with sides measuring
approximately 150 metres. The northern side faced the plot of land called Khallet Isma‘īn
from the name of the sheikh, in whose memory a mosque had been built, then dismantled.
The central plateau was called Khallet esh-Shugi‘a “land of the valiant men”, and fell away
to the south towards a narrow valley by the same name. After building the perimeter
walls and excavating large cisterns in the limestone rock to supply rainwater, the Brothers
of the Holy Family built the first part of the building (1878-80), where in 1878–79 they
inaugurated the orphanage and the fledgling agricultural school with some fifteen pupils;
Fr Guglielmo Barberis was the first Rector, followed by Fr Antonio Scanzio (1882–1891).
In 1878 three “Missionary Daughters of Mary” arrived, sent by their founder, Fr Giacinto
Bianchi to look after the kitchen and wardrobe; they were housed in a spacious, self-
contained building bordering part of the western side of the plateau. As a whole the
work was isolated, without communication possibilities, and the property, with imprecise
boundaries often disputed by would-be landlords and tenant farmers, was exposed on all
sides to the mercy of Bedouins and their flocks. [Photos nos. 7, 8].
In 1892, replacing Fr Raffaele Piperni (1842–1930), Fr Antonio Varaia (1849–1913)
was sent there and thus became the first Salesian Rector (1892–1894). He had been taken
in as an orphan by Don Bosco at Valdocco, made his profession in 1872 and was ordained
in 1876. He was an excellent priest who combined a deep interior life with a notable
practical capacity to organise. He had proved his worth in the orphanage and flourishing
agricultural colony of St-Cyr in France. In his letter of 20 November 1891, Fr Rua invited
him in very friendly terms to accept the obedience of going to the Holy Land as a “reward
and trial”, ready to continue the Saviour’s work with sacrifice, for the glory of God and
the salvation of souls. He wrote a very graceful letter to him on 20 January 1892:
I am happy about the various welcomes you have received, and may they serve as a
commitment to cultivate this vineyard more and more, which the Lord has wished
to entrust to you. I believe that all the confreres there are worthy, but from time to
time, it is necessary to try to remove the ashes that are stuck to the coals. You should
not believe that no difficulties will arise, and that the devil will keep quiet. On the
contrary, it is in this vicinity that he dared to tempt the Divine Saviour; and therefore
consider whether he has lost his audacity, and whether he will convert now that he
April 1942. On a map from 1925 preserved in the ABG, the various plots of land are numbered, the surface
area of which is 349,841 hectares (!).
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is older! What I recommend to you always is the charity that must unite you, and
drive out the desire to be first, which ruins every work, even the most holy. Try to
put into practice the rules I gave you before you left and always show the deference
and flexibility to Canon Belloni that I recommended you to show. Whenever some
difficulty arises, try to let me know of it immediately and with charity you will see
that everything comes together (ASC, A4540323; A4540324).
In fact, shortly after his arrival, and once the first illusory impressions had vanished,
Fr Varaia admitted that he seemed to have moved from a garden to a desert infested by
brigands and where, to resist, one had to become like them.8 Jokes aside, he showed that
he was up to his new task, and by word and example began to graft the traditions and
spirit he had learned in Valdocco onto that land. In particular, he was the first Salesian
teacher of the aspirant Simon Srugi, and therefore had to pass on to him, over the two
years they lived together, something of his spiritual richness: he set him on the path of
sanctifying every action of the day, living “the present moment” in the most generous and
intimate union with the Lord; such that for Simon, when he was pumping water from the
well and carrying containers to the laundry or to the thyme distillery “every turn of the
wheel was an act of love of God”.
Fr Varaia played an important role in the delicate period of adjustment between
Bellonians and Salesians. It is clear that the arrival of 25 Salesians and 5 FMA in six
months (all Italians except one) had disturbed the balance of things, in terms of both
quantity and quality (culture, language, ways of doing things ...). Dissatisfaction spread
both among the outnumbered “Brothers of the Holy Family”, and the local teachers and
workplace supervisors, who had to cede their place to the foreign Salesian brothers; this
resulted in strong tensions. “Propaganda Fide” asked for the “redde rationem”, and Fr Rua,
who had noted the “very serious grievances” for which “all the blame is being placed on
us”, ordered that “Fr Useo and the Canon come here, as delegates to the General Chapter,
to prepare the defence which is compatible with our circumstances. So long as there are
no truly serious and, should I say, insurmountable difficulties, this would be my wish.”9
Tensions eased over the months that followed, but the problems did not disappear, as we
see from the account of things he laid out on 19 January 1893 when replying to Fr Varaia:
I share your problems deeply. This past year has been the first year since the arrival of
the Salesians in the Holy Land and if it was a year of trial and tribulation for you, so
too was it for me. It seems that the devil has sought to hinder our work there at any
8 AIMOR 4.4.2: Cronistoria della Casa di Beitgemal. The first 5 Salesian Rectors were: Fr Varaia (January
1892 – October 1894), Fr Coradini (1894–1896), Fr Cantoni (1896–1901), Fr Vercauteren (October 1902
– September 1908), abuna Ishāq Gia‘nine from Beitjala (1908–1914).
9 Letter of 7 August 1892, addressed to Fr Belloni and a copy to Fr Durando: ASC, A4480354; cf. also the letter
of 25 August 1892 (ASC, A4510224), as well as one to Fr Paul Albera on 15 August 1892.
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cost. But the good God and Mary Help of Christians have already come to our aid and
I hope they will do so even more manifestly in the future, so long as we can withstand
the future trials that the Lord may allow, with patience, humility and confidence in
God. Be patient just a little longer and I hope the help of additional personnel will
come. I was assured that the Congregation of Propaganda has written in favour of this,
and all we are awaiting is the official announcement from the Patriarch and then we
will immediately send the people whom our very dear Canon had told us are needed,
both in terms of Salesians and the Sisters. With regard to material means, then, I
hope that our dear Fr Piperni, who is currently in Mexico, will soon send help for
the Holy Land. Let all of you agree to respect, obey and love the Canon as your local
Superior; try to work together in agreement to save as much expense as possible,
limiting yourselves to what is strictly necessary, and endeavour to ensure that the land
yields as much as possible through your diligent work and also with the agricultural
efforts of those who have to manage the work, and hopefully things will go better in
the New Year. But above all you need to remember that omne donum desursum est,
hence the need to resort to prayer, fervently and in faith (ASC, A4540326).
Fr Giulio Barberis, too, accompanied this delicate period of transition with a number
of letters addressed to Fr Varaia in which he recommended prudence, taking things
gradually, respect and adjustment to local traditions (“...had Don Bosco found himself
in Bethlehem, he would have acted like Fr Belloni”), study of Arabic, practice of the
preventive system, and other important points in a lengthy letter (7 sides) on 10 June
1892, a letter that was read out in public to all the confreres. In his letter on 8 June 1894 he
offered moral advice and practical pointers for Betgamāl. Fr Rua himself had intervened
on these matters with a detailed memorandum sent to Fr Belloni, entitled: “Measures
required to purify the air at Beitgemal, to avoid fevers”:
1- Preventing fever by avoiding humidity at night; drink filtered water, have a healthy
diet and avoid indigestion. 2- Combat fever with quinine or other powerful medicine,
with herbal teas and appropriate measures regarding diet and rest. 3- Keep the creeks
running through the valleys clean so that the water can flow freely. For some years
now these creeks have not been cleaned and that is bad for health. 4- Plant two long
rows of poplars and willows along these creeks. This will purify the air and you will
also have wood. 5- Also plant many trees in the valleys and mainly close to the house.
6- Look after the forest, clear away the bushes from the saplings so they can grow into
trees. In this way, the air will be reclaimed and the forest, free of bushes and thorns,
will become a grazing area for the flocks during the summer. Until such time as these
improvements are made, the confreres suffering from fever could go to Cremisan in
September and October, leaving the more robust and already acclimatised confreres
in Beitgemal. Someone has told me: regarding the poor air at Beitgemal, I really don’t
know what to say. Beitgemal’s malaria is not just local: it is the same throughout Judea:
even in Bethlehem which seems so healthy, malaria reigns. 7- I believe that when
the trees that Fr Varaia was thinking of planting, eucalypts and poplars more than
anything else, are known about in Beitgemal, much will be gained. 8- It would be a
good idea to advise the youngsters not to play too much, especially when the wind is
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blowing in the courtyard on the northern side of the house, which is very damaging,
both in winter and in summer: and especially in summer, because young people, who
love the cool air, do not understand the danger of playing in that courtyard, except
when they fall ill. 9- There would be a need to organise a few bathrooms for the boys,
with appropriate assistance. For lack of means, this was never done. 10- The nights
are very humid there in summer, almost without exception: dew is plentiful. So after
eight o’clock in the evening, it is not healthy to be out in the open (ASC, A4480395;
cf. also ASC, A4540331).
2.7 Fr Michael Rua’s first visit to Palestine (1895)
But neither letters nor visits from Fr Celestino Durando (July 1892) and Fr Giovanni
Marenco (June-August 1893, with whom another two FMA arrived) were sufficient.
Therefore, in 1895 Fr Rua decided to come in person (28 February–20 March),
accompanied by the Catechist General, Fr Paul Albera, to clarify what were the main
problems pending with the authorities, and to overcome the persistent difficulties that
had arisen in the first years of fusion (and confusion) between Bellonians and Salesians,
as also between the FMA and the “Missionary Daughters of Mary”. From the boat he
wrote to Fr Eugenio Bianchi promising that while in the Holy Land he would pray in
particular for him and the other novice masters (cf. ASC, A4480466).
His visit (12–14 March) brought a breath of energy to Betgamāl: he placed the work
under the protection of Our Lady of Lourdes (whose statue he blessed in the grotto of the
entrance square) and called it “the house of charity”, not only because he saw that good
that was being done for the orphans, but also in the hope that the farmlands, now better
cultivated, would also be able to provide for the houses in Bethlehem (called “house of
faith” because that’s where everything began) and Cremisan (“house of hope” because it
was already a house of formation for new recruits). The gift of an oil crusher and press
from the Count de Villeneuve was part of this prospect of development (cf. Ceria, Annali,
Vol. 2, pp. 185–187; Amadei, Vol. 1, pp. 667–669; Grego, pp. 16–25).
On several occasions following his visit, during 1896-97, Fr Rua sent financial aid; he
repeatedly recommended that the Rector, Fr Coradini make the farmlands profitable,
without thinking of new buildings or anything else.10 In 1898 he sent the School
Councillor, Fr Francesco Cerruti, for a visit to organise the houses of formation, insisting
on the study of Arabic with a view to the proper integration of the Salesians in the local
context (cf. Pozzo, p. 8).
10 “I am told that Fr Coradini is dreaming about setting up a brick factory. For pity’s sake, keep an eye on
him: we’re falling apart trying to help him pay his debts, I’m sorry he’s looking for ways to make new ones”:
ASC, A4480363 (16 December 1896); A4480364 (13 January ’97); A4480365 (9 February ’97); A4480366 (11
February ’97); A4480373 (3 June ’97).
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2.8 Erection of the Middle East Province. Death of Fr Belloni. Becoming an Italian
“protectorate” (1902–1904)
There were very important events for our story in the years that followed. On 20 January
1902 the Salesian Province of the Middle East was canonically erected, made up of 71
confreres in houses in Palestine, Egypt and Turkey. Some months later Fr Luigi Nai
(1855–1932) was appointed Provincial, “Rector at the time of San Benigno Canavese,
which had flourished under his leadership, and now it was his task to graft the genuine
Salesian spirit onto the houses received from Fr Belloni. This choice of Fr Rua’s was
considered a fortunate one because Fr Nai embodied Don Bosco’s fatherliness. He was
not completely unfamiliar with the Middle East; he had just been there, probably sent on
purpose, as an extraordinary visitor and preacher of all the retreats.” On 29 November
1902, among other things Fr Rua wrote to him:
I hope that Fr Barberis will help you to form the novitiate properly. I think there are
very few novices this year. Try to see that there are many for the coming year: by then
there will be time to discuss things. God willing, Beitgemal will start well and become
a source of spiritual and temporal wellbeing for the houses in Palestine, which it can
and should be. You should pay special attention to this area (ASC, A4520540).
Fr Nai succeeded in establishing relations of trust with Patriarch Piavi and with the
Franciscans of the Custody. “Superior”, as title of reverence, was still given to Fr Belloni,
but in fact his health was so precarious that he had already “handed over the tiller” to
twenty-seven-year-old Fr Carlo Gatti, appointing him as his vicar. Just in time we could
say: he died on 9 August 1903, 11 days before what would have been his 72nd birthday:
“Emotions ran high, there was general mourning, and the funeral was a triumph. A
number of Consulates flew their flags at half-mast, as a sign that he was always above
any national disputes and deserved everyone’s respect and cooperation. The Work of the
Holy Family had lost its founder, Palestine its father of orphans, the Latin Patriarchate a
worthy priest and apostolic missionary, the Salesians a confrere who in his ten years of
religious life had been an example of humility and simplicity” (V. Pozzo).
A charismatic man and man of culture, founder and administrator, Canon Belloni
was the most representative figure of the clergyman in his generation, worthy of being
appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem: in 1873 he was the first on the list of candidates
proposed as successor to Bishop Valerga, but out of humility he renounced this so he
could dedicate himself totally to his orphans (cf. Gianazza Gianmaria, p. 12.). He
had been a man of heroic goodness and humility, enduring insults and calumnies from
the usual envious people, both at the beginning of his work and after the merger with
the Salesians, even when he had the title of Canon of the Holy Sepulchre withdrawn
from him (cf. Ceria, Annali, vol. 2, pp. 178, 180–183; Desramaut, p. 24). He was
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considered a man of God, a saint, and in the opinion of many of his contemporaries,
something also shared by historians, he deserved to have his cause of beatification
begun. Unfortunately, however, after his profession in the Salesian Congregation and
transferring all his properties to it (in a handwritten will on 9 January 1903), he was
opposed and discredited among the local hierarchies, and on his death, disputes over the
inheritance of the assets that had belonged to him began; meaning that other interest
prevailed over the opening of his cause for beatification.
Another important new development was the decision to place Salesian Works in
the Holy land (except for Nazareth) under the protection of Italy. Up until then they
were under France. The agreement was signed on 9 September 1904 by Fr Rua and
Prof. Ernesto Schiaparelli, president of the ANMI (Associazione Nazionale per soccorrere
i missionari cattolici italiani), who looked after the relations of religious congregations
abroad with the Italian government (in a state of “separation” from the Catholic Church
after 1870). We could say that it was an act of “political realism” that Fr Rua accepted,
changing the position he had expressed in the previously mentioned letter to Cardinal
Simeoni on 4 December 1891.11 It was suggested by the prospect of practical advantages
for the Italian confreres. But the anti-clerical measures of the French government, which
had suppressed the religious houses, including the Salesian ones in France, Algeria and
then Tunisia, dispersing the confreres in various dioceses, and on July 30, 1904 had
broken off diplomatic relations with the Holy See, were not unrelated (cf. Ceria, Annali,
vol 3, pp. 291–292). This decision would have lasting and dramatic consequences for
relations between the Italian confreres and the local ones, who interpreted it as opening
the door to undue political interference, as I will be pointing out further on.
For now I am resuming the particular subject of my research, the work at Betgamāl,
that had become Simon Srugi’s home. Fr Rua continued to give practical instructions for
a development plan for the farm and its environmental improvement to the Provincial, Fr
Nai and his successor, Fr Peter Cardano, to whom he recommended: “What is important
to us is that malaria can be avoided there. If you can make good provision for this,
everything will go well” (cf. letters of 20 January 1903; 27 January 1904 and 19 February
1907, in ASC A4520542; A4520547; A4490624). I think this last point was particularly
close to Srugi’s heart, as he was entrusted with public health, in charge of the infirmary
for the boarders and the outpatient clinic.
11 “As far as protection is concerned, above all we have Providence, which, we have no doubt, will always
manifest itself through the Apostolic See, teacher of wisdom and prudence: we will therefore accept no other
protection than that which will be indicated to us by the Holy Father and by the Sacred Congregation of
Propaganda. We do not engage in politics in our works. On this point there is no difficulty for us.” (ASC,
G336X101).
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2.9 Fr Rua’s second visit and contacts with Simon (1908)
Fr Rua wanted to come back and visit all the SDB and FMA houses in the Province
(after 1896 it extended from Constantinople to Alexandria in Egypt) during a journey
in 1908, the longest one in his life, and one he also undertook as a penitential pilgrimage.
This time he was accompanied by the Economer General, Fr Clemente Bretto who kept
a very complete diary of it. He stayed in Betgamāl from 1–5 February 1908, and left
behind a double list of recommendations regarding every aspect of the work, down to
the tiniest details regarding improvement of the environment and hygiene and sanitary
conditions, rearing sheep, cultivating vegetables, wheat and olives, and insisting on a
balanced distribution of responsibilities over sectors among the Brothers; but above all he
reminded the Rector and Prefect of the primacy of religious life and their fidelity to the
Salesian system of education. Between the first and the second list there were thirty-one
recommendations; it is worth recording some of them:
First: let the basis of everything be observance of the Rule. - Let the Rector “remind
himself that his role is more spiritual than temporal, therefore let him be careful not
to become absorbed in material matters to the detriment of spiritual ones. - See that
there are two sermons every Sunday/Holy Day, one in the morning, the other in the
evening. – Give the confreres two conferences a month and receive their monthly
rendiconto. – Also give the Sisters a monthly conference at the Exercise for a Happy
Death. – Teach theology to N.N. at least three times a week. He needs an Arabic-
French or Arabic-Italian dictionary. – With kind words and fatherly familiarity
encourage the confreres and domestics, informing yourself about their tasks and
allowing them to explain their activities”. – The Prefect “should not give himself over
entirely to material concerns; let him be present for the community practices of piety,
and reserve at least some time for some sacred studies. - Recommend the preventive
system and exclude any violent and lengthy punishments; monitor things to see that
the repressive system is not used, warning those who use it (Amadei, Vol. 3, pp.
391–393; cf. Colombo, passim, 474–476, 483–484).
The superior at Betgamāl then was Belgian Fr Charles Vercauteren (1865–1939,
Rector from 1902–1908) one of the Bellonians who had made his profession as a Salesian
in 1894. He had known Simon at the orphanage in Bethlehem and from then on had had
the impression that he was a saintly lad. The Prefect (Economer) was Lebanese Fr Peter
Sarkīs (1871–1937) also a former Bellonian; I will be presenting him further on. Among
the boys whom Fr Rua met there, was also a small group of Armenian orphans in whom
he took a personal interest; I will find the right place to open a “window” on them. At
Betgamāl they were particularly assisted by cleric John Almagian, also an Armenian and
orphan, since he was continuing his practical training there. We believe that Srugi had
put into practice the instructions of Don Bosco’s successor, those of a religious nature as
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well as those pertaining to health and hygiene. They exchanged letters, two brief notes of
which are extant, and that we will examine in Part Two, dedicated to his writings.
As was his custom as a man of government, Fr Rua was not just content to leave
instructions, but wanted to be informed that they had been carried out; therefore on 25
January 1909 he wrote to the new Rector, Fr Ishāq Gia‘nīne (Isaac Giannini), asking him
to bring him up to date with everything, including the parish and vocational apostolate:
On another occasion when you write to me, give me some news about the place:
whether the number of pupils has increased; whether they are good; whether good
harmony reigns among the staff; whether the idea of sheep grazing has been adopted;
whether any work has been done to protect you from malaria etc. I am very interested
in the spiritual and material progress of the place, since it needs to be a source of
vocations and of material help to the other houses in Palestine when well maintained.
I would also like to know if you have anyone studying. Give me news about the parish
too, since your chapel is the parish church; tell me if it has parishioners who come;
whether they attend the Sacraments etc. Fond regards to all the dear confreres and
the young people whom I recall with great pleasure and heartily recommend to the
Lord (ASC, A4510475).
In the letter of 7 July 1909 he insists:
My dear Fr Giannini, Jaffa-Beitgemal. Heartfelt thanks for the greetings you sent
me in yours of 20 June for my Name Day [In fact it was his birthday, 9 June], and
especially for the prayers in common said for me. I am happy to know about the
number of boys, though it is not much higher than the past year, and nevertheless
that most importantly, they are good and profiting [from things]. I am pleased that
the St Joseph’s Sodality has started up among them, and that some of them are suited
to the religious state. I too hope, indeed I am certain, that they will persevere if looked
after well, as I recommend you do. I am also happy to know that you have developed
the sheep grazing in accordance with the advice I gave you. And with regard to this I
encourage you to be very careful that by taking in other flocks, they will not pass on
diseases they are infected with to yours. Therefore, see that your sheep do not come
into contact with the ones you are giving shelter to. I also recommend that you save
some of the winter feed for the summer by leading your flock in the winter to graze on
the banks or where the grass would otherwise die off. As for malaria I am happy with
your proposal to plant eucalyptus, but I remind you that with some drainage work you
can reserve some of your property, as I was convinced last year. As for the parish, put
all your zeal into action and you will obtain ever more consoling results. As regards
agricultural equipment, I am of your opinion, but I hope that Fr Cardano, who took
an interest in agricultural machinery when he was there, will also have provided for
you (ASC, A4510476).
Finally, writing to the Provincial, Fr Cardano, on 15 December 1909, he came back
to what today we would call the issue of health and ecology:
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As for the people of Beitgemal, about whom you give me such consoling news on
several counts, I regret that malaria has developed once more: this makes it clear that
we must continue to study the problem of the rehabilitation of the fertile valley, as we
began to do last year with the Consul. It seems to me that we should be able to solve
this problem with a certain ease and without great expense (ASC, A4490656).
Fr Rua died on 6 April 1910. His multifaceted and far-sighted action regarding
Betgamāl is part of the history of this work, so it is worth documenting, given that it
remains largely unpublished up till now. What is especially impressive was his constant
concern to provide it with select personnel who were able to animate genuine spiritual
growth, and to support it with material means. And at the same time, his practical
guidelines for improving the environment and developing the farm, so that it could be a
source of supplies for other houses in Palestine, and his desire that it become a seedbed
for candidates to consecrated, lay and priestly life. What stands out is the man’s versatility:
both the idealist and realist, endowed with a refined spirituality but also a tangible
physicality, ranging from ecology to ascetics, from pastoral to pasturing work, someone
who dealt with the heads of ecclesiastical hierarchies, and looked after the boys in the
playground for recreation... These are such admirable things if one takes into account that
he, as Don Bosco’s first successor, the superior of two religious congregations expanding
rapidly across four continents, during those same years (1890–1910) had to tackle an
enormous amount of work, documented among other things by the thousands of letters
he wrote (cf. Ceria, Annali, vol. 3° pp. 895–899). We really do need to recognise that his
saying that he had “Beitgemal very much at heart” was anything but a mere pleasantry! As
the story continues, I will have further opportunity to complete this provisional balance
sheet with other useful items.
2.10 “Bethgemal”, as seen by Fr G.B. Francesia in 1909
15 months on from Fr Rua’s visit, in 1909 Fr Giovanni Battista Francesia undertook a
journey to Egypt and Palestine in order to make Don Bosco’s works known to friends of
the Letture Cattoliche, documenting the situation there in a pleasing literary style, that was
also believably realistic.12 On 5 August, having departed by train from Jaffa, gone through
stations at Lydda and Ramlah, he arrived at the “Der Rabàn” station. There, during a
brief pause on the way to Jerusalem, he was met by the Provincial, Fr Cardano, with a
group of confreres and boys “carrying a sample of special grapes from Bethgamal. In our
12 Fr Francesia (1838–1930) was among the first Salesians to make his profession in 1859, together with Fr
Rua; he taught Latin to Dominic Savio; Don Bosco chose him to be among his first trustworthy councillors;
from 1878 to 1902 he was Provincial in North Italy, from 1886 to 1913 the editor of the “Letture Cattoliche”
(Catholic Readings): cf. Pietro Stella, ‘Francesia Giovanni Battista’, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani,
Volume 50 (1998).
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language, Bethgamal means house of Gamaliel. His body, together with Stephen’s and
others, was miraculously discovered and returned to be honoured there as God wanted.
Now at Bethgamal there is a very flourishing Don Bosco agricultural school.”
In the afternoon of 4 September, coming from Jerusalem, he arrived at the same
station a second time and from there, on horseback,
around five o’clock we reached the summit of the fertile land of Bethgemal. I should
not expand on what my confreres have done, because someone could accuse me of
praising my own work. But I cannot keep silent because the cause of religion comes
in here, and this is also the cause of civilisation. You can understand that there are
Catholics and there are Turks [i.e. Muslims, in Fr Francesia’s lexicon]: the fields are
neatly divided and there is no danger of confusing which is which. On the one hand,
the luxuriance of splendid and abundant vegetation, and on the other, desolation and
an oppressive dryness. How many olives there are! How many vineyards! And what
an abundant harvest! We finally got to the house. This agricultural school has around
40 orphans coming especially from Lebanon. On a regular basis they are learning to
read and write their native language, Italian and also English. In general, those who
show a sharper intellect and kinder heart take a course in Latin, in the hope that in
time they will come to help their superiors in the beneficial work of educating and
instructing poor Arabs. That day I also saw some who are refugees from Adana in
Armenia. The story of these pitiful cases was enough to move us to tears.
Despite the draining of some of the rivulets, the unhealthy water stagnates at the
bottom of the valley, so the climate is unhealthy; during the day it is hot and at night you
can hear the jackals screaming as they ravage the vineyards. Nevertheless,
We grow wheat here, and there is more than enough for the many in the school. There
is a mill here for us and the inhabitants; and I saw that it was working well enough.
All day long I saw the Turks arrive with their donkeys, grind their small amount of
wheat, and then leave. I asked the Rector of the house: these Turks don’t bother you?
– See, they also come here for the olives, and from now on, for the grapes, preferring
to go over there (and he pointed out to me a small village, all Jews, near the station).
To compete with us the Jews ask for less, have better tools, and don’t take any of ours.
Whatever. Turks are always Turks, and although enemies of any kind of progress and
better off, they love and respect us. Can you believe it? – the Rector told me: these
people see the sacrifices of the Catholic clergy and admire them. More than once
they have told us that if they were not Turks they would like to be Latins, but never
Greeks! I saw the Italian flag waving and wanted to know if it was known. – Oh, how
they know it! Were it not for this little rag waving in the wind, how many risks there
might be for our lives! Instead you can be sure there will be no damage beneath these
folds. Some of the kids come and play with the orphans, and the girls often run over
to the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians who have been lovingly looking after the
smallest orphans for years, and attending to the education of some Turks who want
to learn something. The day after was the feast of Our Lady’s Birthday; I could only
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
but link the dear name of Don Bosco to this feast of our good Mother, who was his
first teacher and then the inspiration for all his works. And at one time this land was
also touched by her, materially!
As he said goodbye, some of the “lively little orphans” accompanied him down the
hill to the station where the train for Jaffa was already waiting; from there he embarked
for Haifa. A few comments: the information Fr Francesia gives us on Salesian work (SDB
and FMA; number, condition and origin of the boarders; their studies and formation
in work and piety as “sons of Don Bosco”; the influx of Muslim boys and girls from
outside...) correspond to the data provided by the house chronicles. The picture he
sketches of the surrounding environment and the mentality of the time is convincing,
both for its real and historical aspects and for some shared perceptions at the cultural and
socio-religious level that we know of from other sources (prejudice and rivalry between
Muslims, Christians and Jews, and among Latins and the Greek Orthodox ...).
His report contributed to helping the superiors in Turin grasp the potential of
the work, and in autumn 1912 they sent Fr E. Bianchi, his very dear friend, and Fr
A. Sacchetti. Finally: we can consider that Fr Francesia (who does not mention any
confreres by name, except for Fr Cardano) also met Simon Srugi – during the practices
of community life, in the clinic or the mill, or while he was treating the “fifteen or twenty
orphans in the early evening, all set apart and suffering because they had not washed
their hands” before picking figs or grapes (that had probably been sprayed), and were
complaining about itchy eyes: “I was afraid that the epidemic would spread the next day,
and I had the consolation of seeing all or almost all of them appear before me with those
lively, laughing, truly Arab eyes.”
These were the people Simon was living with, this was the setting and circumstances
in which he carried out his various tasks; supported by the encouragement of the revered
Fr Rua and kindly Fr Francesia, he continued his exemplary life as a religious, providing
his contribution to the good running of the house, especially as infirmarian, primary
school teacher and formator of the youngest children.
3. Simon as educator and apostle in the mid-thirties (1909–1939)
Convinced of his consecration, and therefore given over or, as he used say “completely
sold” to the Lord, the thirty-two-year-old Brother aimed at acting only for the glory of
God, and his example had not passed unnoticed. We have confirmation of this from a
judgement that the new Provincial, Fr Luigi Sutera (1869–1948) wrote in a notebook for
the canonical visitation on 13 January 1912: “Srugi: impeccable and very happy. And
to the edification of everyone.” This was the circumstance in which he gave a gift to
Simon of St Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, that remained one of his
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favourite books from then on, as I will show further on. Simon acted in the first instance
as the Salesian educator: his natural gifts predisposed him for this (sensitivity balanced
emotions, spirit of observation, poise and stepwise approach to things, good practical
criteria…) further refined by practical experience and God’s grace.
3.1 Natural gifts and assimilation of the Salesian spirit
Though he had not pursued any specific studies, he had an uncommon religious culture
compared with the other lay and a confident command of the preventive method which
combined reason, religion and loving-kindness. Beyond the few subjects taught at school
and catechism lessons (including one to candidates for First Communion and to non-
Catholics preparing to recant) Simon educated the boys through his life, being there
among them and assisting them not only in study but also on the playground, in the
church and the infirmary, on weekdays and weekends. His biographer, Fr Forti, has
rightly highlighted the primary educational and apostolic dimension of the activity
Simon carried out for years (especially before having to reduce it because of his increasing
responsibility in the mill and the infirmary which absorbed much of his time) and sums
it up saying: the most beautiful figure that the former students of Betgamāl remembered
years later was his. It is worth recording, among many others, the following three
testimonies: “The boys had more confidence in him than in their superiors and spoke to
him boldly, without any fear.” - “I knew many of the Fathers and Brothers in the convent
at Betgemàl, but none of them, as respected and good as they were, has the gifts Srugi had.
He stood out from all the others for his kindness.” - “When Bro. Srugi was the assistant,
well then, his scolding was fatherly advice, and his anger was just a friendly smile, and I
was doing very well because of this gentle and affectionate approach of his. His kindness
was of the kind that meant you needed to listen to him ad like him. His love for us boys
won our respect, won over our souls.” Brother Angelo Porro provided this testimony:
“The boys understood that Brother Srugi loved them, so they did what he wanted and
what he sought from them.” It is natural to comment: in his activity as an educator, Simon
perfectly embodied the spirit of the famous 1884 letter from Rome in which Don Bosco
wrote that the secret of success lies in doing things in such a way that the boys know that
they are loved.13
3.2 Fr Bianchi as a spiritual guide (1913–1931)
The one who helped Simon more than any one else to progress in the perfection of his
Salesian consecrated life was Fr Eugenio Bianchi. He was born on 26 March 1853 in
13 The testimonies of the three past pupils are recorded by Fiora, p. 79, note no. 25 and p. 80; the third is Joseph
Al Haiek who wrote on 22.9.1964: cf. AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Coriano (Forli), grew up at S. Patrignano and on 17 March 1877 was ordained a diocesan
priest in Rimini. Don Bosco’s reputation was widespread throughout the region, and
the desire grew in the young priest not only to meet him personally, but to enter his
Congregation. In summer 1880 Don Bosco answered him (undated):
Dearly beloved in O.L.J.C.
For my part, I am always happy when I can add a few brave warriors to the humble
ranks of the Salesians. So come: but as you have rightly said, come just to spend some
weeks with us. In view of this you could come for one of the Retreats to be held at
Lanzo from 9 to 16 September next. If this time is not suitable, say so and I will
establish another time and another retreat session. Before, during and after them,
we can talk about things and see what is to the greater glory of God. I await this with
great pleasure, and in commending myself to the charity of your prayers, I have the
consolation of professing myself now and always,
Your affectionate friend
Fr John Bosco
P.S. When you leave Rimini, organise matters so you can be away for some time should
that be necessary.
Fr Bianchi would not have made it in time, so decided to take part in the session that
followed: he bought a return rail ticket and went to Turin on 4 October, and then on to
Lanzo. He made his decision during this period of discernment: on 13 October he entered
S. Benigno Canavese to begin the novitiate which concluded with his profession on 4
October 1881. Coming to know his uncommon gifts, Don Bosco immediately wanted
him at the side of the first novice master, Fr Giulio Barberis (1847–1927); 5 years went
by, and then, having expressed the desire to leave for the missions, Don Bosco replied to
him from Turin on 12 February 1886:
I praise your courage and good will. As soon as you have finished cultivating the field
that God has entrusted to you, I give you ample permission from now on. God bless
you and your work; and pray for me. I remain always in J.C.
Your affectionate friend
Fr John Bosco (MB XIV, p. 563s; Motto 2016, number 3236)
In fact that same year Don Bosco had made him novice master at Foglizzo where
on 4 November he went for the clothing of the 75 new enrolments. The house had been
adapted as best it could but poverty soon set in. On one occasion Fr Bianchi had an urgent
need of 1960 lire, and went to Valdocco to Don Bosco who initially told him he was sorry
but he had given all the money to the Prefect General, then went to look in a drawer to
see if some more offerings had arrived in the meantime: they counted it together and
it was exactly 1960 lire! (cf. Lemoyne, Vol. 2, p. 617). Fr Bianchi, “Already a Salesian in
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mind and heart before belonging to the Congregation, placed himself unreservedly in the
hands of Don Bosco and his worthy interpreter Fr Barberis. Beneath his athletic limbs lay
the kindness of a friend and a saintly and affectionate father.” (Ceria, MB XIV, p. 564). Fr
Carlo Gatti, his novice, and who then became MOR Provincial, attests in the Mortuary
letter that Fr Bianchi carried out his delicate ministry over those years
lavishing his most diligent care over more than a thousand young novices, and they
all kept alive in their hearts the memory of his fatherliness that very often was also
a mother’s tenderness. He understood our youthfulness and demanded of each of
us only the little we were able to give. Very forgiving, he was prone to optimism, so
he always trusted in the success of his ‘little creatures’, as he jokingly called his sons;
and even when it seemed that his hopes were in vain, he hoped even more for a new
breakthrough. He jealously preserved as many cards in his breviary as there were years
when he was in charge at Foglizzo, with the names of the novices of each year. Every
evening, before going to bed, he gathered up his cards and from his prie-dieu gave all
his novices the blessing of Mary Help of Christians. We have often heard him express
his fear that the sense of paternity, as he felt it, might be diminishing among Salesians.
For him the father is all about wanting the good of his children, and he lived solely for
his young men, he sought to know their tendencies intimately, he empathised with
their needs, thus winning them over to himself; and when he had to correct their
defects or oppose their desires, he found such loving and persuasive reasons that no
one could resist him.
Among his novices were future saints already canonised or on the way: Andrew
Beltrami, Louis Versiglia, Louis Variara, Vincent Cimatti, Augustus Hlond, Ignac
Stuchly... In particular, he formed a deep spiritual friendship with Louis Versiglia who
returned to Foglizzo after graduating in philosophy at the Gregorian in Rome, as teacher
and assistant to the novices (1893–1896), and then kept up correspondence with him.
The confidential letters Vincenzo Cimatti (as cleric and then priest) wrote to Fr Bianchi
are now available on SDL.14
When Fr Rua decided to send the first Salesians to Palestine, he left the task to
Frs Barberis and Bianchi: they chose the youngest missionaries from among their best
disciples, asked that they write back frequently, and then had their reports transcribed,
to be read in public.15 Hence Fr Bianchi’s influence in Palestine was noticed well before
he was there in person as the realisation of his long-nurtured aspirations.
14 Cf. extracts from 5 confidential letters from 1892 to 1899, in Bosio, pp. 36, 37, 54–58, 61. SDL is the Salesian
Digital Library. The Cimatti link is http://sdl.sdb.org/greenstone3/library/collection/holiness/cimatti1/page/about
15 In 1891–1892 Luigi Variara was among Fr Bianchi’s 140 novices; at his invitation he transcribed 13 letters
from the first missionaries in Palestine so they could be used for spiritual reading; they include the three
letters from R. Coradini that I used earlier.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
In fact, in November 1897, at the end of his mandate in Foglizzo, he was entrusted
with running Ivrea, then a house of initial formation, where he continued to look after the
hundreds of novices, clerics studying philosophy and the “Sons of Mary” from countries
around Europe, many of them aspiring missionaries. Finally, “on 9 November 1912, on
the orders of Fr Paul Albera, I left for Palestine with Fr Sacchetti”. He jotted down some
notes on the fortnight’s travels with stopovers in Loreto, Corigliano d’Otranto (so they
could send the superiors in Turin a report on how things were going at the agricultural
school there), Naples, Alexandria (Egypt) and Cairo. He disembarked at Jaffa, where he
was welcomed by the Provincial, Fr Luigi Sutera who then went with him to Jerusalem,
Bethlehem and finally Betgamāl. His is a lively humorous style, with frequent expressions
of joy at the marvels of creation, and sincere affection when meeting some of his “little
creatures” wherever he went.
Six months after their arrival in Betgamāl, having reviewed the length and breadth
of the work, interviewed people in the house and beyond, the two visitors drew up an
overall report of 15 large handwritten pages which was impressive for the competence of
its analysis, critical diagnosis of the problems affecting the enterprise and for its realistic
future planning:
The Agricultural School at Beitgemal has seen a period of decreasing decay over some
years. It’s on everyone’s lips, especially outsiders, especially since there are other setups
and businesses nearby that are very well run, like the Jewish school at Artuf, the Greek
one at Bredge and the Trappist Fathers establishment at Latroun. What is lacking at
Beitgemal is an initial technical set of guidelines and a work plan to be carried out by
all the administrations. Beitgemal has been a real field of experience in which the skills
and personal initiative of many have been unleashed, resulting in heavy expenditure
which is not always remunerative and in many cases unnecessary; and each change of
personnel, which is unfortunately very frequent, has seen the introduction of radical
reforms and the adoption of systems which are diametrically opposed to those used
previously.
They also noted: the boys don’t have the necessary strength and preparation; the
animals are not appropriate as beasts of burden; the stables and equipment do not answer
to the criteria of a modern, mechanised agricultural school (Sacchetti, Annotazioni
varie, p. 5 and passim).
They discussed this with their superiors in Turin who decided that they should stay in
Betgamāl to initiate the recovery. Fr Bianchi continued his correspondence with many of
his former novices from Betgamāl as well; so it is plausible that he would share this with
the community for their edification and encouragement. Srugi benefited from the long
experience of this extraordinary director of souls, and on the other hand as infirmarian he
was particularly close to him given that, due to his poor health, he often needed assistance
and care.
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3.3 Fr Sacchetti, manager and abuna Sarkīs administrator of the enterprise (1913–1938)
Alfredo Sacchetti was born in Florence on 21 July 1871; as a secondary student at Alassio
he met Don Bosco who made this prophecy about him: “You will become a Salesian, and
have many wanderings in your Salesian life, but it will come to a holy end” (Mortuary
letter, in ASC: Superior Chapter Archives, no. 9403). He entered the novitiate at Foglizzo
in 1889, and his novice master was Fr Bianchi; he received the cassock from Fr Rua in
September that year, and the following year made his first profession at Valsalice, where he
remained for his final year of secondary school and for philosophy. Sent as a missionary
to Ecuador, he did his theology there and was ordained priest in Quito in 1893. His first
missionary experience was brutally cut off when on the night of 24 August 1896, the
Masonic government expelled the 9 Salesians in Quito and deported them to the border
with Peru. After 41 days of a gruelling march through the forest, they arrived exhausted
at Callao, the port in Lima. Two years later some returned, while Fr Alfredo stayed in
Peru and in 1897 was among the founders of the college of arts and trades in Arequipa.
After starting out as Catechist, Councillor then Prefect, he was the Rector from 1902 to
1904. Other than competently guiding the development of the agricultural school and
gaining a reputation as a scientist, especially in meteorology, and being the editor of the
national Bulletin, he saw to the construction of the church dedicated to Mary Help of
Christians, attached to the Institute. It was the request of the Catholic Council of the
province and the local population to honour the Divine Redeemer and the Pope at the
end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, as a ’fitting tribute from the city for the
auspicious occasion” (Ceria, Annali, Vol 2, pp. 698–699). Over those years Fr Alfredo
kept up friendly relations with Archbishop Pietro Gasparri, the Apostolic Delegate at
the time in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia; it was a friendship that continued, even when he
became Cardinal, the Salesian Protector and Secretary of State, as we will see later in our
story. In November 1912 he was sent by the Rector Major, Fr Paul Albera together with
Fr Bianchi on an exploratory mission to Betgamāl, and in April 1913 they both became
part of the permanent staff there. As a polyglot, well versed in both biblical and scientific
subjects, a public relations man, open-minded and jovial, he had first-hand experience
of the world of agricultural schools. Thus at Betgamāl Fr Eugenio would be the Rector
of the religious and educative community, while Fr Alfredo would be the “manager” and
legal representative (“procurator”) of the business side of the operation.
But for the practical implementation of the recovery plan there was need for someone
from the place who knew the language and the Arab population well. Fr Bianchi wanted
Fr Sarkīs with him. He had been his disciple in Ivrea, and knew the surroundings there
better than anyone else. Fr Peter was happy to return to Betgamāl under his old master.
He was the same age as Fr Sacchetti, having been born on 19 January 1871 to a Maronite
family in ‘Āqūra in the Lebanese mountains; he lost both parents when he was just 3,
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killed in an avalanche. As a teenager he was accepted by Fr Belloni at Bethlehem and
after the fusion with the Salesians, was sent to Ivrea to redo his novitiate and do his
studies in philosophy and agriculture (1897–99). In 1900 he returned to the Holy land
(Nazareth, Betgamāl ... ) and on 29 September 1904 was ordained priest by Patriarch Piavi
in Jerusalem. At Betgamāl he was entrusted with the direction of the main agricultural
works and the supervision of the numerous workers and settlers.
With Fr Bianchi, Fr Sacchetti, and Fr Sarkīs (abuna Butrus as he was known to the
people) a new era began for Betgamāl. [Photo no.10] The superiors in Turin approved
the plan for the re-organisation of the agricultural school, the Holy See gave permission
for the sale of land on the side that flanked Derabān and with the proceeds a new stable
was built to house pedigree cattle, buy new machinery and a new mill from the Jewish
Wagner firm in Jaffa. An exceptional guest lived in the house at the time, the famous
archaeologist, Duncan MacKenzie.16
3.4 The upheavals of the First World War (1914–1917)
Unfortunately, the outbreak of the First World War (1914) froze projects and spirits just
a year after the arrival of the new confreres, whose task it was to tackle the difficult
situation. Fr Isaac Giannini (1878–1967) had completed his mandate in 1914 as the first
Arab Rector of Betgamāl: following instructions from Fr Rua, he had led the SDB and
FMA community to their satisfaction, provided pastoral leadership for the parishioners,
looked after the religious formation of the boys and, at a professional level, encouraged
study, respect for work in the fields. He had been struck by Srugi’s example of life and
during the canonical process would give valuable testimony in his regard, as I will say. At
the end of December 1914 all the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Palestine were
forced to leave by ship from Jaffa for Italy via Alexandria, although some remained there
and began a modest work.
The War forced the adoption of extraordinary measures, therefore the Provincial,
Fr Sutera, who had to leave the country, appointed an Arab confrere in each house on
5 August 1915 to “manage things” with the aid of a council. He recommended fidelity
to the Rule and that “nihil innovetur”. The Rector ad tempus of Betgamāl was Fr Peter
Sarkīs, the Prefect Fr George Shalhūb (an astute man and one of the leaders of the
anti-Italian faction), Prefect of Studies Fr Rummān Spiridiōn (capable but indecisive).
Unfortunately, especially in the houses in Bethlehem and Betgamāl in that context,
16 MacKenzie published: Excavations at Ain Shems (Beth-Shemesh) in the “Palestine Exploration Fund Annual
1912-1913, Double Volume”. London, 1913. On p. 7 there is a photo of the “Convent of Beit Gemàl”, with
its facade and southern garden. In another kept in the ABG we can note the “cart” used to reach the railway
station and which he probably also used to travel to the excavation site.
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inflamed by nationalism, not everyone was up to the task, and a nasty climate of suspicion
and accusation arose between Italian and Arab confreres that led to painful divisions. For
his part, Simon remained very obedient to the legitimate superior, rejecting invitations
to side with the rebels. One detail: to escape forced conscription by the Turks, who had
no idea of religious people without a habit, he had to wear the cassock. He was by no
means displeased by this, and indeed regarded it as an honour; he looked after it with
much devotion, and was happy to wear it every time he was master of ceremonies at the
liturgy.
When the military campaign spread from Sinai to Palestine, Betgamāl found itself
sixty or so kms from the front where there were decisive clashes between the British Army
on one side (with a contingent of Australian, Indian and New Zealand soldiers and an
Italian unit) and the Turks on the other: the latter, after losing the battle at Beersheba and
Gaza (October-November 1917), set up camp at Betgamāl which seemed to be a strategic
position. Up to a hundred defeated and hungry infantrymen and five hundred horsemen
were stationed in the buildings and on the vast estate, where they made mincemeat of
everything: emptied the storerooms and cloakrooms, took away the livestock, equipment
and furnishings, cut down a few thousand trees, including 300 olive trees, and even
removed the roots to provide fuel for the train. For some time the confreres, treated like
“bargaining chips”, were imprisoned in Ramlah, and the boarders in a Muslim orphanage
in Jerusalem.
Having returned to their property occupied by the military, the confreres also had
to make room for the Salesians from Cremisan and Bethlehem where an epidemic had
broken out; many evacuees were accommodated for almost two years, thus increasing the
work of Fr Cantoni the doctor and infirmarian Srugi, and mouths to feed for the bursar.17
It is a fact that the countryside, worked by a larger number of confreres and boys, could
have provided sufficient supplies for everyone, residents and refugees; but the Turkish
soldiers acted as masters, and the tax office, despite the war, also demanded its share! As
well as the annual tax on the property (vercu/vergi), the tithe on all the summer-autumn
and winter-spring harvests had to be paid in kind.18 Among the refugees was Brother
17 Sacchetti, Annotazioni varie, pp. 20–22; IDEM, Appunti di cronaca: “June 1916: people arrive from Bethlehem
where cholera has broken out: 10 confreres, domestics and 20 pupils”. Problems settling in, lack of what was
needed. “On 28.5.17 10 confreres and a pupil arrived from Cremisan, on the 25th their beds had arrived on
the backs of camels.” Many confreres and boys, the Sisters and their helpers often came down with malaria
(including Srugi); there were cases of cholera in the nearby village of Zacharia. Efforts by a British military
doctor from Artūf, and doctors from Tantur and Ramlah alleviated the situation, but did not help save Brother
Luigi Pogliotti who went mad and died on 1 September 1917.
18 Fr Sacchetti recorded the following on 31.7.17: “estimate of harvest (and tithes thereof) negotiated with the
Kaimakan in Jaffa: wheat 6,000 Kg (750), grapes 3,200 (400), figs 400 (50), olives 64 (8), almonds 300 (37),
eggplants 200 (25), tomatoes 250 (31), pumpkins 400 (50)”.
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Angelo Bormida (1870–1917), an excellent draughtsman and cabinetmaker, who carried
out maintenance and painting work in various parts of the house during those years, and
helped to brighten up liturgical feasts with music and choir singing.
During this confused period, with people of different nationalities and languages,
bizarre episodes could occur, such as the following, summarised in the house chronicle:
“On 7.5.17 an officer from Wadi Sarrar arrived telling us that the thresher was to be sent
to Beersheba. Fr Peter went to Wadi Sarrar to speak with the commander of the manzel
but was unable to hang on to the machine”, which couldn’t be moved despite the efforts of
Brothers Flesia and Bormida; then some German soldiers intervened, assisted by some
Armenian technicians who succeeded in loading it onto a large truck. But “on 13.5.17:
three Jewish officers arrived with soldiers and mules, with a letter from Watsfi Bey, the
Rector at Latroun and they too were charged with getting hold of the thresher. It was a real
comedy”. The episode ended on 8 September 1917 when they brought the thresher back
to Betgamāl, but not without them asking on 17.9.17 for “two beasts to be slaughtered
as a contribution to the army.” To supplement this, it seems they also took “Giamila”, Fr
Sarkīs’ mule, with them. He went looking for it in vain for three days! (ABG: Sacchetti,
Appunti di cronaca).
The fact that when they left, the Turkish soldiers did not harass the people or carry out
a scorched earth policy at Betgamāl, was due to the favourable impression created by the
work being done for the orphans and the poor and the sick in the area, as recognised by
the commander, who refused to carry out the deportation order, saying: “You people are
working for humanity. Stay calm and say hello to the British.” Years later, the author of
the Cronistoria ispettoriale (the history of the Province) was rightly able to write: “The
Salesians at Beitgemal need to be grateful to Divine Providence for two very special
reasons: for successfully remaining on their property, and for being saved from exile at
the last moment due to the gratitude of the Turkish commander.”19
Meanwhile, the British army, continuing its advance towards Ramlah and Jaffa and
Jerusalem, set up a “Junction” (connecting base), at Wadi Sarar, 7 km north-west of
Betgamāl, which did not delay in benefiting from their presence: Fr Sacchetti notes on 29
and 30 November 1917: “After the confreres from Cremisan, also Fr Rosin and Brother
Zanchetta from Bethlehem were arrested and taken away. On 1 December 1917, their
fate was commended to the Australian military chaplain, Fr Joseph Bede McDonell, who
was able, from Egypt, to inform our superiors in Turin and then, through the Spanish
Consul, the Holy See. Italian carabinieri and Australian and Indian medical personnel
provided basic necessities: foodstuffs, medical stocks and first-aid supplies, blankets,
19 ABG: chronicle 12–18 November 1917. From 20–24, shelling took place nearby, on the 27th the first British
reconnaissance team appeared and finally, on 9 December, they entered Jerusalem.
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“African fabric” and articles of clothing, like the military jackets that Srugi habitually
wore. [Cover photos, nos. 13, 20, 26, 39, 42, 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, 59, 60]. On the other hand,
the chronicler did not fail to note that the Salesians provided Catholic soldiers not only
religious assistance (we remember that Betgamāl was a parish) but also the wine and pork
they had managed to save (since these were taboo for Muslim Turks).
3.4.1 Discovery of St Stephen’s tomb: the contributions of Bro. Bormida and Fr Gisler
(1916–1917)
As I have already indicated, one of the reasons why Fr Belloni preferred to purchase
the area around Betgamāl and discarded other offers “was to return it to Christian
worship, since a widespread and respected tradition pointed it out as being the (village
of) Kafargamala where the first Martyr was buried”. In fact, geographical explorations at
the time credited the probability that the area corresponded to the “Gamaliel’s estate and
country home”. In September 1916 there was a chance discovery that seemed to fulfil Fr
Belloni’s hunches. While carrying out renovation works on the northern courtyard, the
remains of a small apse-shaped Byzantine church came to light, with a much-damaged
multicoloured mosaic floor. It was built over an empty burial cave. In Fr Sacchetti’s words
there was excitement all around due to the unexpected discovery:
24 September 1916: Fr Maurizio Gisler arrived with Fr Eigmann. Fr Maurizio an
architect and archaeologist, wanted to get to know the mosaic found in the boys’
courtyard. Excavations began with much enthusiasm and having found the mosaic in
one of the places already known, they found a true work of art. They went ahead and
found the foundations of a column, the width of a nave, and little by little, still under
Fr Maurizio’s direction and digging in various places, they found other foundations
of columns: the Diaconicon or Deacon’s altar, and this uncovered the sanctuary for us.
But the amazement, not to say the emotion, reached its climax when under the same
mosaic and in the sanctuary a beautiful tomb was discovered with steps perfectly
cut into the rock. Father drew up a plan of everything and promised to study the
excavations. There is no doubt that this study can throw new light and new proof on
the Cafar Gamala, Gamaliel’s castle, 20 miles from Jerusalem and where St Stephen’s
body was brought from Jerusalem by the early Christians and remained for 300 years
or more. This is a matter we need to take very much to heart. There is no shortage
of authors who argue in favour of Beitgemal, such as Meistermann and others. Fr
Maurizio himself promised to study the matter in depth. Fac sit Deus. Will this be a
new source of blessings and graces for Beitgemal? Excavations finished on the 27th,
the day on which the indefatigable Fr Maurizio left on foot to return to Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastical hierarchies, archaeologists and scholars were apprised of the situation;
but so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Turkish authorities, excavations were
suspended and only resumed in July of the following year. The ruins of a small mosque
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were still visible in the place, and it was near these ruins that the dedicatory inscription
framed in a crown, three-quarters destroyed, and a vermilion Greek cross in the right-
hand nave were discovered on the mosaic floor. Overall, there was evidence of what had
been happening almost routinely in Palestine since the beginning of the seventh century:
Muslim edifices were built over earlier Christian churches and in spite of themselves, they
were preserving their memory. Since the war was still going on, the excavations were
once again interrupted and the mosaics covered over, after Brother Angelo Bormida had
faithfully reproduced them on cardboard, entrusting them to Fr Gisler.
A relationship of fruitful collaboration and deep friendship was established between
the latter and the Salesians at Betgamāl. It was to last 25 years, in the name of St Stephen
whose relics, after being found in 415, had been moved from Cafargamala to the mother
church of Jerusalem on Mount Sion, where the Benedictine abbey now stands. Maurizio
Gisler was born in 1855 in Czernek (in Croatia today), grew up in Switzerland where he
specialised in architecture, taught art and built some churches. In 1891 he entered the
Abbey of Beuron (Germany) where he became a Benedictine monk and after three years
of theological studies in Maria Laach he was ordained a priest. In 1906 he was sent to the
“Dormitio” abbey in Jerusalem, founded from Beuron, one of the first three monks, and
was in charge of bringing to a conclusion the construction of this imposing basilica that
was opened in 1910. He studied the layout of the Byzantine city of Jerusalem by analysing
the mosaic of Madaba (discovered in 1898), took part in or directed many restoration
works and constructions in Italy and various Middle Eastern countries, and was placed
in charge of the archaeological museum of the “Dormitio”. Given the links with St Stephen
and his relics, Fr Maurizio became immediately interested in the discovery at Betgamāl
and began preparing a preliminary report, until he was interned in the prisoner-of-war
camp in Sidi Bisher in Alexandria. But even there, during 1918 he managed to write a
lengthy memoir entitled The first tomb of St Stephen Protomartyr and Saints Gamaliel,
Nicodemus and Abibo at Cafargamala, which he gave to Fr Sacchetti in 1919, with a view
to its publication. Due to the adverse circumstances, this had to be postponed.
3.5 The post-war period and the beginning of the British Mandate (1918–1923)
The “useless slaughter” (Benedict XV) of the First World War had not only destroyed
property and caused millions of deaths, but left behind hundreds of thousands of refugees
of various nationalities in the Middle East, especially Armenian orphans who had
survived the genocide in 1915–1916. In the years that followed a good number also came
to Betgamāl and the Salesians equipped themselves to give them accommodation, food
and clothing, education, medical care and spiritual comfort … having recourse in the first
instance to the “charity of the Pope”, Benedict XV, and international charity organisations.
I am dedicating this chapter to a “window” on this situation.
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3.5.1 Needs: reconciling people, rebuilding, reviving works
Work began on clearing and rebuilding; the regular activities of the “practical agricultural
school” gradually resumed with a reduced number of pupils, even without waiting
to receive compensation from the Italian authorities for damage to property and war
pensions (for those who had suffered loss of loved ones). 1918 as a year of exuberant
vitality: “We continued to help the Salesians in Bethlehem and Cremisan, giving what
we could. The British Government immediately showed us benevolence and on the
initiative of Colonel Gabriel, Councillor for Finance, we were given a grant of 10 pounds a
month to train some young people in agriculture and meteorology for the Government.”
(Sacchetti, Annotazioni varie, p. 41).
But it was above all the confreres who needed reconciling. Fr Peter Ricaldone
(1870–1951) was sent from Turin in 1918, in the twin role of General Councillor for
Technical and Agricultural Schools, and extraordinary Visitor with full canonical powers
for mending the division between Arab and Italian confreres. It would have seemed
almost a “mission impossible”, involving as it did the reinstatement of the previous
superiors and convincing the seven confreres who had opposed them to return to
the ranks. After months of meetings, dialogue and discernment, without any formal
discipline process and “by using more mercy than severity”, he accepted that some would
leave the Congregation and join the patriarchal clergy, others would be recalled to Italy,
while the majority would adjust to returning to the “status quo ante”. I refer to the
description of events given by his biographer, F. Rastello, basing himself on internal
documents.20
I will dwell here on Fr Ricaldone’s numerous and lengthy visits to Betgamāl (19.01,
29.01–12.02, 4–9.03.1919), during which he laid down measures for fighting malaria and
improving the health and hygiene situation; in order to avoid an influx of the sick into the
community area, he wanted Srugi’s clinic to be located in one of the rooms off the entrance
hallway; he personally drew up a set of regulations and curriculum for the agricultural
school, establishing five specialisations, and explaining: “As far as education is concerned,
we follow the method brilliantly dictated by the Venerable Don Bosco, which consists
essentially of surrounding the pupils with continuous paternal assistance, so that it
becomes almost impossible for them to neglect their duties.” This was a description that
Srugi could perfectly identify with. "Fr Ricaldone reported a good impression of the
religious community: good-spirited confreres, zealous priests and excellent brothers. He
gave special praise to the economer, Fr Eigmann, for the most noble approach he took
20 Rastello, Vol. 1, pp. 314–333. A more dramatic reconstruction instead is provided by Desramaut, pp.
127–138; Borrego, Chap. VI; and Pieraccini, who had access to hitherto secret documents in archives in
Jerusalem and Rome, but not to those of AIMOR.
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toward his Italian confreres in the very difficult moments of the antagonism between
Arabs and Italians.” (Rastello 326ff.). Writing on 9 March 1919 to the Rector Major,
Fr Paul Albera he summed things up: “There are some excellent Brothers in this house:
Srugi, an Arab who has the respect of everyone.”
Fr Ricaldone was accompanied by Fr Eusebio Vismara (1880–1945) who joined
him in the investigation concerning “internal events that had occurred especially at
Bethlehem during war time”. The hypothesis that Srugi took advantage of the presence
of this well-known liturgist will be confirmed by what we will see ahead when we
speak about his role as master of ceremonies (AIMOR 4.4.2; cf. Valentini, passim).
Commendatore (Knight Commander) Ernesto Schiaparelli also made a visit, not only
to admire the splendid mosaics of the Martyrium, but also to assess the real state of the
war damage to the work, which remained under the protection of his ANMI. He was
disliked by the Arab confreres, who accused him of having helped divert Salesian houses
in the Middle East from their religious mission by placing them at the service of Italian
colonial policy. Fully aware that there was a cultural war going on, Fr Ricaldone put the
following urgent provision in writing: “It is absolutely essential for the Salesians to get to
know Arabic.” In view of this he proposed that that same year a dozen of the best young
men at Penango be chosen and sent to Cremisan where they could pursue their studies
and start studying Arabic at once.” (Rastello p. 319).
Thanks to the interest of the British Governor and the Italian and Spanish Consuls and
with the advice of Antonio Barluzzi (1884–1960), who came to Palestine as a lieutenant in
the Army Corps of Engineers, then an ANMI representative and soon the chief architect
of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Fr Ricaldone initiated new buildings with
a view to reviving the business side of the operation (cf. Rastello, pp. 320, 326-328,
331). It did not take long for the results of his mission to come to fruition: on 16
August 1920 an award-giving ceremony took place in rooms at the Salesian school in
Jerusalem in the presence of the highest Church, civil and military officials. Fr Sacchetti
read out a detailed “Memoir” highlighting the goals that had been achieved by the
“practical agricultural school” just two years after the end of the war (especially: land
reclamation, mechanisation and re-forestation), thanks to the help of the three main
benefactors: Pope Benedict XV (who had “adopted” 18 orphans for four years), the
Italian Government and the British authorities. In the name of the latter, General Arthur
Wigram Money (1866-1951), head of the Aviation Headquarters, thanked the Salesians
for services rendered in Palestine, saying among other things: “You have trained many
of our agricultural and meteorological staff freely, in the language of the country, and
without regard to race or creed, and you were the first to lay down forest trees for
the future of the country”. Other than the symbolic value of the ceremony, we need
to emphasise that the new graduates in meteorology were immediately taken on for 5
years by British civil aviation and they and others were given a savings bank passbook
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at the headquarters of the Banco di Roma in Jerusalem, with their first credit in valuable
Egyptian currency (cf. ABG, Registro dei voti).
3.5.2 Priorities: Fr Albera and Fr Rinaldi guide Salesian renewal (1920–1925)
The inauguration of the monument to Don Bosco that stands in front of the Basilica of
Mary Help of Christians in Turin (23.05.1920), offered the Rector Major, Fr Paul Albera,
an opportunity to encourage Salesians: “Bringing Don Bosco back to life in us is the
most beautiful monument with which we can honour his memory and make it precious
and beneficial to future centuries.” In his last circular letters he set himself the task of
imprinting on the souls of his sons the spiritual features of their father: the educator and
apostle, charismatic founder and saint, going back to the sources, the dream at 9 years of
age. In his circular of 18.10.1920 he explained that this initial seed grew gradually over
the years at Valdocco, becoming the rule and method for the religious as well as apostolic
and educative life that Don Bosco practised with his first followers, inaugurating a new
way of simultaneously achieving personal holiness and carrying out the apostolate:
Don Bosco realised that self-sanctification and the apostolate could go hand in hand.
It was his experience first of all, and he then determined that his sons should do
the same, giving such a preference to the apostolate that superficial observers might
believe that he had formed a society of zealous priests and willing laymen for the sole
purpose of devoting themselves to the education of youth. And it could seem that
the first article of our Constitutions implies the same, since the primary aim of our
own sanctification is declared only through a secondary proposal: Members, while
striving for Christian perfection, will carry out all kinds of works of charity, etc. Our
Rule, like our founder’s life, has personal sanctification and the apostolate advance
together, indeed in a certain sense the apostolate is the effective cause of religious
perfection: inasmuch as those who consecrate themselves to the Salesian apostolate
must necessarily support by their own example the teachings that they impart and
the virtues that they inculcate.
All of our Venerable Father’s life was a relentless, hard-working apostolate; and at
the same time he was so ardent in his pursuit of perfection that it is impossible to
say whether he was thinking of this most of all, or of doing good to his dear young
ones: for him religious perfection and apostolate were at one throughout his entire
life! Dear confreres, the more we study this blessed and marvellous life, the better we
will be convinced that to be truly his sons, we must work, like him, for our religious
perfection in the most active and fruitful exercise of the apostolate imposed on us by
our vocation. In him, apostolate and religious perfection were two simultaneous acts
that almost merged into one (Circolari, pp. 311, 312, 332–334, 339).
Srugi, too, aimed at achieving this “grace of unity”, carrying out his tasks as an
educator and infirmarian in union with God, in an uninterrupted exercise of virtue.
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We will be able to show the truth of this as the story continues. But for now let me
highlight some other guidelines for renewal that Fr Albera drew up in 1921, his final year
as Rector Major: when launching the programme of celebrations for the third centenary
of death of St Francis de Sales (1622–1922), he encouraged the reading of his life and
writings, so we would imitate him as a model for personal sanctification and an educative
apostolate, following in Don Bosco’s footsteps; he explained that the holy Doctor drew
pastoral charity and its characteristic virtues from the Sacred Heart (humility, kindness,
amiability, gentleness), so much so that Jane Frances de Chantal called him “the son of
the Sacred Heart”; he concluded, therefore, that one of the ways of honouring our holy
Patron was to renew our devotion to the Sacred Heart.
In his final letter (21.09.1921) the superior added: “St Francis de Sales, through
his example, apostolate and writings, was an outstanding educator of perfection and
holiness among his contemporaries”; his pedagogy relies on supernatural principles,
proceeds gradually, with gentleness and kindness, “little by little, slowly, gently, like the
angels do, with gracious movements and without violence”; Don Bosco “modernised” these
principles and this approach, drawing vocations even from among his “little rascals”. In
this regard, on another occasion Fr Albera invited us to “bear in mind something very
important for us, and this is that for Don Bosco the more mischievous ones (he called
them his birichini) or in other words the more restless and lively ones, offer good ground
for vocations, since they are more ardent and so big-hearted that they feel compelled to
go out of themselves, to love, and consequently to give, to give of themselves, then, and
finally to sacrifice themselves totally for the good of others. His best conquests were from
among boys of that kind” (Circolari, pp. 505–506; 465ff.).
His successor, Fr Philip Rinaldi (1856–1931) developed many of these themes. His
masterful interpretation of the Constitutions was historic: they are the mature result of the
divine-human affair that had already begun in the “dream-cum-vision” at 9 years of age,
something that Don Bosco first inscribed in the hearts of his young collaborators, tried
out over long years of practical life at Valdocco, and then formulated in terms conducive
to what he wanted, not so much as an order or congregation, but a family. The soul of
this long charismatic history is the preventive approach, and its concrete expression is
friendly assistance understood as habitual presence among young people and sharing
their life (cf. ACS 5 (1924) no. 23, pp. 177–199).
To fruitfully celebrate the “Golden Jubilee of the Rule” (1874–1924) he prescribed that
after a triduum of preparation (of which “the most important part for us must consist in
making meditation and spiritual reading in common on chosen points, e.g. on the preface
Don Bosco himself provided”), on 3 April 1924 every confrere should approach the altar
and receive a copy of the renewed text. “During this year, beginning from April, let
evening reading in the refectory end with five articles of the Constitutions or Regulations.
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And so we will get to know our life better and familiarise ourselves with the new wording.”
He prescribed that in church and at table, other than the Rule, there be read “as soon as
possible”, some volumes of the Biographical Memoirs and Lemoyne’s Life of Don Bosco,
as well as circulars by Fr Rua and Fr Albera as interpreters of the true spirit of St Francis
de Sales and Don Bosco. He gave Rectors, as one of the three commitments for 1923 that
they “practise the preventive system with the young, and get all the confreres to be present
during recreations”. In support of this, the Professional Councillor, Fr Ricaldone, asked
them to encourage the emergence of vocations:
Let everyone work with commitment in the individual houses, returning to the
beautiful customs of Don Bosco’s early days when all the confreres were together
with the young, both in church and in recreation, beneath his fatherly gaze, almost
as a large family that enamoured the young of Salesian life. In this respect especially
our dear confreres in charge of workshops and the Brothers in general can do a great
deal of good, and they are all recommended to spend as much time as they can with
their pupils. This is so important that our Very Reverend Rector Major, has included
among the rules for the extraordinary visitation to the houses, to ensure that Salesian
traditions and the preventive system are observed, and that confreres are involved with
and live the life of their pupils. ACS 3 (1923) no. 21, pp. 120–122; 5 (1924) no. 23, pp.
175–176, 197–198.
There is no doubt that the community at Betgamāl, led by Fr Bianchi, had fully
complied with the instructions of the superiors: the books and circulars that Fr Rinaldi
recommended can still be found in the community library. Srugi had personal copies
of some of them: we can be sure that he was able to accept the grace of those events in
order to pursue the path of personal sanctification and apostolate with renewed impetus.
During the retreat in 1926 he wrote down these resolutions: “I will renew my vows
every day to remind myself that I am a religious. I will always keep before me the exact
observance of my Vows and the holy Rule”; during the retreat in 1928: “I will not let
either a Sunday or feast day go by without reading the holy Rule and giving good thought
to what I am reading so as to put it into practice. I will be generous with the Lord in
putting into practice the smallest Rules considering them as a means of perfection”; and
again in 1935: “I will often read the holy Rule so as to note the points where I am lacking
and to correct my defects.” As our story continues we will be able to see how Simon lived
the spirit and practice of Salesian assistance so much recommended by Frs Rinaldi and
Ricaldone.
3.5.3 Appreciation for Betgamāl-Cafargamala. The encouragement of Pius XI (1923–29)
Systematic archaeological excavations at the Byzantine site resumed in June 1922, as
well as studies on the “Stephenine question”. By comparing the Letter of Lucian, parish
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
priest of the Christian village of Cafargamala in 415 with literary testimonies of his
contemporaries, a plausible identification became likely: this was the memorial to the
protomartyr Saint Stephen built over the place where he was first buried in “Gamaliel’s
villa (Cafargamala)”, to the north of the “field of heroes or men of God” (“Delagabri” and
“Debatalia”), as Gamaliel had explained in a dream to Lucian, and that Arab tradition
called “Khàllet esh-Shugi‘a” (The land of the Valiant Ones)(cf. Bede the Venerable, 1850,
col. 996; 1983, pp. 129, 135; Wallis, pp. 218–221.)
To make it known more widely through a publication which would gain recognition
due to the competence of someone with first-hand knowledge of the work, in May 1923.
Fr Sacchetti went to Germany to see to the publishing in five languages of the illustrated
booklet by Fr Gisler that summarised the longer text, written at Sidi Bisher. Following
the nihil obstat from Barlassina and the imprimatur from the Beuron’s archiabbas, it
was printed by the Apostolic typographer B. Külen in Münchengladbach. Despite its
modest dimensions, it was both a scientific and artistic work, and summed up 6 years
of careful study on a variety of aspects: a chronological history of the excavations
with photographs relating to the different stages of discovery; a reconstructed layout
of the Byzantine church, whose burial space beneath the diaconicon was “the norm”,
the standard; a reproduction in colour of the main mosaic; the interpretation of the
fragment of dedicatory inscription. It also offered a photographic display of the biblical
and hagiographical panorama of the surrounding area (Zorah, Wadi and Neby Būlos,
Deir Asfūra, Gilgil, Yerimòth, ...); the reference to the sarcophagus of Saints Gamaliel,
Abibo and Nicodemus in the cathedral in Pisa; and finally, it presented the Salesian work
and the rebuilding project for the Shrine. The decisive argument was the following:
The small church has a standard sepulchre, solely for which and over which it was
built. The tomb is also a standard one for the length of its side aisle; it is standard for
its orientation, which follows its lines: it is standard for the arrangement of the altars,
since the deacon’s altar touches the edge of the sepulchre; it is standard for its mosaic
which, in the part that covers the tomb, is of very rich ornamentation; it is standard
for the height of the external main wall, leaving free the entrance to the underground
sepulchre. This proves that the sepulchre existed before the building; and was to be
honoured and protected by the building: it was its treasure (Gisler, Caphargamala,
p. 18). [Photos nos. 15, 16, 17].
Hence the reason why first the Byzantines, then the Muslims, chose to settle on this
rocky hill, even though they had the ‘gardens of Fattìr’, fed by the spring of the same name,
in the eastern valley 2 km away. It was the desire (if not the imperative) to preserve the
relics of the ‘valiant men of God’, perpetuate their memory and invoke their intercession
for the living and the dead (who were buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church, later
the mosque, until the arrival of the Bellonians).
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On 2 June 1923, Fr Sacchetti was received in private audience by Pius XI to whom
he presented this booklet, as well as the translation of Lucian’s Letter by Fr Fergnani in
the text of the “Patrologia Latina”. The Pope showed his appreciation, encouraged him
to pursue the studies, and was pleased with the plan to build a beautiful shrine worthy
of the ones already in the Holy Land, and welcomed Fr Bianchi’s petition for approval of
the “Pious Work of Christian Forgiveness” (cf. Sacchetti, Annotazioni varie; Fergnani,
Il Sepolcro ..., pp. 146–149). Fr Sacchetti seized the opportunity to add that Fr Rinaldi
wanted “our activity to also extend to the Muslims, by setting up special sections, through
social work for them, thanks also to the contribution of the Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians”. Pius XI replied:
Good, it is necessary to try to penetrate the Muslims with all the means that Salesian
efforts can inspire. There is so much talk about the impenetrability of the Muslim
soul, but I believe that if we seek to approach them with true Christian charity, and
study their intellectual and spiritual legacy more deeply, many prejudices would be
eliminated and the circle of sympathy for the Church would broaden, of which there
is undoubted evidence.21
To crown these events, on 3 August 1923 came the first solemn feast, at which
Fr Ferdinando Diotallevi OFM presided. Understandably very satisfied, Fr Bianchi
immediately sent news to Brother Na‘īm Cumbāz in Alexandria: “Today, 3 August, great
festivities at Beitgemal in honour of St Stephen. We celebrated community Mass with
another Mass over the tomb of the Holy Protomartyr, in the open air! The Custodian
of the Holy Land came to sing the Mass! Fr Provincial will tell you everything. The Holy
Father has given us a special grace. We need to pray so much for this Vicar of Jesus Christ.”
3.5.4 The “Work of Christian Forgiveness”: evangelisation and human development
On 9 June 1923 the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, passed on the papal
approval of the Pious Work of Christian Forgiveness, “recently established in Beitgemal
(Palestine) at the tomb of St Stephen and Saints Gamaliel, Nicodemus and Abibo”. Its aim
was: “to implore from St Stephen and spread among Christian people the complete and
perfect practice of charity, including towards our enemies, so as to extinguish the flame of
hatred still alive within poor and unfaithful Christian humanity, by establishing a centre
of prayer and good works at the very sepulchre of the Protomartyr himself. Prayers are
offered daily by Catholic and schismatic orphans who are educated there to piety and
work by the sons of the venerable Don Bosco; and the good works are for their benefit
21 Cf. Sacchetti, Studi Stefaniani, Serie B: Documenti Pontifici, p. 3. During the lengthy audience on 24 March
1923, Pius XI had indicated to Fr Philip Rinaldi “the need to work on behalf of Muslims”: ACS 3 (1923) no.
19, p. 76.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
and for other orphans, Muslims who have been brought together and educated in the
same institute.”22
Thus Betgamāl became the world centre for this “Work” and Fr Bianchi was its
director and promoter. Enrolments included many groups, especially priests and faithful
from many of the hundreds of parishes and chapels dedicated to the protomartyr in all
parts of the world, who were the first to be contacted. But we also note that “schismatics”,
converts from Islam and Judaism, and even Muslim girls were among those registered.
Many of Fr Bianchi’s former novices made it a point of honour to be among the first.
On 3 December 1923, Fr Sacchetti proposed to Fr Rinaldi how these initiatives could be
followed up:
It would be wonderful and glorious for us if, after the opening of the basilicas on
Tabor and at Gethsemane which the Franciscans will do in 1924 in honour of Jesus
Christ, we Salesians could open the basilica of the Protomartyr. Meanwhile, with a
view to keeping the promise made to the Holy Father in your name, I am pleased
to tell you that we have finished the semi-boarding school for Muslims that we hope
to open towards the 15th of the month. The British Government has declared it an
official school and will pay the teacher (ABG: Poss, Corrispondenza).
On 26 December 1923 there was a very solemn celebration at which Patriarch Luigi
Barlassina presided in the presence of Fr Gisler and the Franciscan master of ceremonies,
Fr Golubovitch. The Patriarch gave “first communion to 8 young Greek schismatics who
had been duly prepared and who had been received the previous evening, Christmas Day,
into the bosom of the Catholic Church.” He then stayed in the house “for the whole octave
of St Stephen and to preach a triduum in honour of St Francis de Sales on the occasion of
the closure of the centenary year of his death” (A detail from the report by Fr Sacchetti
for the Bollettino Salesiano, in Poss, Corrispondenza).
Naturally, confreres, Sisters, lay personnel and young people from the house all
enrolled in the “Pious Work”; there was a need to strengthen the mindset of reconciliation
and the attitude of forgiveness between local and European confreres in the first instance,
as well as between young Arabs and Armenians. There were encouraging results, as Fr
Sacchetti wrote on 30 April 1924: “Our youngsters this year are very good. The thought
that they find themselves at the Sepulchre of St Stephen, in their own courtyard, nurtures
mutual charity and forgiveness in their hearts. There hasn’t been the slightest bickering
throughout the whole year. Deo gratias!” Srugi was able to seize appropriate opportunities
to be an apostle of forgiveness at home and a peacemaker among the surrounding folk.
22 Cf. documents and correspondence between Fr Bianchi and Cardinal Gasparri (20 May, 9 June) and between
Fr Bianchi and Patriarch Barlassina (11 July and 3 August), in Fergnani, Il Sepolcro ..., pp. 150–156.
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3.5.5 Successes and recognition. Srugi “the best known and most revered individual”
(1924)
As we can see, over those years the community at Betgamāl was active in many areas,
and Srugi gave his contribution to one of them which was no less important. In a
brief summary of things that stood out in 1923-24, Fr Sacchetti wrote that the Feast
of St Stephen in 1924 was presided over by the Patriarchal Vicar of the Maronites
Bishop George Dumet, while to sing the Mass the Batharramite theologians came from
Bethlehem led by Fr Denis Buzy, the famous biblicist and archaeologist (1883–1965).
On different occasions there were visits from ten of the lecturers from the Biblicum in
Rome accompanied by Fr Mallon SJ, and some professors from the American School of
Archaeology in Jerusalem, led by William Foxwell Albright. In the final part of this report
Fr Alfredo wrote:
In accordance with the Holy Father’s wish to extend charity work to everyone, the
surgical and pharmaceutical clinic, which has been working for many years for
Muslims in the locality and the surrounding area, has intensified its activities this year.
The clinic is run by a Salesian confrere, a native of Nazareth called Simon Srugi. He
came to Beitgemal at 8 years of age in 1888 and has never left there. He has become an
expert pharmacist and nurse and for around thirty years he has been carrying out his
merciful task among the Muslims. Some thousands of people have received remedies
from him for the body, but always combined with some good words for the soul,
especially regarding devotion and love for Mary Help of Christians. Certainly there
is no one else throughout the district who is better known and revered than Srugi.
Women, men, children, the elderly flock to the door of the clinic in the mornings,
waiting for Srugi. He arrives calm and smiling and seems to bring a breath of hope
and life among these poor people. Often they come also to pour out their concerns
to him. And Srugi’s judgement is always accepted by them all without question. The
power of Christian charity! (Sacchetti, Corrispondenza).
Apart from some exaggeration and lack of precision concerning dates, what Fr
Sacchetti wrote is true to history regarding Srugi’s work, including the reverence people
had for him. This is the oldest accolade, and it acquires value from the fact that it appears
in a summary of events.
Improvements and innovation continued for the agricultural operation: fine vines
were imported from the Golan Heights in Syria and from Mount Lebanon, citrus
plants and olive trees from Sicily; thousands of trees were planted in the wooded area;
mechanisation was introduced on a broad scale in the work in the fields. For all these
reasons, Betgamāl in the Twenties saw considerable development, and won any number
of prizes at agricultural shows in the region, so much so that due to its modern equipment
and methods it was recognised by the governing body of the British Mandate as the “best
agricultural school in Palestine”; the Rector, Fr Bianchi was given “the Cross of the Order
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
of St George (O.B.E.) with a flattering citation from General Borton.” For his expertise and
merits, Fr Sacchetti became a permanent member of the “Agricultural Advisory Board of
the Palestine Government” (and later on also abuna Sarkīs). [Photo no. 70] This context
explains the protest that the Salesians sent to the Italian publisher Paravia in 1927 because
its maps of Palestine showed all the Jewish agricultural settlements and not the Christian
settlement of Betgamāl. The editor corrected this in the following edition.
Perhaps it was during this period of ascendance that Fr Sacchetti had the experience
(“due to the kind effort of the British Major, commander of the Wadi-Sarār aerodrome”)
of the first flight over Betgamāl, the Judean mountains and the Jordan valley. A number of
photographs remain of this (amongst which no. 62). He described it in his diary in terms
that reveal something of his spirituality: “I have to thank the Lord for this excursion.
First for the idea of the flight and then for the fact that I found myself in the air, seeing
how everything disappears if seen from a height; they filled my heart with holy affection
and love for God, and I begged the Lord to receive the infinite revolutions of the engine’s
propeller as so many bursts of my affection for Him.”
The encouraging post-war revival and the flattering results of those years were
achieved thanks to so many factors all coming together: first of all, the tireless and self-
sacrificing work of the coadjutor brothers, the instructors and young people in the fields,
the vineyard and wine cellar, which yielded sales of wine and oil; the proceeds from the oil
press and mill; the collection of part of the war compensations, the annual subsidy from
Schiaparelli’s ANMI, help from the Italian Consulate, etc. But a determining factor was
the contribution of many benefactors contacted in Europe and the USA, both individuals
and bodies; among them in particular the Protestant “Near East Relief ” and the “Catholic
Near East Welfare Association”. So as not to interrupt the thread of this historical and
biographical narrative, I will dedicate one of my “special windows” to this topic.
3.5.6 The construction of the new Martyrium of St Stephen (1928–30)
Other donations from various benefactors were to be used to start the construction
of St Stephen’s shrine. The miraculous liquefaction of his blood which happened on
12 July 1927 in the Franciscan monastery of St Clare in Naples when held in Fr
Sacchetti’s hands, was interpreted as a sign that the Saint was pleased with what was
happening in his honour, both on the devotional level and the way people were being
educated to forgiveness.23 Therefore, once permission had finally been obtained from
the archaeological authorities, the Byzantine mosaics were removed from the floor, and
23 Fr Alfredo detailed the event in his diary: cf. Lettera mortuaria, p. 4; the ABG has preserved the original
manuscripts of the two eyewitnesses, Fr Ferdinando Diotallevi from Jerusalem 7.2.1928, and Fr Girolamo
Torresani from Naples, on 22.2.1928; they were both copied by Fergnani, Il sepolcro ..., pp. 126–130.
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excavations were carried out around the grotto in the venerated area, and between March
and August 1928, under the planning and direction of Fr Gisler, the crypt was built, which
was blessed on 3 August by Salesian Bishop Felice Guerra (1866–1957), former novice of
Fr Bianchi’s and later Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba. [Photo no. 19] On 16 March 1929
Patriarch Barlassina ordained Fr Rudolf Frey there.
At this point the bureaucratic and financial process began to build a church over it
in the form of the primitive Martyrium. On 24 March 1929, Fr Sacchetti, introduced by
Cardinal Gasparri, was once again received in private audience by Pius XI to present
him with the plan that had once again been prepared by Fr Gisler, as the side aisle of a
large shrine. This time Fr Sacchetti brought a small album of photographs as tribute to
the Pope. One of the photos shows the large group of Salesians from the three houses of
Betgamāl, Bethlehem and Cremisan posing on the empty square: Srugi appears in it in
the first row on the left, closest to the grotto where St Stephen’s sepulchre lies (AIMOR:
Schedario, personal folder Sacchetti: letters to the Provincial of 5 and 24 March, and 4,
10, 12 April 1929). [Photo no. 20].
Fr Bianchi, who had already earmarked his entire family inheritance for the
construction, and commissioned the six hard limestone columns from a quarry in
Bethlehem, invited the Rector Major Fr Rinaldi himself to lay the first stone; he suggested
to him that if he were to put aside the strenuous sea voyage, he could arrive by train on
the Orient Express, imitating his predecessor, Fr Rua. But when he declined the invitation,
the ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Evasio Colli of Monreale, on 2 June 1929,
coinciding with the beatification of Don Bosco in Rome. In his sermon, the bishop made
an apt comparison between the martyrdom of blood and the martyrdom of daily life spent
for young people: “Now I understand how God in his goodness had to gift the sons of
Don Bosco with the tomb and Martyrium of St Stephen: since Salesian life, so apparently
joyful in the midst of carefree youth, is all about tough sacrifices and true martyrdom”
(Fergnani, Il Sepolcro ..., p. 164; cf. BS 53 (1929) pp. 239–240). It was with this priestly
spirit that Brother Srugi spent his hardworking days in the service of the boarders, and
the poor and the sick outside. Fr Bianchi closely followed up the work and in December
was able to show the canonical Visitor, Fr Antonio Candela, the final stage. [Photos nos.
24, 25, 26].
3.5.7 Simon and the lay apostolate of the “Confraternities”
Three other “pious unions” or devotional associations were active at Betgamāl, their
membership involving Salesians, lay helpers and some selected pupils. Chronologically
speaking, the first had to be the “Confraternity of Jesus the Adolescent” which according
to data provided by the Provincial, Fr Salvatore Puddu (1874–1964), had been founded
back in 1900, approved by Pius X and then by his successors. It received a strong impulse
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
from the solemn consecration of the church dedicated to Jesus the Adolescent in Nazareth
on 6 September 1923. The festivities, animated by the French Salesians at home and in the
field, extended over an octave of liturgical celebrations and cultural events, and one of the
culminating acts was the consecration of the youth of the world to the divine Adolescent
(cf. Desramaut, pp. 158–160). Fr Philip Rinaldi wanted this event to be highlighted
throughout the Congregation, as it fitted very well with the programme of renewal he
was carrying on during those years:
With this in mind, it seems appropriate to me this year to establish the reminders for
the Retreats: a) The life of Our Lord in the house at Nazareth, the perfect model we
should keep in view in order to reproduce it as best as possible in every young person
that Providence entrusts to our care; b) Our life of intellectual or manual work that
we should personally carry out in company with Our Blessed Lady and St Joseph,
because Our Lord came down to redeem us through the sanctification of work even
before the shedding of his precious blood; c) Our life of submission to our legitimate
superiors which is a duty for all of us: not a purely passive submission that awaits
order in order to carry them out, but a loving submission that foresees wishes and
guesses what needs there are, just as the Adolescent Jesus did more perfectly for Our
Blessed Lady and St Joseph (ACS 3 (1923) no. 21, pp. 118–119).
At Betgamāl too, the ceremony of consecration was held, following the instructions
of the Provincial, Fr Puddu. It is plausible that a representative group of confreres also
went to Nazareth: would Simon, a fellow citizen of Jesus, have missed out on that? It was
probably on that occasion that he had himself portrayed posing with one of his cousins..
[Photos nos. 13, 14, 41]. For sure he was committed to carrying out the spiritual and
pedagogical programme drawn up by Fr Rinaldi.
From 1924 to 1927 he was also the animator of the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade”, an
apostolic initiative promoted at in the MOR Province by the zealous Salesian priest Fr
Mario Gerbo (1885–1964). In those years there were brief exchanges of correspondence
between the two of them and with some former students, which I will deal with in the
second part. Some years after we also read in the Chronicle: “8 December 1930 the
“St Joseph’s Sodality” was established with 11 chosen by the Rector. The president was
Brother Srugi”. It was further recognition of the sway Simon had over the boys and even
his confreres. Among the Sodalities, the St Joseph’s Sodality (already in place at the time
when Fr Giannini was Rector, and encouraged by Fr Rua) also had as its specific aim,
other than devotion to and imitation of the guardian and educator of the adolescent Jesus
(trust in Providence, poverty, interior life, work and prayer ...) to assist the Prefect in the
maintenance of the premises, the care of tools and household materials, in short, the
smooth running of the household economy.
For their part the confreres in Nazareth had asked the ecclesiastical authorities to
elevate the “association” of Jesus the Adolescent to the level of an “Archconfraternity”.
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When this was obtained in 1930, its spread increased, receiving applications for
membership from clergy and laity, seminarians, religious sisters and enclosed nuns ...
from many parts of the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, as demonstrated by the
impressive documentation preserved in the archives of the Salesian house in Nazareth.
In an appropriate section of this work I will take up the prayer of consecration written
by Patriarch Barlassina. Here I underline the concrete purpose of this archconfraternity
which, in addition to sacramental and devotional practices, required the imitation of
the Adolescent Jesus, according to a precise annual programme in which each month
corresponded to the exercise of a particular Christian virtue. On 24 May 1932 all the
confreres at Betgamāl were officially enrolled. Simon Srugi is the first in the list of
the Brothers, confirming the respect he enjoyed thanks to his outstanding piety and
exemplary behaviour.
3.5.8 A humble confrere and educator
All the above occasional or daily expressions of appreciation he received did not affect
Simon’s humility or his basic attitude, summed up in the words of the Imitation of Christ’s
“ama nesciri et pro nihilo reputari” (Love being unknown and disregarded, Book I, Chap.
2, no. 5). By always being in the presence and at the service of God, he carried out his
various kinds of educational activity and all his hard manual work to perfection, but
always in the spirit of the Gospel’s “useless servant” (Lk 17:7–10). He was convinced that
he was “a poor wretch” and often applied the words of Nathaniel to himself: “I am really
good for nothing: it is enough to say that I come from Nazareth. And didn’t Nathanael
say that nothing good can come from Nazareth?” (cf. Jn 1:46). He considered his life to
be of no value, so much so that even when he was in danger of being stoned or stabbed,
he reacted nonchalantly: the first two episodes of aggression took place in 1933 near the
Samaritan Woman’s well and at the foot of Tabor, which Simon was climbing together
with Brother Giovanni Battista Ugetti (1886–1965); the third happened in 1936 on the
train from Jerusalem to Derabān (cf. Forti, pp. 116, 125 and 117; Fiora, p. 130).
The thought that something was owed to him as a tribute of merit or token of gratitude
was totally alien to him. In 1929 he was selected to represent the Brother confreres from
Palestine at the celebrations for the beatification of Don Bosco in Italy. But to ensure
assistance to the sick from the house and from outside, he had no difficulty staying
home, leaving the honour to Bro. George Harūni, who left in company with the Rector, Fr
Bianchi. A similar episode took place in 1934 for the holy Founder’s canonisation. These
are two examples of how Srugi habitually practised the “ask nothing, refuse nothing”, in
the spirit of Ignatian and Salesian “holy indifference”. But where did this habitual attitude
come from and how was it nurtured? He himself spoke of its Gospel roots to Sr Tersilla
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
one day, when commenting on the brief prayer “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make
our hearts like yours”:
Oh, the humility of Jesus! He was God yet so humble, so hidden. Thirty years in
Nazareth without letting himself be known; working every day as a simple garzoncello
[young helping hand] (this was the term he used, I recall it well), while we are
so proud. In the Vademecum there is a beautiful prayer in preparation for holy
communion, dictated by Our Lord to Sister Benigna Ferrero that I like so much, and
I say it every day; there lies our nothingness.
He also explained why, at the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, he was assigned
Peter’s part:
So as to teach these poor boys about the beauty of this function, and get them to
understand the honour they have had in representing Jesus’ apostles. So when they
grow up they will remember this act in their life and will be better. But for me too,
poor man that I am, it is a good lesson in humility: representing the Apostle St Peter
so ardent, generous and full of faith. But think about it: Jesus, who is God, humbles
himself before us his creatures, and kisses the apostles’ feet: What a lesson in love and
humility for us!
This habitual acceptance of humility made Simon capable of practising the Salesian
educative and apostolic approach in an exemplary way. Fr Peter Cattān, who was in
Betgamāl in 1929–31 and 1940 to 1943, portrays the Simon of maturity and old age in
these terms:
He was an apostle in how he carried out his work, be it in charge of the mill and
the clinic, as infirmarian, and especially as a friend and older brother to the boys.
Every good Salesian is also a good assistant, but our confrere Srugi was the best,
admirable. He stood out for his unalterable calm and exquisite charity, and was able to
coax even the most reluctant to obey the rules. It was enough to know that Bro. Srugi
was in charge of someone or being the assistant to be sure that everything would go
well. Already elderly and not well, when he was invited to be the assistant he did so
gladly and to the councillor who apologised for causing him such a disturbance, he
exclaimed: “Oh, but just think, you are doing me a pleasure.” And he recommended
that whenever it was needed he should not be spared. He enjoyed seeing the children
play, he was happy with their cheerfulness and their fun.
Here we have a qualified confirmation of how Simon had assimilated those aspects of
Salesian spirituality that Don Bosco’s first successors brought up to date in their writings,
and he remained faithful to them until old age.
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4. The “small world” of Betgamāl and Srugi’s mission at its service
At this point in our story let us pause to take a closer look at the actual human setting in
which Simon lived and worked, with people at home and outsiders.
4.1 Within the walls and nearby to the religious house (deir, “convent”)
In Srugi’s time, after the First World War, an average of seventy to eighty people were
living “in” at Betgamāl: a dozen Salesians (priests, brothers and clerics); 5-6 Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians working in the kitchen, wardrobe and the infirmary for the
women, and some of their helpers; two Armenian families of lay collaborators (both
“Salesian Cooperators”), 5–6 “domestics and teachers”; some workers and trade teachers;
some forty or so boys/young men from 10–12 to 17–19 years of age who attended
the “practical school of agriculture” (Fr Ricaldone had laid down that new admissions
should be of an average age of between 12 and 15). As a whole they were anything but a
homogeneous group; they belonged to different nationalities and rites: there were Arabs
(Palestinians, Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians) who belonged to the Greek-Catholic and
Latin rites, Lebanese from the Maronite rite, Apostolic and Catholic Armenians, Italians,
some Germans and Swiss, and in the last decade also some Poles, one Spaniard and one
from San Salvador. The languages used in community life and the school were Arabic and
Italian, and English as well during the British Mandate.24
It could be said that within the same large “compound” (but in separate buildings and
respecting the Sisters’ cloister) the members of almost all the “Salesian family” groups
interacted in the ways that were understood at the time. Among the Salesians, as well as
being variously involved in the practical school of agriculture, some were at the service of
the surrounding populations, mostly Muslims who chose one of them to be the mukhtār
or mayor.25 There was also a small shop where the farmers could buy essentials; Srugi
was in charge of this for years. Occasionally hospitality was provided in the house to
24 During the twenty years from 1918–1937 the average number of borders was 43. In the 6 binders in ABG:
Accettazione Allievi, we read of applications for admission from bishops and priests of various rites, and from
religious, sisters, relatives or family members, along with baptismal certificates, medical certification etc.:
most were orphans, but there were also boys entrusted to them because of over-sized families, or because they
were not suited to literary studies. They came from everywhere: from nearby Beitjala, Ramlah and Jerusalem,
but also from Kerak, Gaza, distant Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, Greece, Constantinople, Cilicia ...
25 For years it was abuna Butrus Sarkīs, a balanced and just man, often assisted by Srugi who held the role of
mukhtār. Also abuna Rummān Spiridiōn and Brother George Harūni (1873–1955) were mukhtārs for some
time.
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some “outsiders”.26 One priest had the pastoral care of a minority of Christians in the
parish operating from 1880 but then, in 1927, passed to the diocesan clergy from nearby
Deir Rafāt.27 There were friendly relations between the male and female communities
at Betgamāl and Deir Rafāt (orphanage and clinic entrusted to the “Dorothy Sisters”,
and an agricultural school run by priests from the Latin Patriarchate), with exchanges
of visits when there were patronal feasts or other memorials, and also some forms of
mutual pastoral ministry (cf. Fano, Chapters 1–3 passim, and here pp. 64, 95).
Beyond the walls of the “convent” were poor little homes where the families of a
dozen or so settlers, tenants and share farmers lived, a few watchmen and a camel driver,
various livestock handlers, or to cultivate vegetable gardens, orchards, olive groves and
vineyards, with the proceeds of which the Salesian work supported itself. [Photos nos.
7, 62] Some distance away two Bedouin clans were camped with their flocks of sheep
and goats that grazed on the property, and around a 150 Muslim families in surrounding
villages. Then there was the constant coming and going of people: day workers, the dozens
of sick people coming every day to be looked after from some fifty or so villages in the
district; farmers bringing their products to the mill and the press. Finally, occasional
visitors: merchants; buyers of wine and various foodstuffs, tax agents, health inspectors
or the police, “vagabonds” or freeloaders who would inevitably turn up at lunchtime.
4.2 Ways and means of connecting with the outside
Before cars arrived, transport was on camel and horseback, or mule or ass. Journeys
were occasional since the deir was almost self-sufficient: bread from the oven, wine from
the cellar, meat from the stable and “lower court”, milk and cheese, vegetables, fruit, oil,
honey; cobbler, carpentry, blacksmith, brick-making “workshops”, and from 1930 even a
small printing press. [Photos 35–37, 63–67].
Connections with the outside were on foot or with a cart pulled by a mule as far as
the nearby railway station at Derabān (which came into service between 1890-92, also
26 As I have already indicated, Scottish archaeologist Duncan MacKenzie stayed there for a year and a half from
1912–13. Then from March 1928 “Dr Elihu Grant, a Protestant and former director of the American School
at Ramallah was our guest for about three months, or in other words for as long as the excavations lasted in
Betsames” (House Chronicle).
27 Already in 1887 Fr Belloni noted: "The parish, canonically erected in 1880, had around 120 Catholics; it is
at the expense of the Work; Dom Scanzio, superior of the agricultural school, is the parish priest": Bulletin
annuel..., Année 1887, p. 17. In 1894 Fr Conil, on pp. 213, 215–217, describes the beginnings of Betgamāl,
then on p. 218–219, other than indicating the parish, he writes: “Currently they provide the same spiritual
services to European employees of the railway, an hour from the house. The School is still a hospice for
European passengers passing through; it provides work for the poor and medicine for the sick; it has sixty-
five boarding pupils mainly doing agriculture.”
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known as Artūf, today Betshemesh). At Artūf, around 6 km away, there was a British
police station and the post and telegraph office to which Betgamāl belonged. From the
station one could head west to Ramlah (headquarters of the administrative district),
Lydda (an important railway junction to go to the coast or inland, or in the direction of
Egypt), and then on to Jaffa (and Tel Aviv), the most important city another twenty km
away, where from 1907 the Salesians ran an elementary school belonging to Schiaparelli’s
ANMI (which they left in 1920 to take on the running of the one at Haifa).
To go to Jerusalem one could use the little train that climbed from Derabān-Artūf
along the Wadi-Nahal Sorek and, after stopping at Bittīr (from where a mule track led
eastwards to ’Saint Philip’s Fountain’, Cremisan and Bethlehem.), ended at the “German
Colony”. Or first one went by cart or car to the Bab-el-Wad crossroads 12 km north of
Betgamāl, and after 20 km of a truck route that climbed the mountains to the north-east
one reached Jerusalem. Here, from 1904 the Salesians ran the Royal Italian Boys School
situated on Prophets Street in front of the Italian Hospital where the Cottolengo Sisters
were working. On the block below was the Italian Girls School which also belonged to
ANMI, run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
In general, these were the destinations for Simon and the roads he covered as the
one looking after the infirmary and clinic, whenever there was a need to go and consult
doctors or buy medicines. In fact, given his frail constitution, he was not involved in
working in the fields or vineyard and cellar, but continued looking after the sick, be they
from inside (confreres and boys, often victims of malaria) or from outside, who came
back even more battered than before from all the surrounding war-torn villages. To gain
a realistic idea of the service provided, there is an instructive note on “Activities of the
surgical and pharmacological dispensary for Muslims in July 1923-July 1924:
Purgatives; de-wormers; quinine doses; eye drops and similar remedies; teeth
extraction; remedies for sores, tumours and bites; leeches extracted from the throat;
coughs and diseases of the throat and mouth; treatment of light wounds; treatment
of serious wounds; varia. This Dispensary has been operating free of charge among
Muslims for about 30 years, and the picture here represents approximately an annual
average. The annual average expenses amount to something around 6,000 Lit [Italian
Lire]. – This is covered exclusively by the Salesians, but over the last three years
ANMI has sent medicines to a total cost of Lit. 4,000. The British Government
too has provided disinfectants to combat malaria” (AIMOR 4.4.1.1, Documenti e
corrispondenza 1901–1944).
4.3 A wise and faithful administrator
In the words of the Gospel, Simon can be said to have been the wise and faithful
administrator put in charge of certain key areas of the work at Betgamāl, where on a daily
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basis he carried out many and varied forms of corporal and spiritual mercy. Thus far, he
received the sick in one of the rooms off the entrance hallway. To meet the ever growing
number of requests, and also to meet the specific requirements of the British Mandate’s
governing body, there was a need for something larger and better equipped. The same
view was held by Dr Elihu Grant, from Haverford College, then the director of the
Archaeological School at Ramallah who, while carrying out research on the surrounding
Palestinian socio-economic environment, lived at the house and was able to personally
see how much was done; on 8 July 1930 he left this statement (kept among Fr Sacchetti’s
correspondence):
I have studied conditions in rural Palestine for many years and just recently have
carried on three scientific experiments in close neighborhood to the monastic
establishment of the Salesian Order at Beitgemal, Artuf station, Palestine. I want to
bear my cordial, unsolicited testimony to the great value of the humane services of the
brothers and sisters of Beitgemal. I am particularly impressed with the physical needs
of those poor peasants living in over thirty villages who go up to the great house with
their many sicknesses and ailments which the dwellers there try to minister to every
day. I hope that their small equipment may turn into a well furnished dispensary.
4.4 A providential benefactor: Fr Adolfo Tornquist
Money is needed to shift from ideas to facts! While the aid promised by ANMI and the
Italian Consulate were struggling to arrive, starting from 1926-27 the Providence came
along through the two great associations N.E.R. and C.N.E.W.A., which I will deal at
length with in the fourth “window”, and thanks to Fr Tornquist, whom I now introduce.
He was born in Buenos Aires on 4 December 1877, to a wealthy financier; he was won
over to Salesian life by Bishop John Cagliero and made his profession on 14 November
1922 at Ivrea. In the years that followed the Rector Major sent him to visit the Salesian
missions in Asia (cf. Valentini, Profili di Missionari ..., pp.546–550). During his stopover
in the Holy Land, on 25 and 26 December 1929 he was in Betgamāl with the Provincial, Fr
Carlo Gatti and Fr Antonio Candela (Councillor for Technical and Agricultural Schools)
and took on the task of financing the construction of the planned building to the left
of the entrance, to be used partly as a school for Muslim boys from outside, and partly
as a clinic and dispensary. On 4 January 1930, in the presence of the chiefs and many
inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, he presided over the blessing and laying of the
foundation stone; in little more than a year the building was finished and its usefulness
was soon evident. [Photos nos. 29-32]. On 21 June 1931 Fr Sacchetti wrote to him:
We are going through very difficult times but the Lord is clearly blessing us. The
dispensary is in regular use with the Sister and Srugi and does immense good. I
finished the Arab school in March; it is equipped with all it needs. I was expecting Fr
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Shalhub to offer a 4 month course, the programme was printed, then Fr Shalhub did
not come. I will send you photographs when the work is a bit more advanced. Srugi
and Sr Tersilla (also a very capable Sister and all charity) send heartfelt greetings and
promise to pray for your intentions.
Simon was particularly grateful to the generous benefactor; nor did he fail to pray for
him daily. On 8 September 1931 Fr Sacchetti gave him an update:
We have found a Sister (FMA) for the small Arab school, and in October we will
begin with the children of farmers at Beitgemal, about thirty of them. That is already
a lot. The Sister working with Srugi is also a gift from God, because she does immense
good. August ended with a total of 13,000 medications in one year.
The Provincial, Fr Lorenzo Nigra, wanted to point out in his annual report to the
Superiors in Turin that: “1931–32: This year a small school, an infants school, was opened
for the children of our Muslim workers. Average attendance (day time) 20 including boys
and girls. The clinic has been extended over three rooms. There is a Sister for the women,
and a Brother for the men”. In these new rooms Simon continued to carry out his daily
welfare activity as a “Good Samaritan”; the sick came to him in their dozens and the
reputation spread far and wide that he worked extraordinary and immediate recoveries.
[Photos 33, 34]. This gave rise to jealousy on the part of a Protestant doctor but on the
other hand the solidarity of a Maronite doctor in Ramlah who personally offered to be the
guarantor of the “clinic”. Witnesses added that Simon, even in quite critical circumstances
(such as when he was accused of having caused the death of a woman suffering from
gangrene and had to suspend his activities as a cautionary measure) kept his calm, never
complained about the offences he had received, entrusting his defence to the goodness of
God.
4.5 Sr Tersilla the nurse and Simon the pharmacist in the new clinic
Just the same, regulations had to be obeyed, so on 25 May 1932, the “Chief Secretary’s
Office, Government of Palestine – Jerusalem”, informed that “it has now been arranged
for a Medical Officer of Health to conduct a clinic there once a month”. On the 29th
of the same month, Fr Sacchetti assured the “Hadassah Medical Organization” that the
clinic was being equipped in accordance with the rules and the handbook of the same
organisation for use of the “Village Clinics”. On 29 July 1932 he provided Dr Haddad
from the “District Health Office, Ramlah”, with the information requested (preparation,
titles and practice) of the “nurse” and “Pharmacist Mr Serougi”); and finally, he assured
him that a doctor from the Italian hospital in Jerusalem would come at least every two
weeks to “hold clinic”. This would have ensured legal cover, and would have been an
opportunity for practical training for the Brother and the Sister, who would sometimes
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assist the surgeon in minor operations; this was nothing new for Sr Tersilla given her
lengthy hospital practice, but it was for Simon.28
Who was Tersilla Ferrero? Born in San Salvatore Monferrato (Alessandria) in 1893,
and while still very young, moved by a deep sense of Christian compassion, she had
worked in civil then military hospitals during the First World War. An outspoken and
strong character, “elegant young woman with a watch hanging from a silver chain and a
gold brooch on her chest”, she kept her religious vocation a secret from her family until
the age of 21 when she entered the FMA novitiate. She made her profession in 1916, opted
for the missions and at the end of the war in 1918 was assigned to the school in Alexandria
in Egypt that had been opened in 1915 by Sr Annetta Vergano, “a refugee from the Holy
Land”. In 1922 she became part of the community at the Italian hospital in Damascus,
where she qualified as a professional nurse and furthered her medical training, showing
herself to be “capable and very generous in her gift of self ”. She responded to the profile
of the qualified “nurse” they were seeking for Betgamāl, where she arrived in September
1929 (cf. Secco, Facciamo memoria, 1974, pp. 156–160). First as a simple Sister, then as
superior of the FMA community, she would be at Srugi’s side for 14 years. Given their
similarity of mind, the two religious saints soon developed a true spiritual friendship,
beyond their complementarity on a professional level, as will be seen later in this story.
[Photos nos. 32, 50]. From the legal point of view it was she as the qualified nurse who was
responsible for the clinic and Simon was her assistant pharmacist; it would have been her
who had to answer to the authorities, compile the registry of medications ... In fact it was
Simon who filled in the columns in the pre-printed registers on a daily basis, noting in
Arabic all the required data (patient’s general details and religion, village of origin, type
of pathology and treatment administered). Nine of these “Dispensary Registers” have
come down to us, documenting for us the dozens of medications administered daily, and
from another point of view they provide us with interesting elements for reconstructing
a map of the villages where the sick came from. I will deal with these aspects in the first
“window”.
However, over and above all the bureaucratic formalities and formal study titles,
the sick continued to prefer Srugi whom they called el mu‘ àllem (the master) or more
emphatically el hakīm (the doctor), convinced that he was “a man in whose hands the
power of God acted”. They had deep respect for him, while he humbly invited them to
28 Handbooks, surgical equipment, anaesthetics used by Srugi have been preserved in his room, e.g. Fred
Haslam, General Catalogue Standard Surgical Instruments. USA 1929 edition, containing a complete description
of all the surgical instruments then in use. Among others he consulted the small Hebrew-English manual
entitled: Pharmacopoedia of the Hadassah Medical Organization and Kupat Holim and other approved Village
Clinics. Jerusalem: R. H. Cohen’s Press, 1927; and the Norme per i soccorsi d’urgenza da prestarsi in attesa del
Sanitario, by the Antica Regia Farmacia Schiapparelli in Turin.
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pray to Our Lady (Sitti Maryam) and trust in “Jesus the Healer” whom he wanted them
to turn to with the greeting yahya Yasū‘a! (Live Jesus).
At night, with the Rector’s permission, Simon went to some slums to look after those
who could not come as far as the clinic or because they suffered from some “shameful”
illnesses, or for lack of strength, or on other occasions so they would not be stopped by
the police who were scouring the area for wanted criminals.
As infirmarian, he did not limit himself to handing out medications or the appropriate
treatment, but he educated the confreres and the boarders to sanctify suffering in a spirit
of faith and love, so as to conform themselves to Jesus on the cross (cf. Banchi, Chaps
1–3). Na‘īm Calussie, a boarder for 9 years and who was often ill, wrote from Aleppo in
1962:
I found him to be a guardian angel during my different illnesses; as a nurse he looked
after me more patiently than a mother, and continuously suggested brief holy prayers
to me. Sometimes he would call me to help him make the hosts, and he spent all his
time in prayer. Really, whatever the time of day I met him, he was praying and making
up these little prayers.
4.6 Supervisor of mill works and friend to the least
As a man of trust, Brother Srugi was also entrusted with the mill works: he established
who went first, weighted the sacks of grain and at the end of the day brought back the
takings to give them to the Economer. The heavy work was done by a worker, or technical
mechanic and electrician, and by one of the older boys. Over the years, the focus had
shifted from mechanical to electrical systems, and Srugi knew neither. [Photo 36].
Under the long shed with its sheet metal roof, facing south towards the Khallet esh-
Shugi‘a valley, the heat in summer was suffocating, the farmers’ voices deafening, and
there were frequent brawls. Simon always wore a military-style jacket fastened up to
the neck and did not drink anything throughout his service. Though small of stature
and thin, he showed uncommon fortitude and restraint in maintaining order and calm.,
winning everyone’s respect because of his sense of justice and impartiality, and forgiving
the not infrequent violators of the established order. Fr Cattān summed it up: “Ever
calm and smiling, he did everything with so much delicacy and charity, he knew how
to make himself loved and respected”; Fr Dal Maso adds that he often interceded with
the superiors so that those who had stolen something, including recidivists, were not
punished too severely let alone deprived of their job (cf. Forti, pp. 65–70).
For people who were poor and hungry he was capable of many little “approaches” that
his generous heart suggested to him: not only was he happy with the little they could pay
(if they had no money he accepted a chicken, some eggs, or nothing), but he set aside his
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own fruit in order to give it to undernourished children, handed out bread to those who
had to tackle a long return journey to their villages. There are other episodes: he found a
little cubbyhole for, and fed and looked after an orphan lad who was badly injured while
working in the countryside (“he remained in this state for more than two months, without
being able to move, while Srugi did everything for him, including the most humble things,
and changed his clothes”). For two years he arranged for a Yemeni man, completely alone
and lost, to sleep in the stable. Shehade was a poor man from Beitjala whom everyone
laughed at because he was a bit dumb, almost crippled from walking in completely worn-
out shoes; since the cobbler at the deir did not have the means or ability to resolve the
problem, Srugi went with him to Hebron, a well-known leather processing centre, and
saw that he got a pair of suitable shoes.
His work could not have been said to be over at the end of the day; in fact his room
in the north-west corner of the first floor was very poor (the bed, a small table, a kneeler,
basin and pitcher for washing, a wall-mounted wardrobe), and lacked what today we
would call privacy: it was really a continuation of the infirmary, separated only by a
wooden wall and opaque glazing. There were some beds for patients in there, first-aid
equipment, some glass cabinets with medicines, a table for meals, a small altar ... it was
a poor setting, even lacked running water, and was where a sick boy or confrere would
be kept (sometimes for days or weeks). Even during the night Simon would give them
appropriate care, interrupting his light sleep. In summer, at 4.30 a.m. (5 o’clock in winter)
he was up once more and had gone down to the chapel to serve abuna Sarkīs’ Mass.
4.7 A prudent and sought out counsellor
In the world that I have described, “mu‘allem Srugi” had become an authoritative
individual; they would turn to him also as a peacemaker or for “recommendations” and
“mediations” of various kinds. Let me limit myself to three episodes. The Provincial, Fr
Carlo Gatti, on 8 January 1930 wrote to Fr Giuseppe Raele, the Rector at Cremisan:
“When Fr Coradini goes to Beitgemal he could take a young Muslim with him whom
Srugi recommended to Fr Tornquist and me. Try him out in the garden and the fields,
and send him back if it doesn’t work.”
Sister Marcella Milano FMA (superior from 1934 to ’37 at Betgamāl) testifies: “A girl
stayed with us for two months, but because of her human frailty she was accused of being
flighty and frivolous … On her return to her family, her uncle (she had no parents)
received displeasing news. The distressed child asked me to write to her uncle on her
behalf. Since I did not know any Arabic, and in such a delicate case, I was inspired to
turn to Bro. Srugi as a prudent individual. I explained matters with all prudence and
seriousness and he wrote the letter in delicate words that assured the man that there was
no problem with the girl.”
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Past Pupil George Damergian had married a young woman from Jerusalem, and had
gone to live in Nazareth with her where he worked; but she became homesick and wanted
to go back home to the family and her parents. Knowing that his former teacher Brother
Srugi was passing through Nazareth, George invited him to visit them. He went with Fr
Dal Maso, listened carefully, and then, using simple but appropriate reasoning, managed
to convince her to stay in Nazareth with her legitimate husband.
5. Simon’s religious life
It is important to emphasise that if, in carrying out all his various tasks, Simon was not
overwhelmed by fatigue and nervousness, not lost in routine, or even caught up in self-
esteem, it was because he constantly pointed the “tip of his soul” upwards (Francis de
Sales), as servants “look to the hand of their Master” (cf. Ps 123:2) and “calmed and
quieted [his] soul like a weaned child with [his] mother”, Mary (cf. PS 131:2). Sister
Tersilla often heard his words of encouragement: “Let us work, let us work a lot, and
everything to please God and save our souls. Don Bosco, our good father, left his sons
this inheritance: ‘Work, bread and paradise’” (note the order of precedence!).
5.1 Spirit of “piety”. Imitation of Christ and St Stephen
Simon’s activity and apostolate flowed from deep theological springs: constant union with
God, fed by daily Eucharistic communion and weekly confession; prayer, devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart, the wounds of the Crucified Jesus, and Our Lady
Help of Christians. The church in which the community gathered daily for prayer, and to
which Simon went for frequent ’visits’, alone or often in the company of a few boys, was
also an effective stimulus to the imitation of Christ and Saint Stephen.
The new Martyrium was solemnly blessed on 3 August 1930 by Patriarch Barlassina
after the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to Pius XI on the entrance portal. He was
assisted by Archbishop Haroutyoun Keklikian, the Armenian archbishop of Adana, some
Episcopal Vicars from the various rites, representatives of the Custody of the Holy Land
and religious communities in Jerusalem, in the presence of the Consul General of Italy,
Comm. Giovanni Pascale, the Provincial Fr Gatti, and numerous Salesian confreres and
civil authorities. [Photo no. 27]. In later years, the interior was decorated by the Maltese
Carmelite friar Luigi Poggi with original paintings depicting the life and martyrdom,
burial and glory of Saint Stephen. The German artist Emilio Ritz covered the lower band
of the walls with imitation mosaics and in the vault of the apse he depicted Jesus on the
cross in the act of praying.: “Pater, dimitte illis”. Everything was an invitation to imitate
Jesus and Stephen in their love for God and in the forgiveness of their persecutors. It was
in this shrine that Srugi would for years lead the practices of piety of the confreres and
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the boys, and during solemnities would put on his black cassock and white “cotta”, and be
master of ceremonies, edifying everyone for his competence and especially for his deep
piety. I will approach this last point from the third “window”. [Photo no. 28].
But for him all places and times were an opportunity to live the gift of “piety”,
understood as filial union with God and loving acceptance of his will. Anticipating
something of what I will say in the second part, I observe that Simon marked his constant
commitment to personal sanctification with an annual, monthly and weekly rhythm.
During the Retreats he wrote down resolutions in a small notebook that he reviewed
at the monthly recollection (then called the “exercise for a happy death”) and in his
weekly confession. In the first instance they document his desire to experience Trinitarian
communion and spousal intimacy with Jesus:
How happy and blessed I must be to have consecrated myself body and soul to my
God. How much I must do to keep myself as pure and chaste as an angel in His
presence. How careful I must be never to stain my soul or my body, the august temple
of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, I will always have God present to me and put into
practice the means that the Holy Rule suggests to me. God dwells in my soul no less
blazing with light and glory than in the glory of Heaven. I am always in the presence
of God; I am part of his court of honour; I will try to be pure of mind and heart.
For Simon the practices of piety, of course, were subordinate to the primary precept
of love of neighbour; he was always punctual, except when, with due permission, he was
dispensed for some act of charity or some work he could not be replaced for. And then
he would say: “The act of charity makes up for the practices of piety.” Every morning,
seeing him leave the house and head out serene and recollected for the clinic to look after
the sick, one would have said that he was animated by what Francis de Sales presented
as the “Marian spirit of the Visitation”: uninterrupted union with Jesus whom he bore
in his heart, exulting in God his Saviour, and concerned about the humble service of his
neighbour. The answers he gave to those who were surprised by his absence in church are
revealing: “I heard Mass as well as the others: my spirit was with the Lord as if I were in
church. Don’t you know that obedience is worth more than an hour of adoration? Besides,
I have always been in spirit before the Blessed Sacrament exposed....”. Or words similar
to this: “People of little faith! I have spent all day in adoration”; “Jesus himself who was in
church with you, was also with me at the mill”. This was Simon’s way of living the cardinal
principle of the “Guard of honour” for Jesus in the Eucharist, which Fr Rua, in 1900, asked
all confreres to enrol in:
To sanctify the hour of watch you are not obliged to change any of your ordinary
occupations to go to the church or say special prayers. It is all left up to each one’s
piety so that, in the words of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque, “let
everything be done out of love and nothing by force”. At the beginning of the hour
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of watch, which each person chooses from the hours that are most convenient for
him, the member brings his thoughts to his ‘place of honour’ in front of the Holy
Tabernacle and offers Jesus the actions and words, thoughts and sorrows that may
arise during the hour, but above all he offers his heart with all its affections, so that
everything may speak of love and reparation for all those who forget him or offend
him (Anonymous, Nuovo manuale della guardia d’onore al Sacro Cuore di Gesù, p.
39).
The same fundamentals underpinned the “Eucharistic Crusade” and the “Blessed
Sacrament Sodality”. As we will see in the second part, Simon educated the best boys to
this practice. In practical terms, this meant acting with the “right intention” of pleasing
God out of pure love, without expecting a reward and even less, thinking about what
others did or said. Simon repeated this to himself and others in a most impressive way.
Whoever observed him up close became aware of it: the Catholic Armenian woman
Serpuhi, who knew him very well for 18 years, when living at Betgamāl with her husband
Dikrān Ciakmakgian, a teacher at the school, testified: “We knew, and it could be
discerned from his whole demeanour and bearing, that his heart was fixed on the Lord,
filled with God, paradise he was always thinking of, and paradise was the great and only
hope of his soul, his food and nourishment for doing his work well, and to help him be
so patient and charitable with everyone. I always had this impression and conviction that
he was a man of God, and that all the good and work he did and the charity he showed
everyone, Christian or Muslim, he did for God alone.”
Even for Muslims it was clear that Srugi did everything “li waghi-l-lāh”, i.e.,
as someone who stood before God and acted only for His glory. Simon explicitly
renewed this purity of intention before commencing his ordinary occupations, varying
it according to the particular devotion for each day of the week (Souls in Purgatory,
Guardian Angel, St Joseph, the Eucharist, Jesus crucified, Our Lady. I will pick this up
again when speaking about “Srugi the mystic” in the appropriate window). Sundays, free
from work in the clinic and the mill, he dedicated to spiritual recharging: sometimes
after the sung Mass he gave some spiritual reading to the boys, then one would see him in
lengthy adoration before the tabernacle (Sister Regina Yūnis FMA, at Betgamāl from 1929
to 1938, revealed that sometimes she and another Sister would go to the church without
being noticed, to “enjoy” watching Srugi in prayer); or sitting under a secluded tree, all
absorbed in meditation on the Gospel that had been commented on in the sermon, or in
reading devotional books or lives of the Saints. Fr Frey also provides some useful details
in this regard: “He spent his free time reading magazines. With the permission of the
superiors he subscribed to the Messenger of the Sacred Heart in Italian and Arabic, the
Lampada del Tabernacolo, La Crociata del SS.mo Sacramento, etc. He passed them on to
the confreres, then collected them diligently and he himself bound each year’s worth.
Other than magazines he gladly read the Vademecum by Fr Barberis: ‘Oh what beautiful
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things it contains: Let us do what it says!’” From such readings he would draw paragraphs
or sentences, composing a collection of thoughts and maxims, which he would then share
with his confreres and young people, especially on the first Friday of the month. I write
about this in the second part of my work.
5.2 Uninterrupted exercise of personal sanctification in the performance of daily actions
It is appropriate here to document how Simon aimed to achieve the vital synthesis of
sanctification and apostolate that Frs Albera and Rinaldi had indicated as the distinctive
characteristic of the Salesian spirit. All those who have testified (lay, consecrated,
Christian and Muslim...) are unanimous in describing as heroic his perseverance in
carrying out his varied daily duties as an educator and nurse, with enormous patience and
even greater love; and he did this not just for a day or in tranquil times, but for decades
and in difficult circumstances, for Christian and Muslim alike, all children of God. Arab
confrere abuna Fathàllah Tahhān says that Simon seemed to him to be more angel than
man for his heroic patience. And abuna Butrus Cattān highlights “the admirable patience,
charity and kindness with which he treated the sick, who were often uncouth, ignorant,
filthy and not infrequently crawling with disgusting insects that were repugnant to see,
clean and treat. But it was in these sick people that Srugi saw the limbs of the infirm Jesus.”
For her part Sr Tersilla testified: “The poor children and not just children, perhaps without
looking, drank unclean water from streams and puddles that had leeches in them. I can
testify that we often got leeches out of their eyes as well as their noses and throats. The
Servant of God called on the names of Jesus and Mary and taking tweezers, without any
mirror, said ‘In the name of Jesus’ and pulled them out. As for me holding the baby on
my knees and opening his mouth, I didn’t know how he could get them out! The people,
including Muslims, said that it was Our Lady who was guiding his hand.” Fr Frey adds
a realistic detail: after closing the clinic and before going back to the community, Simon
shook off the fleas that had crawled under his clothes, quietly saying: “Sit nomen Domini
benedictum”. Another virtue that Simon practised to an outstanding degree was purity
and its associated virtues (chastity, delicacy, discretion ...):
I had been a nurse for many years in hospitals, as a sister and superior, but I have
never seen so much delicacy in visiting the sick. This virtue in him was undoubtedly
the result of constant vigilance, mortification and penance. Often when speaking
about purity he would say: “Blessed are the pure of heart for they will see God (Mt
5:8). See God, possess God, be part of his court of honour, be among those who will
follow the Lamb! (cf. Rev 14:4). If God’s mercy allows us to go to heaven ...” and he
would become emotional and thrilled, and his eyes would shine brightly. Other times
I heard him say: “Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity (cf.
1 Cor 6:19), nothing should ever tarnish the innocence of our souls.” He showed the
greatest reverence to the youngsters, especially the smallest ones. “We have angels in
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our house. How beautiful innocence is and how dear it is to God. Pure souls are the
temple of the Holy Spirit. By religious profession we too have become beautiful and
dear to God because we are pure.” After adding that Simon never looked women in
the face, not the Sisters, not even her, Sr Tersilla concluded: “The ascendancy he had
over the people was certainly due to his great charity, but also to his chastity.”29
His personal poverty was absolute: he had two changes of clothes; in the clinic he
would put on a white shirt over his usual clothes that he kept clean and, as a good tailor,
mended himself. One day, when the wardrobe Sister asked him to choose one of the new
shirts he liked, he replied, almost scandalised, saying: “Sister, I will take the one you give
me. The religious does not have his own will and tastes. I am asking you never to make a
suggestion like that to me again.”
The furnishings in his room were reduced to a minimum; he only had a few personal
books on which he had written in pencil: “acquired with the superior’s permission”. As
for the poverty and obedience associated with his role as infirmarian: he did not act
on his own initiative, but humbly submitted to the instructions of the Rector and the
Economer; he gave an exact account of the expenses he undertook for the clinic and was
most faithful to his monthly rendiconto (“I want to make my rendiconto well at any cost”:
resolution no. 101). In the supernatural light of faith he respected his superiors as God’s
representatives, and so would doff his hat not only in their presence, but also when he
went past their office. Sister Tersilla passed on to us this small but significant detail: “He
used say that ‘the superior is “the Lord’s anointed” and represents God, so we owe him all
reverence and filial obedience.’” I recall when as a simple Sister, I was appointed superior
at Betgemal, in the morning he came into the clinic where we worked together, welcomed
me with a deferential greeting and signs of respect, and told me: ‘Mother superior, you
now represent Our Lady, and indeed are God’s representative’. From that day on, without
fail, he no longer called me ‘Sister’, as he did before, but always addressed me with the
title ‘superior’.”
Sr Tersilla summed it up: “Over the many years of working together with Srugi I
have to say in all conscience that from him I have truly learned to know and understand
more and more what a holy religious life lived in a holy manner is and means. He was
a true model for me, always, every day. His intimate union with God shone from his
whole demeanour. A demeanour and life inspired only by the supernatural. Affable in his
manner, he was generous in his dedication to all the sick, and the precision with which he
29 AIMOR 15.1.3, Folder 9C, p. 15. Here are a few lines from three Brother confreres: Giuseppe Fusi: “Sometimes
he called me to assist him in certain treatments for the boys, either out of prudence, so that he would not be
alone, or to keep them still when they became agitated or would not allow themselves to be medicated. How
well he knew how to cover them up so that nothing indecent could be seen!” Na‘īm Cumbāz: for them he had
“bowels of charity and treated them like angels, sent to him by God to serve them.” Angelo Porro remembers
“his body almost spiritualised, and his eyes that reflected God because of their purity,”
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worked was something superior even for those who continually observed him. Whoever
lived with the Servant of God could only but feel attracted to live by that same intense
spiritual life, otherwise they would have felt like a fish out of water.” This latter comment
is a revealing of self: Sister Tersilla herself lived at similar heights. Whoever knew her
testified that “she possessed and passed on and ardent spirit of prayer. Her intense work,
instead of distracting her from communion with God, seemed to encourage it.” It is well
known that familiarity and friendship either find or seek out their equal: so the two helped
each other to embody the same characteristic of Salesian spirituality in a male and female
way: tireless activity sanctified by union with God and prayer. During an audience on 6
June 1922 Pius XI granted a daily plenary indulgence for sanctified work; Fr Philip Rinaldi
considered this to be “the most precious favour that the Holy Father has bestowed on us
so far” (ACS 3(1923) no. 17, pp. 35–36).
5.3 The “little way” of simplicity in community life
The ascetic commitment that Simon constantly pursued did not make him rigid, isolated
or unfriendly; instead he radiated Salesian amiability and the confreres and boys sought
out his company. He made people love him, because his behaviour was always inspired
by “thinking well of everyone, speaking well of everyone, doing good to everyone”. Most
observant in common life, he took part in walks and community outings as well as
recreation: Brother Giuseppe Fusi, who lived at Betgamāl from 1928 to 1940 as gardener
and in charge of the sacristy, and had formed a deep friendship with him, testified:
With extraordinary humility, and at his age, he adapted to playing bocce with the
confreres and skittles with the boys. It was extraordinary how he knew how to adapt
and become small with the little ones as if he were the same age as them.” And he
added this family scene showing the great humanity of Simon, always a man of faith:
“I spent winter evenings with him reading the lives of the saints or some edifying
book or practising my Arabic. But while I was with him I had the clear sensation that
I was with a man of great faith. When it was raining on a Sunday afternoon and time
did not allow outings, I used to play draughts with the Servant of God, or we would
play some other game. He would suggest some nice thought about Jesus, Our Lady
or some other saint.
He did the same with the boarders. In the last year of his life, until he was forced
to stay in his room, he would spend hours and hours in the church before Jesus in the
Tabernacle, but he also “had a chair set up in the courtyard where, during recreation, he
loved to stay seated and observe the boys playing and, seizing the right moment, offer a
good word to the boys and the confrere”, faithful to the end, practising Salesian assistance.
All this shows how consistent Simon was with the choice he made to take the “small
way” of ordinary things indicated by St Francis de Sales as the fruit of the “simplicity of
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heart which contains within itself the perfection of perfection”. By pursuing this journey
of personal sanctification day after day, year after year, he became a model religious. The
authoritative judgement that the Provincial, Fr Lorenzo Nigra (1879–1951) wrote in the
notebook for the canonical visitation in 1931–32, is concise and sums it up:
Personnel. In general we can be happy with them. One group comes first: those who
have “been in the house the longest” Fr Peter Sarkīs, Bro. Srugi, Bro. George Harūni,
who keep our spirit (not to mention Srugi whom everyone knows is a true saint); then
there is a second group, the more recent confreres who are the backbone of the house.
The very literary form of the aside points to the fact that Srugi’s holiness was
universally recognised as “obvious”.
The mention of Fr Sarkīs offers me the possibility of completing what I said about
him earlier, concerning the important role that he continued to play in the “business
operation”, and concerning his wonderful testimony of religious life:
For many years he was in charge of the main agricultural works and the supervision
of the many workers and settlers. He was always among his workers, and it seemed
he had the gift of being ubiquitous. He led his people who obeyed him with absolute
docility, knowing him to be vigilant and above all good and just. This was also the
result of his spirit of charity towards everyone, especially the ones most in need.
The workers and settlers did not see him as a master, but as a solicitous father; no
poor person left him with their hands empty and without being refreshed. Endowed
with an uncommon culture and, above all, wisdom, common sense and practical
judgement, he was the counsellor, the peacemaker, the arbitrator and was able to
settle disputes to such an extent as to merit the highest praise from the government
authorities who appointed him mukhtār for the district. He was a most appreciated
member of government Commissions for Agriculture and Education, among Muslim
and Jewish colleagues who respected him. But all this material activity was animated
by a spirit of piety and sacrifice and “perfectly framed by the programme of ‘work
and Prayer’ of our Father Don Bosco. He was the favourite confessor for the confreres
and boys because of his kindness and wise counsel. He was very fond of the Word of
God, which he delivered with unction and practicality. Strong of character, he knew
how to settle his nerves and humbly apologise when he realised that charity had been
offended (From his Mortuary letter, written by Fr Sacchetti).
6. The decade from 1931–1940
There was a special understanding between abuna Butrus and Simon: they were very
much alike in many aspects of their character, and in carrying out their daily tasks they
were closest to the people. Simon also had him as his confessor for many years, following
Fr Bianchi’s death.
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6.1 The death of Fr Bianchi (1931)
Fr Bianchi died on 11 January 1931. His health had never been strong and Srugi had
often assisted him as his personal nurse. In his later years his illnesses became more
frequent and serious; a delicate operation and a long period in the Italian hospital in
Jerusalem did not resolve things. But his suffering was balanced by periods of intense joy:
his election as Delegate for the confreres of MOR to the 12th General Chapter in 1922 that
elected Fr Philip Rinaldi Rector Major; his Golden Jubilee of priesthood (17.03.1927);
his involvement in festivities for Don Bosco’s beatification in Rome and Turin (1929)
when he once again saw dozens of his affectionate former novices who were by then
famous around many parts of the Salesian world; and then the blessing of the Martyrium.
At the news of his death letters came from everywhere, not just of condolence but of
admiration, memories, messages from confreres especially his former novices, clergy,
authorities, expressing how much they revered this extraordinary man. I limit myself to
some paragraphs from a letter Fr Vincent Cimatti wrote from Japan, recalling some of his
novice master’s distinctive traits, concluding with a statement that I think is Fr Bianchi’s
finest eulogy:
I admired the patience of that holy man for listening to me every evening before going
to bed: as I left he always wanted to give me the blessing of Our Lady. I remember the
fire that exuded from his conferences. He didn’t have the great verve of the orator, but
he became so engrossed in the subject matter that the words flowed and sometimes in
the heat of the moment his voice failed. I have in mind his conferences on obedience.
His union with God, expressed in many a brief prayer, was admirable. A familiar one
for him was “Blessed be the Lord and all the saints in paradise!” He possessed a very
fine intuition in assessing the character of individuals, discovering the predominant
defect and determining the practical way to correct it. I did not know Don Bosco
personally, but I like to think he was like Fr Bianchi in many ways.
Fr Carlo Gatti finished his mandate as Provincial in 1931and returned to Rome.
Driven by his love for the Middle East, thanks to the “habit of inculturation” that he
had internalised since the first years of his stay in Bethlehem, he continued to devote
himself to a twofold object of study: the liturgical-spiritual patrimony of the Eastern
Churches and the Arabic language. In collaboration with experts, he published the Italian
translation of Janin’s work on the Oriental Rites, and put together a substantial collection
of material that after his death was used to compile an extensive Arabic-Italian dictionary
(cf. Gatti 1942; Traini 1966).
6.2 The fame of Betgamāl-Cafargamala. Fr Fergnani’s contribution
The fame of Betgamāl-Cafargamala, which began around 1922-23, became stronger in
the 1930s, not only thanks to the building of the shrine and the spread of the “Pious
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Work of Christian Forgiveness”, but also because of new scientific contributions, first of
all the articles by S.H. Stephan, from Beitjala. In the first of them he accurately shows the
derivation of the place name Bet-Gamal, from the Semitic personal name Gamaliel, and
values “an entire range of historical and philological data that converge in identifying
Beit-Jamāl with Caphar-Gamala”. In the two articles that followed, he argued that the
place names, and the personal names in Lucian’s Letter, provide further convergent data
in support of that identification.
The site was therefore considered to be of both historical and devotional importance
and therefore included among the stops along the so-called “biblical caravans” that
came through the Shefela region. The house chronicle records for example the one on 6
September 1931 led by Fr Alexis Mallon SJ director of the P.I.B.; on 26 March 1932 there
was the “pleasing visit” of Bishop L. Mathias, Prefect Apostolic of Assam (1887–1965)
[Photo no. 40]; Fr John J. O’Rourke SJ and Fr Gabriele Allegra OFM (?) took part in the
feast on 3 August 1932; the caravan on 8 August the same year was led by Fr Andrés
Fernandez SJ. In 1933 it was the turn of Fr Donato Baldi OFM with students from the
“Flagellation”. On 3 August 1934 Fr Augustine Bea SJ presided over the celebrations, and
three years later Bishop Rabbani from Homs, while Fr Fernandez returned with various
groups of professors and students, e.g. on 1 April and 4 August 1937.
Fr Giovanni Fergnani played an important part in what we can call the Stephenian
chapter of Betgamāl, at different times and in different ways. He was born in Aguscello,
a small hamlet of Ferrara, on 16 July 1874. He made his novitiate at Foglizzo in 1891-92,
so also had Fr Bianchi as his novice master and cleric L. Variara as a fellow novice.
After finishing his secondary studies at Valsalice and doing his practical training first
at Borgo San Martino then at San Benigno Canavese, he was assigned to Sicily where he
was for the ten years he judged to be the most beautiful of his Salesian life (1895–1905).
He showed contagious enthusiasm for the apostolate; among his initiatives was the
launching of the L’Amico della gioventù magazine, which was widespread and long-
lasting. On 18 January 1906 he left for China with the Salesians in the first missionary
expedition. It was through him that the boys at the “San Basilio” college in Randazzo
wanted to give the expedition a silver and gold chalice, perhaps in memory of Don Bosco’s
famous dream. Together with Fr Louis Versiglia he founded the Gioventù Missionaria
magazine which had an influence on vocational and missionary pastoral care in Salesian
institutions for decades. He worked so hard that his health suffered; in 1912 he was
recalled to Italy and sent to Marina di Pisa (1914–15). Here he carried out his ministry
as assistant parish priest and confessor to the FMA, and in the two year period from
1917–19 was Catechist at Colle Salvetti (PI). He was loved for his apostolic zeal (among
other things, among the FMA he began the’“Apostolate of innocence”, to get children
involved in the spirit of the “missionary Infancy”) and for the many educational and
recreational activities (conferences, music, singing ...). During this time in Pisa he made
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friends with the learned and zealous Cardinal Pietro Maffi (1858–1931) a friendship
that lasted. Meanwhile, the news had arrived from Betgamāl of the discovery of St
Stephen’s tomb, and Fr Fergnani immediately connected it with some monuments in
Pisa: first of all, the ‘Michelangelesque’ sarcophagus in the first chapel on the right of the
cathedral containing the relics of Saints Gamaliel, Abibo and Nicodemus that Archbishop
Daiberto (Dagoberto) had brought from the Holy Land in 1099; and also the nearby small
chapel dedicated to St Euphrasia where the Salesians officiated in the city. His fervent
imagination began shifting to the Middle East, where in fact he arrived following the
First World War: according to the EGS he worked first in Turkey in the houses at Adalia
(1919–1921) and Constantinople (1921–22); the following year he was an enterprising
Prefect of Studies at Betgamāl, and in June-August took part in the excavations at the
Byzantine site. [Photos nos. 15, 17]. Once again sent to the missions, this time to Assam,
in 1922-23 he was in the parish in Shillong, in 1923–24 at the novitiate in Shillong,
and in 1924–25 was the Rector and parish priest at Raliang. During those years he
worked enthusiastically in close collaboration with Louis Mathias, Apostolic Prefect of
Assam, Manipur and Bhutan (1923) and Salesian Provincial of North India (1926). He
then returned to the Middle East, to Alexandria in Egypt in 1925-27 working at the
festive oratory; in 1927–28 he was once again in Constantinople as Catechist. Finally, in
1928–1929 he landed at Betgamāl where he was Prefect of Studies. [Photos nos. 25, 26]
During this period, he dedicated himself to collecting everything that had been written on
the Stephenine question and to propagating the “Pious Work of Christian Forgiveness”.
On 3 August 1930 at the blessing of the Martyrium, given his vast culture and gifts of
oratory, he gave the occasional address. He died in Jerusalem on 29 December 1932 and
was buried in the crypt of the Martyrium. Fr Sacchetti updated and brought together
his publications as far as 1933, and the following year included them in a total of three
volumes in the “Studi Stefaniani” collection. In conclusion: Fr Fergnani got the credit
for making the cause of Betgamāl and St Stephen known. However, he succumbed to
some naivety, and the impression he created of wanting to occupy the stage caused some
reservations, so much so that he himself admitted that his “presence in Beitgemal could
be a hindrance”, and finally considered the possibility of a return to the Sicily-Maltese
province (letters of 30 July 1928 and 4 September 1931).
But beyond all this, and returning to focus on the chief character of our story, it is
important to note that Fr Fergnani left Srugi a very valuable treasure of another kind:
almost certainly it was he who gave him the book of the revelations of the crucified Jesus
to Marie-Marta Chambon, which left a lasting impression on his soul, so much so that
he wrote out entire pages, as we will see in the section on his writings. He also left to the
church at Betgamāl, where it is still kept, the chalice he had received as a gift in 1906,
which he had taken with him to all the “stations” of his apostolate, starting with China
(letting us think that the future martyr Fr Louis Versiglia also used it).
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6.3 New difficulties: personnel, financial, socio-political problems (1932–1935)
After the deaths of Fr Bianchi and Fr Fergnani, the few effective Salesians left in the field at
Betgamāl faced new and heavy sacrifices to provide continuity to the work in the business
operation and in the school and boarding house. Fr Sacchetti, who had declined the offer
to go to Cairo as Rector of the recently established Salesian school (1926), had to take
on the roles of Rector and Prefect, and on 28 August and 3 September 1932, he vented
his feelings in two bitter and despondent letters to the Provincial. Due to a prolonged
drought, the situation in the countryside was disastrous with the lack of harvest and the
death of the animals, which had been left outside and had passed on contagious diseases.
Because of the great financial depression of the 1929 in the USA, aid from CNEWA had
been suspended for two years. For all these reasons Betgamāl had a setback and struggled
to keep up with the new circumstances in the country:
It is impossible, from a distance, to get an idea of the development in this country,
given Jewish immigration, especially German, over these last three years (1932-35).
The land we formerly had in Jerusalem has become the heart of the city, and the
Jewish Agency is next door. Our land divided into lots and sold for 1½ lira a metre,
today costs from 6–10 lire a square metre. The opportunity to finance the Province
somewhat has been lost. What is more important is that the Germans are organising
Palestine on an industrial and agricultural basis in a most formidable way. Between
Haifa and St John of Acre there is an entire anthill of industries large and small.
Oil from Iraq, the Rutenberg irrigation system are astonishing undertakings. There
are five agricultural schools, all up-to-date. Poor Beitgemal! It is anything but in the
vanguard of progress like Don Bosco wanted! At any rate, we are not cutting a bad
figure yet, especially given our 100 hectares of woods that are a wonder.” Having been
accompanied to visit the agricultural schools in Piedmont by Fr Ricaldone, he wrote
to the Provincial Fr Canale: “I had occasion to say jokingly that the difference between
Beitgemal and Cumiana was like the difference between Dives and Lazarus (Letters
to the Rector Major on 22 June 1935 and the Provincial, on 8 October 1936).
Then gradually the internal situation improved, so that by 1936 a satisfactory balance
sheet could be drawn up: “From the post-war reorganisation (1919–20) until today,
118 boys have graduated, almost all well employed. It is consoling that even those who
did not finish the course for one or other reason, have solved the problem of life very
easily because they have the habit of working.” Among the achievements were the large
excavation works on the well at Wadi Būlos and the construction of channels to irrigate
the fields (1933–1934); on 20 May 1936 Fr Tornquist returned to Betgamāl to bless
the adjoining engine, which ensured the irrigation of the fertile valley. But outside,
things were becoming dangerously complicated. Following the Balfour Declaration (2
November 1917) Jewish immigration mentioned by Fr Sacchetti intensified during the
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second half of the 1920s, bringing about violent reaction from the Palestinians; Fr Bianchi
had written on 29 August 1929:
For a week now, gruesome things have been reported between Muslims and Jews.
Muslims are hunting down Jews everywhere, but they seem to be targeting Jewish
settlements scattered in various places in Palestine. The Jews, at the first sign of danger,
fled to some place they thought was safer, abandoning their homes and everything
they had in them. The Muslims, arriving in an abandoned place, steal everything
they can find: oxen, sheep, equipment, furniture, etc. After this they set fire to all
the houses. In these massacres, the Jews were also fierce. Now calm seems to have
returned. The British Government has put down the rebellion. Some twenty thousand
soldiers have come from Egypt.
Unfortunately the calm didn’t last long, because the British Mandate government
was not perceived as having a balanced approach to Palestinians and Jews. From 1936
to 1939 the whole of Palestine was in revolt: the coastal strip of Jaffa and the Shefela
area (rich in citrus cultivation, but also strategically important because of the port, the
Lydda airfield and the routes to the interior and to Egypt) were disrupted by the struggles
of the emerging Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with strikes, frequent acts of sabotage of
communications and real terrorism perpetrated by both sides, without the Mandate
authorities either wanting or being able to impose themselves (cf. Desramaut, pp.
185–190). As I have already mentioned, Srugi ran the serious risk of death in 1936: while
he was returning to Betgamāl from Jerusalem by train, someone came up to him to punch
him, thinking he was a Jew, but was saved by the prompt intervention of a person who
knew him well. In other circumstances, he passed unscathed, given his reputation as a
just man, uninvolved in any political or nationalist affiliation.
6.4 Jewish immigration and “Arab revolution”. The murder of Fr Rosin (1936–1938)
The confreres at Betgamāl underwent theft, aggression, extortion followed by threats and
reprisals. It was especially the Economer, Fr Sacchetti, and the Rector, Fr Rosin, being
harassed, including recurring frictions with tenant farmers and Bedouins over breaches
of contract, trespassing on property, and the arbitrary use of the recent British decree to
favour Palestinian farmers. In the house chronicle, Fr Rosin recorded frequent acts of
sabotage, explosions (bombs), firefights, overflights by British aircraft. In particular he
wrote that on 30 April 1936 on the road to Deir Rafāt he was stopped by a Muslim goat
herder who threatened to kill him, thinking he was a Jew, but let him go when he was sure
that he was a Christian. On 13 September 1937 he reported to the Provincial, Fr Canale,
on the hostile reaction of the twelve Jiàrash tenants to his intention to regain control of
a very lucrative piece of land; he also mentioned persistent difficulties in relations with
the Italian authorities. On 28–30 March 1938 he wrote some very worrying reflections
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on the situation, dominated by brigands of all kinds: ’Life and possessions are now much
less secure than at the time of the Turks, even during the Italo-Turkish war. The writer
can say this.”
That year, a chain of tragic events followed one another in the district: On 10
January near Beit Jibrīn, Englishman J.L. Starkey was killed. From 1932 he had led the
archaeological excavations at Lakish. On 7 May, ‘Issa al-Bàttat, the local commander of
the nationalist combatants, and his presumed assassin, was killed in a gun battle in the
Hebron region. On the evening of 17 June, an armed band who had first cut the telephone
lines, burst into the house and demanded the exorbitant amount of 100 Palestinian lire
from the Rector, Fr Rosin. When they didn’t get it, because there were only a handful of
coins in the cash box, they beat him violently; the confreres and lay people who came to
his defence also received a heavy dose of beatings. Except Srugi who was the first to take
his new suit and the small amount he had collected that day in the mill and the clinic. As
he passed by, the rebel group stood to attention before their leader: “Men, this is mu‘allem
Srugi, give him a military salute out of respect.”
After taking food, clothing and footwear, they left, but repeating clear death threats
against Fr Rosin, whom they accused of having installed the telephone link between
the house and the Artūf police station to transmit information about their movements.
Church, consular and military authorities were alerted and they took some protective
measures.30 Fr Rosin was advised to withdraw temporarily to Bethlehem, but he declined,
saying that his duty as a father did not allow him to abandon his children in these difficult
moments, nor could he place the burden of running the work on his first helper, Fr
Sacchetti who had been in ill health for some time. On the afternoon of 23 June, the
eve of the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, he wanted to go to nearby Deir Rafāt for the
usual ministry of confession for the Sisters. [Photos nos. 48, 49].
On the way back unknown armed men ambushed him, told him to dismount, and
after accusing him of having their leader arrested, they killed him. A young man, a
postman at the Artūf ’ post office, who happened to be passing by at close range, saw
and heard what was going on, but, threatened by the killers kept silent. Fr Rosin’s body
was found the day afterwards under a pile of stones, his arms spread out like a cross: his
skull was smashed by a bullet, his hand was clutching what was left of his rosary.
30 Fr Rosin wrote to the Italian Consul Q. Mazzolini with an account of what had happened, totally devoid of
resentment. In the days that followed he jotted down in the chronicle: “Many policemen come and assure
us... but “Nisi Dominus...” – On 22 June: “Arrangements have been made with the police at Artùf to turn on
a red light on the tower of our institute in case of danger”. In AIMOR 4.4.2, we read: “18 June, inspection by
police from Artùf, Ramleh etc ... - 19 June: Fr Sacchetti goes to the Italian Consul in Jerusalem. - 23 June: a
tank arrives with 4 British soldiers to guard the house”; this was just a few hours before Fr Rosin set out for
Deir Rafāt!
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One of the chief characters in the Salesian story, not only at Betgamāl but in the
Holy Land, had departed the scene. Mario Rosin was born on 8 November 1875 in
Tomazic near Trieste, and had entered Don Bosco’s Oratory in Valdocco as a boy. After
his novitiate under the guidance of Fr Bianchi, made his perpetual profession in Turin on
11 December 1891, and arrived in Bethlehem on the 29th in the third group of Salesian
missionaries. He kept in touch with his formators, Fr Barberis and Fr Bianchi, to whom
he periodically sent a report on his conscience in which he confided his progress in virtue
and in the Arabic language … (cf. ASC, C 350–351). After the years of study and practical
training in Cremisan, on 4 June 1898 he was ordained priest in Jerusalem. Having learned
Arabic well, he was assigned tasks of responsibility in Bethlehem (Prefect in 1904), novice
master (Cremisan 1905), and again Prefect in Bethlehem (1906–1907); he was very soon
appointed as a Provincial Councillor.
In 1907 he was Rector in Nazareth and also did well in that rather special French-
speaking environment. From 14 to 20 March 1908, he accompanied Fr Rua on his visit-
cum-pilgrimage, and at the end entrusted his impressions of the holiness of Don Bosco’s
successor to his diary. [Photo no. 9]. Recalled as Rector in Bethlehem, after the premature
death of the superior, Fr Peter Cardano, in 1911, he fulfilled the role of Provincial ad
interim for some months until the arrival of Fr Luigi Sutera. He contributed to the Italian
translation of the life of Fr Belloni from the Arabic original by Fr Nahhās, judging that it
could be put into circulation, given that things had by now “calmed down” between the
Bellonians and Bosconians.
During the First World War the institute at Bethlehem underwent dramatic events:
700 Turkish and Austrian soldiers occupied it, then took away everything from the
workshops, dormitories, classrooms. This was the period when divisions had broken out
between Arab and Italian confreres, and these involved Fr Rosin as Rector: given his
strong character, and that he was a lover of justice and intransigent where compromise
was concerned (his friend Fr Puddu used say: “Under the flint lies a diamond”), he may
have taken some ill-timed decisions, hurting people. But his honesty was so obvious
that in the enquiry into events, the Turkish judge received him first and sent him back
immediately saying that there was no need for any further questioning. In those terrible
years, he made sure that the confreres and orphans had everything they needed; and one
day, just while together with Brother Zanchetta he was going to Betgamāl to replenish
supplies of flour, he was arrested by Turkish soldiers (because he was a “hostile individual
trespassing in enemy area”), and on 5 December 1917 was condemned and exiled to
Keskin in Anatolia. When he returned a year later, the canonical Visitor, Fr Ricaldone,
re-established him in his role as Rector in Bethlehem. Over the three years from 1926–29
he was in Betgamāl to help and then replace Fr Bianchi as Rector. In 1929 the confreres
of the Middle East elected him as their delegate to the General Chapter in Turin.
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Always and everywhere, his conduct as a religious was exemplary: with a great spirit
of faith and piety; poor and mortified to the utmost (vigils, fasts, never slept on a bed,
wore a hair-shirt). This is why, in 1929 when the superiors decided to open the studentate
of theology in Bethlehem, knowing of his virtues they asked him to be the Rector of
the clerics and professors, as well as of the confreres working at the orphanage. He
accepted this additional responsibility out of a sense of duty and performed it with great
sacrifice; but at the end of the second year, seeing that he could not dedicate himself to
the formation of the clerics as he would have wished, he asked to be relieved of this, while
remaining Rector of the orphanage until 1935 (see Caputa 2004, pp. 375–393). At the
beginning of the new community year 1935-36 he was appointed Prefect at Betgamāl and
Rector the following year, at the very time and in the turbulent environment I mentioned
above.
His brutal elimination was also interpreted in terms of religious geo-politics: “When
the British mandate was firmly established, two powerful reagents altered the peace of
God’s Land. The Jews and Anglo-American Protestants arrived”, destabilising the “area
of mutual tolerance” between Catholics and Orthodox and their charity work on behalf
of the Palestinians, which up until then was guaranteed by the Turks (cf. Pedrazzi). But
for whoever knew him well there were no doubts: Fr Rosin had paid for his love of justice
and duty with martyrdom; indeed, some believed that he had been murdered “in odium
fidei”.
As far as our story is concerned, we can ask ourselves: what religious legacy did Fr
Rosin leave behind? A provisional answer can be deduced from the sixteen surviving
notebooks of reflections, sermons, commentaries on the Gospels and lectures that he
gave to his confreres and sisters, the brothers, clerics doing theology and new priests
over a period of 15 years. After reading books by excellent authors, he dealt competently
with biblical, dogmatic and moral, ascetic and hagiographical topics: the Sacred Heart,
the priesthood and the Eucharist were among his favourites: the long sermon about the
richness of the Eucharistic mystery indicated by its many names seems to be taken from
the 1983 Catechism of the Catholic Church. Following the liturgical year, he also preached
on the mysteries of Jesus’ earthly life, on Our Lady, St Joseph, “Don Bosco the Saint” and
his motto “Da mihi animas”; Mazzarello’s Venerability, etc. His last surviving sermon
was on 3 June 1938 on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, twenty days before the Vigil of the
liturgical solemnity that coincided with his death! In his diary too, up to May 1938,
he regularly mentioned the topics he had discussed in his monthly conferences to the
confreres (sanctification of work, progress in the spiritual life...). Simon Srugi heard many
of these, but above all he was an eyewitness to the examples of holiness that Fr Rosin gave
on a daily basis, and he looked to him as a model to be imitated.
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6.5 Srugi ‘s reactions in this circumstance, and his habitual attitude
The Dorothy Sisters at Deir Rafāt who first discovered Fr Rosin’s body beneath the pile
of blood-soaked stones, were in shock; Sister Tersilla’s nervous system (she prepared his
body for burial) was shaken for a long time; the community at Betgamāl locked itself in
the house for days with doors barred for fear of further attacks, despite visits from the
police. And Simon? The loss of his beloved Rector caused him excruciating suffering, but
he held on with prayer and a spirit of faith. Some time after the crime, one of the men
presumed responsible, wounded in a firefight and being hunted down, sought refuge after
dark in the clinic at Betgamāl of all places. Simon brought him in, treated him and let
him go, while Sister Tersilla protested: “Let’s hand him over to the British soldiers. He
murdered our Rector!” The confreres were of the same opinion and in the following days
they made their displeasure felt. He replied to them all with these words, reported by
various witnesses with slight variations:
If he has done wrong he will have to deal with God. On the other hand, the soldiers
are on his trail and will not be long in catching him. But we must always do good
to everyone. Let us pray for him and his friends. Didn’t Jesus teach us to forgive our
enemies? And hasn’t Fr Rosin always forgiven? Perhaps these people, seeing that we
forgive them, will feel moved to change their lives...
As Sr Tersilla recalled, there was a sequel: about two months later, leaders of the rebel
gangs came to Betgamāl, “apologising for Fr Rosin’s death and saying they were ready to
punish the culprits; the superiors told them that they gladly forgave them: ‘Our faith urges
us and even obliges us to forgive.’ And as a sign of this, they agreed to be photographed
with everyone, Salesians and Sisters together.” Srugi was not there, but when he learned
of it he commented:
Sister, those poor people will remember this encounter all their lives. They too have
a conscience and a soul to save. The Lord made them feel remorse so much that they
came to humble themselves, and the superiors did well to forgive and forget. Justice
will be done by the Lord, but it is up to us to forgive and always do good. Let us pray
for them and who knows, perhaps they will convert.
Over the same years the community at Deir Rafāt, then made up of 3 diocesan priests,
9 Dorothy sisters and 3 lay people, suffered similar harassment (thefts, threats, damage to
property, looting and burning ...), but continued to carry out their service. The similarity
of the testimonies is striking: Sister Elburga Simionato wrote that “she treated many
wounded, among whom the notorious Ocassi who had seven scars just on his right hand.
It seems that it may have been he who killed our Father Mario Rosin. What I felt in
treating this creature, knowing that I had before me a murderer of dozens of people,
including two of his brothers, I cannot describe. ‘Lord’ I said often, ‘Lord, touch their
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hearts,”. Just one act of repentance is enough for them to be saved. He will soon be taken
by justice and they will kill him.” (Fano, pp. 108–111).
Srugi had arrived at that extraordinary fortitude and capacity for forgiveness through
repeated practice: in less tragic circumstances he had shown himself ready not only to
forgive and forget, but to immediately serve someone who had offended, assaulted or
mistreated him. Episodes of the kind occurred both in the mill and the outpatients clinic.
One day three of four rough young men, without waiting their turn, smashed through
the door of the clinic, knocking Srugi over. To save him Sister Tersilla began elbowing,
punching, scratching ... but as soon as he had got up he said to her: “Superior, calm down,
not like that. Not like that. The Lord said ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they
do’. None of the characters left, and Bro. Srugi treated them calmly and in all naturalness
as if nothing had happened. He looked at them, wrote down their medicines as he would
have done with anyone else. This could not be explained without considering his great
love of neighbour, his great spirit of faith, such was the goodness and grace he lavished
on everyone that day, including the ones who had almost crushed him.
6.6 Departure of Fr Sacchetti (1938)
Betgamāl’s woes were not yet over. Added to the restrictions due to the long general strike
and to the horrors of the guerilla warfare, in September 1938 there was a bad epidemic
of malaria that affected almost all of the boarders and many of the inhabitants of the
area. Brother Srugi and Sister Tersilla had to work overtime to treat everyone who came
to the clinic. Likewise Sister Elburga at Deir Rafāt: “Many times they come here with
a fever of 40–41 because they want an injection after travelling 3-4 hours on a donkey,
being from far away. Many mornings I gave 60 injections, all for malaria.” In 1939 there
was an escalation in the violence the effects of which were documented by the increasing
number of medications carried out by the Sister in her clinic: from 260 in 18 days in May
the number wen to 1265 in 27 days in September. The wounded who turned up were
mainly “insurgents”, but there was no shortage of soldiers and a few British officers. (cf.
Fano, pp. 112–15).
Due to the trauma of Fr Rosin’s murder and for various other reasons, Fr Sacchetti’s
physical and moral resistance was very much put to the test; and since neither Srugi’s
attentions or a period in hospital in Jerusalem were enough, the superiors in Turin
advised him to return to Italy for appropriate treatment. He arrived in Rome, and took
part in festivities for the beatification of Mary Mazzarello (20 November 1938) in St
Peter’s and the Sacred Heart;31 he was summoned to report confidentially on the murder
31 During the solemn celebration in Sacred Heart Basilica, Sr Tersilla’s wallet containing 300 lire was stolen,
including the money that Srugi had given her through the Rector.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
of Fr Rosin to the Salesian superiors, and at the Foreign Ministry; he met the heads of
ANMI, the chief inspector of the Italian Consuls (Mr Pedrazzi), various clergy in the
Vatican, to represent the interests of Betgamāl. Professor Milani (the Pope’s personal
physician) who already knew him, visited him twice and prescribed treatment for him.
Fr Ricaldone thought it prudent that he not return to Betgamāl, and assigned him to
Corigliano d’Otranto in the “N.Comi” Agricultural School for war orphans. He had
already known of this place since 1912; given his competence and long experience in this
area, he could make himself useful there and in nearby Castellaneta; and while waiting
for further developments he remained not too far way from his superiors.
When he left Betgamāl he was probably hoping to soon return, but the outbreak of
the Second World War the following year prevented that. He had left the books and the
abundant correspondence in his office in order: precious material, some of which has
come down to us and thanks to which we can reconstruct the story of Betgamāl. He had
given plenty of advice to Sister Tersilla to keep an eye on Srugi’s notebooks, registers,
and exercise books, before he destroyed them out of humility. Fr Alfredo, who had lived
with him for 25 years and had been an eyewitness to his virtues and the effectiveness
of his prayers, was sure that Simon had reached the heroic stature of a candidate for
beatification.
Contacts between Fr Sacchetti and Betgamāl became more rare and were interrupted
in June 1940 when the Italian confreres were sent to the internment camp in Bethlehem
where correspondence was censured. Meanwhile he regained his health in the favourable
climate of the Apulian environment and with appropriate treatment, so much so that
in 1942 the superiors suggested he take on the running of the school at Corigliano; he
generously accepted and, by making great sacrifices, was able to provide the confreres
and orphans with all they needed, even during the hardships of war, “subjecting himself
to no minor hardships and journeys to provide bread for the dear orphans, his joy and
his crown.”
But his time was approaching, he was aware of it and prepared for it. Don Bosco’s
prophetic words had accompanied him everywhere he went: as a young man in South
America, and an adult in Betgamāl and as an old man in Corigliano, he was always
sustained by a deep spirit of faith, his filial devotion to the Help of Christians and by
an attitude of Salesian indifference in abandoning himself to God’s will. Among his
resolutions for his last Retreat in 1944, he renewed his daily commitment to the entire
Rosary and to the via crucis, with the following motivations: “thinking that I am in the
presence of God, with whom I speak and by whom I am listened to. I will try to study,
meditate on and love the way of sorrow as a means of increasing and practising a life of
unity with God. I will not forget that the quintessence and true fruit of the Retreat is the
love of serving God according to His holy will with indifference to any way He wants to
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be served.” (From his Obituary letter). We are struck by the spiritual harmony with Srugi.
He died at Corigliano on 21 November 1944, mourned by all, especially by the confreres,
sisters and young people of Betgamāl, where he was one of the leading figures from 1913
to 1938.
6.7 Premonitions for Srugi. The new Rector Fr Candiani (1938–1940)
Amidst the upheaval caused by all the painful events of recent years, Simon proceeded
steadfastly on his upward path, fixing his gaze on Jesus crucified and risen, even if his
physical strength was deteriorating:
Being a religious consecrated to Jesus, I must be nailed to the Cross with him, so I
can die with Jesus and rise to new life like Him. St Paul said: always carrying in the
body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies
(2 Cor 4:10), to the extent that I can say with the Apostle: “I live no longer I but it is
Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). Jesus loved me so much that he suffered, died, gave
himself entirely to me. I also want to suffer everything out of love, to love him and
die for him.
He always wore a small crucifix prominently sewn on his jacket, on the heart side,
and for him it was a constant encouragement to the “practice of loving Jesus Christ” that
had become his favourite exercise. [Cover photo and no. 47].
Fr Antonio Candiani was sent to replace Fr Rosin as Rector, a completely different
type. He was born in Busto Arsizio on 25 February 1887; he made his novitiate at Foglizzo
and made his profession in 1907, then went on to Valsalice where he crowned the three
years of studies and formation with his perpetual profession in 1910. During the First
World War he was enlisted and assigned to far away Macedonia, from where he returned
in 1918 battered, after a two-month journey on a stretcher. Once recovered, he was sent
as a missionary to the Middle East Province. On 27 April 1919 he was ordained priest
by Patriarch Barlassina in Jerusalem; he remained in the Italian school in the city first as
Prefect of Studies, then as the Rector for six years. Then came two years as Rector of the
Italian school in Haifa (1927–29); then back to Jerusalem again as Rector (1932–35) and
from there he went to Suez (1935–38).
In these three works, Fr Antonio had been able to express his fine talents without
worrying about financial problems, enjoying favourable situations where the Italian
authorities were concerned, and gratifying ones from the pupils and their families (scouts,
theatre, sport). He was jovial and outgoing, quick-witted and self-reliant, and at times
drew criticism from the austere Patriarch Barlassina for his overly liberal management of
the past pupils group and semi-public theatre, located in a part of the city notoriously
given to “gossip”. It was certainly “quite a leap” for him, at the age of 51 and with
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no knowledge of Arabic, to find himself unexpectedly in the rural, isolated and poor
environment of Betgamāl, to which he came with the declared aim of bringing order and
cleanliness to the scene. In a way, the house needed it, since after the death of abuna
Sarkīs (20 February 1937) and Fr Rosin, and after the departure of Fr Sacchetti, it had
lost its three great pillars, and the business side of things had suffered from this, including
debts. As for the school, since he was used to “city” pupils, many of whom belonged to the
middle class, Fr Antonio tended to look down on the boys in the agricultural school, most
of whom were orphans or foundlings, rustic and poorly educated. And then, ultimately,
he found a community of confreres who were not so united. In short, he did not have
an easy task ahead of him. But Fr Candiani was also an intelligent and generous man
and he took the situation to heart. He had the greatest respect for Brother Srugi and
treated him with great reverence, admiring his charity and piety (he affectionately called
him our “magister coeremoniarum”). For his part, the holy brother continued his attitude
of humble obedience, almost veneration for the new superior, which stemmed from his
deep-rooted convictions of faith. Such convictions had become even stronger over the
years, while his physical strength began to diminish, and was not enough to sustain him
in his heavy workload. Fr Candiani soon noticed this: “20 July 1939: the clinic these days
is besieged from morning to evening! Srugi has no time even to come for lunch. Almost all
the sick are suffering from malaria, organ failure, paratyphoid fever. – 26 July: clinic and
mill crowded, the former due to malaria, the latter because the mill at ‘Agiūr has broken
down” [a town about 11 km to the south-west]. – 2 August: clinic and mill crowded. An
endless procession of malaria sufferers. Srugi and Artin have no time to breathe!”
The same month he was offered the opportunity to go to Bethlehem for the retreat;
one of the two resolutions he wrote in his notebook is very much indicative of his state of
mind: “I will do everything to get myself ready to appear before the Lord at any moment.
And to keep matters regarding my role as infirmarian in order, both in the house and
in the dispensary, and to keep the accounts prepared.” Back home, he sought to resume
work again, but had to give up after a few weeks; once again we learn from Fr Candiani’s
notes in the chronicle:
17 September: Fr Dalmaso, Srugi with Artin go by car to Tel-Aviv to get medical
supplies and seeds for the garden. - 28 September: at home, Fr Frey, Fr Dalmaso and
Bro. Srugi are all in bed; the only two Sisters are still standing despite fever reaching
39 degrees! And they want us to believe that there is no malaria in Beitgamal!” On 2
October “Srugi begs me to make ... his coffin or to take him to some hospital. It’s 8
o’clock, and I go by ass to Bab-el-wad then by bus to Tantùr; the Provincial made his
“balilla” available and by 5 that evening Srugi was already in hospital in Bethlehem. –
11 October many still seriously ill and bedridden. Bloody malaria and Beitgemal, both
of them! – 12 October: Srugi seems to be out of danger, but he can’t speak, and it’s the
same with others who are sick. – 19 October: I get the doctor from the French hospital
in Bethlehem to transport Srugi to Tantur. – 3 November: I visit Srugi in Tantur; he is
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improving but I don’t know if he will be able to go back to work. I get away for a day to
Cremisan to find the Provincial who offers me some consoling words and sends me
back feeling depressed. In Jerusalem, however, the FMA Visitor was moved and came
to the rescue, sending a new Sister from Damascus to nurse the remaining Sisters in
Beitgemal.
In the midst of so many serious emergencies, Fr Candiani’s resistance reached its
limits: “But I repeat for the umpteenth time that what scares me is “debt” fever more than
malaria fever. Add to that the lack of ‘cor unum et anima una’ in the community”. So he
continually begged to be relieved of the responsibility of Rector; knowing him very well,
Fr Ricaldone replied that he needed to be patient and wittily invited him to pray with
greater fervour every time he asked the Father to “forgive us our debts”!
Srugi’s condition remained very serious for several weeks, and he suffered much;
nevertheless, opposite to his Rector, he remained serene, in constant prayer, never a
complaint, edifying the doctors, Sisters and confreres who often came to visit him from
the Cremisan and Bethlehem communities. Then, thanks to the prayers of so many
friends (as he wrote to his sister Zàhra) he overcame the crisis and on 19 November
“our very dear Srugi is back among us, after a good 49 days of illness when he received
extreme unction.”
And meanwhile the situation outside was a worrying one; Fr Candiani paints an
almost tragicomic picture with his usual vivacity: on the one hand, frequent patrols
of British soldiers and Jewish policemen on the prowl, and on the other hand, equally
frequent gangs of hungry Palestinian combatants; sometimes the two groups arrive
almost at the same time from opposite directions and you have to juggle things to
avoid being compromised. There are also a few firefights on the property; due to the
exceptionally heavy rainfall, malaria is on the rise: “At home, out of 13 confreres, only 6 are
still standing! Hurrah to Betgamāl, Gamaliel’s salubrious mansion full of thieves, malaria
and debts.” The epidemic continued to spread; on 8 January 1940 “Bro. Srugi suggests
returning repeat malaria sufferers to their relatives for an indefinite period of time,
for safer recovery. In agreement with the Prefect of Studies the suggestion is accepted,
with an accompanying letter being sent to them.” Then came events of a different kind:
“6 February Carnival, we go to Rafāt to celebrate Saint Dorothy; then games, carnival
triumph, cinema. – 12 February: to Jaffa, stopping by the Nazarena [Farwagy, merchant].
– 16 March: funeral of Fr Maurizio Gisler 85 years old. – 29 March: Dear St Joseph and
St Stephen, bless this school or it will become a mortuary.”
7. Srugi’s decline and death against the backdrop of World War II (1940–43)
Since the Turks left Palestine in 1917, the Italian character of the “agricultural school”
at Betgamāl had been accentuated by the authorities and supported by the Salesians.
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The school’s diplomas were endorsed by the Consulate General of Italy in Jerusalem
and the awarding of diplomas and prizes was often presided over by the Royal Consul.
The accounts document the aid provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ANMI
and the Banco di Roma for the business and the school. On the other hand, the 1930s
chronicler does not hide his delight at the victories in Abyssinia. So, summing it all up,
even with the inevitable misunderstandings and reservations (especially on the part of
the Arab confreres, but not only them...), it can be said that the Salesians at Betgamāl
were comfortable under the protection of the Savoy flag and were considered good
representatives of “Italianità”, as they used to say in those days, starting with Fr Candiani
who had always been in the forefront among the members of the “Italian communities”
in Jerusalem, Haifa and Suez, and even now in the Betgamāl setting he was happy to
maintain some of these traits. [Photos nos. 51, 77].
7.1 Italy enters the war: imprisonment of Fr Candiani and the other Italians
This all changed dramatically in June 1940, after Italy entered the war: for the British and
the Allies, the school at Betgamāl became an enemy group and its property a coveted
strategic post. All the Italians (SDB and FMA) were imprisoned, beginning with the
Rector Fr Candiani considered to be the leading exponent; he cursed and swore as he
was imprisoned in the citadel at Jerusalem, as opposed to Srugi who remained calm
and pointed out to him: “Fr Rector, you have told us many times that we do not have
time to pray and meditate. This might be a good occasion!” Given his health situation,
Simon was transferred to the nearby Italian hospital. Fr Pietro Bolognani recorded in
1953: “When permission was obtained, through an English Catholic sergeant, to celebrate
Mass early in the morning in the chapel at the same hospital, I told my dear confrere, who
rejoiced immensely. Every day early in the morning he waited for me to serve Mass and
have the consolation of eating the Eucharistic Jesus. His behaviour was angelic. The good
Cottolengo Sisters hid a thermos of coffee in a corner in the sacristy. I used it but he did
not want to taste it.”
After they checked that his nationality was Palestinian, Simon was sent back to
Betgamāl where he remained with the few boys, confreres and collaborators. Yet the
work had not lessened since the sick and the poor continued to come up to the deir,
in fact the inhabitants of Rafāt also flocked to the clinic, where the Dorothy Sisters had
been interned and the clinic was closed. Without Sister Tersilla, also interned in the
female section of the prison camp in Bethlehem with all the FMAs from the Holy Land,
Simon had to take on almost all the work, though luckily with help from Mr Artìn, an
Armenian. Fr Candiani was first taken to Acre, where he suffered from the isolation
and lack of communication which he complained about in three letters he wrote to the
Provincial (signing himself: “your excommunicated son”), given that, for understandable
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reasons, none of the letters Sister Tersilla and various confreres wrote him arrived. When
transferred to the internment camp at Deir Rafāt along with priests and Sisters from the
Latin Patriarchate, he wrote as a “consoled son” since he was being treated “like a prince in
this oasis of peace and prayer”; he sighed with nostalgia as he looked towards the nearby
house at Betgamāl, thinking of the sacrifices the confreres were making (29 September,
1 October). He was able to move around with a degree of freedom, as he wrote in letters
on 13 and 21 October and 1 November. I am copying some details from these here that I
think will be helpful to get a realistic picture of this period, other than “legend”:
Yesterday, Saturday, the Apostolic Delegate came to visit me. He put me on the
spot when he asked me if I wanted to stay in Rafat or go to Bethlehem. However I
immediately told him that I would much prefer to be with my confreres so I could lead
a more religious, more regular life and also so we could share our joys and sorrows
together. I needed to tell him, however, that I could not wish for anything better in
Rafat in terms of food, accommodation, religious service and also the good harmony
that reigns among all the priests and clerics of the Patriarchate. I asked the officer’s
permission to take all the Sisters (more than 50!) to the place where Fr Rosin was
killed. The outing-cum-pilgrimage was marvellously successful. The officer himself
escorted us on horseback and the Sisters couldn’t stop thanking me as well. I will try
to get permission to take them as far as Betgemal on foot when some “bigwig” from
the C.I.D. comes to Rafat. I’m not lacking in nerve. I have suggested to Betgamal to
look after the water tanks as much as or more than the cellar, because while we can
be without wine we can’t be without water. I have been twice to the place where Fr
Rosin was martyred, with the Sisters the first time and with the priests and clerics
the second time as a pilgrimage. Yesterday I went with all the Sisters above Rafat to
contemplate Latrun from afar. The hope is we can get permission to go as far as the
Martyrium of St Stephen; It will be a grace if we get it. Yesterday morning I greeted
Artin and Dicran who came with our car to take our officer from Bab-el-wad. From
Beitgemal I receive what I need on request: clothes, stationery, table wine and Mass
wine.
Despite all this he kept insisting and in February 1941 he got permission to be
transferred to Bethlehem, to the large Salesian institute transformed into internment
“Camp X” for around 120 Italian priests and clerics.
7.2 Fr López the superior “ad interim”. Fr Calīs the nominal Rector
Meanwhile the Rector Major, Fr Peter Ricaldone, when he found that the Provincial, Fr
Giovanni B. Canale (1882–1962) was unable to carry out his task because he was interned
as an Italian citizen, appointed the thirty-seven-year-old Fr López from Salvador (until
then a lecturer at the theologate in Bethlehem and also part-time at the philosophate in
Cremisan), as the legal representative of the “Pious Salesian Society” for Palestine with
its headquarters in Betgamāl, to be effective immediately.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
By following the EGS we can reconstruct his remarkable “curriculum vitae”. Rafael
Arturo López was born in El Salvador in 1903, and entered the Congregation as a young
man. After his initial formation and practical training in his own country (1922–1923),
noting his outstanding talents the superiors sent him to the Crocetta in Turin where over
a period of five years (1923–28) he completed his studies in theology and Canon Law,
graduating in theology and utroque jure at this school of great Salesian lecturers. His
Rector for a year was Fr Luigi Nai. In that Salesian and international atmosphere (where
Blessed Fr Philip Rinaldi gave memorable conferences on the Salesian spirit) he absorbed
a love for the Congregation and the Church that was his characteristic for the rest of
his life. On his return home, enriched by a remarkable patrimony of biblical-theological
sciences and classical and modern languages, he was assigned to the Santa Tecla – Nueva
S. Salvador theologate, first as Prefect of Studies for two years (1928–30) and then as
Rector (1930–34).
In 1934 he offered himself voluntarily for the missions; his request was accepted, and
he received the crucifix in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin as one of
the large expedition that year (200 Salesians and 125 FMA) who wanted to give worthy
honour to Don Bosco the saint. He was sent (probably at the suggestion of Frs Nai and
Nigra, former Provincials in the Middle East) to the theologate at Bethlehem, where
initially he took on the teaching of Holy Scripture, liturgy and ceremonies, then later
other disciplines. Here he demonstrated “a complete personality due to the balance of
human gifts and talents, combined with a high level of religious spirit. He immediately
had a special influence on and standing with the clerics and was at the centre of their
attention and esteem. Jovial, sharp and conversational, a fine observer, he adapted himself
to each person’s character in an appropriate and effectively formative way. In addition to
his work as a counsellor and teacher, he soon combined this with being the director of the
festive oratory, to which he gave new vitality.” (Praduroux, in Cautero 1977, p. 155).
With the boys and clerics in Bethlehem and Cremisan, Fr Raphael spent fruitful
and rewarding years, both in his teaching and in the various educational and pastoral
activities in which he was able to display his rich talents. Now obedience was asking him
to leave all that to become the Rector at Betgamāl and delegate of the Rector Major for all
the houses in Palestine. He accepted this heavy responsibility in a spirit of sacrifice given
that he knew he was threatened by tuberculosis that until then had not received adequate
treatment, and even less so from then on.
He began to carry out his task as canonical superior with great patience and balance.
There were some intricate situations that needed to be urgently addressed, including: the
somewhat arbitrary management of the school in Haifa by the one in charge ad interim;
rebellion by the French Salesians in Nazareth against the Italian Provincial, Fr Canale,
ending in a temporary closure of the school; debts to be paid; legal procedures to secure
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assets and capital of the Congregation that were considered “enemy property”; endless
demanding requests to get permission to bring aid to the interned confreres.
Given the circumstances, Fr Joseph Calīs (1880–1954) was appointed the Rector at
Betgamāl. He was born on 1 November 1880 in Beirut and baptised on the 14th in
the Latin cathedral of Saint Louis the King. It is not clear when he came to the Holy
Land. After an inconclusive seminary experience, he entered Cremisan in 1896 where he
did his aspirantate and novitiate, which ended with temporary profession; as a practical
trainee he was assistant to the youngest boarders at the orphanage in Bethlehem and after
overcoming a few problems, made his perpetual profession in 1903 and became a priest
in 1905. From then on he was always at the house in Bethlehem as councillor and later
Catechist for the boarders and for a while the headmaster of the school for boys from
outside. He dedicated a lot of time to his favourite study of Arabic “in order to master it
perfectly and make it an effective instrument for proclaiming divine truths, not only with
a truly rare theological competence, but also with a precision and literary elegance that
could possibly stand comparison with the best classical prose of Islamic civilisation. His
was not mere literary ambition, but an awareness of a higher mission, since many Catholic
books and magazines were commonly neglected, indeed despised, by the Muslim world
for their clumsy wording and overabundance of stylistic imperfections. He soon made a
name for himself in the literary world as a perfect prose writer and distinguished poet,
and he had many connections with eminent people in the Islamic world who honoured
him with their friendship and coveted his collaboration. Indeed, it was not uncommon,
during his sermons in our church of the Sacred Heart in Bethlehem, to see genuine
Muslims lined up in the back, who had come especially to hear his fluent and perfect
prose from his lips.” (V. Francia, in his Mortuary letter).
Although he sympathised with the “rebellious” Arab confreres (1915–18), he
remained in Bethlehem after Fr Ricaldone’s enquiry. There was no lack of work for him
there: he was often asked to preach in the house (boys, confreres, Sisters) and beyond
(religious communities, parishes, schools). Endowed with a sharp intelligence and a
photographic memory, he had acquired eloquence as an orator, but he knew how to adapt
to the illiterate in simple ways. He gave triduums, novenas to Our Lady, sermons on
popular saints; retreats; he was consulted with awe to proofread devotional books and
catechisms, articles in magazines or dailies.
In October 1929 he was assigned to teach moral theology and Arabic to the clerics
in the newly emerging theologate. He took care in preparing and writing up his lessons,
but since he had no specific academic formation and teaching experience, it was not long
before his limitations were known causing discontent among the clerics and a negative
judgement by the superiors. For lack of a replacement he kept this role until 1936 when he
asked and was given permission to give it up; he also ceased teaching Arabic (cf. Caputa
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2004, pp. 376, 387, 411). But he continued to live in the same house in Bethlehem until
halfway through June 1940 when it was requisitioned by the British to be used as an
internment camp, and it became necessary to make room for the Italian confreres. At this
juncture, Fr Calīs was assigned to Betgamāl as the Rector. The local confreres rejoiced at
having a champion of “Arabness” among them; Srugi too enjoyed his preaching while on
the other hand, as was his custom, showed the new Rector the same humble obedience he
had shown any superior, making himself useful in services that circumstances demanded,
as well as looking after him since he suffered from diabetes. Fr Calīs did not take long to
let the Provincial know about the situation of the house, asking for help: “I don’t know
why the FMA superior does not want to send three Sisters (two from the country and a
Pole). If she had to send just one I could understand, but here it’s a question of sending
more. The Sisters in Bethlehem are more than enough to serve the orphanage. Brothers
Harūni and Srugi do not bring the mail from Artūf: they cannot leave Beitgemal, as the
British sergeant told me; Mr Dikrān does not dare go beyond Beitgemal because he is
afraid of being kidnapped or having problems.”
Other brief messages are of the same tenor, and show that he was not lacking a spirit
of observation and practical good sense. Instead, the long letter of 5 April 1941 contains a
resentful protest at the occupation of his room in Bethlehem, the alleged scattering of all
his personal things, and the loss of his very valuable manuscripts. In fact they had been
saved, and in time he got them back. After his death they were consigned to the Province
archives where they remain today.
Meanwhile, Fr López (making up for mistakes made through Fr Calīs’ inexperience),
was effectively the Rector at Betgamāl: other than organising the school life for the boys
and work on the farm, he gave lessons in theology to the clerics in practical training
(three Poles and one Spaniard), preferring to keep them at home rather than send them
to Bethlehem where, including during the internment, regular courses in philosophy
and theology were organised for the clerics, but in a crowded and suffocating setting.
Although even at Betgamāl there was no lack of health problems. Quite the opposite!
7.3 Srugi’s illness and new heavy trials for the house (1941–42)
Fr López noted in the chronicle: “5 May 1941: a heatwave has begun, up to 45 degrees.
Our doctor Srugi is in bed with fever, it seems he is struck down with malaria. 7 May:
Bro. Srugi is still in bed with fever and people are flocking to our clinic because also at
Rafàt there is no pharmacist. 10 May: Bro. Srugi has been taken to the French hospital in
Bethlehem. He is suffering from bronchial pneumonia and they say that his state is rather
serious.” For his part, in a letter of 12 May 1941, the Swiss Economer, Fr Karl Gosslar
(1883–1944) updated the Provincial: “It seems that our dear confrere Srugi is not too
well. Bronchitis and then exhaustion. It has us worried. Let us pray to the Lord that he
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will let our guardian angel of Betgemal recover. We see that God wants to test our house
with many misfortunes.”
Fr Ernesto Forti was witness to the positive development of this stage: “The great
care of the good Sisters of Charity, who have by now learned to respect him, helped
him to overcome the crisis, but they did not give him back his strength. Italian confreres
interned in the house at Bethlehem have come to see him, since he wanted to visit them
before returning to Beitgemal. In order not to tire him out they all came as a group to the
reception, watched over by the British police, and surrounded him affectionately, showing
how happy they were to see him. He was so moved that he could not hold back his tears.”
Fr López noted in the chronicle that during June-November 1941 groups of British
and Australian soldiers came to Betgamāl with their Italian prisoners, having come by
train to Wady Sarār and been taken to the camp at Bab el-Wad. On Sundays, after taking
part in the Mass, they were given breakfast (bread, wine and olives), and the officers would
leave behind medicines, disinfectants and military jackets: Srugi used some of these that
are still kept in his room. Other times they came to swim in the pool at Wadi Būlos or for
some hunting on the hills at the end of the property.
He also wrote about other problems in a scene we might be able to describe as a
mini apocalypse: in the autumn of 1941 the house ran the risk of being occupied by a
Polish contingent associated with the Allied forces. At the end of December torrential
rains carried away much of the cultivation at wadi Būlos, caused water tanks to split,
holes in the dispensary roof, while the roofs over the rabbit hutch and stable collapsed,
with the consequent death of the animals. On 7 January 1942: snow on the surrounding
mountains; in certain parts of the house it was raining more inside than outside; more
than 110 sheep and lambs dead with a loss of 200 sterling. “Patience, the Lord wants
to try us. I am convinced that up to a certain point Fr Candiani’s pessimism has some
fundamentum in re.” Then he adds an extenuating circumstance that demonstrates his
extraordinary kindness: “Probably the previous superiors were unable to do better due
to poor health.”
Despite everything, on 30 and 31 January 1942, prepared for with a novena, solemn
celebrations were organised for the closing of the first centenary of Don Bosco’s work
(1841–1941), at which Bishop Karol Mieczysław Radoński (1883–1951), bishop of
Włocławek (Poland) presided. He was a refugee at the time, and accompanied by his
secretary. When saying goodbye, the bishop expressed his heartfelt appreciation at the
success of the festivities and his great respect for the master of ceremonies Srugi. Before
leaving he recommended to the confreres present: “Hold Bro. Srugi dear, follow what he
does, collect his details, because Bro. Srugi is a true relic, he is a saint.” [Photos nos. 54,
55].
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
7.4 Danger of military occupation. Requests to house Polish refugees (1942–1943)
From May-August 1942 there was a succession of visits from Polish, Australian and
British officers interested in occupying the spacious areas in the central building and the
many other connected areas. Managing to beat the censorship, Fr López sent a memo to
the Provincial “Plan for what to do in case of the house being occupied”: what to rescue,
who would remain (Srugi among these) and where the others would go. On 19 May Fr
Canale informed him: “I have come to learn secretly from a well-informed individual that
within a month Betgemal will be occupied by the army.” On 17 June Fr López passed on
the news: some rumours say they will place police or Polish cadets here. The chronicler
noted that between July and November 1942 there was talk of opening a gymnasium for
Polish boys. On 2 July Fr Canale insisted: “We must fight vigorously with all our strength.
We cannot admit other people, especially of the opposite sex. Already the other houses
have been occupied.” On 7 July, Fr López informed him that two Polish military chaplains
were asking to rent out Betgamāl to settle 250 cadets from 14 to 16 years of age, assuring
him that they would not take over the property and would pay the rent. He added that he
had rejected the request and had given instructions to Fr Anthony Farrugia (1908–1995),
then the Rector at Cremisan, to oppose any similar attempts. In November, when the
urgent need for rooms was less, the chaplains asked for two of the clerics in practical
training as religion teachers for their cadets in Nazareth. The Rector granted this, even
though it increased his own workload; but on 7 January 1943 he got the Provincial to
send Polish cleric Edward Swider (1914–1967) from Cremisan to replace them. Again on
21 September 1943 a Polish colonel wanted to put 30 boys in Betgamāl and after seeing
the rooms, went to ‘Ain Karim to try to get the approval of the Rector, Fr López, in his
final stage of illness.
At this point it is helpful to make a brief excursus so we can place these events in
historical context. During the annexation of eastern Poland to the Soviet Union (1939),
thousands of Polish soldiers were arrested and sent to the gulags. With the Sikorski-
Mayski agreement (1941), many were released and allowed to join a reconstituted Polish
army being formed in Southern Russia and in Kazakistan (the “Second Corp”). But
very soon Stalin withdrew his support for the agreement, therefore General Władysław
Anders, Commander of the Polish Divisions, through a lengthy exodus marked by
unspeakable suffering, managed to bring his troops together with thousands of civilians,
via the British Mandate corridors, first to Iran then to Iraq and finally to Palestine.
The survival of the civilians was a priority for both military and Church leaders,
who knocked on the doors of all the Catholic institutions in the Holy Land. On 14 July
1942 “the Major General of Polish Forces” presented a proposal for the leasing of the
two Salesian buildings at Nazareth and Betgamāl “for use as boys boarding schools”.
Negotiations went on for a long time, as we have seen. Only between July and September
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1943 did the chief chaplain, Fr Jan Brandys finalise an agreement with the Salesian Rector
at Nazareth, Fr Auguste Crozes, to house around 300 boys under 15 years of age in the
building and in tents in the surrounding woods. Most were orphans. While the girls were
housed in the nearby Betharram Fathers institute. A school was organised for them that
functioned for more than two years. They were accompanied by officers, teachers and
service personnel. Some Salesians were also chaplains and teachers. Among them was Fr
Anton Guzik (+ 3.2.1966) and two clerics from Betgamāl. In general relations between
the leaders and the Salesians and boys were good. (cf. Desramaut, pp. 212–215).
7.5 Fr López and Srugi: serving until they had no strength left
Despite all the difficulties, Fr López managed to get the new school year going. On
31 October 1942 he wrote to the Provincial: “We have 35 boys split between 4 classes.
Everything is going ahead properly. Tomorrow, All Saints Day is the end of the triduum
for the beginning of the school year”. From September to November 1942 Srugi had
frequent relapses (malaria, bronchitis…) that left him exhausted, so much so that he
didn’t have the strength to write down all the details needed for the register in the
dispensary but just summed them up, always in Arabic and in a clear hand: “Various
medications to any number of people, up to 45, 67, 77 a day”. Finally he gave up, not for
lack of desire but of energy, as we read in the handwritten note on the last page: “I finished
treating people at the clinic at the end of September 1942. Through lack of strength.”
So he was taken to rest for a while in the healthier climate of the mountain at
Cremisan, and came back refreshed; but Fr Gosslar wrote that “since coming back he
has not gone down to the pharmacy any more and only treats the villagers in rare cases,
because he himself needs care for his ill health.” These precarious conditions continued
in spring 1943; and on 29 April he did not take part in the memorable “whole community
outing (confreres, lay staff and boys: 45 people in all) to Jericho, the Dead Sea, by bus and
in our car.” [Photo no. 78].
Between May and June 1943 some of the confreres and Sisters received permission
from the British authorities to leave the internment camp at Bethlehem and return to
Betgamāl. Among them Sister Tersilla whom Srugi had missed so much in the clinic from
June 1940. Now she became his personal nurse and would be with him till the end, saving
valuable items, among which his notebook with his resolutions. On 8 July a reluctant Fr
Luigi Lajolo (1880–1959) was convinced by the Provincial to assume the effective running
of the house. Fr Calīs was not up to it and Fr López was exhausted from tuberculosis and
the thousand problems he had dealt with during the three years of heavy responsibility;
transfer to ‘Ain Karim and then Cremisan were of no further use; lovingly attended by
the “Daughters of Charity”, he died on 8 October in the French hospital in Bethlehem at
just 40 years of age, mourned by everyone. Srugi was aware of the many difficulties his
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office involved and therefore assured him of his constant prayer, as well as assisting him
during his frequent relapses, competently and lovingly, such that he affectionately called
him “our doctor”. So for him, his death was a painful separation.
7.7 The last months of Simon’s life; his death and funeral (1943)
And now he too was approaching his end, but without fear, and indeed with a foretaste
of the joys of his reward. Unable to go down to the church for the community practices
of piety, he took part in the Mass that the Catechist, Fr Khalīl Sciueri celebrated for him
on the small altar in the infirmary. He hastened to dictate to the same confrere the many
prescriptions for treating the sick, so that the experience he had accumulated over the
years would not be lost. He frequently read the Imitation of Christ that he had by his
bedside table.
On 19 October “he asked for Viaticum, which was brought to him, after making a
holy confession”, and on the 24th he was given extreme unction, “fully composed, always
resigned to the will of the good God”; the confreres and the Sisters who were there were
impressed by his serenity. On the 30th, unannounced, a nephew of his arrived from Haifa
and on 1 November his sister Zàhra came from Nazareth accompanied by her daughter
and a cousin. They stayed some days. Some of the confreres said that Simon had had a
premonition of their arrival and asked the Rector to send someone to pick them up at
the station at Deirabān. His niece testified that Simon healed her from a boil on her foot,
which had been hurting her for a year: it disappeared overnight. On 23 November “Bro.
Srugi’s sister with another two women came to visit the patient for a second time.” During
these final encounters, Simon begged his sister to come back to the Catholic Church, thus
removing a thorn from which he had suffered for a long time. We read in the chronicle:
“17 November: Mr Artin went by car to Bab-el-wad to pick up Dr Simon, a converted Jew,
who kindly, gratis, offered to come once a month to visit the sick. He found Bro. Srugi
very low and gave him no more than a few days of life. – 27 November: tonight, without
any death throes and without Willibald, who was sleeping in the infirmary, noticing it,
Bro. Srugi died. After two months of suffering which he bore with exemplary resignation,
he flew to Heaven.” [Photos nos. 60, 61].
The Sisters were the first to come and they saw that he had died peacefully, without
any death throes; they reverently composed the still-flexible body as if they were touching
a sacred relic, dressed him in the only poor black suit he owned and in the parlour on
the ground floor they prepared the funeral chamber, where for the whole day there was
a procession of people crying, praying and touching him to get his blessing.
The funeral was held the day after with a sung Mass in the shrine of St Stephen,
some family members present and a limited number of confreres, since restrictions on
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movement were still in force for the “internees” in Bethlehem. Everyone who was there,
Christians and Muslims, unanimously celebrated his virtues, convinced that a man of
God, a saint had died. Fr Calīs gave the funeral eulogy in the classic Arabic that only he
was capable of, praising Simon’s talents and heroic virtues, and concluding that “rather
than praying for him, it is we who should be asking him to pray for us.” The Muslim
leaders said: “Had he been one of us, we would have immediately built a maqām, as we
do for our waly.”
He was buried in the crypt in a grave dug next to Fr Rosin’s, opposite the burial cave
that had held the ossuaries of St Stephen, Nicodemus, Gamaliel and Abibo. The Rector,
Fr Lajolo wrote to the Provincial on 1 December: “I am confident that Saint Srugi will be
at work again and very much from Paradise for this poor house.”
The span of Simon’s earthly life had thus come to an end. I think everything can be
traced back to its beginnings, when he received the sacraments of Christian initiation in
the old synagogue, then Greek-Catholic church, in Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me: because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor… to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favour” (Lk 4:18.19). Truly, the Holy Spirit consecrated Simon and made him
a living gospel in favour of the little ones, the poor, the sick and the suffering, for whom
he was a tireless servant and ’Good Samaritan’ throughout his 50 years (1892–1943: a
jubilee!) spent at Betgamāl as a Salesian Brother.
8. Epilogue: end of an era and the start of the process towards beatification (1943–1993)
In order to be able to resume the various activities, new staff were needed, which Fr Lajolo
asked for, but they were late in arriving: the war had drastically reduced the number
of suitable confreres in the Province and in the Congregation, and they were assigned
preferably to other works.
8.1. Downsizing of the farm-school and other activities
For Betgamāl, by now the sunset of an era was beginning: in the five-year period
1944–1948, the world that was Srugi’s underwent a radical transformation: after the end
of the Second World War and the persistent terrorism that would lead to the withdrawal
of the British, the UN decided to divide Palestine (resolution of 29 November 1947) into
two territories assigned to the future Israeli and Palestinian States, leaving the area of
Jerusalem-Bethlehem under the direct authority of the UN and placing the Gaza Strip
under Egyptian administration. The resolution was welcomed by the Jews (although
with reservations) and rejected by the Palestinians: a war ensued between the two (1948;
ceasefire in May 1949), with the involvement of neighbouring countries and major
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Powers. “Beit Gemal was occupied first by Egyptian troops and bombed fiercely by the
Jews, who in turn occupied it in October the same year, emptying it of everything of value.
With the flight of the Arab population and the systematic destruction of their villages, it
was isolated, not very far from the line of demarcation, and exposed to raids by night
that for years required measures of armed self-defence. Only with the creation of Jewish
settlements in the surrounding areas did the security situation improve, but meanwhile
the situation within had become critical due to the rapid decline of the school and the
extreme difficulty in changing the confreres, since it was cut off from the rest of the
Province” (V. Pozzo). “It is due in no small part to the great experience and ability of
Fr Lajolo that the storm did not have more disastrous consequences for the place. Ever
vigilant, always at his post, despite his age and aches and pains, with an admirable spirit
of sacrifice” (G. Ponzetti).
Only a few farmers came up to the mill and press from the abandoned countryside
carrying their sacks of wheat and olives. Boys ceased coming to the little day school; few
sick people turned up at the clinic, therefore first one then the other was gradually closed;
in 1946 Sister Tersilla left to be superior of the FMA community at the Italian hospital in
Damascus. The plan envisioned in 1929 to build a large “shrine of Christian forgiveness”
at the Martyrium of St Stephen was frozen, both because the flow of offerings by devotees
and benefactors had dried up and because the socio-religious context had completely
changed. There was also less interest in the Stephenine question and no fewer than 26
years elapsed before publications on this picked up once more (cf. Charbel, 1969).
8.2 Canonical process: from the Informative Process to the declaration of Venerability
(1964–1993)
By contrast, the value of what had been done so far and, in particular, the person and
activity of Srugi began to appear in a new light in the eyes of the confreres. They began
to look after whatever had belonged to him as well as related documents, but also to
interview witnesses, so that his memory could be passed on in a credible and reliable
way. As well as confreres, Sisters and lay helpers, many past pupils were interviewed who
had settled, from 1948, in the nearby refugee camps around Bethlehem (Dehesheh, ‘Aida,
Beit Jibrīn, Gaza) and Hebron (‘Ain ‘Arrūb ...), or around distant Jericho and Transjordan.
Srugi’s reputation for holiness, which he already had during his life and was confirmed
at the moment of his death, increased with the passing of the years; news of graces
obtained through his intercession were arriving. Fr Francesco Laconi (1912–1983; in
1958–1966 Provincial of the Middle East) had already begun in 1947–48 to collect written
testimonies, first privately, and from 1953 officially with the encouragement of the Rector
Major, Fr Renato Ziggiotti (1892–1983) who visited Palestine in 1954 and wanted to offer
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the Salesian Congregation a model of the holy brother. So, 10 years after his death and 400
years after the beginnings of the Fara‘ūn-Srugi family, his process of beatification began.
In the climate of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Western and Eastern
Patriarchs and Bishops (including those of Damascus, Zahlah, Adana, Cairo...), parish
priests and religious superiors highlighted the ecumenical and lay dimensions of Srugi’s
witness in about seventy ’postulator letters’, asking the Pope to present him to the whole
Church as a credible model worth imitating.
On 11 May 1964, at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem under the presidency of
Patriarch Alberto Gori OFM (1889–1970), the Informative Process began, and ended on
28 November 1966. 58 witnesses gave their depositions, among whom some of his non-
Catholic relatives and, something more unique than rare, some Muslims (cf. Orlando;
Hierosolymitana 1988, pp. 257–381). Fr Sciueri attested: “I was lucky enough to be chosen
by Bro. Srugi as his ordinary confessor. But it was I who had to marvel at so much
virtue. He was a beautiful soul, candid and simple as a dove; I believe that he carried
the immaculate robe of his baptism to his grave.”
In May-June 1968, the Roman censors deputed by the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints to examine his few writings, attested that they were fully in conformity with
the Catholic faith and morals. From 1981 to 1983 the Apostolic Process took place,
presided over by the Latin Patriarch, Giacomo Beltritti, who as a new priest and director
of Deir Rafāt had known Simon well (1933-35); 23 witnesses gave their depositions.
On 10 December 1982, the exhumation of Simon’s body took place in the crypt of the
Martyrium: following the indications of those who had been present at the funeral 39
years earlier (Dikrān Ciakmakgian and Nasry Al-’Arag, and their respective wives), the
pine coffin was dug up, in which his almost complete skeleton was found. After the
examination of the medical experts (‘Abdàllah Khoury and Cesàr Ra‘ed), his skeleton was
reassembled and placed in a zinc casket inside a large sarcophagus of fine wood, which
was walled up in the western niche of the crypt. The author of the present work, who had
served as secretary during the latter Process, was among those who attended the event.
In the years that followed, the theologians and experts of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints carefully studied all the documentation and, on the basis of their positive
opinion, on 2 April 1993 Pope John-Paul II (1920–2005) authorised Cardinal Prefect
Angelo Felici to issue the decree on the heroicity of his virtues, thus conferring on Simon
the title of Venerable. The introduction is very solemn and highlights Simon’s evangelical
qualities; in the body of the document, his total love for God and his distinctive virtues
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
are highlighted, especially his mercy towards the sick and his profound experience of the
beatitudes.32
8.3 Closing of the works for the boys, and new monastic foundations (1982–2000)
I will only mention some of the main events, referring to the House Chronicle. The
boarding school for Arab children, orphans and the needy, which had been restarted
after the war years of 1948–49, was suspended for the first time in 1957. From 1958 to
1962/3, at the request of the “Diocesan Assistance Committee” of the Latin Patriarchate
and of the “Work of St James the Apostle”, Betgamāl also welcomed groups of Polish (and
Hungarian) boys, members of “mixed” families, both during the three months of summer
camps and during the school year. The Polish Salesian Fr John Kot (who, as we know, had
lived with Srugi for some years) was put in charge of it and returned at the beginning of
1959. A Polish FMA, Sr Teresa Taszarkowna, made a great contribution by acting not
only as interpreter but also as mother to the younger children. In the midst of difficulties
of various kinds, and with ever decreasing numbers of children, the boarding school
continued until the school year 1962–63; the summer camp, on the other hand, was active
until 1966 and ceased after the “6-day war” in June 1967. In 1968, the boarding school
was reopened for Arab children, mainly from the Galilee, to cater for poor, disadvantaged
families and “social cases” assigned by the Israeli Ministry. The first years were promising:
in 1970 there were 50 children, 11 Salesians (including 2 practical trainees), 3 FMA
and 5 lay people; the “Yom Kippūr” war (1973) marked a setback, with the suspension
of the boarding school, which resumed until its final closure in 1982, surrendering to
the evidence of facts unfavourable to a sustainable and meaningful management. Also
as a result of this closure, the last three Sisters (Ermellina Mignani, Giuditta Dal Pos
and the aforementioned Teresa) left Betgamāl on 23 March 1985, after 93 years of self-
sacrificing service to generations of Salesians and boarders, and to a lesser extent also
to local mothers and their children. The more fortunate ones had known Srugi closely
and collaborated with him, so they were able to give valuable testimony for his cause of
beatification. (cf. R. Cautero – L. Fior, pp. 87–88).
In 1975 the Benedictine from the United States, Fr Isaac Jacob attempted to establish
an ecumenical community or “Christian Kibbutz” on the south-eastern hill, called “’Tel-
Gamaliel”, which ended with his death in 1995. Instead, the lengthy negotiations with
a new monastic family, the “Moniales de Bethléem, de l’Assomption de la Vierge, et de
Saint Bruno” had more success and in 1987 they were allowed to build their monastery
32 Cf. AAS 85 (9 September 1993), pp. 859–862. The style is celebratory and, apart from a few exaggerations,
the two errors in the date of birth (27 April 1877 instead of the 15th) and the date of his death (27 September
instead of November 1943), remain inexplicable in such an official pontifical gazette.
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on the south side of the hill, close to the inner courtyard of the Salesian house, in what
had been the mill and oil press sheds that Simon Srugi had supervised. On 27 November
1988 (45th anniversary of Srugi’s death), the first group of nuns (10 and one volunteer),
began their contemplative life. Since 2000, the male branch of the same monastic family
has settled on the aforementioned “Tel Gamaliel” hill, overlooking the driveway and the
clinic where Srugi carried out his ministry as “Good Samaritan” for many years. Nuns
and monks look to him as a model for the vital synthesis of contemplation and action
that he was able to embody, and they unite their prayers for his beatification.
8.4 Resumption of studies and excavations on Saint Stephen and Cafargamala (1969–2006)
With regard to the “Stephenine question”, after the mention made in passing of Fr
Antonio Charbel (1911–1988), it is worth concluding by recalling the Polish Salesian Fr
Andrzej Strus (1938–2005) for the great interest he devoted to it from the literary and
archaeological point of view. He published comparative philological studies of various
versions of the Passion of St Stephen; in 1987 conducted new explorations of the crypt
beneath the current Martyrium, tracing the stages of transition from the two original
caves (one of which was venerated) at the first Martyrium, arriving at the conclusion
that “the hypothesis of the authenticity of the tomb of St Stephen at Beit-Jimal is still
valid and, with these new data, appears to be possible.” From the mid-1990s until 2004,
with the scientific support of the well-known archaeologists Fr Michele Piccirillo OFM
(1944–2008) from the “Studium Biblicum Franciscanum” in Jerusalem and Fr Jean-
Baptiste Humbert OP from the “École Biblique”, he conducted excavation campaigns
in Betgamāl and Fattīr that led to significant results about the history of this area, in
primis, the continuity of human settlements from the Jewish to the Roman and Byzantine
periods (cf. Maritano, pp. 9–11, and the titles I have given in the bibliography). They
were crowned in 2003 by the discovery of a “tabula ansata” at a round building on
the hill about one kilometre north-west of the Salesian house, with a Greek inscription
crediting “Khirbet el-Jiljil” as the site of the primitive monument erected in honour of the
deacon and protomartyr Saint Stephen: “Tò διακονικòν Στεφάνου προτομάρτυρος = Le
diakonikon d’Ètienne, premier martyr” (The diaconicon of St Stephen, protomartyr). The
hill is still known today by the Arabic name Khirbet Jiljil, derived from Aramaic [I]klīla,
“the form inscribed on the lid of the ossuary or sarcophagus in Lucian’s Letter” and means
“crown” or “diadem”, that the corresponding Greek “stephanos” respects (cf. Puech, pp.
109–126). According to Fr Strus, however, the precise location of the original tomb of St
Stephen has still to be identified. In my humble opinion, with all due respect to my friend
and colleague Fr Andrzej, the conclusions reached by numerous researchers and scholars
in the years 1922–1930, based on converging evidence provided by the critical analysis
of monuments and documents, summarised by Fr Maurizio Gisler and confirmed in
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
1969–1978: the primitive sepulchral space in which the ossuaries (reliquaries) of St
Stephen, Nicodemus, Gamaliel and Abibo were placed is the small grotto below the
altar of the right apse (the diaconicon) in the 5th century Byzantine church, which was
rediscovered by the Salesians in 1916–1917 and rebuilt by them between 1928–1930.
So it is with good reason that in the crypt below, also “made standard” by that grotto,
Fr Bianchi, Fr Fergnani, Fr Sarkīs, Fr Rosin, and the venerable Simon Srugi were buried
and rest in the sleep of the just. In life they were imitators of St Stephen, and now await
with him the resurrection of their bodies at the “parousia” to receive the “crown of glory”.
Thus the history of the “valiant men” of Betgamāl flows into the eternity of God.
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Towns and villages within the outreach of Simon Srugi’s activity.
British Mandate maps in Wikipedia.
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14 Pages 131-140

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14.1 Page 131

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Section 2
Special “windows”
I ARAB-PALESTINIAN POPULATION IN CONTACT WITH SRUGI
1. Nature, scope, sources
According to tradition, Srugi’s circle of influence as the one in charge of the clinic and
mill at Betgamāl extended to “around fifty villages” in the Shefela region. Which ones were
they and where were they located? How many people lived there? Given that today (2021)
the face of this geographical area has completely changed and that many of those villages
have disappeared, my desire is to help the reader to gain a faithful idea of the reality
in which the Salesians at Betgamāl and Srugi in particular were operating. It is helpful
for people living in the Holy land and even more necessary for others, including putting
aside the niggling doubt that hagiography has romanticised Srugi’s life! But also to be able
to critically rethink certain interpretations that opposing ideologies, be they Zionist or
Palestinian, have today of that historical and geographical reality (cf. Abu Sitta, Falah,
Gavish).
For my reconstruction I consulted internal and external sources. The former: we have
both the information that Srugi noted down in 8 surviving registers of medications, and
oral testimonies of some past pupils as well as the Acts of the Informative Process. It is
from these sources that we draw the names and number of towns and villages, but not
the size of individual populations or the population as a whole. For this, we need to refer
to contemporary external sources, i.e. the results of the first and second census carried
out by the British Mandate in 1922 and 1931, and the Survey of Palestine, jointly carried
out in 1945–46 by the “Office of Statistics” and the “Department of Lands” for the “Anglo-
American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine” in view of its partition by the UN. Research
had already begun in 1938 and was taken up again in 1943 (cf. Barron, Hadawi, Mills,
Shaw).
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
2. The eight registers of medications
The printed title on the cover is “Salesian Agricultural School. Beitgemal, Palestine.
Dispensary Register”, while the heading on the individual pages within is “Beitgemal
Dispensary. Treatment Register”. 8 registers have come down to us that cover the years
1932–1942; They are kept in what was his room, uncategorised. Srugi writes in Arabic
in 6 columns: date, sequential number of medications (sometimes more than 60 a day!),
patient’s name, the village they came from, diagnosis and treatment, observations. The
total number of villages is over 50.
3. Names provided by past pupils and people originally from the area
On 7 November 1961 in Bethlehem, Palestinian Salesian abuna Ibrahīm Khoury
(1920–1982) interviewed past pupil Dīb Mahmūd Hàsan Al-‘Aisy “from Zakariya, in
the district of Hebron”. The interview is replete with original details, many thus far
unpublished.33 Dīb deserves credit for what he says concerning our subject, including
the fact that nobody had asked him to list the villages; (I transcribe this respecting the
form in which the interviewer wrote them down):
Srugi provided services to more than 50 villages: Zakaria, Beitnatif, El Brej, Deraban,
Jarâsh, ‘Illâr, Serîf, Wadi Fukin, Kharâs, Nûba, Bitûla, Tarqûmia, Ithna, Der Nakhas,
Dawamia, Beitjibrin, Kbeibe (not Emaus Qubeiba), Kudna, Der Essabân, Ra’na, Zita
El Janubîa, Thikrin, Summêl, Tallessâfi, Itnîbbe, Altîna, El Kheme, Jîlia, Mughalles,
Casâse, Sajad, Shamha, Kholda, Der Emheisen, Beitjîs, Beit Sosîn, Ishua’, ‘Eslîin,
Sârra’a, and others that I do not know. All their inhabitants came to be treated by
mu‘allem Srugi. And they were all humanitarian services for eyes, malaria and other
illnesses. Even at night time ... from Ajur ….34
33 AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9B, file C = Testimonianze III, pp.12–14: “I got to know Srugi since I was about 10 years
old and now I am 45. I entered the school at Betgemal as an 11-year-old pupil and was a pupil of Srugi’s, a
boarder. I stayed there four years: I ate in the convent and slept at home. It was at the convent that I learned the
masonry trade. Srugi was my teacher of Arabic. He knew Arabic very well, even better than Fr Spiridion and
no one at Beitgemal knew Arabic like he did, who came after Fr Calīs, but before Fr Shialhub and Fr Butros
Sarkis and Brother George Harūni. Fr Frey taught me geometry and Fr Fergnani, the Prefect of Studies, taught
me Italian. As for the masonry trade, building engineer Salvetti Pietro taught me the practical side, that is,
building, plastering, finishing, flooring, carpentry, whitewashing.” Let me add: because of his masonry skills
Dīb was invited, even in the 70s, to carry out works at Bethlehem and Nazareth, where he lived in the Salesian
community for three years.
34 “When he went to peoples’ homes to treat them, he took or accepted nothing, except that after a lot of pressure
he would accept a cup of coffee. Currently, an American, between Kharas and Nuba, called Abu Daud, is the
director of an American institution, and he also goes around treating people and has doctors with him. But
the people say he is not like Srugi, because he requires all the necessary time for recovery, while Srugi had
people recover, at least more than once, immediately; they went to him because they knew that they would
be healed.”
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Special “windows”
So, of the “around fifty” towns and villages spoken of by the tradition, Dīb lists 40 of
them and adds that he does not know the others (he does not say he cannot remember
them!). It is interesting to note that many correspond to the ones Srugi recorded.
Nada ‘Abd-el-Fatāh al-‘Arag, ‘Abd-el-Hamīd ‘Aly, Mahmūd ‘Atàllah ‘Abed, are other
people interviewed from the refugee camp at Deheshe, and at Bethlehem or Cremisan
the same year, 1961, and they provide confirmation (Ajjur, Qasasa, Khoulda, Sajad, Zita,
Der Nakhas, Tikhrin al Bardān) also letting us know of two other places: Almasmiya
al-Kabīra, Almasmiya as-Şaghīra (cf. AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9B, file III, Testimonianze
(Testimonies), pp. 8, 10, 19. In Annotazioni …, dated 31.01.18 and 7.2.18, Fr Sacchetti
also names Eshdaoud [Eshtaōl ?] and Murabbag). Other places are named here and there
in the various house chronicles at Betgamāl, but I don’t think it is necessary for now to go
beyond the current research. Instead, it is more important to verify whether or not these
names correspond to official data.
4. Population according to the census and official data
I am not proposing to be exhaustive, but only to give a reliable overview. I will provide
the Arabic name Srugi wrote in the clinic’s register and the Italian transliteration that
the Provincial Secretary, Fr Ciro Cozzolino used for the interviews carried out by Fr
Ibrahīm Khoury. I am aware that the English transliteration in the two censuses uses
Bayt instead of Beit or Bet, and Dayr instead of Deir or Der. I prefer the 1931 data as
being more indicative of the central period of Srugi’s activity. I add a separate column
to show the number of Christians. I do not calculate the distance of the villages from
Betgamāl, which varies from 2-3 km to about 45 km (Al-Masmyyat). The indication of the
administrative sub-district clarifies first of all that Betgamāl belonged to the jurisdiction
of Ramlah, while neighbouring localities were under Jerusalem or Hebron and the more
distant ones under Gaza. It also helps to understand the bureaucratic, legal and judicial
complications in which the Rector and Economer at Betgamāl were involved. Finally, we
can recall that because of his great prestige, Srugi was sometimes also consulted by the
mukhtār of some towns or by judges of some of the sub-districts, in his role as peacemaker
and intermediary.
On the table that follows I have listed the names according to the Arabic alphabet,
followed by their English transliteration as it features in the 1931 Census (Beit, Deir
…; contrary to what the 1922 Census had: Bait, Dair), adding dots for emphatic letters
and slashes for long ones. I abbreviate the name of the sub-districts Bethlehem, Hebron,
Jerusalem, Ramlah with Bet, Heb, Jer, Ram.
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Names: Arabic Names:
alphabetical transliteration
order
Sub-
district
Cens. Cens. Chr. 1945
1922 1931 1931
1.
إدنبّةIdnibbah
Gaza
275 345
490
2.
ِإ ْدن َاIdhna
Heb
1300 1719
2190
3.
ِإ ُشوعIshū‘a (Ishwa) Ram
379 468
620
4.
ُأمّ ب ُرْجUm Burj
Heb
119
5.
(برقوسية) بركوسياBarkūsya
Heb
198 258
330
(Barqūsyat)
6.
الب ُرْجBurj (Al)
Heb
621
7.
الب ُرْجBurj (Al)
Ram
370
470
8.
ب ُر َ ْيجBureij
Ram
398 621 7 720
9.
بيت أولىBeit Ūla (Bitūla) Heb
825 1045
1310
10.
بيت جمالBeit Gamāl
Ram
59 168 78 240
11.
بيت جالاBeit Jāla
Bet
3101 2731 2529 3710
12.
بيت ِجبْرينBeit Jibrīn
Heb
1420 1804
2430
13.
بيت جيزBeit Jīz
Ram
203 371
550
14.
بيت ُسوسينBeit Sūsīn
Ram
47 70
210
15.
بيت عِطَابBeit ‘Iṭāb
Jer
504 606
540
16.
بيت ن َت ِيفBeit Natīf
Heb
1112 1649
2150
17.
بيت ن ُوب َاBeit Nūba
Ram
839 944
1240
18.
ت َرْق ُومِ َي ّةTarqūmiyyah
Heb
976 1173
1550
19.
ت ِ ّل ال َ ّصاف ِيTell aṣ-Ṣāfy
Heb
644 925
–
20.
الت ِّين َةTīnah (At)
Ram
306 530
–
21.
الجبعةJiàba‘ah (Al)
Bet
122 176
210
22.
ا‎ جباليJabālya
Gaza
1775 2425
3520
23.
جَرَشJiàrash
Ram
115 164
190
24.
ِجل ْي َاJilya
Ram
– 271
–
100

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Special “windows”
Names: Arabic Names:
alphabetical transliteration
order
Sub-
district
Cens. Cens. Chr. 1945
1922 1931 1931
25.
حلحولḤalḥūl
Heb
1927 2523 1 3380
26.
خاراسKhārās
Heb
577 739
970
27.
خُلدةKhuldah
Lyd
53 178
280
28.
الخيمةKhaymah (Al) Ram
132 141
29.
ال َدّوَايْم َةDawāymah (Ad) Heb
2441 2688
3710
30.
دُورَاDūra
Heb
5834 7255
9700
31.
دير أب َانDeir Abān
Ram
1214 1534
2100
32.
دير ال ُدّ َبّانDeir ad-Dubbān Heb
454 543
–
33.
دير ال َ ّشيْخDeir ash-Sheikh Jer
99 156 7 220
34.
دير ُمحيسنDeir Muḥeisīn Ram
– 113
460
35.
دير النخّاسDeir an-Nakhās Heb
336 451
600
36.
دير اله َو َاءDeir al-Hawā’ Jer
38 47
60
37.
ذكرينDhikrīn
Heb
693 726
960
38.
رأس أبو عمارRa’s Abu ‘Ammār Jer
399 488
620
39
رَ ْعن َاRà‘na
Heb
126 150
–
40.
رَفاتRafāt
Ram
190 320 68 –
41.
ال َر ّ ْمل َةRamlah (Ar)
Ram
10,347 2184 –
42.
رَنْت ِيسRantīs
Ram
824 954 – –
43.
زَك َرِ َيّاZakariyya
Heb
683 742
44.
زَيْت َاZeita
Heb
139 234
45.
َسج َدSàjad
Ram
221 300
–
46.
ِسع ِيرSi‘īr
Heb
1477 1967
–
47.
شحمةShàḥmah
Ram
107 150
280
48.
ص َرَف َنْد الخ َر َابṢarafand al-
Ram
385 974 33
Kharāb
49.
ص َرَف َنْد العَمَارṢarafand al-
Ram
862 1183 19
‘Amār
101

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Names: Arabic Names:
alphabetical transliteration
order
Sub-
district
Cens. Cens. Chr. 1945
1922 1931 1931
50.
ص َرْع َةṢar‘ah
Jer
271
51.
صم ّيلṢummeīl
Gaza
561 692
590
52.
ُصورِ يفṢūrīf
Heb
1265 1640
2190
53.
ال ّطِيرَةṬīrah (Aṭ)
Ram
892
54.
ال َ ّظاهِر ي ّةṬhāhiriyyah
Heb
2930
(Aṭh)
55.
ُعَج ّور‘Ajjiūr
Heb
2073 2917 4 3730
56.
عَ ْرت ُوف‘Artūf
Ram
181 253
57.
عِ ْسل ِين‘Islīn
Jer
132 186
58.
ع َل ّار‘Allār
Bet
224 325
59.
القُب َابQubāb (Al)
Ram
1275 1502
60.
القُب َيْب َةQubaybah (Al) Heb
646 800
1060
61.
القُب َيْب َةQubaybah (Al) Ram
799 3 1720
62.
قزازةQazāzah
Ram
472 649
940
63.
كسلKasla
Jer
233 299
280
64.
كُدْن َاKudna
Heb
281 353
65.
اللدLidd (Al)
Ram
11,250 1210 –
66.
الل ُبَ ّنLùbban (Al)
Ram.
221 298
67.
ل َ ْطر ُونLaṭrūn
Ram
96 120 44 190
68.
المسمية الصغيرةMasmiyat
Gaza
261 354
530
aṣ-Ṣaghīrat (Al)
69.
المسمية الـكبيرةMasmiyat al-
Gaza
1390 1756 4 2520
Kabīrat
70.
مُغَل ِّسMughàllis
Ram
311 447
71.
َنح ّال ِينNaḥḥālīn
Bet
346 440
72.
ن ُوب َاNūba
Heb
557 611
102

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Special “windows”
Names: Arabic Names:
alphabetical transliteration
order
73.
وَادِي ف ُو ِكينWādy Fūkīn
74.
يالوYālū
75.
ي َ َ ّطةYaṭṭah
76.
البدوBadū (Al)
Partial
total
General
total
Sub-
district
Bet
Ram
Heb
Ram
Cens. Cens. Chr. 1945
1922 1931 1931
149 205
280
811 963
1220
3179 4034
–
255
68,120
89,717
Results
1. The names provided by Srugi and Salesian tradition are not fictitious. The traditional
number of “around fifty villages” corresponds to the reality, indeed it is an underestimate.
The great majority (almost all) of the inhabitants were Muslim; the majority came
from the two subdistricts of Ramlah (33) and Hebron (27). The few Christians were
concentrated in the two cities of Ramlah, Lydd, the village of Beit Jāla and in three or
four religious houses (or in their vicinity).
2. The prevalent agro-pastoral occupation of these inhabitants (with manual work and
animals, and very little mechanisation), explains their coming to the mill and olive press
at Betgamāl, both because the equipment was modern, and because of the service of the
“supervisor” that Srugi carried out as a most trustworthy individual. On the other hand,
the persistent conditions of poverty and endemic diseases, due primarily to the lack of
water and hygiene, explains their coming to the clinic to receive their essential health care
services from Srugi and Sister Tersilla.
Halfway through the 1930s there were a good number of towns and villages that
had an active mosque: ‘Agiūr, Betgibrīn, Ḥalḥūl, Ṣarafand, Ṣūrīf, Tarqūmiyyah,
Zakariya, Yaṭṭah …, while the mosque at Betgamāl had been abandoned at the
end of the 19th century. A maqām in memory of a nāby could be found in some
towns and villages. Less numerous were towns or villages with a school or
market; very few had a mill, press, clinic, power station (electricity).
3. According to the 1931 census, the population of those towns and villages was
68,120; and if we include the two cities of Ramlah and Lydd in the count (around
21,597 combined), we have a total of 89,717. So, given all the proportions of
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time and place, it appears that the people who used to turn to Srugi, and even
more so those who knew him, were not just 'a small world', but constituted a
not inconsiderable social reality. As one can see by checking the data, from 1931
to 1943 there was only a slight increase in population in the countryside: due
to increasing political tension and armed confrontation, the people preferred to
move to urban centres that provided better work opportunities and security.
Instead, those who were forced to stay relied even more on the deir and on
mu‘allem Srugi, the nurse and “holy” miller at Betgamāl.
4. My research has only been exploratory, limited and focused. Anyone
interested in studying the hygiene and health circumstances of the area to write
an exhaustive study from a sociological and medical point of view (households,
births, infant mortality, most frequent disease… ) could find a variety of useful
material in Srugi’s written records: the 8 registers of medications, the handbooks
and prescriptions he used, notebooks in which he wrote down the components
of medicines he made himself…, as well as in the account books of the Economer-
Prefect of Betgamāl, in the correspondence with doctors and benefactors of the
clinic (reports, requests for help…).
5. Today, 2021, there is no Palestinian Arab population around Betgamāl; the
nearest lives in the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area, 32 km east, or in Ramlah and
Lydd, 37--40 km N-W, or in Ḥalḥūl and environs, 48 km S-E. The Betgamāl estate
is surrounded by the city of Betshemesh founded 69 years ago, and for 20 years
in very rapid building expansion (Ramat Betshemesh Alef-Hey). Its population
(125,000 or so in 2019) consists mostly of observant “ultra-Orthodox” Jews, not
native to the area, who would certainly find it difficult to subscribe to the noble
statement of November 12, 1926 in the New York Jewish Tribune: “The coming
to our shores of Father Alfred Sacchetti, manager of the Christian Agricultural
School of Beth Gemal in Palestine, is a vivid reminder of the fact, over which all
the Jews should rejoice, that Palestine is not only Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel,
but also the Holy Land to the adherents of Christianity and Islam.”
An impossible utopia, or a prophecy still awaiting fulfilment?
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II SRUGI AND MUSLIMS IN THE BETGAMĀL AREA
The first of Srugi’s biographers, Fr Ernesto Forti (1921--2000) sums things up in
a letter from Cairo on 5 May 1981, addressed to the Ecclesiastical Tribunal for the
Apostolic Process in Jerusalem: “I think that in addition to being a clear example
of an authentically lived Salesian life, the Servant of God had a special mission
towards his Muslim brothers and sisters, among whom he was an authentic
embodiment of Jesus the Good Samaritan for souls and bodies.” (Hierosolymitana
1988 ..., p. 374). I propose, in the following pages, to broaden the importance of
this statement on the basis of what I have so far documented in my research.
Introduction
In general, there was a peaceful coexistence between the Salesian community
at Betgamāl (SDB and FMA) and the Muslims of the region, based on mutual
respect, as was customary in Palestine at the end of the 19th century and the
first half of the 20th century. The relations between the "masters" or employers,
on the one hand, and the tenant farmers and sharecroppers, the employees,
the caretakers, the peasant farmers and the workers on the other hand (despite
recurrent episodes of disputes, thefts, trespassing, ...), remained good until the
appearance of the first nationalistic movements between Palestinians and Jews.
The Salesians in the school and on the farm, and to varying degrees the Sisters
in what was a sort of weekend recreation centre for girls, acted at the level of
human empowerment which, together with the testimony of life and friendly
relations, was a kind of “first proclamation” or pre-evangelisation. Explicit
evangelisation aimed at conversion remained a pipe dream; as was pointed out
to Fr Coradini, who in 1920 imagined settling in the nearby village of Zakariya
in order to convert the inhabitants en masse (cf. Borrego, pp. 209--210). We
know for certainty of only one youth who was converted, and his story unfolded
according to this scheme as laid out by Fr Bianchi to Fr Rinaldi in 1927:
For the past three years we have had a young Muslim boy, 14 years old, fatherless
and motherless. He is a very good child and knows the catechism very well. For some
time now he has shown a great desire to become Catholic and often begs us to baptise
him. We always delay this to make sure of his perseverance. A lady from Piedmont has
written to Fr Coradini that she would very much like to be godmother to a newborn
Catholic child from Nazareth. It occurred to me to speak to Fr Coradini about writing
to this lady so that she might change her intention, and instead of having her future
godchild from Nazareth, it might be a Muslim from Beitgemal. We could send him to
Turin, where he would be baptised by you in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians;
so this lady could witness the baptism in person. Moreover, you have promised the
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Supreme Pontiff to take an interest in Muslims. It is very little, but at least it would
show the Holy Father the good will we have. Once the young man has been baptised,
he could be sent to an agricultural school. If Lombriasco is too cold, he could be sent
to Portici or Corigliano. (cf. Borrego, p. 232).
Fr Alfredo Sacchetti reported the words of Pope Pius XI who believed that
it was possible to influence the minds of Muslims (contrary to a widespread
cliché). For his part, he thought that it might be possible to sow, prudently, at
Betgamāl as well. When he opened the elementary school for boys and girls next
to the clinic in 1931, he entrusted it to an FMA (after Fr Shalhūb had declined)
and used as an example what the Sisters of St Anne were doing with Muslim
girls in Sefforis in Galilee (cf. ABG, Annotazioni and the House Chronicle).
In particular, given his work assignments, Simon Srugi usually met Muslim
adults at the mill, the oil press and especially at the clinic, or for some time in the
shop where he sold basic necessities. Occasionally he went to offer his services to
some of the surrounding villages. The Muslim boys who were full-time boarders
or the few who were part-time, also came into contact with him at school or in
the courtyard or in the infirmary; with the day students there was daily contact
and a lot of it.
1. How these Muslims perceived Srugi
They thought of him first of all as a man of God, a consecrated religious (rāheb),
a perfect man (ràjol tamām) in whom from their perspective, they saw the typical
virtues of the “pious Muslim” shine to a high degree:
- Submission and obedience to God in all of life’s circumstances, accepting his
will with great faith, humility, patience, calm, self-mastery. His constant attitude
was one of imperturbable inner and outward peace.
- A man of prayer: he expressed it not only in the popular forms of praise and
thanksgiving, (al hamdu li-l-lāh, nàshkor allāh ...), but also by beginning everything
in God’s name and referring all his actions to him, even the smallest things he
did as a nurse (b-ismi esh-Shafy = in the name of the Healer; kul shi li-l-lāh = all for
God...), before weighing and milling the grain, etc. Therefore he became credible
and convincing when he invited his patients and farmers to pray, often using his
special greeting: “Live Jesus, Yahya Yasū‘a”.
Because of his closeness to God, Muslims resorted to him even in humanly
desperate cases, convinced that his intercession was effective: he made droughts
cease and abundant rains come, or obtained unexpected healings. “Allàh wa
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mu‘allem Srugi” (“Allāh and master Srugi”). And although they could go to
doctors at Ramlah or Hebron... many said they preferred to make a long and
difficult trip to come to him, not only because he did not make them pay dearly,
but especially because “his hands are blessed. There is the power of Allāh in his
hands. It is enough for him to touch the sick or give them some small remedy
for them to recover quickly and well.”
- A just man: wise in his judgements, prudent and considered in his decisions.
“He does everything for the face of God” (li waghi-l-lāh, that is, for the glory
of God, to please Him), not “for men” (as Sha‘bān Mahmūd ‘Atàllah, ‘Abd al-
Fattāh ‘Abd al-‘Arag, among others, said in their deposition: in AIMOR 15.1.2,
folder 8). He did not let himself be influenced nor did he favour people, he was
above parties, one could trust him blindly, because he was detached, humble
and very poor. Discussions and arguments often ended with this opinion: “This
is what mu‘allem Srugi said, Srugi does it this way ... enough!” In this context, the
testimony of Nasry Al-‘Arag (factotum at Betgamāl from 1939) is significant: he
recalled that Ibrahīm Hamdān, the Muslim guardian of Wady Būlos confided
in him that he had married only one wife “because this is what mu‘allem Srugi
taught me” (AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8).
- Good, merciful and compassionate towards everyone: young and old, men
and women, showing traits of benevolent affection for the little ones, orphans,
anyone who suffered. Always ready to excuse, forgive, forget, Simon invited
anyone who felt offended or injured to do the same. He educated people to avoid
offensive language, correcting the popular expletive yàkhreb bētak (“may your
home be ruined”), by inviting them to replace it with “y‘ammer bētak” (“may
your home prosper”).
- Reserved, modest and chaste: particularly the Muslim women who came for
treatment or brought their sick, were amazed at his angelic delicacy and purity.
He never received them alone, and never looked them in the eye.
Regarding all these human and religious virtues of Simon, the attestations of
Muslims were innumerable, repeated and convergent. On the day of the funeral,
“hundreds paraded emotionally before his body, weeping, praying, touching
the body, and then passing their hands over their foreheads, hands and feet, as
if to receive some blessing”. Many expressed the belief that Simon “was a saint,
a man of God, there was no one like him”. As I have already mentioned, the
chiefs said: “If he had been one of ours, we would by now have built a sacred
building with a dome over his tomb (maqām wa kùbbe) as we do for a revered
individual (wāli, naby)”( AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C, pp. 20 and 21).
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Finally, from among all the Muslims he had known, about twenty gave
confirmations or new testimonies in private or before the ecclesiastical tribunal
in Jerusalem, before and during the years of the two canonical processes, in a
period from 1950 to 1983 (cf. Testimonies collected by Fr Ibrahīm Khoury in
AIMOR 15.1.3, folder B, files A.B.C.). The Trinitarian and sacramental sources
of Simon's holiness (what we call supernatural realities) undoubtedly escaped
them, but they were nevertheless able to grasp numerous fruits and important
effects that were also expressed in heroic form.
2. How Srugi saw these Muslims and his “mission” in their regard
- The love of God was the motive that animated all of Simon's actions, and from
it derived his love for his neighbour. For him, everyone was a child of God,
including Muslims, in the sense that God created them, looks after them in his
fatherly Providence; Jesus died and was risen for them too and awaits them all in
Paradise, young and old. Hence, in his love of neighbour, he made no distinction
between Muslim and Christian.
- He felt completely fulfilled in this context: he never asked to change house,
never thought about choosing who would be the beneficiaries of his service
and apostolate. Certainly, his most immediate beneficiaries were Christians
(confreres and Sisters, lay helpers and the boys) who lived within the walls of
the religious house: with them he shared the Salesian spirit and community life
during prayer times, meals and recreation; he rendered his many services to
them as infirmarian, catechist, master of ceremonies, teacher, sometimes tailor
and baker …, in an atmosphere of fellowship and friendship. But also with the
“people outside” and “others” Simon was the same whole being: he was not
a divided being, and was totally at ease with Muslims as well, showing them
the same warmth. His resolutions reveal the conviction that he must set a good
example in everything and at all times, precisely to show them how beautiful
the Christian life is, so that they feel drawn to know Jesus and his Mother Mary.
This is the way he interpreted Jesus’ exhortation: “Let your light so shine... that they
may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:16).
Since his neighbour was made up of the young and illiterate, the poor and the
sick, Simon adopted the attitude of the compassionate, humble, self-sacrificing
Good Samaritan towards them. Indeed, he saw Jesus crucified in every suffering
person.
- He was always simple, humble and without any “sense of superiority”. He
did not use his position to gain advantage for himself or the Church, nor did he
exert pressure in the religious sphere. In this regard, it is worth quoting another
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part of the testimony of Dīb Mahmūd Hasan al-‘Aisy, whom we have already
met:
He taught me Arabic on my own, because while another four pupils had been
enrolled, they believed it might be propaganda to make them Christians, so they
avoided it. I went to his room for my lessons; there was a kneeler next to the bed and
he knelt down there to pray, and I felt like he was talking to someone invisible. I tried
several times to find out from him who he was talking to and what he was saying,
and he replied: “I’m sorry I can’t answer you, because you are still small and don’t
understand anything, because this is a divine secret.” Sometimes mu‘allem Srugi asked
me to become a Christian, but without putting any pressure on me. I was only afraid of
my relatives, but I was not baptised, although I believe in the Christian religion, which
is heavenly and true, and I do not doubt it at all, although I remain a Muslim, because
all my family are Muslims (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9B, file “Testimonianze III”).
- Simon expressed understanding and magnanimity by correcting any
confreres or lay people who points out limitations or faults of Muslims: “Poor
people, they do not have the Sacraments and all the graces we have, we have to
pity them, forgive them and pray for them.” Hearing some derogatory remarks
about customary expressions of popular piety, he corrected those who made
them, pointing out that good intentions pleasing to God can be hidden under
appearances, and even in these circumstances he invited them to “pray for them
so the Lord will make them better and convert them”.
- In his relationship with Muslims, he was not condescending, did not reduce
or disguise his identity as a Christian and religious: the small crucifix was always
sewn on his jacket, the statues of Our Lady and St Joseph were well and truly
visible in the clinic; he would customarily say: “Maria Auxilium Christianorum,
ora pro nobis”. Before any treatment he would ask: “Have you prayed to Sitti
Maryam?” His habitual greeting with Muslims too was “yahya Yasū‘a”, and when
they said that back to him, “he seemed transfigured; facing heavenwards, happy,
he would say to me: “Did you hear that? Muslims greeting Jesus!” (Sister
Tersilla, in AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C, p. 1).
- He was convinced that Muslims somehow perceived the higher value
of Christian piety. Sister Tersilla reports that one year, after the three-day
processions known as “rogation days”, he commented in these terms:
If everyone were to understand the efficacy of prayer, how many more graces the Lord
would give people. Our Muslim farmers understand it and admire us and are edified
when every year we all go to pray for the countryside, and say: “Your harvest is better
than ours because you pray to the Lord and he comes to your aid.” See, Sister, what a
beautiful impression we make on these Muslims by praying? May the Lord enlighten
them! And let us pray for them. (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C, p. 6).
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After the murder of Fr Rosin, when the superiors forgave the probable
instigators, and he himself treated and let go of one of the alleged murderers,
Simon said:
Let us set a good example to them with our religious behaviour, and they will
understand that we Christians are something more than they are by practising
Christian forgiveness, which Jesus wanted when he forgave his crucifiers. (AIMOR
15.1.3, folder 9C, p. 11).
On the other hand, the influence he personally exerted through his testimony
of life, day after day, “without posing”, bore long-term results in various areas:
Srugi was aware that the Muslims were learning from him not only how to pray
with faith, but also to forgive, to behave honestly and justly, to put up with
suffering in view of Paradise ..., in short, to become better. It should be added
that he immediately attributed the merit to the goodness of God and Our Lady,
humbly considering himself to be a “lowly individual”, that “nothing good”
came from Nazareth. Here again is Sister Tersilla, an eyewitness:
Sick Muslims were brought by their friends, relatives, parents, and they turned to
Srugi begging him to help them, to heal their sick; I often saw them embrace him,
kiss him on the forehead, the shoulders, his feet, throwing themselves on the ground,
as if in a tone of supplication and entreaty. Brother Srugi merely tried to divert all
attention from himself, from his person, talking about Our Lady and saying: “It is
their faith that heals them!” And he told them: “Pray to Our Lady, Sitti Maryam, and
do everything in Jesus’ name and you will be healed by Him” (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder
9C, pp. 6,18).
On reflection, this expression of his (“It is their faith that heals them!”)
is a faithful echo of the one that Jesus used when addressing non-Hebrew
people (such as the Roman centurion or the Syro-Phoenician woman). We could
therefore say that Srugi used it because he realised that faith is a gift from God,
and he also gave rise to it in the hearts of devout and simple Muslims, making
them capable of “seeing”! The above-mentioned Dīb Mahmūd Hasan al-‘Aisy,
in his deposition on 28 September 1982 before the members of the ecclesiastical
tribunal, said that once when he was in the infirmary because of malaria, he was
assisted by Fr Frey, because Srugi had gone to make his retreat at Bethlehem:
At night I woke up, I saw the door of the infirmary open and I saw a Lady enter,
dressed in green and with a green veil on her head. She asked me where Bro. Srugi was,
and I replied that he was in Bethlehem for the retreat. She told me: “Yes, I know, and
he will return the day after tomorrow. I am the Virgin. Tell him that I have come to ask
about him.” Two days later, Bro. Srugi returned, and I told him that I had something
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secret to tell him, to which he immediately replied: “Yes, I know, but don’t tell anyone.”
I wanted to tell him, but he said, “Yes, I know.” I deduce from this episode that Bro.
Srugi was in contact with the God who created him. I believe that the Blessed Virgin
came to me because I was Bro. Srugi’s confidante and I had a deep relationship with
him because of the catechism class [“religion”]. I have always kept these things secret,
I am telling you now because I have sworn to tell the truth. (Hierosolymitana 1988...,
pp. 358–359).
3. How God used them both for their mutual benefit
Sister Tersilla testifies:
Brother Srugi told me this himself. Many years ago when Fr Varaia [1892–1894], a
holy priest, was the Rector here at Beitgemal, they held the Corpus Domini procession
here as always. When we arrived at the gate, all the farmers from our village and
others from Betnatìf, Zakaria and Derabàn were there, watching the procession pass
by. At a certain point, the grown-ups uttered exclamations of amazement, and their
children started running after us happily and joyfully, and we couldn’t understand
why they were doing this. When we left the church we asked them why they had
done this and were so happy. And they answered: “Abuna Ràies (the Father Rector,
the leader) was carrying a beautiful child who looked at us and smiled, and was so
handsome. Where did you put him?” And the Servant of God commented on this as
follows: “Think, Sister: the Rector had the Infant Jesus in place of the monstrance!
The Muslims saw the Infant Jesus while we didn’t. The Lord, the Creator of heave and
earth, made himself seen, I believe, by this poor people, humble and simple souls,
so they would understand that they are all his souls.” The Servant of God, as I have
said above, told me that he saw nothing. This episode was also told to me by Sister
Cristina Castellotto, FMA who was at Beitgemal then, and who died on 4 January
1937 (AIMOR 15.1.3, Folder 9C, p. 3).
The question arises spontaneously: who were the evangelisers (= bearers
of God's joy) and who were the evangelised (= recipients of God's joy)?
Undoubtedly both were beneficiaries of the same action that had God as its main
character.
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III SRUGI’S MYSTICAL AND PRIESTLY ATTITUDE
Simon's days were packed with community, educational, apostolic and material
tasks, from dawn to dusk, every week, in summer and winter alike. He did not
take holidays, nor days off, except for Sunday and the Retreat week. He had his
feet firmly on the ground and his hands forever busy with work. So it is logical
to ask: what is it that motivated him and gave him the energy to do what he did?
What was the spirit he did it in? In the earlier historical and biographical section
I have already included some answers to that. Here I intend to explore this point
more extensively, giving more space to the testimonies of contemporaries.
1. The foretaste of heaven on earth in faith, hope and charity
Witnesses testify that Simon walked on earth but his heart was in heaven
(“sursum corda!”). He worked and laboured, but always sustained by the hope
of the reward and eternal rest, with such certainty that he seemed to be already
tasting its joys.
1.1 Fr Eligio Dal Maso (1906–1980), lived beside him in Betgamāl for years
and then became a much sought-after spiritual director by clergy, religious and
lay people in Bethlehem. He said in his deposition:
I testify that the virtue of hope is the virtue that I most admired in the Servant
of God. I have never known anyone who had such familiarity with Heaven than
he did. It was the thought of Paradise that accompanied and guided him in all of
life’s circumstances, be they prosperous or adverse. And this though, which was
almost something natural for him, he nurtured tactfully in all those who approached
him, be they confreres, young people, the sick, workers, and also Muslims. How
often did I hear him say: “Paradise, paradise” ... and enthusiastically intone the well-
known words of praise “Paradise, paradise, great city of the elect”. At times he seemed
beside himself with joy. “Up there we will see God, Our Blessed Lady, the angels, the
saints, and we will rediscover our superiors, Don Bosco, will see Fr Bianchi and our
confreres. Oh what joy, what a celebration that will be!” As we were used to seeing
him recollected and humble, it was strange when he took up these topics, so easily and
informally, happily, jumping for joy, and my thoughts turn to St Alphonsus Liguori
who had the same attitude in similar circumstances. Srugi saw paradise and tasted its
delights beforehand (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C).
Fr Rudolf Frey recalls: “He gladly listened to some of the stories of the saints,
and he could not be given greater pleasure than to talk about spiritual things.
Sometimes he spontaneously interrupted: - ‘Oh what a beautiful paradise, what
music, songs, lights, what joy and happiness, what processions and festivities
up there!’” Brother Luigi Ghezzi (1888–1974) explained: “Other times he used
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say; ‘Paradise is God, He is paradise, and where there is no God it is hell.’”
Bro. Cesare Aselli said: “When we spent time with him, we felt nothing but
paradise and its pleasures. He looked like a man convinced he had been up
there.” Fr Edward Swider (1914–1967) wrote from Czestochowa on 25.8.61:
“Many times I heard expressions coming from his heart: ‘Lord, Lord, how great
you are, how beautiful you are! The Saints, Oh! The Saints: what do they do
in Paradise?’ And he would immediately answer: ‘They adore God, they enjoy
God, they rest in God.’” Trappist Fr Daniel Avedissian said: “In the courtyard,
in recreation, he would always speak about heaven and his face would light up
with a heavenly smile every time he said the word ‘paradise’; then he would turn
his eyes upwards and seem to anticipate its sweetness” (AIMOR 15.1.1, folder 2,
envelope 7, first group, no. 9; AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C; AIMOR 15.1.1, folder 2,
envelope 7, second group nos. 6--9; AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8). Fr Eraldo Derossi
(1905–1972), skilled in theology, novice master, apostle of the young oratorians,
summed it up:
He always lived by faith, a faith that was alive, strong and extraordinary, both inwardly
and in all the manifestations of his outer life. Faith based on great love of God, on total
and complete abandonment in his Providence, for the simple but heroic fulfilment of
his religious duties. His outward appearance, always calm, smiling and serene, exuded
an air of paradise that enchanted. The common opinion was that he lived more for
heaven than for earth. Amid so much activity and different kinds of work, Bro. Srugi,
in the intimacy of his heart, habitually dwelt in a higher world, in the sweetest vision
of another world to which he must naturally aspire with all the urging of his soul.
I am convinced that this holy man, in his intimate conversations with God and the
saints, already had a foretaste of something of the heavenly homeland, for which he
must have yearned with all the urging of his beautiful, heavenly soul (AIMOR 15.1.2,
folder 8, pp. 2, 4).
With the intuition and instinct of the gift of theological wisdom, Simon
experienced the joy of faith as “the substance of things hoped for; the proof of things
not seen” (Heb 11:1); it “gives us even now something of the reality we are
waiting for... it draws the future into the present, and thus the things of the
future will spill over into those of the present and those of the present into
those of the future” (Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, nos. 7, 9). Simon also experienced
this interpenetration of historical and eternal, human and angelic reality in his
Eucharistic piety; to his confidante Sister Tersilla he revealed why he always
wanted to carry one of the poles of the canopy in the Corpus Christi procession:
To continue seeing the holy Host, to adore Jesus with the angels of paradise who are in
their myriads, princes of the heavenly court, come down from heaven to do honour
to Jesus in the Eucharist. We miserable creatures are incapable of giving such honour
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to Jesus and so we join the angels and offer Jesus their love and adoration. What a joy
and honour it is for us to contemplate the Blessed Sacrament! Jesus going around our
house to bless us, bless our country and the whole world (Hierosolymitana 1988 ..., p.
223) [Photo no. 43].
1.2 For Simon, this experience did not happen a few rare times and by chance;
rather, it was an habitual attitude,which he renewed every day as he went about
his various occupations in the service of his real neighbour. The “communion
of Angels and Saints” was not just an article in the “Creed”, but a company
cultivated as a “theme and variations”. It is worth quoting almost in full the
long testimony of Sister Tersilla (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C, pp. 4--5).
For him the week was an uninterrupted hymn of praise to God. Monday was
dedicated to the holy souls in purgatory, and he used to say: “There are many souls
who praise God even though they do not see Him. We offer our work in suffrage for
them.” During the day, he would talk to me about it in inspired tones, and his clear
eyes were turned to heaven in a prayerful attitude.
Mr Dikrān adds another detail: on 2 August, Simon tried to gain the
indulgence of the Portiuncula as often as possible on behalf of the souls in
purgatory; every free moment from his usual duties he made a visit to the
church, inviting groups of young people to accompany him, “and they followed
him like chicks follow the hen” (AIMOR 15.1.1).
Tuesday was for the Guardian Angel. He used tell me: “Sister, there are two Guardian
Angels here, yours and mine. Just think: two princes from the heavenly court! How
good the Lord is for having thought to give each person a guardian angel. There are
millions of them, as many as there are people.” And while he was saying this, his face
shone with joy. Another time I said to him: “Bro. Srugi, I wonder how many times you
have seen your guardian angel?” I said this because, since he always spoke with such
enthusiasm, I was convinced that he was seeing him. But he immediately replied: “I
am a lowly individual. I have never seen my guardian angel, but I always hear him.
Everything we do today, let us offer it to the guardian angel: he will bring it to Our
Lady and Our Lady to Jesus.”
Past pupil Dīb Mahmūd Hasan al-‘Aisy, on 28 September 1982, testified
before members of the ecclesiastical tribunal that he had heard him speaking
with his guardian angel: one day Srugi did not turn up for class, so I went to look
for him in his room and found him “kneeling on his kneeler with his arms wide
open and slightly raised, looking upwards calling on the Lord and speaking with
a white angel. I was very much afraid; Bro. Srugi’s face was very pale. I closed the
door and went back to my place” (Hierosolymitana 1988..., pp. 358--359; AIMOR
15.1.3, folder 9B, file Testimonianze III, p. 12).
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Wednesday was all for St Joseph, “the economer of the house”, as he usually used to
call him. He told me so many times: “From St Joseph, the great saint, we must learn
humility, silence, hiddenness, and love for the Child Jesus, whom he held close to his
heart. Imagine what Saint Joseph was to Jesus and Our Lady!”
Thursday was dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, something of special attention for
him. The sick, the mill, no work could distract him from Jesus in the Eucharist. In
his continuous and tiring work, he always found a way to speak of the goodness of
Jesus in instituting the Holy Eucharist, the food of souls. He talked about how to be
true worshippers of Jesus in the Eucharist. That is why I think he had to be nourished
by reading about the Eucharist, because when he spoke about it he always had new
emphases. And those feelings certainly didn’t come to him suddenly, because I know
that the time he had left free was spent in church before the Blessed Sacrament, even
two or three hours in a row. Spiritually, he was always in front of the Eucharistic Jesus
in adoration.
On Friday he appeared rather reserved, and his face was veiled by a sense of sadness.
On that day he spoke less, he was very silent. He was filled with a deep compassion for
Jesus and saw him in the Sanhedrin, at Herod’s, at Pilate’s, on the Via Dolorosa and on
Calvary. He uttered only very short sentences, and spoke more with the expression on
his face than with his lips. I had no difficulty in realising that he was meditating on the
passion and death of the Lord, and that his soul was completely united to the suffering
soul of Jesus. He felt the passion of Good Friday, and at that thought and meditation
he became inflamed with a new ardour for his mission, because each day he was able
to see Jesus more and more in those who were sick or suffering. On Fridays he spoke
with such an accent of love and sadness, reflecting on the death of Jesus, that he was
moved, and repeated to me the words of Jesus on the cross: “Mother, behold your son!
– Son, behold your Mother! (Jn 19:26–27) We are children of Mary, our kind and good
Mother, and since we are children of such a Mother, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters.
What should we not do to please her more and more?” I can say that this was one of
his most frequent sayings.
Saturday was like a sunrise, a bright sunny day and blue skies, completely dedicated
to the memory of Our Lady. He used say: “Our dear mother, our empress! That Our
Lady is my mother is a wonderful thing. In paradise I want to be always in her arms!”
and in this way he became tender. I said to him: “If you continue on like this Our
Lady will come and take you.” And he would immediately shoot back: “I am a lowly
individual!” As well as the entire holy Rosary he used say the “Seven Joys of Mary”,
and he never missed a day without saying them; he told me he could not sleep unless
he had first said them. In May, his Marian ardour seemed to take on a new lease of
life. He would say to me: “Now we are beginning Our Lady’s month. What should
we do? Mortify the eyes (he who was always so modest and recollected), practise
the virtue of patience (I can testify that over 14 years I never saw him lose patience,
despite there being a thousand opportunities!), do our work in company with Our
Lady. Every evening we should offer a posy of spiritual flowers to our Lady, of good
deeds done in her honour and for her sake. Then we will go and enjoy her in paradise
and sing to her Son Jesus: “Holy, holy holy”, for all eternity.” And when he said these
words, he smiled contentedly, as if anticipating the happiness of paradise. In this way
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he sanctified the week, in a continuous crescendo of praise to God. I had the good
fortune to experience this for 14 years. For me it was a real school of edification and
spiritual life. And it always seemed to me that he would start the week over again
without ever stopping and without ever repeating himself, sustained by a faith that
accompanied him in every act of his day, all of which was aimed at the service of God
and of his neighbour.
Obviously, on Sundays he lived even more fully and savoured union with
God more intimately. And after having been "recharged" in this way, on Monday
he was ready to resume his life as a contemplative in action! Fr Derossi sums
up very well this unity of love of God and service of neighbour, which was an
habitual state of grace in him:
Srugi’s soul must have been filled with God’s love, if he lived as he lived and did
what he did and in the way he did it. For him there was only one thing he cared
about more than anything and above everything else: becoming a saint in perfect
observance of Salesian religious life. He breathed God as one breathes air: his whole
life was impregnated with God. For his soul, thirsting for God, it was like a necessity
to be able to gather in devout silence so he could more easily cultivate that interior
life which for him was like a second nature (AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8 unnumbered,
pp. 2, 4).
Thanks to what we could call these “weekly retreats”, it became natural for
Simon “to dwell in heaven with Christ”, keeping himself firmly rooted on the
ground of his daily duties for his very real beneficiaries. He was a mystic not
only in moments of prayer, but while carrying out his most usual activities
(focused, with precision and imperturbably calm): assisting the boys in class
or in the courtyard or the infirmary, preparing ointments and pills, disinfecting
sores and bandaging wounds, weighing sacks of grain and delivering flour to
the mill … Everything, always with such simplicity and kindness that those who
approached him were edified and drawn to him.
To sum up: The statements of witnesses that service of his neighbour
increased Simon’s love for Jesus/God and, vice versa, his habitual communion
with God, Our Lady and the Saints translated into increased dedication
to neighbour, and that mission and consecration were mutually fruitful in
him, seem to me to correspond to what Fr Albera had indicated as one of
the constitutive principles of Don Bosco's spiritual experience: the apostolate
becomes the efficient cause of personal sanctification and glorification of God. In
this, Simon imitated Don Bosco who, in the years around his beatification (1929),
was presented as “union with God”. (cf. Ceria 1929, passim). He habitually
lived the spirit of 'sanctified and sanctifying work', experiencing Fr Rinaldi's
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statement: “The Lord came down here to redeem us by the sanctification of
work even before the shedding of his precious blood.” (cf p. 49). In today’s
language we could say that Srugi embodied article 95 of the renewed Salesian
Constitutions (2015): “his need of God, keenly felt in his apostolic commitment, leads
him to celebrate the liturgy of life, attaining that ’tireless industry made holy by prayer and
union with God’ that should be the characteristics of the sons of Don Bosco”. He habitually
lived the “grace of unity” that Fr Egidio Viganò (1920–1995) placed once more
at the centre of Salesian spirituality (cf. Viganò; Sala).
2. Ceremonies. Liturgical spirit and life as liturgy
For years Simon was in charge of the sacristy, made the hosts for Mass, taught the
boys to serve Mass in Latin and Arabic with a gradual and patient way of doing
things and with such joy that they demonstrated both his love for Jesus and his
art as an educator. Among the roles he held was that of master of ceremonies
for feast days, solemnities and during Holy Week. We need to keep the context
in mind: the liturgy at the time was that of the Council of Trent, in Latin; Simon
was a layman, excessively busy with his work in the infirmary, clinic and mill;
the altar boys he trained were not aspirants, but helping hands in manual labour
in what was an agricultural orphanage, not a seminary. In the role of master of
ceremonies, we would more naturally see a cleric or a priest, versed in Latin.
Why did he do it? Why were the confreres and Sisters, the people of the house
and guests (including priests and bishops) edified by it? What was the secret
that made the humble brother so happy when he could serve at the altar as
master of ceremonies?
2.1 An exceptional master of ceremonies
Abuna Butrus Cattān was among the first to provide us with a revealing response
in 1950:
In the person of the master of ceremonies he saw something sacred. For him, serving
at the altar is a holy thing, it is sharing with the priest in the sacrifice of the Holy
Mass. So he did it with great devotion and a spirit of piety and love for our Lord
Jesus Christ. How keen he was to wear his cassock and how carefully he prepared
the ceremonies! Always punctual, he called the boys who were to serve and taught
them the various offices of the solemn, sung Mass with much charity and patience.
Everyone who attended saw in him the precision of the ceremonies and the spirit of
piety and devotion that informed all his movements. (AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8).
Brother Luigi Ghezzi said:
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He very much liked being master of ceremonies. And he deserved to be put in charge
of that role because he knew how to inspire piety in everyone with his demeanour.
He was a saint in serving Holy Mass and as a master of ceremonies. (AIMOR 15,1,3,
folder 9C).
Clearly, this awareness of “sharing in the priestly sacrifice” and his
competence in the ceremonies did not come from any kind of infused
knowledge! Simon got to this stage too through a long apprenticeship, exploiting
the opportunities that the Salesian tradition offered him. Among the best
practices prescribed for Rectors to foster what we now call “ongoing formation”
of the confreres (monthly conferences, the friendly talk, theology classes for
practical trainees, solving monthly moral and liturgy “cases”), Fr Michael Rua
recommended:
Nor should the recitation and explanation of ten verses of the New Testament and
the ceremonies classes be omitted. This weekly class serves immensely to preserve
and increase in clerics the spirit of piety and love of study. I commend to you the
same concern for our dear Brother confreres (Rua, Lettere Circolari, p. 115).
2.2 Theological sources. Teachers and models
Srugi's accuracy in transcribing the Latin rubrics into Italian, his confidence
and precision combined with simplicity and naturalness in 'directing' the
ceremonies, show that even in carrying out his liturgical ministry, Srugi allowed
himself, humbly, to be instructed by some priests or clerics and drew on
substantial works by contemporary authors. I have not set out to do exhaustive
research here; I am merely presenting some results of an initial exploration.
2.2.1 The Vademecum dei giovani salesiani by Fr Giulio Barberis (1847–1927),
that Fr Bianchi had given to Simon and that he so often used, was one of his
more direct sources. In the chapter on the Mass, the author, who had a doctorate
in theology from Turin university, explains that Jesus “is both victim and the
principal one making the sacrifice, the primary and true offerer of this holy
sacrifice. Priests are only his servants.” (p. 111); “elevated to represent him, they
stand in the place of Jesus and act in the name of Jesus: they are the ministers,
the instruments who lend him their hands and their voices” (p. 113):
But it is also necessary to know that in the third place those who participate in Holy
Mass are also the ones who offer the sacrifice, since all the faithful, in union with Jesus
and the priest, have the power to offer the holy sacrifice. I am certain that one of the
most excellent graces that God has granted to all the faithful, without distinction of
sex, age or status, is that he has granted not only to priests, but also to all people, the
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power to offer this august sacrifice to his divine Majesty. This is why the apostle St
Paul [sic!] proclaimed to the faithful: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”: Vos autem genus electum, regale
sacerdotium, gens sancta ... (1 Pt 2:9). What a privilege you have, although not a priest,
to be able so easily to offer the body and blood of the Saviour! Oh, take advantage of
this power, exercise every day that priesthood with which God’s mercy has clothed
you, and think about uniting yourself spiritually with the priest and offering the divine
sacrifice with him; without this you would not hear the Mass well, because to hear the
Mass is not only to be present materially, it is to offer the sacrifice in union with the
priest (p.113–14).
Now consider carefully what great grace Jesus Christ grants you by making you a
priest spiritually during Holy Mass: he gives you the right to offer this sacrifice not
only for yourself, but, in the manner of the priests, also for others, that is, for those,
whoever they may be, for whom you offer it. This is certain, since in the Canon of the
Mass the priest says expressly that it is not the priest alone who offers the sacrifice,
but all those around: Pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offerunt hoc sacrificium
laudis, pro se suisque omnibus. And in the Orate fratres, the priest, turning to the
faithful, adds: Ut meum et vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem
omnipotentem. And after the elevation of the chalice, the priest repeats that he is not
alone, but united with the people (nos servi tui sed et plebs tua sancta) who offer to the
Sovereign Majesty a pure, holy and spotless sacrifice (p.114–115; cf. also the Nuovo
Manuale di Filotea, pp. 372–400).
I think that Srugi appropriated these principles and allowed himself to be
inspired by them when he served the 'private' Mass of his priest confrere early
in the morning, as well as when he participated with the boys in the community
Mass, and also when he acted as master of ceremonies.
2.2.2 Handbook of ceremonies and books on theology of the liturgy. Fr Dal
Maso indicates one of the books he used to carry out this role:
He went through the Vismara book on ceremonies beforehand and was impeccable
during the service. He gave his orders in a soft voice, accompanied by a delicate
gesture with his hands. He felt happy when he could play the part of master of
ceremonies. He did it with taste, decorum and dignity. (AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9 C).
Fr Eusebio Vismara (1880–1945), lecturer at the Salesian theologate at S.
Benigno Canavese, published the two volume Manuale di sacre cerimonie, ad uso
dei chierici between 1908 and 1912, which became the text which every Salesian
candidate for the priesthood, in the first decades of the last century, used in
preparation for the examination on liturgy and ceremonial practice. A copy of
this handbook can be found in the library at Betgamāl; no wonder: we have
already seen that Fr Vismara had been there in 1919 accompanying Fr Ricaldone
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and he may well have presented it to the confreres as a gift. The first volume
contains four pages on the role of the master of ceremonies, which according to
the canonical norms
should be a priest of cleric in sacris” (152–153) “a special cleric” (149). He is not
a servant, nor a commander of the people at the altar. His office is to supervise,
regulate and guide the individual ceremonies: he is a magister or moderator. In order
to perform his office well, he should have a thorough knowledge of the ceremonies
in all their parts, with all the attributes of the individual ministers, both major and
minor. He should therefore be an educated person, and one who has been ordained
in holy orders. He should give his instructions “modestly and discreetly, in a hushed
voice and, if possible, with just a movement” of the head or hand (150–151).
It is obvious that at Betgamāl (where sometimes a priest or cleric was
the master of ceremonies, and sometimes a brother) these principles and
norms were given a flexible interpretation, and that Simon was far from being
attributed any clerical status! In Vismara’s second volume we find the long and
detailed instructions concerning the master of ceremonies’ role, in particular for
the “extraordinary ceremonies” of Holy Week (pp. 86–277).
Simon also kept a small missal in Arabic on which he had written his name in
pencil; this contained: Rutbat al Quddās [Rite of the Mass], Ahad ash-Sha‘anīn [Palm
Sunday], Alam Saydna Yasū‘a-l-Masyh [The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ],
Yaum al Ithnain min al Gum‘at al ‘athīm [Second day of the Holy Week]. One of
the books he customised in an original way for use as a master of ceremonies
is the Uffizio della Settimana Santa coll’aggiunta delle dichiarazioni in lingua volgare.
Between the small pages of the Latin text, he glued together sheets of the same
size, handwritten in Italian, containing the parts of the ceremony. They are
taken from the Vismara handbook, including the drawings, reproduced to scale,
concerning the position of the celebrants and servers in relation to the altar.
Knowing Srugi, we can say that for him this precision was not just something
technical, something in order to have a beautiful, dignified and impeccable
function performed. He was certainly motivated by the desire to relive the
central mysteries of our salvation (the entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,
the Last Supper, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord), becoming
almost a contemporary of them. It is this desire to identify with the protagonist
and the actors in the historical and saving drama that motivated his precision in
detail regarding ceremonies and rubrics. Without the former, the latter cannot
be explained.
2.2.3 This same motivation sustained him during the various hours of the day
in “perpetual thanksgiving”. He had a personal copy of the Breviario dei Fedeli
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Latino-Italiano con note storico-liturgiche by Fr Battisti OSB. At the top of the first
page he wrote in the date he had been given it in pencil: 1-4-1923.The author of
this book (a twin to his “Messale dei Fedeli”) was proposing to contribute to the “
liturgical movement which, we are certain, will become more and more widely
established in the near future, making that robust piety, and those masculine
and Christian virtues which a truly intelligent, active and effective participation
is destined to produce in souls, flourish again among our people” (p. xi). It also
contained the “Little Office of the B.V. Mary” that was recited by confreres and
boys in Salesian houses. And to complement the Office of the Dead he had the
“Order of burial of children”, among the pages of which Simon had inserted
a bookmark. But in this book (full of “notes of a mainly mystical and spiritual
nature”: p. xiv) Simon was able to find much more to nurture his attitude of
“continuous prayer”; in the introduction the author spends time explaining that
the Eucharist [is the] centre of the Divine Office”, according to “the intimate
connection between the sacrifice of praise and the sacrifice of the Mass” (p.1). It “gives
unity to our life by reuniting it affectively and effectively with the Eucharistic Jesus
through prayer and the practical sanctification of our day. Because the Eucharist is
the centre of the whole Christian life, so it is also the centre of the liturgical office.
(p.6). “To be united with Jesus, to live by his grace and to be transformed in him, this
is the main task of our existence, and this is also the goal that the liturgy strives to
make more accessible to us. Now the Holy Eucharist is par excellence the sacrament
of union, and its particular grace is the grace of real and habitual transformation into
Jesus Christ. Hence the Holy Eucharist becomes the centre of dogma, moral theology,
worship, all of the Christian life; it is the starting point and the centre towards which
all liturgical practices converge, so we must conclude that the Divine Office, like the
whole of our Christian life, must be a continuous preparation and thanksgiving for the
Most Holy Eucharist.” (pp. 6–7). It “is directed precisely to this twofold end, namely to
convert our entire day into an ardent and continuous prayer, according to the Lord’s
precept: “Always pray and do not lose heart” (Lk 18:1) and to make of ourselves a
continuous immolation, a living and holy host by uniting ourselves to Jesus and living
his life not only in the act of Holy Communion, but throughout the day, generously
accepting all the sacrifices that the sanctification of the acts of our daily life imposes on
us.” (p. 8) “We can aspire to nothing greater and nobler than intimate communication
with God and participation in the ineffable praise that the three divine Persons have
been giving each other from all eternity.” (pp. 13,14).
We could say that in some of these points Fr Battisti was anticipating the
themes of Sacrosanctum Concilium and the opening of the Apostolic Constitution
Laudis Canticum by Paul VI.
2.2.4 Luigi Barlassina (1872–1947), Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1920–1947),
was someone who loved the liturgy, was strict in its regard where he himself was
concerned, and very demanding of his priests in ceremonial matters. During the
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years of his patriarchal ministry he came to Betgamāl in a number of occasions
and presided at solemn ceremonies as we have noted. Simon was able to see
him celebrate both in the house and at the nearby shrine at Deir Rafāt for
the annual feast of “Mary Queen of Palestine”; on the other hand Patriarch
Barlassina saw Simon in his role as master of ceremonies, regarded Simon as
a saint and entrusted himself to his prayers. He recommended taking this into
account, in view of a canonical process (cf. Testimonies of Fr Gorla, Fr Cattān
and Fr Spiridiōn in AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8).
In his book Sacerdoti Litanti the patriarch brought together his teachings
concerning the celebration of Holy Mass. On the front and back cover is a
quotation from St Francis de Sales: “‘When I am at the altar, I am there in one
piece; nothing distracts me, and I lose sight of all the things of this world.’
What interests me here is the dominant theme of the second part ("Supernatural
elevations during the Holy Mass”: pp. 41–51): in the various moments of the
Mass, the celebrant must conform to Jesus who becomes incarnate, enters the
world to fulfil the Father's will, enlightens the nations with the light of his
preaching [the priest “in the Epistle and Holy Gospel finds instruction for his
life: if he puts them into practice he will become the living Gospel among the
faithful” (p. 46)]. At the offertory:
Better than on a gilded paten, God likes the offering laid on a heart adorned with
twofold charity. Together with the matter of the sacrifice, the priest should also
present himself, body and soul, and pray to God to transform him into Jesus Christ:
ejus divinitatis esse consortes. Thus you become what you must be, by the duty of his
priesthood: hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem. Nor can the true priest be
defined in any other way than as a permanent victim in order to be omnibus omnia
factus; always immolated to the glory of God and the service of others, with generous
sacrifice of time, substance, taste, rest, and life itself (p. 46–47).
This identification culminates in Eucharistic communion:
Ineffable intimate union of Jesus with his priest; it is the mystery of the drop of water
which, mixed up with the wine, is transformed with it into divine blood. The priest
who has communicated must say: Jesus is mine, therefore I must and I want to be all
his....” (p. 50).
Finally, he recommends its prolongation throughout the day:
Pious priests are accustomed (as are many devout souls) to divide the twenty-
four hours in two: half in thanksgiving for the Holy Mass celebrated, and half in
preparation for that of the following day. This is the best way to make participation
in the Adorable Sacrifice very effective. (p. 51).
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Don Bosco taught Dominic Savio to spend his day this way (cf. Life of the
young Dominic Savio, Chapter 14); and Fr Barberis proposed this to his novices in
his Vademecum, Part III, Chapter 9. The contents of Barlassina’s book, although
printed in 1944 and addressed directly to the ordained priest, were not out
of Simon’s reach: both materially, because some of the topics assembled there
had been touched on by the Patriarch in his sermons, addresses and Pastoral
Letters that were regularly read in the community, and because in ceremonial
matters he adhered scrupulously to the Patriarch's directives; both conceptually,
because this liturgical spirituality in a priestly and sacrificial key was a common
possession even of the most committed laymen like Simon, who on the other
hand saw it very well presented in the life and writings of his “seraphic”
confrere, Fr Andrea Beltrami (cf. Fr Dal Maso, in AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C ).
2.3. From the mystery celebrated, to life as liturgy, and back the other way
It is clear that for Srugi not everything began with immediate preparation (going
back over the handbook and testing out the ceremonies with the “altar boys”),
nor did it conclude with the Ite missa est! He lived habitually in a liturgical spirit;
the grace of the celebrations flowed over into his ordinary daily occupations
that were transfigured and experienced in the spirit of “royal priesthood”. I will
limit myself to quickly recalling some of the fundamental liturgical attitudes that
Simon had during his day as an educator, apostle, nurse and worker. In this way
we will have an integration of what has been presented in the first part of this
“window”, in the sense that the liturgical dimension is but one component of
Simon's contemplative and mystical life, and vice versa.
His entire day, from the first spontaneous exclamations of prayer out loud in
Arabic immediately after waking up, to the recitation of the “Seven Joys of Mary” at
night before going to sleep, was dotted with expressions of praise and blessing,
admiration and jubilation at the wonders that God the Creator had done in
nature, and even more so in our redemption, adoption as sons and sanctification.
Simon was convinced that “God dwells in my soul no less resplendent with
light and glory than in the glory of heaven.” (PRO 77), therefore, adoration in
spirit and in truth had become habitual for him and inspired the practices of
the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade”, and the “Guard of Honour” and his frequent
and prolonged visits to the chapel before the tabernacle. He said explicitly that
he always felt he was in the presence of God, in an attitude of joyful and humble
thanksgiving for the many divine benefits bestowed upon him, happy to have
been chosen, he who was so lowly, to be part of God's “court of honour” in the
company of the angels and saints in heaven.
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Religious consecration through the practice of the three vows, as a form of
living holocaust, the offering of actions, mortification, humiliation and suffering
in union with Jesus and Our Lady, the desire to conform to Jesus as victim
and priest for the salvation of souls, made up his other habitual attitudes (as
Sister Tersilla attests; and as we will see in the Writings, speaking of his devotion
to the “Wounds of Jesus Crucified”). Sanctifying suffering was an invitation
Simon made to many: to Christians as the imitation of Christ, to Muslims as
a meritorious work for entering paradise (cf. His other personal book La Liturgia
degli Infermi – The Liturgy of the Sick). Linked to the above was the prayer of
intercession for the conversion of sinners. This too was nourished by the practice
of the “Offices of the Sacred Heart”, and the “Via crucis” or Stations of the Cross.
The Mass is also “breaking bread”: Simon translated this Eucharistic
dimension into practice not only by distributing to the poor the bread and fruit
that he took away from his meals, but also by “breaking” himself, spending his
physical energies in daily service to the needy.
Finally, by feeding daily on the Eucharistic bread, which is the “pledge of
future glory”, he had a foretaste in today's world of the joy of the heavenly
banquet and nourished the leaning to Paradise which was his habitual attitude.
Results
Up to now, no attention had been paid to Srugi's service as liturgical master
of ceremonies, considering it to be secondary (or even bizarre) and therefore
a negligible aspect; however, at the end of the study I conducted, it turns out
that it is an integral part of his profile. Thus, on a broader documentary basis,
the assertions of the first biographer Fr Forti remain justified: Simon's life can be
understood as a liturgy of praise in the sense that he carried out all his various
tasks as “Jesus’ cantor” and “living his royal priesthood by offering to God the
daily sacrifice of his life for the benefit of his brethren, so that Christ the Lord may
reign in everything and everyone.” (cf. Forti 1967/1, pp. 153–161; and 1967/2,
p. 17ff.). This confirms that the pleasure he took in being a master of ceremonies
was not born of a desire to show off, but was the cultic manifestation of his zeal
for the house of God, that is, of the fire of love that burned unceasingly on the
altar of his heart (as we will be able to see in the part dedicated to his Writings).
Although Simon had not read the texts of Vatican II, he was able to
experience in advance something of the spirit of the Council, thanks to his
contemporary authors who in their writings addressed to all the lay faithful
opened up perspectives of liturgical and priestly spirituality that remain
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relevant even today. Without forgetting that the sanctification of the present
moment and of daily occupations is one of the most frequent themes in the
Salesian Magisterium of Fr Philip Rinaldi, which Simon assimilated perfectly.
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IV FR SACCHETTI AND THE CNEWA FOR
ARMENIAN ORPHANS TAKEN IN AT BETGAMĀL
In the historical and biographical part we saw that among the boys at Betgamāl
in Srugi’s time there were substantial groups of Armenian orphans. Where
did they come from? How did they get there? Who looked after them? In the
following pages I would like to spend some time providing a documented reply
to these questions.
1. Persecution of Eastern Rite Christians In the Turkish Ottoman Empire (1894–1914)
Persecutions, expulsions and massacres of Eastern Rite Christians by the
Turks began in 1894 and, under different forms on behalf of successive
administrations, lasted 30 years, during which not only Armenians were
affected, but also Greek Orthodox, Syrian Catholics, Syriac Monophysites,
Chaldeans and Nestorians (cf. Akçam; Morris–Ze‘evi; Riccardi). The world
was shaken by the plight of the Armenians, and demonstrations in their favour
were held in many major cities. The Salesians too, encouraged by the Rector
Major himself, Fr Michael Rua, became active (cf. Letters of October 1896
and 11 February 1897: in ASC A4480361 and A4480366); in Palestine, groups
of Armenian orphans were taken in by the houses in Nazareth, Bethlehem
and Betgamāl. (cf. Articles in the BS 20(1896) 315; 21(1897) 78, 131, 178).
The first was Peter Arusian, then after him in 1896 John Almagian who was
born in Mar‘ash on 28 September 1886 and while still a child saw his parents
murdered (regarding the massacres, expulsions, deportations in/from that city,
cf. Morris–Ze‘evi, pp. 167–170, 341–345, and passim). He did his secondary
schooling in Bethlehem, on 29 August 1904 entered the novitiate at Cremisan,
and on 15 November the following year made his profession for a triennium.
After two years of practical training in Nazareth (1905–1907), he did another
two in Betgamāl (1907--1908) where he lived together with Simon Srugi and
where, in April 1908 he met Fr Rua during his second journey to the Holy
Land (cf. Mortuary letter; ASC 275 Almagian, and ASC 3.99 Istanbul - Chronicles
1945).35 During his stay at Betgamāl in 1909, Fr G.B. Francesia met some of the
Armenian orphans who had escaped the massacres in Adana (cf. Francesia
1912, p. 160). Others arrived in the years and decades that followed, according to
35 All the documents used in this “window”, unless specified otherwise, are found in ABG = Archives of the
Salesian House at Betgamāl, in the binder Sacchetti, Corrispondenza, with corresponding dates. Other
acronyms are: AIMOR = Archives of the Salesian Province of the Middle East, Cremisan; ASC = Salesian
Central Archives, Rome.
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the testimony of one of them, Dikrān Ciakmakgian, when in 1912 a small group
of boys, including his brother Armenag and Setrak Eskigian, were brought to
Betgamāl (cf AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8).
2. After the Armenian genocide and the First World War (1916–1925)
Regarding the years of the genocide (1915-16) no relevant data can be found
in the Betgamāl chronicles. A mention of a different tenor is found in 1917:
“8.4.17, Easter Sunday. A beautiful feast was held, which was enlivened by the
presence of 30 Armenian Catholic soldiers who performed their services with
special devotion and decorum. Fr Paul [Villa?], said the Mass and also spoke to
them.” (Sacchetti, Appunti di Cronaca).
At Diyarbakir, already in 1895 some 25,000 Armenian and Syrian Christians
were massacred by the Turks (and Kurds); then during the ethnic cleansing in
1915 around 150,000 Christians were deported from the city, including Greek
Orthodox (cf Morris–Ze‘evi, pp. 35–39, 185–186, 198–204, 473–474, 603, passim).
In the following years the influx of refugees increased. From the testimonies
of those concerned, we learn that – at the initiative of Fr John Kuiumgian, then
secretary to the bishop of Adana – other Armenian orphans came to Betgamāl
in 1919: among them Dikrān Ciakmakgian, his brother Anthony, and Artīn
Keklikian, nephew of the above-mentioned bishop. After finishing secondary
school and completing their specialisation courses, Dikrān and Artīn stayed
in Betgamāl, became instructors, got married and lived there until the mid-
1960s with their respective wives Serpuhi and Meline, a sister-in-law and their
children. Another two followed: Namuk (Daniel) Avedissian (pupil from 1923
to 1930, who then made his profession with the Trappists at Latrūn), and George
Damergian (who was married at Nazareth). In 1928 Armando Boghossian
arrived. From 1932 he was Srugi’s helper in the mill, then went on to work at
Deir Rafāt. Finally, Musa Hagopian was a pupil from 1931 to 1934.36 In the binder
containing the applications for admission and the acceptance form for pupils for
the years 1919–21 we find various letters from Bishop Paschal (Haroutyoun)
Keklikian and Fr James Ghiragossian; for example, on 29 August 1921 the latter
36 This information, spread across various memoirs, testimonies, letters …, is kept in AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8;
AIMOR 15.1.3, folder 9C. It is reflected in ABG, Registro dei voti (Record of marks). I would add that I have
personally heard Kerop Talatinian (was born in 1913 and lived to the age of 102) recall with gratitude that
he was taken in for a period of time at the Salesian orphanage in Bethlehem before joining the Franciscans
and professing with the name Basil.
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wrote the following request from the Apostolic Visitor John Naslian, Vicar
General of the Armenian Catholic Patriarch in Constantinople:
Fr Matthew Agopian, a married Catholic priest from Adana, after all the sufferings
of the deportations in 1915, while he thought he could rest in Adana, had to come
here to Constantinople with his whole family after the events in Cilicia. Lacking
means, he found it impossible to support his family and think about the education
and upbringing of his children. So he appealed to me to get his eldest son into the
Practical School of Agriculture in Betgemal, which is wisely run by Your Lordship
[name omitted in the text]. The young man’s name is Agop Agopian, he is 17 years
old and speaks a fair amount of Italian and a little French. Because of the war and
the Armenian deportations, he has not been able to attend school regularly. I am sure
that Your Excellency will do everything possible to accept this young man into your
school” (ABG: Accettazione Allievi).
To give an idea of the ordeals these poor people had to endure, I will give
just one example: on 19 September 1922 Fr Paul Asegian, proto-chancellor of the
Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, asked for a nephew of his to be accepted “Joseph
Sceüris, who had lost his Caldean Catholic father from Diarbakir, was about 15
years old, and was saved from the Turks’ knives by the prayers of my mother
and sister”; after successfully attending the Salesian school in Jerusalem, Joseph
went to his mother in Cairo. Then his uncle turned to Fr Bianchi “so that the poor
boy may find in your fatherly bosom both comfort and his soul’s salvation; all
the more so since he has not been able to go to confession or receive Communion
for a year. Like all Armenian orphans of kin and country, he doubly deserves our
esteem and compassion.” Joseph was accepted free of charge, then Fr Asegian,
on 20 January 1925 asked to withdraw him to enrol him in the college of the
Opera Cardinal Ferrari in Jerusalem (ABG: Accettazione Allievi).37
From 1920 to 1925 Fr Manugian was the Patriarchal Vicar at “Our Lady of
Sorrows” on the third and fourth station of the via dolorosa in Jerusalem; he was
succeeded by Fr James Ghiragossian (1930–1948), then Fr John Kuiumgian up
until 1961. They came to Betgamāl on various occasions to visit their charges,
as documented, among other things, by the house photo collection (cf. ABG on
10.4.1934). During the same period other Armenians were also accepted at the
Salesian orphanages in Bethlehem and Nazareth and a number of them entered
37 At Diyarbakir, already in 1895 some 25,000 Armenian and Syrian Christians were massacred by the Turks
(and Kurds); then during the ethnic cleansing in 1915 around 150,000 Christians were deported from the
city, including Greek Orthodox: cf. Morris–Ze‘evi, pp. 35–39, 185–186, 198–204, 473–474, 603, passim.
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the Congregation.38 We know that two of them (Caiscian Sciucri and Dilanian
Lavon), as Salesian novices at Cremisan, received the sanatio from Rome to move
to the Latin Rite in 1905, together with John Almagian (cf. Borrego, p. 199).
3. An ambitious project and the support of the Pope, NER and CNEWA
These emergency interventions did not remain isolated episodes, but were
part of a far-sighted plan of action that the Salesians gradually implemented,
managing donations from public and private charities, in particular from the
Pope and the NER and CNEWA associations.
3.1 “The charity of Pope” Benedict XV
Benedict XV (1854, 1914–1922) as early as 1915 came to the aid of the many
Eastern Rite refugees, especially Armenians, including those taken in by various
institutions in Palestine:
In 1919 His Holiness Benedict XV gave one million lire a year to Palestine and, in
agreement with Cardinal Camassei, decided that part of this sum should be invested
in the upkeep of about 200 orphans distributed among the various orphanages closed
during the war. Those of the Salesians, Ratisbonne and the Sisters of Charity were
especially recommended. The planned opening of other new ones was prevented. The
pension would be 2 Egyptian lire per orphan per month. This subsidy was given for
three years and effectively contributed to the reopening and reorganisation of the old
establishments, almost all of which had been devastated by the war.
A “patronage” named after him was set up in Jerusalem, and in December
1919 the Salesians at Betgamāl, through the Apostolic Administrator Luigi
Barlassina, made an agreement with this for the education of 18 orphan farmers;
the list has come down to us with name, surname, age (average 14 years),
nationality (13 Arabs, 4 Armenians, 1 Italian) and rite (8 Latin, 5 Armenian
Catholic, 3 Greek Catholic, 2 Maronite). In a letter of 1922 and a second of
23 August 1923, Fr Alfredo Sacchetti, the procurator of the Salesian work at
Betgamāl, asked the Patriarch to intervene so that the patronage could continue
to contribute money on behalf of the orphans, explaining that “over the past four
years, sixteen of them completed their agricultural course with distinction, thus
responding effectively to the charity of the Holy Father.”
38 Fr Gianmaria Gianazza, in an unpublished item of research, lists the following: Brother Balaian Antonio
(1907–1910); Brother Caiscian Sciucri (1904–1905, who did not make his profession); cleric Paul Demirdgian
from Istanbul (1929–1932); Brother Dilanian Lavon (1908–1914); Brother Megdessian Megdess (1933–1936);
cleric Stephen Tournaian from Aleppo (who did not finish the novitiate in 1936).
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3.2 Help from the Protestant “Near East Relief ” (NER)
In 1915, in order to help Christian populations in the Middle East, especially
Armenians who were undergoing a veritable genocide, American citizens
founded an association, initially called the “American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief” (ACASR), that was immediately supported by the US
ambassador to Constantinople and by other diplomats in various Middle
Eastern countries. Taking advantage of the widespread presence of Protestant
missionaries in the region, and having obtained the recognition of the federal
government in Washington, the association (renamed “Near East Relief”, NER)
launched an extensive awareness campaign using all propaganda possibilities,
managed to raise enough funds to help almost one and a half million people
over the years, including hundreds of thousands of Armenian, Greek and Syrian
orphans ..., in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, founding orphanages,
schools and workshops, hospitals and clinics, and distributing basic necessities
(cf. The official online site of the Association, today called the “Near East
Foundation”; detailed contributions in Morris–Ze‘evi, pp. 306–7, 313, 355, 367,
368, 417–18, 424, 445, 459, and passim; Kalbian).
Edward W. Blatchford, the director of the NER in Palestine from 1922 to
1948, knew of the Salesian works in Nazareth, Bethlehem and Betgamāl where
dozens of Armenian orphans had been taken in and added to those who had
already arrived after the 1894-96 massacres. Fr Sacchetti, following talks in
Betgamāl with him and members of the central office, drew up a large, almost
visionary project which he submitted to the attention of various recipients, both
ecclesiastical and lay. In a “confidential” letter of 1 July 1924 he asked Fr J.
Mecerian of Beirut to indicate to him some young Armenians
who for their goodness and intelligence might be suitable for admission to one of our
formation houses in Italy to become brothers and even priests in our Institute. We
are convinced that in the not too distant future things will have to change radically
in Turkey. And that a great future is being prepared for Salesian activity there. It
is for this reason that we would like to begin right now to prepare the elements
for future penetration into Asia Minor. Mr Blatchford of the NER told us that he
had in Beyrouth a good number of Catholic Armenians whom he would like to
entrust to our institutes in Palestine. I would be very grateful if you could give exact
information about these young people, especially if there has been active propaganda
of Protestantism among them.
On 20 and 22 June 1925 he presented his wide-ranging plan of action, in
equivalent terms, to the Italian consuls in Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo, as
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well as to the wealthy Armenian businessman Ohannis Bey Matossian of Cairo-
Ghiza, urging them to help the 23 Armenian orphans present in Betgamāl, but
also to point out and send others who could receive a suitable education, with
a view to having them return to Turkey to run the schools “which we hope to
open as soon as the present situation has passed. We already have 5 and we
plan to send half a dozen of them to Italy, si nous pouvons leur trouver un protecteur
(if we can find a protector for them).” On 20 June 1925 he sent Blatchford a
first request for aid for 60 orphans among whom “23 Armenians we have been
supporting for a long time” in the houses in Palestine. On the 24th of the same
month, Blatchford replied, his letter headed “NER. Syria and Palestine Area.
Director for Palestine”, that the distribution of funds did not depend on him
but that he supported the request and would make the result known as soon
as he had an answer from the office in Beirut. On 26 August 1926 Fr Alfredo
proposed to the treasurer, Mr. Laird W. Archer, that the NER in 1926–27 support
200 young men in Salesian technical and agricultural schools: 100 in the Middle
East (Constantinople, Egypt and Palestine, including the institute at Cremisan
where missionaries for the region were being prepared), and a further 100 in
Italy; in an attached sheet he presented a list of Arab and Armenian candidates.
To start small, he asked that the NER take charge of another 10 boys in Betgamāl
by sending a corresponding sum immediately. The reply on 15 September 1926
by Mr. William S. Dodd “In Charge of Personnel Division Foreign Department”
was negative: currently the NER did not have that amount; its policy was to give
priority to children in its Protestant institutions in Syria; and finally, he could not
commit for three years. Then came a twist: on 20 September Dodd and Archer
communicated by telegram that the NER agreed to support another 10 orphans
in Betgamāl for a year; but the most important thing was that in the same month,
wanting to establish long-term relations, they invited Fr Sacchetti to New York
to give a series of lectures aimed at raising funds.
4. Fr Sacchetti’s trip to the USA to collect funds
And so, Fr Alfredo embarked on a long journey he had been preparing for
some time: after some stopovers in Italy with benefactors in Rome, Florence
and Turin, then in England, he reached the USA, bearing important letters
of recommendation: the first was from the Rector Major Fr Philip Rinaldi
(undated!); the second dated 12 December 1925 from Fr Aurelio Marolla OFM,
Custos of the Holy Land, addressed to the Rev. Commissioners of North
and South America, and another of the same date from the “Chief Secretary,
Government Offices, Jerusalem”; on 19 January 1926 it was the turn of the
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Salesian Provincial of MOR, Fr Carlo Gatti; on 1 March 1926 the Salesians at
Battersea (London) launched an appeal for “The Salesian Missions in Palestine”,
as the Salesians in New Rochelle (New York) also did on 1 September; Dr Rogeri
“Royal Italian Ambassador in Washington” concluded matters on 20 September
1926 (cf. AIMOR 4.4.1.1). Those running the New York appeal wrote that they
were far from doing something similar to what the Jews were doing who,
according to Sir Herbert Samuel “last year had expended at least $30,000,000”.
There is no record of a letter of recommendation from Patriarch Barlassina, who
had also gone to the USA in that period to gather funds to build Deir Rafāt,
begun in 1925.
Fr Sacchetti was also assured of support from influential Jewish circles: on
12 November 1926 the Jewish Tribune in New York published the following noble
appeal, entitled: “A Kiddūsh Ha-Shem”, that is, A [kind of] sanctification of the Name
[of God]:
The coming to our shores of Father Alfred Sacchetti, manager of the Christian
Agricultural School of Beth Gemal in Palestine, is a vivid reminder of the fact, over
which all the Jews should rejoice, that Palestine is not only Eretz Israel, the Land
of Israel, but also the Holy Land to the adherents of Christianity and Islam. The
Salesian Community, which Father Sacchetti represents, is doing a holy work which
will evoke the commendation of all Jews, and is bound to enlist the aid of many of our
people. Poor and abandoned Christian children in all parts of the world, orphaned
and friendless, are rescued by the Salesian Fathers and taught arts and trades; six of
their institutions are maintained in Palestine, and the training of agriculturists for
life in Palestine, is their major activity. The Jewish heart has ever sympathized with
all true philanthropy, regardless of racial or creedal associations and we feel sure that,
among those who will contribute to the fund for the school of Beth Gemal which
Father Sacchetti has come to gather, there will be many Jews, for to do so would be
performing a Kiddūsh Ha-Shem on a sublime plane. (AIMOR 4.4.1.1, folder B).
The text of the letter signed on 21 December 1926 by David de Sola
Pool (1885-1970), the main Sephardic rabbi of the 20th century in the United
States, scholar, author and world leader of Judaism, and Herman Bernstein
(1876-1935), a well-known journalist and writer, is more detailed. The first
part praises the humanitarian spirit of the Salesian work in Palestine, while the
second acknowledges Fr Sacchetti's contribution in unmasking the falsehood of
a well-known libellous pamphlet:
To whom it may concern. Father A. Sacchetti has come to America with warm
letters of recommendation from leading Zionist in England. As the Procurator of
the Salesian Missions in Palestine, he is working in the spirit of our Jewish endeavor
to make modern Palestine a fruitful and flourishing land of human work. The
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agricultural school of which he is the head is devoted to training Christian orphan
children to be agriculturists in Palestine.
Father Sacchetti scholarship and love of truth have lead him to investigate the origin
of the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He has traced these forgeries to
their origin, and has called their spurious character to the attention of the highest
authorities in the Catholic Church. At the time when Henry Ford with all his vast
opportunities for propaganda is still continuing to circulate the outrageous charges
of the Protocols, and at a time when these charges are, through translation, finding
their way into Palestine and other lands where the influence of the Catholic Church is
strong, Father Sacchetti’s services in documenting for the Catholic Church the proof
of the forged nature of the Protocols is a service of religious brotherhood of which Jews
should be deeply appreciative. In this quest for truth Father Sacchetti has deserved
well of both Jew and Gentile.39
In Palestine the agreement with Blatchford was confirmed: on 23 March 1927
he wrote to the Provincial, Fr Gatti, thanking him for the warm welcome given
him on his visit to Betgamāl. On 15 March 1928 he asked the NER office in Athens
to cover the expenses for the journey of 4 Armenian orphans whom Fr Sacchetti
would take in at Betgamāl, saying by way of motivation: “Father Sacchetti is
one of my very dear friends in Palestine, and I feel that it is a great opportunity
for the boys to be under the eyes of this good, kind, efficient Father”. But in the
meantime, a new player had burst onto the international charity scene in New
York, requiring the Salesians to change their strategy.
5. Lasting relationships with the Catholic CNEWA
In order to reorganise various Catholic charity agencies more effectively, on
the initiative of Pope Pius XI (1857, 1922--1939) and the ratification of the US
Bishops' Conference, the “Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Society in
aid of Catholic interests in Russia and the Near East” was formed in New York
between 11 and 15 March 1926. Made aware of these developments, Fr Sacchetti
established contact with Jesuit Fr Edmund Aloysius Walsh, the first President
of the CNEWA, who in a letter of reference on 8 October 1926 allowed him
to preach in Italian parishes and give conferences in Catholic institutions in
New York to collect funds. On 29 October 1926 secretary Mr Joseph F.Moore,
39 In ABG: Sacchetti, Corrispondenza, there is a notebook of 34 handwritten pages on which Fr Sacchetti had
noted down reviews of books and articles on the “Protocolli degli Anziani di Sion” (Protocols of the Elders
of Zion) and “Il cimitero ebraico di Praga ed il Concilio dei rappresentanti delle dodici tribù di Israele” (The
Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Council of the Representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel). The central
Zionist in London got in touch with him, asking him to initiate mediation with church leaders in the Vatican
and Jerusalem regarding the “Protocols”: cf. Pieraccini 2017, pp. 53–82.
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addressing him as “Procurator of the Salesian Missions in Palestine. 148 Main
Street, New Rochelle, N.Y.” and again on 4 November 1926, asked him to
go to the offices of the Association to provide information, documentary and
photographic material on the Salesian works in Palestine to be published in the
CNEWA bulletin, so as to make them better known in the USA. In his letter to Fr
Walsh on 12 February 1927, Fr Sacchetti highlighted the continuity with Benedict
XV’s initiative:
With reference to our various interviews, I am presenting you a plan of work to be
carried out for the training of one hundred Armenian and Arab orphans in arts,
trades and agriculture. These pupils will be distributed among our several Institutes
in Palestine, and Turkey or Egypt. This plan is of the type successfully adopted by His
Holiness Benedict XV during the years 1920, 1921 and 1922.
He now had all the credentials for carrying out his propaganda mission, and
hastened to inform the Provincial, Fr Gatti (memo in AIMOR 4.4.1.1, Documenti,
folder B).
This I did with much activity during the winter of 1927. I thus became part of the
CNEWA family. On 12 February I presented the updated project for the education
of 100 orphans in our Institutes. It included Constantinople. I requested $15,000
annually of which $12,000 would be for boarding fees at the annual rate of $10 per
orphan per month and $3,000 for the re-establishment of Beitgemal for which I was
especially, as is well known, in America, and in which the Association showed special
interest because, as an agricultural orphanage, it was at the forefront of the papal
directives and the Association’s aims. (See poster and propaganda prints in which the
Pope is depicted pointing out the countryside and plough to Armenian refugees).
The project was given general approval: but given the requests for help coming in
from everywhere, Fr Walsh told me in April that the Holy Father was taking up the
discussion and approval of each project himself, and that we would meet in Rome in
June.
To be sure of success, Fr Sacchetti wrote to the Vatican Secretary of State,
Cardinal Pietro Gasparri (1852–1934):
I therefore beg Your Eminence to take under your patronage this project which is
of the greatest importance for the future of our institutes, and especially for those
in Palestine who must support themselves worthily in the face of the Protestant
and Jewish advance. Fr Walsh, already favourably disposed, will be happy to do the
Holy Father and Your Eminence a kindness in this matter. By way of information,
I would like to remind Your Eminence that the only Catholic vocational schools in
the Near East are those of the Salesians. Completely destroyed by the war, they are
resurrecting at great sacrifice and with all kinds of difficulties. The support requested
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from CNEWA will help to make them fully effective and save large numbers of poor
orphans from poverty and vice. (AIMOR 4.4.1.1, Documenti, folder B).
Thanks to the mediation of the Cardinal (already “an old acquaintance” from
the time of his diplomatic service in Lima Peru, and now the Salesian Protector),
the Pope arranged as follows:
1) The grant requested was reduced to $12,000 payable in quarters beginning in
September. This was without future commitments and without any ties whatsoever to
the Salesian institution. 2) Freedom of disposition regarding the number of orphans,
and Fr Sacchetti’s responsibility towards CNEWA and the Holy Father directly. 3)
The grant was intended only for Palestine for the exclusive teaching of agriculture
or other trades to orphans, especially Armenians. The Holy Father, said Fr Walsh,
took a special interest in the agricultural orphanage at Beitgemal whose history he
was familiar with. The grant for the first quarter did not come in September but
by mid-October: A final report from Mgr Robinson was still awaited in New York.
He came to Betgemal on 11 October. [Photos nos. 18a-18b]; he visited the school,
examined all the correspondence with CNEWA and, although he said that Fr Walsh
had spoken to him only about Betgemal, he was happy with the disposal of funds
as follows: Bethlehem: 30 orphans, 300 dollars a month; Betgemal: 35 orphans, 350
dollars a month; Cremisan: 100 dollar grant. Wagner contract for Betgemal 200
dollars. Reserve available to CNEWA: 50 dollars; total dollars 1,000 (AIMOR 4.4.1.1,
Documenti, folder C).
6. Mr. Moore, first secretary of CNEWA, visits works in Palestine and Lebanon
The respect and trust that Fr Sacchetti had gained explain the fact that he was
asked to act as a guide, from 3 to 10 May 1928, for the Secretary General, Mr
Moore, accompanied by his wife, to visit the institutions then being funded by
CNEWA in "Palestine and Syria" (I use their terms). The programme was agreed
upon with the Apostolic Visitor, Mons. Paschal Robinson OFM, who was staying
in the Holy City at the time and met the illustrious guests/pilgrims a number
of times. They began from Jerusalem, going first of all to the Benedictines
(“on the Mount of Olives; they depend on the Syrian-Chaldaic Patriarch of
Beirut. Minor and Major Seminary. Photographs”.); then to the White Fathers at
Sant’Anna (“Seminary for Greek-Catholics. Report: 105 pupils, potentially up to
150. Photographs”.); then to the Jesuit Fathers at the P.I.B.; the Sisters of Charity
(“a visit especially recommended by Mons Robinson. Carefully examined the
various departments. Special interest of Mrs Moore in the crèche”.); the St
Pierre de Ratisbonne technical school of the Our Lady of Sion Fathers (“Visit to
workshops. The matter of the 40 orphans from Beirut and the Near East. Good
presentation of the school, especially the electricians and mechanics section”.);
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The Rosary Sisters; the Cardinal Ferrari Work; the Focolare. Then they went
to Bethlehem and, after venerating the Holy Grotto, they were received to the
sound of the fanfare in the Salesian orphanage, visited the workshops of the
technical school, (carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring and mechanics …), and the
attached house and oratory of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. On the
following days they went down to Betgamāl and met the boys and Salesians
working in the fields of this huge property, in class or in workshops. I note
that in his memo Fr Sacchetti jotted down: “Attach great importance to Srugi’s
clinic”. Then the journey to Galilee with “a stop at Jacob’s well. Photographs of
earthquake damage in Nablūs. Arrived in Nazareth at our house. Improvised
workshops. Statement to Mr Moore that it does not belong to the Middle East
Province but to the French Province”). They then went on to “Syria-Lebanon” to
review the works that CNEWA supported in Beirut and surrounds and on the
eastern slops of the mountains: “Jesuits, Armenian schools; Armenian refugee
camp; visit to the new Armenian city built by the Government; to the Armenian
schools run by the Jesuit Fathers; new orphanage being built by the same Fathers;
CNEWA clinic; NER Armenian orphanage”.
Naturally during these 8 days there were moments of prayer along the
Via dolorosa and the main shrines in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth,
conferences, receptions and courtesy visits including in Jerusalem to Mr
Blatchford, and in Lebanon to the Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Frediano
Giannini and “Patriarch Rahmani, the Syrian-Chaldaic Patriarch, 80, who knew
Don Bosco. He has many refugee orphans”. Fr Sacchetti took photographs
everywhere that he had sent to New York and Rome; a good number of copies
he pasted in his personal album (unfortunately without dates or names); some
are now reproduced in the photo gallery attached to this book [Photos nos. 21,
22, 23].
Initially the programme envisaged other visits and meetings, but had to be
scaled down after Fr Walsh telegraphed from New York “in the name of the Holy
See, ordering Mr Moore to leave immediately for Constantinople and Bulgaria
to bring relief to those affected by the earthquake”. Back in New York, on 28
August he wrote thanking Fr Sacchetti “for the courtesies extended to both Mrs
Moore and myself”, but also for the overcoat (“dustcoat”) that was made for him
and which he appears to be wearing in all the photos.: “I am enclosing herewith
my personal check for $15.00 to cover the Palm Beach Suit which was made for
me in Beitgemal. Please accept my sincere thanks as the suit is very well made
and very well fitting, and I shall certainly take pleasure in recommending your
tailor shop at Beitgemal”. Fr Sacchetti in his reply on 22 September explained:
“I have sent the check of 15 dollars to the tailor at Bethlehem. I enclose herewith
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the receipt”. I think these are two significant details of the admirable precision
and delicacy of both the American secretary and the Salesian priest!
7. Potential developments, setback, recovery and consolidation (1929–1938)
Other than the notes in his diary, Fr Sacchetti left details of a summary report
in the archives at Betgamāl that he sent to Fr Walsh on 27 May 1928, with many
photos and negatives attached, and of an extensive report on 6 October 1928 that
he had sent to Pope Pius XI through Cardinal Gasparri, including an account
of how the offerings were invested in Betgamāl. In this regard he envisaged
possible developments:
The Muslims in the surrounding area are provided with an evening school,
instruction in masonry and above all a pharmaceutical dispensary which has already
taken on the importance of a hospital. The development of the dispensary requires
a suitable building which we hope CNEWA will help us to build. This is a work of
exquisite charity that is much appreciated by the Muslim population.
On 10 October 1928 Mr Moore acknowledged receipt of the material sent to
him and a copy of the letter to the Holy Father with an update on developments
in Betgamāl, both in the countryside (including the new “Ford” tractor) [Photo
no. 64] and in Srugi’s medical dispensary, writing in its regard:
It may be that your dispensary can be developed into a hospital. In this connection
I would be glad to have you let me know what medical supplies you are in need of
most, as it may be possible for me to get some of the necessary articles even where I
could not get money.
On 15 December 1928 Fr Sacchetti thanked the Holy Father “for authorising,
on behalf of the Salesian Missions in Palestine, the allocation of ten thousand
dollars for the year October 1928 - October 1929”. He informed him that “other
than the ordinary number of orphans at the Agricultural school in Betgamāl, at
the request of Rev. Fr Cirillo O.M.C., the Ordinary of the Armenians in Greece,
we have recently received 11 orphans coming from Athens. The other institutes
in Bethlehem and Cremisan are also full”.
In short: With all the long and complex paperwork involved (getting a Greek
passport on the one hand, a visa to enter the Palestine Mandate on the other, then
finding the money to cover travel expenses, via Cyprus ...) things were taking a
satisfactory course. However, due to the catastrophic financial depression in the
USA in 1929, the volume of donations from benefactors shrank significantly,
while CNEWA had to meet urgent requests for help from Russia. The grant
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for Salesian works in Palestine was reduced, but it was enough to carry on
the various activities. In his annual report to CNEWA on 21 September 1929
(and in his letter of 15 October 1929 to the Pope) Fr Sacchetti asked that it be
confirmed for the following year, so as to start building the new clinic “which
would cost $1500; we could provide a Sister for the women, and have a doctor
come from Jerusalem once a week. We would be happy to name the clinic
and the Dispensary CNEWA or Pius XI”. But things did not improve; on 1
February 1930, from the Secretariat of State came the formal reply: “The Sacred
Congregation for the Oriental Church on which CNEWA depends, and which
had been interested in this matter, replied that they are in the dire necessity of
not being able to do anything else, having already made the maximum effort for
the 1929–30 financial year, and that moreover the Dispensary at Beitgemal, being
destined for poor Muslims, is under the competence of the Sacred Congregation
of Propaganda Fide.”
As a consequence the grant was completely suspended, with considerable
inconvenience and at the same time as the countryside of Betgamāl was afflicted
by a great drought and in the house it was difficult to get the construction work
started: the Martyrium in honour of St Stephen, the school for Muslim children
and the new clinic for Srugi. A concerned appeal of 12 August 1931 did not
produce any immediate change; but it did come about after Fr Sacchetti, in a
letter to Cardinal Gasparri on 10 May 1932 (“ever mindful and grateful for
your paternal kindness towards me since the times I spent there in faraway
Peru”) begged him to intercede with the Pope. He did so and so, a few months
later, CNEWA resumed sending the valuable aid. It continued to do so after Fr
Sacchetti’s transfer to Italy in autumn 1938, during the years of the Second World
War and then for decades, even after the wave of Armenian refugees died out.
8. Some concluding remarks
1. In the Catholic field, the involvement of Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI was
the backbone of all the charitable initiatives on behalf of orphans in Palestine,
especially those who had been taken into the Salesian orphanages and schools in
Betgamāl and Bethlehem: a specific, concrete and continuous interest. CNEWA
was its longa manus, and the Salesians, as good sons of Don Bosco, by placing
themselves at its service, intended to put into practice the explicit directives of
the Pope.
2. Both the Popes and CNEWA found in Fr Alfredo Sacchetti, one might say,
a most suitable “interface” for 20 years, 1919--1938. He was advantaged by his
friendly acquaintance with Secretary of State Cardinal Gasparri, who, among
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other things, introduced him in a private audience with Pius XI a first time
on 2 June 1923 and again on 24 March 1929. He contributed to the direct
knowledge of the institutions that CNEWA financed in the early years of its
welfare and educational mission in Palestine and “Syria-Lebanon”. He also
rendered services to the Church and the CNEWA by unmasking a certain
Nuntius Picarella who posed as a monsignor in order to collect money (cf.
Letters of March 1928), and by pointing out the improper actions of some
representatives of the NER who proselytised Catholic refugees and exploited the
photographic documentation, as mentioned in this passage of the report of 27
May 1928 to the “Rev.mo P. Edmondo J. Walsh, c/o Istituto Pontificio Orientale,
Roma”:
I took photographs of what might be of interest to the Association. I have sent Mr
Moore 40 enlargements in Rome, and will send the negative films to New York. These
must be considered as property so that they are not used by others for propaganda
purposes. Near East Relief unfairly uses most beautiful photographs of Catholic
Institutions.
As “Procurator of the Salesian Missions in Palestine” (as stated on the
letterheads of the London-Battersea and New York-New Rochelle offices), Fr
Alfredo was inspired by a utopian vision which made him dream of rapid
changes and a glorious future for Don Bosco's work in Turkey. But at the same
time he did not stand there with his hands in his pockets waiting for manna from
heaven: He was a tireless traveller, a convincing “propagandist” and negotiator
in soliciting private and public charity from civil and ecclesiastical bodies,
politicians and diplomats, and Christian and non-Christian philanthropists.
He was a concrete implementer of small projects carried perseveringly,
conscientious in administration and meticulous in accounting. In the archives at
Betgamāl receipts are kept of amounts (the NER and) CNEWA sent regularly,
either as Mass intentions or in the form of bank cheques (the first year they used
the Ottoman Bank, then Barclays); they are duly signed by the Rectors of the
houses that benefited: Fr Giovanni Villa in Bethlehem, Fr Giuseppe Raele in
Cremisan, Fr Mario Rosin in Betgamāl. Accounts of how charity dollars were
used are also attached, including costs for Bro. Srugi’s clinic that for example in
1927–28 gave out 9876 medications. All this just to demonstrate Fr Sacchetti’s
professionalism and absolute transparency (which did not go without unjust
accusations from those who were inevitably envious!).
3. For his part, Srugi, who had a special “devotion” to the Pope, found reason
to intensify his prayers for him, and for the benefactors of CNEWA who, in
addition to financial aid, sent pharmaceutical and sanitation items for both the
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internal infirmary and the outpatient clinic that he ran for the benefit of the
poor in the area. In his activity as a Salesian educator, Simon felt particularly
close to the Armenian refugees and Syrian and Lebanese orphans, given that
he had been an orphan as a child; he was their assistant, catechist and teacher,
he prepared the little ones for first communion and formed the better older
boys in Eucharistic spirituality: in 1927, of the twelve whom he admitted as
new members of the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade”, five were Armenians. Artīn
Keklikian and Dikrān Ciakmakgian joined the “St Josephs Sodality” which he
looked after, and for decades they helped him in the mill and the clinic. In
short: at all these levels, between him and the young Armenians in Betgamāl a
lasting network of friendly relations was woven. This confirms the value of the
testimonies that many of them gave during the various stages of the canonical
processes for the beatification of their former teacher and benefactor.
4. Finally, a clarification: in this current “window” I have limited myself to the
orphans who took refuge in the house in Betgamāl and the initial years of the
Sacchetti-CNEWA relationship. Therefore I have left aside the rebuilding of
relations with CNEWA beyond this period, both with the house at Betgamāl
and with the other Salesian houses in Bethlehem and Cremisan belonging to
the Middle Eastern province, as well as with the house in Nazareth, which was
then part of the French province. Regarding the latter let me add that after
being visited by Mr Moore in 1928, it also began to receive a $1,000 grant from
CNEWA, “to be sent direct to the Rev. George Schalhoob”. On the contrary, the
request submitted by Fr Hanna Nahhās for the activities of the Italian School
Club of Jerusalem-Musrara was rejected, as it did not fall within the specific
aims of the Association (cf letters from Mr Moore on 28 August 1928 and from
Fr Sacchetti on 22 September 1928).
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V FR BIANCHI: SPIRITUAL ACCOMPANIMENT
GUIDELINES FOR BRO. NA‘ĪM CUMBĀZ
Fr Eugenio Bianchi came to Betgamāl after 25 years as novice master and
Rector for over 2,000 young Salesians in the two formation houses in Foglizzo
and Ivrea (1886–1911). Even in the small area of the new house he was
able to exercise his valuable service as a spiritual guide, which he continued
through correspondence with former students and confreres; Na‘īm Cumbāz
(1896–1992) is one of the latter.
Born in Aleppo on 26 October 1896 to a Greek-Melchkite Catholic family,
after his father died he was accepted at the house in Bethlehem on 3 April 1907.
Unaware that he had already been “christened” with all three sacraments of
initiation, he prepared to make his “first communion” which he received in
1908 together with his “Latin” companions from the hands of Fr Michael Rua
a pilgrim in the Holy land. He learned his trade as a tailor at the technical school
in Bethlehem; he made his novitiate in Cremisan in 1915–16, concluding with his
triennial profession as a Salesian Brother, and renewed his vows in 1919. In the
years that followed he did his practical training at Betgamāl, where Fr Bianchi
was the superior. While giving everyone (confreres, Sisters and young people)
communal spiritual direction (in sermons, lectures, “good nights”, monthly
rendiconto), he especially accompanied Na‘īm in his preparation for perpetual
profession, which he made in Bethlehem on 6 August 1922, at the conclusion of
the Retreat (cf. AIMOR, Registro Coadiutori no. 37; Mortuary letter, written by Fr
Vittorio Pozzo). Assigned by obedience to the technical school in Alexandria,
Egypt, he kept up correspondence with his spiritual father who sent him many
letters. In the archives at Betgamāl we find 9 manuscripts in faint handwriting;
they are from between 1922 and 1928, that is to say during that period of initial
formation, so important for every young Salesian, between perpetual profession
and specialisation. Bro. Na‘īm probably made them available to Fr Sacchetti
when he began gathering useful material for writing a life of Fr Bianchi, who
died on 11 January 1931. I think it is useful to deal with them because they offer
a small sample of the art of spiritual accompaniment of which Fr Bianchi was an
extraordinary master. So far I have reported others’ impressions of him, while
in these letters he himself expresses himself.
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1. The 9 letters in their context
1. The recent perpetual profession is the starting point for the exchange of letters:
this event ensures an increase in divine grace which, on the one hand, fills the
soul with joy and, on the other, communicates the strength to commit oneself in
fidelity to the promises made.
Beitgemal, 15.10.22.
Naim my dear son in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. How are you after your perpetual
profession? I hope things are going well, for the Lord, with the increase of grace,
will give you greater strength to sanctify your soul more and more. I had half a
hope that this year the Provincial would have left you in Beitgemal, but the Lord
has disposed otherwise: Sit nomen Domini benedictum! Periagian [?] has gone home
with the promise that he would certainly return, but he now tells me that his mother
absolutely does not want him to return here, and indeed that he will go to America
with her where his brothers are. For this too, Sit nomen Domini benedictum! But this
year we will be without a tailor. Clemente has finished his course this year and has
found a good job with a Muslim gentleman in Nāblus. They all say he is very good
and has a property perhaps 4 times as big as Beitgemal.40 Will you also be teaching
class this year? Well, try to do good for the boys whom obedience has entrusted to
you. Greet Fr Castellani for me and tell him to pray for me. Be faithful to the promises
you have made and devoted to Mary Help of Christians. Best wishes to Fr Rector and
Fr Banchero. I bless you in the name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Pray too for your affectionate friend in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
2. After a few months, Na‘īm, while saying he is happy, does not hide the effort
he makes and the difficulties he encounters in his educational work and religious
obedience; his teacher replies to him on 12 April 1923 with a most affectionate
letter (“helpless little creature”, “little rascals”, “little schoolboys”...) reminding
him that this is what he must expect, following Don Bosco’s promise.
Beitgemal, 12.4.23.
My dear helpless little creature in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When we read, and I have
heard it with my own ears, that our Venerable Father D. Bosco told those who wanted
to join his ranks that he would give them bread, work and Paradise, I feel pleasure and
consolation at times when one is overwhelmed by hard work, because one thinks that
it is D. Bosco who will procure for us the glory of heaven.... To me it seems that this
is happening to you amidst all your occupations. Deo Gratias! Courage, push ahead:
always remember that when you do well in obedience to your superiors, even if the
40 Cf. ABG: Registro voti ..., Clemente Tuhtarian was one of the best pupils: in the final exams for the 1920-21
school year he gained 105/120 marks and received three prizes for agriculture, application to work and study.
At the end of 1922-23 he received his diploma with 29/30, and was given a “Banco di Roma” savings bank
booklet. In 1935 he was employed in the “Fordson Company, Tunis”: cf. ABG-Pupils.
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things commanded are a little burdensome, D. Bosco will be pleased with you and
you will never lack divine blessings. For me, it will always be a reason for consolation
to know that you are happy and content in the midst of your occupations, which you
will always carry out in the best possible way. Another reason for consolation for me
is the knowledge that you get your little rascals to go to communion and pray for me.
Follow this and I will be most grateful to you. I, too, remember you and your little
school boys in my poor prayers. Greet my friends for me and always pray for
your affectionate friend in J. and M. Fr. E.M. Bianchi.
3. Seeing that the end of the school year was approaching, Na‘īm expressed his
satisfaction at having worked well with his boys, also from a devotional point of
view (the month of Mary…) and professed that he always wanted to be a true
son of Don Bosco. In his quick reply on 3 August 1923, Fr Bianchi confirmed
him in his good resolutions, and informed him of what, on that very day, was
the most important “Stephenian”' event, made memorable by the benevolence
of Pope Pius XI who approved the “Work of Christian Forgiveness”.
Beitgemal, 3.8.23.
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I can’t tell you how pleased I was
with the good news you gave me. I was immensely consoled to hear that you had a very
good year, always remaining a true son of D. Bosco and doing good for your pupils.
Deo gratias! May Mary Help of Christians richly reward you for all that you have done
for her, especially in her month, and may the boys keep a grateful memory of you
and love this most tender Mother. Thanks for the prayers that you and the boys have
said for me. Today, 3 August there are great festivities in Beitgemal in honour of St
Stephen. We celebrated the community Mass over the tomb of the Holy Protomartyr
in the open air! The Custos of the Holy Land came to sing the Mass! The Provincial
will tell you everything. The Holy Father has given us a very special grace. We need
to pray a lot for this Vicar of Jesus Christ. Fondly greet Cherubino and Fr Gerbo for
me and recommend me to their prayers. I bless you in the name of the Sacred Heart.
Your affectionate friend in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
4. In the following letter Fr Bianchi also confirms Na‘īm's desire to progress in
virtue; he encourages him to face the numerous commitments in the spirit of
Don Bosco’s threefold promise; he expresses his affectionate feelings: he misses
him not only as a tailor, but as a friend and hopes that he will return soon.
He updates him on two significant community events, informs him about some
former students and his long illness.
Beitgemal, 27.11.23
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Your letters always give me very
great pleasure because I always see in them your good will to make progress in virtue
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and that you are especially always ready to obey in everything that the Superiors want
from you. Deo gratias! I also see that there is no lack of work for you: live happily
thinking of what D. Bosco promised his spiritual sons = Bread, Work and Paradise.
I remember you always and pray for you. When you come back to Beitgemal you
will find something new. We have placed a bust of the Ven. D. Bosco, in bronze, at
the entrance and on the terrazza in place of the small statue of Our Lady a beautiful
statue of Mary Help of Christians. Both look great and present very well. Pray for me
and get your children to pray for me. When you get the chance, you can write to me
about what Hajale does and where he is.41 Oh, if you came back to Beitgemal, how
I would love to see you again! Now we need to cut the clothes of the young people
and we have no one to do it. John was supposed to come from Bethlehem to cut the
clothes, but he doesn’t show up. I think they have a lot of work, so they can’t let him
leave for three or four days. Patience! My health at the moment is fair. But I was ill
with an incomprehensible illness. I could not sleep at all, great lack of appetite etc. etc.
I went 35 days without celebrating Mass!! This is something that has never happened
to me since I have been a priest. Sit nomen Domini benedictum!42 Greet Fr Gerbo, Fr
Raele, Castellani, the Prefect [?] etc. etc. May the Sacred Heart bless you and make
you happy both here and in eternity. Always continue to pray for
your affectionate friend in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
5. Fr Eugenio wrote the fifth letter probably between the end of 1923 and the
beginning of 1924, in reply to the letter in which Na‘īm wished him well (for
Christmas and New Year 1923–24), explaining that his pupils offered him “a
spiritual treasure”, as was the custom. The letter comes between two visits: the
one Na‘īm made to his family in Aleppo during the summer break, and the
one Fr Sacchetti would make to Alexandria come February. One can sense the
satisfaction that Na‘īm experiences in his Salesian life; Fr Bianchi interprets it as
a special grace from the Lord that rewards him for his generous consecration to
his service, giving him a foretaste of the joys of heaven. He then tells him about
the vocational discernment he is carrying out with regard to an aspirant from
Aleppo, wanting to know the actual circumstances of the family.
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You were quite right to say in your
letter that the part that would have pleased me most would have been the part where
you announced that your pupils had made 40 communions for me. Yes, this consoled
me very much and I will be very grateful if you will give me such a gift some other
time during the year. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the intercession of Mary
Help of Christians and our Venerable Father D. Bosco reward you abundantly in this
41 ABG: Registro Voti ..., 9 April 1921 Naim Haiale [alias Khajale] got 9.5 in the catechetics competition. At the
end of 1921–22 he got 8.5 in agriculture, finishing with his diploma and was given the Savings Bank booklet.
The following year he found work on a poultry and dairy farm in Alexandria: cf. ABG-Pupils.
42 I found no mention of this in the house or Province chronicles; Fr Sacchetti, in the above-mentioned letter
to Fr Rinaldi of 3 December 1923, vaguely mentions Fr Bianchi’s wish to go to Italy for treatment.
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world and in the future life. I am also very pleased to know that you are completely
happy and content in a particular way after having made your religious profession.
Deo gratias! See how good the Lord is with us. Also in this land he makes us feel a
special contentment in his service! Yes, my dear friend, let us be grateful to him and
love him with all the strength of our hearts. Don’t be afraid, my good friend: for what
little my poor prayers are worth I will always remember you, I will remember you
also in the future. Be brave, be very devoted to Mary Help of Christians and to Don
Bosco and they will help you in all the moments of your life. Tell me one thing: when
you were at home, did you see and talk to Naim Calussie’s mother?43 Well, I would
need you to tell me what situation she is in, how old she will be shortly, whether she
lives with his brothers or serves in some particular home, whether she has any sons
or daughters yet, etc. etc. Do you know why I am asking you this? Because Scandar
is planning to become a Salesian, and I fear that he cannot because of his mother’s
poverty, since I think that when you returned you told me that his mother was in a
miserable state. Now answer me this question when you can. - Farid left early this
month saying he had found a place in Syria. May the good God go with him!44 Fr
Sacchetti will pass through Alexandria in the first half of February and you can find
out many things about St Stephen from him. We will have the feast of St Francis on 4
February. I bless you in the name of the Sacred Heart.
Yours affectionately in J. and M., Fr E.M. Bianchi.
6. At the end of 1924 Na‘īm communicates to his spiritual father the
discouragement and melancholy he feels because of the lack of decision about
his period of further education. In his reply, Fr Bianchi deals immediately
with the matter, suggesting the most effective medicine for these spiritual ills:
contemplation of the much greater sufferings of “our dear and beloved Jesus
on the Cross”. He also reminds him of the ascetic principle (dear to St Francis
de Sales and outlined by Fr Barberis in his Vademecum, Part 3) of praying even if
one does not feel any pleasure in it, for the merit becomes greater. He encourages
him to remain within the ark of salvation of the Congregation. Finally, he reports
the sudden death of a Palestinian boarding student.
Beitgemal, 10.01.25
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From the bottom of my heart, I
thank you for your good wishes and I pray to our Divine Redeemer that you will
43 ABG: Registro voti...: Calussie Na‘īm (of the late Alexander, born in Aleppo) at the end of 1920–21 took
his final exams with a score of 87/120; the overall result of the exams for the 2nd course was 113/120;
the following year in the final session in July, he got 8 for agriculture, and was among the winners of the
catechetics competition in Arabic, at which the Provincial, Fr Salvatore Puddu, presided. He was soon employed
among the municipal gardeners in Aleppo: cf ABG-Pupils.
44 In ABG: Accettazione Allievi, Farid Huri [alias Houri, Khoury] was presented by Fr G. Villa the Rector at
Bethlehem: born in 1908 in Ramlah, he lost his father, “made his abjuration”. In the Registro voti..., he figures
among the pupils for the 1st course in 1922–23, and his marks are given for the final exams in August 1923.
I gather that he left Betgamāl at the beginning of the following month.
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receive them in return with abundant heavenly graces during this Holy Year, a year
of graces and blessings. I am not surprised that sometimes you are caught up in
melancholy; as long as we are in this vale of tears we will always have something that
gives us grief. It is also certain that when melancholy assails us, everything becomes
heavy. In those moments we raise our minds to our dear crucified Jesus and we think
of the bitter pains he felt from that hard wood, of the holy body all torn and covered
with wounds, of the pierced feet and hands, of the crowning with thorns ... and then
we say to ourselves: “What is that which I suffer compared to the immense pains that
my beloved Jesus suffers? And then let us ask him for strength to bear what we suffer
for his sake with patience. At that time, let us strive to keep our hearts in peace and
have unlimited recourse to Mary Help of Christians, from whom we will surely receive
the help we need. We must then do all the practices of piety that we are accustomed to
do with the usual diligence and punctuality, even though in doing them we do not feel
any pleasure or rather we feel boredom and annoyance, because it is certain that these
are more meritorious than when we do them with pleasure, and they obtain greater
graces for us. So, courage my dear friend, and go ahead In nomine Domini! Consider
also that, finding yourself in the Salesian Congregation, you are in an Ark where you
will certainly save your soul. My thoughts fly to you very often and I commend you
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Mary Most Holy the Help of Christians and to the
Venerable Don Bosco, so that they may help you in all your spiritual and temporal
needs. I think you will still remember Azar. Well, a very strong attack of cellulitis
carried him off in 4 days! Yesterday he was taken to the cemetery. A requiem for this
poor boy!45 You did well to write to Fr Ricaldone. Greet my friends there for me. I
bless you in the name of the Sacred Heart.
Yours affectionately in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
7. The mention of the letter sent to Fr Ricaldone, who was then the Councillor
for Technical Schools, confirms that for many months a dialogue of discernment
about his future specialisation had been taking place between the provincial,
the superiors in Turin and Na‘īm. On 1 September 1924 the Provincial, Fr
Salvatore Puddu invited him to be patient (“Your Rector has good will but it
is not always in his power to please you in everything”), pointing out that he
himself had spoken to his superiors about him and promising that he would
be able to be accommodated in due course (AIMOR, Schedario, personal folder
Combas). Na‘īm waited, then, but his patience was sorely tried, including by
the ingratitude of the boys and undeserved reprimands from some superiors.
As well as this inner struggle, there were the temptations coming from the
city environment outside. The result was a restless state of mind and doubts
about the vocation. Fr Bianchi's letter, the longest and most articulate, is full
45 ABG: Registro voti ..., Habasc Azar [sic], son of the late Carlo, originally from Jaffa, was one of the students
in the first course in 1923–24 and in the second course in the quarterly examinations in 1924–25, then no
longer; in fact he died on 8 January 1925, as written in ABG: Registro dei defunti, no. 46.
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of pedagogical and spiritual wisdom: in order to overcome the snares of self-
love and preserve peace of soul it is necessary to always keep in mind the
ultimate goal of Salesian consecrated life, to remain available to any “obedience”
and to be rooted in humility, the foundation of everything and guarantee of
perseverance.
Beitgemal, 4.7.25.
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Your letter, for which I have been
waiting for a long time, has given me immense pleasure. However, although I wanted
it very much, I was not worried by your long silence, because I know how much
you have to do. First your duty, then the rest! For us religious of Ven. D. Bosco
the dominant thought in our actions must always be for the Glory of God and the
salvation of souls. Therefore, when we see no correspondence with our labours, or
rather not infrequently ingratitude and misunderstanding, although our wretched
humanity cannot help but resent this, we must strive not to be disturbed and keep
our souls calm, believing that the reward and guidance of our labours and efforts will
be in heaven. It is only in this way that we will stand strong in the breach, that we will
continue to work with courage without ever stopping, that we will fulfil our duties
with ever greater diligence and remain steadfast in our vocation that the Lord has
given us. Even the city, and a city such as Alexandria can be a cause of disturbance
and temptation; but you will only go to the city out of necessity and obedience, and
then your modest, reserved, mortified demeanour will ensure that it does not harm
you in the least. But there is another thing that we must keep an eye on and that is the
humility that is the basis of our holiness [underlined in the manuscript]. We always
need this virtue, but we especially need it when it seems to us that our actions are not
taken into account as we believe they are, when some remark is made to us that we do
not think we deserve; then self-love rebels and if we are not well grounded in humility,
we show sulkiness, discontent, restlessness, murmuring and even doubts about our
vocation. So you see how necessary this virtue is for us, ask the good Mother Help of
Christians for it insistently. With this virtue we will be safe from many dangers and
we will obtain many graces from the Lord. When will we see each other again? When
the Lord wishes, although I would be very happy to see you again soon. With regard
to your destination in the coming year, you do well to put your heart at rest and go
and stay wherever obedience will take you. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember
you to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary Help of Christians so that they may bless
you with all the blessings you need to sanctify yourself. I thank you for the prayers
you are saying for me and I recommend that you continue. Fr Sacchetti sends you his
best wishes and would be very happy if you were here to relieve him a little from the
burdens he is under. Greet Fr Rector for me, Fr Loda, Fr Raele, Fr Ponzo, Fr Tasciotti,
Fr Castellani, Cl. Blanchet, Costamagna, Fr Vizolo. I bless you in the name of the
Sacred Heart.
Yours affectionately in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
8. The note on 15.10.25 makes us think that Fr Bianchi kept at a respectful
distance in contact with the provincial and followed the development of the
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“negotiations” between him and Na‘īm, without interfering. He assures him
of his prayers so that he may remain strong in his vocation and not make the
mistake of the former student he knows who has just left.
Beitgemal, 15.10.25.
My dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Some time ago I received your kind
letter with great pleasure and I did not reply to it because of the laziness that always
dominates me. However, I always remember you to the Good Lord so that He may
bless you in all your actions and keep you strong in your vocation. The other Naim
Scandar who had done so much to be received into the Seminary, left last week
and thus abandoned his vocation.46 Oh! If you only knew how much I regretted his
decision. After leaving the seminary he came here and stayed with us for about ten
days. Last Friday he left for Aleppo and now he will have arrived. Sit nomen Domini
benedictum! You will have news of Beitgemal from Fr Cantoni. Greet the confreres,
recommending me to their prayers. Pray for me so that I may prepare myself well for
death. I bless you in the name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Yours affectionately in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
9. After having been patient for a long time, Bro. Na‘īm wrote to the
new Provincial Fr Carlo Gatti on 18.12.25, reminding him of the promises he
had made to him about the advanced course in Turin, and adding that, once
completed, he would gladly remain in Italy, but “if the superiors wish me to
return to my province, I will be obedient to their wishes”. (AIMOR: Schedario,
personal folder Combas). Finally, “the negotiations” took the direction he hoped
for: In fact, he arrived in Turin in the Martinetto community in mid-January 1926
and spent two years perfecting his tailoring skills and completing his Salesian
formation (cf. Letter of the Rector of Martinetto in AIMOR: Schedario, personal
folder Combas).
In the 1927–28 school year he returned to Alexandria where he was then
given the responsibility of head of workshop; Srugi sent him greetings in
the letter he wrote to Fr Gerbo on 16 October 1927. I will present this when
examining the Writings. In this context he received the letter of 11.5.28 in which
Fr Bianchi (who feels the fatigue of his years and asks for prayers to prepare
himself to die well) expresses his unchanged affection for him and his real
interest in some former students entering the working world; finally he gives
the news of the long-awaited start of preparatory work for the construction of
the shrine of St Stephen, the completion of which will be his “swan song”.
46 ABG: Registro voti ..., in the 1919–20 school year Naim Scandar was among those who “were considered for
final exams”, but got second prize for conduct and first for application to study. He was no longer among
those who sat for exams in the final session in 1920–21.
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Beitgemal, 11.5.28.
Naim my dear friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You have written to me several
times and I have never replied not because your letters are not dear to me, but because
I am getting old and difficulty in writing increases. However, this does not prevent
me from remembering you and always recommending you to the Lord in my poor
prayers. And now, how are things for you in Alexandria? Always good? Do you have
many pupils in the workshop? Are they good? Do they look forward to their work?
Recommend them a lot to Mary Help of Christians, especially now that we are in her
month. Does Cacciaturian come to the college often?47 Did he find a good position
outside? Does he take care of his own food and everything else? Send him the note
I’ll write him. Does Farid come to the college too? Was he able to find employment? I
recommended to D. Fatalla that he suggest studying French as some of his friends did
and so they were able to find a place. Are you always a true son of D. Bosco? Greet the
Rector very much for me, Fr Banchero, Fr Ponzo, Fr Helu, Fr Cantoni, Fr Castellani,
Fr Teissèdre [underlined], Blanchet, Fr Rossi, and recommend me to their prayers.
You pray for me too, so that I may always prepare myself well for death. I bless you in
the name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Yours affectionately in J. and M. Fr E.M. Bianchi.
[PS]
We have begun excavations for St Stephen’s crypt. Deo gratias! Greetings from Fr
Sacchetti and Fr Rosin”. [PPS: “Fond greetings from me too. Greet Blanchet for me.
Fr Mario Rosin.”].
2. Significance and value of this correspondence
1. As is clear, these are letters of vocational discernment and spiritual
accompaniment, “tailor-made” for Na‘īm (to use the language of tailors, which
he was). Fr Bianchi continues the ministry of teacher, guide, father and “friend
of his soul”. But he is aware that he carries it out in support of the Don Bosco
fatherhood of whom he wants to be a faithful echo and Na‘īm one of “his
spiritual sons”, “a true son of Don Bosco”. This fatherhood is anchored in the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, who is omnipresent: at the beginning and end of each
letter and often in the body. We know that this is one of the most real foundations
of Salesian life and mission, to which the first generations of confreres and sisters
were very attached. The aim of this correspondence is to accompany the young
brother in his growth towards holiness, faithful to the spirit of Don Bosco; to
47 ABG: Registro voti ..., at the end of the 1923–24 school year Abed Kacciaturian had received second prize
for application to work. In September 1924 (together with his older companions: A. Agopian, A. Arabian,
M. Avedissian) he took part in the exploration being directed by Fr Gisler on the archaeological site at
“Giammala” which some scholars presented in opposition to Betgamāl as the place of St Stephen’s tomb:
cf. Heidet, p. 13.
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revive the grace of profession; to confirm him in the joyful service of the Lord,
helping him to overcome the danger of failing in his vocation.
2. The main themes that Fr Bianchi touches on rapidly (they are one-liners or
a few sentences, not a complete speech, at most an outline for a conference or
instruction...) are some of the fundamental and dominant themes of Christian
life (loving God “with all the strength of our heart”, loving our Mother
Mary, imitating Christ crucified, our beloved Jesus), religious life (obedience,
humility; salvation of our soul by fulfilling one's duties . ..), and Salesian:
direct everything to the greater glory of God and to the salvation of souls;
unlimited trust in Mary Help of Christians, as a beloved and tender Mother;
in one’s labours remember the promise: “bread, work and paradise” that
Don Bosco committed himself to “provide” for his sons to make them happy
now and in eternity. Other typical guidelines or directions are: comfort in
difficulties; warning against dangers and temptations, first of all the restlessness
and melancholy that Francis de Sales in the Introduction to the Devout Life and
Fr Barberis in the Vademecum, warn is the mother of all others ...; remaining
faithful to the practices of piety even when one has no taste for them (another
typical instruction of our patron saint). Na‘īm is suffering, not only because
of the delayed period of further studies in Turin, but also because of the
lack of gratitude on the part of fickle and superficial boys, and the burden of
undeserved reproaches from demanding superiors. Two realities not infrequent
in the experience of young Salesians. Fr Bianchi's indications, therefore, also
from this point of view, transcend their immediate contingency and retain
current value.
3. The atmosphere in which this exchange of letters takes place is that of cordial
friendship between master and disciple, or rather between father and eldest son.
In these letters Fr Bianchi shows Na‘īm something of his rich humanity: not
just psychological finesse, but great affection, esteem, consolation and pleasure
in knowing that he is at peace and content, the expectation of receiving his
letters, the desire to see him again... Nothing too intimate and no disembodied
spiritualism: Even in his correspondence, as attested by many of his illustrious
former novices, Fr Eugenio shows himself to be a practical man: he continues to
be interested in very concrete terms in aspirants to Salesian life, and suggests a
winning strategy to former students for finding work...
4. In addition to containing guidelines on Salesian pedagogy and spirituality, the
letters provide news and make it possible for us to know the identity of some
pupils and former pupils. From this latter point of view they help (like Srugi's
letters) to reconstruct something of the story (minor, if you like) of Betgamāl,
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giving a face and a qualification to a certain number of young people who, after
their school years and their diploma, were still seeking their vocation, or were
already entering the world of work or professions. Thus they do not remain just
a record in the registers, but living people in action, in contact with their teachers
and companions.
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Part 2
THE PROJECT OF LIFE OUTLINED IN
HIS WRITINGS
1. RELIGIOUS WRITINGS
2. HIS PROJECT OF LIFE
(HIS PLAN FOR PERFECT HOLINESS)
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Handwritten request for admission to perpetual profession
First note from Fr Michael Rua
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Section 1
Srugi’s religious writings
Introduction
Simon Srugi was not a writer with a literary background who had set out to
write a book, not even to keep a collection of letters. He was a practical and
very simple man, a Salesian Brother (Coadjutor) who loved reading the lives of
the saints, devotional books ... and writing down brief sentences or paragraphs
from them for his own use and for use by the people with whom he lived. The
kinds of things we are talking about are a handful of letters; extracts from Jesus’
Revelations to Sr Marie-Marta Chambon; two lists of “maxims” that he used to
hand out to confreres and young people each month at Betgamāl to encourage
them to live a devout life; an “assortment” of thoughts that he used for his own
personal meditation; some special prayers; and finally, the resolutions he took
during annual retreats and the monthly recollections. Also preserved are some
notebooks with medical and nursing prescriptions: we might say that just as the
latter were useful for looking after the health of the body, he made use of the
former for the salvation of souls and for Christian perfection, his own first of all
then that of others. The original manuscripts have been preserved in the archives
of the Salesian Middle East Province in binders marked AIMOR 15.1.1; 15.1.11;
15.1.12.
Fr Ernesto Forti, in his book Un buon Samaritano concittadino di Gesù (Leumann-
Torino: LDC, 1967), has mentioned a few passages here and there; while here
they are presented as a whole with introductions, notes and indication of
sources.
1. LETTERS
Very few letters (or notes) written or received by Srugi have come down
to us; fragments of what are presumed to be more frequent exchanges of
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correspondence. It helps to remember that back in his day, each confrere would
give or receive their correspondence to/from the superior still or already open,
and the superior would then make just one trip to the post. This could be a
reason to suppose that some of his letters have been lost, along with other letters.
Besides, at times we only have a reflection of what he wrote that can be inferred
from the content of the replies he received.
Anyway, the few that have come down to us deserve to be presented because,
as well as providing us with additional information about his life, they help us
to get to know some traits of his spirituality and apostolate.
First Note from Fr Michael Rua
Fr Michael Rua (1837--1910), the first successor of Don Bosco, came to Palestine
for the first time from 28 February to 20 March 1895, to smooth out the persistent
difficulties of integration between the Salesians and followers of Fr Antonio
Belloni, which had taken place in 1891. He carried out a detailed visit to the
three communities of Bethlehem, Betgamāl (12-14 March) and Cremisan, as well
as the plot of land in Nazareth where there would soon be an orphanage and
the “Jesus the Adolescent” school. It is plausible to think that Simon, although
still a novice, would have approached the holy priest to tell him of his desire
to become a good Salesian, and that he would have received encouragement in
this. The two of them kept in contact as we can see from what Fr Rua wrote to Fr
Belloni in his letter of 12 September 1896: “Give my fondest greetings to Simon
Srugi and Francis Nardi. I have read the letters they sent me with pleasure”
(ASC, A4480360). I believe this exchange of letters continued over the years that
followed, in the shape of brief notes like the following:
Turin, April 1907
My dear Srugi (Beitgémal),
I have received your news. I rejoice with you in your good intentions to serve the
Lord in his holy House. I can see that you are happy. Courage, keep it up, and let
me exchange greetings with you for the Holy Days of Easter. I remain your beloved
friend in Jesus and Mary.
Fr Michael Rua.
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Second Note from Fr Michael Rua
On an unspecified date (after 29 September, the feast of the Holy Archangels,
and presumably in 1908) Fr Rua, through one of his secretaries, sent Simon this
leaflet which had a standard formula pre-printed on one side:
Thank you for your kind letter and I thought I would give you a reply to your liking
by sending you a beautiful thought of our beloved Don Bosco’s, which he himself
wrote: “May Jesus always be your guide, amidst dangers, to heaven.” Fr Gio. Bosco.
– Please accept my regards and pray to the Lord for your beloved friend in Jesus and
Mary: Fr Michael Rua.
On the other side are these more personal lines, of which only the signature
is in his own handwriting:
Thank you for your greeting and prayers, as well as the Communions you have made
for me for my Name day. Keep on recommending me to the Lord and you will do me a
real favour. I am very happy to know that the circulars and letters from the Superiors
are regularly read out there. Please see to it that – as far as you are concerned – they
are scrupulously put into practice. My heartfelt blessing and in turn I recommend
you to the Lord.
Fr Michael Rua.
Notes
The second time Fr Rua came to the Holy Land was during his longer journey to
the Middle East which lasted from 3 February to 30 April 1908. There had been
a drought in the country for some months; the faithful in Galilee and Samaria
had heard it said that Fr Rua was a saint, so they had recourse to his prayers.
And in fact on 23 March, the day following his visit, such heavy rain fell that it
remained in living memory, and still today in the parish church at Zabābdah
there is a plaque recalling it. Fr Rua was in Betgamāl from 3 to 5 April: he
visited most of the property, inspected the various sectors of the work, leaving
a lengthy set of recommendations (including sanitation and hygiene measures
to make the environment healthier), gave a conference for “the exercise for a
happy death”, and gave First Communion to 6 boys at the school who were most
probably prepared by Simon. He was 31 years of age at the time and played a
significant role in the community, not just as infirmarian but also as an educator
and apostle. He could certainly have had a personal chat with Fr Rua and have
dealt with what would have been most at heart for both of them: his personal
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holiness. One could reasonably suppose that Simon also took part in some of
the events where the Salesians of the Holy Land gathered around Don Bosco’s
successor for festive academies or for the Easter celebration that fell on 19 April
that year, such that their mutual understanding would have grown and that
their exchange of letters would have continued.
Even in the case of this second note, it is easy enough to reconstruct the
contents of Simon’s letter: he sent name-day greetings, along with an offering
of prayers and Eucharistic Communions, and renewed his commitment to
continue to entrust Fr Rua to the Lord. He also told him that documents from
the Superiors were being regularly read out in the community.
The fact that Simon had jealously kept these two notes from the successor of
Don Bosco (today Blessed) until he died, lets us know that he considered them
to be the relics of a saint.
Srugi’s First Letter to Fr Mario Gerbo
Long live Jesus in the Eucharist!
Beitgemàl, 13 September 1926
Dear Fr Gerbo,
By now our Crusade is at its end, meaning: it no longer exists. Our good Superiors
have transformed it into the Blessed Sacrament Sodality which is substantially the
same thing. The young Crusaders who remained have already left the school and
I am not receiving any others. I am no longer sending news of our group to the
Administration, but I subscribe to the magazine and the news-sheet “La Lampada
del Tabernacolo” (The Tabernacle Lamp).
I was very unhappy about this but I am resigned to the will of the Lord who has
allowed this for our good. This is how our Group has come to an end.
I am sending you some pages of the “Tabernacle Lamp” that are left over; See if
you like them. My kind regards and please remember me in your prayers. I offer
you my condolences at the death of your beloved brother. I have begun a novena of
Communions and prayers for the repose of his soul.
Your confrere in Jesus and Mary,
Srugi Simon.
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Notes
The one in charge of animating the life of piety in Salesian houses was a priest,
known as the “catechist”: Fr Mario Gerbo (1885--1964) had this responsibility
at Betgamāl in 1924--25. He was “a soul wholly of God, an exemplary priest,
a tireless apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a director of
souls of rare competence. Fr Gerbo and Simon were immediately on the same
wavelength, because of that intuition which binds exceptional souls together
in love: he was thus able to deepen his knowledge of the treasures of the
divine Heart and make his already ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
more alive” (E. Forti). Simon supported Fr Gerbo so well that after the latter’s
departure he continued to be the person of reference for the Eucharistic Crusade:
he received newly enrolled members, sent reports to the central administration,
updated subscriptions to the magazines. Although a brother and not a priest, he
fulfilled the role of guide for the small group of “Crusaders”.
Regarding the contents of the letter and its context: Fr Forti “highlights
Simon’s prompt obedience and calm resignation in the face of inevitable
disagreements, including in the field of the apostolate. Although the Crusade
was dear to his heart, he did not shy away like weak spirits would, but he was
willing to use his enthusiasm and love to boost other apostolic activities more in
keeping with the traditions of the Salesian Family.”
Let me stress an important detail: Simon expresses total acceptance of God’s
will, convinced that He sees that everything turns out to our good, as St Paul
teaches in Rom 8:28. In fact, this was the line of conduct followed by Fr Gerbo
who wrote: “The apostle is such if he works humbly, in intimate contact with God, in
perfect detachment from his own judgement and will. Should a method of apostolate yield
even the best results, but not be approved by those in authority, the apostle must be prepared
to renounce it immediately, without criticism, without complaint, and without deception.”
The maturity of Simon's judgement is also striking as he concentrates on the
substance of the Eucharistic cult, beyond the external forms that distinguished
the various associations and devotional practices of the time.
First Letter of past pupil ‘Atàllah Selīm
Cairo, 19 January 1927
Dear Brother Srugi,
It is already many days since I left Beitgemal. I arrived safe and sound in Cairo.
Thanks be to God I am well in soul and body.
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I am in a centre where in fact you never hear Italian spoken and I am happy to
subscribe to two Italian magazines I am interested in but that I have not yet received.
But my address has changed. It is not the Salesians’ address, I would therefore ask
you to send me as soon as possible the addresses of the various administrations of
the magazines to which I subscribe, so that I can write to them and send them my
new address so that I can receive these magazines.
I remember you daily in my poor prayers, especially at Holy Communion. Please
pray for me too so the Lord will grant me the grace of perseverance.
Awaiting your reply, I am happy to sign myself
Your affectionate and devoted friend in C.J.
Atallah Selīm
Blessed Sacrament Crusader.
Notes
‘Atàllah Selīm, whose Maronite father had died, came to Betgamāl in August
1922, as shown in the acceptance register. After completing the four-year course
and gaining his certificate in summer 1926, he left Palestine to find work or a
trade in Cairo, and after a temporary stay with the Salesians, went to live on his
own. The content and style of his letters show him to be a well-formed young
man of considerable Christian maturity.
His letters confirm the role that Brother Srugi played as a person of reference
and guide for the Blessed Sacrament Crusaders. As one of them, Selīm hastens
to briefly reassure him of his good physical and spiritual health in his new
environment in a different culture. Regarding the “centre” he was employed
with, the following letter offers us some further indication.
We can suppose that Brother Srugi did not delay in replying but we have no
direct evidence. But given that in the following letter Selīm assures him that he
is receiving the magazines, we can conclude that Bro. Srugi wrote back to him,
also sending him the addresses he asked for to renew his subscriptions.
Simon’s Second Letter to Fr Mario Gerbo
Long live Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Dear Fr Gerbo,
Beitgemal, 16 October 1927
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When you wrote to me about the Crusade and sent me the crosses, I immediately
enrolled and gave my name through the word of honour. I also began to speak about
it; indeed, Fr Coradini gave a fervent address. Then all those who were enthusiastic
asked to be accepted. However, since enthusiasm and good conduct did not measure
up, I enrolled only the best. Here is the list of their names. And here too are 10 piastre
for subscription to the Crusade’s monthly magazine; please send it to us every month.
My kind regards and regards from all my dear confreres. Greetings to Fr Cantoni,
Fr Cancemi, Fr Spiridion, Bro. Fathalla, Bro. Naim, Bro. Cherubino.
Your brother in the Lord.
Simon Srugi.
Notes
From the beginning of the Crusade at Betgamāl, Bro. Srugi was the one
responsible for this kind of lay apostolate. As a shrewd educator he carried
out the appropriate discernment and maturity of judgement in admitting
new members, basing himself not on fleeting enthusiasm but on the concrete
evidence of habitual good behaviour.
The list of 12 enrolments is most likely the one that Srugi wrote down on
a small sheet of paper still kept in the pages of his copy of The Devout Life:
Selīm ‘Attàllah, Michael Salim, Manne Avedissian, Hagop Khumarian, Ibrahim
Attalla, Hagop Seyachian, Anton Tfei, Eghiazan Parseghian, Armando Milani,
Michael Tutundjie, Sarkis Hagopian, Giuseppe Salem. This way Simon often
remembered them in his prayers. It is interesting to note that the first one on the
list is Selīm ‘Atàlla. Five of the twelve were Armenians; one Italian, one Syrian,
the others were probably Palestinians or Lebanese.
We can point to the freedom of spirit that Srugi shows in this situation as
well: while having accepted the Superiors’ decision to close down the “Crusade”
and replace it with the “Sodality”, more than a year later he explicitly asks Fr
Gerbo not to forget to send him the “Crusade”’s monthly magazine, a sign that
he did not want to deprive himself of the undoubted spiritual advantage he was
gaining from it.
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Second Letter of past pupil ‘Atàllah Selīm
+ Long live Jesus!
Cairo, 26 October 1927
My dear Bro. Srugi.
You have finally woken up, you will tell me. Yes, I have been asleep for a long time,
and I am ashamed of my laziness. Forgive me for my long silence. Like an ingrate,
amidst all my concerns, I have little by little begun to forget my dear Superiors at
Beitgemal. However, my Guardian Angel did not allow your feast day to pass by
without reminding me of it, therefore as your brother Crusader here I am to wish
you a happy feast day of St Simon. May your holy Patron send down the choicest
blessings from heaven on you. The day after tomorrow, your feast day, I will make
my Holy Communion especially for you, that the Lord may grant you all the graces
your heart desires.
Although I am in a huge city like Cairo, I still do not forget that I am a Crusader
and I always wear the badge both on the streets and at work, among the many Jews
around me. Sometimes human respect tries to get at me, but with God’s grace I
always succeed in overcoming it. Jesus in the Sacrament is my strength.
I regularly receive all the magazines I have subscribed to and which I hope to
subscribe to in the coming year as well.
Remember me sometimes in your prayers, just as I never forget to do so every day
for you. Greet my dear friends for me at Beitgemal: Fr Frey, Dotta, Vincenzo, Musa,
Manne, and tell them I pray for all of them and for them to also remember me. In
union of prayers, I am always your affectionate friend in Jesus the Eucharistic King.
A. Selim.
Knight Crusader of the Blessed Sacrament.
[in the margin] “Tannus sends you his regards.”
Notes
This letter of Selīm’s is not just something incidental, occasioned by Bro.
Srugi’s Patron Saint’s feast day; nor is it just simple information about the
circumstances and setting in which he lives, or just about subscriptions to
devotional magazines. There is something more: in his brevity, the affectionate
past pupil intends to open his soul candidly to Bro. Srugi, the person who,
although not a priest, enjoys all his esteem, can understand him and help him
grow in his Christian life. Selīm expresses the determination to persevere in
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the practices connected with the association, drawing energy from Eucharistic
communion, overcoming the difficulties he encounters in a setting made up
mostly of non-Christians.
The fact that Srugi had kept these two letters among all his other letters until
he died, means that he considered them to be significant. Today for us they are
proof of a fraternal relationship of Christian friendship, and we could also say
of spiritual fatherliness.
Simon’s letter to his sister Zàhra
Dear sister, may God prolong your stay [on this earth] and that of your dear
daughters. After this fraternal greeting, I offer you and your daughters my warmest
wishes for the feast of the Birth of our beloved Saviour Jesus and for the New Year,
asking the Most High to shower his heavenly blessings and graces on you, and that
these may remain for many years together with health and life’s prosperity.
Now let me tell you that two months ago I was struck by severe malaria which
brought me to the threshold of the grave and forced me to go to hospital in Bethlehem
where I spent more than two weeks hovering between life and death.
However now, thanks be to God, my health has returned (not completely) due to
the prayers of our orphaned children and many superiors and confreres, but just the
same I feel that the end of my period of exile in this world is not far away. For some
time I have been having difficulty in breathing, heartache and not much strength;
all this is telling me: “Prepare yourself to meet your Lord when it is his wish.”
And you, my dear sister, how is your health? May God keep you well and in perfect
health. Every day I ask the Lord to prolong your life for many years and keep all ill
away from you. But in any case, may you too be ready to meet the Lord Jesus so that
together we can deserve to see one another in Heaven. I beg you not to be upset by
these words of mine, and indeed to accept this advice of a brother who wishes your
soul well, since you are already advanced in age and know that death is near to us.
Happy are we who are prepared for it!
Finally, accept my abundant greetings and great respect, and offer them to your dear
daughters: Ràdia, Baitàlla, Nada and the fourth whose name I cannot remember.
Do not deprive me of your prayers and supplications.
Your brother who is praying for you,
Sim‘ān ‘Āzar as-Srūgi
Date: 24 December 1939.
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Notes
Fr Forti highlights “the delicate continuation of family affections and his holy
concern to help his sister, who had been away from the Catholic Church for so
many years,with the thought of death,.” We can add Simon’s sincere gratitude
for all those who had obtained the grace of his recovery through their prayers.
He minimises the seriousness of his illness and does not mention the “extreme
unction” he had received; however he is realistic in recognising that he is not
completely returned to normal. In fact his health would deteriorate over the four
years that followed, also because of the Second World War.
Zàhrah was the sixth daughter of their father ‘Āzar Srugi, 9 and a half years
older than Simon, born on 3 December 1867; as a girl she was entrusted to the
local Anglican orphanage; on 28 February 1887 she married Sa‘īd Baltīn (who
died on 6 January 1917) and remarried, this time to Sāleh Abù-l-‘Asal (who died
1 April 1933); she died as an eighty-year-old on 5 March 1947. The invitation
that Simon very delicately gave her was not heard: in fact from December 1939
to November 1943, when Zàhra went twice to Betgamāl to visit him when
he was already on his deathbed, 4 years went by without anything changing
regarding her belonging to the Anglican Communion. Despite Simon’s prayers
and insistence, and in spite of the general assurances that she would have given
her brother, according to her daughter and sister-in-law who were present at
the farewell (more to give him a sweetener than out of sincere conviction) she
did not change her mind, so much so that she died, as far as we know, ‘as a
Protestant’
In Simon’s biblical way of thinking, death would be the end of exile in this
world and, if one were well prepared, would introduce us to our homeland in
Heaven where we would be able to “meet the Lord Jesus” and also the people
dear to us as well. At the retreat in 1930 he had written “I will detach myself from
any earthly thing that prevents me from being completely of my God and to be
ready for the call of Jesus my Spouse when he calls me from exile to my heavenly
home”, and he wrote during the retreat the following year: “I will hold myself
ready for when the good Jesus will call me from exile to my heavenly home.”
Furthermore, every day when he said the Rosary he turned to Our Lady as one
of the “poor banished children of Eve”.
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Handwritten text of his letter to his sister Zahra.
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2. JESUS’ REVELATIONS TO SISTER MARIE-MARTA CHAMBON
Introduction
Srugi had a copy of the book of revelations that Jesus made in 1867 to Sister
Marie-Marta Chambon, a lay Sister of the Visitation at Chambèry. They were
collected by her superior, Mother Teresa Revel, then published later in Italian
with the title: Suor M. M. Chambon e le Sante Piaghe di N. S. G. C.; Pisa, 1924.48
Given the accuracy of the transcription, we can say that Srugi identified with
the confidante of these revelations, and it is as if Jesus made them to him. Love
for the Crucified Jesus, for his suffering and wounded humanity, especially his
pierced Heart, had a central place in his piety and continued throughout his life,
where he wanted to conform himself to the divine model. The Crucified one had
become his favourite book; he always had a small crucifix sewed on his jacket
over the heart.
Devotion to Christ’s saving wounds, with its biblical and patristic roots, had
been spread by many of the medieval mystics. The Prophet Isaiah had already
predicted that the Messiah would redeem humanity through his wounds, and St
Peter saw this prophecy realised in Christ “He himself bore our sins in his body on the
cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed” (Is 53:5; 1 Pt 2:24-25). St Peter Chrysologus had Jesus speak thus: “Do not
be afraid. This cross inflicts a mortal injury, not on me, but on death. These nails
no longer pain me, but only deepen your love for me. I do not cry out because
of these wounds, but through them I draw you into my heart. My body was
stretched on the cross as a symbol, not of how much I suffered, but of my all-
embracing love.” (Sermo 108). And St Bernard said: through Jesus’ wounds “the
bowels of mercy of our God” are revealed; I take refuge there like the dove in the cleft of the
rock, and I dwell there to be saved (cf. Commentary on the Song of Songs). St Thomas
Aquinas wrote: “Indeed the passion of Christ is sufficient in itself to instruct us
completely in our whole life. For if anyone wants to live a perfect life, he has only
to despise the things that Christ despised on the cross, and to desire what Christ
desired. The cross provides an example of every virtue” (Conf. 6 on the Creed). We
discover very similar expressions in these Revelations to Marie-Marta Chambon,
for example in line nos. 16, 39, 54, 65. This devotion was revived in the modern
era by the religious family of St Francis de Sales: some of his spiritual daughters
received the mission from Jesus of propagating devotion to his Sacred Heart
48 This was published in its entirety in digital format on the internet in 2013: http://Yeshua.ilbello.com/yeshua
/SantePiaghe/Chambon/le-sante-piaghe-Libropiccolo.pdf
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(especially St Margaret Mary Alacoque), and his wounds (as is precisely the
case for the Servant of God Marie-Marta Chambon). Another of these privileged
souls is Servant of God Benigna Consolata Ferrero (1885-1916), also a Visitation
nun whom Jesus wanted to be an apostle of his merciful love. Srugi knew the
writings of all three to some extent.
The doctrine of “pure love” that Francis de Sales expounded on in the
Treatise on the Love of God and according to which he guided his “great spiritual
daughter” Jane Frances de Chantal, echoes clearly through the conversations
with Sr Marie-Marta: detachment from creatures, total stripping of one’s will in
order to achieve the highest form of union with God and embody the “Live Jesus!”
in her own person. In copying out the revelations to Sister Marie-Martha with
such precision, the humble Salesian brother shows that he had grasped their
exact meaning.
The emotional tone and serenity are striking: the wounds are a consoling
refuge in moments of pain and temptation, a cleansing in which to purify one’s
sins, a furnace from which to draw the fire of divine mercy for the salvation
of souls. Some themes then emphasised in the theology of redemption and in
“victim” forms of devotion also recur: paying the debts of sins with the merits
of Christ's passion, expiating, making satisfaction and offering in order to avert
God's vengeance.
Above all, it needs to be emphasised that Simon did not limit himself to
contemplating Jesus' wounds during his moments of “mental prayer”; the very
wounds of the Suffering Servant which the psalmist presents as “stinking and
festering” (Ps 38:6) Simon saw present in the body of the sick people and he
would cure them with faith and love as if they were Jesus' himself. As we saw,
abuna Butrus Cattān remembered “the admirable patience, charity and kindness
with which he treated the sick, who were often uncouth, ignorant, filthy and
not infrequently crawling with disgusting insects that were repugnant to see,
clean and treat. But it was in these sick people that Srugi saw the limbs of the
infirm Jesus.” (p. 63) And Sr Tersilla added that at the thought and meditation of
the suffering Jesus, Simon became inflamed with a new ardour for his mission,
because each day he was able to see Jesus more and more in those who were sick
or suffering” (p. 116).
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TEXTS
1. Jesus says: every humiliation binds you more intimately to my Heart. I am
not asking great things of you; I simply want the love of your heart. Hold on
to my heart, you will discover all the goodness it is filled with.
2. Place all your actions in my heart, even recreations, and they will be well
looked after.
3. Hearts must unite with my heart through humility and self-effacement.
4. Oh how my heart suffers due to the ingratitude of so many hearts. You must
unite your sorrows with those of my heart.
5. Jesus appeared to one of his servants, on the cross, stripped of everything,
just skin on his bones, and said to her: Behold, my daughter, where those
whom I have chosen and who wish to arrive at glory must pass – not those
who lift up their heads. My Mother passed this way. Gentle and consoling is
the way of the souls who carry their cross generously.
6. It is necessary for religious souls, brides of Jesus Crucified, [to carry the
cross] generously. I have only my brides to compensate me for the offences
I receive.
7. My daughter, you must love the Crucified one very much and crucify
yourself to love Jesus, to the point of being able to die like Jesus and rise
to new life like Him.
8. In the religious house, God’s house, you must live united to my wounds.
Your vows come from my wounds. Because the religious is consecrated to
Jesus, he must be nailed to the cross with him.
9. Whenever we follow our own will we declare ourselves to be enemies of the
cross.
10. Jesus said: look at my crown of thorns and you will understand mortification;
at my outstretched hands, and you will learn obedience; seeing me stripped
bare on the cross, you will learn poverty.
11. Religious souls are souls consecrated to suffering. I would like to see in my
brides those who are likewise crucified. Should not the bride be like the
bridegroom?
12. Jesus says: if you wish to suffer for me as I suffered for you, let all your actions
be done to please me and do not refuse me any sacrifice.
13. Your faults will all appear at the day of judgement, but for your glory and
mine.
14. Jesus says: I accept all your actions and your sufferings for sinners and for
the souls in purgatory, but you must be intimately united to my Heart, to my
wounds, so that you are one with me.
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15. You must not leave my Heart, because I could no longer communicate with
you.
16. Jesus says: the Crucified one must be your favourite book. All true
knowledge lies in the study of my wounds; knowledge of love is not learned
from books, it is only given to the soul who looks upon the divine Crucified
one and speaks with him heart to heart. If all creatures were to study them,
they would all find enough there without needing any other book. Never
turn your eyes away from this book of my wounds, and you will learn more
than the great sages.
17. During the day, often offer the wounds of Jesus Christ to his eternal Father.
Unite all your actions according to the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
for the triumph of the Church, for sinners and for the souls in purgatory.
18. Jesus says: I want the religious soul to be detached from everything, since
in order to come to me the soul must be free of every attachment, such that
no more ties bind it to the earth. You need to go and conquer the Lord in
solitude, you have to search in your heart.
19. You need to be united to me in all your actions. The soul that does not rest on
the bosom of its bridegroom Jesus (cf. Jn 13:25) in its sorrows, in its work, is
wasting time. When it has committed offences it must rest on my Heart with
great confidence. All your infidelities vanish in this burning hearth: they are
seared by love and all consumed.
20. Jesus says: I beg for the love of my creatures but the majority of them,
including among religious souls, refuse me this love. My daughter, love me
purely for myself alone, without regard to punishment or recompense.
21. Ah, my daughter, if you only knew how my Heart suffers due to the
ingratitude of so many hearts. You need to unite your sorrows to those of
my Sacred Heart.
22. Jesus says: the fruits of holiness issue from my wounds. You need to place
your soul and the soul of your sisters in my wounds. Here they will be honed
like gold in the furnace. You can always purify yourselves in my wounds.
23. My wounds will mend your wounds, will cover over all your faults.
24. Those who honour my wounds will have true knowledge of me. By
meditating on them you will always find new nourishment for love.
25. My holy wounds will give value to your works. My daughter, immerse your
actions in my wounds and they will become something. Dip all your actions,
even the least of them, in my blood, and they will acquire infinite merit and
will satisfy my Heart.
26. My holy wounds are balm and comfort in suffering. When you have some
sorrow, something that brings suffering, you need to promptly place it in my
wounds and your pain will be alleviated.
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27. These holy wounds have marvellous efficacy for the conversion of sinners;
they save the world and assure one of a holy death; they will save you
infallibly. They will save the world; there will be no death for the soul who
expires in my wounds; they give true life.
28. My holy wounds give all power over God. My power is in my wounds: you
become powerful with them. Yes, you can obtain everything: you have every
power. You can disarm my justice. Although everything comes from me, I
want to be implored, I want to be asked. The holy wounds in particular will
safeguard communities.
29. The Eternal Father told her: My daughter, I will give you my divine Son
to help you in your life that you may pay what you owe to my justice for
yourself and for everyone. You will take from my Son’s wounds to pay the
debts of sinners.
30. She nurtured a tenderness, a childlike confidence for the Eternal Father, and
is filled by Him with divine caresses.
31. She told the Eternal Father: “I offer you everything that your Son has done
and suffered for us.” The Eternal Father replied: “This is great and pleases
me very much.”
32. Your life here – he told her – is to make me known and loved by means of
my holy wounds.
33. He asked her to ceaselessly offer his divine wounds to the Eternal Father for
the salvation of the world.
34. You have chosen to satisfy my justice. Closed within your cloister you must
live down here as we live in heaven: loving me, begging me continually to
withhold my vengeance, and renewing devotion to my holy wounds.
35. With this devotion I want not only the souls living with you to be saved, but
many others still. One day I will ask you if you have made good use of this
treasure for all my creatures.
36. Jesus told her: I truly dwell in this place and in all its hearts. I will establish my
kingdom and my peace; I will destroy all obstacles with my power because
I am the master of hearts.
37. I have chosen you to bring the merits of my holy passion to bear on everyone.
My daughter, every time you offer the merits of my divine wounds to my
Father, you will earn an immense fortune. You are similar to one who finds
a great treasure in the ground; but since you cannot preserve this wealth,
God takes it back, and my divine Mother too, to return it at the moment of
death and to apply its merits to the souls in need of it.
38. There is no need to remain poor since your Heavenly Father is very rich. Your
wealth is my passion. Whoever finds themselves in need can come with faith
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and confidence and constantly draw from the treasure of my passion and the
holes of my wounds. This treasure belongs to you, everything is here.
39. One of my creatures betrayed me and sold my blood, but you can so easily
buy it back drop by drop. One single drop is enough to purify the earth, and
you do not think about that? You do not know its value. My murderers did
well to pierce my side, my hands and feet, because the waters of divine mercy
will flow eternally from them. One only needs to detest the sin that caused
them.
40. My Father is pleased with the offering of my holy wounds and of the sorrows
of my divine Mother. To make this offering to him and to offer him its glory
is to offer heaven to heaven. Here is what to pay for all those in debt – by
offering my Father the merit of my wounds you make satisfaction for the
sins of human beings.
41. You need to entrust everything to my divine wounds and work with their
merits for the salvation of souls.
42. Venerate and look upon my wounds with great humility. You do not
consider my wounds enough, and you do not understand the full extent
of the graces you receive for their merits. Even my priests do not look
sufficiently upon the Crucified one: I want to be honoured in full.
43. The harvest is great, abundant; you need to humble yourselves, sink into
your nothingness to reap souls, without looking at what you have already
done.
44. You should not fear to show my wounds to souls. The way of my wounds is
so simple and easy a way to go to heaven. He asks us to do it with the zeal
of seraphs.
45. You need to contemplate the sufferings of Jesus to conform yourselves to
him.
46. You need to come to my wounds with a warm and zealous heart, and with
great fervour make aspirations to obtain the graces of conversion you seek.
47. In the contemplation of my wounds you will find everything for yourself
and for others.
48. My daughter, do not be concerned with earthly things. You will see in
eternity what you have earned through my wounds.
49. The wounds on my holy feet are an ocean: place all creatures here since they
are big enough to hold them all.
50. It is necessary to pray a lot so that my holy wounds spread throughout the
world. My holy wounds sustain the world. Constancy in loving my wounds
must be asked of me, since they are the source of all graces.
51. It is necessary to often call on my wounds, draw your neighbour to them,
and you need to speak about them and return to them frequently in order to
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impress devotion on souls. All words spoken about my holy wounds please
me, inexpressibly so, and I count them all. If anyone does not want to come
into my wounds, you, my daughter, must let them in.
52. One day Jesus told her: My daughter, come to me and I will give you water
that will quench your thirst. In the Crucified one there is everything, there is
something to quench your thirst, there is something there for all souls. You
will find everything in my wounds, they produce solid works, not through
glory but through suffering. You are the workers who work in the Lord’s
field; you will earn much through my wounds and without pain.
53. Offer me your actions and those of your sisters united to my holy wounds;
nothing could make them more meritorious nor more pleasing to my eyes.
There are incomprehensible riches there even in the smallest actions.
54. Jesus told her: You must apply yourself to healing your wounds by
contemplating my wounds. Uncovering his right foot he told her: How you
must venerate this wound and hide in it like the dove.
55. Jesus let her see his left hand: my daughter, take my merits for souls in my
left hand, that they may be at my right hand in eternity.
56. Religious souls will be at my right hand to judge the world, but first I will
ask them to account for the souls that they should have saved.
57. Jesus asks for a very special cult of veneration, reparation and love for his
august Head crowned with thorns. The crown of thorns made me suffer
more than all my other wounds, this was my cruellest suffering except for
the Garden of Olives. To alleviate it you need to observe your Rule well. For
the faithful soul who goes to the point of imitation, the crown of thorns is a
source of merit. Here is this head that has been pierced for your love, and for
the merits of which you must one day be crowned. Happy is the soul that
will have contemplated well but even better, put it into practice.
58. The souls who have contemplated and honoured my crown of thorns on
earth will be my crown of glory in heaven. For one moment that you
contemplate my crown of thorns here on earth, I will give you one for
eternity, and it will be the crown of thorns that will earn you the crown of
glory. It is the chosen gift that Jesus gives his privileged ones. My crown of
thorns I give to my privileged ones. My wounds and the crown of thorns
are the property of my brides and privileged souls. They are the joy of the
blessed, but for my chosen ones on earth it is a suffering.
59. My true servants endeavour to suffer with me, but none can reach the degree
of suffering that I have endured.
60. Behold him whom you seek, see what state He is in. Look, remove the thorns
from my head, offering the merit of my wounds to my Father for sinners. Go
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in search of souls. A souls that acts in union with the merits of my holy crown
earns more than the whole community.
61. My crown of thorns will illuminate the heavens and all the blessed. On earth
there are some privileged souls to whom I will show it, but the earth is too
dark to see it. See how beautiful it is after having been so painful. Take my
crown of thorns and my blessed ones will contemplate you in this state. Then
turning to the saints and showing his dear victim: “Behold” said he, “the fruit
of my crown of thorns. The holy crown which makes the righteous happy, is
an object of terror for the wicked.”
62. Souls who have been faithful during their life will throw themselves with
confidence into the arms of their Saviour. Others, at the sight of the crown
of thorns and the reminder of the immense love of Jesus Christ they have
despised, will plunge themselves into the eternal abyss in terror.
63. Just come here to the wound in my side, it is the wound of love from which
the brightest flames emanate. Come to my heart, you will fear nothing. Put
your lips here to draw charity from it and spread it throughout the world.
Put forth your hand to take my treasures.
64. Take, because the measure of graces is replete. I can no longer contain them,
so much do I want to give them. Hold fast to my heart to take and spill my
blood.
65. If you wish to enter into the Lord’s light, you need to hide yourself in my
divine Heart. If you wish to know the intimacy of the bowels of mercy (Lk
1:78) of he who loves you so much, you must bring your lips respectfully
and humbly to the opening in my heart.
66. He has in mind all souls, and in a special way the souls consecrated to him..
67. I need your heart to comfort me and keep me company. You need to be united
to me in every one of your actions.
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3. MAXIMS OF THE MONTH FOR THE CONFRERES
Introduction
1. Three notebooks have come down to us entitled Massime del mese per i
Confratelli. Da copiare (Maxims of the month for the confreres. To copy down).
Srugi writes four maxims per page, intending to copy them onto cardboard
strips so he can distribute them on the first Friday of the month, following the
order of the “Office of the Sacred Heart” (promotion, reparation, adoration,
lover, disciple, victim, faithful servant, supplicant, zeal).
2. In his day, the Betgamāl community consisted of priests, brothers and
clerics doing practical training; all were involved, to varying degrees, in
the Christian education, instruction and vocational training of young people.
Srugi was responsible for the internal infirmary, outpatient clinic and external
dispensary, supervisor at the mill and for a period was also in charge of the
small shop store. He also led morning prayer for the confreres and the boys; he
prepared the candidates for their First Communion and looked after the altar
boys group; he was the Master of Ceremonies for solemn liturgical celebrations;
he was the leader of the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade” and presided over the
“St Joseph’s Sodality”. Any number of priests and brothers were of outstanding
virtue, exemplary for their work, prayer and temperance. Among the priests
some had fair or even a very good knowledge of classical and ecclesiastical
culture; Simon instead was certainly not “a man of letters”.
Bearing these facts in mind, his initiative in collecting these “maxims” and
distributing them demonstrates his zeal for the sanctification of the confreres,
be they priests or brothers, without having any kind of “complex” about it. The
simplicity with which he acted came from the fact that he was the first to put
these exhortations and recommendations into practice, and to be an example of
them. Otherwise the confreres might well have told him: “Physician, heal thyself”.
Instead, the testimonies of his contemporaries (confreres, young people, sisters
and lay collaborators) show that this discreet and humble way of doing things
was very well received by everyone.
The maxims he copied down the most, point to his preferences: first of all
purity of intention; the true joy that springs from the virtuous soul; fighting vices
and faults, both in thoughts and deeds (anger, gluttony, vanity where the body
is concerned, and in clothing ...) and cultivating virtues: especially religious
obedience, humility and charity.
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3. The cues for these “maxims” for the confreres, and the ones for the boys, as
well as the “salutary thoughts” I am offering in the pages to follow, came to him
from many sources (which he never mentions): biblical, liturgical, devotional,
hagiographical, meditation books, the catechism and explanations of the Sunday
Gospel, the Rector’s monthly conferences.49 In my book Simone Srugi nella storia
di Betgamāl I indicated where each manuscript could be found in the archives
and the position of each maxim. Here I consider it sufficient to report the texts,
allowing me also to combine phrases or sentences that Srugi separated for
practical reasons.
TEXTS
1. Take a firm look at your conscience to observe the advances or setbacks
made in the devout life. Think often of what could possibly give you anxiety
or sorrow at the point of death and put matters right in good time.
2. If we were to enjoy all pleasures, all comforts, all possible honours in this
life, yet were condemned to hell in the next world, what benefit to us would
that be?
3. All worldly affairs should matter little to us; we should only have our
eternal salvation at heart. If we were the most miserable, the most wretched
people in this world, yet were possessors of eternal happiness in the next,
what harm would it be to us?
4. My soul, you know your foolishness in being so attached to earthly affairs
and in being so neglectful of your eternal salvation. The only thing you are
in this world for is the salvation of your soul. Oh, open your eyes so that
you are not deceived in something so important.
5. How unhappy I would be if I were not to begin from today onwards to work
hard at the matter of my salvation; what regret would await me at the point
of death. Today I will convert myself to the Lord and will let go of every
worldly affair, and I will direct everything to the most important business
of my eternal salvation. Help me, oh my God.
6. Christian soul, descend often with your thoughts into hell, that horrible
and desperate place filled with fire and merciless demons, and always be
prepared not to fall into it.
49 The sources most used, which I have already listed in full in the initial Bibliography, are: the writings of St
Francis de Sales, St Alphonsus Liguori, St John Bosco and his first four successors; Alphonsus Rodriguez,
Lorenzo Scupoli, (most of the above exist in English translation), Giulio Barberis; [Anonymous], Mese del
Sacro Cuore .
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7. Mortal sin changes our soul so much that in making it lose the image of
God it makes it become more ugly and abominable than the devil himself.
Man could not be in a more unhappy state on earth than being in the state
of mortal sin. The Christian may have all the goods of the world, greatness,
honours, wealth, health, esteem: but if he is in mortal sin he is like a corpse
amid flowers. The soul in mortal sin is stinking and rotten and heading for
perdition: hence it is abominable and an object of horror to God. A soul in
mortal sin is in disgrace with God, has lost any of the merits of any good
work it has done. The soul in mortal sin is stripped of any gift, any privilege,
and if it dies in such a state then hell will be its eternal abode.
8. Whoever has right intention in everything walks towards heaven without
bending either to the right or to the left. The intention is upright and simple
when there is nothing impure about it, nothing of self-love or vain fear, but
turns to God alone and is content with Him alone.
9. The one aiming at God alone, seeking only the glory and honour of God has
right intention. True children of God are those who always aim at God and
seek his will alone.
10. Our works in themselves are nothing; they need to be veiled and clothed
with the right intention to please God. Before doing anything, fix your gaze
on God to whom you direct your intention. We must close our left eye to
so much human consideration and vain knowledge, and open the right eye,
looking at God by means of a sincere intention. Let us offer our service with
good will, considering God in our superiors, imagining that we serve not
men but the Lord.
11. Christians, whoever they may be, must always keep their mind's eye fixed
on the Heavenly Father in every operation, and work for his glory.
12. Those who seek only their own material interest in their actions live very
badly. Those who raise themselves up to God with their thoughts live well
and never lose sight of him in what they do.
13. Those who have the most righteous intention look to God, not to
themselves. The driving force behind our actions should not be reward and
merit but only the goodness of God. Offer your every action for the greater
glory of God and your neighbour’s salvation, and await your reward from
God.
14. God must be served only for who he is and for what he deserves. God does
not want us to serve him like the dog serves his master, awaiting a reward.
God loves us spontaneously and we must love him the same way. To truly
serve God is to serve him solely for who he is, that is, in view of what he
deserves.
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15. Whoever has the right intention looks to God alone, and seeks only his
pleasure. Let us try to have the treasure of that intention which is excellent
and very pure when we do something because it pleases God so. A good
religious looks only to his God, whose glory and approval he seeks with
the utmost commitment.
16. Where there is perfect uniformity to God's will, neither sadness nor
melancholy can ever reign.
17. God, in his immense goodness, deserves that everything should be done in
his honour, even if there were neither heaven nor hell.
18. Whoever has the right intention looks to God alone, and seeks only his
pleasure.
19. Human actions share in the nature of the intention that one has in carrying
them out. If the intention is holy, works will also be holy. Many works are
very good on the outside, but they are marred by intention. The same thing
can be good and bad according to the right or wrong intention of those who
carry it out.
20. In our every word or action we always aim at the highest good which is
God.
21. Those who do good for their own sake must be called bad. Instead,
everything must be done in deference to God. Let us always aim for the
highest good, and let us be like sailors who steer our course towards some
star.
22. Ways that appear to be crooked and rough to the eyes of the flesh are very
straightforward ways for going to God, so long as we have the intention of
giving pleasure to God.
23. The sun that illuminates objects is the symbol of the right intention that
ennobles our actions. If the right intention does not accompany our works,
they will be nothing before God for eternity. In the sight of God, those works
are righteous which have been preceded by a righteous intention.
24. Our life is based on virtues, and these on right intention which takes its
strength from Jesus Christ. We deserve praise or condemnation, depending
on whether our intention is good or bad.
25. Where virtue is not the goal, the goal is vain, or natural, or vicious, which
spoils everything. When our works lack good intention they are like bodies
without a soul. Right intention is for works what the soul is for our body.
Man without right intention toils without fruit and has no right to any
reward with God.
26. Jesus Christ says: be careful to do good in the sight of men to be seen by
them. Good in the sight of men must be done; but because when they see
it they will glorify God, not us (cf. Mt 5:16). Those who do good with a
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sinister intention, that is, to please men, to be seen by them, to merit their
praise, have already received their reward (cf Mt 6:1-6, 16-18). God does
not regret that the work we do is seen, but he is sorry that we are doing it
to be seen. Let the good work you do be public, but the intention be secret
and let them glorify your Father who is in heaven (cf. Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).
27. The Lord will not reward our good works if we have done them to be seen
and praised by men (cf. Mt 6:1-6, 16-18). The more our works are deserving,
the less we should take delight and pleasure in them. We must get used to
acting without seeking what pleases us but only what pleases God.
28. God does not want you to be the aim of your works, and even more so does
he not want you to be the aim of others in your works. Whoever does good
works in order to be seen by men must not expect the reward of his heavenly
Father.
29. Many fear the voice of men but do not fear the voice of conscience. Most
do not look to work well but to see to it that others think well of them and
applaud and praise them.
30. When the good Christian hears praise being heaped on him to which God,
not he, has the right, he says: these things do not belong to me, the glory is
God’s.
31. Let us be careful that the bad thief with wrong intention does not steal all the
merit of the works we do. The price of our actions comes from our intention,
and actions are good or bad according to the intention that accompanies
them. The widow’s mite pleased God because of her good intention, rather
than the heap of money that the pharisees, urged on by self-love, threw into
the treasury box (cf. Mk 12:41-44).
32. The devil knows well that in every work the price comes from the right
intention; that is why he is constantly striving to take it away from us.
33. All of our inner being depends on properly adjusting our outer being.
Mortification in eating is the beginning of the spiritual life. Whoever does
not practise mortification in eating will never be able to overcome their
passions. The first battle you have is to break with the vice of gluttony,
which provides pasture for all the others. Gluttony is the origin of the death
of body and soul, since our first parents, by eating the forbidden fruit (cf.
Gen 3:6), killed all human beings before generating them.
34. Trying to suffer without others knowing it is the surest indication of
perfection. The true patient not only does not regret his pain, but he does
not even want to be pitied by others.
35. Truly humble people never believe they have been wronged.
36. We shall have every good thing if we fear God and guard against
displeasing him.
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37. Be quick to feel compassion for your brothers’ mistakes, and willingly
forgive the offences you receive from them.
38. Have a tender devotion to the passion of Jesus Christ if you wish to grow
in his love.
39. Oh what an unhappy lover is the one who does not love God!
40. Whoever loves God is in God: by ceasing to live in himself he lives in him
(cf. 1 Jn 4:12-16 passim) in whom everything has its life.
41. Human love is violent and bitter, while divine love is always meek and
tranquil.
42. Love God if you want to love yourself; for loving God is good for you, not
for him.
43. Man may change and perish; but you never lose God if you do not turn
away from Him.
44. Happy is the one who is subject to God, who desires nothing anxiously,
who adapts himself to events, and says: God wants me healthy, he wants
me sick, he wants me needy; I am ready for anything.
45. You will be troubled by perpetual concern if you desire what is not in your
power.
46. True joy only comes from a good conscience, and only someone who is
just, strong and temperate enjoys this. So that your soul may never lack
happiness, let it come from within. Seriousness is the origin of pure joy,
of an innocent mind, honest advice, upright actions, contempt for sorrows,
and a placid tenor of an untroubled life.
47. This is the true law of virtue: that sincere joy is to be acquired with tears
every day.
48. God is the soul's only food, the only one capable of satisfying its hunger and
thirst.
49. In order to be blessed, Christians need to want to sanctify themselves, and
they need to work hard to become so.
50. The more you are devoured by hunger and thirst for justice, the more you
will be satiated one day (cf. Mt 5:6).
51. The supreme praise that can be said of a man is that he is just.
52. Let us be modest, disinterested, pure, sincere before everyone.
53. Whoever loves themselves does not love God. Love of self is contrary to
love of God.
54. Despise worldly things and you will neither desire them nor hope for them.
No one hopes for what they do not care for.
55. All that you have was lent to you, and yours is only the use of it, for as long
as it pleases the supreme arbiter of all things.
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56. Do you wish to be free from envy? Despise the fleeting goods of this world
and love those that are eternal: because the love of eternity is the death of
envy.
57. Faults must certainly be corrected and punished, but without anger.
58. Lucifer brings envy to men, but to none of his companions, and you, O man,
bring it to your brothers, and in this you surpass the devil. Envy is a sign of
a weak mind, for only those whom you consider superior in goodness and
greatness are envied by you.
59. Lift yourself up to eternal things and make yourself worthy of the heaven
you were born for. If Caesar had made you an adopted child of his, who
could put up with your haughty behaviour? But you are the child of God,
redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ and of such a sublime origin you
don't even remember?
60. Cast out the proud thoughts of your superiority and judge yourself with
the norm of the true goods of heaven.
61. We will have every good if we fear God and are on our guard against
displeasing him.
62. To those for whom God is everything, the world must be nothing.
63. No one can boast except of his own good.
64. If you are eager to receive praises you corrupt them of your own accord. In
fact, what is it about you that is truly commendable? Beware lest the world
give you a value that you really don't have.
65. Give back to the Supreme God what you received from him: existence, life,
understanding, and nothing will remain for you, except sin.
66. Take care that you are not praised for the things in you that you are ashamed
of.
67. The body must be treated severely rather than not, so that it does not become
repugnant to the desires of the soul. You were born to greater things than
being the abject slave of the body, in which you must see nothing but a bond
of soul and freedom. It is much better to torment the body and keep it than
to caress it to its detriment and lose it together with the soul in eternity.
68. Since the senses are almost the doors through which the death of the soul
enters, so you will ensure that they are closed to the things of this world
and turned to the things of heaven. The senses must serve, not command.
A sign of much foolishness is to be occupied with the care of the body.
69. No matter how much you pride yourself on gold and pearls, without
Christian ornaments you will always be deformed. Let your dressing
be without artifice, not for pomp, but for necessity, according to your
condition. It is a good ambition to cover the earth with gold. The ornaments
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that last forever, that is, those that adorn you internally, and not your mortal
flesh.
70. Flee from duplicity and simulation, and candidly state the feelings of your
soul.
71. If you have learned to venerate God in creatures, from them you will gently
lift your soul to the contemplation of his great majesty.
72. Shut your ears to murmurings, gossip, vain tales and all that cannot be
beneficial to your soul.
73. The more seldom you listen to men, the more often you will hear God
speaking to your heart.
74. God gave you the power to speak so that you can express things as they
are with simplicity and frankness. When you are about to speak, examine
yourself, and if any violent passion boils in you, do not open your mouth
until the emotion has passed.
75. What you are inside, this will be your speech: if the mind is healthy,
temperate and composed, your speech will be sober and sparing. Diligently
weigh your words and put a stop to your mouth, and say nothing that it
would have been better to have kept quiet. It is more laudable to be more
sparing in words than in money. Those who are lavish with money harm
themselves, but at least they benefit others, but those who are lavish with
words harm themselves and others.
76. Beware of all idle talk, for talk shows the mettle of the man. Wise men
repeatedly regretted having spoken, never having been silent.
77. Love cannot lie, nor can it stay hidden, and in the long run it responds to
what abounds in the heart (cf. Mt 12:34). If God were the object of your
love, if you were concerned about your salvation, no one would hear you
speak except about God, virtue and perfection.
78. In social gatherings, all reasoning mostly revolves around the life, customs
and inclinations of others. Rare is the man who keeps his eyes on his own
house. We throw open the door to the slander of our neighbour, but we
keep the door ajar to his praise.
79. It matters little that others have an opinion of you. You have a more certain
and incorrupt witness within your soul: question your conscience and
believe it.
80. Though evil ones tear at you and slander you, you must not lose the
tranquillity of your soul. To be troubled at every noise is a sign that someone
has little self-esteem. You will always be unhappy if the fear of contempt
stirs you.
81. What do you fear poverty for if you carry a whole kingdom in your heart?
The kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:21).
82. Whatever you blame in others you will find in your own heart.
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83. Eternity is the present that lasts forever, a wheel that turns without ever
stopping, an endless inexhaustible beginning that always seems to begin
again.
84. Order your soul every day in the way you would if your final hour had
come.
85. That which has passed from good or evil deeds into eternity remains firm
and immovable forever. Eternity makes every toil seem easy, every sorrow
joyful, every pain sweet and small.
86. It is no wrong to suffer what you made others suffer before.
87. Why don't you correct your impatience? Why don't you overcome evil with
good? (Rom 12:21). Why do you place the vices of others before your eyes
and your own behind your back?
88. Why do you grieve that you have been wronged by an evil man? He acted
in accordance with who he is. Now you, if you are good, act appropriately,
and endeavour to make the other good also.
89. The more virtuous a man is, the more strongly he restrains his anger. Let
your anger be the first aim of your vengeance. Do not seek your enemies
in the public square, while the most bitter one is lurking at your door. The
enemy is hidden within you (cf. Gen 4:2-8), indeed you are that very one.
Therefore look at your soul from within yourself.
90. The happiness of pleasing God by doing all things well is a sample of
paradise.
91. How beautiful it is to see God, to love him, bless him and contemplate him
for all eternity.
92. Jesus is in the tabernacle to console us, and therefore we must go often to
visit him. How much He likes that short quarter of an hour that we steal
from our spare time to come and visit him, to console him for the many
outrages he receives! Jesus is hidden in the tabernacle waiting for us to go
and see him, to present our petitions to him. Look how good Jesus is! He
adapts to our weakness. Jesus hides from us like someone who is in prison
and tells us: You don't see me, but it doesn't matter. Ask me what you want,
and I will grant it to you.
93. Beware of pondering in your thoughts before God the things you would
be ashamed to speak about before an upright person. May your thoughts
be placid, simple, pure, and without malice. Be ashamed to think about
what you would be ashamed to say. Let your thoughts be such that, when
suddenly asked what you think, you would not blush to reveal what is
hidden in your heart. Occupying the mind with good thoughts: this is the
way the door is closed to bad ones.
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94. Without the passions, virtue would be done away with. Where there is no
battle, there are no victories.
95. It is easier to resist principles than to hold back passions, so it takes a lot of
tough restraint to resist bad inclinations.
96. You will destroy self-love and eradicate it by despising yourself; considering
yourself not endowed with any singular prerogative.
97. By reasonably hating yourself, you shall preserve yourself; and you shall
lose yourself by loving yourself ill (cf. Jn 12:25).
98. The humble religious will look better in the Valley of Jehosaphat than the
wise and proud religious (cf. Joel 3:2, 12).
99. Love sincerity, especially in confession, and you will find yourself happy in
life and especially at the point of death.
100. This life passes quickly and at the point of death there is nothing left but
our good works done for God. In everything you do, see if you are aiming
for God's greater glory.
101. When we experience some pain and affliction, let us console ourselves by
thinking that the saints have happily suffered greater things.
102. Receiving corrections and reprimands with humility shows that one loves
virtue and one's own profit in perfection.
103. Let us learn from the Child Jesus to have the respect that is due for the things
of this world.
104. If you want to arrive at the height of perfection, then truly seek to love being
misunderstood, insults, slander, in imitation of Jesus our teacher. Whoever
is not very humble can never acquire any virtue.
105. The greatest gift we can receive from God is that of being able to overcome
ourselves by renouncing our own will. Really give yourself to the practice
of humiliation, and you will know that this is the quickest and shortest way.
106. Lord, you pay anyone who does some service for you with some affliction.
Oh what an inestimable price this is for those who truly love you.
107. A “thanks be to God”, a “blessed be God” in adversity is worth more than
a thousand thanks in prosperity.
108. Many religious have become saints without prayer, but none without
obedience.
109. There is no road that leads more quickly to the summit of perfection
than that of obedience, therefore the devil introduces many difficult and
distasteful things under the guise of being good.
110. True obedience is known in carrying out things that go against our grain
and are to our disadvantage, joyfully and without repugnance. The truly
obedient person does not pick and choose, nor does he desire one job over
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another, because he does not care for anything other than to faithfully carry
out what has been commanded of him.
111. The perfection of the religious lies in exact obedience to his Rules. The
religious who will be most faithful in observing his Rules will certainly be
more perfect.
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4. MAXIMS FOR THE YOUNG
Introduction
1. Many of these maxims are the ones that Don Bosco suggested to his boys in
the first part of the Giovane Provveduto (in English The Companion of Youth). A good
number of them are identical to the ones for the confreres (therefore not repeated
here), a sign that Simon was proposing the same “high standard” of spiritual
life to the young men. Others are in references to the life of the boys/older youth
themselves, as boarders, and concerned their relationship with the superiors and
their fellow boarders, devotion to Our Lady, the virtues of their state in life.
2. The boys living in at Betgamāl (of varying ages from 10-12 and 17-19)
were mostly orphans and also bore the psychological consequences of the
persecutions they had undergone, for example the Armenians. The level of
schooling consisted of knowing how to read, write and do arithmetic, the
rudiments of Arabic and Italian, then English as well, and in learning practical
subjects and techniques to be used in field work, in the stable or in the cellar. By
the end of four years they had gained a certificate and some specialisation. As
in every Salesian boarding school, the educational environment as a whole was
aimed at the integral formation of the youngsters, and encouraged their active
role in various ways: religious and devotional groups (the “sodalities”), singing
(including Gregorian), instrumental music, theatre (Don Bosco’s teatrino),
gymnastics and sport (they had a basketball court on the northern courtyard,
a football field on the south-eastern hillside, a swimming pool down below the
wadi Bulos); outings, walks and pilgrimages were organised, and they took part
in regional catechism competitions.
From a religious point of view, not all of them had a proper knowledge of the
liturgical Rite they belonged to; they received basic catechetical instruction and
had their daily practices of piety of the good Christian, Mass and communion on
Sundays and feast days. Also, some zealous confreres, and Simon was among
these, introduced them to devotions typical of Salesian houses: the Blessed
Sacrament, the Sacred Heart, Our Lady, St Joseph. As we have seen earlier,
the best ones were enrolled in the “Blessed Sacrament Crusade” for which
Simon was responsible. Among these boys there were very few aspirants to the
priesthood or consecrated life as Salesian coadjutors (brothers).
3. Bearing all this in mind, it is striking that Srugi not only taught them
to serve Mass in Arabic and Italian, but looked after their spiritual growth
through these monthly “maxims” as well. He offered them some models for
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their behaviour: Jesus the adolescent in submission to St Joseph and Our Lady,
the chaste Joseph, obedient Tobias, St Aloysius Gonzaga. The motivations he
uses to encourage them to live virtuously are: God loves youngsters for their
innocence and generosity; Our Lady reciprocates those who venerate her with
her constant “visits”; the direction taken as teenagers will be the same as the
direction one is likely to continue as an adult.
TEXTS
1. There is more value in picking up a straw out of obedience than fasting an
entire Lent through one’s own choice.
2. In this world there is no purgatory, but either heaven or hell: whoever
endures tribulations with patience has heaven, and who doesn't has hell.
3. We will have everything good if we fear God and beware displeasing him.
4. When someone invites you to do wrong, flee from it like the chaste Joseph
tempted in Potiphar's house (cf. Gen 39:6-20).
5. Be quick to feel sorry for your companion’s faults, and willingly forgive the
offences you receive from them.
6. Always be horrified by duplicity and pretence, because it displeases God and
superiors.
7. To those who love God, all things will turn out well (cf. Rom 8:28).
8. Have a great horror of sin, as did St Stanislaus Kostka, who fainted at hearing
a bad word.
9. Go to confession often and value the confessor’s advice very much.
10. Always speak well and with great respect in matters of religion if you want
to please Jesus Christ.
11. Have great respect for your parents and for your superiors in the boarding
school, just as young Tobias respected them and never did anything without
their permission.
12. Highly value the advice given to you by God's ministers, both in public and
in private.
13. To always have a clean soul, imitate St Magdalene dei Pazzi who, from her
earliest years, delighted in attending the Sacraments.
14. Beware of any immodesty, remembering Saint Agnes who, in the midst of
the flames, gathered her clothes so as not to uncover the slightest part of her
body.
15. Fear offending God more than death. With this principle Susanna was always
innocent, even in the worst moments (cf. Dan 13).
16. Never forget that sin is the only evil you must always flee from.
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17. Remember every day that God's grace is the only comfort and the only good
that must always be valued above any other good.
18. Often aspire to God with short and ardent thrusts of your heart; give him
your soul a thousand times a day.
19. A great support for you, O young people, is devotion to the Blessed Virgin
Mary - listen as she invites you: “Let him who is a child come to me”. If you
are devoted to Mary, besides the abundance of her blessings in this world
she will assure you of the beauty of paradise in the next life. Be certain that
if you are a true devotee of Mary, you will obtain from her all the graces you
need, provided you do not ask for things that would be to your detriment.
20. If you are steadfast in your devotion to the Mother of God, you will be
enriched every hour with new graces, and at the hour of death you will
certainly be visited by Her. If you visit Mary, she will visit you, visiting you
every moment from heaven with the loving signs of her special care. One of
the dearest respects you can pay to the Queen of Heaven is to visit her image
in church every day. The best way to acquire the love of God is true devotion
to Our Blessed Lady, and to visit her frequently. Pope St Gregory says:
Whoever visits Our Blessed Lady in her images will be abundantly rewarded
by that most benign mother who is very pleased with this reverence. Oh
Mary, how blessed are those souls on whom you turn your loving eyes.
21. We are surrounded by many temptations, the devil and passions; it takes a
great deal of diligent practice if we are to journey to paradise.
22. Sing your praises to God with cheerful spirit and recollection whenever you
sing in church.
23. Be sincere in your words and beware of lies so as not to offend God and not
to be disgraced in front of your companions.
24. Have filial confidence in the Rector, going to him whenever you have some
doubt of conscience. Show great respect to all the superiors, especially if they
are priests.
25. Do you know what it means to fall into mortal sin? It means renouncing
being children of God to become slaves of Satan. Falling into mortal sin
means losing the beauty that makes us dear to God and like angels, to become
like demons before him. Falling into mortal sin means losing all the merits
already acquired for eternal life, and deserving hell for eternity; it means
greatly insulting the infinite goodness of God, and this is the greatest evil
imaginable.
26. Never stop to look at things that are contrary to modesty, however slightly.
St Aloysius Gonzaga did not even want his feet to be seen. Guard your
eyes, which are the windows through which sin makes its way into your
heart, and through which the devil comes into your soul. Whoever keeps the
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virtue of purity, his guardian angel will regard him as a brother and enjoy
his company very much.
27. Every day ask Our Blessed Lady for the grace of being able to keep the
virtue of purity. The young man who keeps it has the greatest resemblance to
angels. Be certain that the purer your looks and your speech, the more Mary
will be pleased with you.
28. Always stay away from the company of those young people who talk in filthy
ways, otherwise you will become bad too. Happy you, young man, if you flee
the company of the wicked, you will be sure to be on the way to heaven. Stay
away from bad companions even when they are your relatives, and be sure
that sometimes being in their company does more damage than the company
of a devil. If you really love your soul, flee bad companions like the plague.
Bad companions are all those young people who are not ashamed of using
filthy language in your company, uttering immodest words, grumbling and
lies.
29. Flee bad books and bad press like the plague, rather than exposing your soul
to the danger of becoming bad.
30. Remember to practise the great advice of the holy Gospel to obey God before
men.
31. The main snare that the devil lays for youth is idleness, the fatal source of all
vices. Be convinced, boys, that man is born for work, and when he ceases to
work he is off-centre and runs great risk of offending God. Idleness, says the
Holy Spirit, is the father of all vices, and being busy fights them and beats
them all.
32. There is nothing that torments the damned more in hell than the thought of
having spent idle the time God had given them to save themselves. There is
nothing that consoles the blessed in paradise more than that they used the
time given to them by the Lord for the glory of God and to save themselves.
33. God loves you, young man, because he expects from you many good works;
he loves you because you are at a simple, humble, innocent age, therefore,
correspond to his love. God has a special affection for the young, and finds
his delight in dwelling with them. It is therefore right to love him above all
else.
34. Remember that a bad life begun in youth will easily continue so until death,
and will lead you to hell. The Lord declares happy the man who, from his
youth, has borne the light and gentle yoke of the commandments (cf. Jer,
Lam 3:27).
35. Honour your father and mother, and your superiors in their stead, and you
will have a long life on earth, says the Lord (cf. Ex 20:12). Those who are not
obedient do great insult to their parents and, in their stead, to their superiors
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and to God himself. Jesus Christ, though all-powerful, in order to teach us
to obey was subject in all things to the Blessed Virgin and to St Joseph (Lk
2:51). It is the duty of everyone to pray morning and evening for his parents,
so that God may grant them every temporal and spiritual good.
36. Whatever we ask of God in church we will obtain it.
37. How much pleasure you give to Jesus Christ and what good example you
give to your neighbour by being recollected and devout in church. When
you enter the church, beware of running or making noise, but after making a
good genuflection, go to your place. Beware laughing in church or speaking
unnecessarily; a word or a smile is enough to give scandal or disturb
someone.
38. Have the greatest respect for priests and religious, and receive their advice
with reverence. Whoever does not respect the sacred ministers must fear
great chastisement from the Lord. Speak well of the sacred ministers or do
not speak at all.
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5. SALUTARY THOUGHTS
Introduction
The handwritten manuscript consists of 50 small pages on which Srugi wrote,
in various circumstances, a lengthy series of brief thoughts, items of advice,
exhortations, considerations... concerning religious life, and especially the daily
journey of sanctification, to be practised in ordinary occupations, following
common practices and using traditional means, but with great love of God,
purity of intention and heart. Unlike the “maxims” he copied and then
distributed to the boys and the confreres on cardboard strips, these thoughts
were written down for himself and intended for personal use. The literary genre
is similar to the wisdom “aphorisms” found in the books of the Bible or of the
Desert Fathers, and in fact often make reference to aphorisms from Wisdom or
NT authors but without direct mention of them.
He shows how fully aware he is of his identity as a “consecrated soul”,
joyous and grateful to God for the very special grace of a religious vocation.
The unifying factor of his being was the love of God, or rather, the God of Jesus
Christ, his one and only and exclusive love, the one to whom he was espoused,
to whom he wanted to belong and give glory and pleasure in everything and
always. The primacy of God is very much in evidence. The call to vigilance is
motivated both by the desire not to displease the Lord in the least and by the
fear of appearing with some stain before the tribunal of his friend Jesus.
TEXTS
1. St Paul said: ...always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus
may also be made visible in our bodies (2 Cor 4:10).
2. St Bernard says: It is not fitting that the Head should be girded with thorns
and the limbs be delicate.
3. St Paul said: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory about to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18).
4. And St Peter says: Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires
of the flesh that wage war against the soul (1 Pt 2:11).
5. We are all pilgrims in this world, and we are journeying towards our
heavenly homeland (cf. Phil 3:20). Let us get rid of what is not very
necessary so that we can journey more quickly and more easily (cf. Heb
12:1). St Bernard says: Blessed and happy is the one who acts and behaves
as a pilgrim on earth, and understands and laments his exile, saying with
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the Prophet: Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace
at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears (Ps 38(39):13).
6. I must hasten to weave my crown for paradise with many good works,
because the time of my death is approaching.
7. I will seek to confirm my call and election to the religious state by means of
many good works (cf. 2 Pt 1:10).
8. Following Mary’s example I must attend to my sanctification with all
solicitude.
9. Entering religion I plan to bury my will and follow the will of my superior
in everything. St Bernard says: it is very important for the religious to be
accustomed to blindly obeying and without any further enquiry. Because it
is impossible for someone to last in religion if they want to be prudent and
know the reason for everything; it is better to be awkward and ignorant in
order to be wise. The good religious subject must embrace what the superior
orders him to do with much humility, simplicity and confidence.
10. The Lord says to St Teresa: Do you think, my daughter that merit consists
of enjoyment? No, it consists of suffering and loving. Look at my life
full of pain. Believe, my daughter, that whoever is more greatly loved
by my Father receives greater suffering from him (cf Prov. 3:12). Look
at these wounds; your sorrows will never reach this extent. It is an error
of judgement to think that my Father admits someone to his friendship
without suffering.
11. Our predestination to glory is not connected with extraordinary favours but
with the virtues of our state. Endeavour, O religious soul to confirm your call
and election by means of good works (cf. 2 Pt 1:10).
12. How many victories you have had over your enemies, how many crowns
you have received from God: how many humiliations and sorrows, as well
as delights and splendours. Multiply your virtuous acts now and He will
enrich you not only with the gifts of his grace, but also with glory, and he
will bestow this on you in abundance.
13. The Virgin Mary’s blessedness is the fruit of her holiness and her good
works. Oh, religious soul, when will you understand this? It is not only
what God has done for you that will give you the right to eternal reward, but
also what you have done for him. If you want a death similar to the Virgin
Mary’s, be accustomed to living united to God with the bond of charity,
detaching your heart from every earthly affection and acting only for God’s
glory.
14. Oh, how much peace and contentment a good and mortified religious has,
one who treads diligently and solicitously in matters that benefit him, doing
what he should as a good religious. There is no contentment that is its equal.
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15. Do not desire what is forbidden. God is the master of the soul, mind
and heart, as also of the body, and he wants everything in a man to be
upright, orderly and holy, inwardly and outwardly. Avoid bad thoughts
and desires, then; chase them away promptly.
16. At the point of death how we will regret not having done more good works
and acquired virtue and advanced in perfection. We would want to do more
but there will be no time. The Lord says: Walk the way of salvation while
you have time and light, before the darkness of death overtakes you (cf. Jn
12:35).
17. At the moment of death our conscience will remind us of the time we had to
become saints, and we wasted it. At every moment you can acquire eternal
treasures for life eternal, and you want to waste time? The enemy never
wastes time in tempting us, yet we waste the time that God gives us to save
ourselves? At judgement time Jesus Christ will ask us to account not only
for the time we have wasted, but also for every idle word (cf. Mt 12:36).
18. To keep our heart pure and unstained we very much need to have custody
of the senses. St Dorothy says: Get into the habit of keeping your eyes cast
down and modest, and of not looking at flippant and vain things, because
this usually causes all the efforts of religious to be lost. Everything you have
earned over a long time and with great effort will disappear very easily
through those doors of the senses if you do not keep custody over them,
and you will end up empty and without anything. Through negligence one
can very quickly lose what has just been finally acquired by grace with much
effort.
19. Beware lest you speak too much because this hinders holy thoughts and
inspirations and the desires that come from heaven. Continuous silence and
self-forgetfulness, and withdrawing from the clamour of worldly things,
lifts up the heart and has us ponder heavenly things, and turn our heart to
them. Eyes cast down always helps keep our heart in heaven.
20. Those who speak too much will damage their soul (cf. Prov 13:3). When
words are many, transgression is not lacking (Prov 10:19).
21. If you are not careful to observe silence, you will never acquire perfection
and will never be a man of prayer. If you want to make great profit in virtue
and arrive at perfection, observe silence and with it, says St James, you will
get there. If you want to be spiritual and a man of prayer, observe silence
(cf. Jas 3:2).
22. Abstain from facetious and silly words; these are the games children play,
and if perfection is your aim then it is appropriate to leave the child behind
and become a man (says St Basil). These jokes and games cause a man to
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become remiss and negligent in the things of God’s service, and deprive one
of devotion and compunction of heart.
23. A Saint says: If you are reserved everywhere, you will enjoy quiet and rest.
There is nothing so useful as being recollected, and speaking very little with
others and a lot with yourself.
24. The difference between spiritual men who attend to perfection, and carnal
and sensual men. (cf. 1 Cor 2:12-15) who do not do so, does not lie in feeling
or not feeling the difficulties and repugnance of the flesh, but in letting
oneself be carried away by them, or not. The spiritual man does not heed
the cries and demands of gluttony and the sensual appetite, nor does he
let himself be carried away by them. And this is the point: not heeding
temptations and the appetites that arise, nor giving in to them.
25. St Teresa practised and taught: Go ahead always with the desire to suffer
out of love for Jesus in everything and on every occasion. The Lord said to
St Teresa: Merit does not consist of enjoyment, but of working, suffering
and loving.
26. Eternity is approaching apace, therefore this requires greater vigilance of us
and renewed fervour in the service of the Lord.
27. The Gospel we have embraced is a light. While it shed its light on us, we
need to arm ourselves with holy works.
28. The joy of the Christian is far superior to that of the worldly person.
29. The presence of God and the closeness of his judgement must be a
motivation for moderation and modesty for us in all our actions.
30. The peace that comes to us from God, which is one of the fruits of the merits
of Jesus Christ, is an inestimable good.
31. The truly just person never forgets his state, whatever the esteem men have
for him. It matters little what others think of us, so long as God approves
of our action. We must never prevail over our conscience, since this can
deceive us, but always have God’s judgement before our eyes (cf. 1 Cor
4:3-4).
32. The only true repentance is that which brings about a change in us. Do not
believe that we are honouring the birth of Jesus Christ unless we change
our habits and become like children through the humble disposition of our
heart (cf. Mt 18:3).
33. Let us learn to do good while we have the time (cf. Gal 6:10) and the
convenience to do so: and let us not content ourselves just with sterile
desires and vain words, but let us do those fruitful good works that the
Lord requires of each religious (cf. Mt 3:8-10; Jn 15:1-8, 16).
34. It often happens that our prayers are not heard by God’s majesty, through
lack of peaceful union and charity with our brothers (cf. Jas 4:2-3).
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35. We must take care to deserve the reward of the elect by living a good life.
36. Let us endeavour with all our strength to make our way of life angelic and
pure during our brief sojourn in this present life, so that we may deserve
the glory and happiness of the angels in heaven.
37. Whoever loves his neighbour as himself (cf. Mt 22:39), kindly and
meekly tolerates and puts up with his defects and failures. Whoever
is charitable and tries to grow and perfect himself in this, possesses
an inestimable treasure, and according to St Augustine, accomplishes
everything contained in the Holy Scripture.
38. Let us honour and venerate the ministers of God and the Church whoever
they may be, because they are by nature venerable, and in their person we
are honouring God himself.
39. Always regard God as the ultimate goal of all our actions, and the only
object of our love.
40. All our desires must tend towards that blessed life that we hope for, and
the perfect establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in us.
41. The most terrible penalty that God can show sinners is to withdraw from
them so that they no longer give him a thought.
42. Let us fear the formidable judgement of God every day of our life, and let
us fear it with filial fear, which does not disturb us unnecessarily but makes
us diligently work for our salvation.
43. Let us not deceive ourselves, because each one will reap on the day of
judgement what he has sown in this present life (Gal 6:7). Whoever sows in
the flesh, meaning carnal and sinful works, will only reap corruption, that
is, pain and damnation; and whoever sows in the spirit, meaning good works
pleasing to God, will reap eternal life (Gal 6:8).
44. Keep awake, says Jesus Christ, for you do not know either the day nor the hour of
your death when the Son of God will come to judge you (Mt 24:42).
45. Do not put off for even a single moment trying to regain God’s grace if you
have lost it; and if you have it, guard it with great care, and increase it every
day through good works.
46. Let us remember that all the time of our present life is given to us to avoid
hell and to deserve heaven with good works, especially works of mercy (cf.
Mt 25:31-46).
47. Let us try to prepare ourselves diligently for the particular judgement and
be continually prepared for it as our Divine Master Jesus Christ who will be
our judge urges us. Blessed are we if we are found ready when the Lord comes
(cf. Mt 24:46; 25:13; Lk 12:35-40).
48. Not only do we have to refrain from talking about indecent things, but also
from listening to them: because those who enjoy hearing them provoke the
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other to speak: but it is still shameful and ugly to hear bad and ugly things.
Saint Basil says: Whoever grumbles and whoever listens to grumbling
must be separated from the community; because if one didn't listen to it
willingly, the other wouldn't enjoy grumbling. The Sage says: Plug your
ears with thorns when you hear your neighbour grumbling, especially
about superiors.
49. The Sage says: Before anything else you always have to value telling the
truth and not lying. The religious must never tell a lie, either to excuse
himself or to cover up his error. Because it is a vile and ugly thing and
unworthy of a religious. The theologians and saints say that it is not lawful
to tell a lie not even for the spiritual salvation of the entire world; so I can
hardly tell one to avoid being ashamed or mortified over some tiny thing!
50. We must go in search of mortification and humiliation: and do you flee
from those which present themselves to you and from those which you
cannot escape without committing sin? He who does this goes against the
profession he professes.
51. It is neither gravitas nor religious modesty to exaggerate and amplify things
too much.
52. Words proceed from the heart (cf. Mt 12:34). So the one who uses vain and
flippant words, demonstrates the vanity and flippancy of his heart. The one
who says witty or other ridiculous things, echoes like a vacuous and empty
vessel. The one who gives himself to flippancy and ridiculous things, does
not have the name of Jesus written on his heart but the world and all its
vanity, and this is what comes out of his mouth when he speaks.
53. St Paul says: Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for
building up as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear, and
ignite and enkindle in them the love of God and the desire of virtue and
perfection (cf. Eph 4:29).
54. The Lord says: Above all, it is useful and very necessary for spiritual profit,
that every religious gives himself to perfect obedience. Obedience of the
religious must be obedience of will and heart, conforming his will with that
of the superior, having the same will.
55. We must be very diligent and punctual in doing what is commanded of us.
The truly obedient person does not know what it means to delay, nor about
tomorrow or the day after, nor does he say “I will go right now”, like the
lazy ones do. Instead he keeps his ears pinned to hear what is commanded,
his feet ready to go and do it, his hands out to do it, and so promptly does
he do it that it seems he has anticipated what would be asked of him.
56. We have to be ready for the ringing of the bell and for the voice of the
superior, as if it were Christ our Lord, leaving whatever, even the letter we
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have begun and not yet finished. The devil cannot make us totally abandon
obedience, but he ensures that we are not punctual in obedience, so he can
play some part in it, and claim as his own at least that little bit that you omit
or delay in doing from the sound of the bell until you get up to obey.
57. Happy the souls who can say to God: Lord, we have always been yours.
58. Every religious is obliged to keep his cell in the utmost simplicity, and to
strive with all his might to adorn his heart with virtue.
59. Bridle your mouth with silence when your persecutors assail you with
weapons of slander, lies and scorn. Hold back from speaking and humble
yourself.
60. Only one ambition is just: the ambition to love God. He who fears men will
do nothing for God.
61. How few are those who understand what God would do for them if they
gave themselves entirely to him.
62. Beware the devil's snares. The best weapons against him are self-denial,
humility and patience.
63. Religious life is a school in which two things must be learned: to curb one's
passions and to imitate the virtues of others.
64. Virtue is the true wealth of the soul.
65. Carry your daily cross each day with the grace that each day brings.
66. Forget the past and keep your gaze continually fixed on the long way you
still have to travel along the path of virtue (cf. Phil 3:13).
67. There are souls whose name is written in golden letters on the Heart of Jesus,
and they are those who work and suffer for his glory.
68. “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all
your strength” (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37). The love of God is the holy fire that must
always burn on the altar of our heart. (cf. Lev 6:5-6).
69. Our rest will be in paradise. Oh paradise! Oh paradise, whoever thinks of
you in this world no longer suffers tiredness.
70. Put your things in order because you are about to die.
71. The Lord wants much more love from a religious than from other faithful,
and he has the right to do so.
72. Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how
fleeting my life is. You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as
nothing in your sight. Surely everyone goes about like a shadow (Ps 39:4-7).
73. Let us remember that time is short, and that God’s judgement is upon us.
The day is passing says the poet; you do not know if you will see the dawn
of the following day, or whether this will be a day of peace or pain. Thus
passes the glory of the world (Imitation of Christ, I, Chap. 3, no.6).
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74. Life is like a stream that rushes towards the sea of eternity. How many
thousands of people land on those shores every day.
75. A moment of pain, eternal rest. A tear, an ocean of delights.
76. Proceed in such a way that you earn more and more merit for heaven.
77. The wise person is able to sell the earth to buy heaven.
78. St Bernard says: May none of you despise a single moment of time, wasting
it with useless words. The word escapes and cannot be recalled, time flies
and cannot be regained. Nothing is more precious than time, but alas,
nothing is even more neglected. Nobody thinks of the fact that the wasted
day will never return. But just as not a hair of your head will perish (Lk 21:18),
not a single wasted moment will escape God’s justice.
79. A single day gone by without fault is worth an entire lifetime.
80. Virtue does not consist in the quantity but in the quality of our works. All
time spent in the state of mortal sin is time lost.
81. Be spiritual farmers: sow now in time what you will have to reap in eternity
(cf. Gal 6:7-8).
82. St Dorothy said to St Dositeo: May God never leave your heart, always think
that you have him present and that you are standing in front of him.
83. Wait patiently for the Lord and He will deliver you. God does things slowly,
but he does them well.
84. St Basil said: Strive to acquire patience because it is the greatest virtue of
the soul; strive to acquire it so that you may soon reach the summit of
perfection. Patience is the sovereign remedy of the soul; impatience is the
poison of the heart. The patient soul rises as tribulations increase. Let them
persecute you; God will one day see to the persecution of your enemies,
and for you will remain the crown of patience, no less beautiful than that of
martyrdom.
85. Those who suffer are as dear to God as the apple of his eye. The divine gaze
rests preferentially upon them. When you suffer, rest assured that you are
acceptable to God. This is a truth written in the holy books (cf. Prov 3:11-12;
Heb 12:5-7; Sir 4:17-18; Tob 12:13 (Vulgate). St Augustine says: Every act of
patience is a grateful hymn to God. Nothing is so painful that you cannot
tolerate it patiently if you remember the passion of Jesus Christ. Courage,
you who suffer: your sufferings are like those passing clouds which bring
great fertility to the arid earth. Patience is a good plant, but it doesn't grow
in all gardens.
86. Let us ensure that there is not something worthy of reproof from others in
our words and actions, but that it is of edification and benefit to others. (cf.
Eph 4:29).
87. Vain and useless words easily sully the heart.
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88. Our life is a passing dream, and when we wake up it's already over. To pray,
to suffer, to live by love divine: this destiny, O religious, is ultimately thine.
89. One day the Lord said to a sister of charity: Souls are mine, the soul of
a sinner is mine. For the love you bear me, save me sinners. The best
consolation we can offer to the Heart of Jesus is to bring souls to him.
90. Christian soul, look to Heaven, that is where God is waiting for you. Run,
fly, break all attachments that bind you to the earth.
91. One act of resignation to God's will in all that he gives us that is not to our
liking is worth more than a hundred thousand good successes according to
our will and liking.
92. The enemy we must fear most is ourselves.
93. Whoever walks constantly in the presence of God (cf. Gen 17:1), will always
be accountable to him for his deeds, and will never lose his love for him by
allowing sin to occur.
94. The Lord does not want any of our affections to be given to anyone other
than him.
95. Make every action your last.
96. Those who dedicate themselves to Mary, those who consecrate themselves
to her, those who honour and love her, are as certain that they are going to
heaven as if they were already there.
97. Whenever the Christian devoutly turns to God with prayer, he earns goods
that are worth more than the whole world.
98. Do what you can in your state in life with diligence and purity of intention.
99. Willingly suffer the tribulations that God sends us in any way.
100. Remain silent about your neighbour’s faults, offences against you and
words praising you.
101. Long prayers without mortification are useless as well as long.
102. The cross, if it is loved, is only half a cross, because the love of Jesus softens
everything, and one does not suffer much except when one loves little.
103. If the Lord wants us to be humbled let us remain so without complaint.
104. Envy, from which few souls are exempt, is often the bone of contention in
religious houses.
105. One of the virtues that the religious must acquire at all costs is silence.
Silence when one is rebuked. One must receive admonitions with one's
head bowed and one's lips between one's teeth. Silence when your mind
is troubled, because speech would reflect the gloomy state of your soul.
Silence when the word of lament is about to spring up on our tongue.
Lament is the woodworm that corrodes the fabric of your merit.
106. Among the virtues that the religious must ask of the Lord is humility, since
we all have a great deal of pride in our hearts.
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107. Be exact in everything: exactness is the virtue of the man of order. The
untidy man does all things wrong.
108. Recollection is as necessary to the soul as rest is to the body.
109. Try to do good then let people say what they want. Become saints and pay
no attention to anything else. What does anything else matter compared to
this necessary task? Don’t waste time over useless things: life is so short! Go
straight to your duty, without deviating to right or left. This is your goal:
sanctify yourself. But it is a very high goal. Save yourself! Sanctify yourself!
This must be your only yearning; what can the rest serve for if it does not
lead to this?
110. We need mortification if we want to do great things. We cannot win the
battles of the spirit without first having won the battles of the flesh.
111. Say your prayers, especially the Divine office digne attente ac devote: worthily,
attentively and devoutly. This is the only way you must pray.
112. Drive the old man, the wrathful one, out of you O religious soul and you will
remain only with the new man, the peaceful one (cf. Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22-24;
Gal 5:22).
113. Sin is the greatest act of ingratitude we can make towards God.
114. Expect nothing from men but everything from God.
115. Knowing how to forgive the faults of others and how to tolerate them is an
act of charity that is to be offered constantly.
116. The prudent man speaks little, listens a lot, and goes ahead slowly in his
undertakings. Before offering opinions, he meditates and prays.
117. One thing can be spoken about without remorse: the good of our brethren.
Evil must always be kept hidden.
118. The prudent man should consider what he does as being ten times less
in merit than what his imagination tells him it is. Because self-love often
multiplies the merit of our actions.
119. Prayer is the all-powerful act that puts the forces of heaven at the disposition
of the soul.
120. Her Guardian Angel once said to St Margaret of Cortona: God’s perfect
friends are those who keep their heart detached from created things, who
are united with God alone and who long for him day and night with every
urging of the heart. “So what are their virtues?” the Saint asked. “The first,”
the Angel replied, is a profound humility in imitation of and for the sake
of the One who humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil
2:7-8). The second is perfect charity.
121. Three main reasons must see us make time precious: first, it is the price of
eternity, then, it is short, and finally, it is irreparable.
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122. Always have eternity in your spirit, Jesus Christ in your heart, and his
divine love above all things.
123. Let us do our duty at all times, and leave it to God to look after our future.
124. Absolute abandonment to the divine will is the secret of the joy of the saints.
125. Happy are those actions done between two “Hail Marys”.
126. When the cross seems heavy, when the road seems too long, when darkness
is thickening around us, let us think of the happiness we will have at the
hour of our death if we have suffered for love of Jesus Christ.
127. St Thomas Aquinas said: He who is desirous of honour, who avoids being
despised, and if he is despised is sorry, even though he does marvellous
and miraculous things, is far from perfection, for all this is virtue without
foundation.
128. You will be able to build this tower of evangelical perfection that you have
begun to the extent and proportion, O religious soul, of the depth of its
foundation in humility (cf. Lk 14:28). If you want to build true virtues in
your soul, try first to have a good foundation in humility. If you want to
be great and build a building of very high virtue, think first to a very good
foundation in humility. Virtues that are not founded on humility are not
true ones but merely false ones that appear to be true.
129. Everyone says that humility is the foundation of holiness and of all virtues.
The more humble you are, O religious, the more you will advance and grow
in virtue and perfection.
130. St Augustine said: Pride goes after good works in order to destroy them.
He who wants to cultivate virtue without humility is like those who throw
a little dust into the wind and everything scatters. The need we have for
humility is so great that without it we should not believe we can take a step
in the spiritual life.
131. The Son of God equal to the Father takes the form of a servant (Phil 2:7 ) and
wants to be humiliated and dishonoured (cf. Phil 2:7-8), and I, dust and ashes
(cf. Gen 18:27; Sir 10:9; Sir 17:27), wish to be respected and acknowledged
by men?
132. Let every good religious be careful not to allow himself to be bound by
routine of any kind, no matter how insignificant. Let each religious’s habit,
bed and cell be kept clean and decent but in particular let him make every
effort to avoid affectation and ambition. Nothing adorns a religious better
than holiness of life, so that in everything he may be an example to others.
133. Each religious must be ready to endure heat, cold, hunger, thirst, toil and
contempt when necessary, any time these are for the greater glory of God,
to the spiritual benefit of others, and the salvation of one’s own soul (cf. G.
BOSCO, Costituzioni della Società di S.Francesco di Sales, xiii, art. 11).
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134. The humble person can be commanded in all things. The humble man has
no judgement to the contrary; in all things he conforms to his superior, as
much by his carrying out as by his will and intellect; there is no contradiction
or resistance in him.
135. Those who love God do not seek to be esteemed and loved by men: their
only desire is to be well-liked by God, who is the only object of their love.
Every honour received from the world is the devil's trade.
136. A saint once said that she valued her religious vocation for two main
reasons: one, because she enjoyed the presence and company of Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament; the other, because there, through obedience, she was
entirely God's, sacrificing her own will to Him.
137. Our only claim must be to be united with God, as Jesus Christ was united
with God his Father, which he did on the cross.
138. Being religious is nothing other than being “bound to God” by means of
a continuous mortification of ourselves, and living only for God; therefore
our heart, our eyes, our tongue and our hands and all the rest are to be used
only for the glory of God.
139. Whoever desires to live according to nature, let them remain in the world;
and those who have decided to live according to grace, let them come
to religion, which is none other than a school of self-denial and self-
mortification; it therefore offers many tools for mortification both inwardly
and outwardly.
140. Religion is a mystical hive, all full of celestial bees which gather to produce
the honey of the celestial virtues.
141. The religious is required to do the works of his calling, that is, to die to
himself in all things, both in those that seem good and in those that are bad
and useless.
142. The monastery is an academy of exact correction, where each soul must
learn to allow itself to be handled, planed and cleaned so that, being well
smoothed and flattened, it may be joined, united and glued more properly
to the will of God. The monastery is a hospital for the spiritually ill who
want to be healed, and in order to be healed they expose themselves to
suffering bloodletting, the lancet, the razor, the needle, the iron, the fire
and all the bitterness of medicine. Be such and do not take account of
everything that self-love tells you to the contrary; but delicately, pleasantly
and lovingly make this resolution: either to die or to heal, and since I do not
want to die spiritually, I want to heal, and to heal I want to suffer. We must
die through mortification (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). These words “one must die” are
harsh, but they are followed by a great sweetness: that is, to unite oneself to
God through this death.
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143. The Rules, religious observance, are the Jacob’s ladder on which religious
must, in an angelic life, ascend to God through charity and descend to
themselves through humility (cf. Gen 28:10-12).
144. Let us willingly submit to the diligent and punctual observance of our rules,
and with simplicity of heart, without wanting to double up on what we do,
since God does not have regard to the multiplicity of things we do for his
sake, but only to the fervour of the charity with which we do them.
145. Let us do all we can in religion: God will be pleased with us, and so will our
superiors.
146. The task of the religious must be to cultivate their spirit well, to root out the
bad shoots that our depraved nature constantly allows to grow, such that
there is always something that has to be redone.
147. If you do what you have been taught, you will live very happily and
experience the rewards of heaven in this life, at least in small doses.
148. The saints would like the whole world to know their faults, so that they
might consider them to be the wretched people they consider themselves to
be; and on the other hand, if they do an act of virtue, they would like only
God to know of it. God, whom alone they wish to please, and for whom
they love the hidden life so much.
149. Whoever wins out over himself will easily win out over all other
repugnance. This is where everything we have to do to become saints lies:
denying ourselves and not following our own will. St Bernard says that
if everyone were opposed to their own will then no one would ever be
damned. Our own will is a great evil, since it means that your good deeds
do not benefit you at all.
150. Our first battle comes from the appetite of sensual delights: let us seize the
opportunity, mortify our eyes, recommend ourselves to God and this battle
will be over. The second battle comes from greed for wealth: let us try to love
poverty and this battle will end. The third battle comes to us from ambition
for honours: let us love humility and the hidden life, and the battle will end.
The fourth battle, the most dangerous one, comes to us from our own will:
let us resign ourselves to everything that happens as God’s will, and this
battle will be over (cf. 1 Jn 2:16).
151. Give yourselves to God without any half-measures and put off everything
else, for time is short and we can hardly be here for long. And blessed are
those who love Jesus Christ without half-measures.
152. Whoever loves something, unless it is for love of God, is prevented by it
from loving God, and the intellect is clouded. Anything we love outside
of God takes away our union with God and the light of the truth of Jesus
Christ.
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153. The religious soul mourns time misspent and offence against God and
wishes to punish himself in any way possible. Therefore he wants to be
humble and patient, and with much charity to embrace creatures for love of
the creator, so that he desires to be hated and despised, and desires to suffer
many insults and torments, and to be persecuted by every one, because he
knows the goodness of God and his own cowardice and misery.
154. Holy poverty empties the soul of earthly cares and affections and of all
created things. Beware of the ownership of any thing as of poison, for the
devil will strive to make you say, even of small things: this is mine. Keep
poverty holy, clean and pure, and do not spoil or corrupt it; for it is the
foundation on which the edifice of all virtues is built, and it is the nourisher
of humility.
155. You have little time left to do penance in this world, because we are
hastening quickly towards death. Know, good religious, how to earn merit
while you have time, lest death come to you unprepared.
156. In all your anguish and adversity have faith and hope in God.
157. Commit yourself, religious soul, to keeping your soul white, keeping your
heart always clean from every fault, so therefore go to confession often and
to communion fervently.
158. The passion of Jesus Christ enlightens and strengthens the soul of those
who devoutly consider it, because it is the best medicine for all our spiritual
infirmities.
159. Fight hard and with patience, desiring and seeking as much as possible the
honour of God and the salvation of souls; so that at the end of this short life,
blessed Jesus Christ may grant you eternal glory.
160. St Paul says: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the
glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).
161. The foundation of all virtue and holiness is found in doing the will of God,
which forms the merit and worth of all our actions.
162. Your special holiness must be the holiness of every day and moment: nor
can it come about except through brief prayers and affectionate outpourings
of the heart towards God.
163. What a consolation it is for you, religious soul, to know that in order
to become holy you do not have to seek your perfection outside of
yourself, but rather in carrying out your daily exercises as you must.
Those who consume their time thinking of great projects of holiness,
elevated contemplation, austere penances, heroic acts of charity and even
martyrdom, and meanwhile neglect the particular duties of each day, are
living in deceit and most fatal illusion.
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164. What goodness of God and our good fortune it is to accept our most obvious
actions for his glory and for our good. Remember that God rewards only
what is done for him. The Lord is so good that, so long as nothing is opposed
to Christian virtues, he willingly accepts our common works if we do them
with the pure intention of giving him glory and pleasure.
165. Do you wish to make your works meritorious, whatever they may be? Do
them in union with God, from whom comes the mighty power that gives
life to what we do, for he is the one who is the way, the truth and the life (Jn
14:6).
166. It is necessary to work for God by giving life to our works through the
holiness and purity of our motives, that is, to please him in everything and
for everything. It is advisable to do everything with the aim of pleasing
God alone, of serving and glorifying him; without this right intention our
actions, no matter how sensational and great, are lost.
167. Conform yourselves to the Rule, which is an expression of the divine will:
and moreover, do everything as God wants it, that is, with all diligence,
exactness and perfection, according to the grace given you.
168. Woe to him who sets himself up for the honour and praise of men: he puts
himself at risk of throwing away the merit he may acquire, and to him
might apply the Saviour's saying: “Truly I tell you, they have already received
their reward” (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18), through some frivolous worldly praise and
applause.
169. May you be far from all pride, deceit and hypocrisy.
170. From the beginning of the day you must strive to live in grace. And why?
Does it not seem to you of little importance to reap the fruits of the many
labours and hardships that you have to endure every day in the divine
service?
171. If people of the world show so much care for temporal interests, should
not we religious and people consecrated to God do at least the same to the
benefit of the interests of our soul?
172. Zeal in fulfilling your duties, charity, gentleness and especially obedience
are the virtues that you will continue to practice in the office entrusted to
you.
173. What advantage is it to religious to make a profession of the highest
perfection and to put on the habit of perfection, if in the study of virtue
and the exercise of good works we are not distinguished from the lowly
who are also in a state of health? This is a source of confusion for us and a
kind of deception. To promise great things and to be content with nothing
but small things deserves punishment rather than reward.
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174. Be humble, because the gate to heaven is low, which is Christ (cf. Jn 10:7,
9), and no one can enter it without lowering himself.
175. If poverty frightens you, may the kingdom of heaven and eternal bliss
encourage you.
176. Do not let any malice dwell in you lest it pervert your heart.
177. The pure heart is one that does not think of or desire ill to anyone, is without
sinister intentions, but whatever it does is ordered to God whom it wishes
to please.
178. Do not become proud or puffed up because of your good works; think of
your frailty and you will humble yourself. Think that you are but a vessel of
clay (2 Cor 4:7) and glass, and always be humble before your God, lest you
lose his grace.
179. Happy are those religious who desire the arrival of the Bridegroom and
leave this world to receive him with due preparation (cf. Mt 25:6). Woe to
those instead who distance themselves from God.
180. How great is the love of the Lord and the goodness he shows us by
calling himself the bridegroom of our souls (cf. Mt 25:1-10; Mk 2:19-20 with
parallels in Mt and Lk).
181. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, says the Apostle (Phil 2:12).
182. Be meek, patient, tolerant and easily pardon insults, and you will be blessed
(cf. Mt 5:5).
183. Woe to those who, falling into the same faults each day, never learning to
rise again. They associate death with sleep.
184. Be vigilant against the temptations of this life with prayer, mortification,
and trust in your God.
185. Perfection consists: 1st in total mortification of our appetites; 2nd in true
self-contempt; 3rd in perfect conformity to God’s will. Whoever lacks one
of these virtues is out of the way of perfection.
186. Oh religious soul, let not the wide and seemingly flowery path of the world
flatter you; oh if only you knew how many thorns those roses are armed
with and how many cruel monsters tear the wretched people of the world
apart. Happy are you who have decided to follow the narrow way of your
Divine Redeemer (cf. Mt 7:13-14). Courage, always resist the enticements
of the senses and the corrupt maxims of the world, and thus the beautiful
day will come when you will deserve to enjoy him forever in paradise.
187. God must reign in the senses of your body formed by him to be an
instrument of the soul. You must glorify God with them, making them a
living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1).
188. Remove from your eyes, ears, taste, smell and touch every kind of illicit and
dangerous satisfaction, and by penance mortify your feelings as much as
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possible even in lawful things. Remember that the more you apply yourself
to spiritual things, the greater will be your mortification of the senses.
189. God alone and not the world must be served with all your mind, with all
your heart and with all the senses of the body (cf. Deut 6:5; Jas 4:4).
190. Your thoughts, words, works and pains must be addressed to God alone.
191. All evil comes from the mind and from the heart that is not mortified, as
Saint James says (cf. Jas 4:1).
192. The time here below is given to us only so we can reproduce the divine
Model Jesus in us.
193. Oh, how much God reckons with a righteous man, and how much he says
and does out of respect for him. See to it, O religious, that you are very
just and very friendly with God, and that you really attend to your own
perfection, taking it for certain that God will favour all your concerns,
and will remember your parents, your relatives and your friends, and
everything that belongs to you, and the more he does this, the more you
will put aside your thoughts and forget these things and give yourself to
God alone.
194. O religious soul, enter into yourself and consider the most intimate closets
of your soul, your passions, vices, the inclinations that cause the greatest
damage and impediment to you, and endeavour to get rid of them and
mortify yourself until you can say with the Apostle: “it is no longer I who
live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
195. The day of death for the holy religious soul who has done good throughout
life is the day of a copious harvest. Because he reaps the fruit of his good
works. There have been so many acts of penance, so many acts of humility,
so many acts of charity, so many acts of obedience, so many fervent prayers
and communions, so many acts of mortification, humiliations for the love
of Jesus, so many merits accumulated in every way, in every good thought,
in every good word, in every prayer, in every sigh of love for God.
196. In death we will be separated from and must leave the room we preferred,
our clothes, the comforts we have procured, the amenities we have made
for ourselves, our satisfactions in food. This will be the total separation we
are condemned to by death.
197. The Church strongly recommends that people consecrated to God lead
an irreproachable and holy life, telling them to flee even the slightest
shortcomings. We must love purity of conscience to the point of having the
most vivid horror of small faults and every commitment to keep ourselves
free and cleansed of them.
198. St Francis de Sales says: I believe that it is an act of the greatest perfection
to conform oneself in everything to the community without ever departing
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from it of one's own accord; in fact, besides being an excellent means of
union with one's neighbour, it also serves to conceal our perfection from
our own eyes. There is a certain simplicity of heart which contains within
itself the perfection of perfection, and it is that simplicity which causes our
soul to recollect itself and focus entirely on the faithful observance of the
Rules, without pouring itself out into other desires or wishing to undertake
greater things. It does not seek to do lofty or extraordinary things that might
attract esteem from creatures; but keeps low within itself and has no great
aspirations, like one who does nothing of his own accord nor more than
others; thus all its holiness is hidden from its eyes.
199. You must not believe yourself to be sinning or lacking as it may be when
you feel emotion or repugnance. Not at all. These things are independent
of us; these emotions are not culpable. They are natural passions which in
themselves are not sins. It is a deception on the part of many to imagine that
perfection lies in resenting nothing, and to believe that with every rebellion
of passion all is lost. It is guilty of that which lies behind the emotions,
that is, those resentful words, those thoughts about grumbling which you
cherish, ruminate on, and hold in your heart for days, weeks, and months;
the repugnance which you warily indulge in about obediences contrary to
your taste and fancy.
200. Attend to your business diligently, but know that you have no business that
is more important than your eternal salvation.
201. In handling your affairs, do not trust that you will be able to succeed with
your own efforts, but only with the help of God.
202. The Lord wants you to think about always grasping and using the
opportunities to serve him and practise virtues minute by minute. Practise
small things, without which big things are often false and fallacious.
203. Let us learn to willingly suffer humiliating words and words aimed at
stifling our opinions and suggestions.
204. Direct your thoughts to perfect yourself in all your ordinary actions, and
to carry the crosses, large or small that will appear before you. Believe me,
here lies the secret of becoming saints.
205. Let us try to be what God wants, since we are his, and let us not try to be
what we want, contrary to his intention.
206. “Good Jesus! Jesus was good, kind, good by nature first of all because he
was God; and God can be nothing other than infinite goodness. Secondly,
because he was a man; and if, as Bossuet, says ‘When God created the
human heart, he first of all placed goodness in it as a characteristic of the
divine nature’, how could the Man-God have shown himself with a heart
that was not good? Finally, Jesus, eminently humble, could only but be
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eminently good. Goodness is the flower of humility: these two virtues are
inseparable. When one is good, one is inclined to give oneself, to accept,
to make oneself small; and is this not humility? A proud man will never
know how to be good. And yet it is so good to be good, to forget oneself,
never to think of oneself and always to be in the joy of God! A secret instinct
warns us that goodness emanates from Heaven; it spreads a perfume that
can only be a divine fragrance. Gushing forth from the heart of God as from
his spring, would it not have surrounded with a halo of sweetness the One
who in its litanies is called by the holy Church ‘Jesus Infinite Goodness’?”
(J. Bacteman).
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6. PRAYERS
Introduction
Simon Srugi was “a man of prayer”. Other than the community practices of piety
he prayed continuously before, during and after his daily work, by day and by
night, quietly or singing, in Arabic or Italian; he always remained in the presence
of God; he had memorised the prayers from The Companion of Youth and loved
to sing hymns. On the inside half of the sheet of paper preserved in his copy
of the Introduction to the Devout Life he had jotted down a list of litanies with a
pen: Blessed Trinity, Blessed Sacrament, in honour of the Holy Face of Jesus,
Sorrowing Mother, Divine Providence (for a happy death; recommending his
soul to God), The Deceased, Sacred Heart, Holy Name of Jesus, St Joseph. He
was enrolled in the “Apostolate of Prayer” and received their monthly leaflet.
In what follows I limit myself to indicating some of his special prayers.
The prayer to the Sacred Heart, printed on a holy picture, contains some of
the characteristic features of Salesian spirituality with its source precisely in the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, something Simon was able to reproduce in himself.
The handwritten prayer addressed to the Crucified Jesus is both a reverent
and affectionate contemplation and a resolution to be concretely conformed to
Him; it sums up well the essence of his devotion to the “Holy Wounds” as
documented in the “Conversations” mentioned earlier.
Simon confided in Sister Tersilla Ferrero that he prayed the entire three
parts of the rosary every day, and that at night he never went to bed
without first reciting The Seven Joys of Mary, a practice that nourished his
habitual orientation towards paradise and his characteristic joy. The others are
spontaneous expressions when, at the end of a day's work, he would get down
on his knees in front of the statue of Mary Help of Christians and give vent to
his grateful love.
The lengthy formula of the Act of Consecration to Jesus the Adolescent, was
prepared by the superiors in Turin for the consecration of the church dedicated
to him at the school in Nazareth on 6 September 1923. Simon would personally
meditate on it, and commented on it to the young people at Betgamāl who also
made their consecration.
The brief daily prayer to Jesus the Adolescent in the text approved on 25
September 1932 by the Patriarch, Luigi Barlassina, was certainly one that Simon
said, being one of the practices to which members of the archconfraternity were
bound. It too is rich in biblical allusions and includes the apostolic dimension.
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The three invocations to St Stephen (composed by Salesian Fr Angelo Rocca)
are formulated not so much as praises of him, but as imploring the three
theological virtues: love for God and neighbour, including our enemies; the
courage to confess the faith, even to the extent of shedding one’s blood; the hope
of gaining the crown of glory in heaven after a life filled with good works.
TEXTS
1 – Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“O Jesus, place a good and serene smile, a sweet, indulgent, compliant word on my lips. Place
the kindness that opens hearts on my outward appearance; the ability to help without being
precious; the goodness that obtains everything without effort; the self-denial that attracts
and encourages someone to ask for a kindness, a service without fear or hesitation.”
2 – In contemplation of the crucified and wounded Jesus
“O sweet Jesus, as if you were present, I draw close to you and embrace you with affection,
mindful of your wounds. Oh how I see you stripped, bruised, torn, soaked in blood. Hail,
holy Head, crowned with cruel thorns. Hail, adorable Face, on which the flowers of life have
withered. Hail, open side of my Saviour, redder than a rose, and my salvation. Hail, O holy
hands pierced by hard nails. Greetings, O my divine Saviour, I throw myself at your feet and
here I would like to die.”
3 – Prayers to Our Lady
3.1 The Seven Joys of Mary
1. “Rejoice, O Immaculate Bride of the Holy Spirit, in that contentment which you now
enjoy in Paradise, for by your humility, purity and virginity, you are exalted above all
angels and sublimated above all saints.
2. Rejoice O Mother of God, at the pleasure you experience in Paradise, For as the sun here
on earth illuminates the whole world, so do you with your splendour adorn and make
all Paradise shine.
3. Rejoice, O Daughter of God, in the sublime dignity to which you were elevated in
Paradise, for all the choirs of Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions and all the blessed
spirits honour, revere and recognise you as the Mother of their Creator, and at the
slightest nod they are most obedient to you.
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4. Rejoice, Handmaid of the Most Holy Trinity, for the great power you have in Paradise,
because all the graces you ask of your Son Jesus are immediately granted to you; indeed,
as St Bernard says, no grace is granted here on earth that does not first pass through
your most holy hands.
5. Rejoice, O most august Queen, because you alone deserved to sit at the right hand of
your Most Holy Son, who sits at the right of the Eternal Father.
6. Rejoice, O Hope of sinners, Refuge of the troubled, in seeing that those who praise and
reverence you in this world, are rewarded by the Eternal Father with his holy grace on
earth and with his immense glory in Heaven.
7. Rejoice, O Mother, Daughter and Bride of God, for all the graces, all the rejoicing, all
the joys and all the favours which you now enjoy in Paradise will never diminish; on the
contrary, they will increase until the Day of Judgement and will last for ever.
Prayer: O glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of my Lord, fount of every consolation, Because
of these joys of yours, which I have remembered with the greatest devotion I could muster,
I beg you to implore from God the remission of my sins, and the continued help of his holy
grace, so that I may never be unworthy of your protection, but rather have the good fortune to
receive all those heavenly favours which you are accustomed to obtain and share with those
who devoutly remember these joys with which your beautiful heart abounds, O immortal
Queen of Heaven. Amen.”
3.2 Outpourings of gratitude to Our Lady
“O my mother from Heaven, how beautiful you are, how much I love you! I am your son,
you know it, my Mother! Tell me what I have to do to love you more. You are my heavenly
mother ... I give myself to you, body and spirit. I love you I love you!”
“I thank you, my Mother, that you have made me succeed, guided me and blessed our
labours in helping many suffering people. Thank you, my good Mother, infinite thanks!”
4 – Act of consecration to Jesus the Adolescent
“O divine adolescent Jesus, full of confidence we come to your feet to consecrate ourselves
and our youth to you. We want to belong to you, because you are our God, God of perpetual
and happy youth; because without you there is no innocence, virtue or happiness. We want
to belong to You, because You love us with youthful enthusiasm. We represent the hopes of
Religion and Humanity, and You love them too much not to look upon us tenderly; our age
is surrounded by too many snares for you not to be moved on our behalf; you have sanctified
your adolescence with too much virtue not to think of the fruits that ours can give.
We consecrate ourselves to You, O Jesus, O divine companion of ours, O true friend of
ours, because we want to imitate Your life of divine adolescence, because we want ours to be
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full of holy ideals, guarded against evil, untainted; we want it to be a life of silence, modesty,
work, duty, prayer. Help us, O Jesus, to keep our consciences sinless, to correct our faults, to
acquire the virtues of a young saint, so that later, after Your example, we may become men
of God, apostles among unbelieving humanity, and, if need be, even victims of our Faith.
Teach us to love sincerity and steadfastness in doing good, never yielding to vice, to human
interests and respect.
We consecrate ourselves to You. We are few in number here, but we want to represent
all the adolescents of the world. We know, O Jesus, that many have always been faithful to
You, that they are ready to die instead of denying their faith; that many are even prepared to
follow Your way as redeemer and apostle among their brothers. But not all the adolescents
of the world are like this. Many who are misguided have died to grace and live far from You.
Thinking of them, Your heart grieves. We ask forgiveness and conversion for them. We ask
this of You who raised up adolescents – the son of Naim’s widow and the daughter of Jairus
– who know the weaknesses of our careless age. Let the misled return to former thoughts of
innocent childhood, to Religion, to duty. Stretch out your arms, O Jesus, and call us all to
your divine embrace, and be happy with us and in us.
And you, Mary, as you were always at the side of the Adolescent Jesus, be always at our
side so that we may never be separated from Him.
O Jesus, may You be blessed by all the young people of the world! And may we and all
the young people of the world, be saved and blessed by you, O Jesus!”
5 – Daily prayer to Jesus the Adolescent
O Jesus, eternal Son of God, if you left heaven, if you came among the children of men, if
for so many years you lived obscure and hidden in Nazareth, you did it for my sake. By
becoming like one of us you wanted to be able to say: “From now on I will no longer call
you servants, but friends.” Me, your friend! ... You are so great and I am so miserable! Could
I still refuse such affection? Certainly not; to make myself less unworthy, I, my heavenly
friend, want to be pure like you, humble like you, industrious like you, obedient like you,
gentle and good like you. In this way, with the help of Mary and Joseph, I too will prepare
myself to deal one day with the things that concern the glory of my Father who is in heaven.
And after my difficult journey, accomplished in faith and duty, it will be so wonderful for
me to come and see you and love you in blessed eternity. Amen.
6 – Triduum of prayer to glorious St Stephen, Protomartyr
1. Most glorious Protomartyr St Stephen, your heart was so inflamed with charity that you
have always been considered by the Church as the perfect model and teacher of such a
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beautiful and necessary virtue; obtain for all of us true love for God and for our fellow
human beings, so that, following your example, we may love the Lord with all our hearts
and above everything else, and be willing to put up with any suffering, even death itself
rather than offend him. May we never separate this love from the love of our brothers
and sisters, including our enemies.
2. Most intrepid Levite and Confessor of Jesus Christ, with admirable zeal and heroic
courage you defended the faith and religion, under attack from the fiercest enemies from
your time onwards. With patience and gentleness you fearlessly preached the truth of the
gospel. We earnestly beseech you to obtain for us too this spirit of faith, zeal, and courage,
so that we may never allow ourselves to be beaten down by the derision and wars of the
enemies of the religion into which we were born and wish to die; and thus may we be
made worthy, after having confessed Jesus before the world, to be confessed by him before
his eternal Father.
3. St Stephen, most glorious of all the martyrs, you had the enviable destiny of being the
first to shed your virginal blood for Jesus Christ, whom, in your final battle, you saw
triumphant in heaven where you now enjoy eternal happiness as a just reward for your
virtues and holy works ... May you continually intercede for us, who still find ourselves in
the midst of so many miseries and dangers, amidst so many battles and persecutions; and
may we also always keep our eyes, our thoughts and our hearts turned towards heaven;
and remembering that crown which awaits us there, may we never tire of doing good,
of fighting against evil and so, after a holy death, may we see the same Jesus triumphant
in the eternal glory of paradise.
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7. RESOLUTIONS
Introduction
Just one small notebook has come down to us, in which Srugi noted down the
resolutions he had taken from 1926-1939, but there are some indications that lead
us to believe that he might have had others. The first lot of resolutions go back as
far as 1910-1911; the longest set (nos. 6-122) consists of resolutions taken during
the yearly Spiritual Retreats, and this is the word he in fact uses in Italian (Ritiro).
The fact that he had carefully preserved this notebook suggests that during
the monthly and weekly examinations of conscience he had checked whether
he had put them into practice, updating his personal life plan. Writing down
other resolutions on tiny slips of paper and keeping them between the pages
of his personal devotional books shows that resolutions were a very serious
matter for him, and were a practical accompaniment to his habitual exercise of
sanctification.
The formulation of these “resolutions” reveals his decisive and constant
character; he was not content with generic and vague aspirations, but targeted
specific circumstances and adapted the general regulations to his particular
situation in life. The body with all its senses, the soul with all its faculties,
thoughts, words and actions ... they were all involved in this endeavour to grow
in the love of God, in accordance with the first commandment.
What comes through repeatedly is his willingness to commit himself, both
in combating specific inclinations and defects (sensuality, resentment, whims,
impatience...) and to become more perfect in some virtues (humility, charity,
patience, purity ...). this reveals, if not the struggle, at least the effort of
spiritual combat that this man of flesh and blood, like all of us carried out
with determination and constancy in the very real circumstances of daily life at
Betgamāl. Since today he is on the way to the honours of the Altars, we must not
fall into the naive way of thinking that he was born with an angelic nature, or that
he acted with supreme perfection at all times in everything. For him too virtue
was a conquest, the combined result of divine grace and his cooperation in it, as
his first biographer, Fr Ernesto Forti, rightly notes on a number of occasions.50
50 FORTI, Un buon samaritano, concittadino di Gesù: “All this was not just the result of a happy temperament.
His strong emotions and innate tendency to withdraw into himself would have easily led him into moments
of distress which, because he was so shy and with little inclination to vent his feelings outwardly, would have
made it difficult for him to find inner peace and give of himself fully. But he was able to conquer this…” (p.42);
“His habitual calm, recollection, modesty of manner, his natural self-control, discretion with regard to others,
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TEXTS
Year 1910-1911
1. Keep the eyes in check.
2. Attend to your own perfection and don’t worry about others, never querying
others.
3. Prompt, blind and cheerful obedience to my superiors.
4. Never meddle with others’ affairs, but think only of correcting my many
faults.
5. My mind will often turn to God.
Retreat, 1st September 1926
Oh my God, I thank you for granting me the grace of also making a retreat
this year. I promise you I will benefit from it to improve my life.
6. No more sins in my life especially this year, but to love you O my God with
all my heart and above everything else.
7. Take advantage of events, things, creatures to lift myself up to my Creator
and enrich myself with merits for heaven.
8. I want to observe the vows I have made to my God, with great fidelity,
especially the vow of poverty, in order to be a true and holy religious.
9. With the Lord’s help I would like to correct my defects and not contract any
habits.
10. The greatest vigilance over myself, especially over my eyes and in dealing
with our boys and people outside.
11. I will renew my vows every day to remind myself that I am a religious.
12. The prudent and good religious will take advantage of every opportunity to
humble himself, deny himself, mortify himself, to manifest his love for God
and enrich himself with many merits.
13. O religious soul, every attack on your comforts, your whims, freedom for
your senses, will also end for you. Blessed are you if you are mortified in
everything and attached only to God. Death will be sweet to you.
14. Would I dare appear before Jesus Christ as judge in the state of a bad
religious? Oh woe to me, how would I be able to withstand his terrible looks?
his ever ready, cheerful, precise, complete obedience that brooked no discussion nor ever asked why, as his
Rector assures us, were not the fruit of nature alone” (p.51); “The extreme amiability and naturalness of his
manner with young people was internally controlled by a supreme vigilance of all the urgings of the heart”
(p.79).
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15. I have consecrated myself to the service of God with love, and I want to keep
my holy vows for his sake and to please him.
16. To advance in perfection, vigilance over myself and custody of my senses. Do
everything and every action out of love for and to please God alone. Deep
humility and make use of every occasion to mortify myself.
17. I will always have before me the exact observance of my Vows and the holy
Rule, and even more so my religious perfection, strongly and constantly
adhering to the most profound humility, self-denial, mortification of my
senses and doing all my tasks very well, so that they may be acceptable and
pleasing to my God and meritorious for my soul.
Retreat, 25 August 1927
18. I will put all my effort into perfecting my soul, removing from it all pride,
vanity, all sensuality so as to make it worthy of possessing God in Paradise.
19. I want to deny myself, my acts of vanity, my pride, my whims and my
comforts and carry my cross every day to be a true disciple of Jesus (cf. Lk
9:23).
20. I will carefully avoid committing even the slightest faults against the infinite
majesty of my God.
21. I am now renewing my consecration to my God and I want to be all his,
renouncing my passions, my comforts, my whims, and detaching my heart
from anything that could prevent me from being all the Lord’s.
22. Jesus loved me so much that he suffered, died, and gave himself to me (cf.
Gal 2:20b). I too would like to suffer everything for love of him, and to love
him and die for him.
23. Oh, how much the Lord has loved me by calling me to religious life, in
contrast to many hundreds and thousands of others, to make me all his! How
great must my gratitude and love for him be.
24. How I should accept from the Lord’s hands the crosses he sends me to pay
my dues and to purify my soul from its stains, before presenting myself
before his fearful tribunal.
25. I will seek to purify my soul by detaching myself from any earthly and
material thing so that I may imitate my Lord Jesus Christ who was so poor.
26. The greatest vigilance over myself, my passions, my thoughts and affections.
Never the least attachment to the young.
27. Great vigilance in dealing with people from outside, especially with the other
sex, and great vigilance over my eyes.
28. How happy and blessed I must be to have consecrated myself body and soul
to my God! How much I must do to keep myself as pure and chaste as an
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angel in His presence. How careful I must be never to stain my soul or my
body, the august temple of the Most Holy Trinity (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Therefore,
always have God present to me and put into practice the means suggested
to me by the Holy Rule.
29. Oh how happy is the religious soul who always strives to detach itself from
everything earthly and material, and tries to keep its body and soul spotless,
to please its heavenly bridegroom Jesus.
30. Never any complaint about what happens to me, but suffer in silence out of
love for Jesus my spouse.
31. Whoever loves God detaches himself from all earthly and material things,
denies his own will and disordered appetites, his pride and his vanity.
32. Truly nothing in this life is more precious than suffering, being despised,
being humiliated for the love of Jesus who suffered so much and died for us
out of love.
33. Be convinced and always keep in mind that hardships, sufferings, pains,
humiliations, temptations, forgetfulness and crosses of every kind are the
true badge of the love of God for us, and that out of love for him we must
receive them for his sake.
Retreat, 16 August 1928
34. I will never let a Sunday or feast day pass without reading the Holy Rule and
carefully pondering what I read in order to put it into practice.
35. I will be generous with the Lord in putting the small Rules into practice,
thinking of them as a means of perfection.
36. I will make every effort not to commit the slightest faults, especially of
impatience and resentment.
37. I want to observe poverty in scrupulous detail, not looking for my comforts,
my whims, and never complaining about what can happen to me –
deprivation or anything else that is not to my taste.
38. I will always have death and judgement before me to hold myself ready to
appear before the good Jesus.
39. I will be vigilant over my passions and senses to keep myself pure and chaste
in soul and body.
40. I want to be very careful to do everything out of obedience, because without
obedience we don't deserve anything before the Lord, and I won't be a good
religious if I don't do my every deed out of obedience.
41. I will put all my efforts into keeping myself prepared for the death that can
happen to me at any moment.
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42. I will receive from the hands of the Lord every day whatever may happen to
me – sorrows, pains, afflictions – with resignation, whether they come from
the hands of God or of my neighbour.
43. I want to be constant in fighting my passions, my comforts, my whims,
resentments, acts of impatience and all other defects; suffer in silence and
endure everything.
Retreat, 4 August 1930
44. I will be very vigilant in not committing even the slightest faults against the
holy Rule, but will observe them all.
45. I will be very vigilant in observing the holy Vows: Poverty, Chastity and
Obedience.
46. To love my God means not to give him the slightest displeasure either in
thought, word or deed, but to very much love my God who loved me so
much.
47. Remove from my heart every thought, every desire, every world item of
news, to be God's alone in time and eternity.
48. Show the utmost respect to the superior because he is clothed with the
authority of God, and never give him the slightest displeasure, because
whoever offends the superior offends God himself.
49. I will endeavour to be a holy religious, living so that I will be ready to die
any day.
50. I will obey promptly, blindly and cheerfully so as not deprive myself of the
merits of obedience.
51. Instead of enriching myself with temporal things, I want to enrich myself
with spiritual treasures for eternity, like acts of humility, mortification,
charity, self-denial, resignation.
52. I would like to detach myself from every earthly thing in order to love my
God better.
53. I will see myself as a guest, a passenger on earth, always looking to heaven
which is my homeland and I will seek to do many good works of every kind
for heaven.
54. I will detach myself from every earthly thing that prevents me from being all
my God’s, so as to be ready for the call of my spouse Jesus when he calls me
from exile to my heavenly home.
55. I will look out for my defects and will correct myself to be ever more
acceptable to my God.
Live Jesus!
Retreat, 17 August 1931
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56. The good religious greatly esteems his vocation as a very singular freely-
given grace of the good God.
57. The good religious does everything to be all and only of God, scrupulously
observing the promises made to God and to superiors.
58. The good religious tries to do everything to be humble and pure before God
and not give him any displeasure.
59. I want to be the good religious trying to make my outward self correspond
to my inner self, and look for my defects and correct myself in order to be
more and more pleasing to Jesus.
60. I will be judged according to my observance of the holy Rule and the holy
Vows, therefore, scrupulous observance of them.
61. The Lord is continually watching me as I go through the battle of temptations
and dangers, however ferocious they may be, to crown me one day if I take
the courage and strength to overcome them (cf. Mt 11:12; Jas 1:12; 1 Cor
9:24-27).
62. In every place and in all my actions I will always look at my God as He looks
at me and I will do everything to please him.
63. My God I am yours and yours I want to be. I intend to do every action of
mine, whatever it is, with you and for you. I want to live as a good religious,
as a holy religious.
64. I will keep myself ready for when the good Jesus calls me from exile to my
heavenly homeland.
65. The good religious keeps all the senses of the body in check and like a good
soldier fights all the temptations of the devil, the flesh and the world, and
resists them until death.
66. I want to keep detached from everything earthly and for anything I need I
will ask permission.
67. Jesus wants to see his religious without blemish, pure in hands, eyes, mind,
heart. Go to war against impure sin.
Retreat, 7 August 1932, in Bethlehem
68. Every day when I receive Jesus I will renew my religious profession, my
vows, to be more fervent in their observance.
69. The works of the religious, however small and simple they may be, are
precious and acceptable to God when they are done to please and give glory
to the Lord.
70. Oh how much I should appreciate my religious vocation which makes me all
the good God’s.
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71. How many merits I would gain for eternity if I lived as a faithful and good
religious, and how much glory I would give to the Lord for so many bad
people who live oblivious to the good God and offend him.
72. I will renew my total consecration, that is: my soul with its powers, my body
with its feelings, my heart with its affections, not to forget the obligation to
be all his.
73. I will be very vigilant over myself and all the occasions that come to me, so as
not to offend my God in the least, especially by giving pleasure to the senses.
74. I will try to be delicate in conscience by observing the smallest rules, always
being in the presence of God, my father, and I will correct myself of my
defects to be more acceptable to the Lord.
75. I will fight against disorderly pleasure and my sensuality to please the Lord
and to keep myself pure and holy before my God.
76. How have I behaved in relation to my superior, the holy rules and my duty?
How have I behaved in obedience?
Retreat in 1933, in Nazareth – 15 August
77. God dwells in my soul no less blazing with light and glory than in the glory
of heaven.
78. What joy, what peace, what confidence in thinking that God is my Father and
loves me very much. That Jesus is my Saviour and Redeemer. What must be
my correspondence to their love!
79. When I have the opportunity to talk to young people, I will tell them a few
good words about the soul and Jesus.
80. I will give myself to Jesus every moment of the day, trying not to offend him
in any way.
81. Oh how much our soul cost the good Jesus! He came down to earth and gave
his blood to redeem it. And I respect him so little?
82. I am always in God’s presence. I am part of his guard of honour. I will seek
to be pure in mind and heart.
83. I will fight sensual pleasure as much as I know how and as much as I can, so
that it does not dominate my mind and my affections for a single moment.
84. I have given myself, I have consecrated myself, I have sold myself entirely
to my God. So I must be neither of myself, nor of the world, nor of young
people.
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85. Much attention to my chastity, promptly chase away sensual pleasure, and
mortification of the eyes.
86. Consecrating myself body and soul to my God means that I must work
only for God, doing my superior's will in everything promptly, exactly and
cheerfully.
Retreat made in Nazareth - 7 August 1934
87. I will keep vigil over myself in order not to offend the Lord in the least way.
88. Oh my God, I renew my total consecration to you and I intend to renew it
every moment of my life. I do not want to give you the least displeasure.
89. I will be very careful not to commit small faults, not to fall into the biggest
ones.
90. I will keep my senses in check to be all God’s and keep peace of heart.
91. I will remove from my heart every affection and every desire for people and
things, to be all God’s.
92. How happy is the religious soul who strives to always detach itself from
everything earthly and material, and tries to keep its body and soul spotless
in order to please its heavenly spouse Jesus.
93. Never any complaint about anything that can happen to me, but suffer
everything in silence, for the love of Jesus my spouse.
Retreat in Bethlehem, 1935
94. I want to correct myself of my shortcomings regarding Poverty. When I
have God and his grace I am rich enough.
95. I want to be holy and pure as an angel to please the Lord. I will watch
carefully over myself so as not to cause the slightest offence to the Lord.
96. I want to mortify myself especially in the eyes, ears and touch, to be all
God’s.
97. I always want to set a good example by leading an irreproachable life,
and that my inner being corresponds to my outer being, so as not to be
hypocritical.
98. Often read the Holy Rule to observe the points where I fall short and to
correct my shortcomings.
99. Oh how much I have sinned against God my creator, therefore what a great
debt I owe to his righteousness! For penance I will observe the Holy Rule
and I will be mortified in all my senses.
100. To strive for holiness and my perfection I will try to correct myself of those
defects that I often fall into, to please Jesus and be a good religious.
101. I want to make my rendiconto well at any cost.
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102. How much attention, how much vigilance so as to fight sensual pleasure in
me when dealing with people, with our young people, and to treat the body
as consecrated to God!
103. I have sold myself, I have consecrated myself to God alone, so my thoughts,
my affections, my desires must be for him.
104. The good Jesus did penance for me by suffering so much for me, and for
love of him and for my sins I want to suffer everything that happens to me
that is painful, painful both in spirit and in body.
Retreat in Bethlehem, 2 August 1936
105. I will try to sanctify myself and perfect myself by enduring the pains,
sufferings, discomforts, ailments that God sends me day by day.
106. The Holy Spirit says: whoever despises small transgressions, small faults,
small failings, will little by little fall into the greater ones (cf. Sir 19:1), so
pay close attention to myself.
107. I will fight sensual pleasure in me, both in thoughts and in affections, and I
will try never to consent to sensual pleasure.
108. Remember that God your Father and Creator accompanies you everywhere.
He is in you and with you, and he sees everything that passes through your
thoughts and your heart; try to please him in everything you do and give
him glory, and try to never stray from him.
109. I will try in everything I do to be at peace and not to get impatient, especially
when I deal with my neighbour and with our young people, and to resign
myself to everything that can happen to me during the day.
Retreat 1937, 8–14 August, Bethlehem
110. How happy and blessed I must be to have consecrated myself body and
soul to the Lord! How pure and holy I must keep myself as an angel in His
presence. How careful I must be never to stain my soul and body, which
are the temple of the Most Holy Trinity! (cf. 1 Cor 3:16-17).
111. I have given myself, I have sold myself, I have consecrated myself entirely
to God, my master. Therefore, my thoughts, my desires, my actions and my
affections will often be directed to Him.
112. I will take the thought of death as counsel and I will try to always keep
myself ready to appear before the good Jesus, whom I will try to make my
friend.
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113. I will make it a habit, as I have always done, to think about judgement and
hell in order to live as a good religious person and to detach myself from
people and things.
114. Being a true devotee and son of Mary means watching over myself so as not
to commit faults against purity, humility and charity.
Retreat made in Nazareth, 21 August 1938
115. What joy, what happiness is mine in knowing for certain that I am a child
of God, heir of paradise (cf. 1 Jn 3:1; Rom 8:16-17), that God is always with
me and never abandons me, as long as I am in his grace!
116. Mortal sin strips the soul of its wedding garment and its merits, kills it and
sends it to hell if it dies in that state.
117. I will take the thought of death as a counsellor, to live holy and perfectly
and to keep myself prepared.
118. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these (1 Tim 6:8), and any
excess in food and clothing is contrary to poverty.
119. By becoming a religious I gave myself entirely to my God, body and soul,
and He gladly accepted me as His. I will do everything for his greater glory,
and to please him I will see that my heart and mind are filled with the love
of Jesus.
120. Accept with love everything that may happen to me during the day that is
painful, whether it be from God, from my superiors or from my neighbour.
Retreat in Bethlehem, 6 August 1939
121. I will do everything to keep myself prepared to appear before the Lord at
any time. And to keep the things in my infirmarian’s office in order, both at
home and in the dispensary, and to keep the accounts prepared.
122. I will try not to meddle in the affairs of others and always speak well of
others. I will make acts of humility and self-denial.
Various circumstances
123. I will always try not to fix my eyes on any woman, and to be as brief as I
can when I happen to speak to one.
124. I will try not to waste time in idle chatter without profit to my soul. But to
occupy it with profit.
125. I will always try to mortify myself at all meals in the refectory.
126. I will do what I can to practise the virtue of humility on every occasion that
presents itself.
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127. I will promptly and blindly obey the commands of my dear superiors,
including in little things.
128. Today, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I want to reform my life completely,
trampling on the old man and putting on Jesus Christ the Bridegroom, that
is, imitating him in all his virtues, especially humility (cf. Col 3:9-10; Eph
4:22-24; Gal 5:22).
129. I will strive only for my own perfection, not caring what others do or say.
130. I will try every day to become more and more good and virtuous, to
improve my life.
131. Mastery over thoughts, words, deeds.
132. Inner and outward patience.
133. Union with Jesus in the Host. Imitation. Purity of soul.
134. Hunger: read some edifying words from Holy Scripture.
135. Thirst: read the Holy Scripture with the intention of obtaining the grace of
contrition or devotion.
136. Hospitality = spend an hour of attention to the Lord.
137. Clothing = endeavouring to practise some virtues.
138. Visiting the sick = resisting defects or temptations.
139. Freeing prisoners = praying for sinners or souls in purgatory.
140. Profound respect, prompt obedience to my dear superiors and see God in
them.
141. Speak only when necessary and let others talk.
142. I will often raise up my thoughts to my Creator by means of very frequent
and fervent brief prayers.
143. At death I will reap what I have sown in life.
144. I will battle with myself every day in order to correspond to my religious
state with holiness of life.
***
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Section 2
His plan for perfect holiness
Introduction
What did Simon Srugi want to make of his life? What was the goal he aspired to?
What were the paths he sought and the means he chose to reach that goal? The
answers to these questions are contained in his biography and in what he wrote.
In the historical and biographical section of this volume, I have documented the
facts, actions and sayings, recording the testimonies of his contemporaries. In the
second section I have focused on what he makes known about himself through
his religious writings. By studying them carefully, we can grasp the terms of
what we can call his lexicon, in which there are five key words: religion, soul,
perfection, holiness, love.
“Soul” and “religion”, in either their nominal or adjectival forms (the
religious, the call to religion, the religious vocation, religious life, religious
vows, etc.), are the most frequent of them and often coupled or combined: we
could say that with the expression “religious soul” Simon is pointing to his
very own identity. “Perfection” and “holiness” occur dozens of times, and are
specified both by qualifying adjectives (evangelical, religious, Christian) and by
the possessive (“my holiness”, “my perfection”), giving them the character of
concrete personalisation.
Some verbs related to the key-words indicate a whole series of dynamic
actions: turn your thoughts to ..., tend to ..., advance, acquire, soon reach the
summit of perfection, lead to the heights of perfection, make a profession of the
highest perfection, make great profit… and arrive at perfection, to maintain that
“simplicity of heart which contains within itself the perfection of perfection”.
These favourite words and phrases of Srugi’s reveal his constant tendency:
to become holy by practising love of God and neighbour, to the point of perfect
charity! When linked together and taken in context, they form the fabric of the
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discourse, with the dominant themes of the “personal life project” that he took
care to outline and realise. In the following pages, by letting him speak for
himself, I try to present it in a more unified and developed synthesis.
1. The vocation to religious life: freely-given grace and commitment
The soul receives everything from God; creatures are to serve as a ladder to climb
up to Him. Everyone is called to salvation and predestined to glory; Christian life
as a lay person is already a state of “salvation”, and consecrated life even more
so. “The good religious greatly esteems his vocation as a very singular freely-
given grace of the good God, a sign of his special love and a privileged choice,
unlike thousands of others.” So it requires a more generous correspondence
from religious and those consecrated to God: “The Lord wants much more love
from a religious than from other faithful, and he has the right to do so ... I will
seek to confirm my call and election to the religious state by means of many good
works (cf 2 Pt 1:10)”.
As a response to the divine call, religious consecration is the definitive giving
of one's whole self to God. Srugi expresses this in radical terms: “I have given
myself, I have consecrated myself, I have sold myself entirely to my God. So I
must be neither of myself, nor of the world, nor of young people ... I have sold
myself, I have consecrated myself to God alone, so my thoughts, my affections,
my desires must be for him ... By becoming a religious I gave myself entirely to
my God, body and soul, and He gladly accepted me as His.” The practical shape
of this radical approach consists of observing the religious vows (or evangelical
counsels). The resolution to be “all God's”, to belong only to Him, features as a
refrain in his writings.
The motive that sustains Simon in this total and exclusive consecration of
himself to God is love: “I have consecrated myself to the service of God with
love, and I want to keep my holy vows for his sake and to please him ... Being
religious is nothing other than being “bound to God” by means of a continuous
mortification of ourselves, and living only for God; therefore our heart, our eyes,
our tongue and our hands and all the rest are to be used only for the glory of
God.” One rhyming verse sums it up clearly: “To pray, to suffer, to live by love
divine: this destiny, O religious, is ultimately thine.”
The religious house is, in the first instance, “God’s house”, “the house of divine
service”. But it is also “a hospital for the spiritually ill who want to be healed”,
therefore they have recourse to Jesus on the cross, and to his holy wounds. It
is a school of divine discipline: “Whoever desires to live according to nature,
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let them remain in the world; and those who have decided to live according
to grace, let them come to religion, which is none other than a school of self-
denial and self-mortification; it therefore offers many tools for mortification both
inwardly and outwardly ...” Indeed it is “ an academy of exact correction” in
view of perfect union with God. It is “an angelic life”, similar to what is depicted
in Jacob’s Ladder (Cf. Gen 28:12): where religious “ascend ... through charity
and descend ... through humility”. It is “a mystical hive” where people “gather
to produce the honey of the celestial virtues”. It is a field of apostolate where
they work for the salvation of souls.
2. Intention and goal
The most important business of all is saving one’s soul: “Attend to your business
diligently, but know that you have no business that is more important than your
eternal salvation.” Our supreme concern is to achieve perfection: “Become saints
and pay no attention to anything else. What does anything else matter compared
to this necessary task? ... This is your goal: sanctify yourself. But it is a very
high goal. Save yourself! Sanctify yourself! This must be your only yearning;
what can the rest serve for if it does not lead to this?” “Give yourselves to God
without any half-measures and put off everything else, for time is short and
we can hardly be here for long. And blessed are those who love Jesus Christ
without half-measures.” Simon wanted to be not only a good religious but a
holy religious: “God is the soul's only food, the only one capable of satisfying
its hunger and thirst … The more you are devoured by hunger and thirst for justice,
the more you will be satiated one day (cf. Mt 5:6).” He insists that everything
must be underpinned by the “right intention”, meaning the intention to serve
and please God alone, to do everything for his glory, out of love for him: The
good religious “looks to God alone ... whose glory and pleasure” he seeks
with the greatest commitment. “God, in his immense goodness, deserves that
everything should be done in his honour, even if there were neither heaven nor
hell”, punishment or reward. The good religious does not go looking for human
support, and avoids both vain fear and vain glory. “In every place and in all my
actions I will always look at my God as He looks at me and I will do everything
to please him. It is advisable to do everything with the aim of pleasing God
alone, of serving and glorifying him; without this right intention our actions, no
matter how sensational and great, are lost ... giving life to our works through the
holiness and purity of our motives, that is, to please him in everything and for
everything.”
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The resolutions “in everything and always” to do “what is pleasing to God”,
“because it pleases God so”, to make himself pleasing to him … appear very
frequently; Simon wanted to imitate Jesus in this (“I always do what is pleasing to
him”: Jn 8:29), taking his cues from the classics of Christian spirituality.51 He
pursued his path with simplicity of heart and purity of intention also doing
good “before men”, not so they would glorify him, but the Father: “Woe to him
who sets himself up for the honour and praise of men: he puts himself at risk of
throwing away the merit he may acquire, and to him might apply the Saviour's
saying: “Truly I tell you, they have already received their reward” (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).
Others’ opinions, be they favourable or contrary or even slanderous, did not
count: “It matters little that others have an opinion of you. You have a more
certain and incorrupt witness within your soul: question your conscience and
believe it ... To be troubled at every noise is a sign that someone has little self-
esteem. You will always be unhappy if the fear of contempt stirs you … Try to
do good then let people say what they want … Expect nothing from men but
everything from God. … Those who love God do not seek to be esteemed and
loved by men: their only desire is to be well-liked by God, who is the only object
of their love.”
God is the ultimate end and the supreme good: “To those for whom God is
everything, the world must be nothing.” He is the criterion for what is important,
on the basis of whom everything is ordered: from earth to heaven/paradise, from
time to eternity, body to soul, suffering/sorrow to joy/bliss, death/mortification
to resurrection and eternal life, from earthly exile to our heavenly homeland,
from our journey/pilgrimage to our goal. Given this overall perspective, Srugi
concludes: “Eternity makes every toil seem easy, every sorrow joyful, every pain
sweet and small.”
3. Foundation and building
3.1. It is necessary to dig the foundations of “deep humility” without which
nothing solid and lasting can be built: “You will be able to build this tower
of evangelical perfection that you have begun to the extent and proportion, O
religious soul, of the depth of its foundation in humility (cf. Lk 14:28). If you
want to build true virtues in your soul, try first to have a good foundation in
humility … The more humble you are, O religious, the more you will advance
and grow in virtue and perfection …Whoever is not very humble can never
51 For example: Lorenzo Scupoli, The Spiritual Combat, Chapters 10-11; St Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love
of God, Book 8, Chapters 1-6, and especially Book 9, Chapters 1-9.
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acquire any virtue.” As a consequence, humiliations must be accepted, valued
and loved, for conforming oneself to Jesus meek and humble of heart and to root
out pride: “Among the virtues that the religious must ask of the Lord is humility,
since we all have a great deal of pride in our hearts.”
3.2. Always doing God’s will, because “The foundation of all virtue and
holiness is found in doing the will of God, which forms the merit and worth
of all our actions.” Accept everything from his hands: “Happy is the one who
is subject to God, who desires nothing anxiously, who adapts himself to events,
and says: God wants me healthy, he wants me sick, he wants me needy; I am
ready for anything.” Conformity to his will implies the renunciation of one's
own will: “The greatest gift we can receive from God is that of being able to
overcome ourselves by renouncing our own will … Perfection consists: 1st in
total mortification of our appetites; 2nd in true self-contempt; 3rd in perfect
conformity to God’s will. Whoever lacks one of these virtues is out of the way of
perfection.” The affirmation that obedient listening to the Word of God is worth
more than any sacrifice is first and foremost biblical doctrine (cf. Ps 40:6-8, which
the Epistle to the Hebrews 10:5-7 attributes to Jesus) and is placed at the heart
of Christian asceticism by all spiritual masters, such as Alphonsus Liguori, from
whom Simon took this last maxim.
In practice, this means observing the religious vows: “Conform yourselves to
the Rule, which is an expression of the divine will: and moreover, do everything
as God wants it, that is, with all diligence, exactness and perfection, according to
the grace given you. … I will always have before me the exact observance of my
Vows and the holy Rule, and even more so my religious perfection, strongly and
constantly adhering to the most profound humility, self-denial, mortification of
my senses and doing all my tasks very well, so that they may be acceptable and
pleasing to my God and meritorious for my soul.”
This habitual attitude gave rise to the unalterable peace and tranquillity that
Srugi radiated: “Oh, how much peace and contentment a good and mortified
religious has, one who treads diligently and solicitously in matters that benefit
him, doing what he should as a good religious. There is no contentment that is
its equal … Absolute abandonment to the divine will is the secret of the joy of
the saints ... Where there is perfect uniformity to God's will, neither sadness nor
melancholy can ever reign … The happiness of pleasing God by doing all things
well is a sample of paradise … If you do what you have been taught, you will
live very happily and experience the rewards of heaven in this life, at least in
small doses.”
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3.3. Obeying the superiors promptly, cheerfully, in a spirit of faith. Obedience
is the badge of the true religious: “The Lord says: Above all, it is useful and
very necessary for spiritual profit, that every religious gives himself to perfect
obedience … Consecrating myself body and soul to my God means that I must
work only for God, doing my superior's will in everything promptly, exactly
and cheerfully ... Profound respect, prompt obedience to my dear superiors and
see God in them.”
Among the salutary thoughts we read: “The truly obedient person does not
know what it means to delay, nor about tomorrow or the day after, nor does
he say ‘I will go right now’, like the lazy ones do. Instead he keeps his ears
pinned to hear what is commanded, his feet ready to go and do it, his hands
out to do it, and so promptly does he do it that it seems he has anticipated what
would be asked of him.” No work is meritorious if done outside of obedience;
while “there is more value in picking up a straw out of obedience than fasting an
entire Lent through one’s own choice”. According to Srugi, obedience is a more
reliable path than prayer alone: “Many religious have become saints without
prayer, but none without obedience … The perfection of the religious lies in exact
obedience to his Rules. The religious who will be most faithful in observing his
Rules will certainly be more perfect … There is no road that leads more quickly
to the summit of perfection than that of obedience.”
3.4. Fighting to eradicate faults and to grow in obedience. “I want to be
constant in fighting my passions, my comforts, my whims, resentments, acts
of impatience and all other defects … The good religious keeps all the senses of
the body in check and like a good soldier fights all the temptations of the devil,
the flesh and the world, and resists them until death ... The Lord is continually
watching me as I go through the battle of temptations and dangers, however
ferocious they may be, to crown me one day if I take the courage and strength
to overcome them (cf. Jas 1:12; 1 Cor 9:24-27) … I will battle with myself every
day in order to correspond to my religious state with holiness of life.”52
The gradual purification of his imperfections was obtained by receiving
the sacraments (“Commit yourself, religious soul, to keeping your soul white,
keeping your heart always clean from every fault, so therefore go to confession
often and to communion fervently”), and by taking refuge in the Heart of Jesus,
furnace of love, which eliminates the soul’s imperfections like a crucible (“When
it has committed offences it must rest on my Heart with great confidence. All
52 For these issues too (“battle”, “soldier”, “battle with myself ”, “The Lord is watching...”, hoping for “the crown
prepared for the winners” …), Srugi could have taken his cue from Chapters 15-16 of the Spiritual Combat,
by Lorenzo Scupoli.
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your infidelities vanish in this burning hearth: they are seared by love and
all consumed”). In this context, Simon takes on the task of doing reparation,
expiation, but without making a martyr of himself: “The religious soul mourns
time misspent and offence against God and wishes to punish himself in any way
possible. Therefore he wants to be humble and patient, and with much charity
to embrace creatures for love of the creator, so that he desires to be hated and
despised, and desires to suffer many insults and torments, and to be persecuted
by every one, because he knows the goodness of God and his own cowardice
and misery.”
4. Theological love at the heart of consecrated life
On the basis of the first commandment “You will love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul and with all your might” (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37), Simon’s
religious life was unified by the primacy of the theological love he received and
reciprocated.
4.1. Love of and for the Heavenly Father. “If Caesar had made you an adopted
child of his, who could put up with your haughty behaviour? But you are the
child of God, redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ and of such a sublime
origin you don't even remember? ...What joy, what peace, what confidence in
thinking that God is my Father and loves me very much. That Jesus is my Saviour
and Redeemer. What must be my correspondence to their love! … What joy,
what happiness is mine in knowing for certain that I am a child of God, heir
of paradise (cf. 1 Jn 3:1; Rom 8:16-17), that God is always with me and never
abandons me, as long as I am in his grace! ... I will try to be delicate in conscience
by observing the smallest rules, always being in the presence of God, my father,
and I will correct myself of my defects to be more acceptable to the Lord.” Srugi
enjoyed the closeness of a Father who is both tender and strong; I believe that he
attributed to himself what he copied down from Sister Marie-Marta Chambon’s
book: “She nurtured a tenderness, a childlike confidence for the Eternal Father,
and is filled by Him with divine caresses.” He wrote in his small notebook of
resolutions: “Remember that God your Father and Creator accompanies you
everywhere. He is in you and with you, and he sees everything that passes
through your thoughts and your heart; try to please him in everything you do
and give him glory, and try to never stray from him.” Jesus reminds him that
the Father tests his beloved children and friends with suffering: “whoever is
more greatly loved by my Father receives greater suffering from him (cf Prov.
3:12). Look at these wounds; your sorrows will never reach this extent. It is an
error of judgement to think that my Father admits someone to his friendship
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without suffering ... Lord, you pay anyone who does some service for you with
some affliction. Oh what an inestimable price this is for those who truly love
you! … Those who suffer are as dear to God as the apple of his eye (Ps 17:8).
The divine gaze rests preferentially upon them. When you suffer, rest assured
that you are acceptable to God. This is a truth written in the holy books (cf. Prov
3:11-12; Heb 12:5-7) … Be convinced and always keep in mind that hardships,
sufferings, pains, humiliations, temptations, forgetfulness and crosses of every
kind are the true badge of the love of God for us, and that out of love for him we
must receive them for his sake.”
And this is how Simon intends to reciprocate the Father's love in practice:
“Only one ambition is just: the ambition to love God ... The love of God is
the holy fire that must always burn on the altar of our heart. (cf. Lev 6:5-6).”
The individual, with all their spiritual and bodily faculties, is offered as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1). Simon did not use “liturgical”
or “priestly” terms, but in fact this habitual attitude of giving himself totally
to God in sacrifice/as victim inflamed by love, was how he exercised his
liturgical priesthood in its most proper sense, not ritual but existential (as I have
documented in the third "window"). “Whoever loves God is in God: by ceasing
to live in himself he lives in him (cf. 1 Jn 4:12-16 passim) in whom everything has
its life.” This love was the reason for his absolute abandonment to the divine
will, his dying to everything to live in God’s love. It must be exclusive and
uncompromising love, i.e. without sharing it with other loves, because these
obscure the divine light in the intellect and deprive the will of emotional union
with God. “Those who love God do not seek to be esteemed and loved by men:
their only desire is to be well-liked by God, who is the only object of their love.”
According to his own practical logic, Simon added a consideration dictated by
his saintly concern: “Love God if you want to love yourself; for loving God is
good for you, not for him.”
4.2. Love that conforms to Jesus Christ. “Jesus loved me so much that he
suffered, died, and gave himself to me (cf. Gal 2:20b). I too would like to suffer
everything for love of him, and to love him and die for him.” It is good to
contemplate Jesus but it is better to conform oneself to him: “happy is the soul
that will have contemplated well but even better, put it into practice.” The book
by St Alphonsus Liguori The Practice of Loving Jesus Christ was one that Simon read
most. Imitating Jesus in his attitude was the main purpose of devotion to Jesus
the Adolescent, recalled by the prayer that every member of the confraternity
said each day, committing himself to be “pure like you, humble like you, industrious
like you, obedient like you, gentle and good like you”. “Do not believe that we are
honouring the birth of Jesus Christ unless we change our habits and become like
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children through the humble disposition of our heart (cf. Mt 18:3) ... Jesus Christ,
though all-powerful, in order to teach us to obey, was subject in all things to the
Blessed Virgin and to St Joseph (Lk 2:51).” The readiness to lower oneself (“Be
humble, because the gate to heaven is low, which is Christ (cf. Jn 10:7, 9), and no
one can enter it without lowering himself”), becomes self-sacrificing service as
far as the cross, on which He showed his perfect union with the Father. To sum
up: “By becoming a religious I gave myself entirely to my God, body and soul,
and He gladly accepted me as His. I will do everything for his greater glory, and
to please him I will see that my heart and mind are filled with the love of Jesus.”
4.2.1. - Srugi’s life was strongly focused on the paschal mystery of Christ
crucified and risen. The “Offices of Holy Week” in Arabic and Italian are among the
personal books he used frequently, not just to prepare himself to act as master
of ceremonies, but to absorb the grace of the mysteries celebrated. “Because the
religious is consecrated to Jesus, he must be nailed to the cross with him in order
to be able to die like Jesus and rise to new life like Him. St Paul said: ...always
carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in
our bodies (2 Cor 4:10).” The crucified Jesus is the most perfect model whom the
religious is called to copy, in order to become one with him, “until you can say
with the Apostle: “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).”
This is the deepest meaning of his habitual greeting “Live Jesus!”, and for Simon
it embraced everything: “May Jesus live in our hearts, our minds, our works, in our life
and in our death.”
Simon expressed himself in very practical terms: “The time here below is
given to us only so we can reproduce the divine Model Jesus in us ... Truly
nothing in this life is more precious than suffering, being despised, being
humiliated for the love of Jesus who suffered so much and died for us out of
love ... The Son of God equal to the Father takes the form of a servant and wants
to be humiliated and dishonoured, and I, dust and ashes, wish to be respected
and acknowledged by men?” Two are the main virtues of God's perfect friends:
the first is a profound humility in imitation of and for the sake of the One who
humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:7-8). The
second is perfect charity.”53
Simon summarised this in some quite effective words: “Carry your daily
cross each day with the grace that each day brings”, but with love: “The cross, if
it is loved, is only half a cross, because the love of Jesus softens everything, and
53 St Francis de Sales, interpreting the mystical meaning of the composition of chrism (olive oil mixed with
balm) says that humility perfects us with regard to God, and meekness, which is the flower of charity, with
regard to our neighbour: Introduction to the Devout Life, Part 3, Chapter 8.
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one does not suffer much except when one loves little.” He recommended to the
confreres: “Have a tender devotion to the passion of Jesus Christ if you wish to
grow in his love”; and for himself he decided: “I want to deny myself, my acts
of vanity, my pride, my whims and my comforts and carry my cross every day
to be a true disciple of Jesus (cf. Lk 9:23).”
One particular aspect of this conforming love is devotion to the Holy Wounds
and to the Sacred Heart, which the two manuscripts of the “Revelations” to Marie-
Marta Chambon speak of at length. Wounds in the side, heart, head, feet and
hands are present in the glorious body of the Risen Lord, and are now the seat
of divine mercy, source of all graces. Our actions, united with Jesus’ glorious
wounds, are the most pleasing offering we can make to the Father. As we know,
every day Simon used to associate the wounds and ailments of the sick people
he treated, with this liturgical action. They are most meritorious for us and most
efficacious for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls; the apostolic
dimension of these devotions is explicit and recurrent: “The best consolation we
can offer to the Heart of Jesus is to bring souls to him.” In summary, Jesus on
the cross is both Simon’s book and his teacher: “Jesus says: the Crucified one must
be your favourite book. All true knowledge lies in the study of my wounds;
knowledge of love is not learned from books, it is only given to the soul who
looks upon the divine Crucified one and speaks with him heart to heart. Look at
my crown of thorns and you will understand mortification; at my outstretched
hands, and you will learn obedience; seeing me stripped bare on the cross, you
will learn poverty.”
4.2.2. Jesus as friend and bridegroom. It can be said that Srugi was in love with
the Eucharistic Jesus and lived in spousal communion with him: “How great
is the love of the Lord and the goodness he shows us by calling himself the
bridegroom of our souls (cf. Mt 25:1-10; Mk 2:19-20).” Be all his, therefore, in
body and soul. Jesus is the Bridegroom crucified and crowned with thorns and
he wants us to imitate him: “Religious souls are souls consecrated to suffering.
I would like to see in my brides those who are likewise crucified. Should not
the bride be like the bridegroom?” The crown of thorns is “the chosen gift that
Jesus gives his privileged ones, his brides”. But Jesus is also crowned with glory:
“Today, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I want to reform my life completely,
trampling on the old man and putting on Jesus Christ the Bridegroom, that
is, imitating him in all his virtues, especially humility.” This spousal bond is
comfort in life’s difficulties and inspires confidence in the hour of death: “The
soul that does not rest on the bosom of its bridegroom Jesus (cf. Jn 13:25) in its
sorrows, in its work, is wasting time … Happy are those religious who desire
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the arrival of the Bridegroom and leave this world to receive him with due
preparation (cf. Mt 25:6).”54
4.3. Love for our Blessed Mother, loving mother and helper, to whom Simon
poured out his affectionate prayer at the end of work. He endeavours to imitate
her in life (“Following Mary’s example I must attend to my sanctification with
all solicitude”) to be able to have a peaceful death like hers: “If you want
a death similar to the Virgin Mary’s, be accustomed to living united to God
with the bond of charity, detaching your heart from every earthly affection
and acting only for God’s glory ... Those who dedicate themselves to Mary,
those who consecrate themselves to her, those who honour and love her, are
as certain that they are going to heaven as if they were already there.” Simon
recommends: “The best way to acquire the love of God is true devotion to Our
Blessed Lady, and to visit her frequently” in church. These visits are a source of
special assistance from this most gracious Mother, both in life and at the point of
death, and ensure the beauty of paradise in the next life. We know that reciting
“the seven joys of Mary in paradise” was Simon’s personal way of ending his
days on earth and anticipating the joy of heaven.
5. The way forward
In his search for evangelical perfection, Simon did not become a perfectionist,
but proceeded with great balance, harmonising intellect and reason, will and
affections, the ideal and the real, as a true spiritual son of St John Bosco.
5.1. Realism, vigilance and perseverance. “The task of the religious must be
to cultivate their spirit well, to root out the bad shoots that our depraved
nature constantly allows to grow, such that there is always something that has
to be redone.” Following St Francis de Sales' distinction between feeling and
consenting, in the light of Paul's distinction between the spiritual man and the
carnal man, Simon writes: “The difference between spiritual men who attend
to perfection, and carnal and sensual men (cf. 1 Cor 2:12-15) who do not do
so, does not lie in feeling or not feeling the difficulties and repugnance of the
flesh, but in letting oneself be carried away by them, or not. The spiritual man
does not heed the cries and demands of gluttony and the sensual appetite, nor
does he let himself be carried away by them. And this is the point: not heeding
54 Even without having read Origen’s works on prayer, or the Itinerarium mentis in Deum of St Bonaventure,
Simon was one of the “little ones” to whom the Spirit revealed that the most intimate mysteries are grasped
not with intelligence but with loving wisdom, and that where the disciple and the friend stop, the bridegroom
is introduced.
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temptations and the appetites that arise, nor giving in to them.” Then he adds
realistically: “Without the passions, virtue would be done away with. Where
there is no battle, there are no victories ... How many victories you have had
over your enemies, how many crowns you have received from God: how many
humiliations and sorrows, as well as delights and splendours. Multiply your
virtuous acts now and He will enrich you not only with the gifts of his grace,
but also with glory.
Another very realistic admonition: in this battle, “Do not seek your enemies in
the public square, while the most bitter one is lurking at your door. The enemy
is hidden within you (cf. Gen 4:2-8), indeed you are that very one. Therefore
look at your soul from within yourself.” In one of his more developed reflections
which echoes the admonition of 1 Jn 2:16, Simon takes from St Alphonsus Liguori
the way in which to overcome the four disordered tendencies that are at war
within us (see PES no. 150, p. 202).
He insists, therefore, on vigilance, for example in the resolutions taken during
the retreat in 1926 and 1927: “The greatest vigilance over myself, especially
over my eyes and in dealing with our boys and people outside ... To advance
in perfection, vigilance over myself and custody of my senses. Do everything
and every action out of love for and to please God alone. Deep humility and
make use of every occasion to mortify myself ... The greatest vigilance over
myself, my passions, my thoughts and affections. Never the least attachment
to the young ... Great vigilance in dealing with people from outside, especially
with the other sex, and great vigilance over my eyes.” Custody of the senses is
essential: “Everything you have earned over a long time and with great effort
will disappear very easily through those doors of the senses if you do not keep
custody over them, and you will end up empty and without anything.” Have
recourse to suitable means: “Be vigilant against the temptations of this life with
prayer, mortification, and trust in your God.” If the wind of pride rises, it is
extinguished by recourse to the stern Pauline admonitions: “Do not become
proud or puffed up because of your good works; think of your frailty and you
will humble yourself. Think that you are but a vessel of clay (2 Cor 4:7) and glass,
and always be humble before your God, lest you lose his grace ... It matters little
what others think of us, so long as God approves of our action. We must never
prevail over our conscience, since this can deceive us, but always have God’s
judgement before our eyes" (cf. 1 Cor 4:3-4). In conclusion: “Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12). Srugi also dismantles the misleading
comparison with a more comfortable state of life: “Oh religious soul, let not the
wide and seemingly flower-strewn path of the world flatter you; oh if only you knew
how many thorns those roses are armed with and how many cruel monsters
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tear the wretched people of the world apart! Happy are you who have decided
to follow the narrow way of your Divine Redeemer (cf. Mt 7:13-14).
5.2. Take things gradually with practicality and simplicity: “We cannot win the
battles of the spirit without first having won the battles of the flesh ... Remember
that the more you apply yourself to spiritual things, the greater will be your
mortification of the senses.” First there is a need to conquer gluttony, then the
other vices. “Proceed in accordance with the measure of grace communicated,
carrying out simple and ordinary tasks, paying attention not to the quantity but
to the quality that is given by the degree of love. Let us willingly submit to
the diligent and punctual observance of our rules, and with simplicity of heart,
without wanting to double up on what we do, since God does not have regard to
the multiplicity of things we do for his sake, but only to the fervour of the charity
with which we do them.” This invitation echoes the instruction Don Bosco gave
his boys and confreres, and the teaching of St Francis de Sales that Srugi wrote
down: “Our predestination to glory is not connected with extraordinary favours
but with the virtues of our state ... Your special holiness must be the holiness of
every day and moment. What a consolation it is for you, religious soul, to know
that in order to become holy you do not have to seek your perfection outside
of yourself, but rather in carrying out your daily exercises as you must.” In this
respect Simon encourages himself: “The Lord wants you to think about always
grasping and using the opportunities to serve him and practise virtues minute
by minute. Practise small things, without which big things are often false and
fallacious.”
5.3. Diligence, reasonableness and friendliness. Avoiding idleness means
making prompt use of the present time, of uncertain duration, so as to
accumulate merits for eternity: “I must hasten to weave my crown for paradise
with many good works, because the time of my death is approaching ... Forget
the past and keep your gaze continually fixed on the long way you still have
to travel along the path of virtue (cf. Phil 3:13)”. Another habitual attitude of
Simon’s was diligence in everything: combined with solicitude, exactitude and
perfection, scrupulous observance and delicacy of conscience, it is necessary
to journey to heaven by overcoming temptations, and to prepare oneself for
the particular judgement; however, it must be free of anxiety. The spiritual
battle to gain the Kingdom of God requires fortitude and even “violence”; but
Simon, with the mature balance inspired by Don Bosco's educative and spiritual
method, points out that they must be combined with a sense of proportion,
sound reason and loving-kindness. The resolve to heal spiritual illnesses must
be radical, “but delicately, pleasantly and lovingly make this resolution”. The
Gospel invitation to “hate” oneself (Lk 14:26; Jn 12:25), needs to be tempered
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by reason: “By reasonably hating yourself, you shall preserve yourself; and you
shall lose yourself by loving yourself ill (cf. Jn 12:25).” The same applies when
dealing with our neighbour: sometimes it is necessary to correct, but it needs to
be done without anger: “Whoever loves his neighbour as himself, kindly and
meekly tolerates and puts up with his defects and failures.”55
6. Practices and means of sanctification
Holiness is not something we get “ready-made” nor is it achieved in a day; it
is the result of the work of years, brought about jointly by divine grace and
our cooperation; this was also the case with Our Lady: “The Virgin Mary’s
blessedness is the fruit of her holiness and her good works. Oh, religious soul,
when will you understand this? It is not only what God has done for you that
will give you the right to eternal reward, but also what you have done for him.”
Srugi leaves nothing to chance; in his plan for holiness he precisely identifies
the exercises to be carried out and the concrete means to use. There are many of
them and they take up a good number of pages in his writings; I am choosing
the most significant of them.
6.1. Remain in the presence of God: “I am always in God’s presence. I am part
of his guard of honour. I will seek to be pure in mind and heart ... How careful
I must be never to stain my soul or my body, the august temple of the Most
Holy Trinity! Therefore, always have God present to me and put into practice
the means suggested to me by the Holy Rule ... The presence of God and the
closeness of his judgement must be a motivation for moderation and modesty
for us in all our actions … Whoever walks constantly in the presence of God (cf.
Gen 17:1), will always be accountable to him for his deeds, and will never lose
his love for him by allowing sin to occur.”
Convinced that “God dwells in my soul no less blazing with light and glory
than in the glory of heaven”, Simon cultivates recollection, the “hidden life” and
silence. This allows him to listen to the voice of God, engage with him in the prayer
of meditation (“If you are not careful to observe silence, you will never acquire
perfection and will never be a man of prayer”) raise his mind from earth to
heaven: “Continuous silence and self-forgetfulness, and withdrawing from the
55 “The care and diligence due to our ordinary business free from any solicitude, anxiety and restlessness” is the
virtue that St Francis de Sales teaches us to practise in the Introduction to the Devout Life, Part 3, Chap. 10.
Simon personified this through his imperturbably serene approach. Meekness, friendliness and reason are
other characteristic features of the spirituality of Francis de Sales, that Don Bosco took up in his brief treatise
on The Preventive System in the education of Youth, included as an appendix to the Salesian Constitutions.
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clamour of worldly things, lifts up the heart and has us ponder heavenly things,
and turn our heart to them … One of the virtues that the religious must acquire at
all costs is silence ... Recollection is as necessary to the soul as rest is to the body”,
and as a consequence, even our words will be a reflection of this interior life: “If
God were the object of your love, if you were concerned about your salvation,
no one would hear you speak except about God, virtue and perfection.”
Union with God is also expressed through very frequent and fervent
momentary prayers that Srugi understands as “sighs of love for God”, affectionate
outbursts of the heart towards him: “Often aspire to God with short and ardent
thrusts of your heart; give him your soul a thousand times a day … Your special
holiness must be the holiness of every day and moment: nor can it come about
except through brief prayers and affectionate outpourings of the heart towards
God.”
6.2. Renew consecration and multiply meritorious acts of virtue. Every day,
Simon renewed his religious consecration and confirmed it through his annual
resolutions: “Every day when I receive Jesus I will renew my religious
profession, my vows, to be more fervent in their observance … I will renew my
total consecration, that is: my soul with its powers, my body with its feelings, my
heart with its affections, not to forget the obligation to be all his ... Oh my God,
I renew my total consecration to you and I intend to renew it every moment
of my life. I do not want to give you the least displeasure.” This committed
Simon to the practice of good works and all the virtues: “Do you wish to make
your works meritorious, whatever they may be? Do them in union with God,
from whom comes the mighty power that gives life to what we do, for he is
the one who is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6) ... The Lord is so good
that, so long as nothing is opposed to Christian virtues, he willingly accepts our
common works if we do them with the pure intention of giving him glory and
pleasure ... The works of the religious, however small and simple they may be,
are precious and acceptable to God when they are done to please and give glory
to the Lord.” He gave himself to these commitments consistently: “Instead of
enriching myself with temporal things, I want to enrich myself with spiritual
treasures for eternity, like acts of humility, mortification, charity, self-denial,
resignation.” In the light of the Gospel “we need to arm ourselves with holy
works” in order to gain merit: “Proceed in such a way that you earn more
and more merit for heaven ... Take advantage of events, things, creatures to lift
myself up to my Creator and enrich myself with merits for heaven ... The prudent
and good religious will take advantage of every opportunity to humble himself,
deny himself, mortify himself, to manifest his love for God and enrich himself
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with many merits. Hence the warning: “The only true repentance is that which
brings about a change in us ... Long prayers without mortification are useless.”
Among the virtues he practised, in first place were humility (“If you want to
arrive at the height of perfection, then truly seek to love being misunderstood,
insults, slander, in imitation of Jesus our teacher ... Really give yourself to the
practice of humiliation, and you will know that this is the quickest and shortest
way”) and charity in its different forms. Charity means accommodating the
mistakes made by our fellow human beings, putting up with their shortcomings,
forgiving their offences, taking it for granted that “Truly humble people never
believe they have been wronged.” In the shrine at Betgamāl, every day Simon
saw depictions of the crucified Jesus praying “Pater dimitte illis”, and of St Stephen
who forgave those who stoned him. Encouraged by their example he reached
an heroic state of virtue, forgiving the one who accused him of causing the
death of a woman suffering from gangrene, or the one who tried to stab him
while travelling on the train. He also treated the group of young thugs who
attacked him in the clinic, almost overwhelming him, and even treated one of
the assumed murderers of his Rector, Fr Mario Rosin.
6.3. Patience and controlling one’s temper. “Wait patiently for the Lord and He
will deliver you. God does things slowly, but he does them well.” Take refuge
in the wounds of the crucified Jesus: “My holy wounds are balm and comfort in
suffering. When you have some sorrow, something that brings suffering, you
need to promptly place it in my wounds and your pain will be alleviated ...
Nothing is so painful that you cannot tolerate it patiently if you remember the
passion of Jesus Christ ... St Basil said: Strive to acquire patience because it is the
greatest virtue of the soul; strive to acquire it so that you may soon reach the
summit of perfection. Patience is the sovereign remedy of the soul; impatience
is the poison of the heart. The patient soul rises as tribulations increase. Let them
persecute you; God will one day see to the persecution of your enemies, and for
you will remain the crown of patience, no less beautiful than that of martyrdom.”
He went from beliefs to resolutions: “I will try to sanctify myself and perfect
myself by enduring the pains, sufferings, discomforts, ailments that God sends
me day by day ... Accept with love everything that may happen to me during
the day that is painful, whether it be from God, from my superiors or from
my neighbour ... Direct your thoughts to perfect yourself in all your ordinary
actions, and to carry the crosses, large or small that will appear before you.
Believe me, here lies the secret of becoming saints.”
In practice this implied keeping his tendencies in check: “I will try in
everything I do to be at peace and not to get impatient, especially when I
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deal with my neighbour and with our young people.” Srugi recommended
for himself, for his fellow Salesian educators and the boys: “Be meek, patient,
tolerant and easily pardon insults, and you will be blessed (cf. Mt 5:5) ... Drive
the old man the wrathful one, out of you O religious soul and you will remain
only with the new man, the peaceful one. The more virtuous a man is, the more
strongly he restrains his anger.”
6.4. Detachment and poverty. In the Revelations, Jesus said “I want the
religious soul to be detached from everything, since in order to come to me the
soul must be free of every attachment, such that no more ties bind it to the earth.”
Simon proposed living both detachment and poverty: “I will seek to purify my
soul by detaching myself from any earthly and material thing so that I may
imitate my Lord Jesus Christ who was so poor ... Holy poverty empties the soul
of earthly cares and affections and of all created things ... it is the foundation on
which the edifice of all virtues is built, and it is the nourisher of humility.” This
way he could fly even higher: “Christian soul, look to Heaven, that is where God
is waiting for you. Run, fly, break all attachments that bind you to the earth ...
The wise person is able to sell the earth to buy heaven ... Whoever has God and
his Kingdom has everything: what do you fear poverty for if you carry a whole
kingdom in your heart? The kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:21) ... I want to
correct my shortcomings regarding Poverty. When I have God and his grace I am
rich enough.” So there is no sense in being concerned about clothing, ornaments
and valuable items. It can be said that because of this spirit of detachment and
poverty, Simon always led a “penitent life”.
6.5. Mortification, purity and chastity. First practice the mortification inherent
to one's state of life and then add others of one's choice. In the maxims he wrote
down for the confreres, Simon insisted on the following points: “The body must
be treated severely rather than not, so that it does not become repugnant to the
desires of the soul. Since the senses are almost the doors through which the death
of the soul enters, so you will ensure that they are closed to the things of this
world and turned to the things of heaven. The senses must serve, not command
… A sign of much foolishness is to be occupied with the care of the body ... It
is much better to torment the body and keep it than to caress it to its detriment
and lose it together with the soul in eternity.” Mortification of all the senses,
inner and outer, in a penitential attitude: “Remove from your eyes, ears, taste,
smell and touch every kind of illicit and dangerous satisfaction, and by penance
mortify your feelings as much as possible even in lawful things ... The religious
is required to do the works of his calling, that is, to die to himself in all things,
both in those that seem good and in those that are bad and useless ... We must die
through mortification (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). These words ‘one must die’ are harsh, but
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they are followed by a great sweetness: that is, to unite oneself to God through
this death.”
Purity in thought and word: “Beware of pondering in your thoughts before
God the things you would be ashamed to speak about before an upright person.
May your thoughts be placid, simple, pure, and without malice. Be ashamed
to think about what you would be ashamed to say. Let your thoughts be such
that, when suddenly asked what you think, you would not blush to reveal
what is hidden in your heart. Occupying the mind with good thoughts: this is
the way the door is closed to bad ones ... I will fight sensual pleasure in me,
both in thoughts and in affections, and I will try never to consent to sensual
pleasure.” Speech must be chaste and modest too: Simon personally shunned
and condemned in others any kind of immoderate gaiety, “immodest words”,
dubious or ridiculous “jokes”, because they are unworthy of someone striving
for perfection.
Chastity in deeds. Simon made frequent resolutions in this regard (for
example in 1927, repeated in 1937 and 1938), indicating a prolonged commitment:
“How happy and blessed I must be to have consecrated myself body and soul
to my God! How much I must do to keep myself as pure and chaste as an angel
in His presence. How careful I must be never to stain my soul or my body, the
august temple of the Most Holy Trinity … Jesus wants to see his religious without
blemish, pure in hands, eyes, mind, heart. Go to war against impure sin ... I will
fight against disorderly pleasure and my sensuality to please the Lord and to
keep myself pure and holy before my God ... How much attention, how much
vigilance so as to fight sensual pleasure in me when dealing with people, with
our young people, and to treat the body as consecrated to God!” In harmony
with all of the Christian tradition, Simon thinks of chastity as the angelic virtue,
a prelude to heaven: “Whoever keeps the virtue of purity, his guardian angel will
regard him as a brother and enjoy his company very much ... Let us endeavour
with all our strength to make our way of life angelic and pure during our brief
sojourn in this present life, so that we may deserve the glory and happiness of
the angels in heaven.”
7. In the vigilant expectation of meeting Jesus, good judge and friend
On this demanding ascetic path towards the highest perfection, Simon neither
exalted himself nor became depressed, but maintained a healthy balance. On
the one hand he knows that “the prudent man should consider what he does as
being ten times less in merit than what his imagination tells him it is. Because
self-love often multiplies the merit of our actions.” On the other hand, seeing
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how much he still has to do, he does not become apprehensive, anxious or
discouraged, but continues to be simple and trusting, counting on the mercy
of God, who appreciates the smallest actions done for him and rewards them in
proportion, not to our merits, but to his infinite goodness: “What goodness of
God and our good fortune it is to accept our most obvious actions for his glory
and for our good.”
For Simon’s religious psychology, thinking about the “ultimate realities” is an
habitual encouragement to valuing this time of exile: “I will detach myself from
every earthly thing that prevents me from being all my God’s, so as to be ready
for the call of my spouse Jesus when he calls me from exile to my heavenly home
... At the point of death how we will regret not having done more good works
and acquired virtue and advanced in perfection! We would want to do more but
there will be no time ... Order your soul every day in the way you would if your
final hour had come ... I will endeavour to be a holy religious, living so that I
will be ready to die any day.”
During the retreat in Bethlehem in 1937 he took this resolution: “I will make
it a habit, as I have always done, to think about judgement and hell in order to
live as a good religious person and to detach myself from people and things.”
He renewed this the following year in Nazareth: “I will take the thought of death
as a counsellor, to live holy and perfectly and to keep myself prepared.” Finally,
he made it more specific and detailed in 1939 when he was in serious danger
of death and received extreme unction: “I will do everything to keep myself
prepared to appear before the Lord at any time. And to keep the things in my
infirmarian’s office in order, both at home and in the dispensary, and to keep
the accounts prepared.” The same year he wrote to his sister Zàhra: “I feel that
the end of my period of exile in this world is not far away. For some time I have
been having difficulty in breathing, heartache and not much strength; all this is
telling me: ‘Prepare yourself to meet your Lord when it is his wish.’”
Consideration of divine mercy takes precedence over thinking about his faults:
“Let us fear the formidable judgement of God every day of our life, and let us
fear it with filial fear, which does not disturb us unnecessarily but makes us
diligently work for our salvation ... Let us try to prepare ourselves diligently
for the particular judgement and be continually prepared for it as our Divine
Master Jesus Christ who will be our judge urges us. Blessed are we if we are found
ready when the Lord comes (cf Mt 24:46; 25:13; Lk 12:35-40) ... Keep awake, says
Jesus Christ, for you do not know either the day nor the hour of your death
when the Son of God will come to judge you (Mt 24:42).” Simon is aware of the
serious nature of the judgement, but trusts in the goodness of the Judge: “How
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I should accept from the Lord’s hands the crosses he sends me to pay my dues
and to purify my soul from its stains, before presenting myself before his fearful
tribunal ... I will take the thought of death as counsel and I will try to always
keep myself ready to appear before the good Jesus, whom I will try to make my
friend.”
8. The fruits of action on earth, and contemplation of God in Paradise
Simon realistically noted that “How few are those who understand what God
would do for them if they gave themselves entirely to him”; but he remained
steadfastly committed to his order of priorities: “Always have eternity in your
spirit, Jesus Christ in your heart, and his divine love above all things”, convinced
that God abundantly repays the primacy given to his friendship: “Oh, how much
God reckons with a righteous man, and how much he says and does out of
respect for him. See to it, O religious, that you are very just and very friendly
with God, and that you really attend to your own perfection, taking it for certain
that God will favour all your concerns, and will remember your parents, your
relatives and your friends, and everything that belongs to you, and the more he
does this, the more you will put aside your thoughts and forget these things and
give yourself to God alone.”
He was familiar with the biblical admonition which Don Bosco often
repeated: “At the end of life we will reap the fruit of our good works”; he
expressed this in similar words: “Let us not deceive ourselves, because each
one will reap on the day of judgement what he has sown in this present life (Gal
6:7). Whoever sows in the flesh, meaning carnal and sinful works, will only reap
corruption, that is, pain and damnation; and whoever sows in the spirit, meaning
good works pleasing to God, will reap eternal life” (Gal 6:8). Here and now, as
good “spiritual farmers”, let us continue to toil so we can then reap in eternity:
“Our rest will be in paradise. Oh paradise! Oh paradise, whoever thinks of you in
this world no longer suffers tiredness ... Let us remember that all the time of our
present life is given to us to avoid hell and to deserve heaven with good works,
especially works of mercy (cf. Mt 25:31-46) ... When the cross seems heavy, when
the road seems too long, when darkness is thickening around us, let us think of
the happiness we will have at the hour of our death if we have suffered for love
of Jesus Christ ... The day of death for the holy religious soul who has done good
throughout life is the day of a copious harvest. Because he reaps the fruit of his
good works. There have been so many acts of penance, so many acts of humility,
so many acts of charity, so many acts of obedience, so many fervent prayers and
communions, so many acts of mortification, humiliations for the love of Jesus, so
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many merits accumulated in every way, in every good thought, in every good
word, in every prayer, in every sigh of love for God ... How beautiful it is to see
God, to love him, bless him and contemplate him for all eternity.”
Conclusion
We acknowledge that Simon’s theology of Christian and religious perfection is
what is contained in Don Bosco’s writings, brought up to date by his successors
in their letters, circulars and “strennas” regularly read and commented on in the
community at Betgamāl. Therefore it belongs to the “common manner of feeling
and acting” in vogue among the Salesians of the era, expressed in terms of a
“family lexicon”. Fr Eugenio Ceria, a direct witness and authoritative historian,
wrote these lines in 1941 that also fit Srugi: “Today there is a lot of talk about the
interior life, an expression that no one ever heard from the lips of Don Bosco and
Don Rua, who were accustomed to discussing spiritual things with the utmost
simplicity of language.”; they used “union with God” which they “practised as
it is impressed on us in the Pater noster, where we ask the Lord for the grace to do
his holy will in everything and always, that is in every one of our life's actions.
Therefore, habitual union of will with God in the manner amply described by
St Francis de Sales in the eighth and ninth books of the Treatise on the Love
of God” (Ceria, Annali vol. 2, pp. 745--746). In concrete terms, for Fr Rua the
high road to holiness was the observance of the Rule as an expression of God's
will. Rereading his letters we find that the subject of personal perfection with its
related virtues and practices to achieve it, is central, and repeats as a refrain.56 Fr
Albera, too, uses the terms “soul, “religious vocation”, “perfection”, “holiness”
56 I will just mention a handful of passages from M. Rua, Circolari: by our religious profession we have contracted
“the strict obligation to continually advance in perfection each day” (p. 111), forever beginning anew, because
there is always a measure of self-love in the human heart, “desirous of making daily progress in perfection,
in order to correspond to the very special grace that God grants us by calling us to religious life” (p. 122); “in
professing the holy vows we contract the obligation of making constant progress in the perfection that befits
the state we have embraced. Hence this leaning towards perfection becomes, for the Salesian, a debt he pays
each day but that is never fully paid off on this earth – this is the business in which the talents we have received
must be brought to fruition” (p. 195). In the Circular on Poverty: “We are urged to practise poverty by the
intimate relationship that exists between the practice of this virtue and our individual progress in perfection”
(p. 367). Jesus spells it out as the first of the Beatitudes because “it is the foundation underlying the other seven
steps by which one arrives at the peak of perfection” (p. 368); we should not become attached to people or
things, because they become small stones that hinder us from “walking along the path of perfection” (p. 372);
in order to acquire the spirit of poverty it is very important to always adhere to the common life (p. 373);
“indifference to any role is a pointer to a high degree of perfection” (p. 400).
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as part of the fabric of his discourse.57 Fr Rinaldi takes up and develops the same
subjects, insisting on the sanctification of intellectual or manual work.58 And
finally, Fr Ricaldone presents it all once again extensively in the context of Don
Bosco’s canonisation.59 I don’t think it is necessary to multiply these citations;
I think what I have already documented is sufficient, as well as reminding
ourselves that Srugi had personally known the first two and the last of those
men. From an overall perspective one could say that on the one hand Fr Rua’s
invitation/slogan (“The holiness of the children is proof of the holiness of the
Father”, 1888) and, on the other, Fr Ricaldone’s (“Fidelity to Don Bosco the
Saint”, 1936) are the historical and spiritual coordinates within which we can
place Srugi, his plan for personal holiness, and his apostolate as educator and
social worker.
It needs to be added, however, that he did not restrict himself to copying
a model or generically following in the footsteps of others: instead, he
personalised their guidelines and directives, especially in his resolutions, and
drew up an original programme for his progress, not just on certain occasions,
intermittently, but constantly, not just in some areas but in all, not thinking just
of himself but also of the confreres and boys with whom he lived, not within the
closet of an exclusively Christian setting but in a context marked by a Muslim
presence. For these reasons he embodied a kind of Salesian holiness that was
unprecedented at the time, and which can still be imitated today.
57 Religious life is “is a most remarkable grace of the Lord, who in his goodness wanted to take us out of the life
of simple Christians and call us to embrace the state of perfection, which has as its basis the practice of the
evangelical counsels” (P. Albera, Circolari, p. 332). “Our vocation obliges us not only to strive for holiness,
but also to acquire it in the most perfect degree possible.”; therefore maintain “the keen desire for ever-higher
perfection and the constant effort to achieve it” (p. 403); “Don Bosco had the art of lifting up hearts to the
desire and achievement of perfection.” (p.465).
58 Cf. ACS 3(1923) no 21, p. 120; 5(1924) no. 23, pp. 177–199.
59 Cf Pensar bene di tutti, parlar bene di tutti, far del bene a tutti. Torino: SEI, 1933; Santità e purezza. Torino:
SEI, 1935; Povertà. Torino: SEI, 1938.
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Final summing up
At the end of the research I feel that I have achieved the goal I set myself,
that is to better document the history of Betgamāl and the place of Srugi
within it, connecting them with the main events and characters of the broader
contemporary regional history.
1. Key players and actors in the Salesian history of Betgamāl
The study we have done allows us to have a richer knowledge of the Salesian work
in the multiplicity of sectors in which it was articulated: religious community (SDB
and FMA); orphanage and home for Armenian refugees; educational-scholastic
institution for a majority of boarders and a group of external schoolchildren;
clinic and dispensary for medical and nursing assistance to poor and sick
peasants; farm with annexed winery, mill and oil press; centre for promoting
devotion to Saint Stephen the Martyr and the spirituality of reconciliation.
These various forms of service responded to the real needs of young people
and of the poor population of the place (over sixty villages, Palestinian Arabs);
and, as far as the "Pious Work of Christian Forgiveness" was concerned, they also
responded to the expectations of the numerous groups from different parts of the
Middle East, Europe and America. The usefulness of the services provided was
recognised by the beneficiaries themselves, appreciated by civil, educational,
medical and religious authorities (including non-Catholics, Muslims and Jews),
and supported by international charitable organisations.
The various sectors were managed by the community as a whole (confreres,
sisters and lay collaborators) in which some distinguished themselves as key
players and leading actors: Fr Eugenio Bianchi for spiritual animation according to
the spirit of Don Bosco, as well as for the “Pious Work”, an idea he conceived,
established and, after the approval of Pope Pius XI, helped spread worldwide.
Fr Alfredo Sacchetti, an industrious organiser of the farm and tireless “seeker”
of charity, especially on behalf of the Armenians. Sister Tersilla Ferrero, for 14
years at Simon's side not only as a nurse but as his "spiritual sister". Father
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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Maurizio Gisler, who gave scientific credibility to the archaeological discoveries
and designed the Martyrium. Fr Giovanni Fergnani, enthusiastic populariser.
Brother Angelo Bormida, whose premature death prevented him from giving
the full contribution of his skills; abuna Butrus Sarkīs, Fr Mario Rosin, Fr Rafaele
López. There were also those who (to maintain the language of the theatre) I
would call “those in the wings”: priests (like Frs Frey and Gosslar, Candiani and
Calīs, Spiridiōn and Sciueri ...), or brothers assigned to the various sectors of the
farm (Harūni, Aloi, Porro, Hawīla . ...) who by their manual work and increasing
mechanisation, assisted by lay teachers, instructors and workshop heads (Artīn,
Dikrān, ...) and workers, brought the farm to a level of excellence recognised by
the numerous awards obtained at agricultural exhibitions. Finally, I feel that I
have shed some light on the young boys of Betgamāl, with brief mentions of
their lives as boarders and as past pupils.
The key players showed a remarkable open-mindedness; inspired by an
almost utopian vision, they set their hand to far-reaching enterprises, three in
particular: the professional, religious and priestly preparation of hundreds of
young Armenians in Salesian schools in the Middle East and Italy, in view of
the resumption of the Christian mission in south-eastern Turkey. The project
to build a large shrine in honour of St Stephen, to promote the culture of
reconciliation on an international scale. The plan to expand the outpatients clinic
to the level of a hospital for the area.
The superiors in Turin, in particular Frs Michael Rua and Peter Ricaldone,
sensed the potential of the work and nurtured hopes that it could give the houses
in the Holy Land not only foodstuffs, but also priestly and religious vocations.
For the former, having "the category of Latin students, never less than ten" in
each house was desirable, while the latter realised it was problematic. As a
matter of fact, in 1900 among the young men boarding at Betgamāl there were 6
aspirants and among the teachers two novices; in the following years until 1914,
only one, besides Srugi, became a brother and 5 priests (cf. Borrego, p. 244, 249;
Ceria, Annali 2, p. 184; León, p. 32, 101--103). In the years 1920--30 there were
only three "vocations" to consecrated life: one professed as a Trappist monk at
Latrūn, two began the novitiate at Cremisan in 1932 but did not complete it (cf.
Cronistoria, in AIMOR 4.4.2., folder no. 1; AIMOR 4.4.1.1).
All this serves to contextualize the person and activity of Simon Srugi
as an exponent of the first young Arabs who embraced Salesian life; not an
isolated individual but the leading figure of a community of religious who (in
that historical-geographical, socio-economic, educational and welfare context)
bore practical witness to the values of Salesian consecration and mission. They
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Final summing up
recognised him as their best representative from the religious point of view,
as demonstrated, among other things, by the fact that they elected him as the
delegate of the brothers to go to Italy to take part in the beatification and
canonisation of Don Bosco. A judgement unanimously shared by the "people
outside".
2. Simon Srugi: representative figure of the “contemplative in action”
A quick look back: Simon spent the first 11 years in Nazareth, of which there
are no documents remaining: certainly the Christological and Marian mysteries
of the Incarnation and of the "hidden life" exerted a profound influence on his
childlike soul, and the image of Saint Joseph compensated in a certain way for
his father's absence: "We can say that his spirituality was "Nazarethian", all the
more so since we know how sensitive and attached Orientals are to family and
popular traditions" (cf. FIORA, pp. 39, 48--49). He then grew up for about 4
years in Bethlehem in the welcoming atmosphere of Fr Belloni's orphanage and
the "Brothers of the Holy Family", fraternising with the first Salesians, many
of whom were only a few years older than him. In that technical school which
prepared him for manual work, the teenaged Simon served his apprenticeship
as a tailor, baker and nurse. At the same time he was struck by the humility
and poverty of the Child Jesus in the grotto of the nativity (where the orphans
went down daily to pray for benefactors) and became imbued with devotions
to the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacred Heart. These continued to be the pillars
of his religiousness throughout his life. Then, during the years of aspirantate,
novitiate and practical training at Betgamāl, he laid the solid foundations
of his life of consecration to God, imitation of Christ and gift of self to his
neighbour in the Salesian mission of education and assistance. In the decades
that followed, he built the edifice of his sanctification on these foundations in
which the above-mentioned dimensions reached maturity, merging with other
equally characteristic ones: conformation to the crucified and risen Christ; work
sanctified by continuous adoration "in spirit and in truth", as a "liturgy of life";
educational loving-kindness, readiness to forgive, the simplicity of the "little
way" in community life, compassion for the sick and the poor. For these reasons,
without taking anything away from the fact that he came from Nazareth, I think
it would not be improper to call him Simon Srugi of Betgamāl.
This Bellonian and later Salesian work, unlike the others that were favored
by their location in the city or its surroundings (Nazareth and Haifa, Jerusalem,
Bethlehem and Cremisan), was at a disadvantage: an agricultural orphanage
in the open countryside, exposed to all the socio-political and military winds,
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in an environment where malaria and poverty ruled. It is not surprising that
some thought that second-rate confreres were sent there. (cf FIORA, p. 57;
Hierosolymitana 1993, p. 860). Fr Bianchi and Fr Sacchetti, abuna Sarkīs and
Fr Rosin, but especially Simon, with his humble, joyful and hard-working
testimony, contributed to giving Betgamāl a different image and fame: it became
Srugi's Betgamāl. People came, of course, to visit the sanctuary of Saint Stephen,
or to enjoy the natural beauties, or for various practical reasons; but others
came on purpose to get to know him, and among the most pleasant impressions
they took with them when they left was that of having met a saint. He was the
Salesian whom the former students, immediately and decades later, associated
most closely with Betgamāl; a sign of deep and lasting brotherly relationship
and also one of spiritual paternity that he had been able to weave with them. The
observation that Fr Sacchetti noted down in 1924 (“There is certainly no person in
the entire district better known and revered than Srugi”) is confirmed by the long
lists of names of people (thousands) and villages (dozens) in the 9 medication
registers, and finally was deservedly highlighted on the day of his death. Fr
Cattān summed it up, “The house at Beitgemal can rejoice in having housed a saint
for a good 50 years within its walls” (AIMOR 15.1.2, folder 8).
In a succession of dramatic and sometimes tragic events (two world wars,
rebellions by his confreres, guerrilla warfare, deportations, looting, killings...),
against a backdrop of strong personalities who left behind violence and
destruction, Simon knew how to be a man of peace, distinguishing himself by
his gentleness and serenity. He always kept his gaze upward, in a constant
attitude of loving union with God, pursuing without deviation a path of personal
holiness and an apostolate of service and witness that, in the end, proved to
be successful. He practised fortitude in his own regard, fighting against his
disordered inclinations, conforming to the attitudes of the Heart of Christ: humility
and meekness, gentleness and mercy, sacrificing all his strength in the service
of the poor and the sick. For this reason he was well liked by all: confreres
and sisters, young people and lay collaborators, poor and sick, Christians and
Muslims; and even the bandits, if they did not love him, at least admired and
respected him, so that several times, almost like a “lightning rod” or “guardian
angel” of the house, he managed to ward off their reprisals.
Even in the periods of relative tranquillity (the twenties and the mid-
thirties), he did not lie down in mediocrity but, as his astute biographer Fr
Forti observes, thanks to the superiority of his soul and to his supernatural
motivations, he succeeded in overcoming the pitfalls of that "terrible daily life",
made up of ordinary things and monotonous practices. (cf. FORTI, pp. 63--64;
FIORA, pp. 109--110). Amidst the din of conflicting voices that resounded in and
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Final summing up
around Betgamāl, Simon allowed himself to be guided by the gentle breath of
the Holy Spirit. He was able to understand what the educational, welfare and
religious mission that the Lord entrusted to him was, on behalf of young people
both within and beyond, be they Christians or Muslims, and he carried it out
with constancy and simplicity.
Throughout his journey he was accompanied by authentic models and masters
of the spirit: initially by Fr Belloni, then especially by Fr Bianchi, but also by Frs
Gerbo, Rosin, and López, who were at his side for several years. His interior
life and his activity rested on a solid theological foundation, according to the
Catholic piety of the time, which privileged the sacraments and devotions
over the Word of God, then approached mainly through the episodes of "bible
history," the Sunday sermons, the catechism and the weekly practice of the so-
called "testamentino," that is, the 10 verses that not only the clerics but also
the assistants memorised and recited to the Rector who gave an explanation of
them. (cf RUA, Lettere Circolari, p. 115). It can be said that Srugi knew the New
Testament very well, as appears not so much from the index of the few biblical
quotations I have found, but from a whole fabric of evangelical themes familiar
to him.
His usual points of reference were the examples and teachings of Don
Bosco, the teaching of St Francis de Sales, the revelations of Jesus to his
spiritual daughters, the Visitation Nuns Margaret-Mary Alacoque and Marie-
Marta Chambon, the ascetic works of St Alphonsus M. de' Liguori and some
other contemporary authors who presented Christian life in terms of liturgical
theology, anticipating Vatican II. In particular, the four Rectors Major, Frs Rua,
Albera, Rinaldi and Ricaldone, provided him with up-to-date guidelines with
which he pursued his gradual and steady path to perfection.
3. In conclusion
Beyond all the contingent aspects that are by now outdated, the history of
the Salesian work at Betgamāl appears significant, indeed open to further
investigation, following some of the avenues of research that I have indicated
from time to time with cursory explorations: for example, the co-leading actors
would deserve to be presented more fully: Fr Bianchi, Sacchetti, Rosin, López.
One important fact is clear: the humanitarian service that the people at
Betgamāl requested most was not scholastic or job training but pharmaceutical
and medical and health assistance. This fell mostly on Srugi’s shoulders! In fact:
in the 65 years from the opening of the agricultural school in 1878 until Srugi’s
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death in 1943, the annual number of boarders was limited to around fifty, which
means that if we also include day students who attended the small day school,
we arrive at a maximum of around 3,250 students. On the other hand, dozens
of sick people came to the clinic on a single day to be treated by Simon and also
by Sister Tersilla. On average there would have been many thousands a year, as
shown by the official statistics sent to the superiors in Turin and the 9 registers
of medications compiled by Srugi from 1932 to 1942.
For all these reasons Simon Srugi can be proposed as a convincing model of
the "holy" Christian and religious, not only to the Salesian Family and to those
who profess the evangelical counsels, but to every person who takes the good of
their brothers and sisters to heart, beginning with those in the Holy Land and the
Middle East, in its ecumenical, multi-religious, multicultural and socio-political
context, with its millions of refugees and displaced persons, still today in search
of a just peace among the peoples who live there.
Certainly, as I said in the introduction to his writings, Srugi was a child of his
times and shared its limitations: his writings are influenced by the Italian used
by the ‘Levantines’ of the 19th and 20th centuries indebted to authors of previous
centuries; they therefore require the reader to make an effort to understand
them and the translator to provide additional interpretation. On the other hand
they do not present as lengthy speeches but as brief and telling “maxims” not
unlike today’s “text messages”, “tweets”, “sms”. Instead, the testimony of his life
speaks directly, because the hard-working charity in which he expressed himself
remains the universally understandable language. In this sense, the message
of this Salesian Arab Brother can be fruitful everywhere because it is a clear
reflection of the simplicity of the Gospel.
If one were to shift from paper to audiovisual and digital language, the
history of Betgamāl and Simon's life offer abundant material that could be
transposed dramatically (theatre or film) to make it more attractive, especially
for young people.
Betgamāl, 6 May 2021
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Srugi’s Biblical Citations
Gen 3:6 (MAC) 178
Gen 4:2-8 (MAC) 182
Gen 17:1 (PES) 198
Gen 18:27 (PES) 200
Gen 28:10-12 (PES) 202
Gen 39:6-20 (MAG) 186
Ex 20:12 (MAG) 188
Lev 6:5-6 (PES) 196
Deut 6:5 (PES) 206
Lam 3:27 (MAG) 188
Dan 13 (MAG) 186
Joel 3:2,12 (MAC) 183
Ps 38(39),13 (PES) 191
Ps 39:4-7 (PES) 196
Prov 3:11-12 (PES) 197, 234
Prov 10:19 (PES) 192
Prov 13:3 (PES) 192
Prov. 3:12 (PES) 233
Sir 4:17-18 (PES) 197
Sir 10:9 (PES) 200
Sir 17:27 (PES) 200
Mt 3:8-10 (PES) 193
Mt 5:5 (PES) 205
Mt 5:6 (MAC) 179
Mt 5:16 (MAC) 177
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 (MAC) 178
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 (PES) 204, 230
Mt 7:13-14 (PES) 205
Mt 11:12 (PRO) 219
Mt 12:34 (MAC) 181, 195
Mt 12:36 (PES) 192
Mt 18:3 (PES) 193
Mt 22:37 (PES) 196
Mt 22:39 (PES) 194
Mt 24:42 (PES) 194
Mt 24:46 (PES) 194
Mt 25:6 (PES) 205
Mt 25:31-46 (PES) 194
Mk 2:19-20 with parallels (PES) 205
Mk 12:41-44 (MAC) 178
Lk 1:70 (DIA) 173
Lk 2:51 (MAG) 189
Lk 9:23 (PRO) 216
Lk 12:35-40 (PES) 194
Lk 14:28 (PES) 200
Lk 17:21 (MAC) 181
Lk 21:18 (PES) 197
Jn 1:46 49
Jn 10:7, 9 (PES) 205
Jn 12:25 (MAC) 183
Jn 12:35 (PES) 192
Jn 13:25 (DIA 24) 169
Jn 14:6 (PES) 204
Jn 15:1-8, 16 (PES) 193
Rom 8:16-17 (PRO) 223
Rom 8:18 (PES) 190
Rom 8:28 (MAG) 186
Rom 12:1 (PES) 205
Rom 12:21 (MAC) 182
1 Cor 2:12-15 (PES) 193
1 Cor 3:16-17 (PRO) 222
1 Cor 4:3-4 (PES) 193
1 Cor 6:19 (PRO) 217
1 Cor 9:24-27 (PRO) 219
1 Cor 10:31 (PES) 203
2 Cor 4:7 (PES) 205
2 Cor 4:10 (PES) 190, 201
Gal 2:20 (PES) 206
Gal 2:20 (PRO) 216
Gal 5:22 (PES) 199
Gal 5:22 PRO 224
Gal 6:7 (PES) 194
Gal 6:7-8 (PES) 197
Gal 6:8 (PES) 194
Gal 6:10 (PES) 193
Eph 4:22-24 (PES) 199
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Eph 4:22-24 (PRO) 224
Eph 4:29 (MAC) 195
Eph 4:29 (PES) 197
Phil 2:7-8 (PES) 199, 200
Phil 2:12 (PES) 205
Phil 3:13 (PES) 196
Phil 3:20 (PES) 190
Col 3:9-10 (PRO) 224
Heb 12:1 (PES) 190
Heb 12:5-7 (PES) 197
1 Tim 6:8 (PRO) 223
Jas 1:12 (PRO) 219
Jas 3:2 (PES) 192
Jas 4:1 (PES) 206
Jas 4:2-3 (PES) 193
Jas 4:4 (PES) 206
1 Pt 2:11 (PES) 190
2 Pt 1:10 (PES) 191
1 Jn 2:16 (PES) 202
1 Jn 3:1 (PRO) 223
1 Jn 4:12-16 (MAC) 179
Rev 14:4 62
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Names of people
Abù-l-‘Asal Sāleh 164
Abu Sitta Salmān xxvii, 97
Agopian Agop 128, 149
Agopian Matthew 128
Agopian Musa 127
Akçam Taner xxvii
Alacoque Margaret Mary 60, 167, 255
Albera Paul sdb vi, xxv, 17, 19, 30–31,
38–41, 62, 116, 247–248, 255
Albright William Foxwell 45
Allegra Gabriele ofm 67
Almagian John sdb 22, 126, 129
Al-‘Aisy Dīb Mahmūd 98
Al-‘Arag Nasry 91, 107
Amadei Angelo sdb xxv, 19, 22
Anders Władysław 86
Archer Laird 131
Asegian Paul 128
Aselli Cesare sdb 113
Auffray Augustin sdb xxv
Avedissian Daniele 113, 127
Avedissian Manne 149, 161
Baccaro Antonio sdb 14
Balaian Antonio sdb 129
Baldi Donato ofm 67
Banchi Jacopo xxiv
Baouardy Myriam 7
Barberis Giulio sdb xxiv–xxv, 10, 18,
20, 28–29, 61, 72, 118, 123, 145, 150
Barberis Guglielmo 16
Barlassina Luigi xxvii, 42, 44, 47, 49, 59,
77, 121–123, 129, 132, 209
Barluzzi Antonio 38
Barron John Bernard xxvii, 97
Battisti Edmondo osb xxiv, 121
Bea Agostino sj 67
Bede The Venerable xxvii, 42
Belloni Antonio sdb xi, xvii, 6–8, 10–
13, 15, 17–18, 20, 32, 35, 52, 72, 156,
255
Belloni Giovanni sdb 12
Beltrami Andrea sdb xxv, 29, 123
Beltritti Giacomo 91
Benedict XV 113, 129, 134, 138
Bergeretti Andrea sdb xxvii, 9–10, 12
Bernstein Herman 132
Bianchi Eugenio sdb xvii, xxi, 10–11,
13, 19, 26–32, 41, 43–45, 47, 49, 65–67,
69–70, 72, 94, 105, 112, 118, 128, 141,
146–150, 251, 254–255
Bianchi Giacinto 12, 16
Blatchford Edward W. 130–131, 133,
136
Boauardy Myriam 8
Boghossian Armando 127
Bolognani Pietro sdb 80
Bonetti Giovanni sdb xxiv
Bormida Angelo sdb vi, 10, 33–36, 252
Borrego Jesús sdb xxvii, 12, 37, 105–
106, 129
Borton William 46
Bosco John xi, xiv, xvii, xxiv–xxv, 10–
11, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26–28, 31, 37,
39–41, 43, 47, 49, 59, 65–67, 69, 72–73,
76, 82, 85, 112, 116, 123, 136, 142–147,
149–150, 157, 185, 200, 239–240, 246–
248
Bosio Guido sdb xxvii
Bracco Vincenzo 7–8, 11
Brandys Jan 87
Bretto Clemente sdb 22
Buzy Denis 45
Cacciaturian ‘Abed 149
Caiscian Sciucri 129
Calīs Yūsif sdb 83–84, 87, 89, 98, 252
Calussie Na‘īm 57, 145
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Camassei Filippo 129
Canale Giovanni Battista sdb 69–70,
81–82, 86
Cancemi Giovanni sdb 161
Candela Antonio sdb 47, 54
Candiani Antonio sdb 77–80, 85, 252
Cantoni Ercole sdb 14, 148–149, 161
Caputa Giovanni sdb i, xiii, xvii, xix,
xxvii, 73, 83
Cardano Peter sdb 21, 23–24, 26, 72
Castellotto Cristina fma 111
Cattān Butrus sdb 50, 57, 62, 117, 122,
254
Cautero Renato sdb xxviii, 92
Caviglia Alberto sdb xxiv
Ceria Eugenio sdb xxvi, 19–20, 24, 29,
31, 116, 247
Cerruti Frnacesco sdb 19
Chambon Marie-Marta xi, 68, 155,
166–167, 233, 236, 255
Charbel Antonio sdb xxviii, 90, 93
Ciakmakgian Dikrān 61, 91, 127, 140
Cimatti Vincent sdb 29, 66
Colli Evasio 47
Conder Claude Reignier xxviii
Conil François xxviii, 52
Coradini Ruggero sdb 10–11, 13–14,
17, 19, 29, 58, 105, 161
Cozzolino Ciro sdb xxii, xxviii, 99
Crevacore Alfonso sdb xxviii
Crozes Auguste sdb 87
Cumbāz Na‘īm sdb xvii, 43, 63, 141
Dal Maso Eligio sdb 57, 59, 112, 119,
123
Dal Pos Giuditta fma 92
Damergian George 59, 127
De Ferrari Giovanni sdb 12
De Sola Pool David 132
Demirdgian Paul sdb 129
Derossi Eraldo sdb 113, 116
Desramaut Francis sdb xxviii, 6, 12, 20,
37, 48, 70, 87
Dilanian Lavon sdb 129
Diotallevi Ferdinando ofm 43
Dumet George xxviii, 45
Durando Celestino sdb 12, 17, 19
Duvignau Pierre xxviii
D‘Espiney Charles xxiv
Eigmann Franz sdb 35
Eskigian Setrak 127
Estrate Pierre xxix
Fabrizi Fabrizio xxxi
Falah Ghazi xxix
Fano Estella xxix, 52, 75
Fara‘ūn ‘Abdàllah 3
Farrugia Anthony sdb 86
Farwagy Nazarena 79
Fergnani Giovanni sdb xxix, 43–44,
46–47, 67–69, 94, 98, 252
Fernandez Andrés sj 67
Ferrero Benigna Consolata 50, 167
Ferrero Tersilla fma xi, 49, 55–56, 59,
62–64, 74–76, 80–81, 87, 90, 103, 109–
111, 113–114, 124, 209, 251, 256
Fior Lina fma xxviii
Fiora Luigi sdb xxii, xxix, 6, 14, 27, 49
Flesia Giovanni Luigi sdb 34
Forti Ernesto sdb xxix, 13, 85, 105, 124,
159, 164, 254
Franca Tommaso xxiv
Franceschini Giorgio xxix
Francesia Giovanni Battista sdb xxiv,
xxix, 24–26, 126
Francia Vittorio sdb 83
Frey Rudolf sdb 47, 61–62, 98, 112, 252
Fusi Giuseppe sdb 63–64
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Gasparri Pietro 31, 43–44, 47, 134, 137–
138
Gatti Carlo sdb 10, 54, 59, 66, 134, 148
Gavish Dov xxix, 97
Gerbo Mario sdb 48, 143–144, 148,
158–161, 255
Ghattās Marie-Alphonsine xxix, 7–8
Ghezzi Luigi sdb 112, 117
Ghiragossian James 127–128
Gianazza Gianmaria sdb xxx, 20, 129
Gianazza Pier Giorgio sdb xxx
Giannini Frediano ofm 136
Gia‘nīne Ishāq (Giannini Isaac) sdb 17,
23, 32, 48
Gisler Maurizio osb vi, xxx, 35–36, 42,
44, 47, 79, 93, 149, 251
Gori Alberto ofm 91
Gorla Albino 122
Gosslar Karl sdb 84, 87, 252
Grant Elihu 52, 54
Grassiano Domenica fma xxx, 12
Grego Igino sdb xxii, xxviii, xxx
Guerra Felice sdb xxx, 47
Guzzetti Cherubino sdb 143, 161
Hadawi Sami xxx, 97
Harūni George sdb i, 12, 49, 51, 65, 84,
98, 252
Heidet Louis xxx, 149
Herbert Samuel 132
Hlond August sdb 29
Kalbian Vicken xxx, 130
Keklikian Artīn 127, 140
Keklikian Meline 127
Keklikian Paschal (Haroutyoun) 59,
127
Kempis Thomas à xxiv
Khàwaly Dàlleh Ibrahīm 6
Khoury Farid 145
Khoury Ibrahīm sdb 98–99, 108
Khoury ‘Abdàllah 91
Khumarian Hagop 161
Kot John (Włodowski Jan) sdb 92
Kuiumgian John sdb 127–128
Laconi Francesco sdb xxx, 90
Lajolo Luigi sdb 87, 89–90
Lemoyne Giovanni Battista sdb xxv, 28,
41
León Alejandro sdb xiv, xxx
Liguori Alphonsus M. xxvi, 112, 231,
234, 238, 255
Loparco Grazia fma xxx–xxxii, 10, 13
López Rafael sdb 81–82, 84–87, 252,
255
Maccono Ferdinando sdb xxvi
MacKenzie Duncan xxxi, 32, 52
Mallon Alexis sj 45, 67
Manugian 128
Marenco Giovanni sdb 19
Mathias Louis sdb 67–68
Matossian Ohannis Bey 131
Mazzarello Mary Domenica fma xvii,
73, 75
Mazzolini Quinto 71
McDonel Joseph Bede 34
Megdessian Megdess sdb 129
Meistermann Barnaba ofm 35
Mezzacasa Giacomo sdb 10
Mignani Ermellina fma 92
Milani Armando 161
Milano Marcella fma 58
Mills Edward xxxi, 97
Money Arthur Wigram 38
Moore Joseph 136–137, 139–140
Morris Benny xxxi, 126–128, 130
Motto Francesco sdb xxxi
Nahhās Yūhanna sdb i, xxvi, 7, 10, 12,
72, 140
Nai Luigi sdb 20–21, 82
Naslian John 128
Nigra Lorenzo sdb 55, 65, 82
261

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
Orlando Carlo xxxi, 91
O’Rourke John L. sj 67
Papa Antonietta xxxi
Pascale Giovanni 59
Pedrazzi Antonio 73, 76
Pedrazzi Orazio xxxi
Pera Ceslao sdb xxvi
Piavi Ludovico 11, 20, 32
Pieraccini Paolo xxxi, 37, 133
Piperni Raffaele sdb 12, 16, 18
Pius X 47
Pius XI vi, 41, 43, 47, 59, 64, 106, 133,
137–139, 143
Poggi Luigi ocd 59
Pogliotti Luigi sdb 33
Polácek Jaroslav sdb xxxi
Ponzetti Giulio sdb 90
Ponzo Vincenzo sdb 12
Porro Angelo sdb 27, 63, 252
Pozzo Vittorio sdb xxxi, 10, 19–20, 90,
141
Praduroux Emilio sdb xxii, xxviii, xxxii
Prun Athanese sdb 12, 14
Puddu Salvatore sdb 47–48, 72, 145–
146
Puech Émile xxxii, 93
Radoński Karol Mieczysław 85
Raele Giuseppe sdb 58, 139, 144, 147
Rahmani Efrem 136
Rastello Francesco sdb xxxii
Ra‘ed Cesàr 91
Ricaldone Peter sdb xxv, 37–38, 41, 51,
69, 72, 76, 79, 81, 83, 119, 146, 248,
252, 255
Riccardi Andrea xxxii, 126
Rinaldi Philip sdb 40–41, 43–44, 47–48,
62, 64, 66, 82, 105, 116, 125, 131, 144,
248, 255
Ritz Emilio 59
Robinson Paschal ofm 135
Rocca Angelo sdb xxvi, 210
Rodinò Amedeo sdb xxii
Rodriguez Alfonso xxvi
Roero Prospero sdb xviii, xxxii
Rosin Mario sdb xi, xxii, 10, 34, 70–
78, 81, 89, 94, 110, 139, 149, 242, 252,
254–255
Rua Michael sdb xi, xxv, 10–12, 16–24,
26, 29, 31–32, 41, 48, 60, 72, 118, 126,
141, 156–158, 247–248, 252, 255
Rummān Spiridiōn sdb i, 32, 51
Sacchetti Alfredo sdb xxxii, 15, 26, 30–
38, 42–47, 54–55, 68–71, 75–76, 78, 99,
106, 126–127, 129–141, 144–145, 147,
149, 251, 254–255
Sala Rossano sdb xxxii
Sales Francis de xiv, xxiv, 40–41, 44, 60,
64, 145, 150, 167, 206, 239–240
Sarkīs Butrus (Peter) sdb 12, 22, 31–32,
34, 46, 51, 58, 65, 78, 94, 252, 254
Scanzio Antonio 16, 52
Sceüris Joseph 128
Schiaparelli Ernesto 21, 38, 46, 53
Sciueri (Khalil) Carlo sdb 88, 91, 252
Scupoli Lorenzo xxvi
Secco Michelina fma xxxii, 12, 56
Selīm ‘Atàllah 160–162
Shalhūb George sdb 32, 106
Shavit Ari xxxii
Shaw J.V.W. xxxii
Simionato Elburga 74
Spiridiōn Rummān sdb 51, 98, 122,
161, 252
Srugi Zàhra xi, xix, 79, 88, 164, 245
Srugi ‘Āzar 5–6, 164
Starkey James Leslie 71
Stella Pietro sdb xxxii, 24
Stephan Hanna Stephen xxxiii, 67
Strus Andrzej sdb xxxiii, 93
Stuchly Ignac sdb 29
262

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Sutera Luigi sdb 26, 30, 32, 72
Swider Edward sdb 86, 113
Tahhān Fathàllah sdb 62
Talatinian Kerop (Basilio) ofm 127
Taszarkowna Teresa fma 92
Terrone Luigi sdb xxvi
Tornquist Adolfo sdb 54, 58, 69
Torresani Girolamo 46
Tournaian Stephen 129
Tuhtarian Clemente 142
Ugetti Giovanni Battista sdb 49
Useo Giovanni Battista sdb 10, 17
Valentini Eugenio sdb xxii, xxxiii, 9, 38,
54
Varaia Antonio sdb 10, 14, 16–18, 111
Variara Luigi sdb 29, 67
Vercauteren Charles sdb 12, 17, 22
Vergano Annetta fma 12, 56
Versiglia Louis sdb 29
Viganò Egidio sdb xxxiii, 117
Villa Giovanni sdb 139, 145
Villa Paolo sdb 127
Vismara Eusebio sdb xxxiii, 38, 119
Vizolo Luigi sdb 147
Wallis Faith xxxiii, 42
Walsh E. Aloysius sj 133–137, 139
Yūnis Regina fma 61
Zampini Francesco xxxiii
Zanchetta Giacomo sdb 34, 72
Ze‘evi Dror xxxi, 126–128, 130
Ziggiotti Renato sdb 90
Zimniak Stanisław sdb xxx–xxxiii, 10,
13
263

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264

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PHOTO GALLERY
Credits
Most of the photos here can be found in ABG in thaelbumbselonging to Frs Sacchetti,
Rummān and López (tampered with sometimes and almost all without dates or
names). Though the attributions I give are generally trustworthy, in some cases they
need to be considered with some reservation. Others are from pages of the brochure
by Fr Gisler in 1923 (nos. 15-17, 20). Some are original slidesmade by Bro. Sante
Tombolato (nos. 28, 41), who also worked on many of the earlier ones. The last three
were made by Fr Gianmaria Gianazza (nos. 79-81). Finally, I use photos from the
“National Geographic” (no. 1), the Greek-Melkite parish archives in Nazareth (nos.
2, 3), the Abù-l-‘Asal family in Nazareth (no. 13), and of the Dorothy Sisters in the
Holy Land (no. 49).
265

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
1
Simon Srugi was born in Nazareth on 15.04.1877 and received the sacraments of initiation on 10.05
in the Greek-Melkite church built over the place thought to be the ancient synagogue from Jesus’ time.
2
3
266

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Photo Gallery
4
From December 1888 to July 1892 Simon was in Bethlehem at the orphanage
run by Canon Fr Antonio Belloni (youthful portrait and photo as an older man).
5
1893: FMA house, entrance to the orphanage and school, Sacred Heart church.
267

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
6
The instrumental band at the orphanage (ca. 1896).
To the right of Fr Belloni bandmaster Angelo Bormida with baton, on left Mr Francesco Arrobio.
7
St Joseph’s orpahange and agricultural school at Betgamāl at the end of 1800:
here Simon Srugi lived as an aspirant, novice, professed member and practical trainee (1892-1900).
268

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Photo Gallery
8
Betgamāl at the end of 1800: priests, brothers, workers, youngsters at work
and posing in the garden before the south facade of the central building.
9
Nazareth, March 1908. On top from left.: G.Harūni, G.Suedān, Fr Y.Harūni, ?, ch. S.Rummān,
ch. A.Crétal, ?. Seated: Fr A.Prun, Fr C.Bretto, Fr M.Rua, Fr P.Cardano, Fr M.Rosin, Rector.
269

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
10
The seven priests at Betgamāl in 1914-1915: Fr Eugenio Bianchi (seated at the centre),
Fr Alfredo Sacchetti (behind him), Fr Pietro Marsegaglia, Fr Angelo Bertola,
Fr ʻAwad ʻAtallah, Fr Luigi Vizolo, Fr Peter Sarkīs.
11
12
Bro. Angelo Bormida (ca. 1915).
Fr P.Ricaldone visitor and Fr L.Sutera
provincial (1919).
270

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Photo Gallery
13
Nazareth, second half of 1920s: Simon posing with his cousin.
14
On the hill: Salesian institute and basilica of Jesus the Adolescent.
House where Simon was born was located in the neighbourhood below left.
271

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
15
Discovery of Byzantine church over St Stephen’s “tomb” (1916-17, 1922).
Excavations: Fr Gisler osb, Bro. Bormida, Fr Bianchi, Fr Fergnani.
16
Base of the diaconicón alta(Ar ), placed next to the entrance in the burial grotto (B),
on whose steps stands the young man in the upper right corner (C).
272

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Photo Gallery
17
E.Ritz, Fr Fergnani and Fr Bianchi admire mosaics in the side nave (1922).
18a
Archbishop P.Robinson, apostolic visitor for CNEWA with pupils and confreres (11.10.1927).
18b
AbunaSarkīs,
Fr Sacchetti,
Fr Rosin,
Arch. Robinson,
Fr Bianchi.
273

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
19
Spring 1928: young people help in the casting of the slab above the crypt.
20
Spring 1928: confreres and boys from Bethlehem, Cremisan and Betgamāl on area
where the Martyriumis being built. Srugi is on the left beside the entrance to the burial grotto.
Above centre: Fr Sarkīs, Fr Bianchi, Fr Frey; below right Fr Rosin.
274

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Photo Gallery
21
May 1928: Mr. Moore, secretary CNEWA and friends bent over the mosaics on thediaconicó.n
22
May 1928: Mr. Moore visits orphanages in Bethlehem and Nazareth.
23
275

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
24
Autumn 1929: Fr Bianchi inspects building works at the Martyrium.
25
December 1929: from right: Fr Rummān, Fr Frey, Fr Candela, Fr Gisler,
Fr Fergnani. Boys on roof of the Martyriumnot yet tiled.
276

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Photo Gallery
26
December 1929: Fr Candela in front of the “Grotto of Lourdes”
(which Fr Rua blessed in 1895). Srugi 3rd from right.
27
Armenian Bishop H.Keklikian at the blessing of the Martyrium.
On right his nephew Artīn, on left Fr Sacchetti, and Bros. Harūni, Aloi, Fusi (3 August 1930).
277

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
28
Inside the Martyriumdecorated with paintings by Fr L.Poggi OCD and “mosaic-like” items and
frescoes by E.Ritz (1932-1936). Here Srugi was m.c. for solemnities and feasts. Sanctuary rebuilt in
1972.
278

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Photo Gallery
29
Fr A.Tornquist blesses the foundation stone of the day school
and new outpatient clinic. Srugi seems to be last lower right. (04.01.1930).
30
AbūnaButrus Sarkīs cements the corner-stone,
assisted by neighbouring village leaders.
279

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
31
Bro. Srugi, covered by the man mixing cement, closely follows building works.
32
Sr Tersilla Ferrero FMA, and Brother Srugi: the two “holy” nurses at Betgamāl.
280

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33
Putting on his nursing gear, Simon welcomes the sick in the entrance hall.
34
With another group of the sick before the entrance.
281

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
35
General view after 1931. East: peasant houses and barns. South-Est: driveway;
on left: garages, stores, electricity hub. Above: terrazzo with balcony in front of the school
and clinic. South: mill and press; N-W the FMA house.
36
Mr Dikrān Ciakmakgian, in charge of the mill.
282

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37
Mr Artīn Keklikian with instructor and young people at the oil press.
38
Visit by the Armenian patriarchal vicar Mons. Manugian:
left. Fr Bianchi, Fr Sacchetti, Fr Sarkīs, second last is Srugi (1930).
283

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
39
Bethlehem, Retreat. 1931: Arab confreres from various rites: G.Hawīla, B.Sarkīs, G.Shalhūb,
I.Gia‘nìne, G.Lutfy, G.Nahhās, A.‘Awad, S.Srugi. Standing: S. Rummān, G.Calīs, G.Helu.
40
Confreres and boys from Bethlehem, Betgamāl, Cremisan and Jerusalem around Bishop L. Mathias;
to his right Fr Gisler; left. Mons.Fellinger, Fr Sacchetti, second last is Fr Raele, last Fr Candiani,
behind Fr Ubezzi cl. Morra, Bro. Fusi, cl. F.Laconi (26.03.1932).
284

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Photo Gallery
41
Bogino’s marble statue of Jesus the Adolescent in the basilica at Nazareth.
42
Nazareth, Retreat 1933: Srugi 3rd left above. Seated, centre: Fr L.Nigra, provincial,
either side the preachers Fr E.Carnevali and Fr G.Tamburino; second last Fr Sarkīs,
behind him Bro. G.B.Ugetti who seems to be looking at his great friend Simon.
285

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
43
1930s, Corpus Chrisptriocession: Srugi supporting the rear pole of the canopy,
“so that I can watch the Eucharistic Jesus pass by bless”ing our home.
Right: Sr Tersilla covered by the edge of the meteorological observatory.
44
Srugi catechist of a group of boys he prepared for First Communion (8.12.34).
286

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Photo Gallery
45
Fr P.Tirone canonical visitor, centre. Rectors meeting:
from left. Fr L.Biondi, Fr B.Ubezzi, ?, Fr Bolognani, Fr Canale provincial, ?,
Fr Rosin, ?; Fr Candiani introduces Bro. Srugi (March 1937).
1937: al centro d. P.Tirone visitatore canonico. Riunione dei direttori: da sin. d.L.Biondi, d
d.Bolognani, d.Canale ispettore, ?, d.Rosin, ?; d.Candiani introduce il sig. Srugi
46
47
Same occasion: Srugi between printer G.Neri and Bro. V.Milani.
Nella stessa circostanza: Srugi fra il tipografo G.Neri e il coadiutore V.Milani
Un “primo pianSoim” odniinSi1m93o9n-4e0 degli anni 1939-40
287

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
48
Fr Mario Rosin loses his life returning from Deir Rafāt , for his fidelity to the priestly ministry
with the “Dorothy” Sisters at OL of Palestine Shrine (23.06.1938).
49
Dorothy Sisters on the terrazzo of the Marian shrine with Patriarch Luigi Barlassina.
288

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Photo Gallery
50
Festivites for the newly Blessed Mary Domenica Mazzarello. The second FMA beside Fr Candiani is Sr
Tersilla Ferrero (14.05.1939).
51
Scouts 1939: Fr Candiani centre, on right Fr Dal Maso, Bro. Harūni, Bro. Srugi, Bro. Milani.
Left. Fr Spiridiōn, cl. Farneti, Bro Fusi and Bro. Aloi.
289

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
52
Final visit of Fr Maurizio Gisler osb, in front of the Martyriumfor which he was architect (03.08.1939).
53
Closure of school year. Prizes. Fr López Rector, on right Fr Gosslar, Fr Calīs,
Bro. Srugi; to his left Fr Cattān, Fr ‘Awād, last Fr Rummān (29.06.1941).
290

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Photo Gallery
54
Closing of centenary of the beginning of the “Opere Don Bosco”:
Bishop Radònski presiding, with Srugi as m.c. (31.01.1942).
55
Bishop Radònski says goodbye to Bro. Srugi; either side Fr Kot and Fr López.
291

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
56
31.01-1942: Srugi with practical trainees (from left) Swider, Kot, Orio, Michałek.
57
1942-43: teachers, instructors, families, pupils. Seated from left. cl.Orio, Bro.Harūni,
Fr Cattān, Fr Spiridiōn, Fr Fathallah, Fr López, Fr Gosslar, Fr Sciueri, Bro.Srugi,
Mrs Ciakmakgian and Mrs Keklikian. Behind: from left. 7th Dikrān, 8th Artīn, 9th Bro. Hawīla.
Last row 1st from left. cl Mikałek.
292

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58
1942-43: with neighbouring village leaders of whom Bro Harūni was, at the time,
the mukhtā(r4th left above).
59
1943: Fr Gosslar economer and vice rector for Fr López, Fr Sciueri
clerics Orio and Mikałek keeping Bro. Srugi company, by now nearing the end.
(see following photo no. 60).
293

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
60
61
Simon’s room next to infirmary. He died here on Sat, 27 November 1943.
294

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62
Ca. 1922: main buildings, north and south gardens before excavations in Byzantine area;
veg. Garden and barns, driveway to east before Srugi’s clinic was built.
63
Agricultural machinery for work in fields, vineyards and olive groves.
295

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64
65
66
296

34 Pages 331-340

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Photo Gallery
67
Cellar for ageing and bottling wine.
68
Pupils in class with Fr Sacchetti in chemistry and agricultural physics lab.
69
New graduates in 1929 pose for photo with the Rector Fr Bianchi.
297

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Simon Srugi (1877–1943) in the history of Betgamāl
70
“King David” 25.07.1933: Agricult. Gener. Couns. of Palestine (Fr Sacchetti 1st on right above).
71
Early 1930s: excavation of the rocky ridge under the barn to widen the road.
72
Wady Būlos: Well excavation, submersible pump and valley irrigation channels (1934).
298

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Photo Gallery
73
74
Boys and instructors with Bros. G.Aloi and G. Harūni. Corn, beet and potato harvests.
75
299

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76
Group of “band members”: Bro. Porro, Bro. Milani, bandmaster Dikrān with baton, instructors and boys.
77
Gymnastics display for feast day of the Rector Fr Candiani (1939-40).
78
Jericho and Jordan river: Fr Rummān, Fr López, Bro.Hawīla, Fr Calīs, Fr Sciueri, families (29.04.43).
300

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Photo Gallery
79
In the crypt, Bros. A.Rossetto and G.Castelli disinter Srugi’s coffin
present: Fr V.Pozzo Provincial, Fr I.Mancini Custos ofm of the Holy Land, G.Beltritti Latin Patriarch,
L.Laham Greek-Melkite Pat. Vic., Fr F.Laconi initiator of the Cause (10.12.82).
80
81
Fr E.Praduroux (vice-postulator), Srugi’s relatives, members of ecclesiastical tribunal,
Mr Dikrān witness, dr ‘Abdallah Khoury, Fr G.Caputa (secretary), around the new coffin
which will be walled up in the western niche of the crypt.
301

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