The Paulism of
Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria
Most religious congregations have some
patron saint other than the founder associated with their congregation. As for
the founder of the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul, the Angelic Sisters of Saint
Paul, and a third order of laity, Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria chose for his
followers Saint Paul as he had also chosen the Apostle of the Gentiles as his
personal patron and model. On May 27, 1897, Pope Leo XIII declared the young
and fervent founder as a “saint”. In a speech by the Pope, he proclaimed that
Saint Paul the Apostle was a master from whom Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria
developed his thought, his activity, and his life“He enjoyed the letters of
Saint Paul so much that he took them as a model, both in doctrine and behavior,
and invoked him as and intercessor to our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul was
there…Paul was always before Anthony’s eyes; he had Paul, his patron, stirring
in his heart and always prayed to Christ Crucified with Paul’s name on his
lips.”
In
stating that Saint Paul was his master, and he a servant of Paul, we are
stating that Saint Anthony Mary derived his identity from the Apostle Paul. We
can say this on the premise that a servant, compared with someone who simply
performs services, identifies with the master, deriving a sense of personal
identity from him. However, it is not only that we say that Saint Anthony Mary
lives through Saint Paul, but also that Saint Paul continues to live and
function through Saint Anthony Mary.
Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria found in Saint
Paul a great deal of himself, as Saint Anthony’s entire being captured the
strength and temperament of the Apostle Paul. Paul was the one most suited in
his temperament and ideals of reform, proclaiming the need of a radical
renewal. There were many aspects of their characters that were similar. It was
the Christ-event of the Cross that stirred their souls to preach a reform
towards the love of neighbor and the glory of God. Both Saint Paul and Saint
Anthony Mary had a strong and quivering soul, roused by the bloody reality of
the Crucifix that enlightened and guided their work. They both possessed a soul
that is open to the Holy Spirit, letting it blow where it would. Saint Paul and
Saint Anthony Mary listened to the movement of the Holy Spirit within their
souls for they both had the same tenderness that links Paul and Anthony Mary
together and allows the Holy Spirit to enlighten their souls.
Another aspect that shares similarity
between these two saints is the fact that reading the works of Saint Anthony
Mary Zaccaria, we seem to be reading Saint Paul. When we meditate on the
epistles of Saint Paul we unknowingly find ourselves meditating on the letters
of Saint Anthony Mary. That which moved Saint Paul also moved Saint Anthony
Mary. The two saints, who preached a metanoia for their times, “were of one
heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). It certainly can be said of Saint Anthony Mary
that he was the most faithful imitator of Paul. Thus the Zaccarian Paulism can
be summarized in the formula familiar to every Barnabite: “Cor Antonii, Cor
Pauli” (the heart of Anthony, the heart of Paul).
Paul boasted of nothing other than the
Cross of Jesus. It is in this same Cross of Jesus that Saint Anthony Mary found
a source of grace in his work. Both Saint Paul and Saint Anthony Mary realized
that their work could be measured as their own but only in their personal
on-going conversion to allow the Spirit to work through every aspect of their
character. Saint Anthony Mary found that the truth and doctrine which Saint
Paul rallied upon was that of Christ Crucified. It became the same rallying
call for Saint Anthony Mary. Most of the writings of this young and fervent
priest are based upon the Christ-event of the cross. It is to this that he
constantly referred in his sermons, speeches, advice, and letters while
referring to the Apostle Paul at the same time. Saint Anthony Mary indeed had
become the executor of the doctrine of the Apostle Paul. It is in this doctrine
of Paul’s, the rallying call of Saint Anthony Mary, that we find the
culmination of the teachings of Truth itself.
It is in seeking out Paul as the Master and
Teacher of Life that Saint Anthony Mary looked upon Jesus as life. As Saint
Anthony Mary saw the truths of the faith of Jesus through Saint Paul as the
Master of Truth, so too with the doctrine of Paul, Saint Anthony Mary also
followed the form of his (Paul’s) life, for he made himself an illuminated
likeness of his life, for it says: “Be imitators of me brothers…according to
the model that you see” (Phil. 3:17). The model that Saint Anthony Mary saw was
not only Saint Paul but Jesus Himself, for the Apostle Paul tells us that “it
is not I who live but Christ who lives in me,” (Gal. 2:20). When Saint Paul
said be imitator of him that is exactly what Saint Anthony Mary did, even to
the point of his style in writing. It can be said that the figure of Saint
Anthony Mary emulated the Apostle Paul. In every aspect of his life, Anthony
Mary was illuminated by the doctrines and life of Saint Paul.
Saint Anthony Mary grasped one of the
principal themes of Saint Paul and preached it with the vigor of Paul. He
preached life with a potency of the figure of Saint Paul and his spirit, a life
that arrived and placed itself in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Saint Paul, he
preached Paul’s metanoia from death to life. “For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus Our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)
Lastly, in looking back at the Paulism of
Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, we must conclude this article with a point central
to both saints; namely, Christ Crucified and the Cross. One must willingly
accept the Cross of Christ before one can enjoy the new life of the
Resurrection: However, one can surely taste it in the victory of the cross.
This is the doctrine as derived from Saint Paul which Saint Anthony Mary
preached (Rom. 6:1-8). We can find the concept and the exact words of Christ
Crucified on almost every page of Saint Anthony Mary’s writings. The young and
fervent founder of the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul and the Angelic Sisters of
Saint Paul preached Christ and Christ Crucified for no follower of the Apostle
Paul can boast anything other than Christ and His Cross.
If we wish to give a summation of Saint
Anthony Mary, we could say that to love the Cross and to imitate the Cross was
the work of Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria. This was the work given to Saint
Anthony Mary by the Apostle Paul – to be an imitator of Christ Crucified. The
persecution that the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul had experienced in the year
1534, paved the way for the materialization of the one of the most soul
quenching speeches of all time. His eloquent speech on October 4, 1534
unanimously touched the inmost souls of his spiritual children. The speech
itself bears the Founder’s Christo-centric Paulism. It underlined the crucifix
by exhorting the fourth chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians,
exhorting to give principally to the imitation of Christ by embracing the
evangelical vows and the virtues together which is given to us in the Cross.
Thus it was in the Cross of Christ that we find the Christo-centric Paulism of
Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria. It was the understanding of the Crucified Christ,
derived from Saint Paul, which he constantly set before us, his spiritual
children.
ooo
Contributed by:
p.bogsvalmores,crsp
[1st posted in August 2011 Rex
R. Valmores, blogger profile]
