THE LIFE AND WORK OF ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS
(continued - March 2006)

2.  Establishment of the Congregation

Quite a few years earlier, the two Danei brothers had withdrawn to a hermitage on Mount Argentario, a promontory situated on the coast about 150 km (93 mi.) northwest of Rome.  They loved the site, its seclusion and picturesque beauty; now they decided to reestablish themselves there, only this time in a different hermitage.  Thus, this mountain in Tuscany became the home of the first Passionist community.
Within a short period of time, however, it became apparent that the tiny hermitage did not offer sufficient space to accommodate all who wanted to live the spirit of St. Paul of the Cross.  They decided to build the Congregation’s first church and monastery, and overcoming immense difficulties, they attained their goal.  The church and cloister were consecrated in 1737.

Still awaiting solution was the problem most basic to the new Congregation:  approbation of its Rule.  After examination by a commission of cardinals and the inclusion of some modifications, it was approved by Pope Benedict XIV on May 15, 1741, more than twenty years after its original formulation.

Henceforth, the name of the new religious Congregation was Congregatio Sanctissimae Crucis et Passionis Domini Nostri Iesu Christi (Congregations of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ).  Even this Congregation’s name indicated its distinctiveness and special mission:  Its members were to contemplate and preach the cross and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is at this time that Paul arrived at the fourth and last stage in the maturation of his vocation.  Above all, it consisted in his charism, his special grace:  to make known, through contemplation and preaching, the passion and death of Jesus to a sinful world.

This charism of the founder was institutionalized in the form of a special vow noted in the oldest preserved transcript of the Rule in a chapter entitled “On the Fulfillment of the Vow of Promoting Devotion to the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, among Believers”.  Paul’s extraordinary vocation was to increase in all an awareness of the suffering of Christ.  This vocation remains to this day the mission of his Congregation in the Church and world.  Because of this, each Passionist makes, over and above the three traditional vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, a fourth vow to preach Christ Crucified in a special way.

St. Paul of the Cross desired that his new Congregation be exempt, that is, that it be directly under pontifical rather than local Episcopal authority.  He further wanted its members to make solemn rather than simple vows.  Notwithstanding his desires, the 1741 approbation put the new Congregation under Episcopal authority, and its members were permitted simple vows only.

Not content with this solution, St. Paul of the Cross again petitioned for the privileges of exemption and solemn vows.  Five years later, in 1746, the Rule was again approved in a brief issued by Benedict XIV in which Passionists were no longer placed under Episcopal authority, the new Congregation having been granted its desired status of exemption. The privilege of making solemn vows, however, was not granted.
Since the newly built monastery on Mount Argentario could no longer accommodate all who wanted to enter, the Passionists began building two new monasteries.  Organizational growth was needed too.  With the issuance of his brief approving  the Congregation’s Rule in April 1746, Pope Benedict XIV named St. Paul of the Cross the first superior general.  Shortly after, Paul summoned the first General Chapter, whose members elected him superior general and entrusted him with primary responsibility for the future of the whole Congregation.

All new foundations face difficulties, and it was not long before conflicts occurred for Paul of the Cross.  Mendicant monks in a nearby monasteries felt their rights to solicit funds for their own upkeep jeopardized by the new monastery.  By 1748, their complaint reached Rome.  Because the aim of the attack was to prevent the establishment of new foundations, Paul of the Cross felt compelled to defend himself and his Congregation before the authorities.  He was not lacking in support.  Many bishops and priests had observed the endeavors of the Passionists and supported them.  Then, too, Pope Benedict XIV displayed much goodwill to the new Congregation.  In April 1750, the dispute was settled by a commission of cardinals, who issued a document allowing Passionists to resume the work of establishing new foundations.  Although the pope himself approved this document, the attacks still did not end.

That the founder considered these attacks to be a serious threat is obvious even in subsequent years.  In his letters he frequently alluded to this problem.  For example, he wrote to a friend, “My distress is great, and it grows greater and greater, that now, in my old age, it will all collapse and go up in smoke.  Just how in the midst of such difficulties his mysticism of the cross and passion was a source of strength for him is evident from the following passage:  “Pray for me, because I am in a terrible abyss of tempests with water up to my neck, but I remain fastened to the safety plank, the holy cross, and I hope not to be wrecked.”
Despite the immense problems associated with the new foundations, St. Paul of the Cross succeeded in establishing five new monasteries prior to 1760.  Fortunately, he did not lack men who wanted to lead lives in accordance with his spirit and the Rule he conceived.