Ave
Maria
Milan, January 1, 2012
Solemnity of Mary,
Mother of God
To
the National and Regional Directors of the M.M.P.
Dear Brothers,
After the sorrowful
and unexpected event of the death of our beloved Fr. Stefano Gobbi, as your
little brother and as temporary coordinator of the Marian Movement of
Priests, I want to be close to each one of you with my prayers and to
express my heartfelt thanks because you are all carrying out with great
trust the precious inheritance that Fr. Gobbi – at the request of the
Blessed Mother and for the triumph of her Immaculate Heart – has left us
after almost forty years.
In the homily that Fr.
Gobbi gave at Fatima on October 25, 2010, during the celebration [of Mass]
that concluded the long journey that he made in various nations of Europe,
he said:
“Here at Fatima, since
1972, You called me to this work and You entrusted to me the task of going
everywhere, to invite all priests to consecrate themselves to your
Immaculate Heart. I have accomplished this mission of yours in these years,
having taken 1500 flights and many other trips by car and by train. I have
gone many times to the five continents, to lead my brother priests to make
the consecration to your Immaculate Heart. (…)
“But this year an extraordinary event occurred. On May
12, here in this Cova da Iria, before You, the Holy Father Benedict XVI
consecrated all of the priests of the world to your Immaculate Heart.
Therefore with this consecration, it seems as if my task might be finished
and that my journey would have come to an end. Maybe yes for one part – the
task of leading everyone to the consecration.” (Homily of Fr.
Stefano Gobbi, October 25, 2010, Fatima)
Yes, Fr. Gobbi’s
journey came to an end on June 29, the day of the solemnity of Saints Peter
and Paul, but our journey to live the consecration must continue:
“I have traced out for
you a light-filled way, along which all of you must walk, in order to live
the consecration which you have made to my Immaculate Heart. Now all has
been revealed to you.”
(To the Priests, Our
Lady's Beloved Sons (TTP), December 31, 1997, 604bc)
Our Lady speaks to us
of a light-filled way that she traced out by means of Fr. Gobbi, who lived
among us [in the MMP] for nearly forty years. Now all of us united must
follow this path without delay, living the consecration to the Immaculate
Heart. In so doing, we will be like luminous rays of the
maternal love of Mary, in this world enveloped more and more by the darkness
of apostasy.
Fr. Gobbi’s death was
caused by heart failure. We know from medical reports that he suffered from
heart disease for many years, and only a special protection from the Blessed
Mother was able to sustain him for this long.
This year, after
finishing the regional cenacle on June 9 in Loreto (Marche) Italy, Fr. Gobbi
returned to Milan to prepare for the spiritual exercises in Collevalenza.
On June 15, he experienced his first difficulty breathing and was feeling
extremely tired. On Sunday, June 19, he had scheduled a meeting with Mr.
Otavio Piva de Albuquerque (the layperson in charge of the MMP in Brazil and
Latin America), Mr. Franco Ponzoni, and myself. We soon realized that Fr.
Gobbi’s health condition was cause for real concern. We called the two
doctors in whose care he had been – Dr. Mario Botta, cardiologist, and Dr.
Francis Chiesa – and they advised that Fr. Gobbi be taken immediately to the
emergency room at Niguarda Hospital in Milan.
He was admitted to the
coronary intensive care unit [on June 19] but, because of the very serious
nature of his condition, we were not allowed to visit him until Tuesday,
June 21. When we were able to speak with him the following day, because his
condition had seemed to improve, he recommended that I take care of the
spiritual exercises in Collevalenza and he confided to Otavio: "Our Lady
will come to take me as she did Jacinta who died alone in the hospital". On
Friday evening, June 24, the situation with his heart further worsened, and
the doctors implanted a pacemaker. Following this, Fr. Gobbi began to run a
high fever and never recovered.
Fr. Gobbi was born on
March 22, the same as Sister Lucy, and he died in the hospital like Jacinta.
What does this mean? I think this is a sign that the movement is the
realization of the message of Fatima and, in particular, of Our Lady’s
invitation to consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, the same
invitation that Fr. Gobbi brought throughout the world. As Pope John Paul II
told him, “Your parish is the whole world.” (cf. To the Priests, Our
Lady's Beloved Sons, Presentation of the 26th Italian Edition,
pg. xi)
In 2011, Fr. Gobbi was
able to conduct the following cenacles in Italy:
Firenze-March
22; Collevalenza-March 24; San Gabriele-March 28; Rome-March
30; Pompei-March 31;
San
Giovanni Rotondo-April 5;
Padova-April 12; San Vito-April 14; La Spezia-May 4;
Bologna-May 6; Caravaggio-May 13; Pianezza-May 24;
Capriana-May 28; Loreto-June 9.
At the 2011 Spiritual
Exercises in Collevalenza, despite Fr. Gobbi’s absence, there were present
20 archbishops and bishops, 270 priests from 40 countries, and his
Eminence Cardinal Ivan Dias. Cardinal Dias presided the funeral Mass,
concelebrated with all the retreatants, in the presence of Fr. Gobbi’s body
that had been brought there purposely so that everyone could have the
opportunity to say a final goodbye.
For the fall of 2011,
Fr. Gobbi had planned to conduct cenacles in Canada, the United States and
Mexico. After his death, Fr. Francis Geremia and Mr. Otavio completed the
planned schedule, and the participation was remarkable despite the absence
of Fr. Gobbi.
1. THE SPIRITUAL
EXERCISES
From June 24-30,
2012, at the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza, Italy,
there will take place the Spiritual Exercises [Retreat] for the bishops and
priests of the Marian Movement of Priests from Europe, America, Africa, Asia
and Oceania.
As in
past years, There will be room for all in the
same house. Few laypersons will be allowed to attend (only those who
have a position of responsibility in the MMP).
As always, address all inquiries and reservation requests to:
P. Florio Quercia S.J.
Via Carlo Marx, 1
Centro San Francesco de Geronimo
74023 Grottaglie (TA)
Fax: +39 099 5635710
Cell (Mobile): +39 333 6322248
Email: querciaflorio@tiscali.it
2)
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL CENACLES
I invite all national
and regional directors to continue holding cenacles in the same way as when
Fr. Gobbi was here with us.
They themselves should
plan to be the moderators of these cenacles, or they can invite another
priest who lives the spirit of the Movement.
3) APOSTLES OF THE
LAST TIMES
The death of Fr. Gobbi
urges us to make this courageous announcement:
“Throw open the doors
to Christ who comes to you in glory. Live the trembling hour of this second
Advent. Become thus the courageous heralds of this, his triumph, because
you — little babes consecrated to me who live from my very own spirit — are
the apostles of these last times. Live as faithful disciples of Jesus, in
contempt for the world and for yourselves, in poverty, in humility, in
silence, in prayer, in mortification, in charity and in union with God,
while you are unknown and despised by the world.” (TTP, December 31, 1997,
604qrs) Now
we are all called to be the Apostles of these last times.
a) Apostles of
holiness
“For this, I have
called you up here. For this, I have obtained for you a special outpouring
of the Holy Spirit, and during these days, I have worked deeply in your
hearts and in your souls, to make you fit to carry out my great plan of love
and of mercy. My times, and yours,
have arrived.” (TTP, July 1, 1992, 474ef)
The first and most
important sign of holiness that we must give is that of living the
consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“Show yourselves to all as my little
children, as priests consecrated to me, as the apostles of these last
times.” (TTP, July 1, 1992, 474f)
Holiness consists in
possessing God; for this, an unyielding fight against sin is required. A
priest consecrated to Mary goes to Confession frequently and is available to
dedicate himself to the sacrament of penance.
“You must follow me
along the road of holiness, which is joined with a strong commitment to
fight sin, in all its subtle manifestations, to live in the grace of God, in
love, in purity, in charity and in
the exercise of all the virtues.” (TTP, August 31, 1988, 387i)
“Today sin is so
widespread that we have lost even the consciousness of sin as evil.” (Pope
Pius XII)
Furthermore, the
sanctity of one consecrated to Mary consists in imitating Her:
- in seeking out and
accepting the Will of God in our daily life; - in humility,
that is in being disposed to doing the Will of God wherever the Lord places
us; - in silence: “This yes
blossomed in my soul as the fruit of much silence (…) in which I habitually
lived (…) In the most profound silence, the Word communicated Himself to my
soul, while my mind opened to receive Him and my Heart closed itself in its
jealous custody of Him.” (TTP, March 25, 1980, 196bc)
- in prayer,
for the faithful observance of our daily prayer obligations;
- in purity:
“I ask all of you to be pure. How great is
my suffering when I see that, today, this virtue is no longer taught and
cultivated in the hearts of the young and of adolescents, and even of those
who are consecrated to God. (…)
How sorrowful is your
heavenly Mother today as she sees so many priestly and consecrated lives
dried up through impurity, which has spread everywhere like a terrible
cancer!” (TTP, February 14, 1985, 305rst)
- in suffering:
the holiness of Mary is a maternal holiness, a holiness of sorrow:
“Pronounce with me your yes to the cross,
dearest sons of mine, because for you also the hours of the passion and of
Calvary have come.” (TTP, March 25, 1980, 196r)
b) Apostles of love
The consecration to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary leads us to love, to imitate and to follow
Jesus, in the same way that she loved and followed Him. The goal to
which we are led by our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is that
of being able to love Jesus with the love of Mary, to imitate him with her
own fidelity, and to live him again through her Immaculate Heart.
“In my
Immaculate Heart the Son assimilates you to make you more completely
resemble Himself and to associate you with his own life. (…) I form you in
his likeness in your minds, and I obtain the Spirit of Wisdom for you, to
lead you to seek and receive, to meditate upon and to preserve, his divine
Word (…) I form you in your hearts
and bring you to the plenitude of love for God, so that you may love all
your brothers with the same divine charity.” (TTP, June 11, 1983, 266hkm)
c) Apostles of faith
Mary precedes us in
the journey of faith:
“Be witnesses of
faith. Preserve in the true faith all those who have been entrusted to you.
So therefore defend yourselves from the danger, so widespread today, of
falling into error. (…) Renew often with the faithful your profession of
faith and ask of me, the Mother of Faith, the grace to remain always in the
Truth which my divine Son, Jesus, has revealed to you.” (TTP, August 30,
1984, 293def)
Remaining in the true
faith is a great grace because:
“The apostasy has now been spread into
every part of a Church betrayed even by some of her bishops, abandoned by
many of her priests, deserted by so very many of her children, and violated
by my Adversary.” (TTP, August 26, 1983, 270j)
To be true apostles of
faith, it is necessary to live the second commitment of the MMP: to be
united with the Pope. A strong unity with the Pope becomes an assurance
of remaining in the faith, and those of us in the Movement must be witnesses
of this unity. Only in this way do we become witnesses and apostles of
faith:
“I am lighting up for
you the way along which you must travel in order to remain ever in the true
faith and in order that you yourselves may become courageous witnesses of
the faith.” (TTP, August 31, 1988, 387f) “Today you are celebrating the
solemnity of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul (…) As a sorrowful and
concerned Mother, I urge you all to look today to the successor of Peter
(…) Support the Pope by your filial unity. Pray for him; suffer with him;
love him; surround him with a powerful force of humble and courageous
obedience. (…) I have prepared you so that you may help him to carry his
great cross. For this, the hour has come when there must appear…the great
army which, in silence and in hiddenness, I have been forming for myself
during these years in every part of the world, through my Marian Movement of
Priests, for the defense and the strong support of the Pope.” (TTP,
June 29, 1988, 385cdfi)
Fr. Gobbi left us
precisely on the same day as the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two
pillars upon which Christ founded the Church.
I entrust to you, who
are the directors, the task of sending this circular letter to the members
of the Marian Movement of Priests, that it may be read and well mediated by
them. I offer everyone an affectionate greeting, along with my priestly
blessing and a special prayer at the tomb of Fr. Gobbi who now rests in the
cemetery of Dongo.
In the Immaculate
Heart of Mary,
Your little brother,
Fr. Quartilio Gabrielli
Temporary Coordinator
Movimento Sacerdotale Mariano - Via Urago 15 - 22038 Tavernerio (CO)
Website: www.msm-mmp.org / Email: msmweb@msm-mmp.org
Official English Translation
Marian Movement of Priests
National Headquarters
P.O. Box 8 Saint Francis, Maine 04774-0008
Tel. (207) 398-3375 / Email: mmp@mmp-usa.net
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