tertiaries

PLAN OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE TERTIARIES

OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY

DEDICATED TO MARY, OUR MOST HOLY MOTHER OF SORROWS

Divine Wisdom, who at all times delights itself in blessing abundantly the works dedicated to the most holy Mother of God, in these last period wants to shower her divine mercies on our least Institute of the Daughters of Charity, which is devoted to Mary, our Most Holy Mother of Sorrows, whom we recognize as our only Mother. It is only lately that this Institute has had its beginning and establishment in the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom and, the person who writes here is not only animated by the blessings with which the Lord has up to now accompanied the little works of the Daughters of Charity, but is now craving to see Our Queen of Heaven even more glorified, she would now like to realize this plan of instituting the Tertiaries, and in so doing, somehow to extend the same Institute and to fill in the gaps where the Daughters of Charity, considering their small number, cannot reach.

To give a clear program to this institution, it is convenient first of all, to describe the Institute itself and its relative Branches, and so to arrive then, to deduce what is wanted to obtain from this plan. Hence, the real aim of the Institute of the Daughters of Charity is to empathize and feel compassion for the untold sorrows of the Queen of Martyrs and to recall its memory in the heart of our neighbours; to try our best to destroy and prevent, in oneself and in others, the monster that has been the cause of it, which is sin. As to the former activity, the institute has its own rules showing this purpose to its members.

Then, concerning our neighbours, the Institute tries to implement it by reviving in them the memory of our Lord and of his holy Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows; at the same time, with the various Works of Charity, to see to the main spiritual needs of the brothers and sisters.

—to strive with the schools of charity and other benevolent teachings to make up for the lack of education of the poor, primary cause of all their disorders;

—to stimulate them anew, according to the wish of Holy Church, to attend the parochial Christian doctrine, which even the Daughters of Charity support and where they take in and attract the young ones as well as the women who crowd our Institute, both for the school set up or for their education; at the same time they must see that they may fruitfully receive the holy Sacraments.

—They are finally dedicated to instruct, comfort and guide the poor ailing and dying persons in the hospitals; so that, after having received with due dispositions the holy Sacraments, can meet the Lord, or, recovering their health, may live the remaining days of their life in a Christian way.

—To better spread these Works of Charity, besides the above mentioned Branches, the Institute welcomes to educate them for a given time, young country ladies so that, as teachers, when they regain their parishes they can practice our same works of charity, to the advantage of their neighbours.

—Furthermore, by receiving twice a year some ladies who desire to make Spiritual Exercises, in this prolonged and prayerful encounter, the Institute tries to motivate them according to their possibilities, to give a greater moral and financial support to the other works of charity envisaged by the Institute.

Nevertheless, however ample is the plan of the institute of the Daughters of Charity, it is not possible at the same time to provide even for some of the needs of the Diocese in which it is established and this because, to start with, it deals with a Congregation of women and moreover of virgins, who wisely must be guarded and defended with strict Rules, so necessary for their maintenance and resistance while they are operating in the Works of charity, but which also restrict and tie them at the same time.

Furthermore, since the Institute had its beginnings in various political circumstances, to guarantee to the same a simpler and natural existence, it was deemed necessary that each member brought a sort of a dowry, the essential for her sustenance. Thus, among the wealthy people who know us, there are some who are frightened about it, so they don't dare to embrace an Institute that puts its delight in attending to the needs of the poor, and those who decide to join us, very often, are deprived of the above mentioned means of subsistence; thus, although God doesn't stop to send us suitable subjects, and to bless our efforts, their needs are always in super abundance.

Therefore, to provide where the institute cannot reach out and, at the same time, to facilitate the spiritual wellbeing of many souls, the one who writes thinks about extending the institute, in establishing the Institution of the Tertiaries of the Daughters of Charity, simply bounded with the sacred bonds of this great virtue, dedicated to Mary, Our Most Holy Mother of Sorrows, living in the heart of their families practicing the same works of charity embraced by the Institute, in the way and with the prudence which will here be explained.

To more easily actualise this institution, it seems more convenient to establish it in the simplest possible way, at least for the time being, and if it will please the Lord to multiply this devoted Company, we could then, give to the same a more solid form, similar, for example, to that already given by Saint Angela Merici to her Orsoline Virgins, or whatever else, as experience will better show.

Meanwhile, the one who writes does not think to exclude from the same some married people besides the virgins and the widows, following the pattern set by the seraphic Father S. Frances of Assisi, even though a great deal far from the original pattern of his Tertiaries.

We should then possibly adapt the way of carrying out the above mentioned works of Charity as well as the running of community life, to the variety of states of life of the aspirants, always aiming at that unity the Spirit brings with the general commitment to the particular good and to the common one.

Therefore, to unify these Tertiaries with equal gentleness, tenderness, security and simplicity at the same time, the Daughters of Charity may choose among the youth coming steadily to the Institute, some of them showing a somewhat more proven piety, thoughtfulness and very eager to lead a real Christian life; and after making sure they understand the purpose of this institution and the way of putting it into practice, finding them desirous and prone to adhere, the Sister Superior may encourage some priests to enroll them to the Company devoted to the Sorrows of Mary, Our Most Holy Mother, always wearing Her scapular. This will better succeed when it will concern country young ladies educated in our own institute, the most pious and of common sense, who in their role of teachers, can extend the Spirit of the Institute in their own country parishes, with the same characteristics with which the Daughters of Charity will do it in the cities.

The sisters in the same Company, following whenever they find aspirants to agree on their aggregation to the Company devoted to the Sorrows Mary, Our Most Holy Mother, will surely have a suitable opportunity to go to the city.

Whatever it is said about the young ladies who will certainly constitute the main group, the admission of any other widow or married one is also valid, who often approach the Institute, either while bringing their girls to school, or in connection with the parish doctrine, or again by meeting the Daughters of Charity while visiting the hospitals. The Daughters of Charity have to deal with devout widows and good married persons, who sincerely yearn to be totally dedicated to God; and this as a rule, for the beginnings of this Institution. Not only for its stability, but also to keep the same Spirit alive, and in order that the Institute may avail itself of its members for those works of charity which the daughters of Charity cannot realise, those Tertiaries who can do so, once a month will meet with the Superior of the Daughters of Charity, who, after having reassured them in their undertaken choice, will affirm their activities. Then, keeping in mind the commitments of each of them, will suggest certain needed charitable works as: getting information about some girls, visiting some who might be sick, helping to solve some hospital problematic issues and the likes; however what the Superior, has mainly to prospect in these meetings, is that the Tertiaries may improve the good work begun, either in the teaching of doctrine in their parishes, or in the accompaniment of youth, in short in all their benevolent occupations of Charity.

The same can be done in the country parishes, with due proportions, by the youths educated by the Institute, and in which case, as it may happen that some are not capable for some motive or other, to stand in as leaders, in the meetings recently established by the Institute, these young ladies will be encouraged to return, once a year, to our House to make the spiritual Exercises, and so they can easily agree, that in their respective country parish another Tertiary may become a leader.

In this case, it will become necessary that those chosen as leaders and that as such will operate in the respective country parish, taking advantage of the same opportunity; may come to the House of the Institute to make the spiritual Exercises too.

Having said this, we will now give an idea of all that every Tertiary will have to do, in relation to the real primary scope of the Institute.

As it is already been said, all of them will be dedicated to Mary, Our Most Holy Mother of Sorrows, therefore they will enroll in the Company of her Sorrows and they will always wear its scapular.

1) Every day they will recite seven Ave Maria, in honor of the sorrowful Heart of Mary, to obtain the grace to lead a holy life, and die a good death, the conversion of sinners, each one trying to spread the devotion to Mary, Most Holy and the bitter cause of her Sorrows in the whole world, that is, the most sacred Passion of Jesus.

2) Each one will try to attend Holy Mass, endeavoring to reflect, according to her own ability, on the two above mentioned sacred objects: the Sorrowful Heart of Mary and the Passion of Jesus.

3) If the members of the family set up permits it, every day they may introduce the good custom of praying the third part of the Rosary and, on Saturdays, instead of the Rosary, they will pray the chaplet of the seven Sorrows of our Most Holy Mother Mary.

4) It would be good, without interfering with what the Spiritual Director, that each one could receive frequently the Holy Sacraments with devotion in all the festivities of our Most Holy Mother Mary, including the two feasts commemorating her Sorrows.

5) According to her proper state, may each one strictly adapt her clothing in style and form in a most modest, simple and decent way.

6) Similarly, they will take the maximum care to become the example and the unity of their own family, since the filial devotion that these Tertiaries will assert to Mary, Our Most Holy Mother of Sorrows, will mainly be in imitating her in the exercise of patience, docility, meekness and sweetness.

And this is not only for their own sanctification, but also to facilitate a certain freedom to practice the works of Charity in conformity with the spirit of the Institute, which we will now briefly describe. Concerning this, it is worthwhile to reflect that the foremost way to practice each work of Charity embraced by the Institute, is in training these Tertiaries in the above mentioned virtues, with commitment and care, in their own family.

Let each one give her contribution, as far as she is capable, giving a helping hand in the teaching of cathechesis on Sundays as well as assisting the ailing members of their own families. We will later explain these possible devout activities and how they stand in connection with our Institution, because it ought to satisfy the piety of those Tertiaries, who for various circumstances, will not be able to reach out beyond their families.

We now come to give an idea of the kind of benevolent work that, envisaged by the institute, is carried out to the benefit of our neighbours by those Tertiaries who will be able to devote themselves to it; and to do it in a clearer way, so to speak, as it seems fit, the various works of Charity will be adapted to the various statuses of the same Tertiaries.

Starting from the virgins: to these we would particularly like to entrust the accompaniment of the young girls, who thus motivated, may be educated and prepared to receive, in due time and manner, the holy Sacraments of Confirmation, Reconciliation and of the Eucharist. May they also keep them far from danger in the best of ways; trying to get them used to a modest way of clothing, so that, in their works for their living, they may be kept far from any unwanted pitfall.

May they stimulate the girls to frequently attend the teaching of cathechesis in the parish, and those young ones who, circumstances permitting, on Sundays and holidays of obligation may benefit of some hours of amusement and relax, may they provide enjoyment where they are , or take them where an atmosphere of fun is easily and simply gotten.

However, these virgin Tertiaries, possibly should not deal with the Families of the girls.

They must commit themselves to attend with diligence the Parish catechesis teaching, serving in any leadership role they could be appointed to; only the under-forty should avoid becoming nurses’ leaders.

As to the widows, determined not to remarry and with no family commitments, it seems fit that they may accept any charitable work as well as taking on themselves the task of checking the status of the young girls who attend our teachings in the House of our Institute, the visit of the sick and any problematic transaction frequently met by the Daughters of Charity in the various hospitals they visit.

One would similarly like to engage widows in the Parish cathechesis and urge them to accept and to practice, according to the spirit of Holy Church, the office of nurse of Christian doctrine, visiting, according to the usual rules of the same, not only the sick sisters of the doctrine sodality, but their own Tertiary sisters when illnesses and the likes strike them.

Finally, concerning the married ones, one thinks of entrusting to them some works of charity, always keeping in mind the various state of circumstances in which these can find themselves: if they don't have children, then, allowing prudent deference toward their husband who mightn’t always require their constant presence at home, they may, as it was said for the widows, carry out most of the works of charity: mainly the attendance to the Parish cathechesis, to accept any leadership role offered them, if they are able to do so, keeping in mind the gossip of the world, they could be better heeded and also contribute, more than any other, to enliven the rules of the Church in the Parish cathechesis, to the advantage of the faithful.

Likewise the married ones, in equal situations, seem very suitable for the visit of the sick in the hospitals and to see to any problematic transaction frequently met by the Daughters of Charity in the various hospitals visited, provided that their husband allow them to do so. They would also provide a suitable shelter for some young girls and poor women once dismissed from hospital.

If they do have children of their own, then one would wish that, the fact of being Tertiaries, would engage them in taking a greater care of their family, practicing at home even more than elsewhere, the above mentioned three Branches of Charity, being vigilant not only for their own children but also over the servants and over those people whom they serve; let them demand from their daughters modesty in the way of clothing and a Christian way of life of their household; it would be optimal that, if at all possible, they accompany the whole family to receive the Holy Sacraments and to the parish Christian cathechesis, and should there be other spare time, without impeding on their essential duties, and being able to do so, they could also lend a helping hand in the cathechesis teachings and for the hospitals, as it has been said for the other married women, and, likewise, carry out other works of charity.

Having given here a complete idea of the Project, she who writes believes that she should state that up to now the institution has not yet started, however it has been ascertained the facility with which it can be introduced from the little of the works of charity embraced and practiced by the Institute. However, when she who writes may be assured that the whole thing is pleasing to our Supreme Shepherd, our Most Holy Father the Pope, and comforted by His apostolic blessing, she would draft on these outlines and on the greater experience, some modest Rules to obtain from this devoted Company the greater glory and service of Jesus Christ, our Lord and from His and our Most Holy and Most Amiable Mother Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows.

The Divine Mercy, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, since the moment that it desired to establish the holy Church: his tender Bride, which was then only present in the Cenacle in Jerusalem, her Divine Bridegroom, seated at the right hand of his Father deemed it appropriate to teach her that her requests from heaven would be united on earth with the prayers of the most holy Mother. In fact, as with her humble supplications, she hastened the incarnation of the Word of God in her womb, so would she hasten the solemn descent of the Holy Spirit on the primitive Christianity. The Catholic Church, after 18 centuries from her birth, both with definitions and prescriptions of the Supreme Pontiffs and through the Ecumenical Councils, both with miraculous facts and with inspirations, signs, prodigies and revelations kept on showing to the believers that Mary had to be their universal refuge.

Thus the Supreme Pontiff, S. Gregory the Great I, by the revelation of an angel, recognized her as a sure remedy during the scourge of the plague, the one who is victorious over the enemies and the great Patriarch S. Dominic recognized her as the eradicator of heresies.

The glorious Father S. Frances, together with S. Dominic recognized her as the one who asked a time of penance from the world; thus the great saint Peter Nolasco with king James I of Aragon recognized her as the deliverer of slaves. To embrace the whole in one word, the Universal Church presents Mary as the universal help, guardian and protectress in every need, anguish and calamity.

To put it better, the Lord wanted to place her, between heaven and earth, as a rainbow, anticipating symbol seen by Noah, so that in seeing her the Divine Justice would be disarmed.

In fact, at all time, when the faithful experienced great difficulties, it would have been sufficient to venerate one of her numerous privileges in a particular way, or to invoke with vivid confidence and with new attributes her beloved name or, again to revere in a more devoted and solemn way one of her particular mysteries, to remove from the hand of God the fulminating sword or at least to decrease its blows and to abbreviate its punishments.

Without saying much about the preceding centuries, it would be enough to remember these last calamitous times, of which we are also witnesses, that is: a universal war and a universal upsetting which made us fear not a destruction of the Catholic Church, an impossible happening because of the word of Jesus Christ, but one was reasonably tempted to fear that Faith and holy Religion would be transplanted elsewhere, since the road had already been opened to this great misfortune with the general corruption of the customs and with the contempt of even the most holy law. But, at this time, it seemed that holy Church was on the verge of getting from our most holy Mary, the so much invoked peace by the Supreme Shepherd and generally also from the faithful under the particular title of Our Lady of Sorrows; the believers were urged by a superior light and by the example and from stimuli of the above mentioned Supreme Pontiff, Pious VII, who animated them with his very ardent devotion and by granting abundant indulgences to whoever revered the Sorrows of Mary and by establishing her feasts twice a year in the universal Church, an unprecedented happening.

Now we must find out ways to render this fundamental devotion not only very stable and practicable, but also to live it in such a way that it could be agreeable to our most holy Mother Mary, and such that it may engage her merciful heart not only to maintain the present calm but to make it even greater so that we may avail ourselves in such a way that it will become a road leading us to a peace that is eternal, unchangeable and blessed.

To achieve this, we would now like to form an Association or Company of people who as Tertiaries of Mary, Our Most Holy Mother of Sorrows, may practice and spread Her true devotion, in sanctifying themselves in the accomplishment of their daily duties and in so doing engage themselves in works of charity, in their families and outside, when these don't clash with the exercise of charity in their own family, always pursuing those benevolent works aiming at preventing, hindering and getting rid of sins, the gravest cause of the bitter Sorrows of the Mother of God.

It is true that, in these last years, through the intercession of our most holy mother Mary, it pleased the Lord to begin an Institute dedicated to Her, that has a similar purpose. But this is formed by a single congregation and on the other hand, it is comprising of so many Branches of Charity, that it cannot reach out for everything, therefore the institution of these Tertiaries would provide a sort of accomplishment to those works that the institute of the Daughters of Charity practices, but that for their state, the same sisters would find it difficult to carry out alone. Similarly, however, for the Tertiaries it would be difficult and almost impossible to establish and to maintain themselves in a spirit of fervor for a long time, without someone supporting them and in whom to find comfort and strength in establishing a way of honoring Mary with the above mentioned good works of charity.

Therefore it very necessary that a bond of charity be created between the two institutions, so that the Tertiaries may find comfort and Spiritual assistance in the Daughters of Charity and the latter may find in the Tertiaries someone vigilant, who can stand in and carry out all those activities which their sisterly status prevent them from accomplishing. We now give a clear explanation about the form and practice, as well as of all that is necessary to achieve the establishment of this benevolent Company.

People who can become Tertiaries of Mary, our most holy Mother of Sorrows in the practice of holy Charity

The aim of this Company is to honor and to serve Mary, our most holy Mother of Sorrows in carrying out works of Charity, trying to eliminate, from the members of their family and possibly of others, sin which is the fatal cause of the Sorrows of Mary. Therefore every person of good behavior both virgin and/or widow can enroll to become Tertiary of this Company, provided she is sincerely willing to observe its statutes and its systems, since it is everybody’s duty, in whatever state they are, to honor our most Holy Virgin Mary.

At the same time, she must strive after her own sanctification, all being equal, the way of applying these norms will vary according to the different situations of their sisters. And to achieve this, it is essential for each one to practice all virtues proper to her state and to shape the rules not only more conforming to the spirit of this institution, but also more appropriate , since they must be practicable rules.

It is worthwhile to speak of the two ways of aggregation: If we would like to know by whom the aspirants to this Company of Tertiaries have to be known, proposed, made to join and aggregated, it must be the Superior of the Daughters of Charity of the respective city where a Company of the same will be established.

It is absolutely necessary that the person who desires to join the Company should be well informed beforehand of the true spirit of the institution and fully knowing it, she can consider if it is adapted to her. Similarly, the Superior has to weigh all circumstances of the one who wants to join.

If the established system is suitable, but that the aspirant has some impediment either in her own family or of any other sort, or she doesn't find in her the necessary qualities and dispositions to follow the engagements, the superior should persuade her to join some other Sodality of Christian piety.

The formal aggregation is done by putting around their neck the scapular of Mary, Our most holy Mother of Sorrows; this will be done in the usual way, by a priest who has the proper faculty.