Foundation of the Redemptorists
9 November 1732

On 8 November 1732, having said farewell to his parents and his friends, St Alphonsus, the famous lawyer and descendant of the Neapolitan nobility, left the grand city of Naples for the poor and humble village of Scala, clad in a threadbare cassock and seated on a lowly donkey. Yielding to the call of divine grace, he was leaving behind him fortune and honour, friends and relations, his companions and his spiritual children – leaving everything to give himself to God and the most abandoned souls.

It was not amongst the nobility and excitement of Naples that the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was to be born, but amongst the poor shepherds to whom the first Redemptorists were sent to preach the message of salvation. On Alphonsus’ arrival in Scala, Msgr Santoro, bishop of the town, came to greet the saint, happy at the thought that the poor would at last have the Gospel preached to them. That night, a poor hospice served as a temporary abode for the members of the new Institute.

The following day, Sunday, 9 November, on the feast of the dedication of the basilica of the Most Holy Saviour, St Alphonsus and his first companions proceeded to the cathedral of Scala for the solemn inauguration of the new Institute. Msgr Falcoia, bishop of Castellamare and Alphonsus’ spiritual director, celebrated the Holy Mass and chanted the Te Deum in thanksgiving to God for having called these workmen into His field for the salvation of the most abandoned souls.

Redemptorist History
Rev. Fr James Hegarty, C.SS.R.

Father Hegarty, the second Redemptorist Irishman to come to Australia, was every inch a missioner. “Boanerges” was his nickname, and a “son of thunder” he most certainly was. Big of frame with a voice to match his physique, he was also and especially big of heart. He loved the missions, especially in the outback, where he was simply inexorable in pursuit of the wayward. He was never happier than where the going was the hardest. Had he been allowed, he would have driven himself beyond the limits of even his vast strength. After sharing with Fr Edmund Vaughan the rigours and uncertainties of the foundation in Perth, Scotland, and after twenty-five years in Australia, he eagerly offered himself as soon as he heard rumours that the Redemptorists would go to the Philippines. Father Hegarty was a most disappointed old man when ill health forced him after only a year in Opon to end his days in Ireland. (†4 April 1921)

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, C.SS.R.
Feast: 5 October

Born in Bavaria, Germany in 1819, near the great Benedictine monastery of St Magnus, Francis inherited from his father a genial spirit, devotion to duty, and a strong sense of loyalty to the Faith, and from his mother a great love for prayer and a deep sense of patience. Having first studied at university and later at the diocesan seminary, Francis decided to enter the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, offering himself for the American mission. He wrote to his brother: “It is God’s holy will that I go to the land which I have shown you many times during the summer on the maps....If this concerned me alone, I would always remain with you and the family, but I cannot resist the inner call, and I will not oppose it but freely follow it.” He arrived in New York in 1843, was ordained a priest the following year, and was stationed in turn at Baltimore, Pittsburg, Detroit and New Orleans. In all these places Francis laboured with wonderful success for the good of souls, showing meanwhile a bright example of piety and virtue in his own life. He was proposed as bishop for the vacant see of Pittsburg, but declined the honour. At New Orleans, where he was ministering to the plague-striken inhabitants, he was attacked by yellow fever and died an edifying death on 4 October 1867.

St Joseph’s, Teignmouth, England

By the 1870’s, the Redemptorists in England had become well established. They were now in a position to look for a house in the country which could serve as a House of Studies and a home for subjects in poor health. They turned to Devon, the county on the southwest coast of Britain, where they took a house called The Lawn, situated in Myrtle Hill, East Teignmouth. The Redemptorists remained there for five years before realising that larger premises were necessary for them to continue their work. Mr Tozer, a local solicitor, had recently purchased Buckeridge House in Teignmouth and, knowing that the Fathers were in need of a larger home, generously offered to transfer the property to them for the same price for which he had bought it. The location, climate and grounds were ideal, but the house was quite unsuitable as it stood, so the Fathers decided that a regular monastery should be built.

The finances were found and building was begun in 1879. Buckeridge House Grounds consisted of approximately five acres, to which was added a field known as Broad Park. By the beginning of 1880, the entire building had been roofed. Later in the year, the Redemptorists took possession of their new monastery, now called St Joseph’s.

St Joseph’s consisted of the original Buckeridge House with the northwest wing replaced by the tailor’s room and a new corridor connecting the old house with the new. The refectory, kitchen and outbuildings were built on the site of the old stables. The main building contained the accommodation and instruction rooms for the students and in the west wing a public church and private chapel were built. Most of the woodwork, both constructional and decorative, was executed by the Redemptorist brothers, who were expert in this art. It was decided that the water supply should be independent of the town’s water board and a very good well was struck by hand labour.

By the middle of August, 1880, the serious work of removal from The Lawn commenced, the greater part being done by the Redemptorists’ donkey, Jack, who pulled a cart from the old house to the new St Joseph’s. After ten days of hard work, the move was completed and the community had entirely moved into their new monastery. The Very Reverend Father Superior, accompanied by the community, blessed the new house.

Until the turn of the century, St Joseph’s, Teignmouth, served as the House of Studies of the English Province, and from there the Fathers frequently went out to preach throughout the region of Devon.

The Making of Redemptorist History
Father Henry Bloete, C.SS.R.

“I have the ambition to say the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel, ‘Ave Maria, gratia plena’, more than anyone in this world.”

Henry Bloete was born 7 April 1844 in Flanders, Belgium. Brought up in a Catholic family, he was a pious child and well known for his strong will. This characteristic would lay the foundation for his great zeal and fervour. His desire to become a priest came when he was still young, and so after his school education he went to the seminary of Mechelen. After his ordination in 1869, he was assigned to the parish of Kester, and before long people began to notice the remarkable virtues of the young priest. He was an excellent preacher; but more than this, his intense life of prayer did not pass unnoticed by the villagers. Soon, word spread that there was a saint in their parish. In 1871, the bishop moved him to the city of Diest, hoping to make better use of his abilities as a preacher. Meanwhile, his daily hours of prayer, kneeling in front of the tabernacle, continued increasing. He was to be found either in the church, or paying a visit to the house of St John Berchmans, the young Flemish Jesuit to whom Fr Bloete was very devoted.

A Flemish Parish Mission at the time of Father Bloete

Nevertheless, the life of a parish priest did not satisfy him. Fearing for his own salvation, he decided to become a religious. Although at first he thought of joining the Missionaries of Scheut (a missionary order for the conversion of Mongolia and China), his devotion to the Passion of Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows brought him to the Redemptorists. Cardinal Dechamps, his bishop and a Redemptorist himself, realised even then what an asset to the Congregation this priest would be, and he gave his blessing for Fr Bloete to become a religious.

At that time the Redemptorists were witnessing a golden period. When Henry Bloete entered the novitiate, he was the twentieth to join. Although it was undoubtedly difficult for a thirty-five-year old to give up his own will, he was professed in 1881. Just before his profession, he pledged himself to Our Lady of Sorrows and promised to do all in his power to increase the devotion of the faithful to her dolours.

The Catholic Church in Flanders was going through difficulties at that time, due to political opposition from liberals and socialists. When the liberal Belgian government decided to ban all religious education in the schools, a moral battle was launched. The church decided to found its own schools and to appeal to the parents not to send their children to the atheist state schools. In order to preserve the souls of the children, convince their parents and to raise money for the construction of thousands of new schools, Fr Bloete was chosen to preach sermons all over the country to condemn the atheist politicians and to defend the Catholic Church now that her interests were brutally being attacked.

The missions were so successful that in some places the Fathers heard confessions until midnight. His sermons were so overwhelming that the missions were a success time after time. Fr Bloete himself said that if there were no people crying during the sermons, he considered the mission to be a partial failure. At times he himself was so overcome by the eternal truths he was preaching that he could not restrain his tears. These truths affected him so strongly that he could never sleep the night following the mission sermon on hell.

Two Redemptorist Fathers relate that while they were preaching a mission, the faithful kept making the sign of the cross for no apparent reason. This irritated one of the Fathers so much that he afterwards complained to the parish priest. “Oh, I would not worry about that if I were you,” said the priest. “Eleven years ago, Fr Bloete preached the mission here. He taught the faithful to renew their mission promises with the sign of the cross every time the church bell rings. They have been doing this ever since.”

“O my Jesus, give me souls! GIVE ME SOULS!”, he wrote one day in his diary. This illustrates his restless determination to save the most abandoned souls. That in those 40 years as a Redemptorist Fr Bloete worked at an incredible rate is shown by the astonishing figures recorded at his death: 315 missions, 117 renewals of missions, 753 retreats, 66 octaves, 32 triduums and 16 forty-hour devotions. In total, he preached some 25 000 sermons.

Father Bloete’s sermons were the result of his prayer. As impressive as his work was during the missions and the retreats, what was more amazing was the amount of time that he was able to spend in prayer. Like a true son of St Alphonsus, Henry Bloete had the desire never to waste time, which he considered to be one of the worst evils in the modern world. To fulfil this desire, he always carried a booklet with him, in which he wrote down the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary every time he was waiting for someone. He also tried to spend as much time as possible praying Rosaries, stations of the Cross and similar spiritual exercises. The six Rosaries (all 15 mysteries) he prayed daily in 1907 increased to the incredible total of 18 15 decade Rosaries (or 54 five-decade Rosaries) in 1917. In 1909, at the age of 65, he wrote in his diary: “I have the ambition to say the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel, ‘Ave Maria, gratia plena’, more than anyone in this world.” On some days, he spent 13 hours in the chapel, always kneeling and without moving or leaning, since that was his favourite mortification. He only rose to do the stations of the Cross or to pray his Rosary in the garden.

Even at the age of 79, he was often seen praying non-stop for six hours on his knees. Without any doubt, therefore, we can say that God had blessed him in a special way. Venerable Fr Joseph Passerat, C.SS.R., once said: “There are three great means of conquering souls: by preaching, example and prayer. Of these, prayer is by far the most important.” Fr Bloete had understood this very well and was prepared to sacrifice every single minute of his life for the salvation of souls. “Never too much!” he would say.

On 15 December 1922, Fr Henry Bloete died in his monastery, leaving behind him a life full of prayer and missionary work. With a restless desire, this apostle of Flanders had worked for 41 years as a Redemptorist. But we cannot conclude without mentioning his great devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. As a true Son of Saint Alphonsus, his love for his beloved Mother was extraordinary. The sufferings Mary bore for Jesus inspired Fr Bloete more than anything else, and not a single day would pass without his meditating on her sorrows. Therefore, we may be quite certain that it was to Our Lady that Fr Bloete owed his perseverance in leading such a holy life. It can hardly surprise us that he often wrote in his diary the dictum of St Bernard: Pro Maria, numquam satis (For Mary, nothing is enough). Father Bloete, requiescat in pace! †

The True Redemptorist
Father Raffaele Villanacci, C.SS.R. (1851-1936)

Don Raffaele; that old man dressed in old-fashioned Liguorian clothes, with his collar always open, his head covered with an ancient hat, shod with the most antiquated of footwear and supported by a stick of no value.

They would see him almost every day, making his way to this house or that cottage, always cheerful no matter whether he walked in the clouds of dust whipped up by the wind or along the dirty country roads, in the heavy rain of winter or the stifling heat of summer. It was a truly heart-felt love for Christ which drove this old man on: his desire was to bring men spiritual and physical help and he never gave up his journeys on foot even when he had already passed eighty years of age. Death finally came upon him as it comes on a soldier in battle.

Raffaele Villanacci was born in 1851 on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at Pastene near Beneventum. It was, moreover, on this same feastday in 1936, when he had just completed his 85th year, that he died at Pagani at the site of the tomb of our Holy Father, St Alphonsus.

From 13 March 1875 he had served God faithfully amongst the secular priests of his archdiocese. There is a book called “Heroes of the Village” (published at Naples in 1928) in which a layman, Professor P. Parrella, in admiration dedicated to our recently deceased brother (who then, of course, was still alive) some beautiful anecdotes. He tells stories from his own experience which remind one of those famous Fioretti of St Francis of Assisi and his friends. From among these tales, which should really be experienced in his native idiom, let us choose one or two episodes.

Raffaele Villanacci, when he was a parish priest, first at Monteroso, then in Rochetta and finally at the church of St. Nicholas in Manfredi, either flatly refused any worldly reward for his priestly offices or instantly gave it away to the poor. He renounced all claim to his grandparent’s property in favour of his sister and other relatives. For his part, he lived a solitary life in extreme poverty. His own house was very modest and if he found anyone in need he gave him whatever he had with loving generosity - shoes or stockings, a shirt, or wood. One time he had bestowed his possessions on others so liberally that he was forced to stay indoors without food or heating, almost without clothing, until the archpriest, Andreas Magnanelli came upon him unexpectedly, or more likely sent by God, and was amazed to see such poverty and yet such love.

Whilst he was physically strong he did not shirk hard labour, even the most lowly, helping the farmers carry sacks of corn or wheat and similar tasks. His face was disfigured by smallpox scars and his outer clothing was wretched, nevertheless innocent little children everywhere would love to run after him. Once in the village of Pagliara a little girl who was dying is said to have breathed her last with a smile on her lips after the beloved parish priest had come to see her.

Fr Raffaele also greatly loved to read sacred literature. He never quoted the Bible or the Holy Fathers from the commentaries of others, but from the text itself, and since he also practised what he preached the force of his words was peculiarly persuasive.

Finally we record this, using the exact words written by the same author (He is addressing Raffaele): “A man, envious of your heroic virtues (perhaps driven by his own ignorance) had called you a ‘sad case’. O sad case! Surely you, a most beautiful soul, the purest and holiest of men, are not a sad case? Are you a sad case, you who spread goodness wherever you went like an angel of God?”

Fr Villanacci, since he yearned for greater perfection, expressed a desire to join the children of St Alphonsus and he took his vows on 19 October 1905 when he was in his 54th year. However, he did not even look like a man in his forties and devoted himself to our apostolate with truly youthful vigour, first in Naples and then in Calabria. In 1916 he was made Confessor to the novices at Licteri and then came to Pagani where he would spend the rest of his life, continuing the labour of love which he undertook in the world of men. He like to appear abject and despised so that he might more readily come to the help of those who were genuinely abject and despised. For him there was no cottage too filthy, no sacrifice rtoo hard and whatever alms he received from his superiors or from the civil magistrates he distributed with an outpouring of love in the exercise of his priestly apostolate.

There was once an incident when a man, who had earlier met the Father on the road, clad in his so humble clothing, and had heaped insults on him, but who soon afterwards threw himself in contrition at the priest’s feet and was received with the most noble kindness.

Clearly he was dead to self and loved to be unknown, to be thought of as nothing, and when he came to the evening of his life, he treated with joy the fact that in the Congregation he had held no office of honour. For him honour and glory was to visit and give aid to the sick and needy, to befriend priests taking a break at our House, to amuse young men with anecdotes.

When he was at home, you would find him either in the Oratory or in his cell or in the library; but wherever his help was needed he would at once interrupt a job he had started or even set aside some physical refreshment.

This fearless soldier of Christ did not deserve to die except in the heat of bettle. On 4 December 1936 before midday he had stood for long hours in the cold Sodality Chapel to help numerous clients of his who wanted absolution from this holy priest or advice or just a word with him. Then, feeling feverish, he went to lie down. He had contracted inflammation of the lungs which resisted all medical attempts to cure it. The sick old man received assistance day and night, but he himself, like St. Martin, “did not release his unconquered spirit from speaking”. He received Holy Communion every day. He asked to make a general confession before the Viaticum was administered, at which time he followed the prayers with close attention. Finally, as consciousness began to slip away, what did he say? Not one word escaped his lips except the names of the poor and sick, exhortations to a holy life or that they should take bread and suchlike from the pocket of his long cloak.

On the feast-day of the primary Patroness of our Institution, as I have already said, at 3.30 in the afternoon he peacefully breathed his last amongst the prayers of the entire community, holding in his hands the effigy of the Most Holy Mother of God. Once news of his death spread, crowds immediately gathered to kiss the body of the “holy man”, which in the meantime had taken on a smooth beauty which it had never had in life. And God, Who rewards with diving generosity the compassionate and the lowly, willed that the funeral of this compassionate and lowly priest should be celebrated with especial glory, even more splendid than the funeral in 1917 of another greatly mourned Father.

The people, advised of the event by the clergy of the place who advertised the fact widely on the day following his death, came in a great throng to the Basilica where the body lay exposed, so that the church was filled to capacity. They prayed, they wept, they piously “tore” relics from his clothes. In the parish church another absolution was given from a magnificent platform prepared especially for the event. Burial was freely granted in a small area of the chapel grounds which the Sodality of Our Lady owns within the public cemetery. †

[From the Annals of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.]

The Redemptorists had decided that Fr Raffaele’s funeral should be a modest affair, as is our custom; but it proved impossible to deal with it that way. “We demand that he be brought outside the church,” said the people. A huge multitude had gathered not just from the city of Pagani which then boasted a population of 20,000 inhabitants, but from the surrounding districts, too - priests, religious, civil magistrates, religious and civil associations with their banners. In the picture above you can see a small part of the crowd which accompanied the funeral procession and the buildings decked out, as is the custom, with carpets and rugs. They wanted to carry the casket on their shoulders and four senior magistrates held the ropes of the bier. A great many people, noble and ordinary, believers and non-believers, followed with heads bared. And so, this sad yet triumphant procession made its way through the principal parts of the city and by all the crossroads.   “Anyone who keeps this rule will be a saint.” -Pope Benedict XIV on approving the Redemptorist Rule in 1732