The charism of the São José Congregation is the education and encouragement of children, adolescents and young people in situations of personal and social vulnerability
Congregation of Saint Joseph
Founded on March 19, 1873 in Turin, Italy by the theologian Leonardo Murialdo, the Congregation of Saint Joseph, better known as the Josephites of Murialdo, is present on five continents. In the Archdiocese of São Paulo, he is in charge of the parish of São Benedito in the Vila Nova Carolina neighborhood in the Episcopal Region of Santana.
The charism of the São José Congregation is the education and promotion of poor, orphaned and abandoned children, adolescents and young people in situations of personal and social vulnerability.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of its foundation, an event will be held in Rome between the 15th and 19th of this month, attended by representatives of the Murialdo family from all over the world. Brazil is represented by more than 50 Josephite lay, priests and religious. “From Turin into the world, traveling with young people” is the motto of the anniversary year.
AT THE SERVICE OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Leonardo Murialdo was born in Turin in 1828 and came from a wealthy Christian family. After being orphaned by his father, his mother sent him to study with his brother Ernesto at the College of Savona in Genoa, directed by the Scolopius fathers.
After graduating, Murialdo was ordained a priest in 1851. In the same year he began to work in his hometown in the first oratorios with poor and marginalized young people from the periphery. He worked until 1857 at the Oratorio do Anjo da Guarda and then until 1865 as director of the Oratorio de São Luis.
In 1866 he took over the direction of the Colégio dos Artigianelli, an institution founded by Father Giovanni Cocchi that cared for orphaned and abandoned adolescents and young people. He remained there as rector until the end of his life in order to improve and promote the Christian and professional education of his youth.
Leonardo Murialdo died on March 30, 1900. He was ordained by Saint Paul VI on November 3, 1963. beatified. The same Pope on May 3, 1970 declared him “extraordinary in the ordinary”. His liturgical memory is celebrated on May 18th.
CHILDREN OF SAINT JOSÉ
On March 19, 1873, after much prayer, encouragement and research, with the support of Father Eugênio Reffo, Murialdo founded the Congregation of São José at the Colégio dos Artigianelli.
The charisma of the sons of São José is the educational action of disadvantaged children, young people and young people with social projects aimed at them. Spirituality is based on promoting the merciful love of God, based on the witness of the Holy Family of Nazaré, especially on the example and virtues of São José Operário.
150 years later, today around 500 priests and religious are present in Europe (Italy, Spain, Albania and Romania); in America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and the United States); in Africa (Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria); in Asia (India) with actions in favor of children, adolescents and young people in situations of social vulnerability.
In Brazil, the first Italian religious arrived in Rio Grande do Sul on January 5, 1915. The Brazilian headquarters of the Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is located in Caxias do Sul (RS).
FOR THE MOST NECESSARY BROTHERS
Father Marcelino Modelski is the Provincial of the Josephites of Murialdo. In an interview with O SÃO PAULO, he emphasized that the Congregation strives to live and spread the identity of Saint Joseph as a man of silence, listening and obedience to God’s plans, free work and concealment.
“Our identity as consecrated persons is reflected in Saint Joseph and calls us to be as our Founder taught us to ‘paint history with the ink of mercy’, using our charism and mission to fulfill the spreading the merciful love of God in a special way, for children, youth and young people,” he said.
The Provincial clarified that another facet of the Josephites of Murialdo, moved by the passion for the Gospel and for humanity, is the missionary spirit.
“In mission we are called to minister to those most in need in the generosity of the gospel—from caring for and administering the church to welcoming children, directing oratories and social works. A broad and demanding field of work that is growing due to growing social inequality around the world,” he emphasized.
Referring to the celebration of the Jubilee year, Father Marcellin recalled that “this is a propitious time to deepen the art of perceiving the needs of the present time and meeting them with the creativity of the Holy Spirit in the Founder’s School”. The priest takes part in the jubilee event aimed at returning to the sources and origins of the charism.
“Celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding is a moment of grace and renewal of apostolic and missionary power for us, the members of the Congregation, and also for the lay faithful who work in our centers with the mission of spreading the faith and human and vocational education work together mission”, concluded the Provincial.
LAYERS IN MISSION
Luzia Nádia Mesquita Gomes is a teacher and lay person active in Murialdo’s charism. She lives in Cascadura, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Luzia got to know the social work of the Josefinos and benefited from the Centro Murialdo project established in the community. There she completed professional training and today works as a teacher with the center and lives the charisma of the community with other committed lay people.
“Being a member and living the charism is a way of expressing my gratitude for all that I have received in social work. I studied, graduated and can now teach in the project. Engaged in mission, I can contribute to the formation of children and young people who find themselves in the same reality that I once encountered,” said the teacher, who is also in Rome for the Jubilee event.
JOSEFINOS IN SÃO PAULO
In the archdiocese, the Josefinos de Murialdo arrived in 1966 to help found the parish of São Benedito in the Vila Nova Carolina neighborhood, of which Father Idair Bonadiman is currently the parish priest.
Several social actions are carried out in the parish in favor of children, young people and young people. The Murialdo Center for Children and Adolescents (CCA) also operates there, offering 120 children between the ages of 5 and 14 afterschool activities, including afterschool tutoring, sports and art.
Faced with the realities of need in the parish, the priest emphasized that the Josephine charism of Murialdo “is in the Church the expression of the infinite and merciful love of God, in the joy of serving those most in need, especially the little ones, those of the Kingdom in their Promotion human and Christian” lived in the parish.