In the Footsteps of St. Paul: The “Paulism” of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria Fr. Giovanni M. Scalese, CRSP

8/13/2019 In the Footsteps of St. Paul: The Paulism of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria Fr. Giovanni M. Scalese, CRSP

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Reections and Meditations In the Footsteps of St. Paul

In the Footsteps of St. Paul:The Paulism of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria

y r. ovann . ca ese, rans a e y r. ran . apa,

eme can e cons ere a c ass ca one:tthe o convention on St. Anthony M. Zaccariae is

where there is not a contribution on the Paulismof the Saint. It started in 1933 with Cardinal Eu-gene Pacelli who, at the conclusion of the celebra-

tion for the 400th anniversary of the foundation ofthe Congregation, gave the keynote speech in St.Charles on The Apostolate of Anthony Mary Zaccariaon the footsteps the Apostles of the Gentiles. T e same

year, a special issue of the magazine, The Messagerde St. Paul,published the article by Fr. Achilles Des-buquoit on La parent dme entre Paul et Zaccaria.During the 1950s, the student Giuseppe Mottamade a research, entitled Cor Antonii, cor Pauli,under the guidance of Fr. Giuseppe Cagni. This

was published at rst in Rivivere,and then in the

Eco ei Barna iti, n two parts. T e secon part waspublished on the celebration of the19th centen-nial anniversary of St. Pauls arrival in Rome. Nextcame Fr. Anton o Gent w t an art c e on t ssubject in his book I Barnabiti.Finally, Fr. AndrewBonini tried to tackle the same subject during the

week of spirituality in La Mendola, on the occa-sion of the 450th anniversary of the death of theHoly Founder. We also have, as a vital reference, Fr.Franco Ghilardottis thesis, TheBarnabite Paulism:ethical-religious aspects or The Lombard Evangelism

of the 1500s,which, unfortunately, was never pub-lished, but was presented in the 1961 Eco dei Barn-abiti special issue.

What could we add, since the sources availablehave already been widely explored? Fr. Mauro Es-pen, at the end of his recent thesis on the Zaccar-an ermons,draws the following conclusion: The

Paulism w c s usua y attr ute to Zaccar a,and which presents as its foundation a large refer-

ence to the corpus paulinum,should be conrmedwith a biblical-theological analysis which would

e a necessary pream e to esta s t e m tsdetermining the Pauline character of St. AnthonyMarys spirituality. This is a task left to furtherstudies. For now, I have limited myself to take andput in order whatever has already been publishedand see if we could give it a new or more profoundnterpretat on.

The study is divided into four parts: in the rstpart, we shall consider the presence of St. Paul inthe life of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria; in the second,

we will investigate this presence in the writings ofour Founder; in the third, we shall try to answer thequestion from where did Zaccaria draw his paulism

in the fourth, we shall ask which Paul was thereference point for Anthony Mary. We shall con-clude with some relevant reections.

Introduction: Most Faithful Followerof His PaulI believe that in the history of hagiography, Zaccariais the only saint, or at least the rst, who makesreference to another saint who has preceded himHe did this in a wide-reaching manner, almostidentifying Paul. A series of observations will con-

rm this impression. It is a fact that the spiritualfamily founded by him is the rst to be entitledto a sa nt. Pr or to m, a re g ous or ers were

without a specic title, except for those dedicatedto the Mother of God. It is the rst time that withZaccar a some re g ous, men an women, an aypeople are called children of Paul.It became a verycommon practice as shown in the latest Pontical

Yearbook, where about forty institutes of men areentitled to a saint, four of them to St. Paul, and six


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Reections and Meditations St. Anthony and the Forty Hours

St. Paul caught up to the third heaven

Giacinto Calandrucci


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to St. Joseph. Women institutes number about twohundred, of which four are to St. Paul, and fty toSt. Joseph.

Another noteworthy fact can be seen in the Romanliturgy where, I believe, Zaccaria is the only saint in

whose prayer the name of another saint appears,namely Paul. This means that the Church consid-

ers this as a unique case of identication amongsaints, which is very difcult to trace elsewhere.

Another observation is about iconography. Manytimes our Saint, especially in the oldest paintings,s represente toget er w t St. Pau . In t e co ec-

tion by Fr. Bofto, I could count about fteen ofthem. This, too, is a unique more than a rare case.I take the last observation from the rst lines of Fr.Mottas work. It is an impression we cannot avoid:from Paul III to Pius XI, and to Pius XII, the pontif-

ical documents which deal with the Holy Founderkeep underlining the intimate relationship whichbound the Apostle of the Gentiles with the Apostleof Lombardy during the pre-Trent period.

Perhaps the oldest Pauline title attributed toZaccaria is found in an inscription reported byGiuseppe Bresciani which, to the end of the 700s,

must have been on a plaque or on a column inCremona. Pauli sui delissimus sectator(Most faith-ful follower of his Paul). That unique relationshipbetween Anthony Mary and the Apostle is under-lined in a three-tiered way in this expression. Firstof all, it says that Zaccaria was a follower of Paul

This idea has been picked up in the present titleon the footsteps of Paul. An attribute has beenadded to this qualication. Since the simplefaith

fuldid not seem enough, the superlative osthas


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been used. But what is the most beautiful elementin this expression is the word his added to thename Paul, as if the Apostle Paul belonged in aspec a way to our Foun er.

I. St. Paul in the Life of St. Anthony M. ZaccariaTo be able to reconstruct the Pauline personalityof our Founder we must address the witnesses:eyew tnesses e v su , w o a a persona now -edge of Zaccaria, and those by ear (de auditu), who

collected the testimonies by the eyewitnesses.

1. The WitnessesWe can start with the synthetic assertion by theAnonymous Angelic: He was careful to be con-sidered a fool by the world, since he was a trueimitator of Christ Crucied and of St. Paul, toward

whom he had great devotion (Barnabite Docu-ments,44).

But the most authoritative source, especially in the

well-documented study by Fr. Giuseppe Cagni, forsure s t eAttestations y Fr. Batt sta Sores na. Let uslisten to this fresh eyewitness testimony, He was agreat devotee and imitator of St. Paul, the Apostle.He constant y a s Letters n s an s, exper -encing great delight in reading them. He used toread them as if he were singing them. In writing hisletters he used a style similar to the one of St. Paul.His sermons were based and shaped with the doc-trine and sayings of the same Apostle. This is whybefore his death, as he himself said to Fr. Soresina

while lying sick in bed, St. Paul appeared to himand invited him if he wished to go with him, andFather answered that he was willing, and so he diedof that illness. He wanted to write about St. Paul,

ut s many occupat ons an unt me y eatnot allow him to do so (Ibid,68).

This, obviously, is the principal source used by allour ancient historians, rst of all Bascap, He usedto take the eriest sayings from Paul When, as an

exhortation, he used to write letters to his confreresor others, these seemed to have a certain Paulineefcacy. He gave great attention to the reading ofSt. Pauls epistles. He found great pleasure in themto the point that the confreres would hear him asif singing the words of Paul, such was his enthusi-asm (De spiritualibus,7-8).

Gabuzio is not different, although with a moreelaborated style and rich of quotations In his ser-

mons to the people, where he seemed to be ood-ed with ideas, he was so ardent and effective thathe seemed to lead the souls wherever he wishedgiving rise to extraordinary fruits of piety. Indeed,he did not preach about himself, but Christ (2 Cor4:5), not with persuasive discourses of wisdom, or

with sublime words, but with a language taught bythe Spirit (I Cor 2:1,4, 13). He would draw sen-tences, rich with divine wisdom, especially fromthe epistles of St. Paul. In fact, he had a most ex-traordinary interest in these epistles, and he found

great delight in them. And so it happened that inwriting letters to his confreres or to others, to ex-hort them, which he did often, he seemed to havesome kind of apostolic spirit (Historia,78-79).

The testimony given by Chiesa is also very beauti-ful: In his sermons he had handy the most beau-tiful and important sentences of St. Paul, whoseepistles were for him a continuous lesson, and hepronounce t e r wor s w t a certa n energy an

voice modulation, giving, in his mind, the effect

which he thought the Apostle had in writing themDepositio,77 .

Secco stays close to the historians who precededhim, The way of life of this angelic man was thefollowing: pay great attention to the epistles ofthe divine Paul, and nd an extraordinary delightin them, so that because of his enthusiasm hiscompanions used to hear him sing those words ofPaul (Synopsis, 162 . Prev ous y, Secco a sa


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Having chosen the divine Apostle Paul, not onlyas patron and guide, but also as model, not only

a e starte to ma e recourse to s paternaprotection and his friendly help, but he also triedto secure from him inspiration for virtue, examplesof honesty, the same words most useful to incitethe souls (Ibid,21).

Tornielli gives us information about the preachingby Zaccaria, On feast days, Father Anthony Mary

would give a lesson on the epistles of St. Paul tothe many laypeople who used to come to listen tohim (De Principii,6-7). An example of the Paulinepreaching by our Founder is found in his speech ofOctober 4, 1534, reported by Gabuzio and then bySecco. It is practically a commentary to a Paulinetext (I Cor 4:10), made through a series of Scripturequotations, especially from Paul, with referencesto the living reality. A kind of Lectio Divinaon St.Pau .

2. Later ContributionThe most recent historical research has ascertainedthat the Pauline devotion of Zaccaria is ancient,before the foundation of the Barnabites and of the

Angelics. Bugati discovered a document drawn bythe notary Giuseppe Fellini on September 5, 1543,

where there is a reference to the last will made byZaccaria in 1531, where Anthony Mary had estab-lished for the altar built by his family in the churchof St. Donato. It was to be dedicated to the Conver-sion of St. Paul, adding to it a benet with annualrevenue o 75 Imper a re, an t e o gat on tocelebrate a Mass every Holiday of Obligation andon the feast day of St. Donato and the Conversionof St. Paul. Its rst chaplain was the Rev. Gaffuri,

who will be followed by one chosen by his cousinBernard or by the oldest of his descendants or theoldest of the Zaccarians.

3. The Vision of St. Paul Before His DeathWe nd St. Paul also at the end of our Founders

life. Soresina has told us that, before dying, theApostle appeared to him, inviting him to go withhim, and the Father answered: Willingly! The

Anonymous Angelic is a simpler form. It reportsthat He got very sick. The glorious father and pro-tector St. Pau appeare to m an warne mabout the pending death. He received the news

with great joy and exultation, and shared it withhis spiritual children (Barna ite Documents,45 .

Gabuzio, with his characteristic style, gives us alengthier description. First of all, he tells us thatthe Saint predicted his death in the octave of the

Apost es Peter an Pau . T en e escr es t e astmoments of life of Anthony Mary: He recountedto have had at that time, many hard and troubledghts with the enemy of the human race, but thathe had overcome them with Gods help. Duringhis sleep, by Divine enlightenment, he had en-

v s one w at wou appen to t e w o e Congregation, and that St. Paul appeared to him in a

vision, imploring God not to take him from thislife yet, so that he could be of greater benet to thesame Congregation; but that he had to die, prayedthe other Apostles to go to heaven with them(Historia,72).

T e M anese awyer G useppe Va at perce ves nthis apparition an indication of Zaccarias holinessLet me observe again that, as a proof of Zaccariasholiness, since in his life he had chosen as specialprotector the Apostle Paul, and as a subject of hisnstruct ons, om es, etc., t e same Apost e, e

had the consolation to have the Apostle appear tohim at the moment of his death, as reported bythe majority of the writers who have talked aboutZaccaria. This is why I deduce that, taking the factas true, it matches so well with Zaccarias wholelife, to appear that the fact in itself would be a mostevident witness conrming his holiness. It wouldbe, anyway, inconceivable for the Apostle to wishto appear to the dying and seal with the apparition


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CORPUS New Testament BIBLE PAULINUM

quotations from the Latin Bible 35 61 82quotations in Italian translation 14 37 72paraphrases of the Biblical text 63 133 204more evident references to the biblical text 62 297 424more concealed references to the biblical text 328 492 565possible scriptural parallels 32 351 450

in the Handbook for the Spirit,published in 1994.As I make reference to that study, I will enlarge thesu ect, ta ng nto cons erat on t e contr u-tions of other authors.

1. Pream eIn his writings, Zaccaria denes himself as priestof Paul the Apostle (Letter VII); he calls the Angel-ics Daughters of Paul the Apostle (Lt 5), and theBarnabites little children of Paul the Apostle (Let-ter VII , tt e c ren o Pau t e Sa nt etter ,little children and stock of Paul (Letter VII).

Paul is the foundation for the apostolate of Zac-carias children, You will build, on the foundationof Paul, structures neither of hay nor of wood, butof gold and of precious stones ( etter . Pau stheir ideal of life: Not to busy themselves in deny-ing their will ... it would pull them completely outof the desire and life of Paul ( etter .

2. Pauline TitlesHe attributes to Paul the following titles: divine

Paul, father (Letter V); divine father, sweet

father, saint father (Letter VII); chaste Paul,learned Paul (Letter IX); true friend of God

ermon III); our most holy leader and patron,most wise doctor of the Gentiles, leader and fa-ther ( ermon VII); Apostle par excellence (Pas-

sim . We ave to note t at t e t t e v ne, w cwill cause so many suspicions for the Barnabitesand the Angelics, and which was used also in refer-ence to living individuals, is characteristic of Paul

The Oriental tradition ordinarily attributes it tom, ca ng m v ne apost e.

3. Pauline Quotationsa) Number of the QuotationsUp until now, according to the Concordance pub-

s e y Fr. G useppe Cagn n 1960, we coucount about ninety Pauline quotations. Now, wehave available the thorough study by Fr. JohnRizzi, which counts over 834 Pauline references(corpus paulinum + Acts), over 1,371 references tothe New Testament, and 1,717 over all referencesto Holy Scripture. This is how he has classied this

material:


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Reections and Meditations

The rst impression coming from this data is thenet predominance of Pauline references, over theother books of Holy Scripture. With reason, then,Fr. Rizzi can afrm, The Zaccarian language is rstof all Pauline and then evangelical.

For my part, out of curiosity, I have gone over thePauline quotations in the Zaccarian writing, leav-ing aside those which, rather than true quotations,appear to be have a similarity and, therefore, there erence to t e Apost e cou e rat er su ect ve,

we can afrm that the Pauline passages (includingthe letter to the Hebrews) reported by Zaccaria in

s wr t ngs exc u ng t e ermon VII are a totaof 293 in the Letters,26 in the Sermons,and none inthe Constitutions(surprising, considering their par-t cu ar terary genre . T ese quotat ons are c ear yrecognizable because usua1ly they are introducedby the expression Paul says or such 8 are fromthe Latin text; 11 are in the Italian translation (usu-ally very liberal, especially in paraphrases); 7 the

conataequotat ons, w ere t e Lat n text, t e Ita -ian translation, and some personal addition aremixed together.

b) The Way of QuotingIn his research, Fr. Motta had made the observation,The quotation from St. Paul with which especiallythe ermonsare crammed, are by far from being ex-act: at least a word must be changed; perhaps, justone, but there must always be a divergence fromthe canonical text. This shows that this was all ma-

ter a e a ass m ate , an so e was quot ng yheart. Moreover, in the original text of the ermons,the Pauline quotations are never reported in full;but, after one or two words, a quick etc. ... impliesthe rest, which supports what was said before thathe used to quote by heart, since the familiarity

with the sacred text was making the book useless.In his most recent study, Fr. Rizzi has conrmedthese ndings. The 59 quotations are given mostlyby heart with the beginning or few words from

the original text, followed by a meaningful etc. Inmany cases there is the mingling of two or morebiblical texts, with substantial transformations insome cases, and most of the time with style andcontext a aptat ons. T s s w y t e quotat ons assuch from the Latin Scripture text can be reducedto very few.

c) Source of the QuotationsThe question has been raised more than oncewhich Latin version of the Bible was the Founderusing? Fr. Rizzi has observed that in the Zaccarian

writings the quotations come from the Vu gataanfrom the Vetus Latina. Most likely, Anthony Marydid not have a single complete text of the BibleFrom w at we ave rea n t e var ous anc ent re-ports we can deduce with certainty that he had athis disposal a collection of the Epistles of St. Paul,probably in the Vulgata text. Keeping in mind whathas been said by Fr. Motta and Fr. Rizzi, it seemsthat both for the Corpus Paulinum and the other

books of the Bible, the principal direct source ofbiblical quotations for Anthony Mary was rathers memory, reca ng passages rea n var ous

biblical texts or in the works of the Fathers andDoctors of the Church used for his formation, and

w c e cont nue to consu t.

d) Purpose of the QuotationsAs we said, usually the Pauline quotations are in-troduced by the expression, Paul said or the like

T s express on, es es e ng an ntro uct on

gives to the quoted passage a certain solemnityunderlining the fact that Paul is the master whoteac es. Fr. G. Motta a a rea y po nte t s out(Paul) is the master par excellence, whose au-thoritative word is always side by side with the oneof the highest master, Jesus. Equally valid is theother observation: The apodictic proofs, reportedalways after the other scriptural proofs, are alwaysobtained from Paul. In The Handbook for the Spir-it,I have pinpointed how Paul is a master not only

In the Footsteps of St. Paul


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w t s teac ng, ut a so w t s examp e. Onequotation is enough, Paul never wanted to tell anuntruth, although he could have gained the whole

world, and gained for Christ ( ermon II).

4. Pau ine DoctrineZaccaria takes from St. Paul not only some sen-tences, but most of the doctrine contained in his

wr t ngs. Here we cannot ex aust t e su ect, a sobecause this eld still has to be explored. We willjust give some indications which will demonstrate

how Paul is the source of our Holy Foundersthought. Fr. Ghilardotti, following the contentof his thesis, gives the following summary of theGospel Interpreted by Paul, and announced by An-thony Mary:

esus C r st, Incarnate Wor ;the symbolism of the two men;the Pauline etanoiaor enewal the theory of Gods two books;man referee of his own destiny;contrast between the Old and the New Testament;

social sense of charitas and its dynamism.

Let us add other elements, always of Paulineorigin, or somehow traced back to the Apostle,Zaccaria derives from Paul the theology of the cross,the characteristic of his spirituality. For sure it isthe Pauline doctrine of the need for charity devel-oped in ermon I , and of the mediation of manand of the creatures generally treated in SermonsI and VI, also in Sermon IV Deduced from Paulis the doctrine of the Middle Way, based on therecurring quotation of 2 Cor 6:7-8 wielding the

weapons of righteousness with right hand and left,whether honored or dishonored, spoken of wellor ill (cf. ermon V, VI, VII). Even the distinctionbetween the precepts and the counsels goes backto St. Pau . Ut ze to remove u ewarmness, onestarts with the observance of the precepts to passthen, almost insensibly, to follow the counsels (cf.Sermon VI). Even the distinction of the four kinds

of prayer has a Pauline origin (cf. Constitutions XThe terminology of the gain so widespread in theZaccarian writings is also of Pauline origin. And wecould keep going. A question to ascertain is if thesedoctrines are taken directly from St. Paul or arethey instead ltered through intermediate authors

We shall return to this.

5. Reference to St. Pauls LifeIn the Zaccarian writing we nd many referencesnot only to the letters of St. Paul, but also to his

life. I have found at least six. It would be enoughhere to remember how Letter IXis drafted on thepresentation of Paul to the apostles by Barnabas(cf. Acts 9:26-27). That shows how the HolyFounder was familiar not only with the writingsbut also with the life of the Apostle. This conrmsthat Paul is a master not only with his teaching,but also with his example.

6. Comments to the Letters of St. PaulAs we have seen, the historians note that the

preaching by Zaccaria was basically Pauline. Hedrew ideas and words themselves mostly from the

Apostle. We have noted that the speech of October4, 1534, is nothing more but a lectioon a Paulinetext. The rst part of Sermon IVis nothing more buta commentary, albeit well-done, to the hymn oflove by St. Paul.

7. Fami iarity wit t e Apost eThe relationship between Zaccaria and Paul, as itemerges from the writings, is an extremely famil-iar one. Sometimes Anthony Mary addresses the

Apostle with the greatest of condence, Oh, Paulif your chains are so good, why do you want Festusto be a Christian without them? ( ermon VI). Alsoa text, which up until now has always been referredto Fra Batt sta, I t n nstea to e a resse tothe Apostle, O sweet Father, you have sweat and

you have been sorrowful, and we shall receive thefruits; yours has been the cross, and ours shall be



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abundant rest; that is, carrying and eating crossescontinuously, we shall deliver your fruits as well asours (Letter VII).

The familiarity between Zaccaria and Paul is alsoexpressed in the, sometimes quite daring, compari-sons he makes between his experience and the oneof the Apostle. Think, for example, at the beginningof Letter VAnthony Mary even expresses the desireto cause the envy of Paul for his daughters, the An-gelics; or the beautiful dialogue we nd in Letter

X, You, Dionisius, and you, Timothy and Titus,ow were you act ng w t your Pau ? You were not

acting like this, but you, always aware of his pres-ence, had deep love for your Father in your hearts,an you a no ot er ntent on ut to p ease m.

Alas, it is not the same with me! (Letter X). Thesame vital relationship existing between Paul andZaccaria, must exist between the Apostle and thechildren of Anthony Mary. Tell them, then, thatthis Paul preaches to them a Christ crucied in ev-ery way: crucied not only in himself but in themtoo (Letter IX).

8. Afnity in the Epistolary StyleWe have already mentioned how Soresina and,following his example, the ancient historians havenoted even an afnity in the epistolary style. To thepoint, Fr. Premoli afrms, The letters of St. An-thony Mary testify, on their own, the study he usedto make of the Pauline epistles. In the greetingsthen, used to close, we can almost reread St. Paul(Cinquecento, 52). In the introduction to theSermons of the Bologna edition, Fr. Vittorio Mi-chelini adds, If the love of children would not bean impediment, we could say that what happened

to St. Pauls style of life and apostolate happenedto Anthony Marys style. Both master and discipleare far away from any literary purpose. The writ-ings reveal an impromptu approach for the occa-sion, using the little free time available to jot downnotes, wr te some etters, as t e mpe ng sp r tdictates, and so, at times, the thought becomesdisorderly and obscure (Writings,64).

Even Fr. Bonini faces the question, In the lettersof the Founder even the tone conforms with the

one of the letters of Paul, from the initial greetingto the development of the theme, to the exhorta-tive moment, to the nal greetings. It is evident inthe two Saints the drive which urges them to writethat is, the exclusive desire to gain in themselvesand the neighbors, either they write to individu-als, or to the community. And the assimilation ofPauls spirit by Anthony Mary has been such thatalthough with a style which is his own, made ofexpressive urgency and familiar vocabulary, it ispossible to catch echoes and reections of Pauline

expressions, if not a translation of Pauls phrase.

III. The Origins of the Zaccarian PaulismA question raised by the authors, and which wecannot avoid, is the following: where did Zaccariaacqu re s pau sm? Fr. G ar ott s reso ute nhis answer, At this point of our study we are ableto say by now from where Zaccaria attained thisPauline imprint: from the Evangelism. Fr. Boninishows more caution: It would be exciting to know

which ones were the external impulses which ori-ented Zaccaria toward the study and the love ofSt. Paul; but according to our present knowledgeours could be nothing else but pious desires. But,



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after this general statement, hefollows with the indication of aprecise research track, Although

we do not know the modalities,he must have received a strongimpulse from Fra Battista Cari-on , t e Dom n can w t a ea -ing role in the spiritual life of therst three decades of the Lom-

ar S xteen Century, sp r tuadirector and inspirer of so manyZaccarian initiatives. The expertson t e Dom n can, n ee , arein agreement in afrming thatamong the sacred books he has a

very clear preference for St. Paul,as the one whose thought is bet-ter n ne w t s c aracter anideals: spiritual battle, unrelent-ing ght against lukewarmness.

On another occasion, I havewarned about presentingZaccaria as a man of the Renais-sance. I have expressed somereservation about the traditionalkey used in the reading of ourFounder, which interprets it inthe light of Christian Human-ism, of Evangelism, and of De-votio Moderna. On that occasion,I suggeste to nterpret Ant ony

Mary in the light of the patristic-scholastic tradition in which hehad been formed, and of whichhe was heavily imbued.

Now I would like to proposea hypothesis, which will haveto be carefully examined to re-spond to the present question.I do not believe that Zaccarias

interest and love for St. Paulderived from his contacts withthe North Europe clubs, contacts

which, need to be documented. Irather think that it derived froma Pauline mainstream which

as a ways een present n t eChristian spirituality. Condi-tioned as we are by the histori-ography of the Reformation, wehave a tendency to think thatPaul, after Augustine had beenforgotten and that Luther wasneeded to rediscover him. Wehave never worried for clarityhow, inside the tradition, the

Apostle Paul had continued toe we -present, espec a y w t

some authors.

Very appropr ate y Fr. Bon nand, before him, Fr. Colciagohave emphasized Fra Battistasunquestioned inuence over

Anthony Mary. Now, it wasnot by chance that Carioni hadthis Pauline vein: it is part ofthe Dominican tradition. It isenough to think of the attesta-tion over St. Dominic found inthe Libellus de principiis OrdinisPrae icatorum, He constantly

carried with himself the Gospelof St. Matthew and the letters ofSt. Pau , an me tate at engtover these last ones to the pointthat he knew them by heart.

But, besides the Dominicanschool of which Zaccaria wasan alumnus, I think we can gobehind to reach that patristic



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or better yet, monastic tradition which the Founderhad gradually absorbed during his formation. Heconstantly drew sustenance from this for his spiri-tual life. Not to make any up in the air afrmations,it would be opportune to make reference to thesources. In the preciousAttestationsby Fr. Soresina,right after the passage reported above, on the Zac-carias devotion toward the Apostle, it says, Besidesthe doctrine of St. Paul, he put great emphasis onthe Collationes and treatises by John Cassian. Hence,in his own conferences he utilized Cassians writ-ings and had his listeners read passages from them

which he commented on, so that everyone derivedwonderful prot from this kind of exercise (Docu-ments,68).

I think this is a eld still in need of thorough in-vestigation. Fr. Espen has tried with his thesis a pa-tr st c approac to t e ermons. I e eve t at Zac-carias dependence from the Fathers, and especiallyCassian, needs further study, reaching out to all the

wr t ngs.

If, then, we read the works of the one who has beendened as a disciple in the East, and a master inthe West, we will realize that, although the accusa-tion of semi-plagiarism hung over him, they are fullof Pauline references. In the Coenobite Institutions,Ihave counted 99 quotations of the Apostle over 334biblical quotations (that is, 30%, almost a third, ofthe total); in the Collationes, I have counted 363Pauline quotations over 1,465 scriptural quota-

tions (that is, 25 %, almost a quarter, of the total).In the Collationes,often there is a reference to Paulsvocation; he is considered the ancient ambidex-trous doctor of the Gentiles, our centurion ofthe Gospel, the most valuable master of the Gen-tiles, the vas of election through whom Christspoke, the architect of spiritual artifacts; usuallyhe is designated as the blessed Apostle. In the IXCo atiohe afrms: One could not believe that the

Holy Spirit has said something through the mouthof St. Paul uselessly or without reason. In theXVIICo atio,we read the beautiful page describing whattoday we would call St. Pauls diplomatic behaviornot to mention the second to the last Collatio,the

XXIII, which is totally Pauline from top to bottomIt is not a surprise to nd so many Pauline refer-ences in Cassian, because, although a follower ofOr g n an Evagr o Pont co, e was a so a sc p eof St. John Chrysostom. It is well-known that thereat Bishop of Constantinople was a great admirer

of the Apostle Paul. So, when Cassian came out ofEgypt in 399, where he had been in contact witht e esert mon s, e went to Constant nop e anstayed there until 404, becoming a deacon underSt. John Chrysostom, having in this way the oppor-tunity to listen to the teachings of the great oratorand to absorb his love for St. Paul.

So, here is my thesis: if in this author, for sure sowidely used by Zaccaria (as witnessed by Fr. Sore-

sina, and by Anthony Mary himself in ConstitutionsVIII), there is such a wide spread Paulism, it seemto me a natural conclusion to say that Zaccarias in-terest and love for St. Paul, the Apostle could havederived, to some degree, exactly from reading Cas-sian. I do not think we are dealing with a uselessquestion, because it has notable consequences forthe hermeneutics. It is one thing to say that Zac-carias Paulism is derived from the Evangelism, andso from a movement which, in the Humanistic andRenaissance spirit, returns to Paul neglecting the

intermediate tradition with the possible danger ofsubjectivism and rupture. It is another thing to af-rm that Anthony Mary got his Paulism from Cas-sian or from the Fathers and Doctors of the Churchor from the Dominican teachers, that is, from theliving tradition of the Church. It means that it is nota nove ty, ut an ere ty w c s transm tte anit is constantly been enriched. Which is not little!But at this point we have to ask another question.



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IV. Which Paul?It s easy to ta a out Pau sm. But, w en we taabout Paul, which Paul do we mean? The Apostlesgure is extremely many-sided. We can make refer-ence to him from so many different angles. Whichones are the aspects Anthony Mary has dealt withmost? I believe we can answer: just about all ofthem.

1. T e T eo ogianWe have already said that in his writings Anthony

Mary looks at Paul as the teacher. Surely, if we lookin Zaccaria for the great theological controversiespresent in Galatians and Romans, we are going tobe disappointed. Anthony Mary is not a Luther,and the Paul of our Founder is not the one of thegreat Reformer. Anyway, although not a profes-s ona t eo og an, Zaccar a s ows to posses a s-creet theological formation.

It wou e extreme y nterest ng to eepen t etheological presuppositions of the Zaccarianmoral-spiritual doctrines. For example, no one

as ever ta en t e t me to exam ne t e t eo og camotivations which are the base for our Foundersght against lukewarmness. If we should do it, and

we would relate them to the motivations of Jesusconict with the Pharisees, or to the ones whichinspire Pauls polemic against those in favor of cir-cumcision, we would discover, with great surprise,that they are ... the same! Another question whichs ou e t eo og ca y nvest gate s t e re at onbetween grace and free will. It would be interestingto confront Zaccarias position with that of Pauland Augustine on one side, and the one of Cassianand Fra Battista, accused of Pelagianism, on theother.

2. The ApostlePau was not on y a t eo og an, e was a so, anespecially an apostle, the Apostle par excellence.

And probably this is the reason why Anthony Mary

has chosen him as his inspiring model. He toowante to e an apost e, an wante s sc p esto be apostles. He said to the Barnabites: (Our

vocation demands) from us who have started tofollow, although from far away, on the footstepsof the holy apostles, and of the other disciples ofChrist, not to refuse to share in their sufferings,especially those trials which are by far lighter thantheirs (Gabuzio, Historia, 54).

Speaking of the Angelics, he afrms, My (daugh-

ters) - not one, but all of them - banishing any per-sonal reputation and human satisfaction ... wish tobe apostles to eliminate not only idolatry and otherbig defects from the souls of people, but to destroythat most deadly and greatest enemy of Christ Cru-cied, which reigns in our modern times: I meanthat incredible lukewarmness ( etter ). Paul, foranyone who wants to be an apostle, must be thefundamental point of reference, since he was notonly one of the Apostles, but the rst among themHe (Barnabas) presented him (Paul) to all theChristians as a column, and as if he was the princeof the Apostles ( etter .

3. The MartyrPaul is also the one who ended his life sheddinghis blood for Christ. This was not by chance, butthe realization of a desire he had cherished for along time: The wise Paulwanted to be, in actuallife and in the opinion of all, a living example ofChrist Crucied ( etter .

Also in this the Barnabites wanted to imitate theirmaster, and so they were called Clerics Regular ofSt. Paul decapitated. Fr. G. Motta notes that whatFr. Premoli afrms is not true, that is, that the ad-jective decapitated was added only in 1552, sincefrom January 1545 we nd in the Liber capitulorumthe House of St. Paul decapitated mentionedLater the cult toward the Apostle-martyr was codi-ed in the Constitutionsof 1579. The title Clerics



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Regular of St. Paul decapitated, Fr Gabuzio ex-p a ns a most quot ng ver at m t e Const tut ons,was kept for a long time, because those ancientFathers thought to be according to their desires,that is, they tried to care not only for the doctrineof the Apostle, but also to imitate his sufferings(Historia, 95).

4. The MysticWhat seems to be often neglectedis another aspect of Paul, which

instead is the source for the theo-og an, t e apost e, t e martyr, t e

mystic Paul could be who he was,only because he had a profoundexperience of God. Our Apostlejoins the list of the long traditionof Old Testament Fathers who metGod during their earthly existence:

Abraham, Moses, Elijah. It is not bychance that Zaccaria refers to Paul

with the expression used by Scrip-ture to designate Abraham thattrue friend of God, Paul, said abouthimself and other faithful ministers:God has revealed to us things thatno prince of this world, that is, nophilosopher nor wise man of the

world, has known( ermon . Wend this afrmation in a context

which is particularly mystic in theZaccar an wr t ngs: t e ermon III

where Anthony Mary distinguishesbetween two levels of Christian life: the one which,

with a Pauline term, we could call the justication,destined for all, and the perfection, reserved onlyfor the friends.

His Bounty gives us, unfaithful and deceitfulservants and His enemies, many gifts in spite ofour negligence; nevertheless, He does not wantto give to anyone but his friends and faithful dis-

ciples the gift of perfection, the taste of God, theknowledge of His secrets (Sermon III). Model ofthese friends, to whom God reveals his secrets,s prec se y Pau , e w o encounters C r st on t e

road to Damascus, the Paul who, ruptured to thirdsky, hears words which cannot be uttered (II Cor12:4).

Conclusion: Anthony AlterPaulFrom what we have been saying

up unt now, we can conc u ethat Zaccaria somehow must beconsidered as an alter Paul. We cantru y say t at n t e 16t century

Anthony Mary incarnated, if notthe person, for sure the spirit of the

Apostle. A vision which does not goagainst our Catholic faith. The bookof Wisdom says, And she, who isone, can do all things, and renewseverything while herself perduring

And passing into holy souls fromage to age, she produces friends ofGod and prophets ( is7:27). It isthe same divine Wisdom, the sameHoly Spirit, who age by age, entersin the Saints, often with the samecharacteristics. It is possible that thespirit of Paul, which was nothingelse by the Spirit of God possessedy Paul, could relive 1500 years late

in Anthony Mary.

I believe that this answers a need inherent in theeconomy of salvation: the apostolic charismssomehow, must perpetuate themselves in theChurch throughout its history. Therefore, as Petersc ar sm s perpetuate n t e C urc espec a ythrough the ministry of the Roman Pontiff, so thePauline charism somehow must continue to bepresent n t e C urc t roug t e centur es. T s



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happens through some saints who have lived St.Pauls spirit during their time. Among them ourFounder, who in a particular way has identiedhimself with the Apostle. Zaccaria too is not any-more on this earth, and therefore he cannot makePau present n t e C urc an n t e contempo-rary society. Anthony Mary, differing from otherPauline souls always present in the history of theChurch, has founded a religious family which hasinherited his charism. We are the ones to renderpresent n t e wor t e sp r t o t e Apost e; sPaul, the Paul of Anthony Mary, becomes then ourPaul.

Are we up to this vocation? Are we really ready tobe the carriers of Pauls charism in the world oftoday? If this question refers to the presence inus of the spirit of the Apostle, then, I believe wehave to answer in the afrmative. When we thinkof the number of apostolic activities carried on bythe meager number of religious, when I think of

t e unt r ng wor one y Barna tes an Ange csof today, when I think of their continuous avail-ability, I cannot help but think that it is the spiritof Paul that drives them; Caritas C risti urget nos(II Cor 5:14). If we, then, think of the missionaryspirit which has always animated our Congrega-t on, ow can we not t n t at s e cont nues toimitate her divine Father, made all to all to savesome at any cost?

But if we look at the exterior forms of our Paulism,

perhaps, some reection is needed. Fr. Bonini in a

communication at the week of spirituality in Lod1980, made this observation. In a certain periodof our history (as acknowledged by our historians)the ideal of Paul has become weaker in favor of theHoly Founder. Now, besides the good tradition ofdedicating some of our churches to St. Paul, andsome of the things expressed in the Constitutions,

whatever happened to the Paulism of the origins?In reading Fr. Bofto, I have realized the outstanding accomplishments of many scholarly confreresn many e s o now e ge, ut on St. Pau t ere

is very little. In Rome we have, thanks be to Goda well equipped library on St. Paul, but our Con-gregation, the rst to be dedicated to St. Paul, doeshave produced as yet a scholar on St. Paul.

... I t n to ay we ave reac e a a ance e-tween acknowledging the leading role of the HolyFounder, and the natural position of Paul in a Con-gregation dedicated to him. Anyway, the Zaccarianstudies should lead us to this. Anthony Mary is by

nature a son and disciple of Paul; to say Zaccaria, itmeans to made a reference to Paul For AnthonyMary, the following of Christ had passed throughthe Apostle: we follow Christ, following Paul; weimitate Christ, imitating Paul. Still today, we candescribe the relationship between Zaccaria andPaul with the phrase: Cor Antonii, cor Pau i. Wecan add to it, cor autem Pauli, cor Christi, a phrase

which, then, would summarize our spirituality. Aswe turn to our Founder, we nd Paul. Once we ndPaul, we will have found Christ.



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The Paulism of St.

Anthony Mary Zaccariay r. e . ancus ,A

The Paulism of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

ony Mary Zaccaria, the founder of thenC egular of St. Paul, the Angelic Sisters of St.ricsPaul, and a third order of laity called the Laity ofSt. Paul, was proclaimed a saint by Pope Leo XIII,on May 27, 1897. In a speech the Pope proclaimedthat St. Paul the Apostle was a master from whom

Ant ony Mary a eve ope s t oug t, s ac-tivity, his life.

He enjoyed the letters of St. Paul so much thate too t em as t e mo e , ot n octr ne an

behavior, and invoked him as an intercessor toOur Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul was always there... Paul was always before Anthonys eyes; he hadPaul, his patron, stirring in his heart and alwaysprayed to Christ Crucied with Pauls name on hislips.

In stat ng t at Pau was s master, an e a servantof Paul, we are stating that Anthony Mary derived

his identity from the Apostle Paul. We can say thison the premise that a servant compared withsomeone who simply performs services, identi-es with the master, deriving a sense of personalidentity from him. However, it is not only that

we say that Anthony Mary lives through Paul,but also that Paul continues to live and functionthrough Anthony Mary. The Holy Founder of theBarnabites, with an ardent heart as that of Paul,took as a model to his children the Apostle of theGentiles.

Hopefully, the Pauline spirituality as presentedthrough this work will enlighten the mind of thereader to the dynamism and modern application ofthis unfamiliar saint. It is this Pauline spirituality

which we wish to present, this Pauline spiritualityof Anthony Mary Zaccaria that affected the Churchof the Reformation era, and still today affects theChurch through those who follow in his footsteps.

Our purpose is to examine the Pauline thought ofSt. Anthony M. Zaccaria, from its origins to its nalform in the interior and exterior manifestations ofour Holy Founder

2. Paul is Chosen as Anthonys Patron

and ModelMost re g ous congregat ons ave some patron

saint other than the founder associated with theircongregation. Anthony Mary chose for his follow-ers St. Pau , as e a a rea y c osen m as spersonal patron and model.

2.1 Similarity in their CharactersAnthony M. Zaccaria found in St. Paul a great deaof himself, as his entire being captured the strengthand temperament of the Apostle Paul, Paul wasthe one most suiting to his temperament and ide-als of reform, proclaiming the need of a radicalrenewal.

Many aspects of their characters were similar. It wasthe Christ-event of the Cross that stirred their soulsto preach a reform aimed to the love of neighborand the glory of God, they both had strong andquivering souls, roused by the bloody reality of theCrucied Lord which enlightened and guided their

work.

Using todays terminology, we can say that bothsouls were open to the Spirit, letting it blow whereHe wished. They listened to the movement of theSpirit within their souls for they both had the sametenderness that links them together and allowsthe Spirit to enlighten their souls

We can say that in reading the works of St. AnthonyMary, we seem to e rea ng St. Pau . W en wemeditate on the epistles of Paul we unknowingly


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Reections and Meditations The Paulism of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

nd ourselves meditating on the letters of AnthonyMary. That which moved Paul also moved AnthonyMary. The two saints, who preached a etanoiafortheirs times, were of one heart and mind (Acts4:32). It certainly can be said of Anthony Marythat he was the most faithful imitator of his Paul

Thus, the Zaccarian Paulism can be summarized inthe formula familiar to every Barnabite, Cor Anto-nii, Cor Pau i (the heart of Anthony, the heart of

Paul).

T ere was a certa n c aracter a out t e r ves t atkept them in touch with the reality in which theylived, spiritually and temporally. This enabledtheir apostolates to grow, not only in size, butin the depth of their love for God and neighborThey both felt their work as an irresistible urgeto expand; they considered the austerity of theirlife as a control against illusions and, therefore, aguide for their steps.

Paul boasted of nothing other than the Cross ofJesus. It is in this same Cross of Jesus that AnthonyMary found a source of grace in his work. Becauseof their openness to the movement of the Spirit intheir lives, they realized that their work could notbe measured as their own but only in their person-a ongo ng convers on to a ow t e Sp r t to worthrough every aspect of their character. For they

were both humble when experiencing success. Be-cause they lived in the newness of life in the Spirit

with the Cross always before their eyes, they bothexperienced a foretaste of the life of glory throughthe fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-25).

In times of persecution they were so united withJesus, they allowed themselves guratively to becrucied with Him. They both spoke of themselvessuffering for and with Christ (I Cor 4:8-13). As Pauaccepted his persecution in a Christian manner, so

Anthony Mary Zaccaria learns from the Apostle Paul thesublime wisdom of the CrossG. Mercoro, 1763


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to the Dominican tradition, recalling that of JohnChrysostom. This was alluded to earlier in thespeech of Pope Leo XIII when he said that Paul

was always before Anthonys eyes. This speech ofSt. John Chrysostom (to which various authorsrefer) opens his rst homily on the letter to theRomans:

As I keep having the Epistles of the Blessed Paul

read, and that twice every week, and often three

or four times, whenever we are celebrating the

memoria s o t e o y martyrs, g a y o I enjoy

the spiritual trumpet, and voice so dear to me, andseem to fancy him all but present to my sight, and

to e o im conversing wit me. But I grieve

and I am pained that all people do not know this

man as much as they ought to know him, as not

even to know for certain the number of his epis-

tles. And this comes not of incapacity, but of their

own not having the will to be continually convers-

ng with this blessed man. For it is not through

any natural readiness and sharpness of wit that

even I am acquainte wit as muc as I o now,

f I do know anything, but owing to a continualcleaving to the man, and an earnest affection

towar s im.

These words can easily be placed into the mouthof our Holy Founder for he constantly studied,meditated on, and preached the Apostle. It was the

Apostle Paul and his thoughts that lled AnthonyMarys soul with a deep and ardent love for Godthrough Christ Crucied and the Eucharist. Hislove for Paul brought him closer and closer to the

glory of Crucied Lord. From Pope Paul III whoratied his Pauline mode of life, to Leo III whoproclaimed him a saint, and recent Pontiffs, allhave emphasized the deep and binding relation-ship between the Apostle Paul and St. AnthonyMary.

Not on y ave Ant ony Mary an t e Barna tesbeen attracted to Paul the Apostle, but many otherfounders and their congregations have looked to-

wards Pauls footsteps to lead them to their LordWe only have to look at the names of a few: TheMissionary Society of St. Paul founded by IsaacHecker; The Society of St. Paul founded in Malta;the Company of St. Paul founded by CardinalFerrari; the Society and the Daughters of St. Paulfounded by Don Alberione, etc. What must be not-ed is that Anthony Mary and his followers were the

very rst religious to call upon the name of PaulThat the Barnabites and the Angelics were the rsttwo religious orders that took their name and their

program from Paul is a fact.

The preoccupation that St. Anthony Mary had forthe Apostle Paul and how this inuenced his sec-ond foundation, the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul, canbe found in a manuscript of the Angelic Sfondrati

His desire to honor God and save souls was so upright

and burning that it suggested the Angelics of St. Paul to

choose this particular name, making the Apostle stand

out amidst all others as a furnace of love for God, and

made by God himself an object of choice and grace

-being so alert in his charity to neighbor and so perfectn t s v rtue as a sa nts can test y - t e Ange cs

thought that they should never give up imitating him;

neither should they ever waiver from his doctrine and

examp e.

We see that the attraction with the personality andthe writings of Paul the Apostle has grown since thebirth of the Church. It was St. Anthony M. Zaccaria

w o was attracte y t e Apost e Pau an t wasthe Apostle Paul who instilled in him an ardent

love for Christ Crucied and gave him the strengthnee e to carry out s sp r tua m ss on.

3. Development of the Devotion to St.Paul

Anthony Marys development of the devotion toSt. Paul is an interesting and important factor indiscussing his Pauline thought.



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3.1 OriginsIt is certain that Anthony Mary had, since the veryrst years, a particular veneration for St. Paul, andas soon as he could enjoy his scripts, he foundspiritual benet in reading the epistles and fondlymeditating over them. The previous statement bythe learned Father Moltedo can easily be accepted.However, there remains one problem. What sig-nicance do the words since the very rst yearshave? It could easily be applied to his childhoodas it is taken for general knowledge that he often

me tate on t ose t ngs t at e a earne nthe church. However, there are no valid documentsthat can testify denitively to this. Another possi-bility is that he became devoted to St. Paul throughhis friendship with Serano Aceti da Fermo, a Lat-eran Canon, while at the University of Padua. Thispossibility is much more credible than the formersince our young Founder often preached in thesmall church of San Vitale after leaving Padua.

Again, however, there are no existing documentsthat would validate such a possibility. It is most

plausible, though, that this holy friendship withSerano Aceti did develop some Pauline thought

w t n Ant ony Mary. Nevert e ess, t e on y ot erpossibility is through the abiding advice of hisspiritual director, although not much is knowna out m. More t an e y, t roug t e open ngsfrom his studies and friendships at Padua, it wasthis Dominican spiritual director who was the oneto spark the ame of Anthony Marys burning lovefor the Apostle Paul.

It will be this holy friar (Fra Marcello) to initi-ate the Founder to the studies of theology andthusly, to the studies of the Fathers of Scripture,and Thomas Aquinas. The Scriptures, especiallythe letters of St. Paul, can be found in the spirit ofhis thought. As the Holy Founder was preachingand gathering groups to catechize at San Vitale, FraMarcello propelled him to the aforementionedstudies to deepen his understanding of the truths

of faith. To any student who studies the Fathersor Thomas Aquinas, an understanding of thetheology of the epistles must come to light. The

Apost e Pau emerges at t e very start to w oeverwants to penetrate Catholic theology and leadshim throughout the study giving him as researchmaterial his luminous inspired epistles.

As a s e note t s a so very poss e t at Ant onyMarys veneration and imitation of Christ Crucied

could have been nurtured by Paul with some helpfrom the works of Thomas Aquinas. His studies of

Thomas Aquinas, which could most likely have ledhim to an ardent love for the Apostle, is well-attest-ed to. It is St. Thomas who says that The Cross ex-emplies every virtue. We also know that AnthonyMarys mother formed him in the virtuous life. Allthis may have had an impact on him, causing himto delve deeper into the meaning of the cross andthus St. Paul, to whom the cross-event of Christ isa central aspect of theology.

It was from Fra Marcello, perhaps, that youngZaccaria arrived at the certainty of Catholic doc-trine, acquired the zest for the Word of God, es-pecially the letters of St. Paul, and the ardor forpreaching the revealed truth. However, it must benoted that it was under the direction of Fra Battistada Crema that Anthony Mary embraced the priest-hood. It was under the Dominicans direction thathe more seriously dedicated himself to the studyof the Bible and Thomistic theology, particularlythe letters of St. Paul and the Summa Theologicaof St. Thomas, and often frequented the mon-astery of the Dominicans. He availed himself ofthe study of the Bible from Fra Marcello and moreparticularly from Fra Battista da Crema, a man of

vast cultural theology and a profound knowledgeof Sacred Scripture, especially of St. Paul as wastypical to the Dominicans.



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While he was preparing for the priesthood, underthe guidance of the Preaching Friars, AnthonyMary was not only a student of the works of St.

Thomas Aquinas, but soon found that it was Paulwho was the central gure in the study of any as-pect of Catholic theology because, to the studentof theology, that is to the one preparing for thepriesthood ... St. Paul appears as the great Master,t e Doctor par exce ence

We can see that, beginning with the inuence of

his maternal schooling towards the virtuous life,under the direction of Fra Marcello and more in-tensely under Fra Battista da Crema, it was Paul the

Apostle and his writings that were to be planted andnurtured into the soul of Anthony Mary Zaccaria.

Through his studies for the priesthood, Paul wasto ename and enrich his heart through the sacredtheology of the Apostles epistles, through the stud-

3.2 Master and Teacher of TruthAs we said at the start of this paper, a servant ndshis identity from that of his master. The HolyFounder sought to nd his identity in St. Paul, theone upon whom he grew to consider the Master of

Truth.

T e young pr est ten s to e ogmat c an t eoretically systematic. The same applies to AnthonyMary for like every newly-ordained priest, An-thony Mary often sounded theoretic (systematic)

his emphatic style showing traces of the teachingsof Dominican theologians. This is veried in therst few Sermons of the newly ordained priest

Anthony Mary had a clear and synthetic mind ..for his writing of the youthful sermons manifestedan orderly logic and an inclination to the preci-sion of concepts. Thus, like every young studentof St. Thomas, Anthony Mary sought the truths of

ies of the Fathers of the Church, and through his

study of the works of Thomas Aquinas. Thus, wecan basically state that it was under the guidance ofthe Order of Preachers that Anthony Mary was tobe nourished into the devotion of the Apostle Paulfor the experience on university life and the rstaposto c years enr c e Ant ony Mary. Un ou t-edly, conferring to his thought the constant desirefor a concrete life. Overall, the meeting with theperson and the doctrine of St. Paul will give a dis-tinctive mark to the spirituality of Anthony Mary.

the faith in Scripture and systematic logic. It wasin the writing of St. Paul that he was able to ndthe truths of Christianity and for the desperatelyneeded reform of the times. He, therefore, con-fessed the words, thoughts, and actions of Paul asrepresentative, or rather as an explanation, of theone and only Truth, Jesus Christ.

When writing them (t e Sermons , Zaccar a considered Paul as the Master of Truth, as an object ofstu y, a m rat on, an contemp at on. He s t e



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master of excellence, for his very thought is basedupon the Truth of Jesus. Throughout AnthonyMarys sermons we can nd scattered such state-ments as Paul says that, It is by the Apostlethat ... , The Apostle Paul testies that. ..

Paul says that the love of money is the cause and root

of every evil (I Tim 6:10) and avarice which is in effect

an idolater (Eph 5:5) And our Savior said that avarice

is the cause of the extinction of charity, saying. Because

the iniquity of many will be overwhelming, charity will

be extinguished (Mt 24: 1). And Paul says that in these

ast t mes men w o are se -cen-

tered, grasping, boastful, arro-

gant, and rude, and followers of

t e r own op n ons, w om -

nate (I Tim 3:1-3) ( ermon I).

As most sem nar ans avelearned in an homiletics class,the one who preaches shouldleave his congregation with aconclusion to contemplate andstudy, to put forward into theirlives Anthony Mary again is noexception. Concluding the sec-tion on the necessity of the vir-tue of charity in his Sermon IVthe Holy Founder uses the thoughts and words ofPaul as the source of contemplation, because Paulhas captured the essence of Truth and, therefore,is the Master of Truth to be studied and devoured.Fr. Ghilardotti says that to Anthony Mary, the

Apostle Paul himself is considered as an object ofcontemplation. We can, therefore, presume thatit is not only the writings of St. Paul that must becontemplated but also the person of Paul himself

who assimilated the Truth into his very being. Infact, after establishing that spiritual life reaches hishighest in the friendship with God, Zaccaria addsthat Paul is a Master and Model of such a perfectcondition. Fr. Ghilardotti is alluding to the sec-t on o Ant ony Mary s ermon w ere e says,that true friend of God; Paul... (p. 97).

What is most interesting is the manner in whichthe Holy Founder writes this section of the Ser-mon. He rst quotes Jesus speaking to the Apostlesfrom John 15:15. Having referred to Jesus as theIncarnate Truth, he then turns to Paul, calling himthe true friend of this Truth, by quoting I Cor 2:6,and continues the thought by quoting Jesus bothn Matt ew 11:25 an Lu e 21: 15. Note t at a

these quotes are associated with wisdom, pru-dence, or revelation.)

In being at the summit ofspiritual life, that is friend-s p w t Go , Pau can eas-ily be considered an objectof contemplation. Howeverconsidering the fact that

Anthony Mary calls Pauthe true friend of God,and having placed this state-ment among quotes on the

wisdom of God revealed tomen as spoken by the In-carnate Truth, we can easilyassume t at Pau s not to ejust considered as but, for

Anthony Mary, denitelyis an object of contemplation as the Master and

Teacher of Truth.It is from here that we must treat the insights ofCardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) intothat mentioned above:

To the school of Paul, the future founder took thatrichness and depth of doctrine which would make

Ant ony Mary a very goo teac er, ena ng mto teach others: St. Paul can say to Anthony Mary,Now you are the executor of my doctrine. Whichdoctrines do his listeners hear? That out of whichthe Apostle judged there is none greater, namelyJesus and Jesus Crucied as the power and wis-dom of God. To the school of Paul, Anthony Mary



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knew that the foolishness of God is better than thefoolishness of man, such as the weakness of Godis stronger than the weakness of man. Here is thegreat mystery hidden in our redemption, in thehealing of our misery.

Cardinal Pacelli perceives that it is in Paul that An-thony Mary was able to deduce the truths and the

Truth of our faith. This deduction could only occurafter much study, meditation, and contemplationn or er t at t e en mystery e revea e . It s

only through the wisdom of Paul that AnthonyMary could perceive this r evelation of the hiddentruths of the faith. Due to the climate of the times,these truths and Paul had been hidden. It was An-thony Mary who again found them by seeking and

eve op ng s evot on to St. Pau as t e Doctorpar excellence and a true friend of Truth itself. St.

Anthony Mary found that the truth and doctrinethat Paul rallied upon was that of Christ Crucied.It became the same rallying call for Anthony Mary.

Most of his writings are based upon the Christ-event of the cross. It is to this that he constantlyreferred in his sermons, speeches, advice, andletters while referring to the Apostle at the sametime. Thus, Cardinal Pacelli is correct in statingthat Anthony Mary has become the executor ofthe doctrine of Paul. It is in this doctrine of Paul,the rallying call of Anthony Mary, that we nd theculmination of the teachings of Truth itself. It isbecause of this development in his devotion to St.Paul that we nd that the letters of St. Paul have

always been an object of study and meditation onthe part of the children of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria.In the rst Constitutions,written by Anthony Maryhimself, he suggested for study the words of Scrip-ture, especially the works of Paul: The Brothersought to study Sacred Scripture, and avidly take de-

g t n un erstan ng an compre en ng t so asto uncover and bring to light its hidden meanings(Chapter VIII). Thus it must have been, as stated byFr. Moltedo, that Anthony Mary was always studi-ous of Pauls epistles and delighted in them all.

From t e a ove, as etecte y var ous ogra-phers and postulators for the canonization cause

Anthony Mary grew steadily in his developmenof devotion to St. Paul It was through this devoutstudy and ardent contemplation of this true friendof God that our Holy Founder was able to discoverthe hidden mystery of the truths of the faith. It wasby studying and contemplating Paul as the Masterand Teacher of Truth that Anthony Mary was ableto preach the central doctrine of St. Paul, namelyJesus and Jesus Crucied.

3.3 Master and Teacher of LifeJesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn14:6). It was through his cradling devotion to Pauthat Anthony Mary was ensured that Jesus is the

Way. In the development of this devotion AnthonyMary looked upon St. Paul as the Master of Truthand thus called upon Jesus as Incarnate Truth. It isin seeking out Paul as the Master and Teacher ofLife that Anthony Mary looked upon Jesus as Life

As Anthony Mary saw the truths of the faith in Jesusthrough Paul as the Master of Truth, so too withthe doctrine of Paul, Anthony Mary also followedthe form of his (Pauls) life, for he made himselfan illuminated likeness of his life, for it says: Beimitators of me brothers ... according to the modethat you see (Phil 3:17). The model that AnthonyMary saw was not only Paul but Jesus Himself, forthe Apostle tells us that it is not I who live butChrist who lives in me (Gal 2:20).

When St. Paul said to be his imitators that is ex-actly what Anthony Mary did, even to the point ofhis style of writing. It can be said that the gureof St. Anthony Mary emulated the Apostle Paul.In every aspect of his life, Anthony Mary was illu-minated by the doctrines and the life of St. Paul

Anthony Mary grasped one of the principal themesof St. Paul and preached it with the vigor of PaulHe preached life with a potency of the gure of



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Paul and his spirit, a life that ar-

rived and placed itself in JesusChrist. In the spirit of Paul, hepreached Pauls metanoia fromdeath to life. For the wages ofsin is death, but the free giftof God is eternal life in ChristJesus Our Lord (Rom 6:23).The concept of the life of Christcont nue an exten e n t eChurch to each of its individualmembers is one of the great Pau-

line themes and one of his mostoriginal insight. Anthony Mary

was able to totally grasp Paulsinsight and, thus, his devotionto the Apostle grew to call uponhim as Master of Life.

Where is this life to be foundt at Ant ony Mary preac e ? Itis to be found in Jesus Our Lord,particularly through his death

and resurrection. Therefore, likePaul, Anthony was to preach anew life in the Spirit of the RisenLord by the power of the cross.

Theologically it is very sound,ut a so very sacramenta . T us,

part of the reform of life thatAnthony Mary preached was areturn to the life-giving sacra-ments, especially the Eucharistand devotion to the Eucharist in

order to nourish the life withinus. Thus it is from St. Paul that

Anthony Mary apprehended twostrong ideas: the central positionof Christ in the Christian lifeand the impetus of reform.

St. Paul had become the Masterto learn from in every aspect of

Anthony Marys life. The Holy

Foun er was t e one to see t etruths of the doctrines of Pauland learn to live in them andplace his life as such. It is in liv-ing the life that Paul called forthfrom him that Anthony Marylived the life of Jesus Christ.

The hero (Anthony Mary), il-luminated in his mind by Paulsdoctrine and enriched in the op-

erations of his will from his loveof Paul, was vehemently yearn-ing of following the Apostlesthought: Now you are the exec-utor of my doctrine, institution,an t oug ts. You ave earne

which is my sincere and entireteaching; which is my way of lifeministry of reconciliation andpeace between God and ManLearn now which is my thought

that I look for in the ofce andin the fatigue of my apostolatenot personal advantages but theglory of God through Christ, notjust what is useful to the multi-tude, but rather to make yourselfall things to all for the salvationof all. And so it is this that ist e ra y ng ca e n Ant onyMary, that is, the goal for whichhe aims at with thought, with

will, with work.

From the above quote of Cardi-nal Pacelli, we see that AnthonyMary was not only to preachthe doctrine of Paul but to liveit. It became his everything: tobecome all things to all for theglory of God through Christ.



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However, this is not just the outside we see but thevery life that caused Anthony Mary to breathe. Itwas the apostolate of dying to oneself in order tohave life eternal in Jesus Christ.

Fr. Confalonieri tells us that his (Pauls) thoughtwas constantly compared to his (Anthonys) ac-tion; it was his apostolates mainspring, the aimof all his endeavors. Here we rst see that thethought and doctrine of Paul acted somewhat asa gu ng ne. T s wou ea Ant ony Mary tohis Crucied Lord in glory and steer him correctlyand directly. The writings of Paul became the tencommandments to live rightly for God and neigh-bor. Secondly, we see that it was Paul who becamethe stimulus of all of Anthonys work. The thoughtof Paul acted as both the starting and nishingline in which the race of life was lived. AnthonyMary also speaks of running a race like Paul, forthe Founder says: Let us rush like madmen notonly to God, but also to our neighbor (Letter II),

t roug w om we reac Go . It was n Pau t atAnthony Mary found the means to render gloryto God, and love of neighbor as the way of lovingGod. Furthermore, so necessary is this love thatPaul wished to be an anathema for his brethren(Rom 9:3). Throughout the whole Scripture, myfriend, you nd that God sets up our neighbor asan instrument to reach His Majesty ( ermon IV).From what has been said we can see then that thethought of Paul became the point of comparison,the way of evaluating his every action, the force to

ra se s aposto ate, an t e ov ng p ys ognomyfor the sons and daughters of his personal pater-nity. Thus it was that Anthony Mary showed theBarna tes, t e Ange cs, an t e La ty t e r moracode in Paul: He showed them their leader andmodel in living the life in which they were called:rst as Christians and then as religious. This hespoke of in the October 4 speech. Because wehave chosen as our Guide and Father such an

Apostle, and we are proud to be his followers, letus make the effort to follow his teaching and ex-ample in our life.

St. Anthony M. Zaccaria is most known for his loveand example of Christ Crucied. He was to receivethis also from St. Paul as the pivotal point of all histhought. The wise Paul, who wanted to be, in ac-tual life and in the opinion of all, a living exampleof Christ Crucied (Letter IX)became for AnthonyMary t e master, t e teac er, an t e mo e o e

which was constantly burning with the ardor ofChrist Crucied.

We can deduce then that Paul was the logicachoice as the Master and Teacher of a life groundedn Jesus. However, St. Pau was not on y t e teac er

of that life, but through his own example and writ-ings, we can say that St. Paul was the standard ofliving for Anthony Mary.

4. Assimilation of Pauline SpiritualityIn examining the Pauline thought of St. AnthonyM. Zaccaria, it is only logical that we examine theassimilation of Pauline spirituality.

4.1 Spiritual Inuence of Paul upon the Interior Work-ing of St. Anthony MaryOn the 400th anniversary of the approval of theOrder of the Clerics Regular of St. Paul (February18, 1533, by Pope Clement VII), the Superior Gen-era at t at t me, Fr. Fer nan o Napo , rece ve a

letter from Pope Pius XI attesting to the Paulism ofour Founder. Your Founder has chosen as patronand model the Apostle St. Paul, faithfully embrac-ing his doctrine interiorly, especially those of ChristCrucied. Various authors have cited that Anthony Mary was the perfect and most faithful imitatorof St. Paul, emphasizing upon the Barnabites, say-ng t at t e r earts a ecome one.



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As a scholar of literature captures within his entirebeing the works of his most cherished author orpoet, his words are so often on his lips that theybecome his own. The same applies to AnthonyMary and his most cherished guide and model. Fr.Giuseppe Motta has found all interesting fact in hisstudies on this aspect. He states that, Fr. Gabuzioand Fr. Secchi often repeated that the Founder al-

ways had at hand and on his lips Pauls teachings;they used two very peculiar verbs: dictitabat andlectitabit. Thus, like the learned professor of auniversity, Paul was embedded into the very es-sence of Anthony Marys being.

It is here that it would be mosttting that we should quote thescholarly Fr. Angelo Confalonieri:

He mastere St. Pau s eepest

thoughts, and assimilated them

so that they became his own. His

t oug t was constant y compare

to his action; it was his apostolates

mainspring, the aim of all his en-

eavors; t e countenance e ope

for his spiritual children to attain.

It even suggested the name for his

religious families: Clerics Regular of

St. Paul, and the Angelic Sisters of

St. Pau .

Let us take just one line from the above quote: histhought was constantly compared to his action.

As mentioned previously, Anthony Mary consid-ered the Apostle Paul to be the Teacher of Life. Itwas Paul who had become his moral code of liv-ing. Ones personal morality is considered onessecond nature. Thus, with Anthony Mary, Paulbecame so second nature to him that these twosaintly men were one.

A most impressive fact is that the Magna Carta of Anthony Marys Paulism (the famous speech ofOcto er 4, 1534 , a een uttere w t t e ut-

most effectiveness and spontaneity. In his constantattempt to resem e Pau , t ere are t e eep anstrong concepts, which always refer to the contentor spirit of Pauls writings. His quotations fromSt. Paul appear quite frequently, especially in hissermons. However, they are not always exact quo-tat ons. At east one wor s c ange or t ere s aslight difference from the original text. Thus, theHoly Founder was quoting from and by heart having had fully assimilated Pauls writings in both hismind and heart.

Anot er po nt t at must ebrought to light here is that An-thony Mary, in the original versionof the sermons, never completeda citation of St. Paul. After some

wr t ng, e wou comp ete t ephrase with etc.This also dem-onstrates that he often quoted byheart the writings of the ApostlePaul.

There are some who considerthe original text of the sermonsa scriptural hodgepodge. How-ever, this does not reveal so mucha jumbling of Pauline writingsas an interiorization of Paulinet oug t. T e sa nt y Ant onyMary had thought so much with-

in his soul that, although we cannot understandwhere the etc. will lead, we are more than cer-

tain that a few quotes from Paul would enable theFounder to continue his quoting by simply onlywriting the note etc.

Pope Paul V spoke of our Holy Founder as a greatgurein the spirit of St. Paul. Before CardinalPacelli was elected Pope Pius XII, he too spoke ofSt. Paul as being found in Anthony Mary: in doc-trine, in temperament, and intention of his aim.

The doctrine that Cardinal Pacelli was concerned



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about is not just one but the entire thought ofPaul. The temperament of soul was their com-mon humility and steadfastness in the Lord, whilethe intention of his aim was the ongoing Paulinemetanoia within himself, his followers, and withint ose to w om e preac e . Car na Pace pro -ably could have come to this above statement on

Anthony Mary from the decree of canonizationwritten by Pope Leo XIII, who says that AnthonyMary saw himself in St. Paul, as the importantauthor handed down, recreated ...

Anthony Mary often called upon St. Paul as his fa-t er. He cou e ene to a c w o stensto his parents and follows the norms set by them.

Should anyone ask me which was, besides the Lords

grace, the secret of perfection which raised Anthony

Mary above all mean (temporal) things that surrounded

him, which was the star guiding him safely to the one

and only Innite Beauty, I should reply that it was

his lial and operating love to the Apostle Paul. This

operat ng ove s certa n y t e most ev ent an tang e

characteristic of the Founder.

It was Anthony Mary who placed the lial admira-tion into his functioning form, therefore, allowingto ow through his faith the illuminating qualityof the Apostle of the Gentiles, which transformsthe light and ardor of his children. Therefore, thislial love and imitation became an operating force

within Anthony Mary not only to imitate St. Paulbut, rather, to live in St. Paul by having St. Paul to

cont nue to ve t roug m.

We can, therefore, state clearly that the spiritual in-uence St. Paul had upon Anthony Marys interior

workings had gone beyond just an inuence buthad become a lived reality. St. Anthony Mary couldmost pro a y ave parap rase St. Pau , say ngthat it is no longer I who live but rather Paul wholives in and through me.

4.2 Exterior ManifestationsW t n t s area we w s to exam ne t ree aspectsa) the preaching of Anthony Mary, b) the spiritualdirection offered by Anthony, c) an overall view ofhis writings in general.

a Preac ngThere are some who preach by their words andthere are some who preach by their example. St.

Ant ony Mary was a man w o ot . As an a -

olescent, after the Sunday Mass he would gatherthe servants and others in the house into the littlechapel... and from his heart, burning with love ofGod, he would repeat the truths he heard in thechurch and had meditated on himself. He not onlytaught, but he lived St. Pauls words on charity byhis disposition and heart full of compassion fort e nee y, ot sp r tua y an tempora y.

It was during his rst two years as a priest that hepreached in the small church of San Vitale. It was

here that he spoke of the truths of the faith, beinglled with the spirit of Paul the Apostle, in order tobring others into a rening union with Christ. Ev-ery ardent word, incisive and profound, inspiredby Paul, nurtured intense love to Christ.

The subject of the preaching was not always theactual text of Pauls epistles. When this was thecase, the various subjects were preached in lightof Pauls teachings. His speeches were based onand included a large number of Pauls sayings and

teachings. However, during feasts, Anthony Maryheld lectures on St. Pauls epistles to a vast laitythat came to hear him.

He preached with the intense force of Paul, whomhe had diligently studied and communicated histhoughts of reforming ones life to Jesus Christ.In t s way e e g te t e popu ace, not n t e

words of human wisdom, but in the divine wordsof his Master and Guide, Paul the Apostle, for he



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(I Cor 3:12) (Letter VI). Supporting him with thecross of Christ, Anthony Mary reminded him that

we are always victorious in Jesus (Rom 8:37-39).T us, Ant ony Mary reassure Ferrar t at t e m tof his success to reform was only limited to the ex-tent to which the Crucied Lord, and therefore thethoughts of Paul, preceded him.

A basic point of Anthony Marys spirituality ands rect on espec a y to t e Ange c S sters s t e

typology of the old man of Adam and the new manof Jesus Christ. From Paul, Anthony Mary sees thatthrough the Christ-event of the cross and the Res-urrection, we are now partaking of a new mankindn a new creat on 2 Cor 5:17; Ga 6:15 . T e o

has passed away and the new has dawned for thosewho believe and live in Jesus and put on Christ.Thus, for Anthony Mary, Paul was telling us thatto live for ones own self is to live in the old manof Adam to live in the esh; yet, to live in the newman of Jesus is to live and walk in the freedom of

the Spirit (Rom 6:15-19).

Look, they are absent from meditation, or theyare always busy with exterior activities, or sleep inlate, or they are just lazy (Letter IX). This direc-tion to Angelic Negri was saying that these Sistersnullify the new life found in Christ and His crossy t e r u ewarmness a sease t at Ant ony

Mary considers the greatest enemy of the cross).He continues by comparing these poor souls to theold man of Adam by calling it Sauls face. Thus

Paul is referred to the old man in the time of hisconversion. Therefore, we hear again the entire callof Anthony for a Pauline etanoia, a convers on, aturning about. To partake of the divine life in theSp r t, man must ve n Jesus or e y s re at on-ship to Adam (I Cor 15:20-22).

As stated, Anthony Marys apostolate was to preacha Pauline reform, a etanoia Preaching can begiven through example. Therefore, Anthony Marysaid to the Angelic Negri in the same letter, look

and see if when she talks she does not raven with-out noticing you, touching every aspect of your life... look and see, if when she leaves you she alwaysedies you with a word ( etter , 47-48 . Baseupon Galatians 5:22-26, Anthony Mary saw that inliving in the Spirit, in walking in the Spirit (andnot in the esh of the old man), the Church isto be built up. Thus, in giving good example andbuilding up one another, the fruits of the Spirit willow forth abundantly. It is through these lived-out

fruits that the community preaches and, at thesame times, lives an ongoing Pauline etanoia.

Therefore, deriving his direction from Paulinet oug t, Ant ony Mary recte t ose w o soug thim, and those who were under his charge to liveas one walking in the newness of the Spirit. How-ever, because of the constant struggle between theesh and the Spirit, there is need for constant con-

version. Basically, this is a summation of the Pau-ne t oug t to e evoure y t ose w o soug t

the direction of Anthony M. Zaccaria, a priest ofthe Apostle Paul (as he signed his name).

c) Writings in GeneralThere are few existing writings of St. Anthony MZaccaria. Perhaps it is that he only wrote down afew things. However, those writings we do havegive us the spiritual orientation and doctrine of theHoly Founder namely, they are Pauline in nature

We can state this clearly for, as Fr. Colciago sayshis discourses, as well his letters, were grounded

in and weaved with the doctrine and sayings of theApostle. In his letters he held a similar style to thaof Paul and these took on a Pauline spirit. Antho-ny Marys Sermon of October 4, 1534to the fellowmembers of his congregations, given in the face ofpersecution, can be considered the saints MagnaCarta . It is in this that we have more than enoughto prove t at Pau represente t e pr nc pa sourceof the whole Zaccarian thought. Our Saint usedthe thoughts of St. Paul from 1Cor 4: 10-13; 2 Cor



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6:48; Rom 5:2-5; and 2 Tim 3:12 to build up themorale of his followers in the face of this persecu-tion. Like Paul, Anthony Mary exhorted his fol-lowers not to think evil of their persecutors, forevil can only be overcome by goodness (Rom 12:14-21). The Founder called Paul the guide, patron,and father of his followers throughout the sermonand cited, directly or indirectly, various quotesfrom the Apostles letters. At the conclusion of thisdiscourse, Anthony called his followers to delity

as children of Paul: It would not be proper that inthe ranks of such a commander there would be sol-diers who are cowards or traitors, and it would notbe proper that the sons of such a glorious Father

would be degenerate ( ermon VII .

Throughout this sermon, and the Saints otherwr t ngs, t ere s a strong emp as s on C r stCrucied. This is a central theme to both Paul and

Anthony Mary. It was in the cross of Christ that wend the Christocentric Paulism of Anthony Mary.

It was the understanding of the Crucied Christ,derived from Paul that he constantly set before hisspiritual children. This cross was the perfect causefor the consummation of union with God andm