Blessed James Alberione

To Do Something for the People of the New Century

By Sr. Sean Marie David Mayer, FSP

On the last night of 1900, a sixteen-year-old seminarian knelt in a climate of Eucharistic adoration to usher in the twentieth century. During his vigil he experienced a penetrating light from God and a strong desire to "do something for God and for the people of the new century." James Alberione’s own words later describing that night reveal his stream of consciousness at the time: "The new century, the new means of communication, the need for a new band of apostles—these were all so deeply impressed on his mind and heart that from then on they constantly dominated his thoughts and prayers." It was a defining moment of inspiration that later blossomed into what is now known as the Pauline Family.

James Alberione was born in 1883, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. He entered the seminary in 1896, was subsequently dismissed, and reentered another seminary several months later. In the midst of such a chaotic period in his life, the "mustard seed" of divine light and inspiration was sown. After that now-famous night between the centuries, he went on to complete his studies and was ordained a priest of the diocese of Alba in 1907. Seven years later, with the permission of his Bishop, he began a group of religious men (the Society of St. Paul) and, in the following year, a group of religious women (the Daughters of St. Paul). Both Congregations were given an identical spirituality and mission of communicating the Gospel message with the media.

In the early 1900’s, most observers saw the beginnings of Alberione’s institutes as an outlandish dream rather than the fruit of a prophetic intuition. Sending young women, in the case of the Daughters of St. Paul, to open bookshops, or teaching them to set type by hand and operate manual printing presses, was not the normal way to start a religious congregation. Despite external opposition and misunderstanding, the community grew. And, as the communications media rapidly developed throughout the 20th century, the sisters, brothers and priests took on new forms of expressing the "Good News."

Throughout his lifetime, Alberione believed in the power and potential of the communications media. In April of 1960 he told his sons and daughters, "The press, motion pictures, radio and television today constitute the most urgent, most rapid and most efficacious means of Catholic apostolate. It could be that the future reserves other, better, means. But for the present it seems that the heart of the apostle can desire no better instruments for giving God to souls and souls to God."

During his sixty-four years as a priest, Alberione initiated ten religious institutes dedicated in various ways to the Word of God. Eight of these organizations are present in North America: the religious Congregations of the Society of St. Paul, the Daughters of St. Paul, and the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master; the secular institutes of Mary of the Annunciation, St. Gabriel, Jesus the Priest, and the Holy Family; and the lay association of the Pauline Cooperators.

Forty years ago, Marshal McLuhan mused that "the medium is the message." In the case of religious organizations, the broader implication of this reflection is borne out in the popular mind where the identity and the characteristics of a group become enmeshed with the message it espouses. Each of these aspects reciprocally affects the other. In telling the story of Father Alberione and his night of inspiration, another story is unfolded: the story of the "Good News" as it was lived out in one man’s life and carried forward in the organizations which he established.

At the heart of the Pauline communications ministry is a deep personal sense of encountering God in daily prayer. Father Alberione gave his religious communities and institutes a legacy of Eucharistic Adoration—a time of contemplative prayer before God. In this daily "Visit" with the Master, each Pauline learns what it is to truly be a disciple of Christ, and to take on his passion for the Word of God and for the salvation of all people. Balancing the demands of the media marketplace with the sensitivity of religious service is a daily challenge. In a world that increasingly fragments even as it desperately tries to connect, Paulines strive to use technology to draw people to God as the center of all that is true and beautiful.

Home | www.alberione.org | Contact Us