Mass for the Canonisation Of Saint Annibale Di Francia,
Founder Of The Daughters Of Divine Zeal

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Ignatius’ Church, Richmond,
on Sunday, 6th June, 2004, At 3.00pm

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to St Ignatius’ Church as we gather once again at the Lord’s invitation around his table. Today, Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the mystery of God who is “three Persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendour, yet one Lord and God, ever to be adored”.

We also have the great joy of celebrating the canonisation on 16th May of Saint Annibale di Francia, founder of the Daughters of Divine Zeal and the Rogationists. I welcome the Daughters of Divine Zeal and their friends in a very special way. I thank you for all you have contributed to the life of the Archdiocese since 1959 and rejoice with you today.

Conscious of our need for healing and forgiveness, let us turn humbly and confidently to the God of infinite mercy and ask his pardon for our sins.

Homily

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Every Sunday we recite the Nicene Creed and profess our faith in one God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. This mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. When Saint Gregory Nazianzen used to baptise catechumens, he would tell them that the Church’s trinitarian faith would be “the companion and patron of your whole life” [cf. Catechism 256]. The Holy Trinity has made its home in us. “The love of God”, as St Paul says in the first reading, “has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit”, which Christ has sent to us. Even now, in the very depth of our being, the Father draws us and the Spirit moves us to become more and more like Christ our Lord.

It is because God continues to pour his life into the Church that we can speak of the “communion of saints”. We are connected to one another in ways we can barely imagine, because the Spirit of God moves in the Church and makes the gifts of God flow between us.

We believe that we are a pilgrim people, making our way towards the kingdom of God. We believe that we are not alone, because the Risen Lord is with us always, and because he has sent his Spirit “to lead us to the complete truth”. We also believe that those who have gone before us on this journey to God are still with us and are still our companions on the way. That is why the saints have always been so important to Catholics.

Today we rejoice in the canonisation three weeks ago, on 16th May, of Saint Annibale Maria di Francia, who is called the Father of Orphans and the Poor, and who is also the Patron of Vocations.

Firstly, he is called the Father of Orphans and of the Poor. From an early age, Saint Annibale felt a real empathy and compassion for the poor, especially for orphans and other children who for one reason or another were deprived of the care of loving parents. His own care for them was far-reaching.

He not only provided them with shelter in the orphanages he founded, and arranged for them to learn skills which would help them to become independent, he also went a step further by inviting them to become collaborators in the great spiritual work which he considered his special vocation.

He used to tell these young people: “Fall in love with Jesus Christ!”. He was really something of a forerunner in considering the work of committed lay persons as vocations.

Secondly, Saint Annibale is Patron of Vocations. Since he was a seminarian, Annibale felt specially called to respond to a saying of Jesus, which is recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke: “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). To pray and work for vocations in obedience to the Lord’s command: this became his mission and the source of his inspiration throughout his life.

Annibale founded two congregations to carry out this mission: first the Daughters of Divine Zeal in 1887, and ten years later the Rogationist Fathers and Brothers. He also founded two associations, one for clergy, the Priestly Alliance for Vocations, and the other for laity, the Pious Union of the Evangelical Rogation.

I want to welcome Father Carmelo Capizzi, who is here from the Philippines, representing the Rogationist Fathers and Brothers. And I especially want to acknowledge the presence of the Daughters of Divine Zeal who are here today. I thank you most sincerely for the work you have been doing in the Archdiocese since 1959 to carry on the mission of Saint Annibale, particularly through your work with young people at Madre Nazarena Students’ House, through your pastoral work with the Italian and Filipino communities, and through your prayer for vocations.

In his message for the 2002 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope John Paul said this: “The Church gathers within herself all the vocations God raises up among his sons and daughters and is transformed into a radiant reflection of the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

As a people gathered together by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Church carries within herself the mystery of the Father who calls everyone to praise His name and to fulfil His will; she preserves the mystery of the Son who, sent by the Father to announce the Reign of God, invites everyone to follow Him; she is the repository of the mystery of the Holy Spirit who consecrates for the mission those whom the Father has chosen through His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Saint Annibale felt the urgency of the Lord’s command to pray for vocations, and his example challenges us to respond to the Lord’s command ourselves. Every one of us is called by Christ. We have a great need in the Church of a deep and faith-filled sense of this calling. We need to appreciate too the importance of the call to ordained ministry and consecrated life. Let us pray today for a deep sense of our calling, and let us pray the Lord of the harvest that he send labourers into his harvest.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.