On the evening of Wednesday 16 July, following the Calasanz Route, we arrived in Rome, the city where our Holy Founder discovered the most fruitful way of serving God: by doing good to the little ones. It was here that he died, and in his house of San Pantaleo we find his remains — the most venerated relic for us, his sons.
In these days, under the guidance of Fr. Ángel Ayala, Postulator of the Order, we were able to delve into the experience Calasanz lived: ten years in the Colonna Palace, five of which were profoundly shaped by his encounters with the poverty and abandonment of so many children in the Trastevere district. We have had the grace to glimpse the radical contrast that shaped Calasanz’s life — a contrast that led him to embrace a life of poverty, so far removed from the privileged one he had known in the cardinal’s palace. And so we grasped more deeply the meaning of the words of this saint, who, though a Doctor of Theology, came to say: “The shortest way to know God is to humble oneself to enlighten children, especially those who are abandoned by all.”
At the same time, we had days of formation and reflection with Bishop Pedro Aguado of Jaca and Huesca, Fr. Carles Gil, General Superior, and Fr. József Urbán, General Assistant. We were able to learn more about the current challenges facing the Order and those specific to the stage we are about to begin as young adult Piarists. We also deepened our understanding of what it means to be part of a “Pious Schools Going Forth,” and how we must centre our lives in Christ in order to become, each in our own way, a new Calasanz. We thank God for the opportunity to live this experience and ask Him that it bear fruit in holiness — for the greater glory of God and the benefit of children, especially the most vulnerable.
Diego Correa Pelaez, Sch. P.
