EARLY LIFE

Paul Francis Daneo was born 1-3-1694 in Ovada in Genoa. Genoa was a state at that time. Almost 40 years after Paul was born he still wrote: "Poor Italy is in a state of great desolation and ruin: may God in His mercy be kind to her."

Paul was the second of sixteen children. His father, Luke, ran a small tobacco shop. His family was plagued with poverty and other troubles; Luke moved his family often during Paul's childhood.

In 1701 Paul began his elementary schooling under the direction of the Carmelite Fathers at an all boys school. From 1709 to 1718 his family moved so many times that Paul be sent to Genoa to study. He went as a poor student, living in the home of a host family while receiving small sums of money from his father for his needs.

As with many contemporary young people, Paul was disillusioned with society and authority. Knowing the direr circumstances of his family, Paul felt obligate to help them. He even went so far as to smuggle tobacco across the boarder in the dead of winter and under the cover of snow.

In 1775, when Pope Clement XI called upon Christian youth to join a new crusade against the Turks, Paul reluctantly joined as a volunteer. During an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament that Paul attended, he felt an interior illumination that he was destined for another kind of crusade: a spiritual warfare. Paul was readily granted a discharge from the crusades since he was a volunteer without pay. He wandered about on his way home and earned a bit of money to help out his family. Once finally home, Paul was so unsettled and preoccupied with his inner searching that he became a problem for his family.

Paul gave away his clothes to the poor, even the ones he was wearing. His mother remarked, "One of these days you will come home naked." He showed his disregard for his family and for human respect by literally giving away the clothes off his back. In true "hippie" fashion he let his hair, beard and nails grow long and unkempt and would not wear clean clothes.

Portraits of Paul show him as over six feet tall, well built and muscular, with a dark complexion and piercing dark eyes. He has a broad forehead and a patrician profile. He gave every appearance of intelligence and manliness. He reflected both physical and spiritual gifts of his parents. His formal education ended early but Paul showed profound understanding of ascetical and mystical theology.

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

• Have you ever delayed or changed your life goals or aspirations to come to the aid of your family as Paul did?

• What disillusions do you have with society and authority?

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

Paul was baptized 6th January 1694. He received the sacraments of penance and fist Holy Communion at he age of ten. Only after he returned from the army did he receive the sacrament of Confirmation on 23rd April 1719. In Italy at that period of time, it was common to have such a delay in receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. As a matter of fact, St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, a contemporary of Paul's, was not Confirmed until he was twenty-six.

Nourished by his liturgical life, the example of his family, particularly his mother and his brother John Baptist, Paul's spiritual life flourished. In his childhood Paul exhibited many acts of piety and penance and even more extraordinary was that they increased in his teen years and eventually became part of his life-style. He willingly served in the Church by helping in the sacristy and singing in the choir. He made an effort to assist in as many Masses as possible and prompted him to write later: "If the angels took bodies and came to live on earth, they would spend their time doing two things above all others: serving at Masses and helping the sick."

From his early years Paul had a gift for praying, both the spirit and the practice of prayer. In the development of his gift, he used both Scared Scripture and liturgy. Paul seemed to have anticipated the teaching of Vatican II by writing: "Therefore, drawing on the authentic sources of Christian spirituality let them energetically cultivate the spirit of prayer and the practice of it. In the first place they should take the Scared Scriptures in hand each day by way of attaining 'the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ' (Phil 3:8) through reading these divine writings and meditating on them. They should enact the sacred liturgy, especially the most holy mystery of the Eucharist, with hearts and voices attuned to the Church; hence is a most copious source of nourishment for the Spiritual life."

Almost two hundred years after Paul, the Vatican II Council's text dovetailed perfectly with his own concept of prayer, including contemplation of the Passion of Christ, which was the motivating congruence of every degree of his union with God. The spiritual development of Paul may be considered in three phases. The first extends from when he was nineteen until he was thirty-one. He describes his "conversion" at age twenty. Then following a period of remarkable spiritual advancement characterized by the practice of heroic penance, with a lofty state of virtue in Christian life, accompanied by deep and continuous insights into the Passion of Jesus. Sometime during the age of twenty-eight while on Mount Argentario and on the feast pf the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Paul received the precious grace of the mystical marriage.

The second phase reaches from his thirty- first year to his seventy-sixth year. This period of desolation and bitterness was relieved only rarely by some sensible favors. Paul referred to this phase as his participation in the Passion of Christ; in fact he called it a naked suffering and "the sacred martyrdom of love." This period has been appropriately described as the night of the soul by way of reparation.

The final phase continues until his death at eighty-one. While this final time included interior desolation in death, there was an increase in grace and consolation.

His diary, letters, and the depositions in the process of beatification and canonization support the threefold spiritual development of Paul. These are also the sources for his spiritual doctrine, which has been explored and expended by Passionist experts.

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

• Who were the people that were examples for you in your life and why?

• What and/or who feeds your spiritual life? How?

RELIGIOUS LIFE

Parallel to Paul Daneo’s spiritual development there was also the growth of his religious vocation and as the founder of the Congregation of the Passion.

Paul was extremely popular with young men his own age. He was repeatedly elected prior of a confraternity that met in the oratory of St. Andrew at Castellazzo. By counsel and example he
helped many others to fulfill their own vocations as Capuchins, Servites, Augustinians, and diocesan priests. He himself wrote many young encouraging their desire to enter the priesthood.

The vision of his personal vocation and of the religious order he would be called upon to found was gradually unfolded to him by God. Even the details of the Passionist habit came from his interior illumination. Then convinced of his vocation, Paul Daneo went directly to Bishop di Gattinara. He made a general confession of his whole life to the gentle bishop so that there would be nothing unknown between them. The prelate listened to what Paul Daneo said about his visions and convictions but delayed giving his answer. The final resolution was that he himself and alone might begin this way of life. The black habit might be used, but the Sign of the Passion would not be permitted at that time. On November 22, 2720 Paul received the habit of penance. This the date set by the church for the foundation of the Passionist Congregation.

Immediately after receiving the habit, the young Paul entered into a retreat. The place was a little three-sided room attached to St. Charles Church in Castellazzo. Here he remained for forty days, subjecting himself to fasting and corporal penance. In this cell Paul underwent remarkable spiritual experiences. These he noted in his diary which has become a spiritual classic.

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

• Have you ever considered religious life or priesthood?

• What would draw a person to this way of life and mission in the Church these days?

• If you felt an attraction towards religious life or priesthood, what might stop you
pursuing this?

from Joyce Hansen, Detroit USA
youthmin@passionist.org