If we could interview the Apostles and ask them what moved them to leave everything to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ, it is certain that we would hear the most diverse answers. For one, it would have been the Master’s kind and penetrating gaze; for another, the power that His voice expressed when He simply said: “Follow Me” (Jn 1:43; Lk 5:27); for a third, like Nathanael, His manifestly divine discernment when He declared: “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (Jn 1:48); for yet another, it would be Jesus’ forceful attitude when He rebuked the Pharisees.
Based on their accounts, we would most likely come to the conclusion that the first and main factor of attraction in Our Lord was not His doctrine, but His living example, His gestures, His attitudes – everything that made up His character.
Msgr. João found a way to convert into reality the ideal contemplated in Dr. Plinio, and to mould his wisdom into persons, ways of life and tangible realities
Indeed, what an immense joy it is to find a model to follow, a person to be guided by; a master! Every human being is constantly in search of archetypes, because the instinct to imitate is part of human psychology, as Fr. Luis Civardi says: “Example makes the truth palpable; the truth becomes in a way incarnate in the person and in facts.”1
Msgr. João experienced this happiness when he met Dr. Plinio, as was considered in previous articles, and he allowed his own disciples and spiritual children to partake in it. Through these lines, we now wish to put on the lampstand another facet of the man who is the root of everything that today constitutes the charism, mentality and customs of the Heralds of the Gospel: how he found a way to convert into reality the ideal contemplated in Dr. Plinio, and to mould his wisdom into persons, into ways of life and into tangible realities.
An insatiable thirst to do good from a young age
Like St. John Bosco, Msgr. João felt called from the beginning to guide young people on the path of virtue and morals. We have seen how, from tender childhood, he had ample experience of the evil human beings are capable of, thus losing all illusions about the world, and how he wanted to form a group of young men who would try to reverse the decadence of our society.
Having met Dr. Plinio in 1956, he threw himself body and soul into the service of the Catholic Cause in the ranks of the movement founded by him, and not long afterwards moved into one of the organization’s houses, located on Aureliano Coutinho Street, in São Paulo. A member of the group who lived there during this period recalls: “From the beginning, Msgr. João had the same kindness that we saw later, wanting to help everyone and desiring the good of all. In those early days we had to prepare the newspaper Catolicismo to be sent to subscribers by post, and Msgr. João took part in this work, always cheerful, singing while we folded the newspapers. He was the soul of the Aureliano seat.”2
His love for the Catholic Church and his piety were so lively that they seemed to “infect” others, as another contemporary testified: “One morning I went to the Cathedral of São Paulo to receive Communion, and arriving at the door of the Blessed Sacrament chapel I heard that the acolyte had already rung the bell and begun the Confiteor. It was so profound, so contrite and so clear that I was moved. I went immediately to the Communion rail: it was Mr. João Clá who was serving for Msgr. Sílvio de Moraes Matos, then pastor of the cathedral. I am so grateful for this experience that I never fail to say at least one Confiteor whenever I enter there, in memory of that occasion.”
Several others who knew him at the time unanimously describe the purity and vivacity of his physiognomy, his decisiveness and energy in action, and the concord and communicativeness he always showed in his dealings with Dr. Plinio. All these qualities, manifested with such simplicity by a novice, shone like a torch which, little by little, set fire to the hearts of the others and changed the face of the Group.
Teaching by example
The doors to the much-desired institutionalization of his work were thus opening for Dr. Plinio. He had fervently hoped that his followers would be enthused by the militant character of the Catholic, and embrace a regimented life. He had had little success before Msgr. João’s arrival. In fact, it was only after the latter’s organization of the “Itaqueras” that this desire of the founder began to take root, as we saw in the previous article.
In 1969, Dr. Plinio asked Msgr. João to move to the Hermitage of São Bento, an old Benedictine monastery recently acquired by the TFP. He hoped to give a new impetus to this institution, forming a nucleus that would live in a quasi-monastic regime, governed by an ordo of customs and enriched with the discipline of the “Itaqueras”.
The true teacher is a living example of what he teaches, who know how to be both shepherd and sheep, and never demands of others what he has not demanded of himself
In the early years of the hermitage there were major misunderstandings on the part of its members about the ideal that Dr. Plinio wanted to achieve there: a few merely desired a misguided remake of the Order of Cluny; worse still, many did not want to give up their own routine and embrace the one that had been established. It was not long before the experiment waned. Msgr. João recalled many occasions when he alone sang the Little Office of Our Lady in the chapel and carried out the ceremonial corteges of the house, while these acts were abandoned with negligence by most of those who were supposed to be his brothers in everything.
Finally, after hard work and many years of struggle, he succeeded in forming a group of fervent hermits, establishing the hermitage on solid foundations, just as his spiritual father had originally wished. In 1988, when Dr. Plinio was visiting São Bento, he exclaimed: “For how many years have we tried to achieve what is found in this place! We fought in every way without being able to accomplish what I see here with great pleasure! And all of you know to what extent João has been my blessed instrument for the realization of all of this.”3
Behold the true teacher: one who is a living example of what he teaches. He knows how to be both shepherd and sheep, teacher and disciple, continually giving and receiving, because – as Msgr. João taught us – to be a good formator, the most important thing is to form oneself first, without ever demanding of others what one has not demanded of oneself before.
How to form the new generations?
As the years went by, Msgr. João realized that he could no longer correct the young men who joined Dr. Plinio’s work with the same rigour as before. The newcomers no longer looked at him as an equal, but, because of the difference in age, experience and fidelity, they considered him with the respect and admiration due to an “older brother”.
Seeing how the new generations lacked a solid education, including in the cultural, moral and religious spheres, he began an intense programme of instruction. He taught the so-called “enjolras”4 how to organize their own routines, always giving first priority to what is most important, the interior life, and then the most urgent, namely, daily obligations.
The training method he used, acquired from his father and founder, was based on talks or small meetings in which he would relate some episode that had happened with Dr. Plinio, drawing lessons from it to apply to the lives of his listeners. He passed on the facts with such enthusiasm that a then-young hermit recently said: “To this day I live on the memory of those meetings. Such was his love for Dr. Plinio that he enraptured us!”
Msgr. João noticed how the “enjolras” had their souls wide open to graces that Dr. Plinio called “flashes”.5 Like the sail of a boat exposed to the wind, they allowed themselves to be filled without hindrance with the wonder produced by the supernatural truths that were presented to them in all their brilliance. However, he noticed a risk in this tendency: superficiality. Therefore, as the youths rose on the “wings” of sensible grace, he tried to build a “scaffolding” under their feet, made up of the principles of Catholic doctrine. In this way, when a period of aridity and trial came, they would not fall from the height to which they had been raised.
To this end, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he methodically passed on to them the most important theological, spiritual and historical subjects, thus forming the solid foundations of the St. Thomas Aquinas Course. In this sense, together with the solid and unprecedented doctrinal framework received from his father and founder, he profited enormously from the theological formation obtained through frequent contact with luminaries of the Thomist school in the 20th century, such as the Dominicans Fr. Victorino Rodríguez y Rodríguez, Fr. Antonio Royo Marín, Fr. Fernando Castaño, Fr. Esteban Gómez, Fr. Arturo Alonso Lobo, Fr. Raimondo Spiazzi and Fr. Armando Bandera.
“These boys are more fortunate than I”
Msgr. João was a complete formator, who called for perfection in every act and always demanded discipline, but he also tempered rigour with elements of recreation, in a balance very typical of those who follow the Divine Master: “The whole atmosphere of the Catholic Church is made up of the union of these two aspects that the Revolution likes to separate: authority that imposes itself, guides, corrects and, as the case may be, is severe; and on the other hand, the goodness that knows how to protect, forgive, welcome, and to understand, while it encourages and draws others close.”6
Seeing that the new generations lacked a solid education in the cultural, moral and religious spheres, Msgr. began an intense programme of instruction
This gift, attainable to few, was quickly discerned by Dr. Plinio himself in his faithful disciple: “It is these qualities of a general that I have seen in my João and greatly appreciated. The Hermitage of São Bento and the Hermitage of Præsto Sum7 are two permanent symphonies of souls that he regulates and fine-tunes. Sometimes I notice that he has tightened the screws a little, that someone was offended by something; I pretend I do not see it, I show a cheerful face, but I realize that a son of mine ‘bled’ a little, and I give thanks to Our Lady. How wonderful it is that there are such good and expert hands to draw ‘blood’.”8
Dr. Plinio, who in his youth suffered a great deal of loneliness because there was no one to accompany him, expressed his satisfaction with the formation given to the “enjolras”: “I sometimes think to myself: ‘These boys are more fortunate than I; when they took their first steps, they had a João Clá that I did not have…’”9
Guiding souls after Dr. Plinio’s departure
With Dr. Plinio’s departure for eternity, Msgr. João’s relationship with those who until then had regarded him as a brother changed perspective. If before he had been allowed a certain intransigence as executor of the founder’s designs and implacable enemy of the wicked spirit, from then on it was necessary to show more understanding and kindness towards everyone.
It was at this time that he founded the female branch of the work, an unprecedented move for him, who had always worked only with men. He trained these aspirants in the same school of perfection and discipline established for the male branch, but his psychological sense and discernment helped him to quickly recognize the differences in mentality between men and women, and wisely adapt.
Another significant aspect of the formation provided by Msgr. João was the pursuit of higher learning, having often pointed out its importance as an instrument in the apostolate
He demanded that they be strong, despite their natural fragility, and he always tried to help them forget themselves through constant acts of generosity and admiration. He was very keen for them to learn to be guided by reason and not by mere impressions. He also explained that in man, strength, determination and advancement stand out, while woman represents the more delicate, affectionate and caring side, and that is why symbols stand out more in her. So, after a few years of dedicated and intense preparation, he decided to design for them a habit similar to that of their brothers in the ideal, noting that on a lady this garment would stand out more than on a man.
He later revealed that, with Dr. Plinio’s death, he gained a clearer discernment of the needs of each one of his spiritual children. And he indicated the scope of this gift with an example: “I am giving a meeting, and suddenly my eyes fall upon someone, fortuitously, and I see: ‘That one is in crisis,’ or ‘This one has received a grace and has changed.’ I realize it is a hint from Dr. Plinio: ‘Help this one, support that one, admonish that other one.’”10
Emphasis on studies
Another important aspect of the formation provided by Msgr. João consisted in academic studies, the importance of which as an instrument in the apostolate he emphasized many times, as in this homily: “To give everything means to study, that is, to prepare oneself, to learn, in order to then be more useful to the Cause, to be more useful to the Church. I must dedicate myself more to learning, I must want to have a real reservoir of knowledge, in order to preach better, to do more apostolate, to lead a greater number of people to God our Lord.”11
A Herald of the Gospel will never be in doubt about how to proceed in any situation because, in whatever direction he looks, he will find his father’s footprints
Continuing the work undertaken during Dr. Plinio’s life, he organized courses on Catholic doctrine, with classes on moral theology, advanced catechism, general and ecclesiastical history, philosophy and Latin, as well as series of meetings dedicated to commenting on a variety of spiritual books. He even made a point of personally providing Bibles and catechisms for everyone. He always taught any subject matter with many examples, never detached from real life, thus laying the foundations of the solid Formation Plan of the Heralds of the Gospel.
Thanks to Msgr. João’s commitment over many years, the number of doctors and masters who graduated from pontifical universities has multiplied among the Heralds, along with the foundation of the Aristotelian-Thomistic Philosophical Institute, affiliated with the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome, the St. Thomas Aquinas Theological Institute, affiliated with the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Medellin, and the St. Scholastica Philosophical-Theological Institute of Religious Sciences.
“This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise”
“For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (Jn 13:15), Our Lord exhorted the Apostles. From eternity, Msgr. João makes this same appeal to his spiritual children today, like the St. Paul: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1).
Together with the Wise and Immaculate Heart of Mary, he rejoices in the minimal progress of each one, but he expects all his children to give their all, just as he gave himself completely and dedicated his entire life to spiritually and morally forming the living stones with which Our Lady will build her Reign on earth.
Our founder’s example, his efforts to achieve perfection, his lofty goals and his tireless zeal for individual and collective advancement have created solid foundations for the work and a legacy of archetypes in every field. A Herald of the Gospel will never be in doubt about what to do or how to proceed in any situation because, in whatever direction he looks, he will find his father’s footprints, his word, his resolution and his blood. And he will be able to do for him what the Lord expected of the chosen nation: “this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise” (Is 43:21). ◊
Notes
1 CIVARDI, Luis. Apóstoles en el propio ambiente, apud ROYO MARÍN, OP, Antonio. Espiritualidad de los seglares. Madrid: BAC, 1967, p.838.
2 The term seat was used among Dr. Plinio’s disciples in a broader sense than is usual, to designate any house of the movement he founded.
3 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conversation. São Paulo, 25/12/1988.
4 A term used internally in Dr. Plinio’s work to refer to his disciples of the younger generations.
5 A “flash” is an actual grace which, especially affecting the gift of knowledge, gives the soul a particular clarity to understand the truths of the Faith – with greater efficacy and insight than if one were to study them at length – and, also affecting the will and sensibility, invites them to adhere to what they have been shown. As a result, the person desires holiness more than if they had performed great acts of asceticism, and their sensibility is so ordered that it almost resembles the state of Adam in Paradise; in short, they feel angelized because God has come into contact with them.
6 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, 31/1/1976.
7 Hermitage located on a spacious property in the Santana neighbourhood in São Paulo, established to receive Dr. Plinio’s younger disciples who were attracted by the graces of the institutionalization of the Hermitage of São Bento.
8 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conversation. São Paulo, 16/9/1991.
9 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, 20/11/1976.
10 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Talk. Madrid, 16/1/1996.
11 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Homily. Mairiporã, 27/11/2006.
