An air of expectation settles over the well-filled and brightly-lit basilica. In the choir loft, the orchestra tunes its strings as clouds of incense begin to waft upwards between the columns of the central nave.
All goes silent. Seated next to the main aisle, young João feels wrapped in a supernatural atmosphere. Far beyond the religious impressions prompted by the sacred setting, grace is preparing him for the event that will change his life forever.
The ceremony begins. A full choir of Dutch friars accompanied by a pipe organ and an ensemble of stringed instruments fill the temple with the glorious strains of the hymn Flos Carmeli, as a cortège of members of the Third Order of Carmel advance in two rows down the corridor. Vested in their dark habits and covered with white capes that descend to the feet, they seem, to João, more like angels than men.
Seeing his father and founder for the first time, Msgr. João was filled with joy and exclaimed interiorly: “I have found the light of my life!”
His emotion reaches its peak when he sets eyes on a commanding and serious man bringing up the rear of the procession with a sure and determined step down the centre of the basilica, his powerful bearing suggesting grandeur of soul. Inwardly, João exclaims: “This is the man! He is the one I wanted to know; I am called to follow him. This is the man who will reform the face of the earth.” 1
The first encounter of Msgr. João and Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira – on July 7, 1956, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in São Paulo – was actually the outcome of a long and faithful wait. Thus, when that young man glimpsed Dr. Plinio for the first time, it was as if he already knew him; and he discerned him to be the man promised by grace, to whom he ought to give himself unconditionally so as to be able to win souls for God. His ardent, youthful aspirations and his fervent prayers of two years had finally been answered.
As he would later reveal, this prompted the inner exclamation: “Happy, happy am I, for I have found the light of my life, the dream of my dreams, the strength of my existence, the straight path to Heaven!”2
First years of close contact
Leaving the basilica after the ceremony, Dr. Plinio walked up to the young João, taking the initiative to greet him and to exchange a few words with him, showing him affability and deep pleasure. A relationship had been forged that would grow ever deeper across four decades.3
Msgr. João was soon a frequent presence at one of the houses of “Plinio’s group” 4 on Martim Francisco Street in São Paulo. He took on office duties and later served in other areas, such as secretary of the Foreign Commission which was responsible for the nascent groups of contacts in various countries, overseer of the Readers’ Commission, responsible for translating, cataloguing and preparing conference material, and he assumed the so-called “eventualities”, an assortment of odd jobs that fell to the younger ones.
The performance of these tasks gave him the chance to closely accompany parts of Dr. Plinio’s daily routine, as he held consultations with him or transmitted messages, affording him the opportunity to get to know him. Nothing escaped his diligent and admiring observation. A little further on, the short lectures that Dr. Plinio gave the younger members of the movement, called Saint of the Day, would deepen Msgr. João’s understanding of many facets of the person and the vocation of the founder.
Thus, day by day, he saw how much wisdom, innocence and strength God had granted Dr. Plinio to be a teacher, prophet and fighter for the Catholic Cause, but a tender father too, overflowing with affection, striking a rare harmony in his soul between greatness and kindness.
Once, while engaged in some research, Msgr. João discovered the teaching of Theology regarding the usage of blessing, which extends to all the baptized and not just priests. The idea soon occurred to him to ask Dr. Plinio, as founder, to give his blessing to his disciples. Together with another young man, he sought him out to pose this request. Dr. Plinio raised no objection, and blessed them through the mediation of Mary Most Holy and the prophet Elijah. From then on, Msgr. João gave free vent to his reverential enchantment for his spiritual father, for seeing in him – thanks to supernatural intuition – a man called by Our Lady for a lofty historical mission.
Sacred Slavery, the great grace
According to St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, the expression slavery of love best defines the admiring surrender of those who wish to take their love of Our Lady to the utmost degree.
When he read the Treatise of True Devotion by this saint, Msgr. João became enthralled with the characteristics of this slavery. It especially caught his attention that those who thus consecrate themselves to the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom through the hands of Mary, participate in her gifts, virtues and graces, just as if Our Lady herself lived in them. He also understood that the quest for perfection was made much easier by having Mary Most Holy as an accessible model.
Combined with other ideas, this doctrine penetrated the spirit of Msgr. João, taking on new meaning: why not assume, in relation to Dr. Plinio, a bond of dependence analogous to that recommended by St. Louis with regard to the Blessed Virgin? Entrusting himself into the hands of a living representation of the Mother of God would make slavery to Our Lady more real, more deeply felt and more effective, and the path to the practice of virtue more secure.
Upon reading the “Treatise of True Devotion”, Msgr. João understood that the best way to consecrate himself to the Blessed Virgin was to do so through the hands of Dr. Plinio
Filled with spiritual joy, Msgr. João wrote a letter to Dr. Plinio, explaining the reasons that prompted him to ask to consecrate himself to the Blessed Virgin in his hands – an act that suggested a religious commitment.
With his penetrating discernment of spirits, Dr. Plinio quickly perceived this impulse to be stirred by divine grace, a judgement that was confirmed when others of his disciples communicated a similar desire, without knowledge of Msgr. João’s request. After a consummately careful investigation regarding the orthodoxy of the proposal, Dr. Plinio began to gather those few spiritual sons in the office of his apartment, to divulge to them some hitherto-unknown aspects of his soul, recounting episodes of his life that revealed in fuller light the gifts that Providence had granted him in view of the fulfilment of his mission. New spiritual horizons were unveiled before the eyes of Msgr. João, who eagerly plied Dr. Plinio with questions, in this way, even without realizing it, helping the latter to further explicate his own vocation, as he would later affirm.
After two years of close conviviality, Dr. Plinio finally ceded to the insistent requests of those sons. The first ceremony of Sacred Slavery, as it was called, took place on May 18, 1967. Such were the graces poured out on that occasion, with an elevation so palpable to all, that in closing the act Dr. Plinio affirmed: “With this ceremony the institution of the Apostles of the Latter Times is founded.”5
“Anonymous among his own”
Although externally the work of Dr. Plinio achieved many successes over the following years, internally there was a gradual decline in enthusiasm and fervour. The initial graces of the foundation had opened wide a path of commitment and had unveiled the panorama of the vocation in all of its splendour, culminating in Sacred Slavery. However, the infidelity of many caused the withdrawal of these graces and a consequent spiritual blindness, even in relation to the founder, for when the heart opens to the world, it shuts itself to God.
Due to the infidelity of many of his children and the consequent withdrawal of graces in his work, Dr. Plinio offered himself as an expiatory victim to save it
Opting for a mediocre– alas, in some instances debauched – life, several of those called to be faithful disciples came to view Dr. Plinio as simply a cultured man and distinguished thinker, no longer the prophet of Mary Most Holy who had been revealed to them by grace, to the point where he became “anonymous among his own.”6 The religious note disappeared from the work, replaced by a club atmosphere in which jesting and triviality were the norm.
This naturalistic and worldly mindset never tarnished Msgr. João’s vision of Dr. Plinio, for he continually experienced the presence of Our Lady in the founder. However, his vigilant love instilled the fear of being lured in by that influence and, if he were to maintain contact with his decadent fellow disciples, of eventually becoming unfaithful to the Catholic Cause. Therefore, on October 12, 1974, the then Mr. João asked Dr. Plinio to withdraw to a life of contemplation. The latter – not only as father, but also as friend – shared his concerns with him, yet insisted that he not draw away from the movement’s activities, with the hope that a change in the internal scene would give rise to new fruits of apostolate.
Admirer of a crucified grandeur
In conversation with some of those closest to him on the evening of February 1, 1975, Dr. Plinio expressed the apprehensions he harboured in relation to his work and concluded that it was only possible to save it by an offering as an expiatory victim, thereby imploring the intervention of Our Lady with special graces. He promptly did this, then and there, declaring that Our Lady could dispose of him as She saw fit.
A mere thirty-six hours later, his offer was accepted by Providence by means of a serious car accident. Among the passengers of the five vehicles involved, only Dr. Plinio suffered grave injuries: his pelvis was broken by the deep impact of the left femur, which was also injured, two ribs were fractured, the bones of his left hand were shattered and his right humerus was broken; additionally, his head collided with the windshield, causing the loss of two teeth, an incision from top to bottom on his upper lip, and the almost complete tearing of his left eyelid and eyebrow, along with extensive blood loss. He had become, as Msgr. João would later say, the “martyr of his own work”,7 bearing the aftermath for the rest of his life.
There followed a long and dolorous convalescence, during which Msgr. João stayed constantly by Dr. Plinio’s side, for he was not scandalized at the sight of his disfigured father, immersed in pain. On the contrary, the veneration that he had always paid him was now united with a profound sentiment of tenderness, and his admiration grew upon noting that, despite drifting in and out of consciousness, he showed – upon giving spiritual counsel or directives for his work – rare wisdom and unfailing discernment. Jotting everything in a notebook, day and night, the faithful son did not allow a single word to be lost, becoming the first to benefit from the generous sacrifice of Dr. Plinio, whom Our Lady would not delay in recompensing.
Just as Moses from the top of the mountain had once sustained Joshua’s struggle (cf. Ex 17:11), in the years following the accident, Dr. Plinio could observe, as a result of his offering, the resurgence with redoubled fervour of several internal institutions under the tireless impetus of Msgr. João. Thus, his work arose from the slumber in which it lay.
“Cor unum et anima una”
From 1975 onward Dr. Plinio and Msgr. João would fight side by side, together traversing both the tribulations and victories of the work.
Dr. Plinio entrusted his faithful disciple with the most complex problems and the most audacious undertakings: combating publicity uproars, conducting street campaigns, solving internal difficulties, promoting apostolate in several countries, obtaining economic means to sustain the movement… Above all, he confided to him the doctrinal and spiritual formation of the newly emerging vocations.
In the performance of these duties, Msgr. João united himself to his father and founder ever more closely, thinking, willing and acting like him, and becoming – as Dr. Plinio would say – his alter ego, his right-hand man and the staff of his old age. Providence had finally granted Dr. Plinio the consolation of seeing in him the perfect disciple who, participating in his prophetic vision, fought for the cause of the Holy Catholic Church and gave continuity to his work.
Just as Moses had once sustained Joshua’s struggle, Dr. Plinio assured, with his offering, the resurgence of the institutions of his work under the tireless momentum of Msgr. João
In September 1995, the discovery of advanced cancer in Dr. Plinio indicated that his departure was imminent. Admitted to Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital, in São Paulo, he had to bear – among other spiritual sufferings – the ordeal of leaving this life without witnessing the establishment of the Reign of Mary, promised by Our Lady in Fatima and so ardently desired by him.8
With his profound insight into the soul of his founder, Msgr. João was able to discern the torment he was enduring and sustain him minute by minute, crowning the story of long fidelity with this act of filial devotion. He had not forgotten the teachings of Dr. Plinio regarding the role of suffering in the life of a Catholic, and reminded him that this final calvary was not a failure, but the glorious fulfilment of his vocation, consoling and comforting him in faith until his very last moment.
On that deathbed, Msgr. João saw a victorious father, a prophet with a mission too great to be fulfilled only on this earth, and who left for Heaven, raptured like Elijah, to complete in eternity what he had begun here below. This certainty of victory, born from the contemplation of Dr. Plinio’s virtues, was the pillar on which Msgr. João sustained the work during the painful moment when the absence of the physical presence of the founder was felt.
Sole desire: to perpetuate a mission
After Dr. Plinio’s departure for eternity on October 3, Msgr. João fulfilled this mission so successfully, rendering the spirit of his father and lord in institutions, that he himself participated in the foundational grace, as will be seen in the subsequent articles. Therefore, in considering the varied accomplishments that he has brought to completion, one must bear in mind that for Msgr. João such feats signified nothing more than the tribute of restitution due to the one whom he held as the cause of all his success, and, above all, the realization of an irrepressible desire to glorify the man from whom he had receive all.
Today it can be affirmed that the greatest legacy that Dr. Plinio left history was not his publicity campaigns, public action or the books he wrote, but a disciple formed in the image and likeness of his own sanctity. This disciple, assimilating his mentality, his love for Holy Church and his prophetism, brought forth children destined to perpetuate the presence of the founder over time.
In this way, the union that had marked four decades of sacred convivium would acquire new configuration from 1995 onwards. Msgr. João would be Dr. Plinio on earth, giving continuity to the longings that he had harboured in the deepest recesses of his heart throughout his life; Dr. Plinio would be Msgr. João’s ambassador before the Immaculate Heart of Mary, enabling the fulfilment of the ardent desires of his perfect disciple.
A seed of prophetism to germinate over the centuries
Having partially unveiled the majestic panorama of union between Dr. Plinio and Msgr. João, we can only imagine how the reunion in eternity transpired after almost thirty years of physical separation of master and disciple, father and son, lord and slave.
The meticulous care with which, throughout his absence, Msgr. João sought to give back to Dr. Plinio the fruit of his efforts for the glory of the Holy Church and for the establishment of the Reign of Mary, without keeping anything for himself, likely blossomed into the loving gift of the work that had immortalized his labours on earth, now without the shadows of the state of trial, and adorned, as it were, with the laurels of triumph, but personified in the beloved son who had become everything to everyone by making the desires of his father come true.
Just as Dr. Plinio has lived on for his children – and for his enemies too – in the person of Msgr. João over almost three decades, he will live on in the work he left on earth
For Dr. Plinio, undoubtedly, “reclaiming” the one whom he had so loved in life and for whom he made every effort to fully sanctify, bringing him to the perfect fulfilment of his high mission, meant a significant increase in accidental glory, which, if we may translate in earthly terms, increased his joy in Heaven to levels that perhaps only in the beatific vision we will be able to comprehend.
Then both, merged into an eternal embrace, certainly see in their exchange of looks the future of the work that remains in this valley of tears, deprived of their physical presence but protected, as we hope, with their secure intercession.
Just as Dr. Plinio lived on for his children – and for his enemies – in the person of Msgr. João for almost three decades, he will live on in the work he left on earth and in the influence that it will yet exert in the Holy Church and in the world. “He is alive in his writings, alive in the precious legacy of his elucidations, alive in the ways he indicated, alive in the customs that he instituted; even more, he is alive in the human type he inspired, that is, in those in whose souls a seed of prophetism, participative in his own charism, was planted.”9 ◊
Notes
1 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Mary Most Holy: The Paradise of God Revealed to Men. Houston: Heralds of the Gospel, 2020, v.I, p.66.
2 CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Conference. Caieiras, 24/4/2005.
3 The reader may learn more details of the story of Dr. Plinio and of his profound link with Msgr. João in the collection in five volumes: CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. O dom de sabedoria na mente, vida e obra de [The Gift of Wisdom in the Mind, Life and Work of] Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Città del Vaticano-São Paulo: LEV; Lumen Sapientiæ, 2016.
4 The way the first set of disciples of Dr. Plinio were known. As the years went by, the term group came to be used internally to refer to the same work.
5 Allusion to the expression used by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort in the Treatise, to designate the future slaves of love of the Blessed Virgin, who, like living torches, would illuminate souls with the spirit of Mary, preparing Her reign in them.
6 CLÁ DIAS, O dom de sabedoria na mente, vida e obra de Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, op. cit., v.IV, p.442.
7 Idem, p.486.
8 By special heavenly favour, Dr. Plinio – then an adolescent and many years before he learned of the revelations of the Blessed Virgin in the Cova da Iria – had a mystical inspiration regarding the future triumph of Our Lady on earth, to which he was called to dedicate his life. Decades later, while convalescing from a diabetic emergency in 1967, he received an unmistakable supernatural confirmation, through a print of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano, that he would not die without fulfilling this mission. (cf. CLÁ DIAS, O dom de sabedoria na mente, vida e obra de Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, v.I, p.348-351; v.IV, p.285-291).
9 Idem, v.V, p.484-485.
