St. Vincent Pallotti, a Roman diocesan priest who was declared a Saint by Blessed John XXIII in 1963, was a Roman by birth and by vision. The same Pope, on the day of Pallotti’s canonization, declared: “The glorification of Vincent Pallotti is an invitation to all priests to continue on the road opened by Jesus Christ, Redeemer and Teacher. It is also an invitation to re-dedicate oneself to the work, which is first and essential, namely holiness of life.”1
His Family
Born on April 21, 1795, as the son of Maria Magdalena De Rossi and Pietro Paolo Pallotti, Vincent always lived in Rome. He loved his parents very much and he admired the “fullness of virtues and love of God in his father.”2 He was very devoted to his mother and praised her as “The Bride of the Blessed Sacrament and as a woman always living in the presence of Jesus and very compassionate toward the poor.”3 He was the third child of ten children and he was very much concerned about his brothers and sisters. Unfortunately six of his brothers and sisters died as youngsters; only three brothers (Salvatore, 1792-1832, Luigi, 1799-1849, and Giovanni, 1805-?), lived to adult age, but remained single. Vincent survived all his brothers and sisters, and he was very fond of his aunt Candida, the wife of his uncle Luigi, who lived in Frascati.
While Pallotti’s mother Maria Magdalena, born in Rome, took care of the household, his father Pietro Paolo, born in San Giorgio (Cascia), was engaged in the grocery business. As a smart businessman, he soon rose to a sound middle class position and in a few years he owned three grocery stores, primarily selling hams, sausages and cheeses from his native region of Umbria. Riches did not change the religious attitudes of Pallotti’s parents, as both remained devoted to the virtues of piety and charity. Pallotti was to them not only a treasured son, but also a teacher of greater perfection, especially during their last days.
Human Traits
“Vincent was not of cold phlegmatic temperament, but was on the contrary, fervid, which incited him naturally to anger, disdain and resentment. His enemy, irascibility, which he had in his blood, could not otherwise be held in subjection and servitude but with the sword in hand, and indefatigable vigilance over every irregular motion of the mind, in order to immediately repress it in such a manner as not to do the least act, inconsistent with the meekness and sweetness of Jesus Christ, whom Vincent had chosen as a model.”4 This testimony of an eyewitness about Vincent’s psychological trait is confirmed by Pallotti himself. At twenty-two years of age, Pallotti wrote in his diary, “the greatest obstacle (toward my own sanctification) is pride.”5 At the age of forty-five, Vincent still humbly admitted his continuing struggle with his temperament: “My Jesus, you see that anger and pride are rooted in me, that I am not capable of destroying these two horrible monsters within me.”6
In the struggle to control his temperament, Vincent became more understanding of others’ temperaments. He became humbler and meeker daily, as contemporaries testified.7 Yet, his irascibility made him strong in his endeavors, decisive in his actions, and steadfast regardless of success or failures. The fiery temperament of Pallotti turned out to be an asset for his spiritual and apostolic life. In fact, the leadership that he brought to his foundation -The Union of Catholic Apostolate – along with his creative and fresh ideas, could not be explained had Pallotti not been born with such a trait.
Pallotti’s psychological trait was manifested in his way of acting. “Vincent was of a very small stature and a little stooped, of lively manners but without haste. Each of his gestures seemed to say that he found life extremely short and he did not desire to lose even an instant.”8
The dynamic temperament of Pallotti made him generous and persistent in his resolutions, stubborn in his pursuit of holiness and very ambitious in his apostolic endeavors. His resolve “Become a Saint, for tomorrow you will die,”9 was accompanied by his apostolic battle cry: “Let us save souls, for charity’s sake, let us save souls.”10 His temperament made Pallotti strict with himself and very understanding of others, as his letters prove. His meditative and serious attitude toward life made Pallotti introspective and helped him to become reserved, but he was never aloof. Father Raffaele Melia (1804-1876), who knew him and lived with him, wrote that it was a joy to live with the cheerful Pallotti.11 Pallotti was both a contemplative and active person. Unfortunately, those who have written about him have quoted mostly his contemplative meditations or resolutions, but Pallotti blended these characteristics very well.
If one reads his letters accurately, one will find that Pallotti was also down to earth. At times he could even make a pun with words. Famous are his word to Fr. Felice Frandanini, a very scrupulous person. “Felice (Happy), you suppose to be always happy; but you make yourself unhappy.”12 Gently, he reprimanded Father Piacentini Luigi, who was supposed to help a poor man, with the words: “Bravo, bravisimo. What a beautiful charity! Are the petitions, made in urgency, left in the waiting room?”13 To Mr. Luigi Nicoletti, he would write, “I beg you to offer prayers, many humble and fervent prayers, for a very sick person. Every time I call him by name, he answers me, but any time I speak to him about confession, he does not answer me” (Lett. 102).
His Milieu
The period during Pallotti’s life was an age of revolutions and religious revivals. Historians call this period “the Age of Democratic Revolution” because of the desire of the masses to extricate themselves from the absolute powers of some of the states in the quest for freedom. The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) tried to reshape Europe with the principle of “Raison d’Etad” (Reason of the State) which asserted that the rights of the government are superior to the rights of the people, but it did not help. By 1848, popular discontent erupted into a revolutionary movement that swept the continent.14 The revolutionary movements, originated during the French revolution of 1789, caused the Roman revolts and the revolutions of 1816, 1817 and 1820.
The proclamation of the Roman republic in 1849, aimed at the unification of Italy, was a sign that the people wanted independence. This independence was not only freedom from the authority of the Pope-King but also independence from the Pope, as head of the Catholic Church. Therefore the revolution’s movements became at times an excuse and a camouflage of anticlericalism. Pallotti was aware of this; in fact he always upheld the rights of the Church and the Pope without entering into politics. Because of his ideas, St. Vincent was one of the targets of the revolutionaries. Fortunately during the worst period of the Revolution, from February 26 to July 18, 1849, he hid himself in the Irish seminary of Rome and he was saved.
The age of revolutions, however, was also an age of religious revivals. Religious liberties were promulgated in the United States in 1789, in France in 1801 and in the British Isles in 1829. Old religious communities were restored, for example the Jesuits in 1814, after being suppressed by Clement XIV in 1773, and the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1805. New congregations, especially missionary ones, were formed.
Among the many women’s Congregations founded were The Sisters of Charity founded by Mother Elizabeth Seton in 1809, the Good Shepherd Sisters founded in 1829, and the Pallottine Sisters founded in 1838. The male congregations included the Oblates of Mary Immaculate founded in 1816, the Precious Blood Fathers founded in 1815, the Holy Cross Congregation founded in 1835, and the Society of the Catholic Apostolate founded in 1835. Noticeable during this period is the foundation of lay associations such as the Association of the Propagation of Faith founded by Pauline Jaricot in 1820, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul founded by Frederick Ozanam in 1833, and the Union of Catholic Apostolate founded by Pallotti in 1835. These and other religious institutions gave impetus to the revival and propagation of faith and charity at home and abroad during this difficult period in history.
In fact, besides the political turmoil, there were difficulties because of false ideologies created by illuminism, Rationalism and exaggerated Romanticism and Liberalism. Also, the rigorism of Jansenists and the indifferentism of the Quietists did not help the situation. Fortunately, saintly persons worked tirelessly toward the necessary spiritual revivals in various parts of the world. In Rome alone, one can find St. Gaspar del Bufalo (1786-1837), the founder of the Precious Blood Fathers; Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769-1837), a lay apostle and mystic; St. Vincent Strambi (1745-1824), a Passionist Bishop and preacher; and Ven. Bernard Clausi (1787-1849), a Missionary of the Minims.
Pallotti’s Lifestyle
Pallotti was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rome on May 16, 1818, and immediately started to work as a zealous priest. Convinced that a holy clergy makes holy people, he devoted himself to the formation of future priests at the University of Sapienza, his Alma Mater. For ten years, he was a full time tutor of Theology, while also getting involved in other activities, like cathechetics and retreat work. But, after ten years at Sapienza, his activities became so many that he had to leave.
At that point, he became spiritual director of many convents of Sisters, and confessor of many Roman seminaries, including the Roman Seminary and the Propagation of Faith Seminary. He served as chaplain of the biggest hospital of Rome, Holy Spirit. He served as chaplain to soldiers, retreat master for the poor and rich, and finally Pastor of the Holy Spirit Church on the Via Giulia.
Until his death in 1850, Pallotti was a priest sought by the poor and rich, by humble priests and those in high positions, such as Cardinals and Popes. Of course, his greatest work was the foundation in 1835 of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, embracing laypersons, clergy and Religious, for the proclamation and service of the universal apostolate, which exists in the Church. Sadly, the message: “Universal Apostolate” was misunderstood. But he held on to his idea and, with humility and patience, he succeeded in saving it until his death.
In 1836, he initiated the Octave of Epiphany as a great awareness for the Roman people of the unity and variety of the Universal Church. In 1837, he founded the Pious House of Charity for girls who were left orphans during the cholera plague. In 1838, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate. His apostolate also embraced many spiritual and intellectual needs of the Church, such as night schools for illiterates, catechetical instructions for the poor farmers, and weekly conferences for priests. Young and old, rich and poor, clerics and laypersons all benefited from his unselfish concern, both spiritually and materially. He became all to all in order to gain all to Christ. Upon his death, he was hailed as the second Apostle of Rome after St. Philip Neri. His spiritual and apostolic vision remains today in the Union of Catholic Apostolate.
The greatness of Pallotti was his holiness of life. Heroically he practiced virtues, especially the imitation of Jesus, the Apostle of the Eternal Father. His apostolate was his overflowing love for the Master and His Mother, Mary. From Jesus he learned to be a great co-worker in the redemption of men and women. From Mary, the teacher of the spiritual life, he learned intimacy with her son and the value of the hidden prayerful apostolic life.
Pallotti’s foundation – the Union of Catholic Apostolate – was the culmination of his desire to have all the people of God united together in the work of the universal apostolate for the propagation and revival of faith and charity at home and abroad. His desire was not a false dream. Today, after the promulgation that “the Christian vocation is also a vocation to the apostolate,”15 his idea is in the mainstream of the Church. In fact, Pope John Paul II, on June 22, 1986, declared, “The concept of the Catholic Apostolate (promoted by Pallotti, Edit.) is no longer a cause of anxiety and controversy as it was in the last century.”16
These words of John Paul II clarified and removed officially the anxieties of Pallotti’s ideas, past, present and future. Pope Paul VI, on September 1, 1963, at Frascati, masterfully summarized Pallotti’s ideas in this fashion: “St. Vincent Pallotti was a precursor: he anticipated almost a century ago a discovery. Is it wrong to say this word ‘Discovery’? But, we must be realistic and dare to say it. His was a discovery that even in the world of the laity there is a capacity for good, which before was dormant; timid and unable to be expressed. The saint striking almost at the conscience of the laity sprung from them new energies. He gave the laity a conscience of the possibility for good, he enriched the Christian community of multiplicity of vocations. In this way the Christians would have not just a passive and tranquil acceptance of their faith, but rather an active and militant profession of it.”17
Thus, Pallotti’s response to God’s inspiration to proclaim the apostolic vocation and action of all Christians has been recognized by the Church’s supreme authority.
St. Vincent Pallotti
The greatness of Pallotti was not just his apostolic vision for all the people of God and his foundation, the Union of Catholic Apostolate. What made him great in the eyes of God and the Church was his holiness of life. Pallotti strove tirelessly for holiness and perfection, deeply convinced that a priest has “to live a holy life in order to die a holy life.”18 In his teachings, he advised priests “to imitate their Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and to be animated by the spirit of the Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ.”19 He recommended to them that they can be victorious and they should not be discouraged in their fight against sin. “The devil wages war against all, but he increases his war against the priests, because if he wins a priest, he wins a people.”20
Therefore, he advised all the priests: to practice a life of sacrifice and mortification of their evil passions,21 to be rooted in the spirit of humility,22 to be detached from worldly goods,23 to be pure in their minds and hearts,24 to examine their consciences daily regarding their efforts to live a holy life,25 to be men of prayer, 26 to be merciful towards the sinners and ardently zealous in the apostolate,27 and to be filled with God’s love so intensely that they would preach God’s love with God’s love.28
Briefly, Pallotti would say, “As ministers of Jesus you have to seek God only. If you do not seek God, this is a sign that you have not chosen God and that God has not chosen you.”29
Purposely, this list has been included from Pallotti’s meditations for Priests (Maggio Ecclesiastici, Roma, 1833), because it reflects Pallotti’s ideal of the priesthood as he lived it. In his spiritual diary, we read, “I ask for the grace and the divine help to exercise all the virtues no matter how difficult they may be. . . Oh, how beautiful is the exercise of all virtues to their most eminent and heroic degree!”30 Pallotti did exercise heroically all the virtues, as the Church declared in 1932.
On January 20, 1963, Blessed John XXIII in proclaiming Vincent Pallotti a Saint hailed him as a “Sage of remarkable sanctity . . . a tireless apostle and a wise spiritual director who generated enthusiasm for holiness. . . The glorification of Vincent Pallotti is an invitation to re-dedicate oneself to the work, which is first and essential, namely holiness of life for the sanctification of souls.”31 Holiness and Apostolate were the messages of Pallotti in his time. Holiness of life and Apostolic involvement are still the challenges of today’s people of God. May St. Vincent help and intercede for us all, for God’s infinite glory.