The Institute of Charity and the Sisters of Providence

Subsequent events led don Antonio to found a different institute from that proposed by Canossa. He meditated and fasted during the Lent of 1828 on Monte Calvario, Domodossola, waiting for a priest friend with whom he had agreed to begin the work. Those who knew him and appreciated his talents were shocked at his choice. They did not accept that a young noble, rich and promising as he was, could enclose himself in solitude. Several friends thought him crazy, others sought to dissuade him with the argument of the good that could be done by remaining in the world.

His reply was a disarming one: “This is what I have come to do up here; I have come to fulfil my vocation, to respond to the voice of God, to be far from a foolish world, to purify myself, to save myself…Yes, this is one of those decisions which the world judges to be mad. But I am happy to be mad with Jesus Christ. Is what the world calls madness, truly madness? In this case the Cross of Jesus Christ is madness. The whole Gospel is madness. It is madness to expose oneself to dangers and suffering for the name of Jesus Christ, as the apostles did. It is madness to shed one’s blood in witness to the faith as the martyrs did. O desirable madness! Who will grant that I may be seized by a similar madness…I desire you, I sigh after you, I beg for you every day with tears in the Lord, O dear, O precious, O divine madness!”
At Calvary the time went by and don Antonio remained alone, because his friend arrived after five months, when he had already drawn up the text of the Constitutions (Constitutiones Societatis a Charitate nuncupatae). This is what the Lord willed.

The new institute bore the name of the Institute of Charity. Its great foundation stone is indifference, as in don Antonio’s personal life. This means an interior disposition for all good, excluding any preconceived choice, suggested by personal considerations, even honest and noble ones. On the contrary every initiative rests on its renunciation of any kind of reasoning. The motive for assuming any good work whatsoever coincides with the will of God indicated by Providence, the guarantee of absolute objectivity and true fruitfulness. Every choice must include the supreme act of personal freedom and at the same time the renunciation of self. Only in this way is the most complete realisation of charity fulfilled: charity according to Christ, and according to the living tradition in the Church.

In this way the Institute is committed to professing “universal” charity in three forms: spiritual, intellectual and temporal, according to the needs of our neighbour. Even when no external work is requested, the Institute equally attains its end, which is the perfection and holiness of its members. The exercise of universal charity requires for its religious, an availability for whatever work is entrusted to them. It is the task of Superiors to put the right person in the right work.
 
At the end of 1828, don Antonio went to Rome to put before the Pope his plan for the new Institute and to have the will of God confirmed by him.

Pope Pius VIII, after approving it, addressed don Antonio in these words: “It is God’s will that you should write books; that is where your vocation lies. At the moment the Church is greatly in need of writers; reliable writers are in very short supply. Nowadays there is no other way to win people over than by the use of reason, and thereby lead them on to religion. You may be sure that you will do a great deal more for your neighbour by writing than by any other type of work in the sacred ministry.
The Pope knew only some writings of his published essays, which were at the time, Dell’educazione cristiana [On Christian Education], Divina Provvidenza [Divine Providence], Sull’ unità dell’educazione, [On the Unity of Education] and the Massime di perfezione cristiana [The Maxims of Christian Perfection]; this last work is a compendium of the whole of Rosminian asceticism.

Adhering to the will of God, as always, don Antonio, in 1832, found himself guiding the first steps of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence, whose evangelical life followed the same ascetical principles as the male Institute.

Meanwhile the first requests for apostolic works came, mainly schools. So the work of Rosminian teachers began; this developed with time and still continues.

Austria did not help the initiatives of don Antonio, because it did not trust a subject like him, with his liberal attitudes and who often travelled between Trent and Piedmont. The unhappy outcome of the work in Trent, of the parish of San Marco in Rovereto and of San Zeno in Verona is the proof of this.

During these years another way opened up for the Institute: Rosminian religious were requested for the missions in England. “The English Catholics” — wrote don Antonio — “are so near to my heart that I cannot think of anything I would not do if I could help them in the slightest way; and I believe that I would not let anything pass that divine Providence might offer to do something for them. I should like to give them my blood for the glory of the Lord, if my blood were of any value.”

The Rosminians were of great help to English Catholicism and took part in the restoration of the hierarchy. Subsequently they spread to Ireland, from there to the United States and from England to New Zealand. Today they are also found in Venezuela, Tanzania, Kenya and India. The female branch has expanded similarly.

The Epistolario [Letters] of don Antonio portrays the most effective outline of his life, giving to us the measure of his greatness of soul. We see him open to all good; rich in wisdom, prudence and zeal in undertaking and following the works requested of him, in putting the good of persons before that of works, in directing everything to the sole glory of God.

In December 1838 the Institute of Charitywas approved by Gregory XVI. In the final document the Pope, digressing from the Constitutional rules, appoints Antonio Rosmini, Superior General of the Institute. He is in fact convinced that “the beloved son, the priest Antonio Rosmini is aman of eminent intellect, adorned with noble qualities of soul, exceedingly famous for his knowledge of things human and divine, outstanding for his remarkable piety, religion, virtue, probity, prudence and integrity, conspicuous for his wonderful love and loyalty to the Catholic religion and to this Apostolic See.”  These words would be carved on his tomb at the suggestion of his friend, Manzoni.