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1 — What is the Attitude, Purpose
and Content of our La Salette Rule?

La Salettes in India 12 05aSome La Salette Missionaries in India welcome guests from the General Administration in Rome

Editor: From February 1978 to November 1981, a widespread study of the La Salette Rule was initiated by the Vatican concerning the Rules of all Catholic Religious Orders along the lines of Vatican II and consequent documents.

This is the first in a series of articles based on the eight Dossiers totaling 718 pages in this study of the La Salette Rule. In 1982, Fr. Eugene Barrette, M.S., the prime mover in this historic study, was elected the thirteenth La Salette Superior General (1982-1988). Other articles on Religious Life are available in our La Salette Online Library.

A New Style of Religious Life

To set the scene, we begin with excerpts from an article by Fr. Juan Manuel Lozano, CMF “The New Style of Religious Rule of Life”, quoted by Fr. Barrette:

“These are some observations about ...the new kind of Rule which has ... truly captured the new spirit of Vatican II, using the "ideal" Rule and not necessarily the kind which we are originally experiencing when we first entered religious life.

“Religious who are uneasy with the new style of content of a religious Rule should recall that a text which traces the basic features of a vocation and spirit, a text which describes a mode of existence instead of prescribing a set of practices, a text which prefers the indicative to the imperative is actually more in line with the evangelical idea of the Law.
“The deep difference between the Old Law and the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus proposes a vocation to people who are no longer servants but friends. And who will argue that the Beatitudes are less binding than the Decalogue, even though they move on a different level. The commandments of not killing, of not committing adultery, of not stealing require a material observance, because they express a minimum. The beatitudes on peace makers, on purity of heart and on poverty, on the other hand, require a growing fidelity to the Spirit. They express the basic features of Christian existence....
“A renewed religious Rule proposes a calling which is never completely fulfilled; it reveals a path on which no one should stop; it sets forth the means by which we religious can grow in the Spirit. This, also, is the exact meaning of the Beatitudes. We are never completely "poor in spirit" but the poorer we are, the more blessed we are.
“A (present-day) Rule is ...supposed to reflect this dynamic tendency of Christian existence. Consequently our observance implies a double fidelity — a fidelity to the letter of the essential common laws, and more profoundly, a dynamic, growing fidelity to the Spirit.”

“This new style of religious Rule does not intend to ignore the "letter of the essential common laws,"
but rather to always keep it within the living context.” (1)

Reflection Question: What has changed for you in the time you have become a La Salette Religious?

What is a religious Rule – its purpose and content?

Cross002c“One of the greatest blessings of the Vatican Council is the creation of an atmosphere, a milieu, for change and adaptation, for renewal and reform. Yes, it is one thing to except the need for change (purpose) and quite another to translate it into action on the practical level (content).” (3)

  • Purpose: “The purpose of our religious Rule is to help us all to know more deeply, to live more freely, our call to life and mission as Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.” (4)
  • Content: “The Rule is made up of words that are meant to bring life, to speak the life we have committed ourselves to pursue. If the words of the Rule are ambiguous, unclear or not collectively understood and accepted by the membership, then they will be lifeless. In this case words are important, for they are meant to focus our existential and operative efforts to create the La Salette way of life that is to contribute to the life of the Church of which we are an intimate part. (2)

Reflection Question: When you think of Mary’s message at La Salette, what scripture passage or event comes to your mind?

Endnotes:

(1) Juan Manuel Lozano, CMF, “Revisions of the Constitution: Meaning, Criteria, and Problems,” in Review for Religious, July, 1975, pgs. 525-534; ; (2) La Salette Dossier #1, Rules and Constitutions: An Overview, February 1978, pg, 6.