The Christian Life Community is an international association of Christians: men and women, adults and young people, of all social conditions, who want to follow Jesus Christ more closely and work with Him for the building of the Kingdom. Members make up small groups, which are part of larger communities organized regionally and nationally, all forming ONE World Community. The CLC is present in all five continents, in almost sixty countries.
The charism and spirituality of CLC are Ignatian. Thus, the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius are both the specific source of our charism and the characteristic instrument of CLC spirituality. The CLC way of life is shaped by the features of Ignatian Christology: austere and simple, in solidarity with the poor and the outcasts of society, integrating contemplation and action, in all things living lives of love and service within the Church, always in a spirit of discernment.
In order to understand our identity more deeply, it is important to know about our development. Throughout the past four centuries, many generations have prepared the way for us in the Sodalities of Our Lady. Christian Life Community was not just a new name, given in 1967, but represented the rebirth, almost a new beginning. This new identity of CLC was expressed in the General Principles, approved in 1971 and revised in 1990. Besides the General Principles, CLC has prepared other documents concerning its charisms and mission.
The World Christian Life Community is governed by the General Assembly, which determines norms and policies, and by the Executive Council, which is responsible for their ordinary implementation.
Four Dynamics of the Law of Love of CLC
Evolve-ability-each individual personally
and the whole community corporately must recognize change as
a fact of life, and will then be open to understand that adaptability
and flexibility are essential characteristics of a Christian
Life Community…to reject this ideal is to become static and
useless and will lead to an early demise.Individuality-the Christian Life Community maintains
a harmonious balance between the individual and the community.
It holds in the highest esteem each one’s unique personal vocation
and at the same time maintains a principle of adaptability enabling
it to serve the many unique persons who compose it. This harmony
is essential to its peace.Disponibility-The Christian Life Community reads the
signs of the times; discerns in them a new call of the Spirit
and responds decisively and lovingly. “This law of love enables
us to be open to God and to men, always at the disposal of God
in true internal freedom” (GP 2).Responsibility-The Christian Life Community labors
unceasingly for solutions to the problems of the times; and
“it impels us to work generously with all people of good will
for peace and progress, charity and justice, liberty and dignity
for all men.” (GP 2).
From Marian Congregations to World Christian Life Community
A brief review of our history
1540. Society of Jesus is founded by Ignatius of Loyola.
1563. A Jesuit teacher by the name of Jean Leunis gathers a group of students of the Roman College for spiritual advancement — the Marian Congregation is born. This first group quickly becomes a model for other congregations throughout the world.
1578. The Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Claudio Aquaviva, approves the Common Rules for those who wishes to follow Congregation life.
1584. Pope Gregory XIII with the papal Bull Omnipotentis Dei entitles the first Congregation at the Roman College (the Primaria) to be the head of all the Congregations.
1587. Pope Sixtus V, following the request of the Society of Jesus, issues the Bull Superna Dispositione. This Bull states the right of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus to create aggregates of the first Congregation within other localities, even among persons who were not students of Jesuit schools.
It might be interesting for us today to remember that in this early time of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits and lay people who were members of the Congregations would frequently work as a team. The seventeenth century not only saw the highpoint of Congregation life but also the beginning of its decline in spirit.
1748. Pope Benedict XIV, with the Bull Praeclaris Romanorum, tries to renew the vigour of Congregation life. This Bull increases the advantages of membership by granting the members enlarged spiritual benefits and this perhaps has a reverse effect. At this time the Society of Jesus, a victim of political intrigues, is already struggling for its life.
1773. Pope Clement XIV signs a document to suppress the Jesuit Order. The Congregations, by the order of the same pope, become one of the normal works of the universal Church. In the eighteenth century membership increases vastly, from 2500 groups to 80.000. The consequence is a diminishment in fervour and practice. The spiritual life of the members and the social concern for the rejected of society is reduced to pious practices and annual and symbolic events. The Marian Congregations have become a pious mass movement, different from what Ignatius or Jean Leunis or Aquaviva had meant it to be.
1922. Fr Ledochowski, Superior General of the Society, convenes a meeting of Jesuits working with the Marian Congregations or Sodalities, as they are called in some countries. The central secretariat, a service centre, is founded. It is the first secretariat for Jesuit works. Today the SJ curia has eight similar offices for other works. This is the first step towards restoration.
1948. Pope Pius XII with his Apostolic Constitution Bis Saeculari, gives an important push towards renewal of the Marian Congregations. A Bis Saeculari was exactly what was needed: a clear, authoritative statement on the authentic identity of the Marian Congregations, a pressing call for reform, orientations towards the future and some declarations on lay apostolate in general. The impact of this document was enormous (Fr Paulussen, SJ in: A GOD WORKS LIKE THAT).
1950. Seventy one Jesuits from forty countries follow the call of the Superior General Fr Jansen and meet in Rome as a first answer to Bis Saeculari.
1951. The first world congress for the lay apostolate is held in Rome. Forty delegates from 16 countries take the opportunity to meet and discuss the idea of a world federation.
1952. Eucharistic Congress in Barcelona: the opportunity is used to meet and discuss the A World Federation further. The central secretariat in Rome is asked to prepare some Statutes.
1953. The World Federation of the Marian Congregations is approved by the same Pope.
1954. 1st assembly of the World Federation in Rome.
1959. 2nd assembly in Newark, USA.
1962. Opening of the Second Vatican Council.
1964. 3rd assembly of the World Federation in Bombay, India.
1967. 4th assembly and a new name and a new beginning: Christian Life Communities.
1968 On the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Paul VI confirms the General Principles of the World Federation of the Christian Life Communities.
1970. 5th assembly in Santo Domingo a crisis and a challenge (the General Principles are amended and approved in 1971 by the Holy See).
1973. 6th General Assembly in Augsburg/Germany: the call to be free, the liberation of all men and women.
1976. 7th General Assembly in Manila/Philippines: the call to be poor, poor with Christ for a better service.
1979. 8th General Assembly in Rome: call towards a World Community, at the service of One World.
1982. the General Assembly in Providence: the challenge to be one World Community on mission to bring about justice.
1986. 10th General Assembly in Loyola: seeing Mary as model of our mission, being asked to do “whatever Christ tells us”.
1990. 11th General Assembly in Guadalajara: an international community “at the service of the Kingdom, to go out and bear fruit”.
1994. 12th General Assembly in Hong Kong: CLC Community in Mission “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!”
1998. 13th General Assembly in Itaici (Brazil): Deepening our identity as an apostolic community – clarifying our common mission. “CLC, a letter from Christ, written by the Spirit, sent to today’s world.”
2003. 14th General Assembly in Nairobi (Kenya): Sent by Christ, members of one body.
The story of the Christian Life Community, formerly the Sodality of Our Lady, is a story of Mary’s invitation to obey Jesus-”Do whatever He tells you.” It tells of a four hundred-year old movement that attempted to live Mary’s advice to return to its source-Christ her Son. Thus, it has rediscovered its original vision, studied seriously the needs of the modern world, and then refashioned itself to serve this world.
Heroes, Heads of Countries, Magistrates, Statesmen and Diplomats
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1. María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino (born January 25, 1933), widely known as Cory Aquino;President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992; Asia’s first female President;wife of the popular opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr. When he was assassinated at then Manila International Airport on his return from exile on August 21, 1983, she became the focus of the opposition to the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos.
2. Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (1861-1896), Philippine National Hero. Patriot, physician and man of letters whose life and literary works were an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.
3. Ladislaus IV, (1595-1648), king of Poland. Founder of the Sodality of the Immaculate Concepcion at Warsaw. He led two crusades against the Ottomans.
4. Garcia Moreno (1821-1875) Ecuadorean patriot and statesman; assassinated at Quito, 6 August, 1875.
5. Philippe de Hauteclocque (1902-1947) – French general and hero during World War II who achieved fame as the liberator of Paris. He once became the prefect of the French Sodality.
6. Johann Tserclaes Tilly (1559-1632) – commander of the Catholic League in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War.
7. Jan III Sobieski (1674-1696)-king of Poland (1674-1696), who raised the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683.
8. Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) stopped the advance of the German forces during the great push of Spring at the Second Battle of Marne in July 1918, WWI mounting the counterattack that turned the tide of the war.
9. Hubert Lyautey (1894-1934) was commissary-general in Morocco during the early stages of the First World War.
10. Jose Moscardo Ituarte (1878-1936), a Spanish general, defender of the Alcazar of Toldeo in 1936.
11. Henry Abel Smith (1900-1993) Colonel in the British Army during World War II and a former Governor of Queensland. He was knighted by George VI.
12. Albert, Count Apponyi (1846-1933) Hungarian statesman. One of the most brilliant orators in Hungarian public life.
13. Gustave Xavier Lacroix de Ravignan (1795-1858) French Jesuit orator and author. Elected in 1817 as King’s Counsel in the Paris circuit and in 1821 deputy attorney general before joining the Society of Jesus. He laid the foundation of lofty but practical spirituality, master of self, generosity, and zeal.
14. Engelbert Dollfuss (1892 – 1934). Austrian statesman, serving as chancellor for two years from 1932 until his assassination in 1934.
15. Queen Fabiola of the Belgians (1872-) born Doña Fabiola Fernanda María de las Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón, was the Spanish-born Queen consort of king Baudouin I of the Belgians, until the king’s death in 1993. Before her marriage she published an album of 12 fairy tales (Los doce Cuentos maravillosos), one of which (“The Indian water lilies”) would get its own pavilion in the Efteling theme park in 1966. Admired for her devout Catholicism and involvement in social causes, particularly those related to mental health, children’s issues, and women’s issues in the Third World, Queen Fabiola is a recipient of the 2001 Ceres Medal, in recognition of her work to promote rural women in developing countries, from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Saints, Venerables, Martyrs and Missionaries of the Sodality
St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)
Carmelite
Patron Saint of Mission; Doctor of the Church.
Little Flower of Jesus
Brought up in an atmosphere of faith where every virtue and aspiration was carefully nurtured and developed, her vocation manifested itself when she was still a child. Educated by the Benedictines, when she was fifteen she applied for permission to enter the Carmelite Convent, and being refused by the superior, went to Rome with her father, as eager to give her to God as she was to give herself, to seek the consent of the Holy Father, Leo XIII, then celebrating his jubilee. He preferred to leave the decision in the hands of the superior, who finally consented and on 9 April, 1888, at the unusual age of fifteen, Thérèse Martin entered the convent of Lisieux where two of her sisters had preceded her.
She is a saint of “littleness,” simplicity, and abandonment in God’s service, of the perfect accomplishment of small duties.
St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)
Mystic
Famed visionary of Lourdes, baptized Mary Bernard.
Beatification: 1925
Canonization: 1933
Bernadette, a severe asthma sufferer, lived in abject poverty. On February 11, 1858, she was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. She was placed in considerable jeopardy when she reported the vision, and crowds gathered when she had further visits from the Virgin, from February 18 of that year through March 4.The civil authorities tried to frighten Bernadette into recanting her accounts, but she remained faithful to the vision. On February 25, a spring emerged from the cave and the waters were discovered to be of a miraculous nature, capable of healing the sick and lame. On March 25, Bernadette announced that the vision stated that she was the Immaculate Conception, and that a church should be erected on the site. Many authorities tried to shut down the spring and delay the construction of the chapel, but the influence and fame of the visions reached Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon Ill, and construction went forward. Crowds gathered, free of harassment from the anticlerical and antireligious officials. In 1866, Bernadette was sent to the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nevers. There she became a member of the community, and faced some rather harsh treatment from the mistress of novices. This oppression ended when it was discovered that she suffered from a painful, incurable illness. She died, still giving the same account of her visions. Lourdes became one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world, and the spring has produced 27,000 gallons of water each week since emerging during Bernadette’s visions. She was not involved in the building of the shrine, as she remained hidden at Nevers.
St. Camillus of Lellis (1550-1614)
Founder of Congregation of the Servants of the Sick (the Camilleans)
Son of a military officer who had served both for Naples and France. His mother died when he was very young. Spent his youth as a soldier, fighting for the Venetians against the Turks, and then for Naples. Reported as a large individual, perhaps as tall as 6’6″, and powerfully built, but suffered all his life from abscesses on his feet. A gambling addict, he lost so much he had to take a job working construction on a building belonging to the Capuchins; they converted him.
He entered the Capuchin noviate three times, but a nagging leg injury, received while fighting the Turks, each time forced him to give up. He went to Rome for medical treatment where Saint Philip Neri became his priest and confessor. He moved into San Giacomo Hospital for the incurable, and eventually became its administrator. Lacking education, he began to study with children when he was 32 years old. Priest. Founded the the Camellian order who, naturally, care for the sick both in hospital and home. The order expanded with houses in several countries. Camillus honored the sick as living images of Christ, and hoped that the service he gave them did penance for his wayward youth. Reported to have the gifts of miraculous healing and prophecy.
1. St. Stanislaus Kostka
2. St. Leonard of Port Maurice
3. St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen
4. St. Peter Fourier
5. St. John Baptist dei Rossi
6. St. Charles Borromeo
7. St. Camillus de Lellis
8. St Peter Claver
9. St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
10. St. Margaret Mary
11. St. Julie Billart
12. St. Therese of the Child Jesus-Doctor of the Church
13. Blessed James Sales-Martyr of France against Calvinism
14. St. Francis de Sales-Doctor of the Church
15. St. Alphonsus Liguori- Doctor of the Church
16. St. Peter Canisius- Doctor of the Church
17. St. John Eudes
18. St. Edmund Campion-Martyr of the Reformation in England
19. St. John Ogilve
20. St. Stephen Brinkley
21. Matthew Ricci
22. St. Joseph Pignatelli
23. St. Conrad of parzham-Capuchin
24. St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful mother-Passionist
25. St. Andrew Bobola-Martyr of Lithuania
26. St. Josaphat Kunciewicz-Martyr of Poland
27. St. James Sarcander-Martyr of Moravia
28. St.Philip of Jesus, Franciscan-Martyr of Japan
29. St. Roch Gonzales-Martyr of the Argentine country
30. St. Theophane Venard-Martyr of Tonkin
31. Blessed Crisin, Pongracz and Grodecz– Martyr of schism in Hungary
32. Bl. Julian Maunoir
33. St. Benedict Joseph Labre
34. St. Francis Jerome
35. St. Robert Bellarmine-Doctor of the Church
36. St. Gregory Barbadigo
37. St. John Francis Regis
38. St. Aloysius Gonzaga
39. St Francis Solano
40. St. Joseph Calasanctius
41. St. Peter Claver
42. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ
43. St. John Berchmans SJ
44. St. Anthony Ma. Claret
45. St. Bartholomea Capitaneo
46. St. Bemadette Soubirous
47. St. Bernardino Realino
48. St. Charles Sezze
49. St. Dominic Savio
50. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
51. St. John de Britto
52. St. Joseph Cafasso
53. St. Louis Grignon de Montfort
54. St. Mary Ann Paredes
55. St. Peter Louis Chanel
56. St. Gaspar del Bufalo
57. St. Gregory Barbarigo
58. St. Anthony Daniel
59. St. Isaac Jogues
60. St. John de Laland
61. St. John De Brebeuf
62. St. Gabriel Lalemant
63. St. Charles Garnier
64. St Noel Chabanel
65. St. Rene Goupil
66. St. Vincenza Gerosa
67. St. John Baptist de la Salle
68. St. Vincent de Paul
69. St. Vincent Palloti
70. St. Vincent Strambi
71. Vénérable Matt Talbot
72. Venerable Tarin, Francis