THE CHARISM OF HOLY CROSS
Basile Moreau was a man open to the world of his time, namely 19th -century France. He knew the effects of the revolutionary change and social upheaval of his century. He also experienced the often violent hostility towards religion and the Church, the growth of secularism, and widespread dechristianization. He wanted to be present to a society in search of itself. He felt called to work for the restoration of the Christian faith and through it for a regeneration of society. He was ready to undertake anything for the salvation of individuals, to lead them or bring them back to Jesus Christ. He participated in the work of Catholic renewal by his bold response to the wide range of needs both in the Church and in society. He asked his religious to “be ready to undertake anything … to suffer everything and to go wherever obedience calls in order to save souls and extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth” (Rule on Zeal). He even went so far as to say that if a postulant or a novice did not have that inner zeal to work for the salvation of souls, he was not fit for Holy Cross. However, Father Moreau did not want to confine himself merely to post-revolutionary French society; he also wanted to devote himself to announcing the Gospel in other cultures.
His zeal knew no borders. The charism of Holy Cross is to renew the Christian faith, to regenerate society, to “bring about better times” by a constant response to the most pressing needs of the Church and society. The principal work that Basile Moreau advocated was education; he saw education as being explicitly a work of “resurrection,” of rebuilding. In everything he undertook, he did not just want to re-establish it; he wanted to renew it, to refashion it, to reconstruct it. He had no fear of a brand new undertaking. This charism, this mobilizing and efficacious strength of conviction, he drew from the perception of Jesus the savior, Jesus the liberator, and from the Gospel which leads humanity to fulfillment. “Once Jesus is known and loved in the world, everything will be renewed; the light of the Gospel will dissipate the darkness of the century; its morality will control customs and justice will reign” (Sermons, p. 455).
A professor of Holy Scripture, Father Moreau arrived at a just and essential vision of the Gospel: the Good News of the Kingdom of God, the building up of the kingdom that is already coming, the rebuilding of a world according to God’s heart. The Congregation’s charism is rooted in spirituality; it is expressed in mission and inspires community life. It is therefore made up of three elements: spirituality, notably a particular grasp of the mystery of Jesus Christ; mission, that is, its apostolic focus; and community life, in this case a unique style of community. The 2 spiritual and the apostolic direction received from the Founder is communicated to the members and influences the continuity and development of their works.
