Fr General CSsR Christmas Greetings 2025...

Fr General CSsR and St Gerard Majella 2025

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Fr General CSsR sends Easter Greetings...

Missionaries of Hope in the Footsteps of the Redeemer

YEAR DEDICATED TO MISSION

The Lord who sends us as Missionaries and Pilgrims of Hope in a wounded world

Lk 4:16-19, Mk 6:7-12, Lk 9:2-6, Ps 130:7 Const. 1-20, St. 01-020

DEAR CONFRERES, FORMANDI AND LAY PARTNERS IN OUR MISSION,

1. We celebrate the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection, which is presented as our true hope. The apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that ‘hope does not deceive’ (Rom 5:5). This is the firm foundation on which our faith rests: the hope that, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, we are called to a new life, to victory over death and to the transformation of our being.
2. Jesus, our Hope, continues to walk among us with his wounded but glorified body, showing us, that hope is not extinguished, even in the midst of difficulties, pain and suffering. He reveals to us that true hope – that which is born of the cross – is capable of illuminating the darkest paths, of giving strength in adversity and of always pushing us forward. Certainly, this requires of us a great leap of faith.
3. We are celebrating the great Jubilee of Hope. Hope is not an illusion or a mere wish; it is a virtue which, even when wounded, persists, remains steadfast in its purpose and urges us onward, so that we can contemplate the horizon that opens before us. Like the Risen Christ, who precedes us on the road to eternal life, we are called to live a hope that transforms, that gives meaning to our lives and that encourages us never to give up. As Redemptorist missionaries, we are called – in the light of hope – to develop the resilience necessary to face this complex world and its difficulties: strong in faith, joyful in hope and fervent in charity, with a deep apostolic zeal (cf. Const. 20).
4. As Redemptorist Family, we are Missionaries and Pilgrims of this hope. We are called to announce to the world the good news of the Resurrection, to proclaim by our lives and by our witness – even with our wounded bodies – the power of a hope that never fails, never gives up and is renewed with every dawn. “Absolute hope allows us to act anew in the heart of the deepest despair. It is filled with an unshakable faith that there is meaning. It is precisely faith in the wisdom of having a direction and a stance in the face of negativity”, the Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han reminds us (Contro la società dell’angoscia: speranza e rivoluzione, (Against the Society of Anguish: Hope and Revolution), Einaudi: Torino, 2025, p. 50). As witnesses of the Redeemer, the light of the world, we follow his mission of giving meaning and orientation, helping people to discover the light of redemption that never goes out (cf. Communicanda 1/2024).
5. In this Easter season, let us renew our trust in the promise of Christ the Redeemer: ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Mt 28:20). May we, as his followers, always be Messengers of Hope to the world, bearing in our hearts the light that overcame darkness and the love that conquered death.
6. Happy and blessed Easter to you all! May the Hope of the Risen Christ guide and strengthen us in our mission, together with Mary and our Saints, Blesseds and Martyrs.

In Christ the Redeemer, our Infinite Hope,

Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R
Superior General

Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa OSsR & Fr General CSsR...

Today, the 11th September, is the Feast of the

Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa

the Foundress of our Nuns, the OSsR "Red Nuns".

We pray in thanksgiving for the Vocation

given to our dear Sisters throughout the world.

Fr General CSsR has written a letter to the whole Redemptorist Family OSsR & CSsR - find below...

^{Prot. N.: 0000   167/2024}

^{_{Rome, September 11, 2024}}

^{_{Memorial of Blessed Celeste Crostarosa}}

"Missionaries of hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer"

Year dedicated to Mission Formation

The Lord instructs us to revive the gift of God dwelling in us

Const. 77-90, EG; 050-085; Mt 10:5-15, Lk 9:1-6, 2 Tim 1:6

Dear Brothers, Formandi, Lay Associates of our Redemptorist mission and family, and on this special occasion, all Nuns of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer,

1. Julia Marcella Santa Crostarosa was born in Naples on October 31, 1696. She entered the Teresian monastery S. Maria dei Sette Dolori in Marigliano in the spring of 1718 and professed as a Carmelite on September 21, 1719. In October 1723, the monastery was closed, and she entered the Visitation convent of the Most Holy Conception in Scala, Salerno, in January 1724. After a few days, she began her novitiate, taking the name Sister Maria Celeste of the Holy Desert; she then renewed her vows as a Visitandine on December 28, 1726. While still a novice, on April 25, 1725, after the celebration of the Eucharist, she began to have the intuition to found a new Institute. Encouraged by her confessor and novice mistress, she wrote the rule, the centerpiece of which is the community as a living memory of the love of the Redeemer. In 1730, she met St. Alphonsus and, thanks to his help, on May 13, 1731, the Order of the Most Holy Savior was born, whose Rules were approved by Pope Benedict XIV on June 8, 1750, changing its name to the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer. On September 14, 1755, she died in Foggia, recognized by the people as the Holy Prioress. 

2. Celeste's story is complex, and her life was not easy. Particularly hard were the moments of tension with Monsignor Falcoia over her defense of the original intuition in defining the community's rules. She was forced to leave Scala. However, the friendship and fraternal communion with St. Alphonsus and the other Redemptorists, beginning with St. Gerard, remained unaltered. With deep faith in God and perseverance, she succeeded, in Foggia, in implementing the original project. Her hagiography, on the website of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, reads, "The Servant of God, from her youth, strongly experienced the call to holiness and mystical marriage with Christ, the demanding spouse, and always went in search of radicality in religious consecration, of which she proposed a reform, conceiving the life of the Nuns as a perfect imitation of the life of Christ and the religious community a living memorial of his redeeming love for all. The Eucharist, the torn heart of the Savior, and devotion to the Virgin Mary formed the permanent center of her spirituality. Immersed in prayer and contemplation of the mystery of Jesus the Redeemer, Sister Mary Celeste faced with steadfastness not only the daily spiritual struggle to strive for perfection but also a series of obstacles and misunderstandings that she encountered on her life journey."

Read more: Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa OSsR & Fr General CSsR...

Fr General's Message for Pentecost..

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EASTER GREETINGS FROM FR GENERAL CSSR...

Dear Confreres, Formandi, Lay Associates in our mission, and the whole Redemptorist Family. As General Government, we wish you all a happy Easter!

With Easter, we want to celebrate our inner renewal. The Resurrection of the Lord invites each of us to be born again and to sing a new song of hope. What new song can we sing in the face of such a challenging world, with so many social inequalities? Despite the dark horizon, the Resurrection is the light that guides us, because Christ has conquered death. We are men and women of hope! We cannot keep the doors closed out of fear. We will recognize Jesus by his greeting of peace and the traces of his passion. And when we receive his Holy Spirit, we will come out of the prison of fear and doubt to proclaim him (cf. Jn 20:19-29).

In the strength of the Risen Christ, we join in prayer with our confreres and the people of West Africa, the Middle East, Mozambique, South Africa, Ukraine, Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and other places where there are wars, terrorist attacks, conflicts and violence. In spite of this suffering and pain, we are

“Missionaries of Hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer”. 

This hope, which flows from their humanity and kenosis, sustains each confrere in these places and helps them to encourage the people who are also suffering.

May the Risen Christ, Redeemer of the world, transform the hearts of human beings in order to build a peaceful society.

HAPPY EASTER OF THE RESURRECTION TO ALL OF YOU!

Fr. Rogerio Gomes, CSsR
Superior General

CSsR 291st Birthday/Anniversary...

Blessed Kaspar Stanggassinger CSsR...

Dear Confreres, Formandi, Lay Associates of our Mission, Oblates, and Redemptorist Family!

Greetings to all!

We are celebrating the feast of Blessed Gaspar Stangassinger… Gaspar entered the Congregation with the intention of preaching the Gospel to the most abandoned. Instead, his superiors assigned him to train future missionaries.

Besides teaching, he always gave pastoral assistance in the churches of the neighboring villages, especially by preaching. Although very busy, he was always available, especially to the students, who saw him more as a friend than as a superior.

In his preaching, he invited everyone to have recourse to the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist in times of need and distress.

On 26 September 1899, at the age of 28, he made his Passover to the Lord, due to illness. On this day I would like to remember and thank all Formators of the Congregation. Forming people and Redemptorist missionaries is a hard and beautiful task, an important mission that the Congregation asks of each one of you. Courage in this mission!

Personal formation, Redemptorist spirituality with its solid foundations, dialogue, listening, and discernment are important for this. Discernment is a very important word, both in formation and in our missionary and pastoral work.

On this day of Blessed Gaspar, I exhort each confrere in his different missionary works and the formandi to intensify their ongoing formation.

Ongoing formation is for life.

Read more: Blessed Kaspar Stanggassinger CSsR...2023

Letter to the Formandi from Fr General CSsR...

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Pentecost 2023 and Fr General CSsR...

Fr General CSsR, Fr Rogério Gomes,

sends greetings to all the members of the Redemptorist Family around the world.

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