Recently an old friend of mine has graciously adorned my private library with an interesting book he himself wrote on the Servant of God and Founder of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul, which Society he is proud to be part of, namely, Mgr Joseph De Piro. In his book A Journey of Love/Love Generates Love/ A Fertile Celibate Love, Fr Tony Sciberras MSSP represents De Piro as a true man in the dual aspects of his humanly and spiritual existence, that is, in his capacity of receiving and giving love abundantly in return! This universal vocation, inherent in every human being, Mgr De Piro lived with utmost generosity within the context of his flourishing celibate life.
The crucial importance of mothers in the life of their children is undisputed. Mgr De Piro is a case in point. His mother, Ursola De Piro, had a considerable influence in the life of Joseph. Since his early days as a seminarian there has been a deep relationship between them. After the abrupt death of her husband Alessandro, Ursola confided a lot in Joseph. With him she felt comfortable to share her joys and sorrows. This love practically prevailed throughout Joseph’s life be it in his directorship of the ecclesiastical charitable institutes or in regard to the Society he founded on 30 June 1910. In other words, what Mamma Margherita was to Saint John Bosco, Ursola was to Joseph. Furthermore, the Servant of God received much love from the divine source, particularly from the contemplation of the suffering Jesus’ face.
The latter left an indelible imprint on Mgr De Piro’s mind and heart since his early youth. Joseph expressed his undivided love for the suffering Christ by drawing his afflicted face. This drawing was an image of the Ecce Homo drawn by the famous artist Guido Reni (c. 1639-1640). By choosing Reni’s work to manifest his innermost love for the suffering Jesus, Mgr De Piro could meet himself and his own life story in it. In fact, Fr Sciberras explains that “Joseph De Piro adopted the suffering of Jesus as his model. He himself lived continuously like the suffering Lord. He was uninterruptedly a living contradiction – he was weak in the physique but very strong of character; he was very fragile but did great things.”
In the face of contradiction God acts powerfully! In his Second letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul thrice lamented to the Lord that the thorn given to him in his flesh be removed (see 2 Cor 12, 7). However the Lord’s answer was: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12, 9). De Piro’s personal sufferings transformed him from a receiver to a giver of love. This he did by lovingly responding to the needs of the destitute of his time.
Fully confident that the power of Christ rested upon him to love (see 2 Cor 12, 9), De Piro established a Society to perpetuate his ardent desire to love “to the end” (John 13, 1), specifically by making it known everywhere. In 1927 Almanac he wrote: “If the work to defend and maintain faith where it is already planted and in blossom is divine, it is no less sublime and no less dear in front of God and profitable and salutary for your neighbour the engagement undertaken to scatter and to erect where it is not yet present”.
Those interested in obtaining a copy of the book can do so by writing to the following address: The Vice Postulator, St Agatha’s, Rabat Malta. RBT 2020.
■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann