The Union of the Catholic Apostolate is a direct expression of the spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti, it is expression of his religious vision.

In January 1835, Pallotti was celebrating the Octave of the Epiphany which was a very special time for him, a time of immersion in the mystery of the incarnation and of God’s saving plan for the world and the revelation of that plan to all peoples. On January 9th he had one of those mystical experiences that changes the life of a person. It occurred after the celebration of Mass. Pallotti recorded the experience, it is found in volume 10 of the OOCC, pages 196-201.

He begins by stating his unworthiness, his lack of cooperation with God’s grace; “My God, after innumerable and inconceivable manifestations of mercy which you have shown me up to the present day (Friday 9th January 1835, after Holy Mass, celebrated through a particular act of your Divine Mercy). You see my ingratitude, my negligence in profiting from your graces, you see my sins, lack of holiness, you observe me every day and know how I am, I am guilty of all prevarications possible, I am capable of all sins possible… you Lord, will make my unworthiness known and evident, and also your grace more evident…”

Pallotti prayed for more expressions of God’s mercy, asking: 1. To be humbled more. 2. That God in his mercy, through suffering, torments, even martyrdom, would give him all that was necessary to destroy every sin and every evil, and thus promote every good possible in the world, now and always.

Then he moved on to an offering of himself to God to be used by Him as an instrument to combat evil and to promote every possible good in the world, and then he writes: “My God, my mercy, you in your infinite mercy grant me in a special way to promote, establish, propagate or spread, perfect and perpetuate with a desire no less than the most living desire within your Sacred Heart”. He wanted:

1. a pious institution of a universal apostolate among all Catholics in order to promote faith in, and devotion to, Jesus Christ among all non-believers and non-Catholics.

2. another hidden apostolate in order to revive, conserve and increase faith among Catholics.

3. an institution of universal charity for the exercise of all corporal and spiritual works of mercy so that, as far as possible, you may be known to people because you are infinite love.

St. Vincent finishes by again confessing his regret that this had not happened before, it was due to his lack of correspondence with God’s grace, he says that he knows God would have given him the graces to do this if had asked and if he had disposed himself for such graces. Pallotti still proclaims his lack of complete disposition and his lack of worthiness for this grace, and now he sees the fact that it is going to happen as a triumph of God’s grace over his sin, or of God’s Mercy over his unworthiness and lack of disposition.

The experience Pallotti had was a mystical one, a strong experience of God’s love and mercy. Prior to this experience Vincent had already formed a group of those who shared something of his vision, this group of friends who later take part in the implementation of the vision that he had.

Pallotti had a vision, a spirituality, it was a vision that was clarified in time. It was given a firm direction and strengthened by a strong spiritual experience of God on January 9th 1835; there are always elements of revelation in such a vision or experience. It is God communicating with the person. For Pallotti it was a communication of mercy, or compassion in the vision, God revealed himself, once more, as mercy, compassion, as a God who has a plan, a mission, a task, and has expectations of Vincent and by extension, of others.

The apostolate for Pallotti is based on zeal, on charity, on compassion for the spiritual well being of others - it not merely a personal way to God, not just personal spiritual story, it is a compassionate expression of the desire of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to ensure the spiritual health, well being, fulfilment of persons, concrete persons.

This points us to the heart of the Union:

The heart of the Union is a sharing of faith, of life, of experience in every sense, with others. This sharing leads to discernment. Pallotti engaged in spiritual discernment, he sifted, tested, examined the experience he had of God, but only with the clear objective of knowing that which is coming from the activity of God in order to accept it, embrace it and live it out in life.

Four main objectives in Pallotti’s Foundational Vision

1. The immediate objective or goal, to involve the members of the Union in the solid formation of clergy, both diocesan and  religious. He was convinced of the need for a well formed, well informed and spiritually motivated clergy.

2. He had a clear pastoral objective: to revive faith, to promote devotion to Jesus Christ, to encourage this devotion, to lead people to know Christ and the full implications of his salvific life, death and resurrection. The pastoral objective was also to rekindle charity, to renew the apostolic spirit of the people of God.

3. He had a missionary objective: to spread faith and love of God in all the world.

4. He had an eschatological objective: to work and to pray that there would be one fold and one shepherd - to fulfil the desire of the heart of Jesus.

All are called to Holiness; all are called to be apostles!

This was the conviction of St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850), a conviction strongly confirmed by the Second Vatican Council, a conviction promoted from the time of St. Vincent by the Pallottine Family, which continues to promote it in a special way in our day.

Every member of the People of God is called to play their part in the mission and apostolate of the Church – and the Church will reach its full potential only when all are brought to a profound and living awareness of their call and obligation to collaborate in her life and mission. Not only this, but for individual efforts to have a greater chance of making a lasting difference they need to be organised, to be integrated and directed towards a common goal. For this reason, Vincent Pallotti, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, established the Union of Catholic Apostolate, open to all members of the People of God, clerical and lay, young and old, married and single, male and female.

The Pallottine vision is one of lay people, members of consecrated life and clergy all working together, collaborating as equals in carrying out the mission of the Church. The Union aims to revive faith and rekindle charity in the Church and carry these out into the wider world by all possible means. Members of the Union are offered formation in the spiritual and apostolic life in order to build together a family of mutual love and respect and encouragement rooted in the life and love of God, in which each person is helped to discover and welcome the fullness of their own vocation and their own gifts, while at the same time discovering and rejoicing in the complementary vocations and gifts of others. They are encouraged to come together to pray, reflect and receive ongoing formation, with the aim of renewing apostolates which are already being undertaken, and also to reflect particularly about spiritual and temporal needs not presently being met in the Church and the world, and to commit themselves and their talents to addressing these needs to the best of their abilities in a united, committed, organised and discerning way.

FOR MORE INFORMATION/FORMATION/RETREATS ON THE UNION OF CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE:

CONTACT:

Fr. Derry Murphy S.C.A. President of the Union of Catholic Apostolate - Rome. Padri Pallottini, Piazza, S. Vincenzo Pallotti, 204 00186 Roma, Italy. Tel: + 39 (06) 6819469. www.pallotti-sac.org
Ireland Fr. Liam McClarey SCA National President of the Union in Ireland St. Patrick’s, Corduff, Dublin 15. Tel: 01- 8213596
Fr. Rory Hanley SCA Formation of the Union St. Benin’s, Dublin Rd, Shankill, Co. Dublin. Tel: 01- 2824425