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6/1/10/1
LETTER OF CONVOCATION
OF THE
TENTH PROVINCIAL CHAPTER
OF
SAINT PATRICK'S PROVINCE.
1956.

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JESU CHRISTI PASSIO
FERGUS OF THE MOST SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY
PROVINCIAL
OF
THE PROVINCE OF SAINT PATRICK
To the Capitular Fathers and to all the religious
Health and Peace in the Lord.
*****
Having consulted with Most Reverend Father General concerning an appropriate date for the commencement of our 10th Provincial Chapter, we are now in a position to issue the Letter of Convocation as prescribed in Chapter XXX of our Holy Rule.
The first meeting of the Chapter will take place on the morning of Wednesday, 16th May, and the customary Triduum will begin on the evening of the same. The Capitular Fathers, accordingly, are required to be at St. Paul's Retreat, Mount Argus, on the evening of Tuesday, 15th May.
As the time of the Chapter was decided upon without study of occurring feast-days, it is by a happy coincidence that the elections of Superiors are due to take place, and the important decisions of the Chapter are to be made, at the Pentecostal week-end. Such an arrangement may be seen as accidental only from a human or worldly view-point. It is not accident, but rather design, in the mind of God. For such a signal blessing we are grateful to the Holy Spirit, and the Capitular Fathers may with greater confidence pray: "Precede, O Lord, our actions by Thy Holy inspirations, and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance that all our deeds may begin from Thee and through Thee be happily ended." It should be the fervent prayer of every religious that no unworthy motive may enter in at such a time to mar the guidance of God. With selfish consideration cast aside, and seeking only the true welfare of our Province, we (should beseech.....)

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should be seen Almighty God to give us suitable Superiors rather than such-and-such a Father by name. May the Irovince with one accord and with purity of intention co-operate in God's designs, thus ensuring that the acts of this 10th Irovincial Chapter be a faithful expression of God's Holy Will in our regard.
It may also seem to some a happy disposition of Irovince that a Irovincial Chapter should take place in the centennial anniversary year of the foundation of Mount Argus. 1956 marks the end of a century and of an epoch; it also marks the commencement of the century to come.
We might delay with honest pride to review the lives and labours of our valiant predecessors, reflecting on the foundations established in what is now St. Patrick's Irovince; the foundations beyond the seas; the eminent holiness of so many priests and brothers apart from the shining example of Father Charles; the spirit of homely charity and the missionary zeal which have won for us a respected name among the discerning faithful. All this and much more of so commendable a nature might pass beneath our scrutiny. But our gaze must be directed to the present and the future even more than to the past and we must see ourselves as the existing foundation on which the Irovince of to-morrow will be built. The challenge to the Capitular Fathers and to the present generation of religious to make firm this foundation is clear. Shall we prove ourselves men of faith, of vision, and of courage such as were the religious of 1856? Have we profitted by the experience gained in the years that have passed, to such an extent that we now know precisely how the principles of Passionist life and spirit apply to us in this Irovince?
The century now gone has rightly witnessed the legitimate abolition, or modification, of various continental practices neither essential nor suited to our ways. Have we reached the stage where our customs are our own, or are we yet studying and exploring what Irish and Scottish Passionist life should be? Do we live in spirit in the present or the past, at home or beyond the seas? Are we endeavouring to halt, or even delay, the turning wheels of time?
These are but a few of the questions which conscientious religious ask themselves, and which ought not lightly to be spurned or left unanswered. In a special manner, it is the right and duty of a Irovincial Chapter to concern itself with them since such a body is eminently suited to understand our conditions and to express our views. It is true that in the quickly changing kaleidoscope of life our fitting reaction to new patterns (and new problems.....

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and problems may not always be immediately evident, but life as we find it must be courageously faced and solutions to occurring problems must be found if we are not to stumble confusedly ahead.
In our striving towards what is right and what is true may the Holy Spirit of Jesus Crucified be our Guide. May the manifold gifts and blessings of Pentecost be upon our Chapter and our Province.
Only earnest and sustained prayer can justify our hope of divine assistance. For this reason we prescribe that at the beginning of evening meditation from Wednesday 7th March, a Pater, Ave and Gloria with the respective antiphon, versicle and prayer, be recited in honour of our Holy Patrons: St. Michael; St. Joseph; St. Patrick; St. Paul of the Cross; St. Gabriel. From Wednesday, 2nd May, the above prayers shall be preceded by the Veni Creator and the Litany of Our Lady with the respective versicle and prayer. During the Tridum the clerics and brothers are exhorted to pray, especially when they receive Holy Communion, for the success of the Chapter.
Following the statement made in Par. 26 of our Book of Customs and relying on the correctness of the same, we hereby nominate the existing Vicars, and the assistant Superior of the Alumniate, to be Superiors ad interim after the departure of the Capitular Fathers for the Chapter.
Religious who wish to propose matters for discussion in the Chapter should send their propositions in writing to the Provincial not later than 18th April.
We remind the Capitular Fathers, in so far as it applies, to bring with them their "Litterae Patentes" and seals of office together with the following documents: -
1) Certificates of the exact keeping of the archives signed by the Rector or Superior and Vicar.2) Certificates of the faithful celebration of Masses signed by all the priests except the Rector or Superior.3) Inventory of the Retreat, Church, Sacristy, Furniture etc.4) A correct financial statement of the Retreat showing the income and expenditure since the last Provincial Chapter, noting any extraordinary income and expenditure, signed by the Rector or Superior and Vicar.5) A correct statement of the debts of the Retreat:- monies borrowed without interest; all outstanding debts and those

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current to date including rent, rates, taxes etc.; and finally, the amount of Balance in Hand or in Bank, signed by the Rector or Superior and Vicar.
6) 4 record of the Chapters and Examens held in Choir since the last Provincial Chapter.
We beg Our Divine Lord through the intercession of His Sorrowful Mother to enrich all the religious of our Province with an abundant measure of the graces which he has merited for us by His Sacred Passion and Death.
Given at St. Paul's Retreat, Mount Argus, 17th day of February, 1956.
Lengues of the S. Hearts of January May.
Provincial.
(To be read in the choir or refectory, all the religious being present.)