Blessed Don Michael RUA

50th Anniversary of Beatification of Fr. Michel Rua, SDB

(ANS - Rome) - On 29 October 1972, Paul VI, now a saint, with his apostolic authority inscribed the Venerable Servant of God Michele Rua in the register of the blessed. When the Pope read the formula of beatification, the gaunt and slender figure of Fr. Rua appeared in the glory of the Bernini inside St. Peter's Basilica, and a long, thunderous, irrepressible applause burst forth from the thirty thousand faithful huddled in the basilica. The cameras switched from the figure of Fr. Rua to the imposing figure of Don Bosco, placed in the niches of the founders of orders, on the vertical of the famous bronze statue of St. Peter. Don Bosco was also present at the exaltation of his "Michelino," who, dividing all they had by two, did and shared precisely everything together, even sanctity. Just as the prophet Elijah bequeathed his spirit and mantle to Elisha, Don Bosco passed on his spirit and charismatic legacy to Fr. Rua, as Paul VI's masterful homily well illustrated. 

Fr. Luigi Ricceri, Rector Major at the time of the beatification, spoke of Fr. Rua as the one who had looked up to Don Bosco: "Don Rua was the second father of the Salesian Congregation: where is the root of his paternity? The photo that the Barcelona confreres, with an ingenious idea, have taken from a detail of an old daguerreotype is the living and palpitating answer to this question. Look closely at that face, that smile, that eminent sense of confidence, of trust. Look at that sense of filial, tender affection. Don Rua owes so much of who he was to this fact: he looked always, and with that face, to Don Bosco. Don Rua, if he lived in God, lived no less in and of Don Bosco. Just read his circulars, his speeches. He talks about Don Bosco, refers to Don Bosco, leans on Don Bosco, recalls the example of Don Bosco. Always Don Bosco. He is like grafted, kneaded, one with Don Bosco. It is impossible to imagine the figure of Don Rua without that of Don Bosco."

Fr. Francis Desramaut, a distinguished Salesian historian, highlighted how Paul VI, by beatifying Fr. Rua, exalted his virtues and brought them to the attention of the Christian people. In particular, one portrays him in a unique way: humility. "Don Rua was a humble man. The humility of the poor and the little ones comes to us directly from the Gospel. It enables you to take the last place on the day you would feel like choosing the first. His model is the unassuming child. Fr. Rua never put himself first, in the foreground, not even when it would have been easy for him to do so. Just think: the head of a worldwide Congregation, another Don Bosco, a 'holy' priest... The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes the humble germinate in the Church. Many remain buried in the hiddenness from which they have never wanted to come out. It is good that some among them are exalted by the God of the Magnificat. They constitute a call to salvation for the living: pride withers the earth; humility makes it flourish again."

Among those present that October 29 was Rector Major Emeritus Fr. Renato Ziggiotti, who testified, "I remember Fr. Rua well. I had only been a Salesian for three months. He was already very ill, and I asked to watch over him one night. The nurse had to come for a painful medication. Finally, seeing him awake, I asked him, 'Did you suffer, Don Rua?' He answered, 'A little.' And I, with the fervor of a newly-professed, 'The Lord also suffered on the cross.' Don Rua looked at me, smiled, and said, 'Bravo, Ziggiotti!' I laugh to think of that 'nonchalance' of mine: giving good advice to a dying saint! But I hope that even when I get to heaven, Don Rua will say to me, 'Bravo, Ziggiotti!'"

And there was also Fr. Jose Vandor, now Venerable, a senior Salesian, a missionary for 35 years in Cuba and originally from Hungary, who carries the suffering for a tried and persecuted Christian community in his heart.

Also present were Benedetta Vaccarino and Fr. Andrea Pagliari, the two recipients of the miracles that brought Fr. Rua to the altars. The former suddenly healed from Jacksonian epilepsy after being taken to Don Rua's tomb in the crypt of Mary Help of Christians; the latter, a Salesian priest, suddenly healed again through Don Rua's intercession from pleural effusion.

At the Angelus following the Mass, Pope Paul VI again recalled Fr. Rua and left a message that is still relevant today: "We have in our souls the great joy of the beatification of Don Michele Rua, and we cannot imagine the glory of these citizens of Heaven without thinking of them again in the midst of our youth, also filled with joy at having found in such wise and good men their best friends, their teachers of life. Let us all enjoy them, thanking the Lord and redoubling our love for our boys and girls, our young people, our children of school and work."

Fr Pierluigi Cameroni

Postulator General of the Causes of the Saints of the Salesian Family