Do the Passionists do much evangelism?

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Forgive me for my ignorance on this. I went to a couple of their main websites and couldn’t find anything much about this, though I did read about a lot of other good works, like helping the poor and needy.

I know the Passionists are focused strongly on Christ Crucified and their founder, St. Paul of the Cross, converted many souls to the Catholic faith before he died. Do the Passionists still practice that preaching and evangelizing, or have they come to focus more specifically on the physical needs of the poor without trying to draw new members into the Catholic Church?
 
I know that at least in Pittsburgh they are constantly running weekend-long retreats for both men and women and around Lent and Advent they will usually have one day retreats and prayer services. They also offer mass several times a day in their monastery church and they make the sacrament of penance readily available at least daily, if not a few times a day. The Passionists here also help local parishes by filling in occasionally for sick or vacationing priests and for Holy Days. I also know several of them will still go on preaching missions to preach at parishes over a few days, some of the older members told of times they’d hop around from one part of the state to another part for weeks on end doing their mission trips. A number of their websites still seem to indicate that they run retreat houses around the country, but it seems to me that the Passionists are mostly concentrated in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

ChadS
 
Lief_Erikson said:
Forgive me for my ignorance on this. I went to a couple of their main websites and couldn’t find anything much about this, though I did read about a lot of other good works, like helping the poor and needy.

I know the Passionists are focused strongly on Christ Crucified and their founder, St. Paul of the Cross, converted many souls to the Catholic faith before he died. Do the Passionists still practice that preaching and evangelizing, or have they come to focus more specifically on the physical needs of the poor without trying to draw new members into the Catholic Church?
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I have to agree with ChadS’s post.

While they are very focused on preaching Christ Crucifed and the importance of penance, they are still, as they always were, big on preaching and evangelism. The monastery I attend has many retreats year round for all different types of goups, including even protestants (Methodits to be exact), which could be for evangelism, along with single days and evening’s of prayer and devotions, which I attend often. I am also a member of the Confraternity of the Passion, which is a very devout group of Catholics dedicated to keeping the memory of Christs Passion in our hearts.

All of that said, they are also missionaries and have many priests located in impoverished countries.

So as you can see, the Passionist congregation embraces both the contemplative and the active life. The idea of the founder was to unite in it the solitary life of the Carthusians or Trappists with the active life of the Jesuits or Lazarists.🙂
 
thepassionists said:
For an opprotunity to have conversations with members of the Passionists order all over the world please visit: passionists.ning.com/
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I have seen this site and have thought about joining.

Is this site only for priests, brothers and nuns of the congregation, or can layman join to? I am just a layman, and my main officiation with them is being a member of the Confraternity of the Passion.
 
jimcav, what topics is he discussing? I probably couldn’t make it because my sister almost always is using the car we share, but I am interested.
 
ChadS said:
I know that at least in Pittsburgh they are constantly running weekend-long retreats for both men and women and around Lent and Advent they will usually have one day retreats and prayer services.
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That’s wonderful.
ChadS said:
They also offer mass several times a day in their monastery church and they make the sacrament of penance readily available at least daily, if not a few times a day.
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I love that :). I wish Penance was available more often at my local parishes, but I’m grateful it’s available on Saturdays.
ChadS said:
The Passionists here also help local parishes by filling in occasionally for sick or vacationing priests and for Holy Days. I also know several of them will still go on preaching missions to preach at parishes over a few days, some of the older members told of times they’d hop around from one part of the state to another part for weeks on end doing their mission trips. A number of their websites still seem to indicate that they run retreat houses around the country, but it seems to me that the Passionists are mostly concentrated in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

ChadS
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I’m seriously interested in the religious vocation and I’m seeking a spiritual home. I’m looking at a number of options and I’ve got at least a year to go through more :(. But two of my very strongest passions are evangelism and ecumenism. I was deeply attracted to the founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross, and I love the ideal of the Passionists holding the Passion always in their hearts. I don’t know if I’m called to that, but I do appreciate its spiritual beauty. I’m considering the Passionists, among other orders, but on their websites I couldn’t find any discussion of evangelism or ecumenism. So I’m here for more information.

I really appreciate what you all have told me.

I couldn’t be a missionary in a foreign country because you have to know at least one foreign language, and my French is very imperfect. Besides, my knowledge is such that I would be much more useful evangelizing in the Western world.

And evangelism via retreats sounds like it’s pretty limited in its scope and more a matter of opportunities one might receive with individuals every now and then rather than being a concentrated focus.

Those are my current reservations about the evangelism you guys have told me about involving the Passionists.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
I’m seriously interested in the religious vocation and I’m seeking a spiritual home. I’m looking at a number of options and I’ve got at least a year to go through more :(. But two of my very strongest passions are evangelism and ecumenism. I was deeply attracted to the founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross, and I love the ideal of the Passionists holding the Passion always in their hearts. I don’t know if I’m called to that, but I do appreciate its spiritual beauty. I’m considering the Passionists, among other orders, but on their websites I couldn’t find any discussion of evangelism or ecumenism. So I’m here for more information.

I really appreciate what you all have told me.

I couldn’t be a missionary in a foreign country because you have to know at least one foreign language, and my French is very imperfect. Besides, my knowledge is such that I would be much more useful evangelizing in the Western world.

And evangelism via retreats sounds like it’s pretty limited in its scope and more a matter of opportunities one might receive with individuals every now and then rather than being a concentrated focus.

Those are my current reservations about the evangelism you guys have told me about involving the Passionists.
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If you lack the language abilities and desire to serve in another country or culture I think the superior would genuinely take that into consideration before giving you your assignment. One Passionist priest told me that when he first joined the order the superiors would send where they needed and wanted you regardless of your feelings and you were expected to serve. Now, from what I understand they take into account your feelings and thoughts and your strengths and weaknesses before making assignments.

The Passionist charism is wonderful and their life is great but it might not be for everybody and it might not be your calling. One thing that might interest you is that one of St. Paul of the Cross confessors and spiritual advisors was a Capuchin and the rule he wrote borrowed heavily from that of St. Francis’. So perhaps you might want to consider one of the Franciscan orders. I know they have more interaction with the public in many of their ministries and they do vigils at abortion clinics so there might be an outlet for the type of evangelism you are looking at.

ChadS
 
Lief_Erikson said:
jimcav, what topics is he discussing? I probably couldn’t make it because my sister almost always is using the car we share, but I am interested.
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I’m not quite sure, but I do believe it is on the subject of evangelisation. He says on his web-site that -
Our charism (gift from God to the church) is to contemplate Christ crucified and to evangelize.
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Just wondering, have you contacted the Passionists yet, or any other orders for that matter, about your desire to be a religious? While surfing the web can be a help during discernment, I think you need to start talking with the orders you seem drawn to in order to get the proper information you need and a feel for there spirituality and life.

God Bless you on the journey!🙂
 
I agree.

I’ve been talking with a Carmelite, and I’ve been in touch with a Franciscan for a long time. But I haven’t contacted the Assumptionists or Dominicans, two of the orders I’m most seriously considering. I was considering the Carmelites very seriously, but I’m beginning to focus more on orders that are explicitly and actively evangelistic, in an active way as well as in prayer.

I know I need to contact more orders. But I’ve got at least a year to work on that. Most orders won’t accept any newbie Catholics; we have to have been Catholic for three years before they’ll consider us, so that they have good reason to believe our faith will stick.

I’ve been a Catholic for almost two years. So I’ve got plenty of time to work through all this.

I’m also about to get a Spiritual Director who’s a Norbertine, and part of his expertise is handling vocational interests. So that’s another plus.
 
That’s great Lief!

It sounds like your well on your way and doing all the right things to help you discern your true calling. It’s especially nice to hear a story like this from a recent convert!

I do hope that you contact a Passionist though, if only to see if you should count them out. I am only a confraternity member there, but it is an order that I have come to love. Their prayer life, their community life, their preaching, their retreats, their love of Christ and their wonderful saints and their jovial, welcoming spirit make me so glad that I found this congregation that I want to share them with everyone. I am quite there cheerleader!😛

But all of that said, of course you must go where you are led by the Holy Spirit. And wherever you go, may God Bless you!🙂
 
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