The beatification of Father Francis Mary of the Cross (in secular life John Baptist) Jordan, Founder of the Salvatorians, is scheduled for May 15. This celebration is obviously a great joy and a boost to the charism of these religious men and women who, at present, are present in various countries, including Spain.
Actuality of the Salvatorian Charism:
In Jordan's time in Germany there was a confrontation between the government and the Church known as the Kulturkampf. Great restrictive measures were imposed on the Church and many Christians abandoned their religious practices and even their faith. Confrontations that are not rare in history and in our countries.
Jordan, like other personalities of the time, felt called to a new evangelization, co-responsibilizing the laity, religious and clergy in general.
To this end, he participated in several German Catholic Congresses of his time. These congresses gave rise to concerns, initiatives and guidelines for the future. At the same time, he made contacts with renewal personalities.
It was important to evangelize in a popular way, so that people would understand, be excited and live the faith in a deeper and more convinced way. He also lived and promoted what today we call "option for the poor". This work was done from the beginning in the Salvatorian Family.
Jordan worked and managed to incorporate lay people in a direct evangelization. Parents, teachers, barkeepers, intellectuals ...; when he created several magazines he also integrated young people and children, being direct propagators of his magazines and in several countries and languages.
He defined, in the style of St. Paul, that: we must use in evangelization "all the means that the charity of Christ inspires us". Hence he did not think of a single concrete activity for the Church, but of "universality of ways and means" to be used in an opportune way. This, in our tradition, has been called "universality of ways and means".
Today it is fashionable to evangelize "going out". Well: being only 12 members, I sent 3 to India to a mission entrusted by Propaganda Fide. And in a few years it accepted others in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, United States, and several nations of Eastern Europe. Today we are present in more than 40 countries.
These would be some of the fundamental features of our charism. To evangelize; to make the Savior known by popular means; to involve all Christians in evangelization.
Some of Jordan's virtues:
Deep faith, much prayer, great trust in Divine Providence. Simplicity, poverty considered as a mother in her Society; love for the Cross especially as it is the sign of love of God and his Son for humanity and therefore a reason to welcome it with joy: "Great works are born and develop in the shadow of the cross". Love for Our Lady by praying to her and imitating her, as well as naming houses and new foundations after her invocations.
Presence of the Salvatorians in Madrid
Present in Madrid since 1974. We have always been collaborating with different parishes in Vicariate VIII: San Miguel Arcángel de Fuencarral, Bustarviejo, Valdemanco; San Juan María Vianney; Santa Lucía y Santa Ana; Nuestra Señora del Val; Nuestra Señora de Altagracia; Beata María Ana Mogas, in her barracks. And now, at Mount Carmel, first in our garage and in a barracks. On May 19, 2019, Cardinal D. Carlos Osoro consecrated the altar of the Divino Salvador parish. In 2021, the parish complex was completed.
