Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Piotr Semenenko, cr
Presentation by
Fr. Stanislaw Urbanski, cr
Director of the Institute of Spiritual Theology
University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
ISBN: 978-1-291-91914-1
English translation:
2014, Sr. Pascale-Dominique Nau, Rome.
All rights reserved.
Table of contents
Presentation
Father Piotr Semenenko (1814-1886), a
Polish Resurrectionist, is the co-founder of a
Polish school of spirituality. He presented
this schools conception of spiritual life primarily in his sermons, which have been published in four volumes. The first two volumes
appeared in Lvov, in 1913, under the title:
Kazania na niedziele i wita roku kocielnego
(Sermons for Sundays and Feasts of the
Church Year). The first volume of this set
contains the sermons for Advent through to
the end of Eastertide, and the second volume
has those from Pentecost to the end of the
liturgical year, as well as sermons for the
feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The second two-volume set was published in Cracow
in 1923 under the title: Kazania przygodne (Circumstantial Sermons); the first of these two
volumes covers the years 1843 to 1857, and
the second goes from 1858 to 1881. In addition to the sermons, this collection also contains an outline of a homily for the Solemnity
of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. It should be noted that in addi-
the spiritual basis of his own mystical experience. He, therefore, presents an original doctrine of the spiritual life, recognizable in the
collection of his sermons. Indeed, on the
whole, Father Semenenkos sermons are
characterized by the fact that they are centered on his spiritual thought, which expresses both his knowledge of the human heart
and his own mystical experience.
These sermons reveal to us the following
spiritual doctrine, which applies a very original three-part method. The three approaches
to spiritual life are: the anthropology of selfknowledge, cooperation with God, and mystical union. In this framework, the author
discusses the entire process of spiritual life,
taking into account its significant components at various stages. The tripartite division
is present in all his teaching, from theology of
creation (God), through the history of salvation (Christ)which is divided into three
periods, and finally the doctrine of his
paschal spirituality (Resurrection), according
to which the spiritual life is developed with
humility on a threefold foundation: nothingness, poverty (sin) and the three theological
virtues (faith, love and hope) that lead to the
mystical union with God. Thus, the author
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element of spiritual life by selecting the sermons on the resurrection, because according
to the author the concept of holiness is characterized by conformation to Christ, and so
emphasizes life in Christ, the interaction with
Him and the supernatural Paschal dimension
of the spiritual life.
Father Semenenkos conception of the
spiritual life is also marked by optimism: This
comes to the fore in the sermons in the present volume and is illustrated especially by
those in which the author speaks about the
peace of Christ and Gods love for man. This
optimism is based on the Resurrection and
flows from the faith in Gods love, which
results in the presence of Christ in the Christian and leads him to union with the Risen
Christ.
We must acknowledge the merit of Sister Pascales work, because in this small selection of five sermons, she has succeeded in
clearly presenting the main principles of the
spiritual life taught by Father Semenenko. At
the same time, the pertinence of Father Semenenkos conception for modern man appears. Although these sermons were
preached over 150 years ago, their content is
still relevant in our time. Undeniably, Father
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Sermons
On Faith
(Preached in Paris in January 1843)
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16)
Beloved brethren!
These words of our Lord and Master are
the words of life that contain all our salvation. God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. This is the
mystery of Christianity. Love and faith, faith
and love, constitute the foundation; that is
the entire content of this great mystery of
faith, whichas Paul sayswas revealed to
the angels announced to the people, believed
in the world, and brought to glory (1 Timothy 3:16). Indeed, not without a motive do
we call it a mystery. For reason alone is not
strong enough to grasp the motive of loves
wonderful interventions. Why did God create
the world? and even more: Why did He redeem it? This is an eternal mystery for the
reason, a cross perpetual human wisdom. We
try to understand this act; but it is mind-
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II
Without faith it is impossible to please God. If
faith, seen from the outside, is the only guide
on the path of salvation, on the inside it is
also necessary in our relationship with God.
Faith gives our thinking the characteristic of
truth, our feeling the inclination toward holiness, and our actions real value. Our deeds
are fruits that make it possible to see whether
the tree of our soul is good or bad; they go
with us from this world to the next: Their
deeds follow them (Revelation 14:13), and God
will reward each person according to his actions: He will repay every man for what he has done
(Matthew 16:27). However, our deeds are not
good simply because we think or feel they
are, or because they are in harmony with
what people think; they have to be good before God. Indeed, if what we do is good only
because people approve it, then there seems
to be really no reason to worry about it. Yet,
what is more unjust or changing than human
judgment? And besides, what would be the
rule of the judgment or of the approval? I
can heartily laugh at human judgment, and
who could convince me that my derision is
bad? or in the name of what? on behalf of
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mind the different feelings and religious fantasies of the world in order to tear you away
from the faith which alone leads to life, and
he has spurred you onto the path of reason
and pride, to the pride of the heart that leads
to death. He tried especially to make you
leave the Church, the Mother of our faith,
because he knows that He can no longer
have God for his Father, who has not the
Church for his mother;3 your enemy knows
very well that, once away from the Church,
you cannot have faith. Now, your love for
the Church must correspond to the purity
God requires of you in your faith. If, despite
all temptations, faith is always burning in
your heart, it will be truly eloquent before
God! How strong justice the foundation of
faith will be in His eyes! Each of you will
come to eternal salvation, and everything else
that you want here on earth, you will want it
henceforth in God. Only remember that you
can no longer give any excuses, claiming inadvertence. Given these dangers and temptations, Gods voice has resounded with His
warnings in your conscience, and you know
what to do. You have before you the truth
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of all, He cleanses him from sin. Holy Baptism, the door of the Church, removes original sin and all the other sins that followed it.
Indeed, nothing impure can enter into the
Holy of Holies of the Temple, into Gods
Church. Through Baptism, man becomes a
member of Christ, for the Church is His
Body; through the Son he becomes a son of
God, because Christ, the true Son of God,
lives within each of its members. Yet, when
man has become Gods son, this new son of
God must necessarily live the new life. So,
this man lives by the truth and for goodness.
He will therefore find in the Church both in
their fullness but most of all the truth. In
the Church he hears Gods word, written in
the book without a title, since Bible means
book or, as we call it, Scripture. This is a
unique book, or Scripture, of humanity,
where its fate is recorded, and God, the
world and man are described; there history,
with all its mystery, is explained. This is the
only scripture in the world that has a beginning and an end, that says where we come
from and where we are going. However,
Scripture is incomprehensible to a man who
is not in the Church, just as was the book
that John saw in the Apocalypse, the book
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look at the Saints. For, you know, my brethren, that the Church has a body and a soul;
this body is composed of all the unjust and
the sinners, and the soul of the righteous.
The soul is in fact the essential part of the
Church, the part that vivifies her; and this
soul is everything in Gods eyes. Christ said
to her: You are altogether beautiful, my
love; there is no flaw in you (Song of Solomon 4:7). The body of the Church is often
sick and some parts are rotting, but her soul
is always beautiful and healthy Look, my
brothers, at the soul of the Church; I assure
you that all your ideal social organizations, all
your dreams of happiness for mankind, have
never seen anything like it. How can your
glory be told, O Daughter of the King, our
Mother, Supreme Beloved? You are worthy
of all reverence, because you are Queen, you
replace Christ who is in the place of God! We
have access to Him only thanks to you. You
purify us by baptism and penance. You give
us the whole and infallible truth; you show us
the straight road and guide us towards the
goal of this life, which is God, and you give
us all good. Through you is accomplished the
great work of love for which man is made.
The fundamental law of God is love, and the
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law of the human, given through the creation, is also love. This bond was demolished,
but in you it is restored, and the great need of
the human being finds its full satisfaction in
you, in you alone. O Mother! I will add more
words to praise you, yet something is always
missing. I cannot find words beautiful
enough to describe your purity and immortal
beauty; I cannot see terms strong enough to
express the power and strength of your truth;
I do not know from where to take the words
that are lively enough to portray the great
importance, the very necessity, all the life that
are in you, entirely in you, and in you alone.
O You, at least, light of God, sacred fire,
descend into the hearts of my brethren, reveal Yourself to them, and convince them all!
May they confess again with all their heart
that apart from You, Lord, there is nothing;
that you are the One who exists, and that
You sent Jesus Christ and established only
one Holy Church; that in the Trinity is the
wisdom of life, and that man finds everything
in these three: God, Christ and the Church.
This short encounter, which we have so
far devoted to speaking about the Church, is
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whole soul turns away in order to avoid answering the call of this voice that says: Let us
also love God! Here, the whole sea of accusations comes to my mind. I know, I know
them well but today we have not chosen to
answer; moreover, the history of response to
human folly, and wanting to be understood,
is strange and long. Now, we can only say
that anyone who does not submit his mind
does not love. On the other hand, someone
who loves joyfully submits his intellect to
divine truth; he does so without reserve, and
does so as God asked. He submits his mind
completely, because he does not exclude any
bit of the truth nor the smallest part of dogma; on the contrary, he receives all and believes in everything; his mind completely
assents, because it receives both what it understands and what it does not grasp, be it in
the light or in darkness. Ah, my brethren,
Gods wisdom resides in this: there are things
He has taught us that are not clear to our
mind; in the truth that He has given us to
believe, He mixed light with darkness. Otherwise, if everything were clear for our intellect, there would be no faith - in fact, when
things are clear, I know, I know them well, but
I do not have faith; I only have faith in what
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lished His Church, and made her the guardian and interpreter of His truth, saying: Go
to the ends of the earth and teach; behold, I
am with you always, until the end of the
world; whoever will listen to you, listens to
me (Matthew 28:1920; Luke 10:16). Thus,
human reason must receive the doctrine of
Gods truth; if you want to listen to His
voice, His truth, you shall only hear it there,
you will not find it in any other place and you
will not have it elsewhere. The mind of man,
who is so proud and thinks that he can
measure the heavens and penetrate the earth,
in matters of faith must absolutely humble
himself before the Churchs authority. Anyone who has love quickly crosses the threshold; but he does not, stumbles or withdraws.
That, my brothers, is the secret of all heresies, of all errors, in matters of faith. The
Lord God, for the sake of the experience of
human love, became man in order to preach
us the truth and then put man in His place to
transmit the truth from one generation to the
next until the end of the world. And, just as
He was not received by those who did not
love Him, now the people who replace Him
are not welcomed by those who do not love
Him. This is the mystery of love itself. They
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Above all, we should accept the commandments and subject ourselves to them
for God, since Christ himself said: Whoever
has my commandments and accepts them, he
is the one who loves me (John 16:21). In
fact, there are people in the world who do a
lot of things that Christ commanded; yes,
they are the ones who keep all the commandments. The world today has a good
sense of smell, so to speak; it recognizes
beauty; it senses goodness; however, the
world accomplishes the commandments precisely because this pleases it and in order to
be able to boast and display its righteousness.
The world does not act out of love, or because God gave the commandment, as Christ
clearly requires: Whoever has my commandment and he repeated once, twice and
even three times: If someone loves me, he
will keep my word (v. 23), If you keep my
commandments, you shall abide in my love
(John 15:10). Love seeks the will of his beloved, simply wanting to accomplish it. The
world, therefore, in search of his good pleasure and doing only what pleases it, shows us
what we have already known about it for a
long time: it loves only itself. On the other
hand, someone who loves God in doing
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and our donation must have the same objective. But because we are created and He is
God, this union can only be achieved if we
become what He is, that is to say, if He transforms us into Him. Now, everything that we
told you about mans submission to God
leads precisely to that end. We give Him our
minds so that His truth may transform them,
and so that Christ may think in us; we give
Him our heart, our will, our desire, so that
He may transform them and so that Christ
may feel in us, that Christ may desire in us,
and that Christ may act through us. We give
Him our whole being so that Christ may live
in us, and in order to come to this blessed
state of which St. Paul said: It is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians
2:20). Yet, at the same time, my brothers, you
see that we can reach this state only by renouncing ourselves; we can receive the life of
Christ in us only through mortification and
death to ourselves; man must go out and
Christ must enter. That happened through
the death on the cross of the One who came
back to life, and who had said: Whoever
wants to be my disciple, (or simply) who
wants to belong to me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross (Matthew 9:34). That,
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dreadful! This is the death of the soul enslaved by the flesh here on earth.
Have you ever seen a man seized by passion? What am I saying: have you seen? How
could you not see? There are so many! You
are perhaps, dear brother, one of them? But I
ask: Have you seen what happens to such a
man? Unfortunately, there is no more pitiful
sight! A man under the influence of passion
is unable to move. He has an itch; but this
Lazarus, Christ alone can raise him from the
dead. He is not only under a rock but also
held from head to foot by straps and ties
he cant move. Above him, the word of God
that performs miracles has resonated: Take
away the stone! And then: Lazarus, come
out! Hes already getting up, but he cant
walk until after the third word: Untie him!
(John 11:44) To fully revive and heal this
man, God must do a miracle, a triple miracle,
and people must help to accomplish it. - A
holy confession is necessary. But first Gods
voice must resonate in this mans consciousness: Lazarus, come out! (John 11:43)
The Apostle cried out: Who will rescue
me from this mortal body? (Romans 7:24)
How much more does a man lying in death
cry out: Who will save me? Who will save me?
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in this tomb and in this death! May God deliver us from this sorrow! But no, He doesnt
take it away. We will be safe enough if He
gives us a nearby haven, His house built on
the rock, his city on the height, the city of
heaven, the abode of safety, clarity, life and
happiness. We have all of that. Oh, my
brothers, we have the Church! There alone
life is found; only there is resurrection from
this continual death that surrounds us everywhere.
Oh, resurrection is only there, because
that is the only place where we meet the Risen Christ!
II
And now look how things are after the
Resurrection!
See! - The stone is removed. - The flesh
is no longer weighty. - Whoever has risen
with Christ treads on the passions, crushes
this stone, and breaks his chains - he is free,
truly free, for he is risen. Hallelujah!
Look, here the angel dressed in white is
seated on the tomb! You can touch heaven.
Go to Galilee, go to the Church - Christ is
there - there is the clarity of teaching, the
fresh air of divine grace, the bread of life, the
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Christs Peace
and Peace of the World
First Sunday after Easter
fearless and pitiless soldier, why do you continuously torture both yourself and others? I
want to win, in order to dominate tranquilly. Peace!
Peace!
The world cries: Peace!
What do you want? Man was created for
peace. Ascend to heights of your mind, go
down in to the very depth of your
heart - what are you looking for? Clarity, satisfaction, fulfillment, everything in order to
get rest, ah, peace! peace!
There are two who come proposing it to
us: the world and Christ.
We must choose.
The worlds peace is only apparent; it is
false peace. The peace of Christ is authentic.
The peace of the world is outside while
war is inside; in Christ, there is war outside
and peace within. The first ends in confusion,
a tempest and the fall; the second in victorious, strength and eternal peace.
In a word: the peace of Christ is the true
peace, while the worlds peace is turmoil and
war.
1. Since before the ages, Christ is the
Prince of Peace.
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And what are the consequences of human peace? Oh, they are as different as they
are opposed!
When I look at man and the world, I see
an angry sea; and, on the other side, I see
Christianity and peace; and I am seized by
amazement. All of history is a continual miracle.
Look at these raging waves of various
studies, delusions, and systems! How they
rise, fall, run, splash, and then disperse as a
fine mist - and the Christian idea, the Christian faith, shining like the sun above them,
serene, clear and peaceful, tends to its secure
repose, toward God, toward eternity.
Look again at this horrible abyss of passions! It boils, and how! Each passion
seeks another satisfaction, is concerned about
another depth in the depth of the human
being the passions are unleashed and prevail.
Where is peace?! But Christ dominates
over the waves: A single word is followed by
great tranquility and the coast appears:
heaven, and without difficulty we reach it.
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Learn, first of all, that the primary foundation of peace is the sincere and strong desire to want what God wants.
Listen again! Here, after the Angels,
Christ teaches you: Come to me ... my yoke is
easy - my burden is light. Good will shall meet
the cross, and it may lose peace; this precisely
is why Christ teaches us yet another mystery.
This teaching is at the beginning and then all
along the road. Take up the cross, take the
yoke, willingly and with joy - otherwise you will
not have peace. This is the second source of
anxiety, sadness and of collapse along the
road.
Learn that, just as the primary foundation is the willingness to accept what God
wants, the second is to take up willingly the
cross of Christ.
And when you reach the complete submission of yourself through penance, then at
the spiritual resurrection, Christ will say to
you as he did to the apostles: Peace to you!
complete, constant, abundant, peace, overflowing on other people. As the Father has
sent me, I also send you. Then you shall
bear the vast peace of Christ in the world;
being happy yourself, you will sow happiness
around you, and Christs blessing will follow
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