The aim of the charisma of movement Nazareth is radical prevention in upbringing of human being. The word radical is derived from the word radix – root, foundation. The word prevention has the same root, it means prevent.
This is about the upbringing of a person in whom radical prevention prevent mistakes before he or she does them. It is achieved by creating positive upbringing environment where love towards God and people can be developed.
As a plant cannot live, grow and bring awaiting benefits if everything is not remove from its vicinity that badly influence it; and a building does not last long if it does not have strong foundation; as well upbringing of a person does not succeed if it is not prompt and consistent enough in those aspects that he or she has to achieve if he or she has to be useful member of society that he or she lives in.
But, firstly, let's get to the point and say that upbringing prevention would not mean much if it was not radical. And it would not be radical if it did not start early, right after birth and that is possible only in a healthy family.
In this, movement Nazareth is based on the general experience and the words of Pope Pius XII, his speech at Audience in September 1941, in which he advised to begin with upbringing of a man from a cradle. But if the cradle is an eminent affair of the family, it will not be difficult to understand Pope St. John Paul II, who constantly reminded us that the first and main educators are parents; that the future of mankind goes through the family, and if we do not succeed here, we cannot do anything in Church or in the world.
In the family, habits are created as a foundation for four basic qualities; any upbringing of a man and especially of Christian is problematic without them. The family is also the first catechesis, as Pius XII pointed out in the above-mentioned speech, child acquires the first concept of Heavenly Father, under an influence of mother's respect for father, as the supreme authority to be respected and obeyed. In addition, no one has the chance to know a psyche of a raised child as his or her parents, who can know his or her quality according heredity by observing him/her early enough. And something else: child does not find such help in its physical and moral development as in parental instinct, which is so strongly emphasised in animals as well. And child’s motivation to imitate those whom he/she is dependent on and who he/she loves we do not even speak.
Today, when we are witnesses of numerous broken marriages and increasing number of tempting offerings to live in irresponsible comfort of family, nuptial unity and consequently the upbringing of the offspring according to God's plan becomes very problematic.
Therefore, caregiving Mother Church does not cease to remind that for this evil state of families, man gradually loses not only his Christian but also his human face, and she invites us to notice her warning voice and receive her tested medicine. This medication is particularly in the radical adherence to Gospel, in frequent and sincere receiving sacraments without formalism, and in obedience to Peter's successor through individual spiritual leadership conditioned by Paul's spontaneous sincerity, and at the end in voluntary membership in community as first Christians had, who were like one heart and one soul and had everything in common.
According to words of St. Pope John Paul II, none of those who believed cannot look at the evil religious and moral state to which the world and the Church has come, without blame. Everyone should be actively involved in renewal work of human race, which must begin with work at improved family life. In his exhortation of Familiaris Consortio (73-75), Peter's successor emphasizes that the first person to take care of family pastoral care in a diocese is a bishop. Undoubtedly this is a preferred section of his pastoral service where priests should helped him in particular.
But the responsibility of priests, says Pope, should not only relate to moral and liturgical issues, but also to personal and social problems.
Priests are supposed to support the family in its difficulties and sufferings. They have to stand by the side of its members and help them to look at their lives in the light of Gospel. And there is no need to convince anyone that from this MISSION, Church's servants can draw new motivation and new spiritual power for their own vocation and pastoral care.
To always behave like fathers, brothers, teachers, and shepherds, their teaching and counselling must always be in perfect agreement with the authentic teaching of the Church. However, this requires to prepare for this work early...
And here I would like to add, says the highest shepherd, earnest encouragement for the responsible leaders of institutes of consecrated life, with the constant respect of their own and original charisma, to consider apostolate of family as one of the most urgent and most important tasks, because of circumstances of these days, as one of the most urgent and important tasks.
So everyone should take part in supporting families, bishops and priests. And it should be added that especially those priests who have joined movement Nazareth that is based on this charisma.
But they must be prepare for this apostolate in time, recalls the Pope in the document. In movement Nazareth, this required preparation begins for priests, who want to join the movement, before entering a seminary.
As the second radical prevention is that the movement Nazareth prepares own priests for family pastoral care, which they do in addition to their duties given by a bishop, in their free time, remaining power and material resources.
Third method of the movement Nazareth is carried out through their communication means that serves parents in parenting children and priests in evangelizing parents and children.
Its prevention is mainly in the fact that by these communication means families remove from themselves influence of media that do not come from clean hands and flood the world with errors and immoralities. In addition, their communication means create a closer inner unity in thoughts and actions among families that are often far enough locally or socially remote.
Movement Nazareth does not differ in methods used by General Church because the movement wants to be a part of the Church in this as well as in everything.
Therefore, the movement is not after its own goals organizationally but naturally.
It follows the example of our Lord, who in temptation in the wilderness was not overcome by desire to have crowds of followers at once, but preferred the slow grow of his future kingdom. Later he expressed his attitude in his parables especially in a parable of a mustard seed and in a parable of germination and grow of a grain. The Apostle Paul called his work a Mysterious body, something alive, natural. Apostol Peter compared it to the building, but he explained that it has been a building of living stones.
The method of the movement Nazareth, as a natural way to Christian maturity, will be rather tedious, especially today, when demand for testimonies is growing because of inflation of a word.
Every organism that wants to live and work according to own teaching needs to multiply.
Movement Nazareth, in this important care about a number of its members, does not forget that the author of each growth is God Himself. He calls to live this way. The members of this movement, therefore, do not forego His initiative, either by written or verbal canvassing. But if anybody from their surroundings shows desire to live as they do, under the influence of His grace, they point to their testimony by words of apostle Philip to Nathanael: Come and see.
Those who accept this invitation, movement Nazareth invites them to freely choose spiritual leadership of some experienced priest from the movement, it becomes a gateway to the movement that applicants open by key of sincerity and docility. They join a community of brothers and sisters, then they become its proper members when they assimilate charisma of this movement.
The most natural are vocations formed in families of this movement where children through the example of their parents receive all that this vocation requires, in order to join the movement after achieving maturity age.
But there are cases when movement Nazareth, like any organism that wants to stay healthy, must not only accept new members but also exclude some of them.
The common cause here is insincerity and ignorance of the spiritual leadership, which then goes into maladjustment to brothers and sisters in community and sometimes ends in bad testimony and whole community can lose to be highly thought in the eyes of those who could find at least basic orientation on the way to God in the movement.
It happens to people psychologically unbalanced, inappropriately closed and irresponsibly superficial. But people can also leave the movement or be released for other reasons.
In positive case, members of the movement sustain in achieving radical up bringing prevention of those whom they live with in the movement and those whom they live with in the world through mutual spiritual and material help, genuine familiarity and refreshing cheerfulness.
Each charisma has its own spirituality in addition to its aim and methods. Spirituality is an environment in which it is realized.
Movement Nazareth generally takes on the spirituality of a Church teacher St. Francis de Sales.
Her first characteristic is universality that unites on the way to Christ spouses with single, those who live in the world on their own with those who live in communities. The basic features of this spirituality were put by St. Francis de Sales in his Philothea (Introduction to Devote Life) - a book that did not lose its meaning for three hundred years.
This practical guidebook to spiritual life, St. Francis de Sales has built on God's word, which is not only spirit but also his life. According to him, our morning dialogue with God, our contemplation should results into a practical resolution. Its realization is the only correct answer to God’s Word.
Saint Francis knew very well, even from his own experience, how easily the one who had been a murderer from the beginning can creep on the place of Holy Spirit, when we are on the way to achieve Christian perfection. Therefore, he advises, in the above-mentioned instructions, to find someone who has a charisma of spirit discernment (discretio spirituum), who distinguishes the great desire of spirit from the low desire of body. For this reason, he places great emphasis on individual spiritual leadership, as it is clearly evidenced in five thousand letters of spiritual leadership, where he respond to people of the surrounding countries about their uncertainties in spiritual matters. There also is a large number of spiritual conversations with people who lived in his immediate surroundings.
The Nazareth movement, which has built up its spirituality on St. Francis' activity in relation to God's word and individual spiritual leadership, has also acquired its volunteerism which also expresses the Holy Gospel with the following words:
If you want…
Who want to follow me…
Therefore spiritual leaders in the movement Nazareth do not stop to stress the words of saint Augustin:
God who created you without you will not save you without you…
In their effort to raise the will, they concentrate on the four main virtues, virtue of strength, wisdom, modesty and justice. After that they concentrate on three main God’s virtues, its top is love.
Besides of that, the movement is following wise foresight of Saint Francis, it wants to prevent the evil, that changes into enduring diligence that was advised by Don Bosco to his boys in these words:
Cielo non è fatto pei poltroni
Heaven is not for slackers
Just before his death he was whispering to members of his order, which he named after St. Francis:
Lavoro, lavoro, lavoro
work, work, work...
Certainly, diligence increases a lot of pain in a person's life, but if it is properly targeted and in connection with God's blessing it becomes a source of many joys as well, that not rarely will exceed their threshold and go to joy. How much Saint Francis liked cheerfulness, it reveals his words:
Sad holy person is a sad saint.
The members of the movement Nazareth do not want to forget this important link: Prevention leads to work, work to cooperation and cooperation to a family that does not exist without mutual sharing. As the Scriptures say about the first Christians:
And they were like one heart and one soul,
and they had everything in common.
And something more we learn from St. Francis, it is his famous pastoral principle:
Non multa sed multum
Not much, but thoroughly.
As he was telling, one soul is also a great diocese for a bishop. The correctness of this principle confirms seventy thousands of Calvins, who he brought back to the Church by this principle. He did not want to do everything by himself. He let God act on his pastoral field, even though those who he taught, by his example and words, to love Him.
It seems that the word NAZARET, in its biblical meaning, best describes the aims, means, methods and spirituality of this movement.
In an eminent way it characterises a Christian family who wants to live in the unity with God's order and to bring up their children as works of God and man, and for the earth and Heaven. Until adulthood parents want to teach children live with the Father.
The head of the Nazarene family was a man, Joseph, although Mary was greatly exalted because she was chosen. Jesus, who was the Son of God, after their pilgrimage to Jerusalem as twelve years old returned to their dependence in Nazareth.
The movement Nazareth relies on this example and on the Church teaching as it is presented by Pope Leo XII in his encyclical Arcanum Divinae Sapientiae from February 1880, Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Casti Connubii from 31 December 1930 and two audience speeches of Pio XII from September 1941 and the explanation of the letter of St. Paul to Ephesian from St. John Paul II.
In addition, it relies on the letters of apostles Peter and Paul, pointing to the sad consequences of those views that are increasingly opposed to what the Scripture says and what the mother of the Church teaches here.
The name of Nazareth, also reminds us to go to environment less exposed attacks by the bloody Herod who are now very much multiplied and are very angry with God's plan.
For movement Nazareth, departure of Joseph and Mary to the Galilean countryside is a delicate challenge to protect children during their upbringing from danger of a city.
And finally, for our parents, the biblical Nazareth, is also a demonstration how to look for a child with suffering, and to be happy to find it, if despite their versatile care child is still lost.
The first recipient of this charisma, from God’s providence, became a member of Salesians of St. John Bosco, a priest Ján Augustín Beňo, in the second half of the 20th century.
However, he become aware of this gift of God and responsibility later, when a number of diocesan priests, who began to take care of Christian families, grouped around him under the influence of the II Vatican Council and constant encouragement of Pope John Paul II.
When attacks of atheistic communism against the Church in Slovakia have not been able to destroy this new community, even though there were multiple punishments of the founder such as imprisonment for several years and he was forbidden to do his priestly duties. That time a group of single girls joined the movement. They were ready to assist to priests in individual pastoral work among young people and in starting marriages.
At the beginning of 1990, the founder suddenly received an invitation to the Secretariat of State Vatican, where he should submit a written report on the evolving work. He became alert and also his team, when in a few days at the request of Holy See it was necessary to present an unnamed movement to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Live and then to the Pontifical Council for the Families.
When the founder with the consent of his rector major and accompanied by two members of the General Council of Salesians came to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Live he heard their wish: "That what you represent together with the priests, single girls and married couples in your homeland must be considered as a gift of the Holy Spirit, which is not just for you, it is for the whole Church. We want to help you to protect it from the dangers from the outside and from the inside.
Write down the statutes that would represent the way of your work and your life and give it to your bishop. He will send it to us; we will examine it and if necessary we will adjust it and recommend it to be declared as approved by the Church.
This has made it clear that it is not only about charisma, but also about who is recipient of it.
In the first place it is the founder and then all those whom God have called into this movement.