The saints, called like every believer to continue the mission of the Incarnate Word, have embraced the lifestyle that He Himself chose to assume to fulfill it. In this way, their figure, like that of Christ, acquires a prophetic and paschal significance: in responding to their vocation and in fulfilling the mission entrusted to them, they have followed the dynamic of prophetic vocations, which find their culmination in Jesus of Nazareth. Their diversity, moreover, shows us different paths to holiness, concrete ways of living the Gospel, because they themselves are, as Saint Alphonsus said, “the living Gospel” (F. Ferrero, Il Beato Jenaro Mª Sarnelli, Madrid 1996, p. 6).
Personal Easter becomes the memory of the Church in the liturgical feast
The historian of the Congregation, Father Fabriciano Ferrero, has precisely described the two fundamental keys to understanding the life of our brother, Blessed Gennaro Maria: prophecy and Easter.
Thirty years ago, on May 12, 1996, in a St. Peter’s Square packed with faithful, the man we can consider the Congregation’s first priest after the founder was solemnly beatified by Pope John Paul II. The Church thus celebrated its Easter, the sanctification of man called by God to be Christ himself for his contemporaries, since he is “like Him” (cf. 1 John 3:2). The glory of the Risen One shines forth in his personality, his works and writings, his legacy, and the liturgical celebration of his feast is a manifestation of Paschal faith in the work of the Holy Spirit in those who allow themselves to be guided by Him.
Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, a friend and companion of Saint Alphonsus, was a “living Gospel” for those who knew him. Saint Alphonsus, his first biographer, emphasizes how he set an example for all with his spirit of prayer, how he impressed his contemporaries with his passion, and how he illuminated the darkness of his time with his writings.
Both Alfonso Maria and Gennaro Maria were saints of Naples in a Church that yearned for reform, popular missionaries full of zeal in remedying the pressing problems of their time, members of a trained and prepared elite that did not abdicate its responsibility towards history and society.
The lived prophecy becomes a new impulse for the Congregation
The relics of Blessed Sarnelli are venerated today in the Church of the Holy Trinity, adjacent to the Motherhouse in Ciorani. The tranquility of this house, now the Novitiate of the Southern European Province, contrasts with the vitality of this atypical Redemptorist, whose defining characteristic was his fervent dedication to action.
His biographers describe him as a Redemptorist exhausted by his constant activity, idealistic and spontaneous. His important role in consolidating the foundation of the Congregation, after Alfonso’s first companions left Scala, and in founding the Congregation’s first rectory, on his father’s fiefdom and thanks to his brother’s donation, has sometimes remained hidden. Other descriptions of our protagonist’s profile fail to sufficiently highlight his thoughtful nature, his willingness to assume the responsibilities entrusted to him, his expertise in spiritual direction, his practical experience of the faith, and his spiritual depth. He is a Redemptorist who lives his vocation in movement, with versatility: between reality and the evangelical ideal, between his priestly responsibilities and his missionary convictions. All to help humanity rediscover and experience the profound meaning of their human dignity in the Trinitarian God.
Deep roots of a lush tree
It is always beautiful to highlight the parallels between Saint Alphonsus and Blessed Gennaro Maria: noblemen, doctors of law, sensitive to the fight against marginalization, promoters of the formation of lay people for the apostolate with the “capelle serotine”, members of the priestly society of the Apostolic Missions, writers and disseminators of Christian doctrine, reformers of the morals of the clergy, mystics in love with the Eucharist and the Mother of God.
Blessed Gennaro Maria is one of the most solid roots of the Congregation’s flourishing tree. Although he is not recognized as having a prominent role, he is undoubtedly one of the figures without whom one cannot understand either Saint Alphonsus or the entire spiritual journey that led him to found the Redemptorists for the evangelization of the most abandoned.
Sarnelli was a prophet, a hero of love for God and neighbor, an enlightened man seeking a new society, a priest attuned to the need for reform in the Church.
Sarnelli continues to be prophetic because, as F. Chiovaro said, “he possesses the rare privilege of still being able to speak to the people of our time.” Why? Above all, because the words of the Gospel translated into concrete actions in Sarnelli’s daily life, where every day he encountered the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the penitents, the lost, and young people searching for themselves. Also, because this Redemptorist inspires young people who want to live the Gospel as a true alternative to today’s world. Another reason is that he was totally in love with Christ and lived in profound communion with Him. Because his name appears in the Congregation’s social activities throughout the world, always linked to the fight against marginalization, the exploitation of people of all backgrounds, and all forms of violence against women, children, and innocents. Because, as the Pope emphasized in his beatification, he possessed a keen sensitivity to poverty and injustice.
Ciorani, guardian of his legacy
Thirty years after his beatification, the Redemptorist Church of Ciorani, which since 2022 has been the Diocesan Shrine of Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, solemnly celebrated this anniversary, with the hope that his canonization will take place soon. We await another miracle.
Four Redemptorists led the preparatory triduum and the feast of the Blessed, inspiring the participants with their personal experiences with Blessed Sarnelli. The preachers were Fr. Daniele Carta, coordinator of the RYVM of the Southern Europe Province; Fr. Habib Badran, parish priest of the historic house of Scifeli, who also preached the preparatory triduum for the proclamation of the diocesan shrine; Msgr. Alfonso Amarante, rector of the Lateran University, who reminded those present of his participation in the beatification as an acolyte in 1996; and Msgr. Antonio De Luca, bishop of Teggiano-Policastro, who outlined a Redemptorist profile for today’s evangelizer.
Ciorani, the ancient Sarnelli fiefdom, fondly cherishes the history of this family and proudly celebrates the Redemptorist whose relics are enshrined in its church. In addition to the Eucharistic celebrations, the solemn procession of the Blessed’s image through the town passes through streets draped with flags in the Vatican colors. The parish’s most active members, the missionary group, catechists, and young people, also offered moments of celebration, music, and banquets each afternoon to honor the Apostle of the marginalized of Naples. All this was also in memory of Father Antonio Marrazzo, who more than anyone else promoted awareness and love of Blessed Gennaro Maria among the Redemptorists and the people to whom he dedicated his life.
Fr. Laureano Del Otero Sevillano, CSSR.
Rector of the Mother House of Ciorani
