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closely the Divine Master by the observance of the ourselves to the following apostolates as indicated by
Evangelical Counsels [in the] House of St. Joseph” our Constitutions: youth apostolate, parish apostolate,
(OSJ Cons. 3). These words from the Constitutions missionary apostolate, social apostolate, Josephite-
solidify the Congregation’s commitment to serve the Marellian apostolate, and sharing of the spiritual
interests of Jesus like St. Joseph as lived by St. Joseph patrimony. These apostolic charisms empower us to
Marello. The charism of the Congregation therefore is live out St. Joseph’s activity as exemplified by St. Joseph
the continuation of the legacy of St. Joseph Marello’s Marello.
imitation of the poor, humble and chaste Christ in the PART III
way of St. Joseph. SCHEMA OF THE JOSEHITE-MARELLIAN
SPIRITUALITY
The Spirituality-Apostolate of the Oblates of St.
The Trinity Loves Us
Joseph
Faithful to the Congregation’s charism, each Oblate
Holy Spirit
actualizes this gift by their way of life (spirituality) and
their way of service (apostolate). On one hand, our
Charism
spirituality, or our response to the commandment
of Jesus to love God with our whole being, is deeply
rooted in the interiority and activity of St. Joseph Spirituality St. Joseph Apostolate
as discovered by the Founder. The said connection (We Love God) The Church (We Love Our Neighbors)
justifies the term “Josephite-Marellian Spirituality.” On
St. Joseph Marello
the other hand, our apostolate, or our response to St. Joseph’s St. Joseph’s
the commandment of Jesus to love our neighbors as Interiority Activity
ourselves, is anchored on the said spirituality, that is, Josephite-Marellian
to work in the vineyard of God “hidden and silently Spirituality
active” like St. Joseph. Since charism is actualized by
spirituality-apostolate, the fruit of such actualization is Prayer Life Community Life
the congruence between spiritual charism (Josephite- Spiritual Charisms Apostolic Charisms
Marellian Spirituality) and apostolic charism
Oblates of St. Joseph
(Josephite-Marellian Apostolate). By and large, since
Poverty, Chastity, Obedience
these two are just two sides of the same coin, they can
be unified and therefore be understood as Josephite- Josephite-Marellian Family
Marellian Spirituality.
For The Glory of God,
For The Building-Up of the Kingdom
The Spiritual Charism of the OSJ
As we profess the evangelical vows in the context CONCLUSION
of community life nourished by prayer life, our Because we are loved by God, He sends charisms
relationship to God is anchored on the following (gifts) to us through St. Joseph Marello who was always
virtues cultivated by St. Joseph Marello in his following inspired by the discipleship of St. Joseph. As a response
of Christ by imitating St. Joseph: union with God, total to this love, we in turn love God manifested by our
dedication to the interests of Jesus, abandonment to Josephite-Marellian Spirituality and love our neighbor
the Divine Providence, hidden and silently active life, as we love ourselves manifested by our apostolate. By
humility, hard work, strong family spirit as lived by willfully owning St. Joseph’s style of silence and work,
the Holy Family, living the ordinary life extraordinarily, St. Joseph Marello resolved to follow the footsteps of
and whatnot. These spiritual charisms empower us to Christ by imitating St. Joseph. The maxim “serve the
live out St. Joseph’s interiority as exemplified by St. interests of Jesus like Joseph” is the Founder’s way of
Joseph Marello. glorifying God. As members of the Oblates of St. Joseph
in particular and as leaders of the Josephite-Marellian
The Apostolic Charism of the OSJ Family in general, we ought to glorify God the way St.
As we profess the same evangelical vows, our Founder Joseph Marello glorified Him.
“wished [us] to be ‘apostles outdoors’ (Brevi memorie
28) and to bring Christ to the world following ‘[our] References:
Aumann, Jordan. 1982. Spiritual theology. Manila: University of Santo Tomas.
exemplar St. Joseph who was the first on earth to Catholic Culture. 2020. Apostolate. Retrieved 26 November 2020 from https://
look after the interests of Jesus’ (Letter 83)” (OSJ www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=31898.
Ott, Ludwig. 1962. Fundamentals of Catholic dogma (5th ed.). Translated by
Cons. 59). Faithful to the Founder’s wish, we commit Patrick Lynch. Dublin: Cahill & Co., Ltd.