The spirituality of the Daughters of St. Paul is called "Pauline", and it reflects the spiritual values and vision of Blessed James Alberione.
Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life
In the Pauline spirituality, Alberione offered the Daughters of St. Paul and the other nine members of the Pauline Family an integrated vision of Christ and the human person:
"The whole Christ, Way, Truth and Life for the whole person, mind, will and heart."
Our way to holiness is to live Jesus, the Master and Shepherd, the Way, the Truth and the Life until we become wholly transformed into him. We allow God to sanctify our whole being by giving him totally our mind, our will, our heart and body. The entire person is surrendered to Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus, the Master who has the heart of a Shepherd, is the unifying centre of our lives.
Mary, Queen of the Apostles
Mary, Queen of Apostles is for us Mother, Teacher and Queen. Besides being the mother of Jesus, she was also His disciple. Hence, she is a model disciple who is totally available to do the will of God.
This picture of Mary in the act of giving Jesus is the model for apostles who are supposed to give Jesus to the world. “Mary always gives Jesus and offers him to humanity. She is the apostle of Jesus not only in word but in mind, will and heart” CISP p38.
Mary is also our intercessor who obtains for us all the graces we need. With her, even difficult things become easy. The presence of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in the life of the Paulines inspires the same total availability to God that was Mary's lifelong attitude. Mary is the model of faith and love who leads all to Jesus Master, and forms us for the mission of communicating God's Word to the world.
St. Paul
Fr. Alberione rooted the Pauline spirituality in the life and teaching of St. Paul, the apostle who lived in intimacy with Christ and spent his energy and his life to proclaim the Good News to all peoples. St. Paul is “the disciple who knows the Divine Master in His entirety. He lived the whole Christ: he probed the profound mysteries of His doctrine,His heart, His sanctity, His humanity and divinity. He presents the whole Christ to us as He had already defined Himself: Way, Truth and Life” (AD 159)
CHRIST was at the centre of St. Paul’s every thought and action such that he was able to say, “I live now not I but Christ lives in me.” Gal 2:20.
St. Paul's spirit of love for Jesus Master, of energy for the kingdom, of thanksgiving and of tireless dedication inspire every Pauline with the same sentiments.
Word and Eucharist
Pauline prayer is nourished at the living fonts of the Word of God and the Eucharist. It is from here that the Paulines derive the strength needed to spend their lives seeking holiness of life in the service of the Gospel.
As Father Alberione, speaking to the Daughters, expressed it: Paulines are to "... live in the Eucharist, in the reading of the Gospel, in the contemplation of the examples of Jesus Master."
Pauline prayer is characterized by the daily Hour of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
Media Spirituality
At the heart of Pauline spirituality and mission is God's desire to live in intimate and loving communication with humanity, expressed in the birth of Jesus among us. The Daughter of St Paul recognises communication as a gift, a call to relationship that is associated with the life-giving communication between the Father, Son and Spirit in the Trinity. Communication pervades every aspect of our prayer, our ministry, the products of our ministry and our life in community. We pray for all who work in the media – journalists, TV and film producers and directors, actors, radio broadcasters, recording artists, and their audiences; those who prepare advertisements, write songs, chat online….
Paulines Prayers
Paulines Offertory
Father in union with all those who today celebrate the Eucharist, I wish to offer myself, a small victim, with Jesus, the Victim:
That we may follow Him alone whom You Father in your boundless love, sent into the world, saying: “This is My beloved Son, hear Him”;
To acknowledge and to make known that Jesus alone, the Word Incarnate, is the perfect Teacher, the trustworthy Way who leads to knowledge of You, Father, and to a partaking of Your life;
That there be in the Church an increase in the number of priests, religious, and lay persons who, consecrated as apostles of social communication, will make resound throughout the world the message of salvation;
That well aware of our insufficiency and unworthiness we may realize the need to draw near the font of life in all humility and trust and to be nourished with Your word, Father, and with the body of Christ, invoking light, love and mercy for all men and women. Amen.
To Spend the Day Well
My dear and sweet Mother Mary, keep your holy hand upon me; guard my mind, my heart and my senses, that I may never commit sin. Sanctify my thoughts, affections, words and actions, so that I may please you and your Jesus, my God, and reach heaven with you. Jesus and Mary, give me your holy blessing: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Morning Prayer
I adore You my God, and I love You with all my heart. I thank You for having created me, made me a Christian, kept me this night, and led me into the Pauline Family. I offer You my actions of this day: grant that they all may be according to Your holy will and for Your greater glory. Keep me from sin and all evil. May Your grace be with me always and with all my dear ones. Amen.
Night Prayer
I adore You my God, and I love You with all my heart. I thank You for having created me, made me a Christian, and kept me this day. Forgive me my failings and sins and accept whatever good I may have done. Take care of me while I sleep and deliver me from all danger. May Your grace be always with me and with all my dear ones. Amen.
Act of Surrender to the Will of God
My God, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen to me that was not foreseen by You and directed to my greater good from all eternity. This is enough for me. I adore Your eternal and unfathomable designs. I submit to them with all my heart for love of You. I offer the sacrifice of my whole being to You and join my sacrifice to that of Jesus, my divine Saviour. In His name and by His infinite merits, I ask You for patience in my sufferings and perfect submission, so that everything You want or permit to happen will result in Your greater glory and my sanctification. Amen.
