The feast of Our Lady of Pompei on May 8 is a very important date for the members of the Missionary Society of St Paul. On this day, Joseph De Piro said ‘yes’ to God’s call to become a priest.
Every year, the University of Malta students, with its campus in Merchants Street, Valletta, used to gather at the church attached to the university and pray the novena to Our Lady of Pompei.
On May 8, 1898, De Piro asked Mary to help him recognise God’s will for him. He then decided to leave his law course and start preparing for priesthood.
De Piro dedicated his life to the poorest of the poor, working among orphans. When he died, he was in charge of the administration of six orphanages in Malta and Gozo. He could afford to dedicate all his energy to the poor because his whole life was dedicated to God.
Prayer was for De Piro the source of his strength. Prayer was a profound moment of friendship with God who he trusted and in whose hands he entrusted himself.
This relationship with God pushed De Piro to minister among the poor, and his ministry, in turn, drew him closer to God. He saw Jesus as the only model on which to build his whole life; the understanding that God was always with him filled him with courage.
“We say that God is in heaven above; yet he is down here, inside us, in our hearts and in our lives ... We find God in every corner of our towns and villages, on the hills and in the valleys. He chose to come and live in our midst, those most dear to him.”
De Piro could not contain his great love of God and greatly desired to help everyone get to know God’s love for them. Since the first year of his studies for the priesthood, he dreamt of setting up the Missionary Society of St Paul with the aim of preaching the ‘Good News’ to everyone. On his return to Malta after his ordination, he immediately started working on his project.
On June 12, 1910, he invited the bishop of Malta, Archbishop Peter Pace, to bless the first house of this new society, a very small space in one of the great mansions in Mdina and on June 30, he welcomed there the first two members.
It is not easy to start a new religious congregation and in his address on the occasion of the blessing and laying of the foundation stone of the motherhouse, the founder noted that: “God’s works are marked with a very clear sign that differentiates them from other works.
“God’s works always encounter great difficulties. In the few years of its existence, the Missionary Society of St Paul too has already encountered great difficulties.”
We invite you to pray to God through the intercession of his servant Joseph De Piro. When you receive the grace, you have been asking for, kindly inform us.
For the members of the Missionary Society of St Paul, May 8 is a day of prayer. We ask you to join us as we ask God for more young men who are ready to dedicate their life to the mission of spreading the Good News.
To learn more about De Piro, or to get holy pictures with the prayer through his intercession, send an e-mail to norbertbonavia@gmail.com or call on 7926 5968.
Fr Norbert Bonavia, MSSP