The Evangelical Counsel of Poverty

Following the poor Christ

28. Christ, who, although rich, became poor for love of us¹, urges us to become one with Him in His poverty. He was born in deprivation², lived by the work of His hands, announced the good news to the poor³ and proclaimed them blessed. Knowing that He had received everything from the Father, He gave Himself freely into His hands and emptied Himself to the point of dying on a cross.

Through love, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus to learn from Him how to live fully, in a spirit of detachment, our vow of poverty.

The Vow of Poverty

29. Implicit in the evangelical counsel of poverty is living poorly, in fact as well as in spirit¹. We renounce the use and disposal, without authorisation, of all money or of other material goods of value².

We retain, nevertheless, the ownership of our goods, the right to acquire more, and to add to our possessions the profits accruing from them. We hand over the administration to others. With the Superior's permission, however, we may give away what we own³.

29.1 The Brother is dependent on his immediate Superior in money matters, and gives a regular account of the money put athis disposal.

29.2 To make use of a gift, be it money or something of money value, the Brother needs the Superior's permission.

29.3 Before his profession, the novice must cede, once and for all, the administration of his goods to whomsoever he wills, and dispose freely of their use and enjoyment. (c 668, 1)

29.4 Before perpetual profession, the Brother must make a will that is valid in civil law. (c 668, 1)

29.5 To change these arrangements, the permission of the Brother Provincial is required, or, in urgent cases, that of the local Superior. (c 668, 2)

29.6 Everything that a Brother acquires by his work or by reason of his belonging to the Institute, and whatever he receives from pensions, grants, insurance, salary, or social benefits belong to the Institute. (c 668, 3)

29.7 Whatever comes to a Brother from royalties belongs to the Institute. The Norms of the Province fix, in a way that is consonant with the laws of the country, theways of regulating whatever concerns these royalties.

29.8 After ten years of perpetual profession, a Brother may renounce his possessions. To do this, he applies to the Brother Provincial, who forwards the request, along with his own recommendations and those of his Council, to the Brother Superior General, with whom the final decision rests.(c 668, 4; cf 150.1.4)

29.9 Brothers should not, unless authorised by the Brother Provincial, accept the administration of goods belonging to others, be they individuals or juridical persons. They are not to act as surety, even concerning their own goods. (c 672; c 285, 4)

29.10 A Brother should refuse to take advantage of opportunities offered to him personally - travel, holiday residence, valuable items. Even if these cost the community nothing, they can harm poverty and community life.

29.11 The Provincial Chapter should draw up Norms concerning those things which are allowed for personal use, as well as Norms relating to the money given to the Brothers for various purposes, such as studies, travel, holidays. (cf 151.1.3) Taking the local situation into account, the Chapter can also draw up other Norms which it deems necessary or useful concerning the practice of poverty. The Brother Provincial and his Council will then discuss these Norms with the Brother Superior General. (cf 150.2.10)

In Mary's Footsteps

30. The heart of Mary is revealed to us in her Magnificat¹, where, true to the tradition of the "poor of Israel", she puts her trust in the Lord's faithfulness². Together with Joseph the carpenter, she lives as one of the insignificant people of Nazareth³. From the Annunciation to Calvary, she gives her active consent to every kind of detachment asked of her by God⁴.

In her company, we gradually break loose from our earthly attachments, in accordance with the purifying purpose of the Lord, who fashions within us a heart that is poor.

Dependence, Self-abandonment

31.Spiritual poverty keeps us in a relationship of total dependence on the Father. It shows itself in our recourse to Superiors, in the acceptance of our limitations, and in our willingness to receive help from others.

Spiritual poverty leads us to make continual use of prayer, which re-kindles courage and trust. It creates in us the peace of the poor man who has abandoned himself to God's care¹.

Work, simple Life-style, Sharing

32. We live out the reality of personal and community poverty in adopting a life of work and frugality, and in seeking only what is truly necessary¹.

Our poverty is evidenced also by the simplicity that is to characterise our approach to life, our style of living, and our apostolic action.

Poverty requires us to make good use of our talents, to share² what we are and whatever we have at our disposal, especially the time we call our own.

32.1 The community periodically evaluates the use it makes of its resources. It looks critically at its life-style and its accommodation in order to see how real is its witness to religious poverty. (cf PJ prop. 11)

32.2 Faithful to our Marist tradition and in a spirit of poverty and of solidarity with the poor, we perform the little manual tasks that arise in our houses.

32.3 In what we buy, as in what we build, we are careful to preserve simplicity.

Following the Founder's Example

33.Father Champagnat's poverty of heart is seen most clearly in his trust in God's loving care¹. The foundation of our Institute is an ever-living proof that no daring is too great for a man of faith.

Loving the poor as he did, our Founder wanted to send us more especially to them², without excluding others. His first followers, by their austere life-style, lived very much on the level of the people they were serving.

Lavalla³ is for each of us a call to live in simplicity and detachment, both personally, and as communities and Provinces⁴.

33.1 Following Father Champagnat's example, we accept without complaint situations of poverty, which give us the opportunity of having to trust in God. We should be on our guard against relying too much on human means.

Preferential Love for the Poor

34.In being true to Christ and to our Founder, we love the poor¹. They are God's blessed ones; they draw down His gifts upon us and evangelize us.

Attuned to the voice of the Church², and in touch with our own vocation, we stand in solidarity with the poor and their just causes. We give them first preference wherever we are and whatever be our task. We love the places and the houses which enable us to share their lot, and we take every opportunity to be in contact with the reality of their daily lives.

Concern for the poor impels us to search out the root causes of their wretchedness, and to free ourselves from prejudice or indifference towards them. It makes us become more responsible in the use of our resources, which we must share with those among them who are most destitute. We avoid giving them the scandal of living in a way that is too comfortable³.

Our mission as educators of youth commits us to work to promote justice.

34.1 At the beginning of his term of office, the Brother Provincial will draw up a plan that continues and, if possible, augments what the Province is doing to help the needy. He will make this plan known to the Brother Superior General. He will also evaluate how the Provincial Norms concerning poverty are being applied. (cf 150.2.6)

34.2 In drawing up its annual budget, the community, in keeping with the steps taken by the Brother Provincial, will make provision for help to be given to the poor. The community looks for ways to increase this help by going without useful or even necessary things. (cf 58. 1; 162.3)

Witnesses of a poor and servant Church

35.Our following of Christ leads us to an inner divesting of self. Detachment from earthly goods frees us from needless worries¹. To be credible witnesses², we refuse to accept privileges that would stifle gospel freedom.

In walking the way of poverty, we become more compassionate towards our neighbour and more open to the marvellous ways of God. Our life, in its simplicity and self-giving, reveals the face of a Church that is poor and at the service of the people. We give witness to the joy promised to those who are poor in heart³.