Sr. Rofina Mariani Uge, CM
Indonesia
Palautian spirituality is the outcome of two currents which merge and fuse in unity, they are: the Teresian Carmelite legacy and, the charismatic experience of Fr. Palau.
The Carmelite Teresian legacy is an integral part of Fr. Palau’s life because his religious formation was based on it. During the period of his religious formation and community life as well as during his exclaustration, he lived faithfully and intensively the Carmelite ideal with an eminently contemplative orientation.
He searched his life’s ideal; which later became his beloved object… “In the austerities of religious life, in fasting, in silence, and in poverty” (MR I, 3). Since then his soul has been steeped with the spirit of the Teresian Carmel.
His understanding of the mystery of the church and his union with her in faith, hope and charity, fulfills his long and intense search… “I sought her and I found her…. I say my love one, and I united myself to her in faith, hope and love”. (MR I, 3) After the long journey of anxious search, “she let herself be seen and known.” Recalling the delightful and longed for encounter, he writes, “At last, after forty years in search of you, I found you. I found you because you came to meet me, I found you because you let yourself be known …” (MR 22, 17)
He discovered in the Church the final meaning of his life, the center of his existence, the guiding light of his pilgrimage, the ideal that gave meaning to his entire mission.
The Church for him was not only and ideal but a living reality, the supreme and final object of his love. He was convinced of his mission “to letting the people know that you –Church- are infinitely beautiful and loveable and to request them to love you” (MR 12, 2). This is the object of his mission to fulfill the precept of love of God and of neighbors. Since then, the Church became everything for him. “…I live and will live for her, I live and I shall die for her”. (MR 1:29) marked his total surrender to the Church.
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