BRANCHVILLE Priests and brothers of the Society of Divine Vocations have been introducing the growing faith community at the Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit here to the spirituality of St. Justin M. Russolillo since the order reopened the sanctuary in 2019.
St. Justin, founder of the order, also known as the Vocationists, said that everyone is called to be a saint.
On Aug. 2, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney rededicated the sanctuary to include the newly canonized St. Justin and his promotion of vocations, under a new name: the Sanctuary of Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit/Shrine of St. Justin.
On Aug. 2, the Solemnity of St. Justin of the Holy Trinity, the Bishop rededicated the sanctuary, which included his reading a decree for the addition of St. Justin’s name and signing it with Vocationist Father Louis Caputo, the sanctuary’s director. The Bishop also blessed a life-sized statue of St. Justin, who has a connection to the Paterson Diocese. The statue is located to one side of the altar in the sanctuary’s main chapel, where the noon Mass was celebrated. At the foot of the statue stood a small reliquary with a relic of St. Justin.
“I thank God to know St. Justin, such a great saint,” said Father Louis, who lived in community with St. Justin in Pianura, Italy, while studying for the priesthood. He also was one of five local Vocationist priests, who witnessed Pope Francis canonize St. Justin in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on May 15. “St. Justin is a saint for our time. He engaged in positive thinking. He would say, ‘Always more, always better, always forward, and always upward.’ He promoted universal sainthood — that we are all called to be holy. We can get to God through St. Justin,” he said.
With the chapel doors open to the noon day heat, the congregation filled the worship space, including neighboring clergy and faithful and priests, brothers, and sisters of the Vocationist order, dedicated to promoting vocations all over the world. Some of them serve the sanctuary. Also attending was Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio of the Brooklyn Diocese, where Bishop Sweeney previously served as a priest and the vocations director. Reflecting this multicultural faith community, hymns and prayers were sung and recited in English and Spanish.
In his homily, Bishop Sweeney thanked God for St. Justin and the Vocationists for their “care for this beautiful and holy shrine, where people can come in prayer and say, ‘yes,’ to their vocation.
“The Lord continues to call us. St. Justin reminds us of that. Like St. Justin, we need to help others respond to that call,” Bishop Sweeney said.
Perched on a hill, the sanctuary was built on 11.6 acres of wooded land on a bend at 252 Wantage Avenue as a peaceful out-of-the-way place to help visiting faithful get closer to Jesus through his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, the Vocationists lead the small but spirited community in a variety of spiritual activities. They include 6 p.m. daily Mass, confessions, Adoration, counseling, and Christian formation, including Bible courses, and retreats. After the Mass, the community opened St. Justin’s Way, a Stations of the Cross-style outdoor devotion that displays photos from the saint’s life, which the Bishop blessed.
The Vocationists are carrying on the mission of the late Father Sylvester J.M. Livolsi, a priest of the Newark Archdiocese, who started to build the sanctuary with his own hands and with help from 72 “associates.” On Aug. 3, 1975, Bishop Lawrence Casey blessed and dedicated the facility and named Father Livolsi its guardian and custodian. Over time, attendance increased, along with the need for more space, services and staff, according to the sanctuary’s website, https://sanctuaryofmary.org.
After Father Livolsi died on Feb. 16, 2008, the site remained closed until May 1, 2009, when members of the Society of Our Lady of the Blessed Trinity reopened it. After its members left in 2014, the sanctuary was closed. With the permission of Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli, the Vocationists reopened the sanctuary in 2019, Father Louis said.
“The people of the sanctuary are a dedicated community of faith,” Father Louis said. A team of faithful has paved the parking lot, and spruced up the outdoor Stations of the Cross. “Participation is growing,” Father Louis said.
St. Justin is connected to St. Rose of Lima Parish in East Hanover, in the Diocese because a parishioner, Gaetanina “Ida” Meloro, was healed of vaginal cancer in 1998 through his intercession. After an investigation initiated by the Diocese, it became the first miracle attributed to the Italian priest that helped lead to his beatification as Blessed Justin” in 2011 — a major step toward his sainthood. A second miracle needed for canonization happened in 2016, when Jean Emile Rasolfo of Madagascar was cured of acute respiratory failure, epilepsy and other serious maladies, after praying to St. Justin.
As a pastor in his hometown, St. Justin opened the rectory as a “vocationary,” where he formed men who could not afford seminary or were unsure of God’s call. In his teens, Father Louis lived in the vocationary in Pianura with St. Justin for two years before he died in 1955. He has published some of the saint’s books in Italian and English, wrote biographical information for his cause for sainthood, and attended his beatification, he said.
“Father Justin is my friend, my teacher, my inspiration, and my healer of my problems,” Father Louis said at the Mass. The priest was one of the first Vocationists to arrive in the U.S. in 1962. In 2017, a Quasi Province was established that serves parishes in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and New Jersey, including in Florham Park, where they run a vocationary.
Leading the ribbon cutting for St. Justin’s Way was Dave Smith, who coordinated the festivities and with his wife, Joanne, started attending Mass at the sanctuary in 2019 with the Vocationists.
“I love the simplicity of it — the Masses and everything. It’s very reverent. Father Louis’ homilies make me think about how to have a better relationship with God,” said Smith, a father of three. “St. Justin accompanies us on our journey, including those who feel God’s call. We need to surrender to Jesus and to God’s will,” he said.
Information: Father Louis Caputo (973) 722-7142.