Beato Alberto Marvelli

October 5 is the feast of Blessed Alberto Marvelli.  Layman
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From the Vatican website:
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Alberto was very athletic and loved all kinds of sports, especially bicycling; this was providential, because it enabled him to carry out his future apostolate and works of charity and assistance.
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In October 1933, following the unexpected death of his father on 7 March of that same year, Alberto began to keep a spiritual diary at age 15 in which he detailed his daily schedule: "I rise as early as possible each morning, as soon as the alarm rings; a half-hour of meditation every day, not to be neglected except for circumstances out of my control; half an hour at least dedicated to spiritual reading; Mass every morning and Holy Communion as regularly as possible; confession once a week normally and frequent spiritual direction; daily recitation of the Rosary and Angelus at noon".
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When he was only 18, Alberto was elected president of Catholic Action. At Bologna University where he continued his studies, he was active in the Catholic organization, in addition to directing his Catholic Action group in Rimini. Every Saturday, upon returning home, he would give lectures, visit the poor and prepare programmes for the upcoming days. His primary concern was the plight of the poor.

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Alberto graduated in 1941 with a degree in engineering and left immediately for military service, only to be exempted from it after a few months because two of his brothers were already in service.
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Upon his return to Rimini, he was elected diocesan vice-president of Catholic Action. He began teaching in a high school, devoting his time to designing projects, to prayer (he was especially devoted to the Eucharist) and to helping the sick and poor.
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During the Second World War, the Marvelli family was forced to move to Vergiano, seven kilometres from Rimini, because of the devastating air raids. After each bombing, however, at the risk of his own life, Alberto returned to the city to help the wounded, dying and homeless.
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He gave to the poor what he had collected or bought with his own money: food, clothing, mattresses and blankets. Then, on his bicycle, he would carry what he could and distribute it to the needy. Sometimes he returned home without his shoes or even without a bicycle, all because he had given them to the neediest he met that day.
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During the German occupation, Alberto was able to save many people from deportation to the concentration camps, courageously freeing them from the sealed carriages of the trains that were ready to leave the station of Santarcangelo.
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After the liberation of Rimini on 23 September 1945, the Marvelli family returned to the city, now in ruins and without running water, electricity or sanitation.
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On the evening of 5 October 1946, as Alberto was cycling to attend a meeting for the local elections, for which he was a candidate, he was run over by an army truck and died a few hours later without regaining consciousness. He was 28 years old. - ALBERTO MARVELLI (1918-1946)

Pictures at an exhibition.

Blessed Alberto Marvelli, T. Nelson  2012

The painting shown here was accepted for show at an annual juried art festival at Cross View Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota.  The exhibit remains open through May 13.

A few of my readers were interested in how the image turned out, so I visited the exhibit today and took this photo.  My apologies for how the photo turned out.  I think if you click on the image you may see a blurrier close up. 

The frame is painted as an extension of the panel.  The background is meant to resemble deteriorated fresco, with images of Our Lady, and Christ.  The decay represents the ruin of WWII.  The street scene is from Rimini.  I also painted a sort of holy card image of St. Gemma, one of Marvelli's patrons.  Marvelli was active in WWII, and afterwards, because of his engineering skills, played a role in planning and rebuilding Rimini, which had been nearly destroyed in the war.  Marvelli died after a bike accident at the age of 28 in 1946.

Saints and Blessed for Today ...

Among them, my special patron, Blessed Alberto Marvelli.

Blessed Albert Marvelli

Alberto Marvelli was born at Ferrari on 21st March 1918, the second of seven brothers. Later, he began to attend the Salesian Oratory. He was always available and became a catechist and leader: the Salesians’ right arm. He loved to play all kinds of sports. He joined the Oratory group for Catholic Action soon becoming its parish president. In June 1942 he graduated from college as an engineer and began working with Fiat in Turin. He did his military service and succeeded in bringing many of his friends to Mass. During the Second World War he became an apostle amongst displaced persons and a real source of providence for the poor. His Marian and Eucharistic devotion really were the supporting columns in his life: “What a new world opens up to me contemplating Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament”, he wrote in his diary. Each time I receive Holy Communion, each time Jesus in his divinity and humanity enters into me, in contact with my soul, it awakens holy ideas in me, a burning and consuming flame, but one that makes me so happy!”. He died when he was hit by an army truck on October 5th 1946. He was, as Don Bosco wanted, a good Christian and upright citizen, committed to the Church and society with a Salesian heart. As a youth his motto was: We go forward or we die. - Bosc.org

Tomba B. Alberto Marvelli

I also found this prayer card here.

Praise God in his angels and his saints!

Bl. Alberto, pray for us.

Other patrons whose feast is today:

St. Faustina, pray for us.
St. Placid, pray for us.
Bl. Raymond Capua, pray for us.
Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, pray for us.
Bl. Bartolo Longo, pray for us.

Beato Marvelli

October 5

A single layman.
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Blessed Alberto Marvelli, known in life as an engineer and charitable worker, lived from 1918 to 1946 in the diocese of Rimini, Italy. Like his mentor, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Alberto lived a short life, dying at the age of 28. 
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His spirituality, completely free of exaggeration, was perfectly integrated with his daily duties and obligations. His charity reflected that of the good Samaritan, pointed out by our Lord in the Gospel. Alberto dedicated himself to the apostolate sharing in the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Especially during and after the war, Alberto was at the service of the poor and suffering.
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In his youth Alberto was friends with the famous film maker, Frederico Fellini.  Shortly after his beatification, I looked with renewed interest at  a couple of my favorite Fellini films and noted how the director frequently relied upon Catholic devotion and practice to tell his stories.  As a recent commentary by Dr. David A. King suggests, Fellini's Catholicism was deeply woven into his work: Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ Emphasizes Catholic Truths.  I wonder if Blessed Alberto would have lived if the two would have remained friends?  I rather think so, despite the fact sections of Fellini's work were more or less 'indexed' by Vatican censors at the time.   
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Bl. Alberto's spiritual friends included St. Gemma Galgani, for whom he had a tender devotion and drew inspiration for his deep love of the passion of Christ. He also had an ardent Eucharistic piety. His communions seemed to enrapture his soul and kept him joined to Jesus for a long time in thanksgiving.
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Marvelli kept a diary since the age of 15 which reveals many details about his life. In one entry he wrote, "What a great deal of work is needed in this world which is so far from Christ; it is necessary for us to offer sacrifices; we must act to the utmost of our strength to make Christ known and loved. It is the call of duty we are urged by, and we are obliged to realize it."
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Bl. Alberto prayed for the grace to be able to practice acts of mercy:  “Jesus give me a bit of Thy infinite love for men and their miseries, of Thy endless and supernatural ardour of apostolate”.
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Alberto was killed on October 5, 1946 after being hit by a truck while on his way to the aid of a poor family.
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Link: Beato Alberto Marvelli, Diocesi di Rimini

Blessed Alberto Marvelli

A single layman.
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Blessed Alberto Marvelli, known in life as an engineer and charitable worker, lived from 1918 to 1946 in the diocese of Rimini, Italy. Like his mentor, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Alberto lived a short life, dying at the age of 28. 
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His spirituality, completely free of exaggeration, was perfectly integrated with his daily duties and obligations. His charity reflected that of the good Samaritan, pointed out by our Lord in the Gospel. Alberto dedicated himself to the apostolate sharing in the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Especially during and after the war, Alberto was at the service of the poor and suffering.
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In his youth Alberto was friends with the famous film maker, Frederico Fellini.  Shortly after his beatification, I looked with renewed interest at  a couple of my favorite Fellini films and noted how the director frequently relied upon Catholic devotion and practice to tell his stories.  As a recent commentary by Dr. David A. King suggests, Fellini's Catholicism was deeply woven into his work: Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ Emphasizes Catholic Truths.  I wonder if Blessed Alberto would have lived if the two would have remained friends?  I rather think so, despite the fact sections of Fellini's work were more or less 'indexed' by Vatican censors at the time.   
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Bl. Alberto's spiritual friends included St. Gemma Galgani, for whom he had a tender devotion and drew inspiration for his deep love of the passion of Christ. He also had an ardent Eucharistic piety. His communions seemed to enrapture his soul and kept him joined to Jesus for a long time in thanksgiving.
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Marvelli kept a diary since the age of 15 which reveals many details about his life. In one entry he wrote, "What a great deal of work is needed in this world which is so far from Christ; it is necessary for us to offer sacrifices; we must act to the utmost of our strength to make Christ known and loved. It is the call of duty we are urged by, and we are obliged to realize it."
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Bl. Alberto prayed for the grace to be able to practice acts of mercy:  “Jesus give me a bit of Thy infinite love for men and their miseries, of Thy endless and supernatural ardour of apostolate”.
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Alberto was killed on October 5, 1946 after being hit by a truck while on his way to the aid of a poor family.
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Link: Beato Alberto Marvelli, Diocesi di Rimini

What I've been doing...

Madonna Street Shrine

acrylic on scrap wood

2022

 

Madonna

2022

Bl. Alberto Marvelli

acrylic on panel

2022

Beato Marvelli

2022

Blessed Alberto Marvelli

1918 - 1946

March 21 is the birthday of Alberto Marvelli.  I'm working on a painting of him which is taking very much time.  It was to be an icon - or in that style - but I decided to do something different - although I will do a gold nimbus.  The background is heavily distressed, simulating old fresco - but not exactly.  I've layered many glazes over images that are a sort of painted collage.  I have a friend who paints and uses collage, a style I like, but I opted for painting in the images and texture of fresco - which is why it is taking so long.  The background is more or less finished, so today I begin the actual image of the saint.   

Blessed Alberto Marvelli

Today is the feast day of Blessed Alberto Marvelli.  The reason I prefer lay saints is because they demonstrate that we can attain sanctity in and through ordinary life...   And they didn't do it by endlessly trying to figure out what God wanted them to do. 



 

Remembering Blessed Alberto Marvelli

October 5 is the anniversary of his death.

Today is also his feast day. The reason I favor lay saints is because they demonstrate that we can attain sanctity in and through ordinary life... And they didn't do it by endlessly trying to figure out what God wanted them to do.  They lived each day recognizing the will of God in the present moment... whatever the circumstances of their life.

Marvelli kept a diary since the age of 15 which reveals many details about his life. In one entry he wrote, "What a great deal of work is needed in this world which is so far from Christ; it is necessary for us to offer sacrifices; we must act to the utmost of our strength to make Christ known and loved. It is the call of duty we are urged by, and we are obliged to realize it."
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Bl. Alberto prayed for the grace to be able to practice acts of mercy: “Jesus give me a bit of Thy infinite love for men and their miseries, of Thy endless and supernatural ardour of apostolate”.

Alberto was struck by a military truck and killed on October 5, 1946, while on his way to the aid of a poor family.

Today is also the anniversary of the death of St. Faustina.  Her story here.

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper looks like Alberto Marvelli.

Bradley Cooper should play Blessed Alberto Marvelli in a film.

Are there Catholic script writers or film makers?  Do they do anything besides talk about film?

The Marvelli is finished.

Tondelli is next.

Photo: Comune di Rimini

Remembering Blessed Alberto Marvelli

Blessed Alberto, pray for us.

He reminded me that today is his birthday.

I did a drawing of him once.

So anyway...

It's Holy Saturday - some totally random thoughts.

I finished the icon-style painting I made of Blessed Alberto Marvelli.  I still have to 'varnish' the panel, but I laid the gold leaf last night.  My Lenten work is complete... which brings me to the emptiness of Holy Saturday.  The feeling of being a useless servant, having only done my duty - and not very well at that. 

The reason we seek diversions and satisfactions in life is because of our fear of annihilation - the silence of Holy Saturday reminds me of that.

I went to my local parish for Holy Thursday.  It was rather strange.  I'm good with just reading the Gospel of the washing of the feet - but the Church makes the call to do it - although I think maybe the practice should be limited to the cathedrals.  Anyway.  At my parish I had no idea that the custom is to wash one another's feet.  Personally I don't care if they wash cat's feet, it really doesn't seem necessary.  I'm just fine with not following the rubrics and washing women's feet - for 'pastoral reasons' of course - I know!  I'm just not into the performance aspect.  But I digress.

So they washed each other's feet, which meant many pitchers of water and a whole lot of musical chairs style action going on.  Perhaps it was meaningful to the people who had their feet washed, I don't know.  Watching the whole spectacle is what inspired my thoughts about washing cat's feet - you would only need three cats to have twelve feet - although, since half the congregation went forward for the foot bath, it was a lot more than twelve feet.  Confused?  Me too.  But I don't care because I was there for the Mass.

After Mass, the Blessed Sacrament was reposed in an unadorned tabernacle, on an unadorned altar of repose - very Cistercian I thought.  The doors were left open.  A few people remained for adoration, but soon left.  The doors remained open.  I remained somewhat longer, but left as I heard the doors of the Church being locked - I wanted to stay, but I was sure the tabernacle would be moved into the sacristy, and I didn't want to watch how that was done - better not to look.  It was 9 PM.  The doors remained open on the tabernacle as I left.

All in all, it was a very odd experience.  I try to roll with stuff - I've always been like that.  It is what it is - it was my experience of Holy Thursday - the holiness of the night wasn't affected in the least - for me.  I don't like it when people decry the abuses and proclaim the rubrics, while condemning the ministers and congregants.  Especially while people are trying to pray.  And since I was trying to pray, I decided not to go back to my parish church until after Easter.

Oh.  Comments remain closed by the way.  I sort of just want to say what I want to say and be done with it. 

With comments closed, I'm not tempted to worry as much about pleasing people, or choosing my words as carefully.  (I also don't have to drop everything just to check comments.)  Someone, somewhere, wrote something about Merton and his concerns about writing and seeking self through it: seeking approval, recognition and reputation, and so on.  It reminded me of what Christ said to the Pharisees, "How can you believe when you accept praise from one another?"

I do that both with my painting and my writing.  We all do it.  The beautiful posts by religious people over the triduum - we all do it.  Everything we do is corrupted by self-interest and pride - seeking praise from one another.

Someone suggested to me that advertising revenue on one's blog goes up in proportion to the hits they receive.  Some blogs are like brothels in that respect.

Whatever. 

Holy Saturday is emptiness and pain... it is reality. 

Sometimes I have the strange experience of watching a young actor or actress, whose talent I admire and whose career holds promise, and I think, "I'll never live to see how their lives turn out."  Unlike the famous people I knew of while growing up, following their careers until they died - I won't know how the 'new one's' lives will turn out.  I imagine it is similar to the feeling a parent has with a child - knowing that they will probably die before them.  Or a lover who lost his beloved.  We won't know because death will do us part and no one will remember us after we are gone...  "Our life is over like a sigh. Our span is seventy years or eighty for those who are strong. And most of these are emptiness and pain."

That's Holy Saturday.  (Christ already rose from the dead you know.)

Art:  L'attraction du vide (The attraction of emptiness) - Gilbert Garcin

Remembering Two Holy Men for March.

Faithful models of holiness in ordinary life.
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It is the end of March and I forgot to write about one of my patrons, Blessed Alberto Marvelli.  His birthday was March 21, but I misread the autobiography I have in Italian and I transposed his age at death with the date of his birth - so I was waiting until March 28 to write about him.  Naturally, checking his stats, I realized my mistake.  Confused?  So am I.
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However, a very holy young man from these parts, who could be a canonized saint one day, was born in March and also died in March - March 20, 2000.  Charles Untz.  I was reminded of him while reading The Little Way blog.  It appears that devotion to Charles is spreading.  (His memorial card shown above.)  To learn more about him visit his family's website dedicated to Charles, My Lady's Knight.
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Blessed Alberto and Charles, pray for us and with us.  Amen.

Let's dance...

Murphy's Law

If I remember correctly, this was hot sometime in the early '80's. (1982)

I am working so hard on a painting that I forget to eat and I can't sleep.  I need a break!  My neck is kinked, my hands are aching, my brain is... what brain?

So if I haven't answered your emails - tell it to Alberto Marvelli - because he is not making it easy to capture his likeness.  

The attraction of the saints...

Faces of holiness.
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While I worked in retail, one of the qualifications I looked for in sales associates was friendliness, intelligence and good looks.  Upper management sometimes thought I was kidding - but I was convinced that the attractiveness and friendliness of the person attending the customers was very important.  I worked for a religious goods company and therefore I was convinced good looking, pleasant, friendly guys, who also knew the faith and their merchandise was vitally important to grow the business and attract priests from around the State.  I often said, "men are attracted to men".  And it is not a gay thing at all.  I experienced it myself growing up.  As a young man I could get in to to see just about any priest or bishop (or prioress too) I wanted, and I was frequently invited to dinner or a show - which I usually declined BTW. 
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I'm only saying this by way of introduction to my post here.  Attractive people attract people - now that I'm old and ugly, I'm invisible.  But I digress.  Nevertheless, attractive saints attract devotees and clients - clients are persons who attach themselves to a particular saint, regularly asking for favors, following their example, and so on.  The saint in turn leads them to a more devout life and aids them in becoming holy.  Sometimes divine providence attracts us to a particular saint by natural means - just as we are attracted to friends on earth.  For instance, St. Gemma and Bl. Pier Giorgio are two very attractive saints.
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Saints for outsiders.
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You will notice in my sidebar I usually have posted a couple young, attractive saints.  These guys not only appeal to young and old lay people alike, but guys - and some of these guys may be same-sex attracted for reasons deeper than friendship.  In fact, a friend of mine, Jamie Becker, a fellow artist, formerly a marketing VP at Marshall Field's/Macy's, was interested enough in the saints in my sidebar to inquire and read about them.  My friend is Jewish.
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Jamie chose Pier Girorgio to paint, although he included Jacques Fesch and Alberto Marvelli in the composition (shown above), along with images of men and boys either murdered for being gay, or imprisoned, ostracized, and executed for being so.  I asked him what he wanted to say by the painting.  He just told me he did not understand why the Church canonizes some single men, or declares some to be martyrs, yet refuses to honor gay men like those hanged to death in Muslim countries, or victims of gay bashing elsewhere.  More deeply, he may have been wondering about a lot more... like, 'how can a young man remain sinless?' - Psalm 119: 11
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The attraction of Catholicism.
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Now any knowledgeable Catholic might react to such a misunderstanding and jump to their feet to explain in no uncertain terms that these saints, Pier Giorgio, Alberto, Jacques, and others are not gay, while proceeding to instruct my friend exactly why a saint is made a saint, or a martyr is a martyr.  Nevertheless, Jamie was very sincere in asking the question and I sensed a very deep respect on his part, the very question revealed a great deal about his sensitivity to the subject.  He once told me he would like to pray but he didn't know how.  Another time he said he didn't believe in God.  On his way to Paris recently, I told him if the plane crashes to "tell God you are sorry for all your sins and ask him to take you to heaven" - he responded, "but I don't have any sins".   I laughed and told him - "just say it anyway".  So you see, there is something quite sincere and loving in this man, and he is made for God's love.  He promised to visit Rue de Bac and light a candle for me while he is living in Paris.
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Anyway - aside from the politics and controversies which surround Catholic teaching, and often embroil our relationships with one another, many of the individuals involved are not necessarily out to get us.  As Jamie's painting demonstrates - sometimes they are just trying to figure us out, while sorting through an awful lot of stuff themselves.  Sometimes non-religious people just want to know why we believe and live according to Church teaching when it is often so inconvenient to do so... frequently remaining the outsider, stranger and pilgrim - even amongst Catholics.
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Truth is...
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Of course I respectfully tried to explain, though the murder of homosexual men is unjust, they cannot be considered martyrs, or canonized by the Church.  Saints are made saints because of their heroic virtue and because they example the Christian life and teaching.  Martyrs are martyrs because they suffered for the faith, their death is their witness to Christ and the Gospel.  The Martyrs of Uganda are saints because they refused to submit to homosexual sin.  Though St. Sebastian has been adopted by gay people as a patron (his physique plays a big part here), he was martyred out of hatred for the faith.  Martyrs of chastity were killed because they resisted sexual sin, and so on.  Of course, he already knew that. 
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The truth is hard to accept sometimes, and it is only obtained by long labor and study and prayer... to paraphrase Dostoevsky.  But 'love is the teacher... and we must love not occasionally, for a moment, but forever.' 
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Art:  Blessed Pier Girorgio Frassati - Jamie Becker, 2010
Acrylic and collage on canvas.  Approx. 36"x30"

Painting

The Garden of Death -  Hugo Simberg

I'm trying to paint.  I told myself I would do an icon-style painting of Blessed Alberto Marvelli, and I did the drawing and the transfer onto the panel, but I cannot tie myself down to painting something quite so carefully as such a project requires right now.  I haven't painted in over a month.  Part of my neurosis is that I allow myself to become intimidated after going so long without painting.  I lose my focus and can't figure out what to do - and i think everything is worthless.  I spiral down from there. 

Yesterday I decided to paint something fun instead of something so serious as a saint.

Turns out I'm painting a priest levitating holding his tablet, and maybe a cell phone - just for fun - no studies, no drawings - just an untrained amateur painting without rules.

The art shown here is Finnish, it is a detail from a fresco in a cathedral, by 19th century painter Hugo Simberg. 

Divine Mercy

Jesus, I trust in you.

Usually I try to post something on the novena to Divine Mercy, but this year I was distracted ...

I did not forget to begin the novena on Good Friday however.  If you forgot, it is never too late to join in.  It ends on Sunday, the Feast of Divine Mercy.  Keep in mind that praying the chaplet of Divine Mercy is the essential prayer of the novena - our intentions may be the same as St. Faustina's, or we may make our own.

The devotion also requires us to show mercy to one another.  Our Lord told Faustina:

I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me.  You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere.  You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it. [Diary, 742]
 

Blessed Alberto Marvelli always prayed, "for the grace to be merciful to others."

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors souls and come to their rescue. - St. Faustina

“What is the cross that the Lord has given me?"

Felipe Passos

"What is the cross that he wants me to carry for his love?”

A young man in a wheel chair asked three million people to ask themselves that question as silence came over Copacabana.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jul 27, 2013 / 07:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The young Brazilian Felipe Passos moved the hearts of three million World Youth Day participants, including Pope Francis himself, when he told the story of how he became bound to a wheelchair and discovered “the Cross.” 

Felipe, 23, spoke at the World Youth Day prayer vigil July 27 at Copacabana Beach.
He told how at the end of the past World Youth Day, held in Madrid in 2011, he made two spiritual promises. He promised to stay chaste until marriage and to work hard so his prayer group of Ponta Grossa, in Brazil’s southern state of Paraná, could participate in this year’s World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. 

With few resources, Felipe and his friends began saving money by working several hard jobs at the same time that they prepared themselves spiritually: praying, adoring the Blessed Sacrament, fasting and doing works of solidarity. 

Then a horrible thing happened. 

“In January of this year, two days before turning 23, two youths entered my house, armed, to rob the money we had gathered with so much sacrifice,” said Felipe. 

“I thought of the months of great efforts, of my family’s sacrificing, of my friends and colleagues… in what would have been snatched from us and I decided I would not give it,” he added July 27. 

Felipe saved the savings of the group, but received a gunshot wound that almost ended his life. 

“I was clinically dead, I had several cardiac arrests, and the doctor told my parents in the hospital ‘this boy has no hope,’ but I’m here and my community is here because of God’s mercy,” remarked Felipe. 

In front of a shocked crowd and in front of Pope Francis, who looked at him attentively, the Brazilian told how he was in coma, breathing through a tube, while his community offered prayer intentions and sacrifices so he would heal. 

Finally, when he became conscious, the first thing he did was ask for the Eucharist and after receiving it, he recovered rapidly. 

But Felipe, who was then bound to a wheelchair, stated “this is my cross, the cross the Lord sent me to come closer to him, to live more openly his grace and love.” 

When the three million youths broke out clapping, Felipe interrupted them.
“Silence!” he said. “Let’s listen to the Holy Spirit!” 

The 23-year-old then asked each of the youths present to take the cross they had hung around their neck, to hold it and look at it. 

Felipe invited them to meditate in silence on the questions: “What is the cross that the Lord has given me? What is the cross that he wants me to carry for his love?” - CNA

When the Holy Father said earlier that he wanted youth to stir things up, he scared people not accustomed to such language from the Pope.  The Pope wasn't calling for anarchy, but the commotion of the Holy Spirit.  He was calling young people - and the young at heart - to stir into flame the Living Flame of Love in their heart.  Stir up the embers of our faith into flame - that all may see.  To go out into the marketplace, as Pope Benedict might say.

He is saying nothing new - simply speaking, calling in a new way.  Others have done the same.  The Holy Father points directly to St. Francis - who didn't set out to start an order but set out to serve those most in need, to share his faith and make love known and loved.  St. JoseMaria Escriva proposed an even simpler apostolate - to sanctify ordinary life.  So many today are examples of how to do this - from Felipe Passos to young men such as Thomas Peters.  Peters, now recovering from a terrible accident, from the start dedicated himself to the Gospel of Life - going out into the streets.  Literally.  (Most recently in the March for Marriage.)

We have other examples of such dedicated witness in the lives of modern saints.  I think of Bl. Pier Giorgio whose own family did not know the extent of his good works, his political activity, his service to the Church, his dedication to the poor.  They found out at his funeral when crowds of ordinary people gathered to pay their respects.  Later, we have Bl. Alberto Marvelli who dedicated himself to helping the poor and rebuilding Rimini after WWII.  These were ordinary lay men who didn't wait for someone to come along and recruit them, but laid aside their lives, rolled up their sleeves - shouldered their cross, as it were - and sacrificed themselves for the Gospel. 

I'm convinced these are just a couple of examples of what the Pope is talking about when he says to 'shake things up'.

I might be wrong, but I don't think we should worry about how the Pope said it, rather just accept it - and "just do it".

But first ask: “What is the cross that the Lord has given me? What is the cross that he wants me to carry for his love?”

Then do it.