Blessed Alberione on Movies

Blessed James Alberione is the first Blessed who directed, produced and acted in a film. The film was Mary - a full length feature. Mother Thecla Merlo was Anna and Blessed Alberione was a priest baptising a baby. This film has been restored in Italian.

Useful for the understanding of the unity between spirituality and apostolate is the affirmation contained in an exhortation of 4 June 1960 to the Daughters of Saint Paul to sensitize them to the apostolate of cinema: “Our concerns must be two: save ourselves and save, save the cinema! What a great thing: redemption that is applied even in this area! That cinema be truly Christian, that teaching be that of the Church (...) Perhaps we have not yet paused enough to meditate about this in front of the Lord and to make a course of exercises about this mission”.26

A course of exercises to meditate before the Lord on the urgency of the apostolate of cinema: this helps us to understand better the style of Fr. Alberione! Fr. Sassi, Superior General

25 Alle Figlie di San Paolo, Spiegazione delle Costituzioni, 273. 3.5.

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