Not everyone will be canonized a saint. In fact, a miniscule portion of Catholics are beatified let alone canonized.

However, all baptized persons are called by God to be saints in their daily lives, and that is the message of the Pro Sanctity Movement, a worldwide movement rooted in the Catholic faith and dedicated to promoting the universal call to holiness in everyday life.

According to its mission statement, the organization “seeks to address the needs of the mind with theology, the heart with spirituality, and the hands with ministry. It is open to all especially those who wish to deepen their commitment to God and share with others their holiness.”

In 2014, the movement will enjoy a year of holiness in honor of its founder, Servant of God Bishop Guglielmo Giaquinta. He was born in Noto, Italy on June 25, 1914, so the yearlong celebration will commemorate his 100th birthday.

The celebration began Nov. 1 on All Saints Day, which Bishop Giaquinta designated as the “Day of Universal Sanctification.” Each year, the local chapter of the Pro Sanctity Movement, which is headquartered at St. Kevin’s Church, Flushing, holds a special Mass on or around All Saints Day to remind its members of the call to sainthood.

Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto, who also serves as the episcopal moderator for the Pro Sanctity Movement, celebrated the Day of Universal Sanctification Mass Nov. 9 at St. Margaret’s Church, Middle Village. Concelebrants included Msgr. Steven Aguggia, pastor of St. Margaret’s; Father John Costello, administrator at St. Kevin’s; and Archbishop Philip Wilson, who was visiting from the Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia.

“Everybody who is baptized is called to become holy, and the vocation of every baptized person is really to become a saint,” said Msgr. Aguggia, local spiritual advisor for the movement. “The Pro Sanctity Movement tries to encourage and promote this idea.”

The center in Flushing – Pro Sanctity East – is one of three main Pro Sanctity centers in the U.S. The national center is based in Elkhorn, Neb., and Pro Sanctity West is located in Fullerton, Calif. The movement hosts adult and youth retreats, activities for families, service opportunities, sacraments and celebrations, and days of prayer and adoration.

“The movement is dedicated to really making people aware that holiness is a possibility for each and every person,” Bishop Chappetto said. “In the ordinary circumstances of everyday life is where we find God calling us to reflect the love of Jesus and to bring Jesus’ message to every situation.”

Founding the Movement

Bishop Giaquinta was ordained a priest in 1939. In the aftermath of World War II, he saw the need to minister to Italian youth by providing a means to spread the universal call to holiness. On May 1, 1947, he founded the Pro Sanctity Movement – believing that holiness could be found in everyday life and that men and women of all vocations were called to be saints.

“The saint is a person who sees his or her life as a vessel, seeking to be filled,” Bishop Giaquinta wrote. “One who has tasted the love of God and hungers for more; a person in need of others, in order to give without measure; being immersed in the present yet anticipating eternity.”

The movement honors Our Lady of Trust as the patroness of the Pro Sanctity Family. Bishop Giaquinta studied in the Major Seminary in Rome, where he developed a fond devotion to Our Lady of Trust.

“We believe that Our Lady of Trust is the true model of holiness, so we look to her to form ourselves in holiness,” said Donna Spoto, local director for Pro Sanctity East.

Bishop Giaquinta was ordained a bishop in 1968 – fittingly on All Saints Day. In his homily, Bishop Chappetto spoke of how Bishop Giaquinta, who passed away in 1994, loved the saints and how the movement’s founder was a prophet for Vatican II.

Long before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that stated that all people are called to holiness, Bishop Giaquinta had been promoting that revolutionary idea for quite some time.

Throughout the year, the movement unites around three main celebrations. In addition to the annual Day of Universal Sanctification in November, the movement celebrates Our Lady of Trust during the weekend before Ash Wednesday and Founder’s Day in June to commemorate Bishop Giaquinta’s birthday.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Pro Sanctity center was originally established at St. Barbara’s Church, Bushwick, before moving to Our Lady of Miracles parish, Canarsie, where then-Father Chappetto was assigned 30 years ago. Now, the movement has groups located at several parishes throughout the diocese: St. Kevin’s; St. Margaret’s; Our Lady of Miracles; St. Mary Mother of Jesus, Bensonhurst; St. Fidelis, College Point; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Williamsburg.

Pro Sanctity Family

The movement is driven by members of the Secular Institute of Apostolic Oblates, lay consecrated women who take their vows to the apostolate of the Pro Sanctity Movement. They are the animators of the movement and keep it alive and growing.

“God calls us in our situation to be saints – as a mother, as a brother, as a sister, as a worker, as a teacher,” said Angela Di Paola, an apostolic oblate who was a former co-director of the local movement. “Every day, God invites us to do more. The more we give to God, the more He asks of us.”

“We are all saints in the making because in Heaven, everybody’s a saint, so if you want to go to Heaven, it’s better to be saints here on Earth,” said Agnes Rus, an apostolic oblate who also spoke about the similarities between the Pro Sanctity Movement’s mission and Pope Francis’ emphasis on coming to know Jesus Christ through one’s “head, heart and hands.”

In addition to the apostolic oblates, the Pro Sanctity Family also includes social animators, who are men dedicated to spreading holiness in everyday life; sodales, diocesan priests dedicated to the movement; cooperatives, married women responsible for the structure of the movement; and associates, those who completed the Pro Sanctity School of Initial Formation.

The past year was the first year of the School of Formation, which gives students the “tools of inferiority” to learn about their relationship with God, how to pray and how to take the call to daily holiness seriously.

“[The movement] helped me grow in understanding God’s word and passing the message onto others,” said Rosa Charles, a Pro Sanctity member and parishioner at St. Jude’s, Canarsie.

Bishop Giaquinta often spoke of how God loves his followers to the maximum, and He thus calls His flock to live out the principle of the maximum.

“We are called to love God to our maximum, and oftentimes we settle for loving at a mediocre level,” said Msgr. Andrew Vaccari, pastor of St. Mary Mother of Jesus and the national spiritual advisor of the movement. “And really the maximum calls us to be full, be enthusiastic, be loving in our response. Doing God’s will is at the heart to the call to holiness.”

“Bishop Giaquinta was an amazing guy,” said Nina Riti, a former co-director of the movement and a parishioner at Our Lady of Miracles. “He asked us to do the maximum, not the minimum. We’re a society of minimalists.”

Bishop Chappetto said that a “saint” is someone who does not give up and is never satisfied with half measures.

“In your spiritual walk, you need a little bit more than just going to church on Sundays,” said Jean Taylor, a Pro Sanctity member from St. Jude’s. “[Pro Sanctity] helps you live your ordinary life but doing it in extraordinary ways.”

“[Pro Sanctity] helped me increase my spirituality and understand more about the Word of God and be helpful to my brothers and sisters in Christ,” said Sonia Charlot, a Pro Sanctity member from Our Lady of Miracles. “I just try to be a better leader and help my community in the best way possible that I can.”

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Upcoming Events

In addition to a community outreach program around the holidays, the Pro Sanctity Movement will host upcoming events, including a Pro Sanctity Mission at St. Kevin’s from Dec. 1-3; Festival of Faith for children, ages three through nine, at Our Lady of Angels Church, Bay Ridge, on Nov. 16 and Dec. 21, 4-6 p.m.; the Lenten Pro Sanctity Retreat at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, L.I., led by Father Costello, March 21-23, 2014; and the Year of Founder Pilgrimage to Sicily, Rome and Assisi, June 17-28, 2014.

The movement holds weekly events at its member parishes, including Spanish services at St. Fidelis.

For more information, call the Pro Sanctity Center at St. Kevin’s at 718-649-0324; e-mail prosanctitynewyork@verizon.net; or visit the local website at www.nyprosanctity.org.