SION NEWS. Contemplatives Meeting in Ein Karem

Transcription

1 N. 49 Special Edition December 2008 SION NEWS Contemplatives Meeting in Ein Karem Here is the Special Edition of Sion News from the Contemplatives. The meeting happened in Ein Karem, but all of us who were there, experienced the gathering as a meeting of all the contemplatives. The ones left at home had been so much a part of the 18 months preparation that we felt their strong presence amongst us. Marta and I had the privilege of facilitating and focusing this meeting and what amazing and moving moments of grace we experienced. They entered with great faith into a time of communal discernment, that was truly inspiring. Every community was affected by some changes that had to be made both in personnel and in their way of life for the sake of life and the Branch. Each one presented herself so generously available for whatever or wherever she was needed. There was a recognition that each community was living faithful to its call in a specific way in this 21st century, and at this particular time of transition in the congregation. They called one another to live more deeply their silence and contemplation and also their commitment to closer links with us apostolic sisters. We laughed and wept with them as we experienced their and our joy and pain during these grace-filled days. They are praying with all of us that the grace of this meeting will be a true moment of grace and witness for the whole congregation. Maureen Nostra Signora di Sion Via Garibaldi Roma - Italia Tel.: (39) (06) / Fax: (39) (06) sionsec@tin.it

2 PAGE 2 N. 49 Special Edition The Lord is passing... will you wait for another meeting? Why delay, take the path of life with Him. With this song we opened out meeting calling to mind the dates in October that marked Mother Christine and the beginnings of la Solitude. We have all committed ourselves to the path of life with joy and thanksgiving, even though some tears were also shed. We really experienced the fact that we are a branch living in the same spirit and sharing opened us to renewed life. Together, we affirmed that, we had to seek quality of life with the primacy of prayer and silence and the importance that each one be herself to live a responsible obedience. We met our apostolic sisters and our brothers of Sion and we wished to intensify our collaboration to go more deeply together into the charism of Sion. We recognized that each of our communities has its own character and place in our Branch. But how can we keep all our communities and at the same time reinforce those of Divina Pastora and Iasi that are a hope for life, but that cannot continue each with only two sisters? We realised that we could do so if we pooled our resources. A movement of sharing involving all our communities then took place: Sr Madalena Maria from Curitiba will go to Divina Pastora to make a community of three. Sr Jean François will finish her mandate as leader in Bartrès on 11 February. She will bring her precious help to the Curitiba community where she has already lived. Bartrès is really a privileged place of silence, beauty and peace, close to Lourdes. We would like to open it more to the whole Congregation. The community will to some extent be re-founded with only four sisters, including Sr Thérèse-Dominique from Ein Karem. We will resort to outside help for receiving guests, when necessary. Sr Monique Marie and Sr Pascale Marie, from Bartrès will go to Grandbourg, while Sr Marie Christine, from Grandbourg is awaited at Iasi to re-start the community in collaboration with our young apostolic sisters. Looking back at the hopes and fears expressed at the beginning of the meeting, we are astounded by the progress we made thanks to the spirit of trust that reigned amongst us, to the support of prayers from the community and especially from our sisters who are unwell... and to the action of the Holy spirit! We are deeply grateful to Sr Maureen who, with Sr Marta, led our meeting and its preparation, with faith, discretion and great competence. We were aware of fully occupying our place in Sion as a contemplative Branch. Sr Brigitte Agnès

3 N. 49 Special Edition PAGE 3 Dear Sisters, The daughters of Judah rejoice! the Sisters of the contemplative Branch do too... They return from the hills of Judea. What happened there? In the Congregation we all know that the Holy Spirit brings us together! So, in the spring of 2007, Sister Maureen called each one of us to start a year of renewal. At the same time, our Branch Council considered it necessary to start a reflection to examine together what our priorities were as a Branch and what our future might be, at least in the short term. This reflection was conducted in three stages: personal, community and then in exchanges between communities. At the end of this almost two year process, we met on 23 October 2008, the Branch Council and the community councils with Sr Maureen and Sr Marta. It was a joy to meet again in the wonderful context of Ein Karem where everything was in flower! We came from: Bartrès : Srs Jean François, Marie Brigitte, Pilar Curitiba : Srs Celia, Diva and Madalena-Maria, Divina Pastora : Srs Herminia and Janina, Grandbourg : Srs Gabriel Marie, Anne-Christine and Danielle-Thérèse Ein Karem: Srs Brigitte Agnès, Martine and Thérèse-Dominique, Iasi: Srs Dorothée and Claire-Elisabeth.

4 PAGE 4 N. 49 Special Edition We were warmly welcomed by the Sion apostolic and the Chemin Neuf communities. The presence amongst us of Srs Maureen and Marta was a joy and a blessing. They shared with us their refection on all the Provinces and on authority and power and invited us to situate ourselves on the tree of Sion. Throughout the meeting, they encouraged us and helped us to advance towards the unknown by opening us to the ways of the Holy Spirit. After the opening celebration recalling Mother Christine, Sr Brigitte Agnès pointed out that we had come to Ein Karem under the sign of the life that Mary and Elisabeth bore within them: That our communities do not seek to survive but to live to the full. We soon got down to work. Our days were punctuated by Lauds in the morning, the celebration of the Eucharist at mid day and a time for prayer-integration before the evening meal. The texts of the liturgy were light on our steps at the start: Stay ready for service, keep your lamps lit... be vigilant... and up to the last day : If it is true that in Christ we give each other comfort, if we encourage each other in love... then take the same measures, have the same feelings, seek unity. We shared our fears and our hopes. With a great freedom of speech, little by little the possibility of re-structuring our communities came to light, taking into account our ages and the life that must be encouraged in our younger foundations, Divina Pastora and Iasi. To enlighten our contemplative life, the presence of Mère Luc, former abbess of Pradines, spontaneous and full of common sense, served as a reference for us.

5 N. 49 Special Edition PAGE 5 Elio, our brother of Sion, did an excellent job with the translation: Portuguese-French/French- Portuguese/ English- Portuguese. We all appreciated his discrete and very fraternal presence. We could never forget him. As for Sr Marta, she provided the English to French translation, to our great admiration. And time to relax? Yes, on Sunday 26 October, Sion from Ein Karem took a bus and headed for Galilee! A wonderful day, the most remarkable moments being: after the Eucharist at Tabgha, Capharnaum and Sephoris, two places where it is possible to touch the peaceful cohabitation between Jews and Judeo-Christians during the first centuries. Elio was our guide.. very interesting and competent. Sr Maureen and Sr Marta left on the 31st. The next day, All saints day, the Eucharist and the meal that followed brought together the whole Sion family in Ein Karem. The last Sunday we spent in Jersualem: to be at the Holy Sepulchre on 2nd November was quite something! Srs Marie-Luc, Martine and Claudia guided us, perfectly at ease in the Old City streets. We stopped at Ecce Homo for a pleasant and friendly visit. How can we thank the Lord, the sisters and brothers, for this moment of grace we experienced together, where we were so much encouraged to forge ahead? On our trip going to Ein Karem we had a little sign from Sr Emmanuelle: on Wednesday 22 October our plane was flying very low, after taking off, over Notre Dame de Paris; it was just 3 p.m. and the ceremony to pay a last tribute to Sr Emmanuelle was beginning. We are sure she supported us during this meeting where, with her, we banished the word Stop and adopted her Yallah (forward)! A few sisters from Grandbourg and Ein Karem November 2008

6 PAGE 6 N. 49 Special Edition OPENING CELEBRATION 23 October 2008 We started our meeting by remembering the founding dates of the Solitude which were to mark these 10 days: - Song: Daughters of Sion, rejoice. 24 October 1910 A few days after what she called her great conversion (15 October) Mother Christine, who came from Costa Rica, Superior of the San José house, had a very strong mystical experience. She then felt she was called to a contemplative life: I had just been converted when I went on a retreat for a day or two to Tres Rios. It was in the small Chapel, in the evening, I was alone on 24 October; I was doing the Holy Hour, in the Garden of Olives when, well, how can I explain? My eyes went blank, but my soul saw Our Lord in agony, but in such a terrible agony [...] I understood that in giving us the Eucharist, He had given himself and exposed himself to all. I felt that I should not continue the same life, that I needed a more hidden life, more contemplative, more mortified. I thought it might be necessary to leave Sion, you can understand what that might have meant... - Song: The Lord is passing... Will you open when the stranger knocks? Can you allow the voice calling for your faith to die? The Lord is passing... Will you hear the Spirit of Jesus Christ? He has given you poverty to teach you to pray 25 October 1912 Mother Christine recognized that this call was not only for her, and she wrote to Mother Gonzales, Superior General: I have started my retreat by reading the new edition of the rule. I saw with great joy that the very wise modifications made in complement to certain points, have left intact the passage where Our Father had provided for the foundation of a contemplative house in Sion, in case Providence were to give the Congregation the necessary personnel and resources. It seems very strange to me to be led by God to talk to you about it ; but the more I delay, the more forcefully He tells me (at least, that is what I think I feel). [...] I am quite ready to be part of this house if you send me, just as I am quite ready to live here until I die, if you prefer; I have no personal stand in this matter. - Song: The Lord is passing... Will you extinguish the love that purifies? Will you flee from him and refuse to be the gold in the crucible? The Lord is passing Will you enter in his Eucharist? Remember that in his body he receives your death. 31 October 1926 This is the day the Church inaugurated the feast of Christ-King. Mother Christine started this new life in Sion with Sr Marie and Sr Désirée. These are the words with which our dearly beloved Mother General allowed us to start this new life:

7 N. 49 Special Edition PAGE 7 Let all this be done little by little, gently, silently and simply; not at all like a new foundation, but simply like religious women of Sion following the indications of the Constitutions that provided for a branch with the same aim, the same spirit, but replacing active work with more prayer, a more austere cloister, the great office, more mortification. It is not a tree we are planting nearby, it is a fruit ripening on the tree of Sion. In reminding us that our branch has the same aim and the same spirit as Sion, Our Mother expresses our thoughts exactly... - Song: The Lord is passing... Will you dare let out a cry of joy? Christ is living, has risen, Who will let him in? The Lord is passing... Will you wait for another meeting? Why delay, take the path of life with Him. A message from Mother Christine: For the Future: Have Confidence Let us pray and act to achieve the best possible; to seek absolute perfection would be pure fantasy. Let us seek to content God. To conserve exquisite charity, freedom of spirit, simplicity. That God may be loved, adored, served by all, particularly by us and by Israel. - Song: The Lord is passing Will you dare let out a cry of joy? Christ is living, has risen, Who will let him in? The Lord is passing Will you wait for another meeting? Why delay, take the path of life with Him. Meeting of Contemplative and Apostolic Sisters We are happy to share a summary of the very rich exchanges we had between sisters and brothers of Sion on 28 October. First we met in our usual groups: Group 1 (Sr Jean-François, Sr Diva, Sr Martine, Sr Claire-Elisabeth), with Sr Anne-Catherine Group 2 (Sr Brigitte-Agnès, Sr Célia, Sr Gabriel-Marie, Sr Marie-Brigitte), with Fr Elio Group 3 (Sr Thérèse-Dominique, Sr Janina, Sr Danielle-Thérèse, Sr Pilar), with Fr Pierre Group 4 (Sr Madalena-Maria, Sr Herminia, Sr Dorothée, Sr Anne-Christine), with Sr Colette

8 PAGE 8 N. 49 Special Edition Then we shared the group reflections in plenary: Sr Anne-Catherine said that the contemplative sisters remind us that the vocation of each one of us is essentially contemplative: to contemplate the mystery of salvation of the Jews and Gentiles, the mystery of the election, the particular and the universal; finally, the mystery of God and his love for humanity; and it is fathomless. In Ein Karem we receive alot from Israeli Jews who ask us about our faith and who push us to express its essentials. Moreover, if they only saw us, they might conclude that being a religious is to devote ourselves right and left and even be quite agitated. When we talk to them about the presence of contemplatives and say it is essential, we say that they express the reason of our consecrated lives : the only motivation is God For us, contemplatives, our apostolic sisters are our voice, an extension of us, our opening on the daily life of this country. Br Elio said that too much pastoral activity is bad for the charism. Sion s apostolate requires a contemplative conscience, including for the apostolic branch: Brothers and Sisters. The Church has integrated what at the beginning we were alone to bear (cf. Nostra Aetate). Let us help it take a step further, by delving more deeply together. Sion is placed in contemplation of the Mystery created by the Christ event: Israel, still loved by God like before, and the Nations; mystery mentioned by Paul and that still remains a mystery. Sion must inhabit this Mystery. It is a question that is a topical theological subject. Consequently, let us meet together, Brothers, apostolic and contemplative sisters, in a manner and at a rhythm to be defined. Sion s mission in the Church must lead us to originality in life: liturgy, interpretation of the Word, teaching... With Br Pierre, we quite agree that the contemplative and apostolic aspects are two inseparable dimensions of our Sion vocation. Pierre tells us that the practice of the commandments and thus work is a means of knowing God. To be aware of this, of the link between any reality of this world and God, it is necessary to study (in the Jewish sense). Because we belong to Sion, we have to live in history, to take an interest in it, particularly with respect to what happens to the Jewish people as a whole (Israel and the Diaspora), to include it in our prayer; that people feel that we know what is going on. For Israel was chosen for the salvation of humanity. Suggestion from Pierre : Could we propose, in Ein Karem and in Divina Pastora, for example, the holding of contemplative retreats comprising study-prayer, sharing of spiritual reflections, inviting competent persons and supported by the apostolic Sisters? Pierre expressed the wish that in Israel we trust in the Israeli reality and that we set ourselves the objective of speaking Hebrew. Asking those who are studying to share their work is helpful. Sr Colette spoke of her conviction that while living the mystery of Israel differently, we are part of the same seed: The contemplatives carry the world in their hearts. We apostolic sisters, are more into doing, but all of us, and us apostolic sisters in Israel particularly, shine by what we bear within ourselves. Our apostolic life has a strong contemplative dimension and we feel supported by the prayer of our sisters. This reality apostolic and contemplative is a gift of God to the congregation. In the house council, (apostolic sisters + CCN + delegate from la Solitude) in which Sr Marie- Luc participates, this complementarity is very helpful. Our reflections, as contemplatives fit into what has just been reported. We can stress again that we see that collaboration is well under way between communities that are close because they are neighbours (more or less close by). We all want to intensify it in the direction of what we have shared.

9 N. 49 Special Edition PAGE 9 All Saints Day On 1 st November, Lauds brought us together at 7 am twenty Sisters from the Solitude!, followed by a joyful get-together and exchange of good wishes. Was it not indeed the feast of all the saints? At 11, the Eucharist was celebrated in the big chapel. The assembly was extended to the sisters of the region, to brothers Elio, José Maria and Reinaldo and to the Chemin Neuf community. José Maria, who is a deacon, assisted two of his priest friends, Christophe and Benoit, students at the Biblical School. The celebration took place in the different languages of our assembly, - French, Portuguese, Romanian and English. The celebration continued in the dining room, nicely prepared by the Chemin Neuf community with, for desert, a surprise : a birthday cake! This family meeting was indeed a very good opportunity to celebrate, somewhat in advance, the 50 years since the foundation of the Curitiba community. We particularly applauded Sr Bernadette Marie, representing the four founding members. Sr Marie Luc had composed a poem for the circumstance as only she could do going over the 50 years of life in Curitiba, for the joy of the whole assembly. Sr Martine and Fr Reinaldo then played a few Brazilian pieces on the flute and the guitar; Sr Madalena Maria played some of her compositions. There was dancing too and we all joined in a round to the tune of Hinne ma tov. It really was marvellous to experience this meeting and to celebrate the event in a joyful and friendly atmosphere. Sr Marie Alphonse Ein Karem How wonderful to live together as sisters and brothers! This is what happened to us since 23 October We could breathe the Sprit, share the joy that transpired, share the emotions emanating from the intense work that was going on in this mini council. We were better able to measure the extent to which we were part of a whole, contemplatives, apostolic brothers and sisters, and it is only together that we can express the beauty and the richness of our charim. This stay fortified our happiness to be established in Sion, our hope and our faith: Above all do not doubt, do not doubt Father Marie used to tell us as a testament! The apostolic sisters of Ein Karem

10 PAGE 10 N. 49 Special Edition Ein Karem - 23 to 31 October 2008 Our reunion of the 23 October, in Ein Karem, began at 5.00 p.m. in the evening and was truly lead by the Holy Spirit. When the meeting began, we did not know where it would lead us. But gradually in an ambience of openness, mutual confidence and availability to the Lord, we were lead to such a good outcome, which was so delightful for us. We found a new and true reconstruction and reconfiguration for the Branch. We wanted to affirm and strengthen the presence of the communities of Divina Pastora and Romania., They represent for us our great hope. In order to sustain these two communities, it was necessary to agree to other moves around the Branch. This had the effect of all the communities having to be involved. Sister Madalena Maria made herself available to leave Curitiba and to move to Divina Pastora. Curitiba will have the joy of receiving and welcoming Sister Jean François from Bartrès. It was in the Spirit of the Congregation, that we committed ourselves in order to search for a true renewal in the Branch. Maureen and Marta helped us very much during this reunion, especially in our reflections and in leading our meetings, with such great charm and respect for our contemplative lifestyle. They helped us in our reunion without being directive nor forcing our discussions. We had prepared well for this reunion in our communities, and we felt supported during the reunion by the prayers and concern of our sisters at home in the various communities. Our apostolic sisters confirmed the outcome of the Lord s action by saying, You are radiating such great joy! Our Brazilian hearts rejoiced at the feast prepared for us on the 1 st November, by our sisters in Ein Karem. We had a concelebrated mass with Benoit and Christophe, friends of our brother José Maria. It was a beautiful mass with José Maria as deacon. There were songs in various languages and our sisters and brothers of the region were present, which was very important for us. After the mass a festive lunch and gathering had been prepared and to end it we had a very big and delicious cake, to celebrate the 50 years of foundation of the first Brazilian Solitude in Curitiba. Sister Benadette Marie, one of the founders, who belongs to our community, of Ein Karem, was called to receive the greetings. She called Sister Janina Maria, the first novice, and so, all the Brazilian group to hold the cake during the song of Happy birthday to you... and to blow out the candles.

11 N. 49 Special Edition PAGE 11 Immediately we had songs with guitar and flute with Sister Martine and Reinaldo Milek! It was so nice to see Sister Martine playing Tico-tico no Fubá, accompagnied on the guitar by Reinaldo. It wasn t long before the dances began! Truly a family feast so joyful and happy! How very good and pleasant it is when sisters and brothers live together in unity! (Ps. 133,1) It is good to know that all this happened in Ein Karem, where John Baptist was born, from aged parents. Maureen asked, in one letter, at the beginning of the Year of the Renewal, if the Sarah s (the older women ) of the Congregation were able to give birth to newer members. I asked myself Would the Sara s of Solitude give birth to a new Solitude? We look forward to this possibility, and we count on your prayers, dear sisters and brothers! In this hope and joy, each one of us is praying for the renewal of the whole Congregation. Solitude Curitiba, November 2008 A few lines about our meeting: A warm welcome in Ein Karem at the end of the day on 22 nd October, after an endless trip, coming from one continent to another and from the other hemisphere! The meeting started on the 23 rd, helped by the know-how and competence of Srs Maureen and Marta, in an atmosphere of truth, humility, trust and above all of opening to the Spirit, we reflected on the essentials of our lives. Helped by the inspiration we derived from the place itself, by the prayers from you all and, we dare say, by being open to the breath of the Spirit, we were able to achieve a true reconfiguration of our communities, not without sacrifice, but of course, in great joy, union and hope! Now that the Virgin of Sion is guiding us and the Lord is helping us to be faithful to our commitment, to where he calls us through prayer, in the service of his Kingdom, so that his purpose be accomplished and the era of Justice, Peace and Love come! Sr Herminia Sr Maria Janina Solitude - Divina Pastora 16 November 2008