Celebrating the Feast of St. Benedict

-
Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Benedict, father of monasticism and one of the patron saints of Europe. During my early days of religious life, I was discerning whether God was calling me to the Benedictine life because of my love for liturgy and my discovery of the Rule of St. Benedict which has so many gems for Christian and religious living. The Rule begins with the words: "Hear and heed my child, the voice of the Master." As I discerned, I realised that the Master for me was the Divine Master and so here I am! As I grew to know more about the charism of Blessed James Alberione, I was so happy to discover that he gave to us a life motto borrowed from the words of St. Benedict: "Ora et labora", that is, "Pray and work." He also gave prominence to the place of St. Scholastica in our spirituality and proposed her discipleship as a model for us. St. Scholastica was the twin of St. Benedict and our first sister was given the religious name 'Scholastica', Mother Scholastica Rivata, whose birthday we commemorate tomorrow!
Happy feastday!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just to say 'thank you' (Sr. Louise's words of thanksgiving for the celebration of her Perpetual Profession)

-
Image
When I look at the mosaic of my life and all the people who compose it. God’s hand gathering lives of colour to form a masterpiece, a body, cell by cell.  Tiny little pieces put together colour by colour and forging something unforgettable, something that fits perfectly into the master plan, God’s handiwork where his grace allowed our paths to meet in life. Reflecting back upon the years of my life, I have found that the pieces fit perfectly, not always by my doing and not always by my understanding. Happiness and pain fitting together because one can’t know one without the other.  The ups and downs, the ins and outs, all mean there is a perfect balance somewhere and we spend our waking hours searching for it, knowing that we are restless until we rest in God. Each one of you here today would merit a personal ‘thank you’ : by your presence, your accompaniment, you remind me that this vocation is not my vocation but a vocation for the Church, for the world, for each of you! Everyon
Read more

Holy Hour of Thanksgiving for our Silver Jubilee of presence in Dublin.

-
Image
The following is a guided holy hour prepared in occasion of our silver jubilee of presence in Dublin, celebrated this year. The Holy Hour follows the method of prayer given to our Pauline Family by Blessed James Alberione- to honour Jesus as Way, Truth and Life. Song: Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You, I want to see You (x2) To see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory Pour out Your power and love, as we sing holy, holy, holy Guide: We pray before Jesus as we behold the mystery of the God who became flesh out of love for us. We gather here to pray and spend time wi th the Lord, in silence, in prayer and in song . Each of us have a different story but tonight Jesus has united us in mind and in heart just as He did with the early Christian communities. In   Acts of the Apostles we read: ‘they were all of one mind and one body’. This evening we let our hearts enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and with our brothers and sisters. Let us op
Read more

The Icon of Friendship

-
Image
Icon of Friendship Last week I received a beautiful surprise parcel in the post containing an icon and a book. Those who know me know that this almost equates to being Christmas for me: books and icons, both on my list of 10 favourite things! The icon was one I had actually never seen before and was a gift from Taize, a copy of the Coptic icon which belonged to Brother Roger Schultz, the former prior there. The original icon dates from seventh century Eygpt and is usually referred to as “Christ with the believer” but is just as frequently referred to as “the icon of friendship”. Although simple in its presentation, it is nevertheless a sophisticated image. Jesus is shown putting His arm around the shoulder of a friend; this man is called Menas, but he represents each one of us. Jesus does not face Menas, rather He stands alongside him; He accompanies him, sharing in the burdens of life. In His left arm Jesus holds the Scriptures, God’s word. The word tells the story of the love b
Read more