INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER, ALC
www.laicican.org
" O Mary, Virgin and Mother by the Cross
where Love is consumed and life springs forth,
teach me how to stay with you
by the countless crosses,
where your Son is still crucified.
Teach me to love and witness love
on the ways of the world,
among the poor.
Grant, sweet Mother, that I may become
a docile instrument in the hands of the Divine Spirit,
so that Jesus may be known and loved.
Make me happy in following Christ,
true light of humankind.
Holy Mary, beloved Mother of Jesus and ours,
welcome me in your great heart
so that I may magnify with you our Saviour’s mercy.
You are our hope.
Amen.
Summary & Contents:
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Greetings from the International Coordinator
In dialogue with our shared charism
Listening in the Family
Listening to the Word…
The prophecy of listening
LC Meeting – Japan
LC Congress ‐ Argentina ‐ Paraguay
LC Congress ‐ Brasil
LC Meeting ‐ India Centre
(pag. 1, Adele Cremonesi)
(pag. 3, Sr. Teresita Pamplona)
(pag. 6, Giancarlo e Adele Cremonesi)
(pag. 9, Team of CISC, Verona)
(pag. 12, Sabrina Sonda)
(pag. 15, Sr. Bertilla Oki)
(pag. 16, Alida Mórtola)
(pag. 18, Marcia Melari)
(pag. 20, Sr. Lily)
Greetings from the International
Coordinator
An ancient story tells: A lady deeply sorrowful for her son’s death, went to a
spiritual master for consolation. He listened to her patiently as she was pouring
out her grief. Then kindly he told her: “I cannot dry up your tears, I can only teach
you how to make them holy.”
The pain of a mother who sees the life of her son die away before her own is unconceivable in its grief.
We cannot find consoling words. This story underlines the hearty listening of sobs, the affectionate
presence. This is the light coming from our faith: it doesn’t dry up tears, this will take place at the end of
time, in the heavenly Jerusalem:
every tear will be wiped away from their eyes;
there will be no more death,
no mourning, no complaint, no anxiety,
for the past events are no more (Rv. 21,4)
but it sets them free from despair.
“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother,
his mother’s sister , Mary of Cleofa and Mary Magdalene”.
John, the evangelist, doesn’t say that Mary cried. We can only sense her suffering (from latin = bring
down). Relief instead is “To lift from down” towards up, in entrusting to God all our unhappiness.
Marian devotion teaches faith even in pain.
In our churches everybody goes to the Mother of Jesus with a silent prayer, with the ray of light of a
candle; and above all the sick, the sad, the lonely, the “unknown good ones”. In front of her, the simple
people open their hearts for they know that a mother understands and never abandons anyone. And
they go away, maybe without being healed or set free, but certainly in peace.
Magdalene of Canossa writes (Ep III/1 p.60):
“Let us revive our spirit
and more than ever imitate in everything
these extraordinary models:
Jesus Crucified and Mary, Mother of sorrows.”
The journey of following Christ and Mary passes through the cross.
As Lay Canossians we are invited to welcome the Word, for it purifies us and makes us able to offer
“relief” (in the above meaning) to desolate people, to entrust them to God who alone can console and
reveal the mystery of that sorrow. Mary walks at our side along this way and leads us to her son so that
our hearts may find peace and serenity.
May each Lay Canossian be a sign of trust, kindness and hope in the midst of the aridity of the world.
I close with a quotation from the “Fiery Prayer” of St. Louis‐Marie de Monfort:
“Lord Jesus, we ask you for people who,
like clouds high above the earth
and soaked with the dew from heaven,
without any hindrance fly any where,
according to the breath of the Holy Spirit.”
On the15th of September, feast of Mary, Mother of Charity at the foot of the cross, I ask each one of us,
in every corner of the world, to recite the Chapelet of Our Lady of Sorrows at the window of one’s
house, with this intention:
that each Lay Canossian may be this cloud, full of dew from heaven!
Adele Cremonesi.
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In dialogue with our
shared charism
In the recent General Assembly of the International Union of
Superiors General (UISG), held in Rome, from May 11‐13, 2007, on the
theme: “Challenged to weave a new spirituality which generates
hope and life for all”, Sr. Katrina Brill, RSJ, superior general of the
Sisters of St. Joseph, presented “The Laity Strand”, a paper based on
the experiences of the congregation in the context of Australia/New
Zealand and the challenges and opportunities faced by the
congregation in sharing its charism to various lay groups.
It is an article worth considering at this point in time when, we,
ourselves, as an Association of Lay Canossians and as Religious
Congregations are moving towards ‘partnerships’ in our shared Canossian charism.
Sr. Katrina Brill, RSJ, starts up by underscoring three underlying assumptions/beliefs that underpin her
presentation:
A central conviction of the group on Partnership with the Laity at the International Congress on
Consecrated Life, held in Rome in 2004, was “that new relationships of genuine mutuality and
autonomy between religious Congregations and the laity are invigorating for consecrated life, the
Church and the world”. (Congress Rome 2004: Passion for Christ and a Passion for Humanity: Group
Notes).
A Religious Life or Congregation that is sufficient unto itself is no longer appropriate for these times:
“In reality, it lives ‘enclosed’ in its proper charism, in its own tradition, in its works, in its apostolic
movements, its own associations of laity, its vocational pastoral activity, in its internal research
(Chapters, assemblies, community meetings). We believe that such religious life is no longer possible,
not only because of the drop in numbers experienced by many congregations, but also because it would
no longer be faithful to its foundational dynamism that is part of its being: to live in the world,
decentred from itself”. (UISG No. 132 2006: What Religious Life for this “other possible world? Sr.
Maria Pilar Wirtz Molezun O.D.N. Sr. Maria Jose Torries Perez Ap.C.J).
In our Josephite Chapter in 2001 we recognised that at this point in our history there is evidence of a
movement of the Spirit calling us to new ways of imaging and living the Charism of our Congregation.
“There is a new energy as people respond to the charism in a variety of ways. The urgent needs of our
time impel us as a Congregation to travel with those whom God is calling in new ways to recognise the
charism in themselves. We are called to be bold (courageous, take risks) in honouring and nurturing the
charism alive in the hearts of many lay people”. (Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart Chapter
Document Forward in Hope 2001 Australia).
Sr. Katrina, at the same time, points out the opportunities and challenges this new vision of partnership
can offer and demand, both from its leaders and its members. She says: “As a Congregational Leader I
believe strongly that our Congregations have a ‘window of opportunity’ at this time in history:
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to be changed gradually by the lay movement,
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to be given a chance to have our Congregational charisms blossom in a new way,
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to have our particular spiritualities shared, lived and developed by lay groups and
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to have new communities and ministries challenged to be inclusive, diverse and honouring of
difference…
all for the sake of the new frontiers of God’s mission and the Reign of God in the fractured world of our
time”.
“There is an opportunity also through the charisms of each of our Congregations to strengthen and
support the ‘laity strand’ so that it is woven into the new spirituality of life and hope for all. As
Congregations I believe we need to continue, simultaneously, to release the belief that we have to be
sufficient unto ourselves and to walk compellingly with those whom God is calling in new ways to
recognise the charism in themselves”.
“If our Congregations really believe this then it will be reflected in our energies and our structures”.
This common concern of following the “laity strand” further leads to some questions posed by Sr.
Katrina ‐ questions which she considers as challenges facing our leaders and members:
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What energy and commitment can Leadership give to promoting the interaction of the
Congregation with the laity?
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How is this commitment reflected in our Congregational structures, and the initiating or
supporting of significant events, initiatives, processes?
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What processes can Leaders set in place to bring about “shifts” in the mentality of the members
of the Congregation towards the lay expressions of our Congregational charism?
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What processes could we continue to create (separately and together with lay groups) to
deepen our ongoing theological‐spiritual understandings, our particular spirituality, the
different expressions of the charism, the changing reality of our world and mission so that we all
are assisted in seeing that God is doing something profound through the laity and that together
we will more effectively respond to the needs of our world?
The “new climate of ecclesial communion” so much stressed by the post Vatican II documents on the
Laity and on Consecrated Life, slowly makes out a “paradigm shift” and a perceptible change in
mentality happening in the Josephine Congregation today. “Over the last thirty years our Congregation,
like many others, has formed a Josephite Association (3,000 +) entered into ‘partnerships’ with other
lay groups around the mission, been involved in formation in the charism for parish leaders, staffs,
Boards, students, and children of our organisations, institutes and Colleges or wherever our Sisters
minister as well as offering hospitality and prayer in our communities. Through our associations,
affiliations, Boards and other “partnerships” we are providing for lay people with a similar spirit to have
as Maréchal in his article: Toward an effective partnership between religious and laity in fulfilment of
Charism and responsibility for mission. The 56th Conference of the Union of Superiors General, Rome
2000, says:
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a particular story to enter
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a language to speak
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a group to which to belong
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a way to pray
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a work/ministry to undertake
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a face of God to see.
Theological beliefs around the call to holiness and assumptions around “belonging” are gradually
changing within the Congregation and within laity. For example our theology in both Sisters and laity
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has moved from believing that Religious Life is the “state of perfection” to realizing that there is a
whole range of opportunities in which to pursue Christian holiness.
A robust charism is strong when it has the ability to be flexible and include and adapt itself to many
lifestyles fired by the passion for God and the passion for humanity.
“The Josephite Charism is now being seen at the centre rather than the Sisters of St. Joseph at the
centre with all lay people seen in the “helping‐role”. We are gradually recognising that this Josephite
charism is in lay people too and may be expressed through lay groups in a variety of ways. All of us are
viewing the gospel through the lens of the charism which inspires and supports us to live this call to
discipleship.
These insights have encouraged the Josephites to walk with groups that reflect these features. It is
calling us as a Congregation to truly allow genuine lay autonomy in expressing their lives and mission
through the lens of the Josephite Charism and spirituality.
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Josephite Community Aid is a young adult volunteer group founded by a Federation Josephite
Sister which is now run and organised by an Incorporated Committee of mature lay adults who
have bought property, purchased vans and appointed a lay co‐ordinator to run this volunteer
ministry to refugees and people with mental disability living in boarding houses in parts of
Sydney. The Sisters have no ownership of this ministry but remain in a supportive role.
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Josephite Associate Network Incorporated is a group of Josephite Associates in Queensland. It
is a civil entity separate from the Congregation but with a Memorandum of Understanding. This
group has been recently established and they aim to do good works under the Josephite
charism working co‐operatively with the Congregation in some ministries while remaining
financially and civilly independent.
This variety of different lay groups emerging as autonomous expressions of the Josephite charism
keeps challenging the Sisters in the Congregation to realise the contribution of the lay people to
enhancing God’s mission through the inspiration of Blessed Mary MacKillop and the charism of the
Josephites. Not only is this new energy in laity something we need to support but it is also integral to
our clarifying who we are as Religious (identity). We need the other, the interaction with difference, the
different expressions of our charism in order to know who we are as Religious in this Movement and in
the way we express the charism.
The idea of a “Josephite Movement” is one of the new images we are exploring. A Movement focuses
on the shared charism and spirit. It allows for different levels of belonging, for a variety of independent
ways beyond the Religious Institute, its associations and affiliations. A Movement can hold all these
groups in relationship around the shared charism. It may even be possible for a Josephite lay group to
include members of other faiths and religions who experience the charism as similar to their own
spirit”.
Sr. Katrina concludes her reflection with a renewed challenge, filled with certainty:
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What processes could Congregations set in place to move themselves towards promoting
genuine lay autonomy around expressions of their Charism?
“There is no doubt that this journey continues to be fraught with issues and challenges that have to be
worked through separately and together as Religious and Lay groups. However, I believe that God’s
mission today will be truly enhanced if religious congregations give considerable energy and focus to
recognising this ‘sign of the times’ breaking through within our midst. It reminds me of the sand within
the oyster gradually forming a pearl within its environment. Indeed, ‘see, God is doing a new deed’ in
our midst” (Isaiah 43,19).
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This principle of partnership with the laity: new relationships of communion and autonomy, is a vision
not really new to us. In preparation for our International Convention held last year, from the 7th to the
9th of August, in Verona, Italy, the International Coordinating Team offered a Reflection Paper: “New
Encounter: Lay and Consecrated Canossians Toward Communion in Charity”, a call to live the mystery, the
gift of the church as communion, an invitation to work and journey together to build the reign of God.
Even the previous issues on the same column: in dialogue with the shared charism, have dealt
extensively on this theme.
As the General Chapter of the Canossian Daughters of Charity approaches in 2008 we are evermore
challenged to move forward in hope “…to seek a prophetic response to the challenges we see and the
cries we hear: the call of the Spirit to create in our Religious family links of reciprocity with the
Canossian laity so that our charism may be lived beyond existing structures, thus, encouraging a
vision of Church as communion where a real partnership with them is lived.” (cfr., Declaration of
Women Religious Leaders members of the International Union of Superiors General participating at the
UISG Plenary held in Rome May 6‐10, and ratified by the Assembly of Delegates on May 12 2007).
For feedbacks, comments and further reflection on this article, please e‐mail Sr. Tita Pamplona:
[email protected]
Sr. Teresita Pamplona.
Listening in the family
...TWO EARS, A MOUTH... AND A POT OF SALT!
“The first service to offer our neighbors is to listen.”
We start our reflection on listening from an extract of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer (1906‐1945), a theologian killed by Nazists.
“The precious gift we can receive daily, and especially when we are passing through a time of crisis, is to
have someone ready to listen to us.
We are so much taken up by haste and our own problems that often we are unable to listen to others,
to give space to their confidence.
Yet to know that somebody really listens to (and not only “hears”) us is an important source of support
and courage.”
How to listen in the family?
The Cardinal of Milan, Dionigi Tettamanzi, draws up a “spirituality of listening”: among the most
meaningful ways to open ourselves to listening. He underlines:
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the safeguard of silence;
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the joy of gratitude;
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a merciful heart;
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the spirit of prayer.
To listen to others, we need first to listen to ourselves. And we can hear ourselves only in silence: we
need interior solitude to open ourselves to others.
In meeting, in welcoming and in listening to others, we are called to have a grateful heart, to nourish
the joy of thankfulness. It is a gift of the Spirit to be aware of all that we have received and still receive
from God and people.
To practice listening and enter into the lived experience of others, it is necessary to have a merciful
heart, without harshness, judging, condemnation and intolerance. A merciful heart accepts the
differences that exist in the history and life of people and families, knows how to counsel and forgive,
always encourages and appreciates even the smallest sign of goodness.
It is possible to listen truly only if one nourishes a deep spirit of prayer. Prayer introduces us into the
heart of God and creates a style of mutual listening. We address our words to God and He gives us His
Word. In this way, we get the grace of being able to listen to the words of others.
From this (important!) introduction we can ask ourselves:
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How do we experience listening to: the Word of God, the spouse, parents, children, grannies
and other people in our household?
Communication is very important in the family, dialogue made of listening and talking. A person has two
ears and one mouth, so the time dedicated to listening should be double than the one given to
speaking.
Listening may seem something passive, of receiving only, instead, it is very active: it means to put
oneself at the service of the other.
Nowadays, to dialogue (= to listen to and speak) is one of the most difficult activities, both for a couple
and in the family. External situations make our dialogue very hard; our Western culture does not foster
silence, listening, meditation; on the opposite, it seems to be a culture of noise, ….
“Every family with its daily life, joy, fatigue and service writes its small Gospel of the Family, a sign of
God’s love among us”. (D. Tettamanzi: Vita di Famiglia, pagine di Vangelo).
Every day, in every home, there is the good news made of acts of goodness which only God sees and
knows; it is the small Gospel that as couples and families we write within our dwellings. There is always
a good news to communicate, in spite of difficulties, tiredness, hard time, suffering; but we must purify
our love and make it more authentic.
The first thing to do in dialoguing with our children is to listen to them and help them talk to us.
Children have a Gospel to bring us (Mk 10, 13‐16). In the family we can meet Jesus with the joy of
simplicity, our commitment, sacrifice, patience and education through simple gestures. We should ask
the Lord to give us eyes of children: simple, but deep and intense.
Parents are invited to have PATIENCE with their child who talks too much and at the same time to
encourage the one who finds difficult to dialogue, who is shy, who does not know how to express
himself.
Parents have also the delicate task to accompany their youth to marriage; it is important that parents
give all the help needed during the time of engagement: closeness, understanding, availability, financial
support. To give witness of a life shared in joy and commitment, in mutual company, in full communion
between a man and woman.
Sometime,s married adults hide the joy and beauty of their choice for marriage, because they easily
complain and show the burden of duties, the renunciations, the sacrifices...
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Each child is a gift, but also a great challenge for parents. There are situations where it seems easier to
overcome the travail of childbirth; more difficult instead is to face a disease, a rebellious teenager, a
depressed youth because he cannot find a job or is disappointed or discouraged by the frailty of human
love... There may also be an old grand‐mother to follow or a sick person to look after...
Even in these cases the formative role of parents demands availability, attention, capacity to listen, real
concern and dialogue, love, even if in certain moments it is hard.
There are also “trials” that strike the families: they arrive unexpectedly and for everybody! On such
cases listening is preceded by the ability to stop, like the Good Samaritan. To stop is a very difficult task,
because our life is very hasty! In trials, listening becomes solidarity: we should be the samaritans,
without much talking, but with our presence, even physical, with caresses and hugs...
In our daily life there are many things to do and we risk to be carried away by contagious haste.
Sometimes the greatest difficulty is to find time when the whole family is present for encounter and
listening.
Families live by the timepiece: we divide our time for work, school, commitments, parish... and
sometimes we run the risk to bring home efficiency, excellence and not attention to the person,
gratuitousness.
We need a common effort to find time, even a short one, to be all present and once decided, to remain
faithful to it, keep it as a precious pearl.
We can listen if we cultivate the spirit of prayer: let prayer blossom in our homes; the Word of God
which we find in the Gospel of the day will allow us to put our daily life in the presence of the Lord.
Ideally, we should put the Bible in the kitchen near the pot of salt: it is there, in the reality of life that it
should dissolve and give taste.
What does God tell our family at this very moment?
The risk we all run is to be tasteless!
For us, the salt is the Word of God. If we take care of the cleanliness and efficiency of our house, still
evenmore, should we take care of our relationship and mutual listening.
In the Gospel we find some passages which show how in human life and in the ordinary events dwell the
love of God:
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The Wedding at Cana;
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The House of Jairo;
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The Samaritan Woman at the well of Sicar;
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The House at Bethany with: Lazarus, Mary and Martha;
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The House of Nazareth with: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
May the listening of the Word of the Father and of Jesus help each one of us to transform our daily life
into a page of the Gospel, that is in a good news. In this case we will be able to listen to, while waiting
for the truth to come out, smiling with goodness, appreciating the other, without shade of scorn or
fear or uneasiness, with patience and respect, willing to help, without reproaching anything, with
affectionate goodness, with friendly words that sow light.
Blessed the family
that finds time to listen to, dialogue,
relax and celebrate together.
Blessed the family that prays together
And entrust to God anxieties and hopes.
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Blessed the family where to live is happiness,
to go away is homesickness, to come back is feast.
Adele e Giancarlo Cremonesi
Listening to the Word… in the life of Magdalene
“On another occasion, as I recited the “Miserere”, on reaching
the verse: “Docebo iniquos...” I felt urged to teach Christian
Doctrine to my fellowmen and thus I began to explain it every
Sunday to our maidservants whom I could not send to Church”
(Memoirs 1,27).
This is an intuition which Magdalene shares in the “Memoirs”,
one of the direct sources available to us, which has preserved
and allows us today to perceive the richness of her life, revealing
her interior journey and how the charism has progressively taken form in her life.
“I felt urged...”: in the Memoirs, often Magdalene speaks of how much her heart is involved when the
Lord reveals Himself to her through the Word. Her “memory” is the echo of the Word within her, in
the concreteness of her person and of her situation.
Her “illuminations” always begin with a biblical reference whether in the context of the spiritual
exercises or in the ordinary moments of Christian life (Eucharist, prayer, meditation...), manifesting to
her the gift and the mission God is entrusting to her.
The Word of God lights up an intuition in Magdalene: this illumination coming from Scripture, heard
within the ordinary web of Christian life, is transmitted into life: “I felt urged to teach Christian Doctrine
to my fellowmen...” and according to concrete modalities: “and thus I began to explain it every Sunday
to our maidservants whom I could not send to Church...”.
Magdalene listens to, personalizes what she hears, makes herself available to..., and she acts.
Where does this intuition stop evil and whatever threatens life come from?
“Docebo iniquos...” is one verse from Psalm 50: this is the explicit biblical reference from which
Magdalene draws.
It is one of the seven penitential psalms. An ancient introduction (v. 2) attributes it to David who
confesses his fault after sinning with Bathsheba and against Uriah.
The last part of the psalm makes reference to the deportation to Babylon as a recalling of sin which
leads to invoking the mercy of God.
It is a very intimate psalm but its tone is not one of withdrawal into self: while experiencing our failures,
God remains the One to whom we can turn to in full trust.
In the introduction (vv.3‐4) of the psalm, the theme is proposed, stressing the possibility of appealing to
God who stoops down to us and can restore newness of life. The rest of the psalm could be subdivided
into three parts:
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vv. 5‐8: recognizing his fault, the psalmist reflects on sin which exists from the beginnings (“...in
sin my mother conceived me...”), belongs to one’s personal history and to the history into which
one is inserted, and consequently leads to distortions in life (isolation, powerlessness, evil...)
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vv. 9‐14: the psalmist affirms that, within the experience of sin, the typical action of God
remains; because of His mercy and His goodness, He can give back, free, new, restored life, He
can demolish sin and proceed to a new creation which consists in:
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a pure heart, well oriented, without deceit and double meanings;
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a steadfast spirit, persevering, one’s vital energy is not wasted;
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a generous soul, capacity for taking initiatives that proclaiming the saving action of God.
vv. 15‐21: Forgiveness restores the possibility to serve others with the same liberating and re‐
habilitating action of God. It becomes service of teaching to those who have sinned and
celebration of God’s goodness. The experience of forgiveness, of regeneration of one’s deep
human structure (heart, spirit, soul) and of communication tools (tongue, lips, mouth) enables
us to highlight the gratuitous initiative of God who forgives and sets out again on the journey: a
forgiveness which is for all and involves all.
Message
Even if it is a penitential psalm, the central message of psalm 50 is not sin but the action of God who “in
his great love forgives my sin...”. The invocation of God’s mercy activates the relationship with Him who
remains faithful and true in the midst of our falsifications.
The invocation of forgiveness, of God’s mercy, is an act of great wisdom. It is not depressing, rather, it is
a clear understanding of one dimension of our existence and its dynamisms. It takes us away from our
naivety and our presumptions of omnipotence.
The experience of being forgiven place us in the right condition to serve others who are experiencing
the power of evil and one’s own fragility.
Forgiveness enables us to teach the ways of freedom from evil, offered to us by God’s mercy. We are
not serving others because we are better, but because we have experienced God’s mercy that makes us
new.
Up to v. 15 there are no references to other persons but the psalmist and God: only at this point there is
an opening to others “I will teach transgressors your ways”. On the whole, the psalm does not present
an apostolic dimension: the only expression which could recall the apostolate is the verse on which
Magdalene pays her attention and personalises it.
Verse 15 is located in the third part of the psalm and it is the expression of the believer who has
recognized the experience of God’s mercy, meant for all. In the words of the psalmist we can read his
intention to transmit, joyfully, the personal experience of God’s fatherly mercy. He would like to tell
those who have no path to follow, that there is one alone which the Lord is coming to meet them on it.
The motivation for this direction is the desire to be useful to others, to free them from the negative
conditionings which block life, and to show them other resources, other possibilities.
We do not take up service to others out of our superiority, but because of the experience of having
been forgiven. it is forgiveness which enables us to teach the ways which God opens through his mercy,
to indicate the paths which He traces in the heart of a person and of history, through His own actions.
God’ mercy and forgiveness restores the heart, spirit, soul enabling them to serve and to collaborate at
the building up and the re‐birth of God’s people around His love.
“Docebo iniquos...”: it is an intuition of Our Foundress, fruit of an experience in which one can easily see
the signs of a strong presence of God the Father (even if few are the occasions in which Magdalene
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expressly uses this term). We approach it because, on the charismatic level, it is of fundamental
importance and it helps us understand what it is that leads the Foundress to plan her apostolic life, and
that of her two Institutes, on the verse of this psalm.
“Docebo – I will teach...”: Magdalene does not make a simple proposal, but expresses the awareness of
a Gift, a Capacity, a Mission. She is not only teaching something but the Presence of Him who has
touched her and, by loving her, He has revealed Himself. It is to Him that her gaze is constantly turned,
to be able to contemplate his gestures, his behaviours towards people, to listen to his words.
When Magdalene lives the experience of the “Miserere” – described by her in the “Memoirs” many
years later – she is at a good point on her journey of openness to God who is Father, she is living a
particularly intense moment of her spiritual life (1795‐1799), a period in which Don Libera is gradually
educating her to be attentive to God, “to take into consideration the movements of her heart”.
The context of this experience is Prayer, but we can say that such experience is almost like a seal on her
spiritual journey under the guidance of her saintly director. The psalm Miserere, which Don Libera
taught her to pray every morning, helps to free her from her sense of guilt and to abandon herself to
God’s mercy, to enter into His logic of Love.
In one of his letters, the spiritual director speaks to her as follows:
“Let us not lose courage. The more miserable we are, the more it will serve to show the Lord’s
greatness, because, my Daughter, God is more glorified in being merciful and loving towards one who
does not merit it than from one who is less unworthy. So it pleases our good God to act, as it is
expressed in the parable of the Good Shepherd, who goes in search of the lost sheep, leaving the ninety
nine faithful for some time. Oh, the abundance of the Divine Goodness! O excess of Divine Love!”
(Letter No. 19).
Don Libera helps Magdalene perceive the constant presence of God the Father, good Shepherd ... and,
through encouragement and gentleness in welcoming her, he guides her, through the years of spiritual
direction, to grasp the concreteness of what the psalm Miserere proclaims: piety, mercy, love.
This is one of the main motivations leading her to teach the poor. The merciful goodness of God, the
repeated experiences of preferential love of God the Father towards her, which Don Libera gradually
educates her to read, open Magdalene’s heart to trust. This is how the experience of God’s mercy,
forgiveness, gratuitous love, stooping over the sinner, leads the Marchioness to teach the Lord’s ways
to the wrong‐doers.
After the cloistered experience, which makes her feel that the Carmel is a place where she can become
holy but does not allow her to prevent sins and to make Jesus known, Magdalene allows herself to be
confronted by the evils striking many parts of the Veronese population and by the widespread religious
ignorance among the faithful. She is struck by the abandonment of the poor youth, by the general
ignorance of poor women who do not frequent Christian Doctrine, by the insufficient preparation of
those who teach catechism. It is not by chance, then, that in her awakens and takes shape the desire to
dedicate her life to this cause. Magdalene expresses many times (even in the Memoirs) the desire to tell
and to announce to everyone the Love of the Lord to everyone.
She perceives that the personal love God has for her is going beyond herself, is greater than herself, it is
transforming her.
The experience of God’s love and mercy solicits her heart and turns her eyes immediately to the
maidservants who cannot go to Church on Sundays for the Christian Doctrine.
But the young Marchioness’ desire to make Jesus known is not restricted to the to the Canossa palace:
it expands to embrace the farthest ends of the earth (Euntes ..).
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Progressively, union with the Lord leads Magdalene to feel Him truly alive within herself in such a way
that she needs to make it visible and communicable to everybody.
In Jesus’ life, she sees the authentic, original human face emerging; in the Risen Crucified Lord she
recognizes and welcomes the “God Alone” who shows his own identity by being Father of every
person, forever. This is why she feels growing within her that passion which pushes her towards her
brothers and sisters of every age and leads her to seek the Good News, among them and with them.
She writes in the Memoirs: “This view of Christ’s love for men not only grieved me, for I saw that He is
not loved, but it also gave me great longing to make Him known and loved; so much so that nothing
else mattered, not even my country nor my relatives. In fact, I wished I could be reduced to dust if, in
that way, I could be scattered to all parts of the world so that God would be known and loved”
(Memoirs, III, 49‐50).
God’s love for Magdalene dominates her soul to the point of desiring to be reduced to “dust” to be able
to be present everywhere to make her Lord known and loved.
In the Memoirs she always says: “Apart from the intimate joy, these last mentioned experiences (of
encounter with the Lord) also left in me a very special desire to prevent offence to the Lord, I also felt a
deep sorrow for any fault which I might have committed. There was a fear, prompted by love... The old
desires to spread the Glory of God and to save souls were revived and I offered myself to the Lord also
for the salvation of the whole world if it were possible” (Memoirs, VI, 54‐56).
Before the experience of the psalmist who declares the greatness of God’s love, and, touched by the
Father’s tenderness, decides to announce to the wrong‐doers the path of love; before Magdalene who,
accompanied and moulded by the tenderness of God the father, through His Son, decides to tread the
path of love by placing herself at the service of the poorest and marginalized brothers and sister, we
could ask ourselves:
ƒ
What kind of missionary witness of mercy are we giving?
ƒ
What quality of God’s fatherhood are we allowing to transpire from our apostolate?
“Docebo iniquos vias tuas..., I will teach the wrong‐doers your ways...”: this verse is important for every
Christian person who encounters the gratuitous and redemptive love of God and wants to witness to it,
but it is much more so for the members of the various expressions of the Canossian Family.
May the Lord help us relive Magdalene’s experience in the light of the Word which has generated it, so
that it may mould us and make us available, even if under different conditions, to live the same gift in
the historical situation in which we are placed.
May this be our apostolic longing: “Docebo...”.
The Team of CISC, Verona.
The prophecy of listening
During the IV International Canossian Lay Family Congress, the speakers
helped us to better understand some biblical and pastoral “categories”. In
fact, themes such as the laity, the prophecy and communion are related.
These are expressions already known to us and their meaning had brought
us back to the origins of our faith, and contemporarily, have projected us
towards new areas of service.
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Lets think about the word lay, from laòs, populace, the populace of God, and by the revolution worked
up by the Vatican II Council, after which, the church, though, maintaining a hierarchy organization, is no
longer thought of as the summit, someone more important than someone else for vocation or mission,
but as a community, that is, the people of God, community of disciples of Jesus Christ, where each
person puts him/herself at the service of the others with the talents that they have, with what they are
and what they can accomplish. We are all necessary members of that body that is the church, “The
apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it.(…)
modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified. With a constantly
increasing population, continual progress in science and technology, and closer interpersonal relationships,
the areas for the lay apostolate have been immensely widened particularly in fields that have been for the
most part open to the laity alone. These factors have also occasioned new problems which demand their
expert attention and study”. (1)
“But they are by reason of their particular vocation especially and professedly ordained to the sacred
ministry” (2) this is the invitation that another important document of the Council, the Lumen Gentium,
has asked all the laity, organizing, according to the gospel, the temporal realties: family, work, culture,
society. This is what the laity are called to do “They exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity
directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and women to the penetrating and perfecting of
the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears
witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of peoples. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of
life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the
world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ”. (3)
The apostolate of the lay Christian is connected with being prophets. This term is frightening
for the weight of its meaning and for the duties it implies. Who is the prophet? If we place
attention to the bible, we find out that the prophet is the “mouth” of God, one who has been
called and sent by God to preach His words of salvation. Prophet Amos places himself as true
servant of God and of the people, Ezekiel is the sentinel and guardian of Israel. There is
evidence in the Sacred Scripture, of figures of prophets that, as we are, felt that they were
unworthy of such a duty but after being called and invited, they accepted: “Woe to me! For I
am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips”
(Isaiah 6,5).
The prophetic mission is derived from our Baptism and from the sacrament of Confirmation, through
which we have been “reborn as sons of God (…) endows them with special strength so that they are more
strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ”.(4)
The Adult Catechism of the Italian Bishops’ Conference defines the first spontaneous
apostolate of individuals, as capillary and constant, possible in the family, between neighbors,
amongst friends, work colleagues and spare time and travel companion. One might ask: how?
With what modality can we be prophets? In a complex modern world, it seems that the more
appropriate modality is that of listening, being aware of the others. A prophecy of listening.
According to the biblical sense, the verb to listen does not imply only to listen with the ear,
but it means to open one’s heart to the Word and to others. Here as well, the echoes that
the word “heart” makes are not the same said in Jewish or in the modern languages.
Certainly, the physiological meaning is the same, but the other uses of the word are some
what slightly different. In the actual way of expressing ourselves, heart recalls the
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sentimental part of our life, while the Jews conceive the heart as an internal organ of the
person’s body, in the strict sense of the word. Other than the emotional feelings, the heart
also includes the memories and ideas, the projects, and decisions. The heart is the centre of
life, place where a person speaks with him/herself, assumes One’s responsibilities, opens or
closes oneself to other relations. It is source of his/her conscience, intelligent and free
personality, The heart is the place where the person meets others and meets God.
Therefore, this is what prophecy of awareness means, placing oneself beside others, family, friends,
colleagues, companions without pretending to say something to the other, but above all else trying to
listen to the other and to be able to enter, on tiptoes, in that intimate, authentic place of the heart.
Listening, using some verbs of the evangelic parable of the good Samaritan, the “passing beside” that is
not passing above the people thinking that all the people are the same, but being aware of the
presence of the others, being aware of the differences, of the problems, respecting the face of the
other even if its is different from ours. Passing beside also means to love the world, “to love others
because God has much loved the world to send his only Son to save it, so to make the prophecy chronicles
become history of salvation”. (5)
The good Samaritan then “seems him”, listening is therefore seeing, to see in the other the toils, the
poverty and the new poverty: “poverty is not only that of the money, but also that of missing health,
solitude, professional failure, unemployment, physical and mental handicaps, family misadventures and all
the frustrations that arise from the inability to integrate oneself in the nearest human group”. (6)
This the prophecy of listening, to make oneself close to others, walking beside the people we meet
everyday, to have open eyes in order to hear all their being.
It is the lesson that we can learn from the story that follows; it is a simply story of friendship, where
simply being aware of the other, beyond the intended sacrifice, brings, reciprocally, to understand the
greatest desire of the other. To understand the other, his/her aspirations, difficulties, the joys or hopes,
means to place oneself beside and to look deep down in his/her way of being, in his/her heart. This is the
most beautiful gift we can make, in the name of Jesus Christ, without having to wait for Christmas.
Gifts
There was once two boys who were very good friends. They helped each other in what ever they could
and passed hours playing together or with other friends. One of the boys liked very much to play the
harmonica. He took it everywhere with him and when he could he would play his favorite songs. The
other boy, instead, liked very much to roller stake. All the evenings he would go off skating from one
place to the next, jumping and making pirouettes in the air.
When they played together, they were a great show to see. While one played the harmonica, the other
would roller skate in time with the music The people would stop to see them and applaud.
Christmas came and the two friends had the habit to make presents. The boy who roller skated thought
to buy a new harmonica for his friend. He broke his money box, but saw that he didn’t have enough
money to buy the most beautiful harmonica. So he thought to see his roller skates. With the money he
had saved and with the money from the roller skates, he bought the most beautiful harmonica in the
shop. When Christmas came, the two friends met to exchanges gifts. Opening them, the two boys had a
surprise. Both the boys had done the same thing: they had each sold the most precious thing that they
had in order to buy the most beautiful gift for the friend. The gift that the boy got, who had sold his
roller skates, was a new pair of roller skates. And the gift that the boy got , who sold his harmonica, was
a new harmonica. The two friends burst out laughing, because having given up what they cared most
about, resulted in receiving something even better. (7)
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Bibliographic references
1. Apostolicam Actuositatem n° 1
2. Lumen Gentium n° 31
3. Apostolicam Actuositatem n° 2
4. Lumen Gentium n° 11
5. Antonino Bello, With in‐depth feelings of mercy, Edizioni Insieme
6. Paolo VI Speech to the lenten preachers of Rome, 1975
7. Josè Real Navarro, Once upon a time…stories to educate to the values, Edizioni Elledici
Sabrina Sonda.
LC Meeting - Japan
From the 7‐8 July the Formation Team of the Japanese
Province held a meeting in Nagoya. 14 people took part:
members of the Provincial coordinating team, formators
responsible for 5 local groups and a few Sisters who are
animators. The meeting was communicated by letter dated
27 June 2007 and contained material for reflection so as to
eventually help in sharing and programming for the future.
We started the day with the celebration of the Eucharist,
asking God’s blessing and the guidance of the Spirit in the work that awaited us.
During the first day our attention focused mainly on deepening the two messages that M. General, M.
Marie Remedios, addressed to the IV International Congress of the Canossian Family in August 2006.
In the first message M. General spoke to us of being a Sign of communion, a Sign of prophesy and a Sign
of the beauty of Christ. She reminded us of the document “Charter of Communion” and recommended
us to refer to it often so as to verify our fidelity to the Canossian charism. She encouraged us once again
to be prophets who proclaim the presence of God in the world by our words and with our lives and
concluded with the words of the Pope: “we communicate to others the beauty of Christ, the One in
whom the beauty of truth and the beauty of love meet.”
In the second message she invited us to be Prophets of communion by becoming creative and using this
“creativity in works of charity.” Some of her words were very incisive, especially “active charity” by
imitating Magdalene of Canossa who spent herself entirely for the little ones, the poor, the needy and
the weakest members of society.
After having reflected on these two messages a lively sharing session followed.
During the second day we put all our efforts into learning a method for conducting “Lectio Divina.” Mrs
Hasuo, who had taken part in the IV International Congress of the Lay Canossian Family, explained a
method of prayer and then, using a passage from the Gospel of Luke 6:27‐38, she led us gradually into
prayer. Unfortunately time was limited but we proposed to repeat this experience within each of the
local groups at a later date.
We then moved on to the phase of programming. The 5 local groups had already formulated their
formative itinerary which was based on the general theme: “A Marian Year and Magdalene of Canossa”
15
and was translated into practice by the proposal: “In our daily life let us learn from Magdalene who
followed the example of Our Lady of Sorrows”.
We then took vision of the Programme for permanent formation at an international level and we
decided to add to the programme for this year the study of the document “Justice, Peace and Integrity
of Creation”, part 1 “Listening to the cry of the poor.”
Here are some of the impressions of the participants in this meeting.
“For me it was a gift of the Lord to have shared the messages of M. General with the associates and
Sisters present. When I communicate with those who have the same spirit and charism I feel a sense of
comfort and joy. The words of the Pope made me desire to communicate to others the beauty of Christ.
For this reason I pray to the Holy Spirit and Our Lady that they may help me and also I will try to make
Jesus the centre of my life.”
“I am thankful to have been able to take part in this formative meeting. M. General’s message made me
become aware of the gift of the vocation to this association. Magdalene’s motto: “Make Jesus known.
He is not loved because He is not known”, echoed strongly within my heart and made me examine my
conscience. I propose to deepen my relationship with Our Lady of Sorrows and with Magdalene and
thus effectively practice active charity.”
“I am glad to have heard once again the explanation on the method of Lectio Divina. For me it is an easy
way to enter into prayer. Today’s gospel passage, which has many connections with the events of the
times, inspired me with strength and courage. As a member of the Canossian family I desire that
Magdalene may accompany me and obtain for me the fervour to make Jesus known and loved.”
“I noticed the strong desire that the members of the formative team have in learning more about the
spirit of Magdalene. The Message of M. General made me feel the vitality of the Lay Canossian
Associates all over the world. Our association meetings are always accompanied by a sense of familiarity
and by the joy of learning together. The joy of being a Lay Canossian and the pleasure of learning
together become the support of my life.”
M. Bertilla Oki.
LC Congress - Argentina – Paraguay
We are preparing the fourth Lay Canossian Congress with the theme: “The Lay Canossian‐Prophet of
Communion” and will be held at La Plata from the 5th to the 7th of October 2007.
We have started the preparations with joy and commitment.
A meeting was held the 28th and 29th of April, with all the coordinators, the sister animators, the
members of the coordinating team on national level, at the Provincial house. This meeting had two
primary objectives:
The first objective consists of two aspects:
16
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“The revitalization of the association” by means of a reflection on the functions of the structure
and roles of the local coordinating team;
ƒ
the reflection on the importance of the “challenge” that each group has fixed to be realized in
2007‐2008.
The second objective was that to organize the “Lay Canossian Congress” so that all could give
suggestions, assuming the different responsibilities with the spirit of collaboration and co‐responsibility.
The first day was dedicated for the preparation of the reflection on “Revitalization of the Association”.
The theme was then used by two groups; one formed by the coordinators and the other formed by the
animators, with the objective to analyze the difficulties that may arise in the various areas.
After the meeting, during the assembly, we shared and analysed the difficulties trying to find out
together the possible solutions.
This shared experience resulted to be very enriching and enabled us to understand that the problems
that arose from the two groups were similar. The aspects that were underlined by the coordinators and
by the animators were complementary.
The themes chosen to be treated during the Congress are three: “The Lay Canossian, Prophet of
Communion”, “The Lay canossian Family: Lay Canossian Brothers and Sisters”, “The importance of
formation for the identity and belonging”.
These three themes will be presented by Lorenza Bellorio of the FSLC association (Lay Canossian
Brothers and Sisters).
Each local group will present itself in the conference room with the chosen challenge for the two years.
There will be moments for personal prayer and group prayer, especially the Lectio Divina.
Archbishop of La Plata, Mons. Hector Aguer, will celebrate the Eucharist. Yolanda Jensen L.C. will
present what she experienced during the IVth International Congress held in Verona.
There will also be an artistic exhibition, a dynamic and a static show.
The first will be characterized by theatre, poems, play; while the other, is characterised with paintings,
sculptures, and photos representing the theme of the congress “The Lay Canossian, prophet of
Communion”.
We invited the lay to present within the end of June what they think the logo of the Congress should be.
The jury, that will select the most adapt example, will consist of the elder sisters of the Bakhita
community of La Plata, in this way the “the precious stones” with actively collaborate for the realization
of the Congress as well, seeing that we take for granted that we are always in their prayers.
There will be about 120 participants, from Lay Canossians, animators and members of the national
coordinating and animating team. The gathering will be held at “Ceferinó Namuncurá” found in the
outskirts of La Plata.
In this moment in time we are committed to the organization and preparation but above all else we are
committed to our prayers so our Lord and Lady of Sorrows can reveal us “the greater glory of God and
the goodness of all souls” as our foundress, Saint Magdalene of Canossa, would say.
Alida Mórtola.
17
LC Congress - Brasil
Last July 13th to the 15th the
Lay Canossians’ National
Congress was held in
Araras, Brasil at the
Canossian
Centre
of
Spirituality, St. Magdalene
of Canossa, Emaús with the
theme:
“Prophets
Of
Communion” ‐ “Disciples
and Missionaries with the
Passion of Maddalene”.
More than one hundred
participants
were
in
attendance, among whom
were the Lay Canossians,
religious priests, sisters and
representatives of all the
Canossian lay groups of
Brasil.
We began with a reflection on some prophetic figures, underlining the following points:
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What it means to be a prophet: …person who speaks with divine inspiration in name of God.
Normally, they are considered as the advisers and the interpreters of the law of God.
ƒ
How are prophets born: …they are born from God, from the response each person gives Him.
All are called to have the same sentiments of God, because He is present in everyone. […] The
prophet, from the moment he/she is full of God, is also full of love for humanity. […] Therefore
the prophet is born from God because he/she has the responsibility to watch over and to
preserve the quality of life, to proclaim it publicly as an “ethical scorn”, with all the strengths for
life’s dignity. […] This taking a stance is a sign of love.
ƒ
The inner schooling of the prophet: …it is a progressive learning that starts from a great love for
God, his Word, his project of love in favor of humanity […] and continuous with the attentive
listening of human situations.
ƒ
Where the prophet acts: The prophet acts justly where he/she feels disdain. […] acts toward the
direction, above all, where evil jeopardizes persons….is not preoccupied only with a person or
with a situation…a prophet foresees persons and events in its totality.
ƒ
The sacrament of the Confirmation and the prophet: What a prophet feels, lives and works for is
moved by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is given to all. […] Therefore, every Christian has in
oneself the prophet's spirit as a gift of Jesus and the Father. This initiative is celebrated in the
day of Confirmation, when, knowingly, the Christian receives the Holy Spirit…whoever receives
the Spirit is consecrated to be a prophet forever. […] when, “in the name of God one is moved
by the Spirit”… the person starts to act, to speak, to effect, to get organized, to gather other
persons, to think of others, here starts the vocation of the prophet.
ƒ
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How the prophet is formed to take full consciousness of his/her vocation of prophecy.
Fundamentally there are two formative sources from which to draw:
o
The Lectio Divina of the Word of God – everything begins from the prayerful reading of
the Word. Persons who live the Word of God become prophets. […] that they are
nourished by the Word which they keep in their mind and in their heart. It will be the
Word that, subsequently will help the prophet to make that comparisons, that will push
him/her to put in place any attempt on life and to provoke in him/her the already
described “scorn” to save its dignity.
o
The Lectio Divina of life – a prophet is not one who lives with the head on the clouds,
away from everything, in solitary deliriums. A prophet is one who lives the life of the
persons, you/he/she is sensitized by the facts of life, is worried whether the values in
important moments are emptied of their sense, how human persons are
treated….he/she observes how many injustices becomes structural…he/she gets used
there, to live together with them. The Prophet makes a prayerful reading of life…
he/she is provoked from within, and then, starts to denounce and to act so that things
begin to change.
ƒ
The Canossian charism makes the prophecy of communion meaningful: Charity is the foundation
of the canossian charism…it is a word of many and ample contents as the word “love”, it
includes in all the other similar and complementary concepts. For this, in charity, is included
communion. Living and making charity active, widening it to all its varied possibilities, create
communion between persons and with the persons. […] Because we are born at the feet of the
cross (which breathes only charity) close to Mary (Mother of the Charity to the feet of the
cross), we are gathering the last drops of the blood of Christ and the tears of Mary, meaning, a
total charity, a “consummation of charity.” This consummation also tells us that we allow
ourselves to be consumed by charity. We have to have this ardor so intense that “we breathe
only charity.” […] Charity suggests the word to use to be a prophet of communion. […] The
canossian charism makes the ideal more and more fruitful to find purpose to be able to give
ourselves to others till death and to build all possible communion among persons.
ƒ
Canossian Family ‐ a group of prophets “of” and “in” communion: To reflect on the theme:
“Prophets of Communion”, is like passing the plow on our soil, to open its crust and to leave all
the wealth that has to germinate underneath, it is to dream with the possibilities that this
reflection will let us discover seeds thrown on the ground. We have to believe in the slogan of
this Congress: “Disciples and Missionaries with the passion of Magdalene”, and to accept that
we don't know yet very much…we have not yet discovered the course of the fruits of
communion that we can produce and therefore, we have to become disciples to one another…
In communion, charity grows and communion is spread, multiplied! We will be one “Prophetic
Canossian Family”, because we are born from the Charity of Christ: the source of communion
among persons whom every day God entrusts to us.
ƒ
Lay Canossians are “prophets of communion”: Secularity is characteristic of the lay branch of
the Canossian Family. For this they have been called to live in this world to be salt, light and
communion among men and women. Being a laity favors great contact with life. The laity, in
fact, participates in the world of work, commerce, health, education, of life in the
condominiums, in public organisms, in politics, economy, public safety, etc…. justly where
persons live, either having experiences, either promoting life or repressing it. It is there that the
lay canossian is called to possess the gaze of God, to have a heart that is filled with scorn seeing
so much disrespect….to be a canossian prophet who manifests canossian virtues, in
hiddenness, to work in the shadow, at the backstages, in silence, in the intense devotion to the
marginalized brothers and sisters, those without culture, without courage to fight for laws, for
what is correct….to be close to those who who have already gotten used to suffer and don't
know how to respond anymore, those victims resigned to exploitation and injustice.
ƒ
Analysis of the reality where I live: Everyday life is, for every lay canossian, the field of his/her
mission. The Aparecida Conference has clearly recalled to our mind that we have to be
missionary. […] We cannot evangelize the whole world, but there is the field that has been
entrusted to us. This mission has to focus us to the environment where we live, work, spend our
time, where we dedicate our interest. […] We can be persons of listening, of mediation, of light,
of incentive, of solidarity, as Jesus has done.… A Lay Canossian is one who sees persons in the
same way as Christ perceives them: those needy, who may never have the opportunity because
others always bypass them. Enormous eyes to see everything! Enormous ears to listen to
everything! Fast footsteps in hurry to meeting more persons! Sensitive hearts moved with
those who suffer!
ƒ
Personal realization, articulation, organization and networking: Nobody is so isolated to the
point of not relating with anybody. For this, the first means to effect personally consists in
knowing how to welcome, showing interest for the other. This type of attention to the other
however is always incomplete when done only as a personal gesture. The needy always
introduces varied necessities at the same time and always tied up among them, therefore, it is
necessary to articulate our ways effectively through the help of other persons, other organisms,
because we don't have the competence to resolve everything. [..] The Lay Canossians can get
organized in N.G.O.s (non government organization). 200 years have passed from the time St.
Magdalene has began the Canossian mission with an organized work. In fact, houses have been
established with nuns, teachers, and children. This system has guaranteed complete assistance
in educational work. […] In society, organisms that work in this field already exist, they only
have need of other points of support and collaboration. This is through “networking”. Each
gives his/her small part and the person who needs is welcomed and helped in a swift, fast and
complete form.
Subsequently, groups were formed to reflect and discuss in what ways one can be a prophet in one’s
life, in the family, in business and industry, in education, in the Church, in the social action, in the health
and in the public structures. The conclusions of these group work have served to write a final document
entitled: “Indicative Choices of Prophetic Attitudes”. Each participant has brought this paper to his/her
community as a proposal on how to be a Prophet of Communion.
Marcia Melari.
LC Meeting – India Centre
Letter from Canossian Provincialate Andheri East, Mumbai.
Dear Lay Canossians, greetings of Love, Joy and Peace of the Risen Lord!
It is great joy for me to share with you the Annual Meet of the Lay Canossians of our Province of St.
Francis Xavier, India Centre, for 3 days from 20th to 22nd April, 2007, at our house of Arpora, Goa. There
were 75 participants: 61 Lay Canossians and 14 Sister Animators.
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It was a good experience of being together and deepening our Identity and our Charism in following the
Greatest Love. We took the same theme of the IV International Congress of the Lay Canossians:
Prophets of Love and communion for the world of today.
Sr.Rena Misquitta and Ms. Mariquinna Dias, who attended the Congress in Verona, shared their
experiences of the Congress and Sr. Fatima Rebello presented the topic: “St. Magdalene Our Model for
the society of today”. Sr. Lily shared with them about our Charism of Greatest Love and what it means
to be the Prophets of Love and Communion in our day to day realities.
We visited Bom Jesu, old Goa Church where the relic of St. Francis Xavier is kept and celebrated Holy
Eucharist there in gratitude for the gift of our Institute.
It is very inspiring to see the enthusiasm of our Lay Canossians living their life in the footsteps of
Magdalene, our Mother.
We really experienced the presence and the love of the Lord and we are very grateful to Him for all the
graces we have received. We are grateful, too, to our community of Arpora because of their heartfelt
welcome and warm hospitality. Our Sisters worked together and everything went on well.
On the last day we had the election of the Provincial Co‐ordinators and the following Lay Canossians
were elected for the next 3 years term:
ƒ
English Group: Yvonne ‐ Coordinator (re‐elected), Lalita Roy ‐ Secretary;
ƒ
Marathi Group: Gloria Gonsalves ‐ Coordinator (re‐elected), Alberta D’Mello ‐ Secretary (re‐
elected).
M. Lily.
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