On the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the first Postulant of the St. Jane de Chantal Gallery Community was welcomed in a ceremony in the choir of Georgetown Visitation Monastery.
Sr. Mary Berchmans presented the Posulant, Keri, with a copy of the Introduction to the Devout Life after a welcome talk by the Federation President:
Today, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is such an appropriate day for you to be received as a postulant in this community. It is clear to us that Our Lady’s hand has been upon you, guiding you especially toward the Visitation, ever since you wrote to both Sr Anne Francis and Sr Marie de Chantal before this little fledgling Gallery Community actually began.
Your Salesian roots were planted deeply into your soul already and they have begun to blossom in the warm climate of this monastic, contemplative life.
We have just heard at Morning Prayer these words of Isaiah: (61:10 )
I rejoice heartily in the Lord,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
Your soul rejoices too and you are starting out on the spousal path of a Visitandine. The Lord has chosen you as well, from the beginning, and for the beginning of a new and holy enterprise.
There are two directives from our Holy Founders which can help you to build a strong foundation in your life as a Visitation sister.
The First Article of our Spiritual Directory states: “Let their whole life and all their exercises tend to unite them with God so that they may assist by prayer and good example Holy Church and the salvation of their neighbor.” Our life must always be directed beyond ourselves, our personal wants and desires, since as religious we are “in mission” to pray for and support the suffering and oppressed people of our world.
The second directive is found in what we refer to as the “Third Article.” This article contains the essence of our Salesian spirituality; namely, to accept all that comes into our life as coming from the hand of God. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of living in the presence of God by asking for his grace before beginning any action. “The sisters who wish to prosper and make progress in the way of the Lord, must at the beginning of all their actions, both interior and exterior, ask for his grace, and offer to his divine goodness whatever good they may do, thus preparing themselves to endure with peace and gentleness of mind, all the trouble and mortification they may meet as coming from the fatherly hand of our good God and Savior, whose most holy intention is, by such means, to make them merit so that afterwards he may recompense them with the abundance of his love.
Our prayer for you today is that you may live faithfully these two precepts from our Spiritual Directory so that your life as a Visitandine may be grace-bearing, both for you and for those who stand in need of your prayerful support.
The St. Jane de Chantal Gallery Community of Georgetown Visitation Monastery is a new endeavor, a discernment initiative of the Second Federation of the Visitation in the US, prayed for, planned for and received through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to welcome younger women into our Order. But it is planted, like a jewel, within the Founding Monastery in the U.S., our much loved Georgetown community, where a 215 year old tradition remains fertile for new beginnings within the wisdom- filled hearts of dedicated, long-Professed Sisters.
You are a “Pioneer Postulant” for the St. Jane de Chantal Gallery Community, planted within a Monastery of long-standing.
For that you have received and will continue to receive, special graces. May the spirit of courage remain strong within you.
And may the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary enfold you, as well as bless your family as you enter upon this stage of your religious life.
God be praised!