Tuesday February 2nd, was the Feast of the Presentation, and the concluding day of the Year of Consecrated Life. One of us four Americans was privileged to go on the pilgrimage to St. Paul Outside the Walls Church with all the other religious, passing through another Holy Door with a beautiful prayer service to partake in.
Three of us stayed behind with the Sisters of Charity for various health reasons, but in God’s Good Pleasure, were thereby available to greet Ms. Anne Goetze, artist, photographer and niece of the late Sr Margaret Mary Goetze, when she arrived to join us in this last half of our journey.
It was a delightful encounter, and Anne went off to take pictures of the lovely setting of this Generalate. It also happened to be the departure day of one of the Sisters of Charity from Malta who was returning there after 50 years of service in Italy. So a special meal and cake was prepared for dinner at 1PM, which we were invited to enjoy as well.
At 3PM Anne, Mother Rosemarie and Mother Emmanuel left to go to St. Peter’s for the Papal Mass, while Mother Susan Marie waited until 4PM and then taxied down to the Basilica, joining once more the incredibly crowded line of religious waiting for this final opportunity to pray with our Holy Father and each other.
After at least an hour or so of waiting, separated though we were, we obtained seats; for those with special needs, inside the Basilica, but for the rest of us, outside in St. Peter’s Square. Another experience! The dark and cold did not daunt us as the beautiful lights lit up St. Peter’s with a golden glow; flocks of birds circled above at propitious times like at the Offertory and the big screens helped us enter into the spirit of the Liturgy.
Here is the Holy Father’s Homily: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160202_omelia-vita-consacrata.html
Here is the video of the Mass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chLXd3N07ik
The holy Father emphasized that “. Consecrated men and women are called first and foremost to be men and women of encounter.,”and that “All forms of consecrated life, each according to its characteristics, are called to be in a permanent state of mission, sharing “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted”
At the end of Mass, the Pope went to St Peter’s Square to greet the faithful gathered outside:
Dear Consecrated Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you so much! You partook in the Eucharist while a bit chilly, but the heart is aflame!
Thank you for ending this Year of Consecrated Life in this way, everyone together. Go forth! Each of us has a role, has a job in the Church. Please, do not forget the first vocation, the first call. Remember! And with the love with which you were called, today the Lord continues to call you. Do not downplay, never downplay the beauty, the wonder of the first call. And then keep working. It’s beautiful! Continue. There is always something to do. The main thing is to pray. The “marrow” of consecrated life is prayer: pray! And grow old, but age like fine wine!
I’ll tell you something. I so enjoy when I come across those elderly women and men religious with eyes that shine, because they have the flame of spiritual life alight. It hasn’t gone out, that flame has not gone out! Go forth today, each day, and keep working and look to tomorrow with hope, always ask the Lord to send us new vocations, so our work of consecration can go forward. Memory: do not forget the first call! Daily work and then the hope of going forward and sowing well, so that the others who come after us can receive the legacy that we shall leave them.
Now let us pray to Our Lady….
[Blessing]
Have a good evening and pray for me!
Then it was the 4000 religious “mad dash” to leave. We each got home as best we could, to the refectory for a meal, and there who also greeted us but Fr Eduoard Marot and Alicia Beauvisage, our friends whose mission is the promulgation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A beautiful ending to a treasured day!