World Day of Consecrated Life
On the Day of Consecrated Life, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Vatican in an article published in Osservatore Romano, underlines that it is a day of prayer for vocations and thanksgiving to the Lord «For the gift of so many consecrated and consecrated persons who, in mission lands or in the difficulties of life and daily work, living in often difficult contexts, take care of the last and most fragile and are witnesses and announcers of the presence of God in the world ».
In this circumstance all consecrated persons renew their commitment to be “light of the world and salt of the earth”, to work for peace and fraternity, accepting the invitation of the Pope to be “men and women who illuminate the future.”
Order of the Visitation of Saint Mary
The Order of the Visitation of Saint Mary is a Religious Institute of contemplative life founded by Saint Francis de Sales and St Jane de Chantal in 1610 in Annecy (Savoy, France).
Also in the seventeenth century, there were apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, religious of the Order, who along with her spiritual director, the Jesuit Saint Claude de la Colombière, promoted this devotion by spreading the messages of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Jubilee Year
In 2020,The Visitation , celebrated the first centenary of the canonization of Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque. On the occasion of the same, the Holy See granted a Jubilee Year for all the convents of the Order of the Visitation, ongoing from October 16, 2019 until October 17, 2020.
The Sisters of the Visitation, are called to live the Holy Gospel following the Evangelical Councils of poverty, chastity and obedience, with a spirit of deep humility towards the Lord and gentleness towards others, always attentive to the resignation of the “old man” to live on the Divine Will.
Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart
In the bosom of the Order, the Eucharistic Association of the Sacred Heart Honor Guard (Hour of Presence to the Heart of Jesus) was also born in 1863 in order to respond to the complaint of Jesus Christ: “I sought who comforted me and did not find him.”
In this way, the associates from hour to hour, continue the mission of the first Honor Guard of Calvary (Mary, Saint John and Mary Magdalene) committing to dedicate an hour of their day to offer to the Heart of Jesus everything they do during that time, without changing your daily occupation (work, study, sport, prayer, healthy fun …).
Below we offer the full interview with Sister Maria.
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Zenit: How would you describe the mission of consecrated women in the Church?
Sister Mary: God be blessed! I am very happy to begin with this question because it has been difficult for us to accept an interview in a media outlet that is read all over the world.
Our mission in the Church as contemplative religious is essentially hidden. Both pontifical documents and all contemplative spirituality throughout history have defined us as “the heart of the Church.” The heart is always hidden, if in the mystical body of the Church we represent that heart it is essential that we are hidden, hidden, since at the moment in which the heart goes outside, the body dies.
However, our life, being contemplative, does not mean that it is not apostolic. On the contrary, by living from the same life of God and that intimacy with the Lord in a delivery that we seek to be as radical as possible, we hope that He will gather our prayer as an incense that will then be dispersed throughout the world. They also compare us to the roots of the tree, which remain hidden, but, through prayer, we try to get the sap to reach the whole tree of the Church and the world. That is why our mission of hidden life, of love for both God and our brothers, of fraternal life in community, continues to be current in today’s world, because precisely what is most in need of prayer.
Zenit: What is the day to day or routine of a religious within the Order of Visitation?
Routine does not really exist for a religious of the Visitation, since every moment or minute lived for God is always new, it never has that nuance of being the same as the word “routine” establishes.
Our days are very simple, there is nothing striking, nothing extraordinary. We live alternating prayer with work and community life. In prayer, our own mission in the Church makes a very special sense with the prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, which we strive to perform in the most solemn way possible, sung at most of the different times, and this really marks the schedule of our day.
We live from what the Liturgy prescribes to us. We begin the day with an hour of prayer and Holy Mass and then the prayer of the hours. Then, throughout the day, the prayer of the aforementioned liturgy is alternated with work and fraternal life in community gatherings, which are also important so as not to lose the family spirit that is so typical of the Order of Visitation .
The works we do are the currents of the life of the monastery and any family: sewing, cooking, laundry, cleaning, house arrangements, attending the sacristy … These tasks are performed by all the sisters, even the oldest, within possibilities
For example, we are currently 15 sisters. I am the sacristan and the sister who helps me is 87 years old. Despite her age, she does not stop coming every day to prepare the sacred vessels for Holy Mass and to do the same with great care for the next day, always pending to help in whatever s he can within this office.
zenit: How did you find out that the Lord called you for consecrated life?
My experience in discovering the vocation can be summarized in two elements. The first is the desire that the Lord placed in my heart to belong to Him alone, to be his alone, to give him everything.
Second, I was greatly influenced by looking at the world, the need for prayer. Seeing the suffering of people, the helplessness I experienced in perceiving the harsh current reality and feeling that I could not reach everything.
Given the magnitude of what had to be done, the Lord made me see that in the total gift of the person that desire to reach everything and everywhere could be translated. Because God is the only one capable of it, only He reaches the heart of man. That is, the Lord can take this surrender of life as a small drop of water and bring it as a rain to the whole world, wherever it may be. necessary.
I found in the Order of the Visitation the answer to these two aspirations that God had placed in my heart. In addition, in particular, I was very attracted to the importance that it gives to the life of charity among the sisters, to the sweetness that Saint Francis de Sales teaches. When I came to spend a few days with the community to discern my vocation, my attention was drawn to how the sisters treated each other, how they loved each other sincerely.
Something that was also fundamental in my vocation was that our order was dedicated especially to the Blessed Virgin, model of every consecrated soul, and in the Mystery of the Visitation, at which time Mary becomes docile to the Holy Spirit and, moved by the charity, sing the Magnificat of divine praise. This mystery of the Visitation also contains the heart of Jesus hidden in Mary and the heart of Mary full of Jesus.
zenit: What would you advise people who consider their vocation about this life option or those who can consider it?
I simply advise you to stand before the Lord, before the Eucharist, at the feet of Jesus crucified. That they look at him and let himself be looked upon by Him, because I believe that there can be no greater happiness in the world than belonging totally to God. When we stand before Him willing to do his will, “we lose nothing, we win everything,” as Benedict XVI said.
Likewise, to discern the vocation, I advise you to contact a priest or a consecrated person, to accompany you on the path of seeing the will of God in your life.
On the other hand, since there is the possibility in almost all the monasteries to live a few days of vocational experience, those people who feel this concern towards the contemplative life, encouraged them to approach them. In this way, they can see for themselves how we live and what our spirituality is, be that ofthe Order of Visitation or that of any other for which they are attracted.
Zenit: Do you have any special activity planned to celebrate the Day of Consecrated Life?
We live this day, of course, praying for consecrated life, because it is our mission. On that day, the Lord remains exposed for a longer time so that each one can devote more space to worship him, to be with Him, because, in short, that is the consecrated life, to be with Him.
In addition, we celebrate the candle procession just before Mass, in which the faithful who attend it participate. The sisters make the procession inside the monastery until we reach the choir and the parishioners go through the outside of it, until we reach the church.
This begins in the booth, where the priest blesses the candles of the participants in the procession. During the tour we are singing to Christ “light of the nations” because that great day of light we renew our delivery and the candles symbolize the consecration itself. The parishioners, meanwhile, renew their own fidelity to Baptism.
zenit: Your order was founded by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Francisca Frémyot de Chantal, tell us about the influence of the testimony and writings of these saints in the Order …
The influence and testimony of our holy founding fathers is very great, not only for the Order of the Visitation, because Salesian spirituality has been spreading in multiple religious congregations that have been inspired by their spirituality of humility, of sweetness.
On the other hand, his work Introduction to devout life, although it was written three centuries ago, remains current and its spiritual content and teachings are recommended for any Christian who wants to live their faith in depth.
Specifically, in the charism of the Visitation, being the daughters of St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of God’s love, consists in living essentially from that love of God, always seeking purity in God’s love and in the love of siblings. It focuses on humility towards God and gentleness towards others, two characteristic virtues of our founder that form the basis of our Congregation.
Together with St. Francis de Sales is our holy mother, Jane Francisca de Chantal, a model for all states of life. She was a wife, mother, widow and, finally, founder of our Order. In all these states, she was a holy soul who only sought God and her life changed when she met St. Francis de Sales.
Zenit: In the middle of the jubilee year for the first Centenary of the Canonization of Santa Marget María de Alacoque, sister of the Visitation, what are the fruits that are expected ?
This year is very important for the entire Order of the Visitation because the Lord, in manifesting himself to Saint Margaret Mary, wanted to give our order the most precious gift he could have given him, that of his heart. That is why we, in celebrating this centenary, want to make our own, if possible, all this message that the Lord transmitted to Saint Margaret, to make it alive and to transmit it to others.
The message that Our Lord conveyed to Saint Margaret is still fully current today. In his main revelation, God told him: «Here is the Heart that has loved men so much and has not saved anything to the point of being exhausted and consumed to bear witness to their love. And, in compensation, he only receives from most of them ingratitude through his irreverence and sacrilege, as well as the coldness and contempt they have for me in this Sacrament of Love », referring to the Eucharist.
And he continued, indicating, “At least you, love me,” a message addressed to all the people we should listen to each one inside us, trying to give the Lord that love that awaits us in the Eucharist, where He asks, and emphasizing reparation for that love that many deny him.
In short, it consists in being with Him. If we realized the infinite treasure of the Eucharist, the wonder of God’s presence with us, I think there would be no one who could keep us from the Tabernacle.
We expect many fruits from each of our monasteries, from our sisters, to live in greater depth the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also that other people who do not know this infinite treasure, approach him and come to live from that life of God , which is the most important and the source of complete happiness.
We also hope that the Lord can touch the hearts of many people who come to our monasteries to continue this mission of giving the Heart of Jesus to the world, through prayer and contemplative life in silence.
Zenit: What does the existence of the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart mean to you?
For us, the Honor Guard is a very important link with all the secular and lay people who participateThey participate in the Devotion to the Heart of Jesus and spread it throughout the world. Not only in our monasteries, but in all the places where the Honor Guard is present, contributing that glory, love and reparation to the Heart of Jesus that expresses its motto.