How good, how delightful it is to live as brothers all together! Ps 133,1 On Saturday 25th we celebrated Maria’s birthday. The life is a gift to share and enjoy with others. We began our celebration having breakfast together. Then, as we usually do on Saturdays, we had a desert reflection morning. Then in the evening we continued celebrating Maria’s birthday. We prayed with a very meaningful prayer based on the text of Gn 1 “the creation”. After this, each one lighted a candle to wish something special to Maria. We finished the prayer singing a song in her language, Bahasa Indonesia. The lyric of the song also talked about the creation. After the prayer we ate a lovely dinner. On Sunday 26th in the evening, we went to Jerusalem to eat Thai food since it was Maria’s wish. All of us enjoyed Asian Food so we had a good time together. Then we enjoyed a delicious ice cream. Finally, we went to the mass in the Kehillah. (Hebrew catholic community) as a way of …

“…A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!” Jn 1,23 “John the Baptist the precursor, he was a prophet, a patriarch, an anchorite, an apostle, a martyr, a confessor. He is an example of holiness and he showed us the perfection of the saints. He has been providentially chosen as your Patron. It gives me the hope that you are called to be great saints. You can fulfill this hope!” Father Theodore Our first feast of John the Baptist as novices has been full of joy, hope and prayer. Here in Ein Karem, the place where according to the tradition, John was born. All its surroundings celebrated with us this amazing feast. Our Ein Karem communities were united with us for this special feast. This week in the community prayer we prayed with some messages about our Patron. These messages have been written by Father Theodore who wrote them for the novices. Also, last Saturday we had a desert morning reflection about him and …

In the first place, we had a delicious dinner and enjoyed a lot a beautiful evening together last Thursday. Then, we proceeded to walk into the city of Jerusalem along the illuminated paths. It was a very special event, since its walls and cobblestone streets were illuminated with an amazing variety of modern artistic light installations created by local and international artists. Also, we enjoyed delicious Cotton candies. In addition, in the streets there were artworks which were huge in size including three-dimensional installations, videos on the landmarks of the Old City walls, also sound-and-light shows. It was a precious time and an amazing pilgrimage that let me fascinated such as all pieces exhibited and presentations performed. There were a lot of people walking and enjoying the festival and Jerusalem was so beautiful. Also it was a wonderful night with many stars in the sky. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the …

The month of May arrived with beautiful weather, which turned the garden into a Paradise of flowers. The vegetables that were planted and cared for by Lucia will eventually be ready for harvesting, and at this point look wonderful! We celebrated many feasts this month: on the 1st of May the birth of Alphonse in 1814, then on the 6th of May his death in 1884; 100 years later, on that same day in 1984, the new constitution of the Congregation was approved; we also remembered the 160 years since the arrival of the first sisters of Sion in Jerusalem, in1856. Juliana´s input during this month was based on the Constitution’s chapter on prayer. Our reflection on it during our day of recollection called us to deepen our prayer life, which Theodore calls “the breath of the Soul” because religious life depends on the fidelity to prayer (Book 4, p. 136). In the supplement to his Memoirs (p. 56), Fr. Theodore called his sisters to give at least a half-hour to prayer before beginning their …