Day: 26. June 2016

St. John the Baptist from Ein Karem

“…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 …

Immersion for the Chapter 2016

Before attending the 26th Chapter of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, which is being held in Sao Paulo Brazil, some of the delegates gathered for a 3-day immersion in Sao Paulo. Other delegates travelled to other parts of Brazil for their immersion days. We began our immersion time on Monday, June 20th with a prayer together. During this time, we were each presented with a journal to use to reflect on our experiences of the 3-day immersion in Sao Paulo. The key questions we were given were: What was I hearing, feeling and seeing today. What is stirring in me? What lifts my spirit? What am I finding uncomfortable? What insights am I having about the future of Sion? This opening prayer time was followed by a short introduction class called “Brazilian context: Social, Political, Economic and Cultural” with Marcelo Sarraino, one of the teachers in the Higieonopolis Sion school. Day one Tuesday morning, our schedule began by visiting the Higienopolis Sion school that has an enrolment of about 900 students. Some of …