We wish our Sisters elected on August 21, 2020 for the new Council of the Province "Blessed Virgin of the Rosary" (Italy) by the 5th Provincial Chapter, to fulfil their 4-year service looking at "Jesus, who is among his own as the One who serves. ... following Him who exercised the authority that came to Him from the Father as power to bring fullness of life."
(Cf. Constitutions no. 132)
Congratulations to (from left to right) Sr. Cinzia Vennari, Provincial Prioress,
Sr. Paola de Luca, Sr. Stefania Lucchesi, Sr. Viviana Ballarin (Vicaress) and Sr. Lara Morelli.
“We have worked hard all night…, but at your command I will lower the nets”
(Luke 5:5)
It is the guiding word for the 5th Chapter of the Province of Italy "Blessed Virgin of the Rosary" which is taking place in Rome Montemario from 17 to 28 August 2020.
But what is a Chapter? And what is a Province?
A Province consists of houses situated in a defined territory, in this case as Italy.
The Chapter is the assembly which expresses the co-responsibility of the sisters in the search for the common good. Which is an expression of God’s will for each and all.
Some delegate sisters participate, elected according to procedures that allow all the sisters of the Province to choose who will represent them.
The Provincial Chapter is convoked by the Prioress Provincial ordinarily every 4 years and has the task of:
- To verify the progress of the Province during the four years;
- To identify new operational guidelines for Vita apostolica of the Province itself on the basis of the indications given by the General Chapter, of the reality in which we are immersed that challenges and shouts and in conformity with the charism of our religious Family;
- To analyze the problems and any proposals presented by the communities;
- To elect the new members of the Provincial Council: The Prioress Provincial and her assistants.
“… At your command I will lower the nets!” - The Chapter Sisters tell us, that is: Trusting you we will try to give everything to continue your mission today wherever you call us - "This is what Dominic, Catherine and Mother Gerine taught us to do ... and we wish to experience this in these days. We ask you to accompany us with prayer!"
Have a good Chapter, sisters!
It is possible to follow the "story" of the Chapter and some moments live on the Facebook page of the Province:
https://www.facebook.com/domenicanesc
Circular Letter
Solemnity of Our Holy Father Dominic
8 August 2020
My dear sisters and Lay Associates,
On the occasion of the solemnity of our holy Father last year, we meditated on the Dominic’s way of LISTENING, listening to persons and to the world’s situations, to the places where he was, and we thought more deeply about how attentive he was to all that was happening in order to understand to what the Lord called him.
This year I would like us to pause and reflect together on Dominic’s way of INFECTION! During these months, unfortunately, everyone all over the world has learned only too well what infection is, the transmission of a virus. The coronavirus has shown itself, is showing itself, in an unfortunate and terrible way, bringing much suffering and death; all this is negative, awful, present even now especially in some countries of the world.
But there does exist an “infection” that is positive, beautiful, effective, a transmission of life!
I mean the “infection” which, with other terms much more serene and joyful, is called WITNESS, fascination, attraction.
Our holy Father Dominic, in this sense, was a very “infectious” man, an authentic testimony to Jesus and his Gospel of love. Blessed Jordan of Saxony writes of him: “He welcomed every person into the great heart of his charity, and because he loved everybody, everybody loved him. He made it a personal rule to rejoice with those who were happy and to weep with those who were weeping. … he easily attracted the love of all … as soon as they knew him, all began to love him … the simplicity of his actions made him most dear to all”.
Again, Blessed Jordan offers a complete portrait of him in the text of a famous prayer addressed to the saint: “Inflamed with zeal for God and supernatural ardour, by your boundless charity and fervour of vehement spirit, you consecrated yourself entirely by the vow of perpetual poverty to apostolic observance and to evangelical preaching”.
The text of his process of canonisation declares: Dominic was very humble, kind, sober, affable, good-hearted, consoler of the brethren and of everyone.
With these brief quotations, I simply want to reaffirm that Dominic never importuned those who approached him to follow him, to unite themselves to him, to join his group, no: Dominic had companions, men and women, he was followed and has been followed for centuries because he is “infectious”, because he is attractive with his way of living, with his witness of intense communion with the Lord, with his love for the brothers and sisters, with his proclamation of the Truth.
The Holy Father Pope Paul VI stated in Evangelii Nunciandi no. 41, "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses". If in our days this is particularly true, we could equally say that it has always been so since the beginning of Christianity.
Dominic, with his studies and humanistic, doctrinal and biblical preparation was, in his whole life,
above all A WITNESS.
His life is a witness: when still a student at Palencia, in a time of great famine (a powerful reminder of the situation of coronavirus today), he sells his precious manuscripts and “institutes a place of almsgiving” to procure food and necessities for the poor; other students and professors “infected” by his example, follow him by doing the same.
His life witnesses to true priestliness when the Bishop of Osma, Martin de Bazan, sets eyes on him; wanting to renew the clergy of his diocese spiritually, he conceives a project of “life in common” with his priests. He wants Dominic to be among them, because he has understood the evangelical quality that will be able to “infect” the others.
His life is a witness when at Osma, where he lives for 12 years, he dedicates himself to the poor, the sick, the marginalised, and passes the night in prayer.
His life is a testimony when Bishop Diego de Acebes chooses him for his prudence and simplicity as a companion on the diplomatic mission to Denmark entrusted to him by the King of Castille, Alphonsus VIII.
His life is a testimony when for three years he lives alone as a poor man at Fanjeaux in the south of France among the Cathars, proclaiming and preaching the Truth even at the risk of being killed.
His life is a witness when the noble women converted from Catharism at Prouilhe take refuge with him because they see that his acceptance of them is authentic, full of charity, and that they can entrust themselves to him completely. And thus, through “infection” the first women’s monastery of the Order is born.
His life is a witness when young men attach themselves to him at Toulouse in order to be with him and to live as he lives, proclaiming Jesus the Truth. By “infection” the first community of the Dominican Order comes into being.
His life is a witness when he covers kilometres after kilometres on his numerous journeys, always on foot, living on alms, asking his travelling companions to leave him solitary to be able to pray and be with his Lord.
His life is a witness when, in nights of prayer, as some of his brethren testify, all humanity is present to him, and above all he pleads, weeps and makes supplication for sinners.
His life is a witness when, with his way of living, he teaches his brothers how to be true contemplatives and preachers.
His life is a witness when he contemplates the Love of Christ Crucified or immerses himself deeply in listening to Jesus the Word.
His life is a witness when he receives all who turn to him for any kind of spiritual and material help, even obtaining miracles thanks to his intense confidence in the Lord Jesus, the lover of every human being.
His life is a witness to the very end, when, sick, he asks to be carried back from a healthier place on the hills of Bologna where he had been taken, because he wants to be buried under the feet of his brethren.
After this brief digression on the “infectious” life of Dominic, I would like to quote Fr. D’Amato in the text The Project of St Dominic “The witness of a life conformed in everything to the Gospel message is, for the Dominican, a direct consequence of a life of contemplation and an absolute condition for the fruitfulness of his apostolic work”. And Fr, Timothy Radcliffe in his Letter The Promise of Life states, “Dominic was a preacher with his whole being”.
So, to be witnesses, to be “infectious” like Dominic was, is indispensable for us Dominican men and women, because only in this way do we reveal our authentic vocation.
Then let us pray together: Beloved and holy Father Dominic, make us men and women who witness with our lives, as you did, to confidence in God’s love for humanity, to faith in the power of the Word, to desire always proclaim the Truth, to love for all, to simplicity and poverty, serenity and joy, so that we too can “infect” those near us and all those God puts on our path. Amen!
My dears, in communion, in gratitude for our splendid charism, and in the joy of being able to celebrate our beloved Father Dominic, with all my heart I wish you a Happy Feast and embrace each one of you.
Sr. M. Elvira Bonacorsi
Prioress general
"The Spirit urges us today to discover together, in the Church, new ways of telling every man and woman that they are loved by God" (Constitutions n. 10)
We are Sisters and Laity,
we welcome with gratitude the gift bestowed on the Dominican Tertiary Mother Gérine, of contemplating and revealing the motherly face of the Mercy of the Father, which in Jesus liberates and saves us;
we express it together, through our mission towards all forms of weakness or misery which disfigure humanity.
Convinced that God’s strength is found in smallness, in being “less than nothing”,
we walk in the simplicity of daily life in the footsteps of Saint Catherine (indicated by Mother Gérine as our model) in the furrow traced out by Saint Dominic.
An amazing story
Our story was born in the heart of Françoise-Catherine Fabre, a young French woman of the 19th century.
From childhood, Françoise-Catherine (Gérine, as she would later be known) had a deep love for Saint Dominic, and, following the example of Saint Catherine, she cultivated the inner mystery of love that led her to consecrate her whole life to the service of those who lived in insecurity and want. Desiring to respond to love with love, she interiorised this teaching of Saint Catherine: “We cannot be useful to God, so we must be useful to our neighbour; it is the nature of love to love all those things which are loved by the person one loves”.
Inhabited by this desire, Gérine Fabre strove to share it with other companions. Initially, she was a Dominican Tertiary; later she founded, in southern France, a new religious Congregation which, through her life and mission, expressed the Dominican charism according to the mind, heart and example of Saint Catherine of Siena.
In the course of a few years, the communities multiplied, and Mother Gérine, with the daring of those who entrust themselves entirely to God, sent her sisters to Italy, to Uruguay and to Argentina.
But the religious Family she founded divided into two autonomous Congregations in 1879, for historical reasons; they came together again as a single Family in 2005, as the foundress’s heart had desired. And from the trunk of this Family tree sprang forth a new shoot, a different way of living the Dominican charism of Mother Gérine: the way of lay associates. It is a gift the Lord is making to our religious Family: to discover that Mother Gérine’s charism is given to brothers and sisters who live it in the specificity of their lives as laity. We are treading this new road on the four continents where we are present, proclaiming together to the people of today, so needy of truth and love, the Mercy of the Father.
The fundamental Constitution
1.
The Father’s desire for the salvation of humanity, revealed by Jesus through his Incarnation, reached the heart of Mother Gérine Fabre, a Dominican tertiary, overflowed from her life through the action of the Spirit, and was manifested as compassion for all.
2.
Fired with the same passion for life, many women soon came to join her, to share her mission of mercy. This is how the religious Family established by Mother Gérine in the south of France in the middle of the nineteenth century was born; from Albi, the Motherhouse, it has spread across the world.
3.
Daughters of Mother Gérine, it is with trustful hope that we assume our history. It is marked by a long period of separation into two Congregations, which came together as a new religious Family approved by the Holy See with the Decree of Union, 14 June 2005.
This history of ours is a proclamation that unity, the ardent desire of Jesus, is possible.
4.
Contemplating the Virgin of Pity, Mother Gérine received the charism of showing the maternal face of the Father’s Mercy, and became its living embodiment as she followed the footsteps of Saint Catherine of Siena along the furrow marked out by Saint Dominic.
With hands always outstretched towards every kind of weakness and misery, she gave her life to the very end, so that every person might know that they are loved by the God of Truth, who liberates and saves.
5.
As Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena, like Catherine we share in the grace of St Dominic, who desired a Family totally dedicated to the preaching of Truth for the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Mother Gérine pointed to Catherine as our mother and teacher, so that we might imitate her tender and daring charity.
6.
Rooted in the Church, and inserted in the world like Dominic, Catherine and Mother Gérine, we carry into the present their ardent desire to contemplate and proclaim the mercy of the Father.
In contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation, we live Christ’s compassion for every person, especially when in them we see the face of God disfigured.
We are mendicants for the mercy of the Father, and go wherever the Word calls us to proclaim it. Thus we become servants of the Word, which humanises and evangelises every situation in life, and transfigures it.
7.
The life of the apostles, united around Jesus and sent out by him to preach, is the inspiration for our own way of living.
“Brought together in community, with one heart and one soul in God” (rule of Saint augustin), and in a lifestyle that is simple and welcoming, we are called to become artisans of fraternity and communion in the world.
We contemplate the Truth, sought for in sapiential study, recognised in the events of human history, and celebrated in the liturgy, so that it moulds our lives and makes them into a proclamation of Jesus the Saviour.
Through the preaching of the Word of God, and by the works of mercy – particularly our work of education and healthcare – we take care of the whole person, promoting the dignity of all God’s children.
8.
The search for the common Good is expressed by our way of government, in which we all responsibly participate.
9.
Mother Gérine’s gift of compassion finds expression today in different vocations which are grafted into the common grace of Baptism.
We sisters, through our religious consecration, profess public vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, in the joy of belonging to God for the salvation of our brothers and sisters.
The lay associates, and those in other ways aggregated with us, express the one charism through the specificity of their own vocation.
10.
The Spirit urges us today to discover together, in the Church, new ways of telling every man and woman that they are loved by God.
11.
In the present age of the story of salvation history, Mary, the Mother of Mercy, is our companion and guide for the journey. Like her, the Virgin of Pity, we welcome into our arms the Christ who is present in the brothers and sisters we meet, and for whom we offer our lives.
Affiliated to the Dominican Order,
we follow the rule of Saint Augustin
that Saint Dominic chose for his brothers and sisters.
Commentaries on our Constitutions
February 2020
CONSTITUTIONS no. 45: "Study demands of us all a steady commitment to research, reflection and knowledge. In the community project we identify ways and means for personal and community study, which are suited to the capabilities of each sister."
This number of the Constitutions is a powerful call to personal and community commitment to study, the pillar of our charism. In fact, the title at the side, “Times and ways of study”, specifically says that we are speaking here about the inevitable organisation needed to live it.
So the number begins with this brief and decisive phrase: “Study demands of us all a steady commitment”. This beginning is clear and powerful; it contains three brief expressions which leave us in no doubt: study demands, a very vigorous and unquestionable verb; of us all, so no-one is excluded, every one of us, from the first to the last, is called to it; a steady/constant commitment, not now and again according to what I feel like, or if I want or don’t want to do it; on the contrary, it asks, forcibly, a constant and continuous commitment from each and every one of us, at all times.
This ceaseless task of study, required of each of us, is described in three ways:
- research
- reflection
- knowledge
Research: I must not be satisfied with what I already know, with what I have learned through past study; I am asked to learn more and more, to widen my ideas, to acquire new areas of knowledge, comprehension and awareness – in other words, I have to do a continual updating. Our life as Dominican Sisters must be one of continuous searching for knowledge!
Reflection: it is not enough to be full of ideas, to have lots of information about varied fields of knowledge; we are asked for commitment to study and continuous reflection. Reflecting on what I know leads me to a deeper understanding of what I know already, to find other implications and aspects, other connections between the things I know. So the task of study asks me to be a woman of reflection, a woman of thought. We are often superficial and waste time in tittle-tattle, whereas we are asked to be women who are always thoughtful.
Knowledge: study, with research and reflection, leads us to ever greater and wider understanding of the various aspects of knowledge. We are asked to be ever deepening and concretising our understanding of life in all its aspects, of history, and of the world itself.
Up to this point, the first part of the number shows us the ways to study and the continuous commitment each one of us needs to have for it. The second part speaks of how the Community Project must present the ways to effect the personal and community implementation of this very important task of our charism.
In fact, it clearly states that this task of study should be considered and put into practice in the Community Project. It is both a personal and community task, and each community must arrange and organise times and means for study for each sister and for all the community.
I know that it is not easy to identify these modalities, and I certainly know that it is then not easy to put them into practice, and be faithful to them. Yet the Constitutions are clear and demanding about this aspect.
I know from experience that it is easy to be attentive to prayer, and to feel responsible if we have not prayed during the day, but that it is not the same for study, and generally speaking we are less strict about it. Yet study asks for the same commitment from us, the same dedication, the same feeling of responsibility that prayer and the other pillars of our Dominican life ask of us.
In community assessments, we must consider how every sister manages to carry out her personal study, if she has the time for it, what help she needs, “according to her capacities” as the text of this number says.
There is also a need to assess if the community as a whole has times for study, if it is committed to study and carries out the times and ways it has decided and written into the Community Project.
May Saint Thomas, Saint Albert the Great, Saint Catherine and all our Dominican saints , teachers of life according to our charism, and therefore also of the way we study, enter into deeper understanding, knowing the various areas of knowledge, guide us, help us in this task, and give us the real desire and passion for study!
Sr. M. Elvira Bonacorsi
March 2020
CONSTITUTIONS no. 46: "For us, study means work, action and commitment and – because of the effort involved – it associates us with the redeeming work of Christ.
Through study we offer our intelligence and the whole of ourselves to the One who is infinite Wisdom, so that through us the Truth may manifest itself ever more clearly in all its beauty."
This time we are concentrating on the last number of the short chapter on Study, which is like a brief summary of all that study means to us as Dominicans.
In the first part we are being shown what study is in our lives, and in the second part we are invited to understand its deepest meaning and objective.
The Constitutions tell us that for us study is summed up in four ways: as work, action, commitment and participation in the redeeming work of Christ.
Work: the Italian dictionary defines work as “The application of energy in order to carry out a determined end”. In effect, if we think seriously about study, we cannot say that it does not correspond to this definition. To study means applying our intellectual, reflective and meditative energies to achieve the goal of a greater and deeper knowledge of many different themes.
So it is clear that, when we study, we are truly working.
Action: our first thought might be to say that “action” is synonymous with “work”. But searching among the synonyms for this term, I did not find “work” but rather “zeal, industriousness, concern, dynamism, alacrity, fervour, vivacity, readiness, resolve” ...
So it seems to me that we can see study as an activity in the way we go about it, live with it and put it into practice. If we study seriously, we do it with zeal, with industriousness, with concern ... Otherwise it is, perhaps, not true study.
Yes, study as action, as activity, is exactly as it should be for us Dominicans. I think immediately of St Thomas, St Albert the Great, and of brothers and sisters of our own days, too, whom I have known.
Commitment: this term leads us immediately to think of responsibility. Study is a great responsibility for us Dominicans, because it is one of the indispensable means for the mission of the whole Order. It requires serious commitment and deep dedication, not only in the years when we are following a course or are at school or university, but throughout our whole lives.
Participation in the redeeming work of Christ: study, “because of the effort it demands - associates us with the redeeming work of Christ”. Study done seriously and with commitment certainly demands effort. I call to mind, for those who knew him, our dear Fr. Dalmazio Mongillo, a true student; he was always fervently immersed in thought and reflection, often taking a piece of paper from his pocket and writing something down; it sometimes happened that when I met him that he would say to me, “Sister, I am reflecting on this theme – what do you think about it?” And I would be amazed that a professor of his high standing would ask my opinion, the opinion of a poor little student ... but he made a note even of my miserable reflections!
The effort of study associates us with the work of Christ for the redemption of the world. Yes, because ultimately it deals with knowing better, and of making known in its various facets, the Truth which is Christ the Lord, and he alone is the Redeemer, the Saviour.
To turn to a concrete example, all who approached Fr Mongillo felt that he was always participating in the redeeming work of Jesus by his continual researching and studying, and involving those who were close to him.
Note that in this first part of the number, we grasp a summary of what study is according to our charism.
In the second part, as I said above, it seems to me we are clearly shown the deep meaning and significance of study: "Through study we offer our intelligence and the whole of ourselves to the One who is infinite Wisdom.” And in the last phrase we are given to understand the truest and most pregnant objective of study: “so that through us the Truth may manifest itself ever more clearly in all its beauty”.
How beautiful this explanation of study is: to study is to offer our intelligence and the whole of ourselves to God the infinite Wisdom, to hand ourselves over to him who alone can make us enter ever more deeply into his Truth.
The title at the side of this number is very significant; it refers particularly to this second part. The phrase “Wisdom works in us “shows that we, as we study, give ourselves to Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom, working in us, makes us grasp, discover and identify ever more the beauties of Truth.
In this way, Jesus, the Truth, through our study manifests himself ever more fully in his unfathomable Beauty to each one of us engaged in study, and through us to the persons to whom we are sent.
May our studious Saints of yesterday and of today obtain for us the grace of true Dominican study, which will make us consign ourselves to the Divine Wisdom, and, working in us, will lead us to penetrate ever more deeply into the Beauty of Truth, in order, through our mission, to make it ever better known.
Sr. M. Elvira Bonacorsi