Lettera Madre 20 February 2017

My dear Sisters …

CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
ROMA

“… all things and
all human events
are means equally effective
in God’s hands
for human sanctification…”
(R S p. 208)

My dear Sisters,
Once again, we recall the ‘Feast of the Cell’, when in February 1828, Antonio Rosmini made his way to Calvario, where he spent Lent in prayer, discerning what God wanted for him. Even though weak in body, he followed what he believed – God’s call, listening for his word, confident that he would show him a new beginning: “Now is the time; the moments are in the hands of God, and they come when he wills”. (Pagani, Life of Antonio Rosmini, p 93)

During these days, as he began to draw up guidelines for the Insititute, in the form of Constitutions – an idea that came to him in December 1825, where in a moment, he glimpsed the whole plan of his work; he now committed this initiative to God, placing himself wholly in his hands, completely open to his will. From Monte Calvario he wrote to a ‘dear friend’: “I want only to abandon myself to divine providence … My own conviction is that what the Lord wants of me is that I should seek nothing and as far as is in me, should refuse nothing … rather that I should make a total offering of myself to him. How happy would I be if I could totally identify myself with his will! (A.L. vol. 1, lett. 43)

– What does the ‘Feast of the Cell ‘mean to me?
Can we, following in the footsteps of Bl Antonio Rosmini, “learn to receive whatever comes to us from the hands of God with a tranquil mind and with great gratitude”? (A.L. vol. IV, lett. 1)
Happy Feast of the Cell to each one of you and with the same thought, a good journey of Lent 2017.
As we follow the message of Pope Francis: “Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to Easter, Christ’s victory over death … this season urgently calls us to conversion … to refuse to settle for mediocrity… Lent is the favourable season for renewing our encounter with Christ … the Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the forty days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover: The Word is a gift. Other persons are a gift”.
With gratitude for each one of you, wherever you are, I ask God to bless you in a special way this Lent.