Monthly Archives: October 2019

Cloistered life, Eremitic Life

Pro Orantibus Resources Now Available Online

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On November 21 (the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple), the Church will celebrate World Day of Cloistered Life, an ecclesial event for all Catholics worldwide to commemorate the hidden lives of contemplative religious in cloisters and monasteries. On this day, the faithful are encouraged to reach out to the cloistered religious in their diocese, through prayer, encouragement, and material support.

We’ve put together some free, downloadable resources to help your community celebrate this event:

Some concrete ways to support cloistered communities are: participating in a novena and offering up Masses, writing notes of appreciation to contemplative communities, visiting them, and making a special point to teach families, religious education classes, youth groups, etc., about the tremendous value of the contemplative life.

Pope Francis has said, “It is a good opportunity to thank the Lord for the gift of so many people who, in monasteries and hermitages, dedicate themselves to God in prayer and silent work.”

News

Catechetical Institute of Franciscan University Launches New Religious Discernment Mentorship Program

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New Mentorship Program Launching to Help Those Discerning Religious Life

To assist Catholics discerning a call to religious life, Values Outreach, an initiative of the Catechetical Institute of Franciscan University of Steubenville, recently announced a new mentorship program for young men and women discerning religious life.

These discerners will receive online formation by watching workshops and completing tasks designed to help them grow in their spiritual lives. Workshops will feature talks from a variety of religious from different orders. Topics include the Theology of Religious Life, Monastic Practices, the Nature of Vocation, and the Desires of Our Hearts.

In addition, each discerner will be connected with a professed religious who will act as a mentor as they go through the formation program. Mentors will provide feedback on written tasks and will engage in long-distance, one-on-one communication throughout the program.

Cassidy Roderick, founder and team director of Values Outreach, said “This is an amazing opportunity to connect young adults with the people they need in their lives to help them discern well.”

Roderick noted that it is important for young discerners to relate directly with those in religious life. “It is extremely difficult to discern alone. Anything that can be done to connect them with someone to guide them is crucially important.”

The idea for the online formation program was spearheaded at a recent mentor-training meeting. The Catechetical Institute team was reviewing evaluations from learners taking their workshops, which indicated the workshops helped them to grow closer to God. Seeing this positive feedback, the Values Outreach Office and the Catechetical Institute decided to take the next step forward with this new program that focuses on vocational accompaniment.

The program will take place on the Catechetical Institute’s online learning management system: FranciscanAtHome.com.

This semester-long program is free and will begin in January 2020. The Values Outreach Office is currently accepting applications. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and actively discerning consecrated religious life.

Questions? Email info@valuesoutreach.org. One of their team members would be happy to speak with you!

Or fill out the application to get started with a mentor now!

Men's communities, News

Servants of Christ Jesus Approved as an IRL Affiliate Community

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The Servants of Christ Jesus, founded in 2004 as a community of priests and brothers, are committed to advancing the New Evangelization through the praise, reverence and service of God. Consecrating themselves completely to Jesus Christ, in radical poverty, chastity and obedience, they live the Gospel through the evangelical poverty of St. Francis of Assisi and the apostolic formation of St. Ignatius Loyola.

They are trained in Ignatian spirituality, scripture, spiritual exercises, liturgy, evangelization and education to be preachers of the Word, teachers of the Catholic faith, and directors of souls. They seek particularly to announce Christ to souls who have yet to conform their lives to Him – youth, young adults, non-Catholics, and non-Christians. They do this by preaching, teaching, spiritual exercises, administration of the Sacraments, and assistance to the poor.

They were founded in the Diocese of Steubenville in 2004, transferred to the Archdiocese of Denver in 2006, recognized as a Private Association of the Faithful by Archbishop Charles Chaput in 2009 and a Clerical Association of the Faithful by Archbishop Samuel Aquila in 2013.  In the Archdiocese, they serve as chaplains in schools, including the University of Denver, and provide missionary training, family formation, parish missions and spiritual direction.

Their prayer life includes daily Mass and a Holy Hour, weekly Confession, the Divine Office prayed together and an annual 8-day retreat.  Pope Francis appointed Fr. John Ignatius and Fr. Paul Kostka as “Missionaries of Mercy” for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  This mandate was extended indefinitely in 2017.

Servants of Christ Jesus
4022 S Olive Street
Denver, CO  80237
Phone (720)458-3038
www.SCJesus.org
servants@scJesus.org

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Visitation Sisters Celebrate Jubilee Year for the 100th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

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On May 13, 2020, the Order of the Visitation we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM. To celebrate this occasion, they obtained from the Apostolic Penitentiary of Rome the grace of a Jubilee Year for all of the monasteries of the Order of the Visitation and the grace of a plenary indulgence to all those who pass through the doors of their Monastery chapels.

The year will open on October 16, 2019 and will close on October 17, 2020.

The usual conditions of a plenary indulgence apply:

  • To be in a state of grace
  • To go to Confession and to receive Holy Communion within 20 days preceding or following
  • To pray for the intentions of the Holy Father

… on the following dates:

  • October 16, 2019 Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM
  • January 24, 2020 Solemnity of St. Francis de Sales
  • May 13, 2020 100th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM
  • May 31, 2020 Solemnity of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary
  • June 19, 2020 Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
  • August 12, 2020 Solemnity of St. Jane de Chantal
  • October 16, 2020 Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM
  • Monthly First Fridays

A video was produced by VocationPromotion.com explaining the timeless significance of the messages of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary in support of this Jubilee Year.

When requesting this grace from the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Visitation nuns  expressed the reason for this Jubilee as follows:

“ [. . .] Desiring to be renewed (in the mission received by our Holy Order of the Visitation), so that the love of the Heart of Jesus might further shine forth over the world, we have thought that the grace of a Jubilee Year, with the possibility of a plenary indulgence, could also allow the numerous faithful who frequent the chapels of our monasteries to intimately experience the love of the Heart of Jesus, and to render him ‘love for love’ according to the desire that he himself had expressed to Saint Margaret Mary.

There are four Visitation Monasteries that are Affiliates of the IRL located in:

Snellville, Georgia

 

 

 

 

 

Tyringham, Massachusets

 

 

 

 

 

Toledo, Ohio

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile, Alabama

 

News

Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) Celebrates 175 Years

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The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN), formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer (AoP), celebrated their 175th anniversary in June with Pope Francis. While remaining in continuity with their tradition and history, they now have a deeper engagement with the digital world.

They are the official platform for the Pope’s intentions, with a monthly 90-second video from the Holy Father: The Pope Video. The app “Click To Pray” is the official prayer platform for smart phones. The app invites users to brief prayers three times a day.

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network was born as the Apostleship of Prayer in 1844, in a house of formation for young Jesuits in Vals, in the south of France. Fr. François-Xavier Gautrelet, SJ, spiritual director of these young people, proposed to them a way of being apostles in their ordinary lives and encouraged them to be available for Christ’s mission through the offering of their lives. Fr. Henri Ramière, SJ, from 1861, guided the Apostleship of Prayer in the dynamic of the Heart of Jesus. Today, this proposal of service and prayer is 175 years old.

About The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a pontifical work with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action, in the face of the challenges confronting humanity and the mission of the Church. These challenges are addressed in the form of prayer intentions entrusted by the Pope to the entire Church. Its mission is inscribed in the dynamic of the Heart of Jesus: a mission of compassion for the world. This work was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer. It is present in 98 countries and is made up of more than 35 million Catholics. It includes a youth branch, the EYM: Eucharistic Youth Movement. In March 2018, the Pope constituted this ecclesial service as a Pontifical Work and approved its new statutes. Its international director is Fr. Father Frédéric Fornos, SJ. More information at:

https://www.popesprayer.va