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Father Saverio meets with the nuns of the United States of America

Father General met with 162 Discalced Carmelite nuns from monasteries in the United States from April 25th to 29th in St. Louis (Missouri). The meeting can be regarded as historic, and its organization was aided by some OCDS members.

Father Saverio gave the sisters two conferences based on the Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere. They were titled, “Contemplative life and cloister” and “Contemplative life and the Word of God.”

Father General described the life of the contemplative Carmelites as a life of “seekers of the ways of the Spirit,” who do not limit themselves to welcoming the guest as industrious housewives – in the style of Martha – to the point of forgetting him and neglecting their relationship with him.

Likewise, Father Saverio pointed out, it is obvious that a plurality exists in the cloistered way of life among Discalced Carmelites, but “it is preferable to have diversity that seeks accord than discordance that coerces uniformity.”

In his second conference, Father General insisted upon the need to establish a profound relationship with the Word of God, essential to the contemplative life.

The sisters had the opportunity for group reflection on the proposed topics in Father Saverio’s conferences, and he also had the opportunity to meet with the councils of the different federations.

Accompanying Father General from Rome were Father Daniel Chowning, Definitor, and Father Rafal Wilkowski, his personal secretary and the one responsible for the secretariat of the nuns.

Father Michael Berry of the Province of California-Arizona and Father Jude Peters, Provincial of Washington, also participated in the meeting.

A detailed record of the meeting in English with photographs may be found at this link:

http://ocdnunsnationalmtg.blogspot.com.au/