On 3 October, the Mother House in Vic hosted the closing celebration of the Canonical Visitation to the Province of Saint Raymond of Penyafort, following a period of encounter, listening, dialogue and shared reflection with the communities of the Province.
After concluding the visitation to the communities in Catalonia and Menorca, the sisters gathered in an atmosphere of prayer, fraternity and communion to reflect on and give thanks for the journey they had shared. Previously, the Canonical Visitation to the communities in Asia had also been brought to a close, thus completing the visitation of the different realities that form part of the Province.
The celebration was presided over and led by the Superior General, Sr. Ana Belén Verísimo, together with the sisters of the General Council: Sr. Generosa, Sr. Gliceria, Sr. Rosa María, Sr. Zoila and Sr. Luciana. Sr. Beatrice was unable to participate, as she was carrying out a visitation in Paraguay.
The celebration began with a time of prayer, inviting everyone to gather together and place before God all that had been experienced during the visitation. The prayer took up the reflection shared in the communities, placing in God’s hands the questions, challenges, joys and hopes that had emerged along the way.
The guiding theme of the gathering was the parable of the lost coin (Lk 15:8–10), a Word that invited the sisters to look at the reality of the Province with hope and to recognise the value of every sister, every community and the treasures of the charism we have received.
The image of the woman who lights a lamp, sweeps the house and searches carefully until she finds the coin helped to deepen the call to seek, care for, value and never consider lost what is especially precious. From this perspective, the parable became an invitation to continue discovering and caring for the life, vocation, fraternity and mission that God has entrusted to each community.
The reflection was accompanied by a simple yet meaningful symbol involving candles and coins, representing each of the communities of the Province. The light evoked the presence of God who accompanies and guides the journey, while the coins recalled the unique value of each sister and each community.
The different moments of reflection were interspersed with songs in various languages, expressing the richness and diversity of the Province and of the sisters who form part of it. Each song helped to deepen and express, through music and prayer, the meaning of the different parts of the celebration.
All of this created an atmosphere of participation, fraternity and thanksgiving, in which each community could feel part of the same journey.
“Let us give thanks to God and rejoice” was the response of all, united in the certainty that, after a history of light, we are called to continue being torches in our communities and in our mission. The gathering concluded with an invitation to share the joy of every gesture of fraternity, collaboration, service and care.
