Indiction XXIX° CG
Rome, 28 June 2019
Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus
Prot. n° 40/2019
“Following Christ is not an external imitation,
because it touches man in his deep interiority.
Being a disciple of Jesus means being made conformed to him,
who became a servant even to the gift of himself on the cross (cf Fil 2: 5-8).
Through faith, Christ dwells in the heart of the believer (cf. Eph 3:17),
and so the disciple is assimilated to his Lord and configured to him.
This is the fruit of grace, of the active presence of the Holy Spirit in us “.
(John Paul II – VS – n. 21)
Convocation of the 29th General Chapter
Dear Sisters,
Today we celebrate “our Feast, that of the Sacred Heart, since we are Daughters of Him and we enter into all its rights. But to show us these we need to look like him “(T.Verzeri May 23, 1839). With this exhortation of our Holy Mother I join you, wishing each one the grace to be “invested by the charity of the Heart of Jesus, animated by his spirit, humble and meek like him, united to God like him” (cf. idem).
With this consoling certainty of being loved and beloved daughters and in the awareness that the Holy Spirit works in us, that the good we do is the fruit of his grace, we begin our journey today towards the eventual waiting for us, because by the grace of the Lord the time has come:
Therefore I convoke the 29th General Chapter of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I therefore entrust to the action of the Divine Spirit his preparation and celebration as a time of particular grace for the life and mission of the entire Congregation.
The Constitutions remind us: “The General Chapter, an ecclesial event, is the representative collegial body of the Congregation, a sign of unity in charity and an expression of the participation of all the Sisters in the life of the Congregation, in fidelity to the Charism” (Cs. 114) and they help us to enter into this particular time with full availability, to seek together those paths that the Lord has prepared for our Congregation. Each Daughter of the Sacred Heart is invited to express through her participation the contribution that the Holy Spirit suggests to her to keep alive the Charism entrusted to our Founders for the Church and that we continue to embody today through the opportunities and challenges of a Christianity which is in crisis and a society of which the most part is very far from the Lord.
In the letter of 12 March 2019 (Prot. 17/2019) we communicated to you the time and place of the 29th General Chapter, namely Rome – General Curia, from 05 to 31 July 2020, date including the days of prayer, which will precede it , in Rocca di Papa (RM).
Theme of the 29th General Chapter
In the sharing we had at the level of general government, taking advantage of the journey made by the Congregation in recent years, of the contributions of the X ° Enlarged General Council, of the indications received from all the communities, of the ecclesial orientations, after prolonged discernment and careful reflection we reached the formulation of the theme of the 29th General Chapter:
“CHIAMATE e INVIATE per ‘annunciare parole di vita’ (cf At 5,20)”.
CALL and SEND to “announce words of life” (cf Acts 5:20) “.
We have perceived, also in the consensus that has been created around this theme, how the Spirit is guiding us towards common paths and indicating to us horizons in view of an incarnation that is ever more responsive to today in fidelity to the Charism and the Church. We want every Sister and every community to let themselves be involved in the process of preparation and celebration, so that the Chapter will be awaited and lived by all as its own responsibility as well as, with love for the Congregation and commitment, each offered its own contribution to reach the definition of theme. We Thank you from the heart.
- The General Chapter will see us engaged in:
b) b) guarding the Charism, deepening it and promoting its irradiation, development and inculturation in the different realities and situations;c) c) evaluate the quality of life of the Congregation;d) d) introduce any changes to the Constitutions and / or the Directory;e) e) looking at the future of the FSCJ according to the chosen theme (cf. Cs 116)
Journey of Preparation
For the process of preparing the Chapter itself a pre-capitular Commission was formed consisting of:
Ir. Inelda M. Balestrin General Councillor
Sr. Cristina Ediyanattu General Councillor
Sr. Luisa Ruggeri PSC
Ir. Vera Copetti PNSA
Ir. Valquiria De JesusAraujo PTV
Sr. LissyPanamparambil PB
The Preparatory Commission will be followed and coordinated, for the elaboration of the Instrumentum Laboris of the 29th General Chapter along the chosen theme, by the canonist Sr. Tiziana Merletti sfp, a member of the UISG Canonical Advisory Council, with a long experience of accompanying the General Chapters.
The working methodology will be “synodal” and involves the total involvement of the Congregation. More precise indications will be provided by the Preparatory Commission which will meet in Rome from 06 to 15 September next. I am sure of the collaboration of all because the various requests of the Commission can be accepted with attention and the answers arrive according to the times that will be set.
The indications to revise the text of the Directory will also follow in due course.
Time of the Spirit
In the knowledge that the Chapter event is “a privileged time of grace that stimulates all the Sisters to seek, in an atmosphere of fraternal communion, profound faith and discernment, God’s will for the Congregation” (Cs. 115) we wish that all process unfolds in a climate of spiritual discernment, to see the presence of God in today’s world and find out what the Lord wants to do with us. Therefore we ask, from this moment, your collaboration, also through prayer, sustained by the words of St. Teresa in this regard: “Let us begin by looking for God, who is infinite Wisdom and Providence, who wants to assist the poor minds of his creatures in seeing the righteous, and following him; then the business is handled (Rule 1841).
The application of a Holy Mass with this specific intention or, according to the possibilities, the Holy Votive Mass to the Holy Spirit is recommended on a monthly basis
Each community, in addition to the prayers that it deems appropriate to do, is invited to join the entire Congregation daily with the recitation of the prayer that you find in the attachment.
In the certainty that the word of s. Teresa: “Of the members of this Institute, however far it may be that they are far from each other, and of a different nature, one body must be formed, and all of them must concern themselves with the particular and common good“, will always and in every time implemented and deepened, I wish all good in the Heart of Jesus.
With great affection and gratitude.
Sr. Beatrice Dal Santo
Superior General – Dshj
Invocazioni allo Spirito Santa a scelta
Sequenza
Veni Creator
Come, Holy Spirit,
inside me,
in my heart and in my intelligence.
Grant me your intelligence,
so that I can know the Father
in meditating on the word of the Gospel.
Grant me your love,
because even today,
urged by your word,
I seek you in facts and in people
whom I meet.
Grant me your wisdom,
because I know how to relive
and to judge, in the light of your word,
what I lived today.
Grant me perseverance,
because I patiently penetrate
the message of God in the Gospel.
(St.Thomas Aquinas)
Pater – Ave – Gloria
Prayer to the founders
Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, the true source of light and fountain of wisdom. Pour forth your brilliance upon my intellect, dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance. Grant me a penetrating mind to understand, a retentive memory, method and ease in learning, the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself. Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion. This I ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man, living and reigning with You and the Father, forever and ever. Amen.Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.
Grant O merciful God, that I may ardently desire, carefully examine, truly know and perfectly fulfil those
things that are pleasing to You and to the praise and glory of Your holy name.
Via Casilina, 1113 – 00169 – Roma\Italia,
Tel. 06-260328, Fax. 06-2389168 Sito: www.figliedelsacrocuoredigesu.it