Lolín Menéndez rscj

The journey continues…

Feast of the Sacred Heart at the Trinitá dei Monti
Rome, June 24 2006

The journey continues... With these words Luciana Lussiatti, provincial of Italy, opened her welcoming remarks at the beginning of the Eucharist in the Monastic Church of the Trinità dei Monti, a Eucharist which carried special meaning for approximately 50 Religious of the Sacred Heart from Japan, Korea, India, United States, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, England, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain. We had gathered together for the final celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart in this house so full of history and memories for each one of us. It was, as our celebrant Mons. Patrick Descourtieux, rector of the Trinità for the past 7 years, described: a simple, profound and solemn liturgy. Concelebrating with him was a visiting priest from the United States who is pastor of a French parish in the United States and whose mother is an alumna of our school in Greenwich and of Newton College. What a coincidence!

Yes, the journey goes on for this house and for those persons who are ready to pass on their legacy, continued Luciana in her word of welcome. We are living it in the reality of celebrating this feast which is so dear to us.

This last community of Religious of the Sacred Heart, just like the first community, is responding today to a call that has come through human mediation, a call which today finds its expression in a new sending, in a personal mission.

Our Sisters at the Trinità continue the mission of discovering and manifesting the love of the Heart of Christ: and one by one each member of the community of the Trinità was called by name and given the new mission to which she was being sent. Some returned to France, Lyon, Joigny and Poitiers; others are going to different houses in Italy and one to Seville, Spain.  Our Japanese sister, Ayaki Kato, is returning to Japan. In a very special way we unite ourselves with them in this Eucharist.

The significance of the historical moment that we were living could not be more clear and I was struck by the words, “This last community of Religious of the Sacred Heart, just like the first community, is responding today to a call…”. This seemed like a seal that brought to full completion almost 180 years of history. It caused a lump to form in my throat.

And so the Eucharist began, a true Last Supper, in which gratitude for all that had been lived and the pain of separation and closure embraced. It was painful to leave and say good-bye to a house so filled with history and where so many of our sisters have given their life for “The glory of the Heart of Jesus and the salvation of souls”, a house where the educative mission is very alive and where the community has been completely devoted until the last moment to respond unconditionally and with enormous creativity to the calls of the world of today.

The entrance song was, I think, an echo of our prayer: “Ecco mi, ecco mi…, Signore io vengo…, ecco mi, si compia in me la tua volonta”, “Here I am…, Lord, I am coming…, let your will be done in me”.

Everything had a special significance. The renovation of vows was unlike any that we had done over the years, or at least I experienced it in a completely different way, deeply moving. It was very lovely: 6 religious representing the 6 languages we spoke made up the first part of the offertory procession, each one holding a lighted candle. Two probanists closed the procession carrying the bread and the wine. Each of the religious who was holding a lighted candle initiated the renovation of vows and then all those who spoke her language joined her. When they had finished, she placed the lighted candle on the communion rail in front of the altar. At the conclusion of the renovation of vows, we sang the “Suscipe”, “Take, Lord, Receive”, we wanted to sing our offering. Only when we had finished singing did the celebrant make the offering of this bread and this wine which would be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Before the final blessing, Clare Pratt rscj, Superior General, called each member of the Trinità community to come forward for a final blessing from the whole congregation and to give them a candle which she lighted from a central candle carrying the seal of the Society.

Did we cry? There may have been a few tears but it was not noticeable, everything was very peaceful. There was nothing extraordinary. It was better this way, as the serenity allowed each one to experience the depth and truth of this event in her own heart.

Usually when we have this kind of gathering, people begin to arrive about 15 minutes ahead of time. But this time, it seemed that everyone wanted to arrive early. Even though the Liturgy was not until 6:30 in the evening, people were arriving at the Trinità by 5:00. Some went first to Mater, others to the chapel, others just to socialize in the joy of meeting and being together. Curiously, no one was taking photos, or at least it was not noticeable. There was a sense of something sacred about the moment. The festive supper afterwards seemed like a prolongation of the Eucharist.

After supper, Marie-Guyonne du Penhoat rscj, Superior of the community, invited us in small groups to visit some of the most artistic places in the house which have been recently restored and so are more interesting and perhaps of more value. I returned home around 10:00 that evening; others had returned earlier and some still later, but I believe that all of us carried with us the sense of having lived through an exceptional historical event.

I have no doubt that Madeleine Sophie, along with hundreds of our sisters who have lived at the Trinità, was watching over us and joining with us in our “Suscipe”.