Closing of the General Assembly

The 6th General Assembly of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer came to a close after 29 sisters, coming from all continents, gathered from the 12th to the 23rd of May at the Retreat House of the Redemptorists in Tuchow, Poland.

“Cloistered Contemplatives: Missionaries of Incarnate Love”, the theme of our meeting, was not only a slogan but the lived experience of these days. At the first day Fr. Chyla CSsR, the Religious Assistant for our Order, reminded us in his opening homily for our retreat: being “Living memories of the Redeemer” is our daily challenge to live in our cloistered monasteries Christ’s love to all, who long for it.

The sisters, coming from all continents, are speaking different languages, therefore our deepest gratitude goes to our confreres Redemptorists from Rome, Brazil, Togo and Japan who made the long travels to facilitate with their language skills our sessions as well as the fraternal exchange during the breaks and the meals with translations into eight languages.

Fr. Rogério Gomes CSsR, the General Superior of the Redemptorist Congregation, Fr. Piotr Chyla, and two confreres, Fr. Andrzej Kukla CSsR, expert in Canon Law and Fr. Vicente Soria CSsR, expert in finances, guided us in our discussions and decisions.

Besides this, they all shared with us our Morning and Evening prayer and celebrated the Eucharist for us. Some sisters had prepared the liturgical schedule for these days, distributing the psalms, readings and prayers to different language groups, who emphasised our joy and dedication with musical skills. The time we spent together in the chapel was the deepest expression of our common spirituality and mission as members of the Redemptorist family.

Our visit to our sisters of the community in Bielsko-Biala was another joyful proof of our sisterly and brotherly unity. The whole time, the Eucharist as well as the lovingly prepared meals and the talks, was a celebration, worthy of the feast of the Ascension of our Lord.

The main task of the Assembly was the adaptation of our Constitutions and Statutes to the requirements of the documents Vidi Dei quaerere and Cor orans, the new, contemporary guidelines for the contemplative life of women, given by Pope Francis and the dicastery. According to them, since 2019 most of our communities are united in three federations, and now the adaptation of our main documents was necessary to correspond to this reality.

In further sessions the Norms of Procedure for future General Assemblies of the Order were updated. In plenary sessions as well as in group meetings the topics were thoroughly discussed. Sometimes more examination of the legal basis or the consequences of a decision requires more time, therefore not every point of the Instrumentum Laboris, sent out to the communities before the Assembly, could be decided on.

The advantages of communication in person, not only by social media, and the remaining work caused the decision to have a second part of this General Assembly O.Ss.R. in two years. A group of sisters will together with the Redemptorists of the General Secretariat of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for the Redemptorist Nuns (O.Ss.R.) take the task of the necessary preparations.

In his final homily, Fr. Gomes encouraged us to remain open for the graces of the Holy Spirit and find simple ways to remain united with one another, sharing our life experiences not only at special gatherings and assemblies, and so fulfil Jesus’ prayer “that all will be one”.

Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help, will always be our guide in our contemplative life. On Friday, the 22nd of May, a pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Częstochowa entrusted the future way of our Redemptorist family to the care of God’s Mother.

Sr. Magdalena Schumann, O.Ss.R.