I spent this afternoon with the good sisters in the Visitation Monastery in Stamullen, Co. Meath. One of my friends is a member of the community and she is making her Solemn Profession on the 16th October. As I have a role in the ceremony, I was taking part in a practice in preparation for the big day. Sr Cora Marie is getting excited and looking forward to what is the fulfilment of her dreams. Please remember her in your prayers. During the ceremony, Sr Cora Marie will profess the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for life and receive the symbol of her life-long consecration - the Visitation cross which contains relics of the founders of the order.
St Francis de Sales and St Jane de Chantal
The monastery is the only contemplative community in our diocese and the only Visitation monastery in Ireland. The order was founded in Annecy in France by St Francis de Sales and St Jane de Chantal in 1610. The founders intended that the order be apostolic in nature and open to all women, even those who, through ill health or age, would not have been able for the rigors of other communities. The community, however, became contemplative, and the sisters' main work is prayer for the Church and the world. Foremost among the members was St Margaret Mary Alcoque, the visionary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and today the sisters of the order promote the spirituality and messages of the visions St Margaret Mary received. Drawing on the teachings of their founder, St Francis de Sales, the spirituality is one of gentleness and trust in the Lord. Named after the Visitation of Our Lady to St Elizabeth, the sisters seek to imitate the maternal Heart of Mary.
In our diocese we are very proud of our sisters - a contemplative community is a gift, and no doubt our diocese has received many graces thanks to the intercession of the sisters. The community, however, is small and getting older, and new vocations are needed. As the community prepares for Sr Cora Marie's profession they are offering a novena for new vocations, you might say a prayer that their prayers will be heard. Better still if you are a woman considering a vocation you might think about the Visitation sisters in Stamullen. They are working on a new website here, which contains information on the life, history and spirituality of the order, together with contact details. In the meantime, keep Sr Cora Marie in your prayers.
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