OUR CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE
"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and bloom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing…
Here is your God…he will come and save you.
Waters shall break forth in
the wilderness, and streams in the desert, the burning sand shall
become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water". (Isaiah
35)
In the Church we continue
the prayerful attitude of Jesus turned towards the Father,
in adoration and praise, in thanksgiving and intercession.(Constitutions
162)
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The Contemplative Sisters of the Holy Family
were founded in 1859: "the last shoot of the tree of the
Holy Family". For Pierre Bienvenu Noailles, our Founder,
we form the indispensable complement of his Work.
We participate in the common Mission of the Family by imitating the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the home of Nazareth: a life hidden in God alone in silence and solitude, a life of love lived in obedience and gratuitousness.
Our communities are present in three continents:
Latin America, Asia and Europe. Their members are of different
nationalities and cultures.
"Our happiness
is not outside of us but within us through the reign of
God Alone."
(P.B. Noailles)
With humility, love and courage,
together we seek God and God's reign.
Nazareth is the humble school where the simplicity and beauty of everyday life is reveled to us.
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It is in
the reality of community life that communion is built
up among us.
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To live in communion … is
to serve God and our brothers and sisters from the heart. It
is to let our hearts be evangelized by being in contact
with the Word of God and with others, in order to live
forgiveness, compassion and hope.
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Our differences are woven
day after day into the tissue of our lives, and thus
become a witness to communion.
Each day, we are together
in the chapel, at work, at recreation, at meals…Life
in community is a school of patience and self-giving,
of attention to the other in self-forgetfulness. It
leads us to the truth of our being-with-others and
with God, the Totally Other.
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"The Word of God is a seed: to produce fruit, it should be meditated in silence."
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Prayer
occupies a dominant place in our personal and community life. It
marks the rhythm of our day. Prayer is extended into
all that makes up our daily life.
Meditation, the Liturgy of
the Hours, Lectio Divina, Eucharistic adoration are the visible
part of the interior reality of contemplative prayer, the Eucharistic
celebration being its climax.
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"Pray often,
pray without ceasing, that is to say, make your work a continual
prayer."
(P.B. Noailles)
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Our
contemplative life, in the school of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
consists also of work which is never to the detriment of prayer.
Our work, by the effort it
demands and the constraints it imposes, is a place of human
solidarity. We are careful to see that our work does
not turn into activism, that it is not a seeking of our own
efficacy or mere profit.
Work is indispensable for
a balanced life. Our energy is restored through work
as much as through rest, meals and relaxation.
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"The monastery is a house of God where we
dwell close to the Source."
The communities welcome with
simplicity and discretion those who seek the Lord in silence
and solitude. This welcome is a grace and an invitation
to all.
Each of our communities desires to be a sign of faith and a sacrament of unity in the place and culture where it is present.
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