Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Pro Orantibus Day was instituted by Pope Pius XII on 21 November 1953, the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Temple, as a day for all the faithful to thank God for the gift of the enclosed religious life and for the numerous brothers and sisters of contemplative life in monasteries and convents all over the world who promote the edification of the Kingdom of God with unceasing prayer day and night. The faithful are invited to offer material and spiritual support to religious of enclosed orders who remind people in today's hectic life, of the importance of placing Jesus Christ at the centre of one's life. To mark the occasion of Pro Orantibus Day we give below “Contemplative life, a treasure and a gift” a contribution by the Benedictines of Santa Maria in Rosano.
“Pro orantibus Day”, was born as an occasion to offer material support to enclosed orders of contemplative life and has since become an opportunity to propose to Christians at every latitude the mystery of contemplation, an essential component of the spiritual life of every believer in Christ, a special vocation, men and women who give themselves totally and permanently entirely to God in penance, prayer and praise as a service to the Church for the good of all.
Biological science which probes every deeper and social science which in modern times has highlighted and classified the mechanisms of human relationships, have underlined that every organism exists and develops with the contribution of all its components which, each in their own way, collaborate and interact to reach its full realisation.
Saint Paul compared the Church to a body with Christ as the head and all the baptised as the members united in charity to achieve full maturity in Him. The People of God, guided by rich contents identified by Vatican II and the various Pontiffs at the head of the Church, has progressed in its awareness of the duty to announce the Gospel and concrete realisation of the good of others, but often the sphere in which the necessity and urgency of service is most felt is connected to the material part of man. Everyone recognises the utility of those who care for the sick, for children or poor people or search for concrete solutions to problems such as drug addiction, the rejection of life, the 'use' of persons solely for hedonistic and egoistic ends.
Less clear is awareness that man also has a spiritual part and that, even if he eliminates the causes of his material suffering a social hardship, man will only find full realisation in the individual, concrete and vital encounter with God. In this field every human person must make his or her own personal way which develops in the secret of the soul where only God can enter and where the gift of unconditioned Love knocks to ask his creatures for their active assent to make them eternally happy.
No one understands the heights of holiness and the abyss of misery which can be hidden deep in the human conscience, only the Lord knows and intervenes with effective help, but, in keeping with the truly mysterious plan of God who chooses to have need of man in this work which is really His. He calls for our collaboration.
This is the great mission of contemplative souls: to give their whole life to God to use as He pleases, as an inexhaustible reserve of love, energy, selflessness, generosity and forgiveness with which to corroborate and also catalyse our personal effort, which is nonetheless indispensable. We nuns who nurture this treasure day after day leave the benefits of our prayers, sacrifices, offerings, because up to the Lord, certain He will make them reach those most in need, although no one may never notice or imagine that this happens.
Today especially in western society, ever richer in things but ever poorer in values, contemplative life is called to offer a great witness of love. Contact with a Convent can help the men and women of today understand what really realises the person, understand that the source of the serene and happy smile encountered in the cloister is the certainty that God is love and that all human events, which we with a merely human measure separate into good or bad, are channels of grace which help us to live the fullness of life already here on earth in time, which will find its total fullness in God for all eternity.
Every person is born with a calling from God, at that time in history, and in that place on earth; He knows what we need and - not overlooking the valid and indispensable work of religious sisters in active apostolate serving the little ones, the poor and the suffering - we must say that the great emptiness of our day which seems to want to drag down souls, leads Him to multiply vocations to the contemplative life so that their presence may help humanity find the way to Paradise, the only path along which all men and women can walk together in reciprocal respect and help and in that profound peace which builds up love.
And perhaps if the young people of today, who experience the false freedom of independence from all outside imposition and every value which does not find its motivation and end in themselves but in its inevitable expressions, ephemeral pleasures which soon turn to depression and loss of meaning to life, precisely for these reasons- if they encounter adults able to help and encourage them- they are quick to see the beauty of a total and freely gift of self, to help humanity in its greatest need: to find again faith in God in Dio Creator and Father, Truth and Life and in Him find the Way to realise we are all brothers and sisters in true peace and true joy”. Benedictine Sisters of Santa Maria di Rosano (Agenzia Fides 20/11/2007; righe 74, parole 1.074)
