©Comunità dei figli di Dio, Community of God's Sons and Daughters, C.F.D., Settignano, Florence, Italy

COMUNITÀ DEI FIGLI DI DIO/ COMMUNITY OF

GOD'S SONS AND DAUGHTERS

NOTIZIARIO/ NEWSLETTER

MARCH, 1999

Month's Motto:

Christianity is now in its 'last hour' and there is no other. Today we live its glory beneath the sign of humility and of death, but only if we live that glory.'

Don Divo Barsotti, Pensieri per ogni giorno/Thoughts for Each Day, p. 33.

FROM THE FATHER:

GREAT THINGS

The value of liberty is above all in our own decisions. A freedom that does not give our actions the right to choose would have no value. Our greatness is precisely in the fact that we are not purely passive: God has us be responsible for each of our actions. But increasingly in recent times we seek to slough off this responsibility, not deciding for ourselves, letting chance rule. Thus sin becomes our condition of enslavement, we being no longer guided by a free and responsible decision we make, but slaves of our own passions. We thus lose all our dignity, abdicating our one true greatness in the created world.

One of the most evident manifestations of this phenomenon is called 'co-habitation'. Marriage is feared, just as is the vocation to monasticism, the vocation to the priesthood. We ought to recognise the perils that somewhat menace all, and menace even the life of the Community. There are many aspirants, coming not in a trickle, but in torrents; but when it comes to consecration, they draw back, and do not have the courage to face the difficulties of that obligation.

I want to request our beloved aspirants to consider carefully whether their putting off their consecration might not be a sign of this human impoverishment which does not trust in itself and does not trust in God, and is afraid of making a decision which binds it, giving it responsibility, making it live His life. Always our life answers the divine call; for this also marriage requires faith in the help and assistance of God. How can we foretell what awaits us? In our ignorance of what may await us, we can decide nothing, and the weight of this responsibility becomes so great as to lead us paradoxically even to suicide; it is easier to die than to live. One needs great courage to kill oneself, but it is an act from which nothing comes, while living places us in a state where we must choose, and even then to be faithful to what we have chosen. It is right that freedom forces us to decide, forces us to believe in a God who will sustain us in the task we undertake, in faith to what we have promised.

It is to the aspirants above all that I write at this time: do not fear God! I believe that the task will overcome fear, but not if you live as if you do not believe in life, that nothing valid or grand can be achieved if we do not have faith in a God who sustains us in our weakness and makes us thus capable of great things in our human life, in the task of our work, in the reply to a divine vocation. God comes to our aid only to the extent that we take on this task, but if we are afraid of this task, God leaves us to our poverty and powerlessness; it is in our task itself that God becomes present, rather than that we leave this up to Him. Do not be afraid of God! God is the strength of the weak. It is difficult to trust in ourselves, and often what is difficult is even impossible, but God assures of his help, and his help will be the greater as with faith we will to undertake with him great tasks, will to hold to that sanctity to which He calls us.

Now - and I do not talk only here to the aspirants - even we who are consecrated have need to believe. Living in time, we are prey to moods. Often after our consecration there can be a certain exhaustion, and slowly we lose the desire for the duty of a life of prayer. In fact, the monastic life does not seem to have much that is new, and the monotony of the daily task, the lack of new events to awaken the soul to faith, renders even those who are consecrated tired of goodnes and become deluded.

The newness of the monastic, religious life therefore is not in external happenings, but in the event that is always renewed of the true encounter with God. If the religious life of the consecrated does not include the surprise of an ever renewed encountering with God, even our consecrated life would become just the reciting of words which go nowhere, would become mere ritual, and not the communion of love. And there is nothing so poverty-stricken as a religious life in which God is practically absent.

We ought to all wake up to the decision of the task which gives to our life its real content of responsibility. We should live one life, and that life should be lived with the fulness of faith and of love.

Il padre/ The father

'Those who do not praise God on earth, shall be silent in eternity.' Blessed Jan Van Ruusbroec

BIBLICAL INSERT

THE BOOK OF KINGS

The two books which complete the historical Deuteronomic work are indicated in the Greek Bible as the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. They contain the story of Israel from the beginning of the succession to the Davidic throne, to the second and definitive fall of Jerusalem and the deportation of 587 B.C.

It is a crucial period in Israel's history: there are about four centuries (from about 960 to 587), written down and interpreted in the Deuteronomic historical tradition, not only according to precise historical categories, but also according to theological categories. A category that is especially used is that of 'divine numbering', in an attempt to understand organically their destiny and above all the reason for their own disaster. The history which is narrated is that of a 'sacred' history in the sense that it speaks of the relation between God and his people, through the mediation of the King, judged as just or wicked to the measure of his fidelity to the law, to religion.

These centuries, so decisive for Israel, described for the first time, see a progressive approach to the monarchy; after King David, King Solomon, religious and wise, building the Temple, a fundamental part of Istrael's religion, a sign of cultural and political unity. But at Solomon's death comes the first catastrophe: the loss of national unity, with the creation of the Kingdom of Israel to the North, and the Kingdom of Judah to the South. The religion is spread thin, allowing syncretist tendencies, bringing about the political and religious ends of the two little kingdoms incapable of standing up to the two superpowers, Assyria and Babylon, which in short time reduce these monarchies to the state of vassals, destroying first Samaria, then Jerusalem, deporting the population. The reasons for this catastrophe are given, by the writers, as the work of each monarch in the area of religion. The political or governmental capacity matters little, though that is described; what counts is the kings' just or wicked behaviour before God. The model of the just king is Josiah, the great religious reformer (640-609). The reforms become parameters of legal justice: to renounce and suppress the syncretist sanctuaries; external policity that could be, for the two little kingdoms, more the fruit of a witnessing of faith rather than compromising with the neighbouring powers; renouncing the maintenance of the separate cults apart from Jerusalem, such as at Bethel and Dan; the so-called sin of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12.25), which was shaped as the cult of Aaron in the Mosaic period.

The tragic story of Israel ought not to be have been the abandonment or diminishing of the God of Israel's power in relation to the other gods of the other countires. But it is the work of men, in what they did historically, forgetting their faith, their hope in God, trusting in human power and in ephemeral glory.

God's faithfulness is always the same, God never forgets his people, with whom he has made his Covenant, thus, more than ever he will never forget his 'spouse', who is loved and known always. There are messages given by the great prophets living in this period, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and also Elijah and Elisha who are spoken of in these two books.

Subdivisions

The two Books of Kings, together, can be divided into four parts:

I. Epilogue of the story of the succession to the Throne of David, 1 Kings 1-2.

II. Solomon's Reign and the Building of the Temple, 1 Kings 2-11.

Solomon came to the throne with the greatest talents and the first thing he asked of the Lord was for wisdom in governing. He strenthened his throne, giving himself to the constructing of the Temple. At the apex of his splendour a shadow crept over his kingdom: the introduction of excessive luxury, the use of slavery, the tribute which the various regions over which he reigned came to be used at his court (Samuel had foreseen this problem with the institution of the monarchy, (a certain loss of the autonomy of the tribes which David had always maintained), the marriage with women of other peoples (the daughter of the Egyptian Pharoah) and the inevitable fall to the cults of strange nations.

Towards the end of the reign these were the causes of discontent which led to divisions.

III. The history of the two divided kingdoms, up to the fall of the Kingdom of the North, 1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17.

The son of Solomon, Roboam, could not understand the political gravity at the time and a certain Geroboam, profiting from his weakness, rebelled against the Davidic house, receiving the assent of the Northern Tribes (of Samaria and of Galilee), who proclaimed him king. Thus two kingdoms were formed and together they lost their political and religious unity. The nattation now concerns the history of the kings who succeeded each other in the North and in the South and who are presented in the following scheme: the years of their reigns are given (a chronicling based just on the Kings of Judah, but without ever citing the beginning date), citing the name of the mother and that of the wife, when relevant, and whether they were good or wicked in their legal judgements according to the above scheme. Some kings of notable importance politically and historically, like Jeroboam and Omri, are judged as wicked in the light of their religious comportment, others like Ezechia or Josia are cited as being just and as true models of kingship.

In this section are included the accounts of the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17-21) and of the prophet Elishah (2 Kings 2-13).

In the time of the kings the prophets made their voices heard, determining and saving the religious conscience of the people of Israel and the progess of Revelation. Elijah and Elishah carried out their mission in the Northern Kingdom and this makes us understand, from their political and cultural divisions, that the common faith of God's people was not intact.

Elijah, native of Transjordan, lived at the time of Ahab, who married a pagan queen, from Tyre. Cults were introduced from the Phoenicians (Baal, the god of rain and fertility). Elijah announced a great drought upon the fertile Promised Land. The withdrawal on Mount Carmel is the crucial moment in Elijah's struggle to reclaim the people to their faithfulness to the God of their fathers and of the Covenant. To flee from persecution he went to Horeb, to Sinai, to meet the Lord (chap. 19), from which he returned refreshed to announce the Lord and His justice.

Elishah 'saw' his master taken up into God's glory, in the whirlwind and fire. The narrations of the traditions of Elijah and Elishah are fragmented amongst that of the Aramaic Wars, until the ending of the Northern Kingdom with the destruction of Samaria and the deportation carried out by the Assyrians.

IV. The history of the Kingdom of Judah until the second and definitive fall of Jerusalem and the deportation following: 2 Kings 18-35.

In the period in which Samaria fell, King Hezechiah reigned in Jerusalem. He, together with King Josiah, is unconditionally praised by the compiler. These are the only kings in this period who witness to the faith of Israel. Between Hezechiah and Josia, there is the reign of the wicked Manasse and the brief reign of Amon. The kingdom of Judah ends with Josiah's death in battle. The following events are in fact an succession of Babylonian invasions (in 605, in 597, in 587), until the completion of the catastrophe.

Edited by Domenico Ientile.

One day St Francis said this to the Friars when speaking of Priests . . .

'Listen, my brothers. If the Blessed Virgin is so honoured, as is right, because she carried Him in her most holy womb; if the Blessed Baptist trembled with joy and did not dare touch the Lord's holy head; if the tomb is venerated in which He lay for that length of time; so much ought the one be holy, just and worthy who holds Him in his hands, receives Him in his heart and upon his mouth, and offers Him to others to eat, Who is not dead, but eternally saves and glorified, to whom the angels wish to turn their gaze'.

'Be careful with your dignity, brother priests, and BE HOLY because HE IS HOLY. All humanity trembles, the entire Universe trembles, and the Heavens exult, when, upon the altar, in the hand of the priest, Christ is made present, the Son of God lives.

See, brothers, the humility of God, and open your hearts before Him, humble even yourselves, for you will be exalted by Him. Nothing, therefore, should draw you away from totally accepting Him who totally gives Himself to you.

From Lettera a tutto l'Ordine/ Letter to the Entire Order

PADRE'S POETRY

Without a Way

Not because I have lost the way,
but because a way does not open
to my feet,
I no longer know where I am,
and I do not hope in what happens.

When they return to me,
the words of men
become strange, and what they offer
innumerable to look at, impractical,
and unknown, showing me the world.

You - whom I do not see, do not hear -
only are the Presence.

LIGHT ON MY PATH:

I ASK FOR TIME FROM TIME

AND HE ANSWERS 'I HAVE IT NOT'

In the modern world in which we live, the problem of administering time is the most important of all. If one thinks of how many minutes we lose in a day out of fear of emptiness and solitude, you will find there are few; but what I wish to speak about is rather more importan, more the way in which we control time. We can pray alone if we have reached a state of equilibrium and interior peace face to face with God, and this frees us from the sense of time - not objectively so measured - but the subjective sense that makes us say that time has flown and not that we have wasted it.

What is needed? This is an exercise which can be done in the times when we have absolutely nothing to do, when nothing pushes you ahead or behind and you can use five, or three minutes or a half an hour in which to be lazy and do nothing. Sit down and say, 'I am sitting down, doing nothing, and will do nothing for five minutes', and now relax, and from the beginning of this time (one or two minutes will be the maximum that you will need at the beginning, you will find, without being interrupted, that 'I am here in the presence of God, in my presence and in the presence of everything surrounding me'. Naturally this is another thing to do: decide in which two, or five minutes, you wish to learn that the present exists, not being distracted by the telephone, the doorbell, of any unexpected burst of energy that pushes you to do quickly what had not been done ten years earlier. Now calm yourself and say 'I am here', and it is true. Learn to make of these moments pockets in your life, learn not to be agitated within, but instead calm and quiet, balanced and serene, and stretch this out from several minutes to a longer time, and then again an even longer amount of time.

Remember in the Gospel the story of the tempest on the Lake of Galilee. Christ was sleeping in the boat, and around him the tempest raged. Initially the apostles took on the responsibility and in the hope of saving themselves. Then, at a certain point, the hope diminished and the external tempest became internal, entering even into them. They turned to Jesus and did what we so often do to God: turning to him in times of exhaustion and of tragedy, and being indignant that He remains so tranquil. The story in the Gospel underlines this, narrating how the Lord slept with his head on a cushion, the final insult. They were dying and he was comfortable. That is exactly what we often think about God. How dare he be happy, how dare he be comfortable when we are in difficulty? And the disciples did exactly what we also often do. Instead of going to God saying: 'If it pleases you, say but one word and my servant shall be healed, say but one word and the thing will be done', they woke him abruptly and said 'Don't you care that we are going to die?' In other words 'If you can't do anything about it, at least die in agony with us'. Christ awoke, got up and said, 'Men of little faith!', and ignoring them, he turned to the tempest and projected his calm interior, his harmony and peace on the storm, saying 'Be quiet, become calm', and all fell silent.

That is a thing that even we could do. But it requires taking things slowly. Learn to take time in whatever you do - in storm, in tragedy, or simply in the confusion in which we typically live - to be calm, quiet, face to face with the Lord. You can then rest in the eye of the cyclone, where there is calm, while letting the tempest rage about you, while you are with God, in the one point of all balance. It is the point to which all the tensions comes together and are counterbalanced by Another and healed by the powerful hand of God.

From Anthony Bloom, Scuola di preghiera/School for Prayer, Piemme.

SEEDS OF RUSSIAN SPIRITUALITY

PRAYER REQUIRES CONVERSION

Our love for God begins to manifest itself and become alive in us when we begin to love our neighbour as ourself, when we force ourselves to contribute as much of ourselves as is possible, to the salvation of our neighbour; when, to please God, we do not consent to our desires and to worldly opinion, that are not placed under God's wisdom. 'How can one, in fact, not loving his own brother whom he can see, love God whom he does not see?' (1 John 4.20).

'When our neighbour sins against God or against ourselves, we ought only to love him the more, because he is ill, he is in danger, in great spiritual anguish; above all, we ought to have compassion on him, applying to his heart a healing medicine, such as a good word, of counsel, of consolation, of pardon, of love.

All sins and all passions, diatribes and litigation are in reality spiritual illnesses and we ought to hold them to be such. All passions are a fire which destroys one within and which foretells of the depths of Hell. We ought to put out this fire with the water of love. But woe, woe to us when we contribute to this fire with the flames of our malice and anger: we put ourselves at the service of wicked spiritis who force us incessantly to inflame men's souls with the most various passions.

Is it ever possible that we could learn to consider whatever sin as an immense disgrace for the soul, yet have a warm, tender and sincere compassion to those who fall into this disgrace? Why not flee from sin as we would flee from a poison, from a viper? Why instead do we indulge in these? Why are we not merciful to ourselves when we become thrall to sin?

Esteem Christian sweetness and good will more than any thing else, repress in every way the glances of self-esteem, of malice, of susceptibility and of anxiety. Do not be irritated when someone spittingly lies about you, speaks unjustly of you, speaks aggressively or uncovers your weaknesseses or your passions, your pride, suspecting evil of you. Reflect with calm on what your adversary says about you, examine tranquilly your conduct and your words: if you judge them to be good, let your conscience rest in peace, maintain silence or let your enemy know his errors with calmness and gentleness, with a benevolent heart; if instead you recognise faults and defects which your enemy uncovers in you, suprress your self-righteousness and pride, ask pardon for your errors and correct them in future.

We often respond so to frank and sincere people when they unveil our errors without reserve; we ought instead to appreciate these and thank them for having broken our pride with their forthright language. They are like surgeons who with cutting words, cleanse away the cancer of the heart, frustrating our self-righteousness in the soul torpid with sin and so provoking a vital reaction.

Who prays to the Lord, the Mother of God, the angels and the saints, should first of all correct his own heart, then seek to imitate them, as it is written, 'Be holy because I am holy' (1 Peter 1.16).

Those who pray to the Mother of God ought to imitate her humility, her purity, her submission to the will of God, her patience. Thos who pray to the angels ought to think of the life above, ought to seek to be spiritual, rejecting all carnal passions, seeking to have an ardent love for God and neighbour. Thos who pray to the saints ought to imitate their love for God, in despising the attractive lies of the world; ought to imitate them in prayer, in fasting, in poverty, in patience in illness and in trials, in their love of their neighbour. Otherwise their prayer will only be so much smoke.

The demons tremble at just the sign of the Cross, because the Son of God has sanctified the Cross with his Passion. The demons tremble before the Mother of God: it is enough simply to say her name! Our Lord is like a radiant star, splendid with Light, in God as like burning embers, luminous and full of fire. It is easy to understand that if God is Light and Holiness, so also is She eternal light and eternal holiness. Amen.

St John of Cronstad, La via vita in Cristo/My Life in Christ.

SERAFINO'S PAGE

TWO FIRM POINTS

Some days ago a brother asked me to write something about the guidelines for a consecrated person's day; in passing someone else asked for something on the 'lifestyle' of the consecrated person. The questions are not extraneous, but true to what St Paul in his Epistles, after having expressed lofty doctrinal principles, gives as practical and concrete ones, because 'you have received the Spirit and ought to live according to the Spirit' (Galatians 5.25). And how to live according to the Spirit? The New Testament authors do not like being vague; they speak directly even about women's head coverings (1 Corinthians 11.15), about noise in meeting (1 Corinthians 14.23), about not attending meetings (Hebrews 10.25), speaking against excesses of drink, against swearing, against avarice, and so forth. All very concrete things. The Apostle is concerned about making clear, after having expounded doctrine, what things are good to do and what things are to be avoided.

We come now to ourselves. The interior life of each Christian requires the ears (in listening) and the mouth (in replying) being open. The two pillars on which lean our daily relation with God are listening to his Word (in all its manifold forms) and prayer, which is the reply to the listening. Without these, there is no relation with the Lord, nor is there any development of our spiritual and human life.

For us the listening to the Word of God comes about in the most direct way when we read Holy Scripture. 'One must read, each day, in the spirit of faith, welcoming with humility the Holy Scripture, whether the Old or New Testament. The reading of Holy Scripture will be the normal nourishment of daily meditation' (Statute, Article 26). The article is very clear. To help the reading, the Comunita` selects a book of the Bible each month and dedicates two of the meetings out of the four to it. But if it is not read, there is no fruit, there is no growth. I know that often one does not want to open the Bible, because - let us say so - at times it is difficult, at times annoying, at times it seems a waste of time. Because of this we ought to do everything to help this reading, speaking of the ways in which it needs to be read (and we have several articles in the Notiziario on this), and sharing our enthusiasm when it is fruitful and when results derive from the reading. My personal experience is this: if I had not met the Comunita` which gave me a book of the Bible each month (I am speaking of when I was in the First Branch), I would not have dreamed on my own account of reading Holy Scripture, and now that I carry out 'lectio divina' in a much more serious way, I can say that I could never stop speaking of the unimaginable riches there are in this listening, this imagining in the mind of the Word - whom we also know to be a Person.

Here then is my suggestion, directed above all at those whom it wearies and who have very little time: take up the book of the month selected by the Comunita`, for instance in March the Second Book of Kings); you know how to place it at hand (on the bedside tale, on your desk, in the living room), and then read in it often just a few passages, without worrying too much whether you understand or grasp it immediately, You can add to this other moments to read in it, in such a way that it can become truly the book of the month, or the book that in that month that holds sway over you its reader. I can say also that it doesn't matter about reading all of it, as long as you read it often, in little mouthfuls.

The second firm point of consecration in the CFD is liturgical prayer, or the liturgy of the Hours. Again this seems to me rather clear: 'Of all prayer, the most important is the particupation in liturgical prayer. Let each one be conscious of the dignity of being the voice of the whole Church in the reciting the Hours of Prayer.' (Article 24). I shan't speak here of the importance of liturgical prayer because there have been many statements and arguments given of its importance given by padre and by others. Think, for example, that in Australia our aspirants have breviaries, because they immediately understood its importance. Going around the Comunita`, I see people carrying their breviary with them everywhere, in such a way that during a pause they can bring them forth and pray with them, and in Sardinia last year I heard a fine testimony by a monk who, after being a couple of days with the young people of the Comunita, proclaimed marvelling at having see these young people stopping, wherever they were, now for Lauds, now for Midday Office, now for Vespers, and each one had their own breviary. This fact amazed him.

I believe that each consecrated person should make as firm points in their day the Morning (Lauds) and Evening (Vespers) Hours of Prayer. To those to whom this seems objectively impossible, I say only try it, and become pleasantly surprised at the simple desire to do it which causes it to be so. Remember that in the Word of God it is twice said 'Nothing is impossible' (Luke 1.37, Mark 9.23). Those who have never done it, at least pray just the psalms with the liturgy of the Hours, taking this on for a period of one month at Lauds and Vespers, and be faithful to this, even though you seem to pray badly or in a hurry. Prayer is not only (fortunately) feeling, but also desire and will, which leaves nothing to chance (there are some very fine pages on this in A.J. Heschel, Man in Search of God). You will discover that this programme will become essential, become a programme of prayer that is truly important to you, become a pillar of our interior life.

I believe that these two aspects ought not to be lacking in the life of the consecrated person in the Comunita`, who will come to be shaped and formed to Christian perfection (Article 13), probably without knowing it, remaining always faithful, amongst others, to these two firm points.

Padre Serafino

CASA SAN SERGIO

The new year in Florence began with the feast of Epiphany, a major feastday in the Comunita`, above all in Florence. We were in the church of St Martha in Settignano. Father was in fine form: the first meditation lasted an hour and a quarter (you can see he was well). Doroteo was translating it all simultanously for the friends from Sri-Lanka and Australia; at the end poor Doroteo was in pieces. A great feastday and as usual we had members from the Comunita` present from distant parts, from Tuscany, Argenta, even from Sardinia. We had four Consecrations, all from Florence: Roberta Signorini, a young schoolmistress, Giovanna Danielli, from near Sasso, Julia Bolton Holloway, our first English consecration, who translates the Notiziario each month into English, also other of padre's writings, who lives near Settignano and who comes every morning to Mass at San Sergio; finally Cristina Scaletti, sports doctor in Florence. There were also many children, to whom our sisters of the Fourth Branch gave a performance after lunch. The day ended with a baptism, that of Teresa Coffari, the fourth child of Andrea (our Family Assistant) and Amalia. At the end, at the desire of her parents, the little baby girl was given to the Madonna, for her special protection.

At Casa San Sergio there was a bout of influenza, beginning with Serafino, who decided the thing would quickly go away and who stayed on his feet after two days, then Doroteo (the result of his translating labours?), then Stefano, then even padre. Temperatures soared, and the monastery turned into a hospital, with thermometers, aspirin, and things of that sort. Transfiguration followed suit, and half way through the month there was a time when all the sisters were in bed with fever. The only functioning ones were their guardian angels.

Our English-speaking friends - the Australian Matthew and the Sri-Lankan Romesh and Chaminda - are well and continuing to learn Italian under the paternal guidance of padre Berardo, and also our theology students, who are grinding out examination after examination.

Sunday, 24 January, on a surprise visit, came the cosmopolitan Paolo Fiorenzani, bringing with him the young Pisan, Lucia, who had met the Comunita` the preceding Sunday for the first time. Rapid consultation and during Mass Lucia entered as Aspirant. Alleluia!

The Brothers of San Sergio.

AUSTRALIA

Italy, 1997. 'What are you doing in Pontassieve? I thought you would be in Florence', Adrian said to me on the telephone a year and a half ago.

I was in a hotel with my friend Elizabeth Fitzgerald: we were together on pilgrimage. The goal was Lisieux, where we were going to the Centenary celebrating Therese of the Child Jesus, and in France we would visit also the holy places of Paray le Monial and Lourdes. I had written to Adrian from Australia (he being then in Italy) and told him that the pilgrimage would have a stay in Florence; then for various reasons we found ourselves in Pontessieve, rather than Florence.

Adrian had made plans that I and my friend would come in contact with the Comunita` dei figli di Dio during this brief stay. It was right at this point in time that Stefano and Efrem were to be clothed as monks at a Mass in Poggibonsi. My friend Elizabeth fell ill. So Adrian gave me stern orders: 'Sunday you are to get up early, take the train to Florence, go to the bus station and take the number 5 'pullman' and ask the driver to let you off at Poggibonsi'. So in fear, not knowing even a word of Italian, but trusting in my guardian angel, I set forth. Once I was in the 'pullman', it seemed the journey would never end, and after more than an hour on the road, I began to despair that I would ever be met by Adrian's group of Italian friends, when with great relief I saw Adrian at the pavement waiting for me.

After the stupendous solemn Mass, though I understood not one word of the sermon, Adrian presented me to the young priest. To Adrian's great joy, padre Serafino announced that probably he would come to Australia, if, he said, Adrian would be there. Yes. I was then presented to a smiling sister, Benedetta, who teased Adrian, their being good friends. She then took care to see we had something to eat. I felt most privileged to be there, being gathered into an atmosphere of great joy.

France. Of the pilgrimage to Lisieux, I cannot express in words my emotions for St Therese, a saint whom I have known since my childhood. My schoolgirl French was certainly better than my non-existent Italian, and I could understand some of the words and hymns I heard. We visited 'Bouissonet', the house where the saint lived as a child with her family. To think that at fifteen she was already in the convent humbled me, and her teaching always moves me in making such a great love out of a little thing. She was unknown and unimportant, not a foundress of an Order, not a martyr, yet great enough to have become a Doctor of the Church.

Australia. As promised, padre Serafino then arrived in Melbourne. The programme arranged for him was very tight. Nevertheless, and I was very fortunate, Adrian brought him here for a night, together with his brother Pietro for dinner. Padre Serafino then celebration Mass in my house with great devotion. It was in honour of the English martyrs, St Thomas More and St John fisher. I remember the sermon: he told us Australia lacked holy martyrs, and that the blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians. At this those present seemed to be understanding what he was saying: the importance of power redeemed in blood shed for the faith. Notwithstanding his halting English, this point was very clear and we were enlightened. He then spoke briefly about the Comunita` and the Aspirancy. My friends Therese, Eileen, Ann, my daughter Jane and I decided all to enter as Aspirants.

I believe that the Comunita` is a great gift to us here in Melbourne, an umbrella of protection in these difficult time and of apostacy. It signifies for us being near to God through prayer and formation, increasingly living the law of Love. All the aspirants come from different nationalities, but we have replied to this call because we are drawn to the Truth, and the Truth unites all of us.

We know that St Therese of the Child Jesus is one of the patron saints of the CFD. I ask her to pray for us, as we come together in this task. One of her phrases, written on the wall of the Lisieux basilica, says: 'Fear not, I am your friend and will always be with you'.

Val Dale

Alan Oldfield, Australian painter, 'The Revelations of Julian of Norwich', St Gabriel's Chapel, Ditchingham, Bungay, Suffolk, England, Courtesy of the Friends of Julian of Norwich and Community of All Hallows, Ditchingham.

THE MONASTIC LIFE A GIFT OF BEAUTY

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© Copyright, don Divo Barsotti, C.F.D.; don Serafino Tognetti, C.F.D.;
Julia Bolton Holloway (juliana@tin.it), Fiesole
Website Design: Timothy E. Thompson (tethomps@syr.fi.it), Florence
Webmaster: Otfried Lieberknecht (lieberk@berlin.netsurf.de), Berlin
Nota Bene Consultant: Tony St Quintin (tsq@nb-uk.win-uk.net), Leeds

This site last updated 8 March 1999.