Tenth International Gathering
Presentation Sisters from around the world have begun a Congregational Gathering in Mount St. Anne’s, Portarlington, Ireland.
Delegates from Zambia , Zimbabwe, Canada, England, India, Latin America, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and the USA joined Sisters in Ireland.
It’s the tenth Congregational Gathering of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin – an Order formed just under two hundred and fifty years ago by the Venerable Nano Nagle.
Coming together under the theme ‘Embracing Vulnerability as Possibility’ the opening ritual was set in the context of the love story of the birth of our cosmos and within this, the birth date of the Congregation in 1775 and then of each Unit. The delegates from that Unit were then called forth – the spiral reminding us of the continuing spiralling energies of God – who works and speaks through us.
The Delegates have gathered on behalf of the whole Congregation to discern the Will of God for us as a Congregation as we continue to journey at a time when our world is in crisis. On behalf of the whole Congregation, they will make decisions for the whole - through prayer, reflection, conversation, discernment and searching together.
As part of the ritual, the Delegates confirmed their:
“willingness to take responsibility for the life and purpose of this 10th Congregation Gathering in March 2024”
by a resounding YES
And so the Congregational Leader declared the Gathering open.
In response the Delegates sang:
We will light the lantern and keep it burning bright
We will turn the darkness where shadows seek the light
We will find the courage to sing a different song
We will light the lantern and go one pace beyond.
Each Unit bought a lantern – these were lit and placed to continue the spiral:
Sr Julie reminded the Delegates and the sisters who had joined via live-streaming of our fragile beginnings in 1775 and of the faithfulness of Mary Anne Collins to whom Nano Nagle entrusted the fledging community……It is no accident that this Gathering is taking place in LENT – a word meaning spring. As the days are lengthening, this is the season of growth, of new life, of possibilities of re-birth… Vulnerability is the place of our birth and the badge of our identity….The Gospel for this 3rd Sunday of Lent leaves us asking questions such as ‘what tables we are being asked to turn upside down….’
The ritual ended with the Delegates praying the Gathering Prayer –
Congregational Gathering Prayer:
Creator God,
In this time of acknowledging great vulnerability within our world
we are faced with change that causes us all to ask deeper questions
about our lives and to be open to be transformed for the good of the whole.
May we wait in silence; wonder with awe and respect, and dream together possibilities that will enable us to become the best of who we are as part of your creation.
In opening our hearts as people following the light of Nano may we embrace our vulnerability as new life and grace. May it flow as streams of compassion and hope within our world.
A word about the logo:
This Logo is designed and painted by Sr Mary Southard CSJ
The Logo invites us to experience once again the life and mission of our Congregation as a communion of Sisters – intergenerational, intercultural, with great diversity – woven into the fabric of the whole world.
We are called forth by the pregnant energy of the Mysterious Spirit into a movement inward, outward and onward into Mission – Mission in a world where Earth, Life, Religion, Religious life … is in a state of uncertainty, and upheaval depicted by the dark colours, the dark waves and the dying tree.
Yet our hope in the One who beckons us from the future is urging us to new life, seen in the green shoots bursting forth from the roots of the ancient tree.
This Mysterious One is luring us, very definitely, into ‘Embracing Vulnerability as Possibility’.