The Holy Mass was presided over by the Superior General Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R., reaffirmed the importance of female vocations in the Church
The Redemptorist Family gathered on Tuesday 6th of May at 9:00 am at the main altar of the National Shrine of Aparecida to celebrate the legacy of Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa and the presence of the Redemptorist Sisters of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer. Religious from different countries had gathered this week at the Alphonsus Seminary for the Assembly of the Federation “Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa.”
The Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R. — who participated in the Assembly — presided over the celebration, which was attended by the Sisters and concelebrated by other Redemptorist Fathers present at the meeting held in Aparecida: Fr. Patrice Nyandra, C.Ss.R. (Vice-Provincial Superior of the Redemptorists of West Africa), Fr. Piotr Chyla, C.Ss.R. (Coordinator of the European Conference and President of the Commission for the Redemptorist Sisters) and Fr. Jefferson Nunes, C.Ss.R. (Province of Brasilia).
In his homily, the Superior General, referring to the First Reading, on the martyrdom of Stephen, emphasized the importance of nourishing our faith through openness to the Holy Spirit:
“We can look at our society and see if it is a society open to the Spirit, or if it is a society that is increasingly closing itself off to the Spirit starting from its attitudes. We, as Christians, must pray, as Stephen did, so that we can see the Glory of God and truly understand who Jesus is, without needing to ask or to ask for signs.”
Father Rogério Gomes praised the presence of the 27 Redemptorist Sisters and the history of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa in 1731:
“The Order of the Most Holy Redeemer is very closely linked to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The Redemptorists and Redemptoristines have this mission to announce the Redeemer. Mother Celeste Crostarosa, when she founded the Order, had the intuition that the contemplative sisters should be the living memory of the Redeemer in this world. And being a living memory of the Redeemer means precisely having a profound openness to the Holy Spirit. Only the contemplative is capable of looking at the world and having a heart profoundly open to the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no Consecrated Life, there is no Church.”
At the end of the reflection, the Father General left a special message to the young people who wish to follow the example of Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa and the contemplative life:
“The nuns are contemplatives, they live in closure, but they are not outside the world. They pray for the world! They pray for the transformation and conversion of this world. For this, dear young woman, you who follow us, if your heart is touched, contact us so that you too can become a contemplative, someone who can understand this will of God, what the Holy Spirit tells us and animates us.”
After Communion, Mother Maria Luiza, O.Ss.R., recited the Vocation Prayer, asking for more workers for the Lord’s Work. Before the end of the Mass, Father Rogério Gomes recalled the harmony between the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and greeted the Redemptorist Sisters in the person of Sister Imma Di Stefano, O.Ss.R., of the monastery of Scala, in Italy, who is the president of the Federation.
May the Holy Spirit, the Mother of Perpetual Help, Heavenly Mother, and the Redemptorist saints guide the Redemptorist Family in the proclamation of the Copious Redemption!
Mário Pereira
photo: Rian Torres
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