Feast of St Margaret Mary Fri October 16

Friday October 16th is the Feast of St. Margaret Mary, a Visitation Nun from Paray-le-Monial, who received the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

MASS WILL BE AT 7:15aM FOR THE FEASTNew Image

We have chosen a particularly spiritual letter she wrote to another Visitandine, encouraging her in her devotion to Jesus, to help you also grow in your love of the Sacred Heart.

1686 To Sister Felice Madeleine de la Barge

You could find no surer bond, beloved Sister, to draw me into a more intimate union with Your Charity than to love the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I do not doubt that the sacrifice which you want to make of yourself to Him so that you may be wholly His, to do and suffer everything for His love, so that you may be able to live completely unto Him according to His desires-I do not doubt, I say, that this sacrifice is very pleasing to Him. It is a life of sacrifice, of abandonment, and of love,  Of sacrifice of all that is most dear to you and of what will cost you the most.

Of complete abandonment of yourself to His loving care, taking Him as your guide on the way to salvation.You will do nothing unless you ask Him for the help of His grace. And this I am sure He will give you to the measure in which you trust Him. Moreover, we must live the life of love. By our humble submission and complete self-effacement it will unite us with Him and make us altogether like Him in His life of Sacrifice,abandonment and love in the Blessed Sacrament.

Love keeps Him there as a victim completely and perpetually delivered over to sacrifice for the glory of His Father and for our salvation. Unite yourself with Him, then, in all that you do: Refer everything to His Glory. Set up your abode in this loving Heart of Jesus and you will there find lasting peace and the strength both to fruition all the good desires He inspires in you, and to avoid every deliberate fault. Place in this Heart all of your sufferings and difficulties. Everything that comes from the Sacred Heart is sweet. He changes everything into love.

Let us love Him, then dear Sister, with all our might and strength. Let us belong to Him without reserve,because He wants all or nothing. And after we have once given Him everything, let us take nothing back.

He will be sure to sanctify us in proportion as we are careful to glorify Him.

It is for love of Him, beloved Sister, that I beg you to pardon this proud and wicked sinner the liberty your humility has asked her to take, in your letter to our dear Sister Cordier. That is why I have said quite frankly what I think. I have said it simply too, asking this adorable Heart of Jesus to consume you in His pure love and to grant you  complete conversion. I beg you with all my heart to ask this of Him.

 

 

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Brothers, Sisters, Priests Pray at Visitation Monastery

photo (2)The Holy Spirit prompted and the Pastors responded in Deanery 9, inviting the Religious of the Diocese to gather at Visitation Monastery for Evening Prayer on October 4th.

About 60 Religious came, from various Congregations; Franciscans, Josephites, Dominicans, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, Visitation Sisters who hosted the event, Vocation Committees and Priests.

A beautiful chanted Liturgy of the Hours, with organ accompaniment, Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, all engendered a feeling of peace and joy as some religious met each other for the first time in the Sacred Heart Chapel of the Monastery.

The Superior gave a brief reflection and dinner followed in the Alumnae Room, with friendly comaraderie.

The Superior reflected:

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What a majestic promise St. Peter shares in the reading we just heard, a promise that is echoed in Pope Francis’ repeated calls for joy, in the consecrated life!

Our joy is being made palpable – we may have been invisible to one another, perhaps, all working for the Lord and His people, and now we have a new birth into a relationship and a bonding that is becoming tangible.

The Divine Office, the Liturgy of the Hours, which we are in the midst of praying right now, making this moment holy, is also our constant daily praise which goes up from each of our locations like separate streams of incense, and today, the cloud of prayer rising is thicker and unified as we are all together. This might be a new birth for us in this area of Brooklyn in this Year dedicated to Consecrated Life

And the year of mercy is upon us, which can form in each of us and in each of those to whom we will show mercy, a new life, a birth of some new aspect of each one’s existence.

In the passage of the Visitation, Mary was a model of this mercy. A Dominicam Fr Marie Dominique Phillippe, has written, “The Mystery of the Visitation shows us how Christian mercy is the first fruit of Christian contemplation. Contemplation must blossom into works of temporal and spiritual mercy.

“With this mystery of the Visitation, we see how Mary’s silent, recollected and contemplative life and her condition as a servant totally consecrated to God do not in any way conflict with the generosity and impetuosity of her fraternal and merciful love.

And thus it is be with us. We are also called as religious, to have times of silence, to be recollected, and totally consecrated to God. We know by experience with our ministries that a contemplative stance does not have to conflict with our merciful outreach, either.

Charity burns Mary’s heart and asks her to change all her bonds with the human community into bonds of mercy. God uses this act of temporal mercy ( going to Elizabeth) to bring about an act of Divine Mercy, John the Baptist’s sanctification and through him, his mother’s.” ” (Fr Marie-Dominique Philippe, OP)

What I find so powerful here is the absolute inclusiveness of mercy. charity within Mary enables her to change ALL her bonds with others INTO bonds of mercy. That means every encounter, every interaction with one another. Keeping in the Presence of God as our Founder St Francis de Sales reminded us, also means keeping our hearts in the presence of an eternal mercy. Mercy is the platform on which we are to build our relationships. It is the Holy Ground of each soul.

The consequence of this act of mercy in each of our encounters brings Divine benefits, for the other and for ourselves.

During this Year of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis was quoted in the document Scrutate as saying, “The Lord is living and active in our history, and calls us to collaboration and collective discernment in the service of the church, in view of the coming Kingdom.”

How to do this?

As the Holy Father reminds us “With the gospel, be daring in the style of the humble and little…

So Providentially, we are gathered here in an Order founded by St Francis de Sales and St Jane de Chantal, who realized that this Congregation of Sisters should be grounded in two simple virtues, humility and gentleness, choosing the motto Live Jesus and grounding them in the love of the Heart of Jesus, who said Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.

We see in Pope Francis’s down to earth and engaging style that this humble direction is fitting for all consecrated persons.

Similarly, It was St Francis de Sales who coined the phrase, One catches more flies with honey than with vinegar”, perpetuating the sense of a gentle, merciful approach to all persons.

A week and a half ago I had the privilege as many of you undoubtedly did, to go to St Patrick’s Cathedral to pray evening prayer with the Holy Father.

There was much that touched my heart, but one phrase was a direct message for me: “Whatever difficulties and trials you face, I ask you, like Saint Peter, to be at peace and to respond to them as Christ did: he thanked the Father, took up his cross and looked forward!

Sometimes we can leave an encounter like that one with the Holy Father and still miss that earthly appearance of Jesus Christ in the poor and the homeless. Leaving St Patrick’s Cathedral and in the crowd moving toward the closest subway station, in the darkness of the hour, streams of us passed by two figures covered over, practically smothered by blankets, face down on the sidewalk, seemingly asleep. Did any of us stop at that moment? Perhaps. But mostly, the stream of people kept moving toward the subway, our worlds not touching other than visually.

The Gospel of the Good Samaritan came to mind. Our dear novice reflected spontaneously on what was happening that we were passing the homeless persons by.

That image stays with me. How much we all need the mercy of God.

We will shortly be praying the Prayer of Mary’s heart ,the Magnificat.

“The passage of the Visitation shows us how this liturgical prayer springs from mercy. It is the praise of the Christian community, formed by mercy itself. The Christian community is directly founded on mercy.  The Magnificat is first and foremost the song of God’s servant who is the recipient of His blessings, of His mercy. “

AS Pope Francis said the night of the 24th of Sept, Let us commend to Our Lady the work we have been entrusted to do; let us join her in thanking God for the great things he has done, and for the great things he will continue to do in us and in those whom we have the privilege to serve.

And it is our joy as Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary in this Monastery, to welcome each of you to this holy ground during our 160th anniversary of Foundation in our Diocese of Brooklyn, during this special year of Consecrated Life.

The pastors of this deanery in their wisdom and graciousness, have called together all of us religious, right into the Heart of Christ, in this sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Heart from which all strength, grace, virtue and Mercy flows.

May Jesus bless us today.

 

 

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Religious to Pray and Meet at Visitation Monastery Sun Oct 4th

The gratitude of the Pastors of the Parishes in our Deanery for the Religious who live and work here will be expressed during this Year of Consecrated Life by a gathering of all religious, vocation committees and priests on Sunday October 4th at Visitation’s Sacred Heart Chapel.

Beginning with evening prayer at 330Pm and a reflection by the Mother Superior of the Monastery, the day will include a tour of the monastic grounds and a dinner in the Alumnae Room of the Monastery/Academy.

Msgr. Kevin Noone, Pastor of Our Lady of Angels in Bay Ridge, has masterfully coordinated the event with many others assisting.BellTower

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Scenes from our 160th Anniversary Celebration!

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Sisters Pray with Pope Francis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Last night, 6 Brooklyn Visitandines made the subway trek into Manhattan to pray with Pope Francis.

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Sr. Synthia Helena, Visitandine, with three Sisters of the Congregation, Lovers of the Holy Cross, at St. Patrick’s.

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What a blessing and a joy!

We will reflect on this glorious experience and share our thoughts.

Look for the Visitandines in the crowd!!

Remember tomorrow, Sat Sept 26 you are invited to join us for a Mass at 130PM celebrating our 160th Anniversary!!

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160th Anniversary Celebration Sept 26 for Discerners!

OPEN THE GIFT! COME EXPERIENCE GOD’S INVITATION!

SH windowThe Visitation Monastery of Brooklyn will be celebrating its 160th anniversary of foundation in the Diocese of Brooklyn with a 130PM Mass on Saturday September 26th.

If YOU Have ever considered a religious vocation- or know someone who has…

Come to share  an afternoon of Consecrated Life with us!

Mass at 130PM

Refreshments and a Talk

Tour of Monastery

Sharing and Evening Prayer

Be a part of our Future! Open the Gift of your Religious Vocation!

If you are interested e mail us at

Vamonastery@aol.com

(No accommodations for overnight guests- local discerners preferred this time!)

 

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Memorial Mass for Sr Marie de Chantal Sept 12

A Memorial Mass  for Sr. Marie de Chantal Mannino VHM will celebrated at Visitation Monastery’s Sacred Heart Chapel Saturday, September 12th at 1PM. Msgr. Joseph Nugent will be the celebrant.

If you plan to attend, or if a priest, concelebrate, please e mail the Sisters at VAMonastery@aol.com or call 718 745 4452.

Sister Marie de Chantal was a devoted member of our community for 35 years and served in many capacities both in Visitation Academy and the Monastery.

In 2013 she was selected to begin a new project at our Georgetown Visitation Monastery, the Gallery Community for young vocations.

God called her home to himself on June 13, 2015 and her funeral Mass was held in Georgetown, DC. For her friends and family here in Brooklyn, N.Y. we offer this Memorial Mass as we celebrate the religious life of Sr. Marie de Chantal.

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Discerning your Vocation with Us- Steps to Take

Perhaps you are a woman of middle years who has considered the possibility of a Visitation Vocation. Maybe you are younger.

You may have made a retreat in our Monastery, or seen our website. Perhaps you saw one of our Sisters on EWTN.

20140517_190440_4In any case, how do you proceed to discover if you have a vocation to the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery?

First, call us, or e- mail us! We’d be happy to talk with you, or correspond.

Second, pray to find a good spiritual director, if you are not yet speaking with one. A Director is the most essential guide to your vocational discernment, even more than we are at first, because objectivity is most necessary as you glean the Holy Spirit’s workings in your soul. You will need to meet  monthly for 6 months so the Director  can confirm to you and us that you have a good probability of a cloistered , monastic religious vocation.

If you want to make a retreat with us, we will set one up- for first-timers it will be a PRIVATE retreat, not a discernment one. Please provide a reference from a priest, Sister or spiritual director for the first retreat.

After that you may begin discernment retreats, after an interview with the Vocation Directress.

Meeting monthly with your director for 6 months and making as many retreats as possible in that time frame, given your geographic location, should give you a sound sense of the spirituality and daily life of our community and it will give us a sense of your possible vocation.

After 6 months, if your spiritual director sees good signs of a possible vocation, the director can send us a vocational reference letter stating this strong possibility.

At this time, there will be paperwork to prepare: such as an application form, spiritual autobiography, health form, obtaining of sacramental certificates, and statements of your financial freedom from debt.

The community will have been praying for you during this entire process, and based on each individual’s situation, we can prepare to set an entrance date after this point.

SH windowMay Jesus guide your heart to His as you discern your Visitation vocation!

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Monastery Employee Featured in Diocesan Paper

The heart-warming story of Zaida our employee continues in the Brooklyn Diocesan paper, The Tablet.

She donated her kidney to her husband and evidences a profound faith in God.

Read about this Brooklyn family here:

http://thetablet.org/wifes-kidney-helps-save-husbands-life/

 

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Sr. Ana Maria Renews Vows

Our Temporary Professed Sister Ana Maria will renew her holy vows during the 9AM Sunday Mass on July 26, 2015. You are welcome to join us for the Liturgy.

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