Publisher's Synopsis
In 2014, the Roman Pontiff, Francis I issued a letter for the Year of Consecrated Life, which started throughout the universal Church on the first Sunday of Advent, 30th November, to end on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 2 February 2016, a period of fourteen months. In this document, the Holy Father wrote that: ―During this Year, it would be appropriate for each charismatic family to reflect on its origins and history, in order to thank God who grants the Church a variety of gifts which embellish her and equip her for every good work (cf. Lumen Gentium, 12)‖. From the foregoing, it is evident that recounting our history is essential for preserving our identity, for strengthening our unity as a family and our common sense of belonging. More than an exercise in archaeology or the cultivation of mere nostalgia, it calls for following in the footsteps of past generations in order to grasp the high ideals, and the vision and values which inspired them, beginning with the founders and foundresses and the first communities. In this way we come to see how the charism has been lived over the years, the creativity it has sparked, the difficulties it encountered and the concrete ways those difficulties were surmounted. We may also encounter cases of inconsistency, the result of human weakness and even at times a neglect of some essential aspects of the charism. Yet everything proves instructive and, taken as a whole, acts as a summons to conversion. To tell our story is to praise God and to thank him for all his gifts. It is from this background that the first chapter of this work begins with the history of the Consecrated Life. As a background to this history that dates back concretely to the Eremitic Age, this chapter begins by discussing the typologies of the Religious Life and developing a model for the interpretation of this history.
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