VATICAN CITY, JAN 30 (ZENIT).- The Holy Father has invited all
consecrated persons in the Church to join in a 3-day retreat to renew
their commitments before God. The consecrated life "is a gift for the
whole Church," he stressed in his "Angelus" message.
Speaking to the more than 700,000 women and 215,000 men consecrated in
Orders, religious Congregations, or Societies of apostolic life in the
world, the Pope encouraged them "to cross the Holy Door with confidence
and hope, renewing their total disposition to make of their own life a
song of praise to the Most Holy Trinity."
As the Pontiff pointed out, over the next three days Rome is preparing
for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life (February 2). The celebration will
culminate next Wednesday with a Mass presided by the Holy Father himself
in St. Peter's Square, in which thousands of consecrated men and women
will participate.
The Bishop of Rome invited all of Catholics to join this celebration
spiritually, "because their vocation is a gift for the whole Church! The
Bride of Christ, the Church herself, owes much of her beauty to the
innumerable charisms of consecration that the Holy Spirit has inspired
in the faithful over the centuries, beginning with the apostolic
community until today. By their very presence, consecrated persons are a
sign of Christ and of his lifestyle, and while they invite us to put
nothing before God or his Kingdom, they are an example to all of
generosity in prayer and dedication to their neighbor."
Finally, the Pope proposed the evangelical witness of these men and
women as "an effective help to walk in the new millennium according to
God's plan."
Contemplative Orders will also participate in the Jubilee of Consecrated
Life, joining spiritually in the special celebrations from their
cloistered convents and monasteries. John Paul II has made it possible
for the Holy Year to be celebrated not just in Rome or Jerusalem -- the
two principal centers of the Jubilee, but also in Cathedrals and shrines
of each of the dioceses of the world, as well as in places of residence
of religious, without special pilgrimages but, of course, with a
decisive conversion of heart, an encounter with Christ and the
sacraments, and with special works of charity.
There are more than 50,000 cloistered nuns in the world. Cloistered
monks are less numerous; among them, the most numerous are the
Trappists, who have about 100 monasteries in the world, with over 2,300
members. They are followed by the Carthusians and Camaldolese hermits.
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