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Institute of the Daughters of CharityServants of the Poor

Plan of Formation

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PREFACE

The XV General Chapter was clearly an invitation to radical renewal in the quality of our Religious life and apostolic presence in today’s world. Our reflections on the theme of the Chapter “for the sake of Christ with St. Magdalene – the life of Consecration: the Vows Today”, challenged us and directed us to a journey of continuous conversion and transformation. The Chapter members felt the need of revising the Plan of Formation “taking into account the characteristics of the younger generations, the orientation of the Chapter and the more recent documents and the internationality of the Congregation”. (GCR 11)

The General Council was happy to involve all the Sisters in the process of revising the formation plan and in making it more relevant and practical. The different commissions took up their mandate with great sense of responsibility and made suggestions to include formative processes for all at the different stages of formation. The final international commission that met in Rome collated the suggestions of the different commissions in such a way as to make it inspiring and meaningful for all those who consider personal formative journey a priority. With the expert guidance of Fr. Amedeo Cencini fdcc, our on-going formation is given its place of priority. Our thanks go to Fr. Amedeo and to all the commission members, especially for those who worked on it till the last with great dedication and care.

We had the possibility of revising the text during the international meeting of the Formators in September 2012 and

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during the Extended General Consultation in Nov. 2012. We appreciate the critical comments and concrete proposals of the Formators and the Provincial Councils. I am happy to present this Plan of Formation to each of the Sisters of our Religious Family and to recommend it for our perusal in our formative journey. ‘The proper renewal of religious institutes depends chiefly on the formation of their members’. (Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes) It is through a focused formative process that an individual becomes more and more a disciple of Christ and a Canossian becomes a true Daughter of Charity. When we are focused, formation becomes a continuous process of conversion and transformation, leading to the renewal of the Institute and its charismatic re-vitalization.

This edition of our Plan of Formation provides us with new insights and suggests processes that will ensure an on-going formation to all irrespective of age and stages of formation. A harmonious and holistic growth will take place, through the continuous assimilation of the evangelical and charismatic values, through spirit of prayer, deepening of the Word of God, and meaningful participation in the sacraments.

We are living in times of radical and swift cultural changes which necessitate a constantly renewed way of understanding the world situation today. This also calls for new and fresh ways of reading, discerning and interpreting the signs of the times. Keeping ourselves open to the Holy Spirit, responding to the invitation of St. Magdalene of Canossa to “look and do likewise” we will gradually be able to assume the form of the

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Son and the Servant, ‘have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus’. If we make use of all the possibilities open for our on-going and integrated formative journey, we can ensure for ourselves profound spiritual and charismatic awakening and growth. This handbook on Canossian formation could be of immense help in this journey.

I hope and pray that this ‘Plan of Formation’ will provide each of us with inspiration that sustains the charismatic vision of our Foundress in our lives and empowers us with apostolic motivation and commitment to make Jesus known and loved and to be joyful and prophetic witnesses in our world today.

Rome, 25th March 2013

M. Margaret Peter Superior General

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INTRODUCTION

OUR INSTITUTE AND FORMATION

In this moment of history the Institute is called to renew itself by a constant openness to a “mentality of change” and consequently to reconsider the whole question of formation. The term “formation” should not be seen merely as a reference to the characteristic task of the initial period of the Religious Life. Initial Formation must, of course, be given special importance, but formation does not end there. It is a process which lasts a lifetime and concerns every Sister. Precisely because the Institute considers Formation “a key process to sustain and promote our Canossian identity in its historical evolution and in a context of rapid socio-cultural change”1, it asks those who are called to the Institute to cultivate a continuous willingness to let themselves be formed by life and for the whole of life in a “gradual identification with the attitude of Christ”2, according to the specific charism that Magdalene of Canossa, our Holy Foundress, handed on to us, her Daughters.The great gift of a call to this holy Institute of Charity3 needs to be accepted, cared for and cultivated day after day, in the ordinary everyday life of each Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor, at whatever age or in whatever situation in life. It is the gift of the Greatest Love, contemplated in Jesus Crucified,

1 XV General Chapter, Chapter Resolutions, 2008, 17.2 John Paul II, Consecrated Life, 1996, n. 65.3 cf. Magdalene of Canossa, Regole e Scritti Spirituali, I, Rome 1984, 23.

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fully accepted by Our Lady of Sorrows who became the Mother of Charity at the foot of the Cross, and which empowers each Sister to love.It is this same gift that expands the heart of the Canossian Daughter of Charity to go “everywhere ... for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls”4, in obedience to Jesus’ command “Euntes in universum mundum” (Mt. 28:19), to make Jesus known and loved since He “is not loved because He is not known.”5 The Institute, through the Superior General, is the guarantor and guardian of this gift. It ensures that all the Sisters are committed to bringing it to fruition through a serious process of conforming to Christ Crucified and following the example of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, the unique and “only Mother”6. This is a journey lived in freedom and responsibility and no one may be exempted from the duty of striving to conform her life to that of Christ.

The Superior General is also mandated to maintain communion and fidelity to the Gospel and the Charism within the Institute. The Plan of Formation is a means to this end. Its general guidelines are based on theological and pedagogical principles, but given the fact that we are an international Religious Institute, it also takes into account the need to adapt to the cultures of different countries.

The impact of globalization, the advances in information technology and the sciences, the recent climate changes and the radically transformative socio-cultural consequences

4 Magdalene of Canossa, Epistolario II/2, Rome 1984, 1174.5 Magdalene of Canossa, Regole e Scritti Spirituali, I, Rome 1984, 180.6 Ibid., 25.

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strongly affect the mentality and lifestyle of all, not only the young. Therefore, it is necessary to have an adequate formation plan which guarantees that every Daughter of Charity will be helped to grow toward a clear charismatic identity.

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THE PLAN OF FORMATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY

SERVANTS OF THE POOR

Significance

The Plan of Formation aims to re-express in pedagogical terms, the formation content of the Rule of Life. It includes the general, educational and pedagogical guidelines which translate the Canossian charism into a formative journey. The Formation Programmes of the various Provinces are based on the Plan of Formation of the Institute, which allows for adaption according to the needs and characteristics of the local culture. This adaption must always be in dynamic fidelity to the gift received from the Spirit. The renewed Plan of Formation makes use of the contributions of our sisters, as well as the most recent documents of the Church’s teaching on Consecrated Life and the written works of the Institute.

Criteria

Given the fact that formation is an on-going process, this plan gives an overall view of the formative journey of the Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor. It reflects both the unity of the process and also its dynamic uniqueness, taking into account the fact that formation is, of its very nature, a gradual and concrete process. The plan is not a definitive text, written once and for all, but may be updated, both in its language and in its processes, whenever such renewal becomes necessary. However, this document remains the reference document for the whole Institute.

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Persons in formation

The Plan of Formation is addressed to every Sister of the Institute regardless of her stage of life. It invites her to renew herself in the awareness that formation is a responsibility that knows no age limits and that all of us are continually in formation. This commitment, always relevant and challenging, demands that we live with the same sentiments of Christ Crucified until the moment we are transfigured in Him, that is, until the moment of death.

The privileged recipients of the Plan of Formation are, in particular, the Sisters responsible for each stage of formation, and the young people in the initial phase of formation.

The use of a General Plan of Formation for the whole Institute allows us to have:

a common reference to the essential characteristics of our charism which are valid in all cultures and to pedagogical principles strictly bound to the theology of the charism.

continuity in the various stages of formation. the possibility of healthy rotation of the Sisters in charge of

formation. systematic dialogue among various cultures.

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PART ONE

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OFCANOSSIAN FORMATION

GOAL OF FORMATION

Human formation is a complex process with well-defined phases. It is always open and dynamic and it needs to be understood within an anthropological framework. This is why faith education and formation in an Institute, with its particular charism, require an explicit orientation regarding the concepts of the human person and of vocation.

In this Plan of Formation the Institute also takes into consideration the new discoveries in human sciences regarding the human person.According to the Christian anthropological view of life every person is a ‘mystery’. Life is open to the action of God, a gift through which the human person discovers God and enters into dialogue with Him. But we can also say that life itself is a mystery. Our own personal vocation story is the place where we discover God and dialogue with Him.

Thus, to form means understanding life as a mystery expressed in two ways: having our gaze fixed on the Lord while remaining bound by the realities of life; searching beyond and finding within, moving out of self and re-entering within self.7 The call to Consecrated Life is seen in this light and understood as a dynamic call on the part of God the Creator,

7 cf. F. Imoda, Sviluppo umano. Psicologia e mistero, Casale Monferrato, 1995, 17-76.

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and of a response on the part of the creature: “In fact, every human being is called by God, the Giver of life, to transcend self in the freedom of love.”8 This vision of the person places particular value on the relational dimension and supports the holistic model of formation.

The same line of thought can be found in our Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, who, more than two hundred years ago, defined vocation to her Institute of Charity as “a great gift of God”9 which was given “gratuitously by the Lord’s liberality. You, my dear Sisters, have the duty to correspond worthily to such a great grace.”10

So, according to the thought of our Foundress, the vocation to Canossian Consecrated Life is the choice of a dynamic life since it requires an ever deeper and personal relationship with “God, source and essence of holiness”11 who, may even invite a Daughter of Charity to make her own the missionary passion of St. Magdalene to go “wherever the need is greatest.”12 For this reason, “commitment to formation never ends: […] formation should therefore touch the person deeply, so that all her attitudes and actions, at important moments as well as in the ordinary events of life, will show that she belongs completely and joyfully to God.”13

The goal of the formation of each Daughter of Charity is “a path of gradual identification with the attitude of Christ towards the Father”14 so that each one of us assumes and identifies herself more and more with the name she bears, Daughter of

8 A. Cencini, Vita consacrata. Itinerario formativo lungo la via di Emmaus, Cinisello Balsamo 1994, 44.9 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 23.10 Ibid., 89.11 Ibid., 24.12 Magdalene, Collection of Letters III/1, 757.13 John Paul II, Consecrated Life, n. 65.14 Ibid.

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Charity – Servant of the Poor. It is a name which expresses a sense of belonging, indicates a mission and urges us to respond.This name expresses the fact that each Sister belongs to the Lord, that she is His Daughter, completely and forever, a Daughter of God who is Love. This name indicates a mission “since our vocation is to assist the poor as much as we can”15 and, as Servants of the Poor, “we owe them our attention, labour, care and thoughts.”16 The name demands that we empty ourselves of everything, seek God alone, and consider all other things relative so that only Charity may dwell in our hearts.

Formation aims at realizing the identity of a Daughter of Charity – Servant of the Poor. It must fulfil the task of “handing on, in its entirety and perfection”17 the spirit and the charism of the Institute, as well as taking into account the uniqueness of new generations, for God’s Glory and the good of our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest.

SOURCES

The Love of the Crucified Lord, the source of Magdalene’s charism, is the sap which nourishes the efficacy and meaning of every formative project.

The Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor, draws the wisdom of this love from:

the Word of God the Magisterium of the Church the charism of the Institute life: its history and culture

15 Magdalene, Collection of Letters III/1, 501.16 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 23. 17 Ibid, 165.

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The Word of God

The Word of God is our daily companion through the liturgy, spiritual reading and meditation. It nourishes our ability to discern, educates us to spiritual dialogue and empowers us to communicate the Gospel to others. It gives firm grounding to our apostolic zeal and helps us all to integrate faith and life.18

In fact, the Word “is alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely; it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge secret emotions and thoughts” (Heb 4:12). It invites us to listen constantly to the heart of God in order to discover His loving presence, always and everywhere, allowing ourselves to be formed by His love, according to the gift we have received. In every situation that poses a question and demands an appropriate answer from us, the Word of God “promotes, within the community, an ever more evangelical mentality and the ability to discern the will of God today by means of the signs of the times”19. It provokes new questions, prompts new reflections and leads to new responses.

In fact, it is in listening to the Word of God that the call to live communion and mission is born. This is particularly true of the Word of God heard during the Eucharistic celebration, which was always a special charismatic and spiritual moment for St. Magdalene. Our faith matures through a constant relationship with the Word of God in prayer and can offer light to others.

Moreover, the Word of God constantly and creatively invites us to practise non-violence and become peacemakers. Like the disciples in the Gospel, we allow ourselves to be formed in order to live and promote justice at all times. We take a critical and analytical stance with regard to all abuse, violation of human rights and the new forms of poverty in today’s society.

18 cf. XIV General Chapter, Chapter Resolutions, 2002, 10.19 XIII General Chapter, Chapter Resolutions, 1996, 38.

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We look to St. Josephine Bakhita, a woman of the gospel, as a model of forgiveness and reconciliation.20 “We are called to contemplate the presence of God in creation, in persons and events and discern the divine action in the world and in the cosmos surrounding us, looking with the eyes of the Father and judging with the heart of Christ, so as to act according to Spirit-inspired values.”21

The Magisterium of the Church

Our charism is a special gift God has entrusted to the Institute for the life of the Church and which has grown within it. Only within the heart of the Church, universal and local, can it find guidance, nourishment, support and the care that it needs to grow in dynamic fidelity to the Gospel and to its specific identity. Each of us, a living member of the Church, every day comes to know its deepest longings and how to respond to them offering herself, according to the example of St. Magdalene, our Foundress and Mother.22

For us the teachings of the Pope and Bishops are a sure guide for orienting our formation. In the same way the documents issued by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and National and International Conferences of Religious are expressions of the ordinary and solicitous care which the Church has towards Consecrated Life.

20 cf. Canossian Daughters of Charity, Justice, peace and Integrity of Creation, Canossian Basic Guidelines, 2004, 62.21 Ibid, 62 .22 cf. IX General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Consecrated life and its mission in the Church and the world, Instrumentum Laboris, 1994, n.14.

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The charism of the Institute

The charism of the Daughters of Charity, Servants of the poor, is a gift that the Spirit has given to the Church through St. Magdalene of Canossa. It finds its inspirational source in Jesus Crucified who, on the cross reveals the Face of the Father and the measure of love “without measure”. It is He, the Great Exemplar, who inspires the gift of self in each Daughter of Charity. This self-giving is expressed in the exercise of the two-fold commandment of love for God and love of neighbour, in a life of consecration, communion, and humble service in a most amiable, generous and patient spirit. The desire to make Jesus known and loved is what sustains the dedication of the Daughter of Charity in the various ministries.

The Canossian Institute safeguards and promotes the vitality of the foundational charism in each of us.In order to live the charism of charity, certain attitudes and conditions are required. These express the care, growth and the expansion of the charism “to go even to the remotest countries of the world.”23Just as this was asked of our sisters who have gone before us, it is continually being asked of us today. The places where the charism is protected and cultivated are essentially two: the Christian community and the fraternal Canossian community.

The Canossian community lives within the Church in a fruitful and reciprocal relationship. To cultivate the charism we need to be attentive to the conditions that foster this life-giving exchange.24 By means of the study of the charismatic sources and of tradition and through clear directives the charism nourishes the initial and on-going formation of each Daughter of Charity,

23 Magdalene, Epistolario II/1, 266.24 cf. Institute of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, The Canossian Charism. A Formative Approach, 2002, 36.

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promoting in her the awareness and development of the gift received and its incarnation in daily life.The Rule of Life which has its primary source in the Unabridged Rule is the privileged means of our charismatic formation. Since the Rule of Life is faithful to the origins, the fruit of a collegial discernment by the Institute and approved by the Church, it offers specific ways to live the Gospel in a way which can be understood by the people of today. Thus, the charism becomes a gift for all and a sign of hope.

Life: its history and culture

God, Father of all humanity, whom Jesus has revealed to us is also the Lord of history. Through every event, He leads us along the path of redemption, to unite us to Him forever. Our personal history is deeply inscribed within our being: recognising it, knowing how to interpret it and “bringing it to mind” become decisive in every stage of our formation, just as it was for the people of Israel. It implies not only remembering the events lived but, above all, discerning their meaning wisely and perceiving the action of God within them. In this way both our personal history and our socio-cultural history become teachers of life, creating in us a sense of responsibility with regard to our attitude toward our past, present and future.

In her Memoirs, St. Magdalene, moved by the Spirit, narrated the story of her life and call. Going beyond historical and daily events, she was able to recognise the journey of her vocation, to the extent of discovering the Love of Christ Crucified, Servant and Lord, source and model of our charism. Through the courageous and humble faithfulness of our first Sisters, who gave continuity to the missionary zeal of St. Magdalene, our charism finds its place in history and calls us to make it alive and meaningful in our times.

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Today, we are called to live our charism open to internationality, inculturation and missionary spirit, seeking in all cultures the seal of the eternal God, hidden beneath layers of history that may make it difficult to discover.We recognise that, in the cultural heritage of every people, there is a gift to offer to humanity. However we are also aware of the dangers of relativism and the fact that every culture has a profound need of redemption. One way in which this redemption can come about is through the gift of others.25

AGENTS OF FORMATION

God Alone, through the action of the Holy Spirit, is the primary agent of our formation. These words, written and often repeated by St. Magdalene, do not simply recall the beginning of the Institute and the personal story of our Foundress, but also the spiritual itinerary to which each one of us is called. When dealing with the vow of poverty in the Unabridged Rule, St. Magdalene wrote: “[…] in this Institute those who practise it with greater perfection, do so in this way: they attach themselves to God alone, not expecting anything, not loving anyone but Him, not wanting and not looking for anything but God alone, in themselves, in the internal occupations and in works of charity. The Sisters who do not want anything but God’s Glory will be the happiest Sisters.”26

St. Magdalene invites each of her daughters, therefore, to allow herself to be formed above all by that God who desires to be ‘the one and only’, as she wrote in her Memoirs: “So on recalling those things […] I had to empty myself of everything

25 cf. Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Directives on formation in Religious Institutes, 1990, n. 90-91.26 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, 1, 55

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and cling to Him alone, Him alone, alone. This is with regard to my affections, my desire to please Him and my activity.”27

Christ Crucified is the centre of the identity and source of spirituality for each Sister. In fact, Christ Crucified is for us the theological foundation of the charism: St. Magdalene constantly measured herself against Charity which she learned and interpreted in the light of the Cross of Jesus. Struck in a special way by “Inspice et fac secundum Exemplar”28, she learned to contemplate deeply the mystery of the Man of the Cross and from it she drew untiring energy for her Work. In the same way, we are invited to look to the Crucified One as the way that leads us to fulfil the two-fold commandment of love. The contemplation of the virtues of the Crucified Lord - obedience, humility and poverty - arouses in each one of us love for God and for our neighbour, especially the poorest. Consequently, we are challenged to embrace this same love as the centre of our lives and in so doing conform our choices, ideals and the meaning and significance of our existence to it.

Our Lady of Sorrows, “named Mother of Charity at the foot of the Cross”29, is recognised by St. Magdalene as the model in whom the love of the Crucified Lord found full acceptance. For us, becoming a Daughter of Charity means to be a transparent witness of a love without condition, as it was for Mary.Moreover, Our Lady of Sorrows is for us an example of faith and contemplation, since at the foot of the Cross she knew how to receive the Father’s most generous love. This enabled her, at the words of her Divine Son dying on the cross, “to accept all, even though sinners, into her heart.”30 In this way she became a ‘disciple’ in following Christ Crucified, ‘mother’

27 Magdalene of Canossa, Memoirs. A Contemplative in Action (commentary by E. Pollonara), Milan 1988, 119.28 Ibid., 29.29 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 25. 30 Ibid.

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of humanity and ‘co-redeemer’ in the work of salvation of her Son in the painful struggle against evil.

Every Sister is directly responsible for her fidelity to the charism she has received and for her formation. No one can substitute her in this exercise of freedom. Continuously called to assume our personal responsibility for our journey towards integration, we take constant care of our spiritual life so as to understand and respond to the demands of our Canossian vocation.31

During this process every Daughter of Charity, as well as every young person, needs to keep her heart open to the Spirit of the Lord and His mediations, which accompany them in each stage of their formative journey.32

MEDIATIONS OF FORMATION

The whole Institute, as a community of faith endowed with a specific gift from God for the good of the whole Church, is responsible for the integral and harmonious growth of each Sister belonging to it and of those who wish to join it. In our Institute each Sister is responsible for her dynamic fidelity to the Canossian call, responding generously to the requests and demands of Consecrated Life, both in community and apostolate, in each stage of Initial and On-going Formation.The relationship of trust and collaboration which the Institute promotes, the criteria of its choices, the intensity of a life in the Spirit in which it shares, contribute to the formation of its members.We accept in faith the mediations proper to each stage of the formative journey.In the Institute, the responsibility for formation is carried out at

31 Cf. XIV General Chapter, Resolutions, 6.32 Cf. C.I.C.L.S.A.L., Directives, n. 29.

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various levels.

The Superior General and the Provincial Superiors have the main responsibility for Formation.

The Superior General has the duty to determine the formative guidelines at the general level, as indicated in the Chapter Resolutions, for the annual spiritual journey of the Institute. She also has the responsibility to preserve unity in the Institute around its unique charism, while being attentive to necessary changes. This should be understood as a common effort to journey in unity, even though the way of doing things and the concrete results may vary according to the different cultural contexts.33 In her visits to communities and Provinces she verifies the implementation and actualisation of the formative guidelines indicated by the Chapter Resolutions and the Plan of Formation.

The Provincial Superior has the task of identifying, choosing and carefully preparing the Formators who accompany those in Initial Formation and she sustains them in their evangelical and charismatic journey.The same Provincial Superior nominates and entrusts the coordination of formative activities to a Sister who is the coordinator of the Provincial Formative Team.

The Provincial Formative Team is made up of Formators responsible for each stage. The members of the Team, coordinated by the Sister nominated by the Provincial Superior, are involved in the formative plan in a special way, placing their talents and competence at its service. Their contribution is also required in the process of discernment and evaluation. To carry out their task effectively, the Sisters of the Formative Team meet regularly to reflect on problems of Formation and to deepen the understanding of their mandate.

33 Cf. XV General Chapter, Resolutions, 22.21

They also plan and evaluate, in the light of the charism, formative processes suited to the cultural setting.

The Canossian Community, in each stage of life, is the privileged place for integral formation - “a place of healing and growth in charity”34 – for those who are called to live according to the particular charism of the Institute. It is composed of Sisters who know how to live together, not because of personal choice or affinity, but because the Lord keeps them united in their common consecration and mission in the Church. All the Sisters are called to continue to deepen the motivations for their choice and personal commitments so that faith, the charism, the spiritual, communal and apostolic life are integrated harmoniously. Only this journey of integration guarantees the building of a community as a place of faith, fraternity and openness to mission, characterised by relationships that are both free and freeing.

- The Canossian formative Communities receive from the Institute the mandate of accompanying young people or Sisters during a particular stage in their formative journey. The communities with this special mandate, are truly formative in the measure in which one ‘breathes’ in them the charism, a rich atmosphere of solid and deep spirituality, authentic evangelical fraternity and a lively passion for the apostolate and mission.

The Sisters, who make up the formative community, are open to the new generations who have a very different mind-set. While respecting the complementary competences and roles of each member, they are co-responsible for the growth of those in formation and contribute, above all, by their daily effort to be true witnesses of the Gospel and charism.

34 XIV General Chapter, Resolutions, 10.22

Within every formative community it is possible to have a small team of Sisters in close collaboration with the Sister responsible for that particular phase.

The presence of Sisters with missionary experience fosters formation towards a more global, intercultural and international outlook. Through their witness, they encourage the flowering of missionary vocations “ad gentes”.

- The lifestyle of the formative communities harmonizes simplicity with warm hospitality, prayer and apostolic activities which respond to local needs. It encourages everyone to cultivate an interior life but also openness to that which is different, a family spirit, and a healthy encounter with the outside world, aiming at coherence between the charism and daily life. It is also marked by an atmosphere of joy which comes from the certainty of the Lord’s fidelity and an intense fraternal life founded on truth and evangelical charity. By our specific charism we are called, in a special way, to express in our community the gift of communion, as perfectly as possible. Therefore we acknowledge that ‘true union of hearts’ comes about through “the mutual love of its members”. This love “is strengthened by the Word and the Eucharist, purified by the Sacrament of Penance and sustained by prayer for unity.”35

It is noted for its style of communication and dialogue, sharing and participation, co-responsibility and discernment.

The Formators, in communion with the Provincial Superior, take on the responsibility of accompanying young people or Sisters in formation in their integral growth according to the specific phase of their journey.

35 John Paul II, Consecrated Life, n. 42.23

These Sisters, adequately prepared, have the delicate task of being travelling companions of the young people and Sisters entrusted to them through an interpersonal relationship which should be deep and meaningful, discreet and gradual. Using the skills they have acquired they help the young people, to integrate faith in daily life, to interpret and give meaning to every ordinary and extraordinary event in life, to discern the will of God for them and to respond to it with coherence and a sense of responsibility. They, too, are Sisters journeying towards a solid human, Christian and charismatic identity, Sisters with a true sense of belonging to the Institute, an authentic love for the Canossian charism and enthusiastic apostolic and missionary zeal.

Formators are responsible for formative and personalised itineraries and for implementing creative programmes that have been planned with the Formative Team and approved by the Provincial Superior, thus guaranteeing continuity and effective involvement at different formative levels. It is also part of their mandate to provide the Sisters with all the human, cultural and spiritual help they need.Above all, they are committed to imitate the “Greatest Love” that every Sister is called to incarnate in her daily life.The collaboration of lay people is recommended in planning formative programmes.

CONTENT

Canossian Formation, Initial and On-going, revolves around several basic nuclei which constitute the essence of our charismatic identity. This must be kept in mind in every formative process, throughout life, while respecting the specific nature of the various stages. They define the characteristic features of that face which the Father has created and

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continues to create in each Daughter of Charity, the mystery of her identity “hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3)36 They are:

Mystical experience

Ascetical journey

Mission

Sense of identity and belonging

Mystical experience

Magdalene’s encounter with the divine in a mystical experience brought her to see her specific identity and mission. This kind of experience is also the starting point and a constant reference for every formative journey of life. Every Daughter of Charity, in fact, is called to re-live the mystical experience that is at the origin of our Institute. Thanks to the gift of the Spirit, she makes it her own and allows it to reveal her own unique identity.The vitality of our Religious Family depends on the presence of Sisters who, even today, continue to live this experience throughout their lives. At the beginning of St. Magdalene’s spiritual journey there were certain “charismatic intuitions” which showed how God revealed Himself to the young Marchioness and how He spoke her name. Thus, St Magdalene began gradually to discover “her inner self through this relationship with God, allowing her contemplation of the mystery to become the source of her

36 Cf. A. Cencini. I Sentimenti del Figlio. Il Cammino Formativo nella Vita Consacrata, Bologna 2001, 138.

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identity.”37 For each Daughter of Charity there is a mystical experience which reveals the face of ‘God alone’ in the contemplation of the Son. This is because, attracted and transformed by Love Crucified, we take for ourselves and translate into our lives the “Inspice et fac secundum Exemplar” (Ex. 25, 40) which attracted St. Magdalene to the following of Christ.

God forms every Sister in this mystical experience through the “mental prayer of the heart”38, a prayer that involves intelligence, affection and the desires of each one of us and pervades the whole of our lives. St. Magdalene reminds us that it is essential that we educate ourselves to silence, if we are to grow in this aspect of the spiritual life. The silence she speaks of is not merely the silence of words but also of every bond, affection or plan which distances us from God. In fact she writes “[…] firstly, in order to keep the holy love of God in our hearts it is necessary to have the spirit of prayer which cannot last without recollection and both of them must be supported by silence […] because the true spirit of a Daughter of Charity should be that of an anchorite at home and an apostle outside.”39

It is through contemplation of the Eucharist that St. Magdalene is frequently led to the mystery of the Cross. She recognises in the gifts of bread and wine, the sacramental offering of Jesus’ own life and confesses that she has been the object of that “great Love with which the Lord led her so frequently to Holy Communion.”40 In fact, the Eucharist constitutes the ‘privileged place of her mystical experiences

37 Ibid, 141.38 Magdalene of Canossa, The Rules of the Institute of the Daughters of Charity. Unabridged Text. Milanese Manuscript, Milan 1978, 25. 39 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 107-108. 40 T. Piccari, Dio solo e Gesù Crocefisso. Maddalena di Canossa, Milano 1965, 358.

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and the unifying element of her whole life, which can be summed up by the two-fold expression ‘Eucharist-Cross’. For each one of us, too, the Eucharist becomes the ‘source and summit’ of our spirituality, the centre of the liturgical life of every community, the heart of sacrificial love with which every Daughter of Charity lives the gift of self to God and to others.

Ascetical journey

In the practice of asceticism our charism is manifested in concrete ways in our life. This is the inevitable consequence of a mystical experience. The intense contemplation of the mystery of God brought about in Magdalene the “need to conform herself to it, allowing herself to be truly moulded in her actions and words, thoughts and desires.”41 The great mystical ideal of Jesus Crucified attracts each one of us and determines our vocation.

The virtues, “of which this great Exemplar wants to give us a unique example on the cross”42, are interpreted by St. Magdalene as expressions of Charity. By conforming herself to the spirit of Christ Crucified in his feelings, motivations and attitudes, each one of us is called to express in daily life three particular virtues. These are: obedience, allowing oneself to be totally involved – heart, mind and will – in the offering of self that Jesus made on the Cross; humility, to recognise the fact that we are creatures and to become capable of sharing and solidarity; poverty, transforming the logic of possession into the logic of giving, and learning to live together as Sisters.

St. Magdalene indicated to her Daughters the path of consecration as the privileged means “to eliminate all the

41 Cencini, I Sentimenti , 142.42 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 25.

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obstacles that may impede the Sisters, called to this holy vocation, to be in perfect union with God.”43

From the charismatic point of view and guided by the Spirit, the vows guard the process of assimilation into Christ (obedient, humble, poor). “If lived for the sake of Christ the vows are a process of Paschal transformation, privileged occasions for growth in freedom and joy through conversion in the three basic needs of the human person: desire for power, need to possess and affectivity.”44 The vows are a way of living our humanity like Jesus lived it, as Son and servant. By living them we become available to the Church and to the world, and able to promote the values of the Kingdom, in order to make space for those who are far off, thus becoming a prophetic and radical sign.

The journey in obedience places our life in the hands of God so that He “may use it according to His design and make it a masterpiece.”45 St. Magdalene indicates to each one of us the imitation of Jesus Christ, who made Himself “obedient unto death, and death on the cross” (Phil 2:8), so as to train ourselves in the exercise of our freedom in conformity with our faith in the Gospel, chosen as a norm of life, and in an attitude of responsibility in carrying out God’s plan, with “the offering of our own will”46 helped by the Rule of Life and various mediations.

The vow of poverty frees us from slavery to things and false needs and allows us to continually rediscover Christ, “who on the Cross was stripped of everything except his love.”47 In

43 Ibid, 52.44 XV General Chapter Resolutions, 10-11.45 Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Starting Afresh from Christ, 2002, n. 22.46 Maddalena, Regole e Scritti, I, 57. 47 Ibid, 34.

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order to live as poor people we should, as St. Magdalene exhorts, “fix our gaze on Him for a few moments to see that on the Cross He lacked not only the superfluous but even absolute necessities.”48

Thus we are called to share what we have, to become detached from the search for riches so as to identify ourselves with Christ Crucified who became a Servant, choosing “a condition of significant marginality.”49

Chastity opens our heart to the measure of Christ’s Heart and makes us able to love as He loved:50 it implies a journey of on-going maturity in love that makes our hearts free, capable of gradual detachment from our own family and from all the behaviours which are not consistent with our choice of chastity. Like Christ Crucified, the Daughters of Charity are called to “a total interior and exterior detachment from everything that is not God.”51

MissionSt. Magdalene’s journey of solitude and exclusive intimacy with God alone, culminating in the contemplation of Christ Crucified, gives rise to a strong missionary and apostolic passion that she herself describes: “[…] I wished I could be reduced to dust if, in that way, I would be scattered to all parts of the world so that God would be known and loved.”52 Her entire spiritual journey brings her “to tread the path of love”53 and to have a big heart “imitating that generous heart

48 Ibid, 54. 49 XV Capitolo, Delibere, 10.50 Cf. CICSAL, Starting Afresh from Christ, n. 2251 Maddalena, Regole e Scritti, 1, 53. 52 Magdalene, Memoirs, 103. 53 Ibid, 196.

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that, on Calvary, offered the life of her Son for the whole world.”54

Thus, John Paul II pointed out to all of us the measure of the gift in apostolic ministry: “When we study the life of Magdalene of Canossa we see how charity consumed her like a fever: the Love of God reached the highest of mystical experience, the Love for her neighbour was practised to an exceptional degree.”55 This is the same ideal that moves us too, today, to undertake the path of becoming ever more a ‘Daughter of Charity – Servant of the Poor’.The five “branches” or ministries of Charity are expressions of our charism. They are: education, seen as preventing evil, liberation from poverty and human promotion; evangelization, aimed at making people aware of their dignity and directing them towards it, pastoral care of the sick, seen as the demonstration and proclamation that human weakness is not a sign of abandonment by God, the formation of laity for the apostolate and retreat ministry, which ‘complete’ the ministries of charity and offer to different types of people occasions for a special encounter with God. The ministerial nature of Charity, as it was understood by Magdalene, includes the aspect of missionary openness to the whole world and to every place where the Lord is not loved and where the human person is not the object of love.56

Sense of identity and belonging

The charism must be proposed in its authenticity and function, first to the young person and also later when she is a consecrated woman. This is because the charism is our own identity, the name which reveals who we are and who we are

54 Maddalena. Epistolario II/2, 1155. 55 John Paul II, Homely, Solemn Canonization of Magdalene of Canossa, 2.10.1988. 56 cf. The Canossian Charism: a formative approach, 31-32.

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called to be in God’s eyes. The understanding of the charism is an absolutely essential if we are to be our true selves and to be happy, through finding our own identity, an identity that goes beyond the limits of our personal qualities and abilities.57 The sense of identity is the awareness of having acquired a new name which transforms us in the depths of our being. The sense of belonging is born and grows from feeling that we are part of a family, a family with whom the charism, the spirituality, the community and mission are shared.

There is, therefore, an individual responsibility on the part of each Sister, as she journeys from a sense of identity to a sense of belonging (from “I” to “we”). She lives this responsibility through a constant and faithful commitment to live the mystical experience, the journey of asceticism and the apostolic mission. In the same way the Institute and community are called to help each Sister make the transition from the sense of identity to the sense of belonging.The Canossian community, as a place for self-realization, promotes the communion of ideals and their implementation; at the same time, it makes us grow in the sense of belonging which confirms us in values, develops our personal talents and gives us the joy of feeling fulfilled.

The sense of belonging is nourished by continually experiencing together as a community, the basic elements of our charism, which, at the same time, strengthens the sense of identity in each Daughter of Charity. In the community, daily and constantly, we are given life and given it anew by mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, believing that we are always touched by God’s mercy in the love of the Crucified Lord. Living like this as Sisters in a community is the first way that we fulfil the twofold Commandment of Love, which we contemplate in the Crucified Lord.58

57 cf. Cencini. I Sentimenti, 140. 145-147. 58 cf. The Canossian Charism: a formative approach, 30.

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GUIDING CRITERIA FOR CANOSSIAN FORMATION

Formation is the encounter between the formative action of the Father and the gradual willingness of each one of us to allow ourselves to be moulded by God’s love.In fact, “every Sister is constantly called to assume her personal responsibility for her journey towards integration, aware that the real fulfilment of life consists in losing it in the spirit of the Gospel and the charism. Each one of us is, therefore, invited to nurture her vocation and her personal growth.”59

This dynamic and gradual process happens throughout life, until the moment of death, and it is God’s action in each one of us which guarantees continuity and unity in our formation. It requires serious and constant planning, according to the stages and time frames that embrace the whole of life, starting with the awareness of the need for on-going formation right from the beginning: the initial experiences of religious life to the full embrace of Canossian ideals.All the aspects and dimensions of our life are involved in the formative experience, though with different modalities and aims according to the various stages of life. Because of this, it is necessary to consider some guidelines that are valid for each stage and to be kept in mind in every formative process.

The most important point to take into consideration is that Formation is a gradual process. This is necessary so that the proposed experience will be appropriate to the individual and to the stage she is going through. In this way each person can be given challenges for her life and choices, without the

59 XIV General Chapter Resolutions, 9.

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danger of becoming discouraged by goals which are beyond her possibilities.

Formation must follow the principle of wholeness. The proposals and the journey of growth need take into consideration all the aspects of the person. We are in fact called to grow and bring together all our energies and faculties – heart, mind, will – around the unique nucleus Jesus Crucified, who strengthens, sustains and challenges us and is the life-giving centre for each one of us.

Each one of us is involved in a continuous and holistic itinerary of formation which means that all the aspects of the human person must be directed to and motivated by the values of our Canossian vocation in a way that is harmonious and dynamic.For this reason it is essential that, in every stage of the formative itinerary, we take the process of growth into consideration, growth in all its aspects: human, affective, spiritual, charismatic, communitarian and apostolic, considering them mutually related and influencing one another.

Human formation indicates to what depth of our interior life as human beings the process of conforming our life to Christ Crucified must reach. In fact, human formation involves the use of all the valuable potential energy in each one of us, in all its complexity. It allows us to journey towards human maturity, aiming at uniting all our affective energies around the experience of God’s love.

Spiritual formation inserts us in the dynamism of faith. This presupposes that we are able to transcend ourselves and be open to the divine, to feel ourselves loved by Him and love Him in return. Thus the process of growth becomes for us a process of real and radical transformation which is not content with merely shaping our behaviour, but wanting to reach our

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heart so as to assume the same sentiments of Christ and the same desires of God.

Charismatic formation highlights the gift given to St. Magdalene and handed on to us, an absolutely original gift, showing how our humanity and our faith find their fullness and utmost expression in the encounter with the charism.

Community formation reminds us that the charism must be lived together and shared within the community. Formation is lived out in the daily life of community and helps us face the difficulties of apostolic service to the extent that the love of the Lord is the source and the rule of our life for each one of us.60 It is, therefore, indispensable that the community be a formative one and helps us to place the most generous love of Christ, Servant, at the centre of our life.

Apostolic formation occurs, first of all, within the community. “It is in the Community that we safeguard and reinforce our identity; it is here that we engage in processes of discernment for the mission.”61

It is in this place that the discernment of a vocation “ad gentes” may take place, a further call to spread the gift of Charity to the ends of the earth.We are also called to strengthen our inter-ministeriality, through the Community’s Apostolic Project, and to improve our listening skills and the critical interpretation of reality so that we may make evermore charismatic choices which are inculturated and for the poor. This requires a specific professional preparation.

It is important that each one of us considers formation as a guided itinerary, not only by the grace of the Spirit, but also

60 cf. The Canossian Charism: a formative approach, 30. 61 XIV General Chapter Resolutions, 13.

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by the harmonious and responsible dialogue with human mediations, in particular with the Sisters responsible for formation and/or community leaders. Every stage may present a challenge: this is the reality for each one of us who, conceived as a mystery, does not fully possess herself.

Formation is challenging; it is indeed possible and takes place through trials. It is a precious instrument for our growth. Trials, in fact, can help us to grow in our own identity, in belonging to our own Institute, in conformity to Christ Crucified who also shared with humanity the experience of temptation and the Cross. Formation must train each Sister to face trials and teach her how to draw lessons from them.

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PART TWO

STAGES OF CANOSSIAN FORMATIVE JOURNEY:

from the beginning to the final gift of self

At the beginning of this document there was a passing reference to how the commitment to renewal that the Institute is engaged in necessarily requires a global re-thinking of formation. This is not only in order to face the challenges of the complex historical period in which we live but because we are convinced that “the renewal of a Religious Institute depends mainly on the formation of its members.”62 Re-thinking Formation is therefore a priority for the life and continuity of our Religious Family.

First of all, it means going beyond the outdated idea that formation deals only with initial formation. In the past, formation seemed to mean the overall task of preparing a Sister to make a definitive choice and to help her to reach that maturity and to acquire the necessary requisites to respond to the life-long demands of consecration, community and apostolic life. It was as if the period of growth coincided only with this first stage, while the rest of life was just a time of maintaining and conserving what had been initially learned.

The process of growth cannot be limited to the initial period because consecrated life, precisely because it is ‘life’, is a journey, an evolution and continual progress. Growth embraces the whole span of life since it is only with time and along the developmental stages that the Daughter of Charity is 62 Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes, 1990, n. 1.

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able to reach the ideal to which she tends, that is, conformity to Christ Crucified.

Formation is, in itself, permanent and “only by starting from this broad understanding of the word will it be possible to sub-divide the phases of formation itself into periods that correspond to the phases of life, each with its specific characteristics and its more or less marked expressions.”63 Paradoxically, we can say that on-going formation is not that which comes “after” initial formation, but it is that which precedes it and makes it possible as a guiding principle; it is that which generates it, guards it and gives it identity.”64

Putting into practice a project of on-going formation, responsibly accepted by each Daughter of Charity, permits our communities to become and be known as life-giving places animated by the most generous love for God and for neighbour, and from which radiates the beauty and attraction of a life totally consecrated to God. The realisation of this project will allow new generations to find a concrete context in which knowledge of the charism is confirmed by life experience. The charismatic identity, to which they tend, is witnessed by the example and presence of persons of different ages who are journeying towards the full identification with their ‘new name’. In this way all the Daughters of Charity become responsible for preserving the charism received, so as to hand it on ‘integral and perfect’ to the younger Sisters, having enriched it by their very own lives.

The future of our Religious Institute lies here, in the renewed vitality of our community living, sustained by authentic on-going formation, presented to each Sister as commitment of

63 A. Cencini, Formazione Permanente. Ci crediamo davvero?, Bologna 2011, 31.64 cf. A. Cencini, Il respiro della vita. La grazia della formazione permanente, Cinisello Balsamo, 2002, 25.

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life in daily fidelity to the gift of the “vocation to this Holy Institute of Charity.”65 Keeping in mind the principle that on-going formation is a necessary condition for the growth and development of formation in each phase of life, we now deal with each particular phase of formation beginning with Pastoral Care of Vocations and Initial Formation.

65 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 23. 38

PASTORAL CARE OF VOCATIONS

“If you only knew what God is offering …!” (Jn 4:10)

Meaning and aim

The concern of many Christian communities for the pastoral care of vocations is fully sustained by the whole Church which, to carry out its mandate of evangelisation, addresses itself in a special way to young people. Because of their existential, psychological and spiritual situation, it is natural that they should be the ones to whom the message of Christian hope is primarily addressed. In fact, young people have the “right to be evangelised because they are in greater need of the Gospel so as to respond to the questions of meaning which are present during growth, to have an ideal sense of the future which is neither deceptive nor narrow, to have life in abundance through knowledge of the Father’s love revealed to them in the humanity of Jesus and confirmed in the inner life of the Spirit.”66

Furthermore, the challenge of education in a complex and post-modern society makes it even more a duty for adults to take on this responsibility. In the present cultural context, dissatisfaction and aimless existence, the fragility of the human person, the precariousness of relationships prevails.Many young people, especially in the continents with a long Christian tradition, manifest great difficulty in facing life without values and ideals where everything becomes unstable and seems provisional. This brings about interior suffering, solitude, narcissistic isolation, fear of the future, and can lead

66 Institute of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, Plan of Youth Ministry, 1998, Preface

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to an unbridled use of “freedom”. At the same time, a great thirst for meaning, truth and love can be found in young people.

For us, Canossian Sisters, pastoral care of vocations is an indispensable apostolic field, since it is inherent in the very nature of our charism which calls us to prevent evil before it happens since “the behaviour of a person in life usually depends on the education received.”67 The Canossian charism encourages us to take care of young people so as to promote their growth. The Love of Christ Crucified is the starting point from which we invite them to become disciples by following Him so that they may gradually discover that every fragment of their lives is redemptive and find in them the “space” to be and to create their own history.68

Canossian pastoral care of vocations embraces and spans all the branches of charity and calls us, as faith educators, to be attentive to adolescents and young people by concerning ourselves with their growth.As consecrated people, we are also called to become vocation animators: “the person who is called, in fact, cannot but become a caller.”69

The main aim of Canossian Pastoral Care of Vocations is to lead teenagers and young adults in a journey of human growth and in an experience of faith and encounter with the Lord Jesus, helping them to re-read their lives through the lens of vocational and missionary experiences.Therefore we are called to encourage young people to discern their life project, and if we are able to show that we are totally fulfilled in our choice of life, it will naturally bring them to consider their own vocation in life.

67 Magdalene, Unabridged Rule, 120.68 cf. Canossian Institute, Basic Guidelines of Canossian Youth Ministry, Bologna 2000, 11-12.69 CICLSAL, Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes, 1990, n. 17,

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Consequently “all Canossian communities are vocational communities when one’s vocation is lived with a profound awareness and enthusiasm by all the members and when the community gathers together to respond to the call of ministerial discipleship.”70

After having identified the signs of a particular vocation in young people, we encourage them to embark on an experience of accompaniment and discernment.

Our youth ministry has to be done in such a way that it naturally becomes pastoral care of vocations, giving to young people the possibility of deepening their understanding of vocation, vocation seen as a guide to the mystery of their own life and identity as well as their faith and true calling in life.

Those responsible

The Canossian community is composed of Sisters who, moved by the Spirit and united by the same charism, live together to announce and witness God’s love. This love is always open to every person, just as it was expressed in Jesus Christ, at the supreme moment of the gift of his life for us on the cross. The community gives efficacious witness to the charism to the extent that it re-lives its three essential elements: mystical experience, ascetical journey and apostolic mission.The concrete ways through which the Canossian community expresses its service within the local Church are education, evangelisation, pastoral care of the sick, formation of laity and retreat ministry. This service is offered that Charity may be extended as much as possible.Every community is called and encouraged to “adopt a simple, joyful and fraternal style of life, which is reflected also in our 70 Canossian Daughters of Charity, Basic Guidelines of the Canossian Vocation Animation, Bologna 2002, 43.

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premises that are open and welcoming”71 in order to become more credible witnesses to evangelical fraternity.

It is in the community that “we safeguard and reinforce our identity”72 as Daughters of Charity – Servants of the Poor, learning how to humbly serve and help each other, not becoming discouraged by our fragility and that of others but accepting this as an opportunity for conversion, reconciliation and salvation. Every Canossian community is continually invited to “explore new ways of responding to emerging needs”73, with special attention to young people so that they may grow in the “fantasy of charity”74 and involve themselves in initiatives that give preference to the poorest.

Every Sister, as a Canossian, is called personally to express the joy of her vocational choice and the sense of belonging to a Religious community, considering prayer for young people and vocations as one of her primary commitments. The consistent and radical witness of her consecration makes the Canossian ideal attractive and credible to those we meet in our fraternal life and apostolic activities through whatever service.

The Sisters involved in the pastoral care of vocations are called to spend their time with young people trying to find creative ways of being in contact with them. ‘Being there’ as adults means for each one of us having a deep understanding of life, living it with joy and being able to recount one’s own experience of faith, giving reasons for the hope we carry in our hearts.

71 XIV General Chapter, Resolutions, 11.72 Ibid, 13. 73 Ibid, 14.74 John Paul II, At the Beginning of the New Millennium, 2001, n. 50.

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‘Being there’ in the midst of young people means, for us as Canossians, to be open to dialogue, capable of trustful listening and sincerely accepting young people as they are, being attentive to the uniqueness of each person and allowing ourselves to be challenged by their richness of character.75 For St. Magdalene, it is indispensable for the Sisters to be in the midst of young people with a formative attitude which seeks to prevent, with precaution and concern, evil from taking root. St. Magdalene was concerned not only that the Sisters “should not forget to watch over the girls”76, but above all that they should never leave the girls unattended.77

The lay people with whom we collaborate in our ministries are also agents of pastoral care of vocations: with them we form ourselves in the same zeal for education, we share the same methodology and approach to pastoral care of vocations and we involve them in working groups for the planning and implementation of various proposals.

Young people

All the young people, near or far and of different religions, that we meet in our ministries of Charity are recipients of our pastoral care of vocations. Even if they are not aware of it, they are searching for a plan for their future. More precisely, they are trying to discover God’s plan for their lives and we are called to accompany them in this search which is a really and truly a search for their own vocation in life: Thus we can say that the subject of vocational animation is any person who “shows a clear sensitivity to the search for their personal 75 cf. Basic Guidelines for Canossian Youth Ministry, Institute, 43-44. 76 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 19577 cf. ibid, 192.

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vocation and who has before them a genuine possibility of making a plan for her own life.”78 We are encouraged to reach out and “favour in a special way those marked by difficulties of various kinds: personal, family and social, even though dealing with them is a challenge, because it calls for greater authenticity, availability and real unconditional giving”.79

Formative environment

We carry out our vocational promotion programmes in communion with the local Church, within our ministries of Charity and through experiences of voluntary service in our respective Provinces, or abroad. These can be done through various activities, such as meetings, congresses, recreational groups, community live-ins, prayer experiences, retreats, pilgrimages, World Youth Day etc. Encounters with young people in formation are also valid opportunities.

Evaluation

For young women who have started on a journey of human growth and faith experience, and who feel attracted by the Canossian charism, we may offer, for a period of time, an experience of prayer, community and service in one of our communities of the Province, so that they may further understand God’s plan for them. If we sense the signs of a missionary vocation, these experiences may even be made abroad.

78 Basic Guidelines for Canossian Vocational Pastoral Ministry and Animation, 31. 79 Basic Guidelines for Canossian Youth Ministry, 20.

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The Canossian Sister who accompanies the young person will try to help her to clarify her vocational motivations, especially regarding the awareness of her choice as the capacity for self-giving and of responsibility for self and others.

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INITIAL FORMATION

VOCATIONAL DISCERNIMENT AND ACCOMPANIMENT

“Come and see!” (Jn 1:39)

Significance and objective

The discernment of a vocation is a process that helps young people to understand how the Lord Jesus calls and invites them to follow him. It begins with the story of their past and continues right through to the present because it is in this story that God gives birth and growth to His vocational plan for them.Vocational accompaniment, on the other hand, is a temporary help that a Sister who is more experienced in faith and discipleship offers to young women, sharing with them part of the way so that they may know themselves better and the gift of God in their lives, in order to respond to it with freedom and responsibility.

Our Foundress also recognised from the beginning that “a vocation is given gratuitously from the Lord’s generosity”80 and so gave great importance to the process of vocational discernment before entering the Institute. In fact, she said repeatedly: “It is necessary for the Superior to proceed with great caution and much prayer before receiving a candidate”81, and “… the Sisters, who know of this possibility, should pray very much to the Lord …”82

80 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 89.81 Ibid, 49. 82 Ibid, 69-70.

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Our presence becomes formative when, by accompanying them, we help young people to rediscover the presence of God’s mystery in their personal story, which is the normal place where they can recognise the God who calls.

Every Canossian Sister is encouraged to offer young people itineraries of vocational accompaniment and discernment. This opportunity is offered to everyone, even when it may seem inopportune or unlikely that the person will continue the discernment. Every Daughter of Charity is called to guide young people in discovering God’s gift in their personal lives, through the knowledge of self and their emotional, intellectual and affective life.

Further, the person who accompanies young people has the duty to verify in them the presence of the basic dispositions of life for a Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor, the possibility of growth at a human and spiritual level and an eventual vocation “ad gentes”. She helps them to take the first steps in learning to make choices for their life.83

If the signs of a call to Canossian consecrated life are not evident, the Sister continues to help the young person search for God’s plan for her, remembering St. Magdalene’s expression that “when a vocation is not clear and sure, we will only betray the young person and […] damage the Institute.”84 Therefore, this phase is a time of gradual transition towards the beginning of Religious Life and its duration depends on the growth of the young person.

Content83 Cf. Cencini, Vita consacrata, 60. 84 Magdalene, A Collection of Letters III/1, 316-317.

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The Canossian Sister, who accompanies the young woman, guides her to a Christian interpretation of her history so that everything that has happened to her or everything she does may be seen as a place of encounter with God and discernment of His Will. The deepening of her journey of faith, through a meaningful sacramental and prayer life, becomes itself the criterion for discernment. It is also important that the Sister should ask the young person to make certain choices that detach her from her previous way of living and should propose initial experiences that draw her towards the Canossian charism, within one of our communities, chosen according to the need of each young woman. In it, the young woman experiences Canossian spirituality and the lifestyle of the Daughters of Charity, so as to test her readiness to choose this option.

Modality

Systematic accompaniment by a Canossian Sister who assists the young person in her search is, without doubt, a privileged means of formation in this particular phase of discernment. She helps her to discern the mystery of her identity through her personal story and to see that the incarnation of the mystery within her has not always been smooth, but, has met obstacles and difficulties.85 There are other modalities of formation, which are not alternatives to the systematic accompaniment but complementary. These may include contact with a local Canossian community, experiences of a few days in a Canossian apostolic community where the young person may

85 Cf. A. Cencini, Il mistero da ritrovare. Itinerario formativo alla decisione vocazionale, Milano1997; La storia personale casa del mistero. Indicazioni per il discernimento vocazionale, Milano 1997.

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share our life of prayer, community and dedication to others, as well as periods of study, sharing and exchanging experiences with other young people who are searching.

Evaluation

During this phase and at its end, the Sister who accompanies the young woman will give great attention and importance to evaluating her motivation and vocational rectitude86, verifying the reality of her willingness to open herself to the newness of consecrated life87, to grow in the spiritual life and to begin with joy88 her journey of formation.

The Sister should try to identify, during this first phase, signs of apostolic and missionary zeal typical of a Canossian, in the initial attention she gives to those in need.The Sister must also ascertain that the young person is in good health and psychologically balanced89, that she has received a Secondary education and that she is not over 35 years of age. Exceptions may be considered in dialogue with the Provincial Superior.

If the result of the evaluation is positive, the candidate will present a formal written application to the Provincial Superior asking to begin the pre-novitiate.

86 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 69.87 Cf. Magdalene, A Collection of Letters, III/1, 388 Cf. Magdalene, Epistolario, III/2, 1347.89 Cf. Magdalene, Epistolario, II/2, 952, note 16

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PRE-NOVITIATE

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (I Sam.3, 9)

Significance and objective

The pre-novitiate is a time for personal growth and discernment for the young woman who wishes to evaluate the compatibility of her gift with the Canossian charism and to know it as a way of living religious life. It is characterised by the special attention given to her growth as a woman and as a Christian. The young women of today, “the future hope for the good of the Institute”90, need to be motivated to attain the high ideals of the radical following of Christ and the serious demands of living a call to holiness. This is because a vocation to Religious Life is much greater than, and perhaps even goes beyond, what they initially had in mind when they felt inspired to enter the Institute.Therefore, the general objective of pre-novitiate is to develop in the young person the capacity to make a free and faith-based choice to enter into the life of consecration as a Canossian.

Besides this general objective, the Sister in charge also considers the following with regard to the candidate:

the maturity of her faith within a personal relationship with Christ Crucified, which should enable her to discern and thus clarify her choice of an apostolic consecrated life as a Canossian and possibly a vocation “ad gentes”

90 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 125.50

the awareness that a vocation is not the search for a personal programme of formation but following exclusively Christ Crucified so as to love Him alone and live in Him as a daughter of the Father

the capacity to listen attentively to the Word of God so as to nourish her interior life and evaluate the real motives that animate her life.

the integration of a “mentality of change” regarding her previous way of life, in harmony with the dynamic of following Christ in the Canossian Family

gradual formation in the art of communication, dialogue, sharing and evaluation in view of community and apostolic life

Pre-novitiate is also a “trial period”91 during which the young person, while strengthening her personal relationship with the Lord, is gradually introduced into fraternal life in community, to the richness of prayer lived in an apostolic dimension, collaboration in our ministries and in the various services within the community.

Persons in formation

The formative itinerary of the pre-novitiate is offered to the young woman of today who, fascinated by the person of Jesus Christ Crucified, wishes to follow Him and live for the Kingdom in our Religious community. Attracted by our lifestyle and sensitive to the needs of our neighbours, she involves herself actively in the life of the church, choosing to experience it in an apostolic community and in our ministries of Charity. Together with the Formator the pre-novice discerns her vocation to the Canossian charism, seen more as a gift received than an offering of self, and the possibility that this unique, personal and gratuitous gift will bring her self-91 Ibid, 137.

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fulfilment. In this context the beginnings of discerning a vocation “ad gentes” may take place.A process of discernment is also necessary when there is a struggle between the attraction to the ideal and the difficulty of responding freely and when the person is faced with the need for detachment and change.

Content

The content of formation at pre-novitiate level comprises five main areas:

the human dimension

- a gradual knowledge of self, of gifts and weaknesses, of one’s sexuality and femininity; the acceptance and integration of one’s personal history which leads to integration of one’s affectivity, one’s life and one’s past, marking the beginning of a new relationship with God, oneself, others and creation

- the ability to take autonomous and meaningful decisions for one’s life

- wonder and enthusiasm, typical of youth, which express passion for the ideals of good, beauty and truth

- courage and constancy in living consistently the consequences of one’s own choices, bearing the pain of renunciation and showing a willingness to grow and know how to make the first meaningful detachments and separation from a previous lifestyle

- a journey of human maturity which concerns not only the intellectual aspect, but also and above all affectivity, emotions and the will

- gradual affective maturity expressed as the capacity to live solitude and serene social relationships with both sexes

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- the capacity to recognise and call by name one’s own weaknesses and fragility and make an effort to overcome them.

- a journey of joyful self-giving and a humble and serene attitude of accepting the cultural diversities which are present in the group

the social dimension - gratitude and love towards her family of origin and to all

those who have helped her to grow - an attitude of gratitude for the community which shares in

her journey - welcoming, without distinction, every person that God

places along her way and gradually accepting the limits of others

- the capacity to relate and collaborate with everyone on an equal basis: lay people and Sisters.

- sensitivity towards those in need and the aptitude to care for them

the spiritual dimension

- the disposition to discover self as a gift in the human and vocational sphere; a discovery which gives rise to a sense of gratitude and inspires the young person to become a gift for others

- the gradual acknowledgement of the Fatherhood of the God of Jesus Christ who, through the action of the Holy Spirit, is at work every day in history

- an ever more personal and authentic relationship with the Lord Jesus through a gradual prayer, sacramental and liturgical life, lived personally and in community

- systematic catechesis for a knowledge of the basic tenets of faith

- a deeper familiarity with the Word of God92

92 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 134-135. 53

- the guidance of Mary, Mother of God, and model of fidelity to God’s plan

- discovering the meaning and value of the interior life, through silence and listening, “according to the various needs and situations”93

- a spirituality, focused on redemption, lived for others and their salvation

the charismatic dimension

- knowledge of our Foundress, a woman who was creative in Charity and is a model of holiness even for today, St. Josephine Bakhita, Universal Sister and reconciled woman and other meaningful figures of the Canossian Family

- the evaluation on the following:

the ideals of the young woman and the values which are proposed by the Canossian charism

her faith journey and Canossian spirituality: the love for Jesus Crucified and for His Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows

how she sees herself within the Canossian ministries and apostolic project

the apostolic dimension

- experience of service in our ministries of Charity, discovering in them a humble, joyful style and being introduced to the formative process of discernment: see, judge, act.

- mission, even beyond the boundaries her own country, understood not only as serving others but also as the yearning of one who feels saved and wants to share this gift with others, sharing also one’s own spirituality of “making Jesus known and loved”.

93 Ibid, 27.

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Formative environments

The pre-novice’s growth in awareness of her vocational response and inner freedom is fostered especially in the following environments:

a. The Formative Community: open to the culture of young people, it welcomes and offers them the opportunity to experience the precious gift of communion, with its lights and shadows, in a respectful, serene and joyful atmosphere, which allows them to be themselves. The community shares with them prayer together and encourages times of personal prayer. In community the pre-novice measures herself against the reality of the unique Canossian mission through the knowledge of various apostolic activities, as far as possible, in an inter-ministerial modality and if necessary a missionary modality.

A Sister of the community, adequately prepared, is responsible for accompanying and personally following the pre-novice in her journey of human, spiritual, vocational and charismatic growth: “trying to […] skilfully gain the confidence of the candidate […] she seeks to discover her disposition, temperament and inclinations.”94 This Sister becomes the guarantor of the proposed formative itinerary. She guides the young woman in understanding a life of fraternity and helps her to interpret daily life and every event in a spirit of faith. This is done through regular personal dialogue and systematic and specific formative encounters.

b. Attending Biblical and Theological courses allows the pre-novice to deepen her motivations and broaden the horizons of her knowledge and apostolic competence.

94 Ibid, 132.55

Modality - a personal formative itinerary guided by the Sister in charge - spiritual direction - a process of gradual knowledge of self and of others - psychotherapeutic help if and when it seems necessary- a gradual re-reading of life in the light of the Word of God

and charismatic literature- an experience suited to the real possibilities of the young

person giving her the opportunity of being involved and challenged in what she lives and what is proposed to her through concrete action. She is encouraged to make a free choice within her possibilities, within the daily life of the community, in a life of prayer and apostolic service95

- a meaningful period spent in the house of the novitiate before her entrance.

Evaluation

In our Institute pre-novitiate usually lasts for at least one year96 and may be prolonged to two years but no longer. At its conclusion, the young person will express her free and conscious desire to follow Christ in our Religious Family. After having listened to the opinion of the community, the Sister in charge presents a written report to the Provincial Superior in which she expresses her opinion and that of the community regarding the suitability of the candidate to continue her formative journey. In this report the Formator states whether the candidate is able to gradually live the commitment of consecration and whether she has received an adequate preparation for the following stage. She offers Provincial Superior sufficient information so

95 Cf. Cencini, Vita consacrata, 117-121. 96 Cf. CICLSAL, Directives On Formation in Religious Institutes, n.43.

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that she may decide whether candidate should be admitted to the novitiate and if so, when.

Besides the information required by Canon Law97, the Formator will carefully evaluate the capacity of the pre-novice to make a free, responsible and motivated vocational choice; a choice made with the right intention98 and joy, a decision to live for the Lord Jesus Crucified and to collaborate in His salvific mission.99 In the process of discernment we must take into account the candidate’s level of maturity in the life of faith, as well as maturity in sacramental, doctrinal and moral life. This is to avoid the novitiate being reduced to a simple catechumenate. It is necessary that the person has sufficient intellectual ability to understand the values and demands of Canossian consecrated life.100

The Sister in charge also verifies whether the young woman has “a character which seeks harmony and peace”101. This is a sign of sufficient human maturity, a stable sense of identity and a disposition to live serene relationships in community, as well as with the Sisters who carry out the service of authority in it.102 The capacity of knowing oneself both in one’s own gifts and limits, in honesty and truth to oneself, and sound realism in facing struggles and difficulties are signs of the desire to grow and form oneself so as to become an authentic Canossian Daughter of Charity.

97 Cf. Canon Law, Rome 1983, can. 641-645.98 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 51.99 Cfr. Magdalene, ibid, 71; Epistolario, I, 502; III/2, 979; III/3, 1696.100 Cfr. Magdalene, Epistolario, II/2, 1179.101 Ibid, III/2, 1766.102 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 51.

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It is necessary to evaluate whether the candidate has an explicit inclination to the ministries of Charity typical of our Institute. 103 If the above mentioned requisites are missing, St. Magdalene reminds us: “… notwithstanding every help and attention given and if a wrong choice has been made, the young person may, without any fear, be sent away and the Institute may thus be conserved in its spirit and its integrity.”104

If the novitiate is to take place in a country different from her own, knowledge of the language used there will help her insertion. Where it is possible, some knowledge of Italian is also desirable in order to understand our charismatic texts.

Moving on to the novitiate

At the end of this stage, the young person writes to the Provincial Superior stating her desire to start the novitiate.It is up to the Provincial Superior, having taken into account the opinions of the Formator and the community where the young woman lived, to decide whether she is suited to continue her formative journey with us. Before beginning the following stage, she is offered the possibility of spending a period in the novitiate community in order to familiarise herself with the new environment. She is also given the chance to spend some time with her family as well as an adequate break for reflection and prayer.

103 Cf. ibid, 50-51.104 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 126.

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NOVITIATE

“I will lure her, and lead her out into the wilderness

and speak to her heart.” (Hos. 2:16)

Significance and objective

The novitiate is the “q uality time” par excellence of integral initiation into the form of life proposed by the Canossian charism and the experience of the radical following of Christ Crucified whom the young person is ready to place at the centre of her existence, with the guidance of Mary, faithful disciple of her Son and Mother of Charity at the foot of the Cross. The young person is guided to a progressive assimilation of the sentiments of Christ Crucified towards the Father and towards the whole of humanity, and to the integration of her own identity within the charism lived and safeguarded in the Institute.

The main aim of this stage of Initial Formation is to gradually introduce the young person to ‘docibilitas’, that is, the capacity to learn from life with the most generous heart of Jesus, living every situation of life and relationship as a place of formation. This interior state of constant freedom to learn in life and from life, is the goal of initial formation and it opens the way to continue the journey, the life-long journey which is the unending process of On-going Formation.

The novitiate normally lasts two years.

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Persons in formation

In our Institute we admit to the novitiate the young woman who has completed her pre-novitiate, expressed formally in writing her desire to continue her journey of discernment regarding her own religious vocation, and who is open to allow herself to be formed to become an authentic Daughter of Charity.

Objectives

The young woman, who is accepted into the community of the novitiate:

deepens the meaning of her baptismal consecration and continues to study the Canossian consecrated life in order to reach a more free and conscious choice

is aware of the gift of the vocation to the Institute of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, and is open to the needs of the whole world

faces the challenge of fulfilling her identity as a woman and as a Christian in every aspect of her personality, in behaviour and intentions. She prepares herself to become a “sister and mother” for her brothers and sisters, especially the most needy

experiences effectively and affectively the Canossian charism as her own “new name” learning gradually to integrate the reasoning of heart, mind and will with the charismatic project and its values

undertakes a journey of progressive assimilation of the sentiments of Christ Crucified towards the Father

experiences the lifestyle of the Institute and is open to evaluate her own motivations and intentions, her real capacity and suitability to live the demands of consecration, in a life of community for the mission

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Content

the human dimension

The young woman is guided in a journey of:

- gradually making her own the evangelical values which lead to choices requiring renunciation as a consequence of a vocation embraced out of love

- freedom which leads her to become what she is called to be, transforming her life in a radical way, thus deepening her sense of belonging to Christ.

- deepening the knowledge and acceptance of self, distinguishing positive energies from those which need redemption, learning how to integrate them serenely, with the struggle that this implies

- valuing her femininity, sexuality and affectivity, and being able to manage increasingly better, her own emotions, passions, sentiments and affections, in order to become a fully mature woman105

- growing in the ability to relate as an adult, respecting diversity and with freedom to be herself within the group

- being truthful with herself, learning to detach herself from personal preferences, allowing herself to be challenged with serenity and growing in responsibility to the commitments made

- identifying clearly her main areas of immaturity and taking the appropriate steps to overcome them.

105 Cf. Magdalene. Collection of Letters, III/1, 503.61

the spiritual dimension

The young woman is guided in a journey of:

- deepening her faith in Christ Crucified and her personal relationship with Him106, with an openness to intense prayer that is present in her daily life

- familiarity with the Word of God that promotes a “mentality of faith” and acquisition of Gospel values

- interiorization of the spirit of prayer and docility to the action of the Holy Spirit

- acceptance of solitude so as to be “grounded in God alone”107

- openness to the gift of silence as a means of listening to the Word of God and living in intimacy with God alone

- deepening her knowledge of the vows in today’s context and in all their dimensions: personal, communitarian, ministerial, prophetic and eschatological

the charismatic dimension

The young woman is guided in a journey of:

- discovering, ever more deeply, the Canossian identity which is implied in the ‘new name’ she is called to assume: Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor, a name that is lived by fulfilling the two precepts of love108

- studying the charismatic sources as springs which allow her to draw on Magdalene’s experience, manifesting the desire to make them her own

106 Cf. Starting afresh from Christ, n. 20.107 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 55.108 Cf. XIV General Chapter, Resolutions, 7.

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- encountering the Lord Jesus so as to “plant the Cross firmly in” her “heart”109

- gradually moulding her way of living and loving according to that of the Lord, trying to assume His own sentiments and interiorizing the virtues contemplated in Him Crucified: obedience, humility, poverty

- taking on the virtues of the Servant and internalising a spirit of service

- desiring to learn to love Mary, Mother and Foundress of the Institute, and to be a disciple like her at the foot of Jesus’ cross

- acquiring a clear understanding of the Evangelical Counsels and gradually accepting them, discovering a unique possibility for the fulfilment of her humanity. This applies in particular to:

- accepting the call to live evangelical poverty according to the model of “our Great Exemplar Jesus Crucified, (…) who on the Cross was stripped of everything except his love”110

learning to live poverty as freedom, not only in relation to things, but even to self, one’s limits and the weaknesses of others

valuing a lifestyle which is sober and simple, grateful and freely given, showing her love for the poor and care for creation

experiencing poverty of means in daily life, in activities and in the apostolate

developing a serene attitude towards dependence and interdependence and asking with simplicity for what one needs, things and money, using them with a sense of responsibility and giving an accurate and transparent account of their use

109 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 134.110 ibid, 34.

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being careful regarding time management, not wasting it, but giving it generously to those who may ask for help

- accepting one’s call to live religious obedience according to the model of Christ Crucified and Servant who, on the Cross, offered “the noblest part of his sacrifice, that is, His will”111

journeying towards a balanced sense of autonomy. becoming aware of possible false expectations

regarding authority showing respect for others in dialogue and

collaboration, both with Superiors and in community clarifying the motivations behind every request so

that obedience may always be responsible even when it is demanding and can only be understood in faith

- accepting the call to live consecrated chastity so that all that one is and has, “may be totally and solely dedicated to the Lord”112

accepting serenely the reality of one’s own humanity living inter-personal relationships in a balanced and

mature way, in community and the apostolate, in friendships and with all

experiencing in reality both the affective and effective detachment which consecrated life involves and, as a consequence, living the most generous spirit of Christ on the Cross

living the Paschal mystery, with the help of Christian asceticism which frees the heart and strengthens the will

111 ibid, 30.112 ibid, 53.

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adopting a new style of relating to one’s family of origin while maintaining with them a relationship of love, respect and gratitude.

the communitarian dimension

The novice is accompanied in a journey of:

- acceptance of the other person, “different” from self, opening herself to a style of welcoming without distinction, of a simple and joyful fraternity, of sharing what one is and what one has, of reciprocal “care”113, of discernment, dialogue, co-responsibility, mutual esteem

- growth in a sense of belonging, esteem and gratitude for her community and Institute, aided by active participation in drawing up the Community Project

- learning to deepen and interiorize the fundamental elements of communion, promoting transparency of relationships, freedom, open and responsible friendship and developing the capacity to live fraternal correction, seen as an ever greater openness to giving and receiving forgiveness and understanding114

- learning how to share the Word of God and Canossian spirituality.

the apostolic - missionary dimension

The novice is presented with the following proposals:

- filial love for the Church and openness to the world by deepening the charismatic mandate of ‘making Jesus known and loved’, in fidelity to God and all those she meets

113 Congregation, Starting Afresh from Christ, n. 28.114 Cf Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 93.

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- knowledge of the ministries of Charity proper to the Institute, making meaningful experiences in the ministry which she feels most attracted to and possibly even a missionary experience

- taking on the style of Canossian service: humility, simplicity, amiability, gratuitousness and collaboration

- love for the universality of the Church and mission “ad gentes”, fostering within herself a mentality open to inculturation

- respect for the religious and cultural diversity of peoples which leads to dialogue

- a creative and joyful obedience capable of offering gospel values to those she encounters in mission

- a period of apostolic experience in a community different from that of the novitiate, during the second year. This experience is to be proportionate to the capacity of the novice, well planned, accompanied and then shared and evaluated with the Formator.

Formative Environments

The following are the specific environments where the Novice’s formative process is carried out.

The formative community of the novitiate is where every Sister contributes to the growth of the young person by fostering her inner freedom and capacity to love. This is always done with respect for the different competences and roles. The Sisters of the community are called to live their relationship with the novice in a constructive way. They live the formative guidelines with a sense of co-responsibility. Each one offers her own contribution, especially the witness of a life that corresponds to evangelical and charismatic values.

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The presence of Sisters with a vocation “ad gentes” may inspire the novice to be open to such a call.The community sets aside time for dialogue in order to promote reflection on the Word of God and on the charism so as to discern, communicate and build Canossian culture together, in a humble way, taking nothing for granted, so as to share a great love for the Kingdom and the passion of being disciples and missionaries of Christ.115 While being sensitive to local customs, attention must also be given to respect an appropriate atmosphere of silence and solitude. These are essential values for a continual and intense experience of communion with God alone and contemplation of Christ Crucified.

The Formator is part of this community and, as the person primarily responsible for the formation of the novice she accompanies her on her journey in an interpersonal relationship that is characterised by truth and evangelical communion.116 She always tries to create an atmosphere of trust so that the novice may express herself freely.She helps the young woman recognise the voice of God speaking to her, to verify her intentions and to respond freely and with responsibility. She is particularly attentive to discover a possible vocation “ad gentes”. She has a regular personal meeting with the novice to help her with the process of discernment and as a companion on the journey.

The Formator should be adequately prepared for the delicate task of discerning and verifying the vocation of the novice, of transmitting the genuine spirit of the

115 Cf V General Conference of the Latin-American Bishops, Aparecida: final document, 2007.116 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 131.

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Institute and helping her to overcome the difficulties that she may meet.In order not to become an obstacle to the formative action of the Spirit, the Formator needs to be gifted with special human and spiritual qualities. It is also important that the Formator has a deep knowledge and experience of religious life, the mission of the Institute and love the Church, remaining open to its problems. The Formator makes use of the help of other persons, from within and outside the Institute, for implementing the novitiate programme.

She also maintains an open relationship and evaluates herself with the formative community, her local Superior and Provincial and keeps them updated with regard to the formative journey.Once a year, she consults the community and presents a written report to the Provincial Superior regarding the progress of each novice.

The Apostolic Community welcomes the novice for her apostolic training of a few months which takes place during the second year of the novitiate. The young person is entrusted to and accompanied by the Superior of the community who maintains contact with the Formator who remains responsible for the formation of the novice.The aim of the apostolic experience is to place the novice in a situation of living the charism in an environment different from that of the novitiate, that is, where she will take more initiative.In this new environment the young woman experiences the joy and difficulty of being associated with the mission of Jesus and learns how the Canossian charism, through the ministries of Charity, takes

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concrete forms and offers a specific contribution to the pastoral action of the Church. In this community, especially through the witness of Sisters generously dedicated to others and through the effort of integrating her spiritual, communal and apostolic life, the novice is helped to create unity of life.During her apostolic training and, especially at its end, the novice re-reads and verifies the experience made with her Formator.

Inter-Congregational formative programmes open the young woman to an ecclesial horizon, to a reciprocal appreciation of the various charisms and to the deepening of specific issues regarding Religious Life with the possibility of exchanging ideas with other young people who are on a similar journey.

Formative times with the Temporary Professed Sisters : sharing the experience and expectations with those who are on the same journey, even though at different stages, strengthens the continuity of the formative process and stimulates the desire to grow.

Other significant and specific experiences such as immersion in very poor places in order to deepen an ecclesial and charismatic reflection on mission.

Modality Systematic formation, in the light of the Word of God, the Rule of life and the Unabridged Rule, charismatic texts, the teaching of the Church and significant experiences of prayer, are special means for the growth of the novice. Where possible it is good that a Spiritual Director be available to collaborate in dialogue with the Formator. In cases where it seems necessary, the cooperation of other experts may be of help.

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The Formator guides the novice in making a personal project, as a means towards unity of life, of change and assuming responsibility for her own journey, and by so doing, takes the first step towards on-going formation. This is understood as “docibilitas”, that is the capacity of learning how to live every situation of life as a formative opportunity. From the point of view of faith, re-reading daily life within the community becomes an opportunity for the purification of the vocational motivations and ideals of the young woman.

In this context, the Formator helps the novice to recognize and call by name even the crises that may appear along her journey, accepting them as a normal component of life and a precious occasion for growth. This is a favourable time in which she recognizes God’s voice and interprets His actions. The novice is also gradually guided, during these two years, to an understanding and openness towards the ministerial and missionary life of the Institute. It is possible to celebrate, in a simple way, moments of passing from one stage to another (e.g. – from first to second year) or within the same stage (e.g. – giving the Rule of Life and the Unabridged Rule).

Occasions for encountering Temporary Professed Sisters, young women of the previous stages, taking part in inter-congregational experiences, are an important enrichment. These opportunities can also enhance her sense of belonging to her own Religious Family.

Evaluation

At the end of the second year of novitiate, the Formator will give the necessary information to the Provincial Superior and, after having listened to the opinion of the community, will draw

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up a written report about the novice as a candidate for Religious Profession. Besides the norms set out in Canon Law117, the following criteria must be kept in mind:

- constant commitment in following Christ Crucified, expressed through her capacity to live a humble and universal love, to be open to forgiveness and service within the community and in ministry;

- the willingness to share values and things;- the desire of making her own the Will of God “in the spirit of

Jesus Christ, […], a most amiable, generous and patient spirit”118

- the capacity to live in solitude and experience ‘God alone’- evidence of a dynamic and sufficient internalization and

personal practice of the values of Canossian consecrated life and of the charism, not only from an intellectual point of view but especially regarding the integration of these elements with her heart and will

- the impact of faith in daily life through a wise interpretation of events and the cultivation of a spirit of prayer

- discovering within herself elements of the Canossian charism which give form to her being and identity

- recognising and accepting her own areas of immaturity and taking appropriate steps to overcome them and todeal with her limits according to the commitment undertaken to live consecrated life

- the possibility of living serene and balanced relationships in community, the willingness to collaborate and to take care of others

- a specific predisposition to our Canossian ministries and a real inclination to serve the poorest

- “docibilitas”, that is, willingness to learn from life and through life

117 Cf Canon Law, can. 652-656.118 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 24.

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First Profession

At the end of the novitiate, the young woman, after evaluating her journey, presents her written application to the Provincial Superior in order to make her First Profession.If the answer is positive, the novice is offered a particularly intense time of internalization and prayer before Temporary Profession that will make her an effective member of our Institute.

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JUNIORATE

“I will give … a white stone, a stone with a new name written on it” (Rev. 2, 17)

Significance and aim

The first Profession opens a new stage of formation for the Daughter of Charity, that of the juniorate. The Sister begins this phase of her journey which is a continuation of the previous one, except that it requires even more of her. In particular she is called to deepen and verify her decision to be consecrated to the Lord forever. In the apostolic community in which she is placed, the Sister is called to interiorize and integrate the values learned during the novitiate and to verify responsibly her aptitude for living fully the life and mission of the Institute. When a vocation “ad gentes” is identified, she continues the discernment and opens herself more and more to the generous gift of self in an attitude of willingness to obey.

The juniorate is a time when the Sister learns through experience that the love of the Crucified Lord is much greater than her weak and limited heart; while cultivating an ever deeper relationship with him, she allows the gift of His Spirit to enliven every aspect of her existence. The juniorate is a valuable time for a deeper and more personalised experience of the Canossian charism which must be understood and lived by the Sister as her identity and the unique way God is leading her towards total self-fulfilment. This process of personalisation pre-supposes the convergence of all her energies towards interior unity so as to live the same sentiments of Christ Crucified. In her daily life she personally experiences how the ideal of Canossian life becomes ever-

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more the reason for her existence and her new way of being and relating to God and others.

The juniorate, which in our Institute lasts from at least five years to a maximum of nine, is also a time in which the Sister completes her intellectual and ministerial preparation, while she gradually becomes involved in the life and mission of the community. However, in the first year of the juniorate it would be better that the Sister is not involved in systematic studies.Under the special care of the local Superior, the Temporary Professed Sister experiences in this new formative context, a lifestyle in which more is entrusted to her own initiative.Moreover, the sister must also reconcile, personally and responsibly the different demands of her personal commitments, to the needs of her community and her apostolic work. Sometimes she may feel a sense of confusion and disorientation in the effort of trying to create harmony among the different dimensions of Canossian life.

Striving towards unity of life is a life-long process. It is essential therefore, that from the beginning the Sister is accompanied by the Formator (Local Superior) in this difficult task. The sister is required, day after day, to continue to build and integrate her life around the vital core of her vocation, the Canossian charism, the Greatest Love contemplated in the Great Exemplar.

Persons in formation

Junioriate Sisters are all those who have made their Temporary Profession and wish to offer themselves forever to the Lord as Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor.

Pedagogy of the Greatest Love74

The specific goal of this formative stage is unity of life. In order to achieve this, the Sister must be helped to live daily ‘Inspice et fac’ which characterized the experience of St. Magdalene and which she is gradually coming to understand to be her personal call too. Like St. Magdalene, she learns how to keep her eyes fixed on the Crucified Lord so as to understand and penetrate evermore the “very special” love with which Jesus loved His Father, obeying him to the point of giving up His life, and with which He loved humanity, each one of us, “miserable, poor, sinners”.119 “Returning (…) always to the Divine Exemplar of the Daughters of Charity”120, as her centre of gravity, she learns to let herself be filled by His love and experiences that the love she contemplates becomes, within her, vital strength that sustains and motivates her every attitude and action.

In every season of life, Canossian formation is a constant journey towards conformity to Christ Crucified so as to love everyone with His sentiments, in a continuous search for God alone and His Glory. This modality becomes the pedagogy typical of the stage of the juniorate. When the Sister discovers, through the grace of the Spirit and fidelity to prayer and asceticism, that love is a force which draws together all her energies and unifies all her actions, it is then that she may undertake the path towards freedom. This is freedom to love gratuitously, in patience and generosity, in accepting lovingly all the sisters, in giving herself wholeheartedly in the ministries, in “remaining” with Mary close those who suffer, in humbly carrying out any service and in an openness of heart that goes beyond her limited horizons.

This interior freedom the Sister is called to renew daily, leads her to feel responsible for her formation, to cultivate greater “docibilitas”, that is, the willingness to learn, in every occasion

119 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, 1,43120 ibid, 94.

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and situation, how to love with the heart of Jesus. In the measure in which love for Jesus Crucified takes root in her heart, she learns how to face, with serenity and courage, the inevitable difficulties she meets in the concrete situations of daily living. The depth of this love for Christ brings with it a heightened passion for the things of the Kingdom of God.

Formative areas and content

In the years prior to her decision to give herself forever to the Lord in the Institute of the Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor, the Temporary Professed Sister is called to grow fully as a person. This formative programme covers various areas and content. The subject matter includes formation in the charismatic, affective, intellectual and apostolic areas.

“God alone” in Christ Crucified.

During the time of the juniorate, the formation of the Daughter of Charity aims to favour the growth of the Sister in the understanding and assimilation of charismatic identity by deepening her mystical experience, ascetical journey and apostolic mission, thus strengthening her sense of belonging to the Institute.

Mystical experience

At the heart of St. Magdalene’s mystical experience and, therefore, that of every Daughter of Charity, there is the search for God alone, contemplated in Jesus Crucified. The Sister is encouraged to make the contemplation of the Crucified One, the most valued theological experience of her life. This is where she learns to know the depths of God’s love and penetrate its unfathomable riches. It is a love that is the giving of self in surrender and total abandonment, open to each one

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of us “while we were still sinners” (Rm 5:6), a love that is stripped of everything enabling us to love all those we come into contact with. The Sister is encouraged to allow herself to be enkindled evermore by this love and to consider that the goal she longs to reach is that of, “knowing” Jesus Crucified (cf 1 Cor 2:2) and to “boast” in His Cross. (cf Gal. 6:14)She forms herself to prayer by internalising the “Great Love”, praying “like” the Crucified Lord and with his sentiments. Moreover, through the “spirit of prayer”, the Sister learns, even in difficult times, to search for God alone and Jesus Crucified in all things in her life, just as St. Magdalene did.

The best way “to know in some way the Lord”121 is the Word of God that she listens to every day during the Eucharistic Celebration and that she welcomes and deepens during meditation. She learns how to love and enjoy it by pondering on it in her heart, like Mary. The Word, conserved and faithfully kept in her heart each day, becomes the light for her journey, a criterion for discernment, for her choices and a constant invitation to conversion.

Like St. Magdalene, the Sister too, learns how to grow in the love of Jesus in the Eucharist, memorial of the Lord’s death. Nurtured daily by Him, she learns that the Eucharist identifies her in life with the broken body of the Lord Jesus.For the Daughter of Charity, love for Jesus Crucified is inseparable from the love for Mary, Mother of Sorrows, “constituted Mother of Charity at the foot of the Cross.”122 The Sister learns evermore how to remain like Mary at the foot of Jesus’ Cross and to nurture a “humble, sincere love” for Her, concretely expressed in the imitation of her life in order to become, like the Mother, a true disciple of Jesus, capable of perceiving Him and accepting Him in today’s “crucified ones”, whom she meets along life’s way.

121 ibid, 27. 122 Magdalene of Canossa, The Rules of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity. Unabridged Text. Milanese Manuscript, 1978, 21.

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Mary at the foot of the Cross generates in us that love which allows us to live our vocation well.

Ascetical Journey

The ascetical journey of the Temporary Professed Sister consists in the free decision of conforming herself in all things to Jesus Crucified so as to become progressively a disciple of the Cross.In assuming the charismatic virtues, humility, in particular, it is necessary to make one’s own the style of service typical of Jesus the Servant, who washed His apostles’ feet without feeling humiliated, because He was secure in the love that, as the Son, He had always received from the Father.In this formative process, the Sister appropriates her new identity in a special way: in fidelity and consistency with the name she bears, Daughter of Charity – Servant of the Poor, she chooses to be humble – poor – obedient, experiencing, at the same time, the beauty and the difficulty in the joyful commitment of service.

The Sister, who has welcomed within herself the Word of the Lord, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24), learns gradually to appreciate renunciation, considered not as an end in itself, but as a means of being like Jesus and to keep her heart free and capable of loving. She avails herself of the opportunity of every challenge and invitation, to put Christ Crucified before every personal satisfaction both in community and apostolic life.

The Vows are also part of this journey of freedom.

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Poverty: The Sister is called to practise, gradually but faithfully, detachment and renunciation so as to be free regarding things and willing to give of herself in community and the apostolate. In Jesus Crucified she discovers His richness, the One who provides everything and from whom she continually receives.The poor who struggle to make a living are a strong reminder of the call to solidarity in real ways in her everyday life and apostolic service.Together with all the Sisters, she learns how to share what she is and what she receives as a gift, renouncing unnecessary things and is happy with what is available. She trains herself to live in a co-responsible manner in the use of common goods, to choose moderation and only the essential as criteria for her personal life, to use money with transparency and accountability and to be open to the needs of the poorest.

Obedience: “Jesus, though He was Son, learnt to obey through suffering” (Heb 5:8) and the Sister also learns how to make an “offering of her own will”123 trying, at every request, to accomplish what the Father desires, as Jesus did. By exercising loving obedience, she grows in freedom, and is able to make herself available, responsibly and consciously, adapting herself willingly to the calls of obedience “for the sake of Christ” and Him alone.In order to attain this purity of intention, the Sister is called to assume an attitude of constant and persevering availability to obey all God’s mediations in daily life, especially human mediations. These are the community where she lives, her Superior and the Sisters with whom she collaborates in the apostolate. “Free are those persons who are constantly attentive to learn from every situation in life, above all, see in every person around them, a mediation of the will of the Lord, however mysterious. “It was for liberty that Christ freed us”

123 Magdalene, Regole e scritti, I, 57.79

(Gal 5:1). He has freed us that we might be able to encounter God in the innumerable ways of daily life.”124

She may meet difficulties in the exercise of obedience, especially when her personal wishes do not correspond with the mediations. Training herself every day to seek and to accomplish God’s will, she uses all the faculties of mind, heart and will, remaining open to evaluation and to dependence.The Sister must be helped in the exercise of discernment. Through prayer and with the Local Superior she clarifies the possible motives for her reactions and feelings of resistance, and through her participation in community meetings she is invited to offer her contribution, especially, in drawing up the Community Project and in choices regarding the community and apostolate.

Chastity: Chastity is love, and Consecrated Life expresses our passionate love for God and for our brothers and sisters. We love to the point of renouncing the good and natural demands of our heart; having an exclusive love for a person, creating our own family and having children. The Daughters of Charity are called to cultivate a unique love for God, the Supreme Good, so as to give witness that only the Creator can fill the heart of the creature. They cultivate this love in such a way as “to use their time, all their care, all their thoughts for Divine Glory and act in such a way that all they are and have are totally and singularly dedicated to the Lord.”125 Totality and single-heartedness: this goal indicated by St. Magdalene asks every Daughter of Charity, in every stage of life, to put the love of Christ Crucified above all other things in order to give herself gratuitously and with undivided heart to our brothers and sisters, especially the neediest.

The Sister is presented with the requirements of consecrated chastity. She is accompanied in her journey of openness and

124 Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, The service of authority and obedience, 2008, n. 20/g125 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti , 1, 53.

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dedication to the Sisters of the community and all those she meets in the apostolate. She is advised to watch over her feelings and relationships so that they may be lived in a free and freeing way. Fraternal life in community, in particular, remains the testing ground for her daily conversion from a possessive kind of love to a self-giving and altruistic love. The community is the place where the Temporary Professed Sister, is called to grow in her sense of belonging to the Canossian Family. She considers the Sisters as those with whom the Lord invites her to walk in living the same charism. She tries to value their gifts and accept their limits and to see the difference in age, formation, character and experience as opportunities to grow in kindness. These differences also give her the opportunity to practice acceptance, patience, kindness and amiability, with the Heart of Christ Crucified, even in times of difficulty and tension. This training in fraternal love within the community helps the Sister to live the apostolate with the same spirit of Jesus, a “most amiable, most generous, most patient spirit.”126

Affective area – The exercise of the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity is directly linked to the affective life of the Sister, as it is for any other Daughter of Charity, because it demands the freedom to let oneself be loved by God alone so as to love others with the Heart of God. The Sister who, from the time of the Novitiate, sought “to plant the Crucified One in her heart”127, continues with persistence during the juniorate to draw near to him, contemplating His unlimited love. Fascinated and always surprised by being the object of such a boundless love, she lets herself be guided by two basic certainties: “the certainty of being infinitely loved and the certainty of being capable of loving without limits.”128 This conviction springs from

126 Ibid, 24.127 Ibid, 133. 128 Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Fraternal Life in Community, 1994, n. 22.

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the contemplation of the Crucified One and fills the Sister’s heart with the joy of belonging to God and being loved by Him. This joy, fosters within her a sense of gratitude for such a unique love and strengthens her will to return His goodness with the generous giving of herself. With this sense of gratitude comes a certain freedom and affective autonomy and this gives her the capacity to re-read her own past, to reconcile herself with it and to enjoy that love which she has already received from many people, recognizing in them a sign of God’s most generous love.

The journey towards affective maturity is certainly not without internal and external difficulties and obstacles. It calls for a readiness to face the truth of one’s life, recognizing possible weaknesses in the affective and sexual areas, in order to control them. This requires the practice of a degree of restraint in behaviours and relationships and learning to cope with affective solitude.

The Sister often finds herself having to deal with her own selfish tendencies that make her want to possess rather than giving to others. Supported and accompanied by the person responsible for her formation, she gradually learns freedom through personal choices of detachment, renunciation, purification of sentiments and conversion. Letting herself be educated by the Father who sees in secret, and seeking to encounter Him in silence and solitude, she opens herself gradually to accept, “for the sake of Christ”, the crucifying demands of love. It is always Jesus Crucified who solicits in her the determination to persevere in love, with the humility of one who knows how “to carry such a precious treasure in such a fragile vase.”129 Intimacy with God, cultivated at the foot of Jesus Crucified and in the Eucharist, uprightness of heart and simplicity to allow others to see her in her own affective weakness, so as to be able to overcome it, are all efficacious

129 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 53.82

means that help the Sister to become gradually more and more ready to love as Jesus loves.

Intellectual area – The Daughter of Charity, called today to make Jesus known and loved to our sisters and brothers, needs to be adequately prepared to explain the reason for the hope in her life and to respond as best she can, to the challenges of contemporary culture. This is not only a question of studying, but of a more global formation that concerns a journey in faith which is expressed in commitment and intellectual reflection.The essential goal of this aspect of formation is, therefore, to bring together faith that is lived and faith that is understood. As an adult and a believer, the Sister is called to learn that these two moments are simultaneously present since lived faith needs to be understood, while faith that is understood must be expressed in daily life.

This work of processing her faith is a true spiritual action, not only for the sister’s personal growth but even for the community of believers.She knows that her primary mission is that of witnessing by her life, the Love of God as contemplated in Christ Crucified, and to know how to announce it with conviction in our apostolic ministries. For this reason she needs to deepen her theological, biblical and charismatic knowledge and to be familiar with the social and cultural changes taking place.In this area of formation, too, the Sister is encouraged to harmonize everything around the nucleus of the Canossian charism and to identify her will and sentiments, with those of Christ Crucified, thus deepening the wisdom of the Cross within her.

During the period of the juniorate, the Sister is normally offered the possibility of completing her theological, biblical and pedagogical education, and also to acquire a professional

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qualification through appropriate courses in order to work in the ministry for which she shows a particular inclination.

The study of the charism leads the Sister to deepen and interiorize evermore the Canossian spirituality based on its Exemplars, Jesus Crucified and Our Lady of Sorrows, and to value its special richness.Knowledge of the history of the Institute offers the Sister the possibility of growing in a sense of belonging to her Religious Family and to appreciate the apostolic zeal that has always characterised it.

The Temporary Professed Sister is also called to cultivate an attitude of ‘docibilitas’ even with regard to the intellectual area of formation. This is necessary if she is to keep her mind and heart open to grow in a deeper understanding of faith and contemporary culture and also to remain flexible in learning new communication techniques.Besides courses of study, the Sister must recognise that the most important “knowledge” is that of Christ and Christ Crucified “in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” (Col 2:3)

Apostolic mission

Our Institute is, by nature, apostolic and the name Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor, expresses its twofold direction, the charism of the Greatest Love that St. Magdalene contemplated in Jesus Crucified. The apostolate is a fundamental part of our charism, and every Daughter of Charity is formed to live it, even from the first contact with our Religious Institute.During the novitiate, the novice is helped to recognise the apostolic spirit, to know the ministries of charity of our Institute, to understand the passion and the way that St. Magdalene asked us to live them.

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During the juniorate, instead, she must learn to live the apostolate as the place of her personal formation, in such a way as to avoid, now and in the future, dangerous dichotomies between a life of intimacy with God and dedication to our brothers and sisters.

For this reason, during the period of juniorate, the Sister is accompanied in a gradual introduction to and experience of, one or other of the apostolic ministries, and above all, it is the opportunity for her formation as an apostle. She is helped to grow in awareness that in the gift of self to her needy sisters and brothers, she experiences the love of Christ Crucified who makes her capable of loving with His sentiments. If she is aware of her identity as Daughter and Servant when she is with the people she serves, the Sister will learn to cultivate in herself a love that is humble and ready to serve, kind and patient, imitating Jesus who “declared that He had come not to be served but to serve.”130

The Sister is given experience in various services and is helped to keep in mind “that in God’s House every ministry or service is always great.”131 By contemplating Jesus Crucified with the eyes of St. Magdalene and serving Him with love in the ministries, she nurtures her apostolic zeal. She also becomes aware that by the free and generous gift of self, she is enriched and that while evangelising others she too is evangelised, especially if these ‘others’ are poor and needy.Apostolate becomes a truly formative experience when it leads the Sister to search for God alone and His Glory, purifying her heart from the desire for gratification, personal recognition and satisfaction with self and her gifts.

She finds a real help for growth in her apostolic service through dialoguing with the Superior of the community. In this dialogue the sister evaluates her behaviour and discusses her

130 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, 1, 205. 131 Ibid 205-206.

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difficulties. She is urged to cultivate the spirit of the Institute, searching for God’s Glory in a spirit of humility, patience, kindness, amiability, zeal and generosity, practising the virtues of the Servant. She is encouraged to make the apostolate the content of her prayer of intercession and to humbly ask God’s help so that she may be able to give God to her brothers and sisters with a free heart. It is also formative practice for her to evaluate herself with the Sisters of the apostolic community with whom she shares the mission. From them she learns how to transmit the charism in the exercise of her ministry, allowing herself to be taught and enlightened by their experience and apostolic passion.

Sense of identity and belonging

The formative journey of the juniorate helps to strengthen a sense of identity in the Temporary Professed Sister who is gradually discovering herself, her personality and her name in the charism of the Greatest Love and in the elements that define it. As the sense of her identity grows, so does her sense of belonging and this sense of belonging is an essential aspect of community life. The Sister is called to discover more and more that the Institute’s project was lived by the Foundress, St. Magdalene, and by a community of Sisters who, through their fidelity, allow her now to recognise her identity in the charism of the Daughters of Charity. This recognition strengthens her decision to belong to the Institute of the Daughters of Charity which, increasingly she sees as her family. She feels she belongs to it, is a living member and considers the history of the last two hundred years of the Institute as her own pre-history or the distant roots from which her life sprang.

The decision to be part of this Institute is lived in practice by her willingness to live together with the sisters who compose her community, because she has discovered that beyond differences and personal limits, there is a common project

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thought of by God and entrusted to each Sister, a project which becomes clearer by living together.The stronger the sense of belonging, the greater is the sense of identity. The Sister moves from a sense of identity to that of belonging, putting into practice the three constitutive elements of the charism, making concrete efforts to make choices in her life of prayer, her ascetical journey and in her apostolic mission. The mutual growth of these elements is a criterion of evaluation of the formative itinerary of the juniorate.

Formative Environment

The apostolic-formative community: the Temporary Professed Sister, who has pronounced her first vows, is inserted into an apostolic-formative community, which guarantees the conditions for her continual spiritual, charismatic, community, apostolic and missionary formation. The passage from the formative community of the novitiate to an apostolic-formative community is very delicate. In this community she is called to take responsibility for her growth and to be helped and supported not only by the Superior but also by all the Sisters of the community with whom she shares her life.She makes her gifts available to the Sisters, collaborating with them in the building up of fraternal communion.In community the Sister experiences the joys and difficulties of living together, of establishing mature and evangelical relationships, of deepening her identity as a Daughter of Charity, nurturing the same sentiments of Jesus for the Sisters, in particular, charity, meekness, humility and patience.

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It is the responsibility of the Provincial Superior to choose a community in which, the charism of St. Magdalene is really lived, even with the inevitable limits in any situation, and where the Sister may be confirmed in her God-given vocation.It is a sign of maturity when the Sister knows how to appreciate the gift of living in the community, without wanting it to be perfect. She accepts to live with people she has not chosen and who have not chosen her.

In choosing the formative community for the Temporary Professed Sister, the Provincial Superior makes sure that it is a community where processes of communal growth are fostered. Such a community will allow the Sister to live a truly formative experience and also makes the community itself more genuinely fraternal and the subject of its own formation. Processes for growth include Lectio Divina, community discernment, a shared Community Project and fraternal correction.

The Provincial Superior also pays attention to the apostolic dimension of the community so that the Sister may experience herself in a positive light in the Institute’s ministries and assess her aptitudes and ability to collaborate. Being with more experienced Sisters who are animated by apostolic zeal, the Sister can mature through dedicating herself to different people, and, in the spirit of St. Magdalene, favour the least and the poor, learning how to recognize the face of Christ Crucified in them. Being in contact with many lay people who work with us in different ministries, the Sister has the opportunity of comparing her vocation with other vocations and growing in ability to dialogue and relate with others.

During the juniorate, the Provincial Superior should take care to offer the Sister an experience in at least two different community contexts, in which she can

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enrich her experience and assess her ability to integrate herself in different community settings.

The formative accompaniment of the Sister in this particular time of her religious life is entrusted to the Superior of the apostolic-formative community. She will have particular concern for the Sister, following her progress with care, in various community commitments: prayer, formative meetings and household chores. She also observes her in her apostolic commitment.She encourages her to be open to differences of age, culture, nationality and temperament, helping her to understand that true love is marked by the Cross, forgiveness and reconciliation, and to help her recognize the positive aspects of other Sisters, without envy and pettiness. She animates the community so that it may witness the charity of Jesus Crucified and zeal for the salvation of every person.

The Superior meets the Temporary Professed Sister periodically and helps her to re-read her daily life within the community and the apostolate in the light of Jesus Crucified. She sustains her fidelity in her vocational choice and the commitments taken on with the profession of her vows. She is particularly attentive to encourage her to journey towards unity of life, reminding her how much St. Magdalene desired her Daughters to be “hermits and apostles”, contemplatives in action.

Using processes of discernment, and in continuity with the previous stage of formation, the Superior continues to verify the authenticity of her vocation.

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To ensure continuity in the formative journey, the Superior, remains in dialogue with the Formator of the Novices during the first year of juniorate.Every year, before renewal of vows, the Superior, having consulted the community, draws up a report on the formative journey of the Sister and sends it to the Provincial Superior together with the written request of the Sister. On the basis of this report, her request may or may not be accepted.

The Formator at Province Level is the Sister to whom the Provincial Superior entrusts the responsibility of planning, coordinating and evaluating the formative programme of the Temporary Professed Sisters, in collaboration with the Provincial Team. In particular, she organises the periodical formative gatherings that might also include a missionary experience outside her own Province. During these gatherings, the Formator gives priority to the study of the charism, personal and group dialogue, and she encourages spiritual communication and sharing of life experiences in view of the Sisters’ progress towards integration. She updates the Provincial Superior on the progress of the Sisters and also communicates with their Superiors.

Modality

The most effective modalities for formation, characteristic of the juniorate, are:

regular personal accompaniment guaranteed by the Superior of the community

faithfulness to a life of prayer and regular spiritual direction

a community life in which the Temporary Professed Sister experiences day to day contact with the Word,

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communion and fraternal dialogue, reconciliation, the joy and difficulty of living together and passion for the Kingdom

the drawing up of a personal project which helps in the concretisation and evaluation of her personal, communitarian and ministerial experience that leads to unity of life

participation in inter-religious dialogue, formative meetings of the Institute and with other Congregations

Specific Times

Every year, the Sister is given the opportunity for formative group experiences, including a month-long period of formation during which she makes her annual retreat. Where possible, an even longer period is recommended. These possibilities nourish her sense of belonging to a greater Family and, if they are at inter-Provincial and/or inter-Congregational level, they can be a very enriching intercultural exchange and a meaningful opportunity for evangelical and charismatic renewal.

About three years after the First Profession, the Sister may be offered the opportunity of a longer group experience. The programme is organised by Regional Conferences.After the fifth renewal of Temporary Vows, the Sister may present her request to be admitted to Final Profession, specifying, where applicable, her eventual availability “ad gentes”. It is the duty of the Provincial Superior and her Council, in dialogue with the Local Superior and the Provincial Formator of the Temporary Professed Sisters, to evaluate her request for final profession and to decide whether to accept it, to prolong the juniorate for further growth, or, following a serious discernment and dialogue with the sister concerned, to ask her to leave.

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FINAL PROFESSION

“I will betroth you to myself forever” (Hos 2:21)

Significance and aim

The formative journey of the Canossian juniorate has the aim of preparing the Sister of Temporary Profession to choose forever, as Supreme Good, God alone in Jesus Crucified, in our Religious Institute.

Final Profession is the culminating moment of the process of discernment which began with accompaniment and vocational orientation and continued during the years of the pre-novitiate, novitiate and juniorate. It is a fundamental and definitive choice of the life and freedom of the Daughter of Charity, a totally absorbing act which embraces the whole of life, her being and action. Through it the Sister places her life forever at the service of God and the Church in our Institute, by making public profession of chastity, poverty and obedience in the spirit of Christ Crucified.

Final Profession brings to fullness her baptismal consecration. God embraces the Sister and strengthens the covenant of love that already exists and is now sealed with a new name of Daughter of Charity-Servant of the Poor. The Sister who makes her Final Profession is definitively accepted and inserted into our Religious Family to which she entrusts herself with all her heart – as expressed in the formula of Profession – “to tend in humility to the perfection of charity”, for God’s Glory in the service of the Church and for the good of our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest.

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Criteria for admission

To be admitted to Final Profession, besides the norms prescribed in Canon Law132, it is necessary that particular attitudes, matured in the previous phases, are recognised in the Sister.This means the full identification of herself with the charism of the Daughters of Charity – Servants of the Poor and of her project of life with the charismatic project in its characteristic components. The decision of the Sister to live the gift of her vocation is not sufficient; she must show her love for it and acknowledge the truth of who she really is.

In particular, it is necessary to discern a specific aptitude to live:

the mystical experience of the Canossian Daughter of Charity, nourished by constant and loving contemplation of Jesus Crucified, the Exemplar to penetrate with the heart and to be translated into daily life.

the ascetical journey of the one who is called to have the same sentiments of the Son, to lead “a submitted, humble and hidden life, totally engaged in looking for the Divine Glory and the salvation of souls. Further, it means animating all our actions and work with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, a spirit of charity, gentleness, meekness and humility, a spirit of zeal and fortitude, a most amiable, most generous and most patient spirit”133, so as to live as true Daughter of Charity – Servant of the Poor.

132 Cf. Canon Law, can. 657-658.133 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 23.

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the passion and apostolic spirit of our Religious Family called to carry out the yearning of our Foundress, ‘Above all make Jesus Christ known’, in willingness to go wherever there is greater need for education, religious instruction and the pastoral care of the sick, ‘imitating’ the examples and the Spirit of the Crucified One and witnessing to preferential love for the poor.

maturity and affective freedom so as to love with a big heart one’s Sisters and those we serve in our ministries, to nurture compassion for those who suffer, to serve with humility and generosity, to discover the face of Jesus in every person.

aptitudes for living in community, in cordial acceptance of every Sister without distinction, acceptance of diversity, willingness to communicate and share spiritual and material gifts, openness to forgiveness and reconciliation so as to grow together in the same faithfulness to the gift received.

adequate knowledge of self and sufficient interior freedom of heart, mind, will, as well as the capacity for controlling one’s less mature aspects and openness to “docibilitas”, that is, continual conversion so that the formation of the Sister may be on-going.

spiritual and intellectual maturity of the woman as a believer who lives and deepens her faith, of the humble disciple of the Crucified One who continues to discover and to fall in love with the wisdom of the cross, of the educator in faith who shares her faith and wisdom and allows herself to be evangelised by the wisdom and faith of others, of the apostle who experiences God while giving herself in the apostolate.

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Immediate Preparation for Final Profession

Aware of the seriousness of Final Profession and of the responsibility it implies, the Institute considers it indispensable to guarantee the Sister admitted, an adequate and prolonged time of preparation in an environment which assures an atmosphere of silence, prayer and recollection.

The Sister should have the possibility to live a particularly meaningful experience which, through the understanding and assimilation of the values of Canossian Religious Life, allows her to bring together all she has experienced. In prayer and silence, she should be able to re-read and evaluate her life, recognising the unique story which God has written in it, a story of love and predilection which now spontaneously culminates in the decision to belong to Him, totally and forever.

Final Profession is the natural conclusion of that process of attraction and divine fascination that the Sister experienced during the years of preparation; the rediscovery of God’s immeasurable and faithful love leads, as a consequence, to the total giving of herself in love. The Sister responds to God’s love with her love in the certainty that the God who called her to our Institute of Charity “will accomplish the work of His Mercy” according to the measure of her trust and surrender, and nothing will separate her from the love of Jesus Crucified who gave Himself for love.

The intense time of preparation for Final Vows normally lasts at least two months and the journey of preparation is entrusted by the Provincial Superior to a Sister who is helped by a formative team. The contribution of experts in spiritual and charismatic areas is included in the agreed programme.Before Final Profession, an appropriate retreat is offered to the Sister.

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In order to be admitted to Final Profession, the Sister sends the Provincial Superior her request asking to be definitively accepted into our Religious Family. In her letter she expresses the reasons that move her and the spiritual and charismatic maturity that she believes she has reached so far.It is the duty of the Provincial Superior, with the consent of her Council and the ratification of the Superior General, to admit the Sister to Final Profession.

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ON-GOING FORMATION

“The Lord is my heritage, my cup: You, and only You, hold my lot secure” (Ps.

16:5)

Significance and aim

St. Magdalene of Canossa, our Foundress and Mother, in the Preface of the Unabridged Rule, clearly underlines the goal to which each one of us is called in her journey of consecration. It is a “high” goal, “it involves more”134, which seems unattainable without the gift of vocation and the certainty of divine grace. It is not only a matter of living the commandment of love towards God and our neighbour, but to live it according to the Great Exemplar, exercising His virtues and living with the same sentiments.

On-going formation is for us an intrinsic requirement of the call itself; the call to become a new creature. It is the action of the Father who forms the heart of the Son in each one of us and guides us towards conformity to Jesus Crucified, which is never fully realized. On-going formation, guided by God Alone, our Father and Master, is, therefore, a sure and constant gift.

It is a continuous and daily process which unfolds throughout our entire life and which involves the whole person: heart, mind and energies. On-going formation requires “docibilitas”, the willingness of each one of us to consider every experience of life as a time and opportunity for formation. Experiences such as every age and season, every activity and relationship, prayer as well as mission, health as well as illness, every place and situation in which we find ourselves, even those 134 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 23.

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which are difficult and apparently adverse become formative experiences. For every Daughter of Charity, everything can be formative, insofar as each one of us is the protagonist of her own formation, exercises the freedom to allow herself to learn from life and for the whole of her life, in the light of the Paschal Mystery. On-going formation is an essential, not only to keep the charism alive but also so that it may be enriched by new nuances brought to it by the particular characteristics of each Sister. If it is lived in fidelity, it allows the members of the Institute to be meaningful signs for young people and for those we serve in our ministries, revealing the beauty of a life, consecrated and given to the Greatest Love.

Persons in formation

All the members of our Institute, without exception, are the subjects of their own on-going formation. During our Initial Formation, each one of us began to learn to live “docibilitas”, and each one of us has the duty to continue the process of self-formation after Final Profession, taking advantage of every occasion, ordinary or extraordinary. No one can substitute us in this commitment to live the same sentiments of Jesus and to strive towards the fullness of Love contemplated in Christ Crucified. Therefore, each day, we are invited to renew our free response to the call, as disciples of Christ, and we are sent to be apostles among our brothers and sisters most in need of education, evangelization and pastoral care.

The Sister who, at the time of her Final Profession, expressed the desire to respond to the call “ad gentes”, is now encouraged to prepare herself adequately for this new missionary mandate, as set out in the Resolutions of the XV General Chapter135. These recommend “discernment, decision-making process and formation, including contextualised formation in the receiving countries.”135 Cf. XV General Chapter, Resolutions, n. 3, 22.

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Every Sister, who lives with a pilgrim heart, knows that the goal of formation, conforming herself to the Great Exemplar, can only be reached at the end of her existence by fidelity to Grace.

Objectives

On-going formation is designed to consolidate the process of growth of the Daughter of Charity towards the fullness of love and makes her more and more flexible in learning from experience. It also helps her to be more responsible for her fidelity to the Gospel, to the vitality of the charism, to her vocation, community and mission, always ready to face the challenges which come with rapid socio-cultural change.The most important concern of on-going formation is that of strengthening in each one of us “docibilitas”, that is, the continual willingness “to learn how to learn”, allowing ourselves to be educated and formed by life and its unpredictable situations while we journey in conformity to Christ Crucified. For the Canossian Sister “docibilitas” becomes the wisdom of the Cross.

After Final Profession we are called, with greater awareness, to carry on the process of integration of our personal history so as to recognise in it the formative action of God, ever present and at work, even if not always so evident. Each person is a ‘mystery’ and because of this we never attain ‘total self-knowledge’ or attain it once and for all. It must be pursued, day after day, in changing circumstances and in the revelation of ever new aspects of one’s uniqueness, as they manifest themselves in the different phases of life. This means building and re-building one’s life and inner self around that vital and meaningful centre which, for every Daughter of Charity, is the Cross of Christ.In this sense, every ordinary or extraordinary event is an opportunity for our purification and growth and it makes our

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whole life a process of continual conversion and of deepening our charismatic identity.On-Going Formation is above all grace that comes from on high every day, a gift that is certain, at hand, infallible and providential.136

Formative environments

There are two main charismatic places in which the on-going formation of a Daughter of Charity takes place: the apostolic community and the mission.According to the charism handed down to us by our Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, we were born to be apostolic communities in which the holiness of the members comes about through the exercise of Charity towards God and towards neighbour. It is drawn from the Heart of Jesus Crucified and is to be lived with the same characteristics. It is a love which, cultivated constantly within the community, becomes effectively dynamic in the carrying out of the Ministries of Charity. Every day, in these two places, each one of us encounters opportunities to grow in the Greatest Love.

Apostolic community – The community is the privileged place for formation at every stage of our life. In it we find the means to live with authenticity the journey of growth, “in the special imitation of Jesus Christ Crucified who breathes nothing but charity.”137

It is God who, in order to implement His plan of love, gathers together people of different ages, formation, character, culture and experience, calling them to live the same charism of Charity. Personal differences, far from being an obstacle to growth, are instead providentially a challenge and an incentive to overcome our own limitations and to be ready to allow ourselves

136 Cf. Cencini, Formazione, 33.137 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 93.

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to be educated and formed by the richness as well as the poverty of other members.In order to grow in community with the Sisters and thanks to the Sisters, we are invited to be mutually responsible for each other. If each one, in fact, is responsible for her own personal formation, all of us are asked to share the journey of maturation of our companions and to support each other in a common effort to be conformed to Christ Crucified.

Thus we become instruments in God’s formative action. In the same way, all of us are co-responsible for building up the community, for the dynamism of its spiritual life, for its faithfulness to the Gospel and the Charism, for the sense of communion lived by its members, for creating a loving and welcoming atmosphere and for the simplicity and joy experienced within it. We are all invited in the same way to be builders of communion and, without expecting a perfect community, we remember what St. Magdalene states that “any union, the most beautiful, holy, perfect, being composed of human beings, that is, inconstant men and women, necessarily within it one will find defects, weaknesses, ignorance …”138. In fact, no community is without difficulties, tensions and worries. The cross makes us remember our Great Exemplar who through it has saved us.

Within the community, the one who is called to carry out the service of authority has the unique responsibility of encouraging and nurturing the co-responsibility of her Sisters. It is the specific task of the Superior, who is also called to take care of her own formation, to promote and activate all those community means and occasions that support the sharing of evangelical and charismatic values.

138 Ibid, 94-95.101

With this aim in mind she tries to promote a mentality of faith and hope, and the practice of shared and responsible obedience.The Superior also promotes processes of dialogue in various areas so as to reach a shared “wisdom of the Cross”; she makes room for others’ dreams and differences of opinion and, following the principle of subsidiarity, she does not substitute the Sisters in taking decisions which they can take for themselves.139

Mission – All the communities of the Daughters of Charity are, by nature, apostolic and have in common the mission par excellence; that is the mission of putting into practice the Love contemplated in Christ Crucified. Most of these exercise those ministries proper to the Institute, identified by Magdalene as an ever current response to the needs of people of all times and throughout the span of their lives.

The ministries are places of real on-going formation in which we dedicate ourselves to “imitate the Divine Saviour by carrying out the second precept of Charity.”140

In these ministries God reveals Himself to us in a particular way so that within them we may live a special and unique experience of God, just like Magdalene who, while serving her beloved poor, met the same Jesus whom she contemplated in prayer.

Dedication to our ministries offers us the opportunity to live the virtues of Jesus on the cross: zeal, patience, meekness, humility, gratuitousness and growth in the spirit of faith, contemplating the same face of Christ Crucified in the people we serve.

139 Cf. XV General Chapter, Resolutions, 12-13.140 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 43.

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Each one of us nurtures her vocation of Charity, giving special attention to the poor, the disadvantaged, those who are immigrants, young people who do not find meaning in life and are deprived of values, those who suffer because they do not have work, a home and a dignified life. We allow ourselves to be challenged by the people we serve; challenged to “live as pilgrims, detached from everything”141, and ready to be scattered “even to the ends of the earth”142. In doing so, we will be able to renew our humanity through relationships which are marked by mutuality and a new understanding of the Gospel.

As we dedicate ourselves to the ministry entrusted to us, we are formed by interacting with the people we serve and work with and we have the chance of giving and receiving, and of being witnesses of the Greatest Love. Working together with Sisters and lay people, we are challenged to grow in the capacity to collaborate, dialogue, evaluate ourselves, and become more creative in identifying efficacious ways of making Jesus known and loved.143 Moreover, our life in the local church and social contacts in our apostolic service, are a reminder and a stimulus us to become who we are called to be.

Content and dimensions

141 Magdalene, Epistolario III/4, 2735.142 Magdalene, A Collection of Letters, III/1, 157.143 Cf. Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 180.

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The principal goal of the vocation of the Daughters of Charity - Servants of the Poor consists in the fulfilment of the two great precepts of Charity: to love God and our neighbour. As Daughters we are called to love God “with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength” (Dt. 6:5) and owe Him “a reverent, tender, filial love and, as Servants of the Poor, owe them our attention, labour, care and thoughts.”144 Our whole person, as Daughter and Servant, is called into question and so our-going formation must lead us to concrete actions in the two-fold direction of love for God and love for our neighbour. Each one of us is asked to deepen, throughout life, three particular aspects.

Life in the Spirit – We have the primary duty to give priority to our spiritual life, “to be well founded interiorly”145 and to nurture a solid mentality of faith with which to interpret every event of life. We are called to keep our eyes fixed on Christ Crucified through fidelity to daily meditation and contemplation, trying to interiorize it to the point that everything is meaningless without Him and His love. We search for Him constantly in the Word of God so as to make our own the values, attitudes and sentiments of the Son. We measure ourselves on the Word to understand and minimize the gap between what we are and what we are called to be as Daughters of Charity. We daily nurture ourselves with the Eucharist so as to learn the lesson of love “without measure”146, and implement it in self-giving and in our inter-personal relationships. Each one of us values the Sacrament of Penance, fraternal reconciliation and we “never let the sun set on our anger.” (Eph. 4:26)

144 Ibid, 23. 145 Ibid, 204.146 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, II, 182.

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Remaining at the foot of the Cross, we try to understand and love Mary more and more, discovering in her the Mother who generates in us the Greatest Love. It is, in fact, only the Mother of Jesus on the Cross who can form us as disciples of the Crucified One. We must safeguard, with responsibility, the prolonged times of prayer which the Rule of Life offers us; the monthly day of recollection and the annual retreat. We must find daily moments of silence in which we are alone with God so as to grow in the wisdom of the Cross.

The missionary, apostolic and ministerial dimension – Involved in the mission of the Church and letting ourselves be urged on by the love of Christ Crucified (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14), we place our gifts at the disposal of the people we serve in the various ministries and we question ourselves with regard to our fidelity to the charism received. We recognise the need to update the content and methods of our apostolate both from the doctrinal and professional point of view. We allow ourselves to be questioned by the various challenges that history presents and we try to see what is new within it so as to identify new ways of responding.

The charismatic dimension – It is a gift to be called to special conformity to Christ Crucified. Following the example of Mary, Mother of Sorrows, each one of us must try to pursue this charismatic aim, through deepening its mystical, ascetical and apostolic aspects.We constantly revive within ourselves the experience of “God Alone” and the search for His Glory and, like St. Magdalene we try to grow in the spirit of the Institute:

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“to give up everything and be prepared to serve God, going even to the remotest countries of the world.”147 For this reason we must responsibly study the charismatic heritage of our Religious Family in order to discover evermore its spirit; we re-visit with interest, the Institute’s history of 200 years so that we allow ourselves to be challenged and surprised by the apostolic and missionary passion which characterizes it. We return with joy to the sources of the charism of the “Greatest Love”, in order to recognize in it our identity and grow with gratitude in a sense of belonging to the Canossian Family.

Ordinary Formation

Real on-going formation is that which takes place in our everyday ordinary life. It consists in the readiness of the Daughter of Charity to take advantage of every situation and moment so as to reach the goal of every Canossian vocation: conformity to Christ Crucified. Formation takes place in our community and ministerial reality, precisely where the Canossian Sister is called to live. Always and everywhere, each one of us can find occasions for her own continuous formation which is, before all else, her personal responsibility.

There is nothing in our daily experience which does not have a formative influence: the house in which we live with its poverty and richness, the mandate, more or less pleasant, we have received, our relationship with individual Sisters with whom we live in community. These are Sisters who have not chosen one another but have been called by the Lord to follow Him in the same Canossian Family. Other daily, formative situations are: sharing and dialogue with the person who is called to mediate God’s will in the community, daily unforeseen situations and

147 Magdalene, Epistolario, II/1, 266.

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their demands for obedience, difficulties in work situations and temporary ill health or more serious illness. Everything that life presents is an occasion to live in conformity to Christ Crucified, in carrying out and sharing His sentiments.

What really forms us is the awareness that whatever situation we find ourselves in, it is always related to the goal at which the Daughter of Charity is aiming. Whether we value things with this formative perspective, depends on our free choice. Called to live the Paschal Mystery of death and resurrection, we can experience in all things both the struggle and the victory over our selfishness, the difficulty and joy of a sacrifice or a renunciation accepted for love. Even our failures and limitations, and sin itself may be for us the place and the opportunity for renewal and formation if lived in the search for the Greatest Love hidden in the Heart of Christ Crucified. Each one of us is responsible for this ordinary On-Going Formation.

Extraordinary Formation

Extraordinary on-going formation is that which is offered to us through participation in ministerial and pastoral refresher courses, in Biblical or charismatic seminars, in study days of cultural interest so as to understand today’s world and the new generations. For us these are occasions of personal enrichment and of renewal in zeal and enthusiasm for our life and mission. Their aim is to revive in us love for the charism and bringing about a renewed commitment in our journey of conformity to Christ Crucified. Participation in these moments is a gift that we must not keep for ourselves, but share responsibly with the Sisters of our community. These opportunities can also be used to advantage for the good of the people we serve in our ministries.

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If extraordinary initiatives of updating and ministerial and charismatic renewal are a precious contribution for on-going formation, we must never forget that they would be of little help if they are not sustained by the daily commitment to search for the face of God alone, revealed in Jesus Crucified, in ordinary life. Superiors, at General and Provincial level, are particularly responsible for the extraordinary on-going formation. It is their task to organize and offer to the Sisters these important moments and also to indicate valid initiatives that are available outside the Institute and Province. Each Sister is entrusted with the responsibility of identifying and suggesting possible meaningful formative experiences, which are in harmony with her own life choice and apostolic mandate.

Specific Times

On-going formation evolves in time: understood not as a succession of occasional facts and events, but a time inhabited by God, a favourable time of salvation. Having said that, time itself must also be considered as a succession of phases of growth, each having its own different characteristics that must be taken into account. Every period of life, from the formative point of view, requires from the Daughter of Charity, adult and mature commitment, patience and perseverance. The Institute, for its part, is called to give careful attention to the needs of each period of life, in order to offer proposals which are both formative and suited to the sisters at that stage.

Times of trial: every phase of life has its own particular beauty and also its difficulties and crises which may become, for each of us, grace or weakness. Everything depends on the interior attitude that we assume in the face of trial and the perception we have of it. In this sense, it is necessary to recognise the positive potential in trial, seeing it as an

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important moment, an occasion for change and transformation in the face of difficulty. The Daughter of Charity knows how to joyfully accept the particular grace of every stage of life and the inevitable passing of time. She accepts the changes that this brings without grumbling or losing heart. In every phase of life, however, there may be moments of difficulty, disorientation, loss of meaning caused by external factors (change of role, difficult obedience, change of community, fatigue or apostolic failures etc.) or even personal factors (problems of progressive adaptation to changed situations and times of life, inter-personal relationships, spiritual aridity, identity crisis, vocational journey, sickness, death in the family). When difficulties become acute we need to be supported in a special way, both individually and as a community.

Besides the Superior or a Sister who is capable of accompanying others, it is also useful to seek the help of a suitable spiritual director or, where necessary, a specialist. These people may help us to understand our difficulties and find once again the motivations of our vocational choice. It is possible to rediscover in the light of the Crucified Lord, the invitation to allow ourselves to be loved, even through the trial itself which, if on one hand, brings suffering and renunciation, on the other, can make us free and open to search for the essential. The struggle that the Sister suffers in this moment of life, lived as a struggle with God, whose thoughts are not ours, and accepted in faith and trust in Him, the merciful Father, can open new horizons and become a means of greater understanding of others and of apostolic fruitfulness. In these times of crisis, the Canossian community is called to be a welcoming “oasis”, where the Sister may feel supported and surrounded by sincere understanding and sisterly concern. As a general rule, this kind of mediation is always desirable in daily on-going formation.

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It becomes indispensable for our communities to create an atmosphere of attentiveness and discretion which is loving, intelligent, vigilant, cautious and prudent. In this atmosphere, the sister in crisis feels supported without being made to feel guilty. This time can then become a possibility for growth within the community. However, this way of relating should not be considered as isolated and exceptional. It must be part of that sort of attention and help that our Religious Family offers to every Daughter of Charity and that is part of on-going formation. In an environment like this, life is a journey of constant formation where the main concern is that of keeping the quality of our vocation and charismatic values high.

Therefore, the privileged means for facing a crisis is inter-personal relationships, which means the dedication of time and energy, reserve, attention totally concentrated on the other person, offering the sister the possibility and the time needed to open up and express her feelings. Every Daughter of Charity is thus responsible for the ‘care’ of the Sister in difficulty and expresses attention and empathy.A time of trial is a challenge to be welcomed as a grace for conversion and growth.

Let us consider the meaningful stages which characterise the journey of each Sister.

The first five years after Final Profession: this time marks a passage from guided formation to an experience of greater personal responsibility for one’s spiritual, community and apostolic life. During this experience the Sister must learn how to organize her time and harmonise the various commitments of prayer, community and apostolic life. She commits herself to discern, implement and evaluate even through difficulties, the demands of consecration and mission and to become more aware of her particular way of being faithful to the Lord, and of her continuing growth as a

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Daughter of Charity-Servant of the Poor, within the community and ministries.

Once or twice a year, for five years, formative meetings of prayer, reflection and dialogue are planned. These meetings, where possible with experts and with Sisters rich in experience, aim to help the newly Professed Sister to acquire a greater capacity for integration, which is very important for her growth. At the end of the first five years, the Sister is a given a prolonged period of reflection in order to review and evaluate the journey thus far. These group experiences are led by an experienced guide and are promoted by the Provincial Superior.

In the following years this experience is continued through periodic and suitable proposals that come from the Sisters themselves and are approved by the Provincial Superior.

The first ten years after Final Profession: our consecration, as time evolves, needs to be reviewed and evaluated. In fact, “the understanding and living of the Vows vary in the different stages of life. Life poses new questions and new challenges are brought about by historical and concrete living conditions. Our vowed life must integrate these challenges and address the questions in a holistic manner, creating a new story, avoiding formalism and living an ever-renewed discipleship.”148 In fact, during this period of life one needs “something solid which frees one from running around in circles or from meaningless wandering (in search of something else).”149

One of the main tasks necessary in order to develop as a person is the capacity to be generative150, that is, for every Daughter of Charity to have the ability to be concerned for

148 XV General Chapter, Resolutions, 11.149 A. Manenti, Vivere gli ideali/2, Bologna 2003, 117.150 Cf. E.H. Erikson, Infanzia e società, Roma 1982, 249-250.

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others, the willingness and capacity to use one’s gifts for the well-being of others. To overcome the tendency to use one’s own gifts in a selfish way or as a protagonist, the temptation of routine and autonomy, the decline of enthusiasm and joy, each one of us is called to re-motivate herself and re-read her own life in the light of the Gospel and charism. This will help her to better understand the meaning of spiritual motherhood open to the world and to be able to give new meaning to the value of fraternity and mission.

With this in mind, the Provincial Superior offers a period of time for further deepening and evaluation which may help the Sister to recover her original choice and strengthen her passion for the Kingdom, making her life more authentic. For this an Ignatian month, a short sabbatical or a period of charismatic renewal in one of the centres of the Institute, are considered valid means.

After twenty-five years from entrance: the journey made so far may make the Sister feel deep within herself, both unity of life and the sincere joy of belonging to the Institute. It is right and fitting that each Sister has the possibility of celebrating God’s fidelity in her life together with her community and, if possible, with the Province to which she belongs.Normally, this phase brings about a new way of considering former values and coincides with the descending curve of life’s course. During this period physical and biological changes take place and a new sense of time is experienced.

This phase of life is also a time for taking stock concerning one’s spiritual, affective, relational, ministerial and social life. It is hoped that by this time the Sister has acquired an awareness of the need to be well-balanced regarding these different aspects of her life. The gift of self has helped her

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to deepen ever more her spiritual fruitfulness and motherhood, thus fulfilling herself as a consecrated woman and being a help to all those to whom she is sent. Human maturity and the wisdom of life, which become precious aspects in community and apostolic relationships, come to fruition in this period. It is also possible that during this phase the Sister may experience certain difficulties in an intense way, such as a sense of loneliness, a decrease in spiritual enthusiasm, a mistrust of whatever is “new”, individualism and lack of appreciation for the community, etc.

Middle age could be a favourable time for living our daily life well. In this way one comes to live ‘poverty as a gift’: disappointments and failures become a spring board for a new stage of life. The central nucleus for a good quality of life in this phase depends on a correct and life-giving relationship with daily routine. Living the present means creating a unity of life with one’s past, grateful and happy with the present, in fidelity to a future looked upon with hope.151

This way of living does not produce anxiety, the need for success, the guarantee of one’s image or power, but is marked by a sense of peace. The Sister, who lives daily life well, lives in peace.

Another evolving task of this stage is to prepare oneself for a spirituality of aging: it is precisely in middle age that one knows one’s own weakness through experience. If one does not begin to accept aging in this period, then it will be much more difficult to transform failures into opportunities, in terms of spiritual growth and formation.

151 Cf. P. Magna – A. Pazzagli, La crisi dell’età di mezzo: il periodo di menopausa nella donna, in Tredimensioni, 4 (2007), 162-173.

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In this delicate and rich stage of life, we also have the responsibility of strengthening our concern for our personal growth, at the human and faith levels, through a rediscovery of our love for Christ our Spouse, and of the gift of ourselves for the mission. It becomes important to re-focus on the deep motivations of one’s being and action through special moments of prayer and reflection and the rediscovery of the value of fraternity.

To re-motivate one’s gift and dedication to our brothers and sisters, the Institute recognises the importance of offering sabbaticals (three months, six months or a year). These opportunities are proposed by the Provincial Superior in dialogue with the Sister, in collaboration with a formative team which elaborates times and contents.

Late adulthood: This period of life often coincides with the 50th anniversary of entrance into religious life. It is an occasion to celebrate God’s fidelity and to decide to make of one’s life an everlasting hymn of praise.The Sister, still energetic and rich in experience, is usually called to leave to others the activity she has carried out with zeal for many years. Obedience may entrust her with new tasks, as precious as the former, but normally limited to the community and with a less intense rhythm. During this delicate time, the Sister is supported by various formative experiences, for example, participating in conferences, seminars or courses, so that she may understand deeply the meaning of the Paschal Mystery in her life and re-discover within herself a motherhood in the Spirit which bears much fruit for the Kingdom.

During this delicate phase, as part of the normal evolution of on-going formation, it is important for the Sister to rethink and renew her self-image which permits her to relate correctly with herself, others and her environment.

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Another evolving task of this period of life is that of re-organising creatively one’s own time, space, commitments and interests. It involves trying out new and do-able, small projects, setting out the goals to be attained; discovering possibilities and values which this new phase of life offers.

Sharing some of one’s own personal story and life experiences, may be a resource for the community. This makes the person who is mature in her faith, the protagonist of the story of her love interwoven with the God encountered in Christ Crucified. Story-telling like this - the sharing of one’s sentiments, projects and dreams realised, becomes, within the community a privileged moment for gratitude and communion and a stimulus for the Sisters who listen to make a personal reflection, valuing new aspects, perhaps, never thought of.

Advanced age is a special time of life and is a particular occasion of formation that requires special preparation. Advanced age is not an illness but brings with it a decrease in strength and even the weakening of one’s ability to live in community and to give of self.

Advanced age brings fragility because one is more vulnerable to illness and infirmity and is exposed to the inevitable solitude of this period. There are different types of fragility: physical, mental, relational, emotional, social, spiritual etc.Even fragility, however, may become a resource for each Daughter of Charity. When a person is valued for who she really is, regardless of age and the illnesses that restrict her, she is able to draw from the storehouse of her experience. She shares her wisdom and values the present moment without always regretting the past. She looks ahead, taking delight in the reality which surrounds her and spreads the joy of living. She is able to accept, even with

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some difficulty, the inevitable ailments caused by physical decline.

She also becomes a gift for our Religious Family, when she participates and sustains with prayer the Sisters directly involved in our ministries, nurtures her interest for God’s Kingdom in the world, dedicates time to her life in the Spirit, savours the consoling experience of a new intimacy with God alone, dedicates herself, if possible, to reading, and offers herself joyfully to help in small but precious services within the community, keeps company to an elderly person or a sick Sister, pursues a hobby, takes part in parish activities etc.Each of us must prepare herself for the later years and still be a credible witness of God’s fidelity. We must allow ourselves to be loved, to depend on others and let them help us knowing that the value of our life of consecration is not tied to productive efficiency but to our being consecrated Canossians.

The community, asked to consider the elderly Sisters as “mountains of gems”152, has recourse to their wisdom by involving them, where possible, in the dynamic activities of the community. It helps them to feel that their lives are precious, it appreciates their witness of faith, serene hope and rich humanity open to all.

When life becomes marked by suffering because of illness or forced inactivity, it is then that the Daughter of Charity must be helped to see this situation as highly formative and to consider it as “a unique occasion for allowing herself to be penetrated by the Paschal Mystery”153. This final phase of life is the real ‘novitiate’, the most realistic and true, so true that identification with Christ Crucified is manifest even in the body.

152 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 98.153 CICLSAL, Directives on Formation i n Religious Institutes, 1990 n. 70e.

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The whole of one’s life is like a preparation to enter this ‘novitiate’ with complete ‘docibilitas’!Just like Simeon who had reached the last years of life, so too, the Daughter of Charity abandons herself into God’s hands, uniting herself to Christ’s sacrificial obedience on the Cross. The moment of death, which is the real gift of self in perfect obedience to the Father154, brings to completion the formative journey and brings the Sister to total conformity to Christ Crucified, “the only, infinite and supreme good.”155.

The passing of a Sister to the Father’s house is a formative moment for the community in understanding once again the value and precariousness of life. It is an occasion that unites the Sisters in prayer and sisterly communion. The community continues to remember the Sisters in prayer so as to “hasten, as much as possible, the holy vision of the Lord, considering them to be those with whom they will share eternal happiness one day.”156

154 Magdalene, Regole e Scritti, I, 30.155 Ibid, 172.156 Ibid, 100.

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CONCLUSION

Formation, Initial and On-Going, is not a question of quantity

or accumulation of content, but of quality and synthesis,

unification, self-awareness and relationships. The outcome of

Formation is, in fact, the capacity to live ‘docibilitas’ in every

phase of life, in every existential situation and event, learning

the truth about oneself, interior freedom, openness to dialogue

and listening, sensitivity to the differences between people,

zeal for mission, wisdom, humility, meekness gratuitousness,

amiability.

Formation is thus necessary for the whole of life; it is never

complete and is always a great challenge for consecrated life.

For us, Daughters of Charity, Formation means keeping alive

a particular memory of God’s Love for every man and woman

on earth. It is a call renewed each day to take on the same

sentiments of the Son, to identify ourselves with Him who, on

the Cross “was stripped of everything except His Love”157. It is

a constant invitation to become human like Him, to give

ourselves, like Him, to live like Him in a boundless availability

to the Love of the Father for the salvation of every person,

157 Ibid, 34.118

especially those most deprived of education, evangelization

and assistance.

The gift of the Spirit which both St. Magdalene and we have

received is the very same Love of God that shone in a special

way on Calvary. Formation accompanies us in our quest for

fidelity to God’s gift and sustains our continual growth, our

never-ending transformation into the likeness of the Lord

Jesus, so that many may ‘see’ Him, know Him and love Him

and become like Him in order to communicate Him to others.

Formation is a sacred process which challenges and involves

us personally: it is the secret between us and the Spirit who

grows in the depths of our hearts and changes our lives into a

gift for everyone. No one can take our place in this.

It is the fruit of a greater awareness of Him, of His Love, and of

ourselves before Him so that we may become continually

daughters of the Father, Disciples of Christ, moved by the

Spirit and like Mary, our Mother of Sorrows, mothers of the

whole of humanity.

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INDEX Page

Presentation 5Introduction: Our Institute and Formation 8The Plan of Formation of the Daughters of Charity, Servant of the PoorSignificance 11Criteria 11Persons in formation 12PART ONEESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF CANOSSIAN FORMATIONGoal of formation 13Sources 15The Word of God 16The Magisterium of the Church 17The charism of the Institute

18Life: the history and culture 19Agents of formationGod Alone 20Christ Crucified 21Our Lady of Sorrows 21Every Sister 22Mediations of formationThe whole Institute 22The Superior General 23The Provincial Superior 23The Provincial Formative Team 23The Canossian Community 24The Sisters who are Formators 26Content 26Mystical experience 27Ascetical journey 29Mission 31

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Sense of identity and belonging 32Guiding criteria for Canossian formation 34Human formation 35Spiritual formation 35Charismatic formation 36Community formation 36Apostolic formation 36PART TWOSTAGES OF CANOSSIAN FORMATIVE JOURNEY:from the beginning to the final gift of self

38

PASTORAL CARE OF VOCATIONSMeaning and aim 41Those responsibleThe Canossian community 43Every Sister 44The Sisters who are involved 44The lay people 45Young people 45Formative environments 46Evaluation 46INITIAL FORMATION:Vocational Discernment and AccompanimentSignificance and objective 48Content 50Modality 50Evaluation 51PRE-NOVITIATESignificance and objective 52Persons in formation 53ContentThe human dimension 54The social dimension 55The spiritual dimension 55The charismatic dimension 56

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The apostolic dimension 56Formative environments 57The formative community 57Attending Biblical and Theological courses 58Modality 58Evaluation 58Moving on to the Novitiate 60NOVITIATESignificance and objective 61Persons in formation 62Objectives 62ContentThe human dimension 63The spiritual dimension 64The charismatic dimension 64The communitarian dimension 67The apostolic-missionary dimension 67Formative environmentsThe formative community of the Novitiate 68The apostolic community 70Inter-Congregational formative programmes 71Formative meetings with Junior Sisters 71Other significant and specific experiences 71Modality 71Evaluation 72First Profession 74JUNIORATESignificance and aim 75Persons in formation 76Pedagogy of the Greatest Love 77Formatives areas and content 78“God Alone” in Christ Crucified 78Mystical experience 78Ascetical journey: Vows 80

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Poverty Obedience Chastity

808182

Affective area 83Intellectual area 84Apostolic mission 86Sense of identity and belonging 88Formative environmentThe apostolic-formative community 89Modality 92Specific times 93FINAL PROFESSIONSignificance and aim 94Criteria of admission 95Immediate preparation for Final Profession 97ON-GOING FORMATIONSignificance and aim 99Persons in formation 100Objectives 101Formative environments 102Apostolic community 102Mission 104Content and dimensions 106Life in the Spirit 106The missionary, apostolic and ministerial dimension 107The charismatic dimension 107Ordinary formation 108Extraordinary formation 109Specific times 110Times of trial 110The first five years after Final Profession 112The first ten years after Final Profession 113After twenty-five years from entrance 114Late adulthood 116

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Advanced age 117Conclusion 120Index 122

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