The Motto of the General Chapter
CLOTHED WITH GARMENTS OF MERCY (Col. 3:12)
Prophetic signs of hope and of God's closeness to suffering humanity.
We dream of extending the tent of Hospitality wherever we are needed, being recognized for the dedication, the care for life, and the quality service we provide to people who suffer. The Hospitaller Project brings together so many people and together we continue the Hospitaller mission. The evangelizing dimension of the mission is the transversal axis that defines us and gives meaning to the hospitality that together, as a Hospitaller community, we have to continue in time. (Doc. XXI General Chapter nº 21) Today, before the congregational event that we are preparing, we are asked to open new horizons of life and mission in Hospitality. Hospitality is a charism, a gift of God's mercy for the service of others, and a commitment to society, so we are called to live out the MOTTO of the Chapter process:
CLOTHED WITH GARMENTS OF MERCY (Col. 3:12). Prophetic signs of hope and of God's closeness to suffering humanity.
Our world is wounded and there are many faces of suffering. We are challenged to live and carry out hospitality based on our identity and values, responding to today's challenges with the same audacity and creativity that inspired our Founders.
Chapter Logo
AN APPROACH TO THE MEANING OF THE LOGO XXII GENERAL CHAPTER
The logo is made up of the cross of Christ, a hug, the world/human being, a road and stars.
Essentially, it has three colors: gray, burgundy and green, the institutional colors.
The Cross of Christ - sign of divine mercy; expression of the love that saves, given unconditionally; theological place where mercy is born and where we clothe ourselves in it. The cross is an open space of encounter with the love that vivifies us; From it springs life, love, and hope, it welcomes everyone and in it each one can recognize themselves as loved and saved in the infinite mercy of the Father.
The gray color of the cross symbolizes the encounter between the greatest luminosity (God) and the greatest fragility (humanity). In itself, the color gray expresses peace, tranquility, balance, simplicity, delicacy, elegance... (dimensions that also characterize Hospitality)
Hug - in the center of the cross an embrace is born: Christ embraces humanity, the hospitable charisma is also called to embrace each human being in their situation of suffering; a universal embrace of the world, especially the most fragile and excluded; It is in the embrace of the merciful Christ that the embrace of Hospitality finds meaning; a hug that covers us with mercy and transforms us into instruments of that same mercy.
The Path - without beginning or end. It is the path of dedication and service, in an attitude of departure, that is followed by all those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit. It challenges us to live walking the paths of humanity, being a close presence to God - paths of visitation. Always a missionary path...
And the stars on the path symbolize that the hospitality charisma must be a presence that brings hope, stars that shine, today as yesterday, being the light of good and life in the midst of the darkness of illness and suffering.
Chapter Year
The General Chapter is the body that represents the whole Congregation and exercises collegial authority in matters concerning its life and mission. It is a paschal event, an event of charismatic renewal and apostolic projection that we must live in a spirit of faith and fraternity seeking, in an attitude of discernment, what is pleasing to the Lord.
The chapter is the place of prayerful obedience to the Holy Spirit in the search for the greater good of the Congregation in the Church. We collaborate actively and responsibly with an attitude of docility to the Spirit, fostering an atmosphere of intense prayer and true conversion.
The General Chapter is held every six years. It is the responsibility of the Superior General to determine, with the consent of her councilors, the issues to be discussed, the time and place of the meeting, in accordance with the norms of the Directory.
The importance of this event requires careful preparation, which must be given the necessary time.
Pre-Chapter Meeting
From 26 June to 1 July, the Preparatory Commission for the XXII General Chapter of the Hospitaller Sisters met at the General House in Rome to begin the work related to this important congregational event in an atmosphere of discernment and prayer.
The commission is composed of Sisters Blanca Guerrero (General Councilor), Catalina Thant Minh, Regiane do Santos, Idilia Carneiro, Cristina Hernandez and Alphonsine Futi (who participated online). Sister Pilar Benavente of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, facilitator of this Chapter process, also participated in the dynamics.
During these days, a reflection was carried out and essential elements were concretized to define the stages that will lead us to the Chapter, taking into account the challenges that emerged from the Plenary Council held recently in November 2022, as well as the reflections of the General Government itself.
In the first stage, we will have tools both for the sisters and for the people with whom we share the mission, which will help us to begin the second stage, which will already include the celebration of the Pre-Chapter Assemblies.
The purpose and motto, still to be determined, will be the fundamental reference for all this work. The chronogram that will be established will help us to advance in each of the subsequent stages.
From the commission, the sisters continue to count on your prayers, and at the same time we ask you to welcome everything related to this congregational event, feeling called and involved.
May this event, this "new Pentecost," open us up to the action of the Spirit and impel us to new paths of life and mission for a suffering world
Pre-Chapter Assemblies
The first and second phases of the Chapter process include the celebration of the Pre-Chapter Assemblies during the first two weeks of October.
We pray that we can live in communion, seeking "together" what God wants for the life and mission of the Congregation today.
Province of Spain | October 7 to 10, in Palencia |
Province of France | October 9-14, in Paris
|
Province of Latin America
|
September 28 to October 3, in S. Paulo (Brazil)
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Province of Italy
| October 2-6, in the Provincial House (Rome) |
Province of England
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October 2-7, Addlestone
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Vice Province of Vietnam | October 2 to 5, in Chu Hai |
Delegation of the Philippines
| October 5 to 8, in New Manila |
Province of Portugal | October 6 to 11, in Idanha |
Path of Discernment
