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| Contemplative Life |
| | “In likeness to the Word, who chose to live in the silence of Nazareth for thirty years, some of our members consecrate themselves to Him in the contemplative state. They want to dedicate themselves to the only necessary thing; they have chosen the better part. ‘How beautiful is contemplative life to the eyes of God and the Church! It constitutes one of the fundamental structures of the Holy Church. It has been present in all the phases of its history – for two millennia, always fertile in solid virtues, always endowed with a mysterious and powerful attractiveness in the highest and most noble souls.’ Therefore, contemplatives are in the vanguard of all of the Institute’s apostolic works, since with their life of prayer and penance they obtain from the Lord the necessary graces for the salvation of many souls: ‘Institutes of contemplative life, by their prayers and trials are of the greatest importance in the conversion of souls since it is in answer to prayer that God sends workers into his harvest, opens the minds of non-Christians to hear the Gospel, and makes fruitful the word of salvation in their hearts.’ The following words of Saint Teresa apply to the contemplatives: ‘The Lord…has brought you together here for that very purpose [salvation of souls]. This is your vocation; this must be your business; these must be your desires; these your tears; these your petitions…If your prayers and desires and disciplines and fasts are not performed for the intentions of which I have spoken, reflect [and believe] that you are not carrying out the work or fulfilling the object for which the Lord has brought you here.’ Our monasteries of contemplative life should be magnets of the grace of God and lightening rods for His wrath. God willing, we will be able to multiply them all over the world! ‘The Church and the world… need… a small ideal society where as a goal all the following reign: love, obedience, innocence, freedom from things and the art of its good use, the prevalence of the spirit, peace, - in a word - the Gospel’ ” (Directory of Spirituality, 26).
Currently, the IVE have monasteries in Argentina, Italy, Spain, Israel, Tunisia and Jordan.
The SSVM have six monasteries, each one of which prays for a particular intention: in Argentina for world peace; in Peru for the sanctification of religious; in the United States for the Jewish people; in Holland for the dignity of man and in reparation of offenses committed against the Eucharist. In Italy, there are two monasteries that pray for the sanctification of priests (Velletri) and for the unity of the Church (Pontinia). |
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