ASIA/INDONESIA - Contemplative nuns in Indonesia accompany Pope Francis' trip with Adoration

Monday, 2 September 2024 apostolic journey pope nuns prayer

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Ruteng (Agenzia Fides) - At the Monastery of the Adoration of the Holy Trinity, on the slopes of Kuwu, on the outskirts of the city of Ruteng, on the Indonesian island of Flores, Eucharistic adoration is permanent and prayer is incessant, day and night. Prayer for Pope Francis' trip is raised to the Almighty. This is the charism of the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, an international "contemplative-missionary" congregation, as the "Sisters Adorers of the Holy Spirit" like to call themselves. They are commonly called "the pink sisters", because of the pink color of their consecrated habit. This colour was chosen by the founder, St Arnold Janssen (1837 - 1909), a German priest and missionary, former founder of the Society of the Divine Word (the Verbite missionaries), who started the women's institute with Mother Maria Micaela (1862 - 1934). The colour pink symbolizes "the love and joy of the Holy Spirit" and today the sisters are present in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. They came to Indonesia from the Philippines and the Ruteng monastery celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024, as the 81-year-old Filipino nun Sister Mary Bernardi told Fides, recalling the origins: in 1997 the local bishop invited the Pink Sisters to Ruteng "to support the missionary action of the local church. Today - she says - there are three Filipino nuns and 21 Indonesians here. We have been blessed with the gift of vocations to monastic life," she notes.

The nuns have responded to the call of the Indonesian bishops to accompany Pope Francis' visit to the country (2-6 September), the first stage of his apostolic journey to Asia and Oceania, with continuous prayer and perpetual Adoration. Sister Maria recalls the words of Arnold Janssen, when he said that "in adoration we enter into the intimate relationship of Father-Son-Holy Spirit, a true relationship of love that is our vocation and mission. In this communion of love we place Pope Francis and his mission," she explains, illustrating the day of prayer that begins at 4.45 and ends with Compline at 7.30 pm, while the consecrated women take turns in Adoration, kneeling in the monastery church, where there is perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The Pope and his intentions, she continues, are entrusted to the loving hands of "Mary, true disciple of Christ whom we venerate in our congregation with the title of Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit." The consecrated women live a “happy life”, immersed in prayer and work, showing that “the world is in our hearts: in prayer and through prayer we are missionaries in the world”.

In many other monasteries, too, the nuns devote themselves to unceasing prayer: In Lembah Karmel, the Carmelite Prayer Centre on the hill of Cikanyere, in the regency of Cianjur (West Java), there is a community of Carmelite friars and a community of Carmelite sisters who, like all the other cloistered nuns, will not be able to meet the Pope in person. That is why they stop in contemplation, certain of “meeting the Pope and being close to him in spiritual communion, praising God for his presence as an apostle of the Gospel on Indonesian soil and supporting his mission in this journey to the East with prayer”. The nuns of the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Gracia, in the western part of the island of Timor, territory of the diocese of Kupang, have also responded with fervour. The monastery, an oasis of spirituality, offers the faithful an extraordinary experience of intense prayer and spiritual retreat. The consecrated women and the faithful are gathering these days to pray for the success of the Pope's visit, "so that the Gospel message and the gift of fraternity that he brings may flourish and bear fruit in Indonesia". (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 2/9/2024)