General News

Mount St Bernard

Friday, 14 June 2013

On June 11, 2013 Dom Joseph Delargy completed a second six year term as abbot of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey.  On that same day an election was held which was inconclusive.  After following the required procedures the Father Immediate, Dom Brendan Freeman, appointed Fr. Erik Varden as Superior ad nutum. 

Dom Erik, born in Norway in 1974, entered the monastery in 2002, made solemn profession in 2007 and was ordained priest in 2011.  At the time of his appointment he was Prior.

Bulletins

Saturday, 01 June 2013

The Information Bulletin nº 179 that records the News which appeared between the month of January and the month of May of 2013, can be obtained from the Internet under the heading:

"News / Bulletins".

The Necrology notice for n° 2013-1 can be found under the heading:

"News / Necrology Page”.

Grandselve

Friday, 31 May 2013

The participants of the General Chapter of 2011 will remember the proposals made to help the community of Grandselve (f. 1968) overcome longstanding difficulties to secure a viable monastic community life.  Among the proposals were a time of rest and renewal for the sisters in other communities of the Order, the help of other sisters from RAFMA, and the possibility of a transfer of the community to another location in Cameroon.  The community at that time was made up of 9 sisters, 4 of them with stability at Grandselve (3 solemnly professed and one temporary professed, at that time at l’Etoile N.-D., Benin) and 5 sisters from other communities, one of them being the Superior ad nutum and another Novicemistress. 

Following on the General Chapter the community discussed the project; a site for a possible transfer in the future was found and during 2012 there were meetings of the community and/or parties involved in the project: the meeting of the African Superiors at Scourmont in February-March; the visit of the Commission of Aid to Grandselve in May 2012; the visit of the Abbot General with M. Regina (member of the Commission of Aid) in July, 2012 and the visit of the delegated Father Immediate, Dom Vedaste, in November 2012. 

 A fact that became evident during this time was that the community had difficulty in maintaining the consensus it seemed to have arrived at about plans for its future.  In January of 2013 the Abbot General wrote to Dom Vedaste and suggested that he present the situation at the forthcoming RAFMA meeting to see if the Region could help in one way or another.  At the meeting, which Dom Timothy and M. Regina attended, the Superiors of RAFMA, after lengthy discussions, said that it was not possible to give the help in personnel that was required and considered that monastic life was no longer viable there.  M. Hortense, Superior ad Nutum of Grandselve, made it known that she did not feel able to continue her service and intended to ask to be relieved of her responsibilities and to return to her community of Clarte-Dieu. 

In these circumstances the situation came back again for consideration by the Abbot General and his council, who, in the course of several meetings reviewed the evolution since the General Chapter of 2011 and the complexities of the actual situation.  It seemed that the solution was to disperse the community without dissolving it.  At their meeting of March 4, 2013, the Abbot General and his Council, acting in the name of the General Chapter (C. 82.2), took the decision to disperse the community of Grandselve, composed of 3 solemnly professed sisters and one temporary professed. 

Following this decision the Abbot General asked Dom Vedaste to go to Grandselve to inform the sisters of the decision and to supervise the process of dispersal of the sisters to other communities of the Order.  He asked M. Regina to assist Dom Vedaste in this undertaking. 

M. Regina left for Grandselve on March 13, 2013.  Because of an outbreak of fighting not far from Mokoto Dom Vedaste was not able to join M. Regina until the second week of April (10-16).  So it was left to M. Regina, assisted by Br. Etienne of Koutaba, to prepare the community for the project of dispersal.  After a considerable period of discussion and reflection the Sisters chose the community to which each one wished to go.  All the sisters departed by May 8.  M. Regina returned to Rome on May 11, 2013. 

As regards the property and the material aspects of the matter, Dom Honore of Koutaba (Father Immediate) generously sent two monks to look after this aspect of the dispersion.  At present 3 monks of Koutaba and a monk of Mokoto are in residence there, assisted by three employees.  They await the arrival of another religious community (Carmelite or Spiritan) which has expressed interest in availing of the site provisionally. 

Let us pray for the Sisters of the community of Grandselve at this time.

Glencairn

Friday, 31 May 2013

On May 31, 2013, Mother Marie Fahy completed her second term of six years as Abbess of St. Mary’s Abbey (Glencairn – Ireland). On the same day, she was re-elected Abbess of the Community for a new six year term. 

Colloquium of the French Speaking Cistercium Commission (CFC) on "The Liturgy and the Spiritual Life"

Monday, 20 May 2013

CFC

Colloque CFC – Liturgie et Vie Spirituelle.pdf

www.cfc-liturgie.fr

www.collegedesbernardins.fr

Nazareth

Monday, 20 May 2013

Sr. ReginaOn May 19, 2013,

Solemnity of Pentecost,

Sister Regina Arickx

made solemn profession

at the Monastery of Nazareth

(Belgium).

Sr Regina was born

in Oostende (Belgium).

in 1951.

Perpetual professed nun

of the Sisters of Charity

(Heule - Belgium),

she entered Nazareth

in 2008.

Butende

Monday, 20 May 2013

On May 11, 2013,

Sister Jeridah Clare Nyaboke

made solemn profession at the monastery of Butende (Uganda).

 Sr. Jeridah Clare

Sister Jeridah Clare was born in 1987 in Kisii (Kenya).

She entered Butende in 2006

and made first profession in 2009.

Gethsemani

Friday, 17 May 2013

On May 5, 2013,

Brother Gregory Escardo

made solemn profession

at the monastery of Gethsemani (USA).

 Br. Gregory

Brother Gregory was born in 1951 in Lima (Peru).

He entered Gethsemani in 2007

and made first profession in 2010.

Etoile Notre Dame

Monday, 13 May 2013

Sr RitaOn May 9, 2013,

in the Solemnity

of the Ascension of the Lord,

Sister Rita Dimojiaku

made solemn profession

at the monastery of l’Etoile Notre Dame

(Benin).

Sister Rita

was born in 1978

in Anambra

(Nigeria).

She entered l’Etoile Notre Dame

in 2003

and made first profession

in 2006.

Cardeña

Wednesday, 08 May 2013

On May 7, 2013, the Community of Santa María de los Mártires de San Pedro de Cardeña (diocese of Burgos, Spain) elected as abbot, for a six year term, Dom Roberto de la Iglesia Pérez.

Dom Roberto was born in 1969 and entered Cardeña in 1993. He made solemn profession in 1999 and was ordained a priest in 2010. At the time of his election, he was Superior ad nutum of Cardeña.