Thursday, August 11, 2011
The last day of the Central Assembly, incidentally a feastday of Sr. J.X.Clara, was crowned by the Eucharistic celebration with the bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. It was the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral. On that special day for Limburg we were privileged to have the visit of the bishop, as the solemn celebration in the Cathedral will be led only on Sunday. He made us aware in his sermon, that from the Kloster Marienborn we have the best view of the Cathedral, and that we are called to pray for those, who in symbolic words are passing by on the highway and admire this beautiful Cathedral just for an instant, but don’t find time to stop for worship.
Likewise the Cathedral, which is built on the rock by the river Lahn, we too can root our life in Christ. The seven towers of the Cathedral point toward the sky – alike we religious women, knowing “the way upward”, are called to be sisters helping others. The organ music of Wilhelm Griess, voice trainer of the Limburg Cathedral boy´s choir, and the marvellous singing of his wife and daughter touched all of us and made this last Eucharistic Celebration of the Central Assembly a big gift for all. We were happy to have the Reverend as a guest among us for breakfast.
The missioning ceremony during the noon prayers with the community of Marienborn was the final point of our international meeting. After the hymn to the Holy Spirit Sr. Josephine D´Souza lead the meditation on the parable of the sower (Mt 13). Superior General Sr. Izabela Świerad addressed all the Sisters in a short, yet touching speech, saying: “You are the sower!” She blessed the Sisters of the General Administration as well as Provincial and Regional Superiors and handed each of them a symbolic gift – a bag of seeds and a picture of the sower. Then she blessed the Superior of Marienborn, Sr. Magdalene Klein, who represented all the Sisters of her Community.
After words of thanksgiving and a song to Our Lady, dinner in a joyful fraternal atmosphere ended the Central Assembly.
