According to our Cistercian tradition, “Each community of the Order and all the nuns are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Symbol of the Church in the order of faith, love and perfect union with Christ.” (CST 3:4). We were searching for the title of Our Lady which would be the name of the future foundation as our patron. Reflecting on the Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI Spe Salvi which had just been published, we were touched by a phrase:
“Mary, Star of Hope
… Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her “yes” she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us. (n. 49)
Mary, “Our Lady Star of Hope” was the name chosen for the future foundation. We put the words of Pope Benedict XVI in the depth of our hearts and began to pray, “Mary, Star of Hope, be our hope and guide us in our journey forward …”
When we arrived at Bishop’s Hill, we found a statue of Mary, the Morning Star, on the rooftop of the Penha church!
Another sign of God’s providence for us!
The mercy of God continuously accompanies us through the generosity and help of many friends, priests and other religious. Many faithful come to visit us, to share their burdens and entrust their requests of prayer to the community. With this we are building a chain of relationships of people who help each other in what is a unique existence. They have repeatedly told us how important our presence in the diocese is to them. This strengthens our desire to live our witness of prophetic mission in Macao: incarnating the Word here and now. To be a sign that God exists and is present among us. To be a sign that challenges people to think about the meaning of their lives. To be a sign that we are all called to live together in the love and mercy of God in Christ – a sign that the Church is the sacrament of salvation for all.
IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
We were very touched by the visit of Bishop Joseph Lai who had welcomed us to Macao, who came to tell us personally about his resignation on the very day of the official announcement about the appointment of the new Bishop. We felt how deep his love and trust for our community was.
On March 10, 2016, the new Bishop, Mgr. Stephen Lee, who officially started his ministry as the Bishop of Macao on January 25, 2016, came for his first visit to our community. At the same time he told us the important news that he had received the definitive answer from the Macao Government about the request for land for our monastery: it was rejected. He spoke to us in a very touching and moving way, as a father, as a good shepherd. He consoled us and told us not to worry because the presence and prayer of the community is important for the diocese. He promised he would take care of us and find another possibility for the monastery. In the meantime he assured us that we could stay where we are now without any time limit. From that moment we are in the hands of the bishop, our stabilitas locis is in the heart of the bishop, in the loving embrace of the diocese of Macao.
MISSION
None of us ever dreamed that one day we would be called to live here in union with the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit that is beyond our understanding. God reminds us all the time about our “mission” here in Macao.
Our real mission is simply to be a monastic community, “an expression of the mystery of the Church where nothing is preferred to the praise of the Father’s glory”. (OCSO Cst 3.4). Jesus received His mission from the Father in total willingness; the Holy Apostles received their mission from Jesus Christ, our Lord. Each one of us in turn has received a mission from the Father through the same Jesus Christ to live in the Spirit of his Sonship: precisely the mission to be part of this new foundation in the spirit of obedience of faith, trying to be faithful to our daily self-offering for the unity and salvation of all humanity.
Through the daily experience of building up fraternal relationship in the midst of all our difficulties, with the abilities, talents and facilities that we have been given, we find our identity as pardoned and beloved sinners. We are all called to be holy and to work together with the Holy Spirit. We receive our identity from our community and we receive the awareness of our mission from the people around us. We experience that the presence of the monastery with all the values of its life - silence, simplicity, praise of God and common life - already proclaims our prophetic mission and strengthens the prophetic mission of the diocese itself.
As we read in “Ad Gentes” 18:
“The contemplative life should be restored everywhere, because it belongs to the fullness of the Church’s presence.”
Our presence as a living ecclesial community is like a small oasis in the heart of this city. Our monastic life is no longer linked to beautiful places of great solitude but rather called to be a presence of faith, prayer, simplicity of life and hospitality where the Lord has placed us here and now. Our hope is that, preferring nothing to Christ’s love in our daily “conversatio morum”, we can be faithful to our prophetic mission by living out the authenticity of the Gospel, the Rule of St. Benedict and our Constitutions with great openness to the will of God in the future.
