On Sunday, May 5th, our monastery in Wrocław celebrated its 300th anniversary. Its history began in Lviv, where in 1709 a group of nuns from the Warsaw community came to escape the plague. Most of them soon returned to their monastery, but a few sisters stayed in Lviv, giving rise to a new foundation. They had to overcome many difficulties before in 1719 they received a bull erecting the Lviv monastery. In 1946 the community had to leave the city and after many years of wandering finally settled in Wrocław.
The solemn Eucharist was presided over by Archbishop Joseph Kupny, Metropolitan of Wrocław. In the homily, referring to our spirituality, he said:
The Lord is waiting […] for confirmation of our love for Him. He waits for true, strong love, with all our heart; for love to the point of madness. It was precisely out of such great love, love to the point of madness, that the thought of leading a monastic life according to the rule of St. Benedict arose.
The special charism of the Benedictines of perpetual adoration is the cult of the Blessed Sacrament, especially during daily adoration in the spirit of reparation for the sins of ingratitude, indifference and lack of veneration. Every day, each of the nuns adores the Lord Jesus for several hours, and each day the sisters experience Christ’s gaze in adoration. It is this gaze that enables them to look with love into the face of another human being, to take responsibility for him. Hence their prayer for us in the spirit of reparation. Although they seem to be separated from the people by the walls of the monastery, it is behind these walls that they take responsibility for these people – praying, repairing for them.
After the Holy Mass, the Archbishop met with the community.
Prioress of the other two monasteries of the Federation took part in the ceremony, as well as two nuns from our community. It was an opportunity for a working meeting dedicated to the adaptation of our legislation to the new regulations contained in the instruction Cor orans.
Thank you to the Wroclaw Community for the warm welcome and effort put into organizing the celebrations and the Prioress’ meeting.
