A summery of the first days of our Assembly Delegation which began on Saturday 7th of December
The I Assembly of the Delegation of the Sisters Hospitallers began last 7th December at the St Augustine’s Centre in Addlestone, Surrey. This important event, which runs until the 12th of December, will define the future of the Delegation for the coming years.
Due to the importance of this event, information about this event will be updated throughout the week. Today we share with you a summary of the first three days.
5th of December 2024
Arrival of the sisters in Addlestone. On Thursday 5th, all the Sisters participating in the First Delegation Assembly arrived in the community of Addlestone. The Sisters were warmly welcomed by the Sisters of the community and we were instructed on practical the community and were briefed on the practicalities of how they will function during these Assembly days. Our General Superior Sr Idilia Carneiro and Vice Superior Sr Begoña Pérez also arrived on the same day, which ended with evening prayer and supper and a joyful sharing of our fraternity.
6th of December 2024
On Friday the sisters had their spiritual retreat, led by Fr Frank Tonner, a Jesuit priest from one of the London communities. His contribution focused on the theme of the General Chapter: ‘Be clothed with compassion’. It helped the sisters to reflect on the biblical and theological aspects of Mercy and compassion and how to put it into practice in our community life and mission.
They were asked to reflect on some practical questions such as: what difference would it make to make mercy and compassion at the centre of our policies? What about compassion at the centre of our policies and practices in the hospitality work that we do?
They ended their encounter with the Lord with evening prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist, calling upon the Holy Spirit to come upon our 1st Assembly Delegation and to guide them during these days of deliberation, discernment and decision making.
After dinner they had a time of fraternal recreation and listened to Sr. Idilia, Superior General, share the news from the different provinces and from the Delegation of Italy.
7th of December 2024
Saturday’s day began with morning prayer in the chapel and the celebration of the Eucharist on the feast of St. Ambrose. The Word of God invited the sisters to open themselves to God’s unexpected ways.
After breakfast they gathered for the Opening Prayer of the 1st Assembly Delegation presided over by the Superior General, Idilia Maria Carneiro. The Superior Delegation, Sr. Lourdes Sanz, welcomed Sr. Idilia and Sr. Begoña for their presence and invited the sisters to be attentive in discerning the objectives for the next three years and to clothe themselves with tenderness and mercy, in order to be prophetic signs of hope and of God’s closeness to the suffering people.
Sr Idilia Maria Carneiro, Superior General, then addressed the Assembly, expressing her gratitude to all the sisters and collaborators who contribute to the development of the hospital mission in the daily service to the sick and the needy. She called the sisters to be weavers of fraternity, artisans of peace and communion, seekers of the God of mercy who sends us to practise Hospitality centred on the compassionate and merciful Heart of Jesus. After her speech Sr.Idilia, Superior General declared the Assembly open.
Sr Begoña Martínez was introduced by Sr. Lourdes to the Sisters as the facilitator of the Assembly. Later, the facilitator presented the methodology of the ‘Spiritual Conversation’ to be used in the Assembly and gave some guidelines on listening and generative dialogue.
After a short break, they began the task of presenting the ‘Life and Mission Report 2018-2024’ of the Delegation, which was presented by the sisters of the Delegation Government according to the areas they have led.
After lunch and a break, the afternoon session began with a Marian service. The sisters then met in discernment groups to discover the strengths and challenges in the report by practising spiritual conversation.
report by practising spiritual conversation.
At the end of the afternoon, Sr. Encarnación Aguayo, Bursar of the Delegation, presented the Economic-Financial Report of the six-year period of the communities. The day concluded with evening prayer and supper.
