Notre vie contemplative
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and bloom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing…
Here is your God…he will come and save you.
Waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water”. (Isaiah 35)
In the Church we continue the prayerful attitude of Jesus turned towards the Father, in adoration and praise, in thanksgiving and intercession.(Constitutions 162)
The Contemplative Sisters of the Holy Family were founded in 1859: “the last shoot of the tree of the Holy Family”. For Pierre Bienvenu Noailles, our Founder, we form the indispensable complement of his Work.
We participate in the common Mission of the Family by imitating the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the home of Nazareth: a life hidden in God alone in silence and solitude, a life of love lived in obedience and gratuitousness.
Our communities are present in three continents: Latin America, Asia and Europe. Their members are of different nationalities and cultures.
“Our happiness is not outside of us but within us through the reign of God Alone.” (P.B. Noailles)
With humility, love and courage, together we seek God and God’s reign.
Nazareth is the humble school where the simplicity and beauty of everyday life is reveled to us.
It is in the reality of community life that communion is built up among us.
To live in communion … is to serve God and our brothers and sisters from the heart. It is to let our hearts be evangelized by being in contact with the Word of God and with others, in order to live forgiveness, compassion and hope.
Our differences are woven day after day into the tissue of our lives, and thus become a witness to communion.
Each day, we are together in the chapel, at work, at recreation, at meals…Life in community is a school of patience and self-giving, of attention to the other in self-forgetfulness. It leads us to the truth of our being-with-others and with God, the Totally Other.
“The Word of God is a seed: to produce fruit, it should be meditated in silence.”
Prayer occupies a dominant place in our personal and community life. It marks the rhythm of our day. Prayer is extended into all that makes up our daily life.
Meditation, the Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, Eucharistic adoration are the visible part of the interior reality of contemplative prayer, the Eucharistic celebration being its climax.
“Pray often, pray without ceasing, that is to say, make your work a continual prayer.” (P.B. Noailles)
Our contemplative life, in the school of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, consists also of work which is never to the detriment of prayer.
Our work, by the effort it demands and the constraints it imposes, is a place of human solidarity. We are careful to see that our work does not turn into activism, that it is not a seeking of our own efficacy or mere profit.
Work is indispensable for a balanced life. Our energy is restored through work as much as through rest, meals and relaxation.
“The monastery is a house of God where we dwell close to the Source.”
The communities welcome with simplicity and discretion those who seek the Lord in silence and solitude. This welcome is a grace and an invitation to all.
Each of our communities desires to be a sign of faith and a sacrament of unity in the place and culture where it is present.
