Monastic exchanges
In addition to the conference on Orthodox spirituality there have bee many other occasions in these months of fraternal exchange with those who share the same monastic vocation with us. We have been happy to welcome in Bose: fr Michael Kelly, abbot general of the Silvestrine Benedictines; fr Luigi Gioia, newly elected abbot of the Olivetan monastery of Seregno
In addition to the conference on Orthodox spirituality there have bee many other occasions in these months of fraternal exchange with those who share the same monastic vocation with us. We have been happy to welcome in Bose: fr Michael Kelly, abbot general of the Silvestrine Benedictines; fr Luigi Gioia, newly elected abbot of the Olivetan monastery of Seregno, at whose installation ceremony in early July participated br Guido and br Sabino; fr Bernardo Gianni, prior of S. Miniato al Monte (FI); br Zeno and br Emanuele of the Cistercian monastery of Pra‘d Mill; fr Gabriel Bunge of the Holy Cross hermitage in Roveredo Capriasca (Switzerland); fr Michel van Parys and fr Ugo Zanetti of the Chevetogne monastery (Belgium); fr David, igumen of a recently founded monastery near Nižnij Novgorod with three monks of his community; br Wuissan, from a young monastic community at Mossul (Iraq); fr Gerard, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Adalbert in Egmont (Holland), together with three other monks; br Imre, a young novice of the Benedictine monastery of Pannonhalma (Hungary); fr Vincenzo Bonato, Camaldolese monk in Verona; br Angelo, of the monastic community Saints Peter and Paul in Germagno (VB); fr Emmanuel, of the French Benedictine monastery of En Calcat.
Early in September br Luigi accompanied three young brothers, br Gianmatteo, br Nimal, br Marcello, on a visit to become acquainted with the monasteries of Mount Athos, cementing ties of friendship with various communities and everywhere being received in a brotherly spirit. A real experience of fraternity was also lived by sr Alice, who together with m. Maria Magdalena and some other sisters of the Romanian Orthodox monastery of Copou (Ia?i) was able to visit seventeen Serbian monasteries, from the region of Fruška Gora in the vicinity of Novi Sad up to the border with Kosovo. The ties of out community with some of these monasteries, like those of Manasija, Raveni?a, Zi?a, go back to the visits of Enzo in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Fraternal visits for the sake of comparison or a simple period of retreat were those of sr Antonella, sr Beatrice, and sr Elisa to the monasteries of Blauvac and of Solane (France), of sr Elisabetta to the Reformed community of Grandchamp (Switzerland), of br Giandomenico to the monastery of St Peter in Assisi, and of br Vincenzo to the monastery of Camaldoli. Sister Lisa preached the spiritual exercises to the Benedictine nuns of the monastery of Viboldone and offered a course on the Lectio divina to the Little Sisters at Tre Fontane (Rome). Participation in the periodic meeting of the Dombes Group took br Matthias again to the Benedictine abbey of Pradines (France), while br Guido took part with a paper on “New forms of monastic life” in the 32nd Week of Monastic Studies held at Salamanca (Spain) and to the monastic conference held at the ancient abbey of Payerne (Switzerland) with a paper on "Ecumenical dimensions of monasticism". Sr Raffaela is living the Advent at the Anglican monastic community of Burnham Abbey (England).