XIII Romanian National Conference

Over the weekend of May 22-23, on the occasion of Pentecost, all five Fraternities of the Magnificat Community in Romania met with joy at the Carmelite Monastery in Ciofliceni to experience the annual National Meeting, a time of deep communion and celebration for all brothers and sisters.
The theme of the National Meeting was a verse from “If I did not have charity, it would be of no use to me“(1 Corinthians 13:3), which challenged us from the beginning to focus on the essential: fraternal love. The two catecheses of the meeting were given by two guests from Italy: Giuseppe Piegai, one of the Community’s general managers, and Pier Giovanni Duranti, General Executive Director.

Saturday morning was imbued with the enthusiasm of the meeting. After the time of welcome and introduction, a prayer of charismatic praise followed in which the Lord urged us to abandon our walls of defense, to be as free as children, and to ask and receive more from Him. Through various images and prophecies received by the participants during the prayer, the Lord challenged each of us to recognize our own weakness and then to accept the prayer with the laying on of hands by the brothers, inspired by Him toward the end. This was a powerful moment that brought healing to many of us.

Then followed the first teaching of the Meeting, given by Joseph Piegai, who spoke to us about God’s love for us and how important it is to look at the other with the eyes of God who says to our soul, “How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful you are!“(Song of Songs 4:1). We did not just stay in school, but experienced an experiential moment through which we were invited, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to make a concrete gesture of love for the brother with whom we were having difficulties in our relationship. This created an atmosphere of forgiveness and healing fellowship that culminated in a moment of praise filled with gratitude to the Lord and the brothers.

After lunch, the second teaching of the Meeting was given by Pier Giovanni Duranti. Through his testimony, the Lord touched us by making us aware that he does not feel let down by us; on the contrary, he trusts us and sustains us with his grace. Immediately after the teaching, in the monastery church, we placed ourselves in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, thus continuing to remain sensitive to the whispering of the Spirit. One of the Lord’s first invitations was to sit around the altar, closer to Him, so many brothers and sisters filled the large circular space around the altar. With the proclamation of the Lord’s word, a new time of praying over the brethren, for healing and deliverance, a time when we could serve one another, and in the end the Holy Spirit acted accompanied by words and songs of victory through the prophets, was born.

With hearts full of love we then prepared for the Holy Mass celebrated by His Eminence Aurel Percă, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bucharest. His Pentecost message for us was one of encouragement, confirming that we have an important mission in the Church and in the world. He also touched us with the joy of being in our midst.

The second day of the Meeting, Pentecost Sunday, began with a prayer of praise full of strength and thirst for that holy joy that only the Spirit can stir up in hearts. And because God is always faithful and obeys the requests of his children, he gave us all this grace of joy that flowed into us even more strongly when the Spirit inspired us to embrace and bless each of our brothers and sisters. In no time, the hall was transformed into an Upper Room and we saw love conquering the faces of our brothers and sisters and in our lives.

The next moment was for testimonies: many brothers and sisters from all the fraternities praised the Lord for the healing, joy and work He has done in and through them during these two days. It was exciting for all of us because we found ourselves in many of the feelings of our brothers and sisters and rejoiced with them. Keeping all these gifts in our hearts, we went to the church to celebrate the Holy Liturgy of Pentecost. In his homily, Father Victor-Emilian Dumitrescu emphasized how important it is for all of us to live in the freedom of the Spirit, which can be limited by only three things: sin, fear and the law. And in the freedom of the Spirit we are called to be free and authentic both in our relationship with the Lord and in our relationship with our brothers and sisters.

After the Eucharistic table, lunch was the last moment of the national meeting. Then, little by little, amid hugs and goodbyes, we each set off for our homes, our cities and our Fraternities, keeping alive in our hearts the joy of being together and the flame lit in us by the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion, we leave you with the refrain of a song with which the Lord has moved our hearts and with which He calls us to become apostles:

We will go, we will proclaim that in Him all things are possible
We will go, we will proclaim that nothing will be defeated in us
Because we have heard His Word
Because we have seen lives changed
Because we have seen love win
Yes, we have seen love win!

Andreea Blăjuț
Novice of the “Misericordia” Fraternity, Bucharest