Fraternal visits and exchanges

Besides numerous occasions of brief fraternal visits to other monastic communities, some of us have stayed in other monasteries for a few days of retreat or exchange. We recall above all that br Vincenzo accompanied the young novices and postulants to the Trappist monastery of Tamié to acquaint them with that community, sr Elisa spent a period in the Trappist monastery of Blauvac, while br Giandomenico spent three weeks in the Benedictine monastic community of En Calcat in France. Sr Sylvie went to Versailles to participate in the liturgy of blessing of sr Mireille, the new sister responsible for the deaconesses of Reuilly. As in other years, a small group of brothers went on an eight-day pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain Athos in mid-September; Br. Emanuele, br Stefano, and br Edoardo, led by br Luigi, stayed in a few of the principal monasteries there, welcomed in a fraternal spirit and strengthening ties of long standing. This year a group of sister as well (sr Lara, sr Annachiara, and sr Michela), led by sr Raffaela, visited Greece. Their interesting artistic and monastic itinerary took them to Athens (with the nearby centers of Dafni and Kesariani), Thessalonica, Veria, Metzovo, Ioannina, Meteora, Karditsa (where they visited the sisters and the ierontissa mother Diodora of the St George Monastery), Thebes (where they met with the sisters and igumena mother Ieronimi of the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross).