The Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the contemplative Augustinian Recollect nuns celebrated the simple profession of the novice Francisca Izabela Vale de Mesquita on November 16.
The monastery of the Augustinian Recollect Nuns of Guaraciaba do Norte (Ceará, Brazil) experienced the joy of the incorporation into the community of a new cloistered nun last Saturday, November 16, with the simple profession of the novice Francisca Izabela Vale de Mesquita.
Izabela is a native of a small rural community in the nearby Parish of Inhuçu, so a good representation of that municipality was present with her family and friends, with her parish priest at the head.
In this ceremony, Izabela was accompanied by the Augustinian-Recollect Family in the region, including Recollect religious, members of the Secular Fraternity and the Augustinian Recollect Youth. The Eucharist was presided over by the bishop of Tianguá, Francisco Edimilson Neves Ferreira.
In his homily, the bishop asked the people of God to accompany Izabela in her offering, which he highlighted as “the desire to serve humanity through contemplation, being the heart of the Church.”
He asked Izabela to live her vocation from a love that is realized in the day-to-day life of the community, since the basis of every religious vocation is the call of God, therefore, the concrete love that God has for the person he calls:
“Izabela, feel called, a special call to be the heart of the Church, to be fully of the Lord in monastic life, in a personal and unique way. Jesus does not treat us as a mass or a crowd, but as disciples to each one of us. He has called you by your name, he knows you, he calls you, he embraces your whole person.”
The bishop also asked that no one see the profession as an institutional or formal act without more, but as a personal moment of commitment in which the professed begins to direct her existence, to live from that moment the charism and the grace that God has granted to the community in which she professes:
“It is a total surrender that can only be done for love. May this profession be an invitation to make our fundamental choice for Jesus, each one from his life and his possibilities. And let us encourage our sister in her days as a professed. She is our encouragement today, because every time someone consecrates herself, every time someone says ‘yes’ to the Lord, the whole Church feels the impact of that love of Christ towards a person.”
At the end of the ceremony, Izabela took the opportunity to thank God for her vocation and, without forgetting anyone, she mentioned all those who have been important in her vocational path and in her process until reaching religious profession: her parents and sister, the religious and nuns in Guaraciaba…
“I want to thank the Lord for his love and closeness, especially through those who accompany me every day. I hope that everyone continues to accompany me through their prayers for me and my sisters, so that we persevere in the purpose of living in union of souls and hearts”.
After the religious ceremony, the Augustinian fraternity continued in the form of a joyful and happy meeting. The nuns invited those present to continue the celebration and personally congratulate Izabela by sharing a delicious cake made in the monastery workshop and singing “parabéns para você” to her, the Brazilian congratulatory song.
