Rome, January 6, 2016

Every eighteen months the general councils of the Assumption Family (The Religious of the Assumption, the Augustinians of the Assumption/Assumptionists, the Little Sisters of the Assumption, the Oblate missionary sisters of the Assumption, and the Orants of the Assumption) meet at the mother-house of one of the congregations. This year the pleasure of hosting this event fell to the Assumptionists and so the members of the general councils of the four sister congregations all traveled from Paris to the Eternal City.

Usually the meetings focus on three themes: (1) important news updates; (2) discussion of collaborative efforts (joint international formation sessions, apostolic projects, training workshops etc.); (3) an in-depth treatment of a topic of general interest dealing with our common spirituality. This session focused on the vow of obedience, both as it was taught by our founders and how it is to be understood at the beginning of this new century. Each congregation prepared sometimes quite imaginative, and always thoughtful, power-point presentations to convey the thought of their founders. So as to foster a fruitful discussion on the understanding of obedience today, the steering committee invited two religious stationed here in Rome to share their reflections with us, each of them also members of their general councils, Sr. Kumudini Dassanayake, a Sri Lankan sister from the Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux, and Fr. Paolo Archati, an Italian Oblate of Mary.

The second afternoon of the session featured a special outing. Taking advantage of the Jubilee Year of Mercy decreed by Pope Francis, the entire group, together with members of the general house community, undertook a pilgrimage from the walls of the Castel Sant-Angelo through St. Peter's Square to the Holy Door of the Basilica. It was an opportunity for the general councils to pray for all members of the Assumption Family, religious and lay, and to entrust them to the merciful love of God during this special year.