Take the same interest in the house in which you live as in the others.
Saint Vicenta Maria
Following the Saint’s wish that there should be an experiential communication among the communities and responding at the same time to Mother Daria’s invitation, from the novitiate of Buitrago we want to share how we lived this pandemic, a historical event that involves all of us.
At the beginning of the quarantine our daily life, in terms of schedule, did not change much, only having the Eucharist on-line but, even so, with the privilege of receiving communion. We continue with our formation at home, our prayer and community times. But little by little our schedule adapted to the situation after going out to the terrace one day to applaud, in recognition of the health personnel, and singing “Volveremos a brindar” (Lucía Gil) and seeing the repercussion this had in the neighborhood. On the first day, only one person came out and by chance. However, it was a surprise for us to see that every day more and more people joined this moment, becoming the most awaited minutes of the day for the whole neighborhood (including us). The interaction has reached the point of receiving song requests for the next day. This has meant that we have had to include singing rehearsals in our schedule as a current necessity. This also helps us to overcome the helplessness we feel when we are unable to do anything in this situation. Simple gestures like this help us to live it with more joy, faith and hope, and thus be able to transmit it to others. In doing so, we increase, despite the physical distance, the closeness and relations with the neighborhood.
Although we cannot attend the internovitiate courses now, we were pleasantly surprised to be able to enjoy the course on communication in social networks from our being RMI given by Sisters Belén Igeño and Mª Digna Díaz who spoke to us about the Saint as a “great communicator”. We also had the gift of finally seeing snow covering our garden, after waiting for it all winter long.
One of the most significant changes we are experiencing is that respecting security measures leads to an inevitable physical distance between us: in spite of trying to carry it with the greatest joy, celebrations (birthdays, passing to the novitiate, etc.) have become more sober, missing the warmth of an embrace. In the same way, in moments of sadness and difficulty we long for that closeness.
However, we find other ways to take care of each other, being more caring, not losing our sense of humor, enjoying our time together more. During this time, our creativity has been focused on encouraging the community by preparing more animated breaks, with games, songs, etc.
By bringing life to prayer, our rosaries, Stations of the Cross and prayers have also acquired a different nuance.
Although we are in a small village, with the sensation sometimes of living in a bubble where “everything happens on the outside”, the truth is that we are affected inside by the difficult and painful situations that are experienced in the village and throughout humanity, especially by the poorest countries. We feel very close to the communities in which this reality is touching more closely, both for the sick and for those who care for them and for those who are already interceding with the Saint for the Congregation, and we also pray to the Lord for our entire RMI family.
Buitrago de Lozoya, April 05, 2020
Elisa, Jazmin, Olivia, Isabel and Valentina,
RMI Novices