Within the Church, deeply united with Christ, let us live Holy Week with Marie Eugénie.
Each year the Church offers us a special time to prepare ourselves to enter into the joy of Easter. This season of Lent is a precious moment in which we unite our lives with that of the Redeemer Christ. This year Pope Leo XIV invites us to practice with fervor three essential attitudes: “Listen, disarm our words, and pray more.” During Holy Week, let us put them into practice in a simple way rooted in our daily lives.
Listening to the Word of God, allowing ourselves to be touched and challenged by every gesture and every Word of Jesus. Being attentive to the cries of suffering members. For this, Silence is a very effective means.
Disarming our words by learning to speak with gentleness and simplicity, as Marie Eugénie said: “measured speech.” [1]
To pray is to enter into an intimate relationship with the suffering Christ. It is a manifestation of love. Marie Eugénie affirms: “there is no more powerful motive for ardent love for our Lord than to reflect on the love he showed by dying for us on the Cross.” [2] During these holy days, let us fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. With Marie Eugénie, let us ask the Lord for the gift of unceasing prayer.
During this time of Lent, especially throughout this Holy Week, we are called to live the METANOIA. This is lived in two interdependent ways: The vertical conversion through the sacrament of reconciliation, by which Jesus heals us and exercises upon us his unfathomable mercy. The horizontal conversion, that is, reconciliation among ourselves and with creation. The forgiveness received and given strengthens our relationships and leads us to the manifestation of true love. We feel that granting forgiveness to someone with whom we struggle is not easy, yet it is a grace. It requires humility, simplicity, and self-forgetfulness in imitation of merciful Jesus Christ. Let us adopt a renewed outlook each morning and ask the Lord for a new heart and spirit. If we can experience this, we will rejoice in celebrating the Easter of Christ, rising with Him.
During this Holy Week, let us place ourselves in the school of communion. On Holy Thursday, the washing of the feet reminds us that service is an act of love, and the Eucharist unites us with Christ and with one another as one body. On Good Friday, through his Cross, Christ unites us with the Father and with one another. On Holy Saturday, let us keep the silence of waiting with Mary our Mother. The Easter Vigil opens us to the joy of the Resurrection of our Lord. We are invited to be filled with His heart by offering Him ardent love. By allowing ourselves to be loved, we become capable of loving one another without exclusion.
During this Holy Week, let us unite our prayers and hearts, praying especially for peace in the world and for peoples suffering from war. With joy and hope, let us journey together toward Easter.
Sr Joeline RASOANANDRASANA
Province of Madagascar
[1] Chapter Instruction of February 16, 1879 (silence)
[2] Chapter Instruction March 12, 1876 (l