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Nicola Nicoletti
A work of intense preparation for the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 accompanied the religious community of the Olivetan monks. The three years of study for the Jubilee by the Benedictine congregation were supported by letters sent for Easter and Christmas by the Abbot General Michelangelo Maria Tiribilli to all religious. In this way the reflections by Pope John Paul II on the apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente were transmitted to all the monastic family. The Letter, as Father Tiribilli declared, also illuminated the Jubilee for the 650th anniversary of the founder, blessed Bernardo Tolomei. The Holy Father himself wrote to the Olivetan Benedictine congregation: The luminous figure of the blessed Bernardo, creator of schools of the service of God (Benectine Regula) is a singular example of the presence of the action of the Holy Spirit - the Pope states source of the great variety of charisms which the Spouse of Christ lives from. The spiritual retreats of the monks in 2000 took impulse from the Indiction Bull Incarnationis Mysterium. The theme adopted for the reflections, The Jubilee of 2000 as a greater interior experience of living, highlighted the speech of conversion and penance as fundamental moments to move closer to the evangelical message and friendship with God, the time of the Jubilee lived as the introduction to the divine pedagogy of salvation. The reflection on the themes of the three years of preparation, was also extended to the reading in the canteen, during which 365 thoughts a day were considered respectively on the Son, the Holy Spirit and on the Father. Cultural and formation moments also need to be recalled, including the meeting on Mount Oliveto held in 1996 and the European conference promoted by the Italian Historic Benedictine Centre. There was no lack of a concrete sign like the restructuring of the monastic guest quarters for the reception of Jubilee pilgrims. A prayer vigil was held on the night between 31 December 1999 and 1 January 2000. The Jubilee of the Community of Mount Oliveto Major will be held on 5 February. A community celebration to ask for pardon, as suggested by the T.M.A. is planned for March 8, Ash Wednesday. The pilgrimage and Jubilee of the parishes of the Diocese of Mount Oliveto at the abbatial church, headquarters of the territorial Abbey, is scheduled for 2 April. A moment of certain significance for the Benedictine congregation will be the pilgrimage of 20 May to Rome, in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran and to the Divino Amore. The Olivetan family will meet to celebrate the liturgical feast of the Founder of the congregation. The Mass will be attended by the monks who celebrate their own monastic or priesthood jubilee. The Jubilee for the Olivetan Cenacle will be held on the solemnity of the nativity of the Virgin Mary, on 8 September. The Olivetan sanctuaries in the world will then be points of reference for the jubilee path of the respective local churches. The path also continues in the communities that are located in Brasil, at San Antonio di Riberao Preto and in Guatemala, at San Bernardo Tololei. |
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