In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
 

Brothers and sisters, good morning!

I am very pleased to meet you, shortly after the recognition of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Sister Maria Petra Giordano, a professed nun of the Order of Preachers, who made faith and her vocation the cornerstones of her consecrated life.

Faith and vocation can also guide this meeting of ours, to reaffirm that the contemplative vocation, in the Dominican spirit and in the Church as a whole, does not lie on the margins of the mission, but is its very heart (cf. Second Vatican Council Vat. II, Decree Ad gentes, 40; Constitutionum Fratrum Ordinis Prædicatorum, 2025, nos. 142, 144).

Moreover, from the writings of Jordan of Saxony, the immediate successor of Saint Dominic, it appears that right from the very beginning, the nuns of the first female communities, devoting themselves principally to contemplative prayer and study, accompanied the brothers’ preaching with penance, sharing in the same charism.

The principle of Saint Thomas Aquinas, according to which the fruit of one’s own contemplation is passed on to others (cf. Summa Theologiæ, II-II, q. 188, a. 6), echoes Saint Dominic’s insight that every word of proclamation, in order to be true, must spring from silence, from listening, from prayer and from a profound relationship with God. It is contemplation, “the ‘breath’ of our relationship with God” (Pope Francis, General Audience, 5 May 2021), a silent pause in which to receive the Word and allow ourselves to be transformed by it, which enables us to know things and people ever more fully in Him, so that we may then share with others what we have experienced and understood.

Here, in particular, there is a call addressed to you, Federal Presidents. Your presence during visits to monasteries and in the leadership of the Federation, in fact, beyond the necessary administrative aspects, demands that you be above all guardians of these values (cf. Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction Cor orans, 117).

Saint Dominic, who it is said took delight in speaking with God or speaking of God, taught you to grow in this way. It is therefore fitting that the Visits, too, should always be, first and foremost, occasions for a shared encounter with the Lord, through prayer, mutual listening, fraternal correction and reconciliation.

In this regard, your Constitutions (cf. no. 46) call for diligent observance of a fundamental value of cloistered life: silence. If faithfully cultivated, it will be precious to you, not only for safeguarding the entire observance and favouring tranquillity within the monastery, but also for looking within yourselves, and for being attentive to your sisters in the community and to others outside.

Keeping silence is an act of the will that engages the whole person and helps to cultivate solid relationships, because they are animated by the Word of God. It means creating spaces of freedom and truth, in which to preserve one’s attentiveness, becoming sensitive to the voice of those who “do not count”, and developing wisdom and generosity.

This is particularly important in a world characterized by speed, where everything must be immediately visible and every void must be filled in a hurry. In silence, in fact, the questions that every person asks themselves find a listening ear, though it is not always easy to answer them alone. For this reason, it is essential that your communities offer oases of true and profound peace, where the chaotic turmoil linked to external matters falls silent and one can listen to the voice of God.

Your experience as Federal Presidents also leads you to encounter situations of difficulty: ageing communities, deaths outnumbering new vocations, a decline in working capacity with consequent financial problems, the management of large and costly properties, and challenges such as shared formation, interculturalism and the organization of structures for communion.

The temptation of a “spirit of survival” starts to creep in, leading to isolation and a scaling back of commitments, under the illusion that the few remaining resources will suffice, so as not to depend on others or have to close monasteries.

In the face of this, I invite you not to ask yourselves so much how to maintain structures that are becoming empty. Rather, listen to what the Spirit is asking of the Dominican contemplative life today, mindful that, before the works to be managed, there is a call to which we must respond, a fire that burns and which must not be allowed to die out, as Saint Catherine of Siena said (cf. Dialogue on Divine Providence, chs. XCI–XCII).

Dear Sisters, even amidst the problems of the moment, never lose heart. Your service to the Church is precious: continue it with confidence, in communion and with discernment, united without uniformity, faithful to tradition and open to new things, contemplatives because you are capable of bringing the world before God.

May the Virgin Mary, invoked through the Holy Rosary, teach you to see the Lord’s invisible work each day and, with the help of her grace, to pour the oil of consolation and the wine of hope upon the wounds of humanity in our time (cf. Roman Missal, Common Preface VIII).

I thank you for the gift that you are, and I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you. Thank you.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 30 September 2026