To the Cloistered Sisters in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila (1 November 1982)

On Monday, 1 November 1982, the Holy Father visited the Cloistered Sisters in the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila, whom he assured that “the contemplative life has occupied and will continue to occupy a place of honor in the Church.” 

Dear sisters, cloistered religious of Spain.

1. Pilgrim in the footsteps of Saint Teresa of Jesus, with great pleasure and joy I come to Avila. In this city there are many Teresian places, such as the monastery of Saint Joseph, the first of those "dovecotes" founded by her; this monastery of the Incarnation, where Saint Teresa took the habit of Carmel, made her religious profession, had her decisive "conversion" and lived her experience of total consecration to Christ. It can rightly be said that this is the sanctuary of contemplative life, a place of great mystical experiences, and a radiating center of monastic foundations.

I am pleased, therefore, to be able to meet in this place with you, Spanish cloistered nuns, representatives of the different contemplative families that enrich the Church: Benedictines, Cistercians, Dominicans, Poor Clares, Capuchins, Conceptionists, as well as the Carmelites.

Today's event shows how the different paths and charisms of the Spirit are complementary to each other in the Church. This is a unique experience for the cloistered monasteries and convents that have opened their doors to come on pilgrimage to Avila. To honor, together with the Pope, Saint Teresa, this exceptional woman, doctor of the Church, and yet "completely enveloped in humility, penance and simplicity", as my predecessor Paul VI said (Paul VI, Homilia, die 4 Oct. 1970 : Teachings of Paul VI, VIII [1970] 982 ff).

I thank God for this manifestation of ecclesial union, and for having been able to carry out this open visit to what appears before my eyes as the great monastery of Spain, which is you.

2. The contemplative life has occupied and will continue to occupy a place of honor in the Church. Dedicated to prayer and silence, to adoration and penance from within the cloister, "your life is now hidden with Christ in God" ( Col 3:3). This consecrated life draws its foundation from the gift received in Baptism and is its development. In fact, because of this sacrament, God, who chose us in Christ "before the creation of the world, to be holy and immaculate before him in love" ( Eph 1, 4), freed us from sin and incorporated us to Christ and his Church, so that "we might live a new life" ( Rom 6:4).

This new life has borne fruit in you in the radical following of Jesus Christ through virginity, obedience and poverty, which are the foundation of the contemplative life. He is the center of your life, the reason for your existence: “Good of all goods, Jesus”, as Saint Teresa would summarize (St. Teresa, Life of St. Teresa of Jesus written by herself, 21, 5).

The experience of the cloister makes this journey even more absolute until the identification of religious life with Christ: "Christ is our life" (St. Teresa, Quinte Mansioni , 2, 4) said St. Teresa, making her own the exhortations of St. Paul (cf. Col 3, 3). This identification of the religious woman with Christ constitutes the center of consecrated life and the seal that identifies her as contemplative.

In silence, in the framework of humble and obedient life, the watchful waiting for the Groom is converted into pure and true friendship: "Although he is God, I can deal with him as with a friend" (St. Teresa, Life of St. Teresa of Jesus written by herself, 37, 5). And this assiduous trait, day and night, is prayer, the religious's primary occupation and an indispensable path for her identification with the Lord: “They begin to be servants of love. . . in determining ourselves to follow the path of prayer after Him who loved us so much” (St. Teresa, Life of St. Teresa of Jesus written by herself, 11, 1).

3. The Church knows well that your silent and secluded life, in the external solitude of the cloister, is a leaven of renewal and of the presence of the Spirit of Christ in the world. For this reason the Council said that contemplative religious women "always retain a very eminent place in the mystical Body of Christ. . . They offer God an excellent sacrifice of praise, and by producing abundant fruits of holiness they are an honor and example to the people of God, to whom they increase with a mysterious apostolic fruitfulness. Thus they constitute a glory for the Church and a source of heavenly graces” ( Perfectae Caritatis , 7).

The apostolic fruitfulness of your life proceeds from the grace of Christ, who welcomes and integrates your total oblation in the cloister. The Lord who has chosen you, in identifying you with his paschal mystery, unites you with himself in the sanctifying work of the world. Like branches grafted into Christ, you can bear much fruit (cf. John 15:5), in the admirable and mysterious reality of the communion of saints.

This must be the perspective of faith and ecclesial joy of every day and of all your works. Of your prayer, of your vigils, of your praise in the divine office, of your life in the cell or at work, of your mortifications established by the Rules or voluntary ones, of your infirmities and sufferings, uniting everything to the Sacrifice of Christ. For him, with him and in him, you will be an offering of praise and sanctification to the world.

“So that you have no doubt in this regard - as I said to your sisters in the Carmel of Lisieux - the Church, in the very name of Christ, has one day taken possession of your entire capacity to live and love. It was your monastic profession. Renew it frequently! And, following the example of the saints, consecrate yourselves, sacrifice yourselves more and more every time, without even pretending to know how God uses your collaboration" (John Paul II, Allocutio ad claustrales in urbe Lisieux habita, 2 June 1980 : Teachings of John Paul II, III, 1 [1980] 1665 ff).

Your cloistered life, lived in full fidelity, does not distance you from the Church nor prevent you from an effective apostolate. Remember that daughter of Therese of Jesus, Therese of Lisieux, so close from her seclusion to the missions and missionaries of the world. Like her, be love in the heart of the Church.

4. Your virginal fruitfulness must come to life within the universal Church and your particular Churches. Your monasteries are communities of prayer among Christian communities, to which you give help, nourishment and hope. They are consecrated places and can also be centers of Christian welcome for those people, especially young people, who often seek a simple and transparent life, in contrast to that which is offered to them by the consumer society.

The world needs your presence and your testimony, more than you might think. It is necessary, therefore, to effectively show the authentic and absolute values ​​of the Gospel to a world that frequently exalts the relative values ​​of life. And which runs the risk of losing the sense of the divine, drowned in the excessive valorization of the material, of the ephemeral, of that which ignores the happiness of the Spirit.

It is a question of opening it to the evangelizing message which summarizes your life and which finds echo in those words of Teresa of Jesus: "Go therefore, the world's goods. . . even if I lost everything, only God is enough” (S. Teresa, Poems , 30).

5. In contemplating many cloistered religious women today, I cannot help but think of the great Spanish monastic tradition, its influence on Spanish culture, customs and life. Could it not be here that the moral strength resides, and where the continuous reference to the spirit of the Spaniards is found?

The Pope invites you today to persist in cultivating your consecrated life through a liturgical, biblical and spiritual renewal, in line with the directives of the Council. All this requires ongoing formation that enriches your spiritual life, giving it a solid doctrinal, theological and cultural foundation. In this way, you will be able to give that evangelizing response that awaits many young people of our time, who even today approach your monasteries, attracted by a life of generous dedication to the Lord.

In this regard I want to make an appeal to the Christian communities and their Pastors, reminding them of the irreplaceable role that contemplative life occupies in the Church. We must all value and deeply esteem the dedication of contemplative souls to adoration, praise and sacrifice.

They are very necessary in the Church. They are prophetesses and living teachers for all; they are the vanguards of the Church towards the Kingdom . Their attitude towards the realities of the world, which they contemplate according to the Wisdom of the Spirit, enlightens us about the ultimate goods and allows us to experience first-hand the gratuitousness of God's saving love. I therefore urge everyone to try to inspire vocations among the young people for monastic life; in the certainty that these vocations will enrich the whole life of the Church.

6. We must conclude this meeting, although it is so pleasant for the Pope to be with these faithful daughters of the Church. I conclude with a word of encouragement: maintain your faithfulness! Fidelity to Christ, to your vocation as contemplatives, to your original charism.

Daughters of Carmel: be living images of your Mother Teresa, of her spirituality and her humanism. Be truly, as she was and wanted to be called - and as I want her to be called - Teresa of Jesus.

Contemplative religious women all: may our founders and foundresses be known through you too.

Live your ecclesial vocation with joy and pride, help and pray for each other, pray for religious vocations, for priests and priestly vocations. And pray also for the fruitfulness of the ministry of the successor of Peter who speaks to you. I know you do and I thank you very much.

I present your people and your intentions to the Lord. And I recommend you to the most holy Mother, model of contemplative souls, so that she may make of you, from the cross and glory of her Son, a joyful donation to the Church.

Bring my cordial greetings to your sisters who were unable to come to Avila. I bless you all with affection in the name of Christ.

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