We did it!
Thank you, dear readers, for your prayers, sacrifices, and notes of encouragement. We felt your love and support as the entire community gathered to listen to the Lord, pray, and discuss, while staying in our respective countries.
We call this a sobor, a Russian word meaning a church which gathers all people into one for a solemn and important meeting, leading to sobornost, a unity of mind and heart.
This was the first time in our history we have met in this way. The only other time we have all been together was after the death of our foundress, Catherine Doherty, in December 1985, when everyone travelled to Combermere for the funeral.
This time our gathering was motivated by the current desperate world situation and a spiritual nudge from reading and studying the words of Catherine, who always encouraged us to follow whatever new paths the Lord makes for us. We wanted to ask, as we prayed and looked at Christ all together, what he wanted to say to us at this time in our history and that of the world.
The logistics of organizing this event were daunting. The members from half of our mission houses around the world stopped their usual activities and travelled to the next closest mission house so they could participate as a larger group. Four staff members who could not travel joined us individually, so we had ten or more Zoom screens projected on the white wall of our auditorium at St. Mary’s, in Combermere.
For six days in late January, we met during the afternoons. This was to enable our members on the west coast of Canada, where it was morning, to participate with those in Europe, who were in the evening hours of their day.
There were a few technical glitches, which is not surprising, considering the equipment and expertise necessary to connect everyone. Meaghan Boyd, Peter Goring, and Fr. Zachary Romanowsky spent hours working out the set-up; this included broadcasting software as well as Zoom capabilities.
All our cameras, microphones, and other devices, had to be run through this software in order to use the sound system in the auditorium. Our tech team worked out the glitches as we went along. Each afternoon, before the main gathering, they ran multiple tests with the field houses and individuals outside of Combermere to make sure everyone was securely connected.
What a thrill it was to be all together in one place at the same time!
We had been preparing for this gathering since last October with meetings, discussions, studying some of Catherine’s writings, and with much prayer.
In Combermere and in the mission houses, we had extra times of prayer and fasting, and holy hours. One evening, shortly before the event, we gathered in St. Mary’s chapel for a longer time of adoration and Confessions with teams available to pray with people who requested it.
If we wanted our hearts open to listen together to the Lord, it was important for us to clear them of any resentments, unforgiveness of one another, or other impediments. We wanted to be simple, open, and vulnerable before the Lord.
It was all worth it! The air of anticipation before each day’s gathering was palpable.
The Directors General (Elizabeth Bassarear, Larry Klein and Fr. David Linder) started us off with a few remarks.
Larry situated our sobor as a time of listening to the Holy Spirit with reverence for the past and with hope and faith for the future. Elizabeth said that, confronted by the world’s despair, we have to bring to it hope and love. Fr. David called it a time of “active waiting” as a response to a nudge from the Holy Spirit.
It would not be possible to give a clear, precise account of all that was said, as much of the action took place in our hearts, shaping and expanding our perceptions and ideas.
Another aspect is that the strong Eastern roots we inherited from our foundress seem to resist attempts to categorize and define, thus pushing us into larger vistas and flexibility. We have learned over the years that our inheritance from Catherine is not static but is dynamic and open.
Each day, after the large group meeting, we met in smaller groups to continue our reflections and then give feedback to the larger group.
We talked about our community charisms. There was energy, excitement, and unity as we talked about what is important to preserve in our vocation and how well (or not) our structures are serving what God has asked us to do and be for the world. What is the cry of humanity, of people today? How are we looking at the future—our personal future, the world’s future?
The objective of the sobor was to listen—to God in our hearts and to God through each other. What will change as a result of this meeting? Maybe not too much on a physical level, but this process has served to deepen us all. We are united in an increasing awareness of the needs of our time.
People need relationships to break the devastating loneliness which envelops them. Every human being needs to know he or she is loved by God and to meet God in some way. They need a sense of family, of caring for each other. The answer to everything, of course, is always to love and serve more.
In their closing remarks, our Directors General reminded us that Madonna House is not the work of Catherine Doherty, of our elected directors, or of any individual member. It is the house of Our Lady of Combermere and a work of the Holy Spirit.
They see this sobor as the beginning of another journey, one of incarnating our renewed and united zeal and love for our vocation and apostolate. We will be unpacking the words and fruits of this meeting for some time, walking with each other and continuing to listen to the Lord.
Changes and adaptations of some structures may be discerned in the future, but our hospitality, our being present and serving others, can only go deeper as we trust and follow the Lord’s promptings. It is clear that we all want to do God’s will, wherever it leads us.
This time together was a tremendous gift for our community and worth every effort made to prepare for it. It was just like when a large family has a gathering, and every member, from the oldest to the youngest, has a word to contribute.
Thank you again, dear friends and readers. We are grateful for your faithful prayers and support and for the way you carry us in your hearts. May the Lord bless you.
