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On this cold and sunny morning in Rome, we Sisters and other members of the Salvatorian family met in the Chapter Room at the Villa Maria Casa per Ferie, for the official opening of the XIX General Chapter of the Congregation.

Sister Therezinha Joana Rasera, General Superior, welcomed all the Sisters, along with the others who were present, and spoke profoundly on the theme of the Chapter: "Salvatorian Women in Solidarity for Hope and for Life". Afterwards, the assembly invoked the guidance of the Holy Spirit for this month of decisive work, reflection and decision-making for the next 6 years of our Salvatorian mission. This began with a liturgical dance of invocation of the Spirit, performed by Sr. Deepa Joseph (India), followed by the hymn Veni Creator.

Sister Therezinha Rasera continued with the opening procedures of the Chapter and presented persons who will facilitate the Chapter Assembly: Fr. Dennis Thiessen, SDS (USA), who will be the Facilitator, and Fr. Joao Batista Libânio, SJ (Brazil), who, during the first week of Chapter, will help us to analyze our Salvatorian reality in today's world.
Fr. Dennis presented an overview of the work of the first four weeks of the Chapter, inviting us to meet in small groups to get to know one another better, since the Chapter Sisters come from 21 different countries, speaking 5 different languages.

In the evening we had the Eucharistic Celebration, presided by Fr. Andrew Urbanski, SDS (Tanzania), General Superior of the Salvatorian Fathers and Brothers. In his words to us, he highlighted the scene of the Disciples at Emmaus (John 24:13-35), bringing with him two symbols which are very dear to us in the Salvatorian Family: the image of Our Lady of Sorrows and the globe that once belonged to our Founder, Fr. Jordan. These symbols were brought into the Chapter Room by two Lay Salvatorians who were recently elected to the International Board: Mrs. Judy Davis (USA) - President, e Mr. Christian Patzl (Austria) Councilor.

Historically, our Founder used to write prayers in the form of short notes and place them in the hands of Our Lady. In this liturgy we repeated this simple gesture of profound faith, placing our petitions before the Mother of our Savior.

Sr. Therezinha Rasera gave the homily of the Mass, emphasizing two icons of the Gospel that were especially chosen for sounding the depths of our theme: John 20:11-18, the appearance of Jesus to the Magdalene, and John 11:1-44, the resurrection of Lazarus. The day ended with a festive dinner for the Chapter participants and all the members of the Salvatorian Family who were with us at Villa Maria.

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