The Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great are holding their XI General Chapter in Rome, Italy from July 8 to July 19, 2019.
The opening Divine Liturgy was held at St. Peter’s Basilica at the altar of St. Basil which has the body of St Josaphat enshrined in it. The Liturgy was celebrated by His Beatitude Sviatoslav and Bishop Dionysia and several priests.
The Opening Ceremonies started with the singing of “Heavenly King” in Spanish, Slovak, Romanian, Spanish, Ukrainian and English followed by an official opening of the Chapter by Mother Dia Stasiuk, OSBM.
After approval of the Facilitator and Chapter personnel, Sr. Dorothy Ann Busowski was elected as Chapter Chairperson. A Chapter Steering Committee was elected afterwards which included: Sr. Ihnatia Havrylyk, Sr. Maria Ignat, Sr. Susan Sisko, Sr Lucia Murashko.
There are 43 international delegates representing 13 provinces, vice-provinces and delegatures. The meetings are being held at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Collegium in Rome, Italy.
The theme of the Chapter is “New Wine in New Wineskins” from the Vatican document “New Wine in New Wineskins: The Consecrated Life and Its Ongoing Challenges since Vatican II”. The motto is Jesus’ words from John 19: 28, “I thirst”. The Logo reflects both the motto and the theme.
In the afternoon language groups were formed to discuss how our gifts may be transformed into “New Wine” for the Order.
We invite everyone to pray with us, asking God to send the Holy Spirit to inspire the Sister-delegates as they pray, discern, develop and prepare a vision and plan for the future of the Order and elect the members of the next General Administration to lead them on their journey.
