Today is the 30th Anniversary of Orientale Lumen

On this day thirty years ago, May 2, 1995, St. John Paul II published his Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen (Light of the East), which was a significant inspiration for the foundation of our monastery! 

The letter was written for the purpose of enlightening all Catholics about the riches of the Eastern Churches, as well as for the purpose of unity within the whole Church. St. John Paul II explained,

Our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters are very conscious of being the living bearers of this tradition, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. The members of the Catholic Church of the Latin tradition must also be fully acquainted with this treasure and thus feel, with the Pope, a passionate longing that the full manifestation of the Church's catholicity be restored to the Church and to the world, expressed not by a single tradition, and still less by one community in opposition to the other; and that we too may be granted a full taste of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church which is preserved and grows in the life of the Churches of the East as in those of the West.

The central chapters of the letter explain Eastern Christian spirituality in light of monastic life, giving a poetic synthesis of the essence of Eastern monasticism and inspiring our founding bishop, Bishop John Kudrick, in 2008, to invite interested men and women to consider participating in the foundation of monasteries in the Eparchy of Parma. He wrote,

Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter "Orientale Lumen" ("The Light of the East") devotes considerable attention to monasticism as a necessary "reference point for all the baptized" (9). He states that monasticism is the "very soul of the … church" (9) [All such numbers are references to "Orientale Lumen"].

We cannot deny the blessings of monastic experience, past and present, here and elsewhere in our church, but we must be open to re-visioning. This may take the form of extending a present experience or taking a totally new approach. I envision either a men’s or women’s monastery, or both, that will be based on the spirit of "Orientale Lumen." We must take advantage of the "extraordinary flexibility" of Eastern monasticism to "personalize (it to) the times, rhythms and ways of seeking God … to fulfill the expectations of (this particular) church in (this) period of its history" (13).

Mother Cecilia was moved by Bishop John's invitation, especially the quotes from Orientale Lumen, and though she didn't know much about Eastern monasticism, she soon wrote to Bishop John with her interest. 

Orientale Lumen continues to inspire the nuns of our monastery, especially during our current process of revising our monastic typikon (rule of life) which uses the chapter titles of the Apostolic Letter as its outline. The three nuns involved in the revisions are entering deeply into the letter, seeking to more fully understand it and allow it to breathe new breaths of the Spirit into our foundational document.

The photo above is from our "JPII Room," a sitting room in the monastery with books, images and relics of St. John Paul II, a beloved "father" of our monastery. The two books pictured are two original copies of Orientale Lumen, one in English and one in Ukrainian, handed by St. John Paul himself to Fr. Dennis Hrubiak in 1995, who donated them to our monastery a few years ago. 

We think that anyone can benefit from reading Orientale Lumen, regardless of their particular Tradition or vocation. It's not a long read. May it help you to more fully understand the Church and her beauty, as well as the gift of monastic life to the Church and to your life.