When, in obedience to our Constitutions, my new provincial minister reappointed me as guardian for a fourth consecutive term, we came upon the following: “Anyone who has served as guardian for the maximum period allowed (three consecutive three-year terms) will be excused from this position for at least one year.” This prompted him to offer me a sabbatical (the first in my life as a friar with forty years of religious profession) and to give me the freedom to choose how and where to live it.
It took me a couple of days to think and pray about it, and the hermitage of Le Celle di Cortona came to mind as inspiration.
From the very first email contacts, I felt welcomed by the brothers. And upon my arrival, a celebration was held on Tuesday afternoon before Ash Wednesday.
Then began Lent. A profound time of conversion which, in daily life, gradually expressed itself in much personal and fraternal prayer, much serene manual labor and deep fraternal communication. I also received the grace of personalized spiritual guidance from Brother Guardian. It was a great enrichment.
I discovered that this place was the desire of St. Francis when he arrived there and founded it in 1211 after spending Lent on Lake Trasimeno’s Isola Maggiore, returning several more times in 1215 and in 1226. Here, he always sought contemplative prayer and the opportunity to recover spiritual and physical strength for his battered body. For him, it was a place of healing and recovery for his whole being.
It is becoming the same for me as well. This place that the Order offers us needs to be cared for with commitment and lived out with depth and enthusiasm so that the sign we strive to convey is strong in its message.
Here you can experience that the center of fraternity is Jesus, just as Francis of Assisi lived him: humble, poor and servant. If you allow it, every moment of prayer will be an opportunity for conversion and an opportunity for mercy in your life, just as you have lived it so far. Each day of manual labor will soothe your soul as you bend your back to Mother Earth and, at sunset, you will give thanks for your labor through the Eucharist despite your amassed fatigue.
When, after reciting Compline, you and the other brothers begin to wash and put everything away, you will have the opportunity to enjoy recreation, where the sharing of life lived during the day will yield to a time of relaxation and connection with others from the heart.
It is worth staying in this place privileged as a site of Francis’ presence, because it is not a museum, where one can only observe artifacts behind a glass case, but is a living fraternity that embodies Capuchin values in every detail of every day. If we love our vocation as Capuchin Friars Minor, it is here that we can return to our first love.
If you would like to learn more about the Celle di Cortona and the Capuchin experience, visit https://www.lecelledicortona.it.
A testimony of Br. Carlos Novoa, Argentina
