The Adoration for the Vocations Month in the Tarxien community was organised on 16 May 2024, a date carefully chosen to inaugurate the celebrations in honour of St Jeanne-Antide, whose feast day falls on 23 May.
The community of Tarxien undertook to host the Adoration with the main responsibility of sister Melissa who translated the texts into Maltese to ensure that all guests could understand them and pray with greater ease and prepared the chapel for this moment of prayer.
The ‘call’ for this powerful moment of prayer was widespread: through a leaflet circulated on social media and other means of communication. Sisters of Charity from neighbouring communities, lay people, young people and other religious participated in the celebration.
To assist the assembly in prayer, the altar was decorated with a large planisphere and candles. Then, the three areas of service of the Sisters of Charity were presented:
- Books: to represent education
- A basket with food: to represent social work
- A stethoscope and a tunic: to represent healthcare.
During the prayer, in an evocative and collected atmosphere, participants were invited to go up in procession to the altar to light a candle and place it near a country that is suffering, continuing to pray for serenity and peace in that nation
“As Sisters of Charity, praying together with others was an experience of deep joy and unity. Hearing hearts united in one prayer and feeling the strength of community filled me with great peace. It was a time when our souls came together, overcoming individual barriers and feeling like one big spiritual family. The joy of being together in prayer warmed our hearts, renewing our faith and our hope for the future”, wrote sister Melissa, youth pastoral leader in Malta.
