In this information service, we frequently receive enquiries about the situation of our Discalced Carmelite sisters in Tolentino, who, as we informed you on the 3rd of November 2016, had to abandon their monastery after severe damage caused to it by an earthquake on the 30th of October that year. The earthquake happened just as the community had begun to celebrate Mass, at which was presiding the then Provincial of Central Italy, Fr Gabriele Morra.
They were taken in on that very day by the Sisters in Fano and, right from the beginning, the nuns began to look for alternative solutions in order to liberate the monastery and community of Fano from the material overload implied by the added presence of nineteen extra nuns, even though the good will and fraternal love were greater than any difficulty. By finding a suitable place, the Tolentino community could also recover a certain autonomy, always necessary.
Finally, on the 22nd of July 2017, thanks to the interest taken by the Augustinian Fathers and the generosity of the Augustinian Sisters of St Rita of Cascia, the nuns were able to transfer to the “Saint Augustine” vocational discernment house close by. Since this date they have been there, hoping to be able to restore the Tolentino monastery. The effort they must make is by no means small and they must still gather a lot of help. Already, some supportive efforts have been initiated, which we have reported in our social sites, but the community lives through the journey they have taken on, with hope and abandonment to God’s will, after that painful day of the 30th of October 2016.
On this site you can download, in Italian, a written chronicle by the sisters themselves, which we have synthesized in this news item: http://www.sannicoladatolentino.it/files/Bollettino-luglio-settembre-2017–DEF.pdf
