THE SERVICE

OF
ACCOMPANYIN
G
 A PRAYER WRITTEN BY NUESTRA MADRE
(Obras Completas. Ej. Esp. 1950 Pag 677ss. Fol. 894)

My God, always make us patient with faulty souls: teach us to sacrifice

ourselves for them, to tolerate them as we would like to be tolerated in
difficult circumstances.
Give us the wonderful science of souls. Give us the gift of souls.
Heavenly Father, Incarnate Word, Holy Spirit, I ask you for all the
people who lead souls, for the one who writes this and for all those who
in our Institute of Clarissan Missionaries will be in charge of souls:
even those of them who may have only a single sister to deal with;
…………………
So that fraternally united in charity, this bond is tightened more and
more, and we can actually be more useful to the Holy Church, to her
missions and to the souls in general. Teach us, Lord Jesus, to love as
you have loved us.
Give me the grace that I need to direct your flock along the right path
that leads to you; Do go ahead of me, so that, following your footsteps, I
may not move even an inch from your divine teachings.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you! I also trust in my sweet
Mother of heaven, in my beloved Morenita, in the Lady of my soul, in
the robber of hearts!
Amen
 What type of
accompaniment are we
called to live, following
the example of Nuestra
Madre?
Accompanying is ...
• An art that involves the
creativity of the Holy Spirit.
• A help to grow in faith, in
spiritual life, according to one's
vocation and to advance on
the path of holiness.
• Necessary to make the
baptismal grace bear fruit.
• Accompanying is a gift, that
must be cultivated with
humility.
• A service for which
preparation, experience and
above all an integrated life and
union with God are needed.
It is an encounter with the grace of God
 The Pedagogy of Jesus
Jesus is with his disciples in the different
circumstances of life, He prays with them,
instructs them in the things of the Kingdom,
guides them and helps them discover and
respond to God's will from their concrete reality.
The disciples on the road to
Emmaus (cfr. Lc 24, 13 - 35),
and the dialogo of Jesus with
the Samaritan woman (cfr. Jn
4:1-42)
are excellent examples of
accompaniment.
 The Aim of accompaniment
• Spiritual accompaniment is aimed at helping one
discover and love the will of God, so to attain
spiritual maturity.
• It implies the passing from an ilusionary faith to an
adult one, «attaining that maturity of the fullness of
Christ.» (Eph. 4:13).
• A tree that grows by itself may bear
fruits, but it is in danger of pests,
diseases, etc. ...
• A well-cared for tree bears abundant,
good quality fruits.
• Accompaniment is necessary to
cultivate and make grow the grace of
our baptism, in order to bear
abundant fruits.
 How should it be done?
• Covering all dimensions of the person.
• Offering a constant, systematic
accompaniment.
• Promoting trust, attention, listening and
closeness in the daily life. Following the
example of Our Mother Foundress.
 Methodology of Encounter:
• Reception, greetings
• Listen with attention, without interrupting, without thinking of what
to answer, listen to not only the words but also the non verbal
language (the silences, what one would like to say but cannot say).
• Allow one self to be enlightened, to discern together where God is
leading you to, what to work on, the obstacles.
• Motivate at the light of the Gospel and our spirituality, so to continue
on the right path.
• Decide, trace out an objective, change something or make it better.
The objectives should be realistic:
• According to the reality and possibilities of the person,
so to avoid frustrations and disappointment; because
each one has her path.
• They have to be verified and reviewed with a certain
margin of objectivity and precision.
Pope Francis invites us to listen with an attitude that
implies three differents but complimentary
sensitivity or attentions:
1. In the First place, there is the attention to
the person, listening and welcoming the
other, what he tells us with his words.
The sign of this listening is the time I dedicate
to it; an unconditional and non-judgmental,
attentive and disinterested listening that
indicates the value that the other person has
for us, it goes beyond the ideas and life
choices.
2. The second sensitivity or attention is "discerning", that
is, knowing how to fish out the right point in which grace
or temptation is discerned; an oriented listening to discern
the saving words of the good Spirit who offers us the truth
of the Lord, but also the traps of the evil spirit –its errors
and seductions–; having the courage, affection and delicacy
necessary to help the other to recognize the truth and the
deceptions or excuses.
3. The third sensitivity or attention is inclined at listening
to the impulses that the other person experiences and “
shows forth", the deep listening of "where the other really
wants to go", directing the attention towards what he
would like to be; it is the attentive listening to his ultimate
intention , which is what really determines life.
Cfr. FRANCISCO, Post-sinodal Apostolic Exhortación «Christus
vivit», 292-294.
Types of accompaniment.
 SPIRITUAL
ACCOMPANIMENT
&
THE SACRAMENTS
Spiritual Accompaniment
It touches the interior of the
person, his life of union with
God, his desires, his
struggles, his conscience, his
path of holiness.
Accompaniment by the
Superiors and Formators
Ensure the integral growth
of the sister in all her
dimensions.
Community
Accompaniment
The quality of the
fraternal life of the
community with its different
dynamisms accompanies the
sister in her personal
development
Environment and circumstances
The historical moment that we
have to live, with its challenges
and possibilities, influences our
personal and apostolic life; how we
deal with it can help us grow in
creativity and fidelity.
In a way, we all accompany each other, having the
opportunity to share at a certain point in our lives,
the same road.
 Dinamisms of Accompaniment.
1. Spiritual life of the community
• Community Prayer
• The Eucharist
• Revision of life
• Examination of conscience
2. Fraternal Life
• Sharing experiences of faith
• Fraternal correction
• Personal interview
• Sharing of free time
• General, Regional and Local
accompaniment
 General, Regional and Local Accompaniment.
• The sisters who carry out the service of authority, are
called to receive, accompany and orient the sisters that
arrive to their communities or regions; they are to be for
the sisters, a point of reference that favor the continuity
on their path of personal santification. In this way, the
process began at the initial stage of their formation is
followed up and the sister continues to grow in what ever
community or Region she finds herself.
General and regional accompaniment through:
Visits, calls, personal interviews, letters, whatsapp, video
calls, meetings, conferences by ZOOM.
Local accompaniment:
In the daily life; being with the sisters in their activities,
listening, attending to their basic needs of health, food,
clothing ... Community conferences, personal interviews.
How Nuestra Madre used to accompany?
Her personal experience

• Our Mother took her spiritual life very seriously, she always
maintained her desire for holiness from the beginning, that led
her to seek accompaniment, so to help discern God's will and
to ask for guidance in her path of following Christ.
• Before she entered the monastery, she already had someone
accompanying her in her spiritual life, to help her grow in the
life of union with God and in the practice of the theological
virtues.
 “I feel, father, a great need for direction. I will try to explain what it has
been for me and in what periods of my life I had it ...”

• From her youth, Father Camacho, whom she considers a true father, accompanied
her at the time of her conversion and helped her in the difficult moments of the
cross, of searching for her vocation of waiting for her to enter,. (Cf. Spiritual
direction, in Complete Works, p. 876 ff.).
• Before entering the monastery, she was also accompanied through constant
correspondence with Mother María Teresa Vázquez, founder of the Ave María
Monastery, who later became her Abbess. Among many things, she recommended
that she loves the cross, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to turn to Mary always. (Cf.
Spiritual direction, in Complete Works, pp. 857-875).
• From the moment she entered the monastery she entrusted her wishes for
holiness to her formator: "Mother, help me to be a saint like Saint Therese."
She had great affection and availability towards her mother, Abbess, to
allow herself to be formed by her in the image of Christ.
(Cf. "Five sketchs" and "Account of conscience", in Complete Works, p.
217-227).
• She herself in a letter to her spiritual director recounts the process of being
accompanied from the first years of her religious life:
• "At this time I felt greatly in need of direction, God gave me Father Rafael
Martínez del Campo, who guided me on the path of trust and
abandonment ..."
• "When the soul is wrapped in sorrows, when it walks through darkness, it
needs a helping hand to point out the way..."
"I have tried all my life that the Holy Spirit be the director of my soul ...
but despite the current circumstances in which I find myself, I am very
afraid of erring without the help of a prudent director ..."
"I like it when I have a director [...] that the spirit of faith is the one that
vivifies and works in everything and that trust opens the doors of the
heart"
Father Fidel Chauvet strongly insisted on the spirit of faith and the
reading of Sacred Scripture.
(Cf. Spiritual direction, in Complete Works, p. 960-962)
Testimonies of some sisters
who lived with Our Mother
“She was a very welcoming person, close to her daughters. They all
felt very much loved by her ”.
"We have a good testimony in the life and writings of Our Mother
Foundress, of her concern to personally and communally accompany
her daughters in all areas of life."
"In her dealings with her daughters, she was very open,
understanding and maternal, listening to everyone and always
available."
• “When she rebukes or corrects, it was done with great
love and humility, preceded by prayer, justice and truth
”.
• "For Mother Inés the only thing that mattered was the
sister, to console her, to make her grow in the proposed
ideal."
• “She taught not only with words but above all with her
testimony, with her loving presence, cheerfulness,
vigilance, simplicity, understanding but with firmness at
the same time.”.
• “...I felt very loved by her, when I went to talk to her to
tell her about some material or spiritual difficulty, she
listened to me with all the necessary attention, without
haste ”.
• “Many times I entered worried, sad and after talking with
her I left comforted, happy, with the desire to love our
Lord more and to give everything even in the midst of
difficulties.”.
• “She made us love the will of God, the spirit of sacrifice
and she instilled in us that desire for the salvation of souls ”.
• "Always available to listen, without haste, without showing
nervousness, as if at that moment she forgot everything she
had to do."
• “She tried to supernaturally motivate her daughters by
giving them some difficult obedience or by giving them
painful news that she knew would make them suffer.”.
• “A discouraged or sad person never came out of
those interviews the same, but rather encouraged,
infected by her enthusiasm and by the peace that
she radiated ”.
• “In her dealings with the sisters, her delicacy drew
their attention powerfully. She knew how to
remember with details and little things that
surprised and pleased everyone, she was delicate
and respectful of all”.
 In the Lyre of the Heart NM tells us:
• “From those interviews, in which filial trust and
maternal love merge, great generosities are born, an
intense love of sacrifice, sweet peace of heart, well-
being, tranquility; from those two fused loves sprouts
the flame that gives rise more and more to the love of
God and neighbor”. (Cfr. Obras completas, p. 173)
• “Never be discouraged. But if that feeling appears in
your heart, keep repeating ... "Sacred heart of Jesus I
trust in you" and sweet Heart of Mary be my
salvation, it will dissipate and the soul will remain in
that sweet and quiet joy of the children who live in
the arms of God”.
(Cl. Febrero 1953)
Naturally the accompaniment should
lead us to a greater desire and
search for God, help to make the
heart burn, keep the flame.
Accompaniment leads us to
discernment whose goal is to know
and do the will of God.
Nuestra Madre,
Pray for us.

THANKS