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39th Salvatorian Meeting Day – Vienna/Austria

On Saturday, September 27, 2025, the 39th Salvatorian Meeting Day took place in Vienna City at St. Michael’s Parish with the theme “Have we fallen out of time – Why Lay Salvatorians?”

As always, it was a very joyful celebration and reunion of the Salvatorian Family in Austria. The keynote address was given by Christian Patzl, president of the International Community of the Divine Savior. He covered a wide range of topics, from the term “layperson” and its origin and incorrect interpretation, to the vocation of Lay Salvatorians and their tasks and Salvatorian mission. It was emphasised that Lay Salvatorians are on a permanent pilgrimage.

Various posters provided information about the history of lay Salvatorians in Austria and internationally, as well as the various focal points of their work.
A subsequent panel discussion deepened the insight into the development of lay Salvatorians from personal experiences, the perspective of Salvatorian religious members, the Salvatorian vocation as such, and the cooperation between the three branches.
A beautifully arranged Vespers service organized by the Lay Salvatorians concluded this very fraternal day.

 

Guest at the US Unit General Assembly 2025

The US Unit General Assembly took place from June 24 to 27, 2025, at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Benet Lake, WI. The main purpose of this assembly was to implement the ICDS statutes and thus establish the current ICDS unit in the USA. The existing sectors were brought together under the new ICDS umbrella and a leadership team was elected in accordance with the ICDS statutes. The oldest organization of lay Salvatorians worldwide thus paved the way for its entry into the ICDS. The transition was very simple, as it mostly only required renaming the offices. Only the auditors, who are now required, and those responsible for safeguarding, data protection, and JPIC had to be reappointed.

Fr. Silas Henderson, SDS, was recruited as facilitator and gave a very interesting presentation on the difference between apostles and disciples.

The meeting was characterized by a very lively exchange between the delegates, some of whom were meeting members from other sectors for the first time. Moving reflections by lay Salvatorians and intercessions during the daily Masses, as well as spiritually immersive prayer times, rounded off this moving and historic meeting.

Once again, many thanks for allowing me to participate as a guest.

 

 

Pope Francis passed away

Pope Francis has passed away this morning and with him a great man of the Catholic Church. May his humanitarian and social visions and his pioneering activities always remain in our good and wise memory and may we continue to draw advice and wisdom from his encyclicals.

Thank you, Holy Father Francis, for allowing us to share a part of the journey with you.

 

Invitation to a brief reflection (not only for lent) – Invitación a una breve reflexión

Invitation to a brief reflection

A listening heart is mindful and attentive,
willing and receptive, persistent and patient.

 

A listening heart seeks stillness and silence,
avoids all kinds of chattiness,
allows itself and others enough time.

 

A listening heart combines depth and breadth,
is open to surprises, pleasant and amazing things.

 

A listening heart creates enough inner space
to also keep safe what it neither understands nor grasps.

 

A listening heart can keep to itself what has been entrusted to it
and takes good care to always exercise discretion. Continue Reading

St. Valentine’s day: Another attempt

English

Let’s try a new attempt for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries on February, 14th. Especially from the Anglican side, this day has become very fashionable and brings good sales to the flower and candy sellers. It is a celebration of “love”, which is expressed through small gifts to our loved ones. Just a commercial celebration or could there be more hidden here?

If you browse through the story, the tradition1 tells of two Valentines and distinguishes and mixes them at the same time. On the one hand, there is a Valentine of Terni and on the other hand a Valentine of Rome. But perhaps it is also one and the same person. Valentine of Rome is said to have married lovers according to the Christian rite as a simple priest, despite the prohibition by Emperor Claudius II, and was executed on February 14, 269. Valentin also gave flowers from his garden to the newly married couples. According to tradition, the marriages he entered into were “under a good star”. Bishop Valentin of Terni is said to have won over many people to the Christian faith by healing the sick in Rome. This brought him a charge in court and around the year 268 he was martyred by decapitation. Continue Reading

A brief review of 8 February, 2025

English

As you could read in the previous blog post, 8 February is to become a day of celebration and commemoration for the lay Salvatorians around the world. Some units were kind enough to send a few pictures, which you can see in the cloud above. Brazil and Venezuela – Thank you very much for that, and may this encourage other units to celebrate this day a little next year too.

There was also feedback from Poland but unfortunately, it was without pictures.

Espanol

Como se puede leer en la entrada anterior del blog, el 8 de febrero se convertirá en un día de celebración y conmemoración para los salvatorianos laicos de todo el mundo. Algunas unidades tuvieron la amabilidad de enviar algunas fotos, que se pueden ver en la nube de arriba. Brasil y Venezuela: Muchas gracias por ello, y que esto anime a otras unidades a celebrar también un poco este día el año que viene.
También hubo comentarios de Polonia, pero desafortunadamente, no había fotos.

Français

Comme vous avez pu le lire dans le précédent article de blog, le 8 février est appelé à devenir une journée de célébration et de commémoration pour les laïcs salvatoriens du monde entier. Certaines unités ont eu la gentillesse d’envoyer quelques photos, que vous pouvez voir dans le nuage ci-dessus. Brésil et Venezuela – Merci beaucoup pour cela, et que cela encourage d’autres unités à célébrer un peu cette journée l’année prochaine également.
La Pologne a également fait part de ses commentaires, mais malheureusement, sans photos.

Polska

Jak można było przeczytać w poprzednim wpisie na blogu, 8 lutego ma stać się dniem świętowania i upamiętniania salwatorianów świeckich na całym świecie. Niektóre jednostki były na tyle uprzejme, że przesłały kilka zdjęć, które można zobaczyć na powyższej chmurce. Brazylia i Wenezuela – bardzo wam za to dziękujemy i oby zachęciło to inne jednostki do świętowania tego dnia także w przyszłym roku.
Otrzymaliśmy również informację zwrotną z Polski, ale niestety bez zdjęć.

Deutsch

Wie Sie im vorherigen Blogbeitrag lesen konnten, soll der 8. Februar für die Laien-Salvatorianer auf der ganzen Welt zu einem Tag des Feierns und Gedenkens werden. Einige Einheiten waren so freundlich, ein paar Bilder zu schicken, die Sie in der obigen Cloud sehen können. Brasilien und Venezuela – vielen Dank dafür, und möge dies andere Einheiten ermutigen, diesen Tag im nächsten Jahr ebenfalls ein wenig zu feiern.
Es gab auch Feedback aus Polen, aber leider ohne Bilder.