Letter of Sr Veronica on the occasion of the Feast of St Ignatius

Sister Veronica Fuhrmann CJ, our General Superior, has written a letter to all members of the Congregatio Jesu on the occasion of the Feast of St Ignatius 2025.

As you all know this year the day is very significant for the IBVM. Therefore the letter is being sent out earlier than usual so that we all can walk the last phase of our Becoming One journey together with our IBVM Sisters.

The love,
that moves and causes one to chose
must descend from above,
that is from the love of God.

(Ex 184)

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Dear companions in the Lord,

Saint Ignatius’ Day this year has a very special significance. On 31 July 2025, the sisters of the IBVM will cast their personal vote on whether they are ready to become members of the Congregatio Jesu.

This vote is one of the canonical conditions for being able to apply to the Dicastery to merge the two congregations. But for the individual sister, it is far more than just a step in canon law; it is a decision that touches the very core of their being and their vocation.

In this choice that our sisters of the IBVM make, there is on the one hand a confirmation of their original vocation to follow Christ as companions of Mary Ward, but at the same time it is a choice that involves a departure to new shores, to a new horizon, in which the familiar and the new, the known and the unknown merge together. Founded in a deep unity in Mary Ward’s charism and Ignatian spirituality, our lives have been shaped and moulded by historical conditions and traditions in different branches. Even if we are essentially and deeply one, the merger of both branches is also connected with parting, letting go and loss.

At the same time, it is an invitation for all of us to realign and open ourselves to a new and deeper togetherness to shape our future together by listening to and looking at each other with reverence and appreciation. It is a new horizon of promise that fills us with joy and positive energy, because we are deeply convinced that the innermost motivation for this choice is not a human motive, but the loving will of God. “The love that moves and causes one to choose must descend from above, that is from the love of God.” (Ex 184)

I invite you all to live this year’s Ignatius Day also within the CJ as a day of “choice” – as a day on which we, personally and as a community, consciously and joyfully say “yes” to this new chapter in the history of our united Institute. We say “yes” to each other as concrete people, to our common path, to our common responsibility to shape this path.

Let us trust that God will accompany and fill us with His Spirit. It is God who has plans of salvation for us, who gives us a future and hope (cf. Jer 29:11), and so let us join in the psalmist’s praise: “Yes, the Lord has done great things for us!” (Ps 126:3)

I wish you all a blessed Saint Ignatius’ Day!
With my love and prayers

Sr Veronica Fuhrmann CJ

Note:

For those who would like to deepen this path of choice and prayer with suggestions for their reflection, we will be publishing prayer inspirations in the spirit of the Venerable Mary Ward and St Ignatius of Loyola from 16 to 31 July 2025 on our facebook and instagram channels.