Yom Kippur days of prayer

This year, from Thursday, September 16 until the end of the Yom Kippur fast on Saturday, September 18, 22 members of the different communities met in the convent of Our Lady Ark of the Covenant of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Kiryat Yearim. In addition one member came for only part of the time. The participants in these days of prayer included 12 people from Haifa, 2 from Jerusalem, 5 from Tel Aviv – Jaffa, 3 from Beer Sheba. Father David, responsible for the communities in Israel, and Father Gioele from the Beer Sheba community animated these days.

Each day began with morning prayer. After breakfast and in mid afternoon, Father David introduced a theme, which was studied and discussed. The theme this year was "Holiness" and each session focused on four different aspects of holiness: holiness and priestly service, order, presence and joy. During the day there was time for silence and prayer in order to meditate on the Biblical texts. Towards the end of the morning, the Eucharist was celebrated, animated beautifully with the music of Myriam, assisted by Viviane, both from the Haifa community.

On the first evening, the group watched together the well-known film, Sister Act, with Whoopie Goldberg, where holiness and joy create a powerful fusion. On the second evening, the eve of Yom Kippur, the group spent a number of hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. On Yom Kippur day, a special mass was celebrated, which included a long penitential rite as well as a prayer to commemorate all the dead. In the late afternoon of Yom Kippur, just before dinner, the group spent another hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, a time to offer thanks for these three glorious days.

The silence of the place and its beauty, the hospitality of the sisters and their Filipina assistants, the atmosphere of fraternity among the members of the different communities, the wonderful music at times of prayer, the intensity of prayer of all the participants – all this helped make these days a time of spiritual renewal and uplifting. Thank you Lord once again this year for Your presence among us.