Sister Elvira Petrozzi, the Italian foundress of the worldwide CenacoloCommunity, visited the UK last weekend, to celebrate the first anniversaryof Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs House in Dodding Green, Kendal.
Community Cenacolo is a Christian association, founded by the Italian nun,Sister Elvira Petrozzi in 1983 to welcome in desperate young people, who aresuffering from the strains of life, and may have turned to drug addiction,alcohol or substance abuse. In Community they are able to rebuild theirlives for a new life in society. The success rate is astonishing, with 93%of those who enter community houses that Sister Elvira has set up around theworld, never taking drugs again. Many have even taking up vocations withinthe church; up to five new priests have been ordained following Community.There are over 50 Communities worldwide including Italy, France (Lourdes) ,Ireland (Knock) , Austria, Croatia, Brazil Mexico, Bosnia Herzegovina(Medjugorje) , Poland, Dominican Republic and in the USA. There arecurrently 1200 persons in community and there are separate houses for menand women with some family houses for those addicts who wish to have theirchildren with them.After several years of meetings, prayer and many setbacks the first CenacoloCommunity in England was finally opened in Dodding Green on 19 March 2005,by the 'Friends For a UK Cenacolo Community' - a registered charity thatprovides for community and receives no support from the state.As with all Communities, the community at Dodding Green, relies purely onGods Providence, prayer and the generosity of its supporters for theireveryday needs. Unlike a conventional rehabilitation unit, there are nodoctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, or medication. Lifein the community is simple and centred on work, prayer and spiritualhealing. Each house is self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables anddepending on the location, they may keep animals cows, pigs, chickens andgoats. Every community is run by recovered addicts for addicts under theoverall direction of Sister Elvira, who has a great love for young peoplestruggling with addiction.
Now, a year on, in the presence of the Bishop Of Lancaster, the Rt RevPatrick O'Donoghue, Father Stefan from Italy, Cenacolo's first Ordainedpriest, and Father Michael McCormick, Parish Priest of The Holy Trinity andSt George Parish Kendal, over 500 people from all over Europe gathered atDodding Green, Kendal to celebrate Mass and give thanks to Sister Elvira forher courage and inspiration. The Anniversary Mass was held in a giantmarquee, specially built for the event, on the holy grounds, by the ten mencurrently in residence in the community house.With a hearty voice and vibrant Italian accent Sister Elvira instantlyenthused the crowds at Dodding Green, with her profound testimony,translated by Cenacolo Ambassador Nicola Hughes, a former heroin addict fromLiverpool, who for the past five years has been running the SaluzzoCommunity and house in Italy.
Both Sister Elvira and Nicola Hughes are living witnesses to the power ofthe Holy Spirit and Gods mercy in transforming the lives of young peoplemarked by a harrowing drug addiction and scarred by despair.Sister Elvira's message is revolutionary and simple. To the young who havedesperate and shattered lives caused by addiction, who are unsatisfied andslaves to uncontrollable impulses and destructive habits, who live in fear,darkness, isolation and anger, Sister Elvira and her community joyfully echothe Gospel and announce the resurrection, the triumph of life over death.Sister Elvira teaches that drugs: "can be a cross that kills, or a crossthat saves."Pointing to faith, friendship and work as the means to reform andregenerate, Sister Elvira spoke of the strong call within her heart tominister to the most alone and excluded youth trapped in today'snarcissistic culture, caught in a world filled with material illusions,searching for a meaningless escape, which only leads to a painfulhopelessness, and a constant belief of being misunderstood or ignored:"Today I have a message that is filled with trust, hope and joy, but aboveall faith. The Bishop Of Lancaster has made a great big act of faith in God,by believing in us and even before he got to know us, he trusted the work ofthe Holy Spirit and supported the aims of Cenacolo.
It is always a beautifulsurprise for us when people embrace our mission and today we have beenwelcomed into your open arms with love and faith. I care about you all hereand today the Community Cenacolo proposes to young people in England, a lifeof freedom and being truthful, but first you must be brave and find courage."In Italy, I ask the parents to lose face and take their masks off, to bebrave enough to say "my child takes drugs"."We ask the families and the addicts to live a life of truth and eliminatethe stigma and shame that drugs bring to a family. You don't have to feelscandalised because it is LIFE! Life is a journey and it is difficultsometimes and we shouldn't be surprised of the mistakes other people make,because even if we haven't fallen to the ground yet, one day we might. Onceyou face the truth you can start again because you cannot carry this painfor the rest of your lives."The Bishops' faith is strong and persistent in opening the house here inKendal in the face of many obstacles and negative opposition. When we openedthe first house in Saluzzo Italy many years ago nobody would walk past ourroad! They became very judgmental, even my superiors put their hands ontheir heads and asked: "Oh that nun! What is she doing with all these drugaddicts!""But the risk you are taking is to trust in God and God never disappointsand he has never stopped working through the Cenacolo in over 23 years. Thisis your leap of faith. Because nothing is impossible to God. I have seen inCommunities many miracles of faith as broken, hurt lives have beentransformed. Cenacolo is not a place of rehabilitation but transformation."In other communities they let in doctors, psychologists and the socialservice's. The people that we let in are Our Lady and Jesus Christ, andwe've invited them in to heal people."The most effective medicine to alleviate drug addiction is found in theEucharist. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament has changed the lives of manyyouths recovering from drug addiction. What therapeutic method or medicinecould I offer them? There is no pill that can give them the joy to live andfind peace in the heart."I want to take this opportunity to reveal to you that the mostextraordinary light to come out of this darkness of evil is the treasurefound in the Eucharist. It is the Eucharist miracle that I have beencontemplating for so many years. The Eucharist creates not only a personaldynamism but a dynamism of the people.
At the beginning, of their own freewill, many young people staying in community, took it upon themselves to getup in the night for personal adoration."Then gradually every Saturday night, for many young people the traditionalnight for party antics all over the world, they decided to kneel, in eachone of the 50 communities, from 2-3am to pray for those young people lost inthe false lures of the world."I wanted to tell you this piece of history, to give thanks to Jesus, who inthe Eucharist has changed the lives of many youths recovering from drugaddiction. These people are true, living witnesses that death never has thelast word and that the anxieties of life, the struggles for meaning andimportance, acceptance and fellowship, should not lead to escape and liesbut to the abundant life of Christ."Bishop O' O'Donoghue echoed Sister Elvira's message. He said: "This, ourfirst birthday, is a tremendously important and historic occasion.
There hasbeen a sacred refuge and church here on this holy ground at Dodding Green,since the 1600's where it was once a dispatching place for priests, duringthe Reformation when catholic recusants were persecuted by the state. So itis very fitting that we should have the great movement of the CenacoloCommunity completing their first year here, in England. Cenacolo is a veryprecious gift to our church and our world.In Cenacolo we see in a special way what is possible under the power anddirection of the Holy Spirit. We see conversion in a wonderful way, brokenlives being healed. Cenacolo is a treasure not just for the addicts andtheir families, it is a treasure for all of our Diocese and indeed forsociety in Britain today.The challenge for us now is to enable Cenacolo to flourish within oursociety and continually pray that the spread of new houses and communitieswill grow and develop. This can only be achieved by all of our prayers,therefore we must persist in our prayers to the Holy Spirit that we may growin strength and commitment to helping the UK Cenacolo's advancement.Today is just the beginning and my message is not to lose hope. We all failon occasions but it is through failure that we are brought to a newawareness of our conversion, in turning to Our Lord Jesus Christ."Fr Michael McCormick, Spiritual Director for Cenacolo UK and Parish Priestat Holy Trinity and St George Parish in Kendal has spent some months inSaluzzo Community Italy, experiencing life in the community in order tounderstand the lifestyle of recovering addicts and holds a support group foraddicts and their families, every Thursday evening from 7pm at the localparish:"Addicts who are serious about changing their lives are helped to obtainplaces in a Cenacolo. During this time we pray together in front of TheBlessed Eucharist and afterwards together with other addicts, parents andfamilies we talk about life in the Cenacolo Community and many of therecovered addicts from community are on hand to chat & give theirtestimony's. Similar prayer and meeting groups are held in Liverpool,Birmingham, London, Devon, Croydon and Bradford.
To succeed you have toreally want to change your life in a fundamental way, there is no easy wayand no short cuts."Cenacolo and its experience as a "School of Life" is about this innertransformation, a work of grace, where we learn once again what it means todepend on God. By sharing in each others' feelings they learn again tounderstand and feel emotion, feelings which drugs had dulled, and they learnagain what it is to be human. They regain a sense of self worth inthemselves and others."As the hard facts of drug abuse reach epidemic proportions across Britaintoday, the Friends For a UK Cenacolo Communities help and prayers cannotcome at a better time.For more information visit: http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/
© Independent Catholic News 2006
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