Abstract
This article deals with changes in the devotional practices of the Grey Nuns of Montreal in the context of the Second Vatican Council. This apostolic Congregation, active since the 18th century, has preserved the prayers and devotions instituted by its foundress, Marguerite d’Youville, in its daily religious practice. Under the effects of the decree Perfectæ caritatis and the motu proprio Ecclesiae Sanctæ, the general chapters of the ad experimentum period became the theatre of exchanges and debates around this heritage. Between the desire to adapt and the fear of losing popular and spiritual traditions, these consecrated women testify to their ability to make choices, to make necessary changes, and to preserve a delicate balance between the past and the present in their lived religion.
Highlights
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) is recognized as a defining moment in the history of the Catholic Church (Alberigo and Komonchak 1995–2006)
The “new Pentecost” of the Catholic Church hoped for by Pope John XXIII aroused the enthusiasm of many committed and avant-garde Christians but surprised many ordinary believers who felt perturbed by the numerous transformations, especially on the liturgical level, with, for example, the dropping of Latin and the questioning of traditional devotions
Marguerite d’Youville, the original charism of the order and its spiritual base would be the subject of substantive work. It is during this period that devotions would be scrutinized by new council requirements, contemporary sensibilities, and the experience of these consecrated women
Summary
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) is recognized as a defining moment in the history of the Catholic Church (Alberigo and Komonchak 1995–2006). It is the result of interactions (individual or collective) with the sacred through normative practices codified by an official institution, and of influences within a society, in each socio-economic environment This lived religion is embodied in the gestures, thoughts, beliefs, material, and spiritual expressions that the faithful construct, which basically give individual meaning to so-called official practices. Their discourse is not always in perfect harmony with the official teachings of the Church. We trace the spirituality and the devotions of the Grey Sisters, from the pre-community decade to the adoption of the final constitutions in the early 1980s
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