This February 12th will not be just another feast of Saint Eulalia at the monastery of Pedralbes, in Barcelona, because it will be the last with Poor Clare nuns living in community. On Saturday, the three remaining nuns will leave, and thus a presence that has lasted seven centuries will end. It is respectful to know that next year it will be seven hundred years since the foundation of the monastery by Queen Elisenda Montcada, even though we are accustomed to the lack of vocational prominence causing similar news not only in Catalonia, but in countries like Catalonia, where history and culture cannot be understood without the presence and influence of the Church.
One day I was talking to a nonagenarian priest about the lack of vocations and he made two comments that I have not forgotten. The first was sarcastic: it is not that there is a lack of priests, it is that there is a lack of parishioners. And from this came the second, that it was necessary for the Church to read the signs of the times and respond accordingly.
The signs of the times say that there is a lot of emotional unrest, a lot of dispersion of attention, an exponential speed of life that is impossible to manage, an overwhelming avalanche of messages and more noise than ever. And also, to put it in market terms, there is a significant increase in the demand for all kinds of meditation practices, silence, contact with nature, reading and behavioural models that raise our standards in life. It is enough to take a walk through the cloister of Pedralbes to come out restored. And there is also much more desire than there seems to be to commit to lend a hand wherever there is need. In their solidarity, generational change is assured.
