I nstitute of the I ncarnate W ord

1. Institute of the Incarnate Word Contemplative Life

2. Our Purpose “We commit all our strength to inculturate the Gospel... to extend the Incarnation “to all men, in the whole man, and in all of the manifestations of man...” Const. 5

3. Our FounderRev. Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela He was ordained a priest on October 7th, 1971, in the crypt of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Santos Lugares (Buenos Aires, Argentina); the next day, he celebrated his first Mass in the private chapel of Our Lady of Luján. He founded the “Institute of the Incarnate Word” (IVE) and the Institute “Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará” (SSVM), feminine branch of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word. Both institutes have both active and contemplative branches. Renowned as a preacher and a great promoter of Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he has also founded three Houses of Charity for handicapped children and orphans, as well as two high schools. Since the beginning of his priesthood he has dedicated himself to pastoral work with the youth, convinced that the Church takes care of the youth “not as a tactic but as a vocation.”

4. Religious Vows Poverty Chastity Obedience Marian Slavery Through the profession of religious vows, the monks take the most excellent and fastest means to achieve their aim: loving union with God. By the fourth vow, they do everything “with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary” Directory of Contemplative Life, 3

5. Monastic Life “is integrally ordained to contemplation; its members dedicate themselves only to God, in solitude and silence, in assiduous prayer and generous penance” Directory of Contemplative Life, 5

6. Those who are moved by God to embrace monastic life within our religious family will consecrate their lives to contemplate and live the mystery of the Incarnate Word, especially in the maximum expression of His humility, the Cross. Directory of Contemplative Life, 8

7. “Pray continually and never lose heart”Lc 18, 1b “Every aim of the monk and perfection of heart tend to persevere in continuous and uninterrupted prayer” Collations, 9,7 Ora … Life of Prayer

8. Liturgical prayer is the holy action par excellence, with an efficacy unlike any other action of the Church.Directory of Contemplative Life, 21 “The contemplation of the divine truth and the assiduous union with God in prayer must be the first and principal duty of all religious.” This is particularly true for the monk, who spends all his life in contemplation and seeking that union. Directory of Contemplative Life, 14.15

9. Holy Mass A religious community is never more united than when it is around the altar for the Eucharistic Sacrifice, sign of unity. Directory of Contemplative Life, 27

10. Psalmody “When you would pray, seek to do it with all perfection.” “Sing with all diligence spiritual chants in the presence of God.” Saint Basil

11. Eucharist Devotion “As a manifestation of their love to Jesus Christ present in the Most Holy Eucharist, the monks will adore the Most Holy Sacrament … “We adore Jesus Christ for all who do not adore Him, for all who forget Him, abandon Him, scorn Him, and offend Him.” Const. 135 – A quote from Saint Peter Eymard. “The Eucharist shows itself as the source and the apex of the whole work of preaching the Gospel” Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5. …one hour at the beginning of the day and for another hour at the day’s end”; thus they will have a “whole day of the worship of God” Monastic Rule,19.

12. Marian Devotion Praying the Holy Rosary, preferably daily, we meditate on the work of Redemption consummated by Jesus to which He associated his Mother. Const., 136. Every monk, in moments of trials, ought to look for her solace, because she is still at the foot of the cross of each one of her sons. Directory of Contemplative Life, 38.

13. Penance “It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of His body, the Church.”Col. 1,24 Silence This is a necessity of the contemplative soul; it manifests, in the deepest way possible that in the presence of God, there is nothing else to say. Directory of Contemplative Life, 56. The Cell In solitude, the monk imitates Our Lord, who lived thirty years of His life hidden in Nazareth and who, even in His public life, looked for solitude. Monastic Rule, 28.

14. The religious of our Institute must wear the Holy Habit, which is a sign of their consecration and a witness to their poverty. Const. 150

15. The Gown and The Cowl Joined to the gown, at the uppermost part, is the cowl. It covers the head and its shape points to heaven. It reminds all that the monk has been consecrated totally to God, to live not only in His presence, but also to live only for God. For this, he has to conserve an attitude of continual withdrawal, not reducing his prayer to moments of the day, but to attain that praying attitude; it is like sinking the soul in God. The monk, by using the gown, reflects the mysteries of the Life of Christ. All of us, by our religious consecration, are called to be a concrete footprint that the Trinity leaves in history assuming the life that Christ lived on earth. The Monk has to vest himself with the transcendent virtues: faith, hope and charity, and the virtues of humility, obedience, penance, prayer, oblative silence, etc.

16. The Leather Belt They consecrate themselves to God in virtue of their office, that is to say, like victims and spotless hosts for their salvation and for their neighbors It is one of the ways to participate in the work of salvation of souls, for which Christ shed His blood. It binds the cowl, and is a sign of the penance that the monk is called to practice, first of all, by reason of his special pursuit of and configuration with Christ, and as a mean of reparation for his own sins, for those committed by the members of the Religious Family, for those of the Church, and for those of the whole world.

17. The Scapular The white color symbolizes the Transfiguration, the robes whitened by the blood of the Lamb, and the three “white things" that characterize the Catholic Church: The Eucharist, The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Father. They do not, however, belong in just any way, but with a life of prayer and penance; “They are in the vanguard of all the apostolic works”, being “the keystones of the apostolic endeavor of our Institute” On the chest is the needle-worked coat of arms of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, as a sign of belonging to it, and of participating in the same charism, specific purpose, and apostolate. The back and the chest are protected by the scapular of the Virgin, imitating, particularly as monks, the Word who offered Himself to the Father, hidden and in silence, in the womb of Mary.

18. The Holy Habit This sign “expresses the consecration of a religious and makes evident the eschatological end of religious life.” Let us, then, love the habit, which should be as our very own skin. Saint Francis of Assisi said that the simple presence of a religious dressed in the holy habit was a way of preaching. Const, 150.

19. … et Labora

20. Monks will search the enjoyment of the Truth, through “meditatio”, “contemplatio” and “lectio” in order to be wise according to the ways of God. Intellectual Formation The supreme rule of religious life is the following of Christ, the Supreme Truth. Directory of Contemplative Life, 107.114

21. Monastic Work Monastic life consists in searching for God. Whatever the work is to be done, the monk will always have present his principal aim: union with God. Monastic Rule, 55.

22. Apostolate The principal apostolate of a monk will be his life testimony through prayer and sacrifice. Monastic Rule, 64. In our monasteries, it could be done certain activities in coordination with members of apostolic life (catechism, retreats, etc.)

23. The recreation of the monks will be a rest for the soul at the same time that is an occasion for practicing virtues, earning merits and encouraging community life. Monastic Rule, 59 Community and Recreation By the virtue of Eutrapelia, the monk “could manifest the supernatural spiritual joy, of whom has contemplated the mystery of the Incarnate Word”. Directory of Contemplative Life, 147.

24. Our MonasterySaint Raphael, Mendoza, Argentina.

25. Dinning Room Cells Grotto of Saint Rita of Cascia Entrance

26. Working the land Far end of the monastery House for Spiritual Exercises Plantation of Alfalfa

27. The Temple

28. Activities during Holy Week

29. Feast of Saint RitaProcession with the Image

30. The Holy Mass

31. Preparing the Traditional“Locro” Brotherhood of Saint Rita of Cascia

32. Deo Gratias. Benedicamus Domino…