1. OPENING STATEMENT: Lighting the Candles
Today we light these candles to recall once more that Jesus is Light from Light. Without light, the world would be without beauty and life itself would be lifeless. Jesus is the Light that comes to dispel our darkness of sin and ignorance. Today He desires to bathe us in His own radiance, and He invites us to flood our entire world with His own goodness and love. But how shall we impart to our darkened world our gift of light and love, if our hearts are still unloving, and our hands do not bless?

2. WE PRAY:
ALL Oh Light of light shine on us this day. Your light is strong and today your love is near. Teacher of holiness. Light all-round us, be our Savior. Come and revive us. Light all around us, bring us to life again. Show us how to gently lay our hands. Amen.

Leader: Lord, as we begin this Biennium of reflections and practice of the holiness lived by the Allamano and handed down to us his sons and daughters, we the Consolata members of Allamano House, priests, brothers and students come to you in THANKSGIVING.
You have blessed our presence in our Region, and your blessings have been transformed in a flourishing community, with young members full of vitality and enthusiasm, with older members endowed with experience and marked with the signs of suffering. A Region whose members grow in number and quality, who are trying to pattern their life style after the Gospel values and the Founder’s holiness.

All: Lord, we thank you for the work our missionaries have done in this Region, for the many and dedicated missionaries who ministered and are ministering here, for its leadership in varied stages of its life, and for the progress we have made as an Institute. We thank you also for our Seminaries which have housed hundreds of candidates for the priesthood and brotherhood.
SONG OF THANKSGIVING: Sign Praise to the Lord, p. 230, N. G/62

L: Lord, this evening, and this week and throughout the next two years, we come to you in SORROW. We are aware of our frailties, our shortcomings, our human weaknesses. We are also aware of our sinfulness in the many ways we have been negligent in our duties, self-centered in our life orientation, selfish in our ministry, uncharitable in our relationships, obstructive in your plans for the good of the Region and of the Church. Lord we come to ask for mercy.

A: Lord, we acknowledge our natural limitations, we confess our personal and communal sinfulness, and we cry out to you for FORGIVENESS and for MERCY. Let our limitations never discourage us, our sinfulness never make us feel rejected by you, but let them increase our confidence in your divine mercy and forgiving love. Let the holiness of the Allamano shine even through our human weaknesses and most of all through our prayer life and community living
SONG OF FORGIVENESS: Kyrie Eleison (Gregorian Chant, Mass De Angelis)

L: Lord, as we begin this special time for reflection and perfection of our holiness, we come to you for HELP.
We are at a crucial point in the life of our Region. On one hand we are asked to relinquish more and more of our missions to the local clergy, and on the other hand we are challenged by new situations which have opened in the slums, in special ministries; the Church and the Institute are calling us to. Our candidates to missionary and religious life, are asked for faithfulness to the spirit of the Founder, and also its inculturation in this Continent. The process of becoming a family of diverse races, tribes and nationalities has not always been easy. We need your help: we cry out for your help so that, during these two years so that we may renew ourselves and become holier and better prepared for the future of our Region in Kenya.

A: Lord, every new avenue opened to our religious communities and our Region is a grace and a challenge. The challenge may threaten us and may discourage us. Lord, we realize more and more the need to depend on you, the need for guidance of the Holy Spirit, the assistance of Mary Consolata. Let the fear be dispelled, the hesitation give way to confidence, the doubts to certainty, and the skepticism to the Christian realism of the believers in the power of the Spirit at work in us. Lord, help us in these two years so that we may perform willingly and happily the requests of the Generalate for a greater holiness, be with us in the study, sharing and implementation of the dreams of .the Chapter which mandate this time of renewal of our spirituality.
SONG OF HELP: Sing Praise to the Lord, p.377, P/42

L: Lord, following the best tradition of many cultures, including the Christian culture, we come to you in thanksgiving, sorrow, and for help, with our ancestors, our martyrs, and our living leaders. We come with them because we know that they are concerned about our holiness and ministries and our Institute, and because we believe that they are with us either with their intercessory prayers, or with their spirit. We join with their prayers and sufferings, and with their intercession for us.

Reader 1: We join with the African martyrs especially of Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Mozambique, who sacrificed their lives in defense of their faith and beliefs. They have all the reasons for concern regarding the lack of faith and holiness of so many of our people, both young and old. A lack of faith which prevents the young from any long commitment, and the older from generosity towards the less privileged of our society. For the African Martyrs we cry out:

A: Be with us African Martyrs and all the martyrs of our missions, especially those of Uganda, Kenya, Congo and Mozambique, during these two years in which the IMC will deepen its, and strengthen our faith in the power of the Spirit, in the help which we can offer to each other, in the intercession of our Blessed Mother and Founder, for the needs of our Region and of the preparation for the priesthood and religious life of our students. Shake off our mediocrity, our lack of total commitment to a life of holiness and of complete dedication to mission. Let that the coming two years will be a new springtime of holiness for our Institute, all its members and especially those of us in formation. Let the Allamano House be a place of true holiness, following the teachings and examples of our Founder, of many of our confreres who worked in this land and have become holy.

ALL: go to the alter and light their candle from the one of the Founder, and remain around the alter to recite the prayer: THE GIFT OF HOLINESS.
After that they extinguish their candles and return to their seats.