For the maternal support of the life of the Church, Pope Francis paid tribute to contemplative monasteries on 21 November, the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the temple, the day is marked as “Pro Orantibus Day”.
The Pope said through a message on his official Twitter account, that contemplative monasteries “maternally” support the life of the Church “with prayerful silence and hidden sacrifice.”
Pope Pius XII instituted in 1953 that the Catholic Church dedicate every November 21 to a prayer of thanks for the contemplative vocation.
Initially, this “Pro Orantibus Day” was promoted by the Sacred Congregation for Religious, currently the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
As described by L’Osservatore Romano, on January 12, 1953, the Secretariat for the “Assistance of Sick Nuns and Religious” (Sam) was born with the aim of “disseminating the spiritual values of the contemplative life, making its essential aspects known, support the monasteries in their daily needs and contribute to the medical expenses of the nuns”.