Some elements in the life of the AVI are always present, such as personal and communal prayer, shared meals and recreation, personal study time, and apostolate. But, depending on whether you live in the house of formation or in one of the apostolic houses, the daily schedule varies according to the circumstances. Living a balanced life is fundamental to our Rule of Life, not only spiritually but also with regards to sleep and exercise.
Here is an example of the schedule in one of the apostolic houses.
7:45 Prayer This is our first commitment of the day. We get up at different times: some of us will exercise early in the morning other will pray their meditation or perhaps get some more rest. At 7:45 we all gather in the Chapel for Office of Readings and Morning Prayer. Breakfast is either before or after prayer.
8:15-9:15 Holy Hour We gather at the Catholic Center Chapel along with other students and staff members and pray a a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament.
9:30-12:30 Ministry We use this time to meet with people for Spiritual Direction. If we don’t have any appointments on a given day, we use this time to study or to go on campus to do evangelization.
12:30 Lunch We go back home for our lunch together. We take turns cooking so that the responsibility is not only on one sister. We have a nice, healthy meal together and enjoy each others’ company. Afterwards we take turns cleaning.
1:15 pm Midday prayer & Siesta We gather in our Chapel to pray the Midday Liturgy of the Hours.
After that, it is our Italian custom to have a siesta. Some of us may take a nap or decide to go for a walk. Each one of us can find the best way to relax and recharge for the afternoon.
2-5pm Ministry As in the morning, this is time to be available for our ministry of Spiritual Direction and Evangelization.
During the day we also have to individually find time to pray the Rosary, to do at least 20 minutes of spiritual reading and to keep up with ongoing formation. We also find time to check e-mails, keep up with scheduling appointments, etc. Each one of us can organize her personal schedule around already scheduled commitments.
5- 6 pm Evening Prayer & Mass The afternoon ends with the celebration of Mass. We join the community in the Holy Eucharist and we also pray together the Liturgy of the Hours in communion with the Church.
6:15 pm Ministry We have one more opportunity for our apostolate. Since it is in the evening this opens up the opportunity to visit the houses of some of the students to speak to them and their friends about Jesus.
7:45pm Dinner Dinner is another time for community and sharing. We always eat together the meal that one of us has prepared. We take turns cooking and cleaning so that everyone gets a chance to do it!
9-10 pm Recreation “How good, how delightful it is for all to live together.” (Psalm 133)
It is a blessing to be able to sit down together around the fireplace and share about the day, the graces we received or maybe the struggles we had to face. At times we take it lighter and we play together or watch a movie. Once a week we have formation together: we read part of the charism or a book for our ongoing formation and discuss it.
10 pm Night prayer We conclude our day before the Lord praying the last Hour of the Liturgy.
