Happy Feast of Saint Benedict

Listen, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart,

and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father,

that by the toil of obedience thou mayest return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away.

To thee, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up thine own will,

takest up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience,

to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.

Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales

On September 22, 2012, Fr. Louis Brisson, founder of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales, will be beatified in Troyes, France where the Motherhouse is located. It was interesting that the miracle cited in the beatification process was the healing of an 8 year-old Ecuadorian boy named Carlos whose foot was crushed by a tractor. The Oblate Sisters placed a relic of Fr. Brisson on the foot and asked the family to pray a novena to Fr. Brisson. Some were skeptics but all participated and much to the doctor’s astonishment, within 10 days, Carlos was walking without pain or limping. Carlos later enlisted in the US Air Force and served in the Vietnam War!

It was a Visitation nun who urged Louis to found an Order in the spirit of St. Frances de Sales. With the aid of St. Leonie Aviat, the sisters were founded in 1868 and the fathers in 1876. They lead an active life of loving service that springs from a compassionate heart.  St. Francis de Sales had a great love for the Heart of Jesus and wrote to St. Jane de Chantal,  “I believe, dear Mother, if you are of one mind with me, that for our coat-of-arms we will choose a heart, transfixed by two arrows and ringed by a crown of thorns. Let it be surmounted by a cross upon which will be carved the holy names of Jesus and Mary. It was our Savior, when he was dying, who gave us life by the opening of his Sacred Heart.”

Angels in the Night

In the past 2 years, my husband’s father, mother and sister all died after suffering for several years from chronic illnesses. I gained a great appreciation for the caregivers who came in day in, day out, through scorching heat and big snows to care for our loved ones. I only mention this because the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, who provide the same loving care, are profiled in an article in the Kansas City Nursing News.

They, amongst other things, offer respite to families who are caring for sick ones at home who are near death or suffer from chronic illnesses or disabilities.  The caregivers are often overwhelmed, sleep-deprived and at the end of their rope. Some cannot afford health care at home or want to care for the loved one themselves. All need and want someone loving to assist them at times. This is where the sisters come in.

The 29 sisters in Kansas City provide respite care for caregivers/families at no charge, usually at night.  They believe they are serving Jesus when they care for the sick, in imitation of Mary who stayed at the foot of the Cross. Sister Cristela Mackinnon said, “We want to be there. It makes (the patients) change, too. We’re giving our whole life to the care of the sick.”

“If you’re lucky to get a sister, it’s just like angels coming in to help you,” said Marcy Klein, RN, with Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care. Ruben Rabanal, a social worker with Compassionate Care Hospice, said, “We really, really need them. We need more of them.”

The congregation was founded by Mother Soledad Torres Acosta, who was canonized in 1970. They have 128 convents around the world. I am praying for more American vocations so that a convent may be built near me! In fact, we all need them close by.

Holy Virginity

For those of you who are not too familiar with the vocation of a Consecrated Virgin, there is an article from the Dallas Morning News that I stumbled across that does a great job of explaining this unique vocation in the Church.

“The church recognizes that vocations can take various forms,” says (then) Bishop Raymond L. Burke. “These women don’t have the call to be sisters. That’s a very distinct call to live in a community and to take up a particular (mission), or to devote oneself completely to contemplation and prayer.” According to the article, there are about 100 American Consecrated Virgins and about 1,000 worldwide. From the earliest days of the Church, men and women devoted their lives to Christ as hermits or Consecrated Virgins. With the advent of monasteries and convents, this way of life somewhat disappeared. Following Vatican II,  the Solemn Rite of the Consecration of Virgins for Women Living in the World was re-instituted. A Consecrated Virgin must be self-supporting but many serve the local parish or diocese in some capacity. They also live a devout life of prayer and wear a ring as a sign of their espousal to Jesus Christ. They live in full communion with the Church through their spiritual bond with their Bishop.

“The consecrated virgin does not wear habit or veil, nor use the title ‘Sister,’ nor write ‘OCV’ after her name. She witnesses subtly, but publicly and powerfully, by her virginal life given exclusively to Jesus Christ.” (From USACV website)

To read the very interesting journey one women traveled to this beautiful vocation, click here. For more information about Consecrated Virgins, go to  USACV website (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins).

Mother M. Angeline Teresa

Lost in the shuffle of the welcome announcement that Archbishop Fulton Sheen is now Venerable will be the story of  Mother Mary Angeline Teresa (nee Bridget Teresa McCrory), founder of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm (1893-1984) who was also declared Venerable. Mother was a Little Sister of the Poor (founded in France by St. Jeanne Jugan) who, though she loved the Little Sisters, felt called to start a new order to care for the aged and infirm that had a distinctive American flavor to it.

Our apostolate is not only to provide care in up to date homes for the aged, but as religious, it is to bring Christ to every old person under our care.” – Mother Angeline Teresa, Foundress

The Sisters have 18 homes in the US and one in Ireland. Their Motherhouse is in Germantown, NY. Her famous words left to her daughters were: “If you have to fail, let it be on the side of kindness. Be kinder than kindness itself to the old people.”