Category Archives: Women’s Communities

Saints, Women's Communities

A Culture of Charity

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moermanThe Daughters of St Mary of Providence, founded by St. Louis Guanella in Italy, are celebrating 100 years of the Guanellian presence in the United States.

In our day, when you read stories that are absolutely depressing not to mention discouraging and horrific regarding the sanctity of human life, it is so refreshing and encouraging to look at the lives of these sisters and the love they have for the most vulnerable in our society. They were founded by St. Louis to care for marginalized persons who were orphaned, sick,  handicapped or elderly.

On June 13th, the National Catholic Register had an article entitled: “Barbarians from the North: Child Euthanasia in Belgium and the Netherlands.” LifeSite News reported earlier this year that 90% of children with Down Syndrome are aborted. The Telegraph reported on the 20th that a Somali girl had been smuggled into Great Britain to have her organs harvested. In other words, killed so someone else might live.

Guanella2I shudder to think of who or what entity is deciding on who lives and who dies in our world. Whose life is more valuable? Whose life is “less valuable” because they are paralyzed, infirm, mentally ill, disabled, old? Who is playing God?

And what does all this have to do with the Guanellian sisters? Well, their mission in part is to “help people with developmental disabilities meet life’s challenges and reach their highest potential in spiritual, emotional, mental and psychological growth, at the same time promoting their dignity as human beings.” Their founder, St. Louis, reminds us that “the handicapped, aged and orphans are God’s treasures.”

We are fortunate at the IRL to have in our midst the sisters’ Mount St. Joseph home, a residence for adult women with developmental disabilities. Located in Lake Zurich, Illinois, the sisters have been caring for these children of God since 1935 when the location, a farm, was purchased. Here each person is supported and challenged to live their life to the fullest extent possible while maintaining their dignity as human beings.

Cardinal Francis George, celebrating a 100th anniversary Mass with the sisters in May, said that they are a model of discipleship and it is through their service that they profess Jesus Christ. “It is the charity that they show in their lives that tells people that there is more to life than what is in front of us right now. That each of us has a personal dignity…we are related directly to a loving God who cares for us and therefore asks us to care for one another.”

Happy feast day of St. Louis Guanella to the communities that Louis founded: the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence and the Servants of Charity (for men).

 

 

 

Resources, Women's Communities

Cultivating Virtues for a Life of Holiness

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courtesyWhat constitutes a virtuous life? Upon whose foundation should it be built? The world has many answers but the Church has one − Jesus Christ.

Standing on this foundation are many illustrious saints, none more vital for today than Saint Dominic. With the charism of preaching and teaching, the Dominicans have a lot to offer to the world today. So it is a great gift to those who hunger for the Truth to see that the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, have announced the release of a new Christian curriculum based on the teachings of the great Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Called Disciple of Christ – Education in Virtue™, this curriculum provides an easy-to-understand and systematic structure for students to learn about the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to instruct students on the virtues they need to cultivate in order to live holy lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity), the Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance) and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Understanding, Knowledge, Wisdom, Fear of the Lord, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude) are presented in an integrated way in a language that children can understand and even adults can learn from.

The resources available include an educator’s guide, so they can fully understand the importance of living a Christian life of virtue, and a Virtue Chart Pack which describes, among other things, the meaning of each virtue, its opposing trait and ways to cultivate the virtue. Suggestions for different age groups are included.

You can also order cards that give real life examples of the virtues, such as “courtesy” as an expression of Justice. Holy cards with an image of a particular saint can be distributed as a reminder of a particular virtue to be cultivated. There are many resources for administrators, educators, families and individuals to compliment the instruction in the classroom or in the home.

The sisters wish to convey the truth that Christian discipleship is the way towards fruitfulness and joy. It was developed “in response to the call for a New Evangelization, firmly conveying the reality that happiness is found in a life of holiness.” It is the Universal Call to Holiness as called for by Lumen Gentium. This new resource gives parents and educators a tool for building holy Catholics for today and for the future.

News, Women's Communities

With Forgiveness in Their Hearts

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beatification_ceremony_spainOne of the amazing stories coming out of the beatification of the 522 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War on October 13 is the witness of Carmen Cubelle, age 76. Carmen’s aunt, Sr. Josefa Martinez, a Servant of Mary, was one of those beatified. Many family members of the martyrs attended the beatification but for Carmen, her aunt’s courage meant the difference between her own life and death.

Carmen’s father had been arrested and killed for attending night Eucharistic adoration. Her mother, pregnant with Carmen, and her aunt, Sr. Josefa, were arrested a month later. In their jail cell, Sr. Josefa prayed aloud that her sister and her unborn child might be spared, and offered herself as an offering on their behalf.

“Lord,” she prayed, “if this jailer is a father and has a wife, move him to compassion, that he will set my sister free. May the life of her child be saved; may the life of my sister be saved, and may they kill me. I want to die a martyr for her, for the faith, defending the lives of my sister and my nephew.”

Sr. Josefa’s prayer was answered. The sisters bade farewell to each other, saying they would meet in eternity, and Sr. Josefa was taken before a firing squad and shot.

When I talked to a Servant of Mary about the beatification, the main theme that ran through all of the proceedings was a spirit of forgiveness. The martyrs all died, said Bishop Jaume Pujol Balcells of Tarragona, “in imitation of the Lord, with words of forgiveness on their lips.”

Carmen said that her mother was asked if she wanted to press charges against the men who had killed her husband and sister. Her mother said that “she didn’t want to know anything about it because she had forgiven them.”

Read the complete story in the National Catholic Register.

Vocations, Women's Communities

All As God Wishes

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Investiture
Investiture

The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka, Indiana, are gearing up for the beatification of their foundress, Mother Maria Teresia of the Blessed Sacrament. Mother will be beatified on November 10, 2013, in Paderborn, Germany, the diocese where the Order was founded.

What a year it has been for the sisters! It is the 150th anniversary of their founding and they have had the largest incoming class of postulants in over 40 years! The six postulants, all from Indiana, entered the community on September 1, 2013 .

One of the young women named Anna said: “I really fell in love with our Eucharistic Lord. The Sisters’ commitment to Perpetual Adoration was one of the things that attracted me to this Community.”

PostulantEntrance1Sept2013
New Postulants

Another postulant, Rachel, advises those discerning to be not afraid. “Trust that the Lord’s plans for your life are more perfect for you than you could ever make for yourself. The desires in your heart are placed there for a reason, so take a leap of faith.”

In addition, four sisters professed first vows, two professed perpetual vows and two were invested with the habit of the order. Angela is now Sister M. Regina and Patricia is now called Sister M. Joan.

If you want to see what is attracting all of these young women to this growing powerhouse of prayer and aposotolic works in NW Indiana, contact their vocation directress, Sr. M. Lois. They have a Young Adult Discernment Retreat October 25-27 and a Young Adult Come & See on January 2-5, 2014.

May you, dear Sisters, in donning the Franciscan habit be clothed also with his spirit, that as true daughters of Saint Francis, you may worthily wear his garb and thus bring joy and honor to our congregation.

– Blessed Mother Maria Theresia

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

The Passionist Spirit

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Sr. Mary Andrea, CP
Sr. Mary Andrea, CP

Tomorrow the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists. In a special way today, we offer up our prayers for Sr. Mary Andrea of the Incarnate Word who is making her Perpetual Consecration today to Jesus Crucified.

Sr. Mary Andrea is a Passionist nun in the community in Whitesville, Kentucky. These words of St. Paul of the Cross were recalled at her First Profession:

Proclaim the message of the Cross in the Sacred Wounds of our most lovable Redeemer opened more by His infinite love than by the hard nails, so that we may drink the saving waters of grace in these springs of eternal life.

We also want to thank God for her superior, Mother Catherine Marie, CP, who celebrated her Golden Jubilee as a Passionist nun on August 24, 2013. Here is what one of her sisters said to honor Mother on her special day:

Mother Catherine Marie, CP, and her mother!
Mother Catherine Marie, CP, and her mother!

What IS this Passionist spirit? What is it that drives you and your community, Reverend Mother and all those who accompany you in this pilgrimage to and around the Cross of our Lord and our Sorrowful Mother? It is to be one with Jesus in that moment of His death and resurrection. You often quote to us that expression of Father F. X. Durwell who said: “Jesus Christ is fixated forever at that moment of His death and resurrection.” Passionists focus on the suffering and death of Jesus, all of which leads to the glorious resurrection of our Lord.

Women's Communities

Happy Feast of St. Teresa of Avila

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Today is one of the great feast days on the Church calendar!

St. Teresa of Avila by Sr. Marie-Celeste, OCD
St. Teresa of Avila by Sr. Marie-Celeste, OCD

God’s blessings to all of the Teresian Carmelites around the world as they remember their foundress St. Teresa of Avila.

In 2015, the Discalced Carmelites around the world will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa who was born in 1515 in Avila, Spain. As is wonderfully typical, they are not just awaiting the big day, they are prayerfully preparing for the momentous day well in advance.

In August of 2014, various Carmelites from around the country and the world are coming together to sponsor a three-day seminar in San Jose, California, called: The Creative Spiritual Genius of Saint Teresa of Avila Today. There will be prayer, talks, solemn liturgies, music, a banquet, etc. all to thank God for this magnificent Doctor of the Church (the first woman to be declared so) and for the gifts of her charism active in the world today.

It’s not too soon to sign up! Visit www.stj500westernus.com for more information.

And to order copies of the picture of St. Teresa (pictured right) and other works of art by Sr. Marie-Celeste, OCD,  visit the Carmel of Reno’s website.

 

News, Women's Communities

Illuminating the Night of Suffering

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SdeMmartyrTomorrow, October 13, four Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, will be beatified in Spain. Back in June (see story in the Register), the Vatican declared them to be martyrs of the faith, along with 18 Benedictines, four Discalced Carmelites, one diocesan priest, 66 Marist Brothers, and two laymen.

Each martyr has a unique story of heroism but none more so than the four Servants of Mary whose identity was made known to their killers by something simple and powerful: the rosary. The sisters lived near Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcón where the convent was home to elderly and convalescent sisters as well as active sisters who cared for the sick and dying.

In August of 1936, as the Spanish Civil War and religious persecution were raging, the sisters, whose convent had been confiscated and who not allowed to wear their habits, were told to evacuate the town. Mother Aurelia, who was an invalid, and Sister Aurora, who was 86 years old, remained behind with two younger sisters, Sister Daría and Sister Agustina. Mother Aurelia was known for saying: “We are in the hands of God… He knows that we are here.” Sister Agustina, the youngest martyr, was Mother’s caregiver. “When she could no longer wear her habit, she said that sometime soon she would be able to wear it again, and if they killed us, we would wear it in heaven for ever.”

On December 1, Sister Agustina was separated from the other sisters and turned into the authorities under suspicion of being a religious because someone, it is believed, saw her praying the rosary. She was taken by soldiers and shot. The other three sisters’ identities became known when a soldier picked up Mother Aurora and felt a rosary under her dress. Sister Daría confirmed this when she said, “Yes, we are Sisters.” They were taken away and shot.

When a Servant of Mary joins the congregation she is given a rosary. As Sister Julia Castillo Ibáñez, General Postulator for the Cause, wrote, “Only by delving deeper with Mary into the mystery of Christ, can she effectively draw near the mystery of suffering humanity; only by keeping and contemplating the mystery of Christ in her heart like Mary will she find the right words and actions to alleviate and illuminate the night of suffering.”

News, Women's Communities

The Bavarian Benedictines’ Legacy

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A-8-liturgical-sAll the monasteries in the US have fascinating histories and none more so than the Benedictine Monastery of St. Emma in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. St. Emma’s roots go back to 1931 when on the feast of St. Walburga they arrived in the United States to serve the monks, seminarians and students of St. Vincent Archabbey.

The first Benedictine monastery in the US was this very St. Vincent Archabbey, founded by Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB, who came from St. Michael Abtei in Bavaria, Germany. The sisters founding abbey, Abtei St. Walburg, in Eichstatt, is also in Bavaria and was founded in 1085!! The Latrobe monks asked for the sister’s help and hence they came, by Divine coincidence it seems, on the feast of St. Walburga.

In 2009, St. Emma monastery voted to become an independent priory and they continue to belong to the “Federation of Bavarian Abbeys of Benedictine Nuns.” The nuns pray together six times a day, beginning with Vigils at 5:25 a.m. They welcome single women between the ages of 16 to 38 for monastic immersion weekends. The next one is scheduled for Thanksgiving Weekend: November 29-December 1, 2013.

My mind always goes on tangents and I wondered: who were these great saints, Emma and Walburga? St. Emma, Queen of Bavaria, was a wife and mother who died in 876. Queen Emma raised her children “in great care in faith and virtue and, in particular, in the fear of the Lord.”

st walburgaSt. Walburga was born in 710 in Essex in England but came to Germany to work as a missionary with her kinsman St. Boniface (c.675-754). In 741, Boniface created the diocese of Eichstätt, from whence would come the Benedictines of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe. St. Walburga became the abbess of a monastery and after her death, her remains were eventually interred in a small church to which some canonesses were attached.  In 1035, these Eichstätt canonesses were replaced by the foundation of Abtei St. Walburg, the very same monastery that sent the Benedictine nuns to America.

All this makes me realize that what Mother Teresa said is really true: we are not saved in groups, but individually. In this case, the faith was not passed on by groups, but by each nun, abbot, and saint who left their mark and blood (Boniface was martyred) in Bavaria. Isn’t it amazing that these nuns and monks have as their spiritual forebears in faith Sts. Emma, Boniface and Walburga who lived 1300 years ago!

St. Emma, St. Walburga, St. Boniface and of course St. Benedict, pray for us!

 

General interest, News, Women's Communities

The Enduring Story of the Story of Soul

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escritoire
A drawing of St. Therese by her sister Celine

When the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux came to Chicagoland some years ago, the crowds that descended upon the Carmelite Monastery in Des Plaines were tremendous. Just to be in the presence of some of the earthly remains of this cloistered apostolic missionary inspired a lot of people to leave the comfort of home to venture out into the deep. One hundred plus years after her death, she continues to draw people to Christ.

Now there is another opportunity to venerate unique relics of this Doctor of the Church. On Thursday, September 19th, visitors to Santa Teresita, a nursing home for seniors in Duarte, California, will have the privilege of viewing the writing case of this beloved saint. St. Therese used the writing case (escritoire) to compose her spiritual masterpiece, Story of a Soul, as well as seven of her eight plays, 47 of her 62 poems, 95 of her 266 letters and 16 of her 21 prayers. It is the first time that this precious memento has left France. Also included in the display are a pen and inkwell that she used.

The tour is sponsored by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. The relics will be on display in St. Joseph Chapel at Santa Teresita from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on the 19th. Additional stops in escriore2September include San Antonio, Saint Louis and Metuchen, NJ. On October 1, St. Therese’s Feast day, the relics will be viewable at the Ven. Fulton J. Sheen World Mission Dinner in New York City. On October 4, they will be at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  The latter event will be broadcast live, beginning at 10 a.m., on Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

Santa Teresita is run by the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. Their home for the elderly is named not after St. Teresa of Avila, their revered patroness, but St. Therese, the Little Flower. They were founded by Venerable Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament to provide loving service to the people of God in a variety of ministries.

“The soul of each Carmelite raises herself to Christ, who is her heaven, while her shadow falls in charity upon earth doing good to all people.” – Mother Luisita

 

 

News, Vocations, Women's Communities

I Know the Plans I have For You

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For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord,

plans for your welfare and not for your woe; to give you a future full of hope!

Jeremiah 29.11

Do you know of a young woman who is considering a religious vocation? Is the Lord causing your heart to stir as you ponder a life devoted entirely to His service? Is religious life dying in our country?

Let the Imagine Sisters video, Light of Love, help you with these questions!

imagine3

In association with, among others, the Institute on Religious Life, this hour-length video gives the viewers an in-depth look into the lives of 5 young sisters from the following communities:

  • Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, Alton, Illinois
  • Carmelites Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
  • Franciscan Sisters of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, Steubenville, Ohio
  • Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, Santa Clara, California
  • Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, North Haledon, New Jersey

Utterly joyful and incredibly “normal,” the sisters describe their work, their love for Jesus and their fraternal life in community. Whether caring for the sick, teaching children, caring for the elderly, or whatever their work maybe, the sisters’ apostolates are an outpouring of their relationship with Jesus. As one sister said, “you really cannot separate your prayer from your work because when you praying unceasingly in your heart, our Lord is always with you.”

A study guide (one page), an in-depth discussion guide and additional discussion questions are available.

First Things has a nice review of the film.

Give it a look! Be inspired and spread the word!

May God reward you!

light of love