Paulinian Echoes SPC Generalate Rome, Italy Easter 2010 Dear

Transcription

Paulinian Echoes SPC Generalate Rome, Italy Easter 2010 Dear
Paulinian Echoes
SPC Generalate
Rome, Italy
Easter 2010
I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.1
Dear Sisters,
The passage above quotes Jesus’ words to his disciples during the meal he
shared with them before the Passover. He had just finished washing their feet, a
task done by servants and not by the Master and Lord of the banquet.
After three years of life with his apostles, Jesus knew that his hour was
near and that soon they would see him no longer. He wanted to leave them with
an unforgettable message not only in words but in action that they may
understand the meaning of his mission as well as that of the mission that he will
entrust to them.
Through this symbolic gesture, Jesus clearly manifested his mission of a
servant. To make himself understood, he said: “You call me Teacher and Lord;
and you are right, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also, ought to wash one another’s feet.”2
John the evangelist gives a surprising account of the Lord’s Supper- Jesus’
last meal with his disciples. Instead of giving an account of the partaking of the
bread and the wine, he calls our attention to another sign, one which seemed
insignificant – the washing the guests’ feet during banquets is a customary ritual
among the Jews and usually done by a servant.
Let us take up John’s gospel and read it attentively, taking the time to
contemplate Jesus, the Lord and Master as he undertakes the task of the Servant.
“He rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel.
Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and
wiped them with the towel with which he was girded.‖3 Every gesture of Jesus
1
2
3
Jn 13 : 15
Jn 13 : 14
Jn 13 : 4,5
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invites us to a change in our usual behavior and ideas about
service of our brothers and sisters in today’s culture of selfworship and seeking after vainglory.
When Jesus spoke to his disciples, he did not talk of power nor of
authority but of love. To those who dreamed of a kingdom where they would
have special places beside him, Jesus offered a different way - that of humility
and self-giving: “ Whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave even as the Son of
man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for
many.”4
Let us gaze upon Jesus as he washes the feet of his apostles and let us
allow the Spirit to move us that he may renew and transform us. Jesus does not
simply tell his disciples: You ought to wash one another’s feet, but he goes
about putting it into action. Through this example, Jesus teaches us that he
wanted to be present among his friends as one who serves. Thus he lets us know
that the Holy Eucharist in which we participate each day should not be reduced
merely to the signs of the bread and the wine. It ought to be lived out in mutual
service and fraternal love. St. Paul tells us “…be servants to one another in love.‖
5. After washing the disciples feet, Jesus gave them his testament: “ I give you a
new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have
loved you.‖6
How did Jesus love them ?
As Servant and Lord, Jesus was concerned most of all, about fulfilling the
Father’s will. He sought to do this in every circumstance of his life – in all events
and persons, he ever encountered .7 All we need to do is read the Gospels to be
taken up in Jesus’ teaching and examples that show his love for his brothers. His
entire public life can be summed up in a mission of service founded on
gratuitous love.
Jesus always takes the time to consider with kindness and attention each
person he meets; he engages in conversation, inspiring trust in the person:
“What do you want me to do for you?”8 Each person is precious in his eyes.
Christ has loved with a human heart, worked with human hands, acted with
human intelligence.9
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mt 20 : 26-28
Gal 5 :13
Jn 13, : 34
BL# 71
Mk 10 : 51
Gaudium et Spes n° 22
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Jesus’ life was consistent with his teaching. His
teaching was accompanied by concrete actions. He healed
the sick, made miracles, taught the crowds and took pity on
them. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus called his disciples to him
and said to them: “I feel sorry for all these people; they... have nothing to
eat.‖ He invites the disciples to share his compassion: “If I send them off
home hungry, they will collapse on the way; some have come a great
distance...‖ Like a good mentor, Jesus does not act alone. Through the
disciples, he wants us to take part in his ministry. “And he took the seven
loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and began handing them to
his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd.‖10
Before leaving his disciples, he told them once more : “As the Father
has loved me, so have I loved you; no one can have greater love than to lay
down his life for his friends.‖ ―As the Father sent me so I am sending you.‖11
For Jesus, mission and love are one and the same, wherein mission is
the concrete form of love. Mission should always be the expression of God’s
overflowing love for one’s neighbour channelled through the one who is sent.
Jesus, whom the Father sent, entrusted himself totally to the Father. He was
loving and obedient unto death. He, the beloved Son, held fast to do the
Father’s will by willingly accepting darkness, sufferings and laying down his
life as an offering, but he vanquished death and sin. The Cross we venerate
on Good Friday is the greatest sign of Jesus’ love for us. It will always be there
at the very heart of our lives and it becomes glorious when we accept to walk
with Christ until we reach the radiant light of Easter.
Since it is through Christ’s resurrection that we have life, how can we,
his disciples, expect to follow him in this spirit of service , if Jesus did not rise
from the dead? Indeed, the resurrection is the revelation of the eternal love of
the Father and the Son, a love that renews itself through the gift of the Holy
Spirit poured out into our hearts bringing it to the fullness of the paschal
mystery 12 . Christ’s resurrection is ever new with the promise of life, an
invitation to witness, joy and mission for the Church.
The Paschal mystery is of great importance to the concrete living out of
our consecration. Believing in the paschal mystery ushers transformation in
our daily life: we learn to find meaning in suffering which when united to the
Jesus’ passion could bring forth abundant fruits. When we live our faith in
the fullness of the paschal mystery, we find consolation not only for ourselves,
but also for the world into which we are being sent. This is likewise what St.
10
11
12
Mk 8: 2-3 ; 6
Jn 15 : 9,13 ; 20:21
cf. Rom 5:5
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Paul tells us: “Blessed be the God and Father...who comforts
us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God.13
To serve as Christ served- this is our mission, a mission based on a
love that gives, and gives of itself freely. Paul has personally experienced this
gratuitous love of God in an intense manner when he met Christ on the road
to Damascus. Love alone, a deep and great love, can urge anyone to volunteer
to a service that leads to joy. Consecrated life is at the service of the Kingdom
of God. It is important because it is an overflowing of grace and of love.14
Saint Paul, this indefatigable voyager, left everything to go to peoples
of all races, languages and nations and announce the Risen Christ to them.
Nothing could stop his ardor: neither torments, nor dangers nor death. He
was impelled by such love for Christ. Similarly, there are many obstacles that
block our path today. Let us then turn to our Patron Saint, our example and
guide, asking him to obtain for us the grace to overcome our fears. As such we
can be of help to the distress in the world and proclaim to the poor and the
suffering:
Christ is risen, He is alive, Alleluia !
With the Sisters Assistants, Secretary and Treasurer, I greet you and all
your loved ones a joyful Easter and reiterate my fraternal affection for you.
Superior General
13
14
2 Cor 1: 3-4
Vita consacrata N° 195
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VISIT to VIETNAM and the COUNCIL of
CONGREGATION
Rome, Easter 2010
My dear Sisters,
After a long trip to Vietnam and the Philippines, the Sisters Assistants and
I have returned to Rome. Your respective Superiors who have gone home earlier
must have already given you an enthusiastic and compelling general feedback of
their experiences in Vietnam and the Philippines. I am happy about it and offer
them my sincere congratulations.
As I send you my Easter Greetings, let me communicate to you some of
the experienced presence of the Spirit of Easter and Pentecost which was poured
down upon our Assembly. It is the Spirit of Wisdom that supported us in our
tasks, abundantly pouring his graces upon our Congregation and upon each one
of the participants of the Council of Congregation. This same Spirit of Force has
created a bond of unity among us and inspired a desire within us to remain
united in charity.
On January 25, an impressive long line of Sisters coming from Vietnam
and from all countries gathered in Saigon to celebrate the 150 years of
missionary foundation in this part of Asia. It was only fitting that we give tribute
to Mother Benjamin, this remarkable missionary woman and foundress of
several missions in Asia.
Mother Benjamin was an intelligent, attentive, rational woman of faith
and love. St. Paul the patron saint of the Congregation was a model for her. She
resembles him in many ways. Like him she was able to foresee a future different
from the present through her courage and perseverance. It was unthinkable at
that time -well ahead of Vatican II – but despite the obstacles and the
oppositions, Mother Benjamin succeeded in opening a Novitiate in Saigon and
began to give religious formation to the Sisters of this country.
She was a prophet of her time who knew how to anticipate the future of
the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres as well as that of the Church in Asia. She has
incarnated her faith in the Asian culture. It was by the grace of her intuitions,
common sense, her total self gift for God’s glory and the salvation of souls that
today, the SPC sisters are deeply rooted in East Asia with many vocations and
ministries as a direct result of her visionary actions.
The Council of Congregation assembled all the Provincial, District and
Regional Superiors in the Philippines to reflect and work on the theme: Walk in
Paul’s footsteps to live and announce the Gospel with fresh audacity.”
Immediately after the conclusion of the Council of Congregation, the
members of the General Council proceeded to Vietnam, first in the province of
Danang for the celebration of its 50th year of foundation, then to Hanoi for the
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establishment of the District of Hanoi. It was an occasion for us
to be reminded of the passage in Leviticus which was most
appropriate for Danang and Hanoi. “You will keep this as a
jubilee: each of you shall return to his ancestral property, each
to his own clan. This 50th year will be a jubilee year for you.‖ (Lev.25:10-11)
Indeed, fifty years ago, the Province of Hanoi gave its Sisters to be part of
the Province of Danang. It was likewise from Hanoi that some Sisters left for the
mission in Africa and Madagascar. So in this jubilee year in Vietnam, Danang
gave back what it has received from Hanoi by generously offering 90 Sisters-the
first fruits of an abundant harvest- who will constitute the District of Hanoi.
Dear Sisters, even though you have not made the voyage to Vietnam and
the Philippines, you were closely present among us and some of you have
expressed that in various ways. Each day, you were in our hearts as we received
Christ. You were also there at the big heart of the Congregation which we all
form together and which can contain all of us. Thank you for your support which
we intensely felt daily as you joined us in thoughts and prayers.
Below are extracts from letters we received which give a glance of the
fraternal atmosphere felt before and during the Council of Congregation:
―Each one of us returned home rich with the joy of everything that we
have experienced together during these 5 extraordinary weeks in Vietnam and
in the Philippines. Thank you for planning that this Council should unfold in
this manner, building among us much unity and a great communion which will
surely bear fruit...‖
―Let me express once more all my gratitude for the very rich experience
that you have allowed me to experience in Vietnam and the Philippines‖
―More than the happiness of seeing Vietnam again, I had the greater joy
of meeting the Sisters of St. Paul there and being privileged to see the
authenticity of their life according to the charism of the Congregation.‖
The task of all those sent by Christ is to take up the missionary
challenges in the world today, and like him, to be of service to our suffering
world. This is the task of each Sister of St. Paul, called to walk in Paul’s footsteps
– their patron saint and model- that each may act, both like him, and in a new,
different manner according to one’s personal grace and gifts. Then with St. Paul
we can ―live and announce the Gospel with fresh audacity.”
This is still St. Paul’s message for us today, a challenging message
wherever we are and whatever we are doing. May we be witnesses of the Gospel
in the ordinariness of our daily life – with renewed audacity.
With fraternal greetings in the peace and joy of the Risen Christ!
Superior General
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Mother Myriam Visits Haiti with Sr.Saint Jean
Accompanied by Sr. Saint Jean, the 2nd General Assistant,
Mother Myriam, Superior General, visited the District of Haiti
from April 12 - 22, 2010. She made a visit to the buildings and
houses of the Congregation that have been damaged during
the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010. The two
visitors had a first hand experience of the sufferings and
hardships that the Sisters of the District have to bear with
daily.
Rome Vicariate: Nocturnal Pilgrimage for Vocations
Starting at 23:30 in the evening of April 23 up to 6:00 in the
morning of April 24, 2010 a nocturnal pilgrimage with 800
youth, students, seminarians, priests, religious men and
women including 7 Sisters from the SPC Generalate, walked in
silent procession from the Basilica of St. Sebastian outside the
Walls, passing the Quo Vadis Chapel, the Coliseum, the Chiesa
Nuova until they reached St Peter’s Basilica. The event was an
initiative of the Vicariate of Rome on the occasion of the
World day of prayer for Vocations on Sunday April 25, 2010.
Antilles-Guyane: Conference On Governance
The Province of Antilles-Guyane had the joy of hosting a
Seminar for the local Superiors from December 14 – 20, 2009.
This was organized as part of the Continuous Formation
Program. With the Salle Louis Chauvet as venue, the
Seminar’s theme echoed the Capitular Acts of 2007 : “An
Evangelical and Participatory Governance coupled with a
Sense of Responsibility and Inner Freedom.” Brother Gilles
DANROC, OP, was the invited speaker.
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Four Major Superiors re-appointed
During the General Council meeting on March 27, 2010
Mother Myriam Kitcharoen, Superior General, and her
Council re-appointed four Major Superiors whose terms
have ended in the month of February.
France : Sister Jean-Noel DELEZENNE
Saigon, Vietnam: Sister Marie Mai Anh NGO
Indonesia: Sister Mary Wilfrid DAYRIT
Central Africa: Sister Catharina LEE
Creation of the District of Hanoi
A new District in Vietnam was created by Mother Myriam
Kitcharoen, with the consent of her Council. The District of Hanoi
was officially established on February 28, 2010. Mother Myriam
and her Council appointed Sister St.François DAO as the first
District Superior. The new District has 12 houses, 90 perpetually
professed Sisters , kindergarten schools and varied apostolates.
Many aspirants are waiting for the opening of the novitiate.
2010 Statistics: 574 SPC Houses in the World
The summary of the reports of the Provinces, Districts and Regions as of
December 31, 2009 gives a total of 3967 Sisters, a decrease of 20 from the total
of December 2008. The big number of deceased Sisters – 64 - accounts for the
decrease in the total number of Sisters all over the world. The statistics
registered an increase in the number of houses bringing the total to 574. Today,
the Congregation counts 97 postulants, 172 novices, 439 Sisters of Temporary
vows and 3356 Sisters of Perpetual Vows. In 2009, the Congregation arrived in
Nepal with the foundation of a community in Pokhara by the Province of Seoul.
PROVINCE/DISTRICT/ REGION
ANTILLES-GUYANE
CANADA
Korea SEOUL
Korea -DAEGU
FRANCE
HONG KONG/Australia
JAPAN
MADAGASCAR
PHILIPPINES
THAILAND
V.N. DANANG
V.N. MYTHO
V.N. SAIGON
CAMEROON
CENTRAL AFRICA
USA
HAITI
INDONESIA
SWITZERLAND
PERU-COLOMBIA
TIMOR LESTE
ENGLAND-IRELAND
BRAZIL
ITALY, UKRAINE, Wyoming USA
TOTAL
Houses
Postulants
Novices
21
14
105
96
19
10
12
18
62
42
57
26
36
6
7
3
7
10
4
5
3
2
4
5
574
0
0
6
6
0
0
0
8
8
0
23
17
16
2
0
0
0
3
0
4
4
0
0
0
97
0
0
11
13
9
0
0
7
13
6
43
29
28
0
3
0
0
3
0
0
7
0
0
0
172
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TV
0
0
53
39
18
8
0
26
29
13
130
33
54
8
3
0
2
13
1
2
5
0
1
1
439
PV
Total
137
94
470
426
153
71
131
136
456
190
377
130
344
17
26
16
26
42
21
18
9
14
12
40
3356
137
94
534
478
180
79
131
169
498
209
550
192
426
25
32
16
28
58
22
20
21
14
13
41
3967
Total w/
Postulants
137
94
540
484
180
79
131
177
506
209
573
209
442
27
32
16
28
61
22
24
25
14
13
41
4064
Paulinian Echoes
SPECIAL FEATURE
Council of Congregation 2010
Arrival and Welcome
The participants to the Council of
Congregation arrived at the Manila airport on
January 30, 2010 coming from Saigon,
Vietnam where they joined in the celebration
of 150th year of mission of the Sisters of St.
Paul of Chartres in that country. Many
Superiors have never visited the Philippines.
Sister Zeta Rivero and her Assistants were
at hand to welcome them at the airport.
Designated Sisters took care of the luggage
and the processing of passports at the
airport
while
the
delegates boarded the
bus
of
St.
Paul
University Manila and
were taken to nearby
St. Paul College of
Paranaque for lunch.
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At the Provincial H ouse - Our Lady of Chartres
Convent, Antipolo City
A van and a bus with police escort brought the
participants to Our Lady of Chartres Convent, the
SPC Provincial House where the General Council
and the Major Superiors were warmly welcomed
with musical instruments and flowers by the
postulants, novices, juniors and professed Sisters.
A simple prayer liturgy gathered everyone at the
Chapel in thanksgiving for the safe arrival of the
visitors.
Welcome
Cultural Presentation
After supper, the visitors were treated to a traditional cultural presentation of
welcome where the host
country briefly showcased its history and
cultural heritage.
Through music and
dance the young Sisters
described the ethos of the
Filipino. Then, the delegates to the 2010 Council
of Congregation, coming
from 24 countries, were
introduced.
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Visit of SPC Schools and Universities
A few days before the official opening of the Council of Congregation,
the General Council and the major Superiors were able to visit the schools and
universities in Manila and neighboring cities otherwise known as Metro Manila.
During these visits they discovered the features of the Paulinian educational
system of the Philippines in St Paul College of Makati, St Paul University Manila
and St Paul University Quezon City.
SStt PPaauull U
Unniivveerrssiittyy M
Maanniillaa
SStt.. PPaauull U
Unniivveerrssiittyy Q
Quueezzoonn C
Ciittyy
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SStt.. PPaauull C
Coolllleeggee ooff M
Maakkaattii
February 2: Profession Ceremony, Entrance to the Novitiate
February 2 is the usual date for Religious profession in the Philippines. This
year, the presence of the General Council and the participants to the Council of
Congregation added to the solemnity of the Profession ceremony. During the
offertory procession, the new professed Sisters were accompanied by their
parents to the altar- a meaningful gesture of the gift of self in consecrated life.
On the eve of the Profession ceremonies the new novices entered the
Novitiate. The candidates had the enviable opportunity of receiving their habits
from the hands of the Superior General, Mother Myriam herself.
Entrance to the Novitiate
Renewal of Vows
Perpetual Profession
First Profession
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Solemn Opening of the Council
of Congregation 2010
On February 4, 2010, the
2010 Council of Congregation
had a solemn opening with a
Eucharistic Celebration at the
Chapel of the Provincialate. This
was preceded by the blessing of
the commemorative plaque. The
participants , holding flags of
the countries
where the
Congregation is present, entered
the chapel in Procession.
Father Gerry Whelan, SJ a
presiding at the Opening Holy
Eucharist
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Mother Myriam, Superior
General, declares the 2010
Council of Congregation open
Paulinian Echoes
Documents: Council of Congregation 2010
General Council : Mother Myriam Kitcharoen, Sr. Mary Ann Laurin, Sr. Saint Jean Tran, Sr. Monique
Gaudron, Sr. Maria Goretti Lee, Sr Maria Luisa Escanlar (secretary)
Provincial Superiors: Sr. Agathe Pradel, Sr. Brigitte Savage, Sr. Gemma Lucie Kim, Sr. Veronica Lee, Sr.
Jean-Noël Delezenne, Sr. Marie Jacqueline Ho, Sr. Thérèse- Marie Hirota, Sr. Marie
Andrée Rasoanirina, Sr. Zeta Caridad Rivero, Sr. Irene Chamnamtham, Sr. Marie
Madeleine Cai Thi Hong A, Sr. Patrick Huyn Thi Bich Ngoc, Sr. Marie Ngo Thi Mai Anh
District Superiors: Sr. Antoinette Onguene, Sr. Catharina Lee, Sr. Mary Wilfrid Dayrit, Sr. Maria Cecilia
Lorayes, Sr. Anne- Marie Rebetez, Sr. Gloria Schultz
Regional Superiors: Sr. Teresa Lau, Sr. Hélène Gatien, Sr. Rose Margaret Nuval, Sr. Marie Carmen
Pangilinan
Observer: Sr. Elsa Pasquali (Italy)
Missionary Challenges for the
Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in the World Today
My dear Sisters,
Changes in the world today have become even more rapid than we have ever
known. Social changes and global trends inevitably influence every aspect of
personal and community life due to the tremendous advances in technology
especially in the area of communications. The life of consecrated persons, like
the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres, are by no means sheltered from the all the
currents of political and philosophical thoughts, shifts in moral values and the
quiet but increasing disintegration of religious and spiritual values brought
about by a secular society. Three years on, after the 2007 General Chapter of the
Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, we are all called upon as individual Sisters and as
communities to assess the implementation of the Capitular Acts of the 47 th
General Chapter in the light of the present world situation. Thus we convoked
the major Superiors of the 24 Provinces, Districts and Regions to gather at the
Provincial House in Manila, Philippines for the Council of Congregation 2010
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with the theme: “Walk in Paul’s footsteps to live and announce the
Gospel with fresh audacity.”
We came into this International Meeting to consult, to exchange information,
to reflect together and share in a fraternal atmosphere to find creative ways of
adaptations and in responding to the “cry of the poor” for the service of
evangelization in the world. The three weeks of prayerful reflection,
contemplation, and in-depth sharing and listening was an intense spiritual
experience. The enlightenment received from the conferences and the sharing
were consequential in the process of clarifying our orientations and the
articulation of the priorities that the Major Superiors considered as most
appropriate for the particular contexts of their Regions, Districts and Provinces.
This present document offers valuable excerpts from the conferences given
by the invited speakers highlighting the core of their messages. It also includes
the syntheses of the group reflections during the series of workshops in the days
following the three-day recollection. The self-explanatory tables give indications
of new awareness of the world situation and the challenges that the Sisters of St.
Paul of Chartres need to respond to.
While this document is meant to be a tool to help each Provincial, District
and Regional Superior in her task of giving a feedback to all of you, Sisters in the
various continents, let us remember that during the entire Council of
Congregation, the most important element is the constant openness to the
stirrings of the Holy Spirit. All our proposals, projects and plans are worthless if
they do not spring from the Giver of all missions. Our pastoral initiatives and
works of charity are meaningless if they do not flow from the source of all
compassion, the heart of our God who sent us his beloved Son and whose Spirit
guided the day to day work of the participants in the Council of Congregation
2010.
With profound gratitude, we raise our hearts to the Lord in thanksgiving for
his boundless love for us and for our Congregation. One week before the start of
the Council of Congregation, all the 30 participants had the joy of joining the
celebration, in Saigon, of the 150 years of foundation of the Sisters of St. Paul of
Chartres in Vietnam.
This was an important phase where each participant had the occasion to have
a spiritual encounter with Mother Benjamin le Noël de Groussy. At this period in
our history when we seek renewed creativity and daring, Mother Benjamin’s life
and works in the Far East is definitely an outstanding model and inspiration not
only for missionaries but for the leaders of the Congregation as well. She was
God’s gift to would-be missionaries of the Church through our Congregation.
Many indeed were the blessings during the 2010 Council of Congregation that
move us to offer prayers of thanks and praise: the atmosphere of prayer and
silence that promoted fraternal trust, openness, allowing the participants to
share authentically on a deep spiritual level; the loving communion and
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compassion for the difficult situations experienced in some Provinces,
Districts and Regions have clearly demonstrated that these “putting
in common of ideas and realizations have forged the greater unity within the
Congregation.” (BL 103)
As we grow into greater conformity to Christ in our life of consecration “for
the good of the Church and the service of neighbor” in this broken, secularized
world, let us heed the Holy Spirit’s invitation to go back to the Word of God and
its call for conversion. We can only truly fulfill our mission of integral
evangelization if our own lives can bear witness to and be consistent with what
we preach. This is the challenge for each one of us.
Thus we know where we can discover the deep source our creativity in
mission which our Patron St. Paul constantly points out to us in his life and
writings. As Sisters of St Paul, strong in faith and hope, let us walk in his footsteps,
live the Gospel authentically, and announce it with fresh audacity!
Sr. Myriam de Ste Anne Kitcharoen, SPC
Superior General
Mother Benjamin was a
missionary of the Sisters of
St. Paul of Chartres who
truly resembled St. Paul
both in courage and in her
intelligent
ability
to
envision a future different
from the present…
Today, the SPC sisters are
deeply rooted in East Asia
with many vocations and
ministries as a direct result
of her visionary actions.
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SPC COUNCIL OF CONGREGATION 2010
Preliminary Theological Reflections (Excerpts)
by FR. GERARD WHELAN SJ
Obviously your immediate task is to
reflect upon your experience of the last
General Chapter, held in 2007, and its
implementation.
The
Council
of
Congregation serves as assistance to your
Mother
General,
Mother
Myriam
Kitcharoen, in her governance of your
institute. It also provides an opportunity
for some two-way communication, where
Mother Myriam can respond to thoughts
and feelings you represent during these
days.
Creativity and the Evangelization of
Cultures
Clearly, like other religious institutes,
you have been trying to follow the call of
the Second Vatican Council, to rediscover
the roots of your charism, and to live in a
manner that expresses both fidelity and
creativity with respect to it. This, in fact, is
why I offer the approach of Bernard
Lonergan, SJ to you, as a resource for
reflection on your work of evangelization.
We live in complex times, and in your
work in many different cultures, I am
convinced that having a deeply grounded
method is the best way to make actual the
challenge of: “Following in the Footsteps
of St. Paul, living the Good News and
proclaiming it with fresh audacity.”
St. Paul helped to engineer the
translation of a Jewish-Christian Church
into one different culture, the GrecoRoman culture of the Roman Empire. A
World-Church requires a translation of a
Christianity that has been articulated in
terms of European culture into a whole
series of other cultures. This is clearly a
more complex task than that performed
by St. Paul and one that will need to use
the sophisticated academic disciplines
developed in modern times. Above all it
will need attention to questions of method
in theology, questions that have only
emerged in the light of modern
hermeneutical philosophies.
In fact, if we are to employ the
metaphor of St. Paul’s footsteps, we might
need to modify it somewhat. We can
imagine that the Church has, to some
degree, been walking directly in St. Paul’s
footsteps but at a certain moment, the
trace of his footsteps cease and we now
need to proceed in a straight line forward
but without the actual footsteps of St.
Paul to show us the way. In this manner,
we point out that what we need to achieve
in building a World-Church is in profound
continuity with the achievement of St.
Paul in the Council of Jerusalem but is by
no means a simple repetition.
There is a need to explore in greater
depth how a capacity for fidelity and
creativity in mission can be developed in
the Church and in a religious institute
such as the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres.
I note that there is a certain concern
among the SPC sisters concerning
obstacles to missionary creativity and I
address this issue in a particular way. I
insist that if we are concerned with
creativity in our institutions we must
first address the creativity of the
individuals that comprise them.
Self-Transcendence, Authenticity
and Grace
The genuine person is one who
exhibits a kind of wise self-knowledge that
includes both a familiarity with selftranscendence
and
a
humble
acknowledgment of frequent failure to
actually realize it. A genuine person will
usually be compassionate with the
weaknesses of others because he or she
has recognized his or her own weaknesses.
Having touched on this issue of our
failure to self-transcend, let us proceed
Page 17
Paulinian Echoes
to speak about another reality
of
human
subjectivity:
religious conversion. Citing Bernard
Lonergan :... human authenticity is a matter
of achieving self-transcendence.
Such
achievement is always precarious, always a
withdrawal from unauthenticity, always in
danger of slipping back into unauthenticity.
This is not a cheerful picture, and you may
ask whether ordinary human beings
ever seriously and perseveringly
transcend themselves.
I think they do, when they fall in love.
Then their being becomes being-in-love. . ..
Being-in-love is of different kinds. There is
the love of intimacy, of husband and wife, of
parents and children. There is the love of
one’s fellow men with its fruit in the
achievement of human welfare. There is the
love of God with one’s whole heart and whole
soul, with all one’s mind and all one’s
strength. (Mark 12.30). It is God’s love
flooding our hearts through the Holy
Spirit given to us (Rom. 5.5). It grounded
the conviction of St. Paul that ―there is
nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits
or superhuman powers, in the world as it is
or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the
universe—nothing in all creation that can
separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord‖ (Rom. 8;38-39).
Being in love with God, as experienced, is
being in love in an unrestricted fashion. All
love is self-surrender, but being in love with
God is being in love without limits or
qualifications or conditions or reservations.
It is with one’s whole heart and whole soul
and all one’s mind and all one’s strength. Just
as a total openness to all questioning is our
capacity for self-transcendence, so too an
unrestricted being in love is the proper
fulfillment of that capacity. . .
(Among) different levels of consciousness,
the gift of God’s love is on the topmost level. It
is not the sensitive type of consciousness that
emerges with sensing, feeling, moving. It
is not the intellectual type that is added when
we inquire, understand, think. It is not the
rational type that emerges when we reflect,
weigh the evidence, judge. It is the type of
consciousness that also is conscience that
deliberates, evaluates, decides, controls, acts.
But it is this type of consciousness at its root,
as brought to fulfillment, as having
undergone conversion... The gift of God’s
love takes over the ground and root of the
fourth and highest level of man’s waking
consciousness
In our analysis of individual
authenticity, we have now come full circle.
Yesterday, we introduced the terminology
of vertical-freedom and authentic selftranscendence. It means consistently and
readily observing the transcendental
precepts: be attentive, be intelligent, be
rational, be responsible. Finally, we have
pointed out that, it is only when we
experience the grace of God that we
actually find that our freedom is healed
and released enough from sin for us to
be able to exercise it. So it is that the
crowning transcendental precept is: be
in love!
Ignatian Spirituality and SelfTranscendence
Bernard Lonergan was not just a
philosopher but he was also a good Jesuit.
His account of authentic self-transcendence encourages us to attend to our
experience in a manner that is a direct
extension of St. Ignatius’ invitation to live
lives based on a discernment of spirits.
One fruit of Lonergan’s work is to expand
our understanding of how to discern
spirits. So when I pray the Examen I am
really asking myself: how is my selftranscendence going today? Am I being
attentive, intelligent, rational, and
responsible? And, of course, the ultimate
question is: “Am I expressing the results
of someone who is in love with God and
with all things through this love of God?
Growth in individual authenticity is
intimately interrelated with living and
functioning within institutions. So it is
that if all people have always been offered
the gift of God’s saving grace, then the
institution that is religion, must have had
something to do with it. So it is that if
being-in-love with God is to have any
ongoing real impact in the lives of
individuals, it will always need to be
Page 18
Paulinian Echoes
expressed
within
a
community of people
who have experienced this,
who invite others to try to experience the
same thing, and who live as a community
trying to allow development from above to
be influencing their behaviour.
The Church : Mission and Culture
This is the reason that religions exist.
It
is the Church that prolongs the
presence of Christ in history – that is its
mission. Our ability to promote this
mission has a great deal to do with our
own, graced, self-transcendence and our
ability to be part of a flexible Church
where infrastructure is functioning in a
way that is appropriate to our
superstructure, a solid theological base for
the deliberations you will be making
concerning
how
you
have
been
implementing your mission as Sisters of
St. Paul of Chartres during the last three
years.
The charism of the SPC sisters has
been well stated in the Chapters of 2001
and 2007; this charism participates in the
basic charism that is the mission of the
Church in the world today. The challenges
to fidelity and creativity faced by the
Church as a whole are reflected in your
own institute and it remains your
challenge to reflect on the specifics of this
challenge and what you can do to improve
your performance. The challenge of
fidelity and creativity requires that we
remain clear about what the essentials
of our mission are and what is
changeable.
Self-transcendence and the Sisters
of St. Paul of Chartres
Before you arrived here for this
Council of Congregation in Manila you
visited Vietnam and celebrated the one
hundred fiftieth year anniversary of the
arrival of Mother Benjamin in that
country. Mother Benjamin was a
missionary of St. Paul of Chartres who
truly resembled St. Paul both in courage
and in her intelligent ability to envision a
future different from the present. She
took steps to found a novitiate in Vietnam
and to begin forming local sisters. Long
before Vatican II she shared the vision of
something similar to Rahner’s notion of a
World Church. She had sensitivity to
issues of culture that was exceptional for
the time and she recognized how the best
people to evangelize any given nation
were individuals from that same nation.
Hers was not a vision shared by all her
fellow SPC sisters and for a time she
suffered disapproval and opposition.
However, with a fortitude and audacity
that resembles St. Paul campaigning for
the rights of his gentile-Christian converts,
she eventually succeeded in receiving
permission to put her plan into action.
Today, the SPC sisters are deeply rooted
in East Asia with many vocations and
ministries as a direct result of these
visionary actions.
The point I want to stress is that
Mother Benjamin was a self-transcending
religious. Without having heard of a
philosophy that advocates being attentive,
being intelligent, being rational, and
being responsible, and being-in-love, she
in fact exhibited each of these
characteristics. This enabled her to
articulate a vision for the future of the
SPC sisters, a vision that is relevant also
for the whole Church in Asia: That the
Christian faith should be incarnated in
each culture. This kind of vision implies
the ability to make a distinction between
superstructure and infrastructure, and an
ability to imagine new infrastructures
while remaining loyal to the same
superstructure.
Fr. Gerry WHELAN, SJ
Page 19
Paulinian Echoes
To Bring the Word to the World Today
with the Faith and Courage of Saint Paul
(excerpts)
His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Manila
Sin is at the root of all evil and
negative influences; and the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour is the
source of all the positive and healing
influences and salvation. Seeing the
disturbing conditions in the world today
with the added load of newer repressions
on the youth, the challenge looms. How do
we begin? Or are we, Priests and religious
at the threshold of watching the collapse
of the world’s natural structured support
for life?
We can do something in the spirit
of hope in the Word, once pronounced by
the Father in the Spirit, “Let there be
light.‖ ―Let there be Life.‖
From Persecuting People, He
Learned in Jesus, to Love People
Before his conversion, Saul
thought that he was on the correct path of
protecting, like a zealot, his ancestral
traditions. He admitted having persecuted
the Church of God and tried to destroy it.
Then on the road to persecute more
Christians, he fell to the ground, blinded
by a light and forced to admit that he was
persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord revealed that Saul was the chosen
instrument to evangelize the gentiles,
kings and Israelites, adding that “I will
show him what he will have to suffer for
my name.” (Acts 9:13)
Immediately, the Pauline path
to spreading the Word in a confused
world reveals two tasks: repentance
and suffering. It is right to begin with
repentance for although the promise of
holiness and fullness of life is in Jesus, the
past life of every apostle and disciple
repeated the history of sinful humans.
There was not a single apostle who could
boast of perfect fidelity to Jesus just as
there was never a saint without a
repudiated past. This is what makes
disciples
truly
humble.
Paul’s
unquestioned concern for the poor was
manifested in his consistent reminders
that the poor must be attended to. Beyond
actual reminders and collections for the
cause of the poor, Paul was shaken when
he heard of the scandalous practice linked
with the Lord’s Supper and the poor being
unkindly neglected at meals. “... Or have
you such disregard for God’s assembly
that you can put to shame those who have
nothing?‖
St. Paul underlines here his
concern for the purity and reverence for
the Eucharist and his plea to have a
special sensitive compassion for the poor.
But in order to proceed to the task of
spreading the Good News of the Kingdom
that welcomes both poor and rich, the
Spirit needs to intervene in order to make
all one. The 47th General Chapter of the
Sisters of St Paul of Chartres mentioned
the Sisters’ desire to enter into the life of
the Spirit and to allow themselves to be
moved, disturbed and converted like St
Paul, so as to take new orientations.
In Vita Consecrata, Pope John Paul
II insisted on the power of teaching or
prophecy, that comes from the harmony
in the evangelizer’s life and the gifts of the
Spirit to the Church: “Prophecy derives a
particularly persuasive power from the
consistency between proclamation and
life. Consecrated persons will be faithful
to their mission in the Church and in the
world if they can renew themselves
constantly in the light of the Word of
God.”(VC 85)
Page 20
Paulinian Echoes
There are three
aspects
of
service:
consecration, mission
and witness and she serves best who is
witness to the call, the consecration and
the proclaimed message.
Indeed, the more consecrated persons
allow themselves to be conformed to
Christ, the more Christ is made present
and active in the world for the salvation of
all. (VC 72)
____________________________________________
Response as Leaders of the Congregation
As Major Superiors, we ourselves are called to enter into the continuous process of selftranscendence -as inspired by the Holy Spirit -in a response of love to Christ. Walking in St Paul’s
footsteps, “impelled by Christ’s love” (2 Cor 5:14; BL2), we undertake the task to help our Sisters
journey towards the same objective.
We hereby point out the significant ideas brought out in the group reports concerning the
ways of revitalizing our consecrated life and fully live our charism of charity for the most neglected.
Considering as givens all suggestions already mentioned in the Book of Life and the Capitular Acts
2007, we choose to focus on the new ideas and those expressed by Mother Myriam:
 To become ever more women of prayer, women of faith, daughters of the Church and of the
Congregation; preferring to live poorly in simplicity, taking Mary as our model;
 To cultivate the virtue of hope, which is the trust of the children of God and not a seeking
for security;
 To help our Sisters become aware of the harmful effects of secularization on society,
especially on the youth and in the religious life.
 To help Sisters embrace solitude freely and joyfully as it is intrinsic in the choice of life we
have made, being consecrated to God; by providing conditions conducive to interior silence
characterized by peace and joy coming from the Lord; and by a responsible use of the
communications media.
 To encounter the poor in order to go up and encounter God, including the poor in our
communities; to encourage the missionary enthusiasm and audacious creativity of the sisters.
 To emphasize on the importance of formation and the careful choice and formation of
formators.
Page 21
Paulinian Echoes
Outings: St Paul Pasig, Cavite, Dumaguete, Cebu
Several outings provided
interesting breaks for the Council of
Congregation participants allowing
them to visit other Paulinian houses
and apostolates. They met the poor
children who receive free education in
the Fr. Louis Chauvet School, a project
of parents of well-to do students in St
Paul College Pasig. In Cavite, they
lingered at the chapel, the conference,
and dining halls, tried to catch fish at
pond of the St Paul Renewal Center in
Alfonso
and
had
themselves
photographed amidst the hanging
bitter melon fruits. An hour later, they
shook hands with the doctors,
personnel and patients of St Paul
Hospital Cavite, a hospital for the poor
Outings: Dumaguete and Cebu
City
Dumaguete is the site of the very first
SPC foundation in the Philippines. The
visitors took an early plane to the
island of Negros, in central Philippines.
There, they were treated to a welcome
reminiscent of the joyful arrival of the
first SPC missionaries on the beach of
Dumaguete in 1904: a brass band, red
carpet, military salute and hundreds of
school children lining the streets
waving in welcome. A tour of the
university
highlighted
ecological
projects and an evening play on Paul
of Tarsus gave a fitting biblical note
at the close of the visit.
Fr. Louis Chauvet Foundation
1
2
5
1. Children at Fr Chauvet School
2. Sr Saint Jean Tran
3. Sr Gloria Schultz
4. SPC Pasig Cultural Show
5. Sr Monique
3
4
Fr. Louis Chauvet School
Page 22
St Paul Renewal Center
Paulinian Echoes
L-R Sr M. Andrée, Sr AnneMarie, Sr Madeleine,Sr M.Mai Anh
The visit to Perpetual
Succour Hospital in Cebu City
came at the end of the second
week of work for the participants.
It was in Cebu that the
General
Council
and
the
participants met the Sisters who
are assigned in the southern part
of the country. The experiences in
Cebu included a free medical
checkup at Perpetual Succour
Hospital, a visit to the shrine of
the Child Jesus that dates back to
the beginning of Christianity in
the Philippines, without forgetting
their cultural soiree with the
Sr. Mary Ann
Sr Marie. Mai Anh; Sr Patrick
Sr Catharina Lee
Sr Antoinette
Sr Thérèse MarieHirota
Visit at St Paul’s Hospital,
Cavite, a hospital for the poor
With Cardinal Vidal at
Perpetual Succour Hospital
Cebu City
Sisters of the Visayas –Mindanao
regions and a lunch at the beach
before boarding the plane for the
return flight to Manila.
Council of Congregation Participants in front of the SPC marker
in Dumaguete- where the first Sisters arrived in 1904
Page 23
Paulinian Echoes
HAITI
R
Reep
po
orrtt:: O
Ou
urr S
Siisstteerrss a
afftteerr tth
hee E
Ea
arrtth
hq
qu
ua
ak
kee
.
Page 24
Paulinian Echoes
Earthquake: A First Person Account
HAITI, January 12, 2010
At 4 pm, like any Tuesday afternoon, the
community gathered together at the cloister
hallway of the ground floor for spiritual
reading and Holy Rosary. At around 4:53 p.m.,
as our prayer was ending, everything went
wrong in a matter of seconds: a loud sound of
whistling wind, then we heard the shattering
noise of falling furniture upstairs… the house
was shaking!
In one leap, the Sisters were out to the inner courtyard, screaming, praying and
crying uncontrollably. We were five. We called for the sister who was in the second
floor. She was able to come down. The two
others who were absent would join us much
later at 7:30 p.m.
In fifteen minutes, the house was cracked
and badly damaged. Mathurin, our security
guard, guided us
towards the entrance,
passing through the chapel and out into the
front yard. Two more extremely violent
tremors lasting but three seconds left us
terrified in a shock. Our fence collapsed before
our very eyes, our school was leaning forward
and was falling down like all the buildings in
the neighborhood. Our hearts seemed to have
stopped as a cloud of dust rose from the falling
debris. It was a horribly indescribable sight!
Our neighbors came running to seek refuge in
our place, their number kept increasing as the
night fell. At 8 p.m. we heard the crashing sound
of a neighbor’s roof falling to the ground. We
raised our arms crying for help… cries of pain, of
supplication, of distress: ―Merciful Jesus, save us!
Jesus, have pity on us, Virgin Mary, cover us with you mantle…‖
All night long, prayers, hymns and rosaries would come from our hearts and lips
repeatedly, with every aftershock that numbered up to thirty during the night. We
held hands for strength and courage through those long terrible hours. We felt God so
close to us. Where else would we turn for help if not to Him alone ? He alone is our
strength, our rock of refuge, our pillar, and our help! Death was right there before us,
it was possible for the ground to open up and bury us alive. That night seemed so
agonizingly long. In our distress, we thought of borrowing a telephone to call the
Sisters living nearest to us… after many failed attempts, we succeeded in giving them
news that we were alive but that our house was destroyed.
Page 25
Paulinian Echoes
Early in the morning of January 13, before
sunrise, people were moving about, walking in
the streets, with despair in their faces as they
went in anguish and distress looking for their
loved ones. Some cars transported the injured.
Our zone looked like a battle field with ruins all
around. The houses that remained standing,
with their cracked walls were not safe for
human habitation. What a terrible scene.
At 9 o’clock in the morning, our Sisters from
Thomassin 25 and Thomassin 29 came to see us.
They were devastated to see our District House
destroyed and uninhabitable.This was the place
where they have spent many years of their religious
life: initial formation, District Assemblies, deep
prayer experiences, joyful celebrations…so many
precious memories!
Thanks be to God, all of us - SPC sisters - were all alive, as well as all our
employees and students. Other Congregations have lost everything. With the help of
our brave security guard and some friends, we were able to retrieve and rescue most
of our belongings: documents, archives, furniture, television, refrigerators, computers,
solar panels, batteries etc. They dared to penetrate inside the buildings that risked to
collapse anytime.
February 12, 2010
It is now one month since the earthquake. The
tremors continue but with low intensity. We jump
nervously at the least noise: a slamming door, a
passing lorry, a starting engine: we have become
allergic to noise. When we consider that in a matter
of 35 seconds the earthquake has wrought such
havoc… beyond what we could ever imagine. How
could we help being afraid?
The entire population has invaded every green space available, prohibited or not.
Majority are living in makeshift tents. Thanks be to God that the rains have not come,
but are due to start by the month of march. God will provide! Public squares, school
grounds, football fields… all are occupied.
Page 26
Paulinian Echoes
The government has decreed a three-day national mourning and declared that
January 12 be observed each year as a holiday. The Catholic church simultaneously
celebrated requiem masses in 82 parishes of the archdiocese of Port au Prince at 7
o’clock in the morning.
International organizations and non-government organizations took turns to
bring aid and comfort. A great chain of solidarity spontaneously came to help Haiti.
Humanitarian aid reached the camps in Port au Prince as well as those in Leogane,
Jacmel, Petit Goave, small towns in the south that have also been damaged by the
earthquake. The opening of classes was not being considered yet. The Ministry of
Education informed that 800 schools were destroyed. Classes should resume by the
month of March.
Port au Prince was reduced to a pile
of rubble overnight . The Haitian
geologist Patrick Charles said, ―We live
in very difficult times and we should
act. The countdown has started. Nature
is getting back at us. We must save
whatever could still be saved.‖
We thank you for all your prayers,
your words of encouragement that we
received through letters, messages and
phone calls.
The Sisters of St. Paul
Delmas 31, Port au Prince, Haiti
MOTHER MYRIAM’S VISIT :Upon her return from Asia after the Council of
Congregation, Mother Myriam, Superior General, visited our Sisters. She was
accompanied by Sister Saint Jean, 2nd Assistant General. They brought the
donations from different PDRs. The pictures show the extreme suffering of the
Haitian people but they also illustrate their admirable courage, spirit of solidarity,
determination to live and start anew fired by their faith and hope in God which no
pain could destroy.
The General Council has released funds for the construction and repair of houses
and schools in the District of Haiti.
IIn
nssiiddee tth
hee tteen
nttss
A
AC
Ciitty
y ooff T
Teen
nttss:: T
Th
hee SSiisstteerrss h
haavvee tth
heeiirr oow
wn
n tteen
nttss ttoooo
Page 27
Paulinian Echoes
Classes resumed in
tents. Traumatized,
the children are
afraid to enter their
school buildings
but the eagerness
to learn is there …
and a ready
welcome for the
visitors.
…a reason to gather and to celebrate
The Sisters of the District with Mother Myriam
Mother’s visit brought joy and encouragement
Page 28
A temporary house for the Sisters
Paulinian Echoes
Humanitarian Mission in Haiti *
During the Council of Congregation in the Philippines, Sr. Brigitte Savage sent an
invitation to the available nurses in the Province of Canada to participate in a short
term humanitarian mission in Haiti. The scenes of distress transmitted by the media
since January 12, 2010 were still vivid in our minds. Our hearts felt the sufferings that
our Haitian brothers and sisters were going through. With the help of our sisters in the
Province, we joined the volunteers from the University of Miami who were scheduled to
work in Haiti from March 22 to 29, 2010.
The challenge for us was: to be able to adapt ourselves
to the other members of the group, to the local population,
to the climate, the food and the actual living conditions.
The tent that served as a hospital in which we were
assigned, can accommodate 120 patients. These are the
serious cases, but the patients and their families were for
us, living witnesses of faith, hope and charity. Their
gratitude, strength and courage showed their fierce desire
to hold on to life . When asked whether she believed
someone would find her alive, a lady who spent 8 days
trapped under the rubble answered: “I kept hoping because God was always there .”
As a parting gift at the end of our service, we had the great joy of spending time
with our Sisters in Haiti, and experience the international spirit. We were 12 Sisters at
table : one or two were Haitians, others were from the Philippines, France, Vietnam, the
USA and Canada. We will never forget this wonderful fraternal get-together.
Sister
Marie-Paul, District Superior, took the time to bring us for a visit to the Sisters who
were living near Port au Prince. At Delmas itself, the school and the community house
were destroyed. Our courageous sisters are living in tents. As we went around, we were
so dismayed to see that all public and private squares have become camping grounds.
There are ruins everywhere, crushed houses and
destroyed buildings waiting to be demolished. And there
are many people who have lost not only belongings but
loved ones as well. The Haitians find strength to pray
and sing because they came out alive.
This mission has allowed us : to be of help to some
persons- we are aware that our contribution was but a
drop of water in the ocean; to have a simple experience
of solidarity by sharing our know-how, our hands and
our heart ; to see God through the eyes of the patients, their families, the participants
and the Sisters of St. Paul ; to recapture the foundation of our
profession and the different ways of being and doing in its human
dimension .
We went back to Quebec with renewed energy and a certain
wisdom. - Sr Andrée Mainville, Sr Léola Samson, Sr Réjeanne Goulet
* Sisters Rosaline (USA) and Mary Ann (Haiti) have also worked as
volunteers in this hospital. From the USA, Sr Gloria,and Sr Francis
Mary brought donations in cash and in kind; Sr Jeanne Cattin (Peru)
came to help the Sisters for one month.
Page 29
Paulinian Echoes
Daegu, Korea:
First Profession
February 2,
2010
FIRST PROFESSION
Danang Vietnam May 1, 2010
Sr. Anne NGUYEN Thi Lan Phuong
Sr. Marie NGO Thi Bich Van
Sr. Marie CAO Thi Le Thu
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Thi Giang
Sr. Madeleine NGO Thi Kim Ha
Sr. Marie LE Thi Sen
Sr. Marie VU Hong Diem Trinh
Sr. Marie NGO Thi Hong Vuong
Sr. Anne NGUYEN Thi Nhung
Sr. Marie DO Thi Thai Hoa
Sr. Therese TRAN Thi Huyen Trang
Sr. Anne TRINH Thi Ha
Sr. Marthe NGUYEN Thi Hong
THAILAND: May 6, 2010
Sr. Theresa of the Infant Jesus Kaetkaew PUNNACHET
Sr. Adrian Portnip SANO
Sr. Ephrem Saisuda SRISUTHICHANYA
Sr. Nicolas Patcharee WONGWAI
Saigon Vietnam : July 14, 2010
Sr. Marie PHAM Thi Toan
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Thi Minh Trong
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Tu Trinh
Sr. Thérèse NGUYEN Thi Bich Thao
Sr. Marie LE Thi Minh Tam
Sr. Thérèse NGO Thi Anh Hong
Sr. Anne NGUYEN Thi Anh Hong
Sr. Thérèse TRAN Thi Thanh Thuy
Sr. Marie NGUYEN THI HA THANH
Sr. Thérèse NGUYEN THI HUONG
Sr. Anne VU THI MONG THUONG
Page 30
Paulinian Echoes
Seoul Korea: Perpetual Profession, Feb.2, 2010
PERPETUAL PROFESSION
Thailand : May 5, 2010
Sister Thérèse Benedicte CHAIDUANG
Sister Justine INTIYA
Danang, Vietnam : May 1, 2010
Sr. Thérèse NGUYEN Thi Minh Vu
Sr. Thérèse NGUYEN Thi Tu
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Thi Thuy Van
Sr. Thérèse NGUYEN Thi Hue
Sr. Marthe LE Thi Thu Dao
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Thi Ngoc Thao
Sr. Thérèse TRAN Thi Le
Sr. Madeleine TRINH Thi Hong Loan
Sr. Anne LUONG Thi Ly
Sr. Marie HOANG Thi Thieng
Sr. Marthe LE Thi Nguyet
Sr. Marie NGUYEN Thi Thu Hang
Sr. Marie TRUONG Thi Thom
Sr. Elisabeth LE Thi Bich Nga
Cameroon : September 11, 2010
Sr. Marthe BITANG
Sr. Florence Hortense NKOMO NKE
Sr. Florette Adeline NEBO
Sr. Marie Rolande AYAMA LEKA
Sr. Marie Beatrice EMBOLO MVOGO
Page 31
Paulinian Echoes
Going Home to the Father
A new season in eternity
2010
ANTILLES GUYANE
April 1
May 7
May 16
Sr Christine HATIL, 88
Sr Marie-Dominique DANDO, 90
Sr Antonia WILTORD, 82
March 14
April 25
Sr Marie-Renée THIBAULT, 86
Sr Yvette Georges-Marie FOURNIER, 88
February 4
February 7
April 17
Sr Marie Humilitas YOU Jeung Heuk, 69
Sr Damiano PAK Yung Ok, 93
Sr Daniella HONG Jeun Bong, 89
April 22
Sr. Agnès DO Myoung Sook, 59
CANADA
SEOUL
DAEGU
Sr Agnès DO
was a Council
Member of the
Province of
Daegu . She
was diagnosed
with cancer in
February and
died on April
22, 2010 at the
age of 59.
May she rest
in peace.
FRANCE
February 2
March 6
March 20
May 25
Sr Marie Christophe LANGLAIS, 91
Sr Marie Bernard de la Croix JEANNE, 86
Sr Monique Bernard FUMERY, 83
Sr Marie-Ghislaine FAGES, 96
March 31
Sr. Gabrielle de Marie WONG, 76
HONG KONG
PHILIPPINES
January 1
January 3
February 4
February 13
March 13
March 15
May 10
Sr. Mary Robert ORQUIOLA, 87
Sr. Filomena Carolina MARCOS, 70
Sr. Jeanne du SC CURADA, 107
Sr. Marie Theodore BANGALANDO, 85
Sr. Theresia de Marie RILLO, 71
Sr. Maria Marcelina PALMES, 75
Sr. Aurora CASPE, 52
SAIGON, VIETNAM
February 10
March 15
Sr. Marie Cécile NGUYEN THI TRUOC, 80
Sr. Marcelle de Marie NGUYEN THI THANH,72
DANANG, VIETNAM
February 3
March 12
March 30
Sr.Marie Marcelle BUI THI TRINH, 75
Sr. Ste. Julienne NGUYEN THI NAY, 63
Sr. Marie – Antoinette TRAN-THI-CUC, 78
PAULINIAN ECHOES
EDITORIAL STAFF
Sr. Maria Luisa Escanlar
Sr. Mary Ann Laurin
Sr. Monique Gaudron
Sr. Léon-Paul de Chadirac Sr. Whilma Catolos
Sr. Nati Ruelos
Sr. Marie Raphaël Jeannello
Editor’s note: Due to lack of space, the article ―A Pilgrimage to Hanoi…‖ and the column of Sr Jeanne –
Hélene Sineau will be continued in Paulinian Echoes no. 166.
Page 32