First up is Mother Marie Julie who is the Superior General of the the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church.
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| Mother Marie Julie |
It was a great gift to me that when I
spoke with the General Council of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of
the Church about sending one of our Sisters to the CMSWR Summer Program at the Domus in Italy, the
Council responded that I, as General Superior, should accompany Sister! At first I refused: sending one Sister
represented a financial outlay that, while reasonable, was nonetheless
significant; sending me seemed like a lavish gift. But the Mothers of the Council insisted, so,
here I am, already beginning the third and last week of an extraordinary
program that has more than exceeded our expectations.
There have been eleven
Sisters in addition to Sister Mary Kathleen, RSM (the Director of the Summer
Program), and we have become a praying community that reminds me of the early
Christian communities, of whom it was said, “See how they love one another!”
Most of us had never met the other Sisters, but the spirit of mutual respect
and love, care and concern for one another has been a true experience of
“Church.” We have taken turns leading
the rosary according to the custom of each individual community, and have
prayed the Liturgy of the Hours in the same way. Gregorian chant, celebrations
of various patronal feasts, and visits to Roman churches that have special
meaning for the Sisters has provided us with the richness of the various forms of community life present in the Church in the United States. Studying one
another’s charism has not only enriched our understanding, but has, in some
mysterious way, deepened our love for our own charisms.
The Priests who have accompanied us on
this very spiritual journey have been informative, prayerful,
reverent, awe inspiring, challenging,
and, in the words of one participant, mystics. Daily Liturgies, whether at the
Domus or in Churches in Rome, holy hours each evening, participation in processions, and the wonderful privilege of seeing and hearing our dear Papa Francesco at
the Sunday Angelus, deepened our love for the Church and for our own precious
call to religious consecration.
I suspect that another group of Sisters
would experience this program in its own way, as the Spirit breathes where He
will, but in the end it would truly be a moment of grace as it has been for us.
Whatever sacrifice must be made to permit any member Congregation to send one
or two Sisters to this CMSWR experience would be more than justified. I believe I am speaking for the other
Sisters in our group when I say that
these weeks have enriched our spiritual life in ways that only God can measure,
and which will surely bear fruit to the profit of the whole Mystical Body. May God
be praised for this opportunity.
Mother Marie Julie, SCMC
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