 |
 |
 |
Saint Jeanne Jugan, a Saint for everyone
September 2, 2010
Earlier this week (August 30) we celebrated the feast day of Saint Jeanne Jugan, her first feast day as a SAINT. Obviously a good occasion for a blog entry, but I was at a loss for what to write about. In the past year there has been so much written about our foundress, several new images painted, several songs composed, a couple of theatrical productions. All of these things have been so very meaningful and yet…
When I was answering emails for the prayer requests we receive through the web site, all of a sudden I was struck by the shear number of people who have written in the last year, their confidence in the power of prayer and the nature of their prayer requests, which we confide to Jeanne Jugan by sending them to our motherhouse to be placed at her tomb. Many of them reflected the tough times we are living in, with requests from people in need of a job or needing to sell a house. Others mentioned health concerns, difficult family situations, or the need to find proper care for an elder. Some were asking us to pray for larger concerns such as greater respect for life and world peace.
What struck me was that Saint Jeanne Jugan is not a saint merely for our concerns as Little Sisters, or even just for the elderly. Because she lived through tough social times, economic hardships, the uncertainties of setting off on her own to seek God’s will, the challenges of committing herself to a work well beyond her own small possibilities, and even eventual betrayal and darkness, she really can identify with the longings and needs of so many people.
As I responded to the emails that had accumulated in my inbox over the past week or two, I was reminded of a litany to Saint Jeanne Jugan written by our good friend Michael Wick at the Institute for Religious Life. And so I began to send this litany out with my emails. Responses came back that very night telling me that people were praying with this litany, which reveals so many facets of Saint Jeanne Jugan.
Here is just one of the responses we received: “Thank you so much for your prayers! Thank you also for the beautiful litany. Already, I feel the power of that prayer. My spiritual director always says that he believes the saints choose us. I think I have found a new friend among the saints in Saint Jeanne Jugan.”
Click here if you would like to download the Litany to Saint Jeanne Jugan. May you find a new friend in her too!
An awesome new presence of Saint Jeanne Jugan
August 31, 2010
The Little Sisters in Somerville, Massachusetts, were happy to welcome a new icon of St. Jeanne Jugan just before the celebration of her first feast day as a Saint. “Written” by Mr. George Pinecross and his son Sergio, the icon beautifully represents Jeanne Jugan with her eyes seemingly fixed on “the things that are above,” while at the same time making her daily rounds to beg for the poor, a symbol of the union between the active and contemplative life of a Little Sister of the Poor.
Our Little Sisters in Somerville relate, “Icons in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church are blessed and consecrated. Father James Morris, a Byzantine priest and pastor of St. John the Baptist church in Salem, graciously accepted the invitation to bless and consecrate the icon. Mr. & Mrs. Pinecross and their son Sergio were also present, which added to the solemnity of the moment.”
“After several introductory explanations, Fr. Morris began the prayer service, ‘Blessed is our God always now and forever and ever. Amen.’ He then proceeded behind the icon and “consecrated” it with Holy Oils. Finally, he invited each of us to come forward and venerate the icon by bowing before it and kissing it. Afterwards the icon was hung in the chapel for all to venerate.”
“Father Morris had told us that in the Byzantine rite, standing before an icon actually brings one before the saint it represents. How blessed we felt to be standing in the presence of Saint Jeanne Jugan! We were so moved by the prayer service and the realization that we now have this awesome, holy presence of Saint Jeanne Jugan in our midst, calling us to deeper prayer and union with our very own Saint!”
A youthful summer in LSP homes
Aug 3, 2010
Young people have been actively involved in service and spirituality in many of our homes around the country this summer. We being a blog series introducing some of our young friends with accounts of two events at Mullen Home in Denver. Check back in the coming weeks for more youthful news, since we have lots of photos and reflections still to compile!
Christ in the City
Aug 3, 2010
As the blazing heat of summer descended upon Denver, a breath of fresh air arrived in the person of a group of enthusiastic young adults coming from all around the country to participate in the new “Christ in the City” program sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Charities. Praying together, attending presentations on the Church’s social teaching, and going out to serve those in need at various sites around the city, these young men and women were eager to live out their Catholic faith and to contribute to the building up of the Kingdom.
Our home in Denver was pleased to host the young women during this two-week period, and to welcome all of the “missionaries” for various apostolic activities among our Residents. An outing to Sloan’s Lake, outdoor carnival games, and ‘movie night’ were among the highlights—though interludes of quiet visiting, attentive presence and faith-filled friendship were perhaps the most cherished moments of all.
We miss our new young friends who have now returned to their homes and families and regular summer activities, but we hope that their missionary hearts will draw them back to Denver in the future! Click here for photo collage from this event.
Fun in the Sun
July 24, 2010
July 24th dawned bright and beautiful as fourteen young women arrived at the Little Sisters of the Poor for “Fun in the Son,” a day of prayer, vocation discernment, and joy in the Lord. Holy Mass, talks by Fr. Hector Chiapa, and opportunities for Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of Reconciliation, and service to the home’s elderly Residents were followed by a backyard barbeque with the Sisters. Our retreatants then enjoyed viewing a 5-minute TV news clip that highlighted newly professed Little Sisters of the Poor and new Little Sister novices candidly speaking of the joy of their vocation. On more than one occasion during the day, tears could be seen as our young women were visibly moved by the graces that God was working in their hearts.
After the closing Benediction, one sensed that the young women were in no hurry to depart this “holy ground” as they lingered to share the blessings of the day. May this experience with the Lord, with our Little Sisters and residents, and with one another empower them to embrace with great love, generosity, and joy the vocation to which God is calling each of them!
A Joyful Day at St. Ann's Novitate
July 22, 2010
View Profession Photo Album Here!
Doctor fulfills dream by working to become a nun
July 21, 2010
A 47-year-old family physician from Altoona has cured herself of a chronic longing by joining the Little Sisters of the Poor. Read More.
Little Sister novices enter retreat in preparation for first profession
July 8, 2010
“What happiness for us, to be a Little Sister of the Poor!”
Saint Jeanne Jugan
This is a very exciting time for St Ann’s Novitiate!
Please join us in praying for our Little Sister novices and postulants who have entered into retreat today in preparation for first profession and entrance into the novitiate on July 16 and 17. They are being led in retreat by Rev. Frederick Miller, a good friend of our community; during these days of retreat they will be immersed in prayer and complete silence.
The ceremonies will take place at our novitiate in Queens Village, New York. Five young women will become novices on Friday, July 16 and the next day four novices will make their first profession as Little Sisters. This year’s profession ceremony will be quite a Midwestern affair, as the new Little Sisters hail from Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota and western Pennsylvania.
So, please join us in praying for:
Sr Amy Marie of Jesus (Love)
Sr Dara Catherine of the Passion (Vishnefske)
Sr Judith of the Eucharist (Jacobus)
Sr Maria Catherine of Jesus (Flicker)
Check back after the 17th to see photos of the profession ceremony and to learn the first destination of our new Little Sisters. By then we’ll also know the religious names of our five new novices. For those who might be curious, we have the possibility of choosing our own religious name and may keep our baptismal name or choose an entirely new name. For each Little Sister this is a highly personal choice, “worked out” in prayer. You can guess from the names above that many of our Little Sisters pick some combination of new and old elements for their religious name, and the names often reflect a Little Sister’s personal spirituality in some way.
Accompanying this blog are some photos taken recently at the Jeanne Jugan weekend in Queens, during which the novices and postulants introduced young woman to our saintly foundress and her charism. In two of the photos the novices and postulants act out the humble beginnings of the Congregation in Brittany, France in the 19th century.
Little Sisters of the Poor live-in experience!
May 13, 2010
Fiona, a young woman from California, was the first to take the plunge and participate in our spring/summer live-in service program for college-age women. After two months at Jeanne Jugan Residence in the Bronx, she left us this week to return to the West Coast and her studies. We asked her to share her experiences and her testimony is below. We’d also like to share a little video(click here for video) made at her going-away party…
Fiona Bernhoft is 22, and has spent the past 7 weeks in the Jeanne Jugan Residence in the Bronx doing a live-in with the Little Sisters to aid in her vocational discernment…
When I came out here from the west coast two months ago, I had really no idea what to expect. I knew about the Little Sisters and Jeanne Jugan from reading biographies and talking with sisters, but there is quite a difference between talking about it and actually living it.
What surprised me most about my time here was, as I got to know the Residents more and more, was their humility and acceptance of their suffering. My own mother suffers from Parkinson’s disease, so I understand very well many of the difficulties faced as they gradually lose their ability to walk, eat on their own, take care of their own personal needs. It was a tremendous gift for me to see how graciously many of them accepted this.
I loved everything about my time here … I am completely out of biological grandparents, but now I have a whole bevy of grandmas!
Sharing in the community and prayer life of the sisters really opened my eyes to the beauty and attractiveness of the religious vocation.
I also had the blessing while I was here to sit and pray with a Resident as the Lord called her home. I was there as we greeted a new resident, and as we helped a Resident go back to God.
It has been a beautiful and rewarding experience serving here. I am going to cry my eyes out when I leave. The Residents have so much love to give and are so appreciative of the love I give them.
Celebrating St. Joseph the Worker
May 1, 2010
Each year we celebrate St. Joseph, our Congregation’s patron, twice – March 19 is the feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, and May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. May 1 is also the day each year when our Association Jeanne Jugan members renew their annual promise. As we prepare for this feast, we wish to thank all our AJJ members for the valuable contribution they make to life in our homes, and to assure them of our prayers.
Many people who visit our home in the Bronx comment on an unusual statue of St. Joseph in the lobby there. The statue, pictured here, was commissioned for the home when it was being built several years ago. The desire was to create an image of St. Joseph highlighting his strength. Here we see a very manly Joseph tenderly holding his Son, with his tools by his side. It seems like a fitting image to celebrate Joseph’s fatherhood and the dignity of work (the purpose of the May 1 feast).
In his apostolic exhortation Guardian of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Custos), Pope John Paul II wrote about work as an expression of love, in light of St. Joseph’s example. His words are worth pondering as we honor St. Joseph:
“Work was the daily expression of love in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph did in order to support his family: he was a carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph's entire life. For Jesus, these were hidden years, the years to which Luke refers after recounting the episode that occurred in the Temple: “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Lk 2:51). This “submission” or obedience of Jesus in the house of Nazareth should be understood as a sharing in the work of Joseph. Having learned the work of his presumed father, he was known as “the carpenter's son.” If the Family of Nazareth is an example and model for human families, in the order of salvation and holiness, so too, by analogy, is Jesus’ work at the side of Joseph the carpenter. In our own day, the Church has emphasized this by instituting the liturgical memorial of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1. Human work, and especially manual labor, receive special prominence in the Gospel. Along with the humanity of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption .…
“What is crucially important here is the sanctification of daily life, a sanctification which each person must acquire according to his or her own state, and one which can be promoted according to a model accessible to all people: “St. Joseph is the model of those humble ones that Christianity raises up to great destinies;... he is the proof that in order to be a good and genuine follower of Christ, there is no need of great things—it is enough to have the common, simple and human virtues, but they need to be true and authentic.”
Do not be afraid to be intimate friends of Christ!
Looking forward to the World Day of Prayer for Vocations
April 21, 2010
Last weekend our Holy Father was in Malta and this weekend he will be united to Catholics all over the world in celebrating Good Shepherd Sunday. The fourth Sunday of Easter is also observed each year as World Day of Prayer for Vocations, an occasion of great importance! During Pope Benedict’s visit to Malta, he met with young people and delivered the following address. Please share it with a young person you know. (We accompany our Holy Father’s words with a few recent photos which capture the joyful interaction of youth with our Residents during spring break service experiences.)
… Saint Paul, as a young man, had an experience that changed him for ever. As you know, he was once an enemy of the Church, and did all he could to destroy it. While he was traveling to Damascus, intending to hunt down any Christians he could find there, the Lord appeared to him in a vision. A blinding light shone around him and he heard a voice saying, “Why do you persecute me? … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5). Paul was completely overcome by this encounter with the Lord, and his whole life was transformed. He became a disciple, and went on to be a great apostle and missionary. Here in Malta, you have particular reason to give thanks for Paul’s missionary labors, which spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean.
Every personal encounter with Jesus is an overwhelming experience of love. Previously, as Paul himself admits, he had “persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). But the hatred and anger expressed in those words was completely swept away by the power of Christ’s love. For the rest of his life, Paul had a burning desire to carry the news of that love to the ends of the earth.
Maybe some of you will say to me, Saint Paul is often severe in his writings. How can I say that he was spreading a message of love? My answer is this. God loves every one of us with a depth and intensity that we can hardly begin to imagine. And he knows us intimately, he knows all our 
strengths and all our faults. Because he loves us so much, he wants to purify us of our faults and build up our virtues so that we can have life in abundance. When he challenges us because something in our lives is displeasing to him, he is not rejecting us, but he is asking us to change and become more perfect. That is what he asked of Saint Paul on the road to Damascus. God rejects no one. And the Church rejects no one. Yet in his great love, God challenges all of us to change and to become more perfect.
Saint John tells us that perfect love casts out fear (cf. 1 Jn 4:18). And so I say to all of you, “Do not be afraid!” How many times we hear those words in the Scriptures! They are addressed by the angel to Mary at the Annunciation, by Jesus to Peter when calling him to be a disciple, and by the angel to Paul on the eve of his shipwreck. To all of you who wish to follow Christ, as married couples, as parents, as priests, as religious, as lay faithful bringing the message of the Gospel to the world, I say, do not be afraid! You may well encounter opposition to the Gospel message. Today’s culture, like every culture, promotes ideas and values that are sometimes at variance with those lived and preached by our Lord Jesus Christ. Often they are presented with great persuasive power, reinforced by the media and by social pressure from groups hostile to the Christian faith. It is easy, when we are young and impressionable, to be swayed by our peers to accept ideas and values that we know are not what the Lord truly wants for us. That is why I say to you: do not be afraid, but rejoice in his love for you; trust him, answer his call to discipleship, and find nourishment and spiritual healing in the sacraments of the Church.….jpg)
In this Year for Priests, I ask you to be open to the possibility that the Lord may be calling some of you to give yourselves totally to the service of his people in the priesthood or the consecrated life.… Recognize the profound joy that comes from dedicating one’s life to spreading the message of God’s love for all people, without exception.
I have spoken already of the need to care for the very young, and for the elderly and infirm. Yet a Christian is called to bring the healing message of the Gospel to everyone. God loves every single person in this world, indeed he loves everyone who has ever lived throughout the history of the world. In the death and Resurrection of Jesus, which is made present whenever we celebrate the Mass, he offers life in abundance to all those people. As Christians we are called to manifest 
God’s all-inclusive love. So we should seek out the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized; we should have a special care for those who are in distress, those suffering from depression or anxiety; we should care for the disabled, and do all we can to promote their dignity and quality of life; we should be attentive to the needs of immigrants and asylum seekers in our midst; we should extend the hand of friendship to members of all faiths and none. That is the noble vocation of love and service that we have all received. Let it inspire you to dedicate your lives to following Christ. La tibżgħux tkunu ħbieb intimi ta’ Kristu (Do not be afraid to be intimate friends of Christ).
Good Friday Meditation
April 2, 2010
Last week I was at a congregational meeting in Queens where we viewed a video meditation that had been created and presented by the Nashville Dominican novices as a gift in honor of the canonization of our foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan. It was very touching to receive such a gesture from another religious community … It was truly moving to realize how deeply they had reflected on Jeanne Jugan’s charism. The video includes an original song which seems fitting to share today, Good Friday.
We often say that perhaps the last thing Jeanne Jugan ever got to choose for herself was her religious name—Sister Mary of the Cross. In her old age she often said to the novices, “I have been grafted into the cross and I wish to carry it joyfully unto death.” The words of the original song heard on the Nashville Dominicans’ video are a wonderful expression of our foundress’ heart and worthy of meditation today:
Standing ‘neath the Cross,
watching blood and water flowing down,
I loved the heart of Jesus.
Then I came to know, then I came to know.
The Lord to me showed that he loved me first.
In an empty hand
reaching out for more than coins could give
I found the hand of Jesus.
Then I came to know, then I came to know.
The Lord to me showed that he found me first.
In the careworn lines
telling tales of loneliness and pain,
I saw the face of Jesus.
Then I came to know, then I came to know.
The Lord to me showed that he saw me first.
In obscurity,
hidden yet obedient to his Will.
I chose the path of Jesus.
Then I came to know, then I came to know.
The Lord to me showed that he chose me first.
To the sick, the poor
aged men and women round the world.
I opened the door to Jesus.
Then I came to see, Christ’s love set me free.
Heaven’s gate beckons me for he loved me first.
To view the video click here (COMING SOON)(20 minutes).
On this Good Friday our thoughts also turn to Pope John Paul II, as we observe the fifth anniversary of his passing from this life. How can we forget this prophetic model of holiness, who gave his life to the very end for his friends, and who gave us such an eloquent testimony of human dignity in the face of great weakness! We confide his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, and the pressing needs of the Church today to the intercession of this Great man of God.
New photos from Chile
April 1, 2010
We continue to receive news from our Little Sisters in Chile. For their part, they continue to experience significant aftershocks … on a daily basis and some big enough to be considered earthquakes in their own right. Some of the photos in this latest album from Sister Maria have been posted before, but she also adds new ones and more explanations, including a charming story—the Residents transplanted from Concepcion to Osorno were recently treated to a “spa day” by a resort south of that city. Goodness and generosity come in many forms!
Click here for recent photo albums
As God Wants: photos albums from Chile
Click here for recent photo albums
March 22, 2010
"God is with us in this time of disaster in a solidarity that surpasses all doubt."
- Homily of Archbishop Errati, Feast of Saint Joseph 2010
Chile's continuing earthquakes
March 15, 2010
We could find no more worthy object of our Lenten prayer and almsgiving than our brothers and sisters in Chile. From the news media, as well as our Little Sisters on the ground, we know that aftershocks serious enough to be considered earthquakes in their own right continue to rock the country. Please continue to pray for our Little Sisters, the elderly Residents who have been displaced, and everyone whose normal lives have been disrupted by the disaster. And consider making a donation to our Chile earthquake fund!
Sister Maria, our American Little Sister living in Santiago, managed to send two emails last week. In a message sent March 13 from Concepcion, where she is helping to pack up what can be retrieved from our house there, she writes of the latest tremors, “I would call them earthquakes, not aftershocks. Parts of the building continue to crumble with each tremor. Last night they tore down the surrounding wall because it was too dangerous; it was very close to falling. Some sections were threatening to fall onto the sidewalk and other parts were leaning toward us. It was interesting to stay up and watch the whole process, but sad too. During the demolition there were two earthquakes. One was a 5.5 and the other 5.1. We were standing in the street and it felt like we were surfing. The wall almost came down by itself.”
She continued, “I prefer to be outside when there’s a strong earthquake to avoid the rattling noise of windows, doors, roof tiles and things crashing to the floor. There are numerous tremors all day and night but we’re all fine. We’re waiting to see when the chapel will come down. It looks like it might not need the help of the demolition truck, but I certainly do not want to be near it. It’s a very beautiful chapel. The ceiling is very high and all wood. It was a horrible first week but now the Residents are all well and we’re taking our time literally picking up the pieces. Thanks for thinking and praying for us!”
The Little Sisters working in Concepcion are making the best of a difficult situation, as they recount, “We finally have electricity. Camping can be enjoyable, but the convenience of electricity, gas and running water is more efficient and effective right now.… Everything that didn’t smash to smithereens is functioning, so now we have refrigerators, washing machines and a computer. We share a hallway to sleep. We each have a mattress with a pillow and blanket which we just lean against the wall for the day. Making our beds has never been so quick and easy—something good comes out of everything! There’s nothing like working hard all day to assure a good night’s rest.”
Speaking of the many volunteers who have appeared almost from nowhere, Sister Maria relates, “I wish I had time to write about each one of so many diverse volunteers! There’s a concert pianist from the Concepcion Conservatory cleaning toilets, an accountant washing the driveway in the rain, a crew of firemen very solemnly removing the large crucifix from the main chapel, many wonderful people around us—thank God! The aftershocks continue and the house crumbles down more each day but the faith and devotion of the volunteers is apparently growing too. God brings such beautiful fruits out of such a mess—something like the manure necessary for good fruit!”
The following story of a family who lost their home is really touching. “What was not destroyed by the earthquake has been torn apart by looters,” Sister Maria recounts. “Their parents never practiced any faith. The young girls, who had found shelter at a parish, found the faith of the people who came there so moving. Their brother, who had come from Santiago the day of the earthquake to make sure his mother and sisters were O.K., decided to find them another apartment, but that proved impossible. Rather than sit around doing nothing, he joined a group of young men who were coming to help us. From the beginning, when all 61 Residents were sleeping outside and the Little Sisters were alone with two or three staff members trying to care for them all, Dan and two other young men have stayed at the home generously and joyfully doing whatever is asked. One evening as he was leaving the shelter to come help load a truck headed for our home in Osorno and then to stay on our grounds with us as a night guard, his sister was moping around. He told her ‘You’re wasting your time, why don’t you do something constructive? Come with me to the Little Sisters.’ She has found much clarity in the contrast between those who reacted by looting and those who are spending themselves serving others. She said she and her brother immediately found that the common factor among those who were serving others was faith. ‘I thought it was weird why people would pray to the Virgin,’ she said, ‘but my family is staying in the garden where there’s a statue of her and the beautiful trust that the visitors display touches me. I sweep and clean the area each day so that the visitors will find it ready,’ she explained to a Little Sister. Dan and his young sisters love being with us, they said, because they ‘feel good and safe.’”
Going to "Ground Zero" 
March 4, 2010
We have learned that both of the homes affected by the earthquake in Chile are being completely evacuated. Thank God, we are able to welcome the Little Sisters and elderly in our other three homes in Chile. So, while those from the older home in Santiago will be split between the newer home there and our community in ViÒa del Mar, those from Concepcion are on their way to Osorno.
Sister Maria emailed this touching message from Santiago (she is in the home that remains functional): “The Residents have been very generous here. Actually, after Mother told them that they would have to cooperate in making space for those from the other home in their rooms, the reactions varied greatly. Some really felt the sacrifice of having to share their room, while others couldn’t wait until lunch was over to go make space for someone. In the midst of helping move beds and other furniture in all the rooms in the infirmary, one of the Residents from my unit came pleading that I please go upstairs with her for a bit. She had emptied all but one drawer from her closet and chest of drawers and cleared out half of her hanging closet. She wanted my advice on how best to arrange her bed to fit in another. I was so touched by her charity that I cried. Then another Resident in that hall came to ask me to see her room too. There were so many literally thrilled to be able to make some sacrifice and contribution ‘because we have it so easy here compared to what we see in the news.’”
Sister Maria continues, “Tomorrow afternoon we plan to leave for Concepcion with flashlights, tons of batteries, bread and water. It sounds like we’re going camping… Most of our Residents from Concepcion have moved to our home in Osorno. They had been using what remained of the main dining room for everything—Mass, meals, space for the infirm Residents—but the fissure that ran down the center of the floor split completely open with the aftershock this afternoon. On the Richter scale it was almost a 6.0 earthquake. There’s no electricity there yet so I obviously don’t expect to email for some time… Like our Residents here I am very grateful and happy to be getting right into the thick of it. Thank you for your constant prayer…
News from Chile
March 2, 2010
We have received more news from Sr. Maria, our American Little Sister in Chile. These give us a clearer picture of what our Little Sisters in Chile are experiencing.
Sr. Maria had volunteered to go to Concepcion to help in whatever way she could, but for now she will be staying in Santiago to help with the transfer of Residents from the older, more damaged home in that city to the newer home where she lives. The situation “seems encouraging,” she writes, “but the earth keeps shifting and it reminds us of the danger. As I write I can feel the terribly discomforting tense movement of the floor beneath me. The house sometimes sways. At this moment it seems to move slightly up and to the side in tiny tremors that I know I would not be aware of if I was not sitting here. Sometimes the sway is a little stronger. A crew of military personnel has been helping to move the Residents from our other home in Santiago. They had to evacuate two wings, and if that comes down, so will the rest of it. If the center falls over it’s going to bring part of the apartments down with it.”
Sister had written yesterday to say that the situation in Concepcion is much worse than in Santiago. Since it is 4 hours south of the capital and the winter season is beginning, it is already cold there. The home is without electricity and running water. The Sisters are managing the best they can, she wrote, but supplies will soon run out. Today, two Little Sisters and a driver left Santiago by car to bring water and food to Concepcion, and to bring the elderly Sisters back to Santiago. “The home in Concepcion is not inhabitable at all now,” she writes. “It’s cold in Concepcion and they’re saying that the public water system is going to reopen. Usually that would be good news but the home’s pipes have broken so they’re going to be flooded.” Sister tells us that our Sisters in Osorno, south of Concepcion, were also on their way there to bring as many Residents as possible back to Osorno.
The map shows the location of our homes in the province of Chile/Argentina. Because the country of Chile is very elongated, distances are great. One of our news channels in the U.S. reported that Chile is twice the length of California—and mountainous—so now with many roads and bridges damaged we can only imagine how challenging these trips to Concepcion will be. Please continue to pray for the people of Chile in this difficult moment.
Earthquake in Chile
March 1, 2010
On Saturday morning a devastating earthquake hit the South American nation of Chile. OurCongregation has been in Chile since 1885 and today we have 5 homes there, including one in Concepcion, near the earthquake’s epicenter and two in Santiago. The earthquake has hit home and sent tremors throughout our whole Congregation. For the month of March, all donations to the Little Sisters coming through this website will be directed to earthquake relief for our homes in Chile.
Because we have an American Little Sister living in Santiago, we were able to receive news as early as Sunday morning. We’d like to share much of what Sr. Maria has written to her family in the States, because she gives a clear picture of how our homes have been affected. Sister is a native of Chicago and has been in Chile for about a year.
Sr. Maria writes, “The home I live in was built after the one it replaced was destroyed in the 1985 earthquake. It was very well built for survival in an earthquake. This has proved it! It’s the “fifth strongest earthquake in the history of the world” according to the Chilean president.
As far as damage: we have some broken windows, many fallen light fixtures, statues and various objects, as well as fissures in many rooms and in the lobby floor but only one small injury. I woke up when the building began to sway, then “shake, rattle, and roll.” It seemed so long and so terribly strong. I stayed in bed and covered my head because it seemed certain that the window was going to blow in or out and perhaps I would end up one level lower.… I never thought I was going to die but tried to figure out the best position to be in when the floor or wall would collapse. The Residents beneath us worried me more. As soon as it passed, I got dressed and ran out to shut off the central electrical source, water valves and gas; I was glad I knew where they were.… All the other Sisters were running to the Residents. It was extremely dark. Some Residents had candles, and without them, the hallways would have been completely dark.
The Residents were very calm as we helped them carry chairs to the corridor and stayed with them, listening to battery-operated radios There are 44 Residents on my unit, including two very able retired archbishops. Their presence brought us much calm. There are only two floors in the home and my unit is on the second floor. That's where, of course, you feel the movement most. Dawn came so much later that it was very eery. I’m not sure how that happens but it just seemed like it was going to stay night. On the radio they seemed to complain: “No quiere amanecer!”—“Dawn does not want to come!”
The aftershocks are wicked; they’re no small tremors. Two of the aftershocks have been more significant on the Richter scale than the earthquake they experienced in Haiti! They are also very frequent. I thought it was just a sensation I had, but then learned that, yes, indeed, there had been 58 tremors in 12 hours.
It’s so calm within our walls that it’s not frightening. However we are very aware of how bad it is beyond our walls (one of which might actually fall with another couple of shakes). There’s not a staff member who has not suffered some loss to their home or total loss. There have been deaths of neighbors—but so far no one known by us, our Residents, volunteers or staff.
The other home we have in Santiago is over a hundred years old. It survived all the previous earthquakes, and it seems like it will survive this one but it has much more damage. The top floor, sixth floor, was evacuated to the ground level. That includes the convent. All the Little Sisters moved to the ground level.
Our Little Sisters in Concepcion are not as well off. They called this morning. The second floor collapsed and they had to evacuate. Everyone slept in the garden in tents last night but today they were going in to part of the first floor because it was very cold and rainy. It’s still winter down here and the south is always much colder. That home also has damage from the tsunami. The Little Sisters with family in Concepcion say that they’re worse off than what is being televised. “Does it look like ruins on TV?” asked the nephew of a Little Sister here; “because every church around and every building as far as I can see is rubble!” As I remove debris (and I will probably be doing so for months!) I feel so helpless in aiding our Residents and Little Sisters in Concepcion. They come to mind with every tremor.
Donations would definitely help in relocating the Residents from Concepcion, etc. but as far as getting anything to them … the roads are all torn up and the airport here in Santiago was badly damaged. Mother Provincial is in Peru and was supposed to return today but the flights are all canceled until further notice. Except for those broken ceiling tiles, fixtures, and wall tiles nothing major has occurred here at our home. We have electricity, water, gas, telephone, internet—everything like normal…. The basilica next door suffered more damage than we did. The cross on top of the cupola fell and large blocks of concrete crashed down from the ceiling breaking several pews. It will probably be closed for about a year to fix all the damage and to make sure it’s safe. That’s how long it was closed after less damage in 1985. One of their elderly priests came to my unit since they had so much flooding. He’s a precious little priest from the Anjou region of France. Another French priest is also staying on the unit temporarily since he lost his residence.
I made a clean-up and repair plan for the 44 Residents that starts tomorrow… As the aftershocks become less frequent and less severe it is becoming more manageable—I mean that in reference to debris control. I’m glad to be here to help and look forward with joy to rising earlier than the others to spend myself in their service.”
We will share more news as we receive it through our motherhouse or Sr. Maria. For now we thank God that there have been no significant injuries among our Residents and Little Sisters and no loss of life. Please join us in praying for our homes in Chile, for the people of Chile (without forgetting Haiti), and for the families of our Little Sisters, some of whom have not yet been located.
Elders Online!
February 19, 2010
If you’ve ever doubted that older persons “keep up with the times,” check out this article from our home in Pittsburgh’s newsletter (pdf). Hope the Residents are learning how to read this blog!
Celebrating World Day of the Sick
February 12, 2010
For the last 17 years the Church has observed February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as the World Day of the Sick. Our Little Sisters, Residents and staff around the world usually mark this day with special Masses and processions in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. Despite all the disruptions caused by the extreme weather we have been experiencing (I write from Baltimore), yesterday we celebrated this beautiful feast with a special blessing for our staff and a Mass with the Anointing of the Sick for our Residents. The event was all the more touching because Mass was concelebrated by two of our senior priests, one of whom celebrates Mass while perched on his walker. His joy was infectious as he told our staff of his gratitude for the care they had given him during a time of illness and encouraged them to continue in their mission of caring.
The photos show Father blessing our staff, as well as the moment of the anointing of the sick. Many of our staff members have been camped out here all week in order to ensure that the Residents do not suffer at all during the storms we have been having.
In his homily for the day, Pope Benedict evoked the Magnificat, which was read during the liturgy at St. Peter’s:
“The Magnificat is not the canticle of those on whom fortune smiles, who always “prosper;” rather it is the thanksgiving of those who know the tragedies of life, but trust the redeeming work of God. It is a song that expresses the tested faith of generations of men and women who have placed their hope in God and have committed themselves personally, like Mary, to being of help to brothers in need. In the Magnificat we hear the voice of so many men and women saints of charity, I am thinking in particular of those who consumed their lives among the sick and suffering, such as Camillus of Lellis and John of God, Damien de Veuster and Benito Menni. Whoever spends a long time near persons who suffer, knows anguish and tears, but also the miracle of joy, fruit of love.”
The Pope didn’t mention Saint Jeanne Jugan, but we could not help but think of her reminding us to “treat the poor with compassionately and Jesus will look upon you with kindness on your last day.”
You can read the Pope’s entire homily here: http://www.zenit.org/article-28327?l=english or his message for the World Day of the Sick, published in preparation for the celebration, here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/sick/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20091122_world-day-of-the-sick-2010_en.html
 |
 |
 |
 |
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple
February 2, 2010
Today we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple with the traditional blessing of candles and procession at the beginning of Mass. With the prominence of the elderly Simeon and Anna in the Gospel scene for this feast day, for many years the elderly of our homes received special attention on this day.
Several years ago, while under the presidency of American Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, the Pontifical Council for the Laity wrote a document on the dignity and mission of older persons. In it they invoked Simeon and Anna: “It is the duty of the Church to announce to older people the Good News of Jesus, who is revealed to them just as he was revealed to Simeon and Anna. Jesus comforts them with his presence.” As we remember Simeon and Anna, why not ask them to intercede for today’s elders, that they may be comforted with Jesus’ presence in the face of so many challenges…
Several years ago the focus of this feast shifted for us as Pope John Paul II named the Presentation the annual World Day for Consecrated Life. In the United States this day is being observed on Sunday, February 7, but in Rome each year it is still observed on February 2. Today Pope Benedict presided over the celebration in Rome. His homily can be accessed here: http://www.zenit.org/article-28233?l=english
As I thought about the significance of this day I was reminded of our former superior general, Mother Marie Antoinette de la Trinité, who participated in the Synod on Consecrated Life in October, 1994. It is worth looking back to share a few excerpts of the intervention she gave at the Synod on October 11, 1994…
“The essential of consecrated life is expressed by an offering to the Father in Jesus through the Spirit. This offering leads us to participate, with Mary, in the great work of Redemption, as does every Christian, but especially in virtue of our vocation, the Father’s call of love.”
“The total offering of ourselves cannot be conceived without its being perpetual, ‘usque ad mortem.’ Are we not continuing the witness given by the first martyrs? To think otherwise would be to lose the sense of God and what he is, despite the fact that the understanding of this commitment has become much more difficult in our day.”
“It is necessary to deepen the contemplative spirit of our vocation, to experience God encountered in prayer and served with love in our neighbor…”
Little did Mother Marie Antoinette know as she delivered that address at the Vatican – on a certain October 11 – that 15 years later on the same date, her successor would find herself at the Vatican with thousands of others for the canonization of Jeanne Jugan. It was something for which she ardently worked and hoped. Mother Marie Antoinette was surely rejoicing with St. Jeanne Jugan in heaven!
Where there is LIFE there is HOPE!
Written by Sr. Constance Carolyn, lsp
Friday, January 22, 2010
Each January 22 thousands of people of all faiths gather in Washington to MARCH FOR LIFE. While this gets some coverage in the media—although usually not much—the Vigil for Life held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the evening before the March never seems to get any attention beyond the Catholic press.
As we do each year, a good contingent of Little Sisters attended the Vigil last night, along with thousands of other Catholics, the majority of them young people. Along with the Sisters of Life and the Missionaries of Charity, we were seated at the base of the sanctuary, at the head of a veritable sea of humanity too numerous to count. Over 400 seminarians from around the U.S. headed up the entrance procession, followed by over hundreds of priests, over 100 bishops and 8 cardinals.
Because the Vigil for Life is one of the most hope-filled, inspiring events of the year, we’d like to share a few photos we snapped there to give those who have never witnessed the Mass firsthand or on TV and idea of just how packed the National Shrine is…
I can be reached at serenity@littlesistersofthepoor.org.
Everyday unity
January 21, 2010
This week we observe the annual Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity and in many of our homes prayer services for unity are being held. Even while this special week is observed, another witness of unity may be witnessed in our homes everyday, as people from many faiths, nationalities and walks of life live and work together in harmony.
Recently I discovered an interesting website which provides a history of nursing homes in the United States (http://www.elderweb.com/node/9647). I learned that after the deplorable conditions of the poor houses of the 18th and early 19th centuries were discovered, the first old age homes in our country were established by benevolent societies and fraternal organizations associated with various religious and ethnic groups. These groups founded homes for the elderly and orphans to care for their own members in need.
The first Little Sisters arrived in the United States from France in 1868. From the very beginning, the Little Sisters’ outreach was universal—they welcomed the needy elderly without regard for race or religion. An excerpt from an early history of the Little Sisters (published in 1902) describes this witness of harmony in the midst of diversity. Although the style is a bit dated, it expresses a reality that is still very much alive in our homes. It’s worth quoting here as we pray for Christian unity this week:
“One of the distinctive characteristics of the homes of the Little Sisters in the United States is the remarkable mixture of creeds, occupations and nationalities of the various people who inhabit them. The reflection, as it were, of the population of the country is seen there—a population composed of a great number of immigrants from all countries of the world who come to seek fortune on this new soil. The German and the Frenchman, the Irishman and the Englishman, mingle with the Spaniard and the Italian, with the inhabitant of Canada or with natives of the United States. All live in peace under the kindly, peaceful influence of the Little Sisters. There all languages are spoken, which become blended in the universal tongue which is understood in every country—the language of charity.”
“As to religious creeds, everyone follows his own with the greatest liberty. Naturally, the Catholic religion predominates, but the adherents of different faiths receive the same welcome, and are treated in the same manner. The Methodist or the Lutheran is able, if he likes, to read the Bible in peace next to an old Irishman who tells his beads with fervor, without anyone disturbing their various devotions.…”
Today we would also speak about the staff members from various religious and cultural backgrounds who find common ground in the loving service of God’s elder brothers and sisters. What a grace it is to participate in this everyday witness to unity and peace!