Aug 25, 2020 | NEWS
Religious vows express what is invisible to the eyes. It becomes mystical engagement with Christ to fulfill your vocation in the service of God and the Church and in striving for personal holiness.
It is a tradition that each year in August and September are joyful months for sisters from the Tanzania Region doing religious celebrations.
After proper preparations and formation, successive groups of sisters make temporary or perpetual vows.
There is also great joy in the candidate community, because subsequent girls start the postulate whereby others join novitiate.
For two years there has been joy in the Silver Religious Jubilees.
Also this year, we are preparing for these events that will take place on August 28 the day of the feast of St. Augustine. However, due to the still existing pandemic threat, there will be celebrations that have a changed congregational character. All celebrations will be held in Chikukwe in one group. Unfortunately, sisters’ parents, family and friends will not be able to attend.
This year, five candidates will start their postulates.
Four postulants will go to the novitiate.
The temporary profession will be made by three novices: Sr. Emilia, Sr. Stephania, Sr. Marcelina
Four junior sisters will make their profession: Sr. Regina, Sr. Clelia, Sr. Inocencia and Sr. Teodora.
On this long-awaited day, we wish our sisters a beautiful wedding with Jesus Christ. Some will receive wedding rings, others a medal, others a habit with a white veil, and the candidates, postulants’ dress. Let these signs be to them daily from that day on, a reminder about God’s call and vows.
Our vow of chastity allows us to love God freely and serve all people.
By pledging to live in poverty, we express our desire to participate in poverty to
the Savior who became poor for us to enrich us with His poverty.
Finally, through the vow of obedience, we freely dedicate our will to God, and thereby we go deeper into the mystery of Christ and His plan of salvation.
By humbling himself in obedience, Christ shows us a more perfect way to love and worship the Father.
Let this day be a new beginning, a decision to never look back again.
Let our Immaculate Mother surround our sisters with her mantle of constant help.
Asking for prayer for our sisters,
Sr. Monika Kowarsz
Aug 23, 2020 | NEWS
Most of us are familiar with the custom of consecrating herbs on the feast of the Assumption of Mary (August 15). It is still common today, especially in rural areas. This custom has developed from several legends about the Mother of God. One of these legends tells that the apostles did not find her corpse after Mary’s death, but rather fragrant flowers and herbs that gave off an intense scent grew at the place of the grave. Perhaps this legend wants to remind us that the fragrance of the knowledge of Chisti should be spread through the life of Christians (2 Cor. 2:14). Just as Mary brought Christ through her life and thus salvation, the “being saved” in body and soul, so it should also happen through our life. The medicinal herbs are a symbol for this “healing”.
The sisters of our convent in the nursing center St. Hedwig in Cochem also celebrated a festive service on the day of Mary’s Assumption, during which herbs were also consecrated.
Because only a few residents were allowed to come to Holy Mass due to the corona regulations – the consecrated herbs were then distributed in the living areas.
Sr. Felicitas
Aug 13, 2020 | NEWS
Happy 100th birthday
Here is a small excerpt from the work of our sisters in the St. Hedwig retirement home in Cochem. The convent is small and the sisters are mostly old and partly self in need of care. But they continue to try to help and do the services that they can still do. In addition to their praying presence with and for the residents, contact with the residents, employees and visitors in the house is very important to them.
The superior of the convent, Sister M. Felicitas, regularly visits the residents in the senior citizen center.
This time it was a very special occasion, because Ms. K. was 100 years old and so she brought the congratulations to her.
Ms. K. can no longer get out of bed, but she is very grateful for every visit and is happy about the conversations. Ms. K. is very interested in all the news in the house and in the city of Cochem.
May she continue to trust in God’s help and thus walk the path into eternity.
Aug 10, 2020 | NEWS
Sister Lucy.
I knew she was going; these were the last days of her life. I tried to keep up with her, understand and grasp the essence of dying, going to this prayed and awaited eternal life. The last words of Sister Lucy, whispered over the receiver of her perpetually crashing phone: Henius, dear, thank you for everything, for each of your moment days with me. Forgive me if I offended you even unknowingly, even mentally.
That was Lucy. She never thought about herself. These almost ten years of friendship and working together have been continuous learning for me. Difficult questions and even more difficult answers. My rebellion against social injustice and human meanness collided with Lucy “turn the other cheek.” My anger at the people who dealt more blows with me and the desire to retaliate met her patient “pray for them, ask for the grace to distinguish between good and evil, so that they will stop doing evil. With time, I became a different person with more patients. Before making a criticism, I was asking myself some questions. It’s hurt. When I ask the more questions and I had few answers, it became more hurt. It has been almost nine years since Lucy came to me ashamed, and asked for help. She, Saint Lucy (that’s what people talked about her) stood in front of me in a washed-out habit, mossed on her stomach, in trampled flip-flops, and in her hands a torn old purse – her entire circuit office, with stamps, a notebook, an old cell phone, and tried to explain to me where her poverty and need come from. I looked at this strange figure angrily. I listened to the incoherent story, I arrogant and saucy, furious with everything, having ready solutions and unambiguous answers to every question.
I will not give my sister any money, because I do not have it myself, but I will work until we fix the system, I declared. Back then I didn’t know that to fix the system I would have to fix myself. It was hard. God could not help but notice so many shed tears together with Lucy. His hydrological services must have noted significant high levels, because she probably got pissed off and forgave us these torments with the government. Lucy taught me humility and I taught her courage. Sometimes, during conversations in the government tables, when the atmosphere was reached a boiling point, I surreptitiously kicked Lucy in the ankle to go for prayer. She was standing behind the half-closed door, sniffing at the rosary, counting on God’s help that maybe some miracle would happen. Over time, we became a very strange couple: she was big, stooped, walking with a heavy pace, and I was small, in boots and walking, both grey-haired, walking together like a pair of old horses in harness. Our friends commented on our media that it is scary to open the refrigerator because of fear that may be Lucy will be there. Lucy was afraid of the microphone and the camera. She did not like recordings; she was embarrassed to talk about her work and problems. There was no way out, finally she agreed to these cameras and microphones, because it was necessary to show the social problem, expose the lack of state care for abandoned children with intellectual disabilities, and finally repair this leaky system. She loved journalists, and had a very deep personal and family friendship. There was a place to sleep and a bowl of soup for each of them. They repaid with respect for her privacy and journalistic integrity. Sister Lucy knew everyone. Literally everyone and everywhere. She had a badly worn notebook with telephone numbers. She opened it when she needed it. Not necessarily yours. “Mercy is to be silent,” she would say, shoving a banknote into my hand and showing my grandmother rummaging in a garbage can. Do not say it’s from me; give it discreetly so that no one can see. Or: Henia, look at this poor man who is walking down the street. He was once somebody, he had money in his position, and he was a doctor. Remember about him, he doesn’t drink anymore but sometimes he needs a few (money) zlotys. I worked for a bowl of soup, because working without a reward is a sin – she used to say. I regularly got a hot dinner, a clean napkin and necessarily two lunch portions. Sister, I won’t eat it, I don’t need that much, I protested. Share, see how many poor people are walking on the street – she always had an answer ready. We both knew that the disease was progressing, impotence and unimaginable pain became its inseparable companion, which only leads to one way. Until the end, she handed over a kind of will to me, indicated people, entrusted them to my care, and asked for their memory. Until the end, she also quoted a funny saying: a nun must be a human, otherwise a habit can be hung on a peg, but the peg, because of wearing a habit, will not become a nun.
Henryka Szczepanowska
Aug 5, 2020 | NEWS
On Sunday morning, August 2, 2020, our sister Lucia (Eugenia Jakubowicz), who from 1976 was associated with the Care and Treatment Center for children in Piszkowice, and from 1985 she was constantly managing the Center, passed away. Over the years, she not only built a high-class center for sick children, but above all created an unusual atmosphere of love, kindness and trust in God in every matter. For this special attitude to her pupils, in 2017 she was awarded the Order of the Smile, the highest international award granted by children. Sr. Lucia was very modest and never liked to talk about herself – both about her successes and about the suffering that she also experienced very much while fighting cancer. Now let those who knew her every day and are witnesses of her life speak.
MEMORIES
It is impossible to close someone’s life in a dozen or so sentences. It is impossible to put into words work, meeting, devotion and sacrifice in everyday life. Anyway, these descriptions are usually very similar to each other and, somehow, can be attributed to each of our departed loved ones.
To understand what life was like for sister Lucia, you must first visit Piszkowice and spend some time there, meet the pupils, see the specifics of the place and people. A place where something happens 24 hours a day. Because it’s not a workplace. Over the years, the sisters have built a real home there, and at home, they do not look after family members at specific times. One is at home, lives and lives. It is built together, being ready to help at any time. Once you get to know the children, you need to talk to those who are involved in the daily life of the center. From sisters, to medical staff, to people cooking in the kitchen or smoking in the boiler room – the family that was established in Piszkowice was created by each of these people.
Everything you see has to be overlaid with stories that will not always be told by those you meet there. The legal system meant that the house in Piszkowice was struggling with financial problems all the time. While the sickness fund paid for medical care, it did not contribute to the ongoing support of the children. Those, often left behind by parents, were in a sense invisible to the social welfare system – so there was not enough money for clothes or equipment for learning or playing. You may not hear about it in Piszkowice. Because problems were not discussed, problems were solved. Each day was filled with work from morning to evening. And next to her, as it is at home, the birthday of each of the household members was celebrated, small successes were celebrated, the end of the school year, children’s day, St. Nicholas’ Day were celebrated … in Piszkowice she rushed so quickly that we believed that the place and the people who take care of the house are eternal.
Now you will probably ask why there is so much houses in Piszkowice in this memory, and so few sisters Łucia? It was all Lucia. It was she who created the house from 1976 until the very end. It was she who created a family from people working from home. It was she who looked after the children, ensuring that they had everything they need. She never complained … It was sister Lucia who created Piszkowice as we know it. Of course, she didn’t do it herself, but everything that happened there was because of her. We don’t know a softer person. Full of humility and peace. Full time for others. Because Sister Lucia always had time. Yes, its time, cut off from rest or a moment for yourself. She was always ready to give it to other people. When more diseases fell on her, nothing changed in Piszkowice. As subsequent diagnoses spoke about the deteriorating condition, and the doctors even ordered rest, Sister Lucia repeated her daily ritual, in which prayer interwined with time for the patients, employees of the center, and guests.
She had called a lot more in the last week. Even for a moment, just to throw one sentence – “Please pray” – and dropping it, she went back to work. The last time I spoke to her was Saturday, August 1 at 4.45pm. She knew how serious the situation was in the Center, she left me asking, “What will happen now?” In a calm, strong voice. She gave all her life to God. I don’t think she’s scared. Rather, she was curious how God would solve this – her – case. She asked for a prayer, we assured her. We made an appointment on the phone on Sunday. I never heard her again. I have known Sister Lucia all my life. She believed in God, she believed in people. She always gave chances and always held out her hand. She talked about how every man can fall, but no one should keep falling – and that you must always be able to help him, try to help. From the small Piszkowice she saw the world far wider than the great travelers saw it. There, by deed, she showed what she believed and what she understood. I have known her always the same, until the very end.
Words won’t tell you much about Sister Lucia. Her Piszkowice will tell you about her.
Radek Michalski
***
Sister Lucia was a very modest woman with a big heart, in which there was a place for everyone. You could quietly immerse yourself in prayer with her, and in a moment organize a great undertaking for the good of the children who were all of her world. Sister Lucia always put each person and their problems first. She could listen to the softest whisper. She helped everyone without exception, and for the smallest, most disadvantaged and abandoned, she was like a mother. The words of Sister Lucia ring in my ears all the time: “… remember, you have to be good to people like bread, because good always returns, not here on earth, then there, in heaven.” And she was just like that, good as bread. Now she looks down on us and I know that she will be asking God for favors for us, guarding and protecting her beloved Piszkowice, as she did all her life.
Edyta Tomczak – accountant from Piszkowice
***
Sister Lucia was a good woman. She shared the love she drew from Jesus and Mary. She had a special devotion to St. Joseph and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She was open to the needs of the children she loved as a mother and she cared for them. She was enterprising – she expanded the compound to improve the living conditions of children, she dug a well so that there was no shortage of water. This sister was open to the needs of others, everyone in different situations received help, which she provided with kindness and a smile. Despite experiencing a serious illness, the sister fulfilled her duties to the end in an attitude of humility and trust in God.
- Agata Jank
***
Sister Lucia from my childhood, as far as I can remember, is a person who for me was an example of how to offer a heart to a person in need! An heartily good woman! Now, being a person of consecrated life myself, I see in Sister Lucia an example of fidelity to her religious vocation!
Father Piotr Ossowski OMI
***
Sister Lucia – A person who has translated love and faith in God throughout her life into love and faith in other people. She loved people with all the pros and cons. She appreciated every gesture, even the smallest one. I think that she went to the Father’s House fulfilled and full of faith that she leaves people on earth who will continue her work. Rest in peace, dear Sister.
Dominik, a rehabilitator in Piszkowice
Due to the difficult epidemiological situation and the desire to participate in the last farewell of many people, the date of the funeral will be set at a later possible date.
Jul 13, 2020 | NEWS
In June 2020, our Congregation completed its ministry at the house of the Polish Catholic Mission in Lourdes. The reason for this difficult decision is the situation caused by the pandemic of the coronavirus. Pilgrimage and tourism movement is still practically halted, which makes it impossible for the pilgrim’s house to function. In this situation, the management of the Polish Catholic Mission decided to close the house for an indefinite period, but lasting at least a year. In the face of this decision, despite the very good experience of the sisters serving there, we have now ended our ministry in Lourdes. It was two years of important and valuable work in a place special to our faith and for the people who were looking for us there. The consequences of the pandemic will probably bring many other changes and difficulties, but we believe that despite all external adversity, we are in the caring hands of God and under the care of Mary Immaculate.
Below we publish a letter from the Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission in France
The complete paralysis of the pilgrimage and tourism movement caused by the pandemic forced me to decide to temporarily close our houses in Lourdes. Consequently, after two years of cooperation, the community of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate leaves our house in France in these days. For the Polish Catholic Mission, this is a huge loss. The presence of the Sisters gave this place a special character, and for many pilgrims it was a decisive argument in deciding whether to choose a place to stay during the pilgrimage to this holy place.
At the hands of The Mother General, I would first like to express my gratitude for the good and sacrificial work of Sisters, Sr. Nathanaela, Sr. Margret, Sr. Ursula and Sr. Pia, and other sisters who temporarily helped to run the house during the larger influx of pilgrims. During these two years, the Sisters not only sought the best reception of visitors and pilgrims, but also faced the challenge of achieving the economic balance of the house and, more broadly, the Concorde Association, which manages it. I am convinced that the effort put in will contribute to an even greater interest in our house and will result in a revival of its functioning in the future.
We do not know what the future will bring, but I believe that Providence will still give us a chance to accomplish a work that has been so abruptly and unexpectedly interrupted. Please treat the house of the Polish Mission in Lourdes as your home, the house of your Congregation. I also ask for prayers for Polish Emigration and our pastoral care in France.
I cordially greet with prayer
Fr. Boguslaw Brzyś
Rector of PMK in France
