“Father Founder’s eyes”
It happens quite often to me that someone's very ordinary, unknowingly thrown sentence becomes the reason for deeper reflection. It was no different in the case that I will describe. And it was a simple, simple dialogue with an older Sister in my Community, whose memory is sometimes flawed. Looking at the picture with the image of our Founder, she asked me this: “Sister, did our Founder have glasses? Because I can't see. I replied that he hadn't. After a moment's thought, the sister says: “Aha… well, he had good eyes. This is why he is our Founder. Because he had good eyes. I had to reflect on this for several weeks. I made three conclusions for myself. First of all: Father Founder had good eyesight (I mean not physically good eyesight, of course), ie he saw a lot. Certainly more than me. He saw the enormity of the needs and poverty (not necessarily material) of his contemporaries. I ask myself the question: do I strain my eyes to see something more than my little, safe world (my proverbial "tip of the nose")? Do I see the changing needs, problems and "poverty" of my contemporaries? Do I not wonder about the empty eyes of people on the tram and their ears stuffed with headphones? Is it not worrying that many young people are lulled of reason? Are you not worried about the very distinct divisions in society, in families and communities? Do I see anything more in such everyday pictures? Am I looking for reasons? Father John saw more, wider, deeper. That is why he responded adequately to the needs of the situation… and innovative for the 19th century. And I? I regret to say that most of the time it is easier for me to follow my well-established, proven patterns and not ask Jesus: "What would you do?" Second: Father Schneider literally had "good eyes". Do I also have a good eye, "God's eye"? Do I try to see other people with God's eyes? Do I see in it the beauty and goodness of God's child? After all, everything that God created was good. Am I helping people to dig out the light they were born with? After all, this light fights so hard in each of us not to go out completely… Am I shielding this smoldering wick? Not only in the other person, but also in myself? Third: he had "enlightened eyes of the heart" and knew "what is the hope to which God calls, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints, and what is his overwhelming power for us believers - based on the action of his power and strength." (Eph 1: 18-19). He gave others what he had, that is, strong faith, hope and love - the inner certainty of God's Mercy ... free, for everyone without exception. This reminds me of a simple rule: you give what you have in you. What am I giving to others? If I have no light in me, how can I light the way to God for others? Each child adopts some of his parents' qualities and learns from them by example. Am I a real spiritual daughter of Fr. Schneider? Have I taken over his legacy? I am still far from that. I think my eyesight is poor, so I need treatment at the DIVINE OPHTHALIST ... Sr. Franciska Jarnot
The beauty of living together
August 23 is the day that changed my perception of living as one. This is the day when I left for a new home without knowing exactly this place or the sisters who were there. But in my heart, I had a lot of peace. I remember when I was supposed to leave right after breakfast, but God's plans were different and we left at 3:00 PM at the Hour of Mercy, which was very significant to me. Strzybnica is a small town where I came across the mantle of Mary and the Heart of Jesus. When I entered the house to which I was directed by the Provincial Sister, I felt a great warmth, the love of the sisters who had been waiting for me since the morning. I felt safe and welcomed with love, joy, openness and such cordiality, and yet they didn't know me and I didn't know them. The atmosphere in this house was unique because you could feel God's Love in the first place. The image of parish life that I saw contributed to the unity in our home community - it was a "living church" in which we formed a great family of God. when welcoming me to Holy Mass, he told me to feel at home ... and it was like that during my two years there. The community in which, by the Divine Will, I was given to be, was only a community of three and one generation, but the sisters who accompanied me were deeply prayerful people, from whom I could learn the life of prayer myself. They really loved and allowed themselves to be loved by Jesus and myself. Each of us looked for good in the other and for the other. I remember how long we sat at meals and it didn't bother us because we wanted to spend time together. We shared the day lived and Jesus' experience in our lives. We enjoyed ourselves in freedom, because Jesus and Mary were among us, they united us. I knew that I could always count on them, even when it was hard and I had a difficult day - my sisters supported me with prayer ... and it was beautiful. Despite the fact that each of us has a different story, different experiences, we were connected by LOVE. I thank God and the Sisters (Sr. Róża and Sr. Albina) for the time spent in Strzybnica, which showed me that creating unity is possible, as long as we are open to one another and accept ourselves as we are in the spirit of God's love . S.M. Sabina Adamowska
In the gaze of Mary …
"I will instruct you and show you the way you will go, I will strengthen my gaze on You… ”Ps 32: 8 This gaze of Jesus is very important to me. I look at Him, Present in the Eucharist, and He looks at me… He looks into my heart. In fact, it penetrates my heart and soul, restores my life, heals what is weak and sinful. And it strengthens me on the path that she shows me step by step ... I know that he guides me… these are different ways, but I know that they are His ways for me. And that's enough for me. It is amazing that this gaze of Jesus engraved in my heart is like a seal that somehow marks me that I belong to Him, that I am in His Hands. Here, in the place where I am now, in the orphanage in Klenica, his gaze is especially with me through Mary. Because I minister among children who need a home… and a warm look at them, at their lives, stories, cares and joys. And to think that once I wanted to start my own family orphanage. God, however, founded it for me in some way ... I feel strongly that there is a space in my heart that I can call HOME and I know that it is related to accepting into the heart people whom the Lord places on my way of life and vocation. It is also a space for listening, caring for another human being, it is a place of sharing the heart, which becomes a home .. Or maybe otherwise… a home where I would like to welcome everyone is born in my heart. So I try to shape them and open them every day ... And now, at this time, my thoughts are constantly connected with the mystery of Mary's gaze on Jesus. When I look at Mary, I feel as if I am hidden in her gaze, sheltered in it and devoted to God. I pray that I will be able to look at other people, at the children among whom I am, through the eyes of Mary. And I am asking Mary to look for me, to love, to serve me ... to give me her eyes and a gentle look, full of care and love, from which life is born ... The awareness that God's eyesight is watching over me makes me safe and I trust that everything that is happening is in His Hands. The hurt and suffering children I work with just am, need a sense of security and experience that they are important and loved. There is no need for big words in this ministry ... When I start my duty, prepare breakfast for children, iron their clothes, help with study or cleaning ... When we go shopping together, play games or drink tea together ... when I gently stroke their heads, or hug them. I admonish them, always looking at my children and asking in my heart that Mary's love will envelop them all and touch their hearts also through me. Because Mary can do anything ... She delicately touches the most painful wounds and transforms them into pearls ... And she knows the right time to heal. I only tell her about children in a whisper and she fights for every child ... In this silent service to my children in the Orphanage, the Lord's Will is being fulfilled for me at this time ... Praise Him for everything He gives and how He guides! S.M. Teresa Fatyga
Will God stop the plague?
Nothing new under the sun I am looking at the epidemic situation related to Covid 19, which continues to open up many new questions for us related to the topic of the pandemic. While looking for the word plague in the Bible, I encounter the prayer of Josaphat: "If misfortune befall us, a punishing sword, pestilence or famine, we will stand before this temple and you, because your name resides in this temple, and we will cry to you in our tribulation, then you will hear us and save us" (2 Chronicles 20 , 9) “I have seen everything that happens under the sun. And here it is: all this is vanity and the pursuit of the wind ”(Eccl 1:14). - says Kohelet, starting his theoretical considerations under the joint title "Nothing new under the sun". The prayer of Josaphat is complemented by the request of Sr. M. Dulcissima Hoffmann: “Jesus, show people that You are the Lord of everything. Direction to Heaven While experiencing the difficulties caused by the pandemic, we seek God's help. And He, who is the Lord of time and history, tears us out of our everyday lives, organizes us and directs us to Himself. Global pandemics have been accompanying mankind for years, awakening from sleep and introducing new tasks, the search for effective vaccines. Experiencing a pandemic has been a call to love God and neighbor for centuries. The times when the handmaid of God, Sr. M. Dulcissima Hoffmann, lived was not free from the pandemic. Humanity has been hit by an epidemic of cholera, Spanish flu, typhus and dysentery. Cholera The horrifying cholera epidemic was an acute, infectious and contagious intestinal disease caused by bacteria, first diagnosed in Calcutta, India in 1817. It arrived in Silesia at the end of the 19th century. The outbreak of the Great War in 1914, related to the displacement of the army, contributed to the reappearance of the contagious disease in Gliwice, Mysłowice, Stare Bieruń and Pszczyna. Typhus, dysentery and smallpox The main epidemiological threat in Silesia, however, became spotted typhus and dysentery, which was associated with the so-called The "starvation winter" of 1916/1917 and the translocation of the army. Smallpox appeared at the end of the First World War. In the absence of effective medicines, only routine measures were taken: separation and disinfection. Spanish In the years 1918-1919, the epidemic that wreaked dreads was the global flu called "Spanish flu", which is considered to be the greatest pandemic known in modern history. The mutant H1N1 flu virus, the influenza A virus, has infected as many as 30 percent of the world's population. The "Spanish" flu killed twenty million people in Europe, and estimates show that up to half a billion people around the world have become infected. Typhus in the Hoffmans’ At the end of January 1919, another epidemic of typhus broke out. The contagious disease affected the inhabitants of Silesia, including the family of the "Bride of the Cross". Her mother, Albina nee Jarząbek, accompanied by her uncle Francis Hoffmann, father's older brother Józef Hoffmann, paid a visit to her parents' home in Gąsiorowice near Strzelce Opolskie. After returning to Zgoda, Franciszek fell ill with typhus. Nine-year-old Helena found herself in a completely new and uncertain situation. The house was closed by the police. The whole family was placed under quarantine, and Albina Hoffmann and her children were transported for observation to the hospital in Nowy Bytom. We ended up in the hospital. We were separated and locked in a room with barred windows. We were well looked after for the first days - reports Helena. January 1919 was exceptionally difficult for the Hoffmans’ family. On January 8, Józef Hoffmann died at the age of thirty-two, orphaned his nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son. Albina was widowed at twenty-nine. This young woman with a sore heart was anxious for her and her children's future. After a few days of observation in the hospital, doctors realized that Albina Hoffmann was insolvent and there was no person to pay for the treatment costs. They offered her a job at the hospital: she scooped up coal with a shovel, and with buckets she used to draw water from the tap in the morgue located in its basement. Tired of serving among the sick, she did not doubt because she wanted to secure the existence of the children. Sister Dulcissima in her childhood notes recalls: God looked after us. After five weeks of hospital observation, Albina and her children were released home. The apartment was looted while she was absent from Zgoda. She found herself in a terrible situation. Helena watched her mother closely and noticed that her eyes were wandering towards the cross; she also heard her mother's words: Honestly and courageously, I will start all over again to remain the same mother. Albina did God's will without complaint. It was then that she decided to fulfill the will of her deceased husband - she was to marry his eldest brother - Francis. Will God Stop the Pandemic? That's an interesting question. In the background, we hear the Lord's Psalmist cry: "Stay, and in me, recognize God exalted among the nations, exalted on earth!" (Ps 46:11). God is the Lord of our lives. Let us not be afraid to surrender all our anxieties and difficulties to Heavenly Father. "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you" (1 Pet 5: 7). The epidemic continues and starts the pandemic of good, and trusting prayer rises to God like incense (Ps 27). The handmaid of God, Sr. M. Dulcissima, stands up to the task and intercedes for all of us who invoke her in prayer. Here are some examples: “I am asking for prayers for my grandfather Stanisław through the exhibition of my sister Maria Dulcissima, who was diagnosed with cancer relapse. Grandfather gives Sister Dulcissima great praise for the favors received. Some time ago, he was telling me with tears in his eyes that in the face of the disease which was gallbladder cancer, he prayed for her intercession and felt a surge of warmth, he felt so "nice and blissful" and heard the words, after all today is my birthday " and it took place on the anniversary of sister Dulcissima's birthday. After these events and surgeries, the disease disappeared and my grandfather regularly visited my sister's grave. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with relapse. Please pray for relief from suffering and recovery. "(Daniel - Poland, December 2020). "I am asking for prayer for my father, Józef, for the gift of confession and conversion, as well as physical and spiritual healing" (Ania - Poland). "Please pray for a young mother who was hospitalized because of the coronavirus." (Maria - Poland). "Through the intercession of Sr. Dulcissima, please pray for Halina, who was affected by Covid-19 and was taken to hospital in Gliwice" (Janina - Poland). “I am asking for prayer for my husband, he has been diagnosed with cancer and it turns out that he has contracted the coronavirus. Let Sr. Dulcissima help us, she can ask for so much. We know it! " (Beata - Poland). “I'm trying to get a holy card with relics from Sister M. Dulcissima Hoffman. A few months ago I had a heart attack and since then I feel like my thirst has increased .... Can you help me? (João - Portugal). "Honorable <bridesmaids> [nuns], I am Silesian, therefore this title is given to you. As a child, my Grandmother scared me that if I wasn't polite, they would take me. But seriously, Sr. Dulcissima is my guardian and <friend>, when there is a problem and you think humanly that this is the bottom, I always pray to my fellow countryman with the words: <sister, get to work and help me because the dark night is drawing near, and it has never let me down before. From the moment the documentation is handed over to the Vatican [in my house], the lamp next to her photo is on, and it will stay on as long as my friend. will not be declared blessed. I am asking for prayer at the grave of my <friend> (Wojciech - Manchester, for 15 years in exile in England, January 2021). Prayer: Lord, the deaf regain their hearing and the blind eyesight, no one has left the tomb of your servant unheard. And do not despise my prayer, but deign to hear it. Amen Sr. M. Małgorzata Cur SMI