Apr 18, 2025 | NEWS
Due to an acute shortage of sisters and the advanced age of the sisters in the German region, the leadership of our congregation was forced to close St. Hedwig Convent in Cochem after 72 years of service by our sisters at this location. At the end, there were only three sisters living in the convent, aged 70, 86, and 94. Two of them were cared for in the residential area of the nursing home.
On March 14, 2025, a festive farewell and thanksgiving service was held in the chapel of the St. Hedwig nursing home to mark this occasion. In addition to the regional superior, Sr. Cordula, the general superior, Sr. Sybilla, and the vicar general, Sr. Petra, also attended. The facility management, many employees, residents and their relatives, the mayor and residents of the town of Cochem also came to express their regret at the departure of the sisters, but also their gratitude for their many years of service. For most people in Cochem, the sisters are an integral part of the townscape and especially of the St. Hedwig nursing home. This makes the farewell so difficult.
At the end of the service, the Superior General thanked the sisters and especially the last Mother Superior of the convent, Sr. Felicitas Pöller, for their faithful and blessed service. She wished her and the other two sisters God’s blessing for their new beginning in a new environment. As a symbol of this, she presented Sr. Felicitas with an icon of an angel with the wish that it would be a good companion for her. The Superior General also thanked all the staff, residents, priests, and friends who have always stood by our sisters with advice and active help during this long period. She said, “Although we are closing the religious community in this house today, our mission does not end. We will remain connected to you in the future and pray for you and this place, so that it may continue to be a place of faith, love, and mutual care.”
After the Mass, a small reception was held for all the sisters and guests, and there was a lively exchange of ideas and many memories of past times were refreshed.
May God’s blessings continue to accompany us all.
Mar 9, 2025 | NEWS
The Generalate held a ceremony to present decrees to superiors.
Sister M. Agnes Mwanajimba received a decree for her third term as Superior of the Tanzania Region.
Sister M. Franciszka Jarnot received a decree for her first term as superior at the Generalate
Sr. M. Magdalena Delczyk was appointed as superior in Pompeii.
We wish the sisters superiors the light of the Holy Spirit and a deep personal relationship with Jesus, to whom we all belong. May Mary guide our sisters superiors along the path of her Son.
Mar 9, 2025 | NEWS
From February 1st to March 4th, three sisters from the Tanzanian regional board visited Europe. The main purpose of the visit was to hold workshops and preparatory meetings for the regional chapter, which is scheduled for this fall. During this time, in addition to preparations for the chapter, the sisters made a jubilee pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter in Rome with the Generalate community. They also had time to meet with the Holy Father before his sickness. They also went on pilgrimage to the grave of our Father and Founder and Sister Dulcissima. They visited many communities in Poland and Germany as well as our sisters in Pompeii. It was a very intense and eventful time for them. The sisters were showered with kindness and love in our European communities. When they left, they thanked everyone for such a wonderful welcome and admitted that after this visit, they understood the word “unity” in our Congregation more deeply and connected it with the experience they had during their visit.
Feb 25, 2025 | NEWS
The 115th birthday of our sister Dulcissima was celebrated with a solemn Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Swietochlowice. The Eucharist was presided over by Bishop Jan Kopiec, retired Ordinary of the Gliwice Diocese, and the homily on the Servant of God was delivered by Rev. Prof. Henryk Olszar of the University of Silesia.
At the beginning of the Eucharist, Fr. Boguslaw Jonczyk welcomed all Friends of Sr. Dulcissima and among them Fr. Bishop John, priests, Fr. Philip from Nigeria and the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. The parish priest warmly welcomed Mother General M. Sybilla, the sisters from Tanzania as well as the many sisters from the many outposts in Poland. He also greeted all those connecting via webcast and in a special way our fellow sisters from mission countries or the elderly and sick sisters.
“I was following something that my inside, my heart was searching for.” These words of young Helen were quoted by Rev. Prof. Henryk Olszar. He pointed out that the girl brought from her family home a deep faith, respect for others, a proper reference to work and great sensitivity to the issues of other people’s suffering.
He pointed out that she had the grace to come across people who led her along the path to God. She quickly established contacts with the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. Under the guidance of Father Edward Adamczyk, the parish priest, she began preparing for confession and Holy Communion. The clergyman, builder of the church dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle in New Bytom, convinced her that she should build a spiritual shrine to Jesus. The idea was to exercise in virtue.
The preacher was referring to the day of her First Holy Communion, which Helena received in 1921. In 1924, Helena saw in herself a desire to consecrate herself to God. “I experienced temptations and struggles by the enemy, who constantly told me that I was unfit for the convent because I could do nothing. The answer was to work, suffer and save my soul,” she wrote. She finally decided to join the ranks of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate in 1928.
“She was ready to give up everything to follow Jesus definitively. It is also worth noting that the decisive fact in the direction of Helena’s religiosity was that she found a medallion with the image of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in a field between Zgoda and New Bytom. From then on, Helena too entered the circle of the mentality of this saint,” said Father Henryk Olszar.
In 1934, as Sister Maria Dulcissima, Helena wrote down some words about her vocation on a piece of paper. “I think that the Lord God leads me in strange ways that I myself do not comprehend. And now when suffering crushes me, I repeat to myself: Lord, let Your will be done, not mine. But here, too, one must say: Deo gratias. I often say to myself, Lord, whom I carry so deeply in my heart, teach me to love, to suffer and to be silent, so that to You, through my nothing, I may win souls. Through my daily good deeds to save at least one single soul,” quoted the sister’s recorded words from Father Olszar.
As early as 1932, doctors gave her a diagnosis – a brain tumor. Her health was deteriorating significantly, but her spiritual life was growing. She had the gift of foretelling the future and hidden stigmata, and from childhood she met St. Teresa of the Child Jesus in mystical visions. She died on May 18, 1936.
At the end of the Mass, Provincial Superior Sr. Magdalena emphasized that we were gathered that day in the church in Concord, grateful to God for the gift of Sr. Dulcissima, for the immensity of love that God poured into her heart. The Provincial Sister thanked the Bishop as well as all the priests for the Eucharist celebrated, the Mother General and all the sisters for praying together, the parishioners for their living faith, she also thanked all the participants in this service for their presence and for thanking God together.
Mother Sybilla, among the many good words she spoke, also conveyed greetings from all the sisters who could not come to Swietochlowice but were spiritually united with us. The Superior General, on behalf of the entire congregation, thanked Father Pastor Boguslaw Jonczyk, parishioners and all those gathered for praying for the beatification of Sr. Dulcissima. The mother also asked for prayers for the intentions of the postulator and all those involved in the ongoing trial work. A certain surprise was the gift the Superior General presented to Fr. Boguslaw. “A birthday is also a gift,” said M. Sybilla, “on behalf of the congregation I brought a gift for Fr. Pastor and the entire parish, it is the blessing of the Holy Father Francis. With thunderous applause, the faithful thanked the Superior General for such a wonderful surprise.
After the Mass, the St. Therese of Lisieux Hagiograf Theater from Krakow presented the play “Two Sisters” at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Swietochlowice. The characters of St. Therese and Sr. Dulcissima were played by Izabella Drobotowicz-Orkisz and Barbara Misiun. The musical setting was taken care of by : Dominika Szydło-Salik – viola.
At the end of the Eucharist, all the faithful were treated to sweet cupcakes with a candle decorated in colorful paper to take home. We prepared about 600 such sweet gifts.
At the end of Sr. Dulcissima’s birthday party, a commemorative plaque was consecrated on the family house – familok – of Helenka Hoffmann, at 5 Drzymały Street in Swietochlowice.
Sr. Malgorzata Cur
Feb 24, 2025 | NEWS
February 7 marked the 115th birthday of the servant of God Sister Dulcissima Hoffmann SMI. We began preparations for the celebration of this event by praying a nine-day novena, to which we also encouraged Internet users on social networks, and invited people who belonged to the group of Friends of Sr. Dulcissima. Another proposal to celebrate was to take part in the jubilee birthday through the virtual initiative #Dulcissima115.
Step one. Sister Dulcissima’s concern was to give glory to the Triune God, hence the idea to offer intercessors to praise God, specifically, to offer a minute of praise to the Lord (in any form) during the day – at the same time making a personal declaration.
The second step, was to draw, from 115 suggested prayer intentions, one intention for the tenth of the rosary. Interestingly, most people drew intentions: for the Holy Church, for priests and also intentions to praise God for the gift of Helen Hoffmann’s life. As we know, the handmaid of God prayed a lot and made spiritual sacrifices for the Holy Church, for priests, and for our congregation.
Taking the third step was to have coffee or tea with the Jubilarian, take a photo and send it to biuro@dulcissima.pl.
Statistics show that 130 Internet users took part in the #Dulcissima115 initiative, for which God be thanked.
On Friday, February 7, during the morning Eucharist celebrated at our Brest monastery, we thanked God for the gift of Helena Hoffmann’s life and for the good that the Good Lord bestows through her intercession.
On her birthday, more than 100 people met in our monastery at the birthday cake, coffee and tea. We prepared the first birthday cake before noon and the second cake was shared in the afternoon. A great number of guests visited us that day, including priests, sisters from other religious congregations, those who felt invited by the Jubilarian herself came, and many people shared their experience of friendship with Sr. Dulcissima and also many told of graces received through her intercession. We rejoiced in the presence of Superior General M. Sybilla, sisters from Tanzania and also Provincial Superior Sr. Magdalena, sisters from neighboring communities.
It was a beautiful day, lived in joy, unity and gratitude.
The central birthday celebration took place on Sunday, February 9, in the Church of St. Joseph the Worker in Swietochlowice Zgoda about which I will write in the next post.
s. Małgorzata Cur SMI
Jan 16, 2025 | NEWS
On Sunday, 12.01.2025, we set off from our communities to Mieszkowice, the hometown of the Servant of God Fr. Jan Schneider, the Founder of our Congregation, to celebrate the 201st anniversary of his birth there, in St. George’s Church, together with parishioners. The solemn Eucharist, in which we prayed together for the gift of the beatification of Father Founder, apostle of mercy and defender of women, was celebrated by Father Pastor Mariusz Budziarek. What touched me the most was the prayer said together at the end of the Mass. When I heard all the faithful, altar servers and sisters, recite from memory the prayer for the gift of the beatification of our servant of God, I felt in my heart great joy, emotion and confidence flowing from trust that God would accept our cry and request. After the Eucharist, we drove to our sisters in Nysa, there to prolong the joy of the 201st anniversary of the birth of our servant of God. It was a time of joy, meeting and conversation. There was a shared lunch and coffee and caroling :). May God be glorified!
s. Barbara
