A gift from St. Therese of Lisieux

Will you go with us to Lisieux to St. Theresa? I was asked by Father Theodore Suchoń, the retired custodian of the shrine of St. Teresa in Rybnik Chwałowice. I can’t hide the fact that the priest surprised me with this question, so I immediately didn’t know what to say. I heard in the receiver: please don’t worry about anything, just ask permission from your superiors. I asked Sr. Provincial Superior for her opinion, I got the green light. However, I knew that May would be a very demanding month for me. However, when I read that April 29 marks the 100th anniversary of the beatification of St. Teresa – I rejoiced heartily. I understood that this is a special time and when I thanked Fr. Theodore and said that I would go it was the Priest who calmly replied – There will be Sister Dulcissima walking in the person of a sister in the thanksgiving procession in Lisieux. I was touched. I also realized that the sender of the invitation to Lisieux that I had received from Fr. Theodore was a Carmelite saint. This is how St. Therese of the Child Jesus invited us to give thanks and adore God.

The central celebration in Lisieux was held in a solemn atmosphere. It was a great celebration! At the shrine of St. Thérèse in Lisieux, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline assured with simplicity of heart that St. Thérèse is teaching us as well as the whole Church today a valuable lesson. He said that St. Thérèse teaches us a Catholicism based on humility, total trust in God, and participation in Christ’s saving mission through intercessory prayer and sacrifice. The cardinal noted that Pope Pius XI called her the star of the pontificate and also pointed out that she is the word that God speaks to us because even today He shows us through her , that for Him the most important thing is humility.

Saint Teresa and Sr. Dulcissima how similar they are. This thought kept coming back to me like a boomerang. I realized, once again, that St. Teresa is a gift of heaven to Sr. Dulcissima, but also to our entire congregation.

The 100th anniversary of the beatification and also the 150th anniversary of the birth of St. Therese of the Child Jesus were events that brought together large crowds for the Eucharist in the Basilica of Lisieux. After the Mass, there was an opportunity for personal prayer and veneration of St. Therese’s relics.

With gratitude in my heart, we returned, back to Poland.

May God be glorified in His angels and saints.

s. Małgorzata Cur

Stations of the Cross in the garden

Our community at the Generalate, once again on Good Friday meditated on the Passion of Christ during the Way of the Cross in our garden. We initiated this custom during the pandemonium, when it was impossible to go to church. Preparing and experiencing this common Way of the Cross at the hour of Jesus’ death, moves us a lot and allows us to touch even more deeply the mysteries of our salvation.

Establishment of the German Region of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate

March 19, 2023 was an important day in the history of our Congregation. The previous German Province was restructured into the German Region, because the number of Sisters continues to decrease and the Sisters are more and more in need of help.
In the previous Provincial House, in the Convent of St. Augustine in Berlin, Archbishop Heiner Koch celebrated a festive Mass together with Prelate Stefan Dybowski on this occasion. At the end of the Mass, Superior General Sr. M. Sybilla Kołtan read the decree establishing the German Region. She then presented the new Regional Superior, Sr. M. Cordula Klafki, with the Decree of Appointment and an icon of St. Joseph. St. Joseph is a religious patron of our Congregation and the Superior General entrusted the German Region to the protection and assistance of St. Joseph.
The new Regional Superior, Sr. Cordula, had already held the office of Provincial Superior since 2006 and the Superior General thanked her for her many years of faithful service and her willingness to continue to help shape the destiny of the Congregation in these difficult times now also as Regional Superior.
After the service, the Sisters sat with the Archbishop and Prelate Dybowski over coffee, cake and a joyful exchange of ideas. Sisters from the other branches of our Congregation also came and there was a lively sharing.
This memorable day ended with vespers together.
May St. Joseph be a good and faithful companion of the new Region of our Congregation.

Visit to Indonesia

Our missionary sisters from the Philippines are currently on a visit to Indonesia. The purpose of this visit is an information campaign in parishes and schools about our congregation and charism. The sisters went there at the invitation of Fr. Tadeusz Gruca, a Polish missionary who has been working in Indonesia for nearly 60 years. Thanks to his hospitality and great kindness, the sisters have more than two weeks of very intensive work visiting many parishes and meeting extremely kind people who help the sisters in this mission in various ways. Today (March 19) the sisters hosted a parish in Roe on the island of Flores. The church was packed and people were very interested in the sisters’ message. After Mass, many people approached the sisters asking and inviting the sisters to stay in their parish. It was a profound experience for our missionaries. Tomorrow they move on to the next diocese for more meetings. Please pray for their mission and for the people they meet with.

A warm welcome

Every year – during Lent – I hold a contemplative hour for our residents in our senior center.
This time I took the opportunity to welcome our new facility manager Mr. Felix Angsten,
who starts on February 1, 2023
and our new nursing service manager Mrs. Maureen Nuppeney
who took over her duties on March 1, 2023, as the person responsible for our facility – under God’s blessing in prayer.
Many residents came to the chapel and so we prayed and sang for them and for each other – so that we can strengthen each other on our way.
Because together we are strong.

At a subsequent meeting in our refectory, we sisters greeted them once again and welcomed them.
Prayer
God, You have given us different gifts.
To no one did You give everything and to no one did You give nothing.
To each one you give a part.
Help us that we on our common way,
serve one another with that
with what You give to each one for the benefit of all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We look forward to the common way
into the future.

Sister M. Felicitas
with all the Sisters
from the Klosterberg in Cochem