MIRROR
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
CONTENTS PAGE At the Foot of the Cross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Michael Kinsella. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Church as Mother. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Martin Bartha.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Indispensable Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A Crazy Enterprise of Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mauritania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Knocking on Heaven’s Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Uruguay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ambassadors of His Love.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 John Paul and the Genius of Woman.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Meconi SJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Jesus Put Me on Earth to Look After Him. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 At the Cross – Stabat Mater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 John Paul and the Feminity of Holiness.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Meconi SJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 When God Enters Your Heart… You Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 They were Prostitutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 On Being One of God’s Instruments.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 From Inside the Cloister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sr. Klara Sviderska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Let Us Support Our Sisters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Heine-Geldern. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
‘ Never give in, never admit defeat: keep on working at the Lord’s Work always, knowing that in the Lord, you cannot be laboring in vain’ 1 COR 15:57-58 Editor: Jürgen Liminski. Publisher: ACN International, Postfach 1209, 61452 Königstein, Germany. De licentia competentis auctoritatis ecclesiasticae. Printed in Ireland - ISSN 0252-2535. www.acn-intl.org
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS Dear Friends,
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ope St. John Paul wrote profoundly on the dignity and vocation of women within the Church and the World.1 In this he highlighted and analysed in some depth what he referred to as the ‘Feminine Genius’. He also noted that Holiness was characteristically feminine and reminded us insistently that the Church Herself is a mother. Mary is the mother of the Church and women have always been at the spiritual centre of the Church, at the foot of the Cross. Indeed throughout all of Her History, from the very beginning, religious women have been present giving (often silent) witness to the Truth: the Truth of the Incarnate God who suffered and died on the Cross in order to open the Gates of Heaven and redeem mankind. Today consecrated Religious women continue to stand vigil at the Cross. Today consecrated Religious women continue to bring the Good News of the Empty Tomb and the Risen Lord. Today consecrated Religious women continue to be found in every place where God’s infinite Mercy needs to be manifested. Following in the footsteps of the Blessed Virgin, today over 650,000 women worldwide have responded with their ‘fiat’ (their ‘thy will be done’) to the Lord’s Call.
These heroic women have consecrated their whole lives to doing God’s Will, to doing His Work, to being His Merciful Hands. They have committed themselves to remaining with His Son at the foot of the Cross and radiating His Light in an otherwise dark World. In this issue of the Mirror we present for your consideration and reflection a small sample of the heroic witnessing which our consecrated Sisters, those in active and those in contemplative ministry, undertake to provide Hope, Comfort and Joy to a World in pain, a World in need. In doing so we will also try to provide you with some insight into how these Missionaries of Joy hear and how they respond to the Universal Call to Holiness. Your brother in Christ,
Dr. Michael Kinsella
DIRECTOR, ACN IRELAND
PS. Please think about how you, your family and your friends can support your consecrated Sisters in undertaking God’s redemptive work in the world. In all of this please remember that the smallest of sacrifices, the shortest of prayers, the tiniest of gifts when blessed by God will make an enormous difference to the life of the Church, the life of the World, your life and the future of Humanity. 1 Pope St. John Paul: Papal Encyclical, Mulieris Dignitatem (‘On the Dignity and Vocation of Women’).
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DOING GOD’S WORK
THE CHURCH AS MOTHER Dear Friends,
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aster is a feast of new birth, a feast of new life. That is why there is a profound connection between the Paschal Mystery and motherhood . The Church, which was born of the Passion of the Redeemer, is called to be entirely maternal. But in order to be so, She needs the radiance of womanhood. It was the Woman, Mary, who stood beneath the Cross and so became Mother to us all. It was the women who were first at the tomb of Christ, who saw the Risen Lord and so became apostles to the apostles. The Marian dimension of the Church preceded the Petrine dimension.
The power to confer new life is part of the nature of womanhood. This may be in a physical sense, or it may be in a spiritual sense. A woman can be aware of the innermost heart of the person, homing in on the concrete realities of life, she thinks and feels intuitively, but can also be very practical. To shelter, protect, preserve, nurture, foster growth, share life – this is the natural, maternal attitude of a woman’s heart and soul. That is why the great martyr Cardinal Mindszenty used to say, ‘Whenever I see a cross, bedecked with flowers, I see in it an image of a woman’s life. The life and vocation of a woman embraces roses and the cross alike. She lives for others and seeks their happiness, even at the price of her own blood.’
Caring for Children in Rwanda.
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Any discussion of the dignity and role of women in society and in the Church has long been a burning issue. The emancipation of women is a fact of our times. In the past women were often robbed of their dignity, their true virtues unknown, excluded and even forced into servitude. There is no longer any question of returning to the old stereotype of the woman as entirely dependent on the man. Yet nonetheless, the true genius of woman should not be lost in the name of ‘liberation’ from ‘male domination’.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
The emancipation of women is often simply equated with the elimination of gender-based differences and with sexual liberation. But this is not only to lose sight of the true value of womanhood, but even, it seems, to poison its life-giving qualities at their root, thereby causing a spiritual pandemic. Aid to the Church in Need’s 2019 Lenten and Easter campaign focuses on the vocation and work of the women Religious, and thereby identify the true ‘Genius of Woman’ without which the Church, as Mother, cannot bear lasting fruit. In their vocation of bridal espousal to Christ they do not lose their womanhood, but rather in a special way render it fruitful. Their wideranging ministry of service, of solemn prayer, works of mercy, propagation of the Faith,
caring for children and young people, silent adoration – enfolds all the human family in the love of Christ. They are our universal mothers and sisters. We thank God for these exceptional women, and we thank you for enabling us to support them around the world by your prayers and sacrifices. My warmest wishes and Easter blessings to you and all your families. Your grateful friend,
Father Martin M. Barta ACN ECCLESIASTICAL ASSISTANT
Sister Cécire is feeding an old woman, Rwanda.
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INDISPENSABLE SERVICE TO A CHURCH IN NEED RUSSIA
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t would be hard to give a clearer illustration of the universal character of the Church than this. Two Nigerian religious Sisters from the Poor Clare Missionaries of the Most Blessed Sacrament, which was founded in Mexico, are travelling to the Diocese of Saratov in Russia to help with pastoral and catechetical work under the direction of Bishop Clemens Pickel, from Germany. But first of all Anastesia Ndubuisi and Cordelia Enwereuzo must learn Russian. ‘They are making progress’, says Bishop Clemens, who recalls how shocked the two women were when they saw the mist and snow for the first time. The diocese is something of a melting pot of cultures. Most of the 61 religious Sisters, who belong to different congregations, come from abroad – ‘anywhere from Argentina to the Philippines’ – including a good number from Poland. A few are from Russia itself; many of these experienced life in the underground Church, under communist dictatorship, but for the younger Russian women ‘the radical decision
Part of the melting pot of Saratov: Bishop Clemens Pickel with his international team of religious Sisters.
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for Christ had nothing to do with any tradition in their families. There was nothing of that; merely the call of God and an open heart.’ ‘They are very versatile’, says Bishop Clemens with evident admiration. ‘Whether in catechesis, with the children and young people, visiting the sick, caring for the elderly or helping in the sacristy. I can sense at once if Mass has been prepared by one of the Sisters. It takes a real effort to achieve this kind of devotion to Christ in the little things.’ In fact, without the help of these foreign Sisters this diocese, one of the largest in the world, would not be able to function. There is a great deal of travelling involved, since the 20,000 or so Catholics account for just 0.04% of the 45 million people living in the diocese. For these and the many other Christians Anastesia and Cordelia have been learning Russian. But they have no way to pay for their language tuition or, like the other Sisters, even support themselves in the country. ‘We call it ‘existence help’, and with good reason’, says Bishop Clemens, thoughtfully. For it really is about the very existence of the diocese itself. We are helping with €35,000.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
A CRAZY ENTERPRISE OF LOVE MAURITANIA
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itnessing by example is an essential part of the life of religious Sisters in Islamic countries like Mauritania (North-West Africa). Evangelising in public is forbidden. The native population here has been Muslim since the Middle Ages. The diocese of Nouakchott is ‘crazy by human standards’ says Bishop Martin Happe. But even here, Catholic religious Sisters are witnessing by their love, caring for children, nursing the sick and teaching the women skills such as reading, writing and needlework.
Now the seed of this love is sprouting. Aminata Diallo came to the Sisters as a malnourished five year- old, weighing barely 9 kg (20lbs). The Sisters took her in, taught her mother about good nutrition, helped the child to walk and exercise, visited them at home. Now she is a normal, healthy child and comes regularly to visit the Sisters – as do many of the mothers. Such love fosters trust. But since the Sisters work for nothing in this country, they are entirely dependent on outside support. There are 27 of them altogether, and we have promised €20,000 for their ‘crazy’ enterprise of love.
Day in, day out, entirely without remuneration.
Practical love: equipping the children for the future.
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KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR URUGUAY
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he Church is under attack around the world. Internal scandals are damaging Her credibility. Numbers of priests and religious are falling in Latin America, as elsewhere. Yet at this very time in one of the most anti-Christian countries on the continent, one particular community shines forth like a beacon for the future. They are the Discalced Carmelite Sisters in Florida, Uruguay. There are twelve Sisters, eight permanently professed, two with temporary vows and two novices. They are young, and other young women are also seeking admission to the convent. Each has her own story to tell, of how God called her, tenderly but clearly, invisibly but unmistakably, quietly but insistently.
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Each of them could make her own the words of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us…’ (Cf. Lk 24:32).
A growing community: three professed Sisters with a novice and a postulant.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Sister María was just 16 when, in 2013 while on pilgrimage, she first recognised the urging in her heart. ‘You have given me everything, Lord, and I want to give everything to you.’ This was her prayer, even without knowing exactly what God wanted of her. She was already engaged and loved her fiancé Fernando. Then she met a Carmelite nun. She read The Story of a Soul by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The signs that she was being called to the religious life multiplied, until she said in her prayers ‘Enough! No more signs please!’ She wanted to become a Carmelite, but at the same time she also wanted to be a doctor and mother of a family. Together with her fiancé she prayed a novena to Saint Joseph. A few months later she unburdened her heart to a Carmelite Sister who said, without knowing anything of the novena, ‘Saint Joseph has sent you here. We prayed to him in the convent for a new vocation.’
she says, ‘I am happy, happy to be the bride of Christ.’ Sister María Belén also felt her heart burning. The more she became involved with her parish, the greater her longing grew to belong totally to God. Then her uncle, who was a priest, died in a car crash. In the midst of her grief she felt the open arms of God. She too read The Story of a Soul and then, two years ago, when she became acquainted with the Carmel, she knew: ‘This is my home, my doorway to heaven.’ Now other young women are knocking on the door. They too want to give everything. But there is not enough space to accommodate them. An extension will make space for five additional cells. This is a sign for us, you could say, for the little online shop they run, selling their embroidery, needlework and handicrafts, will never cover the cost. So we have promised €70,000.
Her questioning was replaced with certainty. She broke off her engagement. Fernando had already begun to anticipate this, and also to question his own vocation. Today he is a seminarian in Montevideo. María was 19 when she finally decided to enter the convent. Her friends and even her parents tried to dissuade her and prayed desperately that she would not enter the convent. But the Sisters were also praying in their convent. One night María wrote a loving letter to her parents, climbed out of the window and knocked on the door of the Carmel. Today
Sister María Belén taking the veil a year ago.
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DOING GOD’S WORK
AMBASSADORS OF HIS LOVE, MISSIONARIES OF HIS JOY ‘ Whoever does the Will of God... is my brother and sister and mother.’ (Mk 3:35)
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hese words of Jesus could scarcely be more fittingly applied than to the religious Sisters of this world. People call them ‘Mothers’ – and so they are, to countless orphans and abandoned children, to the dying and the bereaved. People call them ‘Sisters’ – and so they are, to the suffering, the sick, the handicapped, the lonely and elderly. They comfort them, care for them, teach them, pray for them. They don’t simply seek God’s Will, they actually do it. They don’t seek any reward, but find it nonetheless in the eyes of those they care for – which for them are the eyes of Christ. They bring with them a spirit of joy and give of themselves selflessly.
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They are salt and light and leaven for the people they serve. They are Martha and Mary, on every continent. They burn with love for God, as ambassadors of his Love. They are the quiet Joy of God – and are always worth our sacrifices of love. Please join with ACN in supporting Religious Sisters throughout the world with your prayers, your good works and your alms-giving. Be a Missionary of Joy and a Witness to Hope. The world needs what you have to give.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
SEEING THE NEED AND RESPONDING ‘They have no wine.’ (Jn 2:3)
Giving joy: Sister Maria Fernanda in the favela.
Mary saw their need at Cana, and turned to Jesus. Seeing the need, helping by their prayers and deeds… Bringing comfort and courage, like Mary in Cana, and showing them that Jesus forgets no one. This is the ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, the Morning Star in the Archdiocese of Aracajú in Brazil. Five Sisters came here originally, now there are eight. They go into the favelas, the city slums, to provide hot meals and invite the children and young people to come and join in the Rosary and learn about the Catholic faith. For part of the terrible deprivation in this region, teeming as it is with non-Catholic sects, is the lack of knowledge, the ignorance of the Truth. And ACN Child’s Bible is proving its worth here. Faced with growing pastoral and evangelistic work, the Sisters urgently need a car. We are helping with a contribution of €6,900 towards the cost.
A FORTRESS OF PRAYER IN BUKAVU ‘Behold, the handmaid of the Lord.’ (Lk 1:38)
An oasis of peace: the Trappist Nuns in their convent garden.
Mary heard the Angel’s word and answered in all simplicity, surrendering to the Will of God. This contemplative surrender brings about the conversion of the world. The silent abandonment of the contemplative restores ‘the spiritual equilibrium in the world’, according to Father Werenfried. From its earliest days ACN has relied on the prayer of these religious houses, initially in Eastern Europe and now on every continent. In Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Trappist Nuns pray daily for ACN. There are 22 of them in the convent of Our Lady of Divine Light, many of them young women. They survive by rearing chickens and growing vegetables, and also thanks to your generosity. We have promised them €29,000 this year for their apostolate. In this region, marked by war and hunger, we can see what Father Werenfried meant when he spoke about contemplative convents as ‘spiritual fortresses’ which make ‘visible the Sacred and Spiritual in a world that is losing the sense of the Sacred.’ 9
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A PLACE TO COMMUNE WITH GOD ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ (Jn 2:5) A selfie: three young missionary Sisters at work.
These are the only words that have come down to us that are spoken by Mary, not to Jesus or to the angel, but to men. The Missionary Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer in Chernihiv, Ukraine, take them very seriously. They visit women’s prisons, care for the handicapped, addicts, alcoholics, and young single mothers. They also preach the Gospel message in this region spiritually devastated by Communism, where religious knowledge is very sparse, yet the hunger for it great. They are doing what the Gospel tells them – only there are too few of them. They have been in the parish here for nine years, initially there were just the three of them. Now four more are hoping to join them. ‘The people need us here’, says Mother Theodora, the Provincial Superior of the congregation in Ukraine. But what they now need ‘is a space for quiet communion with God’; they want to be able to listen in silence to what He tells them. They plan to do this by extending the convent. We are helping with €25,000. 10
SISTER SAMIA SAYS THANKS SYRIA
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ister Samia of the Congregation of the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary is happy and grateful, to God, and all ACN’s Benefactors for once again they have managed to safely bring together young people from Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, Tartus and Latakia for a prayer meeting. Several hundred came and prayed together over the course of the two days. ‘For a long time that was impossible in Syria’, she writes. Many could not even leave their villages, it was simply too dangerous. ‘But they have kept their Faith, even though they were not always able to attend Holy Mass’, she adds. Here they were able to find peace and tranquillity for their encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. On behalf of the young people, Sister Samia thanks ‘all those generous hearts who have supported and accompanied them in prayer’.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
JOHN PAUL II AND THE GENIUS OF WOMAN DAVID MECONI SJ
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or all his ground-breaking insights, among the bolder statements of Pope St. John Paul was his insistence that woman ‘is the representative and archetype of the whole human race: she represents the humanity which belongs to all human beings, both men and women’3 and, again, ‘all human beings–both women and men–are called through the Church to be the ‘Bride of Christ.’’ 4 Reading the first few pages of scripture gave this philosopher-pope a theological anthropology unmatched in the history of Christian thought. Of the many contributions of his vast pontificate, perhaps it was John Paul’s opening up and developing the Second Vatican Council’s understanding of the person as ‘gift’ which will have the most lasting influence.
Sister Mary Colum Tarawali from Sierra Leone.
In particular, it may well be his insights into woman’s special role in defining this anthropology which will prove to be the most radical of his reflections on the human person. Pope St. John Paul II considers that woman best signifies creaturely completion and Holiness. Returning us to the very beginning John Paul identified three essential tasks in Eve’s very being and wrote, ‘the dignity and role of woman is... the guarantee of what ‘feminine’ humanly symbolizes: acceptance, care of other, generation of life.’ 5 First, she inaugurates not only a profound understanding of the human but an entirely new way of being human. She signifies a personal orientation, a necessary turning toward and acceptance of the other. Secondly, Eve receives and is thus called to care for another in a way unavailable to Adam. Her receptivity allows man to understand himself in a way his solitude could never have allowed. Thirdly, humanity has been entrusted to the woman because only she is able to embody the other, a maternity, the Pope made clear, not relegated simply to pregnancy but to that ‘feminine genius’ which characterizes every woman’s way of being. 2 Extracted, adapted, edited and reformatted from original article by Fr. Meconi entitled ‘St. John Paul II and the Femininity of Holiness’ and published in the July-August edition of FAITH Magazine. Fr. Meconi’s full article along with a Pope St. John Paul’s encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem (‘On the Dignity and Vocation of Women’) can be read at www.acnlreland.org. 3 Op.cit. § 4. 4 Op.Cit. § 25. 5 Ibid.
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JESUS PUT ME ON EARTH TO LOOK AFTER HIM6
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t the end of December 1923, Blessed Dina Bélanger (1897-1929) wrote in her autobiography: ‘I found the motto for which I had sought so long, and which corresponded to my every aspiration and summarized all my sentiments: ‘Love and let Jesus and Mary have their way.’ This was an expression that satisfied me. ‘Love,’ that meant unto folly, even to martyrdom … ‘Let Jesus have his way’ meant let the God of love act freely; ‘let Mary have Her way’: this was to entrust blindly to my Mother the task of realizing Jesus in me, cloaked and hidden by my outward being.’ Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
The author of these lines was just 26 years old. She was completely in love with Jesus; He was the joy of her heart, her reason to live. She laid herself open to His light Blessed Dina Bélanger from the moment she was born. ‘Jesus put me on Earth to only look after Him,’ she said. Dina radiated Christ; her life was simply a pure openness to God with the confident abandoning of everything she was. In her, the ardent words of St. Paul are borne out: ‘It is not I who live, but the Christ who lives in me.’ (see Galatians 2:20) Dina was born in Quebec, April 30, 1897. As the only child of Séraphia Matte and Olivier Bélanger, she had a happy childhood. She went to primary school at Saint-Roch, then to boarding school at Bellevue College of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Notre Dame. Starting from her early youth, the Holy Spirit oriented her will toward the desire to become a saint, giving her a burning love for God and neighbour. The young Dina started hearing the voice of Jesus in 1908. She points out in her autobiography,
6 Adapted and edited from an original 24 Sept 2018 article by Jacques Gauthier accessible at https://aleteia.org/2018/09/24/meet-theconcert-pianist-who-gave-up-a-promising-career-for-god/
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RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
‘I’ll explain once and for all the expressions that I employ such as: I saw … Jesus told me … and similar ones. This means: I saw in my imagination; Jesus told me, through an inner voice, everything which the soul listens to in the depths of the heart during the divine consolations.’
entering the novitiate of the Religious of Jesus and Mary in Sillery.
At 14 she consecrated herself to God by making a vow of virginity. She loved Jesus so much that she asked for the grace of martyrdom. It was at this point in time that she read The Story of a Soul by Thérèse of Lisieux, who wasn’t yet proclaimed a saint, but who would become her patron, along with St. Cecilia. She wrote in 1923:
Dina understood that, as the Son is united with the Father by love and as the heart of Mary is united with the heart of Jesus, Christ is united to each of us in the Eucharist, where He offers Himself, with us, to the Father.
‘Thérèse of the Child Jesus, through her intercession, opened the garden of trust to me. So I tasted the true fruit of abandonment. And all her acts, needless to say, bear the stamp of love.’ In 1914, Dina asked to enter religious life, but without success. At the beginning of World War I, she offered herself to Jesus in the spirit of love and reparation in order to console Jesus and to save souls. She lived with her parents until 1916, then she went to the Conservatory in New York to study two years of piano. However, she experienced an inner turmoil of spiritual aridity that would last six years. A young woman with an upright and sensitive character, she became an elegant concert pianist at the age of 24.
On February 15, 1922, she received the name of Marie Sainte-Cécile de Rome. This congregation suited her well, as it was centred around the Eucharist, the effusion of love where Jesus gives Himself totally to satiate us.
In 1923, while teaching at a school run by her congregation, she contracted scarlet fever from a student she was nursing. Her health never fully recovered, and in 1929, she died of tuberculosis after a long illness. St. John Paul II beatified Dina in 1993.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179) Benedictine, Visionary, Composer, Doctor of the Church
Breaking away from a potential artistic career, Dina chose the hidden path of Prayer by 13
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At the Cross At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to her Son to the last.
Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother’s pain untold?
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed.
For the sins of His own nation, She saw Jesus wracked with torment, All with scourges rent:
O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother, highly blest, of the sole-begotten One.
She beheld her tender Child, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent.
Christ above in torment hangs, she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son.
O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord:
Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ’s dear Mother to behold?
Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord.
The Stabat Mater is a 13th-Century hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary which portrays her suffering at the foot of The Cross. The title comes from its first line, Stabat Mater dolorosa, which means “the sorrowful mother was standing”.
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RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Stabat Mater Holy Mother! pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Saviour crucified:
Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine.
Let me share with thee His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died.
Wounded with His every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned, in His very Blood away;
Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live:
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in His awful Judgment Day.
By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, be Thy Mother my defence, be Thy Cross my victory;
Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine;
While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee.
This 19th-Century non-literal English translation from the original Latin was prepared by Edward Caswall (1814–1878). Caswall was an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who converted to Roman Catholicism.
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THE FEMININITY OF HOLINESS DAVID MECONI SJ7
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or Pope St. John Paul II Holiness is essentially ‘feminine’. Now here we must make clear, however, that supernaturally women have absolutely no natural or inherent advantage over men in the spiritual life. Nonetheless a key component in understanding John Paul’s anthropology is seeing how Holiness manifests a feminine structure to which all human persons are called. Again, this is not to say that women have special graces simply because of their femininity, in Christ there is neither male nor female (cf. Gal 3:28), but that very femininity can be offered to God in order to allow woman to enter into divine communion with such attentive receptivity that it becomes the image upon which John Paul patterned all created Holiness.
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380) Dominican, Mystic, Theologian, Doctor of the Church
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The three characteristics of Eve become consecrated and permanent in Mary and are thus offered to all her children, both man and woman. Attentiveness to the other, humble reception of the other, as well as a loving generativity are all signs of Christ’s Life in each of the Baptised. Every creature has been made so as to turn toward, receive, and incarnate the Divine Life. On the natural level, woman best embodies this call to Holiness. Mary’s ‘let it be done unto me’ ought to reverberate through the ‘yes’ of millennia of created souls. These three marks of Holiness are ‘feminine’ characteristics not because they are limited to women but because they became possible only with the presence of Eve before Adam and because they now become eternally significant wholly sanctified in the Second Eve, The Blessed Virgin Mary. This is precisely what the Incarnate Son brings about in His own humanity: He confirms the femininity of Holiness by using the natural and finite to point us to the infinite and eternally worthy.
7 Extracted, adapted, edited and reformatted from original article by Fr. Meconi entitled ‘St. John Paul II and the Femininity of Holiness’ and published in the July-August edition of FAITH Magazine.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
In His person, Christ recapitulates all that created femininity forfeited in the Fall. In Christ alone does the feminine structure of Holiness become real: He literally pours His blood out for the sake of another, He literally lays His life down to bring forth the life of another, He literally opens up the table of His own body to feed and calm another. Pope St. John Paul saw how women can continue Christ’s Selfless Love in a way that teaches the world the meaning of Holiness and true human happiness. This understanding of the uniqueness of the femininity of Holiness will be continued and developed as a lasting legacy of his magisterium. 8 On the Collaboration of Men and Women, May 31, 2004 , §14.
Saint Theresa of Avila (1515-1582) Carmelite, Reformer, Mystic and Doctor of the Church.
For example, when Pope Benedict XVI was Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he wrote that feminine values are ‘above all human values: the human condition of man and woman created in the image of God is one and indivisible. It is only because women are more immediately attuned to these values that they are the reminder and the privileged sign of such values... …‘femininity’ is more than simply an attribute of the female sex. The word designates indeed the fundamental human capacity to live for the other and because of the other.’ 8 Pope St. John Paul II discerned in Holiness a feminine structure because he saw in woman how all are called to turn toward God, receive the divine, and thereby give birth to the life of Christ. The natural makeup of femininity teaches us… what it means to be both spouse and mother of God, what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be human, and, ultimately, what it means to be Holy.
Michael Asks
While each of us are all called to be Holy, how do we encourage and support others in their efforts to become Holy?
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DOING GOD’S WORK
WHEN GOD ENTERS YOUR HEART… YOU CHANGE S 9
ister Carla Venditti, a religious sister of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, has for several years now divided her time between the streets of Rome and the nearby region of Abruzzo, where she evangelizes on the street and manages to save numerous young women from prostitution. The young women are brought to the Mother Clielia Oasis Centre in Avezzano, in Abruzzo, where they experience a path of spiritual and social rebirth, as well as learning a new profession.
The idea for the centre was born in response to the request from Pope Francis. ‘After Pope Francis’ invitation, our congregation accepted the idea of opening part of the General House (the congregation’s headquarters) to welcome women saved from prostitution,’ Sr. Carla explained. ‘We go to the most dangerous streets at night, and drawing near to the young women, we try to create a sincere and open rapport with them, based above all on friendship and trust.’ ‘We felt,’ Sr. Carla continued, ‘that more was needed, and we created a family, not just a shelter. It’s important to listen to how Christ cried out on the cross for help for those who, like these young women, experience physical and moral suffering.’ Sr. Carla is well-known and appreciated in the region. ‘When God enters your heart, you’re saved, and you change!’ she says. This has been her ‘battle cry’ since when she began this mission.
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross / Saint Edith Stein (1891-1942) Carmelite, Convert, Philosopher and Martyr.
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‘The habit helps a lot. At first when we tried to talk with the prostitutes, we said we had brought them a surprise. And they were willing to talk, even though they didn’t know us. Nowadays, we have a more experienced approach.’ 9 Adapted and edited from an original article dated Jan 28, 2019 by Gelsomino Del Guercio accessible at https://aleteia.org/2019/01/28/ the-italian-nun-who-brings-god-to-prostitutes-and-gets-them-offthe-street/
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) Foundress of the Order of the Poor Ladies (The Poor Clares)
The religious Sister has also written a storybook, ‘The Rebellious Daffodil’ (‘Il narciso ribelle’), which is sold to help finance the mission of the Mother Clelia Oasis Centre. She says, ‘Stories have an immediacy to them; they talk to adults with the language of children, so they listen to you more’.
Michael Asks Has God entered your heart? How did God enter your heart? How have you changed? How have you changed over the past five years? Saint Theresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) Foundress of the Missionaries of Charity. ‘Peace begins with a Smile’.
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DOING GOD’S WORK
THEY WERE PROSTITUTES NOW THEY HAVE HOPE A 10
group of Nigerian women and girls have found a new horizon working as seamstresses and producing t-shirts, dresses, bags, and belts with about 13,000 feet of fabric given to them by a famous Italian fashion house.
Their creations are on sale at the New Hope cooperative workshop, an ethnic sewing shop in the southern Italian city of Caserta, where the rescued migrants, who were brought into the country for sex trafficking,
live and work. The workshop and the shelter, known as Casa Rut, is run by the Ursuline Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Maria di Breganze in Vicenza, Italy. The Sisters have been working for 22 years to rescue these women from the streets. The New Hope cooperative started in May 2004 from a shared dream of the Rut Community of the Ursuline Sisters, the Community of the Sacramental Fathers of Caserta, some immigrant women, and a group of friends and collaborators. The cooperative began by setting up an ethnic tailoring workshop to train young migrant women, many of them mothers, who wanted to become a positive part of the community. 10 Adapted and edited from an original 28 Jul 2018 article by Gelsomino Del Guercio accessible at https://aleteia.org/2018/07/28/they-wereprostitutes-now-theyre-seamstresses-thanks-to-the-ursuline-sisters/
‘The human person ought never to be sold or bought as if he or she were a commodity’
Saint Josephine Bahkita (1869-1947) Canossian Sister, Sold into Slavery, Freed into Sanctity.
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RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
New Hope is an opportunity for young people to grow in their dignity by participating fully in the social life of their new country, without running the risk of further exploitation, getting involved in other illegal work, or being underpaid. Since 2008, the store Bottega Fantasia has been located next to the tailors workshop. It is a dream that is brought to life each day in the cushions, tablecloths, bags, and many other objects that the girls cut, sew, and invent. For the women, ‘The Fantasia,’ which has become an authentic trademark, makes every day a new day and chance of a better life. The colourful store is filled with many beautiful products: bags, backpacks, pencil cases, centrepieces, and so on, that were made by young women with creativity and passion. The fabrics come from Africa and are completely unique to the designers at New Hope.
But the products are unique in a more meaningful way, too: Every New Hope item created by these women is valuable for the story of rebirth and courage it tells. Many of the women at Casa Rut, who eventually become mothers, ask us to believe in ‘ever new shoots of life that the winter hides and keeps within itself, even inside a humble manger.’
A New Hope Cooperative Workshop in Caserta, Italy.
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DOING GOD’S WORK
ON BEING ONE OF GOD’S INSTRUMENTS S 11
he gave up her skates to don the habit of a Poor Clare Sister. Kirstin Holum was an American speed skater in the Olympic Games of Nagano in 1998. Sister Catherine is a nun of the order of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, who lives and prays in the Convent of Santa Clara, in Leeds, England. Kirstin and Sister Catherine are the same person but with very different habits.
Sister Catherine describes her choice as ‘radical’ and ‘counter cultural.’ She lives in a convent without an internet connection or television. ‘We don’t have all those distractions,’ Sister Catherine told NBC News, referring to the world of media, social networks, and the internet. Kirstin Holum set a new junior world record in the women’s 5,000-meter speed skating event at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
‘You are face-to-face with your own weaknesses. I’m grateful that we don’t have those escape hatches. We can really become more free, to love and be who we are meant to be,’ she added. Sister Catherine’s faith comes from her mother, who was also a skater and skating coach. When Kirstin was 16, her mother sent her and a cousin on a pilgrimage to Fatima. There, everything changed for her. She continued competing, but with an eye on ‘the King of kings.’ Holum went to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. There, in the women’s 5,000 metre speed skating event, she set a new junior world record. At that time, she was 17 years old and had an enviable future in sports. In her short career, she had set eight speed skating records in the United States and six junior world records. But God has unfathomable ways, and Kirstin, surprising her family and friends, decided to ‘hang up’ her skates. Instead of continuing on in another Olympic sport after finishing her university studies, she became a postulant in the community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in the Bronx (New York). When she was competing, she would train for four hours a day. Now, in the religious life, she spends hours a day in prayer.
11 Adapted and edited from an original 31st Oct.2018 article by Jaime Septién accessible at https://aleteia.org/2018/10/31/from-the-olympics-to-the-convent-the-story-of-kirstin-holum/
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RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Does she have any regrets for having left the world of competitive speed skating behind? No, she says.
ciscan sisters sent to England with the mission of opening a new convent at the invitation of the Bishop of Leeds.
‘The excitement and the joy of competing and doing well, even just doing your personal best, there’s a great thrill in that,’ Sister Catherine told NBC. ‘But it was always a fleeting joy … ‘
Sister Catherine hopes to be one of God’s instruments in the New Evangelization, bringing the joy of the faith back where it has been lost.
‘I think deep down, everyone is desiring to be great and to do something great. It’s only when you get really in touch with God’s Plan for you that you really find a peace in doing the great thing, whatever it might be.’
Kristen Holum was a gifted athlete but she had a greater gift...a greater calling. Her witness invites us to ask ourselves what is our greatest gift? What is God asking of us at this time in our lives?
Six years after becoming a religious Sister, Sister Catherine was among a group of Fran-
Michael Comments
Would you like to comment? Please email: mk@acnireland.org
Sister Catherine, at St. Clare’s Convent in Leeds. 23
DOING GOD’S WORK
TELLING IT LIKE IT IS FROM INSIDE THE CLOISTER SR. KLARA SVIDERSKA
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e are Sisters from the Congregation of St. Benedict in Ukraine in Zytomierz, a Vilnius Foundation founded in 1988. Ours is the only house of the congregation in Ukraine and in 2014 we became an Abbey. At present we are 18 sisters here with an average age is 39. The oldest sister is 68 and the youngest 24. As for myself I was born in a family with a strong faith. I have two brothers, one is a Franciscan and the other started a family. I was born in Żytomierz and I have lived now 21 years here in the monastery. I finished medical school. I was a regular girl, happy and fun-loving. I helped out at the Church and went on some retreats with other young people. My aunt was telling me about St. Teresa of the Child Jesus. My mother was a doctor and I wanted to
be doctor too. I always wanted to help people. During my studies I was a nurse for children. At one Holy Mass they were talking about Beretta Molla. She was always asking for a good husband and she got one. I also wanted the same, so I was asking for one every day. I ran every day to Church to be at Mass. I adored Jesus in the Holy Sacrament. I started to feel that Jesus is supposed to be my fiancé. It took me a lot of time and thinking to make this decision because I still wanted to have a husband and children. Two years, it took me two years. I wanted to have children; many and now I have a good husband and 18 children! (laughing) When I came finally to the Sisters I asked ‘Lord of this house do you accept me?’. I didn’t want to live in a closed monastery but after the Holy Mass I understood that I need to give Jesus what He wishes of me and not what I wish to do. My family wasn’t very happy about my choice of closed monastery. Even though my family is a very religious one I was a special child in the eyes of my parents. They wanted to have grandchildren, so they didn’t want me to go there.
Wooden crosses made at the monastery.
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In ‘active’ monasteries you can visit home but here I cannot, so my family was worried that they would not see me ever again. They tried to convince me by all means but after some time they agreed. When they saw finally my happiness, they were okay.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Jesus knows what is in my soul and that is why he chose it for me. I am kind of a workaholic. The order of St. Benedict saves me from falling into this because our days are divided evenly to work, pray and rest. It is not that we are completely cut off from the world. We keep praying for the people in the world. We stay in the house to help the world with our prayers. My message to the people is to read the Bible more, to listen to God more, to be in love with Him. Listen to the voice of God and we can find the answers. Our poverty is that we don’t listen to God, that we choose what our nature tells us. The Word of God is like a light in a way, showing
us where to go. It is like a little seed. When we accept it, it grows within us. When we start listening to God’s Word the light starts to grow inside. For us it is very important to be able to live in a community every day with a permanent place to stay (stabilitas locis). We have five vows: Three regular and two special ones, which are a permanent place to stay and the moral conversion (to change our ways of living so that it is as God advises us). It is very crucial to know how to live with oneself and this sacrificial generosity that everything must be in service to Jesus. It is all about the vocation, the inside voice of Jesus telling you that this is the place where He wants you to be. Some girls come with the purpose of living life in enclosure to devote themselves completely to God. Some others come just to spend some time with us and after they discover that this is the life they wish
Sr. Klara Sviderska
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to lead. This is very important. Our vocation is not a choice but a response to the calling. Normally no one can choose to live the life in Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. It has to come from God and has to be an effect of an answer to that call. Normally God created man to live in marriage. But when we choose Jesus it has to be at His invitation. Man always feels unworthy to have Christ as his own. It is a kind of folly to choose such a life and that is why it takes so long before the vows. The time needed to take the vows is a bit longer now than it was before: One year of aspirate, one year of postulate, two years of novitiate. We still have an old tradition of welcoming a sister to novitiate: a candidate dresses up in white with flowers on her head just like a
Creating Religious Art at St. Benedict’s Abbey.
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bride. She has roses placed on her head and she throws them before the altar as a sign of rejecting the wealth of this world. Her hair is cut as a sign of giving away her beauty for Christ and His service. Then she is dressed in a habit. It is an old custom because these days it is normally done in private in the chapel of the monastery but we do it the old-fashioned way: in public during a Holy Mass. I can say that we don’t have many vocations but as one priest told us recently: ‘children are also not born in every family every year’. Vocation is a gift from God to a congregation just like a child to his parents. We cannot do much about it by ourselves but we can pray for them. And so we keep praying for vocations and each time someone comes it is a great happiness and joy. We pray that this girl will follow her vocation so that she becomes holy, eager and open to serve because life in enclosure is not something light and easy.
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
Our first duty is Prayer. We don’t leave the monastery to go and preach or do any kind of catechism but we are open for groups to come to us to do religious retreats. Small groups. We run our own retreats in the spirit of St. Hildegard and the Lectio Divina. We also bake the Eucharistic Bread, embroider tablecloths and all the liturgical clothing and we write icons. We work around the house in our small garden and with hens. And we have a place for children where they come and learn some things from the Sisters. At the moment they are preparing some theatrical sketch for Easter. As the Abbess and the person responsible for 18 people and the building, I worry about everything. The building requires repairs, the heating needs fixing. There are always things to do around the building. Heating is the biggest challenge. When we came here first
there was no heating at all. Now we also have trouble with the plumbing. I give everything to Jesus and He takes care of it. As an example, when the pipes broke and it was very cold in the house I listened to the words ‘Do not be afraid, trust in Me’. One priest came and I was telling him the story. He told me don’t worry I know some people. They came the next day and fixed the problem. So it is for me very important to follow the Word. Always trust completely in the Lord. There are many situations like this. And with the Sisters it works fine. I need to take care of their formation. In all of this I am thankful to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and its many benefactors for all its help and support.
Making candles in St. Benedict’s Abbey .
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DOING GOD’S WORK
HEART SPEAKS TO HEART ‘WHERE GOD WEEPS’
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART
When I purchased a few things for Christmas from ACN and got so richly rewarded with the book by Fr. Werenfried van Straaten ‘Where God Weeps’, I just felt compelled to help a little towards making life a little better for all the poor and persecuted, for religious and other reasons.
Reading your Mirror sent shivers down my spine, and your report about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Syria shook me to the heart. I cannot imagine what they have gone through all what they are still going through on account of their faith and fidelity to Jesus.
Having been a refugee myself in 1945 from Silesia, I have seen what horrific deeds can be perpetrated by some towards others. I will keep ACN in my prayers and promise to circulate the book to as many of my friends as possible, to also assure their compassion towards Fr. Werenfried’s cause.
Enclosed is my poor contribution to your great mission. At the moment I am not able to give more, as our daughter and her husband have been unemployed for five years and have a three-year old daughter, and so we are helping them. A benefactress in Portugal
A benefactress in Australia FOR A WORLD OF PEACE My best wishes to ACN and its teams of people who, despite everything they daily have to see and hear, still find the courage to work for a world of peace. My heartfelt congratulations to you for your perseverance and determination! A benefactor in Belgium
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MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL Thank you for helping our fellow Catholics in Syria. I wish I could go there and help. God bless you all. A benefactress in the United States
RELIGIOUS SISTERS AT THE CROSS
WHAT THE LORD WISHES Dear Friends,
E
ver since our childhood both my wife and I have retained many positive memories of faith-filled, committed religious Sisters, women who commanded respect. When we were young, most of them were still addressed as ‘Mother’ and they conveyed a feeling of security and loving care to us. In the course of my life since then I have met some especially courageous and dynamic Sisters, some of whom hid and sheltered their fellow citizens when they were persecuted for being Jewish during the Nazi era, while others in more recent times developed the idea of the hospices as a Christian alternative to euthanasia.
During my time with ACN I have been privileged to meet many heroic Sisters in the remotest corners of the world, whether in the vastness of Siberia, the civil wars in Syria and Iraq or the downtrodden slums of Egypt and India. Again and again they surprise us with their energy and joyful outlook, bearing witness in this way to true Christian charity and to God’s ever present grace. And so they make known to those around them just what the Lord wishes our Church to be. Let us all give thanks for these consecrated women, for their life of service. Let us pray for them and support them wherever they need our help, so that they can live out their charism on behalf of us all.
Thomas Heine-Geldern EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT OF ACN INTERNATIONAL
WHERE TO SEND YOUR DONATION TO AID THE CHURCH IN NEED Please use the Freepost envelope. Aid to the Church in Need, 151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
(01) 837 7516
info@acnireland.org www.acnireland.org
IBAN BIC
IE32 BOFI 9005 7890 6993 28 BOFI IE2D
If you give by Standing Order, or have sent a donation recently, please accept our sincere thanks. This MIRROR is for your interest and information. Registered Charity Numbers: (RoI) 9492 (NI) XR96620.
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‘Without the genius of woman, the Church as Mother cannot bear lasting fruit.’ ACN Ecclesiastical Assistant
‘Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love.’ The Joy of the Gospel, Evangelii Gaudium, 228
THE MIRROR IS AVAILABLE TO READ AT ACNIRELAND.ORG/MIRROR 19 - 3