More on Sr. Anne Marie:

• Sr. Anne Marie talks about her life as a Sister
• Honored at the Bon Secours College of Nursing
• Speaking out against Human Trafficking
• In community with Sr. Vicky

Our Lady of Bon Secours - Sisters of Bon Secours Chapel - Paris)

O Mary, our Mother, we come to you today to thank you for all the favors we have received through your intercession, and to ask you as our Patroness, the Help of Christians, to help us in our vocation to Bon Secours to imitate you in your virtues, especially, your humility, patience, love, prayerfulness and hatred for sin.

 Mary, we come before you as a Congregation dedicated to you, look favorably on our sisters in all the countries where we serve; give us good capable leaders, animate us with a loving prayerful spirit, send generous women to us to help us to extend the healing work of your Son, Jesus, on earth.  Ask Jesus to make us like Him so that all we meet may see your Son reflected in us and be drawn to Him.

 Mary, our Mother; dear Lady of Bon Secours; Our Lady Help of Christians hear our prayer. 

Amen.

(Prayer Manual, Sisters of Bon Secours)

As we prayed for the members of our Congregation, we also prayed for all those who live our charism and spirituality in their lives – our associates, ministry volunteers and thousands of colleagues; and for “all those to whom we shall be sent.”  Thank you to each of you for all of the ways that you are Bon Secours every day!

Sister Rose Marie Jasinski, country leader, shared the prayer above with us.

• share and exchange experiences and information and
• to better understand religious life as it is evolving throughout the world. 

The plenary session theme was taken from St. John of the Cross:  Drinking “from the fountain that springs forth and flows…. although it is night.” Religious life finds itself today in a situation of deep searching, of creativity and pruning. The Spirit, who dwells in us, continually quenches our thirst with water from the Fountain that is always replenished. We are drawn and inspired by a love, which calls us to fill situations of darkness with prophetic light and to dwell courageously in new horizons.  The future of religious life lies in living fully our mystical yearning with our traditional calling to prophecy.”

Featured speakers and topics included:                                                                                                                                                                                  Fr Ciro Garcia, OCD from Spain gave the first conference on “Mysticism and Prophecy”. “Starting from the experience of St. John  of the Cross which gave inspiration to the Spiritual Canticle, emphasized the close unity between the mystical and prophetic dimension of consecrated life and suggested concrete ways to live this vocation today.”
Sr. Judette Gallares, RC of the Philippines spoke on “Inspirational Biblical reflection” and reflected on the phases of the conversion process from its beginning until the prophetic mission.”                                                                                                                                                                    Sr. Liliane Sweko, SNDdeN of the Democratic Republic of Congo spoke on “Called to Illuminate with Prophetic light the world of darkness” noting how the “African reality is a framework to remember the mystics and prophets of our time who continue to challenge us to become the light in the world today.  She stressed that it is necessary to take care of Religious formation and at the same time be involved in structures which make possible the building of a more just world.”                                                                                                                                                Rabbi Arthur Green from Boston, MA, USA, developed his theme “A Theology of Empathy” from “the common origins of Hebrew and Christian religious traditions.  “Empathy means not only embracing each one in her diversity but also seeing through these differences our unity”.  Empathy makes the proclamation of the good news possible in a secularized world.”
Fr Bruno Secondin, OCarm spoke on “The branch of an almond tree and the boiling pot” (Ger 1,11-13). The future of our mystical-prophetic heritage. “From the experience of the prophet Jeremiah and of our Founders and Foundresses, the speaker led the participants to a discovery of the fundamental experience towards becoming that “almond branch which blooms to announce a new season”.

Reports focusing on the realities of suffering and injustice were presented on:  Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation , Project on Trafficking, Project on AIDS, Project Sudan, following Christ in a world that suffers.

Group Work:  participants also worked in language groups to focus on what it means to be consecrated women religious in the world today, a world filled with much darkness and pain. Scripture and the writings of Saint John of the Cross became vehicles for these reflections.

Watch Youtube video of last day of UISG to catch the spirit of the gathering at: UISG Plenary Session (Rome, Italy) – Last Day, May 11, 2010.

Sister Mary Catherine Rogers, passed away

She went on to serve in ministries in Richmond, VA and Grosse, Point, MI. Sr. Mary Catherine later returned to Baltimore just after her 25th jubilee, and in October 1983, she was elected as a councilor to the Congregation Team in Rome, Italy.

Many will remember Sr. Mary Catherine as the Sponsor representative on the Board of Directors at St. Francis Xavier Hospital in Charleston and as Sr. Vice President of Sponsorship at Bon Secours Venice Hospital in Venice, Florida. 

Sr. Mary Catherine was a nursing instructor in the School of Nursing and many a nurse today owe their nursing license to her because  her teaching methods were so thorough. 

She loved the charism of BonSecours.  Sharing her God with others was part of Sr. Mary Catherine.  Once she shared with a co-worker that she wrestled with God in the middle night praying for vocations.  And, she’d ask God, why aren’t you sending us more vocations.  At some point she realized, God did send Bon Secours vocations – she just didn’t recognize them.  God sent 20,000 of them – they are our associates, ministry volunteers and all our co-workers who carry on the mission and charism of Bon Secours daily. 

 Sr. Mary Catherine loved life and enjoyed music, theater, opera, movies and especially Paris where the Congregation was founded.  She will be missed by the Sisters, associates, colleagues and family and friends. 

Her Mass of Resurrections was held on May, 8th in the Sisters of Bon Secours Chapel.  May she rest in peace!  And, now that she really has God’s ear, we ask her to intercede with God to send vocations to Bon Secours, especially sisters, associates, ministry volunteers and co-workers!

Turn your lights out
for 60 minutes!!! 

As a Sister of Bon Secours and as someone who is very conscious about the consumption of our earth’s resources, I would like to ask your participation in this global effort to make a difference.  All you have to do is turn off all your lights for one hour at 8:30 pm (your local time).  Use this as a chance to be creative, and think of something fun to do…like playing board games by candlelight or take an evening walk for one hour.  Each small contribution we make adds up when it is made by the masses.

Earth hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund, began on a “small” scale in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, with about 2.2 million homes and businesses turning off lights.  By 2009, the effort had expanded to hundreds of millions of participants in over 4,000 cities in 88 countries!  You can only imagine what kind of difference is made in energy conservation, and it is certainly a step towards the organization’s goal: confronting climate change.

Visit the earth hour website at http://www.earthhour.org/ for more information.

As the Archbishop of San Salvador during El Salvador’s brutal civil war, Oscar Romero became the “bishop of the poor” for his work defending the Salvadoran people.

After calling for international intervention to protect those being killed by government forces, Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980.

His offense?  He dared to speak up on behalf of those who were poor and without a voice in his country. 

While saying Mass in a small hospital chapel, he was killed by a single rifle bullet, his blood pouring out upon the altar.

A Future Not Our Own

 This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

                                                                      – Oscar Romero

Click the picture to read the full article.

God’s reach is limitless.  A young lady named Ann-Marie studied nursing with the Sisters of Bon Secours in Ireland.  She later moves to South Bend, TX and ultimately ends up serving those in need in Haiti.  CLICK HERE to read her story.

CLICK HERE for the full message

CLICK HERE to read the press release: Sr. Patricia Eck elected congregation leader

CLICK HERE to read the press release: Sr. Rose Marie Jasinski to serve as country leader