All You who Thirst
Come to the Water
Marion Shanahan

During this past year many people from a variety of places and for a diversity of reasons have come to the Mother House. With these encounters the Motherhouse community feels that we are continuing to be faithful in carrying out the mandates of the SCM Association with special emphasis on the following:

• Provide a vision of the past that gives rise to a creative fidelity in today’s world as well as that of the future

• Give rise to a partnership with others (RSHM, Laity, different groups)

Photo - Marie France Correau

...so that the Motherhouse may be a source of “Living Water” for the mission of the Institute in the Church and in the world”.

In this presentation we will try to show how these mandates are concretised in the day- to-day activities of the Mother House. (See calendar May 2009.) In the interest of brevity only a few will be highlighted.

Rathmore: On April 30th Ursula Canavan came with the newly appointed lay Head of Rathmore Grammar School and several members of the Board of Governors. Almost the entire group had been here before so it was like welcoming back old friends. In Murviel in a very moving ceremony Ursula handed on the “ light ” to Thérèse Hamilton and Paul Shevlin, Chair of the Board of Governors, passed it on to Thurlough Montague the in-coming Chair. On May 4th we were sad to say good bye to such devoted leaders.

Golden Jubilee celebration for Maria Teresa Morgadinha:
June 11
RSHM and friends of came to celebrate with Maria Teresa on this special day. Maria da Conceição Fernandes, who is also a Golden Jubilarian, came from Portugal for a few days of reflection and to join in the festivities. Liturgy was followed by a delicious lunch attended by RSHM and friends.  

May 14: Meeting of the SHM Extended family members. The topic was RSHM and Social Justice.

May 15: Retirement soirée and dinner hosted by the RSHM community for Alain Gonzales who retired in June after 35 years of service as Director of Maison Jean Gailhac.

May 16: Cancer/Esperance: Day of input and sharing  

Photo - Veronica Brand

May 18: We were invited by the Leotard family from Murviel to join them for Liturgy in the midst of the vines and for a blessing of their vineyards. Many local vineyard owners joined in the celebration which was followed by hors d’oeuvres and wine from the Leotard family vineyards.  

May 21: On Ascension Thursday we were again invited to join the Murviel community for an outdoor Liturgy, bazaar and a delicious meal. Unfortunately we had to forego the meal because of the arrival of the Rathmore group that same afternoon.

Photo - Cathy Minhoto

A change of scenery was provided at the end of May by a trip to Rome for Bernadette, Lúcia and Marion to attend the semi-annual meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Association SCM.

We welcomed Ines Gizzarelli and Angela Maloney, both from EAP who came to The Mother House for prayer and reflection at the end of May and the beginning of June.



The Mother House community was delighted to welcome Terezinha on June 7th during her visitation of the RSHM communities in Béziers.

RSHM and Extended family members from the EAP/WAP came for the annual Béziers Experience on June 18th. Despite initial fatigue from the long hours of travel they soon regained their energy and enthusiasm. This year, because the program was in June, they had a great sampling of events offered to the public by the city of Béziers to announce the arrival of summer. They also shared in many of our regularly scheduled end of the year activities in the Mother House.

Local Extended Family members joined our visitors for an evening of sharing. Several individual spoke of their hopes, dreams and happiness in being part of this “special” family. Despite language difficulties conversation flowed during the meal which followed.

Sacred Heart of Mary - Rathmore

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Mary
The Bon Pasteur community invited the RSHM and the EAP/WAP group to celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Mary with them. Liturgy was celebrated by Fr. Eduard, a priest from Mali who spoke beautifully of the RSHM presence in Mali and in particular of Françoise Wyckaert’s influence in his life. Everyone enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres and Muscat which followed.

Former Students gathered for their annual day

of reflection and relaxation on June 20th. Getting together with old friends and having a picnic in the park were the highlights of their day.

The month ended with a reception for all of our faithful volunteers.

Finally after a week of evaluation of the past year and planning for the year to come we are preparing for our vacation. We extend to each one of you a very warm thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.

May you have a blessed and peaceful summer.

Maison Mère - Archives
April 2009
December 2008
September 2008