As we celebrate Christmas
let us look towards Mary in whom the Word became flesh
in order to assume our human condition.

Our wish for you in 2009 is that
You may experience God’s great tenderness.

We pray that following Mary’s example,
we may welcome that tenderness;
that it may permeate our lives,
that it will be expressed in our actions and in our words
towards all of our brothers and sisters.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne année!

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

The Motherhouse community, conscious of our mandate, continues to welcome persons from near and far!

Groups
RSCM School in Lisbon: On September 1, forty-three members of the school arrived at the Mother House eagerly anticipating a time of prayer, input and sharing. Their joy, enthusiasm and openness were contagious as they shared, deepened their knowledge and reflected on how they would bring the message back to their school.

Representatives from the Marymount Schools of NY, Paris and Rome came on October 8th for their sixth annual visit. It was a joy to see how well the groups interacted and shared. They left here filled with creative plans on how to communicate what they had received with their respective school communities. Tiziana de Santis from Nomentana shared the gift of her beautiful singing voice at the Saturday evening liturgy at our local church La Ste Madeleine.

On September 16th, two RSHM, Laura Fernandes Pinto and Madalena de Sousa, came from Portugal for 10 days of input and renewal. While they were here Laura celebrated her Golden Jubilee in the Round Chapel surrounded by the RSCM communities in Béziers.

We were delighted to welcome Gabrielle Corbally EAP for a very quick visit in early October.

Open House
Ever mindful of the need to reach out to the people of Béziers, we hosted an Open house on October 17th. Once again it was enthusiastically received. Members of our Extended family were invaluable in their participation and assistance. The people who came were impressed and enthusiastic. They expressed the desire to return with friends to share the treasure hidden behind our walls.

The French School of Spirituality
Twice annually a weekend is scheduled for those who are interested in deepening their knowledge and understanding of the work of the founders of the French School of Spirituality. This year the meeting was held in Valence during the weekend of November 7th. The theme was “Compassion as expressed in the writings of St Jean Eudes”. We, RSHM continue to be amazed at how much Père Gailhac’s writings reflect the influence of this School.


The highlight for November was Marie France’s presentation on the
19th - “APPOLLONIE PELLISSIER - M ST JEAN, DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM". As well as providing us with a rich and challenging presentation, Marie France challenged us to reflect on our own lives as baptized people and to follow the example of Appollonie, woman of faith and hope. The conference was well attended and all were enthusiastic about its content.

Everyone enjoyed the social hour which followed, which was prepared by members of our Extended Family.

The Administrative Council of the Association Source, whose members are Terezinha, Marie France, Bernadette, Lúcia, Marion and Maria Antónia (P), representing the Sources, met on November 20th and 22nd. Among the items on their agenda were: review of the budget, discussion on the bicentennial year of M St Jean and a review of topics to be presented to the General Assembly on November 21th.

The General Assembly meeting on November 21th was a day rich in input on the activities of the Mother House including financial reports and reports on all the community activities during the preceding year. We were delighted to have all the members of the General Council present for the meeting. In the afternoon M Paule and Françoise gave a presentation on item 5 of our Charter “... A REACHING OUT TO THE OTHER AS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF OUR SOLIDARITY”. They invited representatives from our diverse groups to participate in the input and sharing.

During this the bicentennial year of the birth of Appollonie Pellissier we have spent a lot of time and energy in preparation and communication. Translation into the four languages of the Institute absorbed an incredible amount of our time.

Among the translations and reprinting are:

Translated into French

• Vida de M St Jean by Margarida Maria Gonçalves RSCM
• Apolônia –A pictorial version of the life of Appollonie produced by the Brazilian Province
• The Seventeenth Century French School of Spirituality and its influence on the Venerable Jean Gailhac (Paper by Kathleen Connell, RSHM)
• A Journey in Faith and Time Volume III (almost ready for printing) - Kathleen Connell, RSHM

Printed copies of Bernadette’s presentation on January 31th in Murviel and Marie France’s presentation on November 19th are available in French. We hope to have them ready in all four languages by March 4th.

Presently we are very busily preparing for the closing of the bicentennial year on March 4, 2010. We are looking forward to welcoming many RSHM and friends from home and abroad. As we have communicated to Provincials/Regionals our proposed program is as follows:

Based on the theme “A work has been confided to you…”(GS/80) presentations will be given on what we have inherited:

• Père Gailhac, M St Jean and our First Sisters …Future Planning, Stewardship…..
• Unity in Diversity
• The French School of Spirituality in the 17 th Century and its influence on Père Gailhac

Time will also be given to visiting Murviel, Autignac, Bayssan and other places of interest.

Dates: March 3, 4, 5, 6, 2010

Maison Mère - Archives
August 2009
April 2009
December 2008