![]() ![]() It is she whose soul he proposed as the model and ideal of the Sisters' interior life. Pius X, whose protection would be solicited for the preservation of the integrity of the Faith, the Archbishop also gave another beautiful title to the Sisters: Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion. Among the 21 houses in 9 countries are 4 novitiates (France, Argentina, the United States, and Germany). Completing now its 33rd year of existence, it numbers 138 professed (20 of whom are Americans) and 16 novices of 17 different nationalities. Indeed, God continues to bless this religious family. Mother Mary Gabriel was happy to write to her sister, "I admit that more and more I am becoming attached to this new Congregation, so much do we see how Providence watches over it." What a joy to count 12 novices and eight postulants in the chapel during the ceremony. Two years later, September 29, 1976, the first profession was held. There Janine's postulancy continued under Mother Mary Gabriel's guidance until her taking of the habit–September 22, 1974–the real birthday of the new religious family. The first novitiate was installed in Albano, near Rome. Despite her great love for her Congregation, Mother Mary Gabriel decided to make the big step, and the nascent Congregation of the Sisters of the Society was taken to her maternal heart. The signs became clearer: the crisis in the Church, the continual loss of faith and religious spirit in her own Congregation, her weakened health, her brother's insistent appeal for aid in transmitting the religious life. While waiting to return to her beloved Africa, she saw God's Will begin to point her in another direction. In 1974, Mother Mary Gabriel was in Europe, recovering from an illness. Filled with a joyful zeal for souls, she had spent much time on the African continent. Then, feeling himself incapable of assuring the religious formation of the Congregation's future Sisters, he begged his missionary sister, Mother Mary Gabriel, for help.įor more than 40 years, Mother Mary Gabriel had devoted herself to missionary work in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Sisters. The Archbishop found a Dominican community in Brittany which welcomed the postulant and the others who soon followed. Before formation in the religious life could be given, however, the language barrier had to be broken. There were no other Sisters, and there was no Congregation! Yet, Divine Providence, Director of all these events, did not abandon the new postulant. What a surprise to learn that she was the only postulant. September 1973 arrived and Janine left her homeland for Ecône. In which language did the future founder and the first daughter communicate? English? French? The Archbishop had trouble understanding her accent and she did not speak a word of French! With these two different ideas, the trip of the future postulant was organized. As for the Archbishop, he thought that she was begging him to begin such a foundation. And so she very simply asked to be admitted as a postulant. The aspirant, Janine Ward, unable to find a convent to enter in her own country, had heard–only a rumor, it is true!–that the visiting French bishop had founded a congregation. In February 1973, he landed in Melbourne, Australia, where, he met a young lady, 19 years old, desirous to give herself to God in the religious life. Consequently, the Archbishop travelled a great deal. What was missing? The Sisters! But everything in its own time!ĭuring these three years, the call for priests and the sacraments was world-wide. However, this desire remained on paper for nearly three years. ![]() ![]() There we read the Archbishop's mention of a future Sister Society. In 1970, Bishop Charriere officially approved the statutes for the Priestly Society St. While not the only religious society founded by the Archbishop, it is, as the Congregation's name implies, the "sister society" of the Priestly Society, its counterpart in both spirit and purpose. A man fully attuned to the ways of God, he also included in this precious legacy the religious life: the Sisters of the Society St. Having received what the Archbishop has handed down, we can indeed marvel at the richness of the treasury of doctrine and holiness of which the Church is the guardian. Rather, God's rights, souls, the truth–the Faith–were his concern. On numerous occasions, he made it clear that his fight for the Mass and Tradition was not a personal crusade, nor the doctrine he preached his alone. Paul, Archbishop Lefebvre wished to proclaim his fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church. "Tradidi quod et accepi: I have handed down what I have received"Įchoing these words of St.
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