Reason to celebrate in the motherhouse, Rome

June 16, 2015

For the motherhouse community, these past days have been filled with the joy of special celebrations. On Friday, June 12, 2015, we celebrated with the entire Congregation and indeed with the whole Catholic World the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom we have special devotion. Our chapel was beautifully decorated for the occasion and the Mass was very festive. With much gratitude we celebrated the love and goodness of God which is revealed to us in Jesus. St. Julie would have been proud of us!

We had three sisters among us for whom this day has very special significance: Sister Mary Kristin and Sister Cormarie celebrated their nameday, and Sister Maria Benedetta, the delegation superior of our Italian Delegation of the Sacred Heart the patronal feast of this unit. The entire day was marked by a joyful spirit. Of course our celebrations also included special meals, and it was the perfect occasion to have the first barbeque this summer.

On Saturday, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we remembered in prayer our Sisters in Covington, and on Sunday, it was Sister Mary Jolene’s birthday.

Then finally on Monday, we looked back over the 66 years the motherhouse has been located in Via della Camilluccia and celebrated a birthday party for our Casa Madre. At dinner, we had a quiz and in five groups of four sisters worked on all kinds of interesting information on the motherhouse. There was even a prize for the group who scored the most points in the end. Did you know that while now we have an electronic alarm system, the sisters in the 1950s had three dogs as their protection – or that our chapel windows feature the titles of Mary from the Litany of Loreto? Everyone learned a lot and some interesting stories from the annals as well as many photos were shared in our dining room. If you know a sister who lived in the motherhouse for some time, why not ask her to share some of her memories. That could provide for very interesting conversations!