United in one heart, one hope, one mission

Some selected postscripts from our American experiences           ⇒ PDF Download

With this article, Sr. Maria Luzilla, Sr. Maria Rafaelis, Sr. Lucia Maria and I we would like to thank all the Sisters of Notre Dame who have made our journey to the USA possible by their ideas, permissions, organizational work, replacements, elaboration of programs and by accompanying us on trips. Also, we are very grateful for the many encounters with our sisters who made us feel that we belong to a worldwide community where we are at home and where we are always welcome.

In all our encounters, our joint activities, and our community prayers, each sister contributed to the fact that we could strongly feel what Sr. Kristin always writes under her letters: “United with you in one heart, one hope, one mission.”

Besides the program, we especially enjoyed the time we had for encounters and sharing with our sisters. Fortunately, most of us knew enough English to have nice conversations. Although we could well integrate Sr. M. Rafaelis, she also assured us that it is quite a special experience to get into contact with the sisters beyond language, to feel their charisma and thus to feel closely connected to them.

Our visits to the places where Sr. Maria Aloysia and the first German sisters had lived were deep experiences; especially when we had a prayer service with sisters from different nationalities at Sr. Aloysia’s tomb.

Visiting Sr. Aloysia’s place of ministry in Delphos / Toldedo, and the little museum in her room was equally impressive. The spirit of our foundresses became alive in pictures and explanations and filled us with enthusiasm.

The manifold ministries of our sisters in the USA made us feel their vivid witness to our charism. We were impressed by their good collaboration with their employees and associates and by their ways of making known our spirituality to them.

We were often asked about our experiences regarding the merging of the German provinces. The strong unity in our charism as our common base had encouraged us and will certainly also help the sisters in the USA.

The journey was a pilgrimage on which we also learned a lot about the American way of life.

We are very grateful for these exchanges in our congregation during which we can experience our internationality in a concrete way.

In the name of all the 2014 pilgrims to the USA,

Sr. Marie-Theres from Düsseldorf