Many of you may remember that the 175th Anniversary Committee of the Congregation proposed an International Cultural Night where we would cook and eat together. In response to this, our Italian Sisters’ community asked us, Sister Marie Joanne (Korean, SND webmaster, motherhouse liturgist), Sister Maria Magdaline (Vietnamese, motherhouse kitchen manager), and Sister Maria Michael (Chinese, student- Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas) from the Incheon Regina Pacis Province, if we could cook Asian food for them. We gladly accepted the invitation.
On October 24, we went to the market, bought fresh ingredients, and headed to the Via Aurelia community. The local coordinator, Sr. Maria Aldegonda, welcomed us. Sr. Maria Benedetta, Sr. Maria Letizia, Sr. Maria Lorenzia, and Sr. Luciana Maria of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who stays with our sisters, also welcomed us.
While we were cooking, Sr. Maria Tarcisia and Sr. Maria Antonietta also visited the kitchen to enjoy the smell of the food and encourage us, and Sr. Maria Aldegonda was busy taking pictures of us.
The menu we prepared was as follows: “Fresh seasonal salad with lemon dressing, pork shoulder steak with Vietnamese sauce, Japchae, which our Italian sisters called ‘Korean spaghetti,’ stir-fried bok choy and mushrooms with Chinese sauce, and lastly, dumplings, a favorite in Korea, China, and Vietnam.”
The sisters invited a Pakistani brother from the Oblate Missionary Order who lives nearby to dinner. He needed help with Italian, so he was under the guidance of Sister Maria Benedetta. The sisters tried all the unfamiliar Asian dishes one by one and said they were delicious. There was a language barrier between us and the Italian sisters. However, thanks to Sister Maria Benedetta’s English skills and the Italian skills that we have been working hard on, we could communicate happily with the sisters, laugh, and share a meal.
Starting with our joyful Jubilee of the Congregation, I hope the spirit of global sisterhood will spread beautifully as all Notre Dame communities worldwide try to understand and get to know each other better.
by Dreamhost