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School Days
The great teaching charism of the CND community began with a young teacher called Marguerite surrounded by a group of children. Many others were inspired to follow her. This COVID-19 summer inspired me to gather twelve children ages 4 to 12 to Miss Fran’s Summer Schoolhouse. Over four weeks we studied art, poetry, story-telling, manners, correct printing and cursive writing, as well as other important things. Often parents and grandparents came to sit in on classes. Each day began with the singing of O Canada, where pines and maples grow. And Thank you God for the world so sweet. Thank You God for everything. Recess (a long one) was a most important part of each day. One mother told me her little boy woke her in the middle of the night asking, “How many hours until we go to Miss Fran’s Schoolhouse?” It was an unforgettable summer for me and for them. I highly recommend teaching children as the most beautiful and worthwhile way to spend a summer.
Fran Connell, Associate, Miramichi, NB
Join us on October 3, 2020 for a PEI Cycling with Sisters bicycle ride from St. Peter’s to Morell and back (24 km). This is an organized, recreational group ride at a pace for all ages with meaningful prayer stops. Its mission is to create a shared spiritual adventure for sisters and local communities through bike rides. This ride is designed to be COVID compliant.
Central Committee Gathering And Meeting
The Theme “SEASONS OF THE HEART” gathering and meetings August 4-7, took place via Zoom with participants from Japan, Cameroon, USA, France, Guadalupe and Canada. The discussions were led by Anna Rowley with Interpreters and Christine Holland playing a key role in the success of this gathering. Prayers and discussions assisted with the group participation. All participants were united with Saint Marguerite in prayer and service for our world.
Sister Charlotte celebrated on Thursday, September 17, with the residents at Windsor Court in Fredericton, NB. Outsiders were not permitted to join her for the festive afternoon tea. A few friends gathered outside, on the back patio, to greet Sister in the early evening, after supper. Charlotte enjoyed her special day. She is grateful for the cards and good wishes she received. Someday, after COVID-19, we may be able to have a real party, a big one, to properly mark today’s milestone.
Recently, I had the opportunity to have lunch at The Convent. For those of you who may not know, that is the new name given to the New Dawn Centre for Arts and Culture, the former Holy Angels Convent in Sydney. No, I was not downstairs in the old kitchen; I was upstairs in the new Better Bite Café, in the space that once was the sisters’ community room. This café is but one of the many projects operating out of our former Congregation de Notre-Dame convent. It is a venture whose profits go back into funding some of New Dawn’s valued community undertakings, many of which would be dear to the heart of former Congregation de Notre-Dame residents, and very much in keeping with our continued mission of liberating education. New Dawn’s mission of creating a culture of self-reliance through social innovation translates into creating an environment in The Convent for the development of music, art, and drama, not to mention providing culinary education and training for the healthy “meals on wheels” program and other socially conscious endeavours.
Following the announcement, last May, of the passing of Sister Louise Côté (S.S.-Claire-des-Anges), the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame had to postpone the funeral due to the health measures imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The ceremony in memory of Sister Louise is therefore taking place on September 17, 2020.
Summertime Event in Woodstock, August 19, 2020
Congrégation de Notre-Dame Associates gathered in Woodstock, on the pool patio at the home of Helen. We received two new Associates, Myrna and Ellen. Marjorie Allison-Ross led us in a prayer service that included a reading from Marguerite’s Writings, a poem from Janet Malone’s work, and an inclusive listing of prayer intentions ranging from local concerns to issues from the peripheries. Father Martin Arputham, newly installed pastor, was present to share in our celebration. He appreciated learning about Saint Marguerite and Congrégation de Notre-Dame Associates.
Bouquets of daisies were presented to the new Associates, to Helen, our hostess, and to the “out-of-town” Sister, myself.
Sister Eleanor McCloskey, CND
The arms of slavery and oppression have a long reach. If a twenty-four hour news cycle had reported the selling, beatings and conditions of slavery two hundred years ago, would it have made any difference to a fledgling nation? If the beatings and lynchings of black men and women had been broadcast into our living rooms one hundred years ago, would it have made any difference?
In 1653, Marguerite Bourgeoys arrived in New France, determined to bring faith to the developing Ville-Marie community and education to the young women of the colony (now Montreal). Carolyne Van Der Meer delves into the heart and mind of Marguerite Bourgeoys and, through poetry, explores the hopes and challenges she faced as she established the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. These poems, originally written in English, have been translated by the author into Bourgeoys' native French, thus bringing to life the aspirations of this extraordinary woman who changed history.
It has been a while since the last Formation Corner Communiqué went out. It is not to say that we haven’t been busy about formation business at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in White Plains, NY. So much has happened this past year. First, Sr. Donna responded generously to a call from Visitation Province to help with our senior sisters at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Montreal, Quebec. This month, she will be returning to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Inter-Novitiate Community. We are glad to have her back!
The Mother House grounds were transformed today August 13th into an outdoor concert venue to welcome women from Chez Doris, a charitable organization offering a daytime shelter 7 days a week for all women in difficulty. The sisters were happy to receive these guests, often on the peripheries of society. Some of Chez Doris’ clients who are now in temporary housing have been faithfully maintaining quarantine and social distancing and this morning’s concert provided them with a much needed respite from the isolation imposed by this situation. The personnel of Chez Doris and its volunteers arranged for the concert and expressed their gratitude to the sisters for opening their grounds for this special event.
6 August 2020
As a wide coalition of faith-based communities from around the world, we have committed to speaking with one voice that rejects the existential threat to humanity that nuclear weapons pose. We reaffirm that the presence of even one nuclear weapon violates the core principles of our different faith traditions and threatens the unimaginable destruction of everything we hold dear. Nuclear weapons are not only a future risk, their presence here and now undermines the ethical and moral foundations of the common good. We call for your commitment to a world that is more peaceful, safe, and just—a world only possible with the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Traveling south on Route 95 entering Providence, Rhode Island, for many years, there was graffiti written on the side of an overpass. In enormous letters it said, “It is a sin to build a nuclear weapon.” I was doubly intrigued by the facts that it was written there and that it stayed there for years. I eventually found the source of the quote. It was from a book on the Gospel and nonviolence by Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. I wish the sentence was still there.
Question 1
At which sporting events did the CND sisters present demands to limit human trafficking?
a) The Montreal Grand Prix
b) The Olympic Games
c) The Tour de l’ile
The joy we felt at seeing the Sisters and Associates at the Summer Gathering flowed into our July 14-15th meeting. Visitation on so many levels! This was especially important as together we mourned the passing of Sr. Kathleen Fitz Simons.
Riverview Associate Fundraising for ALS
Al Kavanaugh, Associate from Riverview, NB, raised $10,000 this year for ALS, making his all time total $193,000. He has been doing this for 19 years now to honour his friend, Ken. Everyone walked separately this year because of Covid- 19.
On July 16, 1251, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the brown scapular, a symbol of protection and a sign of trust in God. On July 16, 1858, in the final apparition at Lourdes, Mary appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, code named Trinity was detonated at White Sands Missile Site in New Mexico.
Photo: Marie-Claire Dugas
The Nuclear Age is seventy-five years old this summer – an anniversary not to be celebrated with anything but sorrow, regret and penance. There is much to be considered in our look at history. Usually the date for the start of the Nuclear Age is July 16, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was detonated at White Sands Missile Range. However the dawn of the disaster began earlier with the eviction of 110 farm families from their ranches in New Mexico in 1942.
Photo: Marie-Claire Dugas
Read: The Visitation: Lk 1:39-56
Mary, as Servant of the Lord, influenced by the Spirit, hastens to visit Elizabeth, her cousin. Saint Ambrose of Milan says that Mary went with haste because inspirations of the Holy Spirit cannot be delayed.[i] Luke shows in his Visitation narrative then that God’s visitation to Mary and God’s Word planted within her womb are experiences to be communicated and shared with another person.
[i] https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/saints/Marysvisitationofelizabeth/. Accessed November, 2015.
Did You Know?
Meyomessala
That the CND opened the first Catholic kindergarten and primary school in the parish of Sangmélima?