We had a communion service remembering the sisters of Visitation Province who died this past year. A candle was lit in their memory. As the names were called out, it was a somber reminder of the eight sisters who died at the CND Health Center this year. Our prayers continue for those who now live on in our memories. Following the service, a light snack and music was provided.
On Sunday evening, October 31s, we Sisters at De Sève Residence in Montreal welcomed Sisters Violaine Paradis and Dominique Sabas to help us celebrate the anniversary of Marguerite’s canonization. We had a wonderful evening together. We began with a bilingual prayer, shared wine and cheese, and enjoyed a delicious meal, but what made the evening so pleasant was the open sharing among us and the evident joy of being together. Most of us knew little about Dominique and were eager to get to know her a little. Realizing that her inability to speak English was not a problem, Dominique shared her interesting life journey with us. Violaine, whom we knew a little more, told us about her ministry in the East end of Montreal as an “Agent de Pastorale Sociale.” As the evening drew to a close, we felt that a bond had been established among us as Congregation de Notre-Dame Sisters. The evening had been a visitation moment, and we had taken a small, concrete step to live interculturality and intergenerationality.
"I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the
course of the year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large
for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole
load at once. God mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us
first one stick, which we are to carry today, then another,
which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on."