Rome, January 25, 2012

My dear Sisters, family and friends,

Before I leave for South America on Friday, January 27 I want to send this letter to thank you for the many remembrances for Christmas and for my feastday that you sent via card, fax, or e-mail.  I deeply appreciated hearing from so many of you and am deeply grateful for the prayers.  I count on them especially as I travel first to Chile where, together with Sister Adalberta and Sister María del Rosario, I will participate in the meeting of the superiors and treasurers.  After that I will spend some days working with Sister María Jesús and her assistant, Cristina.  Each year I gain a better understanding of the financial situation in the province and the different situations that exist. While in Chile I hope to be able to spend some time with Sister Celice Marie  and to see the new mission in Curacavi. Then on February 9 I will travel to Montevideo where I will have two days to work with Sister María Angelina and also see the damage that occurred and the work being done on the colegio in Montevideo.  Here I will hopefully see Siter Marisol and Sister M. Pierre.  On February 12 Sister Adalberta, Sister María del Rosario and I will begin our return trip to Rome, arriving on February 13.  Because of our schedules, we each travelled separately to South America but are able to return together. 

There is no direct flight from Rome to Santiago, Chile.  We travel either through, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Brazil or Madrid.  This time the best possibility was through Madrid on Iberia Airlines.  In Madrid Sister Adalberta and I have close to a 7 hour layover.  This saved us a few hundred Euro.  Our flights from Madrid to Santiago commence after midnight, so my only concern is that I remain awake while I am waiting.  But good St. Joseph and the angels will take care of me, I am sure.

I mentioned that while in Montevideo I will be able to see the damage to the colegio.  This is the colegio which is attached to Casa María Inmaculada which is the Province Center and which also houses Betania, the home for their elderly and infirm Sisters.  In the last days of 2011, one morning the Sisters discovered that a part of the facade of the school had detached and crashed to the ground.  We are most grateful that it happened during the night and did not fall on a passing pedestrian.  But this meant that, for safety reasons, the entire facade had to be checked for loose “cement” (for lack of a better word) so that nothing else would fall.  All of this had to be done in two days because Uruguay law does not allow the laborers to work the first two weeks of January.  Hopefully, as I am writing this, the repair work has begun.  This is a very costly project for our small delegation, but one that must be done.  The school is over 125 years old, so I am sure the building has been in service for many years. We are trying to find ways to help them.  Unfortunately, most grants will not take care of buildings or building repairs.  If anyone has any ideas or contacts, please let us know.

In my last letter I forgot to tell you about the Mass in St. Peter’s for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Our Holy Father celebrated the Mass on the occasion of the 200^th anniversary of the Independence of many of the countries in Latin America.  Six of us attended the Mass.  Sister Mariana Mateo who is from Uruguay but works in Campo Santo, was able to get front row seats for us.  It was a wonderful Mass, which combined some of the culture of Latin America with the liturgy of the Vatican. One of our friends who is also a business associate, her husband and baby were in the Offertory Procession.

Here at Villa Paolina we had a very nice Christmas season.  On Christmas Eve, Sister Adalberta and I made our traditional walk to the Church of St. Frances Cabrini for the Light from Bethlehem.  Each year (and don’t ask me how) the light from Bethlehem is transported all over the world.  We bring it from the Church to Villa in small lanterns and then light the Sanctuary light, vigils at the presepio and other candles throughout the house.  It is a special connection with the place of Jesus’ Birth.  Then in the evening we had our traditional community devotions before supper.  After supper dishes we gathered to learn who our Christ Kind was and to open the gifts that were under our tree.  At 10 p.m. we joined in the celebration of “Midnight Mass” in our Chapel which was offered for all Sisters of Christian Charity.  On Christmas Day we were able to attend Mass in the language of our choice.  Sister Judith and I went to Santa Susanna for English.  In the afternoon some of us visited churches within walking distance. (Public transportation stops at 1 p.m. and doesn’t begin again until 4 p.m. so all drivers can have Christmas dinner with their families.)  Within 2 hours we visited St. Agnes, St. Emerentiana and St. Maria Goretti.  It was the first time we were at the last church and had to ask directions on how to get there.

On December 26 we hosted the Sisters from Campo, the rector and another priest for dinner.  It was an enjoyable gathering.  That afternoon we again went on a walking tour of churches.  This time we walked to St. Lawrence – and to our surprise there was a whole display of presepi there.  Another surprise was that Pope Pius IX was not in its usual place.  We asked why and were told that when we had the heavy rains, water entered into the crypt and damaged all his vestments.  He was okay, but new clothes had to be made.  When they are ready, he will probably be placed in a different place to avoid a repeat occurrence.

On December 27 we hosted the priests in the Generalate of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers for dinner.  They had their General Chapter last May, so since September we have had a new set of priests who celebrate our liturgy each day.  It is an adjustment for us.  We have been accustomed to having Father Hans each day and now we are never quite sure who will arrive.  But we have Mass, and that is what is important.  The new Father General is from Brazil and his councilors are from the Philippines, Ireland, Senegal and Italy.  Their treasurer is also from Brazil.  Most of them are just learning Italian, but they do marvels with the liturgy.  We are fortunate that usually one who speaks English can come on the day we have liturgy in English.  The same is for Spanish, but none of them knows German, so on that day we sing and have the first reading in German and the rest of the Mass in Italian.  Adjustment is the name of the game.

One evening we ate supper early and then took a bus to the Spanish Steps.  From there we walked through the city to see the marvelous display of lights.  This was the first time we had done this, and I am so glad we did.  We had a great time.  You can find many pictures of the manger scenes in the various churches we visited and also the lights – especially Via del Corso – on our web site.  Go to www.sccgen.org and then select Album 2.  Enjoy!

On January 4 we were the guests of Campo Santo for dinner.   We enjoyed a very nice dinner with the priests and Sisters.  During the afternoon we were free to do what we wished before we joined the Sisters for supper.  Sister Adalberta and I visited the Monastery in the Vatican.  It was the first time I had ever been there.  This is a monastery for cloistered nuns established, if I am not mistaken, by Pope John Paul II.  Every five years the congregation changes.  At present, the Visitation Sisters are there, so in the Chapel there was a nice picture of St. Francis de Sales.  We took time to pray in the Chapel and then visited St. Peter’s and other churches in the area.  Our last stop was the garbage men’s crib and there was a man there who explained much of the design. It was very interesting. This year is their 40^th anniversary of displaying the presepio.

On January 16 we had our annual Tombola party with our Lay Associates and afterwards a pot luck supper.  Tombola is similar to our Lotto or Bingo and is a traditional game that families play during the Christmas holidays.  We had a very enjoyable time.

On January 6, Father Becker came for Mass in our Chapel.  Here in Italy the Feast of the Epiphany is both a holyday and a holiday.  At noon we watched our Holy Father as he gave a short reflection and prayed the Angelus from his office window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.  It was here that he announce the Consistory on February 18 and the names of the new Cardinals-to-be.  Towards the end of the list, whose name did we hear but Father Karl Joseph Becker, S.J.  We are all excited and hope to be able to get tickets for some of the events.  But we cannot picture Father Becker in Cardinal Red.  Neither can he!  He has already told us that to us at Villa he will always be Father Becker.  Sister Adalberta also told us that at a meeting of Superior Generals in Rome, the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Archbishop João Braz de Aviz, who is also a Cardinal-to-be, said that he wants to be considered as our brother, João, one who is there to help us.

In the past I have told you about our sick palm tree.  Well, now it is no more.  In January the gardener came to trim the trees and the bougainvillea – and I mean trim (Their branches are really cut back.  All you have now is the skeleton.  But in the spring, new life will arrive again.).  At that time it was determined that the animals had really infested the palm, so we had it cut down.  However, this time we did not take it out by the roots.  We learned our lesson from the other tree.  We will put a large dish of flowers on the trunk that remains.  Our property looks a little bare now.

Our air quality again was not good, so we had the odd/even travel days again.  Fortunately the day Sister Adalberta had to travel we could drive the car, so I could take her to the train station.  I also had to go to Campo to pick up some things, so I thought it would be a good day to go since half the cars would not be on the road.  However, to my surprise, between 1 and 4 all cars could be on the road!  I really don’t understand how this really helps, but it must, since those in charge continue to do it.

At present and until we return from South America, we are only 4 or 5 at Villa, depending on whether Sister Cecilia is here or at Campo.  This week Sister Clarentia is away at retreat, so Sister Maria Immacolata is cooking.  For my feastday, which was very enjoyable, we had a special type of pasta for dinner – a gift from our friend at the restaurant across the street (It was really delicious.), and for supper, pizza from the same restaurant.  We are so blessed.  Sometimes one of our lay associates may join us for dinner and/or help to prepare the dinner.  It is fun to experience the different specialties of Italy. 

This letter has gotten long enough.  Thank you again for your greetings and prayers.  Let us continue to keep each other in prayer as we search for the best way for the reconfiguration of the Congregation so we may continue to serve the mission according to the charism of Mother Pauline.

With love and prayer,