On this joyful labor weekend, the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary celebrated with great love and gratitude, their three Jubilarian Sisters of their infirmary :
Sister Josephine Sanche – 75 years of vows
Sister Rose-Marie Sanche – 65 years of vows
Sister Priscilla Houde – 65 years of vows
United in faith and love, all the sisters with the jubilarians’ families gathered as a family community to celebrate the Eucharist presided by Monsignor Maurice Fiolleau, Father Tuyen Vu and Father Michael Averyt. The musicians called us to open our hearts as they sang, “We are called to love tenderly, and walk humbly with God.’’
During the mass the sisters renewed their three vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, and asked Mary to intercede for them so they can continue to belong absolutely to Jesus Christ and live their consecrated lives with fidelity and generosity.
Monsignor Maurice had a touching homily as he spoke about the jubilarians’ lives, he also talked about the charism of Saint Marie Rivier, their foundress, which is to teach the faith to others, which the jubilarians did while they were teachers, to make Jesus Christ known and loved in the world, bring the good News of Christ’s love to the people.
‘May you continue to reveal the love of Christ to those you encounter and enrich our world by your dedicated lives of prayer and service.’
The celebration continued by enjoying a well-served delicious banquet by our cooks. Then in the afternoon we had a ‘gospel jamboree’ to honor our three jubilarians. It all started by welcoming our Peruvian sister MariJo, who became a Canadian citizen this year and our two Vietnamese Sisters: Ly and Hue who are with us to study the English language at the North Battleford Collegiate.
Then, we honored our jubilarians by using some anecdotes of their talents and gifts from their daily lives and thanking them especially for their leadership and dedication for their services.
A small group of sisters entertained us with their songs after each anecdote; “O how great is the Lord’, and ‘’Count your blessings.” During the singing our jubilarians enjoyed opening their gifts that they had received from the community.
We took the opportunity to thank Sister Michelle Blanchette p.m. for her many years of service on her retirement as the Provincial Treasure and we offered her a bouquet of roses.
Soon after, we offered our prayers to Sister Rosine Sanyant p.m who is returning to the Gambia after a year of renewal in Saskatoon. With a grateful heart she thanked everyone for the warmth and support she received during her sabbatical year in Canada. We will miss her.
The day finished with the evening prayer called Vespers, when all the sisters prayed to God to instruct them with new paths and to rekindle the gift of God that is within them. Psalms encourages us to praise God for who He is and what He has done for us during our lives.
Then Sister Viviane Gareau presided the Ritual Act of Commissioning where she gave each sister a card reminding them, ‘to be guardians of the fire’, and be ‘transmitters of our heritage’. All finished by singing the Salve Regina.
