VATICAN II REMEMBERED

On September 14, 1965, I arrived in Rome, Italy to live with our Sisters at Villa Francesca, our house of studies, on the Aventine.  The Congregation sent me there to study theology at Regina Mundi, the international school for Sisters and other lay women.  While it was an honor to be chosen, I was attending an exciting avant garde course for a Masters in Religious Education at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in New York.  The professors were from various disciplines including Sacred Scripture, Christ figures in Film, Moral Theology, etc. I would have to leave that Course unfinished to go to Regina Mundi.  I thought Regina Mundi would be little more than the religious education I  had received long ago.

However, something exciting had been happening in Rome from 1962-65.  Pope John XXIII had called for Vatican Council II and pushed open the windows of the Church to new understandings and new visions.   I arrived in Rome in time to attend the closing liturgy of the Council.  The documents of the Council influenced Regina Mundi to update all of its courses!  Some of the periti, experts, of the Council came and spoke to the students.

An American woman with a Villa in Rome invited Religious Superiors to come to her Villa to hear some of the periti.  Sister Maria Teresa Romeo was our local Superior at Villa Francesca.  Because I was studying theology, she invited me to go to these gatherings with her.  I remember especially being thrilled to listen  to the famous Cardinal Suenens from Belgium and Father Bernard Haring, CSSR from Germany who were both periti of the Council. 

The Council documents began to come out on papers to the Religious Superiors and I had a chance to read them.  It was an exciting and hope-filled time.   Back in the United States, the documents of Vatican II were having both positive and negative effects on the Church.  The Council called for changes in the life of the Church.  There were documents on the liturgy, ecumenism, the Bible, religious life and more.  Perfectae Caritatis, The Perfection of Charity, called Religious women and men to return to their sources and renew their lives.  Gaudiem et Spes, The Church in the Modern World, called the Church to be open to the joys and hopes of all people.  Each document called for some type of change.  Those who saw the value of the changes, embraced them and moved ahead.   It was notable, that the religious congregations made the changes called for, while education for change in dioceses and parishes was at best slow to come and in some places,  resisted.

Religious congregations were mandated to have a Renewal Chapter.  We had one in 1968, in Frascati, Rome.  Our Congregation reverently and obediently, but not without some opposition among us, went back to our Sources: the Gospel, St. Francis and Clare, and the Franciscan Movement,  Blessed Frances Schervier and the sources of our Congregation.  We revised our Constitution and taking our direction from the Gospels, where the new Christians were called Followers of the Way, we named it, Our Gospel Way of Life.   Sister Innocenta Donnelly, followed by Sister Rose Margaret Delaney, courageously led the Congregation into the renewal we were called to. 

To recall what was happening in the place that I returned to, i.e., the United States, our elected leadership led us in a renewal process. We collaborated with other Franciscan Congregations seeking renewal of the Franciscan way of life.  We called on outstanding Franciscan scholars and leaders in spirituality to assist us.  There were several.  Two that I remember in particular were Sister Maristell Schanen, a spiritual leader from the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minn., (deceased 7/6/12),   and the historian, Father David Flood, OFM.  Others will be remembered by my contemporaries.  In the Brooklyn Diocese, we collaborated with the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, with whom we have a long history.

Those years of studying our Sources and our steps toward renewal made me grateful to be in a small but forward looking Congregation.  There were difficult days when some of our sisters chose to leave the Congregation.  At least for some, the positive side of this was  that they were able to see the possibility of a different way of life for them.   Getting to know our Franciscan Sources made me grateful to be part of the wider Franciscan Family.

Sister Bernadette Sullivan, SFP

An Associate Member’s Permanent Covenant: ”It is in giving that we receive.”

In the Prayer of St. Francis, we hear the words…. ”it is in giving that we receive.” This was a true reality for a few of us Sisters, family and friends that had the privilege to join one of our Associate members as she made her permanent Covenant with our Congregation.

Our first contact with Tori was as a young nurse in one of our sponsored hospitals. At that time, we were recruiting nurses to assist our mission in Senegal, which was attempting to cope with the demand of basic health needs in rural settings. This was no easy task! Being at our mission in Senegal meant living very simply, learning to best identify with another culture and acquiring the skill of speaking French. Tori all the same stepped forward and volunteered a year of her young life to the cause.

Now, move the clock of time several years forward . . . Tori is now a wife, mother and one who is coping with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Despite the diagnosis, Tori continues to radiate love to all who encounter her. She has in her room a small card on her wall that says, All things are possible,” which she lives by with each new day. As she made her life Covenant in our presence and surrounded by people her life has touched in nursing, parish and neighborhood, the question arose in all of our hearts: who is blessing who here at this moment?

How am I a healing instrument in today’s world?

I could answer: “through listening and mentoring.” I try to offer a service, in particular to the young. I try to help the girls with whom I live and whom I follow in the discovery of their life project and the other youth that I meet in the Parish or elsewhere.

To listen to them often means entering into their wounded life histories and helping them to assume their weaknesses. It is also about recognizing their potential so that they can become a source of power and hope. At times, it is merely about making them aware that they are loved by God and that they are able to love in return; encouraging them after a failure; and listening to them without any judgment when they have been given the courage to confess their mistakes to bring them to God's merciful arms.
Sister Marvi Delrivo, sfp

PLEASANT REVERIES

[Sr. Grace Miriam Pleiman, SFP,  is the Director of  Tamar’s Place in Cincinnati, Ohio and the former Director of Inniss Franciscan House in Brooklyn, New York.]

I included a copy of the recent Catholic Telegraph newspaper article about Tamar’s Place Christmas correspondence, and was particularly touched by several donations I received in return. Tamar’s Place brings comfort, services and help to some of Cincinnati's most marginalized women. This haven offers coffee, snacks, a safe place to rest, and referrals to other agencies -- if the woman wants it.

Perhaps the largest donation was from a previous Board Member of Inniss Franciscan House. [IFH was a transitional residence for homeless men that were recovering from addictions.  This residence helped many men get off the streets, become free of substance abuse and return to society.]     

However, the most touching donation was sent by a past resident whose name is Conrad. While at Inniss House, Conrad went to school in Greenwich Village to obtain a music recording certificate. However, Conrad relapsed twice and so he was referred to the Veterans drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Brooklyn. There, taking his disease seriously and with the prescribed medication for his depression, he got his life back on track. Then Conrad met his future wife, Olio, while working in a telemarketing company.

Olio, a Romanian woman, was living in a large home that she inherited from her parents. She was tired of renting out rooms to people, so Conrad helped her transition her tenants, and clean and sell the house in Manhattan. Then he moved with her to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I stopped to visit them several times over the years. In Pennsylvania, he worked at Goodwill, in the donation section, until his knees gave out due to old war injuries. Eventually he was granted full disability and so he was able to find the time to build a music studio in their garage. He is happy in pursuit of his media work, his recovery and his marriage…but there is more! 

In addition to his $50 donation, Conrad’s Christmas letter this year included photos of their son, now 5 years old -- and his grown daughter who lives in Germany where he served in the military. He had been out of contact with her for all these years, yet he, miraculously, was able to find her through the internet! Then she surprised him with a Christmas visit!  Sister Grace Miriam Pleiman, SFP

A SPECIAL DAY

I volunteer at Rebibbia Women’s Prison Center in Rome. Every month I meet with 190 - 230 prisoners and listen to their stories. Many are foreigners and some visit with me only to get something to write their families with, some stamps and cigarettes. 

I have been meeting with an Albanian, who is a University graduate. After four months of marriage, she discovered that her husband is a drug dealer. She was arrested along with him and will remain incarcerated until her sentencing. She is a delicate, respectful and gentle person, different from some of the rest of the women in jail. A relationship of profound communion has been established with her. She always thanks me for the moments of peace and joy we spend together. 

What follows is a letter of another woman. After 26 years in prison she was granted one special day of leave. 

“Dear Sister Viera, thanking you for spending the day with me outside of jail is really too little. It was truly special to spend a day different from all other days I spend. How did I live it?   

I was curious, intrigued by everything I saw. Talking and relating to other people helped me understand that there are so many things I am unfamiliar with. Life outside is different and there is much I need to learn.  

I assure you that I felt afraid and confused, but also happy. I will have to take on my responsibilities toward society and the people like you who are close to me. I want to “grow,” I want to become more mature and to face life. I trust God and the people who are helping me. 

Yesterday was a “strange” day – it seemed that it would never stop raining and felt like  the rain was cleansing my sins. At times, I felt anxious, but I just looked at you and was reassured. You, Sr. Viera, were there at my side, an angel sent by God. You are a special person and I hope I won’t disappoint you!! 

Thinking about yesterday, I am reminded that when I was little, my Dad never took me to school. My family never celebrated my birthday. You, dear Viera, in one day gave me back my self-esteem.  As you know, I am not a young woman. I am fifty and spent more than half my life in jail. I will have to “walk” by myself, maybe starting by getting an honest job! I would like to conclude this letter by thanking you for your generosity and the gentle human touch you give to people like me who didn’t have an easy life. Thank you, Sr. Viera. I love you.”

I thank God for the ability, energy and love he gives me so that I can become close to these women with the same merciful love that God has and has had for me. This generates compassion and hope, helping the women to live more serenely the days, months and years they spend incarcerated! 

Sr. Viera Farinelli, S.F.P

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