The new Province of the Daughters of Charity is signed into being during a eucharistic celebration in London. PHOTO: Daughters of Charity website.
History was made earlier this year when the Australian and British Provinces of the Daughters of Charity came together to form the new Province of Rosalie Rendu, reports Independent Catholic News.
Daughters of Charity and Vincentian priests from Australia, Great Britain, France and Ireland, and many guests attended the special Eucharistic celebration and ceremony at the Sacred Heart Church, Mill Hill, London.
"This ceremony formally authorises the beginning of something new, something that we pray today will breathe fresh vitality to our lives as Sisters and most especially to our mission to reach out to those experiencing poverty today, the only reason for our existence,” said Provincial, Sister Ellen Flynn in her introduction.
She explained that the date, March 11, was chosen because it is the anniversary of canonisation of St Louise in 1934.
The day, which was live-streamed to Australia, Ireland, the USA and France, was the culmination of 10 years discussions and a two-day formal meeting.
"In 1926, when the first four Sisters left Mill Hill for Australia we were one Province. Now in 2020 we come back together as one Province, the Province of Rosalie Rendu; a woman we will come to know and revere more and more; a woman who will challenge and inspire us by her own life and loving,” Sr Ellen said.
Presided over by Fr Paul Roche, Director of the new Province, the liturgy began with a visual presentation of the Sisters unity around the world - a red cloth was placed before the altar representing the red soil of Australia, a green one symbolising the rolling hills and green fields of Great Britain, and a blue cloth, depicting represented the oceans of the world.
The Sisters plant a eucalyptus tree in the garden of the Daughters of Charity Provincial House in London, mirroring a planting which had occurred in Sydney the week before.
"Between us, from Australia to Great Britain we span all five of the oceans of the world, the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Between the four areas of our new Province, Australia, Scotland, Northern England, Southern England and Wales we envelop in a unique way the whole world, rotating axes of light and darkness, spanning time zones, crossing the equator,” Sr Ellen said.
"As Daughters of Charity our charism is set out in our Constitutions regardless of our geography, our ethnic origins, and our diverse cultures. As an expression of our baptismal consecration these Constitutions form our most fundamental connectedness as women given to God, in Community for the Service of the Poor.”
The Charter was signed after a ceremony in which two candles had been lit representing the Provinces of Australia and Great Britain. Sr Celine and Sr Ellen came forward and extinguished them, replacing them with one single light representing the new Province. The new Seal of the Province was presented and a picture of Blessed Rosalie Rendu was brought forward and placed before the altar.
Rosalie Rendu (9 September 1786 - 7 February 1856) was a Daughter of Charity who was a leading worker and organiser of care for the poor of 19th-century Paris' teeming slums, suffering from the rapid migration of people to the cities during the Industrial Revolution. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 9 November 2003. Her feast day is 7 February.
This article is an abridged version of an article by Jo Siedlecka, published by Independent Catholic News. Read the full article here.
Read more about this historic occasion on the Daughters of Charity website.