We're Back!

Thanks for your patience in waiting for us to be up and posting again. Since our last entry,
much has happened. Our Mother General, Sr. Maria Antonieta and her General Councilors, have returned to Italy after having spent almost a month and a half visiting the sisters of our US/English Speaking Canada Province.

Emily went on vacation to visit her family in Buffalo and Sr. Carmen went on vacation to visit her family in Virginia. This is always a special time to reconnect and spend time with our loved ones.

The big news here in St. Louis is that our community is growing again. We have been blessed to welcome Sr. Mary Joane Caritas, our newly perpetually professed Sister. She and Sr. Jennifer Tecla have been in Rome for 9 months together with Sisters from all over the world who were taking special courses in preparation for their final vows. Both Sr. Joane and Sr. Jennifer pronounced their final vows at our Motherhouse in Boston on June 15th. We hope you enjoy some of the pictures that capture the joy and the beauty of this wonderful celebration. Sr. Jennifer Tecla has been stationed in our community in Philadelphia, PA.

We hope you all have been informed about the PAULINE YEAR declared by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. Yes, on the evening of June 28 of this year, the vigil of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the Great Apostle Paul's birth begins. It will continue through June 29, 2009.We will keep you up to date with the many activities underway to help us celebrate this year.

Like Paul, we will be traveling this week to Boston where we will be until the end of July. What, you might say, will you do in Boston for a month? Let us fill you in!
First, we will have the joy of being present for the first profession of our novices on June 28th. Among them is Sr. Emi Bratt, who has already been assigned to our community here in St. Louis.
We are so excited to have her join us! Then a dear friend of our community and well-known Scripture teacher, Celia Sirois, will be teaching us classes on St. Paul to prepare us to offer animation to parishes on Paul during this great year. We will also be immersing ourselves in the beautiful Italian language under the direction of Sr. Margaret Joseph and spending time with our Senior Sisters who will share with us some aspects of the history of our congregation and their own vocational journeys.

And last but not least we will spend several days on retreat at our Mother Thecla retreat house. In those days, we will have the privilege to be "alone with God alone"--reflecting on His love and action in our lives and being renewed to serve Him and His people. You can count on our prayers for you and your intentions. Please feel free to send them to us if you would like.

Stay tuned for our weekly blog updates!
God bless you,
Emily and Sr. Carmen Christi