Do Not Fear -- I Am With You

Our Constitutions remind us that we are to base our lives on the Master's promise to our Founder, "Do not be afraid, I am with you. From here I will enlighten. Atone for sin." Bl. James Alberione heard these words from Jesus at a critical time in the foundation of the Pauline Family. During this time, he himself was physically sick, his newly founded community was struggling to survive, there were many bills to be paid, and the Founder was questioning if truly he was following God's will. Jesus appeared to him in a "dream" and said these words that are now found above the Tabernacle in every Pauline chapel around the world. It is God's promise to the entire Pauline Family and to every member.

Our lives are continually unfolding, with all the transition and the excitement that brings. We recently welcomed Sr. Joane Caritas, a newly perpetually professed sister, and Sr. Emi Magnificat, a new junior professed sister. Sr. Carmen Christi, who has been serving as formator for the postulants, has been asked to begin her service as novice formator in our Provincial House in Boston, MA. In preparation for this, she will be traveling to Rome to participate in a Pauline charism course. Sr. Rebecca Marie has been named the new postulant formator and has already arrived in St. Louis. And the excitement continues! We will be welcoming Sylwia, a young woman from Poland who will begin her time of formation as a postulant among us.

With all these comings and goings, the words of Jesus continue to be a source of strength and encouragement. He is the reason for all we are, for all we do, and for where we go. From the Tabernacle, we find strength for everything. It's all a response to His love for us and His call to communicate Him to others as He desires.

And the most beautiful part is that His Eucharistic presence accompanies us everywhere, and keeps us united to one another. Our Co-foundress, Mother Thecla Merlo, would often write to the Sisters and say, "Meet you at the Tabernacle." And so, at the feet of Jesus in the Eucharist, we experience the gift of communion with Him and with all those whom we love.

In the weeks to come, we want to introduce you to all the members of our community here in St. Louis. We will be featuring a different sister or postulant each week and sharing about her vocation and life as a Daughter of St. Paul. You will discover just how unique each person's vocational journey is, as well as the common values that have shaped our lives and calls.

We invite you this week to stop by your church for a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Spend a few moments in silent adoration, allowing the Lord to love you and expressing your love to Him. May you, like Bl. James Alberione, hear the words of Jesus, "Do not be afraid. I am with you. From here I will enlighten."

Ciao!

-Sr. Carmen Christi and Postulant Emily

Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord!

Sr. Carmen Christi, Sr. Mary Agnes and Postulant Emily share the fruit of Sr. Mary Agnes' culinary creativity and love for community. Pictured above is a closeup of this delicious dish made of polenta and vegetables. Polenta is a special cornmeal dish common to certain areas of Italy. It's amazing the joy that comes from simple, daily signs of love that are but reflections of God's faithful and unconditional love for us!

Give thanks to the Lord; His love is everlasting!

Blessed Feast of the Queenship of Mary! This is a special day in my life because it marks the first anniversary of my entrance into postulancy. I am full of gratitude today for the ways Jesus is working in my life, and full also of the desire to live this next year in deep union with Him. Sr. Emi Magnificat is also celebrating her anniversary of entrance today, so we are united with all our Sisters in praising God for the gift of our vocation.

Once again, we have a lot to share with you! On Sunday, we went to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis for a farewell Mass for Archbishop Burke. Formerly archbishop of St. Louis, Archbishop Burke has been appointed prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. We will miss him here in St. Louis, but he will do a lot of good for the universal Church. We were able to speak with him and receive his blessing at a reception after Mass, where we also met a lot of people who know us and collaborate with us. It was a great gathering of the Church of St. Louis!

On Wednesday, we celebrated the anniversary of the foundation of the Pauline Family. August 20, 1914, marked the official beginning of the Society of St. Paul and thus the initiation of the Pauline Family. A word about the Pauline Family: Bl. James Alberione, founder of the Daughters of St. Paul, founded nine other institutes as well – one religious institute for men, four for women, four secular institutes (organizations for lay men and women, families, and diocesan priests), and one organization of cooperators or associates. These ten branches make up the Pauline Family. It’s so beautiful because we’re all united in spirituality and mission, and because we’re so diverse, we’re able to carry out the mission in many different ways and states of life. On Wednesday we celebrated with a special morning and evening prayer, and a delicious meal prepared by Sr. Mary Agnes, followed by a “torta di fondazione della Famiglia Paolina” (foundation of the Pauline Family cake)!

On Thursday, Sr. Carmen and I returned to the Catholic radio station to record an interview on St. Paul the Apostle. The program on Eucharistic Adoration that we recorded last week aired three times this week, and people coming into the bookcenter have told us that they heard it! It’s so beautiful to see how far our mission reaches. We’re also preparing our lecture series and Faith and Film Nights for the fall, with a focus on St. Paul, of course!

Speaking of St. Paul, I’d just like to conclude with a few words from our spiritual Father to give a little inspiration to the week. In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul says,
“But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

St. Paul the Apostle, pray for us!

-Emily

Communicating JESUS on the airwaves.....

Thank you to

Theresa Holman

who hosted a radio interview on

Covenant Network with

Emily and Sr. Carmen Christi .

The topic was Eucharistic Adoration.

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Emily stands next to the Covenant Network Radio

banner which shows the Eucharist radiating its

light to the city of St. Louis.

Blessed Feast of the Assumption!We join with our Blessed Mother to proclaim the wonders God has done in her life and in each of our lives. For many of our Sisters, this is the anniversary of their entrance into the community as postulants so we remember all of them in our prayers and ask the Blessed Mother to continue to strengthen them in their "yes" to the Lord.

Our week has been filled with apostolic excitement. Monday, Sr. Emi Magnificat, Emily and I participated in the annual Religious Education Conference for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We set up our exhibit of materials, highlighting once again, the many resources we have available for the year of St. Paul. The day began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Hermann where he thanked all the catechists for their "passion for Christ" which is the biggest gift they share with the young people they teach. We met so many dedicated men and women throughout the day!

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On Wednesday, Emily and I offered a presentation on St. Paul to over 30 members of the Serra Club. The Serra Club is an international group of men and women who commit themselves to pray and support vocations in the Church. We were very warmly welcomed by all of them and were so happy to share our love for St. Paul with them. We also offered them suggestions on how to live and celebrate this Pauline Year.On Thursday, Emily and I were blessed to participate in the "radio apostolate" through the invitation of Tony and Theresa Holman at Covenant Network Radio here in St. Louis. The topic of the interview was Eucharistic Adoration, one that all of us Paulines hold dear in our heart. Theresa is an excellent interviewer, and like her husband, has a passion for communicating Christ through the airwaves. How much good they are able to do through this important ministry.

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We know all our apostolic initiatives are possible through the prayerful support of Sr. Mary Jerome who is now on retreat and Sr. Joane Caritas, Sr. Mary Agnes and Sr. Mary Charitas. This is the beauty of spiritual communion as we carry out our mission together.

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We wanted to let you know too about our PRAYER CAMPAIGN FOR PAULINE VOCATIONS. Yes, during the year of St. Paul, we are inviting everyone to join us in prayer to St. Paul for the intention of vocations. You will find the prayer below. If you are interested, you can contact your nearest Pauline Book and Media Center for a copy of the holy card, or send us your address and we'd be happy to send you one. We are inviting people to commit to say it everyday and are gathering signatures of those who do so.That's all the news for now.Thanks for your prayers and count on ours.

Have a Jesus-filled week,

sr. carmen christi

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Prayer to St. Paul for Vocations

Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ,

Tireless Traveler who announced Christ's message;

Father of the Pauline Family;

You in whom Christ lived and spoke;

we call upon you because the world today

needs your presence, your boldness,

your knowledge of Christ and him crucified.

Come among us, Paul, teach us Jesus!

Help us know him, love him, live him,

and share him with others just as you did.

Draw into the Pauline Family more men and women

who totally consecrate their lives to Jesus Christ

in poverty, chastity and obedience.

Rooted in Christ, may they find

new and inventive ways to proclaim his Gospel

through the media.

O Apostle Paul, you who live today

through the Pauline Family,

with immense confidence

we entrust to youour great need for vocations

and for holiness of life, Amen.

Alone with God Alone

Another week in Boston has flown by! The class on St. Paul with Celia finished yesterday. As a final project for the class, we worked to develop a presentation on St. Paul. Our hope is to take this presentation back to St. Louis and offer it to parishes to help them celebrate the Year of St. Paul. Would anyone like to share with us what you are doing to celebrate this Year of St. Paul?

Sr. Carmen has finished her annual retreat and Encounter (a series of meetings and updating for the Sisters), and Emily is preparing to begin her annual retreat. Annual retreat is a very special and graced time when we come apart to be with God and listen to Him more profoundly. You are in our prayers during this time, and please keep us in yours!

A quote from our Co-foundress, Mother Thecla Merlo, to conclude this post: “Our heart, our soul is too big to be happy with things which end. Only God can make us happy – only serving God, loving God alone, sacrificing ourselves for Him. Then one is always happy. Let us unite ourselves intimately to God and we will be happy in any place, with anyone, in any work.”

God bless you!
- Emily