In the atmosphere of the Easter Octave and with the joy of risen Christ, the Polish Province hosted the Central Assembly for the Pallottine Missionary Sisters from 24th April to 3rd May. This gathering was connected with the Jubilee year of the Province who is celebrating their 85th anniversary of foundation.
The meeting was organized in two parts. The first took place in Warsaw, Ołtarzew, at the Pallottine Fathers Seminary with the participation of the General Council and the Major Superiors of Pallottine Missionary Sisters (SAC) from all over the world: Germany, England, South Africa, USA, Switzerland, Belize, Poland, India, Rwanda, Tanzania, Cameroon; also attending were the General Mission Procurator, Novice mistress of our International Novitiate, and special guests of the Pallottine Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate (CSAC) : M. Ivete Garlet, General Superior and her Councilors and Sr. Daniela Siniscalchi, Provincial Superior of Italian Province with Sr. Beatrice, her Councilor.
This historical event strongly marked the life of two Pallottine Sisterly Congregations.
The three days of the gathering began with a pilgrimage to Częstochowa, to the national Marian shrine of Our Lady of Jasna Góra. There the sisters participated in Holy Mass in the chapel before the original Icon of the Black Madonna. This was a unique opportunity to place all our intentions at the feet of Mother Blessed Mother, and pray for the congregations. The pilgrims also visited the Divine Mercy Shrine of the Pallottine Fathers, which is newly constructed with mosaic art designed by Fr. Marco Rupnik, SJ, followed by a visit to one of our Sisters’ community in Częstochowa, near the shrine. On the way back home we had the opportunity to visit another Marian shrine in Gidle, dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health.
On the second day, Fr. Miroslaw Mejzner, SAC Rector of the Ołtarzew Pallottine seminary celebrated Holy Mass for our intention and afterwards gave a brief history of the seminary which celebrates 100 years of its foundation. The Rector expressed his joy in this unique event, which is taking place here in Ołtarzew, and his appreciation of the collaboration with the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, who are working for 70 years, serving the seminary community. Afterwards, Sr. Iwona Nadziejko, Provincial Superior welcomed the sisters in the conference hall and Sr. Magdalena Szymczak, Provincial Vicar together with Sr. Aleksandra Podleżańska presented the history of the beginnings and present time of the Polish province in honor of 85 years of the existence of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters in Poland. In the afternoon, Sisters visited the provincial house, kindergarten community and the old city of Warsaw.
The third day of the meeting was a memorable day in the history of our two Pallottine Sisterly Congregations, in which all the local Superiors of Polish Province, 35 in number, joined us for one day session. The day began with Holy Eucharist celebrated by Fr. Zenon Hanas, SAC, Provincial Rector of Warsaw Province. In his homily he called our attention to encounter the risen Christ in all our deliberations and gave living space for faith. Morning session began with the talk of Sr. Ivete Garlet, CSAC Superior General on the Charism of St. Vincent Pallotti as a response to the needs of the Church and world, today. Then Sr. Izabela Świerad, SAC Superior General presented the topic of “Path of the unification from the General Chapter 2016 to today”, and shared through a Power Point presentation the History of the two Congregations. The participants were glad to enhance their knowledge on charism, history and discernment process of two, Pallottine Sisterly Congregations. The dialogue and open sharing on the topics gave an opportunity to reflect deeper on the process of reunification.
At the end of the meeting as a sign of gratitude and to mark the 85 years of the existence of the Polish Province, the two Mother Generals presented a Papal blessing of Pope Francis to Sr. Iwona Nadziejko, Provincial Superior. We are grateful to the Polish Province for their willingness and warm hospitality to host this meeting. May the spirit of this meeting lead us to greater vision in realizing the Charism of our founder St. Vincent Pallotti by serving the Church with much zeal and passion through our ministry.
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