On Saturday, March 14^th 2020, the Sisters of the community of Vaylats gathered in the chapel to pray in thanksgiving for the 30 years of life of the Daughters of Jesus with the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Paris.

It was in fact on the 14th April 1990 that the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus fused with the Congregation of the Sisters of the Auxilatrices of the Immaculate Conception. The latter was founded in 1858 by Abbé Largentier and Sophie Joffroy who would become Mother Saint Anaclet, to care for the sick, help the clergy and pray for the souls in purgatory.

 

A celebration

 

The celebration was led by Sr Christiane Lorcy who introduced it by recalling the foundress and origins of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Paris as well as the circumstances of the rapprochement with the Daughters of Jesus.

This was followed by the song “There are many blessed who have never been spoken of, who have not left an image. All those who have loved their brothers and sisters as much as their God, always and to the best of their ability! Eternally happy in his Kingdom. »

 

Thanksgiving

 

The celebration continued with a prayer of thanksgiving inspired by the Eucharistic prayer for children.

God our Father, you have brought us together, and we are here before you to celebrate and

acclaim you and to speak of the wonder in our hearts.

We praise you for what is beautiful in the world and for the joy you put in us.

We praise you for the light of day and for your Word that enlightens us.

We praise you for the Earth and the people who inhabit it.

We praise you for the life that comes to us from you.

We praise you for all the encounters that have opened our hearts.

We praise you for all those who have given their lives to you.

We praise you for our Sisters:

– Those who have cared for the sick

– Those who have accompanied the dying

– Those who have chosen to serve the poor

– Those who have taken care of abandoned children

– Those who have announced the Good News by educating children

– Those who have made you known through their teaching and their testimony

– Those who have lived so humbly that they have gone unnoticed.

We praise for what has been lived out of generosity, renunciation, self-forgetfulness, respect, fraternal sharing since the merger of the two Congregations.

Yes, you are very good, you love us, and you do wonders for us. So, together, we sing and we pray to you: May we be Sisters animated and inhabited by your love and the desire that your Kingdom come.

We thank you for so much tenderness,

You give living water through your pierced heart,

We bless you for so many wonders,

You give life, you give the Spirit.

Prayer to Our Lady of Liesse

 

This time of celebration ended with a prayer to Our Lady of Liesse. The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were faithful in pilgrimage to Our Lady of Liesse, (Our Lady of Joy), a pilgrimage centre near the birthplace of Mother Saint Anaclet. Even today people still go there to venerate and thank Our Lady of Liesse for graces received: healings, successes, births.

“Our Lady of Joy,

I entrust to you all my intentions,

with the love of a child for its mother.

In your sanctuary, for eight centuries,

the great and humble of this world,

have been praying to you under the name of Joy.

Servant of God, Mother of the Church,

you continue to exult and rejoice and to sing the wonders of the Lord.

Give to us the true happiness that flows from Faith, Hope, and Charity.

Give us true peace, the fruit of a life lived according to the Gospel.

Bless the children, the weak, the sick and afflicted,

our homes, the young, the workers.

Help those who seek to make the Earth more human

and to bring Christian joy to it.

And since, according to the word of Jesus,

there is more joy in giving than in receiving,

make us active witnesses of the Kingdom of God.

Amen »

 

Agnès Miquel, fj, Rennes, France