On Sunday, June 6, our community in Rennes-Tatras, France, organized a Mass for a family in the neighborhood who had suffered a loss.

The Daughters of Jesus on Rue des Tatras in Rennes have always had good relations with their neighbors. Only one of them is a practicing Catholic, but everyone knows us as nuns.

Our interactions may not be very frequent, but they are always very cordial.

A Sudden Death

On Thursday, May 28, the neighbor across the street from our house lost his father, who passed away at the age of 82. David, the son, is deeply affected by this somewhat sudden loss. A few weeks earlier, his wife had told Odile that her father-in-law was very ill and receiving palliative care. We had expressed our sympathy when we checked in on them. On May 28, David told us that his father had passed away.

The body was lying in repose at a funeral home. On Sunday, we paid our respects to the deceased at the funeral home. The body was to be cremated. A farewell service was scheduled at the crematorium. The crematoriums in the area were overwhelmed. It was impossible to proceed with the cremation before Friday, June 5. The wait was long and painful for his mother and our neighbor, who was her only son. We were already committed to other plans that day. It was impossible for us to join the family for this service. However, we wanted to show our solidarity.

Offering a Mass

We are nuns. What if we offered a Mass for the deceased? We told David about our idea, with his mother present. They were both very happy. We promised to let them know the date so they could join us in spirit.

Acknowledgment

A Mass was celebrated for Dad on Sunday, June 6. When we told them the date, to our great surprise, David said, “We’ll do our best to be there.” Sure enough, on Sunday, we arrived together at the parish church, Saint Benoit. David was accompanied by his mother. They both thanked us warmly.

They seemed very happy and repeated their thanks many times. We are also happy that we took this step.

We certainly didn’t experience anything extraordinary, but to borrow Anne’s words from the province’s latest newsletter, *Chemin faisant*: “What if the ordinary moments of our lives became extraordinary in God’s eyes?”

Sisters Madeleine and Odile

Rennes, France