The community of Bignan, Brittany, remembers Mother Marie de Saint Charles. An occasion for the Sisters of this house, the first community of the Daughters of Jesus and inhabited since 1834, to celebrate in a special way.

 

In 2020, the Congregation entered into a year-long celebration of different anniversaries. These include the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mother Marie de St Charles, one of our first Superior Generals and an important personality who continues to influence the spirituality of the Congregation today. On May 3^rd however, Sr. Marie-Thérèse suggested that we enact the memory not of her birth but of her passage “into the clarity of the Risen One ». It was in these terms that Father Jégouzo, the then Ecclesiastical Superior of the Congregation, announced to the Sisters the death of their Superior General on May 3^{rd, 1884}.

A journey in time

In community we began by evoking the presence of Mother St Charles with a visit to the places she once inhabited. As we went in procession, we sang and prayed:

“Je crois en Toi, mon Dieu…” (Nearer my God, to thee … in English)

“Saints of God…”.

 

Sharing and thanksgiving

Then, in the chapel, it was time to listen to the reading of documents from the archives that relate the last moments of Mother Marie de St Charles. Finally, we shared a time of prayer and thanksgiving for the spiritual journey that Mother Marie de St Charles had led the Sisters of the Congregation on. We gave thanks in particular for the Spirit of Faith that helps us to “see God in all things and all things in God” (Rule of Life n^o 7) and that teaches us to turn obstacles into means to move towards Him.

We sang:

“Jesus who lives in heaven

And reigns near God

I will go to thy light, O risen Christ…”

(The Canticle of Paradise written in the 6^th century by the Breton saint, St Hervé)

A privilege to live in these places

For us, this time of remembrance was an occasion to express our desire to share our good fortune in living in these places marked by the years of presence and life of Mother Marie de St Charles.

As we have noted in our Apostolic Community Project, we are still happy today to hear her message of Mother Marie de St Charles:

“that faith has the secret of communicating to us

calm, peace and even a certain joy

in the midst of life’s trials”.

The Sisters of the community of Bignan, France