Some youths land among us

Session R
From July 14 to 27, 2002
Meeting of the younger members of our congregation

The 26 youngest Sisters of Saint Joseph met for the two-week “Session R”, a session of Resource, Revitalization, and Renewal. Ten of them came from Lesotho, seven from Brazil, and nine from Canada.

From July 13 to 26, the 26 youngest Sisters of Saint Joseph met for the two-week "Session R", a session of Resource, Revitalization, and Renewal. Ten of them came from Lesotho, seven from Brazil, and nine from Canada. Together, they experienced friendship, prayer, questioning, and leisure activities in the enchanting atmosphere of Villa Saint Joseph in Saint-Ours-sur-Richelieu.

One of the community activities was a visit to the founders, on Wednesday July 17. In the forenoon, the parochial mass, in the La Présentation church, was presided by Mgr. François Lapierre, assisted by the parish priest, Father Denis Lépine. In the afternoon, a visit to the tomb of Mgr. Moreau was led by Sister Céline Comeau and, to the Cathedral, by Sister Éva Beaudoin.

On the WYD diocesan day, the young Sisters of Saint Joseph organized the visit to our Mother House, on Raymond Street, and welcomed two groups of 250 WYD pilgrims from Senegal, France, Germany, and other delegations.

One of the great challenges of such an experience is oral communication; the Lesotho Sisters speak only English, and the Brazilian Sisters, only Portuguese. Some Canadian Sisters, who have worked in those missions, resorted to simultaneous translation to facilitate the many exchanges. Informally, gestures and heartfelt expressions provided the rest.

This experience, rich in meaning, ended on Saturday, July 27, by a field day uniting some 300 Sisters and lay associates under a large tent in the yard of the Résidence Bergeron. In the evening, some hundred employees of the Congregation came to share our joy.

Pauline Vertefeuille, sjsh

Slide Show (be patient) (only in French)