The Province "Saint Louis IX" with Provincial House in Le Mans - France celebrated its XVII Provincial Chapter from 31/05/2021 to 06/06/2021 with the theme: «Revitalize the evangelical enthusiasm, live the fraternity, give life, with the heart of Christ Crucified». This important event was lived as a time of grace to give a new impulse to the charism so that it may express itself with more vigour and dynamism today. It is an opportunity to maintain unity in diversity, to root our charism in the cultures and countries in which we live our mission with trust in Divine Providence. For this event every sister was involved in participating with prayer, the study of paths of reflection, and the valuable contribution of the proposals.

The Provincial Chapter was a time of reflection and discernment on the way in which we respond to our vocation and to the calls that the Spirit addresses us starting from the events of our consecrated life. The reference to the Kingdom of God must subject to a discernment the life of the Congregation at all levels: spiritual, personal, community, apostolic and economic; experience that we have lived with faith and hope in our fraternities, with great love for our spirituality and the charism we inherited from our Founders and our first sisters. Their spirit of prayer, perseverance, sacrifice and self-denial has enabled us to be here to give continuity to this wonderful gift in the Church.

We reflected and shared on the current situation of our Province and on the program of the General Chapter 2017, praying the Holy Spirit to guide and enlighten us for the glory of God and the good of our religious family. «In Him God has chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we may be holy and blameless before Him» (Eph. 1, 4)

God calls us every day to give our lives for the coming of the Kingdom. Christ says: «Go and bear fruit and let your fruit remain». Let us hear St John Paul II’s appeal: «Let us go forward in hope!».

The Son of God, who became incarnate more than two thousand years ago for the sake of men, is still doing his work today; We must have a penetrating gaze to see it and above all we must have the heart of Christ Crucified in order to become its peacemakers and give life in our fraternity and apostolic mission. Now, the Christ contemplated and loved invites us once again to set out: «Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» (Mt. 28:19).

We are committed to accepting the differences among us and in our pastoral activities, through listening, tolerance, mutual help, patience and thus giving a new impetus to the proclamation of the Good News. «Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel». (1 C. 9,16). What a sweet kingdom that is more pleasant to obey than to command! where each is the servant of the other and in which only modesty and gentleness reign! (F. 2, p. 64).

We have emphasized the importance of vow obedience and authority in daily life so that we can witness the beauty of the Gospel by living not one without the other, above or against the other, but with each other, and for others.

With regard to mutual obedience, we stressed that this is built on the esteem, perseverance, patience and joy of «living together»; which is lived in gratuitousness, in care, in trust, in sincerity, in collaboration and leads us to the fruitfulness of fraternal life. It nourishes fraternal relations by accepting the other different, in order to live in communion the deep desire to grow in God. (Rule, VIII, n. 28; D. n. 4). Let us put ourselves every day in an attitude of discernment of God’s will and of what He expects from us.

In a spirit of faith, open to divine inspiration and for the good of each member of the Province, we have elected the Provincial Superior and the sister councilors, below we present the list. Let us entrust to the Lord, asking for the grace of joy and availability in the service of every sister and for us the strength and joy of faithfully continuing the mission of the apostolate for the coming of his Kingdom.

We thank Sister Paola Dotto, Superior General and Sister Augusta Visentin, Councilor and Secretary General for their discreet and fraternal presence. We appreciated their suggestions and advice; we assure them of our daily prayer, so that they may find true joy in serving all the sisters of the Congregation.

Here’s the new Provincial Council!

Sister Elizabeth Varikkakuzhyl                          Provincial Superior
Sister Emmanuelle Piccolo                                1 Councilor and Vicar
Sister Beniamina Borsato                                  2 Councilor
Sister Sherly Joseph                                            3 Councilor
Sister M. Armelle Kosta                                      4 Councilor

The event of the Provincial Chapter was the occasion to celebrate the jubilees of the sisters of the Province, joining them also the Superior General, Sr Paola Dotto who this year celebrates her golden jubilee. The Jubilee Sisters are: Sr M. Emmanuelle Piccolo, for her 60^th anniversary, and Sister Louise Modesto, for the 70 years of religious life. The well-prepared Eucharistic celebration was attended by all the sisters. It was presided over by Father Edmond Samson, our chaplain who with us praised and thanked the Lord for their gift of life in fidelity and gave thanks for the service that each of the Jubilees has carried out in these long years.