On Wednesday 5th May, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also called the Missionary Sisters of Egypt, celebrated a triple event: the 123rd anniversary of their founder, Mother Caterina di Santa Rosa, born in Giuliano, rising to heaven; the 25th anniversary of her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 1985 and the opening of her process of canonization.
With a pontifical mass presided by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, many sisters from the province of the Child Jesus came together in prayer around their provincial, Mother Rosanna Nava, to celebrate before the Empty Tomb of the Lord the joy of his Resurrection and the grace of their vocation.
The province, which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, today has 75 sisters of six different nationalities.
The charisma of these sisters, which consists of taking peace, equality and freedom to all men, is carried out in schools, hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, places of hospitality etc..
Mother Caterina had the ardent desire to go to he Holy Sepulchre and was able to do so, together with three sisters when she arrived in the Holy Land in 1885 and was asked by the Custos of the time to look after the “Maria Bambina” orphanage for girls in the Old City of Jerusalem. Today the sisters are present in Bethlehem, Cana, Jericho, Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth, Tabga and on the Mount of Beatitudes.
In the universal prayer, the sisters presented to God all the intentions of their congregation throughout the world, with special attention to the most severely tried missions, such as Eritrea and Iraq.
At the end of the Mass, Mother Rosanna thanked the Franciscans of the Custody, their brothers in the Franciscan family, for the work of evangelization they have been able to pursue in the Middle East, with them and following them. After a prayer for the canonization of their founder and the final blessing given by the Custos, the assembly then went to the lobby of the Custody curia for refreshments.
Mab
With a pontifical mass presided by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, many sisters from the province of the Child Jesus came together in prayer around their provincial, Mother Rosanna Nava, to celebrate before the Empty Tomb of the Lord the joy of his Resurrection and the grace of their vocation.
The province, which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, today has 75 sisters of six different nationalities.
The charisma of these sisters, which consists of taking peace, equality and freedom to all men, is carried out in schools, hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, places of hospitality etc..
Mother Caterina had the ardent desire to go to he Holy Sepulchre and was able to do so, together with three sisters when she arrived in the Holy Land in 1885 and was asked by the Custos of the time to look after the “Maria Bambina” orphanage for girls in the Old City of Jerusalem. Today the sisters are present in Bethlehem, Cana, Jericho, Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth, Tabga and on the Mount of Beatitudes.
In the universal prayer, the sisters presented to God all the intentions of their congregation throughout the world, with special attention to the most severely tried missions, such as Eritrea and Iraq.
At the end of the Mass, Mother Rosanna thanked the Franciscans of the Custody, their brothers in the Franciscan family, for the work of evangelization they have been able to pursue in the Middle East, with them and following them. After a prayer for the canonization of their founder and the final blessing given by the Custos, the assembly then went to the lobby of the Custody curia for refreshments.
Mab