Our Lady of Guadalupe

Have been preparing for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe since the beginning of November and now it is almost here!
My niece, Celia, sent me a great forward about Our Lady (VIRGEMDEGUADALUPE.pps (712KB)) the title is “Discoveries about the tilma of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Empress of America” by Andre Fernando Garcia. If you can find that site, it is worth reading.
We are going to sing the music by Bob Hurd. It is very difficult. No, I should say that it is very fast and has great harmony and a tremendous beat. Wow! Mr. Manuel Palacios, our conductor can make miracles happen during the choir practice. I mean, he takes people that do not read music and have never studied music in school and within a couple of hours we are singing the music! It is awesome. You should hear us! I shouted out at the end of one piece, “Oh, Mr. Palacios, you made a miracle!” He said, “You see, as I am conducting, I am making the sign of the Cross over you all and that’s how it happens!” He is funny! He is the principal of two grade schools in Salem, a very busy man and yet… When we do well he says, “Tacos very much to all!”
The music is just one aspect. We meet every week to go over all the ministries needed for that day. We have a man, Maximiliano…”Max”, who does all the decorations, not only the Vigil on the 11th, but he and his crew also decorate the Armory on the 12th as well. We are having the solemn Mass at the Armory this year rather than at the Salem Pavilion. The Armory has about 3,000 seats; the Pavilion 4,000.

Quiero decirte algo de quiénes somos.

El fin de semana del 13-15 de Noviembre, 23 miembros de nuestra Congregación de las Hermanas de Santa María de Oregon (somos 70 miembros...siempre hemos sido pocas--pero de gran calidad!), nos reunimos en el Centro Shalom de las Monjitas Benedictinas de Monte Ángel, Oregon para discernir quién tiene los dones para servir como miembros del equipo administrativo de nuestra comunidad durante los siguientes cinco años. Nuestra Madre Casa esta localizada en Beaverton, Oregon--cerca de la ciudad de Portland.

Una monjita del Perú, Sister Sue Scharfenberger, OSU es nuestra facilitadora para el proceso de conocernos mejor y de llegar a conocer las necesidades de nuestra comunidad.

Durante este tiempo nos preparamos para tener un Capítulo General. El Capítulo General discierne, expresa y celebra la voluntad de lo que el Señor nos llama a ser y a hacer en la Iglesia. El Capítulo, en oración considera los asuntos que tienen que ver con la misión y la vida de toda la comunidad, nos desafía a una continua conversión de corazón al Evangelio y a la visión de nuestras fundadoras.

El Capitulo General es la autoridad más alta en la comunidad y es responsable de elegir la superiora general y los miembros de consejo.
El Capitulo General es compuesto de todas las Hermanas de votos perpetuos. Al menos que la Superiora General les autorice, todas las Hermanas deben estar presentes para todas las deliberaciones del Capitulo.
El Capitulo General se reúne cada cinco años. La Superiora General convoca el capitulo al menos un año antes del día de su asamblea. La fecha y el lugar de la celebración del Capitulo son determinados por la Superiora General con el consentimiento de su Consejo.

Nuestra Constitución nos define y apoya en nuestras vidas como Hermanas de Santa María de Oregon. Encarnan el espíritu de la Comunidad, expresando nuestra filosofía de vida. Leemos y reflexionamos sobre este documento y vivimos de acuerdo con su espíritu.
El Capitulo puede votar para rectificar un artículo de la Constitución por la mayoría de dos-tercios de los miembros del Capitulo. Esta rectificación no es efectiva hasta que sea aprobada por la Santa Sede quien sólo auténticamente interpreta la Constitución.
La Superiora General puede dispensar un expediente de la Constitución o Estatutos por un tiempo determinado y por una grave razón. Las superioras locales tienen el mismo derecho en sus comunidades.
Normas específicas por las cuales somos guiadas en nuestro vivir esta Constitución son manifestadas en los Estatutos y en otras directrices especiales.
En todo recordamos que esta Constitución nos guiará a seguir fielmente a Jesucristo, que sólo Él es nuestro Modelo para nuestras vidas de religiosas.

¿Te interesó esto que compartí? ¿Te gustaría investigar más sobre nuestra comunidad? Puedes ver: www.ssmoministries.org

One of a Kind...Sister Mary Fidelis Kreutzer, SSMO

Sister Mary Fidelis was one of a kind. She left us with many “indications” of just how very great a person God had created in her. When one of our Sisters dies we put up a board to display photos of the Sister from the time she entered the convent and all through her life as a Sister. We also have favorite books, awards, etc. which belonged to that Sister.
Well, in the case of Sister Mary Fidelis there was an ample amount of data. She had binders full of poetry she wrote for every occasion and person who ever celebrated any accomplishment. There was a binder with the story of her family…it must contain 500 written pages and pages with copied photos. There were several booklets with stories about our Sisters. There were booklets for teachers on how to teach their students to diagram sentences. There were booklets on manners. There was one particularly interesting photo album…not large but packed with photos and in the front she pasted a picture of Jesus with a request to bring all these people close to Himself until at last they would be in heaven. Oh, the unique wealth of this woman!
Last evening at the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours some four or five Sisters stood up and sang a song they had written about Sister. They sang it to the tune of Red River Valley. The phrases all spoke of Sister’s generosity and of all her talents and gifts. All in the congregation laughed heartedly and/or cried at the same time. There was a professional guy from some video store who recorded the entire service and promised to be here today for the Funeral Mass. I’ve heard that he was to “stream” the video on the internet…play it live! Oh, my! Sister has friends all over the world!
We think Sister Mary Fidelis ordered her funeral to happen on a day when the students had no school…Veterans’ Day! We simply would not have been able to accommodate all the traffic, the flow of human traffic, the noise, etc. All of us in the work field also had the day off so we were able to attend the services.
We have placed extra chairs in the chapel and are expecting a huge crowd…several bishops and many dignitaries. Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce from the city of Beaverton will be here, too, I'm sure. Many people knew and loved her. She told us once how she had a “little trick” to remember people’s names. She never knew a stranger!

Our Caritas Group

Our Caritas Group meets once a month. This group consists of eight Sisters who get together to pray, share concerns, or discuss an article. A calendar is prepared and distributed in September with dates scheduled all the way to May. Sometimes we share a meal and other times we simply have a hot drink and dessert.
This November we met. I drove all the way from Salem with a heavy heart. The passing away of our Sister Fidelis hit us too suddenly. As I drove, I started to remember all the times I have driven that I-5 freeway. I remembered when the news of my brother’s death came and I drove on that highway, crying my eyes out all the way. I opened my wound also as I remembered my brother Jesse driving me to Salem when we received news that my little sister, Elida, had died. Many times I drove that highway when my Mom was alive and I would get a call that she was lonely or sick and needed my help. So…I put all this pain together and re-opened all the old wounds. By the time I arrived at the Motherhouse I needed a hug.
As the group gathered we sat for a while not knowing where we wanted to go with our conversation. I had stopped at a Mexican pastry shop and purchased some sweet bread. I prepared hot chocolate for those who wanted a warm drink. I said that I wanted to know exactly how Sister Fidelis died. That opened the conversation. Two hours later we had spent some time in sadness, some time laughing, some time sharing great memories. We also discussed how hard it is to live in community with a bunch of women with such enormously different personalities, degrees of mental or physical health, etc. It was good. It was very good.

One of our Sisters goes to heaven today

I am a bit sad today because our Sister Fidelis went home to God today at 6:40 am. When I was a young religious she impressed me so much because she was so bright and yet so "practical" about things. She loved teaching. She loved sharing what she knew about teaching so that we could also learn to love to teach.
Just the other day she gave me a booklet about saints' stories. She was very, very generous. I remember gathering with a group of Sisters ... whoever wanted to stick around a few minutes...in the convent kitchen after evening dishes. I guess I love "acting" or acting up because I would encourage other Sisters to imitate...in a pantomime way...one of the Sister's walk, or gestures, or something unique and the rest of us would guess which Sister was being imitated. Well, for Sister Fidelis we would take out our imaginary handkerchief and with quick motions, wipe our nose and shove the handkie in our pocket and keep walking very fast. We would all burst out laughing because we would know exactly who that Sister was. She was FAST in all of her tasks.
God bless her and give a huge reward for all her works. God will have to spend the greater part of the day just listing all of her good deeds. Rest in peace, Sister! We love you!

Sharing our Experiences

Do you know how exciting it is to be a Catholic missionary Sister? I’ve always wanted to be a missionary. So, now I want to share with you a little bit about my Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon’s plans to send two of us: Sister Barbara Rose Sohler (my school mate and religious classmate, too) and me to go to Mexico in the summer of 2010.
We are to go and investigate how women religious live convent life in Mexico. What is it like for them? In a country that is rich in Catholic traditions, how are religious women ministering to the people of Mexico? In the United States of America our religious traditions are perhaps more Protestant or liberal. That’s the conclusion of some of our immigrants. The Mexicans live their Catholic life operating more from the heart rather than from the head. The Mexican people might not know how to quote scripture or use apologetics so much, but they know God and His Blessed Mother, “la Morenita”, the dark one.
I will ask Sister Barbara Rose to share about herself. I will share who I am. My name is Sister Juanita (baptized Teresa Villarreal) and the sixth child (the middle child of eleven children) of José and Juanita Villarreal. I was born on July 23, 1944 in the little town of Asherton, Texas.
To my parents’ knowledge, there had never been any members of religious orders in either family. My parents were very religious and raised all my siblings to be involved in the Church, so you can imagine how they reacted when I told them I wanted to go to the convent.
We lived half the year in Texas and half the year in Oregon and worked as migrant workers from the time I was a very young child. My family lived summers in Oregon, but had also worked in Minnesota, Illinois, and Washington. My father always considered school a must and so we always had to adjusted our courses to fit the different school systems.
During my junior year in high school I decided to finally give in to “the call” from God. I decided to join the Benedictine Sisters of Crookston, Minnesota who had been missionaries in Asherton, TX. I was also taught by Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in St. Paul, OR. So, I didn’t know which community to choose. My father decided for me! He refused to give me permission to join any convent. Being a very determined person I decided I would simply wait for the right moment. During the summer I had a chance to visit the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in Beaverton with some friends who had two of their sisters in that convent. I fell in love with the Sisters and wanted “to enroll” immediately. I knew little about discernment process! My parents eventually gave in to my stubborn insistence. They gave me their blessing and told me to go.
September 8, 1962, after a year of boarding school experience as I had to complete my high school education first, I entered the convent. I was officially a “postulant”. I went to Marylhurst College. As a “novice” I studied the community’s rules and took classes in theology. As a “junior professed” Sister, I continued my academic studies to become a teacher. On August 15, 1967 I made my perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And, after earning a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Marylhurst College I continued classes at Portland State University and eventually obtained a Master's degree in Education. In the summers I was very fortunate to also take classes in different colleges. One summer I attended the Universidad Ibero Americana in Mexico City. Years later, during my sabbatical in 2000, I attended Universidad de Avila in Avila SPAIN. My teaching career has included being school principal and teaching in elementary, junior and senior high. I taught a course at Mt. Angel Seminary for a year while I was working as parish administrator of San Martin de Porres in Dayton, OR.
My "migrant" blood has given me a great desire for travel and a great love for other peoples of other cultures. I have visited Mexico, the Holy Land, Costa Rica, and some European countries. I lived in Spain for half a year and in Santa Fe, New Mexico for three months.
I am praying that my love for family, my religious community, my love of teaching and my pastoral experiences will all help make my stay in Mexico very worthwhile and that both Sister Barbara Rose and I come back gifted and graced by God for His greater glory and honor.