Jubilee Mass for our sisters who have died.

 

The Province gathered together on Friday 5th November for a very special commemoration. We were remembering all the sisters who have worked in this province since Sion first came here 150 years ago.

As we processed in, each one had a candle which we placed in the centre. Then a paper chain of over 200 links, one for each sister who had served in the UK and Ireland since 1860 was passed round. It was very special to hear people talk about the sisters on the links they were holding - some of our memories were funny, some sad, some poignant, but all sisters were greatly loved as we told our stories and recollections.

At the Mass we were very pleased to welcome Fr Whale, the brother of Sr Hedwig who died a few years ago. The Mass certainly felt that Sions Family had gathered together - those who are living now and those who have gone before us.

We all love to be remembered. But if we want to be remembered we have a duty to remember. Memory is a powerful thing, wrongly used it brings death, rightly used it brings life. It keeps the past alive. Those we remember will never die. They continue to walk and talk with us. We want our sisters to know that we have not forgotten them. Their memory most definitely brings life to us today. They have sown the seeds for new life, 'life is only a kind of sowing the harvest is not here.' (Van Gogh)