During the past week Bishop Kevin has
been to Cantabria in the north of Spain, to finalise an agreement with
the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, to establish a new
community in the Diocese of Elphin.
He had been exploring this
possibility with Mother Ana Maria Campo for almost a year and there have
been a number of meetings, both here in Ireland and at the Mother-house
of the community in Zurita, just south of Santander.
The agreement was
signed on Thursday 16th February and it is planned that the
new community of four sisters will be established in Sacred Heart Parish
Roscommon on May 13th, the Centenary of the Apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima.
The four sisters are:
Sr. Ruth Maria (Leader of the Roscommon Community) who is a native of Dublin
Sr. Bernadette Maria (from Cork)
Sr. Michelle Maria (from Minnesota, USA)
Sr. Karen Maria (from Florida, USA)
Speaking on his return from Spain, Bishop Kevin said:
“I am really delighted to welcome
the four sisters to the Diocese of Elphin. It seems providential that
the agreement was signed on a day when the first reading was about the
covenant God made with Noah. I am convinced that God is at work in this
agreement also. It represents a new beginning, but one which is in
continuity with the heritage of faith and service given by so many women
religious in our Diocese down through the years. These are four joyful
young women of faith, who bring between them forty years or more of
living the consecrated life. I am confident that, with their special
charism of ministry to young people, they will be friends and spiritual
guides for many young women in our Diocese in the years ahead. I want to thank Fr John Cullen and his parish team for their encouragement and their willingness to make this initiative possible. Please God it will bear the fruit that God wants.”
For those who may be more interested in
the technical details, the Servant Sisters are not, strictly speaking, a
religious order, but rather an Association of the Faithful. In this
they are not unlike the Daughters – or French Sisters of Charity (the
“butterfly nuns”).
In practice, they live in community just like
religious and take the same vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Their mission in Roscommon will include prayer guidance and retreat
ministry with young people, the development of catechetical resources
using social media, promoting devotion to the Eucharist and Mary and
visiting the elderly who live alone.
You can find out more about the Servant Sisters on: https://www.hogardelamadre.org/en/about-us/servant-sisters