MOTHER FRANCES’ CHARISM OPENS A NEW WINDOW INTO THE WORLD OF ASIA 

“We pray and hope that this window on the world to the Philippines may become a  large door from where we can spread our wonderful charism in that world that God loves in a particular way. . .”

“We ask for your blessing, Lord, upon our Sisters Maria and Cristina who embark on this brave journey in your name and with your grace.  May You, Lord, who are a safe leader of those who journey, be for them an ever present companion, opening before them the way, in this beautiful new adventure.”

With these and other meaningful words, Sister Tiziana Merletti and the Council blessed us on the evening of January 27 and missioned us for a time of visit and exploration. The small white candle given to us by Sister Tiziana was a sign of the Risen Lord present among us. It became for us a presence of light and warmth during our moments of prayer and the various novenas that we prayed according to the needs of the moment that the Lord was calling us to live. 

At the end of these two months in the Philippines, the candles too had finished their service. They were completely burned out, almost telling us that giving our lives and living them for Christ and with Christ means to be consumed and dissolved in Him.  

It is not easy to summarize our rich experiences in the Philippines. We only had 56 days, but they were filled with surprises, encounters, love and warmth given and received, of new discoveries – which were both fascinating and hard to bear – due to the open injustices, oppression, and the immense misery that envelops the majority of the population.   

It was a powerful experience for us to discover and live in the heart of Asia, not far from China, Siberia, and all those countries we have been praying for so frequently. We felt privileged for being on behalf of our Congregation instruments of opening “a new window”on the world in Asia.

It was not difficult to see how our Charism is incarnated and takes shape in healing the many wounds of Christ, spread out everywhere in the Philippines. We think that we truly experienced the words, “Feel in our hearts the burning fire of holy love for God and our neighbors.....”  

We saw many children on the streets of Manila, Lucena and then Dumaguete, who are exposed not only to rains and equatorial storms; most of all they are exposed to abuse and possible trafficking carried out by lawless individuals. We saw entire homeless families on the streets; five or six people sleeping in the pedicabs, or covered only with cardboard. We saw homeless elderly people, who looked like walking skeletons. They were digging into the garbage to find something to eat and were completely abandoned. This was for us overwhelming and touching. We found ourselves repeating, “Here Mother Frances would find her Heaven; she would serve these brothers and sisters loving her Spouse, Jesus Crucified.”  

“We placed everything in the heart of God, Mother Frances, and our Superiors.”

We had the joy and grace of participating several times in the distribution of meals in a program initiated by the Bishop of Dumaguete, John Du, to help these homeless people. The program helps about 100 - 120 individuals, including 60 children. Seeing them eat, one really gets the sense of how hungry they are. A good and abundant meal is consumed in less than ten minutes. The majority of children do not eat everything and we think that this is not because the meal is too large, but because they take something to other family members. They always bring small plastic bags where they put the food they save. At some point they disappear, bringing their bags to their families and then they come back to attend the educational and recreational parts of the program, which continues until 4 pm. In Dumaguete, a meal like the ones distributed at the soup kitchen costs 20 - 25 cents. 

It was encouraging and exciting to experience the love, joy, faith, and hope of so many people, both among the priests and the simple people who made themselves available to help, support and collaborate with us. 

The best part was our casual encounter with some young women who are seeking their place in the Church and in society. This gives us much hope for the future, if God willing, we have a future in Dumaguete. 

We placed everything in the heart of God, Mother Frances, and our Superiors. We pray and hope that this window on the world to the Philippines will not only remain open, but may become a  large door from where we can spread our wonderful charism in that world that God loves in a particular way.

This may be the gift of us daughters to our Blessed Mother Frances, which happens to be this year, when the process of her canonization is being open to celebrate her as Holy Mother of the Poor.  

Sister Cristina Di Nocco, SFP
Sister Maria Atorino, SFP

Young women who seek their place in the Church and society.	Bishop John Du and the Sisters  -- Celebrating with the people
After Mass at the market in Dumaguete	With the children at the nursing school of the Carmelite Sisters.

We thank Sisters Maria Atorino and Cristina Di Nocco for the beautiful photography.

© Franciscan Sisters of the Poor

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