On Monday, June 3, we celebrated Founders’ Day, commemorating the five sisters who came from Erie, PA to establish St. Walburg Monastery in Covington, Kentucky. The sisters came in two batches. The first three-- Sisters Josephine Buerkle, Anselma Schoenhofer and Ruperta Albert—came on June 3, 1859. Two months later—Mother Alexia Lechner (left), who was appointed the first prioress, and Sister Salesia Haas arrived on August 2. Their mission was to "take charge of the girls' school" at St. Joseph Parish on 12th Street in Covington.The commemoration of our founders fills us with joy and pride in our tradition—even though Sr. Josephine Buerkle left soon after Mother Alexia arrived to go back to Erie where she married a young man she knew before she was asked to go
to Covington. Such an event reminds us of the humanity of those who have gone before us and who begin a good work.
At dinner on June 3 some of the sisters at my table encouraged me to share with you the closing prayer we use at Liturgy of the Hours on Founders’ Day and the general intercessions I wrote for Eucharist that day. One sister said these two prayers manifest how we look at our past and how our past informs who we are in the present and who we want to be in the future.
Closing Prayer for Founders’ Day Liturgy of the Hours
O God, we remember and give thanks for courageous and visionary women who founded this community. You filled them with the love of prayer, the desire to serve your people and good zeal for the monastic life. May their example inspire us, their memory encourage us and their intercession sustain us as we seek to respond to your call of today. Bring to the fulfillment the good work you began in them and continue in us. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who abides with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
General Intercessions—June 3, 2019
In faith Benedict and Scholastica envisioned a life of stability and peace amid the turmoil of their time. Give us a monastic vision for our time, we pray:In faith the sisters of St. Walburg Abbey in Eichstatt sent women to America to serve in new and different ways. Open Church leaders and ministers to new ways to spread the Gospel, we pray:
In faith five sisters set out from Erie to come to a place they had never seen to serve people they did not know. Give us courage to face an unknown future, we pray:
In faith we proclaim that we serve Christ and open our hearts to the young and the old, the sick and the poor, the stranger and the guest. Bring to fulfillment the good work you have begun in us, we pray:
In faith women of strength and courage came together to seek God. Strengthen our community life and increase our confidence that God is with us always, we pray:
In faith Mother Alexia
and all her daughters who are now part of that great cloud of witnesses,
persevered in the monastery until death. Bring them all together to everlasting
life, we pray:
Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB
Dear Sister thank you for sharing this powerful prayer calling to God in the love and consciousness of being OSB, the weight of tradition, the holy charisma and the gift of the ones who have gone on before, giving us life in their life. In these months, day by day, beating through my head is an understanding that we live today in a time unlike earlier days -- that the Third Millennium is more challenging for faith and for religious life than before. I see that survival of the sisterhood and brotherhood is a more important priority than other priorities, requiring us to accept changes that we do not want. Pope Francis shows us the way -- his warmth, his hands-on, his hugging of Islamic leaders, his constant hard work visiting so many places (as John Paul the Great did), his constant talking in all the channels of media, his supreme intelligence, his appearance of superior quality = survival = we will survive in this difficult future = we are doing the best we can. In a similar way, to reach young people with OSB spiritual healing and strength -- how many are you making contact with day by day? That number must be increased by a factor of ten. A priority? All is possible with God (Archangel Gabriel's word). God bless OSB with the power and strength of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost amen.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
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