After we celebrated the gift giving with the residents of the nursing home in the St. Clara restaurant in the morning, a lot of people came to the midnight mass in the afternoon, so that the mother house church was filled to capacity. Afterwards, we sisters had a nice meal and ended Christmas Eve with songs, Indonesian dance, wine and sweets and lovingly selected gifts.

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On the first day of Christmas, after Holy Mass and the papal blessing “Urbi et orbi”, we went to the festive feast. We heard from Malawi that 600 people had gathered in front of our school early in the morning to receive food for the holidays. There was great joy, even if there was not enough for everyone. In the evening we were able to enjoy the festive vespers with our pastor and the shared dinner in Salzkotten, and on the afternoon of the second day of Christmas we enjoyed a contemplative nativity concert in our mother house church.

The Christmas octave also included the Christmas concert of the “Salzkotten Singing Community”, which again took place in St. Mary’s Church. All in all, a wonderful Christmas, without forgetting all the misery in the world. On December 29th and 30th we invited young and old to nativity tours through the mother house and the church, which were also attended by some of the sisters. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who made these holidays so wonderful for us.

Children Collect Donations as Star Singers For Children Worldwide and Campaign for Children’s Rights

“Every child has dignity” – Under this theme of children’s rights worldwide, our Archbishop Dr. Udo Markus Bentz welcomed 1,500 children and young people to the Germany-wide opening of the star singers campaign in Paderborn Cathedral on December 28, 2024. Afterwards, the many star singers went to the town hall and to a colorful participatory program. On January 5, 2025, some star singers were also with us in the mother house and in the St. Clara nursing home to bring the blessing and collect donations.

Written by  Sr. M. Alexandra Völzke FCJM

Photos: FCJM Sisters