On August 30, there was a service for residents of the retirement homes in the Motherhouse Church. Pupils supported the residents. It was a beautiful Eucharistic celebration on the theme of the “good shepherd”. On September 7, we received a donation of 2500 euros for the construction of a well in Malawi from the same school. It has been our cooperation partner for a long time. Thank you very much for this!

During the time of creation, there was a daily creation picture on our Instagram channel – to marvel at the beauty of nature and to raise awareness that we are part of it and should not exploit and destroy it.

Vocation ministry trip to Romania

A total of 14 young people set off to get to know Romania and its people and to experience the Catholic Church in the minority among a large number of Orthodox believers. In addition to the leaders, Pastor Kendzorra and Sister M. Alexandra from the vocations ministry of our diocese, we also had the new priest Jakob Ohm with us as a guide, who spent a long time in Romania in his childhood and youth. Sister M. Lucia was also there to get to know our sisters and our projects in Romania. We first went to Timisoara, visited Sister M. Ana and Sister M. Tereza and got to know their work in pastoral care and in the hospice. In addition to visiting the Marian pilgrimage site of Maria Radna and many other excursions, in Caransebes we took a look at the work in our kindergarten and in the Caritas social center. We were very impressed by the commitment of our employees, but also saddened that there is still so much poverty in Europe, just two hours by plane from Germany. We always felt very welcome everywhere we went, whether in a poor dwelling or in a bishop’s house, with the young and the old. We found the natural surroundings breathtakingly beautiful, with mountains and valleys, lakes, waterfalls and much more.

After these days, it was difficult for everyone in the group to say goodbye to this country and its wonderful people, and also to each other. However, we were deeply touched by the hospitality of the Romanians, especially our sisters, and would like to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for making this possible. A truly great gift. Multumesc!

Topping-out ceremony for the Tau House on 19.09.2024

“It is a place where young and old live under one roof and together create a stable basis for many precious moments”, is the idea behind the ‘Tau-Haus’ residential project for people from all generations who are close to Franciscan spirituality and for whom fraternal coexistence is important. The house, which was built in 1902 and renovated in the 1970s, will be converted as far as possible for its new use. The conversion will create 15 rental apartments with living spaces of between 48 and 75 square meters. All will be barrier-free and accessible by elevator. One apartment and the communal area on the first floor with a built-in kitchenette will also be wheelchair-accessible. A spacious communal terrace will directly adjoin the communal area. The name “Tau-Haus” for the residential project is derived from “Tau”, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. According to biblical tradition, St. Francis saw this symbol as a very special sign of salvation. This is why the dew still stands for Franciscan spirituality today. As a passive house, the building is also self-sufficient in terms of energy. Solar panels are also installed above the car ports to generate energy.

Feast days of the Congregation – 03.-05.10.2024

This year’s feast days of our congregation were something special: to start with, we celebrated a beautifully designed Transitus in simplicity and silence. Then we continued with the feast day of St. Francis. Judith Kramps, a former temporary missionary in Indonesia and long-time German teacher to our Indonesian sisters, played the organ for the Eucharistic celebration on this and the following day. Sister M. Francine and Sister M. Carolina sang the famous “Mata hari” song (translated “The sun stays up”). Beautiful! And on the day of Mother M. Clara’s death, Sister M. Carola surprised us with the original photo of Mother M. Clara from Rome and a recently completed master’s thesis on the tense relationship between our order’s founder and Superior Klein. She showed us the original work and gave us a brief summary. The young student had lived on Paderborner Straße in Salzkotten for a long time, was interested in strong women in the church and was made aware of Mother M. Clara by her mother.

How wonderful that Thanksgiving always falls close to the feast day of St. Francis, to whom creation was so close! So on Sunday, October 6, we were once again able to give thanks for the good gifts of the earth, bless the beautifully decorated fruit and wreaths and sing our praises to God.

Written by Schw. M. Alexandra Völzke