2022
October
8 October 2022
Celebrating Fr Hubert Linckens' Centenary of Death
Let us constantly direct our will towards the Heart of Jesus in order to warm our own heart on its fire.
– Hubert Linckens, msc
The Chevalier Family focus for this October was an attitude near to Fr Linckens’ heart.
In many ways he was ahead of his time.
5 October 2022
Centenary of death of our Founder, Fr Hubert Linckens, MSC.
5 October, 1922
Father Hubert Linckens, MSC, first Provincial Superior of Germany (1897-1910) and historical founder of the MSC Sisters, dies in Hiltrup, Germany. Linckens guided the MSC Sisters until 1911 at which time he became the first General Assistant of the MSC in Rome, and in this capacity lived in Australia from 1914-1920. Because World War I, he couldn’t return to Italy and therefore stayed in Australia, during which time he helped in the up-building and promotion of the Australian MSC Province.
17 October, 1872
Consecration of France to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
21 October, 1907
Death of Father Chevalier, founder of the MSC, the FDNSC and spiritual founder of the MSC Sisters. He is buried in the Crypt in the Basilica on the 24 October, 1907.
25 September
World Day of Migrants and Refugees
National Week of Prayer and Action
SOME SIGNIFICANT SEPTEMBER DAYS FOR THE CHEVALIER FAMILY
1 September, 1897
The erection of the German MSC Province. Blessing of the first MSC house in Hiltrup, Germany.
1 September, 1899
First 8 candidates of the MSC Sisters are received as postulants in Hiltrup.
4 September, 1945
The missionaries imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII in Ramale Valley, Papua New Guinea, are set free. The movie, entitled Sisters of War, produced in 2010 by an Australian film company, tells part of this story.
14 September, 1902
Departure of the first seven MSC Sisters from Hiltrup for New Pomerania, New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
24 September, 1881
The novices of Father Piperon, who arrived in the Netherlands, November 1880, after having been expulsed from France, make their first profession. Among them is Hubert Linckens, who will later become the historical founder of the MSC Sisters.
“Times change, but wise are those who go along with the present, evaluate it, understand it and utiliize it.”
– Fr Linckens
August
“We can be missionaries in all our activities, whatever they may be, in health and in illness, through work, recreation, rest, through desires and prayers, through the activities of the mind and the heart, through physical labour and trials of the soul.”
– Fr Linckens 1913 Retreat 5th talk.
Significant August Days for the Chevalier Family:
3 August, 1899
First community of MSC Sisters is established in Hiltrup, Germany: two Sisters of Divine Providence and one MSC candidate. Sister Servatia, one of the Divine Providence Sisters, is appointed first Superior General of the MSC Sisters, Hiltrup.
5 August, 1982
MSC Sisters open a Novitiate in Bangalore, India.
13 August, 1904
The Baining Martyrs: Father M. Rascher, together with three MSC confreres, a Trappist Brother, five MSC Sisters and seven Catholic Bainings, are killed in the Baining Mountains, East New Britain, PNG.
The Baining Martyrs: Father M. Rascher, together with three MSC confreres, a Trappist Brother, five MSC Sisters and seven Catholic Bainings, are killed in the Baining Mountains, East New Britain, PNG.
15 August, 1945
MSC Sisters in PNG are released from Ramale Camp, New Britain.
15 August, 1945
MSC Sisters in PNG are released from Ramale Camp, New Britain.
July
‘Symbolically, the love of the Redeemer for mankind is represented by a heart. It is a symbol of the fire of love which fills and burns in the Sacred Heart. This love embraces all people till the last human being at the end of time without difference of nationality, colour, or culture. it excludes no one.”
(Fr Linckens’ writings 1913: World Mission of Christ and Duties of Catholics towards the Missions).
– Centenary of Fr Linckens’ Death, 2022
June
Feast of the Sacred Heart
June 24
“I have loved you with an everlasting love so I am constant in my affection for you.” Jeremiah 31:4.
“Our motto is the focal point of the reflector where the sunbeams of the divine heart are gathered….to inflame our heart with the divine fire of love, so that our hearts will become small focal points of love.”
– Fr Hubert Linckens, MSC (1913 Retreat, 1st Talk)
Centenary of Death, 2022
National Reconciliation Week May 27 - June 3
“The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme, “Be Brave. Make Change.” is a challenge to all Australians— individuals, families, communities, organisations and government—to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.” – from Reconcilation Australia Website.
MSC Sisters Australian Province are committed to Reconciliation
Feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
May 28
XV111 General Chapter 2022
Our Congregational Team joined Chapter Delegates from Australia, Germany, India, Korea Latina, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, United States of America and an appointed member from our community in Philippines.
Nemi, Rome 3 May -29 May
The theme: “Afire for God’s Mission in Today’s world.”
“I came to bring fire on the earth and how I wish it was already.” (Luke 12:49)
Australian Province Delegates pictured:
Sisters Rosalind Cairns, Mary Drum and Tess Veenker.
May
Our Motto:
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere.
Now and forever.
Centenary of Death of Fr Hubert Linckens, 2022
April 13 Emerging Futures Workshop
April
‘For this heart you are in the midst of the world. we have experienced God’s love and are called to share it through our being, and our actions, in all circumstances, at all times.”
– Fr Hubert Linckens, MSC (From a letter to the MSC Sisters in Reading, PA.USA 5th November 1913)
Centenary of Death 2022
March 25
Feast of the Annunciation
Anniversary of Foundation MSC Sisters
Celebrating our Congregational Feast Day with Eucharist, praying for our troubled world. Joining us were members of staff and local MSC Community. Then, a shared lunch and time to be together and share our lives.
March 8
International Women’s Day
THIS year on International Women’s Day the global theme is: “Women in leadership: achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.
While celebrating women’s achievements, key strategies are a focus on awareness raising as well as taking action against gender bias.
#BreakTheBias.
Significant March Days for the Chevalier Family 2022
9 March, 1906
The first Superior General of the MSC Sisters is elected: Sister M. Franziska Fleige.
12 March, 1965
The first two German MSC Sisters leave Hiltrup, Germany, to establish a foundation in Korea. They arrive on the 24 March, 1965 and the next day, 25 March, 1965, is the Foundation Day of the Korean Mission of the MSC Sisters.
17 March, 1935
MSC Sisters and a Third Reich injustice story:
Mother M. Electa, Superior General of the MSC Sisters, and the Procurator General, Sr. M. Gerberga are arrested by the Gestapo in Hiltrup. They are falsely accused of trafficking foreign currencies by Joseph Goebbels, Minister of the Propaganda of the German Third Reich. Mother M. Electa will be released from prison one year later, on the 18 March, 1936.
20 March, 1886
Remembering that 2022 is the centenary of his death – Father Hubert Linckens, MSC, who becomes historical founder of the MSC Sisters,
is ordained at s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
25 March, 1901
First Profession ceremony of 10 MSC Sisters in Hiltrup.
25 March, 1977
Foundation Day of the Indian Mission of the MSC Sisters.
March
“We are sent for missionary work in the fullest sense of the word; in ourselves, at home and abroad, in developed countries…..in any place we are or where obedience may call us.”
– Fr Hubert Linckens, msc
Centenary of Death, 2022
Congregational Death Notice
Sr Floriane Melinz, MSC
“Follow me.” Mt. 4:19
Sr. Floriane MSC – Stephanie Melinz
Born: 10-11-1930 in Turbe, Croatia
First Profession: 3-2-1952
Entered Eternal Life: 23-2-2022 Kew, Vic
Sr.Floriane heard the Lord’s call while very young and it never left her heart. In spite of facing many difficulties throughout her life, she responded faithfully and strongly to whatever she believed the Lord was asking of her.
Floriane was born into a large and loving Catholic family in Croatia. When she was about ten years old, her parents made the enormous decision to flee their beautiful homeland because of the political changes which were bringing intense persecution to the Church. As refugees they travelled to Germany and were eventually housed in a Refugee Camp. Young Stephanie found the local Catholic Church and involved herself in the youth groups and visitation of the sick.
After the War, when at last the family had the opportunity to migrate to Australia, Floriane expressed her desire to remain in Germany and follow the ‘call’ she felt to be a Missionary and to serve in a Leper Colony. One can only imagine the sacrifice this entailed for her dear parents and family. Floriane was accepted as an aspirant at Hiltrup and her family left for their new country.
At the completion of her Novitiate, she had the joy of being sent to Papua New Guinea where she spent the next thirty-seven years. Her desire to work with Lepers was granted when she was sent to Anelaua. However, owing to some health issues which arose for her there, she was moved to Tapo. Later she served on the very remote Tanga Island and after at Bitokara and Ulamona. In each of these places she looked after the household needs which included cooking. Through the years she shared her many and practical talents with the local people. She had a special place in her heart for the Youth and explored many ways of engaging them in practical activities and in sport. Her dear family in Australia generously supported her projects through the years.
In 1992, while in Australia for a home visit and a Renewal Course, she became aware of a new ‘call’. It was to assist her family, all of whom now had young families of their own, in the care of their elderly mother. Permission was given and she spent the next few years in the midst of the family where she became the beloved Aunt of all her nieces and nephews. She officially joined the Australian Province in 1994.
It was following the death of her dear mother that Floriane moved to Melbourne. Here, with Sr. Theonatis, she responded to the need for Pastoral Care at the Aged Care Facility for German speaking people in the suburb of Bayswater. Once more her love, faithfulness and generosity were experienced by all with whom she came in contact. Residents, staff and local parishioners all came to love her.
Floriane eventually moved to the Hospitality House where her practical talents have again been shared with all who visit. She was a person of great inner strength, warm hospitality and generosity of spirit. One of her joys in these last years was tending her garden where, as someone remarked, she could encourage new life in the most needy of plants.
As time went on, the cancer, detected about five years ago, gradually took over. However, her inner strength, which was built on her very deep faith and her love of the Lord and his dear Mother, sustained her throughout. Her last few days were spent at Caritas Christi Hospice for the dying where, on Wednesday, just as the dawn began to light up the morning sky, she died peacefully.
We give thanks to God for this wonderful companion, and we thank her dear family for sharing her with our M.S.C. Congregation. May Floriane delight now in the company of the One who called to her – “Follow Me.”
“I am espoused to Him whom the Angels serve,
Whom the moon and stars admire.” (Final Profession Liturgy)
On Thursday 10th March at 11.00 am we will gather at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Deepdene for Requiem Mass and then accompany Sr. Floriane to the Eltham Cemetery.
On behalf of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of the Australian Province,
Sr. Carmel Slattery, MSC
Date: 25th February, 2022
February 23
This morning, just as the sun arose, our dear Sr Floriane Melinz died peacefully, surrendering her life to God whom she loved so deeply and served so well.
Rest in Peace, Floriane.
February 3
70th Jubilee
Sr Benedict Cooke
Congratulations Benedict, praying with you.
February 3
70th Jubilee
With community Eucharist celebrated at Campbell Rd Balwyn Floriane celebrated her Jubilee.
Congratulations, Floriane, our prayer is with you.
February 2
Pope Francis' message to Women Religious:
Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of February is for consecrated women. He has invited Catholics to pray for religious sisters and consecrated laywomen as we continue in our mission with courage, stating that the Church cannot be understood without us.
He challenged us to discern how best we can respond to the challenges of humanity, asking us particularly to engage with the poor, marginalized and all who are enslaved by traffickers. He also prayed for those who “show the beauty of God’s love and compassion” through their ministry as catechists, theologians and spiritual guides, even when encountering obstacles. “I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church.”
“Thank you for who you are, what you do and how you do it. May you keep making God’s goodness known through the apostolic works you do. But above all through your witness of consecration.”
Significant February Days for the Chevalier Family 2022
2 February, 1892
The title of Saint Joseph “Friend of the Sacred Heart” is changed to “Saint Joseph, patron and model of those of love the Sacred Heart”.
5 February, 1900
Canonical Erection of the Congregation of MSC Sisters and approbation of the Statutes for five years.
25 February, 1875
The Vatican orders that, in future, all new images of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart must represent the Child Jesus on the arm of his mother, and not standing before her.
February
‘I received early in 1898 from the mission in New Britain the urgent request, to do everything to hurry up the formation of German misssionary sisters. At the same time the colonial administration reminded me of the promise given three years ago in the name of the congregation.”
– Fr Linckens, 1921
Centenary of death 2022
January 29
Birthday of Fr Hubert Linckens, Missionary of the Sacred Heart, historical Founder of Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Hiltrup, Germany in 1900.
This year marks the centenary of his death on October 5, 1922.
January 29
50th Jubilee
Sr Rosalind Cairns
On January 29th, Rosalind was Professed as a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart at Mary’s Mount, Balwyn. Over those years her life and ministry in education and later, in the area of mental health, has bee both in Melbourne and Papua New Guinea.
Congratulations Ros!
January 26
Australia Day 2022:
The theme for this year is : Reflect. Respect. Celebrate.
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council has issued a statement for Australia Day, adding a fourth verb to the Australia Day theme: Do.
The Council calls on us as Catholics to make Australia a country that more closely reflects our Christian beliefs of equality, respect and care for our poor and vulnerable by our action and commitment
“We ask that you make 2022 the year of ‘Do’.”
January 26
Sr Goretti Evans celebrated her 60th anniversary of Profession, held at Mary’s Mount, Balwyn. Owing to the emergence of the omicron variant of the Coronavirus infection, planned celebrations were unable to be held.
Goretti has spent her life in the care of the sick in nursing and hospital administration. She lives with an eye and heart of care for others. Congratulations, Goretti!
January 25
Sr Goretti Evans
Congratulation on your 80th birthday!
Love and blessings from us all.
January 1
As we take leave of Christmas and journey into the new year:
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost,to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart. – ‘The Work of Christmas’ by Howard Thurman
January
This year 2022 marks the centenary of the death of our Founder, Fr Hubert Linckens, msc, on 5 October 1922.
Excerpts of his writings and quotes will be included each month as the year progresses.
“In the works undertaken for the glory of God….we must not be surprised that….trials have often results whic puzzle human calculations and worldly wisdom…..so that which seemed a trial….was in reality a blessing.”
– From Australian Annals of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 1 October, 1920 by Fr Linckens, msc.
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