2023
October
Sepember
August
Significant August Days
Baining Martyrs
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.
11 August, 1908.
Arrival of the first eight MSC sisters from Germany in the US.
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.
15 August, 1945
MSC Sisters in PNG are released from Ramale Camp, New Britain.
19 August, 1923
Archbishop Louis Coupe, Vicar Apostolic of Rabaul from 1890-1923, retires.
22 August, 1985
Two MSC sisters of the Peruvian Province depart for the Dominican Republic to start a new mission
26 August, 1902
Erection of the first MSC house in Switzerland, at pre-Borg
31 August, 1960
Erection of the Australian Province of the MSC Sisters.
July
SR MAUREEN SMITH works on our Archives. She is assisted by Sr Rosalind Cairns and Sr Erin Freney.
Sister Maureen writes: ‘As we move towards the future here in Australia we need to sort through all the material that has been accumulated in our Archives over the past 96 years. To do this effectively and because of limited space at our Province Office we have recently rented office space nearby. This gives Srs. Rosalind, Erin and I ample space in which to work more easily on this task of sorting through all the material we have. We need to ensure that all will be categorized appropriately, easily accessible, and carefully treated in view of long-term storage. Non archival material, multiple copies of information and anything belonging elsewhere needs to be removed. A very time-consuming activity!!!’
Images: 1. Sr Maureen at work.
2. Visit of Leadership Team to Archives Office. Sr Erin is on far right.
Naidoc Week 2-9 July
This year the theme chosen for NAIDOC Week is “For Our Elders.”
Later this year when Australians will be asked to vote on a Voice to Parliament with a Referendum. The proposal for a constitutionally enshrined Voice was called for in the Uluru Statement presented to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the GAMA Festival in 2017. It was the outcome of an extensive national engagement of Aboriginal and Torres islander peoples. That journey has continued to now. ” We are challenged to rise to this unique occasion, to apply our critical judgment and bravely step into the next step of our history.” – Patrick Dodson, The West Australian, 10 May 2023
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was endorsed by the Australian Bishops Conference in 2021 and the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia in 2022.
The Uluru Statement reads:
With substantive constituational change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood………….We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country…..We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.
National Reconciliation Prayer
Creator Spirit,
All creation once declared your glory,
Your laws were honoured and trusted,
Forgive us our neglect as our country approaches
the most critical moment in its history.
Listen to our prayer as we turn to you,
Hear the cry of our land and its people,
Just as you heard the cry of Jesus,
your Son, on the Cross.
Help us to replace our national shame
With true national pride by restoring the
dignity of our First People whose antiquity is
unsurpassed.
May our faith and trust in you increase.
Only then will our nation grow strong and be
a worthy place for all who wish to make their home in our land.
Amen.
© Elizabeth Pike, September 1997
Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Melbourne.(from NATSIC Council website)
June
Significant June Days
1 June, 1940
Mother M Electa, MSC, promises to build a chapel in honour of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, in Hiltrup, Germany, to seek protection for the Congregation and its works during World War II.
5 June, 1944
During World War II, New Guinea Missionary Sisters were imprisoned in Ramale Camp, New Britain, in PNG.
5 June, 1986
Canonical erection of the first MSC house in Seoul, Korea.
6 June, 1914
Father Hubert Linckens begins prolonged visitation of the Australian MSC province: 1914-1921.
7 June, 1861
The Vicar General of Bourges blesses the first part of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Issoudun. In the window near the altar of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, is a stained-glass representation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, her first image. This same stained-glass window is today located above Our Lady’s Chapel entrance door, situated inside the Basilica.
10 June, 1855
The first mission in Peru, entrusted to the North German MSC Province since 1938, becomes a Region.
4 June, 1851
Father Chevalier and eleven other seminarians are ordained priests in the cathedral of Bourges by Cardinal Dupont.
23 June, 1919
The German MSC are forced to leave the Apostolic Vicariate of the Marshall Islands.
24 June, 1915
During the First World War, Missionary Sisters in New Britain (PNG) are imprisoned.
26 June, 1984
Sister Klara Sietman, MSC, is elected as 6th Superior General of the MSC Sisters.
16 June Feast of the Sacred Heart
2 June Handover of Province Leadership
On Friday 2 June Sr Tess Veenker began her ministry as Province leader, taking over from Sr Mary Drum after over eight years in that position. We prayed “Christ be our Light’ as we begin this new time in our province.
On behalf of us all Sr Carmel Slattery thanked Mary for her years of ministry within our province as Province Leader.
National Reconciliation Week 27 May - 3 June
The theme for this year is Be a Voice for Generations – a time for all Australians to come together to learn about our shared culture, histories, our achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
16 - 24 May
Laudate Si' Week
A global celebration hearing the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, urged on by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudate Si’. Catholic Earthcare Australia, a program of Caritas, Australia is the environmental and climate change voice of the Catholic Church providing support, advocacy, factual information and guidance. This week is a call to continue to support each other in our endevours to care for our common home.
A Prayer for our Earth
All powerful God…………………….. bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. AMEN
Pope Francis Laudate Si’.
14 May
World Communications Sunday.
For this day, Pope Francis’ message is: Speaking with the heart: “The truth in love.” (Eph. 4:15)
Although the Vatican and many dioceses around the world mark World Communications Sunday on the Sunday before Pentecost which will be 21 May this year. Yet, in Australia, it is celebrated on the sixth Sunday of Easter, prior to the feast of the Ascension.
12 May
New Province Councillors
Sr Bonaventura confirmed the Community's choice of Province Councillors:
Sr Carolle Barwick, First Councillor
Sr Carmel Butler
Sr Erin Freney
3 May
95th anniversary of the arrival of Sr Liboria, MSC, from USA to begin the foundation of MSC Sisters here in Australia.
Meeting with Mr Paul O’Connor regarding work he and Mr Graeme Barnes have been undertaking with the current Leadership Team, Provincial, Councillors and Treasurer with a view towards our future wellbeing and mission in Australia.
Celebration of May birthdays – Sisters Tess Veenker and Maureen Sheehan.
Significant May Days
1 May, 1863
An article on Our Lady of the Sacred Heart appears in the Jesuit publication, “Messager du Sacré-Coeur”, founded by Fr. Henri Ramière, SJ. It is the first presentation of this new title for Mary.
3 May 1928
Mother Liboria Loeper, Provincial of the American Province MSC Sisters, arrived in Sydney to begin an Australian foundation that would be of support to the established Mission in Papua New Guinea.
6 May, 1883
The shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Sittard, Netherlands is elevated to a Basilica by Pope Leo XIII. Today, it is the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Netherlands.
6 May, 1888
In Randwick, Australia, the church built by Father Michael Tierney, is dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Today, it is the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Australia.
21 May 1928.
At Station Pier, Melbourne, Mother Liboria welcomed Sisters Eulalia, Aquilina, Maurilia, Zaccharia, and Margareta. Their first destination was Rupertswood, Sunbury where they provided practical support to the Salesians.
31 May, 1865
The feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is publicly celebrated for the first time.
By 1872 the feast is celebrated worldwide in 950 churches or chapels.
For quite some time, this feast was held on this date, but today, globally, the feast is observed on the last Saturday in May.
April
Appointment of Province Leader
14 April
Sr Bonavenutura Kim, Congregational Leader, confirmed that Sr Theresia Veenker is our next Province Leader. Tess will begin her term of office on 1 June 2023.
Significant April Days, 2023
5 April, 1925
Arrival of the first three MSC Sisters from Hiltrup, in Vunapope (PNG), after World War I.
6 April, 1904 Death of the first Superior General of the MSC Sisters, Sister Servatia Rath, Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence. 11 April, 1868 The Chapel of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is opened in Issoudun.
1 April
Sr Benedict Cooke celebrated her 70th Jubilee of Religious Profession, delayed from 2022 because of the interruptions due to the pandemic. It was a great joy for her that the chalice and paten in honour of her parents was used at Eucharist today presided over by Fr Peter Malone, MSC, She is pictured cutting her cake with her niece, Cathy.
March
Significant March Days 2023
March 15th, birthday of Jules Chevalier and beginning the year to the bicentenary celebration of his birth.
9 March, 1906
The first Superior General of the MSC Sisters is elected. She is 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.
As of December 31, 2011, there are 193 professed members in the Korean Province
as well as enthusiastically committed lay members.
15 March, 1824
Jules Chevalier is born in Richelieu, France. The following day he is baptized in the parish church, “Notre Dame”, at Richelieu.
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
Father Hubert Linckens, MSC, who becomes historical founder of the MSC Sisters,
is ordained at s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
25 March, 1859
Construction commences on the Basilica in Issoudun.
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.
February
25th Sr Bonaventura, Congregational Leader, arrives in Melbourne for a consultation process and discernment as to our new Provincial Leader. Sr Blanca, Treasurer, joined her for the early part of the visit and we were able to acknowledge her Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession before she journeyed on to Papua new Guinea to work with our sisters there.
Significant Days for the Chevalier Family:
2 February, 1892
The title of St Joseph as Friend of the Sacred Heart is changed to St Joseph, patron and model of those who 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 arms of his mother, not standing before her.
January
