MALAWI – the sisters and the priests of Benga Parish involve themselves in the prevention of COVID 19
Today (14/04/2020), the sisters and the youth with the support of their parish have started to bottle 600 liters of hydralcohol which will be distributed to 600 families and the medical centres.  They will also distribute 5000 tablets of Labor, 30,000 masks and in addition some leaflets providing people with information.   They intend using this crisis situation as an opportunity, to try to set up a small project to manufacture soap and hygienic products.

 
Dear all,
We are celebrating a more intense Easter than ever. The silence that surrounds us invites us to enter into our innermost being to participate more deeply in the Paschal Mystery that we celebrate.
This Holy Thursday there will be no washing of the feet, but Jesus will be there, washing feet,  robed in the gown of a nurse, a doctor, a chaplain … comforting, taking by the hand those who are living in loneliness, uncertainty, fear … in hospitals, houses, care homes …
This Good Friday the Passion is being lived outside the temples, and the Way of the Cross is taking other routes: through hospitals, communities, nursing homes, cemeteries … It will not be a memorial, but a real Way of the Cross: of pain, anguish, loneliness, tears … acceptance and self-offering.
This Holy Saturday there will be an overwhelming silence in the face of our vulnerability and helplessness, because we were not able to protect life, nor could we be close to our loved ones in their hour of greatest need.

There will be a Easter Vigil in a night where there is no lack of fire: for the world is ablaze, burning our old lifestyle, creating space for another way of understanding, relating, seeing, caring, loving … in solidarity and interdependence with the whole of Creation.
A fire that feeds our hope. May its light shine on all the graves, because life will never be defeated by death. God is our security!
Jesus is alive, he goes before us into Galilee. We will meet him there.
HAPPY EASTER! HALLELUJAH!
Ana Maria ALCALDE
(Text inspired by – Carlos Padilla Esteban, 04/08/2020)

Change has been made possible in the lives of 163 war affected youth in Vanni by ‘knowing and accepting themselves through Meditation’! Smiling faces, positive attitude, determination to live a happy life, Building relationship are some of the values practically experienced by the youth! A Meditation & Meeting Hut stands amidst the serene jungle environment, waiting to embrace the youth and to open them up to the whole universe!
The Bicentenary Project of the Holy Family Association of Bordeaux, implemented by the Jaffna Unit is celebrating the 200 years of existence with the grand opening of the Meditation & Meeting Hut !The Exhibition & Sales of the of The products through skill development too is ready to be explored!!
The PBN Family has found its roots among the war affected youth in a remote village ANICHIYANKULAM in MALLAVI!
Holy Family Sisters
Jaffna-Sri Lanka

Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived by the work of their hands for the love of the Father and in the service of their brothers and sisters.  They are and example to us of a humble and hard-working family. At Nazareth we see the dignity of work. (Constitutions, Art. 203)
Our contemplative life has a rhythm of prayer and work.  Each Sister has a task through which she serves the community for the common good and in order to have a balanced life.  When I entered the novitiate I received the task of working in the garden.  At that time it consisted mainly of weeding around the house.  While I was waiting for the weeds to grow Sr. Griet taught me how to sew and Sr. Teresa taught me how to look after the sacristy.  One day we went to the market to buy flowers for the chapel.  They were very beautiful but very expensive.  I began to grow flowers close to the house.  They grew well but there weren’t enough for the whole year. Then I asked for a piece of ground in the garden so that we could have flowers all year round.   Among the flowers,  I grew vegetables that we eat in Africa.  We ate them and they were delicious.  The following year I grew some vegetables for the community.  Visitors admired them and I gave them some to taste.
In 2018, I sowed a few different kinds of vegetables.  Visitors to the garden suggested that I should sell them.  Since I had no intentions of selling them, I gave them whatever they wanted and they paid me whatever they liked.  They told their friends about it.  They consulted French law to see if we would have to declare the garden or if we were liable for tax.  We found out that we were not taxable and did not have to declare anything.
 In 2019, those who wanted to buy the “Contemplatives’ vegetables” – as they called them – suggested that we leave them at the chapel entrance and mark the price on them. I decided on €2 per kilo no matter what the vegetable was.  When they had tasted the vegetables they bought between €2 and €50 worth of them because they said they had never eaten real organic vegetables before.  We made €1300.   This year they ordered what they wanted – tomatoes, aubergines, lettuce, peppers, courgettes, corn, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, radishes, cucumber etc.  The list will get longer depending on who visits the garden.
I work for two hours in the morning depending on the weather. During the Winter when the earth is resting I collect  manure.  In the Summer when it is very hot I do the watering in the evening because the days are longer.  Sometimes the young Sisters help me in whatever way they can.  In silence and solitude I work while I pray and pray while I work.  The idea of praying always then makes sense and helps me to be in solidarity with  both those who work and those who are unemployed.  It helps me also as I struggle not to forget God as our Constitutions invite us to do.
Every task, however simple, unites us to the creative and redemptive work of God.    (Constitutions,  Art. 204)
 
The Prayer of the Gardener of La Solitude
Lord, I thank you that you have created everything in wisdom and love.  Thank you for the earth that produces so much fruit, vegetables and flowers to feed people and animals.  I give thanks for Pierre Bienvenu Noailles, our Good Father, whom you inspired to choose Martillac for his future daughters. Thank you for all our Mothers who protected this treasure.  Thank you for calling me to live on this holy ground as a Contemplative Sister of the Holy Family of Bordeaux and for giving me a love for working on the land. 
Lord, you know that the earth cannot produce fruit if it is not well nourished.  I ask you to bless Stéphane and his family;  he works in the Domaine of La Solitude and keeps his donkey and horses at the bottom of the vineyard.  Bless the animals who generously give me abundant manure to nourish the garden.  That is why we will have a good harvest this year.
May you be blessed, Lord, for all the different sorts of grain but especially for all I am going to plant in the garden which you have also blessed. I thank you for the sense of sharing and the expertise of all the people who prepare seeds for the gardeners, not forgetting the men and women who share their experience and advice so that we can have a good harvest.
May you be blessed, Lord, for the water that helps us during the hot weather.  Bless all the people who come to admire and encourage the plants. You know that plants are like people and need affection. Finally, Lord, bless the men and women who will eat the produce of this garden. All for your greater glory. Amen.
Sr.  Odette UWIMANA – Contemplative
              La Solitude, Martillac

The Holy Family always tries to adapt to the inevitable and progressive ageing process of the Sisters.  We want to ensure that those who have dedicated their whole life to the service of others will be able to spend the last stage of their life living out their commitment to the full. 
We realise that we are getting old but we are often not ready to face that reality and to make the necessary changes to our way of living.   Whether we like it or not, we are beginning a stage of life that is different from anything that has gone before. But as well as the losses we experience, we find that we have new opportunities.  We need to adjust our mindset gradually and accept peacefully that the time is coming for us to begin “The Third Age”.  This is when the Care Home appears on our horizon.
For us, a Care Home for the Elderly is, above all, a community – a space where we can look at old age in the eye and decide to “live until we die”.  We know that life is a whole and if the first part has been very good, why should we expect the second half to be any less so?
Today we are going to look at Pinto – one of our four Care Homes in Spain.

Pinto is a small town.  It is welcoming and cheerful with several green areas and plenty of low-level housing – ideal for its sixty thousand inhabitants.  What is it like for the Holy Family  in Pinto?  It is a very suitable locality for them. Not only that, but it is the place where the Work of P.B. Noailles took root and grew in Spain.    It was here that Mother Bonnat who was chosen by the Founder to establish the Holy Family in this country, found a place close to Madrid to house a group of orphans.  It was a small group which she had gathered together as soon as she arrived in the capital, attracted as she was by her fondness for abandoned little girls.
In the middle of the nineteenth century (1856) a Holy Family Home for orphans was set up in Pinto with a lot of hardship and very little money.  It went through many changes over the course of a century.  Leaving aside the three years of the Civil War when it became a military hospital, Pinto was a college for orphaned girls and a private school for thirty years.  Then it opened its doors to local girls and boys.  When secondary education became obligatory in 1994, a new building was added.  It continues to function now as part of the Santo Domingo Educational Trust like all the other Holy Family educational establishments in Spain.
The college buildings have also gone through several changes.  The oldest part which was built in the nineteenth century was handed over to the Civil Administration of Pinto in the 60’s and is now the Municipal Cultural Centre.  The chapel was given to the diocese of Getafe and became the parish church of the flourishing parish of San José. It has been refurbished architecturally and continues to serve the local congregation.
At the moment, the college also has spacious, well-kept sports grounds with two recently-built pavilions. There is a lovely orchard and garden on the adjoining land and that is where we find the modern and well-equipped Care Home. It is a three-storey building with forty-six en-suite single rooms.  It also has two dining rooms and two chapels as well all the facilities needed in a home for the elderly.
Since the Sister-Carers were getting old themselves, the Province had to engage a company called AUSOLAN to help.  This company has people specially trained for the care of the elderly and also looks after the kitchen, the laundry and the cleaning.  The employees of the company have now become part of the Care Home Family.  Thanks to their dedication, professionalism and sensitivity (very much appreciated by the community), the Sisters are very well looked after and, most importantly, continue to smile in their old age.
At the same time, the Sisters form a community.   They have personal and community prayer, community meetings, liturgy preparation etc. They celebrate feasts together and take part in recreational activities.  Recently, some of them prepared for Christmas and the Epiphany with great imagination and creativity.  Normally, a group of Sisters spend some time each morning knitting warm gloves for needy people in the area.  They also have exercises and spend time reading and looking at television.   Each one can choose what she likes best and is most suitable for her current state of health.
Thanks to the college which for almost two centuries has kept the Holy Family spirit alive, and planted the seed not only among the pupils, their families and the staff but also in the town of Pinto, lasting bonds have been forged. These are still alive and there is a very good relationship between the Sisters and the local people.  The house is open and every week a group of women use a room for prayer and reflection and come to the community Mass every day.   They often meet the Sisters informally and share their joys and sorrows with them.  The Sisters offer their services to the parish too – on the parish council, with Caritas, in the parish office etc.  One Sister is a weekly volunteer with “The Bridge of Hope” in Madrid.  She works with Sisters of thirteen other Congregations to help migrants.  The whole community share in her interest and work for the people who come to the Centre.
The Sisters also establish new relationships among themselves which stimulate and support them.   They remember with gratitude the words of our Founder, “My dear Daughters, live and die in the bosom of the Holy Family lavishing on one another the loving care that befits affection to the sisters”. (Preface to the General Rules 1851)
The Pinto Community
 

Today the Anaivilunthan community of Jaffna unit Sri Lanka, had a special festive gathering with the Students (Holy Family Evening class project), community sisters and 50 other women headed families, who also benefit from the Holy Family Project. It was to celebrate the festive event of “Thai Pongal” which is considered as the ‘thanksgiving’ festival for the harvesting.
 
Some representatives of Govt. officers and the unit councillor Thiruchelvarani Alas also joined to grace the occasion. There were gifts and packets of dried ration shared among these families and students.

A group of asylum seekers from the JRS centre in London were delighted to be  offered a stay, free of charge, with the Canonesses of St Augustine in Boarbank Hall, Grange- over- Sands. It was decided that the most regular participants of the women’s prayer group which I lead every Tuesday, and the men’s group led by Fr Harry SJ, should be given the opportunity. Four women and three men took up the offer, as well as 4 staff/volunteers including myself, who accompanied them.
Our friends were really moved by the whole experience.  I will let them speak for themselves (helped by interviews with Fr Harry before leaving, and a translator where necessary). I have changed the names.
John (W Africa): I didn’t know what to expect but felt the need of a break. The welcome I received and the quiet surroundings immediately made me feel relaxed. I could meditate easily and reflect on my life. I could sleep better, I enjoyed one another’s company here. I was touched by the personal attention to my welfare. Seeing hills was a novel experience for me as I had always been accustomed to flat surfaces. It was the first time I visited an English village and I was really impressed.   
I was inspired by my visit to the nursing home – I was chatting to a blind lady, a nurse, who was forced into a prisoner of war camp. On my return, I want to do whatever I can to help others.  Before leaving I put in a fresh claim for asylum but I have heard nothing. Now I feel prepared to accept whatever comes. When I return, I plan to put aside time each day for prayer.
Destiny (Ivory Coast): While praying before the Blessed Sacrament during  Exposition, I was shocked to feel as if a baby was on my lap, and from him a voice which I took to be my grandson calling out, ‘Grandma, Grandma’. I felt acutely the pain of separation from my grandson. I resolved to make another attempt to see him but to be forgiving if I was not successful. I felt joy in my heart and the pain there being eased. I gained a lot from sharing with others in the group.
Peter (Georgia): I usually have broken sleep, no more than three to four hours. Here I had an unbroken full night’s  sleep. I felt more relaxed mentally and physically. While on walks, I greatly appreciated the conversation and the fresh air. On my return, I resolve to  increase my efforts to learn English, to take more exercise and to spend more time in meditation.
Ken (China): I am so grateful to God for the beauty I have seen over the past few days. It is like a glimpse of heaven and it has focused my mind on the things that are important in life. In our excursions, I was thrilled to be so near the lakes and the sea. I am grateful for the generosity of this community of sisters. For me their willingness to invite a stranger like myself is a sign of the resurrection. I loved sharing their joy of being in religious life and their strong faith in God.
Sherine (Congo): I enjoyed enormously the change from London. Having a bad leg, I am stuck at home without any certainty of staying in this country and am unable to fix a date for the operation the doctor sees as necessary. In the course of my prayer here, I found hope and a willingness to wait with patience. I really appreciated my own room here. I  normally am expected to clean the house in which I am given a room. Here I had the peace and quiet that I love. I can  return with courage and confidence.
Kathleen Diamond: For my part, I felt the privilege of accompanying these women and men from JRS and having time to relax with them and share on a more personal level.  Their delight in what I often take for granted – the hills, sheep grazing in the fields, having a room and space of one’s own, peace and  quiet – was for them a precious gift. They were amazed and moved that some of the sisters who had met them only briefly, called each of them by name. What an important tribute to them, when in so much of their lives as asylum seekers each one feels they are a number.
Kathleen Diamond

We all know that in 2015, Pope Francis wrote the encyclical letter Laudato sí on safeguarding our common home.  This theme is becoming evermore topical.  The International Union of Major Superiors (UISG) is always very open to the calls of the Church and of the world.  So in June 2018, the executive Council of  the UISG, in collaboration with the Secretariat for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and the Catholic World Movement for the Climate launched the campaign “Sowing Hope for the Planet”. The aim of this campaign is to gather   together what Sisters are doing to put Laudato sí  into practice.  It is linked to the urgency of developing an ever-greater awareness and concern about climate change and its  impact on the environment and society.
The UISG organises meetings and sessions on this topic and has contact people in the member Congregations. Since its headquarters are in Rome, the General Council asked me to be the contact person for the Holy Family. 
What am I supposed to do? Nothing extraordinary apart from giving you the news that you already receive through our website and to alert you to live our connectedness with the whole of humanity and the whole of creation and to respect and protect our common home.  As the Family of P. B. Noailles, we are   already living this. It is a confirmation that the Cosmic Vision – the New World View – must be integrated into every aspect of our life. We all must give our personal and community response to the cry of the Planet,  and the reflections organised by the UISG awaken our awareness of this.
The Amazon Synod which took place in Rome from 6 to 27 October 2019 is one of the responses to the planet’s difficulties because it opened new pathways towards an integral ecology. There were open meetings organised outside the actual Synod. I was able to take part in some of the prayers and reflections.  That opened my mind and made me even more aware of my place in the universe. Since we are all interconnected, what I live affects others and the whole universe. I appreciated the testimonies of missionaries from the Amazon and of the  indigenous people.
A comparison was made between the Amazon and the Congo Basin.  I was touched by the sharings of several Religious women and men who live in the Amazonian forests and the Congo Basin.  The Gospel has not yet reached the majority of the indigenous people of Amazonia, just as it has not yet reached the pygmies of the equatorial forest of the Congo Basin. These people who live very close to nature teach us a sense of the sacred and how to safeguard the earth. “Often, when we destroy forests for purely economic reasons, we use the same violence against people; and by destroying Amazonia, we are endangering the  future of humanity” declared one of the Synod Fathers.
All inhabitants of our Common Home are called to be prophetic and to be converted. The commitment concerning our planet which was made by the Council of the Family is an opportunity for us, members of the Holy Family, to do something practical in the interests of an integral ecology.
Marie-Pierre

Both Ana Maria and Kumudinie continued their journey to visit the community in Malawi from 15th – 24th November.  This too was a visit for ‘getting to know’ the sisters, the reality of the context in which our sisters are inserted and live their mission.  In early November they completed one year of presence there and during this time they had focused on uplifting girl child through conducting awareness and development programmes for 3 groups of young women.
This was an opportunity to relive the 2019 EGC experience with the community while sharing their joys and struggles of this new venture.  The sisters work in Benga parish, in collaboration with the Priests of the Missionaries of the Community of St. Paul the Apostle.

Ana Maria and Kumudinie visited Burkina Faso community from 5th – 14th November.  This being their first visit, it was an opportunity to come to know the sisters, their ministry, the context and the challenges they face.  It is an international, intercultural community of 4 sisters who are engaged in the secondary school (with two grades at present) and taking care of the 47 interns who live in the hostel in the same school premises.  Reflecting and sharing together on intercultural living was a main focus of our work with the community.  Last August, they completed one year of presence there.