Volume III Issue No.1 January-February 2015

Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, Casa Santo Spirito, 00163 Via dei Bevilacqua 60, Rome Italy

“Wherever the stream flows, it will bring life.” (Ez. 47:9c)

NORFOLK. The Norfolk Priory held its Election Chapter on January 2-3. Sr. Lumen Gloria Dungca, Vicaress General, and Sr. Caridad Choi, General Councilor, conducted the chapter on January 2-3. Sisters re-elected Sr. Pia Portmann for a three-year term .

Sr. Pia, who has been a great spiritual leader for the Norfolk Sisters during her first term, is Swiss-born, German educated, Africa missioned, and called to the USA. She was in Peramiho for 12 years as pri-oress and in Norfolk for 5 years also as Prioress. This represents 17 years living in African and American Culture. Sr. Pia is a model of Inter-cultural living, an example of balance and ener-gy for our “9-nationality” priory. By: Sr. Carol Ann Clark, OSB

TORRES NOVAS. The Ibe-rian Priory held its Elec-tion Chapter January 9 – 10. M. Angela Strobel pre-sided over the chapter in which the Sisters from three different countries belonging to this Priory re-elected Sr. Timótea Kronschnabl for a second term of three years.

Sr. Timótea was sent to Sorocaba, Brazil in 1966 as a Junior Sister. In 1979 she was elected Prioress of Tutzing for two terms. She returned to Sorocaba as Subprioress and local superior. For 9 years she was in Argentina as Regional Superior before being elected Prioress of the Iberian Pri-ory in 2010. Sr. Timótea with her manifold expe-rience of leadership in different countries contin-ues to facilitate growth in the Iberian Priory com-posed of Portugal, Madrid and Angola. By: Sr. Regina Tesch, OSB

Sr. Pia Sr. Timótea

M. Angela handing the election document to Sr. Ruth

SR. RUTH INSTALLED PRIORESS

M. Angela Strobel installed on February 8 Sr. Ruth Schönenberger as Prioress Tutzing . Al-so present during the installation was Sr. Caridad Choi.

In behalf of the Generalate, M. Angela thanked Sr. Hildegard Jansing for the eight years of service she rendered as prioress. Sr. Hildegard will proceed to Norfolk and stay there for three months after taking the rest she needs. Likewise, M. Angela wished Sr. Ruth a good continuation of the work began. She enjoined all the sisters to live and work as a community for “this is a task and witness to the people of our time.”

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As part of the year-long celebration of the congregation’s 130th Jubilee and the Year of Consecrated Life, the Lifestream will continue to feature the living and deceased blood sisters of the con-gregation in the succeeding issues.

NORFOLK

LEICK SISTERS Sr. Frances Sr. Germaine Sr. Paula + 1954 +1977

EWARTZ SISTERS Sr. Mary Placid , Sr. Josephine

+1962

SALBER SISTERS Sr. Anella Sr. Agnes +2006

MEET THE

POLT SISTERS Sr. Cecilia & Sr. Andrea (Ndanda)

ROTTINGHAUS SISTERS

Sr. Pia Sr. Michael Marie

(Nairobi)

PORTUGAL

RIEDL SISTERS

Sr. Consilia Sr. Anne Sr. Bernolda

+1967 Tutzing +2008 Norfolk +2009 Windhoek

MOREIRA SISTERS

Sr.Ma. Goretti & Sr. Idalina

+2001

ZAHNBRECHER SISTERS

Sr. Monica & Sr. Gotthelma

(Bernried)

WAGNER SISTERS

Sr. Aniana Sr. Erminolda

(Tutzing)

KORFF SISTERS M. Birgitta Sr. Eusebia +1929 +1904 Tutzing Tutzing

SOROCABA

BASSINI SISTERS

Sr. Ma.Elvira , Sr. Judith

+ 1988

BASTIANELLO SISTERS

Sr. Ma. Das Sr. Edita

Graças + 2000

BAPTISTELA SISTERS

Sr. Assumpta & Sr. Maria

da Gloria (+2009 )

P a g e 3 V o l u m e I I I , I s s u e 1

February 7- The Tacloban Hospital of the Manila Priory celebrated its 50 years of foundation. The founding members are now back in Germany - Sr. Alesia Beer and Sr. Venantia Göbel at Haus St. Benedikt. Sr. Mary Birkemeyer resides at the mother house in Tutzing.

February 10 - Sr. Macrina Oh, Sr. Marie Enoch Kim, Sr. Deborah Yu and Sr. Marie Sohwa Yun made their final profession during the eucharis-tic celebration held at the Daegu Priory Chapel.

1. January 11—Sr. Karolina Pasek from Ndan-da to Bulgaria

2. January 14—Sr. Hilda Buhay from Manila to Jinja

3. January 14—Sr. Lioba Yang from Peramiho to Ndanda

SOROCABA

MOURA SISTERS

Sr. Gloria & Sr. Terezinha

CAMPOS SISTERS

Sr. Anisia & Sr.Ledia

SABADINI SISTERS

Sr. Ma. Helena & Sr. Lourdes

4. February 4—Sr. Maria Paula Mwendjilile from Windhoek to Argentina

5. February 6—Sr. Consorcia Rodela from Ma-nila to Angola

6. February 15—Sr. Cecil Jo from Daegu to Rome

1

From l-r: Sr. Macrina,Sr. Marie Enoch , Sr. Debora , Sr. Marie Sohwa , Sr. Zeno Sagong (Junior mistress)

Sr. Kunigundis Amon served as general econome from 2001– February 2015. She is re-placed by Sr. Maria Ignatius Glasser who just finished her term of eight years as Prioress of Windhoek.

TO

Sr.Kunigundis Sr. Maria Ignatius

2 3 4 5 6

Golden Jubilee of Tacloban Hospital

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Sisters from Tacloban joyfully await the arrival of Pope Francis despite the heavy rain.

PHILIPPINES Pope Francis visited the Philippines from Janu-ary 15-19. He relates, “My visit to the Philippines was a sign of solidarity with all those affected by Typhoon Yolanda. In Tacloban we cel-

ebrated our hope in the mercy of God. In Manila I asked families to cherish and protect the family in its fundamental role in society and in God’s plan. At my meeting with young people, I challenged them to build a society of integrity and compassion for the poor. At the conclusion of my visit, I commended the Filipino people to their patron and protector, the Christ Child, and urged them to persevere in their precious witness to the Gospel on the great continent of Asia.”

The Vatican's spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, said that papal history was made dur-ing the Pope’s closing mass at the Luneta with 6 to 7 million people in attendance, calling it the "largest event of the history of the Popes." Sr. Ana Ma. Raca, the superior of the Tacloban Hospital reminisces, “Despite an an-nouncement of a storm Pope Francis decided to fly to Tacloban on January 17 to be with the survivors of typhoon Yolanda. Amidst heavy rains and strong winds, an estimated 200,000 rain-soaked faithful who waited for long hours at the airport welcomed his arrival with jubilation. In his homily, he told the people that when he saw from Rome the catastrophe, he felt that he had to be there and decided to come. He did away with his prepared homily and spoke from his heart, God’s heart! There was not a dry eye when he assured the people that “Jesus is Lord and the Lord from the cross is there for you.”

Demarest Visit

From L-R: Sr. Caridad, Sr. Regina, Sr. Philippa, Sr.Hasang, Sr. Jin-I and Sr. Lumen Gloria

DEMAREST, NEW JERSEY Sr. Lumen Gloria Dungca and Sr. Caridad Choi made an official visitation to the Demarest community belonging to the Seoul Priory from January 8-15. The community ministers to the Korean migrants. It is headed by Sr. Philippa Cheong who works with Sr. Jin-I Kim at the St. Joseph’s Parish, Demarest, New Jersey. Sr. Ha-sang Chong and Sr. Regina Kwon do their aposto-late at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhat-tan, New York.

During the visitation Sr. Caridad gave the opening and closing conference.

TOGO

Sr.Lumen (l) and Sr. Salete (r)during their Togo visit

Sr. Lumen Gloria Dungca and Sr. Maria Salete da Rocha visited the Fraternite Monastique Immaculee Concepcion da Kazaboua in Togo from February 6-14. ( cont’d to page 5 )

V o l u m e I I I , I s s u e 1 P a g e 5

REFUGEES and HUMAN

TRAFFICKING By: Sr. Regina Tesch, OSB

In December 2014 the Generalate went to Joel Nafuma Refugee Cen-ter to find out where cooperation could be possible. Joel Nafuma

Refugee Center (JNRC) is a day center for refu-gees, a ministry of St. Paul’s inside the Walls Epis-copal Church. Each weekday 200—250 refugee guests are welcomed. They are offered breakfast and can get clothes and toiletries. They also have recreational activities. Language classes, legal as-sistance and art or psychotherapy assist the refu-gee guests in their situation.

Since January Sr. Antoinette with the 7 Junior Sisters have been going there every week to help with the distribution of breakfast and to be with them. The refugees reveal their touching stories and express their appreciation of being with the Sisters.

Meeting with JNRC Volunteers

From L-R: Volunteers William and Daniela, Sr. Caridad,

Sr. Salete, Sr. Regina, Sr. Lumen and Sr. Antoniette

Togo (from page 4)

A community of women while still study-ing in college in 1992 felt a strong call to come together and live and pray as a community. Eve-ry Friday they would go to the Benedictine Monks of St. Ottilien in Agbang, Kara, Togo to seek spiritual help from Fr. Boniface Tiguila, the first prior of the monastery. As students they lived in a small house where they prayed togeth-er. This house in Kara was offered for free by the father of one of the young women. When they all finished their studies , they looked for a more spacious place which served as a prayer room, a study room, a dining room, kitchen and a sleeping room all rolled into one. Their parents were very supportive that they would provide them food and their other needs.

They chant their office vibrantly with the accompaniment of a native instrument, kurah.

An added spiritual father to them is Bish-op Djoliba Ambroise of Sokodé in the ecclesiastical province of Lomé in Togo.

Sr. Aquinata Böckmann stayed with them for one week from the last days of December 1996 over the new year of 1997. She introduced them to various forms of monastic life.

To date they have four perpetually pro-fessed sisters, a novice, two postulants and eight

live-out aspirants.

No longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters In his message for theWorld Day of Peace on January 1 Pope Francis talked about Human Trafficking as a modern form of slavery. On Janu-ary 21 the Justice and Peace group of UISG met to share about this topic.

After a prayer service for the victims and violators we were in two short videos confronted with the painful fact of human trafficking. Peo-ple are forced into labor in agriculture, mining and fighting, prostitution and all kind of sexual abuse. Another increasing form of human traf-ficking is for organ removal. Many of the victims are women and children. In a sharing we heard the some touching experiences from the group. (useful website for further information: www.talithakum.info)

INDIA By: Sr. Ma. Gratia Balagot, OSB

Mr. and Mrs. Jo-seph Wiederkehr in the company of Rt. Rev. Dr. M i e c z y s l a w Mockrzyckit, a Polish and who was the former second Secretary of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedikt and now an archbishop in Ukraine, came to Punalur on Janu-ary 26. They visited the projects that are being financed by the Wiederkehr family, among them the parish school which was blessed on January 25. The archbishop celebrated an Italian mass in the chapel with the community .

Arch. Mockrzyckit with the Wiederhekrs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokod%C3%A9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Lom%C3%A9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo

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Sr. Lidwina Wurm, OSB, 87, died in Tutzing on December 21, 2014.

Sr. Bertwina Caesar, OSB, 100, died in Daegu on December 29, 2014.

Sr. Conceição de Castro Ferreira, OSB, 80, died in Sorocaba on January 10.

Sr. Johanna Plitzko, OSB, 90, died in Gross-hadern/Munich on February 7.

LEAVING WINTER BEHIND

By: Sr. Elizabeth Uhing, OSB (Norfolk)

The cold bite of winter is put to sleep The ancient rites of old

Are beginning their rituals Ever so new

The morning sun warming the earth Calling forth the daffodils

Each by name To waken the earth with their mighty trumpets

Consistency, sweetness, and briskness Of their affirmative report

Is heard as the blades of new life come forth After a long winter sleep

Blade by blade, bud by bud Ever playing the haunting music of old

The bleeding heart is given to the lonely of heart The sunflower is for the joyous of heart

With a song in their soul Your days are not lonely

Bees come to absorb your nectar Cooling your being with the fans of their wings

Oh! If we had the soul of a child So innocent and pure

We would also hear the ancient music of old

WISDOM CONNECTIONS: TIMELESS

TRADITION – TECHNOLOGICAL TIMES By :Sr. Gabrielle Marie Oestreich, OSB

Capturing the wisdom to enhance the formation of new members to Benedictine com-munities is the goal of the collaborative project: Wisdom Connections: Timeless Traditions – Technological Times, entered upon by the American Benedictine Prioresses. A grant from the GHR Foundation, awarded to the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana is providing needed resources to make the vision a reality.

This pilot program, which kicked off in January 2015 involves 19 Benedictines from across the three Federations and two Congrega-tions in the United States as the project team. Our sister, Sr. Gabrielle Marie Oestreich from Norfolk, joins three other Novice Directors, as members of the “Content Committee”. The com-mittee is responsible for identifying curriculum areas for all stages of initial formation, identify-ing potential presenters with special emphasis initially on the elder experts, and contacting and inviting these presenters.

The primary purpose of the project is

twofold: First to augment the formation pro-

grams of the individual monasteries with the

wisdom of Benedictine experts and spiritual

leaders. Second, to develop relationships among

the new members through on-line, facilitated

conversations and discussions so they may deep-

en their connection with one another. Maxim-

izing new technologies this three year project

aims to focus initially on capturing the wisdom

of the numerous elder Benedictine scholars and

spiritual guides and make these available

through an internet source.

Sr. Juliann Babcock, Sr. Marie Therese Long,Sr. Ann Louise Frederick, Sr. Gabrielle Marie, Sr. Pat Nyquis

A BLESSED

The GENERALATE