Gaudete Sunday. That is Latin for REJOICE! We’re lighting the rose colored candle filled with the spirit of joy this week. How did we get here so fast? One thing makes the time spent waiting seem to go by so much faster. Any ideas? Surely many of you guessed it. Busy-ness.
Seems as if I blinked and instantly it was the third week of Advent!...
At the beginning of November Vicki and I attended a development workshop in Sparkill, NY. On November 6th our Advisory committee met for the 2nd time. Several issues were discussed and it was decided that the next meeting would be held after the new Mission Advancement Director is in place.
We received several very generous gifts in November...
In 1640, Marguerite was 20 years old. Following a spiritual experience, she decided to “give (herself) to the service of God.” At that time, her spiritual guide was Monsieur Gendret, priest in St-Nizier Parish (Troyes). She wrote that the good Father spoke to her about religious life. “But the Carmelites refused me even though I was strongly drawn to them. I went to others, but this did not succeed either.”
Monsieur Gendret was aware of Marguerite’s efforts. He studied the quality of the young woman who was under his guidance, her spiritual aspirations and her ability to attract others to her. He spoke to her about planning to found a community which would honour the life of the Blessed Virgin. An unsuccessful attempt was made in Troyes: of the initial group of three, one of these young women died, the other married and Marguerite was left alone. What was God’s will for her? For a while, she continued to commit herself to teaching in the outskirts of her home city. In 1643, she made a vow of chastity and a little later a vow of poverty.
In 1653, she travelled to New France to become a teacher in Ville-Marie (Montreal). Did this mean that she no longer aspired to religious life?