Pilgrims experience canonization celebration |
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 00:00 |
OREGON—“It still seems like I was watching a movie of something so wonderful, but I was actually in it,” says Barbara Berry, recalling her trip to Rome for the canonization on Oct. 11 of Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Nine people from the Toledo area made a pilgrimage to the canonization celebration of St. Jeanne Jugan. Leaving on a bus are front, from left, Janet Eskra, Helen Carroll, Little Sister of the Poor Sr. Rose Marie Kietter and Janet Leach. Top, from left are Rose Bollin, Barb Berry and Ann Gothier. (Photo courtesy of Little Sisters of the Poor)
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Ms. Berry, a medical secretary at Little Sisters of the Poor, and eight other pilgrims from the Toledo area traveled to Vatican City to witness the historic event. More than 50,000 pilgrims from across the globe flocked to watch Pope Benedict XVI formally declare five men and women saints.
Jeanne Jugan, born in France in 1792, lived during a time of violence and abject poverty, when begging was a way of life. Having always tended to the poor and elderly, Jeanne Jugan came upon a poor, blind, elderly woman without a home and carried the woman back to her small apartment. She gave the woman her bed and went to sleep in the attic. More and more elderly and poor made their way to her doorstep, and with the help of other young women, Jeanne Jugan cared for them. Their work grew and they became known among the townspeople as the “Little Sisters of the Poor,” the name that remains today.
Fittingly, it’s her humbleness that has become associated with the work of the Little Sisters of the Poor. At her beatification, Pope John Paul II said that “God could glorify no more humble a servant than she.”
In Rome, Ms. Berry said it was inspiring to witness such an international gathering of followers who came to honor Jeanne Jugan’s humble work.
“When we were waiting for the canonization, we were surrounded by people from around the world,” says Ms. Berry. “I was standing next to pilgrims from China, India, Chile and Hawaii. People were dressed in their native costumes and singing in Italian, Polish and French. “
A night and early morning filled with violent storms transformed into a magnificent sun-filled moment for the canonization. Not long after the ceremony in which five holy men and women were pronounced saints, a double rainbow appeared in the sky.
Back in Toledo, Bishop Leonard P. Blair held a celebratory mass Oct. 22 for St. Jeanne Jugan that was attended by more than 400 people.
“Over the last 125 years, the Little Sisters of the Poor have expanded and moved several times, but their present home is a place that their saintly foundress would recognize immediately as her own, a place where the needy elderly find a true home in which they can feel a sense of respect, security and love as they journey toward eternity,” said Bishop Blair during his homily.
The Little Sisters of the Poor also held a reception at their Sacred Heart Home for the Aged in Oregon for about 200 people.
While the Little Sisters of the Poor have always known how blessed their foundress was, they are pleased that the world now knows more about the holy life of Jeanne Jugan today.
“The Little Sisters of the Poor always knew Jeanne Jugan so well,” says Little Sister of the Poor Regina Loftus, administrator of the Sacred Heart Home in Oregon. “Now she belongs to the world.”
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 14:06 |
