Taking A Stand for Justice

The deep prejudice against African Americans is so painful and shameful to witness on our newscasts, and in our own experience and makes me think of the way Sister St John Fournier in 1845 defended the teaching of African American girls, against a furious white mob in St. Louis, who came at night to forcibly drive out the Sisters.  I want to share with you what she wrote about it. 

But first, I think we would be proud to note also that in the book Spirited Lives, which treats the way a French Sisterhood, namely the Sisters of St. Joseph, adapted to American culture, the authors (Carol K. Coburn and Martha Smith) has a footnote listing those Sisterhoods that used slave labor, and state that the Sisters of St. Joseph never did so. (Spirited Lives, footnote 14, p.241). 

-Sister Wendy Cotter, csj

Now, here is Sister Saint John Fournier: 

Sister St. John Fournier

"In 1845 Bishop Kendrick, [Bishop of St. Louis] established a school for Catholic coloured girls, the daughters of free negroes". Sister Saint John Fournier  (to whom Mother Saint John had given her name while she was preparing to come to the New World, a new novice) was now thirty years old when she faced the threats of a mob determined to drive them from the house.  Here is her account:  

"Obedience sent me there with two Sisters.  We were preparing these girls for the reception of the Sacraments. This so displeased the white people that they threatened to drive us away by force.  The leaders came every day. One morning several persons spoke to me after Mass and warned me that the next night we were to be driven from the house. I had no fear and said nothing to the Sisters because I had so much confidence in the Blessed Virgin.  I placed miraculous medals on the street door and on the fence.  

That night, at eleven o'clock a great noise suddenly awakened the Sisters.  A crowd of men, gathered in the street, were screaming and blaspheming.   We cast ourselves on our knees and began the Miserere and other prayers.  In the meantime, the enraged mob rushed upon the door.   The police drove them away. They returned three times that night.  The Blessed Virgin protected us.  In spite of their fury and their efforts, they succeeded neither in opening nor forcing the door.  

The day after this occurrence, the Mayor of Saint Louis advised the Bishop to close the school for the time being. Peace was restored.  The Sisters' schools received indiscriminately rich and poor, Catholics, Protestants, schismatics, and children of all religions.  A few years later, the asylum alone numbered two hundred fifty orphans."  

- Mother Saint John Fontbonne; A Biography, 1936 English translation of the French original, 1929, researched and written by "A Sister of St. Joseph", pp 358-359.                                       

“To Zoom or Not to Zoom”, that is the Question

With the radical ways of being moving and changing so drastically because of Covid-19, we are drawn to ponder the question:  “To Zoom or NOT to Zoom?”

In my own personal experience of connecting with people, I have found that Zoom is right now the new “normal” for connecting with family, friends, organizations.

Just recently (Sept. 17th) I had the privilege to host a Zoom call with 45 participants all across Canada to be engaged with an Indigenous helper and knowledge keeper on her experience of “The Impact of Residential Schools”.

We literally “zoomed in” on her personal experience and engaged in the experience by expressing how we were affected by what was heard.

I was on the de-briefing residential schools’ Zoom call with a few people when Jean came in and joined in this small gathering as we were de-briefing. Jean shared what she experienced in Jeff Thistle’s presentation, and we shared our experience of the circle Zoom call that had just ended.  We connected through and because of two Zoom calls that had been experienced at the same time, both involving relationships between Indigenous and non Indigenous peoples.

I share this by way of indicating how Zoom has made it possible for people to truly connect across geographic, cultural, and social lines.

We, Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, experienced this in our recent beginning of Chapter 2020.  The conversations we had were respectful, well-paced, and came from deep reflection. Kudos to the many Sisters who have learned how to Zoom!

It seems to be one of the effective ways of linking people together when the world seems to be falling apart.  What the world needs now is truly effective ways of communicating involving sight and sound if possible.

So if you are asking yourself, “to Zoom or not to Zoom?” I highly recommend it for connecting with your families, friends, reflection groups, community members…and possibly at unexpected levels of depth.

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, CSJ

A Place of Stillness

In Renfrew County, along the banks of the Madawaska River, stands a grey building surrounded by trees.

It has been a haven of hospitality for many years- even for the brave men who rode the logs, bringing them to harvest in the 1800s. This place at Springtown was known as the “Stopping Place”- a home that also welcomed the itinerant priest and the schoolteacher. It was discovered by three of our Pembroke Sisters, who embraced it with loving care and vision, to create the present Stillpoint House of Prayer.

the ‘stopping place’

Countless retreatants have crossed its threshold throughout the 32 years of its ministry. The walls still ring with the wisdom of Sisters Maria and Betty. We are grateful for its sturdy structure and its amazing views; the big old barn provides shelter as well for people who come for prayer and quiet. We believe the Holy Spirit resides at Stillpoint too, amidst the green gardens and lawns, the spruce and lilac, and the multitude of wildlife.

An all-season place for quiet and calm, Stillpoint invites one and all.

-Sister Helen Russell, csj

The Rural Libraries of Cajamarca - A Peruvian Dream Realized

Since the early 1960s, the Sisters of St Joseph have had a presence in Peru.  During those years a priest from England, Father John Metcalfe ministered in the Andes in Cajamarca with primarily the Indigenous population located in small subsistence farming communities.  Focusing on education, he wondered why anyone would want to learn how to read when they did not have access to newspapers or books.  As a result, he creatively evolved a lending library system, simple but effective, with a presence in every small community.  Fifty years later his dream still promotes and encourages reading to enhance education and critical thinking.  Critical thinking that included indigenous land rights with ecological protection.

The present administrator of the Rural Libraries of Cajamarca, Alfredo Mires Ortiz, has contributed a blog focusing on the continual evolution of that broadened educational dream.    - Sr Mabel St. Louis, csj

The Rural Libraries of Cajamarca

In memory of Fr. Gerardo Prince St. Onge, ever-present.

Modern times only give the impression of being modern and make us believe that we live in the future. But the old injustices prevail; the iniquity is still there, even if we don't want to see it.

There are words that have been in fashion around here for quite some time: development, competitiveness, success, entrepreneurship, empowerment, acceleration, celebrity, etc. And there are other words whose use is becoming outdated: poverty, hunger, exploitation, love, solidarity, fraternity, spirit, etc.

But hiding the words does not liquidate the realities, because there are still poor people and because of hunger they continue to die, and because love continues to be lacking. The pain of those who suffer is not relieved by covering their mouths or averting our eyes.

And never more than today - when the continuity of the human species and nature are at risk – is competitiveness or celebrity more shameful, when what the world requires is commonality.

That is why we continue the journey with our Rural Libraries of Cajamarca: because books can also be the bread that nourishes our memories and our hopes. Rediscovering words, rewriting our stories, and re-creating ourselves with, from and to the earth is a way of building tomorrow without having to stumble over the same stone so many times.

Reading is decanting and discerning, attracting the world and projecting oneself onto the world. And we have been doing this for 50 years, trying to understand and unlearn. It is not an empty path: we are an independent organization and we are not guided by ideology or motivated by a reward. We are a community, we are family. We are children of marginalized memory, unappreciated history, and pursued dreams. And we learn from the most humble, from the prodigious presence of those whom society does not value and does not take into account.

-Alfredo Mires Ortiz

In this wonderful fifteen minute video​, Alfredo Mires Ortiz, head of the rural library program (RED), shows us the creative ways the people of Cajamarca participate in the "moving libraries" with their local 'librarian' holding books at home, and the volunteers who carry the books on their backs in backpacks to the next village in the hills.  The books not only provide practical knowledge. As Alfredo explains in the introduction and the conclusion, the library  reclaims Peruvian history from the false claims  of the Spanish conquest, replacing it with the truth. The library then, informs and supports, celebrates Peruvian history, culture, values,  and dignity. 

-Sister Wendy Cotter csj

Las Bibliotecas Rurales de Cajamarca

A la memoria de Fr. Gerardo Prince St. Onge, tan presente.

Los tiempos modernos solo dan la impresión de ser modernos y nos hacen creer que vivimos en el futuro. Pero las antiguas injusticias prevalecen; la iniquidad sigue ahí, aunque no queramos verla.

Hay palabras que por aquí andan de moda hace bastante tiempo: desarrollo, competitividad, éxito, emprendimiento, empoderamiento, aceleración, celebridad, etc. Y hay otras palabras cuyo uso va resultando anticuado: pobreza, hambre, explotación, amor, solidaridad, fraternidad, espíritu, etc.

Pero escondiendo las palabras no se liquidan las realidades. Porque pobres sigue habiendo y porque de hambre se sigue muriendo y porque amor sigue faltando. El dolor de los que sufren no se alivia tapándoles la boca ni volteándonos los ojos.

Y nunca como hoy –cuando la continuidad de la especie humana y la naturaleza están en riesgo– resulta más vergonzosa la competitividad o la celebridad, cuando lo que requiere el mundo es mancomunidad.

Por eso seguimos caminando con nuestras Bibliotecas Rurales de Cajamarca, porque los libros también pueden ser el pan que nutre nuestros recuerdos y nuestros anhelos; redescubrir las palabras y escribirnos con la tierra es una forma de construir el mañana sin tener que tropezar tantas veces con la misma piedra.

Leer es decantar y discernir, atraer el mundo y proyectarse al mundo. Y en eso andamos ya hace 50 años, tratando de comprender y desaprender. No es un camino vacío: somos una organización independiente y no nos guía una ideología ni nos mueve una recompensa. Somos comunidad, somos familia. Somos hijos de la memoria marginada y de la historia despreciada y de los sueños perseguidos. Y aprendemos de los más humildes, desde la prodigiosa presencia de aquellos a los que la sociedad no valora y no toma en cuenta.