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 Jubilee
Celebrations
Eight Sisters of Providence and one Daughter of Wisdom
celebrated 50, 60, 70 and 75 years of religious life on
June 12 at Providence Centre. Sisters Elizabeth Kass,
Mary Zadnik, Patricia Nadorozny, Orietta Belanger,
Helene Simard, Germaine Perron, Lina Gaudette and
Theresa Langi are the Sisters of Providence, Sister
Rosalie Gaukler, who has been residing at Providence
Centre for some years, is the Daughter of Wisdom. The
following day Sister Rosalie had the added distinction
of celebrating her 100th birthday!
These sisters have
served in the fields of education, child care, parish
ministry and administration. Friends, family, coworkers
and people who have benefited from their ministries
joined the Sisters in a joyful liturgy presided by
Archbishop-Emeritus Joseph N. MacNeil followed by an
afternoon of enjoying each others’ company.
 The
Sisters of Providence - An International Experience
Sister Christina Wong, a sister of
temporary vows with the Sisters of Providence of
Montreal, recently returned from a four-month
international experience in Manila in the Philippines.
She participated in the ministries of the Sisters of
Providence there: parish ministry, campus ministry,
Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC), and many more.
Sister Christina said of her
experience, "There are lots of things I am grateful for,
especially the God of abundance who will help me to
share. What impressed me was the faith of God’s people….
We visited families in an area of Manila called
Forestry. To my surprise, the Forestry has no trees,
only squatters all over the place. Some of their houses
are unimaginably tiny. Any walk-in closet in Canada is
bigger than many of the houses. Each family has at least
3 to 4 members and they eat and sleep under the same
roof. There is no privacy and it’s very risky especially
for women; they will easily fall into the hands of men….
Besides, drugs and gambling are serious problems. The
people have to struggle hard every day to make ends
meet. It is sad to see the oppressed and unjust; on the
other hand, it leads me to reflect on my attitude of
entitlement."
The Sisters of Providence of Montreal, an international
congregation, include in their formation program an
international experience for each of their twenty-five
sisters in formation. These experiences are intended to
give the sister the opportunity to live and to minister
with Sisters of Providence in a culture other than her
own; to help her to recognize the value and richness of
another culture and to develop the capacity to
appreciate differences and to welcome these as gifts to
be shared; to assist her to continue her personal
integration of the Providence charism and mission in a
culture other than her own, and to learn to recognize
the elements that are common to the Sisters of
Providence life and mission all over the world; to
provide opportunities for the sister to improve her
second language skills and to deepen her understanding
of a second and/or third language.
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