Pilgrimage to Our Origins

The Pilgrimage to Our Origins program was a totally internationalized experience this year. Three sisters from Argentina (including one Italian missionary) and one sister from Senegal joined Sr. Line Rioux (of the USA) and Sr. Eluiza de Andrade (of Brazil) on a pilgrimage to historical sites of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the areas around Le Puy. 

During the week-long pilgrimage, they visited the Kitchen, the Living History Centre, the Cathedral de Notre Dame du Puy, l'Eglise du College, and the Tree of the Martyrs in Le Puy. They went to St. Flour where Fr. Medaille began his ministry. In learning about Mother St. John Fontbonne they saw her birthplace in Bas-en-Basset, her first mission in Monistrol, the place where she was imprisoned in St. Didier-en-Velay during the French Revolution, and her bedroom and graveside in Lyon. 


St. Flour

St. Flour is almost 2 hours from Le Puy. It was Fr. Medaille's first mission after he became a priest in 1643. He taught grammar at the Jesuit College there.  

Jean Pierre Medaille was born in Carcassonne, France, on October 6, 1610. As a Jesuit, he was first assigned to be a missionary to the small villages in south-central France. While he was in St. Flour, he met several women who were tending the sick and wanted some kind of spiritual community. Although this community was formed, it did not last. He later met more of these kinds of women in LePuy who eventually became known the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1650. Fr. Medaille was their spiritual director.

The sisters visited the School and College of St. Joseph was founded in St. Flour by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Although there are no sisters there now, the spirit and charism of the sisters is continued through the principal, faculty, and staff. 

Madame Giscard, the principal of the primary school, was taught by the sisters there. She has since been with the school professionally for the past 20 years and clearly emulates the spirit of the Sisters of St. Joseph.  

It was October vacation for the students, but Madame Giscard was there in her office to greet the sisters on pilgrimage. She explained how the school had grown and evolved over the years. She was especially proud of the recent renovations.

The school entrance illustrates its mission, which is based on the parable of the mustard seed from the Gospel of Matthew.

Amanda and Maggorina talk with Eluiza

Hilda and Mary discuss a couple points about the school

Maggiorina checks out the primary students' "buddy" who teaches them how to dress for all seasons and all occasions.

Marie Therese stands at the original door of the school. 

The sisters brought a picnic lunch with them to St. Flour and ate in a beautiful city park filled with horse chestnut trees. It was a sunny but windy day.

Happy 34th Birthday, Marie Therese

The sisters celebrated Marie Therese's birthday with a song at breakfast. In the evening, they honored her with a cake. Throughout the day she received e-mail, text, and What's Up messages from family and friends in Senegal.

Marie Therese, a math major, cut the raspberry cream cake into eight triangles. No one present had ever seen that done before. What a concept!

Marie Therese appreciated the sisters' card to her with everyone's special birthday message.















Bas-en-Basset, Monistrol, and St. Didier
The group toured places pertinent to the life of Mother St. Fontbonne. They visited her birthplace in Bas-en-Basset, then went on to Monistrol where she entered at age 19 and later became a superior at age 26. They also went to St. Didier where she was imprisoned during the French Revolution.

The sisters stand in front of the birthplace of Mother St. John Fontbonne in Bas-en-Basset. The building was erected in 1757 (see door post inscription above the sisters' heads). The tools on both sides depicted on both sides of the date are carpenter's tools signifying that her father was a carpenter.

In Monistrol, the sisters met with Sr. Pierre Marie, who welcomed them to the convent and gave them a little history of the building. The sisters first came to Monistrol in 1660 to take care of the poor and infirm. In 1776, Monseigneur de Galard built this house. The sisters then opened a school for girls. In 1793, during the French Revolution (1789-99), the house was seized and the sisters either left or were imprisoned. Soldiers lived in the house during the war years. The sisters eventually bought back the house from the government and in 1820 they re-started the school. 

The chapel had been completely destroyed, but it was re-built in 1825. One stone remains from the original chapel, and the sisters had it cemented on the wall outside of the new chapel. 

Saint-Marcellin Church was erected in 1150 and renovated for the first time in 1309.  In 1657 the clock tower and dome was added. In 1794 (during the French Revolution) the church was turned into a covered market.  In 1807 the exterior walls and apse were reconstructed to give it its current appearance. 

Sister ___ (Institut) gives the sisters on a tour of Saint-Marcellin Church and shares a bit of its history.

Lyon

The sisters spent a day in Lyon visiting the Living History Centre of the Congregation of Lyon. They were greeted by Sr. Catherine Barange, Superior General of the Congregation, and Sr. Rosa Maria, also of the General Counsel. Then they headed for the chapel where Sr. Line gave an explanation of the painting in the apse.

Mary (standing) and Eluiza (red jacket) translate from English to Spanish and French, respectively.

Here is an early version of the SSJ family tree hangs in the chapel. Since then and with much more research, the family tree has been revised.











The sisters also explored the Living History Centre where artifacts of the Lyon Congregation are kept. 



Line explained that this painting of Mother St. John Fontbonne was done by one of the sisters without her knowing it. Jeanne Fontbonne resisted what she considered undue recognition of her works and leadership. 

The sisters took a traditional pose with a sculpture of Mother St. John Fontbonne, which was created by Sr. Mary Southard. Two sisters from India who were visiting the Generalate, joined the group. 

 The final stop of the day in Lyon was the gravesite of Mother St. John Fontbonne. The sisters were quite moved by this experience as well as the pilgrimage in general.

Marie Therese and Maggorina

Hilda

     
Sunday -- the Last Day
On Sunday we all went to Mass at the Cathedral and made a short tour of the spacious building. Afterward, we returned home for a traditional French dish of the Alpine mountains called raclette, and it was delightful.

 

The term, raclette, is derived from the French word, racler, which means "to scrape," a reference to the fact that the melted cheese is scraped onto boiled red potatoes. 

The electric table-top grill is heated. On the bottom layer is the place for the little pans called coupelles, which melt the cheese. Our grill also had a stone for keeping the potatoes warm. Our grill 8 coupelles. 

The cheese had already been cut so that it could be placed into the coupelles and heated. It takes the cheese about 5 minutes to melt. 



You can prepare your potatoes by peeling them or, if you don't want to wait to put more cheese on more potatoes, just leave on the skin. 

Once the cheese is melted, you just slide the cheese onto the potatoes. A little wooden stick helps this process, although our coupelles were teflon-coated so they slid off easily.

Raclette is served with ham, salami, gherkins, pickled onions, and white wine like Savoie, Riesling, or Pinot Gris.

Raclette cheese is a semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk that has been aged for 3-6 months and fashioned into a wheel about 13 pounds (6 kg).

Sr. Simone joined us for déjeuner and with Eluiza helped the sisters prepare their dish of raclette.

Simone and Hilda

Maggiorina, Hilda, and Amanda

Line, Eluiza, Marie Therese, and Mary

The sisters had an afternoon reflection period, where they wrapped the entire pilgrimage. Then, it was time for another meal and Marie Therese volunteered to cook it. We had some very tasty pasta and vegetables.











The evening, however, was still young and no one wanted to call it a day, just yet. Marie Therese taught the sisters a song she had written about St. Joseph and the sisters' devotion to him.

Marie Therese also showed Maggiorina how to drum out a beat to the music.








Mary grabbed a guitar and began a sing-a-long with Spanish songs and American folk songs. 

The day--and the entire pilgrimage--had ended on a very happy note and the sisters were satisfied.