« Associated with the Congregation, in the Daughters of the Holy Spirit Family… To live out our baptism, we draw on our spiritual tradition: ‘To believe with a living faith in the presence and action of the Holy Spirit, to allow ourselves to be led by Him (Galatians 5) and to participate in ordinary life in His mission of love in the world (Book of Life). To live in the breath of the Spirit of the Risen Jesus, we make Him our companion in life….” Extract from the Charter of the DHS Associates.
At the Mother House in Saint-Brieuc on 25 January 2025, the feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the 5 coordinators of the Associate teams in Brittany met with 4 accompanying DHS Sisters and 3 members of the Bureau: Maryse Jourdain, President, Florence Roussel, Secretary and Sr Nicole Ponchau of the Provincial Council. Also present was Sr Judith Mbounghoul on behalf of the General Council of the Congregation.
The purpose of this meeting was to share what is happening in the teams today and to identify and pool the questions that are arising. It was also an opportunity to discuss a major event that will be held on Saturday 26 April 2025 for all Associates in Brittany and elsewhere in France, at the source of our Congregation: Taden. Taden is the place where the Count and Countess de la Garaye, touched by the Holy Spirit, changed their lives completely, like St Paul: they put their property and their people at the service of the poor and the sick and trained a few DHS in nursing, thus supporting the nascent adventure of the Congregation. In September 2024, Mgr Moutel, Bishop of St Brieuc, opened the investigation into their beatification.
Our day of exchanges, held in an atmosphere of simplicity and cordiality, raised questions that need to be taken into account, the main one being that of transmission. As we get older, how can we make other people aware of this adventure that gives us so much to live for?
If the sharing, according to the participants, gave an impetus of hope and made us aware of the richness of the experience brought to us as a team, of a real solidarity – a lucid view but one that does not let itself be defeated – we will undoubtedly have to review the way we work, agree to invent, do Family differently, etc….
At the end of the day, which will be followed up next weekend with a meeting of delegates from groups outside Brittany, Pope Francis’ invitation for the Jubilee Year to be Pilgrims of Hope was very much alive, with a view to daring to pass on our concern to younger generations, to daring and agreeing to review the way we work. Carrying together a renewed concern for communication commits us all!
Our Charter continues to challenge and stimulate us: ‘The founding charism is an ever-present gift and call. It is in today’s society that our spiritual experience is embodied and verified … Christ is there; his Spirit leads us: God is nowhere else but in the reality of our lives.” Who are we going to ask to follow in our footsteps?
And all of us, on this day when the Church invites us to remember St Paul’s conversion, to what conversion are we called? In the manner of Mary and with her, to allow ourselves to be moved… and to risk our ‘yes’ to God’s unforeseen events.
Corinne Weyl and Sister Thérèse Revault, Equipe de l’Ile blanche (Locquirec 29). Published on 27 January 2025
