In the spirit of Aachen: UBUNTU, we are because we are together
2018 – XV General Chapter
In March 2017, the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor announces the celebration of the 15th General Chapter in Aachen, Germany. In giving the announcement, Sr. Licia Mazzia, Congregational Minister, writes these words to the Sisters and the Associates:
Dear Sisters and Associates, I am honored and humbled to announce the 15th General Chapter of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. Our General Chapter is a sacred gathering that promotes our personal and communal renewal for the common good of our Congregation. As an ecclesial event, it opens us to the entire Church and the Community of life to discern where God is calling us in light of the Gospel, our Franciscan values, and the Charism of Mother Frances. We will gather for our Chapter in September 2018 in a location that is precious and significant to us, where our vocation as Franciscan Sisters of the Poor was born nearly 172 years ago: Aachen, Germany.
Together in the birthplace of our Mother, Frances Schervier, our family will meet and share how we have lived in her footsteps… In this city, whose poor and suffering inhabitants ignited the first flame of our healing charism in Frances’ heart, we will give thanks to God for our healing charism and rediscover how it came to be ours. In Aachen, where Frances was inspired to set down the very roots of our Congregation, we will open our hearts to the Holy Spirit with our generative listening, reflect on the Word of God, and seize the opportunity of this grace-filled occasion to discern God’s plan for our Congregation.
The Sisters’ emotion before this announcement is great: it is an extraordinary event. Aachen represents a place of communion with the history and the roots of the Congregation. The Spirit of God accompanies the whole Congregation on the journey toward Aachen. The theme deepened during the preparation of the Chapter is “Ubuntu, Healing and Transformation: gifts of the Risen Christ.”
In the land that witnessed the origins of our history, the experience of Ubuntu, healing and transformation is lived together with the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis (SPSF) and the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis (CPF), the Congregation founded in Aachen in 1857 by Johannes Höver with the support and the encouragement of Frances Schervier. Aachen is a city that teaches that everything is a gift: communion, healing and transformation are God’s gifts already given to Frances Schervier and transmitted to the Sisters and the Associates so they will keep on being “yeast” in the world.
The Chapter is officially opened on September 9, 2018, at Mother Frances’ grave, with a solemn and joyful ceremony. In her opening message, Sr. Licia expresses the wish to be open to the new inspirations of the Holy Spirit, to become instruments of hope, healing, and Gospel prophecy. She invites us to pray, so that Mother Frances’ spirit is always with the Congregation and so the Risen Christ may illuminate and guide it in order that the experience of communion, lived in the harmony of our differences, could generate new, positive energies.
She thanks most of all the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis who accompanied the preparation of the Chapter with love and dedication. Sr. M. Martha Kruszynski, General Minister of the SPSF, and Brother Lukas Jünemann, General Minister of the CPF, invoke for the Chapter the special presence of the Holy Spirit, source of light and knowledge.
The Chapter is filled with many messages of greeting. The most important is the apostolic blessing of Pope Francis “that this important event will bring about renewed proposals of faith in the ideals of Consecrated Life and that it may reinforce the commitment to an authentic ecclesial service for the salvation of souls through service to the poor, the marginalized and the most vulnerable women, with great passion and creativity, following on the specific founding charism which was raised within the Church by Blessed Frances Schervier”.
Walking in our Founder’s footsteps, breathing the same air as her and immersing ourselves in the same community of life in which her spirit was born and grew, is a very strong and important experience for all the Sisters and Associates gathered at the Chapter.
Here, in this city, the story of the Congregation’s history began. Here were put down the roots that give the nourishment to embody the healing charism, to live the present in continuous evolution, and to look toward the future with hope and faith. It is a truly historic event.
The international realities of the contemporary world are analyzed, accompanied by the light of Frances Schervier’s charism. Specific attention is given to the effects that climate change, urbanization, armed conflicts, economic injustice, and attacks on democracy have on the poorest and weakest segments of the population.
Moreover, the values of consecrated life are deepened. This life is lived in community and it is founded on Franciscan spirituality, which establishes roots in God, Center of Life, who is present in every creature. God’s goodness allows us to welcome everyone as brothers and sisters, as Francis of Assisi and Frances of Aachen did, in order to generate the common good for both the community and the single individual, for a worthy, powerful, and precious life.
On the evening of September 11, Frances Schervier is honored in a special way by all her daughters. The members of the Chapter, together with many of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis coming from Germany and Belgium, pray in the Chapel of Motherhouse, at our Founder’s grave. It is an unforgettable moment, impressed upon the minds and hearts for the beauty and the deep meaning that arise from it. The words of Sr. Martha and Sr. Licia open a mood of mutual welcome, benevolence, and sisterhood.
Sr. Martha expresses herself this way: “It is an immense joy, after 59 years, to be able to welcome you and your General Chapter into our Motherhouse, here in Aachen. Our two communities, over the course of the past years, have undertaken a journey of reconciliation and we now live together as sisters. This is a very precious gift from God!”
“Together we want to honor our healing charism. It is the gift that we have received for the good of suffering humanity, in order to heal the wounds of the poor and to heal our wounds, so that we can live as witnesses of the Resurrection”, confirms Sr. Licia.
The reading of some writings of Frances Schervier gives back the common roots of the healing charism to all the Sisters. The exchange of peace among all the Sisters and the final blessing are touching signs of mutual affection and esteem. Songs and dances involve all the Sisters with joy and cheer.
On September 21, the Chapter ends with the Mass and the final missioning in the Chapel of Motherhouse. Hearts are full of gratitude to God, Mother Frances, the Sisters and Brothers of Aachen. The fruits coming from the Chapter celebrated in this holy land, are summed up in the Direction and Chapter Calls which will accompany the Congregation in living the Charism of Frances Schervier in the next five years:
Transformed by the Risen Christ, we incarnate the Gospel, welcoming all expressions of Life.
- We will engage with the community of life, caring for the common good, mindful of the needs of future generations.
- We will address unjust situations in our wounded world as agents of healing, evaluating the use of our human, financial, and material resources.
- We will be witnesses of unity in diversity, developing our multicultural identity and our relationships with the whole community of life.
The celebration of the Chapter in Aachen has inspired a new life according to the Gospel, the Franciscan inspiration, and the experience of works of mercy, deeply-rooted in Frances Schervier’s Spirit. The new life will be lived to build the common good and to be instruments of healing and justice, in the awareness of the needs of the future generations.
It has inspired a new life interconnected with the family generated by Frances Schervier, with the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis, and with the entire community of life in order to be witnesses of unity in diversity.
At the end of her life, Mother Frances promised us: “Even if I am going away from you, I am still always with you. If you are good, I will remain with you. Only that which God wishes, dear sisters, everything and only for God.” The mutual love and the welcoming mercy, the care for the poor and afflicted ones, of the weakest and the sick, keep encouraging the Congregation. May the Spirit of Aachen rekindle more and more God’s dream for the Congregation! May the Spirit of Aachen reinvigorate our healing charism as a gift for all creation.
