We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
A Sad 60th Anniversary
Unforgettable Moments After 60 Years
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| A piece of aircraft debris was placed in front of the altar for Mass. |
It was November 13, 1950, a day of turbulent weather in the Alps of southeastern France. A DC4 airplane was flying from Rome on its final destination to Montreal, Canada, bringing home pilgrims who had travelled to attend the Beatification Ceremony of Marguerite Bourgeoys by Pope Pius XII. However the plane, flying near the mountain of La Salette, crashed on a nearby peak, Mount Obiou. All persons on the plane were lost.
Sixty years later, a special memorial project was organized by Eric Boef and depicts the Virgin of La Salette and the two children. However, the statues were fashioned from the actual debris of the aircraft that had remained on Mount Obiou. The artist, Kamel Hattab, who designed the monument, had used only the remnants of the aircraft, retrieved from that Alpine peak. Students from the grammar school at Bains (Vosges) made the mounting.
A Visit to Myanmar
I’ve known Fr. Bernard Taylor, a Burmese and Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette. Fr. Bernie invited me to get to know his country of Myanmar. That is exactly what I did several years ago.
My Travel Journal
On January 25th I landed at the airport in Yangon (previously Rangoon). Our colleague, Fr. Jerome Eiphan, M.S., was expecting me. But, to my surprise and joy, Carolus, a Burmese priest, who had made several visits to La Salette to assist in serving the pilgrims, was also there! Carolus was filled with the message of the Beautiful Lady to whom he knew his people of Myanmar were drawn. In an Asia marked by the major non-Christian religions, it was important, he told me, that Mary showed herself at La Salette as the Virgin of spoiled crops, and a true conversion which would offer an answer to great famine and the death of small children. And, lo, I behold I had found once again my brother priest welcoming me to his far-away "field of Coin.”
A Marvelous Change of Scenery
Madagascar’s New Mission
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| Bishop Donald inside the Church teaching children to make the Sign of the Cross |
John F. Kennedy said in his January 1961 inaugural address these rousing words: “We choose to go... not because [it is] easy, but because [it is] hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
Why do we climb mountains? Because they are there. Why do we take up our cross and follow Jesus? Because he has asked this of us. Why have two members of the La Salettes from Madagascar gone very much out of their way to serve the people of Haiti? Because Our Lady said to make her message known to all her people – including the struggling people of Haiti.
Myanmar's Sisters' Profession
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| Five junior La Salette Sisters renewing their vows |
On February 3, 2011, the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette (SNDS) community celebrated the first profession of two sisters who serve in the Diocese of Myitkyina, Myanmar. The two novices who took their first vows were Sr. Maria Ja Hkawng, SNDS, and Sr. Nang Zing Kai Ra, SNDS. Also five junior La Salette Sisters renewed their religious vows on the same day: Sr. Cecilia Kaw Ja, Sr. Rosa Htu Raw, Sr. Monica Seng Aung, Sr. Margaret Ei May Kyin and Sr. Angela Sut Kyin.
Bishop Francis Daw Tang, Bishop of Myitkyina, was main celebrant. About twenty priests concelebrated including four La Salette Priests, Fr. Bernie Taylor, Fr. Efren Mugsni, Fr. Jerome Eiphan and Fr. Philip Naw Aung.
Sr. Elizabeth, General Superior of Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, came from France to accept the vows of her sisters. Sr. Marilyn Antonio, SNDS, a member of General Council from
La Salettes in Myanmar
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| Frs. John Blumm, John Good, Stephen Dressell, Bp. Thomas Newman, Louis Perpete, Charles Gendron, John OReilly, and Francis Lucey |
By the end of this year, if we La Salettes who are presently serving in Myanmar add up the total years of our priesthood, surprisingly it will add up to eighty-seven years! I am 40 years of priesthood; Philip, Jerome, David and Nicodemus – seven years; Thomas – four years; Valentine, Patrick and Lucas – three years; and the last group – William, Robert and David - two years each. We would not have been able to do this without your prayers and support. We thank God for putting you in our lives! With your ongoing prayers and support, we will continue doing great things!
This year also begins our preparation for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the arrival of the first La Salette Missionaries in Burma (now Myanmar). The main celebration will be held on November 9, 2012. That's that day in 1937 when five missionaries arrived under the leadership of the Bishop Thomas Newman, M.S.
They started with about two hundred Catholics. When we – Philip, Jerome, David, Nicodemus and myself – re-established the La Salette mission here in 2005, we were in a similar situation, albeit in a different area of Burma. We also were ministering to about two hundred Catholics. But we
Lay Movements
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| (left to right) Bps. Pelletier, O'Malley and Hennessey standing in front of entrance to “Domus Galilaeae" |
Ever since Vatican II, the Catholic Church has officially welcomed many new lay movements including the Focolare Movement, Communion and Liberation, the Community of Sant'Egidio, L'Arche (Jean Vanier), the Neocatechumenal Way (Kiko Argüello), Foyers de Charité (Marthe Robin) and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Pope John Paul II stated that: “The expression New Evangelization was popularized in the encylical of Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, as a response to the new challenges that the contemporary world creates for the mission of the Church.” He also said that the mission Christ entrusted to the Church is still far from completion, and that it requires strong commitment.
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| Entrance to “Domus Galilaeae” in Israel |
In June, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI created a new Vatican office dedicated to a “renewed evangelization.” He stated: “There are regions in the world that still wait for a first evangelization; others that received it but need more profound work; others still in which the Gospel put down roots a long time ago, giving place to a true Christian tradition, but where in the last centuries – with complex dynamics – the process of secularization has produced a grave crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and of belonging to the Church.”
As a La Salette and retired bishop of Morondava, Madagascar, I myself was recently invited to an international meeting of Bishops at the “Domus Galilaeae,” on the Mount of the Beatitudes in Israel.
Indian La Salettes in Australia
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| Fr. Ray Vaillancourt, M.S. (left), visiting with Fr. Joy Chukkananickal, M.S., at his Rectory at St. Monica’s Parish in Richmond |
Recently I had the opportunity to visit New Zealand and Australia. Part of the purpose in visiting New Zealand was to honor a promise made when I worked at our La Salette General House in Rome more than 40 years ago. I was good friends with a Marist Brother, Hugh Peacock. One day we decided that we’d like to make a mutual pact to visit each other’s homeland one day. Years ago he visited me in the United States and this year I completed my part of the bargain. I spent about three weeks with him and his community, recalling our memories of working and living in Rome and visiting his stunningly beautiful country.
While “down under,” I chose to take a side trip and visit for a few days with our Indian La Salette confreres ministering in Australia. I was warmly greeted by Frs. Mathew Manjaly, Peejay Porathur and Joy Chukkananickal. Fr. Sonny Poovathumkudy was away during my visit. They are situated in Werrington, which is a suburb of Sidney, about a 90-minute train ride, in New South Wales in southeast Australia.
The Madagascar Miracle
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| Icon of St. Thérèse of Lisieux |
I remember a special event of some years ago. In a country where ancestral worship is an essential tenet of the traditional religion (animism), it is not surprising that the relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux would provoke popular interest and enthusiasm in Madagascar. For over a month the relic traveled by helicopter to the four corners of the island.
In every diocese tremendous crowds came out to acclaim and praise God’s love revealed in St. Theresa. The Diocese of Morondava was scheduled to host the relic for only one day but, because of sudden inclement weather, the relic remained in Morondava an extra 24 hours, thus disrupting the schedule for the remainder of the visit.
Though many cures and miracles were reported during the month long visit, during which over four million people venerated the relic, only one miracle has an authentic medical certificate signed by a high ranking Protestant University Professor from Antananarivo. A ten year old girl – Priscilla – was cured in Antananarivo, and she is from the town of Mahabo in the diocese of Morondava.
Necessity Does Wonders
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| Bro. David Guia, M.S., a tropical medicine specialist |
It all began in 1965 with a simple apostolic endeavor. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary worked in the local government hospital in Morondava, Madagascar from Monday to Friday. On Saturday afternoons they would go out into the nearby countryside on Saturday afternoon to teach catechism. Sometimes Srs. Claire, Antonia, Theresa and Martha would have the people act out Gospel scenes – perhaps Jesus healing a sick person, giving sight to the blind, curing a fever.
The Sisters realized it was fine to enact those scenes, but there were real sick people among those present who needed medical attention but had no means of procuring medication. It wasn’t very long before one or two Sisters taught catechism while the others dispensed pills, gave shots, cleaned infections, dressed and bandaged wounds – all from the trunk of their small Renault 4L. Soon those seeking medication outnumbered those learning catechism.
Do You Love Me More Than These?
A Tribute to the Life and Ministry of Bp. Thomas A. Newman, M.S.
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| Ordination picture of Fr. Thomas Newman, M.S. |
There are certain people who seem to be admired even by everyone. Bishop Thomas A. Newman, M.S., was just such a man. The following is a sermon given at his Funeral Mass in March, 1978, delivered by Very Rev. Fr. Frederick R. Flaherty, M.S., our La Salette Provincial at that time. It summarizes well the great qualities and accomplishments of this man from Waterbury, CT., who went on to serve God as priest and bishop for many years in Burma (now Myanmar).
In her much admired novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather describes the missionary life of a French bishop, Jean Latour, among the Indians and poor Mexicans of the southwest. In telling the story of Bishop Latour's struggles she pays a sensitive and sympathetic tribute to all people who live out an adventure of spirit, who accept the absolute reality of Christ's gospel.
The missionary tradition of accepting the absolute reality of Christ's gospel is as old as the Church. There have been numberless missionaries since Paul of Tarsus who have gone forth in this fashion and the record is studded with inspiring names. Bishop Newman belonged to this tradition.
In 1937 Father Newman was teaching philosophy at the major seminary in Altamont, N.Y. He was ordained already eight years, and even then his contemporaries saw in him a priest of great promise. He would certainly be called to accomplish important tasks in the affairs and councils of the community. But other voices were calling, and they came from far away.