(12 Aug 2009)
The Redemptoristines in Dublin last week welcomed its sixth new member in four years.
Sr Maria Sidorova from Slovakia received the habit of the Redemptoristine Order on 16 July in the presence of Prioress, Sr Gabrielle Fox, the community of St Alphonsus Monastery in Glasnevin, and Fr Michael Cusack, CSsR, Vocations Director of the Redemptorists.
Twenty-year-old Sr Maria is the third Slovakian to join the Dublin monastery, which has also seen three Irish women join since 2005. The community,
whose numbers had been in decline prior to 2005, now totals fourteen and its average age has fallen dramatically as a result of the six new sisters.
Describing the day as one of “thanksgiving”, the Prioress, Sr Gabrielle Fox said
that those who had joined in the last four years had “found a life lived totally for God and for the sake of others”. She added that it was “a life that reaches into the longest journey of all – from the head to the heart, where we find God”.
The link with Slovakia was forged
in 2000 when the Irish community at St Alphonsus provided much needed resources to the new Redemptoristine foundation in Slovakia.
According to Sr Gabrielle Fox, these new sisters have brought “bright new vitality, energy and hope and a very welcome new creative dimension because the
y have all brought their own talents.”
The life of the Redemptoristines is centred around the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist,
and one of the community’s more forward-looking ventures has been to offer the outside world a glimpse into their lives through participation in their liturgies via webcam.
In his homily, Fr Michael Cusack commended the courage of the community for their willingness to “think outside the box” through the use of their website to welcome outside interest in their monastic life.
He said this was clearly an example of women’s voices being heard in a world that needs to hear them. Fr Cusack added that the Church
needed to hear these voices even more loudly.
Drawing a parallel
between the Redemptoristine’s and the courage of the Canaanite woman who drew attention to Jesus, he said the shout of the Redemptoristines had led to the building of a new convent in hope and trust in a world that needed more such witnesses to faith.
