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Albeit St Francis Xavier is not the founder our community, he has a special place in our life and heart.

Listening to everyone, playing cards with sailors, eating sometimes with the captain. After a while as the Apostolic Nuncio to India, he always was eager to go further to outreach, learning new languages and ways of life for meeting people in Japan. Though his ways of evangelizing can be criticized and may seem dated, his passion still inspires us.
In these discombobulated times, St Francis Xavier is a compass for me and his energy is stimulating.
His motto is taken from the gospel of Mark (8: 36):
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
This quote is very helpful when I feel lost.

This year as December 3 was the 1 st Sunday of Advent, St. Francis Xavier was not celebrated. We choose to invite friends for a prayer, pondering and sharing from the second reading at Mass – St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: faithfulness of God in our lives. It was good to start the Advent 2023 under the protection of St Francis Xavier.

Sr. Marie-Noëlle

« La Xavière aspires to a religious life that is flexible and intense; flexible enough to adapt to the new needs of the apostolate; intense enough so that Mary’s role does not give way to that of Martha and that apostolic activity is only the radiance of the inner flame. » – Claire Monestès, our Foundress.

Being contemplatives in action is central to our identity as Xaviere Sisters. So holding that tension of being both Martha and Mary means being attentive that our mission flows from a life of prayer and attachment to Jesus Christ.

Once a month, each of us consecrates a day – a desert day – to live in solitude with God.

Last weekend, I spent my desert day at a local monastery, and I would like to share with you how I lived it.

Usually, the week leading to my desert day, I take some time to prepare how I want to live it as our general norms (a document in addition to our Constitutions, that is more specific about our way of life) outlines a few specifications as described below:

Location – I usually spend my desert day outdoors but this time, since my month was quite intense, I needed some comfort. So I spent 2 days with the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine – a Benedictine Anglican Monastery in North York – where the sisters live in community and pray the liturgy of the hours together. These sisters have been part of our story almost since our foundation in Toronto and I am grateful to take the time, when I can, to pray with and be carried in prayer by these sisters.

Spending time with Scripture – We were around the feast of Christ the King. So my prayer was coloured by the Sunday Gospel – Matthew 25: 31-46 – unpacking and contemplating the way in which the Lord’s kingdom is brought forth and the call each of us receives to be part of this kingdom. I ask for the grace to not be deaf to His call. This time of year is special for us because our foundress fondly called us Daughters of the Kingdom (the reign of God).

Reviewing the month and preparing for my monthly meeting with my local superior – Being able to take this time away is gift – a time of respite in the heart of all the busyness that my mission has to offer me. Reviewing my month in this way, through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, allows me to live my life, my work, my relationships, all that I am as an offering to follow the Lord with an undivided heart. Taking this time to reflect also sheds light on the inconsistencies, at times, between my desire to be available and my attachments that can impede this desire from taking root.

Upon reflection, I prepare for my monthly meeting with my local superior.  

Spiritual reading – I reread “L’Intranquillité” (Restlessness) by Marion Muller-Colard. It’s a small book inviting the reader to embrace this state so that, in her own words, welcoming disturbance, even anxiety, means fighting against the numbness that would cause us to pass by a treasure without seeing it. I found her words very timely for today where I can easily get overwhelmed by the state of affairs of the world and thus ‘check out.’ But my faith invites me to have the courage to remain in this restlessness and believe that God is still a part of all of this.

In addition to all of this, many of us also weave in some creativity as part of our day. I enjoy knitting and I had some yarn left over from a previous project and so I knitted a hat!

I came out of this desert day refreshed and inflamed with gratitude for God’s goodness and fidelity ready to continue to labor in his vineyard.

Sr. Sonal

The first fruit of the Chapter is the newly elected government:

• Sr. Laurence Loubières as Superior General,
• Her General Assistant Sr. Sophie Beauchamp who lives in community and works with Sr. Laurence in Paris, and
• three other Councillors who live in different communities in France and meet with Srs. Laurence and Sophie from time to time for General Council meetings.

Only Sr. Laurence and one councillor, Sr. Christine Magnin, were part of the previous government. We truly receive each government team as a good surprise from God to us, for where we are in time, and this one is not an exception!

This appeared to us as a treasure for today, not only for us but also for others! At the end of this post are some extracts on the attitudes: “accepting our frailties, weaving connections, and being women of hope.”

Concretely this invites us to continuously be evangelized, always called to conversion. So, we decided to go deeper specifically in two areas:

• Engaging in a conversion to integral ecology, in solidarity with women and men of our times – this is not optional!
• Exploring further or finding more creative ways to live governance with subsidiarity and co-responsibility, authority and obedience, and the fraternal life we are called to live by the Gospel so that our mission can be lived to the fullest. 

These fruits will ripen in the coming years, as we will continue to unpack. These are seeds of joy for today and for tomorrow, for us and around us.

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A Treasure For Our Time

(Chosen extracts)

– Accepting our frailties
Clare Monestès’ experience is an encouragement to persevere in times of trial, not to shy away from places of fragility, to reach out to those in need, to hold on where powerlessness is felt, and to believe that joy is not impossible.
With Christ poor and humble, we believe that God is at work in our fragile humanities.
– Weaving connections
In a fragmented world, Claire Monestès’ focus on « weaving connections » resonates particularly. The image of weaving inspires us: to weave is to bring together diverse elements. Weaving requires work, attention, time and learning. It is an invitation to practice patience and to be surprised by beauty.
Weaving connections reminds us of fundamental aspects of our history: working with others, experiencing and enabling encounters, conversing, receiving, renewing ties that have been loosened or destroyed, repairing and working towards reconciliation and justice.
The image of weaving reflects the complexity of the world. The invitation to know and love the world with Christ is also a call to stand within this complexity, to refine our listening and discernment. With Christ who brings us together, we want to create spaces for communion, rediscover the paths of social friendship, and work towards fraternity and unity.
– Being women of hope
The experience of Claire Monestès urges us to stand in the places of fracture, division and darkness, to keep vigil in hope like the women who went to the tomb on Easter morning. Claire’s commitment to the society and Church of her time opened new paths with others.
Today, we are called as women religious to accompany a new way of being Church, more open to all, in hope. « The Church is called to become this new community in which men and women live in relationships of reciprocity and reveal to one another their identity in Jesus Christ. » (Xavieres’ General Chapter in 1987)
In society, as in the Church, we want to dare to speak out and act in ways that contribute to renewed relationships, to participate in decision-making processes, and to seek greater reciprocity between women and men.
With the Risen Christ, we want to engage our creativity, our audacity, and our courage.

This summer, for the month of July, I had the privilege to be part of our General Chapter. I was elected as a capitulant by my sisters in October 2022. As one of 29 Xaviere Sisters, the mandate given was to elect the next government of our congregation and to reflect, discern, and define the general orientations for the next six years. One month is both long and short: so long that I had to quit my job whereas the intensity of this time made it fly.

Here is a recap of a few milestones.

July 1 – Joy and sorrow as a family

All capitulants arrived in La Pourraque, our “family home” in the Southeast of France, and we learned that one of our elder sisters – Sr. Thérèse Bourguignon – had just died in Marseilles. 

July 2 to July 11 – An 8-day Ignatian retreat

The Chapter retreat was for all the Xaviere Sisters who would then participate in the General Chapter. It was preached by a mixed duo, a Jesuit priest and a Sister from another Ignatian congregation.
Time to listen deeply to God, in the Scriptures, in the beauty of Creation, in the liturgy…

July 11 – Sr. Therese’s Funeral and the Introductory Conference with Sr. Nathalie Becquart XMCJ and Fr. Giacomo Costa SJ.

Sr. Therese’s funeral was celebrated in the chapel of La Pourraque and she was then buried in the cemetery of the small town nearby with our foundress and other Xaviere Sisters. The celebration of her life totally given to God and to others rooted us all in the essential and the mystery of our call.

In the afternoon, on the eve of the official opening of the General Chapter, Sr. Nathalie, one of our Xaviere sisters and the Under-Secretary to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, and Fr. Giacomo Costa, a Jesuit priest and the special secretary of Synod 2021-2024, gave a talk on the theme: « Looking at society and the Church today: challenges and calls for religious life. » It widened our perspective to the whole world and the whole Church!

July 12 – Opening of the General Chapter 2023

The General Chapter was launched with a beautiful morning prayer in the Chapel, followed by a send-off. Each of us received a phrase extracted from expressions from our foundress, or from our Constitutions, or from previous General Chapters. Gathered in front of the house, we read out loud these sentences, like a bouquet of who we are. This is what I received: “getting to know and love the world we live in.” Then, each of us was called by name, starting by the most senior in religious life, and we entered the Chapter room.

As one of the two elected who made their vows more recently, I was in charge of verifying the voting procedure, counting and checking the ballots, and I was sitting opposite the Chapter’s Presider in the Chapter room. Lucky to have some air through the door behind us, as the room had no air conditioning and temperatures were quite high in the South of France in July (above 37°C several days)!

In addition to the 29 Xaviere Sisters, four people were present most of the time in the Chapter room:

• The Spiritual Counsellor: Fr. François-Xavier Dumortier, a Jesuit Priest
• An external facilitator: Ms. Monique Baujard, a married woman, mother, and grandmother, who has a Master in Theology and is studying synodality.
• Two Xaviere Sisters were appointed as secretaries, but they could not vote or speak during the discussions.

July 13 – July 14 – Reflection on the past six years

The next days were dedicated to reflecting on the past six years. The outgoing Superior General presented her report, as did the Treasurer, and we all reflected on these reports. During an evening prayer, we experienced a liturgy of reconciliation in a creative way: there were various “stations” in the chapel, to meditate on the world, on our relationship with the Father (Painting of the Prodigal Son of Rembrandt), our relationship with Christ (in front of the Cross), we could write a prayer and place it in a basket, and we were invited to place our hands in mud and wipe them on a long strip of white sheet as a sign of penance. At the end of this celebration, this muddy sheet was transformed with three colours of paint as a sign of the mercy of God for us. A powerful reconciliation celebration.

July 15 – July 16 – Preparation for and the election of the new Superior General

Technically, any Xaviere Sister who made their final vows for more than five years is eligible. Of course, there are some criteria to ponder, health being one of them! A day was dedicated to praying, pondering, and having one-on-one discussions on precise questions before voting for the new Superior General. There is no spirit of campaigning or competition, but a true search for the leading of the Spirit. On Sunday, July 16, Sr. Laurence Loubières was elected Superior General! Time to celebrate, to realize what just happened, and to inform our Xaviere Sisters everywhere!

July 17 – July 28 – Woven times of election of the four Counsellors and of work on the orientations for the next six years

12 consecutive days were dedicated to work on the orientations based on the three themes that stemmed from the assemblies organized with all our sisters in October and December 2022, as well as some updates required on our “Additional Standards” (complementary to the Constitutions) to align with the updates made by the previous Chapter on the Constitutions. Woven with these days, the four other voting sessions took place to elect an Assistant General – who lives in the same house as the Superior General and works almost full-time for the Congregation – and three other Counsellors – who continue to live in their communities but gather 4-5 times a year for a week-long working session with the Superior General and her Assistant.

During these intense days, we had mass together in the morning or the evening, and evening prayer or morning prayer accordingly. Praying together in these liturgies has been an integral part of the experience. On the election days, I remember some mysterious feeling of togetherness perceived while we sang.

Overall, each text had to be duly approved through a secret ballot. And when the Chapter was officially closed, we celebrated it in a final outstanding time of prayer. The creative output from the reconciliation liturgy was reused to weave into it excerpts from voted texts. What a joy to receive them in this way after a long labour!

July 30-31/August 15-16 – Reception of the General Chapter and Obedience to the New Superior General by all the Xaviere Sisters

All Xaviere Sisters were invited to La Pourraque to one of the two sessions of reception of the General Chapter. During mass that day, each of us who had already made our vows manifested our renewed obedience to the newly elected Superior General. The orientations and the updated Additional Standards were presented. And we got to celebrate and give thanks to God for gathering us to participate in Christ’s mission!  

Sr. Claire

In his message for this year’s Season of Creation, Pope Francis evoked his 2022 pilgrimage to Lac Sainte-Anne, Alberta, Canada, which is known as « a place of healing, consolation and love, a reminder that fraternity is true. »

When we “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33), maintaining a right relationship with God, humanity and nature, then justice and peace can flow like a never-failing stream of pure water, nourishing humanity and all creatures. 
On a beautiful summer day in July 2022, during my pilgrimage to Canada, I reflected on this on the shores of Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta.  That lake has been a place of pilgrimage for many generations of indigenous people. Surrounded by the beating of drums, I thought: “How many hearts have come here with anxious longing, weighed down by life’s burdens, and found by these waters consolation and strength to carry on! Here, immersed in creation, we can also sense another beating: the maternal heartbeat of the earth. Just as the hearts of babies in the womb beat in harmony with those of their mothers, so in order to grow as people, we need to harmonize our own rhythms of life with those of creation, which gives us life”. 
During this Season of Creation, let us dwell on those heartbeats: our own and those of our mothers and grandmothers, the heartbeat of creation and the heartbeat of God… Lac Ste. Anne, I learned, is also a place of healing, consolation and love, a place that “reminds us that fraternity is genuine if it unites those who are far apart, [and] that the message of unity that heaven sends down to earth does not fear differences, but invites us to fellowship, a communion of differences, in order to start afresh together, because we are all pilgrims on a journey”.’

To read the rest of his message, click here.

Touched by this message, Sr. Sonal prepared a special Vespers service on a Sunday in
September. We prayed in our garden around the statue of St. Francis of Assisi. Sr. Sonal began by reading excerpts from the Pope’s message, then we sang the psalms of the day and meditated on the Word of God.

A raccoon quietly climbed the tree in front of us, settled down and meditated… This time of silent contemplation of creation in the garden at the end of the autumn day was truly a time of consolation and communion with this land, inhabited for centuries by the indigenous peoples.
May our concern to respect creation spur us on throughout the year.

Sr. Marie-Noëlle

Yesterday was the third annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is also known as Orange Shirt day as one to remember and to honour the memory of indigenous children who were forcefully sent to residential schools all over Canada.

Sr. Claire, Sr. Marie-Noëlle, and Sr. Sonal participated in a local TRC Day event organized by Roncesvalles United Church in collaboration with various groups in the neighbourhood.

The afternoon involved some music, a brief reflection by Carolynne Crawley, co-founder of High Park Turtle Protectors, a walk down Roncesvalles Avenue to Roncesvalles United and finally a concert by Kristi Lane Sinclair.

What struck me (Sr. Sonal) the most was the invitation or challenge extended by Carolynne to not be a bystander. All of us have different stories, realities, and circumstances that bring us to this land so when it comes to reconciliation with indigenous peoples, educating ourselves about the history of this land, and living in right relationships, there is no one way of doing it.

While this reality may thus seem overwhelming, Carolynne simple invitation to not be a bystander is an encouraging one for all of us to seek small steps to work towards reconciliation with the humility and the courage to ask unsettling questions that may take a lifetime to find an answer. Reconciliation is an active process and it involves both parties. May we continue to seek ways to live in right relationships on this land.