“In our prayers we never cease to thank God for the help that you send us. Often our elderly and infirm sisters ask after our benefactors of ACN. They’ve pray fervently for this noble work that is helping to establish the kingdom of God by sharing out its spiritual and material fruits,” Sister Maria José, a Contemplative Sister from Brazil.
The Diocese of Saint Joseph in Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia, is geographically speaking the largest diocese in the world. With an area of almost 3.86 million square miles, it is actually larger than the United States! Scattered thinly across this vast region are 50,000 Catholics, ministered to by some 40 Catholic priests.
In the 1930s, a dozen or more Ukrainian girls traveled to Belgium in order to prepare for the foundation of the first Redemptorist convent in their home country of Ukraine. It was not until 80 years later that this dream was finally able to see its fulfillment. The outbreak of the Second World War and …
There are 27 Sisters in the Carmelite convent of Saint Joseph, in Breznica Djakovacka, Croatia, dedicated to a life of silence and prayer in the spirit of Saint Teresa of Avila. Their ages range between 26 and 80, and their vocation is prayer – prayer for the needs and salvation of the whole world.
For several years, the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Oradea has maintained a dynamic family pastoral ministry. These efforts have already borne positive fruit: there are more vocations to the priesthood, young people are more active in Church life and want to prepare themselves better for the sacrament of marriage, and families are having more children. …
The Carmelite convent is in a sense the spiritual heart of the diocese, yet at the same time it is not easy for the Sisters to support themselves. Their contemplative life in strict enclosure allows them only limited means of supporting themselves, and most of the Sisters are already elderly. In practice this means that the convent is dependent on outside support.