The Province Leadership Team U.S.-Ontario has signed onto a letter to Pope Francis expressing gratitude for Laudato Si’ and urging him to write a companion reflection about nonviolence.

The letter appeals to the pope to “deepen and greatly expand Catholic understanding of and commitment to nonviolence as a crucial pillar in the foundation of integral human development and a more sustainable ‘common home.'”

Individual members of the Province are invited to sign it as well.  Click here to sign the letter.

 

Both the Province Leadership Team and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility/Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment, of which SNJM is a member, have signed onto a statement pledging to use their influence as investors to promote racial equity.

This commitment includes taking additional actions to integrate racial justice into investment decision-making and engagement strategies, and to reinvest in communities harmed by discrimination and racist policies.

Signing the statement is one step in responding to the call to end systemic racism in the U.S.

A reflection on the global pandemic period is proposed by the Quebec representatives of the SNJM Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Coordinating Committee. ​Written by Sr Claudette Bastien, snjm​, and Hanane Hakkou, this text makes connections between COVID-19 and the encyclical Laudato Si’.

It recalls the shock and the impact ​this pandemic has caused on our lifestyle. It discusses ways to cope by putting the human being first.  It also questions the consequences of this crisis and the possibilities of transforming our lifestyles in order to have a greater respect for our planet.

This reflection is one of the responses to the call recently launched by the SNJM JPIC Committee to reveal and share actions and reflections. Read more…

In solidarity with the National Conference of Black American Women Religious, the international Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM) has voiced its condemnation of systemic racism in an official declaration.

Quoting the commitment to systemic change in the 2016 General Chapter Acts, the official declaration acknowledges complicity in institutional racism; it pledges to denounce it, and to collaborate with others to bring it to an end.

A call was launched throughout the congregation inviting sisters and affiliates to take action, right now. In this time of pandemic, in which large public gatherings are not encouraged, the SNJM Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation Coordinating Committee (JPIC) suggested, among other things, the writing of letters to the editor of local media.

Link – U.S.-ONT Declaration

Based on the SNJM Study Plan, we can see that, for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM), the teaching of all subjects is important and complementary. From this perspective, the arts hold a special place in education. In fact, there are many artists among the Sisters (and their students) who consider that the arts contribute as much to a person’s full development as does academic education.

In 1843, as Monsignor Bourget was working on the founding of a religious congregation to educate poor young girls in Longueuil, he knew that he wanted the Sisters to teach music and drawing. To fulfill this desire, in 1844, Mother Marie-Rose borrowed the piano of Moïse Brassard, the parish priest in Longueuil, and appointed Sister Véronique-du-Crucifix as music teacher. Then in 1845, she hired Mr. William Benziger to teach piano.

Over a two-year period, Mr. Benziger gave each student (including Sister Véronique-du-Crucifix) three lessons per week. Mother Véronique-du-Crucifix was thus able to improve the quality of teaching methods for music. In addition to the various academic subjects and the creative arts, the first versions of the Study Plan included chapters specifically related to the teaching of music. Later, SNJM Sisters would work to develop rigorous pedagogical programs that included questionnaires, exams and manuals.

Development of a music program

With regard to the teaching of music, in 1920, the General Superior of the time decided to create the position of Director of Music Studies and to entrust Sister Marie-Stéphane with the development of a program. Sister Marie-Stéphane also became the first Director of the SNJM Department of Music Studies and later foundress of École de musique Vincent-d’Indy in Outremont. According to her, “Music theory is primarily concerned with intelligence and reasoning, and its study corresponds to the study of mathematics. It can be said that these two fields of study lend themselves to each other, because the intellectual development acquired through knowledge of the one facilitates the study of the other.”

This first music studies program, which spanned a ten-year period, was published in 1921. To begin with, Sister Marie-Stéphane provided the teachers with essential teaching materials, established a monthly distribution of work for each year of the program, and set compulsory exams. However, in music, learning theory is not enough. Neither is it enough to learn how to play or sing. If music is an art that one learns by practicing, transmitting what we know to others is also an art, the art of the true science of education. Consequently, as early as the summer of 1922, Sister Marie-Stéphane began offering music pedagogy courses to the Sisters destined to teach music. Thanks to these pedagogical principles and methods, in place since the opening of the École supérieure de musique d’Outremont in 1932, the institution enjoyed rapid and uninterrupted success.

The music program developed by Sister Marie-Stéphane was used in the schools of the Congregation. In Quebec, many students, even those from rural areas, studied music using this method and passed their exams without having to travel to Outremont. In the 1930’s, the completion of the ten-year music program gave students access to higher education in SNJM institutions such as École supérieure de musique Vincent-d’Indy, Marylhurst College in Oregon, or Holy Names College in California. Thanks to these schools, students could become artists, concert musicians, composers and educators while preserving their individuality and artistic sense.

Access to University for young women

In the early 1930’s, Monsignor Piette, Rector of the Université de Montréal, was so impressed with the quality of the music he heard, and the professionalism of the curriculum at École de musique Vincent-d’Indy, that he claimed the program offered a university-level education. With the consent of the SNJM authorities, Sister Marie-Stéphane requested that the École supérieure de musique become an institution affiliated with the Faculty of Arts of the Université de Montréal.

A student in the school’s music program, after completing a certain number of years and passing the required exams, would obtain a Bachelor’s degree. This gave young girls access to university. Some former students, both religious and lay, would go on to write theses and dissertations on the place of the arts in education. For example, Sister Marie-Stéphane’s doctoral thesis, published in 1936, is entitled “Music from an Educational Perspective” (La musique au point de vue éducatif). Later, in 1956, Sister Paul-du-Rédempteur wrote a dissertation entitled “Art Education” (L’éducation artistique).

Over the years, music education found its place in the public schools where SNJM Sisters worked. To this day, music is still being taught in the schools of the Congregation. And in Outremont, École de musique Vincent-d’Indy continues to exist and offers music-study programs at the elementary and high school levels, as well as college-level education. In each case, the current method is based on the music teaching framework established by Sister Marie-Stéphane. Throughout its history, this school has welcomed internationally-renowned lay teachers as well as students from all over the world.

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An exhibition on the SNJM mission of education

Since the spring of 2019, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary have been offering the archival exhibition “Education for Young Women: Central to the SNJM Mission” at the Congregational House in Longueuil. This exhibit illustrates how SNJM Sisters established schools and academic programs for girls for whom access to education was quite limited. The exhibition shows how several initiatives were put in place to enable girls to advance further and further in their studies: elementary and high school education, teacher training, commercial studies, home economics programs, as well as strategies to prepare students to access college and university.

The Central Archives Department of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM) regularly receives requests for genealogy research. Often, the researchers do not have much information about their religious relatives but would like to receive more than basic information, such as names of parents, dates and places of birth and death. Indeed, they are always interested in learning more about their relatives’ lives. The archivists, therefore, send them a short biography of the sister in question. When creating their family tree, people feel the need to know their family history.

A genealogical tree is used to represent relationships between family members. We could draw a parallel with the SNJM Congregation, through the links created between SNJM sisters, their students, and people affiliated with the community. Over the years, the tree, genealogical or other, has been used to symbolize the Congregation.

In 1944, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Congregation, each religious province prepared an illustrated album of photographs and drawings showing the boarding schools run by the SNJMs. In its album, the Province of Ontario included a family tree of the provinces and convents of the entire Congregation.

The base of the tree shows the Motherhouse in Outremont. Each province is represented by a large branch. SNJM boarding schools and schools form the smaller branches. This tree illustrates the expansion of the Congregation and the vital link between the Motherhouse and the schools where SNJM sisters worked.

We can transpose this family tree from 1944 to the life of the Congregation, from its beginnings until now. Like a tree, each branch, each leaf, each fruit of the SNJM tree draws its essence from its deep roots and the sap of the charism which allow it to face the elements.

The roots of the SNJM tree represent the foundations of the Congregation, namely its foundresses, Mother Marie-Rose and her companions, but also all the sisters who have transmitted values of education, justice and compassion in their works around the world.

The branches are the provinces and the ministries of the Congregation: schools, aid centers, clinics, etc. The multiple leaves represent the SNJM sisters.

The sap that feeds each branch and even the smallest leaf is the SNJM charism and mission: educate to liberate.

The fruits of the tree from which other trees will sprout are the people (students, affiliates, and those who collaborate in SNJM ministries) who carry within themselves the essence of the tree, the values transmitted to them by SNJM sisters. In their turn, these people share the inheritance that they have received, thus continuing the cycle of life.

In 2011, to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Eulalie Durocher (Mother Marie-Rose), a tree was planted on the grounds of the Congregational House in Longueuil. Sr Simone Perras, SNJM, prepared a ritual for the ceremony.

 

“The Tree continuously brings forth life; it is perpetual and regenerative.

With Marie-Rose and her companions, the Congregation took root in Longueuil,

then expanded to the Quebec countryside and later to more distant countries.

 

The Tree bears fruit and nourishment. It produces seeds.

Throughout the ages, the work of education has had a missionary component,

contributing to the formation and growth of individuals, families and societies.”

 

The tree of the SNJM Congregation is a source of life, from its deep roots to its fruit, through its mission, the life and work of its members and the transmission of its values. Today, more than 175 years after the foundation of the Congregation, the sisters active in contemplation or in action, still keep this tree alive, and the Marie-Rose Centre, the Charism Office and the Central Archives Department are places that bear witness to its roots and its sap.

After the Encyclical Laudato Si’ Week last May to celebrate its 5th anniversary and Pope Francis’ post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia (Dear Amazonia) issued in February 2020, the celebration of World Environment Day takes on another dimension this year. This is especially true in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic that is affecting the whole world.

On this occasion, it is interesting to reread some elements of this exhortation which focuses on the Amazon and that reminds us of the interdependencies and the need to preserve biodiversity, the theme of this World Day 2020.

Here are two excerpts and the link to read the full text.

41. In a cultural reality like the Amazon region, where there is such a close relationship between human beings and nature, daily existence is always cosmic. Setting others free from their forms of bondage surely involves caring for the environment and defending it,[46] but, even more, helping the human heart to be open with trust to the God who not only has created all that exists, but has also given us himself in Jesus Christ. The Lord, who is the first to care for us, teaches us to care for our brothers and sisters and the environment which he daily gives us. This is the first ecology that we need.

In the Amazon region, one better understands the words of Benedict XVI when he said that, “alongside the ecology of nature, there exists what can be called a ‘human’ ecology which in turn demands a ‘social’ ecology. All this means that humanity… must be increasingly conscious of the links between natural ecology, or respect for nature, and human ecology”.[47] This insistence that “everything is connected”[48] is particularly true of a territory like the Amazon region.

49. It is not enough to be concerned about preserving the most visible species in danger of extinction. There is a crucial need to realize that “the good functioning of ecosystems also requires fungi, algae, worms, insects, reptiles and an innumerable variety of microorganisms. Some less numerous species, although generally unseen, nonetheless play a critical role in maintaining the equilibrium of a particular place.”[61] This is easily overlooked when evaluating the environmental impact of economic projects of extraction, energy, timber and other industries that destroy and pollute. So too, the water that abounds in the Amazon region is an essential good for human survival, yet the sources of pollution are increasing.[62]

UNANIMA International played a major role in making homelessness the theme for the 58th Commission for Social Development at the United Nations, which took place Feb. 9-21. Barbara Spears, SNJM (Mid-Atlantic), who was in New York for the commission, notes that it was the first time in the history of the UN that homelessness has been presented as a focus.

UNANIMA International partnered with member states, United Nations departments and other NGOs on a number of events surrounding the issue and will continue advocacy into the future. What a wonderful accomplishment for all the NGOs involved. Another highlight was the Woman of Courage Awards Ceremony on Feb. 10 in the Delegates Dining Room of the UN. This year’s recipient was Mary McAleese, former president of Ireland.

At this same event, UNANIMA launched two publications on homelessness. Sr. Barbara invites you to take a few moments to check out the newly launched UNANIMA website, where you will be able to review the new publications in the very near future.