Carrying on from my post of January 30, here is a reflection by Sr. M. of the Trinity, (front centre in the photo) one of the early RNDM Canadian pioneers at Grande-Clairière. She wrote this reflection, originally in French, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Grande Clairiere foundation. It has been translated by another Sister – whose identity I do not know. It retrospectively describes the Sisters arrival at Grande-Clairière, and to me, movingly articulates her sense of being involved in something larger than this one moment. “When at the turning point in our destiny the unknown tomorrow dawns …”
Here is Sr. M. of the Trinity’s poem:1
Twenty five years ago… In the shade and silence
Of a peaceful night
The sleepy echoes of an immense prairie
Are suddenly awakened…
Without any fear of disturbing the country side,
So calm at that moment,
Along the rough road a heavy wagon
Went forward noisily.
So they come in the darkness and silence
Of a peaceful night…
Midnight has struck? ….The heavy cart
Has stopped at last
In front of a small dark cottage
Beside the road.
There it is, said the priest. Curious and surprised
Each one tried to see
But where are the village, the church?
Is it really so dark?
Here and there, are dimly seen
Some dwellings
The village?… It stretches out scattered here and there,
Beyond the horizon.
And with gazes fixed on the starlit vault of heaven,
As if to probe its secret
On the small steeple, clearly etched
The bare cross appeared.
When at the turning point in our destiny
The unknown tomorrow dawns
What security there is for the soul surrendered
To the divine will!
Chasing away all thought of self
All loneliness and regret
From the depths of their hearts they respond simply:
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord!”
1 Marie de la Ste Trinité. RNDM Archives.
Veronica Dunne is a Sister of our Lady of the Missions (RNDM), who has primarily worked as an educator and counsellor in institutional and community based settings in Canada. She has also served with the RNDMs outside of Canada in Senegal, Peru, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
A 2002 Doctor of Ministry graduate from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto, she subsequently served as director of the Doctor of Ministry program at St. Stephen’s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her current research interests are in eco-theology and cosmology, and their intersections with indigenous cosmologies and spiritualties.
She presently serves on the RNDM leadership team in Canada.
This poem is so very powerful. For whatever reason, I am always surprised by the depth of those who go before, as if I expect that they would be a shallower version of us, just because we are here in the present and they are in the past so we must be more…everything. I kept looking at the picture as I read the words, and at some point I began to see not just faces but persons, individuals and I could almost feel their trepidation and their hope, their fear and their faith, their grappling with what had to be left behind but their excitement at what lay ahead. And their daring! Writings like this are most precious, and what a legacy for the RNDMs here and worldwide! And what a privilege that you share with us all. Thank you!
Thanks Kathy for your candid reflection. I too find myself looking into the faces of these women, wondering what they thought and what they felt.
They certainly had a sense of the momentousness of what they were doing: “When at the turning point in our destiny
The unknown tomorrow dawns …”
Today, as part of their “unknown tomorrow”,I am grateful for their faith and their courage, and I pray to be worthy of their trust.