Egypt | Malta | Lake Forest, Illinois

Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt

Egypt
On 6th December 2003, the Centenary celebrations of the Society’s entry into Egypt, and the foundation of the house in Cairo, began with a “day for Alumnae”. A thousand came; they were grouped according to the year they left school, beginning with the class of 1935, represented by Sister Maud Boulad, rscj. A few alumnae from Heliopolis had also been invited to join in, as well as two representatives of the Belgian AMASC and the three former Provincials.

The first event was a Mass celebrated for the Christians by Rev. Nabil Gabriel, S.J., son of an Alumna. After this the Muslims joined them in the garden, where all were addressed by the Provincial Superior, Sister Jeannette Hanna; then came the turn of Sister Mariado Gorriz, who read the message from Sister Clare Pratt; then Mme Kathleen Dor, from the Belgian AMASC; and finally Ramona Canaan, President of the National Association, ANASC.

After lunch, prepared by a caterer, the festivities began: balloons were sent sailing up into the air, with the legend: “S.C.C. 100 ans” (Sacré-Coeur Cairo 100 years).

A group of Alumnae then led the whole assembly in a medley of songs they had sung through the years, at camps, excursions and farewells.

This was followed by a much-applauded parade of 12 uniforms worn by the pupils, beginning with the one from 1904.

Next there was a short film prepared by a young alumna in gratitude for the education she had received. Its aim was to show, by scenes from the life of St Madeleine Sophie and the lives of students today, how the spirit of the Society’s education has continued through the generations.

Finally all the religious present came up onto the stage and stood around a huge souvenir cake.

The atmosphere was extraordinary: lots of music, lots of photos, and also lots of joy and gratitude felt by all these Alumnae, a good number of whom had helped to prepare the celebration. They took advantage of it to relaunch the National Association of Alumnae of the Sacred Heart; there were over thirty enrolments.

The next day, Sunday 7th, a solemn Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated by the Bishop of the Latin rite, Mgr Bausardo, and presided over by the Cardinal Patriarch of the Catholic Copts, the Apostolic Nuncio, and several Bishops from Upper Egypt, as well as our friends, priests, religious, parents and teachers.

On the way out each one received a little souvenir of the centenary, and was invited to take refreshments and visit the exhibition: posters explaining AMASC and ANASC, and the mission of the rscj in Upper Egypt. Lunch followed for all the rscj of the Province and about a hundred guests. At each place was a small diary as a souvenir.

The centenary celebration will continue throughout the school year: in January, during the mid-year holidays, there will be a special day for all the school staff; then early in March, a reception for various civil authorities, representatives of the Academy, the Governorate [administrative region], the Ministry of Education. At the end of April, a big celebration for the parents, students and teaching staff will bring to a close this centenary year.

Malta

Malta Malta

The year 2003 has been an important milestone for the Society of the Sacred Heart in Malta, as it marked the hundredth anniversary of its presence in Malta. The first group of religious arrived on the 13th August 1903 and established themselves at Villa Portelli, Sliema. By October 1st of the same year, they were ready to welcome the first seven student boarders. A year later they bought the land nearby and started building the present school complex.

Over the years, thousands of girls have attended our Junior and Senior sections of the school, and God willing, thousands more will attend in years to come. Today, a hundred years later, the school numbers 1000 pupils.

The need to have a new Auditorium has long been on the school agenda, but with the coming of the Centenary it was agreed that it would be the Project for the school. The excavations began in the summer 2000, and it was finished in time for 1st October 2003.

The Centenary Celebrations included an open-air Eucharistic Celebration for the whole school on the playground, a tree planting ceremony at Villa Portelli, the official opening of the New Auditorium and a Reunion for the Past Pupils of St. Julian’s.
Attached please find some photos.

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest, Illinois

An event that always sends people to the archives is the celebration of a centenary or other significant anniversary. It is no coincidence that this first decade of the twenty-first century is seeing many such celebrations. The closing of all our houses in France between 1903 and 1909 occasioned several foundations, as the 1000 emigrants found homes elsewhere throughout the world.

In our own country 1904 will mark 100 years of the presence of Religious of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Illinois. A look at the first house journal of that foundation reveals a fine narrative skill and shrewd powers of observation on the part of the annalist. She missed nothing, and she named names – except her own. (Too often in these journals persons are referred to by their titles or employments, “our digne mère” etc. One must go to the catalogs to find out who the person was.)

Listen to the description of the arrival of the first three who took up residence in a temporary dwelling to superintend the building of the convent:

On July 27, 1903 Mother Margaret Hamilton, Mme Van den Abeele and Mme Stella Verneuil left 485 W. Taylor St. [Chicago] to take possession of the Sacred Heart cottage , Lake Forest. They left early in the afternoon and established a precedent for all who should follow them, in the number of bags, boxes, bundles and luggage generally…All these were deposited in the convent carriage barely leaving room for the foundresses. Billy, the convent horse, distinguished himself by his usual capers and ended by falling flat on Jackson Boulevard. Bystanders came to the rescue and the party boarded the train with no further mishap. They reached the cottage about 3:30. True daughters of our Venerable Mother Barat, their first impulse was to unite in a fervent, loving, trustful Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus…

They set to work at once. The simple furniture had preceded them so they scrubbed the floor…put up their beds, then seated on the floor, for the chairs had not yet arrived, they supped on the lunch they had brought with them. Their well-earned rest was disturbed by a terrible storm of rain, thunder and lightning, which added to the loneliness of that first night.

Later, after the arrival of reinforcements in the community, there was the first Mass on Sunday, August 7th:
…celebrated at the cottage by Father Wattmann from Fort Sheridan…All were filled with sensible devotion and rejoicing in holy gladness when the good father turned to his audience, slowly adjusted his glasses, deliberately found the page and read to them in inimitative [sic] English the Epistle and Gospel of the day with a forcefulness and solemnity intended to be most impressive. A sense of humor is a most unfortunate possession in such a juncture.

By the time the nuns had moved into the newly built convent, the journal describes conditions thus:

The first refectory was located in the dish room adjoining the pupils’ refectory, as this room could be more easily secluded from the workmen who were everywhere. Men to the left of us, men to the right: carpenters, masons, bricklayers, plasterers, plumbers, glaziers, painters, gas-fitters, men talking, whistling, singing, hammering, sawing, planning, scraping. Upstairs, downstairs, on the stairs! The contractors had been so dilatory promising and not fulfilling that if our Mothers had awaited their good pleasure, the classes could not have opened in September, so it was decided to take possession of the house and force upon these men the necessity [of finishing the work].

Could this have been written today? It seems that, contrary to the opinion expressed above, a sense of humor is a most fortunate possession in the trying circumstances of foundation days.