Historical review of the Province

We are in 1950. This is the Holy Year proclaimed by the Bull of His Holiness Pius XII on May 26, 1949 and inaugurated solemnly on December 25, 1949, as a year of growth in faith, and superabundance of graces… “A year of forgiveness and love which will lead all men and women to assume with more ardor the journey towards a future of holiness and peace”.

Mother Thérèse Augusta elected as Superior General in 1939, governs the Congregation from France. She announced from Tours to the American continent her cordial visit as the first representative of the Church in the Congregation.

In Colombia and Venezuela, 1246 sisters assigned to the Province of Bogota and 1182 sisters to that of Medellin prepare themselves to receive her... Everybody is in expectation… Mother looks at the growth with enthusiasm and seets to discern for the Congregation in Colombia a better and more agile administrative structure; it will be divided into four Provinces:

• It was a process lived since 1950.
• It sprang out of the needs felt and experienced by both the General and Provincial governments and the sisters of the two existing Provinces.

1954 is the beginning of the Marian year in the Church. With great care, Mother sends her letters announcing the creation of the new Provinces:

“The Provinces of Bogota and Medellin each will be divided to form a Vice-Province independent from the Province from which it originates. Each one will have its Administrative Council and a little later, its novitiate. The Vice-Province, the center of which will be Bucaramanga, will include The Districts of Santander, Santander del Norte, Magdalena and the Republic of Venezuela. And its Vice-Provincial Superior will be Madre Rita de la Merced.”

We, the four hundred and twenty-one sisters assigned to the new structure, are “the human contingent” chosen by God for a rebirth which for sure, will bring new life to the Church and the Congregation. From the Province of Bogota, 331 sisters who were located in the geographical region are assigned to the Vice-Province. At that time, 90 sisters of Medellin will join the new ranks distributed as follows:

• 278 sisters dedicated to the service of evangelization through education.
• 99 sisters in hospitals for the service of health care.
• 31 sisters in homes for children and the abandoned.
• 13 sisters offer services in the Seminaries and the prison for women in Bucaramanga.

On March 25, the corner stone is blessed, which will remain buried in the ground, so that on it, there will rise up a mighty construction, which will cradle many lives and will be a witness of purity and gift. From that date the economic efforts and the affectionate look of the whole Province is turned into the work newly initiated.

Missionary Project

The forceful and motivating reason that leads us to commit ourselves to the work of evangelization is based on: “There is only one mission in the Church, which the Father entrusted to his Son Jesus Christ: He desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. (I Tim. 2: 3-4). This mandate has not lost its strength and vitality; on the contrary, it is an up to date response to the needs of the world today.” (Project and Statutes).

The Missionary Project of the Province seeks to respond to the challenges, which the world, the Church and the Congregation present us through the proclamation of the Gospel. This proclamation is expressed through the missionary commitment of each sister who is called to identify with audacity and creativity the new places where we need to proclaim the Gospel and establish the Kingdom of God. (Missionary Project 2015 – 2019) For this, we are organized in different ministries, counting on 229 Sisters:

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION: 11 local Communities.

SCHOOL OF THE COMMUNITY: 

• Presentation School, Bucaramanga. Santander.
• Presentation School, Piedecuesta. Santander.
• Presentation School, El Socorro. Santander.
• Presentation School, Saint Teresa. North Santander.
• Presentation School, Saint Martha. Institute The Miraculous Saint Martha Magdalena.

SCHOOL IN THE OFFICIAL SECTOR (PUBLIC SCHOOLS):

• Presentation School, Chinácota. North Santander.
• School of Our Lady of Bethlehem, Salazar. North Santander.
• Presentation School, Ocaña. North Santander.
• Teacher’s training School Convencion. North Santander.
• Presentation Technical School – San Gil. Santander.

PARISH MINISTRY:

9 Communities

• Holy Cross-Parish, Giron. Santander.
• Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish, San Vicente de Chucuri. Santander.
• Saint Joakim Parish, Zapatoca. Santander.
• Our Lady of Snow Cathedral Parish, Velez. Santander.
• Our Lady of Campados Parish, Campados. North Santander
• Saint Louis Beltran Cathedral Parish, Tibu. North Santander
• Our Lady of Las Mercedes Parish, Las Mercedes. North Santander
• Our Lady of Rosary Parish, Caapucú, Paraguay.
• Immaculate Conception Parish, Mbocayaty, Paraguay.

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL SERVICES

2 Communities

• Institute for Social Training Piedecuesta.
• “La Casita”, Cucuta.

HEALTHCARE MINISTRY:

This ministry is carried out by our sisters inserted in the polyvalent communities of the Province. They take care of the health of our older sisters in the infirmaries of Sainville, Janville and Santa Ana, offer health care services in dispensaries and in the area of alternative medicine. One sister renders service in the Campus of la Universidad Catholica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción end Mbocayaty (Catholic University of Our Lady of the Assumption in Mbocayaty), Paraguay.

MINISTRY OF GENERAL SERVICES, HOSPITALITY AND WITNESS:

4 Communities

• Marie Poussepin Community- House of meetings « La Turena ».
• Community of Janville.
• Community of Saint Ann.
• House at the Center - Bucaramanga.

The Province has a House of Formation for the Aspirancy and Postulancy. For the Province, youth vocation ministry is an urgency and it takes care of discernment with the Provincial Government, The House of Formation and the local communities.

Paraguay

For more than 20 years in this country, concretely in Mbocayaty and Caapucú, our presence in general, has been more than anything else, in the accompaniment to the Catechists, professors, children, and families. All this is done through the parish, educational institutions and the Hospital of the Universidad católica (Catholic University). The first apostolic priority is to offer to these persons elements of formation for a solid foundation to their faith and beliefs through knowledge and study of the Word of God, because their multiple expressions of popular piety often tend toward the magical, superstitious and practices.

The second priority is spiritual and moral guidance and accompaniment, because given the characteristics of the clergy the people have nowhere else to turn. At present, we have two postulants coming from each one of the Communities there.

Newsness

• Revitalization, taking a first step towards the interior life of each sister, each community and each Mission. Emphasizing the need to strengthen our identity as consecrated women through: a renewed encounter with Jesus Christ, formation of human and harmonious relationships and availability for service in the mission. This process is accompanied and encouraged by the Provincial Government through meetings, visits to the Communities, retreats and dialogues.
• Review the works, organization and exercise of government to face the challenges of the new reality. This implies an analysis from different angles to discern that we need to restructure internally and to define our missionary presences and their aims, or reorient them to take care of new beneficiaries. This requires that we reinforce some missionary presences, diminish others, close some works and open significant missionary presences by collaborating with other provinces and the laity, through a profound revitalization and openness to unknown paths.
• The implementation of solidarity projects in areas in the peripheries, seeking the promotion of persons and improving their quality of life.
• The laity manages the direction and administration of one of the Schools in the province, without the presence of the sisters. From the provincial government one of the Councilors offers accompaniment.
• The social projection of the Charism of Marie Poussepin is carried out by the Lay Dominicans of the Presentation and the Ex-alumnas in places of poverty and scarcity.

Challenges

• Professional preparation for the sisters according to the needs of the mission, especially in administration and formation.
• Formation for leadership that enables each sister to be empowered and strengthened, to discover her own leadership, skills and to express it through service within the community and mission.
• The animation of youth and vocation ministry as the mission and responsibility of each local Community.
• The processes of restructuration and revitalization to strengthen and support interprovincial collaboration in order to ensure favorable conditions for a Good evangelization, which is updated, and transforming.
• Ensure quality of life and integral well- being to our older sisters.
• Increase the work of vocation ministry in Paraguay, with a sister dedicated to this work; there are vocations, but we have to go out to look for them and must have availability of time.

 

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