Paris (France), 07/08/2020.- Sr. Martine Bourquin.- Hello Sisters, ladies and gentlemen! I just want to share with you some memories that I have about the beatification of Marie Poussepin. Well, I got an extraordinary opportunity to be able to go there. Really, I had been in the Congregation only for a few years and had made my perpetual vows only a year before the Beatification.
It was not my place to go there. By chance, I had to be of service to some children to accompany them. I ran and in an extraordinary marvelous way, I found myself there, in St. Peter’s Square, in the morning, wearing the big Dominican habit which I wear rarely. In front of the Vatican, there were three huge portraits including that of Marie Poussepin who was very dear to my heart. Right away, I felt that I was on familiar ground. Then, we crossed that immense square to enter the Basilica where we had reserved places for the Congregation. The celebration was extraordinary, marvelous and unbelievable. They gave us magnificent, beautifully decorated booklets…unfortunately, today I do not have them; they were kept in the bedroom closet. But I have a great memory; it is really moving to tell you about the beauty of this celebration. They called out the three who had the honor of being beatified. And then, we, the Dominican Sisters of charity of the Presentation were honored! It was a splendid and beautiful moment!
The celebration lasted for more than two hours, but what does it matter! There was a real splendor and beauty in the ambience of Vatican and St. Peter’s church and I thought profoundly that Marie Poussepin would not have wished such a show because, she had a lot of simplicity in what she was, taking care of the poorest; she must have been a little surprised to see such a pomp for her beatification, but nonetheless, it was really extraordinary. So we had a very beautiful celebration, and I think that I will always have beautiful memories of it and honestly, during the celebration I joined myself with all the sisters who could not come and even now, while speaking to you, I am united with all of you. These are some of my souvenirs and I really wish to tell you that it was an exceptional ceremony.