The Sisters of Divine Providence in Melbourne, KY experienced an historic first in their worldwide congregation recently.  To celebrate their 260th anniversary they had a virtual event gathering all the entities that was met with worldwide enthusiasm!

Sisters of Providence, today passionately embrace our Providence spirituality, the source of our unity…” (from 2018 General Chapter Orientation)

The excitement was palpable from the moment the participants began to connect and built as more and more Zoom frames popped up on the screen. “If our excitement were electricity, there would be enough here to power all of our computers!” observed Superior General Sr. Susan Baumann in her welcoming remarks—and with that, the Congregation of Divine Providence of St. Jean de Bassel engaged in an historic first worldwide gathering of its members. It was clear by the time this celebration of the 260^th anniversary of the Congregation’s foundation ended that a new and powerful tool had been unleashed in the service of strengthening unity between Sisters: no one wanted to leave!  

Using virtual technology to gather Sisters scattered throughout the globe for this event was fraught with challenge and called for trust in God’s providence. Storms often knock out power during the rainy season in Madagascar; time zone differences would make finding the best time to meet a stretch. Communication using four languages would have to be worked out. And no small consideration was the unfamiliarity of many Sisters with the technology and the variety of their devices and operating systems. There could be no way of telling ahead of time how things would work out. Still, as Sr. Susan pointed out after citing the six congregations of women religious descending directly from founder Jean Martin Moye, their Associate communities and the rest of founder Jean Martin Moye’s family of providence, “a seed sown 260 years ago has given marvelous fruit. This is definitely something to celebrate!” And celebrate we did!

The historic meeting began with a prayer of praise, giving glory to God for the marvels God has wrought. Words taken from the founder were read in French, Malgache, English and Spanish, followed by a song of thanksgiving in each language, sung by a different community of Sisters. Everyone then raised their glasses in a toast, praying: “May we never lack confidence in God’s unfailing care for us; may we do all that depends on us to keep the spirit and charism alive; and long live the spiritual families of Jean Martin Moye!” The celebration continued in  breakout rooms, where language barriers were instantly overcome by the sheer joy of being with each other. Each Sister left carrying that joy and knowing that another seed had been sown now—one that is providentially destined to bear the marvelous fruit of an even deeper unity as we continue to journey on together!

The gathering was a huge success and has now bound the members worldwide together in a deeper unity that was felt by all!  Technology is indeed amazing!

Barbara McMullen, CDP