
March 25’th, normally the Feast of the Annunciation is an important day for Our Lady’s Missionaries. We celebrate Mary’s “Yes!” and reflect on ways in which God may be asking a “Yes!” of us. It is also the anniversary of a Mass of Thanksgiving our founder, Fr. Dan Macdonald, offered in 1949 in the house that was to become Immaculata House, the first home of OLM in Alexandria, Ontario.
This year, March 25’th fell on Palm Sunday, and the Feast of the Annunciation was moved to April 9’th. And so, on the eve, Sunday, April 8 OLMs gathered to celebrate and give thanks.
We celebrated with the joy of the Easter season as we remembered the Annunciation and our anniversary.
We also remembered and held in prayer in a special way, Pam McDonald, the wife of Mary Gauthier’s nephew, Sandy. Pam passed away on March 29. We prayed for her husband and all their family as they mourn the loss of one held so dear.
During our Eucharist, OLMs shared favourite memories of our beginnings and of our founder, Fr. Dan Macdonald and co-founders Sr. Odelia CSJ and Sr. Mary Ida CSJ. It was clear that even today we are imbued with their spirit. This knowledge encourages us as we face new beginnings in the coming year with our move to Presentation Manor.
We all laughed as one sister noted how important food seemed to be to our founders! And, we proved ourselves to be well-imbued with this spirit as we then shared a wonderful meal in which all had a hand in preparing.
Sr. Christine Gebel, OLM