| Written by Joe Barkovich, Catholic Register Special,
|
Views : 1194  |
 shortly before she departed for the Philippines to open a new convent. Her community, Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this year celebrates 50 years of service in Welland. (Photo by Joe Barkovich) Her community, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a small but well known community of women religious, has ministered in Welland since 1958.
The sisters are celebrating a milestone “journey of faith” this year, said Puglia. She expressed “thanks to the Lord” for the community’s triumphs over hardship and its record of accomplishment from humble beginnings.
Puglia, 85, was here from the start. She arrived with seven sisters in the summer of 1958. They were responding to a call by Msgr. Vincent J. Ferrando, pastor of St. Mary’s Church. Ferrando wanted assistance in ministering to Welland’s growing Italian community.
Work abroad was still relatively new to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Though founded in Ragusa, Sicily, in 1889, their missionary work outside Italy did not begin until 1950.
The sisters first lived about half a kilometre from the church. They were strangers in a strange land, encountering language difficulties as they came here with little and had little in their early years.
“We did not know the language, we did not know the people. We had no money,” Puglia said.
She talks about being helped by the people they came to help. Often, the sisters would find pasta, rice, fruit and other groceries and donations left on their doorstep by caring and concerned Italian families. The sisters were appreciative of the generosity then and still are now, said Puglia.
“They depended on donations from the people they were here to minister to,” said Sr. Margherita Ianni, an aide to Puglia.
There was no shortage of things to do, the two said. They visited the sick and the elderly in hospital and their homes. Eventually they opened a day care in a building that served as St. Mary’s parish centre, located near the church.
That was in March 1959. They started the day care with one child in their care. It operated in the parish centre until 1963 when it was moved to a building the community had purchased as their new home. It had been a maternity hospital during the Second World War. It later became a residence for nurses. When the sisters purchased it, it had been vacant for some time, was rundown and in need of repairs and upgrading. They moved in during 1962. There were seven sisters and three novices at the time.
The day care centre is a local success story. Well known and highly regarded, it has a two-year waiting list, said Ianni, an Italian-born Wellander who joined the community in 1961.
If there is one sadness that clouds the work and achievements of Puglia, it is the shortage of vocations to the religious life, she said.
“I always pray for vocations,” she said during an interview in a sitting room where photographs of milestones in her life are on display.
One of them shows Puglia and Pope John Paul II during a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in 1988. It was taken just before Puglia and others went to the Philippines to open a new house. Since then, two more houses have been opened there, as well as one in India in 2004.
“Since vocations in Canada are scarce, we decided to go to the Philippines to recruit some vocations there,” said Puglia, who will celebrate the 62nd anniversary of her profession of vows in November.
Where people lead simple lives, they are not so materialistic and secular minded, said Puglia, who believes religion plays a more important role in their lives.
Said Ianni: “It can also be said that young people there are not as distracted as they are here; they tend to hear God’s call more readily.”
Another possible reason for the downturn in vocations: young people do not have the contact with religious that they had years ago. Ianni said she recalls a time when several communities, including the Felician Sisters, School Sisters of Notre Dame, Vincentian Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Martha and French Sisters of the Sacred Heart, had houses in Welland.
The strategy to go elsewhere paid off, they said. Young women still are joining the community in the Philippines, and 50 sisters from there have been sent to Italy where the community started, to work with Italian sisters. Some have also served in Welland over the years.
There are six sisters in residence at the house in Welland, said Ianni, and three of them are from the Philippines. The sisters still make visits to the sick and elderly at Welland hospital and at homes for the aged. They provide religious instruction to Catholic children who attend public schools and they staff the day care centre.
“We have not stropped working,” Puglia said. “The people, our people, need us.”
The Sacred Heart community will mark its 50th anniversary with special events. On April 10, 11 and 12, a dramatization of the life of foundress, Blessed Maria Schinina, was staged by students at Notre Dame College School. On Aug. 22, the actual anniversary of their arrival, a formal dinner will be held. On Aug. 23, there will be an open house at the convent and day care centre. And on Aug. 24 at 3 p.m., St. Catharines Bishop James Wingle will preside at a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Church.
(Barkovich is a freelance writer in Welland, Ont.)
Recommend this article...
|
Science & Ethics 
(0 vote)
