A PR Moment

Well, as you see, my blog name is P R Woman for Christ. In the last few days I have been involved in PR: working on the promotion of the new movie, The Nativity Story, put out by New Line Cinema. Of course, New Line Cinema does not need my help to promote the movie. However, a caveat is this: we Daughters of St. Paul have published a film guide for Catholics on The Nativity Story; and a book on reflections about Mary, the Mother of Jesus, called also "The Nativity Story." I began by phoning the Archdiocesan Catholic paper, The Catholic Register. The publisher put me in touch with a reporter who is doing a story on the film and Catholics, etc. The young woman seems to take a rather negative attitude. She did interview Sr. Marie Paul who lives here, and contributed an article to the book. She called Sister Rose Pacatte author of the film guide and editor of the book who lives near Los Angeles. I hope that her article is a lot more upbeat. She seemed to think that the Catholic and Christian backing for the film is nothing more than a marketing ploy. That marketing is involved is definite. However marketing is not a bad thing. It depends on what is being marketed. Our Founder, Blessed Alberione, always wanted us to promote the good things that are in the media. This movie is definitely very good. Rather than condemn bad media, we want to positively promote good media such as The Nativity Story. There will always be parts some will not like. Artistry has its subjective side too. Sister Marie Paul saw the movie last week at the City of Angels Film Festival in Los Angeles. She thinks it a good family film--not for small kids, but for those 10 on up, and for adults. Of course, each family has to judge for itself the maturity level of their own children.
We are trying to arrange a screening for Catholics in Toronto before the opening date of Dec. 1.
Keep this project in your prayers. I will let you know more later.
If you want to email me try: srmpmfsp@yahoo.com. Please do not put "hey" or "hi" in the subject line. I almost always immediatley zap any emails with such greetings from strangers, since they have always proved to be spam--usually unsavory.
Good night and God bless you! I prefer the God bless you greeting to "Good Luck!"

Jubilees and Movies

On Sunday, October 29, three of us from our community attended Mass at 9:30 AM at St. Bernard's Parish Church on West Lawrence Avenue in Toronto. The parish was hosting the Mass for the 25th anniversary of religious profession for two Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, Sister Mary Emmanuel from the Philippines, and Sister John Paula from Poland. The Sister Disciples (or Pious Disciples as they are officially called) operate a large Liturgical Apostolate Center on Pine Street near Lawrence. They have an extensive selection of religious art and statues, religious pictures, rosaries and many other things, besides clerical vestments. The Disciples profess a special devotion to Jesus Master in the Holy Eucharist, to service to the priesthood and to the promotion of the liturgy. Some of the Sisters also help to train the children in the parish for sacramental preparation. The Disciples are one of our "sister" Congregations. The Founder, Blessed James Alberione, wanted the Sister Disciples to be a spiritual powerhouse praying on our behalf while we Daughters of St. Paul are busy about the communications' ministry. The Sisters also offer prayers in reparation for the evil caused by the misuse of the media. While we Daughters of St. Paul have a daily hour of Eucharistic adoration, the Sister Disciples spend two hours of adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every day. The Founder felt that the media ministry which we perform is so necessary and so urgent that more prayer is required to make all our work spiritually and materially fruitful.
I hope the Sisters will email us some photos so I can post them for you to see. Both Sisters were radiant with happiness on that jubilee day. During the homily, Father Paul (Raj--not sure how to spell his last name) asked the Sisters to say just a couple of words to describe how they felt. Both Sister Emmanuel and Sr. John Paula said "Jesus makes us happy!" That looked so obviously true.
The Sisters hosted a very nice reception at their convent which is above the Liturgical Apostolate Center. The Sister Disciples produce some very beautiful vestments and high quality altar cloths, etc.
Then on Monday night we had our October Movie--Faith and Film night. Sister Hosea Marie used the movie "Holes" as the discussion starter. She related the movie to a passage from St. John's gospel. We had about 50 people who came to see the film. It was nice to see a really wide variety of age groups present. The November movie will be "Ladder 49."
Have you seen any posters about the movie "The Nativity?" In case you haven't, the movie will be released in the USA (and probably Canada) on December 1. Our Sisters at our publishing house, Pauline Books & Media in Boston, worked closely with the film producers to publish two Catholic accompaniments to the film: a Nativity Film Guide, and a book on Mary. One of our Toronto Sisters, Sister Marie Paul Curley, has an article in the Mary book. A lay Pauline Cooperator, Marilyn, also contributed an article to the Marian title. (I forgot how to spell Marilyn's last name.) Be sure to see the movie!
When I get some more photos and information on the movies, I will be adding them to the blog.
Have a blessed day--Happy All Hallow's Eve, and Happy All Saints Day!

A Very Busy Week

This past week has been a very busy one. Last Thursday's talk had a nice turnout. People seemed very interested in knowing more about the Apostle Paul and the idea of his "living today" through our lives. As soon as I get some photos I will post them for you.
Our book center (centre is the Canadian way to spell it) is a very busy place. People have a thirst for good reading, and they know where to find it here on Dufferin Street. This has been a full week, and it is not over yet! Usually Saturdays are very busy. I take care of the Italian section of books and a/v's in our centre. We just received a large shipment of titles from Italy. I have been calling people whose Italian orders have finally arrived. Sometimes I watch Italian TV, news or other programs to keep my Italian "aggiornata"--up-to-date. Toronto has a big number of Italian immigrants and Catholic parishes which have Italian Masses and other Italian services. One website says that Italian is the unofficial second language of Canada. French, of course, is the "first" and official second language. In Quebec it is the first for many people. As soon as we drove into the Province of Quebec we noticed the street names were different. French is first there.
Toronto is a very cosmopolitan city. The transit system offers help in about 90 different languages. On the bus or subway one can hear all kinds of languages being spoken: Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Spanish and English! I think St. Paul would have enjoyed working in such a "global" city as Toronto. God bless you! Thanks for reading this news.

More on St. Paul

As I prepare for my talk on St. Paul Living Today, I am getting to know more about Saint Paul, and others too. Sister Martha lent me a copy of a small book on the life of Sister Nazarena Mornado. She was the novice mistress of the Daughters of St. Paul in Rome for many years. Sister was also one of the first writers and editors among the Daughters of St. Paul. As you may or may not know, the Daughters of St. Paul were founded in 1915 to "Be St. Paul Living Today" by spreading the Gospel message with the media of today. The first modern media was the printing press. Johann Gutenburg never dreamed of the revolution he began back in the late 1400's with his moveable type printing press. In the early days of our founding, Italy was flooded with lots of newspapers and magazines that we would call today "The Yellow Press." (At least that's the name given to the phenomena by one of my history teachers.) The Founder Blessed James Alberione wanted to offset the harm done by sensationist and anti-clerical papers and magazines. He wanted people to have the best of news in front of them. His idea was not to picket and condemn media and journals, but to provide reading that would be wholesome and attractive.
Sister Nazarena grasped the idea of Alberione and ran with it. She also understood the spiritual foundation that sustained this work of "the Good Press" as it was called in the early days.
She said that the "Pauline Spirit" was really dedicating one's whole being to Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life. She said that we need to know, imitate and life the Divine Master Jesus Christ following the footsteps of St. Paul the Apostle and under the gaze of Mary, Queen of the Apostles.
On another topic, a priest friend showed me a nice, peaceful website which has meditation photos and musical accompaniment. Check it out (even though the words of in French it is still lovely): mariedenazareth.com

October in Toronto

Today was the beginning of another busy week. Sister Mary Martha who came from Boston held some meetings with our little community of five Sisters. We talked especially about communication styles among us. We are a group ranging from 36 to 64. That is a bit of a difference in age. But, usually it is not a problem. Sister Martha is a native of Louisiana, so we enjoy her Cajun good sense of humor too.
Sister Martha among other things is the person entrusted with the formation of our Sisters who are called juniors. A junior professed is one who has not yet made her perpetual vows. Sister Marlyn is one of our juniors, professed almost two years ago. (After the tim eof "juniorate" a Sister makes final vows--that is for life.
Tomorrow Sr. Marie Paul leaves for the City of Angels Film Festival in Los Angeles. She has a busy schedule there. Sister does some screen writing among her many duties.
I am trying to put the final touches on a lecture I will give on Thursday evening on "St. Paul Living Today." I will let you know more about this topic after I give the presentation! Here's a picture of St. Paul traveling with the gospel.

Paulines in Montreal

M
Here I am admiring the beautiful fixtures and the vast array of titles in Montreal.
Here's a glimpse of the book store's cafe. This is Cardinal Turcotte speaking to the crowd.
I just realized one of the reasons I did not post much in September (zero posts) was that I made a trip with Sister Hosea to Montreal. Our Sisters have been in that city for more than 50 years. They recently had to move from their former address on St. Denis. They found a nice place on Masson. It has a kindergarten on the second floor. It's a whole new kind of neigborhood than the St. Denis locations. Although neither of us English-speaking Americans could handle French we ventured there for the grand opening of their new center -- or to spell it the Canadian way --centre. The place is very attractive--a bookaholic paradise! There is even a mini-cafe comploete with a chef to feed the body as well as the soul. There are computers throughout the store where the staff can check for a title's availability. About 150 or more people squeezed in to be there to cheer on the Sisters. They strive to evangelize the culture by having a very wide selection of books and music, both sacred and secular. If you are there in Montreal, stop in on Blvd. Masson near D'Iberville. (I hope I am spelling it right.)

Sr Anne Joan

I forgot to say that in September Sister Anne Joan flew in from Chicago to give a talk on Pauline Spirituality--specifically on the spirituality taught by our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. Sister Anne Joan has been in Rome for studies also. She gave a great presentation and used some power point slides to help us all remember her message.

Niagara Falls

Well, my last posting missed the Niagara Falls photo. This is a second try at the picture. Enjoy!

Hello I'm Still Here!

Here is a picture I took of Niagara Falls from "under the Falls." That was on my birthday in September. It happened to be a really beautiful clear Sunday. The other photo is of our Founder Blesseed James Alberione and of his assistant of many years, now Blessed, Timothy Giaccardo. During the past week's monthly Pauline Cooperator meeting, I explained with a power point something about the life of Giaccardo. He was the first young man ordained a priest in our Pauline Family's first order: the Society of St. Paul.
After I spoke, I handed the floor to Sarah who spent a week in our Metairie, Louisiana Convent in July 2006. She and two other young women are discerning a vocation to religious life--specifically to my community, the Daughters of St. Paul. The three young women along with Sister Margaret Michael, our vocation directress, wanted to do some kind of out reach with our media apostolate to the folks of the 9th Ward area. As you know from newscasts, that area of New Orleans is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The young women and Sister discerned that they could reach out to some of the residents in a couple of the shelters run by Catholic Sisters, as well as to the neighbors in the vicinty. They used song, photo slides and music to bring a message of hope to the people. In orer to advertise the events, they had to go door-to-door to hand out flyers. In some places mail service is not yet working, so the personal "on your doorstep" approach worked. Sarah had some songs from The Lion King musical which were just the right thing to accompany the pictures. All of us lisetening were very impressed at how three young women who had never before met worked so well together.
This week I am going to give a lecture or talk on a topic dear to my hear: "St. Paul Living Today." If you are in Toronto on Thursday night, Oct. 19, do come. I have a lot to share.

Saturday on Dufferin Street

Today in our Centre on Dufferin Street, we were open from 9:30 until 5:00 PM. Since it is the birthday of one of our Saturday employees, four of us Sisters were on duty to help the many people who came in. When I pushed the gate open, there was a priest wwaiting to enter. There was a steady stream of people all day: couples who browsed for at least an hour; moms and dads with their kids; young adults searching for music and books; parish workers searching for materials to help; Latino, Asian, Italian, Jamaican and Indian--people of every hue and color. An Indian couple remeber the Daughters of St. Paul visiting their homes with good reading in their home country. A student from Venezuela remembers visiting our Centres in his native country. What a "catholic," universal, city this is. He said, "I was so happy to find "Las Paulinas" here in Tronto too.
One gentleman came in around 2:00 PM and purchased two small black rosaries. He noticed the sign for our chapel and asked if he could go and pray. As he was leaving he stopped and thanked me. "I hope I can hear what he is saying." I answered, "He is always speaking to us. We are the ones who have to try to listen." Obviously under some sort of burden, he continued, "Those words really struck me." "Ah, yes," I replied, "Our Founder heard those words years ago when he was experiencing some really difficult times. Jesus seemed to be standing next to the tabernacle in a chapel. He was pointing to the tabernacle saying: 'Do not be afraid. I am with you. From here (the Eucharistic tabernacle) I want to enlighten.' " The man told me, "My father is dying. I really need those words today." I assured him that we will pray for him and for his father. Amid the busy-ness of the phone calls and people coming and going, our Lord was waiting to console this person who came to our Centre and our chapel. Our quiet chapel holds him who is "The Word." May The Word enlighten and console that son who is trying his best to "be strong" for his father.
In between taking care of our many patrons and praying in the chapel for an hour and a half, plus a break for lunch, there was not a whole lot of time to focus on anything else except the people and their needs.
Our Mother General sent us a letter of best wishes for our 50th anniversary. In it, she says she prays that our Center will be a beacon shining the light of Christ on thousands of people thorugh the media of communication. May all the people who came into 3022 Dufferin Street today feel the consoling warmth of that light on themselves and on all their loved ones.

Movie Night at the Convent

Last night, Thursday August 24, we began our new series of Movie Nights at the Pauline Books and Media Center. We have a very nice hall with a projector, screen and speakers that accommodate large audiences.
Last night five of us sisters were present along with 22 guests. We watched the film, Marvin's Room. Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DiNiro and other big names were in the film. Sister Hosea Marie introduced the film and handed out a small guide for reflection. After the film viewing and a break we gathered into three discussion groups. Most of us had counted off before hand to try and watch the film through the eyes of one of the four main characters. That made for lively applications of the film to real life and to Christian and basic human family values. Here are some photos showing the hall before most of the folks arrived; Sister Hosea introducing the evening; and Sister Marlyn starting a discussion group.

Mariachi's

Here are some clips of our Mariachi friends who "made our day" so special with their song and music. Juan Carlos chats with Sister Marlyn and Sister Carla.

Sisters

Here are Sisters Marlyn Evangelina and Marie Paul during Sunday's celebration.

The Crowd

I'd like you see a glimpse of the size of the crowd that came to celebrate with us on Sunday, August 20.

Wednesday

Today, August 23, is the "real" 50th anniversary of the Daughters of St. Paul in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I resized some of the photos from Sunday's celebration. I will try including them in today's post.

Where to find some photos.

I forgot to add that my flickr address is srmpmfsp. Thanks and God bless your week!

Photos

I think the JPEG files were too large.
Otherwise, check out my photo page on flickr.

Another Try at Photos

Here's try number three. I'm not sure why the photos did not show up.

Pictures from our Jubilee

Here's try number two for an attempt to put up photos from today's event.
One is a photo of the crowd which came to our hall.
Sister Donna worked hard to serve the cake with our friend Nancy.
Sisters Marlyn and Marie-Paul were busy all day.
Here are two of the Mariachi's.
The happy crowd danced and clapped with the Mariachi's.
Here are most of the Daughters of St. Paul who were present posing with a lady friend.

A 50th Anniversary Celebration

Today we Daughters of St. Paul in Toronto celebrated our community's 50 year presence in the city and Archdiocese of Toronto. We celebrated first with a joyous Mass at our parish Church of St. Charles Borromeo at the corner of West Lawrence and Dufferin in Toronto. Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic was the main celebrant with four other priests and two deacons present. Sister Hosea Maria cantored for the Mass. A few other of our Sisters joined the choir especially for the Communion hymns.
The church was packed. Two Daughters of St. Paul from Montreal joined us as well as our provincial superior, Sister Margaret Christopher Meagher and one of her councilors, Sister Mary Martha Moss.
Many lay people and Sisters from other communities came to celebrate in the reception held after Mass in our hall under our book center. The crowd was definitely multi-cultural, and very happy. It was a joy to see so many people coming from many parts of Canada to support us in our mission of media evangelization. Lots of folks who are weekly, some even daily visitors to our Centre were present.
An unexpected but very welcome surprise occured during the party with the arrival of three authentic "Mariachi's" from Mexico. With two guitars and a small accordian and great voices, the gentlemen with the broad-brimmed sombreros played for more than an hour. Sisters and laity joined hands and danced to their music. There were definitley a "hit."
I will try to upload a few seconds of video so you can see them.
Today is also the 92nd anniversary of the founding of the congregation of priests and brothers called The Society of St. Paul. Since they were the first of the Pauline Family, in one way it is also a double anniversary for us.