Here we are once again, gathered in a beautiful setting to reflect together between the SMA Fathers, the NDA Sisters, and MCS-C, to consolidate the relations between our Councils also through relaxation, times of prayer, and copious meals shared together…So, this is already the second time that our Councils have come together to exchange and reflect on the questions of collaboration between our Institutes: missionary and vocational animation with a mixed AMV team, being the starting point in Cap Breton in 2021 and a rich experience to be encouraged.

We gathered in the old SMA house of the Province of Strasbourg, “teeming” with reproductions of Marc Chagall, which hides many surprises: for example, this old wooden staircase that creaks mercilessly betraying each nocturnal step … a shortcut strongly discouraged to be taken at certain times of the night … or again, a small domestic cemetery is discreetly hidden behind the greenery of the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes made partly with real grey stones of Massabielle … or again this silent pond at the end of the park or these two trees with a mysterious fetish whose origin is unknown to everyone …

Thanks to the SMA Provincial of Strasbourg, Fr. André N’Koy, for his generous invitation, especially as Strasbourg was breathing the “smell of sanctity”, awaiting canonization which took place on Sunday 15 May 2022 in Rome… Indeed, as few people know, one of the three French candidates for the sainthood this year, Charles de Foucauld, was born in Strasbourg in 1858 (one year after the foundation of the SMA at Fourvière in Lyon, in November 1857, Bishop de Brésillac preached about the mission in the Strasbourg cathedral…). It was finally the war of 1870 that caused Foucauld to leave Alsace, which had become German, for Nancy and a little later, for Paris, Morocco, and finally the mission in Algeria…

Thanks to Frs. Justin, very gallant, who could be spotted from afar by his colored parade shirt and his chic straw hat, and Raja, discreet with his secret and ascetic Indian smile (a trait of a true Tamil), for putting the house at Zinswald at our disposal and for all the weight so graciously borne of our welcome. Thank you for taking care of us with the much-appreciated help of the other fathers of the House and the two lady cooks who made us appreciate the real taste of asparagus…and Alsacian sauerkraut…and spoiled us with port roulades or roast veal…

We congratulate ourselves for knowing how to adapt and take full advantage of the flexible timetable, with enough time to achieve the objectives we set ourselves and to organize an African cooking workshop for pure pleasure, a real treat for the SMA senior Fathers of the house… which brought us their fond memories of the land of Africa…

Sr Clara, Sr Danielle, and Bishop Michel wisely went for little walks in the woods with a few visits to the grotto to pray to our Lady, the wisdom of age obliges… but, we did not know the exact reason for this complicity with the mother of the Church,
our archbishop emeritus Michel Cataterguy very cleverly hid the anniversary of his nomination to the episcopate which he learned in Zinswald itself by telephone from Rome, 22 years ago.

Sr. Marie-Hélène, Fr. Laurent, and Fr. François took care of the minutes so that we did not miss any points of major importance while Sr. Sylvie took charge of animation.

Sr. Suzanne, our “cordon bleu,” led the African cooking workshop with the help of Sr. Krystyna who relentlessly called for help to mobilize everyone…

Sr. Josephine made appearances during the first few days before she was finally called by the youth chaplaincy in Lyon.  Sr. Andréa, absent for this meeting, had to be content with appreciating the flavor of our fish by “mediating” some photos…

Each day brought new discoveries…

In the almost monastic silence of Zinswald, in this former hunting lodge, now owned by the SMA, the subject of communication was put on the table and revisited in all its facets: evaluation of existing tools (our websites, magazines and periodicals, internal communication, calendars, leaflets), archives, animation policy (use of the museum, the library, kermesses, jubilees, missionary days, etc.) …

When we woke up, some of us were well served by the crowing of the rooster, provided we opened the windows wide – we could feel like we were in the countryside… What a wonderful change that made us forget Lyon with its city life!

Fr. Arthur Becker’s masterly speech on the presence of the SMA Fathers in Zinswald made us aware of the SMA policy at the time of the minor seminaries, and the resemblance with the Cartières house at Chaponost near Lyon is quite striking, despite its destination, at a given period, to play the role of a sanatorium benefiting from a few extensions…

The Zinswald property bought on 30 June 1936, and confiscated in 1941 by the Germans for a women’s sanatorium, played its role as an SMA seminary until 1969 before becoming a retirement home for tired and elderly fathers hitherto.

 We were very much at home and close to our roots, for the prayer of Bishop de Brésillac, addressed to the missionaries, accompanied us throughout our exchanges… including the particularly beautiful one:

O God, you have put… (Praying with Bishop de Marion Brésillac: p.81)

“O my God, you know what goes on in my heart, you know why it is often deeply wounded. May your holy name be blessed in everything! When will it be given to me, Lord, to do something for your church? O God, have you put so many desires in my heart in vain…?

But perhaps where I see no way out because of my weakness, in the midst of the obstacles that are erected on all sides, there your infinite power will give rise to grounds for hope. However, if it pleases you to leave my desires ineffective, may your holy will be done before all else…”.

We took full advantage of the visits of the SMA Fathers at St Pierre (house bought in 1920 for the classes), of those of the SMA College at Haguenau (acquired in 1927), and of the NDA Sisters at Oberhoffen (an unforgettable moment of reception at the barn in a climate of Protestant rustic Alsace) more individually or in organized groups, to relax. For some Our Lady at the Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Marienthal (Albert de Haguenau built here in 1250 as the first chapel in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary) near Haguenau, and the famous wine cellars in Barr (founded in 1824 by Martin Klipfel, strong of six generations of winegrowers) with a free tasting of world-famous grands crus such as Riesling, Gewurztraminer, etc…

The inclined plane of Saint-Louis and Arztviller, unique in Europe, only a few kilometers from Zinswald, with its canal from the Marne to the Rhine, … and of course the famous Mont Saint-Odile, named after a young girl born blind, rejected by her father, the Duke of Alsace Adalric or Étichon, who became the powerful patroness of Alsace. For 1300 years a place for recollection and self-renewal was situated on the rocky escarpments and the unusual heaps of pink sandstone blocks (affectionately called “the pudding of Sainte-Odile”).

Welcomed by the sound of its imposing bells…Mont Saint-Odile will remain engraved in our memory: departure at 9 am for our pilgrimage mass at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Sanctuary… For some of us, it was the first discovery of this place in the 6th-7th centuries … with a descent through the woods towards the spring which “opens the eyes of the blind” … Saint Odile despite her handicap knew how to communicate the love of God to the world.

Thus, blessed and sanctified, we found our NDA Sisters from Colmar… What a beautiful and unexpected reunion!

We are all in favor of continuing these inter-council meetings which we find very enriching for our respective Institutes. They create the bond of fraternity and family between the members of each entity, especially as we all feel rooted in the intuition of Bishop de Brésillac and in his vision of the mission.

                                                                                  Sr Krystyna Walada, mcs-c