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CONGREGATION OF JESUS NEWS
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SISTER THERESA ARROWSMITH R.I.P.
Sister Theresa Arrowsmith died peacefully at St Joseph's, York on 29 July 2010 in the 90th year of her age and the 63rd year of her religious life.
A member of a large Catholic family, she valued her kinship with St Edmund Arrowsmith, the Lancashire Jesuit priest who was martyred in 1628. Having entered Mary Ward's institute in 1948, she taught at Errollston for several years, served as Superior in Shaftesbury and Hampstead, and Domestic Bursar and Sacristan in York, where she did great work as a parish sister in St Wilfrid's. She was a full advocate of the ecumenical movement and was closely involved both locally and internationally. Her funeral Mass was celebrated in the Bar Convent Chapel, attended by CJ sisters, members of her family, and her many friends.
To read the obituary given at the end of Sister Theresa's Requiem Mass, click HERE
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NEW WEBSITE FOR THE CONGREGATION OF JESUS |
The Congregation of Jesus has a new main website which has just been launched by our Generalate in Rome.
Click on www.congregatiojesu.org to find it. |
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JUBILEE 400 PILGRIMAGE TO MOUNT GRACE |
On May 22nd this year, 100 CJ, IBVM, Mary Ward Associates and friends made a pilgrimage from the village of Osmotherley to the Mount Grace Lady Chapel in thanksgiving for Mary Ward and all the favours her sisters have received from God in the last 400 years.
To read the notice which gave more information about this pilgrimage, click HERE
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MARY WARD HONOURED WITH THE TITLE VENERABLE |
From Rome - great news. On December 19th in this Jubilee Year 2009 Pope Benedict XVI formally promulgated the Decree recognising the 'heroic virtue' lived and demonstrated by Mary Ward and thereby conferring on her the title 'Venerable'. This is an important event in the rehabilitation of Mary Ward's life and work, as well as a decisive step towards her beatification. Her cause will now go forward to the next stage in the process towards beatification and eventual canonisation.t news from Rome.
For further information click HERE |
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BBC SUNDAY WORSHIP Reflections by Gemma Simmonds CJ |
BBC Sunday Worship for Good Shepherd Sunday 25 April 2010 came from the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge. The Congregation of Jesus has a community in Cambridge and at Fr Tony Rogers' request, Sister Gemma Simmonds gave two very striking reflections during the service. To read the text of these reflections, click HERE
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MARY WARD DOCUMENTARY DVD |
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Mary Ward: Dangerous Visionary
This is a one-hour documentary telling the story of that “incomparable woman” - Mary Ward (1585-1645) - through the lens of the 21st century. It has been produced by Sarah Mac Donald, a past pupil of the IBVM Irish Province and TV production company, New Decade. 'Mary Ward - Dangerous Visionary' includes re-enactments of seminal moments in Mary Ward’s life with historical commentary. It incorporates footage of two projects where Mary Ward Sisters are working today, 400 years after she founded her first Institute in 1609.
While education has traditionally been central to her Sisters' work, she herself wanted her members to respond to the needs of the times. Their ministry, she wrote, would be “care of the faith and other works congruous to the times”. In her own time she sent some of her companions to support the priests on the dangerous English Mission.
Footage from the Bar Convent in York, the English city near to the scenes of Mary Ward’s birth and death, is juxtaposed with aspects of her story in the 21st century work done by her Institute. Part of the documentary contains visually arresting images from locations in South Sudan and Canada in a gritty format which challenges viewers on issues such as education of girls who face discrimination and the marginalisation of the mentally ill and homeless.
The DVD is now available from the Bar Convent shop, price £9 sterling per copy plus £2 UK packing and postage.
For further information about this important Documentary click HERE.
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JUBILEE 400 MASS IN WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL |
More than 2000 people, CJ and IBVM Sisters, Mary Ward Associates, representatives from the Mary Ward Schools, friends and invited guests,, attended the Celebratory Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 23rd January in honour of Mary Ward and the 400th Jubilee of the Mary Ward foundation in 1609. The principal celebrant was the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.
To read about this Mass and view the photographs click HERE
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JUBILEE 400 ROME PILGRIMAGE |
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Jubilee 400 was celebrated in Rome from October 4th to 9th by 1,200 pilgrims, CJ and IBVM Sisters, Associates lay women and men co-workers, and friends. The events of the week began with a re-enactment of Mary Ward's entry into Rome through the Flaminian Gate in 1621, and included the Papal Audience in the Piazza of St Peter's Basilica, Mass in the Basilica of S. Ignazio, a Symposium on Mary Ward, visits to Mary Ward places and to the CJ and IBVM Generalates, and several Concerts. The choir of St Mary's School, Shaftesbury sang at a Mass in St Peter's Basilica and gave one of the evening Concerts. Our thanks to the CJ and IBVM Generalates, who worked together to make this week a most memorable celebration and a time to meet old friends and make new ones thoughout the whole Mary Ward Institute.
To see a day by day account of the Pilgrimage with some of the best photographs click HERE
To access all the photographs, the talks at the Symposium, and the homily at the Mass in S. Ignazio, click HERE |
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JUBILEE 400 |
2009 is the 4th Centenary of the founding of Mary Ward's congregation, which began in London and St Omer in 1609. The opening Mass took place on 29 January in York Minster. In October 1.200 members of the CJ and IBVM, with associates and friends shared a week of celebration in Rome. See the Jubilee 400 Pages on this website for an account of these great celebrations. |
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CJ SOCIAL MINISTRY |
See the new CJ Social Ministry page on this website. It includes the activities of CJ Provinces worldwide, as well as those of the English Province. |
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St Joseph's - NEW EXTENSION OPENED |
St Joseph's, York is the community for the elderly frail members of the CJ English Province who need 24 hour care. It is run by Sr Agatha, Margaret Loftus, and a team of devoted nurses and carers, but up to now the cramped nature of the premises has made their task extremely difficult. The completion of a much-needed extension coincided with the celebration of the Province Jubilees on 20 June, and the festivities began with a service of blessing in St Joseph's Chapel. As well as the small but beautiful Chapel, the extension contains a fine sitting room and dining area, new bedrooms, wider corridors for wheelchairs, and various other much needed facilities, making space for better accommodation in the main house for the nurses as well as for the eleven Sisters. The opening day was a most happy occasion for everybody, and a selection of photographs can be seen on the Gallery Page. Click HERE. |
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NEW MARY WARD BOOK |
A new book of Mary Ward source texts has recently been published by the  Catholic Record Society, in preparation for the Jubilee 400 year 1609-2009: Mary Ward (1585-1645) A Briefe Relation with Autobiographical Fragments and a Selection of Letters, edited by Christina Kenworthy-Browne CJ, Boydell and Brewer 2008. The Briefe Relation, the earliest biography of Mary Ward, is thought to have been written c. 1650 by Mary Poyntz, one of her closest companions,. A successful book launch was hosted jointly by the CRS and the CJ at the Bar Convent on 2 December 2008. For an account of the launch and the speeches click here. For a flyer with further information on the book and a discount offer on the price click here. |
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PUBLICATION OF MARY WARD SOURCE TEXTS |
The long awaited publication of Mary Ward and Her Foundation.The Source Texts to 1645 has now taken place. Mary Ward und ihre Grundung. Die Quellentexte bis 1645, 4 vols, edited by Sr Ursula Dirmeier CJ, has been published in Munster, Germany at the end of 2007. The texts are presented in their original languages with full introductions and notes in German. For further information on this important collection, which was presented to the Holy Father in March 2008, see the new Talks and Documents page on this website. |
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Mary Ward honoured in Yorkshire, the County of her birth |
The Yorkshire Society, a large group of members and corporate members, seeks to honour the achievements of distinguished people born in Yorkshire by erecting Yorkshire Rose Plaques in places with which they were associated. Up to now these plaques have celebrated famous Yorkshire men. On 31 March 2007 the Society came to the Bar Convent to set up on the front wall a plaque for Mary Ward, the first woman to be so honoured. This fine plaque, engraved by John Shaw on blue Welsh slate, has been much admired. |
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