The Superior General at the Centennial Jubilee of the Province of Slovenia of the Daughters of Charity

In the joy of the Paschal season, on Saturday after Easter, the Daughters of Charity of the Province of Slovenia gathered with the members of the Vincentian Family and their friends near the Church of Saint Joseph in Celje. This is where the first Vincentian priests of the Austrian Province came in 1852. And it is the same place where we thanked the Lord for the 100 years of the establishment of our Province of, then Yugoslavia, now Slovenia. Superior General, Father Tomaž Mavrič, Cardinal Franc Rode, Bishops, Vincentian priests, as well as other priests were with us.

 

The celebration started with adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, followed by the admission of the new Affiliates of the Daughters of Charity.

 

The Academy went back over the one-hundred-years’ life of the Province by singing and short scenes. Then, the Superior General, in his address, summarized the history of the Province and stimulated us for the future. He began by invoking the image of the Jubilee: the Crucified Christ and on his sides, Saint Vincent, Saint Louise, and the Servant of God, Sister Léopoldine Brandis, foundress of the Province of Graz from which ours comes. This happened after the First World War, when new countries were formed and, consequently, provinces too.

 

Sister Léopoldine Brandis, faithful to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, brought the first sisters to Slovenia: to Maribor in 1843 and to Ljubljana in 1852. Moreover, to watch over the sick at night, she called to life a new Community on our soil, the Daughters of the Sick, today the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary of the Miraculous Medal. Sister Léopoldine Brandis sowed the love of God among the poorest with all these Sisters.

 

Because, under the new State of Yugoslavia, the Sisters could no longer be dependent on the Superiors of Graz, on 5 April 1919, the new Province was established. Since then, 100 years have passed. The Province flourished. New vocations arose. Permeated with the love of God despite difficulties, they could practice their mission of charity, striving to be faithful to the spirit of the Company and the Founders from the foundation of the Province until the end of the Second World War in 1945. The Province then numbered more than 1200 Sisters.

 

The war ended and with the new Communist regime, the Sisters gradually were expelled from all institutions. First, the educators, then, on 8 March 1948, the last Sisters were dismissed from their service in the hospitals. They could stay there if they were ready to leave the Company. Although now homeless, they were not forgotten by Divine Providence. Their houses were seized and some Sisters were imprisoned. Many others moved to Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia. The provincial house was transferred from Slovenia to Belgrade (in Serbia). The seminary was reopened. The candidates came from Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Slovenia.

 

Since the fall of Communism and other political changes, Providence still guides the Province. The provincial house, with the seminary, was transferred back to Slovenia. The signs of the time showed that it was appropriate to found the Region of Albania-Kosovo. The future is in front of us. Jesus remains our first and only love. All is for Him. The Blessed Virgin will show us the paths to the poorest, to the people of the peripheries.

 

The afternoon Mass of thanksgiving, presided over by Cardinal Franc Rode, C.M., with the Superior General, Father Tomaž Mavrič, the Archbishops, Bishops, Vincentian priests, and other priests, who collaborate with the Daughters of Charity as concelebrants was the highlight of the day as well as our thanks for all the graces the Province has enjoyed throughout its 100 years of existence.