N e w Y e a r s B l e s s l n g

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1 MISSIONARY BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF TUTZING B U L G A R I A D I S T R I C T Newsletter BDN # 5 Jan-Apr 07 N e w Y e a r s B l e s s l n g The New Year found all our sisters of the two communities gathered for the Sisters Annual Assembly in Zarevbrod. The agenda was to evaluate the last canonical visitation held in January 06 as well as to revisit our Mission-Vission Statement and other community matters. It was a good time for us to sit together and plan the events for 07. Above all, we felt much united in thanking God for all the blessings He gave to our communities, especially the blessing of our internationality. Since we were together, we decided to have the house blessing of the Year in the morning of January 0 st. In the cause of the New Year s Day some children from the Zarevbrod village also came to the Monastery for their usual custom New Year s blessing called Surva, surva (Survaki). It is a Bulgarian tradition of children taping or patting their seniors with survaknitsi - a fresh branch that they prepare into a ring and use it to tap their seniors at the back while reciting a poem. Surva, surva symbolizes fertility, good health, happiness, luck etc. for the whole Year. This taping or Survaki is only done by the young boys; the young girls however, have a different custom, called Laduvane (chanting of the Rings). They would usually gather in the village or town s square and sing songs, but today this custom of Laduvane seems fading away as no girls practice this any long, perhaps due to the cold weather as most of the squares are filled with snows in the months of December and January and people would prefer to be indoors instead. The sisters closed the Annual Assembly with the Holy Mass and the three Sisters of Sekirovo returned to their community. Each one hopes to do her service with zeal and foster the spirit of positivity among us and to support one another with prayers. 4 Photos: : Sisters during the Opening Prayer of the Annual Assembly in Zarevbrod. : Last Group photo with Sr. Bernadetta who was already not feeling so well during this time. : Sister during the Clossing Mass of the Annual Assembly. 4 5: A boy, called Cristo tapping the Sisters for Surva, surva blessing while reciting his poem. 5

2 BULGARIAN DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Issue # 5 W I N T E R T R I P T O J E R U S A L E M On the early morning of February 0 st, Sr. Karolina received a phone call from a Polish lady who was asking the sisters to accommodate a man on his way to Jerusalem. Even though there were no prior preparations or an earlier information regarding the traveler, the community did its best by allowing the man to spend the night in Zarevbrod Monastery. People believe that there is a special blessing to those who welcome pilgrimages in their homes. And so before the night falls, a man in his middle age appeared in the monastery. His name is David Britsch, a German from Stetin. He embarked on his journey from Germany to Jerusalem on foot. He started his journey from November 06 and hoped to be in Jerusalem at 07 Easter. He shared more on his everyday experience during this trip on a blog entitled Winterreise nach Jerusalem Winter Trip to Jerusalem. He walks miles and miles a day; the day he reached Zarevbrod he walked 50 km. Others days, he walked 0km. He traveled by Jesus word in the Gospel of Luke 9:, Take nothing for the journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no second tunic. He closed Bulgaria in ten days but later we learnt that he got stranded in Turkey due to his pilgrim travel permit letter which did not have a Turkish translation. He had to wait for a translation from his Pastor in Germany, which took some weeks before he proceeded with his journey. However, his last blog dated March, says he had difficulty to get out of Turkey and also the Syrians did not allow him into their territory. We pray that he finds his way to his destiny. Above: The family of the late Sr. Stanislava Bratanova, OSB visits the Monastery on St. Joseph s Feast The Chapel of St. Joseph A few days before the Feast of St. Joseph, one Sister wanted to clean the chapel of St. Joseph, situated in the garden, but to her surprise, a one meter tall Statue of St. Joseph with Baby Jesus which had been in this chapel for years was missing. Who took St. Joseph? The sister wondered and doubted her eyes, but the fact was someone must had come at night and stolen it, for what reason, no one knows. The case was reported to the police, which came and made some enquiries and phone calls but without a positive result; the Statue remains missing. It is a mystery for us why it was stolen and how the robber could enter and come out with the heavy statue from our premises as all the gates are often locked. The tiny chapel of St. Joseph was built as a sign of Thank You, by the sisters for having been allowed to stay in Zarevbrod during the Communist time. They might have been praying hard to St. Joseph throughout their difficult time of communism. We now pray that someday, St. Joseph will be returned by whomever has taken him. For now, the chapel stands empty without St. Joseph Below: The missing Statue of St. Joseph Far above: Some Sisters with David the night he arrived to overnight in Zarevbrod Above: Sr. Elisabeth bid farewell to David. Opposite: David in front of our Zarevbrod Monastery

3 BULGARIAN DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Issue # 5 SR. BERNADETTA LAID TO REST Above: The Priests carrying Sr. Bernadetta in the coffin from the church to the funeral car. Opposite: Arrival at the cemetery Below: Last photo of Sr. Bernadetta with her sister, Dunka. On 7 March 07, our dear Sr. Bernadetta Bodushka, OSB was laid to rest in Zarevbrod cemetery. She was called home to God on Sunday afternoon, 6 March and many people and Sisters from other Congregations came to pay their last respect to her. There were 0 priests who came for the funeral Mass presided by Fr. Mixal Shlyanchiakh, CR. Sr. Bernadetta fell ill last November and since then, she expressed her desire to be with the Lord. The day she died, the sun was bright and on her burial day, there were clouds that made it pleasant to walk so much so that although there were enough cars for everyone, people decided to walk to the cemetery. She is survived by her sister, nieces and nephews. One of the nephews is a Diocesan priest, who also was among the priests who concelebrated at the burial Mass. It was so touching that after Mass the priests opted to carry the coffin from the church to the funeral car. We thank God for the life of Sr. Bernadetta and her vocation. May the angels of God welcome her into the joy of heaven prepared for her from all eternity! Above: Priests walking before the funeral car to the cemetery. Below: People walking after the funeral car to the cemetery. Above: The priest in the middle is the nephew of Sr. Bernadetta, Fr. Milko Popalski. Below: The Sisters looking on as Sr. Bernadetta s coffin being lowered in the grave.

4 BULGARIAN DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Issue # 5 4 Thank you, dear Missionaries! 4 Our Bulgarian District would like to thank our two missionaries for their willingness to share in the missionary activities of the Church and our Congregation. Specifically, our gratitude goes to Sr. Maria Agnes Cerina, OSB from Manila Priory, who zealously renewed her rd term of foreign mission assignment in Bulgaria. She was sent to Bulgaria in 008 and served in both Sekirovo and Zarevbrod communities for the past nine consecutive years. We wish Sr. Maria Agnes God s blessings on her rd term in Bulgarian mission. Likewise, our gratitude goes to Sr. Dijanira Morais Garcia, OSB from Sorocaba Priory, who finished her one term of foreign mission assignment in Bulgaria. She served with joy and readiness in Zarevbrod for the past five years and she was much loved by the people. Now that she has returned to her home priory on 8 March, we wish her good luck for her new assignment. Thank you, dear Missionaries for keeping up the missionary spirit! We are grateful too, to their home Priories for having sent them out. Big thanks also to the Generalate for working hard to find new Missionaries for Bulgaria, so that in all things, God may be glorified! 5 Sr. Maria Agnes, OSB Sr. Dijanira, OSB A L P H A B E T F E S T I V A L Every year the teachers and the parents of Grade students have the joy of celebrating Alphabet Festival. This celebration allows the First graders to read in public for the first time. Each year the preparation is different, for this year, the theme for Sts. Cyril and Methodius Primary School was Now we write and read. The festival took place on March and all parents and grandparents of Grade students gathered in the school hall to witness their children s first readings. We, Sisters were also invited. The most exciting part was when the students were given a trivia in slides and they have to read the questions themselves and then give the answers. One question was: Who invented the Bulgarian Alphabet? and the answer is: Sts. Cyril and Methodius. These two saints are very much honoured in Bulgaria and it is believed to have created their Alphabet. For the first graders to read these questions, was the most cherished moment. They also recited poems on the Bulgarian Alphabet, a poem for each letter. The parents thanked the teachers for their hard work in the education of these children; each teacher of Grade was given a bouquet of flowers. At the end, the students had to cut their festival cake which the parents donated for this event. Photos in this page: -. Grade students of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Primary School in Zarevbrod, during their Alphabet Festival Day. 4-6: Goodbyes to Sr. Dijanira as she returned to her home Priory of Sorocaba. 7. The Parishioners on the last Sunday before Sr. Dijanira s departure 6 7

5 BULGARIAN DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Issue # 5 5 Lenten Recollection Days The last three weeks of the month of March were dedicated to the spiritual preparations for Easter. Different groups took part in this preparations; first there was a Recollection Day for the Parishioners of St. Michael in Sekirovo which was held from 7-9 March and Fr. Jatsik, CR, a parish priest of Varna was invited to be the facilitator. The second Recollection Day was held in Kazanlak on the weekend of March 4-6, the Salesian Priests of Don Bosco organised these Recollection Days. The participants of the second weekend were the Animators Group Two. Sr. Karolina went with one Animator from Zarevbrod. And on the last weekend, the Recollection was given to the Animators Group One also held in Kazanlak. Sr. Mary Clemens accompanied the Animator from Zarevbrod. These Recollection Days focused on the preparation of Easter by pondering on the questions of: who is God for me; how God acts in my life and what do I need to fix in my relationship with the Creator and Saviour of my life? The Animators had a chance of praying the Station of the Cross in the Forest as well had Chain Adoration one whole Night to reflect on God s unconditional love for each one of us through the death of His Son on the Cross. May we continue to recognize what God has done for us! Above: Sr. Karolina, OSB with Animators Group II in Kazanlak City Below: Sr. Mary Clemens, OSB with Animators Group I, praying the Station of the Cross in the forest. HOLY WEEK 07 On Holy Week, our two communities were busy with helping the children to understand the event of Christ suffering and death. In Sekirovo, the candidates of First Holy Community were eagerly painting Easter eggs and making different Easter bunnies as a reminder of New Life. In Zarevbrod, the students from Sts. Cyril and Methodus Primary School were invited to the Monastery by the Sisters for Faith Sharing. Fr. Mixal was invited to share with them about the Easter Symbols. A clip on the Passion of Christ was prepared by Sr. Karolina which was shown to them and many students cried on seeing how Jesus was brutally treated. After the clip on the passion, they had power point presentation of the Station of the Cross and ended with another clip on the Resurrection. The students were very quiet and attentive during this one hour sharing. At the end, all were given an Easter Candle, an Easter egg and a piece of Kusonak (a Bulgarian Easter Bread). The students were asked those who like to come forward so that Fr. Mixal will bless individually by laying hands over their heads and all came for the blessing. It was not only the children who were edified but also us, Sisters, felt prepared to walk with Jesus to Calvary and looked forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing, (cf. RB. 49:7b). On Saturday, April 08, three young girls amazed us with their chants, when they suddenly appeared in the monastery singing at the top of their voices, while dressed in festive costumes and a flower wreaths on their heads. After their three songs, the sisters who were experiencing this for the first time asked what it was and the girls explained that it was Lazarovden. The Lazarovden is one of the festivals among the bestloved Bulgarian traditions. It is celebrated on every Saturday before Holy Week and is an event in the life of every young girl, for then she can express to the community that she has now grown up to be a "complete maiden". In a way, it is the day which marks the transformation of adolescent girls into marriageable ladies. In this Saturday, before Holy Week or the Lazarovden, the girls go around the village in the afternoon, entering each house while singing some songs specific for this festival. The songs praise the beauty of the maiden, her lover, the bachelors, the brides and wishes for a happy marriage as well as the health for farmers, shepherds, herdsmen, and the purity of maternal love and also express wishes for prosperity for the young maidens. One of the girls has to carry a basket to collect the eggs or whatever gifts which the people will give to them as a present for their visit. It is believed that the house in which these girls go and sing will be happy throughout the year. The Orthodox Church connects Lazarovden to the resurrection of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Maria, whom Jesus raised from the dead. It is believes that the resurrection of Lazarus became an immediate cause of Jesus death sentence. May St. Lazarus, pray for all young people of our world! Photos above: : Fr. Mixal talking to the Students about Easter Symbols : Blessing the students

6 BULGARIAN DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Issue # 5 6 Photos -: Sharing our Easter Joy with the patients in the Psychiatric Hospital annexed to our Monastery in Zarevbrod Photos 4-6: Baptism of a Baby on Easter Monday also in Zarevbrod Photos 9-: Easter Egg-hunting in Sekirovo on Easter Sunday. Photo 7-8: Children painting Easter bunnies in Sekirovo. As we rejoice in the Father s greatest sacrifice through His Son, Jesus Christ, we wish you a new vigour in following Christ, for in Him will all our worries be resolved. Have a Meaningful Easter Season! Sr. Mary Clemens Hamukoto, OSB