AMASC

Remembering a great biographer and historian

of Philippine Duchesne RSCJ

AMASC

AMASC We wish to celebrate the Feast of Saint Philippine Duchesne RSCJ with a reflection based on the

book Louise Callan RSCJ, Historian and Biographer of Philippine Duchesne, written by Carolyn Osiek

RSCJ.

We want to share some fragments of the

introduction of the book as well as of the

conferences Sister Callan RSJC gave on Philippine, which invite us to reflect

on our lives.

AMASC Louise Callan, RSCJ “was a dearly loved college

teacher, a loyal friend, a superb scholar and a

well- respected historian and biographer. She was the author of two books of crucial importance for the Society of the Sacred Heart: The Society of the

Sacred Heart in North America (1937) and Philippine Duchesne:

Pioneer Missionary of the Sacred Heart (1957)”.

AMASC

During the 1950s, “when Louise was working on the Duchesne biography, word got out about her project, and she was often asked to give lectures on “Blessed Philippine” in Sacred Heart Communities, schools, and for alumnae and friends”.

AMASC

Let´s take a moment to reflect on some aspects of Philippine’s

personality which captivated this historian: her strength and tenderness, the way she

established relationships and her constant confidence in God.

AMASC

In one conference given on May 25th 1951, “Louise asks the question What have we failed to realize about Philippine

Duchesne? She notes that we have associated her with strength, endurance, austerity; with burning zeal for souls, and patience under trial and failure; with a certain severity of manner and

outlook, and complete detachment from the earthly things we cling to so tenaciously”.

AMASC

“All this is great and noble, fine and true, as far as it goes, but it is a very one- sided view of the Society´s frontier heroine. The rest of the lecture highlights Philippine´s warm, loving and enduring relationships with her family”.

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• Reflect on your own strength and tenderness. • Think of one or two people who you think God invites you to be

specially kind and loving with. • Quietly remember their names and the situation they are going

through.

• Ask Philippine to help you be brave enough to show your tenderness and strength to those near you.

AMASC

“Philippine is portrayed as a friend to small children: She was a special friend of the

younger children who used to get in trouble quite often […] She knew how to handle them and put them back on the path of

good conduct, and they loved her with a kind of worship […] She always

had things to talk to them about”.

AMASC

Take some time to review your relationships. Who do you have time for?

Remember your best friends and name them one by one thanking God for their presence in your life.

Remember the people you have drifted apart from. What does God invite you to do with them?

Ask Philippine to give you her spirit of friendship and to inspire you to be close to those who need your time and dedication.

AMASCDuring another conference, on December 29th 1952, Louise shared that Philippine “bore the burden and responsibility of the Society´s first missionary venture for 22 years, and her position as Superior through that long period was one of the greatest trials. It seemed to give her claim in her own eyes to the hardest work, the worst accommodations, the poorest clothing, the most meager nourishment and the longest hours of prayer- for under the pressure of work and pain, loneliness and failure, she turned always to converse with God. The night hours were her favorite time for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, when she strengthened her spirit by deep draughts of the Divine”.

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Remember a recent joyful moment and share it with God.

Remember a difficult experience and talk to God about it.

Ask Philippine to show you how to pray and the way to trust God and turn to Him.

AMASC

Through her life and testimony, Philippine shows us how to put our trust in God and in the Heart of Jesus. Now, of all the people and experiences that came up in your heart and on your mind during this reflection, choose one or two and ask Jesus to keep them in His heart, the best place where they can be.

AMASC

We thank Louise Callan RSCJ for spending so many years researching the life of Philippine Duchesne RSCJ and finding how through her missionary life she extended the love of the Heart of Jesus.

AMASC

AMASC

SOPHIE´S LEGACY, A GIFT FOR THE WORLD

L´HÉRITAGE DE SOPHIE, UN CADEAU POUR LE MONDE

LA HERENCIA DE SOFÍA, UN REGALO PARA EL MUNDO

AMASC

Asociación Mundial de Exalumnos y Exalumnas del Sagrado Corazón

World Association of Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart

Association Mondiale des Anciens et Anciennes du Sacré-Cœur

Website: http://www.amasc-sacrecoeur.org/