SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY MOTHER OF CHRIST.
FOUNDATION DAY: 7TH OCTOBER 1937.
Indeed 7th October has remained for us a joyful day to be remembered with gratitude. It was on this very special Day in the year 1937 that our revered father founder Archbishop Charles Heerey Cssp of a blessed memory faithfully laid the foundation of our beloved Religious Institute. A solid foundation laid with great humility and compassion on Christ the Solid and Immutable Rock and anchored in the Immaculate Heart of His Most Beloved and Blessed Mother Mary. Entrusting us to Mary he said: “you are the special children of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her maternal heart will lead you all safely to Jesus when you put your complete confidence in her.” (AB Heerey, 30th May 1966). Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary; Pray for us.
SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY MOTHER OF CHRIST.
FOUNDATION DAY: 7TH OCTOBER 1937.
Indeed 7th October has remained for us a joyful day to be remembered with gratitude. It was on this very special Day in the year 1937 that our revered father founder Archbishop Charles Heerey Cssp of a blessed memory faithfully laid the foundation of our beloved Religious Institute. A solid foundation laid with great humility and compassion on Christ the Solid and Immutable Rock and anchored in the Immaculate Heart of His Most Beloved and Blessed Mother Mary. Entrusting us to Mary he said: “you are the special children of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her maternal heart will lead you all safely to Jesus when you put your complete confidence in her.” (AB Heerey, 30th May 1966). Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary; Pray for us.
This is the perfect time for us to reflect upon the meaning of the Rosary and its significance in our walk of faith.
The Rosary is taken from the Latin word “rosarium” which means “crown of roses” or “garland of roses.” During October, we invite you to pray the Rosary individually, with family members or in groups with friends and people around you.
Through the Rosary, we immerse ourselves in Christ’s life from birth, through death, to his glorious Resurrection. It is a celebration of the mysteries of the life and death of Our Lord and Our Lady’s special place in cooperating with her son in our salvation.
There are twenty mysteries reflected upon in the Rosary, and these are divided into the five Joyful Mysteries (prayed on Monday and Saturday), the five Luminous Mysteries (prayed on Thursday), the five Sorrowful Mysteries (prayed on Tuesday and Friday), and the five Glorious Mysteries (prayed on Wednesday and Sunday).
Form the virtue of constant prayer in your daily life. Do your best to pray the Rosary daily if you could, repeat the Hail Mary very often during the day and love to sing hymns to our Blessed Mother Mary. There are many beautiful hymns to our lady. You can find many of them by typing into the google page, YouTube beautiful hymns to our lady and you will have as many as you may wish.
May our blessed Mother Mary obtain for us everything we need from her Divine Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ both now and forever. Amen.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
Remember your leaders who preached the Word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13: 7)
Archbishop Charles Heerey, CSSP. The beloved father founder of the Religious Institute of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ. Born on the 29th November 1890 in Clonkeefy, County Cavan, Diocese of Kilmore, Ireland. Ordained a Priest on 24th September 1921 in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers, arrived in Nigeria in November 1922 and started his missionary work in Calabar. He was consecrated a Coadjutor Bishop on 29th May 1927 and succeeded Bishop Shanahan as the Vicar Apostolic of Southern Nigeria on 31st May 1931.He founded the Religious Institute of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ on 7th October 1937 and the Catholic Women Organization (CWO) on 5th May 1964 at Onitsha. He became the first Archbishop of Onitsha and the Metropolitan of Eastern Nigeria on 27th June 1950.
He died on 7th February 1967. May his reward be great in heaven. AMEN.
He was a great missionary, a man for others, a dedicated and selfless shepherd who loved and cared for his flock with great humility and compassion. He lived and taught by his life, words and examples. He was very generous with his life and strength. He served and enriched all around him and all who encountered him. He left a great legacy of faith for God’s people through his dedicated life of love, availability and sacrifice, through the good examples of his life and above all through his teachings especially his written words of wisdom.
Indeed Archbishop Charles Heerey in his humility and compassion, taught, inspired and encouraged his flocks to learn and grow in every dimension of Christian faith and morals.
His inspirational teachings and writings about faith, hope, love, penance, prayers, devotions and all round growth in Christian faith and life are still alive, active and relevant even after more than half a century of his death. FAITH! He said “is ‘OUR GREATEST TREASURE’ and the loss of this treasure would be an eternal loss. It is a gift of God freely given to us… and we know the things that strengthen it most. The greatest strength is in Him who is with us all days-Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (Archbishop Charles Heerey, Cssp. Lenten Pastoral: 1952).
TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
Remember your leaders who preached the Word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13: 7)
Archbishop Charles Heerey, CSSP. The beloved father founder of the Religious Institute of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ. Born on the 29th November 1890 in Clonkeefy, County Cavan, Diocese of Kilmore, Ireland. Ordained a Priest on 24th September 1921 in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers, arrived in Nigeria in November 1922 and started his missionary work in Calabar. He was consecrated a Coadjutor Bishop on 29th May 1927 and succeeded Bishop Shanahan as the Vicar Apostolic of Southern Nigeria on 31st May 1931.He founded the Religious Institute of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ on 7th October 1937 and the Catholic Women Organization (CWO) on 5th May 1964 at Onitsha. He became the first Archbishop of Onitsha and the Metropolitan of Eastern Nigeria on 27th June 1950.
He died on 7th February 1967. May his reward be great in heaven. AMEN.
He was a great missionary, a man for others, a dedicated and selfless shepherd who loved and cared for his flock with great humility and compassion. He lived and taught by his life, words and examples. He was very generous with his life and strength. He served and enriched all around him and all who encountered him. He left a great legacy of faith for God’s people through his dedicated life of love, availability and sacrifice, through the good examples of his life and above all through his teachings especially his written words of wisdom.
Indeed Archbishop Charles Heerey in his humility and compassion, taught, inspired and encouraged his flocks to learn and grow in every dimension of Christian faith and morals.
His inspirational teachings and writings about faith, hope, love, penance, prayers, devotions and all round growth in Christian faith and life are still alive, active and relevant even after more than half a century of his death. FAITH! He said “is ‘OUR GREATEST TREASURE’ and the loss of this treasure would be an eternal loss. It is a gift of God freely given to us… and we know the things that strengthen it most. The greatest strength is in Him who is with us all days-Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (Archbishop Charles Heerey, Cssp. Lenten Pastoral: 1952).
Today is the Feast of the Presentation . The Gospel is the story of when Mary and Joseph too the now 40 day old Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to God in accordance with the Jewish law. The story is also the fourth joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
As the Church joyfully celebrates this feast she reminds us that we also share in the mission of bringing God’s peace and good news to all people. Mary and Joseph, and the faithful, patient old priest Simeon and pious old lady Anna give us examples of joy and hope in God’s Plan. There is surely a lot of “darkness” in our society but rather than just complain or criticize we might be encouraged by the motto of the Christopher Movement: “It is better to light just one candle than to curse the darkness.”
Today we pray that our souls be filled with Christ’s light so that we may illumine our homes and our world.
John the Baptist proclaimed the Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15), yet He came to be baptised by John. John the Baptist recognised Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God ( John 1: 29) and sought to dismiss His request for Baptism. John said to Jesus “I need to be baptised by You, and do You come to me? (Matthew 3:14). He then consented after Jesus replied, “let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness ( Matthew 3:15).
Jesus, the Perfect One of God chose to be baptised in order to leave His own examples for us to follow. The baptism of Jesus connected His humanity with the rest of humanity.
Though He was without sin, He took on the form of a man and identified with human experiences including the experience of being baptised, a practice He would later command of all His followers (Matthew 28: 18-20) "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Indeed, Jesus began His public ministry with baptism and ended His public ministry with a command for His followers to baptize others.
Prayer:
O God, whose Only Begotten Son
has appeared in our very flesh,
grant, we pray, that we may be inwardly transformed
through him whom we recognize as outwardly like ourselves.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
John the Baptist proclaimed the Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15), yet He came to be baptised by John. John the Baptist recognised Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God ( John 1: 29) and sought to dismiss His request for Baptism. John said to Jesus “I need to be baptised by You, and do You come to me? (Matthew 3:14). He then consented after Jesus replied, “let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness ( Matthew 3:15).
Jesus, the Perfect One of God chose to be baptised in order to leave His own examples for us to follow. The baptism of Jesus connected His humanity with the rest of humanity.
Though He was without sin, He took on the form of a man and identified with human experiences including the experience of being baptised, a practice He would later command of all His followers (Matthew 28: 18-20) "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Indeed, Jesus began His public ministry with baptism and ended His public ministry with a command for His followers to baptize others.
Prayer:
O God, whose Only Begotten Son
has appeared in our very flesh,
grant, we pray, that we may be inwardly transformed
through him whom we recognize as outwardly like ourselves.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Epiphany day is a traditional Christian festival. This is called the “Three kings Festival” and “Little Christmas”. Christian community celebrates this festival all over the world. It is said that three wise men followed a light and came to find baby Jesus and give him valuable gifts.
They offered the Lord their gifts of GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH.
GOLD speaks of the Lord’s Kingship, FRANKINCENSE speaks of His Priesthood and MYRRH speaks of His death.
Indeed our Lord Jesus Christ is our King and our Priest who through His saving death and glorious resurrection purchased for us eternal life. To Him be all glory, adoration, praise and thanksgiving both now and forever. Amen.
The title “Mother of God” goes back to the third or fourth century, but the Greek term “Theotokos’’ (“The God-bearer”) was officially consecrated as Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431, thus becoming the first Marian dogma. At the end of the Council of Ephesus, crowds of people marched through the streets shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!”
This Catholic doctrine is based on the doctrine of Incarnation, as expressed by St. Paul: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution “Lumen Gentium” (“Light of the People”) calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times.
On this day the Catholic Church also celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.
The title “Mother of God” goes back to the third or fourth century, but the Greek term “Theotokos’’ (“The God-bearer”) was officially consecrated as Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431, thus becoming the first Marian dogma. At the end of the Council of Ephesus, crowds of people marched through the streets shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!”
This Catholic doctrine is based on the doctrine of Incarnation, as expressed by St. Paul: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution “Lumen Gentium” (“Light of the People”) calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times.
On this day the Catholic Church also celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.
May he teach us by his example and obtain for us the grace to forgive our enemies and live at peace with them.
May the peace, joy, love understanding, and all the virtues of the Holy Family of Nazareth fill our homes.
May the peace, joy, love understanding, and all the virtues of the Holy Family of Nazareth fill our homes.
To all our friends and donors, may our new born Saviour bless you and all your family members. May He enrich you with all the good things of this World and with eternal happiness in the World to come. Amen.
