Superior's Talk from Sr. Bethany Marie's Vestition

To round out our “coverage” of Sr. Bethany Marie’s Vestition, we wanted to share with you the beautiful exhortation that Mother John Mary gave during the ceremony. We hope it inspires you as much as it did us!

The vesting in the holy habit and the giving of a new name
to Hannah — Sr Bethany Marie of the Glorious Wounds of Christ

May 31, 2023

I found in my notes that it was at the vocation retreat of June last year, during our usual Saturday night parlor visit with the discerners, that “Krissy from New York” (now known as our aspirant Kristin Marie) asked the question, “what do you love about Passionist life,” that prompted Hannah to reply that what she most loved was “realizing she could comfort Christ” and that “she really wanted to do that”.  It was at that moment that the name Bethany – a safe place of repose and comfort for Jesus – came to my mind as the name for Hannah.  At this point, I began to jot down everything I came across re Bethany and Mary, Martha and Lazarus. But, don’t fear, I have not included all that here.  

In my sharing today I am drawing on Pope Benedict XVI and a reflection of his on Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Here he states that there are three tasks of the Church (and we might add of a contemplative) and they are to:

1)     Worship and adore God as Mary of Bethany did

2)     Serve the poor with commitment and zeal as Martha did

3)     And evangelize by exemplifying new life in Jesus as Lazarus did. 

Our Holy Founder, St Paul of the Cross, highlights this first task of worship and adoration of God in some of his letters. As an aside, true to the scriptural understanding of his time, our founder combines Mary Magdalen and Mary of Bethany into one person. To Sr Colomba Gertrude Gandolfi on August 13, 1757 he says “In this holy interior school more is learned by silence than by speaking. Saint Mary Magdalene fell with love at the feet of Jesus; there she was silent, there she listened, loved, and melted away in love. Take this prayer and interior recollection with you to the turn (today we might say to the answering of the door and phone), and everywhere go out of yourself and lose yourself in God; escape time and lose yourself in eternity. God will teach you everything if you are humble, hidden to all creatures, sunken in your nothingness, etc.”

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Semiradsky

And to Teresa Palozzi, one of the future founding members of the first monastery of Passionist Nuns and the nun who would be mother superior after Mother Mary Crucified, in a letter written on December 7, 1755, he, again combining Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalen, writes:  “Do not move from the divine feet of Jesus; stay there as did Magdalene, who listened to the sweet voice of this loveable Savior.”

The second task that the mystery surrounding Bethany gives us as contemplatives, that of serving the poor with commitment and zeal as Martha. Hannah, you may be thinking, “We do not have an apostolate to work directly with the poor”, but you live with very poor sisters who have given up all they possess to find their riches in Jesus.  Serve your sisters with zeal and unflagging, untiring commitment, and with the work balance that comes from trial and error, not giving in to laziness or haste. How can this be done? Be like Martha – remain committed to your duty – knowing it is God’s will to do it with love – as he wills, when he wills and for as long as he wills, and we can add, do it with a smile for Jesus, and, in those recreational moments for laughter with your sisters. I am sure Martha and Jesus could really get a good banter going back and forth. Place your humor at the service of your poor sisters and enrich us with your zeal for fun.

In regard to the third task – evangelize by showing forth your new life in Jesus as Lazarus did.  But you might say, “Mother, how can I do that? I am cloistered.” Dear Hannah – those whom Jesus has liberated and untied will most powerfully convey the truth of Him to others.  You are conveying the love of Jesus to the world through your hidden, liberated, unbound life in Jesus. And wow, has he ever liberated you...and each one of us. And it is to your sisters whom he often says – “untie her and let her go”. It is in our commitment to prayer and in mercifully loving of our sisters in our communal life, that we unbind one another and bring each other into the dazzling blinding light of Jesus.

In conclusion, Hannah, soon to be Sr Bethany Marie of the Glorious Wounds of Christ, may you always be found reclining at the feet of Jesus in spirit, anointing his glorious saving wounds with by the faithful service of your sisters, and living in liberated love.

And to all my Sisters, may we all be inspired by the message of the mystery of Bethany – a word that comes from Bethel – meaning “house of God”. St John tell us that six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany. There is the tradition / legend that tells us that it is to Bethany that the disciples fled on the night of our Lord’s Passion and that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus tended to them and kept vigil with them during those final hours of our Lord’s life on that holy Friday we call Good. St Luke tells us that it was from Bethany that Jesus ascended into heaven.   Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were privy to many of Jesus’ mysteries that we don’t even know about.  May they inspire us to ponder and receive light from the Scriptures about our Beloved Jesus, and may our monastery be a place of rest, friendship, consolation, joy and peace...a shelter and refuge from the foe...truly the house of God and the gate of heaven...may each one of us be a Bethany for Jesus.

Back row (L-R): Aspirant Emma, Sr. Frances Marie, Sr. Maria Faustina, Sr. Mary Elizabeth (in front of SMF), Postulant Holly, Mother John Mary, Sr. Miriam Esther, Sr. Mary Agnes, Aspirant Elizabeth, Christie, Sr. Maria Theresa (from Korea)

Front row: Sr. Mary Therese, S.r Mary Magdalene, Sr. Mary Veronica, Sr. Bethany Marie, Sr. Cecilia Maria, Sr. Mary Andrea, Mother Catherine Marie

Missing: Aspirant Kristin Marie