25 years sharing threads of union through Mary Ward’s footsteps

Sr. Monika Glockann, CJ from Germany, has been accompanying groups of IBVM Australian sisters, teachers and students that visited Europe to walk in Mary Ward’s footsteps for more than 25 years. This resulted in worldwide connections and friendships and, “in return”, in 2019 she was invited to Australia.

There, she gave talks on various aspects of the Painted Life (“Without risk there is no growth in life”, “Only fear to have too much fear”, “Mary Ward’s maturing processes”) to school directors, sisters, former students and Loreto circles of friends in Sydney, Ballarat, Melbourne and Brisbane.

In a letter published in the CJ Middle Europe website, sr. Monika wrote: 

“I spent one day each at the Sydney-Normanhurst and Brisbane-Cooparoo schools. In Normanhurst I told the school community about “Pilgrimage in Mary Ward’s Footsteps from Liège to Rome” (with sisters and friends we walked this path over the course of six years); in Cooparoo I looked at Mary Ward with the school classes when she was the same age as the students”.

A deep love for Mary Ward is palpable among the sisters, teachers and students, which has always touched and enriched me with gratitude. I myself have learned a lot about Gonzaga Barry, the founder of the Australian IBVM – a true successor of Mary Ward!  

Just one more example of the many threads that bind us together and that will be even stronger from now on!