Testimony of Sr. Maria Landsberger, SAC
Thank you for the invitation to share with you about our mission as Missionary Sisters of the
Catholic Apostolate. I am very grateful to belong to this family of ours, the Union of Catholic
Apostolate, with those of us who are here coming from every continent. We are marked by the
face and the charism of our founder St. Vincent Vicente Pallotti. How good it is, that we are
united in Christ, the Apostle of the Father, and have the Upper Room as our common place,
where we continually receive once more the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to go out to meet
our brothers and sisters.
Perhaps not everyone knows how our branch of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters came about.
So I would like start by saying a little about our beginnings. We have the same date of
foundation as the Congregation of the Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate, which is that of the
opening of the Pia Casa di Caritá in Rome in 1838. When the Pallottine priests and brothers
took on the mission of evangelising Cameroon, the Pallottine Procurator General insisted that
the Pallottines be accompanied by the Pallottine Sisters in this new mission. So, along with the
first Mother General, Mother Raffaela Castellani, he opened an International College of
Missions in Rome in 1891 to prepare young German women for the mission in Cameroon. In
1895, Mother Raffaela sent two professed members and 7 novices to Limburg in Germany. In
her letter to the bishop of Limburg she recommended her "dear German daughters “to his
jurisdiction. From Limburg, our development continued as a properly missionary branch
which, for various historical reasons, ended up becoming a distinct congregation. Many sisters,
full of missionary zeal, were sent to Cameroon and to other countries. Today our Congregation
is in 17 countries, with 7 provinces, a region and a delegature. Some of our older provinces are
in a process of decline, while other newer ones are growing. We are currently preparing to
open some new missions.
Today we are conscious that the whole Church has a missionary vocation. In this Year of
Consecrated Life, the Pope has said that he expects us who are in consecrated life to be like an
alarm, signalling the presence of God in the world which tends to forget God. This sounds
familiar to our ears. Saint Vincent Pallotti left the charism to revive faith and rekindle charity
and spread faith to all to our entire Pallottine family. I understand our task as Pallottine
missionaries today is to contribute to the awareness of the missionary vocation which we have
in common and to encourage active participation in the mission of the Church.
Our history in Brazil began 35 years ago when Sr. Maria Knaus, the then Provincial Superior
in Germany, sent the three pioneers, Srs. Rita-Lore, Mathilde and Christina to the newly
erected Diocese of Coroatá in the state of Maranhão. These sisters of ours, together with the
first Brazilian vocations, through their work at the grassroots and their simple and prayerful
life, sowed the seeds for the two great Pallottine parishes in the outskirts of Codó today. They
asked for Pallottine priests to come, with the result that at first three German priests came, who
found the ground already prepared. In Timbiras the sisters contributed to the development of
the new parish. Sr. Rita was the first person in charge there until the arrival of a priest. The
sisters invested in the training of lay leaders in pastoral work and had a lot of enthusiasm in
making the Pallottine charism known. Fr. Angelo Londero and Fr. João Batista Quaini were
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among the great Pallottine friends who contributed much in the formation of charism. Two
large parish groups of lay members of the UAC were welcomed in Codó as the first lay
communities of the UAC in Brazil in 2004, shortly after the approval of the General Statutes
ad experimentum.
Throughout these years the family of the Union has met every month in these parishes. There is
a fraternal climate of collaboration, which is not easily found in other parishes. We celebrate
the Octave of the Epiphany with joy in every parish as a mission in families, and soon
afterwards the novena of Pallotti. Pallotti keeps us pretty busy in the month of January!
Today we sisters are a small group of 7 professed members and 2 candidates in formation. We
had several painful losses of sisters and candidates in recent years and a sister, Marylande, at
just 50 years of age, was called to the Father's House through a severe illness. We live today in
three houses in the cities of Codó and Timbiras. A sister still accompanies a Pallottine social
project for young people at risk in Teresina, in the state of Piaui, where for lack of sisters we
have temporarily closed the house. In Codó, sisters live next to the house of the Pallottine
Fathers and collaborate in pastoral work. Three sisters have paid jobs - as teacher, school
coordinator and health worker respectively - their wages helping us in self sustenance, while
another sister left her job in order to engage in initial formation of our younger sisters. We all
work in pastoral ministry and have some social projects with young people and children which
are supported by donations.
We try to live our witness in the context of a very challenging reality. Our state of Maranhão
occupies last place in the list of the human development index in Brazil. The lack of
employment forces thousands of workers to migrate and, seeing no prospects, many teenagers
and also children use drugs, even heavy drugs, particularly crack. Violence and numerous
murders frighten everyone. With the misappropriation of public funds, education and health
care are poor.
Despite the weak economy, new technologies have arrived with great speed and bring big
changes.
In the religious field there is syncretism. Many Catholics mix faith with spiritualistic practices.
And on the other hand, some Pentecostal churches try to demoralise Catholics who, because of
high mobility, no longer have roots in their rural communities and easily allow themselves to
be deceived by promises of healing and prosperity. There are very few families intact.
Pallotti always acted, responding to the needs, and always looked for people with whom to
collaborate. This is a characteristic of our work, from our pioneers. I would like to share some
examples with you.
- Encountering a high rate of malnutrition and infant mortality, our first sisters adopted the
Children’s Pastoral Ministry which concerns itself with the development of the whole family,
through the sharing of knowledge. The sisters prepared many groups of lay leaders who, in
pairs, organised street groups with pregnant women and mothers and taught healthy eating and
how to prepare home remedies. Sr. Cristina travelled from one end of the diocese to the other,
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implementing this Children’s Pastoral Ministry in almost every parish. Under the motto "I
came that all children may have life in its fullness", volunteer leaders fought against fatalism
and passivity. Their commitment gave rise to a new experience of God as God who is lover of
life who gives capabilities and calls all, leaders and mothers and fathers, to collaborate in order
that everyone, especially the most vulnerable children, may have life and hope. This work of
the sisters awakened the missionary identity in many women and men, leading to a generation
of children who have grown up more healthy and intelligent. For many years we maintained a
nursery specifically for malnourished children, the building now serving as a public school.
This pastoral ministry has been so successful that it is now difficult to find a malnourished
child in the city.
- Another appeal comes from the rural base communities which are weakened as a result of the
rural exodus. As our two Pallottine parishes have 50 and 80 of these communities respectively
and large areas in the city, the priests cannot give constant assistance to each of the
communities. One of our sisters, Sílvia, dedicates herself, with quite a bit of physical sacrifice,
to accompanying rural communities. With the permission of the parish priest and the bishop
she prepared extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Now the Lord is present in the
Eucharist in the largest of these communities for which the laity take responsibility. Sr. Silvia
tirelessly visits the communities and offers biblical formation.
- We lived for 14 years as a formation community on the outskirts of Teresina, capital of the
state of Piauí. Near our house there were young people who spent their days and nights in the
square, taking drugs and creating fear by their robberies and assaults, which we also
experienced in our own house. With some women who today are members of the UAC, we
held monthly meetings early in the morning during which we prayed, studied Pallottine texts
and had breakfast together. In one of these meetings Maria de Jesus suggested that we take
coffee and cake for these young people and make friends with them. This first contact led to an
opening up of a new path: we managed to buy a house and with several volunteer instructors
developed a program with tutoring, job training and cultural moments. We began each day with
a moment of spirituality, reading the Word of God (which also served as reading practice for
the young men), and sharing on it and on life. Now the sixth group of young people is going
through this experience of communion, of liberation and of learning new values. The families
of the young people are invited to various meetings. Along with some Pallottine lay members
and collaborators we have founded a Pallottine Association for Education and Citizenship,
APEC, which also hosts another two other projects with youth. The Youth Secretariat has
recognised the quality of the work and helps with public funds. Today the works are conducted
by collaborators and Sr. Avani visits regularly in order to give support and supervision.
– With this experience of working with drug addicts acquired in Teresina and her expertise in
the area of social assistance, Sr. Avani helps in the work of the Mother of Divine Love Farm
near Codó, where Fr. Orlando SAC currently lives with nine drug addicts. With vision and
great courage he builds better facilities with this group. The focus of their life there is a chapel
for prayer, sharing and daily Masses. Our deceased sister, Marylande, was the first president of
the association founded to support the project. I want to mention that the UAC in Arapongas is
contributing greatly to the construction of this farm, organising fundraising meals
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(“feijoadas”); in Germany, our sisters in Munich organise parishioners for a large Christmas
bazaar, with the proceeds helping to finance the work. It is a fine example of a network of
collaboration in the UAC.
We consecrated, like everyone else, are exposed to the same temptations of our time: unrest,
superficial communication and individualism.
In this Year of Consecrated Life, we have heard the prophetic call of our Congregation, as of
one voice with Pope Francis: to wake up and rediscover the wonder of consecrated life, to live
the new life in Christ with joy, having Him as the basis for our whole being and life. We hear
the call to renew our prayer life and our fraternal relationships.
We begin the day in our small communities with community prayer. In communities with just
two or three sisters it is not easy to keep a very steady rhythm of prayer, because of our
presence in the parish celebrations. But we also strive to pray vespers together and have weekly
adoration at home. We each choose our time of personal meditation. I like the morning silence
for encountering the Word of God, which is a time for searching for light and for the Lord's
voice, for the encounter with Him. We can meet the Lord in all things; however, it is special,
this time between the “Thou” of the Lord and my poor existence. As the Pope says - it is not
the same thing to know Jesus as not to know him, not the same thing to live with him as not to
live with him.
Sharing on the Word of God and on life has always been part of our missionary experience
whether in community or together with the various groups. These are moments of grace and
enrichment, renewing the certainty that God is walking with us and sends us on mission.
Our brothers and sisters hope of us consecrated persons that we have God in our hearts, prior to
chasing after many activities; that we be present, that we have an open ear, a word, a gesture,
that speaks of God. After a one month absence on my part, one catechist told me: the
community needs the presence of the consecrated person. It is what the Pope expressed when
by saying that the Year of Consecrated Life involves the whole church. We feel little incentive
in the Church in Brazil to derive some fruit from this year. We need each other to confirm that
the vocation of each is a valuable vocation in the Church and for the Church.
Also in our very small communities we need each other’s faith and solidarity. Pope Francis
speaks of the consecrated as people capable of creating communion. This is a beautiful test
which is at times not so easy. Like every family, we live in a school of fraternity where we try
every day to share work, listening, respectful communication. We agree and we fail. When we
are humble, the grace of the Lord acts and we are able to ask and grant pardon. And so we can
experience the joy of beginning again together. We cannot live outside what we do not practice
at home.
For several years we have been strengthening our sense of belonging by keeping our Mondays
"sacred", three times a month, all of the sisters together. It is a time for the monthly retreat,
when we study and celebrate together. In the evening we celebrate the Eucharist and share the
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Word with the Pallottine priests. Once a month we have a time of study with the Fathers as the
family of Pallotti.
During the preparation of this testimony of mine, I was accompanied by an image from chapter
47 of the book of Ezekiel, in which the prophet sees water flowing from the Temple, getting
stronger and stronger, bringing life, fertility and healing: “And on the banks, on both sides of
the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit
fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the
sanctuary. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (Ez 47:12). This water
goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river
goes (Ez 47:9). Contemplating this image, I feel a great joy. The waters of salvation, the waters
of mission, gush forth for us from the merciful heart of God, from the open side of his Son
Jesus on the cross. We are bathed in this water, invited to drink. Jesus cries out loudly, "Let
anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink; out of his [or her] heart shall flow rivers of living
water" (John 7.38). United with the Lord, the spring from which our joy and our mission flow,
let all of us of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, whether lay, clerics or consecrated, be
dispensers of this water, in the giving of our lives.
Sr. Maria Landsberger, SAC
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