News and Events

Tours (France), 09/02/2026, International Formation Community.- “In view of perpetual profession, which presupposes a firm decision on the part of both the Congregation and the sister, it is necessary to take into account that the years preceding it already constitute a preparation. However, a more intensive period is required, considered to be one year. This time may be lived individually or in a group, in order to deepen the meaning of the perpetual commitment to God, to the Church, and to the Congregation” (Updated Ratio, p. 71).

In this perspective, eight of our sisters with temporary vows—three from Colombia, three from Africa, and two from Vietnam—arrived in France, the country of origin of the Congregation, on January 20 and 24.

On January 24, the day on which we commemorate the birth into heaven of Marie Poussepin, our foundress, the international community inaugurated its year of preparation for perpetual vows during Vespers. Sister Mariamma Paul, Prioress General of the Congregation, opened the celebration by welcoming the sisters who had come to prepare for their perpetual profession and by thanking the sisters of La Bretèche for their hospitality. Then Sister Marie Thérèse Jestin, liaison for the permanent community of La Grande Bretèche, welcomed our sisters who, trusting in God’s mercy and attentive to his call, wish to prepare themselves to give him a definitive response.

The altar was adorned with a symbol marking the beginning of a construction. As the hymn was sung, each sister placed a stone at the foot of the altar as a symbol of her contribution to the growth of God’s work in the Congregation and in the Church. At the end of the celebration, a procession hymn led all the sisters to the tomb of Marie Poussepin, where each one lit a candle and expressed the offering she is willing to make to the Lord and to Marie Poussepin during this year of formation.

We give thanks to God for having allowed this decision of the 56th General Chapter to be carried out on this day.

We express our gratitude to Sister Véronique Margron and her council for their welcome and their commitment to support the international community in this mission; to all the sisters of the communities of Tours who honored us with their presence, thus enhancing the celebration; and to Sister Mariamma Paul and her council for their fraternal solicitude.

Let us together ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, of our father Saint Dominic, and of Blessed Marie Poussepin, so that this experience may be a source of openness and transformation, enabling us to welcome God’s grace and to live interculturality as a richness.