Submitted by Wandrille on
Granite Jubilee for Sr Dymphna
Our oldest Sister in the whole Congregation (107 years old) celebrates 90 years of religious life on February 2!
“We will celebrate with joy the Lord's fidelity in Sr. Dymphna's life, at home, in a small group (health measure still ongoing) while she has a large family who are very close to her and with whom she had a lot of contact until the last few years: 2 nieces will however come from the Netherlands and two Dutch ladies who often visit her and who live in Lyon will join the community.
She has been tired with bronchitis in the last few weeks but is doing quite well again (a test: her request for potatoes for her meal) and is waiting to renew her vows on the 2nd.
Sr Dymphna has lived in several communities (Montpellier, Toulouse, Marseille, Nice) and in Lyon for more than 20 years in the hidden service of welcoming retreatants and children during parents' retreats or catechesis of the older children. For many years, she was attentive to the priests, including listening to their confidences during the meal service, and through faithful prayer for their ministry. Her free time and then old age until the last few years was spent sewing lots of small clothes for children in need, especially from Madagascar and Eastern Europe.
One Gospel reading in particular nourishes her and she often speaks to me about it: Mt 19:13-15. And today, when we entrust a prayer intention to her, she smiles and often says: 'If you want, but it's better to let God decide what to do with our prayer'.”
Sr Lydia, superior of the community in Lyon
Born in 1915 in the Netherlands, Sr Dymphna entered the Congregation in our house in Tilburg on 2 February 1933. She has lived in community in France for more than 60 years.
