This is part 7 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.Mother Thecla lived her apostolic Pauline vocation in a spirit of exultation: “I am extremely happy in my vocation. I wish I had a thousand lives so that I could dedicate them all to this noble apostolate, in spite of the many vexations and difficulties” (Letter to her brother, in 1947). She lived her voc...

This is part 6 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.Mother Thecla’s constant concern was to guide the Daughters of St. Paul and its individual communities to communion, mutual understanding, and a deep sense of belonging. Her pedagogy was enlightened by the Pauline texts concerning love, summarized in the phrase from the Acts of the Apostles: “united, hear...

"Jesus is our prayer, because in His own Person, in His humanity,He supplicates the Father.Jesus is a living prayer, and His prayer is absolutely efficacious.Jesus continuously offers to the Father his merits and prayers.He adores, thanks, satisfies, implores mercy for sinners,grace for children, for the weak, for the suffering, for all mankind.It is prayer of infinite value, efficacious through the merits of Jesus,who is "heard for his godly fear" (Hebrews 5:7).All those who go t...

We are pleased to bring you the Easter letter of our Mother General, Sr. Anna Maria Parenzan. May her thoughts and best wishes be extended to you also in this most beautiful Easter Season and throughout the remaining year.    Rome, Easter 2017Dearest Sisters,Easter is an event of overwhelming power. It is a proclamation of beauty, the forecast of a luminous life that irradiates grace: Jesus is risen–he is alive!–and we can meet the Living One as he was met by the women...

This is part 5 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.It is evident that Mother Thecla was aware of her call to union with God, that is, to holiness. The key here is her constant use of the phrase “to make progress.” She worked toward this fervently-desired goal by making the best possible use of two basic elements” prayer and interior work.She constantly r...

All too soon we are here once again to commend one of our dear sisters, Sr. Mary Antoinette Fantino, to the Lord and to thank the Lord for the gift of her life and her vocation as a Daughter of St. Paul, praying for her eternal repose. We have loved her as a sister, as an aunt, as a friend and now we pray that she will intercede for us before the Lord.I would dare say that anyone who ever met and engaged with Sr. M. Antoinette never forgot her. The first words that come to me at the mention of s...

The Paschal Mystery, which we enter into even more deeply in these days immediately preceding the Easter Triduum, is the center and heart of Christian life; it is the mystery of Christ, who takes upon Himself the sins of all humanity and offers His very life to free us from the bondage of sin.Paul, tells us that we must always bear in our body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in us (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). We are to be nailed to the Cross with Him, feel the same thirst ...