200 years of Cluny presence in Guadeloupe
April 2, 2021, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny opened the bicentennial year, celebrating the arrival of the daughters of Anne-Marie Javouhey on Guadeloupean soil on April 21, 1822. This bicentenary is an opportunity to remember the beginning and the continuity of this history, which today is focused on the same objective: to bear witness to the fact that "God loves all people, without distinction of race, culture, religion or social condition. Their dignity must be recognized and their rights defended". It is also an opportunity to bear witness to Anne-Marie Javouhey, a missionary woman, born in Burgundy. She sowed the seeds and the grain has grown on 5 continents. "Her light has not been extinguished, it shines", and today, "sisters of all races, nations and languages continue in the Church, the work that the Lord entrusted to the foundress. "
Two hundred years of history
A bicentenary is not just an anniversary. It represents the end of one era and the beginning of another, "a moment of continuity that brings yesterday into today." One cannot speak of a bicentenary without gazing back on it’s history. It is also a reminder that at that time, something happened in the Church, something that we are still apart of today, as witnesses and beneficiaries.
Indeed, after going to Bourbon Island (Réunion), Senegal and Guyana, the Congregation settled in Guadeloupe in April 1822 to care for the education of young girls. The first sisters, with an average age of 22, were victims of the memorable cyclone of 1825 which completely destroyed their school and cost their Mother Superior, Julie JACOTOT her life. The mission of the education of youth and healthcare continues today.
Anne-Marie JAVOUHEY: "first woman missionary. "
Anne-Marie Javouhey, born on 10 November 1779 in a village in Burgundy, heard God’s call to proclaim God’s love for all people, on five continents, regardless of culture, religion or social status.
Mother JAVOUHEY bequeathed to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny a spirit, a way of loving God and a way of serving the Church and the world. These two elements constitute the family heritage. The seed sown by Anne-Marie JAVOUHEY has sprouted wherever the seed has fallen: in Europe but also in the other continents.
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