Mère René Vandame

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny
16 February 2021
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A page in the history of our congregation turns and the page of eternal LIFE opens for Mère René who has joined her God.

Since February 9, 2021, the day of the death of Mère René VANDAME, the Congregation has been united in paying homage to the one who marked our religious family by her personality, her long service as Superior General (1969 - 1988) and her abandonment to the Lord.

On Friday evening a time of prayer and thanksgiving was held at the Mother House, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. It was a time of prayer that marked the highlights of the life of Mère René: her baptism, her call, her consecration in the Congregation, her life of prayer and her entry into eternal LIFE.

On Saturday morning, at 10 a.m., in the Mother House chapel, the family of Mère René, the sisters of Thiais, of the General Council, of the Mother House community, and of the province, along with some friends, welcomed Mère René. The funeral mass was celebrated by Father Pierre KIZITO-DIHONGO-DMANDJE, chaplain of the sisters in Thiais and concelebrated by Father Michel DERACHE, Assumptionist, representing Father Emmanuel VANDAME, Assumptionist and brother of Mère René, who living in Layrac was unable to be present. It was a beautiful mass which began with Sister Clare STANLEY, Superior General, Sister Carmen MORANVILLE, Superior of the community of Thiais and Sister Françoise-Thérèse AGUESSI, a sister in the Thiais community, bearing witness to the life of Mère René.

After the Eucharist, the family and some of the sisters accompanied Mère René to the cemetery. A final farewell was said with the sprinkling of water and the placing of rose petals. This was accompanied by songs lead by the sisters of Senegal.

Today, Mère René is in the fullness of God’s light and as our constitutions say, “Our final YES surrendering us forever to love, will enable us to enter with joy the fullness of eternal life…”