Ministry Experience

Sr. Helen Reynolds celebrating her 90th birthday

My ministry here in Ireland in the RNDM Dublin community is my studies and assisting our sisters as needed. The majority of the sisters are elderly and appreciate being helped in various ways. I have been fortunate since coming to Dublin to be able to share with the sisters their experience of missionary life. I marvel at their courage in going on the foreign mission with little hope of returning to visit their families. Some of them spent up to 30 years without ever returning to their home land. In fact eight sisters from this community spent lengthy period of time in Kenya, while one sister was in India for over 20 years. There are 23 sisters in the community more than the membership of the Philippine Region.

May the Holy Trinity bless you all and Euphrasie be with you always.

(Mercy RNDM)

The Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions was founded in 1861 by Euphrasie Barbier, a young woman from Normandy in France. She had a burning desire for mission and this life of mission for her had to be founded on Communion, Contemplation and Mission since she believed that mission was more than activity. Over the years, the Sisters have moved into several continents, living out their mission through evangelisation and missionary work.

The special aim of the Congregation is to extend the Kingdom of God chiefly through the work of Christian education, pastoral care and development of the human person. The particular focus is women and children, especially those who are marginalised by poverty, ill health, unjust social structures and a lack of opportunity to sustain themselves. This has led the Sisters to become involved in health care projects, setting up schools and orphanages and basically responding to the needs of their situation. The project work is always dictated by the needs of local communities.

Today, the Sisters live and work in 23 different countries from the UK and Ireland to New Zealand, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, S Sudan and Kenya, with many other countries as well. Thanks to the lives and work of our early missionary Sisters, we are blessed with young, dynamic women from these countries who have become Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions and continue the work among their own people.

Euphrasie Barbier died in Sturry on January 18, 1893 and is buried in Sturry, near Canterbury, South East England and our Heritage House there pays tribute to her life and work.