Rosary Sisters celebrate Feast of St. Mary Alphonsine and request beatification of Fr. Yousef Tannous Available in the following languages:
Rosary Sisters celebrate Feast of St. Mary Alphonsine and request beatification of Fr. Yousef Tannous
JERUSALEM - On November 19, 2020, the Rosary Sisters of Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Mary Alphonsine, the foundress of the Rosary Congregation, during a Holy Mass presided over by H.B. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The Mass took place at the Co-Cathedral of the Latin Patriarchate and was limited to the bishops, priests, seminarians and a few parishioners, abiding by the safety measures due to the ongoing pandemic.
In his homily, Patriarch Pizzaballa greeted the Rosary sisters and their superior general Very Rev. Mother Iness Al-Yaacoub, thanking them for their service in the Church of Jerusalem, its parishes and schools. He underscored their presence as women in the parishes which is a reminder to all and especially parish priests to know realities from a woman’s perspective.
His Beatitude pointed out that those who want to follow in the footsteps of the Virgin Mary must learn how to be daughters of the Church.
“Mary was a bride,” added Patriarch Pizzaballa. “To be a bride of Christ means being able to take care of the house. The house here is the Church”.
The Bishop of Jerusalem said that Mary was also a mother who was able “to generate and give life”. A mother in the Church means to be able to generate new life in the Church.
This year, the Feast of St. Mary Alphonsine was celebrated at the Co-Cathedral of the Latin Patriarchate and not in the Rosary Sisters Monastery in Mamilla. The sisters, thereby, wanted to present the Patriarchate with a statue of the saint to be placed in its Co-Cathedral and blessed by its patriarch.
“Today, His Beatitude Patriarch Pizzaballa not only blesses a habit but a statue of the daughter of Jerusalem, St. Marie Alphonsine, and places it in the same Co-Cathedral which carries the fragrance of the past where all the alphabets of the Congregation started,” said Mother Iness Al-Yaacoub highlighting the “the deep connection between the Congregation of the Holy Rosary and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.”
The Superior General also asked the patriarch to take all the measures needed for the beatification of Fr. Yousef Tannous[1], a Latin Patriarchate priest and the co-founder, with St. Mary Alphonsine, of the Rosary Sisters Congregation. “At our congregation, we are confident that soon we will together joyfully celebrate and raise our praise to Our Lord for the grace of sanctity of many of the founders of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem; patriarchs and priests including Fr. Yousef Tannous,” said Mother Iness.
In preparation for the saint’s feast, the Rosary Sisters organized a novena in the different sanctuaries dedicated to St. Mary Alphonsine in the Holy Land. It included praying the Rosary, Eucharist Adorations, and singing of hymns.
