Remembering Sr. Mary Antoinette, DW
The icon of Sister Mary Antoinette, DW, written by Rev. William Hart McNichols, SJ, was enthroned in the chapel of Wisdom House, Litchfield, CT, on October 27, 2002.
PRAYER FOR THE 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF
SISTER MARY ANTOINETTE, DW
“When we love another heart
And allow it to love us,
We journey deep below time
Into that eternal weave
Where nothing unravels . . .”
(John O’Donahue in To Bless the Space Between Us)
Call to Prayer:
As we commemorate the 57th Anniversary of the death of Sr. Mary Antoinette, we remember the power of her love and her courage:
O Wisdom, come, anoint me with your love;
Accept my total commitment to you.
Grant me the grace to serve you with fidelity in the missions
And the courage, if necessary, to give my life.
(Sr. Mary Antoinette, DW)
Reading: John 15: 12 -16
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
Pause for reflection
Prayers of Petition:
Response: Holy Wisdom, hear our prayer.
For the family of Sr. Mary Antoinette that they find peace in remembering all the good that Sister accomplished in her life. We pray . . .
For the Sisters and the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo that they be blessed with the joy and peace of the reign of God. We pray . . .
For all those experiencing injustice that people of goodwill might come to their aid. We pray . . .
(Any additional intentions . . . )
Let us pray:
In the waters of baptism, you, Sister Mary Antoinette,
took on the life of Jesus Christ.
In your religious profession as a Daughter of Wisdom,
you dedicated yourself totally to Jesus Christ, Incarnate Wisdom.
In the waters of the Congo, you completed your earthly life
with a martyr’s death and became a witness to the Wisdom
of the Cross and the power of the Resurrection
Holy Martyr, Sister Mary Antoinette, pray for us.
The following poem was written by Edwina Gateley, herself a former missionary in Uganda. In it, she captures the spirit, the passion, the desire of our martyr and of so many who gave their lives so that others may live. May Edwina’s words encourage us to join her in prayer from the heart to a martyr from our time and place.
Sister Mary Antoinette, DW
Daughter of Wisdom, 1912-1964
Mary Antoinette -
child of privilege and comfort!
You threw yourself into
the joys of life
with youthful abandon and delight!
How you loved the theater
and the shopping for new clothes!
How you embraced
the great outdoors,
winning medals for your swimming speed
to wild cheers and applause!
Ah, you embraced life with a passion –
delighting in all the creature comforts –
and driving along the streets of New York
sporting your Chevy convertible!
A life-style, indeed, to be
admired and envied
by less privileged souls.
But there was something in you, Mary Antoinette,
deeper than all these delights -
a longing and a love
that could not be fed by
the theater,
the shopping,
the sports, and even –
the Chevy convertible.
It was a love affair with God-
seeding in you a longing
to give your life,
and all its earthly delights,
to the One who called you
to deeper Wisdom and fulfillment.
You felt a divine stirring,
deep within your soul.
And the daily delights of your care-free life
were overwhelmed
by the urgent and powerful call
to mission and to service;
You prayed:
“O Wisdom, come,
anoint me with your love;
accept my total commitment to you.
grant me the grace to serve with fidelity in the missions
and the courage, if necessary, to give my life”
God took over.
And you gave your Chevy away.
It was the beginning of the
great letting go.
It is what happens
when God takes precedence
and Divine Wisdom
seizes a soul.
To the tearful acceptance of your parents,
you entered the Daughters of Wisdom.
Then followed years of teaching
during which the call to overseas mission
stirred and deepened in your soul.
The seed was sown –
never to be up-rooted.
You dreamed, Mary Antoinette,
of mission and martyrdom –
of a total giving of your body and soul
in love and service:
“Greater love than this, no one has…”
Indeed, Mary Antoinette!
You were seized and held
by the grace of God –
far beyond our understanding -
and it led you to bring
your love and longing
to mission in the African Congo –
to serve the poor and the dis-possessed
in a country seething in the midst
of violence and political unrest.
You knew, Mary Antoinette,
of the danger, the threats and the darkness.
But you were in love –
a love greater and deeper-
than the threats of death and violence
all around you.
You could have gone home –
back to the safety
of your convent in the States.
But you didn’t.
Your passion for God
and your commitment to mission
held you firm in the midst of terror.
And so they came for you, Mary Antoinette,
deep lover.
And you knew they would –
the signs were everywhere-
the violent hatred of Christianity and
the brandishing of guns and knives
all around the mission compound.
“I want to be a martyr” you had declared -
So many years before.
But now it was real.
And it must have been terrifying, Mary Antoinette,
as you stood, trembling,
before your killers and endured
the taunts and the blows.
You knew they were coming –
It was clear in your last letter home-
that you might never return.
You must have been terrified, Mary Antoinette.
But grace is greater and deeper than death,
and smiling, you told your sisters
the night before your killing;
“I have said my evening prayers
and the prayer for my journey to Heaven”.
They flung your battered body
into the river.
But your soul, Mary Antoinette,
and your great loving spirit,
journeyed to the heart of God,
And Wisdom welcomed you, daughter,
into the bliss of eternal life.
Blessed are you, Mary Antoinette –
Daughter of Wisdom,
Martyr for our time –
Blessed and beloved are you.
Poem by Edwina Gateley, 2012, Wisdom House, Litchfield, CT.