Music: You Are All We Have (Francis P. O’Brien); Where Love Is Found (Dan Schutte) or other music of your choice.

Reading: For Those Who Have Far to Travel (Jan Richardson, excerpt)

If you could see the journey whole
you might never undertake it;
might never dare the first step
that propels you
from the place you have known
toward the place you know not.
Call it one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it only by stages
as it opens before us,
as it comes into our keeping
step by single step…

Moments on the Journey:

Sept. 13, 1820 – After serving as Elizabeth Seton’s Assistant, Sister Elizabeth Boyle was sent on mission as Superior of St. Joseph’s Asylum, Philadelphia. There she would meet her grace:

in orphan children who needed food, care and kindness
in the struggle to make ends meet
in the call to advocate with the asylum’s Board for more funding.

Reflection and sharing: How have you met your grace – In those you have served? In your times of struggle? In the call to speak out on behalf of those in need?

~ ~ ~

Late October 1820 – Nearly two months later, she received one of Mother Seton’s last letters. It held tender words that she would long treasure:

“Dearest old partner of my cares and bearer of my burdens…”

December 24, 1822 – Sister Elizabeth arrived in New York as Superior of the Orphan Asylum at St. Patrick’s, Mott Street, where, except for a few months, she would remain until her death in 1861.

Reflection and sharing: How have you met your grace – In the care and support of friends? In life’s twists and turns?

1838 – A fire in a building next to St. Patrick’s threatened the orphans and their home. Sister Elizabeth’s calm and trust in the bucket brigade kept the children – and their precious bedding – safe.

December 31, 1846 – Half of the Sisters in New York made the momentous decision to remain with the ministries and people whom they had been serving, and to separate from their Emmitsburg roots. Elizabeth Boyle was elected Mother to lead the newly formed community of Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Reflection and sharing: How have you met your grace – In unexpected happenings? In situations and places that you would never have chosen, that perhaps broke your heart?

~ ~ ~

Prayer: We pray in thanksgiving for Mother Elizabeth Boyle, a woman faithful to her God, devoted to her Sisters, and tireless in caring for her beloved orphans, the children of immigrants…
Thanks be to God!

We pray with reverence for Mother Elizabeth, a woman of humility and honesty, who was ready to meet her grace and her God in the challenge of each moment… Thanks be to God!

We pray in celebration of Mother Elizabeth, who tended the fire of Charity as it spread in New York, and who inspires us today to meet our graced future… Thanks be to God!

Reading: …There is nothing for it but to go
and by our going
take the vows the pilgrim takes:
to be faithful to the next step;
to rely on more than the map;
to heed the signposts of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you will recognize…
There are vows
that only you will know;
the secret promises for your particular path
and the new ones you will need to make
when the road is revealed
by turns
you could not have foreseen… Jan Richardson

Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons by Jan Richardson– excerpt

Closing Song: Ubi Caritas

Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas, Deus ibi est. (twice)
Live in charity and steadfast love; live in charity, God will dwell with you. (twice)

– prepared by Sr. Regina Bechtle, SC, Charism Resource Office