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Oblate Sisters will participate in Mass recognizing foundress
By LINDA M. LINONIS
LIBERTY
For the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, prayer is as fundamental as breathing.
Prayer is a part of their being as Christians, Catholics and consecrated religious who devote time to promote vocations and pray for the holiness of priests.
Intercessory prayer to the order’s foundress, Blessed Mother Maria Teresa Casini, was credited with a miracle that saved the life of Jacob “Jack” Sebest, who drowned in 2003 when he was 5 years old. He is now a senior at Ursuline High School. Mother Casini was named venerable July 7, 1997, and was beatified Oct. 31, 2015, in Italy. A second miracle must be documented for her to become a saint.
A Mass of Thanksgiving is planned at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown in recognition of the beatification of the Oblates’ foundress.
Recently, Mother Arcangela Martino, general superior of the Oblate Sisters; Sister Joyce Candidi, regional superior; and Sister Vittoria Nisi, Villa Maria Teresa Convent superior, discussed their mission and activities. Mother Arcangela, who is visiting from Italy, came to attend the Mass of Thanksgiving and visit the sisters.
Sister Joyce said the Mass is to “thank God for Blessed Mother Casini and the decree of her miracle.” Mother Arcangela will present a framed Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis to Bishop George V. Murry of the Diocese of Youngstown. Monsignor Michael Cariglio, pastor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was judical vicar in the diocese in 2007 and led the investigation to document the Sebest miracle. Monsignor Peter Polando, rector of St. Columba, served as vice postulator. Monsignor Cariglio will read the Apostolic Letter.
The Sebest family contacted the Oblate Sisters at the time of accident to ask them to pray. The sisters knew Jack and his brother, Joe, who attended the Oblates’ preschool and kindergarten at Villa Maria Teresa School. The sisters prayed for Jack, and a prayer card, a Catholic devotion, was placed by him.
“There’s an excitement here and in the diocese,” Sister Joyce said of the special Mass. “The excitement reflects feelings of joy and appreciation of the attention to prayer.”
Mother Arcangela met the Sebests when they traveled to Italy for the beatification.
“It’s a very happy time,” Mother Arcangela said through Sister Vittoria, who translated from Italian to English. “I think this has brought us all closer and we’re very grateful,” Sister Vittoria said.
In history on Blessed Mother Casini’s life, it is noted that Jesus appeared to her, asking her to pray for priestly vocations.
“Jesus also expressed a great love for priests and a desire that they be holy,” Sister Joyce said.
A special daily prayer for priests asks the heavenly Father to “sanctify your priests.”
“We pray as much as we can for priests,” Sister Vittoria said.
“There is enjoyment knowing the power of prayer,” Mother Arcangela said. “If there are holy priests, there will be holy people.”
Sister Vittoria described what prayer means to her. “Prayer helps me get more in love with Jesus. I trust in Him that what I ask, He will respond to me and my prayers for others.”
“Prayer helps me to love as God wants me to love ... as He loves,” Sister Joyce said. “We pray every one of us will be able to love as God loves.”
“Prayer is everything to an Oblate Sister,” Sister Vittoria said.
“Prayer is how we encounter God,” Mother Arcangela said.
Prayer continues as a top priority for the Oblate Sisters, who number 200 worldwide with 16 in Youngstown and two in Illinois. They also have a range of activities.
On the Oblate Sisters property on Warner Road, there is a retirement home for six priests.
“It’s not a nursing home. The priests are ambulatory,” Sister Joyce said, adding that the priests are part of the community’s life. They take turns celebrating daily Mass.
There also is a preschool and kindergarten there, started soon after the Oblates arrived in Youngstown in the mid-1940s. “It was our first ministry here,” Sister Joyce said. The sisters also have taught in schools in the diocese.
On the religious side, Sister Joyce said, they “help students understand and appreciate vocations including the priesthood.”
The Oblate Sisters are engaged in ministry with priests in parishes, teaching youth to adults in parishes, visiting the sick, working with youth and taking Holy Communion to the homebound.
“It’s a ‘dawn to dusk’ with priests in ministry ... from praying for priestly vocations to their retirement,” Sister Vittoria said.