Agenzia Fides

Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - On the occasion of the celebration of 135 years of its foundation of the religious congregation of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM), the first 13 tertiaries of Hong Kong (men, women and couples) professed their vows on January 6, the day when the congregation was founded in 1877. According to reports from the Kong Ko Bao (Chinese version of the diocesan bulletin), in the next three years the tertiaries will experience the Franciscan life and missionary in the footsteps of the founder, the French nun Hélène de Chappotin de Neuville (1839-1904), known as Sister Mary of the Passion, beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 20, 2002. In presenting the medal and the Statute of the Mother Foundress of the Congregation, Sister Magdalene Lam, provincial Superior of the Province of Hong Kong of the FMM urged the tertiaries "to leave everything in God's hands, because it is not easy to witness faith in today’s society ". Among the new tertiaries there are also the parents of an FMM nun. The reasons that led them to this choice were thus expressed: "we want to get closer and closer to the congregation, the missionary spirit that our daughter has decided to follow in order to know it better and be a missionary like her and her sisters. We had thought of losing a daughter when she entered the convent. But no, we have had many daughters and many friends". According to their daughter, "it is a great support to my vocation, to walk the path of faith with my parents". Today the community of FMM of Hong Kong, which began its mission in 1947, has about 23 women religious, active in the field of spirituality, pastoral, charity and the promotion of women. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 30/01/2012)