Wow…… what a week we had! The Franciscan Sisters flew into Bristol with Easyjet but they arrived in Exmouth in a whirlwind that sped around our community and wrapped everyone in their warmth, love and tremendous joy – we were truly blessed. There are no words to describe the impact they made but the attached photos give just a little insight.
The Suore Alcantarine Sisters who joined us are currently working in Loreto, Bari, Rome, Albania and Assisi – they were Sr. Roberta Cassone, Sr. Assunta Radogna, Sr. Alessandra Villano, Sr. Teresa Pavone and Sr. Laura Roccato
47 very lucky parishioners look forward to their pilgrimage to Assisi during half term with joyful anticipation of being with the Suore Alcantarine again. May God bless them and their work.
A parishioner’s memories & reflection…..
When the “Nuns” came to Exmouth!!
6th – 14th October 2015
Richard left at 4.30pm to pick up Mary and Roger from ‘Holy Ghost Church to travel to Bristol to pick up ‘The Holy Sisters from Assisi’ off their flight from Rome. He was slightly anxious when he left, hoping that all would go well and that there would be no ‘awkward silences’ on the journey home. He need not have worried, from the moment that they got in to the car, they were an absolute joy. They, along with Mary (who they knew from the Parish visit to Assisi last year) never stopped talking and laughing until they arrived back in Exmouth.
On their return, we were all invited to supper with Fr. Philip, Jane and Sr. Claire. This again was a wonderful, light hearted event where we learned more about the Sisters and also their liking for ‘Branston Pickle’ – which they thought was amazing. They also learnt from Mary (who is visiting Assisi again, along with other members of the Parish in two weeks’ time) the rule of putting ‘white wine in the fridge and red wine on the table!’ for their forthcoming visit.
Richard and I then attended a ‘Fish and Chip Supper’, with the Sisters and Parish on Friday, what an absolute joy. The Sisters entertained us with dancing and songs and made us cry with the stories of their work in Italy. I have never laughed and cried so much in one evening, it indeed left us feeling so elated that we have now obtained a DVD of the evening, so that we can hopefully try and re-capture the joy of the evening at a later date.
Saturday evening brought the ‘6.00pm Mass’, which again was wonderful. The highlight for us was the Sister singing as the congregation received Holy Communion. It was “Angelic” (a word used by many parishioners on Sunday, when we were discussing it). We also then had the absolute pleasure of attending the ‘Jo Boyce’ concert which was amazing, no, above amazing! We then had coffee in the hall afterwards and everyone was on a complete high!
Sunday brought the 11.00am Mass with the Sisters and Jo Boyce, along with her friends, we have never attended anything as wonderful in our lives. When the Sisters and Jo sang together, it was amazing, everyone was in complete awe!. Afterwards we all attended the Harvest Festival and again, the Sisters were the centre of it all. We left feeling so elated, but sad in the fact that we don’t want to see the Sisters go home – but hopeful that we would one day be lucky and blessed enough to find them back with us all at Holy Ghost.
Thank you Fr. Philp and Jane for having been able to bring this wonderful occasion together- what a wonderful end to an absolutely fantastic ‘Centenary Year’
— Richard and Lorri Gegg.