Easter 2021

Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
Amen. Alleluia.”              
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.  
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! 
(Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes)

Easter message from our General Superior, 
Sister M. Margarete Ulager: 

The Easter sequence, born of almost a thousand years of tradition, praises the Paschal Mystery with almost unsurpassed brevity and conciseness. This confession corresponds to the Easter greeting that is still customary in Greece today:

Christos Anesti!   Christ is risen!

We may say it less directly, but in wishing each other a "Happy Easter" we also say to each other: Yes, the Lord, our hope, is arisen. He is truly risen! The ancient liturgical sequence is addressed to Mary of Magdala, because it was given to her not only to discover the empty tomb, but to announce to the disciples: He is living, the Lord, my hope!  

Especially now, in this difficult time of our world and our Church, 'when the waters are troubled and the Lord seems to be asleep in the boat." I deeply wish us all the experience that in this boat is the Lord; and HE does not let the barque of the Church sink.

Our Bishop of Münster, Dr. Felix Genn, in his sermon for the Solemnity of St. Liudger, on March 26, 2010 in the Cathedral of Billerbeck, nearby Münster, said the following words:

 "At this time, dear sisters and brothers, I cannot feel triumph. But I want to believe that through all the difficult hours, as suffering remains anchored in the Church, Christ has won the greatest victory with his death. Let us go into the celebration of the Holy Week in this spirit. We know that the brief triumph of His entry into Jerusalem will turn into the reviling of the cross and death, but that precisely in this the Lord has not withdrawn his love. When the Church is in the great tribulation nothing remains but to hold fast to Him, just as in the Easter Vigil we will carry nothing in our hands but the little candle that announces the light of the Resurrection and the triumphant procession through all that is dead. Amen."

 The Bishop’s words are still so relevant, warming, comforting and encouraging today! It is and remains the Lord who directs our Church, even through the people he has chosen. 

In the Easter Vigil we will think of all of you and ask God's blessing. Grace filled Easter to you and your loved ones and the joy that Christ is truly risen.

Your Franciscan Sisters from the General Administration