by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM Ireland 27.11.2023
Did you know that MMM collects used postage stamps? We have a small team of dedicated Sisters who trim and sort the stamps and they are sold to collectors. The money earned goes straight out to one of our needy missions in Kenya.
Great Britain was the first country to issue adhesive postage stamps, the famous “Penny Black”. It was issued on May 6th, 1840. Before that time, the letters were taken to the Post Office and the fee for the transit paid over the counter in cash. The letters were then postmarked with a “paid” mark. In those days, letters were carried by a post-boy on horseback or in the mail coaches, which sometimes took several days over journeys from London to towns in the north.
In 1839, a competition was organised by the British Government, asking the public to send in ideas for the pre-payment of letters. Over 2500 entries were received, but none of them were satisfactory. It was then Sir Rowland Hill, with the help of a printer, produced the first postage stamps, the “Penny Black” and the “Two-Penny Blue”.
The “Penny Black” was changed to red in 1841, as it was found the postmark did not show well on the black stamp. At that time, perforating machines were not invented, and although the stamps were printed in sheets of 240, they had to be cut apart with scissors. The first perforated stamp did not appear until about twelve years later.
Other countries began to follow with stamps of their own. Brazil was the first to follow and its first issue appeared in 1843, and within ten years stamps were in use in nearly all the countries in the world.
What is the value of a “Penny Black” today? In 2008, a Penny Black in poor condition can cost as little as £15. A reasonable looking Penny Black will cost you £25. A better-quality specimen might cost £60 to £100. A stamp with unusual attributes can cost up to £250. Mint examples are considerably more valuable – expect to pay anything from £1800 upwards.
So, the moral of the story is – don’t throw your stamps away, send them to us in Drogheda!
by Sr. Genevieve van Waesberghe MMM Tanzania/ Ireland 25.11.2023
Did you know that during the first World War, less than 20 years after her death, Thérèse had already conquered the heart of many soldiers battling in the trenches in France and Belgium? They had her picture and prayed to her. She appeared to some forty known soldiers. Many spoke of their miraculous protection. This was at the time when Marie Helena Martin (Mother Mary) was a VAD Nurse in Malta and France.
In 1997, Thérèse became a Doctor of the Church. Interestingly, out of thirty-seven Doctors of the Church, only four are women! Her science is “Love that has no borders.” She teaches us to love, in the ordinariness of life, accepting our own fragility and trusting God’s love for everyone, more especially the sinners, the poorest, and those on the periphery. I like to think of the conversion of the murderer, Pranzini, before his beheading in 1897 and of the singer Edith Piaf’s spiritual friendship with Thérese. Edith was cured of blindness when she was six and living in misery.
Therese was a missionary at heart. She never left her monastery but wrote to many missionaries, prayed for them. Mother Mary was a special friend of her and entrusted our MMM healing mission to her. Personally, Thérèse has been my ‘travel manager’. My ministry included travelling in Africa through many insecure areas, and Thérèse never let me down!
For many years, Therese’s relics have travelled the world over including to Russia (1999), to Ireland -Drogheda (2001) , and to Jerusalem (2011).
This year is a year of graces. We celebrate the 150th birthday of Thérèse (2nd Jan 1873) and the 100th anniversary of her beatification (29th April 1923). In France, during 2022-23, even UNESCO is paying tribute to Thérèse, recognizing her spiritual, cultural, and educational contribution to humanity. A special event will be held in Paris on 27th November 2023.
Recently, while in France, I prayed in front of the relics of St Thérèse. I had been deeply affected by the current news of hate, violence, and wars. I prayed for justice and peace, for all victims of wars, children, hostages, relief personnel, human rights defenders, and leaders.
I felt encouraged and close to Therese and wondered what would happen if all of us prayed for Peace through her intercession during this Jubilee year?
Thérèse show to us the way of Peace!
by Nadia Ramoutar MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 23.11.2023
There is a major storm in Ireland today on a Monday morning and the schools are opening late. We are fortunate that with all the technology we have we can know in advance that a storm is coming and we can make plans accordingly. The electricity is out in much of the country but there are professionals working hard to get it restored quickly. We are the lucky ones.
This frequency of bad storms now is becoming common all over the world, just in some places they are not equipped to deal with them and have few if any resources. Without a doubt the amount of environmental impact on weather is causing massive fires, droughts, floods, and storms. The weather is becoming more exaggerated and places are experience more catastrophic weather.
When we were visiting Tanzania, people were explaining how the erratic weather is making it even harder for people to grow food. This seems like such a cruel turn of events. The very people who need to be able to grow food are unable to do so because of climate crisis weather changes. Also, we know that the people in this area had the least to do with creating the climate change we are experiencing.
Is this the true nature of injustice? The people who are suffering are not the ones who caused the crisis to occur, yet they are experiencing is the most harshly. This without a doubt seems to be hard to fathom.
When we look at the lessons in the bible we see that wonderful story of the visitation which is the inspiration for the MMMs ethos. When someone is in need, we will rush to their side no questions asked and will be there for them. We know that when Mary rushed to her Cousin’s side it was with a pure heart and open arms to help.
When we think of our brothers and sisters around the world suffering with the side effects of climate crisis, can we not perhaps increase our efforts to change our habits to protect them more? Can we in the west not be a bit more aware that our convenient behaviours and ways of creating waste are causing a crisis for others.
Can we find a way to be inspired to bring real change and to bring our open minds and arms to greater efforts? If we don’t get going on this in a serious way very soon, our window of opportunity for the Earth will pass us. There is no drama or theatrics in saying this. We have known for some time that major change is essential but as a species we don’t seem to be heeding the warning.
It is our time to show up for our global families in their hours of need by being less selfish each day and finding ways to collectively be better stewards of our own planet – and our only planet.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM Ireland 21.11.2023
It often happens that the first step in exercising solidarity is exploring the lack of self-esteem among people who are marginalized. In one women’s group in Brazil the participants were asked to draw something that expresses “who am I?” Elizabeth complained that she couldn’t draw. “You don’t have to be an artist”, it was explained, “just any rough picture that helps you say who you are, or how is your life just now.” She drew a cockroach.
The discussion began. Why did she choose that? Her reply came softly at first until she was secure enough to express the real anger she was feeling. “What do you do when you see a cockroach?”, she asked. “You step on it and try to kill it. This is what has been happening to me all my life.”
Starting from this low point, it takes a lot of patience to help women to accept their true worth, to realise their potential and begin to explore their talents. This was the reality of my work with women in prostitution in the city of Salvador. Many were trapped in prostitution by illiteracy and poverty and traumatized by violence since childhood.
The health of these women was my special concern. As well as the sexually transmitted diseases you would expect, most also suffer from stress-related illnesses – hypertension, gastritis, cardiac problems. Many suffered from the violent behaviour of their clients or home partners but they were reluctant to go to the police to complain, as their complaints were not treated seriously.
Once we set up a literacy class for the women. This gives women a better chance of integrating with the wider society. Lucia was one woman who taught me this. She was 46 years old and came to Salvador as a teenager from another State. She worked all day in brothel near the port. Lucia told me how excited she was when she managed to join up her letters and how much she enjoyed the literacy class. The previous year, she bought a long-distance bus ticket to go to visit her mother, but missed the bus because she could not read the name of the destination written up on the front. “I will never miss my bus again,” she said happily.
by Sr. Jo Anne Kelly MMM Ireland 19.11.2023
I read a reflection about the Gospel reading of last Sunday- the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The writer told about organizing and leading pilgrimages for more or less the same group of people over many years. Every single year the same three or four people were never ready when the coach was due to leave or return.
It reminded me of a time I was working with a group of young women. Three mornings a week they attended classes, with other young women and men in an Institute on the other side of the city from where we lived. It was a very big crowded city. These were treasured classes and nobody wanted to miss them. I was doing the driving. The time to leave was 8.30am to be sure we’d get across in time. Every single morning one girl would come running minutes late, the same girl every day. When we got home one day. I told them from now on I would leave on time with whoever was already in the car. The next day I did so and the same girl got left behind.
She went back to her room collected her pocket money, which was very little at the time, and walked out to the busy road where mini buses were passing. She was not very familiar with the city but she found a bus going to the city centre. There she stepped down into a crowded market area, with traders’ stalls both sides of the road, young men pushing wheelbarrows selling their wares, crowds of people jostling each other, lots of noise and loud music, and rows of buses filling up ready to go off in all directions, their drivers shouting out their destinations, almost impossible to be heard over all the din. . She eventually found a bus going in the direction she wanted and had quite a walk from the main road in to the Institute. She arrived as the last class of the morning was beginning. She told us all this on the way home. I admired her effort and we had lots of fun about it. She also learnt it is good to be alert and ready when there’s something good being offered.
For us there is always something good being offered. Pope Francis once said. “God conceals Himself in the most common and ordinary situations in life and we need to be constantly aware of this reality. There is a danger of not recognizing His coming. He quotes St. Augustine ‘I fear He will pass and I will not recognize him.’ But the l Lord is coming, marking the foundation of our Hope” Perhaps Hope is the one thing we all need in our world today. By our tardiness, or failing to be awake and alert we can miss the gift.
by Nadia Ramoutar MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 17.11.2023
One of the joys of my work in the Communications Department for the MMMs, is that I am always overwhelmed listening to the MMM Sisters stories of what they have done and what they have seen over the years. Even our young MMM Sisters have incredible experience in healing people and empowering people in desperate situations. They work in some of the poorest and most neglected places in the world. After a life of service, many of our MMM Sisters return to our Motherhouse in Drogheda, but their hearts and minds are still very much on the mission. They never really leave.
Last year we held a Christmas Craft Fair in Drogheda in our auditorium and invited the community for the first time in 15 years. The Day was a massive success with us raising over €6,500 for a maternal health and baby clinic near a slum in Malawi. There was a buzzing of joy all day long as people gathered and purchased handmade crafts and artisan items. It was a lot of work but it was also exciting to put the “fun” back in Fundraiser. Our MMM Sisters of all ages were vibrant and overflowing with energy and Christmas cheer.
What was even more wonderful for me was to see the MMM Sisters in the weeks leading up the Craft Fair busy knitting, crocheting, making cards, ornaments and Christmas items for the Craft Fair. We are doing the same thing this year and we will have two craft making sessions to get things ready for the big day. Many of our MMM Sisters have been crocheting and knitting all year long to create exquisite handmade items for the Craft Fair.
It is so great to see all the tireless effort and hope being sewn into every item.
We are blessed to have so many caring women who will do anything at all they can to still raise money and awareness for the Sisters still at work in the field. It is such a circle of love and giving that lift my heart and helps remind me of the light and goodness still in the world. As we watch the TV news or look on social media there is so much destruction and it weighs on the heart. Seeing the Sisters busy making beautiful items creates a true feeling of Christmas.
If it is possible for you to join us, our Craft Fair will be 25th November 2023 at the Auditorium in Drogheda. We would love to see you there. If you can’t make it, keep us and the Sisters in your prayers as we make Christmas magic for the whole community to share with the world and people in most need.
by Sr. M. Elizabeth Ireland/Nigeria 15.11.2023
Editor’s Note: This story comes from one of our early MMM Magazines. One wonders what the scientific reason for this would be nowadays, or if we would be killing snakes at all, now that we are protecting bio-diversity!
There was great excitement outside our house one day. A thin green snake, about six feet long, had been killed on our doorstep and one of the dispensary boys said that it was the mother of a family that had its nest in the mound a few yards away from our door. We asked him what we should do about it and he advised us to send for one Aliya who had medicine which made snakes unable to hurt him, and that he and his and his father and his father’s father before him all had this wonderful power of immunity to snake bite due to this medicine.
Although I felt very sceptical, still I sent for Aliya who soon arrived accompanied by several other boys. He instructed them to dig into the mound. They did so rather timorously until they came across the snake’s burrow. Then they all jumped back, and Aliya came forward. Nonchalantly he pulled out a snake about three feet long. The creature stayed absolutely stiff as though it were a stick. All the boys stood at a respectful distance.
Then he threw the snake on the ground and at once it began to wriggle and the boys ran for their lives. Then he bent down and touched it and immediately it became as stiff as before. He played with it for a few minutes, throwing it down and picking it up, handling it any way, holding it by the head or tail and finally he dispatched it, cutting off its head. He them put in his arm and drew out other snakes one by one, dealing with them in the same way and killing five snakes in all.
It was an extraordinary performance to watch and if I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. Such is the power of “native medicine”.
by Sr. Ann Flynn MMM USA 13.11.2023
Recently I was asked for the story of my vocation which I guess you could say started when I arrived into a family in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. My 4-year-old sister, Marge, and 2-year-old brother, Bob, had already arrived …and I was the last of the clan. When I was 3, someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up and I announced: “I’m going to be a nurse.”
This surprised everyone because I didn’t know any nurses and had never been in a hospital. Soon I was 5 and we had to leave the beautiful lake and all that goes with ‘small town America’. This move brought us first to Baltimore, and then on to Buffalo, which would be my home for the next twenty years. Life was good! Lots of empty lots to play in and school was full of fun and friends.
Then in August 1945 all that changed. The doctor came to the house (imagine that!) and confirmed my parents’ worst fears: Polio. I was only 9 years old, but I knew this was not good. My Grandfather and Dad built a ‘Kenny Packer’ with a big pot in which to boil water so my mother could soak the pieces of wool to make hot packs which she wrapped around me from early morning until late at night. It was a very lonely time for my mother. Everyone was afraid to visit because at that time, no one knew what polio was or how it was contracted. Only our neighbour, Mrs. Bury would come down every evening and visit. On one such occasion she asked, “Why don’t you ask God to make you better?” I knew He made the world and all the lovely creatures, flowers, and the stars. “Why would He want to do that” was my question and her reply, “Because He loves you”.
That precious piece of knowledge gave me a new lease on life, and I uttered my first ‘formal’ prayer. I remember it still: “If you’d like to make me better, I wouldn’t mind”. The years rolled on and I followed the dream of my three-year-old self. Just as I was finishing my nurse’s training, someone casually (God is very clever!) said to me, “I have found a place for you, they do medical mission work. NOT ME! I thought to myself. Mrs. Bury was a missionary to me and my family and the thought of doing the same wove in and out of my thoughts. No internet, no smart phone, and no Google—I had to find people who did this work by looking in a huge tome of a book. And there I found the Medical Missionaries of Mary.
These are simply the bones of my story…so many people and places and events have brought it to life.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM Ireland 11.11.2023
The most poignant line in the story of the Annunciation is the last line. The angel told Mary the great news that she was to bear a child. This child would be the saviour of his people. The angel calmed her fears by telling her that God would be with her and then the the story ends abruptly with “and the angel left her”.
What an anti-climax! There she was, pregnant, confused, and now seemingly abandoned. I think this line talks to me a lot because it reflects so many times in my life when I didn’t see a clear path forward. I tried to discern what action to take, but often the answer was slow in coming, or it seems like events came along and “took the decision from me”. Am I alone in this? I don’t think so, and I think that is why we hear Mary’s story with the “left high and dry” part at the end, and we instinctively understand it. It is so often our own story we are hearing.
Many years ago, I was finishing one assignment in Ireland and left free to return to Brazil. But should I go? My mother was widowed, elderly, not in great health and I had no siblings living in Ireland. What should I do? Recently I was looking back at this period of my life, and I realised that I was a bit like Mary, bewildered and confused. It took me months to decide, and I talked it over with many people. What pushed me to take the decision to return to Brazil in the end? I can’t remember, but I think I just took the best decision I could take at the time, knowing that neither decision was perfect. At times we just are called to muddle along.
God does not ask us to do the impossible, but as Mother Mary Martin said, “With God, all things are possible”. The secret is to believe that God is with us, whether we feel his presence or not. When we truly rely on God’s strength, wisdom, and care, we can relax and just do the best we can. That is all that is asked of us. I am sure Mary took up the months of her pregnancy still with many questions – but she didn’t feel sorry for herself and become wrapped up in her own difficulties. She saw her cousin, Elizabeth’s need and went in haste to help her.
Today I don’t ask for clarity, just for the comfort of knowing that I am not alone. I can look outwards because God is with me.
by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM USA 09.11.2023
What a thrill? Now our mornings were spent in the hospital instead of the classroom. We had the choice of choosing what hospital we would like to attend. The three of us, Martha, Maura, and Margaret, also known as The Three MMMS, agreed to go to St Vincent’s Hospital. At that time, it was located at the corner of Stephens Green and Leeson Street.
I will always remember my first day in the ward. Our tutor had told us how to feel the pulse and then we were to find one on an assigned patient who was agreeable to this. I was delighted to hear my sweet elderly lady tell me “Don’t worry dear, the Doctor had a tough time finding it himself. She had a very weak irregular pulse which I eventually found with her help. I am eternally grateful to her for all the encouragement she gave me.
We were also assigned in threes to a consultant. The two men assigned with me were most helpful, Maurice Fitzgerald who later became the Professor of Medicine in UCD and Seamus Healy who later became a successful Doctor. It was our job to collect the blood specimens and I had an exceedingly grim time getting into a vein and drawing blood. The lads always came to my rescue. This went on for some time and I became worried that I was not cut out to become a Doctor and dutifully told Mother Mary about my plight. Mother Mary listened attentively and brushed my worry aside telling me to pray, Dear, as if Dear had not already prayed. Well, lo and behold Dear prayed and got in the vein the first go. All seemed to get better after that.
In the afternoons we had our classes in Pathology, Histology, Social and Preventive Medicine, and Pharmacology. After 5pm in the evenings we could visit the patients in our Consultant’s ward.
As I mentioned before, our Consultant was Mr. Duff. He jokingly remarked I am not the “Holy Man”, implying he was not the Frank Duff who started the Legion of Mary. Yet he was a very gentle and good doctor and treated his patients as well as us medical students with profound respect. We watched him operate, an excellent genito-urinary specialist, and sometimes he let us assist him.
We were with him for three months from March to June 1962 and then we switched to a medical Consultant, Dr. Muldowney, who was a renal specialist. Our time here was divided into periods of six weeks in the hospital and six weeks’ vacation. We knew we would have an examination in September, so the vacation time was spent studying. I took my vacation period first. For three weeks, I had the joy of being with my mother and father, grandfather, family friend and my younger brother, Albert, who came from New York to visit me. We toured Dublin and later went to Glendalough and Cork. Mother Mary told me to wear lay clothes in Dublin but to wear the habit in Cork and Kerry. On the way to Cork we stopped in Tipperary and a storekeeper told me there is one of you in the town. I went to see Sr. Bernadine who was taking care of her extremely ill sister. I was glad to see her. She showed me pictures of her Final Profession in Uganda. Little did I know at the time that one day I would be assigned there.
We visited Blarney Castle. I told Mother Mary I did not kiss the stone because I had my habit on. She was pleased. I can still see my 82-year-old grandfather waiting for us to descend the rocky stairs. He was glad we had an enjoyable time up there, kissing the stone, but he conserved his energy for the trip to Kerry. I stayed with the Mercy Sisters and my family stayed in the main hotel. My mother told me all the older girls wanted my brother Albert, aged fourteen, to teach them how to do the Twist.
Finally, the sad day to say goodbye arrived and we all hugged each other with gratitude for having the chance to be with each other again. I still had another three weeks to study, and it felt good to be studying again after such an exhilarating time with my family.
The end of September loomed forth too hastily and we found ourselves in the throes of the examination hall. Our Professor of Pharmacology had a reputation of being hard on nuns, so we were afraid of failing like many of those who went before us. The night before the pharmacology exam I had a very pleasant dream of a Grimms’ fairy tale princess walking through silver speckled woods. It put me in a good mood and, thanks be to God, I had no difficulty with the exam. In fact, most of the questions I could answer were from what the consultants taught me in the hospital and on the wards. I used to listen to the nurses give out the medicines. They knew exactly what each person was getting. They were well trained by the Irish Sisters of Charity who ran the hospital at that time.
Thank God this period of classes was completed. The rotation of consultants and new classes proceeded but that is another story.
