Annunciade Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Annunciades in Poland
On Wednesday, March 25, 2009, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sisters of the Annunciade were solemnly welcomed at the Marian Sanctuary in Licheń. The nuns came from France to stay in Licheń for good. On behalf of the Marian Fathers, they were welcomed by the bishop of Włocławek, Bishop Wiesław Mering. A solemn welcome Mass was held in the parish church of St. Dorothy at 6 p.m. It was chaired by Fr. bishop ordinary.
The Annunciade of Thiais near Paris has a lot in common with the Marians. The Order of the Virgin Mary has more than 500 years of history. Deep Marian spirituality links this French order with the Congregation of Marian Fathers. The Marians are the first and only male order in the world, founded in 1673 by st. Stanisław Papczyńskifor which Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, taken from the Annunciades, became the principle of life.
Efforts to ensure the permanent presence of the contemplative order in the Licheń sanctuary had been going on for years. Both communities established permanent contacts with each other in the early 1980s. They soon resulted in permanent cooperation. In the first half of the 1990s, Marians who had studied before going on language missions in France established closer relations with the Annunciades. The sisters, in turn, had been learning Polish intensively for two years at the Catholic University of Lublin.
Construction of a monastery in Grąblin near Licheń
The first shovel digging began on May 27, 2009 in the Grąblin forest, the place of the apparitions of Our Lady of Licheń, with the construction of a monastery and a chapel for the Annunciade Sisters. Four nuns from the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary from France have been living in a Lichen shrine for two months now, praying for pilgrims and apostolic works of Marian priests and teaching Polish intensively. In about three years, because this is how long the construction of the monastery will take, they will move to the Grąblin forest.
Plac budowy przypominał wojskowy poligon. Po ulewnych deszczach wykarczowana polana zamieniła się w błotniste bajoro. Po modlitwie za pomyślność dzieła i bezpieczeństwo budowniczych, wyposażeni w szpadle i kaski księża marianie oraz siostry anuncjatki przeszli po płytach na środek placu i wykopali pierwsze łopaty ziemi. Wspólnie dokonali tego: matka przeorysza Maria od Chrystusa OVM, ks. Paweł Naumowicz MIC – przełożony polskiej prowincji marianów, ks. Eugeniusz Zarzeczny MIC – wikariusz prowincjalny, ks. Wiktor Gumienny MIC – kustosz sanktuarium i misjonarz z Rwandy ks. Leszek Czeluśniak MIC. Kolejne łopaty wbiły rezydujące w Licheniu siostry, odmawiając już po polsku „Zdrowaś Mario”. Siostrom bardzo podoba się miejsce ich przyszłej siedziby i projekt budynku. Kompleks klasztorny będzie składał się z niewielkiego kościoła o współczesnym kształcie z odrębną kaplicą dla mniszek, zwaną chórem zakonnym i tradycyjnych zabudowań przeznaczonych na część mieszkalną. Kościół będzie otwarty dla pielgrzymów. Zmieści się w nim 300 osób. Sam klasztor będzie budynkiem trzykondygnacyjnym z piwnicą i poddaszem, podzielonym na część klauzurową i gościnną.
Consecration of the new church and convent of the Annunciade Sisters in the Grąbliński Forest
On August 22, 2010, Bishop Wiesław Mering, bishop of Włocławek, consecrated the church and monastery of the Annunciade Sisters.
The celebrations began at 15:00. At that time, from the parish church of St. Dorothy in Licheń, a procession to the new temple in the Grąbliński Forest started. The streets of Licheń were followed by the Sisters of the Annunciade, priests and all the faithful who came to celebrate this great event for the Sanctuary and the entire Licheń parish.
Punctually at 4 p.m., the solemn Eucharist was presided over by the Ordinary of the Diocese of Włocławek, Fr. Bishop Wiesław Mering. Among the guests who came to this special ceremony were also Bishop Stanisław Gębicki from Włocławek and Bishop Michel Santier from the Diocese of Creteil in France.
At the beginning of the liturgy, Fr. Paweł Naumowicz, provincial of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, who said - I thank Mother Mary of Christ, abbess of the sisters of Thiais, for accepting the offer of the Marian Fathers from Poland. Thank you for the prayers that surround everyone. Thanks to you, this place will become even more prayerful, and through the intercession of the Mother of God, we will all ask God for many favors.
The faithful who came in large numbers to the ceremony of consecration of the new church and monastery in Grąbliński Forest, heard the sermon delivered first by Bishop Wiesław Mering, and then by Bishop Michel Santier.
Founder - Saint Joanna de Valois
The foundress of the order was born on April 23, 1464 as the second daughter of King Louis XI of France and Carolina of Savoy. The little princess was badly received by her father who wanted a son. When she was two months old, she was engaged to her father's cousin, two-year-old Louis, Duke of Orleans, finally marrying him in 1476. In April 1498, after the death of Charles VIII, Louis assumed the throne of France. Joan became the queen. Shortly thereafter, her husband began a successful effort with the Holy See to annul their relationship.
Joan de Valois, after annulling her marriage and losing the title of Queen of France in 1498, received the duchess of de Berry from her ex-husband, to whom she did not hold grudges and prayed for him for the rest of her life. She was famous for good governance and special care for the poorest of her subjects. Guided by the inspiration she had received in her childhood, she devoted herself entirely to founding the contemplative Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The nuns wear beautiful, colorful habits. Each color has its own meaning. Gray - means penance and poverty; red - Christ's passion, love and joy; white - Mary's purity. The sisters wear a blue ribbon with a medallion of the Blessed Virgin Mary around their necks, their habits, similar to the Franciscan pattern, are tied with a rope with 10 knots, symbolizing the rule of the 10 evangelical virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on whom the order was founded. Suspended from the rope are the laces of the 10 Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, composed of white beads. Marians themselves once wore them when they were wearing white habits. The Annunciade (this name comes from the word "annonciade" which means annunciation) wear black veils on their heads.
Also read: anuncjatki.pl
