The Latin American Province of the Sisters of Charity is made up of four countries, eight communities and just under thirty sisters.
Wherever we are or have been, we have always sought to share and live our charism with lay men and women.
This is how, over time, the following have come into being
· a parish dedicated to Saint Juana Antida in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina,
· a chapel dedicated to Saint Juana Antida in the parish of Santa Catalina de Siena, Paraguay,
· numerous services, educational centres, communities and groups that were founded with the charism of charity and where Juana Antida is mother and teacher.
In these parts, we say that any excuse is good for a celebration, so we not only celebrate her liturgical feast on 23 May, but we also celebrate on 24 August, the anniversary of her death, on 27 November, the day of her birth, and on 14 January, the anniversary of her canonisation.
As daughters and sons of Juana Antida, we gather and share what she means in our lives and what we have learned from her. She is not someone from the past whose works we remember; she is a woman alive in the hearts of the people who, through her example and teaching, transforms lives, educates, and elevates to dignity…
For this reason, we are happy to remember each of her events as an opportunity to continue to re-read our history in the light of the charism of Charity.
Thus, every meeting between the Friends of Santa Juana Antida, with teachers and students, with volunteers, with the Christian community, as we share prayers, services, dances, music, meals and gestures, we remember, we recount what we have learned from her, what she is in our lives, and we rejoice together in what we see and hear.
I would like to share with you the testimonies of three people:
1. Veronica, AJA of the Parish of Saint Juana Antida, Buenos Aires
2. Elena, also an AJA, of the Chapel of Saint Juana Antida in Paraguay
3. Ingrid, a friend of Juana Antida, who participated in the Charismatic Family Meeting of Santa Juana on 24 and 25 May 2025 with the participation of the three communities of Paraguay.1
4. Sister Rina Flores, from the Colonia María Antonia community, Paraguay
VERONICA, AJA from the parish where Juana Antida is the patron saint, Argentina
Novena in preparation for the Patron Saint’s Day 2025
With great joy, invoking the Holy Spirit, I write these lines to try to describe and recount what I experienced during the novena celebrated in the parish dedicated to Saint Juana Antida.
I would also like to point out that I cannot explain in words the feeling that I relived in many of our hearts as we shared this novena as a community.
There will certainly be details to recount, but I can assure you that all the details are engraved in my heart.
From the day I received the invitation to experience the novena, I felt that call to remember the story that the Sisters of Charity had told me since I was a child and which, over time, had remained in my memory for a lifetime.
Every day of the novena, those who could, first participated in the Eucharist, sharing there the Gospel of the day and JESUS, Bread of Life; the Holy Spirit prepared our hearts to receive the grace that GOD had in store for us in the five mysteries of the rosary we offered.
On the ninth and last day, the youngest members of the parish, JUMIS and ADOSEPAS (a community of missionary sisters of the Word), told us how the ‘Sisters of Charity’ arrived in our neighbourhood, in our city of Berazategui.
Young people inspired to become missionaries of the Word felt it was important to listen to the voices of those who had experienced the beginnings of our community. For this reason, with the collaboration of a Friend of Saint Juana, Mrs Zulma, they retraced with her a timeline that helped them learn more about the history of our Patroness among us.
We remember the passage of the sisters in our community with an eternal THANK YOU! For bringing us closer to Christ, for helping us to recognise GOD in those who suffer. For being a constant invitation in our lives to serve Him with our hearts and with humility.
At the end of the novena, with our souls filled with the desire to continue to learn more about our beloved Saint Juana Antida, all that remains is to ask her to intercede so that GOD may fulfil His will in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
How could we not conclude this beautiful, heartfelt, profound and moving novena with a Eucharistic celebration in honour of our patron saint on Saturday 24 May 2025?
She who, with her simplicity, brought us together and called us first on a pilgrimage from the chapel of the “Sacred Heart of Jesus” to the parish and then there around the altar table; and amid songs and much joy, we thanked GOD for giving us the grace of having a parish whose name, “Santa Juana Antida Thouret”, is unique in America.
We have a great responsibility to make our patron saint known, so that many may come to know her and have her as their intercessor.
Veronica – AJA, Berazategui neighbourhood
Keep following us for the next testimonies from Elena, Ingrid and Sister Rina Flores.
