During this time of global pandemic, the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are finding creative ways to give back and share the Love of the Heart of Christ outside of their day-to-day ministries.
At Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, Conn., Sisters have taken on a special project sewing surgical caps for nurses at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn.
Sisters of the Provincial community at Mount Sacred Heart in Hamden have been praying each day for the town’s first responders and their families by name. This includes the town’s firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.
Each week, they also prepare bagged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Sunrise Café in New Haven, which provides free daily breakfast to the city’s homeless and hungry.
“Our foundress, Mother Clelia, was deeply devoted to serving the poor and most vulnerable members of society,” said Sr. Estelle Barelli, who initiated the service project. “Participating in the wonderful work of Sunrise Café is one way of carrying on her legacy of love, and it is such an enriching experience.”
Members of the postulate community have willingly been living in isolation in order to minister to the 27 retired Apostles living at Sacred Heart Manor, which went into lockdown on March 10. Following a 14-day quarantine that began on March 17, Postulant Directress Sr. Angela Gertsema, Sr. Kelsey Shaver, Sr. Reina Praxedes and postulants Clara Johnson, Patricia Young and Allison Zink were cleared to begin work at the Manor. Since then, they’ve been doing whatever they can to help: sewing masks for the Manor’s staff and Sisters, serving meals, spending quality time with the Sisters, and helping Sisters with various projects.
Although serving at the Manor has meant isolating themselves from other Sisters living at the Provincialate and not leaving the property, even for groceries, the group is embracing the experience.
“The Manor Sisters are teaching us how to let go, to adapt and the importance of a positive attitude,” said Sr. Angela. “These are lessons that are not often taught by words but by example.