Bishop Alfred Schlert marked the 25th anniversary of the World Day of Consecrated Life by joining the religious sisters of the Missionaries of Charity in Mahanoy City for a special Mass.
The World Day of Consecrated Life coincides each year with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day, when candles are blessed to symbolize Christ who is the light of the world.
“This is an appropriate Feast Day to celebrate those who take vows to live the consecrated life, because they are called to reflect the Light of Jesus Christ to all people,” said Bishop Schlert.
Five sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, who visited the Diocese of Allentown in 1995, reside at the St. Teresa of Calcutta Convent in Mahanoy City.
Due to Covid concerns, the annual gathering of all religious men and women, normally held on the World Day of Consecrated Life, was not held this year.
In naming Feb. 2 as the annual World Day of Consecrated Life in 1997, Pope St. John Paul II said, “The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total offering of one’s life for all those who are called to show forth in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels, the characteristic features of Jesus – the chaste, poor, and obedient one.”
There are 226 religious sisters and 13 religious brothers in the Diocese of Allentown.
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