The Spirit of Christmas brings life and joy.....

- Date of publication 12-14-2004
This year the inmates, staff, volunteers, Mary-Anne Miskolzie, Roman Catholic prison chaplain—and associate with the sisters of Évron—along with a community church embraced the project called the “Christmas shoe box program” raising enough funds to send more than fifty-five boxes filled with various items from toys to toothbrushes to needy children in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico.

    Once the facility director approved this proposed project, the inmates were invited to participate in the helpful gesture aiming for an original goal of fifteen shoeboxes! The enthusiasm was extra-ordinary as prisoners set aside money from their savings to buy a variety of items often asking Mary-Anne to purchase additional items they wanted to include in the boxes.

    Then they happily set about the task of packing the boxes sometimes even including letters inside the boxes! This kind of project allows prisoners to feel valued by giving them the opportunity to be part of something that helps others. It provides them with the chance to give of themselves and to be regarded as people rather than as criminals.

    Inmates have very little funds yet they were willing to give what they had to bless a hurting child they never met. These kinds of projects help inmates begin and then continue to pursue a process of healing because through such actions their personhood is affirmed and once you are aware that you have value, your healing begins and can continue.

    What a wonderful initiative and outcome Mary-Anne! Carmen Drabiuk and Eileen Loeffelmann are two other associates also volunteering regularly at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre. This is the same prison where Cécile Goyer worked as prison chaplain prior to responding to the call to serve on the congregational leadership team.

(…the photo and information contained in this article concerning the shoebox project appeared in the Fort Saskatchewan paper “The Record” )

Articles classified by country1- All the congregation2- in France3- in England4- in Canada5- in Africa6- in Peru

	During this year - Date of publication 06-28-2010 The meeting of the Associates that took place in October was, as you can imagine, a time for sharing what happened in Evron and in Canada for the Centenary of the sisters’ arrival.
	Pilgrimages - Date of publication 03-11-2010 The Associates and some Sisters recently made some pilgrimages. One of these was to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham which is in the east of England.
	A hundred years… That can be understood in various ways - Date of publication 11-09-2009 Perrine has been present in the West of Canada for a hundred years in the person of the Sisters who took up a challenge and accomplished a great acheivement. Each one left her own corner of Mayenne to go to “the other end of the earth” as people said at the time and we can imagine the strong faith that motivated them.
	Sister Marie-Louise Recton whose memory is still alive in Alberta - Date of publication 11-09-2009 Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that a young woman, one of my relatives (Sister Marie-Louise Recton, first provincial of the sisters of Evron in Canada) would have had such a lasting effect on a community.
	The Fortsaskatchewan Associates - Date of publication 06-15-2009 The Fort Saskatchewan Associates meet on a monthly basis after the 11:00 mass, usually at Our Lady of Angels Parish church hall if the meeting rooms are not being used. This has provided us the opportunity to have Fathers Francis and John join us on several occasions.
Our archives >>