The communities of Carmelites of Charity Vedruna present in the Archdiocese of Tarragona celebrated this Wednesday the bicentenary of the foundation of the congregation, born from the charism of Saint Joaquina de Vedruna and dedicated especially to education, care for the sick and service to the most needy.
According to the Archdiocese of Tarragona, the celebration took place in the church of the Sacred Heart of the Vedruna School of Tarragona and was presided over by Archbishop Joan Planellas, accompanied by priests, religious sisters, members of the educational community and numerous faithful.
A congregation born alongside the Eucharist and the poor
At the beginning of the celebration, Sister Dolors Tribó recalled the origins of the congregation, when Saint Joaquina de Vedruna gave “the last coin she had to the poor” and gathered in her house the nine young women with whom the community began.
Tribó highlighted that that first community was born “around the bread and wine of the Eucharist”, driven by fraternity, generous self-giving and the desire to bring the Good News especially to the poorest.
“Education is a form of loving”
During the homily, Monsignor Joan Planellas highlighted that the congregation celebrates “two hundred years of life”, a history that continues to be present in the Vedruna schools and communities.
The archbishop thanked so many religious sisters who have given their lives with discretion and love to the project of Saint Joaquina, both in education, in care for the sick and in parish life.
Planellas also recalled that Saint Joaquina understood something “very simple and profound”: that education is a form of loving. In this sense, he defended that the Christian school must help each person to discover that their life has value and that no one is superfluous, from the light of the message of Jesus Christ.
“Everything for love, nothing by force”
At the end of the Eucharist, the Provincial of Europe of the congregation, Sister M. Gracia Gil, thanked the shared life of so many people linked to the Vedruna family.
The religious sister recalled that the legacy of Saint Joaquina today requires people capable of “loving and serving with joy” to continue transforming the world.
“Everything for love, nothing by force”, she summarized, evoking the spirit that has guided for two centuries the mission of the Carmelites of Charity Vedruna.