On Friday, June 28th, 150 years of activity of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul in this city.
First, in the church of St. Peter and Paul in Gorica, a Holy Mass was celebrated, which, together with the bishops, Msgr. Željko Majić (from Banja Luka), Msgr. Peter Palić (Mostar-Duvno), Msgr. Marko Semren (Auxiliary bishop of Banja Luka) and Msgr. Franjo Komarica (retired from Banja Luka) and in the concelebration of about 20 priests, led by the apostolic nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Francis Assisi Chullikatt. A large number of Sisters of Mercy participated, headed by the provincial head of the Province of Our Lady the Wonderful Sarajevo, sister M. Vinka Bilješko, and representatives of various levels of government in BiH and the Republic of Croatia among the believers.
At the beginning, the guardian of Gorica, OFM Marko Ešegović, greeted those present, expressing his joy that the Franciscans today, like they did 150 years ago, were able to welcome the Sisters of Mercy in Livno, and this time as part of the Cultural and Religious Days “Naša Gorica”.
He congratulated the sisters, mentioning how they had gathered “to thank God for your love that you have woven into this city and its inhabitants and to ask the One who is Love and Mercy itself to bless your present and future work”. The Holy Mass celebration was animated by the joint choir of the parish of All Saints Livno and the Sisters of Mercy, led by sister M. Blanka Jeličić, and accompanied by sister Matea Krešić on the organ.
Love witnessed in the manner of sister Bogoljuba Jazvo
After the scriptural readings and the proclaimed gospel, Nuncio Chullikatt gave an appropriate sermon (you can download the whole HERE) in which he pointed out that the driving force of Christian activity is love -which God first manifested towards man, and then gave the commandment: “Love one another” (John 15:17). As an example of the realization of this, he cited the founders of the religious community of the Sisters of Mercy- St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louis de Marillac.
Then, concretizing it, he outlined the life of Sr. Bogoljuba Jazvo, who in thr II. World War, “treated and saved all people in need, including Jews”. “At the Sisters of Mercy hospital in Vinogradska cesta in Zagreb, which was managed with great dedication, generosity and love by your Society, sister Bogoljuba was the director from 1940 to 1945, when the new authorities forcibly removed her.
After that, she was transferred to Rome, where she stayed for two years, while in 1948 she travelled to Argentina, where she continued her apostolate in the field of education. She held various positions, including that of provincial head of the Dock Sud province, in an area that was inhabited by members of various immigrant communities, predominantly working class. She later fell ill with a tumour and died in Dock Sud on October 26th 1975″, the nuncio said and pointed out that Pope Francis also met this merciful woman and “he still speaks of her with a lot of admiration, respect and gratitude.” Then he pointed to the link of the celebration in Livno and the life example of sister Bogoljuba, which is the fact that she was born in this city on December 24th 1897 and was baptized with the name Lucija.
Msgr. Chullikatt then briefly outlined the fields of activity of the Sisters of Mercy, both in the world and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and again returned to the example of Christian love manifested by sister Bogoljuba, mentioning how she saved at least 309 Jews with the support of Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. “When in May 1943 the Jewish municipality ceased to function and could no longer finance the ‘treatment’ of Jews in the Sisters of Mercy hospital, the Catholic Church took over the costs of treatment until the end of the war, by the decision of Archbishop Stepinac himself. “In her religious life, sister Bogoljuba – true to her beautiful name ‘sister loved by God and lover of God’ – really knew that ‘he who does not love his brother whom he sees, does not know God who is love’. By loving Christ who suffers in the hungry, thirsty, sick, stranger (cf. Mt 25:35), sister Bogoljuba became similar to Christ. She reminds us that we can do the same if we have the courage to love Jesus, as she loved him”, emphasized the nuncio and concluded by saying that the story about her “is not the exclusive property of those who benefited from her, but of all people who today they follow the unquenchable glow of hope and love, regardless of the suffering caused by human cruelty, violence and wars in the world”. Therefore, thanking the Sisters of Mercy for their witness of Christian love, he urged: “We all together ask the Lord for the grace to grow more and more in God’s love every day, so that we too are ready and open to love Jesus, following the example of the unforgettable ‘little big’ sister Bogoljuba . May her memory always shine in our hearts and in the hearts of all those who respected and loved her.”
Formal academy
After the Holy Mass, at noon, a formal academy was held at the National University of Livno, led by Frano Ridjan. The program began with the songs U srcu Livno, sung by the female vocal group Glas Bistrice, and Merciful Love, performed by children from the Sestra Nada kindergarten. After that, the provincial head of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul – Province of the Mother of God the wonderful sister Vinka. Hers was followed by other welcoming speeches.
After the musical number Sveti Vinko bijaše milosrdan, there was a lecture by sister Julijana Djaković entitled 150 years in the service of Merciful Love Livno 1874-2024.
Among other things, she singled out the name of sister M. Nada Cvitan, who was most responsible for the fact that the Sisters of Charity in Livno did not suffer the fate of the other monasteries and schools of this society after World War II. in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Matej Pavić then treated the audience to a piece of music by J.S.Bach – Dvoglasna invencija. This was followed by a 10-minute conversation with Marko Danon, a man of Jewish origin, who revealed the truth about sister Bogoljuba Jazvo, on the basis of which Jakov Sedlar made the film Little Big Sisters, which can also be found on YouTube. Then the procession, with the song “Merciful love conquers the world”, moved towards the City Park, where the sculpture “Zdenac milosrđa” by Ante Braovac was unveiled.
The song To je tvoja zemlja was performed there by sister Matea Krešić, and then the mayor of Livno, Darko Čondrić, addressed the audience, while the sculptor Braovac presented the monument afterwards. The ribbon on the monument was then cut together by the Reverend Mother’s deputy, sister Marina Pintar, and Mayor Čondrić, and the unveiling of the monument was helped by friends with developmental disabilities from the PuŽ Association.
With the opening of the taps on the four sides of the monument, those present sang the song of Rijeke žive vode (Rivers of living water). Then sister Bernardine Horvat Kopreno od snijega was recited by sister Maristela Franjić.
Words of thanks were then given by: sister Marina Pintar and Ph.D. Ivan Miloloža, and Bishop Majić blessed the monument. The program ended with a song and a lunch symbolically called Lonac sv. Vinka (Pot of St. Vincent).
KT
