Between February and April 2025, Sisters Maria Teresa Cuervo and Maggie D’Costa travel on behalf of the General Team to the Province of Vedrun-America.
Below we share the fourth and last chronicle of their trip, between March 27 and April 19, 2025, when they were in Puerto Rico and the United States.
Puerto Rico
Guaynabo Community
Celebrating 75 years of presence, of animating, accompanying and serving in the fields of education, social work, pastoral and health, the small group of Vedruna Sisters of Puerto Rico begins a new stage.
Due to the frailty and advanced age of the sisters, and given the impossibility of receiving reinforcements from Vedrun America, after a long discernment the decision has been made to close this presence. However, a new modality has been opened: two sisters, Ada Miriam and Virgenmina, will continue in Puerto Rico sharing community life and mutual care with the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; while the third, Maria del Carmen, at 91 years of age, will be sent to Lima, Peru.
The celebration of the Eucharist of thanksgiving and the sending forth of the three sisters who made up the community was a profoundly special moment. The Eucharist was presided by Monsignor Eusebio Ramos Morales, Bishop of Caguas, and had a remarkable and admirable response to the invitation: friends, acquaintances, lay associates and members of the Religious Life were present to accompany this significant moment. We shared with the Christian community of Aibonito; the Bishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico, Monsignor Roberto Gonzalez N.Roberto González N.; the President of the Conference of Religious of Puerto Rico, Fausto Cruz, Claretian; the secretary of the Conference of Religious of Puerto Rico, the responsible of the Religious Life of the diocese, Alfonso Guzmán OFM; the dean of the Inter-American University; Sisters of Charity of San Vicente de Paul and religious of other congregations; besides numerous Vedruna friends, among whom were the Lay Associates of Aibonito.
The atmosphere was marked by a mixture of joy and sadness, lived with great intensity and depth. In his homily, Monsignor Ramos stressed the call to fidelity in Religious Life, and emphasized that, with this new stage, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and the Carmelites of Charity Vedruna are undertaking an unprecedented experience in Puerto Rico: the experience of mutual help and fraternal sharing among congregations. This initiative opens the way to a new horizon in Religious Life, with an inter-congregational approach that could inspire similar experiences in other contexts.
From Puerto Rico, we were struck by the following:
- The Puerto Rican coqui is a small tree frog(amphibian) native to the island of Puerto Rico. It is characterized by its striking sound, which sounds like “co-qui”, which it uses to attract females during the breeding season. It is said in the village that “the coquí only sings in Puerto Rico”.
- The solidarity, affection and closeness of the people who have passed through the life of the sisters in 75 years in Puerto Rico. The gratitude is immense and they express it not only with words, writings, phrases, but also with details.
- A small market was held with objects from the house and belongings of the sisters, which were sold at symbolic prices to neighbors who wished to have a souvenir of the sisters.
- The attitude of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul was profoundly generous and fraternal. Not only did they promptly offer to help us pick up the house, but they also showed a warm hospitality and affection for our sisters. They often repeated a phrase that sums up the shared spirit: “We are united by Charity”. For their part, our sisters have made significant progress in their integration into the new community. The first moment of welcome and reception had a profound impact on them. Finding themselves in a community of 25 sisters gave them a sense of security and belonging that has been key in this transition process.
On the web you can also read these two articles on the missionary sending of the three sisters from Puerto Rico:
United States
Washington Community
In this community there are four Vedruna sisters, who are dedicated to accompany the processes of immigrants, especially Latin Americans, either in organizations or in the parish of San Bernardo. They also support the vulnerability in the illness and advanced age of our sisters.
In addition, one of them serves on the board of UNANIMA International, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Founded in 2002, it is composed of 23 congregations of women religious, including our Carmelitas de la Caridad Vedruna congregation.
The first community meeting took place in the residence for the elderly, where our sister Maria Rosa lives. It was a brief but very meaningful space, since, in spite of the limitations of age and health of the elderly sisters, we were able to share a moment of family reunion together with Migdalia and Maureen. We adapted our community proposal to the circumstances of the moment, which allowed it to be a true gesture of communion and affection.
We also had a dinner and a meeting of thanksgiving with friends of the sisters, who have accompanied or participated in the beginnings -70 years ago- of our mission in the United States. Also present were the people sent by the health insurance, who have collaborated with us in the care of the sick sisters since about 2003.
We had the opportunity to visit the Pantheon of the Sisters, as well as St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish and Our Lady of Fatima, two parishes that share the same building; and we also visited The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate. In addition, with Sister Maureen we were at the GHRC Foundation – The Guatemala Human Rights Commission USAwhich provides legal support, aid and protection to Guatemalan emigrants, and there we shared with Veronica Serrano.
In the United States, we were struck by the following:
- The migrant ladies – or companions – sent by the government, who take care of the sisters for a few hours of the day, expressed their gratitude for the affectionate, respectful treatment they received and the feeling of being part of a family. They emphasized that it is different to work with the sisters than in a private family.
- Those who were young at the time, remembered and were grateful for the effort of the sisters to form them and prepare them for the future. Today they have really moved forward, besides having elements to accompany their children in the process of growth and maturation.
- The friends emphasized how from the beginning, being a congregation of Spanish origin, the sisters, mostly Spanish and one North American, live the option of following Jesus, in their social commitment and pastoral work that responds to reality. They also emphasized their constant concern to form leaders.
- It is striking how the sisters laid the foundation for Latinos to become autonomous and capable of organizing themselves within the Christian community. Today, little mention is made of those who prepared Latinos to build a better future, which is evidence that the sisters knew how to withdraw at the right time, thus allowing them to grow.
- We are struck by the meal times: at noon it is a very light meal, like a sandwich, and the main or formal meal is at around 6 p.m.
- Another important detail is that the doors of the houses are open and the properties do not have high concrete walls or similar material to isolate or separate them from the neighbors.
The other chronicles of the visit are already available:
