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During the third novena (May 16-May 24) of the 54-Day Rosary Novena, Blessed Marie Leonie was honoured.
Marie Leonie was born in 1840 and at the age of 13 joined the Holy Cross Sisters. After serving as a teacher for 20 years she was entrusted with domestic work at St. Joseph’s College near Moncton, N.B.
Believing in the dignity and greatness of the priesthood, Marie Leonie decided to dedicate her life to the service of priests through humble work. She inspired many young women who joined her. In 1880 Blessed Marie Leonie decided to form a new religious community to serve priests: the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
The sisters helped and supported priests in kitchens, laundries, and sacristies. Later they started serving priests as secretaries, receptionists, and accountants, imitating the example of the holy women in the Gospels, especially St. Martha, who ministered to Jesus and the apostles.
One of the sisters summed up their spirituality and evangelical mission as follows: “Our God is the Eucharistic God, our principal work is charity, our mission is service to the priesthood exclusively, our spirit is the spirit of the Holy Family of Nazareth, our motto is ‘piety and dedication,’ and our duty is to accomplish more than others.”
Marie Leonie died on May 3, 1912, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Sept. 11, 1984, the first beatification ceremony on Canadian soil.
By their service, the Little Sisters bear witness to the dignity and greatness of the holy priesthood. It is the hope of the sisters that, by their dedication to the service of the priesthood, priests themselves will be inspired and encouraged to remain faithful to their promises and mission.
Below are a few beautiful quotations on the priesthood from Father Francis Connell, CSsR, which help to remind us of the mission and dignity of priests in light of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
“When this all-important truth is deeply impressed on the mind and heart of the priest – that the eternal salvation of certain souls may depend on his ministerial activities, that difficulties and opposition and weariness should be accepted unhesitatingly when even one soul is in danger, that all the materials benefits and human honours the world could give him are nothing compared to the privilege of serving as the instrument of God in bringing the state of grace to one human being – then the spirit of immeasurable zeal will burn ardently in his heart.”
“In the case of the priest, the hope to bring others to their eternal destiny is intimately linked up with the desire for his own salvation, for the vocation to which he has been divinely summoned involves the duty of bringing many others to eternal happiness.”
“We should not measure success in the priestly ministry in terms of numbers, since to restore even one soul to the state of grace would be worth all the labor of an entire lifetime.”
Novena Prayer in honour of Blessed Marie Leonie
Blessed Marie Leonie, who during your life on earth inspired many women to spend their lives in the care for Priests in Canada, modelling great humility and service; pray for us. May God send forth a new outpouring of his Holy Spirit upon the priests serving in Canada today. May they, by your Grace, transcend present scandals and discouragement in order to proclaim Your Word and administer the Holy Sacraments with faithfulness and heavenly power. Amen.
修女們藉忠誠服務啓發司鐸
加拿大境的54天玫瑰經九日敬禮(www.Canada54.com)的第三個九日敬禮（5月16日至5月24日），特別向真福瑪莉.麗妮致敬。
真福瑪莉.麗妮生於一八四零年。年方十三，便加入「聖十字架姊妹會」。曾執教鞭二十年，後在紐賓士域省的聖若瑟書院內料理家務。
藉
有感於鐸品的尊貴和偉大，福女决定終身藉謙遜的家務，為司鐸們服務。由於得到不少年青女子們的響應，她遂在一八八零年創辦了「聖家小姊妹女修會」，專為神職人員服務。
「聖家小姊妹女修會」的修女們在廚房、洗衣房努力為司鐸們工作，後來更伸展到文書的工作——當堂區的秘書、接待員和會計員。她們效法「福音」內的聖婦們 (特别是聖瑪爾大)，為耶穌和宗徒服務。
修女們總結她們的神修和福傳使命：「我們的天主，是聖體聖事中的天主。我們主要的工作，是愛德的工作。我們的使命，是專為司鐸們服務。我們修會的精神，是納匝肋聖家的精神。我們的格言，是熱心和獻身。我們要完成得比別人多的責任。」
瑪莉.麗妮於一九一二年五月三日去世，一九八四年九月十一日被教宗若望保祿二世宣福，而宣福禮就在加拿大本土進行。
「聖家小姊妹女修會」的修女們，通過她們的服務，見證了神品聖事的尊貴和偉大；她們希望對鐸品一片忠誠和信德之心，激發和鼓勵司鐸們貞忠於他們的聖願及使命。
要從超性（信、望、愛）三德去理解神品聖事的尊貴和使命，贖主會會士方濟.郭紐神父的引語，會有些幫助：
「當一個神父在心內意識到: 有一些靈魂的永遠得救可能要靠他的牧民工作; 即使僅只有一個靈魂遇有喪亡的危險，他便義無反顧地，甘願承受一切困難、敵意和艱辛，旨在作天主的救靈工具來使一個人靈魂得到寵愛。這比一切世俗的名成利就都更重要。無可比擬的熱誠將不斷地燃燒着他的心窩。」
「因天主的召叫和派遣，神父有責任把很多的靈魂帶入永生，他便把救助他人靈魂的工作，視為相等於使自己靈魂得救的必然責任。」
「我們不應以數字來衡量神父工作的成就救，皆因為使一個靈魂得到寵愛，一整生的一切工作也是值得的。」
九日敬禮敬禮真福瑪莉.麗妮的經文 : 「真福瑪莉.麗妮，妳在世時啓發了很多女子貢獻生命照料在加拿大的司鐸們，樹立謙卑和服務的楷模; 請為我們祈禱。願天主重新傾注聖神與今天在加拿大服務的司鐸們。願他們藉祢的恩寵克服現今的醜聞和沮喪，好能以忠誠和天上的得能來宣揚祢的聖言和施行聖事。亜孟。」
