"Gentle love scatters abroad an aura of joy and peace."
- St. Jane de Chantal
Gentle Love: The Essence of Community
We sat down with the Sisters of the Visitation, who generously shared their reflections on St. Jane's wise words. Each of them offered a unique perspective, but the thread tying them all together was community: gentle love is essential to - and manifest in - community, whether that be a Convent, a family, a school, or a neighborhood. We all live in community, with God among us, and reflecting his gentle love brings us all closer together.
- "We show our love to our community by reading all the time" and reflecting deeply on Salesian wisdom.
-Sister Mary Martha
- "It is a spirit of joy in our community. … Gentle love is tolerance. Gentle love is helping people, talking with them, and being gentle even if you don't like them. It's natural to help others to be good and most of all to help yourself to be good."
-Sister Jane de Chantal
- "For me when someone says I'm sorry … there's so much love and gentleness in those words. … You forget everything. If I was hurt or upset, and [someone] says that, it changes everything."
-Sister Sylvie-Marie
- "I spend a lot of time in the garden. … [One day], I went to particular spot. I needed [to pull] weeds. I told [them], 'It's not going to hurt, just a little bit.' I told one of the plants it had bugs and it needed to be ready to be sprayed. The pruning, the planting, the loving -- it hit me that God's love for us is like this garden. A little snip here and there, and everyone will look better because of what happens to each little plant. Sometimes it hurts a little, sometimes not. That's the way God loves us and takes care of our garden."
-Sister Mada-anne
- "My experience has always been that the essence of the Visitation is a gentle spirit. The close relationship with Jesus that St. Francis encouraged in his writings, it was prominent ... I felt that very much in my life growing up in the Convent."
-Sister Jackie
- "One of our aides, her sister's son had an accident. Our community decided to assist her back to her country to help her sister, [giving her] the time, the resources to fly back. That touched me. We listen to others' needs, to their families."
-Sister Tram
- "Gentle love would mean a mother, or here, our aides for the Sisters. However, it's not just women. I think of someone I've known since he was a little boy. His first child, you can image the gentle love there. When the rest of us see that, we are at peace and [filled with] joy."
-Sister Joanne
- "People don't have to say much [to show gentle love]. I'm thinking of Sister Mary Martha, because her smile is a million dollar smile. And when she's at Mass, the faculty see it. That's gentle love and it scatters abroad. That's not a one-time thing, her witness. I think of Sister Jackie encouraging everyone … you feel like a million dollars when you've been near her. Small words, small actions."
-Sister Loretta
Live Jesus
Live, Jesus, Live ... so live in me
That all I do be done by thee.
And grant that all I think and say
May be thy thoughts and words today.
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Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
1524 Thirty-fifth Street NW • Washington, DC 20007 • 202.337.3350
Special thanks to Cecilia Kane '16 for the banner photo.