"The summit of perfect humility rests in absolute and entire dependence and submission of all that we are to the holy will of God." - St. Jane de Chantal Submission to God's Will in Kenya by Madeline Filpi '18
This summer I traveled to the Mother of Mercy School for Girls in Kenya. Yes, you read that right. I hopped on a fourteen-(14!)-and-a-half-hour-long plane ride to the school Sister Rose founded and spent one of the best weeks of my life with the girls there. As I began to reflect on this quote during my week at the Mercy School, I thought about my personal encounters with the Little Virtue of humility.
The experience that immediately came to mind was the day I arrived in Kenya. Factoring in connecting flights and bus rides, the total travel time to the Mercy School was almost three days. This meant three days without a shower and with minimal teeth-brushing. Stepping out of the bus at our final destination was exciting, but I could not help but think about the way that I smelled. It ended up being an extremely humbling experience, because I soon learned that most of the girls only have two sets of clothing that they do not wash often. This was one of the first things that pointed out to me that although I can afford a plane ticket to Nairobi and live in a multiple-story house, I am just as human as the Kenyan girls who live extremely different lifestyles. It immediately occurred to me that they did not care about the way I looked or smelled, two things I had no control over in that moment; all they wanted was my love and friendship.
The mission leader taught each of us how to make rosaries to give to the girls once we arrived in Kenya, and whenever I started to panic on the flight I tied rosary knots like my life depended on it and prayed to God that we would not fall out of the sky and into the ocean. That week it felt as though God was in total control of my safety and what I got out of my experience on the mission. Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
My soul is yours and must live only by you. My will is yours, and must love only for you. I must love you as my first cause, since I am from you. I must love you as my end and rest, since I am for you. I must love you more than my own being, since my being subsists by you. I must love you more than myself, since I am all yours and all in you.
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