Somos Irmãs ao quadrado | Aliança de Santa Maria

WE ARE SISTERS...
ON THE SQUARE

Sisters squared, since we are in this same Congregation, involved in the same following, committed to the same charism and community, we remember Saints Francisco and Jacinta who, being siblings, came to savor together this friendship with God and in God.

This is the answer we give to the question we are asked over and over again: "Are you sisters?"

We didn't see any other way to start this testimony than this. I mean, come to think of it, another way would be to quote from our favorite book:

"A little further on, Jesus saw two other brothers: James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were mending nets in the boat with their father Zebedee. He called to them, and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him." (Mt 4:21-22) Jesus saw two other sisters: Bernardete and then Angela. He called them.

Today, we write this with a smile on our lips and in a very relaxed way. But we can confess that, a good few years ago, this would have been a rather embarrassing idea.

Yes, being a "nun" wasn't always in our plans (so much so that we almost managed to convince God that he was wrong). None of us had planned to live in community, let alone like this: together, in the same community.

In Guimarães, we shared the same roof for thirteen years.

Her parents, two other sisters and us. Together we fondly remember the half-hearted trips to Sunday Mass ("there were too many women" - our father would say), the evening prayers said as a family (often fighting sleep and tiredness at the end of the day), the many games played and shared with cousins and neighbors that made our childhood so happy.

It had been 19 years since Bernardete was born before she packed her suitcase to go on a retreat with the Sisters of the Covenant of St. Mary. Yes, the retreat that would open up a new horizon for her life. At the time, Angela kept her sixth grade books in her backpack and went happily to catechesis, but for Bernardete it was different: anything that spoke to her about God was of little or no interest to her. So how did Bernardete end up on a retreat?

Let's add a schedule that rarely had blank days, a weekend with nothing scheduled, an invitation for that very weekend, a risk and so it was.

Bernardete was attracted by the noise of the nights spent partying with her friends, her boyfriend, her work and her motorcycles. Thus, the silence of that retreat imposed another "noise" that she didn't know about: that of speaking of God... of God's will.

She recalls a piece of paper that came into her hands that weekend, and which really disturbed her: "What is the meaning of your life?". This question confronted all the false security and fear of commitment she felt.

After this retreat, it was essential to be accompanied by someone more experienced, who could help her answer the questions that arose and motivate her to meet the Master: "Have you ever asked God what he wants from you?". Bernardete laughed inside when she heard this provocation: "What? Ask God what he wants from me? What kind of question is that? I'm the one who knows what I want!".

She felt that she was losing nothing - little did she know that she would "lose everything" - and dared to ask.

Some new habits began to make their way into his daily life: he returned to praying the rosary (this time without sleeping with his family), which became his companion on his way home at the end of each working day, and he began to visit the Blessed Sacrament after coffee with friends.

Looking at history, she feels she belongs to those of whom God says: "I let myself be found by those who did not seek me, I showed myself to those who did not ask for me." (Is 65:1)

In her contact with the ASM sisters, she came across another reality that she thought impossible to conjure up: "it's possible to be a nun and be happy"! She was fascinated by the naturalness of the sisters, who chatted about all sorts of subjects, who exuded an immense joy and, at the same time, a seriousness of life.

At almost 21, she said 'Yes' to what God wanted for her. It was around this time that Angela started attending meetings of her sister's congregation! "How is she?" "How did my sister become a nun? Bernardete!"

Before, in Angela's subconscious there was a somewhat prejudiced image of what it means to be "religious", frowning, distant and rigorously serious.

From the initial distrust and distance, Angela's encounters with the Congregation's youth ministry broke down her prejudices about religious life and essentially deepened her relationship with the Lord: moving from the idea of the Most High God to a Most Low God, who wanted to come face-to-face with her. To make sense of everything. Like her sister, she was attracted by the naturalness and closeness of the sisters, by the joy that flowed from the community.

Little by little, Angela was organizing her life according to ASM's pastoral agenda, she didn't want to miss any meetings, she always knew how little she had to know, she felt touched at every moment by the same gaze of the Master that made her "heart burn". The question arose: "What does God want from me?"

She recalls a poem by Fernando Pessoa that describes very well what accompanied her at that stage: "to be great, be whole". What was your measure? I would be happy as long as I was whole! It was a question of wholeness.

Once again, the discernment process was marked by a strong time of prayer and by something fundamental: accompaniment, "putting things in common".

"To be a sister!" The "why me?" serenely turned into "why not me?" She imagined herself there, in that house, with those sisters, surrendered in that way. The call matured and the answer became clearer and clearer: "Yes, my place was there: head, hands and heart free for God and for humanity."

But everything wasn't always clear-cut. There have been ups and downs. Realizing God's will doesn't - most of the time - go hand in hand with easy understanding. That certainty kept getting overshadowed... And then there was high school, art, going out with friends, Vitória de Guimarães matches, and again and again, a young man for whom my heart beat faster. Another great passion: theater - to which he gave a lot of space and time. There was an inner struggle, a desire to "erase history", to erase the paths already traveled. At this stage, a circumstance was striking in his process of discernment: the death of a friend in a car accident. Tiago. She felt a jolt which made her think about how fragile and brief life is, which awakened her to the importance of discovering her place and not 'defrauding' God.

Just like that... When we got home, the silence finally gained a voice in the room. Irresistible. The place and mark that God occupied in her was stronger than any other passion. She knew that she no longer knew how to be without Him and she wanted to follow what she knew.

Sisters squared, since we are in this same Congregation, involved in the same following, committed to the same charism and community, we remember Saints Francisco and Jacinta who, being siblings, came to savor together this friendship with God and in God.

Article published on the National Department of Youth Ministry
Bernardete Oliveira and Ângela Oliveira, asm