IN YOUR NAME, WE ARE SENT


The Spirit blows where it wills and when it wills, inspiring us to walk... 

On October 1 and 2, the Congregations of the Alliance (Daughters of the Cross, Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion, Sisters of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin and Servants of Mary) met at the Motherhouse of the Servants of Mary in Anglet, to live a time of reflection and participate in a celebration to express gratitude for the two-year experience of the first community of San Sebastián, and to offer and send out the two new communities (Les Mureaux and Saint Pierre du Mont) that are marching together for the past few months.


During this celebration the Superiors General of the three Congregations, Elena (NDC), Isabelle (SM) and Susana (FDC), handed over the symbol to each community: a wooden stick which symbolizes the trust in each one and in each community. It will serve as a support in our daily journey.



  • We are all witnesses to this sending

and we will make a gesture with our bodies, as part of our experience of the Congregations on the Path of Alliance. We live according to the direction you have given us in the circle of life. 

          "Come, Great Spirit as we gather in your name."


We honor your Spirit, who renews the world and calls us to care for your Creation, in the East, in the South, in the West and in the North. We turn our bodies towards the Four Directions, while reciting the following prayers. We begin by turning to the East and continue to turn, with each prayer, in a clockwise direction. 


  • We look to the East: the place of the sunrise

In the East, there is all the beauty of the morning; with the birth every holy day, those who seek find new visions there. All who honour the life around them, all who honor the life within them, will shine with light and glory, when the morning returns.

          And we pray, "Come Holy Spirit, come."


  • We turn to the South: the place of growth

In the South, there is wisdom on earth, both the painful song of death and the joyful song of birth. Just as the Earth gives her blood so that the hearts of her sons and daughters may beat, so we give our devotion to the sacred ground beneath our feet.

          And we pray, "Come Holy Spirit, come."


  • We turn towards the West: the place of contemplation

In the West, the vision of the servant of servants is born, the one whom the Gospel has announced to us. Guide us at the end of each day and fill us with your peace.

          And we pray, "Come Holy Spirit, come."


  • We look to the North, to God, our Creator, who cleanses our land with snow, wind and rain

To Jesus who fills us with the expanse of mercy and grace, lovingly embracing all people. And to the Holy Spirit to come and inspire us.

          And we pray, "Come Holy Spirit, come."



In the moment of the Offerings, each community chose a symbol and shared its meaning with us


  • Les Mureaux

"We come with these fabrics, symbols of our personal stories, of our religious lives shaped by our own Congregations. It is with the richness of our lives that we weave, that we build our Community in Alliance, to which we have been sent by our Congregations.

Christ is the center. He is our light, our way, our life, and gives meaning to this new path initiated by Anne-Marie and Françoise, in October 2020, and Christine, in April 2021. He is the one who strengthens us with his Word of Life, who enlightens our path, our personal and community path, to be a sign of the Love that God has for us in the heart of the multicultural and multi religious people of Mureaux."


  • San Sebastián

"When we were first sent out, we presented several symbols, one of which was an empty backpack, because we were starting a new stage, the path of the Alliance, and we wanted to be a light weight team. This "backpack" was gradually filled with the steps taken towards others, towards those to whom we were sent. We feel it with what makes us live each day.

For the Community project, we were able to formulate, without too much delay, our committed life project to build the Community. Here we put our desire to go forward in the search for Jesus, to discover him by giving life to the new Community. And in this journey, we felt accompanied by Mary and illuminated by the Holy Spirit."


  • Saint Pierre du Mont

"Our symbol: a jug; a fragile object, because we too are vulnerable. A jug has particular shape and color, like us who are different. It contains water, water is LIFE; in Africa, it is the milk of God Water is for SHARING."