Sisters launch Spiritual
Adoption program in response to Covid-19
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| A group of Daughters of St Paul, United States Province |
The Daughters of St. Paul in the United States begin a
Spiritual Adoption program, matching Covid-19 patients and frontliners with
people who pray for them.
By Sr. Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
Just like many others in the U.S., the Daughters of St Paul
are on lock down. That has not stopped the sisters from performing their
communications ministry. First they began to call people who frequent their
book centers. Now, they are launching a digital Spiritual Adoption program for
Covid-19 patients and frontliners.
Sr Tracey Dugas spoke with Vatican News about how the
program began and how people can join.
Actively reaching out
Sr. Tracey explained how the sisters have adapted the way
they reach out to people due to the Covid-19 restrictions which have closed the
doors to their Pauline Book & Media Centers. “We began a telephone
outreach”, she explained. “We're just giving clients a phone call, you know,
that human touch”. It’s been surprising, not only that people are home, but
that they answering their phones, Sister continues. “The beautiful thing about
it is we just want to know how people are because they are a value to us and we
care about what they’re living”.
Daughters of St Paul in front of a Pauline Book & Media Center
Spiritual Communion
The sisters began to realize that “there was a definite need
to be present to God's people throughout the days and the weeks ahead. So we
created #SpiritualCommunion, which is just various opportunities that people
have to either engage in live videos with the sisters, just various ways for
people to connect through presence, the wisdom, the prayer of the sisters for
them”, Sr Tracey explains.
As women religious, “We have this opportunity to go to the
Lord, to actively intercede, to help people focus on the positive”. The sisters
have now figured out how to go digital with this hidden aspect of their lives.
Daughters of St Paul at prayer
Spiritual Adoption program
Spiritual Adoption grew out of this #SpiritualCommunion
initiative. “We realized that over time there was this growing need for people
to connect. There were tons of people out there who are on the front lines.
They themselves have a sense of the overwhelmingness of the situation, whether
they're doctors or they’re nurses, they’re on the front lines. It's bigger than
they are”.
But more than that, the sisters also sensed that healthy
people in lockdown were seeking something too. “So many people are in lockdown
and they themselves have this feeling of ‘There’s gotta be something I can do
to really partner with those who are kind of standing in defense or standing on
the front lines for me’ ”.
Then a number of the members of one the sister’s families
contracted Covid-19. As she began to accompany each one long distance, she
began to realize that there were many more people in need of the same spiritual
companionship. First, she enlisted the prayers of her fellow Daughters of St.
Paul, then “she thought of this beautiful idea called ‘spiritual adoption’ ”.
Through the program, people who want a prayer partner,
people who want to find a prayer partner for a third party, and people who want
to pray are matched by the sisters. “So they're like truly connected and they
each have an active role in this spiritual accompaniment”, Sr Tracy says.
How to join the program
Anyone who wants to connect through Spiritual Adoption can
do so at www.pauline.org/spiritualcommunion.
People can also connect through their Facebook page where they can view live
videos or interviews with the sisters.
The bottom line is connecting the human with the divine, Sr
Tracey emphasizes. The connection is meant to give the message that “we are not
alone. Even if we're physically isolated, the Lord, through intercessory
prayer, allows us to truly support each other in ways that are beyond this
world, supernatural. That’s the power that we need”.
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