Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena (ULRA)

This picture was taken on the feast of the Assumption on 15th August when we had the First Holy Communion Day in St. Agnes Parish. Fr. Leonard Che is standing directly behind the two girls with pictures in their hands and one of my volunteers, Nelly, is on the extreme right.

I am happy to inform you of the posting of French speaking Rev. Father to our Parish and another to St. Agnes parish (a neighbouring Parish). These two priests will assist the French speaking in other parishes in Kumba. Their presence has increased our congregation as many Francophones have started attending Masses and taking part in other church activities, apostolic groups, etc.

You will now see why I have to ask for double of what I requested in my last letter. Please include French language pamphlets, letters, books, etc. You may have to double the parcel you promised in your last letter – Sacramentals, Decade cards, St. Philomena oil/cord and very large St. Philomena images. You know what we need.

Please don’t forget to extend my special greetings to your little staff, to your mother and those taking care of her in your absence.

OBASI CLETUS
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA PARISH
KUMBA
CAMEROON

Pauline never identified herself with anyone of her works. Her vocation is not limited. She never intended to simply “get something done” but she placed herself on a totally different plane. Putting her hand in the Hand of God, she reached out beyond self and sacrificed her whole being that all might be animated and illumined by the Divine Light of Christ. Pauline joined the magnificent vision of St. Paul for the Church: “You will represent my Church; therefore, I will unite with you by the same union I have united with the Virgin Mary, your unique Mother and Mother of the Church. While devoted to the salvation of all, you will endure everything that the Church will suffer from the impious, and they will exhaust upon you their hate against Her.”

Pauline’s mission inserts itself in the missionary vocation of Lyon and France. Since the first century, Lyon was the cradle of Christianity in the West. The church of St. Nizier where Pauline spent so many hours in prayer, and vowed herself to God and is buried, is connected to the memory of the first forty-eight martyrs of Lyon and Gaul, executed in 177, among them were St. Pothinus, St. Blandina and St. Irenaeus. Pauline has been chosen by God to keep alive this tradition. France was going to lose forever the price of the blood of her martyrs. God chose Pauline as the vase, which would receive and preserve their precious merits.

Pauline-Marie Jarocot is the glory of Lyon! Pauline is the glory of France! (Cardinal Tomko). This great contemplative is the mother of the missions. She was God’s instrument to give the Church the admirable works, which today procure the extension of His reign to the ends of the earth. By her life, we are reminded that intimacy with Christ is the source of all apostolic fertilization. Her profound interior allowed her to carry her heavy cross with love. Pauline confirmed with joy that the ardors of fire which consumed her, the torments which assaulted her, the serious sickness that overwhelmed her for many years, were to prepare her for the sorrows that would befall her one after the other, almost without interruption, from her 40th year to her death. All were nothing compared to the pleasures and glory given to her as God’s servant. Death by Love for all men ~ Holiness, the Triumph of Love!

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
But the Master gently said, “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait! You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your arm shortened or have You not heard?
By faith, I have asked and am claiming Your Word.

My future and all to which I relate hangs in the balance
And You tell me to wait!
I am needing a ‘YES’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘NO’ to which I will resign.

And Lord, You promised that, if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I have been asking … I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, grieved in my gut,
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?”

He seemed then to kneel, and His Eyes met with mine …
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.”

“All you seek, I could give and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want, but you would not know Me.
You would not know the depth of My Love for each Saint;
You would not know the joy of resting in Me,
When darkness and silence were all you could see.”

“You would never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You would know that I live and I save for a start,
But you would not know the depth or the beat of My Heart.”

“The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith I give you to walk without sight.
The depth beyond getting just what you ask
Of an infinite God Who will make it last.”

“You would never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My Grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, oh the loss! If you lost what I’m doing in you!”

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though My answers oft may seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still … WAIT!