325 years the Ursuline sisters together at Košice, Slovakia

28/11/2023

The year is 1698. Sisters are coming to the city of Košice at the invitation of the Bishop of Eger, Juraj Fénessy.

The sisters arrived with the mission to educate and take care of young girls.

Today we remember this event with pride and gratitude for their bravery, courage and loyalty to their profession. Through 325 years the spirit of St. Angela has continued to be an inspiration in the city of Košice.

We are living in the period of an important Synod, which invites us to greater communication and greater cooperation also at the local level of the Church. We have used this opportunity to stop for a moment to remember. Getting to know each other and encouraging each other.

We organized a conference with the title of “Spiritualty of the religious woman”. At the beginning of the conference Sr. Mária Rita, Provincial, presented to us all the history of the sisters’ arrival in Košice from Bratislava.

We continued with a talk on "The Prophetic and maternal mission of a woman" given by sr. Veronika Barátová. She invited us to the ministry of prophecy: being a prophet means to bring God into life wherever we are... no matter what it costs us. The prophet has no fear, he has nothing to lose.

After that Dr. Štefan Novotný, rector of the seminary in Košice, enriched us with the topic "Women between Rejection and Acceptance - Biblical challenges for today”. Part of the conference was the opening of the exhibition entitled: "Women's Orders in Košice". This exhibition was opened by Prof. Peter Zubko with a historical perspective and an overview of the charism and mission of women's orders in Košice.

For the exhibition, individual women's orders working in Košice prepared a material on their charism and activities in Košice. The photos and stories were further enriched by the sacred chants of members of the Choir of St. Cecilia.

We were also addressed by the vice mayor of the city of Košice, Mrs Lucia Gurbáľová. She thanked the sisters for their witness and contribution to the city in the fields of education and the formation of young people.

The celebration continued with holy Mass in the church of St. Michael the Archangel (the Ursuline Church). Afterwards the whole community of priests, religious families and lay people prayed Evening Prayer together. A common agape completed our feast day.

We want to wake up to every new morning with the desire to live faithfully the charism of St. Angela, prophecy and motherhood following the example of biblical women.

sr. Skolastika Zubkova, OSU