GENNARRATIONS BICENTENARY OF THE SISTERS FCJ
Bicentenary of the Sisters FCJ Charles Watt | Deputy Principal: Faith and Mission
Even in the midst of living with the restrictions of living in a COVID-19 world, every member of the Gen community is aware that this year marks the 200th Bicentenary of the founding of the Society, Faithful Companions of Jesus. Celebrate with Joy are three words we find at the bottom of the official FCJ logo designed to commemorate the Sisters’ Bicentenary. Three words not placed as an afterthought, but to point to an aspect that lies at the heart of the FCJ charism—Joy. When we look at the three images on this page, we are drawn to the joy evident in each one of them. Each image conveys a ‘zest for life’ in responding to and actively living out God’s call to lead and serve as a Faithful Companion of Jesus.
The charism painting was born out of reflecting on the ways in which the FCJ charism of companionship is expressed. This is the special gift that the Society FCJ is called to offer to the world and the church. In July 1996, Helen Roberts represented what companionship looks
like. When you look at how each woman is shown, you cannot miss the dance and joy evident in living out the call to be a Faithful Companion.
It can broaden our vision; it can help us understand more fully the present and hopefully gives us an enriched sense of the gift we carry into the future.
There was a woman sent from God; she came as a witness to the light, to the word who was in the world, through whom the world was made. Her name was Magdalen! Marie Madeleine Victoire de Bengy de Bonnault d’Houët. “I want”, she said, “to be associated with religious, who will be called Faithful Companions of Jesus”. A modern representation known to every Gen girl is that of Marie Madeleine. When you study the face of the Foundress depicted here, you cannot miss the peace and resolve that comes with prayer and discernment and the joyful courage and confidence Marie Madeleine modelled in her actions to her sisters and those to whom she ministered.
On the FCJ international website, the story and history of the Sisters FCJ can be studied. As is noted on the Sisters’ website, “We hope that by exploring our history you can come to a more profound appreciation of the mystery of God’s faithfulness throughout our history and therefore be filled with hope that God will carry forward what he has begun for his service and praise and for the aid of his people”. (FCJ Constitutions 351)
The artwork developed to represent the 200th anniversary represents the FCJ cross prominently, with life-giving water flowing from it bringing life to the full wherever it flows. This ‘life to the full’ (John 10:10) is symbolised in the abundant green and diverse plant growth. The joy is conveyed in the use of bright colours and dynamic imagery. The words around the central design harken back to the words of Marie Madeleine d’Houët: ‘Le Bon Dieu conduit tout lui-même’—‘God is doing everything’. Because of this reality, our response is to Celebrate with Joy.
As members of the Genazzano FCJ College community, we celebrate that we have been blessed with courageous, gifted and visionary Sisters who founded our school in 1889 and over the decades have led us into becoming the College we are today. May we continue to remain ‘Fidelis’—faithful— to their original vision as we journey into a future filled with great promise. To read more on the history of the Sisters FCJ, please visit www.fcjsisters.org/ourstory/the-ongoing-story/.
To those of us engaged in the FCJ ministry of education, knowledge of the history of the Faithful Companions of Jesus gives us a sense of the rich heritage that is ours. 3