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Mechernich –‘Saying goodbye is difficult – especially when you have prayed, worked and lived together for years,’ explained Sister Lidwina on behalf of the indisposed Father Patrick Mwanguhya as she bid farewell to her fellow sister Rose.

After more than twelve years in the care facilities and at the mother house of Communio in Christo, Indian Samaritan Sister Rose Mapranathhukaran Kunjuvareed (73), to give her full name, is leaving the motherhouse and welfare organisation of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, where she had mainly accompanied the dying at the ‘Stella Maris’ hospice.

Superior General Father Jaison Thazhathil and his deputy Deacon Manfred Lang celebrated Holy Mass with the community and hospice staff. This was preceded by coffee and cake and followed by a communal dinner in the refectory of the Mechernich monastery, with time for thanksgiving, remembrance and blessings.

„Radical discipleship“

Superior General Jaison Thazhathil praised the 73-year-old nun and nurse as a ‘precious gift’ with a ‘radical willingness to follow’. With reference to the prophet Kohelet, Sister Rose described her path in spiritual terms: there is a time to come and a time to go. A mother superior once told her: ‘Now is the time to go to Germany.’ Another had now said, ‘Now is the time to return to India.’ This farewell was not easy – neither for her nor for the community.

She paid special tribute to Mother Marie Therese, the founder of Communio in Christo, who had been a ‘holy woman’ to her – a woman who had given charity not only a place in her heart, but also in her concrete life, through devotion and acceptance, not only, but above all, in the care facilities of the social welfare organisation for those in need of intensive care, the elderly and the dying in Mechernich and Blankenheim.

Sister Rose expressly included numerous companions in her thanks: the Communio sisters Dorothea, Helene, Maria, Lidwina and Theresia, as well as the married couple Edo and Marie-Thérèse Dijkstra, who had become ‘like physical siblings’ to her. She also held General Superior Jaison Thazhathil and his deputy Manfred Lang and his wife Sabine Roggendorf dear to her heart.

Father Mwanguhya particularly emphasised Sister Rose's service at the Stella Maris hospice: ‘Her closeness to the dying guests, her ability to give comfort, dignity and confidence were a great blessing.’ Through her, many people had learned that they were not alone in the final phase of their lives.

Golden religious profession

Rose Mapranathhukaran Kunjuvareed, her maiden name, joined the Samaritan Sisters community in India in 1970, which had been founded nine years earlier, and had been living and working in the Ordo Communionis in Christo care facilities in Mechernich since 2013. She also celebrated her golden jubilee there two years ago.

Sister Rose worked several times in India and several times in Germany. She said at her profession anniversary in 2023 that she had come to appreciate the Federal Republic and love the Germans. When she left her first German place of work at the Franziskus Hospital in Münster 35 years ago, she prayed silently that she would be able to return to this country at some point in her life.

This wish came true in 2013. As a 15-year-old postulant, she had a conversation with the founder of the Samaritan Sisters: "Are you ready to go where you are sent?" Sr. Rose replied, "Yes." That ended the conversation, and she came to northern India as a missionary and helper to leprosy patients. There she came into contact with the German Tuberculosis Society.

In 2001, she moved from training young nuns to the social work of the religious community. She was mainly responsible for training young women from the tribal population in northern India. Her second important task during this time was to bring medicines for tuberculosis and leprosy to the villages. In 2007, she returned to training young nuns within her congregation, and in 2013 she joined the Ordo Communionis in Christo in Mechernich and its care facilities.

During Holy Mass on Thursday, Superior General Jaison Thazhathil placed her departure in a broader spiritual context. Religious life, as the Bible shows, is always a life of mission and being sent. Following Christ means being ready to set out, to trust and to go where God calls you.

Many religious sisters and brothers from India and Africa had come to Communio in Christo with this missionary spirit – and with the same spirit they were also ready to move on when a new task presented itself. The prayers of the community in Mechernich would continue to accompany Sister Rose on her journey in the future.

„We will meet again“

This radical willingness is at the heart of discipleship. Even though her heart remains deeply connected to Mechernich and the Communio, Sister Rose continues to live this spirit by accepting the call to her new task in northern India with faith and courage.

At the end of her farewell speech, Sister Rose said something that will remain in the memory of many: "I know that I will see you all again in heaven. " With trust in God's loving care, she was finally blessed and bid farewell.

Thanks were given for all that lay behind her – and God's blessing was asked for all that lay ahead. As a nun and nurse, Sister Rose was an instrument of God's mercy in Mechernich, especially for the sick and needy. This testimony remains.

pp/Agentur ProfiPress