The International Meeting of the Directors of the Association of the Holy Family took place in Rome, at the Generalate of the Sisters of the Holy Family, March 1 -6, 2010.  The following sisters participated:

S. Virginia Rozich           Holy Family Province                           USA
S. Alicja Drabik              Holy Spirit Province                             Australia
S. Klara Żygo                 Holy Name of Jesus Province               Warsaw
S. Benedetta Motylak      Name of Mary Province                       Cracow
S. Luiza Chrząstowska    Jesus Good Shepherd Province            France
S. Marianna Aleszczuk    Bl. Martys of Nowogrodek Province      Belorussia
S. Maria Guirly Ruzgal    Mary of Nazareth Province                   Philippines

The meeting was led by Sr. Jana Zawieja, General Coordinator of the AHF. Sr. Józefina Buciak (Warsaw Province) served as translator.

This meeting flowed from the previous meeting which took place in Żdzary, Poland, in 2007. At beginning, the Directors presented their annual reports (for 2009) about the life and activities of the AHF in their respective Provinces. The Association formally functions in six of the seven provinces of the CSFN Congregation.  Structures for the AHF are yet to be formalized in Belorussia, however, meetings with families and individual candidates are already taking place.

The directors were happy to see the growing interest in the Association, and in the spirituality of the Holy Family that we, Nazareth Sisters, want to share with lay people. The statistics below for the end of 2009 verify this.

 
The materials completed thus far include: Statutes of the AHF (approved in 2008), and Educational Program for CSFN. The Directors spoke about sharing these materials with our Congregational local communities, and implementing these materials with the associates. We also finalized work on a Program for AHF Candidates as well as talked about the progress made so far in preparing materials for a Formation Program for AHF Members. Much time and attention was put into finalizing the Manual for Directors, so it can be ready for approval by the General Administration of the CSFN.

We shared presentations/pictures prepared by the Directors about the life and activities of the AHF in their provinces. We are happy to note the growing number of young families who are interested in the AHF and want to join because as they say, "Here we find ourselves at HOME”. This is particularly true in Poland and France where the AHF program is very much family-oriented.

Our daily sessions began with prayer in a different language for families. Therefore, the prayer, “Holy Family bless and protect…” was proclaimed in Polish, English, French, Tagalog, Belorussian and Italian.

The last day of the meeting was spent with Bl. Mary of Jesus Good Shepherd at her house at Machiavelli. Through her intercession we prayed for the future development of the AHF according to God’s will and desire.

Sr. Jana Zawieja
General Coordinator of the AHF