The Myanmar Sisters of St. Francis Xavier (SFX) in the Philippines recently celebrated the 125th founding anniversary of the congregation.
Burmese priests and nuns from different congregations based in the country joined the event at the SFX’s Mother of Mercy Home for the Abandoned and Elderly in San Pedro, Laguna.
Sr. Venus Marie Pegar, SFX’s vocation director, said it was a simple celebration highlighted with a thanksgiving Mass and a short program on Aug. 27.
Although the celebration in the Philippines was a simple one, Pegar said it was grand in Myanmar despite the political atmosphere in the country.
“Other communities outside the Philippines will celebrate our 125th founding anniversary until December,” she said.
The congregation, which is located in the Diocese of Pathien in the Ayeyarwady Region of Myanmar, was established by French Bishop Alexander Cardo on August 26, 1897.
“We have more than 400 sisters and 114 communities in Myanmar,” Pegar also said.
In the Philippines, the congregation has two other communities in the cities of Quezon and Dumaguete.
The SFX nuns in Dumaguete are taking care of elderly priests, while the community in Fairview shelters the sisters who are studying in different schools.
The SFX Philippine Mission has 11 missionaries, mostly Burmese and two Filipinos. It is currently under the oversight of Sr. Rose Susie, the superior and a Burmese nun.
