17 November 2023 · 2023-11 newsletter
“What a great joy it is that you are finally back!” “Thanks be to God that you have returned home to us in Mulgoa!” “We have been praying for you continuously and are pleased to have you back!” “I look forward to seeing you around and experiencing your passion for Schoenstatt!”
These are just some of the positive comments that Sr. M. Rita Baysari received on Sunday 22nd October when the Schoenstatt Family in Sydney gathered to celebrate Schoenstatt’s Foundation Day (18th October) and to welcome Sr. M. Rita back to Australia after being in Germany for nearly ten years.
Sr. M. Rita, previously known as Christina Rita Baysari, is a 35-year-old Sydney sider with a Maronite, Lebanese background. After being heavily involved in her local Merrylands parish Saint Margaret Marys, working as a teacher at Greystanes High School and participating in the various youth events in Schoenstatt she decided to enter the community of the Schoenstatt Sister of Mary.
In 2014 she moved to Schoenstatt, Germany to begin her formation journey and on September 6th 2015, gave her YES of love to God’s calling! This was the day that she first put on the sisters’ dress and took on the name of Sr. M. Rita.
Following the October Covenant Sunday Holy Mass there was a short renewal of the Covenant of Love in the shrine for those who were unable to stay for the afternoon. Afterwards the Schoenstatt community gathered and shared together a delicious lunch with a very special dessert being a birthday cake to commemorate the 109th birthday of Schoenstatt!
Sr. M. Rita then gave a testimony and was able to share some photos of her experiences during the nine and half years that she was in Germany. Through her statement Sr. M. Rita impressed upon the audience that the aspect that helped her the most during her vocation journey was the Covenant of Love with the Mother Thrice Admirable, that the blessed Mother was going along with her every step of the way, and that she could always find her in the shrine. She was impressed with the freedom that the founder stressed upon each of the members of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary and that the personal happiness and holiness of each of the members was of the highest priority in all stages of formation.
Outside the periods of her formation Sr. M. Rita was working for the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate and the English Office in Germany. Through the English Office Sr. M. Rita was able to welcome and show the English-speaking pilgrims around in Schoenstatt, Germany.
She testified “that although it was at first difficult to adjust to a new country and language my time in the Original Schoenstatt in Germany was such a rewarding and fulfilling experience.”
After gathering many experiences in the International Schoenstatt Movement, Sr. M. Rita is now back in Australia to continue to spread and develop the Schoenstatt Mission in Australia – to form the new person in the new community. Or more precisely to become and help form little Marys for today’s world.
Sr. M. Rita enthusiastically shared: “I am excited to meet, encounter and serve the youth and young adults of Sydney and to go along with them on their own personal journeys of love“.
Filed underNewsletter · Sisters of Mary