MEET OUR SACRED HEARTS FAMILY!
(By Sr. Mary Dolorine Pires, SS.CC.)
First Sunday of Advent
On this First Sunday of Advent, we begin a series of articles that we hope will continue until Easter.
As our title indicates, we will be sharing information about the Sacred Hearts Congregation. Why? Because, since our parishes are served by priests of the Sacred Hearts, we are Sacred Hearts parishes.
We hope you noticed that we will be writing about OUR Sacred Hearts Family. Why, again? Simply a point of pride: as parishioners of SS.CC. parishes. YOU belong to that Family too. And it is good to know our family history.
(One quick explanation: The letters "SS.CC." are initials of two Latin words meaning "Sacred Hearts." They are doubled to include the Heart of Mary with the Heart of Jesus. You will notice that both Fr, Paul and Fr. Felix write these letters after their names. This means they are Sacred Hearts priests and their religious heritage is also yours.)
There is another reason why our parishes are connected to the SS.CC. Congregation. Luika Kamaka, who brought the faith to the Waialua area, was converted by the first missionaries who brought Catholicism to Hawaii in 1827. Those pioneers were Sacred Hearts religious.
Fleeing from persecution around Honolulu, Luika settled with a small group of converts, to live at Paaloa on the banks of the Paukauila stream. From that nucleus developed our parishes, still served by Sacred Hearts priests more than 100 years later. You have a rich heritage.
Our series will inform you how the SS.CC. Family was started in France, how we became its first foreign mission, how it developed into a worldwide Congregation, and how it is part of our SS.CC. Hawaiian history.
Happy reading! A blessed Advent season to you. We'll be with you next weekend.