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Franciscan Sisters Celebrate Lourdes Through February

The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity feature Jennifer Warnes performing her own "Song of Bernadette" as their February Song of the Month at www.fscc-calledtobe.org/living/ The song is one of the highlights of her recently rereleased critically acclaimed album Famous Blue Raincoat: Songs of Leonard Cohen

Of the songs' origins, the esteemed Granny award winning singer reflected that "I was given the name Bernadette at birth. But my siblings preferred the name "Jennifer" so my name was changed one week later. In 1979, on tour in the north of France with Leonard Cohen, I began writing a series of letters between the "Bernadette" I almost was, and "Jennifer"-two energies within me. One innocent, and the other who had fallen for the world."

"So the song arose in a bus nearby Lourdes. I was admiring Bernadette's countryside from the bus window, thinking about the great Saint who held her ground so well, and was not swayed from what she knew to be true."

"But the song is also about me longing to return to a place that was more pure, honest and true. I still long for this, and I think others do too."

The song is accompanied by artist Pat Benincasa's portrait entitled St. Bernadette with Lourdes Rose. Pat observed: "How do you paint eyes that have seen Our Lady How do you paint eyes that have witnessed what words cannot contain These questions are what went through my mind when painting Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes."

"We want to present our life as a viable option. Personal invitation is always best; however, we became convinced that real conversations can begin by using the language of images and music." says Sr. Julie Ann Sheahan, OSF, Directress of Vocations for the Franciscan order.

Established in 1869, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serve in Catholic health care, education and parish ministries in 13 U.S. dioceses (Green Bay, Superior, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Tucson, Honolulu, Chicago, Marquette, Jackson, Lincoln, Omaha, Columbus and Steubenville).

www.fscc-calledtobe.org

CONTACT:Sr. Julie Ann Sheahan OSF 920-682-7728

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

Holy Family Convent

2409 S. Alverno Road

Manitowoc, WI 54220 sjulieann(at)fscc-calledtobe.org

The World Needs You. God Calls You. We Invite You.

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