Thanksgiving for the life of Sister Tugdual

We are gathered today in this church in Merdrignac to give thanks to the Lord for the long life of Sister Tugdual, our dean, who left us shortly after celebrating her 106th birthday here, on February 9th.

With you, the members of her family, with her friends and all those who knew her, today we want to remember her life and thank the Lord for it.

Throughout these rich years, Sister Tugdual profoundly marked the history of our Congregation of the Sisters of Christ – Union Mysterium Christi. A teacher, then a director, she devoted the first part of her religious life to Catholic education.

She then held many responsibilities in the service of the Congregation: federal secretary during the journey towards the Union, general councillor until 1991, general treasurer from 1985 to 1998. Through her sense of the Church, her fidelity and her discernment, she has contributed to accompanying the important stages of our common history. Through her skills in canon law, she has also helped several religious congregations.

Sister Tugdual was profoundly a woman of the Church. She was marked by the impetus of the Second Vatican Council, whose call for a more fraternal, more missionary Church, more attentive to the signs of the Spirit in the world, she had accepted with conviction. She nourished her faith through reading and particularly liked to reread the works of Pope Benedict XVI on Jesus, which helped her to deepen ever more deeply the mystery of Christ.

Until the end, she remained attentive to the life of the universal Church. She followed with interest the synodal process desired by Pope Francis and liked to share with others on the issues of the synod. I hope to see the Church seek together the paths of the future.

For as long as it was possible for her, she was involved in parish life, especially in Tréguier and then here, in Merdrignac, where many were able to appreciate her faithful presence.

Sister Tugdual was also very attached to her family. She kept a deep and faithful connection with her family, and she was always happy with their visits. These family relationships meant a lot to her and were part of the richness of her life.

Until these last moments, she remained surprisingly present in spirit and attentive to the life of the Congregation. She participated in the consultations for the appointment of the Regional of Europe and its council, and until recently she encouraged us to "found elsewhere in another country", faithful to the missionary impulse that inhabited her.

Not long ago, she also offered us a beautiful testimony in a book that has been published on the history of the Congregation in Merdrignac, as if to transmit memory and hope.

« Until these last moments, she remained surprisingly present in spirit and attentive to the life of the Congregation. »

How can we not give thanks for such a long and given life?

Already, Sister Tugdual, we miss you. But we also believe in your joy at finding the Lord again, as well as Sisters Vincent and Françoise d'Amboise, your two sisters, the other members of your family who have already left for Him, and Sister Thérèse de Larminat, with whom you have shared so much in the service of the Union.

In the faith of the Church and in the communion of saints, we entrust you to the tenderness of the Father.And we simply say thank you to God for your life, Sister Tugdual, for your fidelity, and for the love of the Church that you have passed on to us.

Lord, we thank you for the life of our Sister Tugdual. Let her now enter into the light and peace of your Kingdom.

« Lord, we thank you for the life of our Sister Tugdual. »

Sister Pascale