The Daughters of St. Paul celebrated its 70th anniversary of foundation in Valencia.
Four sisters from Barcelona arrived in this city on January 24, 1947. The beginnings were difficult and challenging. They began by opening a branch of the Saint Paul Film. Their commitment has expanded the mission and soon the place became too small for the various forms of apostolate. They moved to a bigger location in via Campaneros. Here, new activities were initiated with the press, children’s books, slides and cassettes.
In 1986 they transferred to Plaza de la Reina, where the provincial house is currently located. The book center has been transformed into a pulpit for evangelization, according to the directions of the founder Fr. James Alberione.
The Pauline mission, however, has gone beyond the confines of the book center and the city. There have been many visits in various locations of the diocese with propaganda, i.e., the Gospel was brought from door to door. Those days were often concluded with a solemn celebration of the Gospel, during which the Bibles and the Gospels were blessed.
«We were called the postmistresses of God because we brought the Gospel to them – recalled some of the elder sisters – not only to sell books, but to meet the families, to be with them and listen to them».
Even today, especially during major seasons like Christmas, the mission to go forth to the peripheries continues – in prisons, in parishes, in schools.
May these audacious Paulines be always guided by the words of the Venerable Thecla Merlo: «Let us lend our feet to the Gospel: so that it may run and take wings. We would like to have a thousand lives to devote to this noble apostolate».
