I was born into and grew up in an ordinary Russian family: my mother Elena, my father Viktor, me as the first child and my sister Olga who is two years younger. No one was a hero or saint, but simple people who worked hard. Russian families are smaller than Filipina families, but just like here, the extended family—grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and inlaws— comes together for important occasions such as birthdays, marriages, baptisms, anniversaries—as well as funerals and anniversaries of departed members.

I lived with my family in Prokopievsk until I was 21 years old. I enjoyed each year the classic four seasons: winter with its ice and snow; spring with the first thaw followed by the springing up of green grass and little flowers; a hot summer and finally, autumn with its brilliant foliage. I attended the Russian version of elementary and high school, and then a college specializing in electrical engineering. When I was 17, I began to attend my parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the same great devotion that is so popular here in the Philippines. Little by little, I became more active in the parish and began to discover my vocation.

The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart were also in my parish—an MSC and a Cabrini Lay Missionary. That’s how I knew about missionary life and began to think seriously of my own consecration to the Lord. My pastor Fr. Yaroslav was a great help to me; even our Bishop Monsignor Werth. I am still in contact with them to this day. As I approached graduation from college, I began to ask myself: “What does the Lord want of me? What’s my path of life?” So, after my discernment, at the age of 21, I left my land, my city, the close circle of my family and friends—in short, I left my little world!

The last 10 years of my journey have been spent in the various phases of initial formation (aspirancy, postulancy, novitiate and juniorate) with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy.

For these last four years I have been studying at the Gregorian University in Rome, majoring in Religious Studies and Social Communication. My thesis was on “The experience of vocation, human and Christian, in the world of film.” While I was attending the university, I was also teaching religion in one of our Cabrini elementary schools in Rome.

I’m still a junior MSC sister, presently in the Philippines for a 6 month period of missionary experience prior to my preparation for final vows. So here I am in Baguio City, ready for new experiences and most of all, to know and love the Filipino people, sharing many things with them: the mission which Jesus has given to the Church, the passionate love of the Heart of Jesus for humanity and our Cabrinian Charism, called to be “bearers of the love of Christ to the world.” In closing let me express my impressions of the Philippines with a poem:

For God’s Glory by Chee Malonga

The past can be a burden to a person who tries earnestly to change her/his bad habits. However, if we constantly PRAY:

Put all our trust in God and have patience;

RELEASE all our pride, anger, frustrations, anxieties, fears, malice, greed, desolation, and other negative thoughts that would ultimately lead to dire acts. Thereafter, we lift all of these up to the Lord;

ALWAYS have faith in God. Yearn for good thoughts and always do good deeds without expecting anything in return.

Yield our lives to YAHWEH, our beloved Father and ask Him to help us always discern which road to take everyday. …then, and only then can we have peace.

Nothing is ever impossible if we only let the Lord show us the way towards living a better Christian life. I used to say that it was difficult to be GOOD and not react towards any stimulus that would usually make me angry. After being detained for almost a year (only for the case to be dismissed), I learned to curb my feelings, have patience and most of all, I learned to:

“TRUST in the Lord, with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.” (Proverbs 3: 5-6)

In today’s Gospel (February 18, 2008), the Word asks us to be compassionate (Luke 6:36-38).

“Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Pardon and you shall be pardoned.

Give and it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will pour into the fold of your garment. For the measure you measure will be measured back to you….”

Aha, sounds incredible, for a person who has been maligned, holed up in jail for almost a year, lost nearly all my material possessions, my mother died without me at her deathbed, lost all my self-esteem (but with God’s grace I am slowly regaining it…), now grappling and trying to start anew. One might think that it is implausible. But, yes, one can be compassionate even if and after all those trials. Why? Because the Lord is compassionate towards me and my family, the Lord loves all of us and sometime in the future (which I hope is soon), the Lord will put me back on track--His track--and He will let me accomplish the mission He has for me in this earth for His greater glory.

Remember, my friends, in the midst of the darkness, there is ALWAYS light, there is ALWAYS GOD. Just PRAY.

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