FCJ Bicentenary Celebration Song

The recording was sung by the Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ students under the direction of their teacher Orla Colgan. Grace Ní Mhordha is on piano; Sadhbh Ní Laoire is on flute and Fiana Ní Chonaill is on Irish Harp. This recording was produced by Dave Keary of Red Door Productions.

FCJ Celebration Song – Celebrating 200 years of the Faithful companions of Jesus

The Bicentenary of the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus is celebrated in 2020. This affords the Sisters an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the founding story of the congregation and in particular the remarkable story of Marie Madeleine d’Houët, the feisty French woman – a woman attuned to the call of God and the needs around her.

One of the founding experiences of Marie Madeleine was the experience of the I Thirst of Jesus Christ from the cross. This, she experienced in a very personal manner, not only as the historical thirst of Christ but as the contemporary thirst of Christ for the well-being of all people throughout the world, in all times, particularly those who are marginalized by society and the status quo.

This experience of the I Thirst is the central motif of the FCJ Celebration Song and is expressed in the image of the river, not just flowing through two centuries and through many countries but also through the hearts and lives of numerous women from different cultural contexts, who, like Marie Madeleine, were inspired to respond with companionship and compassion to all who longed for this water of life. The flowing, life-giving water of this river is the theme that connects all the verses, as it does our FCJ history and our deep desire to respond in companionship.

In 2018, the FCJ Central Leadership Team commissioned a song that would capture the essence of who we are as FCJ women and how God has continued to call women throughout these past 200 years to commit themselves to loving companionship with him in the service of others. It is a song of joy, which, like Mary’s Magnificat, exuberantly expresses thanks for God’s faithfulness and goodness to us, FCJ Sisters, both individually and as a congregation.

It is a story steeped in faith and trust not just for the past but for God’s continuing companionship into the future. Consequently, we are compelled to be women of the Gospel, in the here and now, trusting in God’s faithful love.