Mida Purba

Spirituality in Context: Vincentian Spirituality Actualized by the Batak Sisters of Charity in North Sumatra Mida Purba

The focus of this study is the Vincentian spirituality and its actualization among the Batak Sisters of Charity in North Sumatra, Indonesia. A significant issue in St Vincent de Paul's life is that he discovered the destiny of his life, namely to be God's Servant to the poor, following the foot step of Christ. How then Vincent did follow Chrits? In the time when the Catholic Church in France was in dire need of formation for those who wanted to become priests, Vincent took the initiative to provide an education for them. The Sisters in Schijndel, The Netherlands, chose Vincent's way of being God's Servant by running schools, when many parishes needed education. These Sisters went to North Sumatra. From them,the local girls received the new idea of being religious and move to dedicate themselves in parish ministry. This study shows that the actualization of Vincentian spirituality is shaped by the contexts in which the spirituality is lived out. Vincent followed Christ by i.e. giving education, while the Batak Sisters followed Jesus by caring for parishioners. Different contexts shaped these different ways of actualizing the same Vincentian spirituality.