Sr. M. Alessandra Kim
“If you shed tears from difficulties during your religious journey, those tears are watering the roots of your vocation. The mission of the Pious Disciples, who are called to be deeply rooted in the life of the Church, will bring life to the tree for the salvation of the Church and of the whole world!”
The Testimony of Sr Ave:
Sr. M. Alessandra who accompanied me in my pre-postulancy, was extremely intelligent. When we had personal encounters, she answered with in a discerning way all my questions about my personal limitations and conflicts.
Even during her lessons, her teaching was always clear, and she guided me forward. Thanks to her, I was able to keep going. Her teachings, and words were a great source of encouragement for me.
She was challenging and this also helped me. She was the first Novice Mistress in the Korean Novitiate and she sought to adapt the formation received by the Italian missionaries to our Korean culture and customs. She had no choice but to be very firm and responsible. She was a strong and tough person, but she also had a loving and maternal heart. When a sister became ill, she prepared medicine without anyone knowing and devoted time and energy to caring for her sister.
As a Novice Mistress, teacher she endeavored to impart to us the spirit of the founder in its entirety. She taught us to always pray the Chaplet to Jesus Master during Eucharistic adoration, and she tried to instill in us the devotion to Jesus Master from the beginning of our formation. Moreover, during the novitiate, she gave us the opportunity to experience all the apostolates, and if the sisters were very busy with many demands, she sent us to help them.
During my second year of novitiate, I was told to leave the congregation. The Mistress told me to go to Mother Ancilla who took my hand and suggested that I pray to Our Lady. I prayed every night with tears in my eyes in the Bethany room. I prayed fervently, entrusting myself exclusively to the love of the Lord, and one night I heard the voice of the Lord during night adoration: “I love you. I will always be with you wherever you are“.
I immediately felt peace of heart. I made my first profession and I have always lived my religious life with joy. I experienced the maternal love of the Sisters and in my formation and I always thank and give praise to the Lord!
Sr Alessandra tried to create a pleasant atmosphere in the community. She was full of love for young people and had a passion for vocations and for the apostolate. She got along well with both the elderly and the young. She had a great empathy with others and good communication skills.
When necessary, she courageously expressed her opinion and guided the community with faith and love. She lived a joyful religious life, always setting an example to others in the spirit of the “secret of success”
I called her the nun of great desire. She had holy and good desires. In particular, she was full of desire for new vocations. In the future, when we meet in heaven, I think she will be very happy to see so many fruits of the vocations of those for whom she had prayed so much. With this holy desire, I believe that she has become our first saint in the province of Korea.
Sr. M. Alessandra aimed for perfection. Sometimes she seemed severe and unfriendly, and I had difficulty in approaching her. I always kept my distance, even after the first profession. Finally, I went to her and told her about this. She cried and asked me for forgiveness.
Since then, her humility and simplicity have been a milestone in my life. There were many times when she worked all night while serving simultaneously as a formator and as a provincial secretary. However, she always worked with passion without showing any signs of fatigue. When she was superior of the community of Daegu (a city in Korea), she showed special love to the friends of Jesus Master and to the parishioners.
Her funeral was attended by many people who continue to remember her. A disabled man who frequently helped our convent said: “She was like a real mother. She understood my difficulties, she always listened to me and treated me with understanding and affection.” This person, even today, often goes to her tomb and care for it.
On the night before her death in November 2003, after attending the prayer assembly at Dongseong High School in Seoul, she came to my room. It was late and she told me that she had bought me a skin medicine in Cheongju (a city in Korea). She applied it to my legs and the next day she died because of a car accident. I am very grateful to her for what she has done for me, and I hope to see her soon in heaven.
I remember a fraternal meeting during the novitiate. It was time to talk to each other about the virtues and shortcomings of each sister for our sisterly correction. Unfortunately, so many defects had been said about a novice that she had been very offended. At that moment Sr. M. Alessandra, in place of her sister received all the words of reproaches that poured out on her like arrows. She, always from a humble position, tried to fan the wick that was about to go out, like a mother who takes care of her daughter.
She always remembered in her prayer the sisters who left the congregation. I am always grateful for her generosity and love for young people, and I entrust new vocations to her intercession.