IWBS Foundress and 9/11 attacks remembered

Incarnate Word Academy commemorated the anniversary of the death of Jeanne Chézard de Matel, the foundress of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, and the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, with a campus-wide Mass on Sept. 9 at the school’s Mother Patricia Gunning Gymnasium. Monsignor Roger Smith from St. Patrick Catholic Church celebrated the Mass.
 
Jeanne Chézard de Matel was born in Roanne, France on Nov. 6, 1596 and died Sept. 11, 1670. She responded to God’s call in 1625 to establish the Order of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, who founded Incarnate Word Academy.
 
A parade at the beginning of Mass featured the flags of the 11 countries where the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament minister today. The parade also included the painting “And the Word was Made by Flesh,” carried by artist Diane Peters, an IWA alumna. The painting features Jeanne Chezard de Matel, the history of her life, and the history of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. The painting was inspired by the book “Like A Crystal Vase,” written by Sr. Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS.
 
The Mass also included a special remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001. IWA President Sammie H. Grunwald presented a piece of rock from the site of the collapsed World Trade Center as a reminder to continue to pray for world peace.