Young Girls' Camps
July 19 to 26 – July 26 to August 2, 2009
For almost ten years now, during the summer, the Daughters of Mary have the joy of welcoming many young girls to the Domina Youth Camp, located in the enchanting landscape of Lac-Etchemin. It is always pleasant to see these young girls come together again for a week of fraternal exchanges, and the bright smiles are the best reward the camp organizers can receive, as they are always happy to work with these budding adolescents.
SPIRITUAL AND EDUCATIONAL FORMATION FOR A GOOD BALANCE
Every day begins with the celebration of holy Mass and a short spiritual talk by Father Hervé Lemay. That predisposes the campers to get along well together all day long. Thus, nourished of the “Bread of the Strong” and invigorated by a good breakfast, each one would then join her group for the activities scheduled in the program.
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First and second camp of young girls (12-14 years and 14-16 years) in front of the chapel Spiri-Maria. |
A short spiritual talk and the celebration of daily Mass were Father Hervé Lemay’s responsibility. |
An introduction to the basics of sewing was given by Réjeanne Laroche and Yolande Caron... |
... while Pascale Therrien, for her part, passed on her knowledge in cooking and pastry-making. |
Times of relaxation were also part of the program: different games, sports activities, visits etc. Here the girls are visiting the Bergeron cheese factory at Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly. |
A time of adoration at the chapel Spiri-Maria. |
This year, the organization of the various workshops, transformed the camp into a mini arts and crafts school, where the girls’ interests could be aroused in several different areas. Under the skilled direction of generous volunteers, little masterpieces took shape before our very eyes in the sewing, painting, pastry-making and card-making workshops.
In the sewing workshop, the young girls between 12 and 14 made a pencil case and those between the ages of 14-16, an all-purpose bag. This initiation to the handling of a needle and thread, supervised by Mrs. Réjeanne Laroche and Mrs. Yolande Caron, revealed a wonderful potential to be exploited by our young people, and the results were astonishing. What of the artistic talents brought out in the painting workshop in which each girl decorated a small wooden case, in accordance with her creativity. The entire day on Friday was given over to that workshop supervised by a few members of the Létourneau family during the first camp and by Annette Grandmaison and her sister for the second week.
An activity that was also greatly appreciated was that of pastry-making, under the direction of Pascale Therrien who has just recently received her diploma in that field. The recipes, easy to make within the context of a camp, were prepared by the different groups in the morning and savored at suppertime. Before so many delights, as pleasant to look at as they were to eat, the comments made by each one reminded us how fortunate we are to live where there is such an abundance. Then, we gave thanks to Heaven for so many good things. Besides, as Dom Chautard said it so well, must we not “see everything as coming from God and use everything to go to Him”?
Parallel to those manual activities, a very special talk captivated the interest of our young girls: Maryse Lavoie, a postulant with the Daughters of Mary and an undertaker by profession, spoke of this particular profession, in order to demystify the dramatic aspect of this vocation which has all to gain from being better known. That presentation was very interesting.
Humor having its well-deserved place in the camp, the young girls had an opportunity to banter a little after the first-aid course given by Sr. Julie Joubert, a nurse by profession and a novice with the Daughters of Mary. In fact, after having learned the main techniques of first aid, the girls had fun saying, with a bit of foolishness, that someone could choke during the camp and she would not need to worry, given that some thirty people were now familiar with the technique to be used in such a circumstance – hoping all the while, of course, that such a situation would not arise.
PERIODS OF RECREATION
Outside of the instructive workshops, there were many periods of recreation. For this, there was nothing more appropriate than the games created by Sister Suzan Paquet whose imagination is incomparable in this area. Her creations, besides being fun, have the distinctive characteristic of being based on well-known society games but adapted to the religious domain. Thus, everything contributed to uplifting the soul to God, since even the games were spiritual!
A spiritual bingo, From the Church of Peter to the Church of John, Towards the Kingdom, and The Divine Quinternity, without forgetting the exhilarating spiritual Treasure Hunt, there you have some of the games the campers had the joy of participating in during their stay. Testing their knowledge of the Old and New Testaments, of hagiography and Life of Love, these entertaining activities had our young people dreaming of the day when they would be able to amuse themselves at school or at home while thinking of God, as a result of those games that will be put on the market.
To all of these were added a number of other activities: choir singing, conferences by Father Rémi and Marc Bosquart (2nd camp), the way of the cross at the Shrine of Our Lady of Etchemin and a visit to the La Lorraine mill (2nd camp), the video of Mother Paul-Marie’s spiritual talk, swimming, sports activities, candlelight procession, a time of adoration at the chapel Spiri-Maria, an evening for confessions, star-gazing, camp fire, etc. And what of the fun we had while washing dishes, when this activity suddenly turned into a choir performance with the voices vying with the commotion in the dining room! The hymns then took on a rather special characteristic, prolonging and rendering enjoyable the task of doing dishes, which would have surprised more than one parent had they been able to see this.
This year, the traditional outing away from the camp brought us just outside Quebec City, and more specifically to Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly where the young girls were able to visit the Bergeron cheese-making factory. After this interesting stop with the masters of Gouda cheese, an enjoyable picnic at the La Chaudière Falls Park allowed the girls to strengthen the bonds of their friendship amid a splendid landscape. In fact, in contemplating such beauties of nature, the soul cannot help sharing its happiness with those around it and uplifting itself to the Creator by thanking Him for all those splendid sights.
At the end of the week, the camp being focussed essentially on spirituality, it was thus not an exaggeration to say that the young girls returned home with much more in their baggage then they had when they arrived, without for all that adding any weight to their suitcases! In fact, their souls made lighter by the abundant graces received during their stay, it was with hearts enkindled with new fervor that these girls returned home, to radiate joy and love everywhere they go.
We would like to thank in a special way all the organizers of the camps who contributed to making of these camps a success, with a special mention going out to the devoted cooks, through whom the physical body, like the spiritual body, was not in any way neglected. Sincere gratitude as well to Father Hervé Lemay who always revitalizes the zeal of our young people by giving them such a wonderful example of a life totally given in the service of God and one’s neighbor.
Deepest gratitude to the whole group of volunteers, to the Sons and Daughters of Mary, without forgetting the hosts and hostesses so deeply appreciated and without whom the camps could not exist.
Finally, all our love goes out to our Mother who, through her loving prayer, encourages us to transform everything into other lives of love.
Sr. Andrée-Anne Caron