The only community of Ursuline Sisters in BiH: We teach people how to live

Ursulines are a female Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Angela Merici in 1535 under the name Company of Saint Ursula.

Initially, they dedicated themselves to the education and religious instruction of girls who had been abandoned by their parents, as well as caring for the sick and the poor. Later, they expanded their activities to teaching secular subjects, along with opening boarding schools for girls.

They adhere to teaching, education, and helping those in need to this day. And very successfully so.

There is only one order of Ursuline Sisters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They live and work in Zenica. Sister Garbijela Hrgić explains for the BH News Agency Patria that she and her sisters have many pieces of advice, guidance, and encouragement on how to live, which can be of great benefit to people, especially today when many are struggling through life.

- Our mission is to be as much of God as possible, to witness to people through our lives that God is good, that God exists, and that God loves people – says Sister Hrgić, adding that people in every era are yearning for love, and they are sent precisely to witness God's love for humanity and to foster love in people.

- I was born in Zenica, where I finished high school. After high school, I went to the community of Ursuline Sisters in Varaždin, and from Varaždin to Zagreb. Here in the parish in Zenica, I am now a catechist, I work with children and young people, and I lead both children's and adult choirs.

We are the only community in Bosnia and belong to the Croatian Province. We have been in Zenica since 1967, four of us Ursulines. We regularly have religious education classes with children, but in addition to that, we organize various playgroups and social gatherings.

Last year, we worked on the project "Children's Summer," where, together with young people, we prepared a spiritual-recreational program through which we encouraged young people to develop positive and communicative traits.

Around the holidays, we also have workshops. This was the case before this Easter when we organized workshops where we made decorative eggs, which we then sold. All the proceeds from that went to charity.

We did something similar for Christmas, when we made greeting cards with the little ones, the proceeds from which we also donated – says Sister Hrgić.

At the level of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, the Ursuline Sisters have also launched the action "72 Hours Without Compromise," in which young people contribute to the social community: they spend time with children without parents, help the sick and the elderly, and dedicate 72 hours of their time to the community in other ways.

- Young people like to help others and gladly participate in our actions, they just need to be encouraged to do so – says Sister Hrgić.

EASTER IS BEST SPENT WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

The Ursuline Sisters began the holiday on Sunday with mass. Afterwards, they had a joint lunch with priests who visited them. They say that just as they like to dedicate other days to others, they like to spend holidays within the community.