Today is a reason to thank God for the life He has gifted to the Church and to 19th-century society through our beloved Father Saint Francisco Coll.
We thank God for all the fruitfulness He has given to the Anunciata since 1856: as Dominican sisters and as a charismatic family, the Anunciata family.
We thank the Bishop of the Diocese of Vic, Monsignor Romá Casanova Casanova, the priests of this diocese, and those of this House for hosting this celebration and the affection they always show us. We also thank the workers of this Priestly House, the place where Father Coll passed away.
We thank the Master of the Order, Fr. Gerard Timoner, and through him all the Dominican friars and members of the Dominican Family, with whom we share life and mission. In particular, we thank Fr. Jesús Díaz Sariego, Provincial Prior of the Hispania Province, who is presiding over this Eucharist today.
A grateful heart goes to our brothers, the Claretian Fathers, with whom we share a history connected by our founders and a very fraternal relationship in many places around the world.
We thank all those who are participating in this Eucharist today, whether here in person or through the live transmission. If we are participating, it is because celebrating the 150 years of Father Coll’s paschal feast is important, very important for us.
And how could we not? We thank the sisters of the community of the Mother House, the sisters of the San Raimundo de Peñafort Province, and the Provincial Council, who so lovingly welcome everyone—both sisters and laity—with a congregational and universal heart.
We have been preparing for this Jubilee year of the Congregation for several months, within the framework of the Church’s Ordinary Jubilee. In the last fifteen days, we can affirm that the Congregation, the Anunciata Family, is in “Jubilee mode.” There are many activities and posts on social media that express the enthusiasm for celebrating these 150 years of Father Coll’s “Dies Natalis.” To all of you, who from the mission we carry out in schools, in various health settings, in residences and university dormitories, in parishes, in elderly homes, and wherever we are in the different contexts of mission: Thank you!
Thanks to our Charism team, which is helping us strengthen our roots by knowing and deepening our identity. We also thank our newly formed congregational communications team, which, along with the agency “Católicos en Red” and the technicians from DETEINCO, is allowing us to live this jubilee in an “interconnected” way, strengthening our networks of communication, communion, and evangelization.
There are many people who, at this moment, may not be as visible, but who are essential for making this celebration and the period of the double Jubilee happen and become an experience of life and faith.
Today, April 2, 2025, we gather to celebrate and express our gratitude and joy. We have a past and present full of life… and we continue to entrust our future to God.
I want, at this moment, to also turn our hearts’ gaze to April 2, 1875. Right here in this House, Father Coll passed away, already very sick. We can hear the pain of those who lived through his death, the loss of not seeing him anymore, even though he was bedridden… because his life had already been preaching. We can also hear the hope that Father Coll so eagerly sowed in their hearts… Hope for eternal life, hope in God…
Between yesterday and today, an immense fruitful life. A Life with a capital L that God gifts us. This is what Father Coll said and continues to say in his writings: The Anunciata is the work of God, the Blessed Virgin, and our Holy Father Dominic.
Today, the Daughters of Father Coll are present in 22 countries, across 4 continents. And around them, the Anunciata family emerges, a charismatic family that combines Dominican spirituality with the specificity of the Anunciata.
I invite all of you to live the Jubilee with joy and commitment, being preachers of God’s Grace, living as pilgrims and prophets of Hope, following the example of Father Coll.
We know that by contemplating the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God in Mary of the Annunciation, we find the love, light, and joy that drive and give us strength to testify to God’s unconditional love for humanity.
Today, as yesterday, as the day before yesterday, our world, our societies, our peoples need us, because they are thirsty… they are thirsty for God…
Paraphrasing Father Coll, I invite you to go out as bright stars to illuminate with God’s light.
Dear Sisters, Anunciata family, Dominican family, dear brothers and sisters in faith, I hereby declare the Jubilee for the 150th anniversary of the paschal feast of our beloved Father Saint Francisco Coll to be open.
Sr. Ana Belén Verísimo García
