Vic, April 2, 2025
“Saint Francisco Coll, Pilgrim and Prophet of Hope”
Dear Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation, Sister Ana Belén, Prioress General, greetings to the Provincial Prioresses, to the general and provincial councils, and to all those connected online to this celebration. Dear brothers and friends of the Congregation,
We celebrate with great joy the 150th anniversary of the Easter of Saint Francisco Coll, your holy founder. This is more than enough reason to give thanks to God for the human and spiritual legacy of Fr. Coll, and also for the life and mission of so many Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation who continue to bring his precious legacy to life all around the world. The story of the Congregation is still alive in our present. This is a joy we cannot and should not hide. That is why we celebrate with Easter joy, a faith experience that constantly renews and guides us in our lives.
Easter, as our faith experience attests, has these words engraved within us: “Truly, truly I tell you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” As we commemorate 150 years since the Easter of Saint Francisco Coll, we may ask: what fruit has his death borne? We must inevitably look to the Congregation he founded: the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation. The richness of his Easter is found in his daughters and the work they do. This is Fr. Coll’s preaching. He continues preaching through his daughters. Today we celebrate precisely that. This is Easter. Life does not stop. It flows through your vocation, your discernments and projects, your works and foundations. Do not stop this Easter. Do not fear the death of what must die, so the grain of wheat can bear even more fruit. You have a future. Easter always looks to tomorrow.
Fr. Coll’s Easter speaks to three words lived out in the mission of the Dominican Sisters: education, passion, and gratitude. These three terms arise from the spiritual biography of Saint Francisco Coll.
Education. We cannot understand your educational mission—central to your Dominican charism—without recognizing that education is always fruitful because of what it plants. Teachers and catechists know this well. A classroom or parish catechesis is always a field of sowing. Often, seeds are sown without seeing the harvest. Yet the long hours, often challenging, involve personal sacrifice. They do it because they do not love themselves first. The educator who opens up new horizons for students and catechumens knows: “If the grain of wheat does not fall and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Many hours of teaching may seem fruitless, yet they are part of the sowing. Education always bears fruit. It grafts more than it wastes.
Passion. Passion for the Word of God. Upon the canonization of Fr. Coll on October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI stated that he had one lasting passion as a Dominican preacher: to lead people to a deep encounter with God through preaching His Word. A traveling preacher par excellence, he fulfilled the apostle’s command in Timothy: “Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.” This persistence is the Easter of the Word. The Word of God requires this dynamic: to insist in and out of season.
The Word touches the heart only when there is passion—when it brings about conversion. Why do we read or write words? To be informed? To complete assignments? To communicate feelings? Yes. But more deeply: because we want to change. Words can help us change. The Word of God, when lived as presence and message, transforms us from within. Saint Francisco Coll lived and preached the Word. That Word changes lives.
To do this, we need passion. People like Fr. Coll make their lives a service to the Word. The Word has power. His biographers highlight his leadership and communication skills. The Congregation’s mission is centered on this: to communicate God’s Word through education—especially of women.
Gratitude. Fr. Coll was deeply grateful—for life, for his Dominican vocation, and for the people around him. He often recalled providential moments, grateful to have heard the call: “You, Coll, must become a Dominican.” Great souls see life from its brighter side. Grateful people focus more on what they’ve received than what they possess, which is why they bring life to the years. We love grateful people because they make us feel seen and necessary. Be grateful Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation, as your founder was. In this, you will be as great as him. This, too, is your preaching. It is your hope.
Fr. Jesús Díaz Sariego, OP
Prior Provincial – Province of Hispania
