June is a special month for the Dehonian Missionary Family, which, rooted in the Heart of Jesus – a sign of God’s infinite love – responds to His call through concrete acts of mercy, especially by helping the poor and supporting the presence of missionaries among those in need.
Olsztyn, May 2, 2026
Praised be Jesus Christ!
June is a special month for the Dehonian Missionary Family, because spiritually we have rooted our lives in the Heart of Jesus. It is a Heart that speaks above all about God’s infinite love for every human being. This is the meaning and foundation of this spirituality – to feel unconditionally loved by God. At the same time, Jesus calls us to respond to His love, which is so often ignored by humanity. Certainly, one of the ways of responding to this dramatic appeal of Jesus is through helping the poor, expressed among other things by the presence and work of missionaries.
From Sister Władysława Piróg FMM, whom we already know from the “Renovation in Nato” project, we received the following message: “In our convent in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, we run what is known as a ‘courtyard canteen.’ The name comes from the fact that the children usually eat their meals on the steps of our convent courtyard. It all began with conversations with children who were searching for food in garbage bins. Many of them are orphans, and some simply live on the streets…
Our daily meals together are also an opportunity to teach hygiene, good manners, and catechism. On Sundays, we organize gatherings for these children, where there is time for sports and learning practical skills. In the lives of those children who attend school and regularly receive meals from us, we can clearly see their development.
Fara, who is 8 years old, cannot hide her joy when she comes to our courtyard canteen. You can see that day by day she is gaining weight – there is always something added to the rice, and the most neglected children also receive vitamins. ‘You know,’ she once said, ‘please tell them that I love them very much. They are good people, because I am no longer hungry. When I eat my fill at noon, in the evening I can only drink water. Our mother washes people’s clothes by the river, but there are days when she doesn’t even earn enough for rice. Mamisoa, my twin brother, used to cry all the time because he was hungry. I prayed, because even though I was so hungry, I believed that God would help us. Then I would quickly go to sleep so I wouldn’t think about hunger. And look – God helped us. What good people you have there,’ she concluded.”
Please pay attention to the contents of the plate in Fara’s hands as she comes every day for a meal prepared by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Sisters. It is a large portion of rice with… pasta. Added to this is only a lettuce leaf – just enough to provide a few vitamins alongside these “stomach fillers.” Preparing such a meal costs only about $0.20. Therefore, for the girl to have at least one filling meal a day for an entire month, only about $6–6.50 is needed.
In June, we, the Dehonian Fathers, surround with special prayer the intentions sent to us by members of the Dehonian Missionary Family. Every day, the Holy Eucharist will be celebrated for these intentions, and in the Mission House in Olsztyn, during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, they will be read aloud. This year there is also another special occasion. All intentions sent to us by June 10 will be taken with me to the celebration of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial, France, where Jesus revealed the mysteries of His Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Fr. Piotr Chmielecki SCJ
Deputy Secretary for Foreign Missions
of the Dehonian Fathers in Poland
P.S. We are counting greatly on your support and participation in the campaign to feed children in Madagascar. We may not be able to feed all the hungry children in Africa, but we can make sure that Fara and Mamisoa do not go to bed hungry!
