Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Diamond Jubilee”
One of the many fruits of our Diamond Jubilee year and its aftermath has been opening the archives and sharing the many hidden treasures from our past. In particular, it’s allowed our formation Sisters to learn more about the Handmaid pioneers that went before us, even as we continue on our own type of pioneering journey in East Tennessee. So …
“Almighty God, we ask you to bless your daughter, Sister Mary Genevieve, for 60 years she has devoted herself to you. During the 60 years she has been united and hidden through Christ with you. And countless times everyday she has said yes to your invitation to prayer, to sacrifice, to adoration, to give herself for priests. May she know …
A Diamond Jubilee can refer to either a 75 year anniversary or a 60 year anniversary. And we’ve got a 60th to rejoice in. Sister Mary Genevieve of the Will of God marks her Diamond Jubilee this year, still joyfully serving God as his Handmaid of the Precious Blood. She received her name and habit from Father Gerald himself in …
We completed our year long celebration of our Diamond Jubilee since our foundation on May 25th. But the festivities weren’t entirely over. On May 26th Bishop Stika joined us for a special Mass and meal, surprising us by bringing along His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia. As this fell shortly after Postulant Shannon entered our Novitiate with …
We celebrate our Foundation Day every year on May 25th. That was the date of Pentecost Sunday in 1947 when Father Gerald Fitzgerald began the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. He was guided by the Holy Spirit to help priests and his spiritual daughters were to become spiritual mothers of priests and aid in their sanctification through lives of prayer, …
As we continue preserving our archives we are again indebted to so many who have helped us acquire the boxes, binders, garment bags, photo sleeves etc. In transferring items from old cardboard boxes to solid plastic we’ve have the misfortune to find a few casualties be it fabric mildew, moth damage, or mice nests (sans mice) which we are working …
Now that Easter has arrived, it seems a good time to think about eggs, including in the archives. We share just one photo of the many hand crafted eggs that graced the refectory over the decades. Using a small styrofoam egg, Sister Mary Patricia, created ornate miniature roses and designs out of icing, lace, sequins and anything she could find. …
The subtitle for this post could be, “Not all archive treasures stay in the archives.” This is about one relic we keep in the Sacristy and use for the Stations of the Cross. But it is also an archive item as it once hung on the wall of our Founder’s office. This small framed and fading photo shows its location. …
Before his death in 1969, our Founder, Father Gerald, recorded his reminisces of his then 25 year old active apostolate to sanctify priests and how he had begun his work of priests helping priests. We have some vinyl records (but no record player) in the archives of these recordings that were titled, Gather Up The Fragments Lest They Be Lost. …
We share a photo of Mother Dolorosa, one of the pioneering Handmaids from the early years, on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Mother John Paul is presenting her with a large card during a very festive birthday party. She resoundingly answered, with gratitude, whenever asked how it felt to be 100, “WONDERFUL!” Her age and health may have taken …
We aren’t sure just how much Italian our Founder learned in amid travels and work in Rome but the archives show us a moment of an Italian lesson. We also don’t know how his Boston accent came through in italiano. But we are confident, given his absolute love and loyalty to the Church, that he enjoyed the Eternal City.
Many people are familiar with that post holiday syndrome, especially after Christmas, of having put on a few pounds. Websites are no exception. Our IT experts, working with our hosting service, delicately raised the issue of too many photos, too much memory use for images, and we promised to stick to a better diet after some purging. Alas, archive photos …