Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “News”
As the Catholic Church in America gets its Eucharistic Revival underway, there are plans for a National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024. (For more information visit: https://www.eucharisticrevival.org) As cloistered contemplatives we will only be attending in spirit. But in 1976 we were still a Diocesan Community with a semi-active rule and not yet, enclosed. So we had the honor and …
This summer, eyeing some of the nicely mowed grass around the Mary, Mother of Priests Garden, neighboring cows headed over to our hill to sample the wares. They liked it and moved into the Garden but didn’t seem impressed by the view. With coaxing they made their way closer to our fence and then down the hill to Our Lady …
Happy Veterans Day! Father Gerald Fitzgerald was a priest, a religious, and a founder but he was also a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army in World War II as a Chaplain. He attained the rank of Captain, and was stationed both in the U.S. as well as the Pacific theater. As a priest out to save souls, he …
This 1966 letter from the Bishop of Burlington is a happy memory from our time in Vermont. It was the first convent set up outside of New Mexico when the Handmaids from the desert mountain canyon traveled to the colder climate of Vermont. Bishop Robert Joyce was letting the Mother General, Mother Dolorosa, know what he thought of her Sisters. …
Yes! Constantly! So even an exercise period can become a time of prayer. In this 1988 photo from our Priory in Spokane WA, we see Sister Mary Clare taking a stationary spin on an exercise bike in the tape office. She could easily keep all priests and the needs and intentions of the world in mind seeing the world map …
We’ve been sharing several posts called “Archive Treasures” where a photo or an object is highlighted from our archives of the last 75 years. Now we again send out our prayers of gratitude to the benefactors who have enabled us to really tackle the huge labor of love in sorting through decades of photo material stored over the years in …
This photo was captured in 1999 at the Motherhouse for a candlelight procession up the cloister. You can notice one Sister, Sister Mary Patricia of the Holy Souls, with her hand to her ear to pick up the strains of what the Sisters behind her are singing. It’s not just about singing the right hymn together, but also the right …
We share a fast glance instruction sticker for the portable reel to reel magnetic tape recorder, the Wollensak, that was used to record conferences and homilies over the years in our community. Our community wanted to record for posterity the spirituality of our Founder but did much of that by hand in the early days. It wasn’t until the 1950s …
We share an early color photo from 1962 of three Handmaids adoring our Lord in Saint Anne’s Chapel in Jemez Springs, NM. Pews were not installed until later and the seating consisted of chairs and prie-dieus arranged in rows in the small chapel.
Our Founder, Father Gerald, was prepared for his role by living several types of priesthood. First, he was a diocesan priest for 12 years. Then he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross for 12 years. In World War II he served as an Army Chaplain and following the war, asked permission from his congregation to explore the foundation of communities …
Mother Dolorosa and Sister Bernadette (who would become the next Mother) greet Pope Paul VI during a visit to Rome. They were delighted to meet the successor to Peter and the Vicar of Christ on Earth but might not have guessed how soon he would be canonized.
We read in the prophet Hosea of God seeking to re-establish his relationship with Israel using the imagery of alluring her into the desert to speak tenderly to her again. (cf Hosea 2) We are off to the desert to wait in silence and solitude before our Lord in our annual retreat. Half the Sisters work as Marthas while half …