Handmaids' News Blog
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, …
On Wednesday May 17th, Postulant Shannon was clothed as a Handmaid of the Precious Blood and formally received her name in religion as Sister Francis Clare of the Eternal High Priest. The ceremony took place before Our Lord in Chapel prior to Benediction and Mass and we share some photos from the special day as she received her blessed habit, …
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 …
Our formation group spends a lot of time helping to keep their sisters fed and the kitchen humming along. But that doesn’t mean it’s only work-work-work. As with all duties any of us undertake, it begins and ends with prayer but there is also room for some light-hearted fun. It didn’t seem right, especially during the Easter festivities, to serve …
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. …
It shouldn’t be too surprising that among the names of priests in the Mary, Mother of Priests Garden are some Popes and Cardinals as well as Bishops. As we dug into the red soil of East Tennessee to plant the first post, we knew we would be including the name of the prelate who helped begin our journey to Tennessee …
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. …
This year we celebrate the Annunciation on Saturday, which is fitting to have the weekday ordinarily devoted to the Blessed Mother also be the date when we mark the visit by Gabriel to her in Nazareth to announce that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God. Years ago, Father John A. Hardon, S.J. explained that “Hail Mary” …
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 understand that many things can be considered impolite and offensive these days. But we want to dive right in and explain why our vocation and mission in the Church is so offensive. We will only apologize for the mixed metaphors. Our Community was founded just after World War II in 1947. After a time of global conflict people …
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 …
This year the Solemnity of Saint Joseph falls on Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. That means its celebration is moved to Monday, March 20th. This gives us double the reasons to rejoice both in the joys of Laetare Sunday but also remembering Great Saint Joseph on both the 19th and the 20th. In fact, we’ve been praying a …