Handmaids' News Blog
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 …
Amid the secular celebrations of this great Saint, let us remember the conversion of Ireland by Patrick from paganism. You may often hear in hymn and poem the familiar verses of “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, etc.,” but if you read through the full Lorica (breastplate) of Saint Patrick you may be surprised that much, if …
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 …
Perhaps, unless one is upgrading or repairing a kitchen, your photo albums don’t have kitchen photos in them. It’s more likely someone was capturing who was in the kitchen, rather than the room itself. We’ve taken a few over the years and find ourselves amazed at two extremes: how much can be done by one Handmaid in one kitchen, and …