Ursulines Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph Freeing and Nurturing Women and Children
Summer 2010 Vol. 8, No. 3
www.ursulinesmsj.org
40th Annual Picnic New Center Director Recipe Book is Back
Special Education Fits Ursuline Mission
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From our Congregational Leader Dear Friends, As I sat down to write my last letter for Ursulines Alive, I began thinking about all the news that’s gone out between these covers just over the past six years of my leadership term: stories about Ursuline ministry, stories about individual sisters being honored for their work, stories about milestones in the community’s history. And it occurred to me how it’s not always possible to point your finger at one particular sister and say: “There! She was the one who first saw the need for Ursulines to serve Sister Michele special needs children…the one who first thought about having a picnic to raise money “for the South American Missions”…whose idea it was to convert the former girls’ academy into a retreat center. And that’s all right, because all of our new and great ideas ultimately flow from the spirit of one tiny little Italian woman and the company she founded in 1535. The staff and faculty of the Special Education department at Brescia University or Lakemary Center in Kansas, Sister Ann at the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center, Dan Heckel and the Mission Advancement Team who are now the guiding hands behind the picnic…they all know that they “stand on the shoulders of giants.” We each do our part, we each serve for our little moment in history, to continue the charism of Saint Angela Merici. Thank you, friends, for all you do to make this a better and more beautiful world. God bless you, and — in the words of a Navajo blessing — “may you walk in beauty!”
Sister Michele Morek, OSU Cover: Above left: Sister Monica Seaton teaches special education students at Daviess County High School in Owensboro, Ky. Left: Sister Sharon Sullivan talks with Jill Sparks, one of her former students at Brescia University, who was preparing to teach a special education course. Sister Sharon has a doctorate in special education. Right: Sister Marcella Schrant enjoys talking to Lonnie Burhle, a resident of the Lakemary Center. Lakemary was founded by the Ursuline Sisters of Paola, Kan., who merged with the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph in 2008. Search online with goodsearch.com and shop online with goodshop.com, and designate the “Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph” as your charity. Thank you!
Ursulines Alive is published by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, Maple Mount, Ky. Three issues are published each calendar year. EDITORS: Director of Mission Advancement/Communications.........Dan Heckel, OSUA Communications Specialist/Graphic Design.......................Jennifer Kaminski MISSION ADVANCEMENT STAFF: Director of Mission Effectiveness.......................................Sister Rose Marita O’Bryan Director of Spiritual Formation..........................................Sister Marietta Wethington Director of Ursuline Partnerships.......................................Marian Bennett, OSUA Administrative Specialist/Web Development....................Tiffany Orth
In this issue Special Education..................................3 The Ursulines have been involved in special education in various forms for many years 40th Annual Picnic................................6 Mount Saint Joseph will celebrate its 40th annual picnic on Sept. 12, 2010 Not Really Retired.................................9 Obituary.................................................9 2010 Jubilarians . ................................10 Mount Saint Joseph Cookbook..........10 New Center Director...........................11 Soli Deo Gloria ...................................12 We rejoice in the gifts of our sisters, given for the kingdom of God
Our Mission We, the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, sustained by prayer and vowed life in community, proclaim Jesus through education and Christian formation in the spirit of our founder, Saint Angela Merici.
Our PURPOSE Freeing and Nurturing Women and Children
OUR CORE VALUES • Prayer • Service • Empowerment • Justice • Contemplative Presence ...in the spirit of Saint Angela Merici
Contact Us Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph 8001 Cummings Road Maple Mount, Kentucky 42356 270-229-4103 Fax: 270-229-4953 info.msj@maplemount.org www.ursulinesmsj.org Become a fan on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ursulinesmsj
Ursuline Sisters have a long legacy with special education By Dan Heckel, Mount Saint Joseph Staff
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he Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph and of Paola, Kan., knew little about each other in the mid-1960s, but they were both making strides during those years into a ministry that still defines them today – special education. At Maple Mount, a special education program that began at Brescia College in 1954 became a major in the mid-1960s. Today, that program graduates an average of seven special education teachers a year who are in the highest demand in Owensboro, Ky. “If employers know you are a special ed teacher from Brescia, you are a hot commodity,” said Meghan Payne, an Ursuline Associate who teaches special education at the Owensboro 5-6 Center. She and her sister Sarah, also an associate, were both Brescia trained. “Sarah and I were both offered jobs before we graduated,” Meghan said. In Paola, the Ursulines joined with community members in 1969 to start the Lakemary Center, a residential program that continues to offer a safe, nurturing environment for children and adults with developmental disabilities. “The biggest, best thing we did was the Lakemary Center,” said Sister Rita Redmond, who spent 26 years ministering at Lakemary as education materials coordinator. She is now retired at Maple Mount. The Paola community merged with Mount Saint Joseph in 2008, and sisters from both communities believe special education is a natural fit with the Ursuline mission to identify a need, and then see that it’s met. “There was a great need for services for children with developmental disabilities,” said Sister Pat Lynch, who ministered as a speech pathologist and then education coordinator at Lakemary for 13 years. “We didn’t even have that language. It was a very great need that we could respond to.” “I believe it was Saint Irenaeus who said that the glory of God was a human fully alive,” said Sister Sharon Sullivan, the outgoing academic dean at Brescia University, and a former head of the special education department. “The students for whom special education first began (in 1830s France) were students on whom society had given up ... had assumed they could never be fully alive. Those who worked with special education successfully were driven by the belief that each child (or adult) was a human with the potential to be much more fully alive than they were allowed to be in whatever was their given situation,” Sister Sharon said. “This passion is still manifestly necessary for those who work
Part-time helpers in special education courses stand by the sign outside their building in 1958. LEFT: Sister Rita Redmond with one of her students at the Lakemary Center, Giovanni Scott. (From Lakemary: Celebrating 40 years of reaching for the stars)
in special education today. That sounds imminently Ursuline to me.”
The Brescia Difference
At least one Ursuline Sister has been involved with special education since the 1960s, up to Sister Monica Seaton, who teaches special education at Daviess County High School in Owensboro. Sister Sara Marie Gomez graduated from Brescia with a degree in special education in 1966, when a Franciscan sister was running the program. She taught for nine years in special education at three schools in Lebanon, Ky. “One of my classmates, Sister Leo Mary Boone, was in special ed, she had a brother with Down syndrome she helped take care of,” Sister Sara Marie said of her motivation. She enjoyed the children, but said it was a struggle because the schools weren’t prepared for special education. “Nobody knew what we needed or what to do,” Sister Sara Marie said. “We just had very minimal books passed on from other grades.” Many people credit Sister George Ann Cecil with vaulting the special education program forward at Brescia when she came in 1967. (She died in 1985). “She traveled all over the state to see what kinds of programs were going on,” said Sister Clarita Browning, an associate professor of education at Brescia from 1967-89 who worked closely with Sister George Ann. “She wanted it to be the best. She believed if you were going to be a teacher, you had to be the best.” Continued on page 4
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said. “So I went home and tried to figure out what I could work on that would be of interest to these students. I loved that experience.” After completing her Ursuline training at Brescia in 1983, her first ministry was as a special education teacher at St. Mary High School in Paducah, Ky. Ursuline Associate Amy Payne was in the Ursuline community in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s before leaving. She has spent 22 years teaching elementary age special education students with emotional and behavioral problems at RiverValley Behavioral Health Hospital in Owensboro. She said teaching special needs kids goes well with what she knows of Saint Angela Merici. “She was a woman who met the needs,” Amy said. She is Meghan and Sarah Payne’s mother, and her husband Tom is now chairman of the School of Education at Brescia. All the Payne children, including Will, the youngest who graduated from high school in May, work at Camp MARC in the summer, a residential camp for children and adults with mental or physical challenges. Tom will be on the board of directors this year. The Payne family’s love for special education was sparked by Shawn Riney, Amy said. Shawn, who is now 37, has special needs, and his mother babysat for the Payne children. “The kids grew up with Shawn. He certainly has blessed us,” Amy said. “Now Shawn comes every weekend to hang out with us.” Amy also coordinates a faith and light group with adults with disabilities in Owensboro. “We meet once a month, sharing scripture, praying together, and doing a craft activity,” she said. Meghan’s godmother is Sister Michele, who she said “always had a heart for special needs,” and she and Sarah both credit Sister Sharon with inspiring them while at Brescia. Sister Monica was also inspired by Sister Sharon while a student at Brescia. Sister Sharon took her on a tour of places where people with special needs are helped, and that was enough for Sister Monica to know what she wanted to do. “My brother has special needs, I struggled with that,” she said in 2009. “I’d like to help someone else, to let them know they do matter.” Sister Sharon said there are three reasons Brescia stands out in preparing special education teachers: • How quickly and completely the teacher candidates become involved with children and adults with special needs – both through classes and in extra-curricular activities, such as faith formation classes for adults, working at summer camps, volunteering in schools and sheltered workshops, in social activities, and with families. • Brescia teachers have taught in the schools – they
Sister Monica works with one of her students at her computer in her 10th-grade biology class at Daviess County High School.
SPECIAL
From page 3
Sister Sharon was a Presbyterian working for the Girl Scouts in 1972 when she met Sister George Ann, whose influence – along with her mother’s – prompted her to change careers and her life to minister in special education. She has a doctorate in special education from Purdue University. Sister Michele Ann Intravia became interested in special education as a child, because her sister’s classmate had a brother with Down syndrome and he was often at their home. “I don’t think that I really ever knew anything was wrong with Jimmy until I was older and he was not in the same school or grade that I was in,” Sister Michele said. “Mom just said that he was special and I guess I never thought anything about that. As I got older and we moved, we had neighbors who had grandchildren that were special needs children. I can always remember my mom bringing this one child up on the porch and working with him with his colors and ABCs. That is when I began thinking more and more that I was going into special education as a teacher.” Before entering the Ursulines, during her freshman year of college she was sent to do a practicum at St. Mary’s Special School in St. Louis. She was assigned to a teacher who was the head of a program to initiate special needs children into physical activities. “After the first day of class she asked me if Sister Pat Lynch and Bill Ericson, a Lakemary I was ready to resident, during the 40th anniversary teach the class celebration at Lakemary in September 2009. on my own,” Sister Pat ministered at Lakemary for 13 Sister Michele years, and serves on the Lakemary board.
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Four members of the Payne family have worked professionally with special education. From left are Amy, Sarah, Tom, Will, and Meghan Payne.
know both the “real world” as well as the theory. • From the day potential special education majors interview, they are encouraged to recognize their own commitments as a mission or a passion, and to acknowledge that they would most likely have to become a full-fledged activist on behalf of “their kids.” “To be a teacher of children with special needs, you need to enjoy being challenged,” Sarah Payne said. “I think that’s like (Saint) Angela too,” her mother said. Amy Payne said teaching special education is also a call to prayer. “It causes you to pray, because many times, that’s all you can do for them.”
Lakemary
A group of parents in the Paola area with special needs children identified a need for education and training for their children in the 1950s, but there were no such programs. Some of these children participated in classes in a basement at the Paola convent in 1959, but a more permanent home was the goal. In 1964, the Paola city manager and a local physician met with Mother Charles McGrath, then the Paola Sister Rita Lavigne and her friend Jenine superior, about Brown, during the 40th anniversary enlisting the celebration at Lakemary in September Ursulines in 2009. Sister Rita ministered at Lakemary for 18 years. starting a mental
health facility, but later refocused on a center for those with special needs, according to a history of the Lakemary Center. Mother Charles was looking for a new ministry that would fulfill the Ursuline mission, and embraced the need head on. She went to Mike Schwartz, a local banker and friend of the Ursulines, who proposed a complex on 35 acres of Ursuline property east of Paola. After securing $545,000 in federal money, Schwartz proposed that $800,000 in Internal Revenue Bonds written through the city of Paola be issued. It was the first time in Kansas history these bonds had been used for a noncommercial purpose. Sister Rita Lavigne, who now ministers in the archives at Maple Mount, was the business administrator for Lakemary from 1969-1987. “It was a risky thing,” she said. “We didn’t have any hands-on experience. We were one of the first in the Midwest to have a residential program,” she said. It was her responsibility to make sure the payment on the revenue bonds was on time every month. In “Letters To My Children,” Schwartz wrote, “As treasurer of the corporation, I went to Sister Rita and told her we had some real financial problems, but the monthly bond payment had to be made and they could not be late. She said, ‘What if I don’t have the money?’ I said, ‘Don’t pay your other bills.’ As part of the solution, the six or seven Ursulines who taught at Lakemary often endorsed their paychecks and gave them back to Sister Rita to deposit in the Lakemary account. Thus, all payments were made in full and on time. In effect, the Ursuline Sisters spent several hundred thousand dollars in supporting the school when no other funds were available.” Sister Rita Redmond, who began ministering at Lakemary from its inception, said the instruction at Lakemary gave the students “the skills that they needed to live the best kind of life they could live, so their handicap didn’t handicap them more than necessary,” she said. “You love them to death, and they love you right back. They’re just so sweet.” Sister Pat Lynch was in college when Lakemary opened. She was hired as a speech therapy aide in 1971. “I hadn’t even heard of that field,” she said. After a year, she went back to college to earn a master’s in speech pathology, and ministered for the next 13 years at Lakemary. Today, she is a campus minister at Emporia (Kan.) State University, but continues to serve on the board at Lakemary, which serves more than 500 children and adults with special needs. “I loved working with the children,” Sister Pat said. “I can just see their faces, their openness, and their eagerness. Even in their limitations, they loved life.” n
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Sister Mary Evelyn Duvall with a “Smile, God Loves You” banner - 1971
Sister Jamesetta Knott unloading supply truck - 1975
Sister Marita Greenwell, center, Sister Rosalin Thieneman, right - 1982
Sisters Helen Ann Stuart, left, Nazaria Mattingly, seated, and Agnese Coomes cutting tomatoes - 1982
Sister Fran Spalding brin sisters and vol
Barbecue benefit Picnic celebrates 40 year By Dan Heckel, Mount Saint Joseph Staff
Ursuline Sister Joseph Angela Boone recalls how unprepared the sisters were when they started the first barbecue picnic to support the retired sisters in 1971. “We didn’t start thinking about it until August,” she said of the September picnic. “We were up until 2 in the morning deboning meat. We had to get up at 4 a.m. to get the fires going,” she said. Mount Saint Joseph Academy was open then, so there was a fairly large staff of sisters on hand to help with the picnic. But there were no Ursuline Associates in those days, and no parishes to help. “It was mostly bingo and food and a few odds and ends,” she said. “We made $10,000 on that first picnic. It got bigger every year.” This Sept. 12, the picnic will mark its 40th “ruby” anniversary, and has grown much larger than could have ever been imagined. It receives help from parishes and volunteers from across the Diocese of Owensboro, and some friends come from other states to work. “We couldn’t do it without associates and other lay people,” Sister Joseph Angela said.
Sister Grace Simpson in the Sisters Helena Fischer and plant sale booth - 2007 Jane Miriam Hancock sell chances on Sammy Bear - 2002
This year’s picnic will feature about 20 booths, a silent auction, bingo, exquisite crafts made by the sisters, activities for kids, a raffle for the prizes of $3,000, $1,000, and a quilt worth $1,000, and of course, plenty of barbecue. Many of the sisters will be on hand to visit. The original picnic was an offshoot of Loyalty Day that novice sisters held for the South American missions in the 1960s. “Sister Victoria Brohm had this dream to have a barbecue picnic, because some of the parishes were having picnics,” Sister Joseph Angela said. These days, planning for the picnic starts just a few months after one ends. The Mission Advancement office at Mount Saint Joseph is responsible for the picnic, aided by a core team of employees and sisters who meet six times throughout the year to consider changes and make sure all is moving smoothly toward the next picnic. Volunteers come to the Mount throughout the year to donate and price items for the yard sale, mystery booth, and silent auction. The week of the picnic there is a mixture of youth groups cleaning pots and
Sister Betsy Moyer, right, with Kim Jones at the yard sale booth - 2007
Sister Catherine Barber (with her face painted) at the quilt club booth - 2008
Sister Mary Ju goody jars b
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nces Miriam ngs treats to lunteers - 1985
Sisters Marie Michael Friedman and Renee Monaghan, future sister Vickie Cravens - 1990
rs this summer
Sister Laurita Spalding and Sister Rose Jean Powers in pillow booth - 1990
pans, and senior sisters cutting cabbage for slaw and potatoes for salad. In the months leading up to the picnic, parishes throughout the diocese and the Archdiocese of Louisville are likely to see a sister after Mass with a $2 chance in her hand for sale. The raffle is the largest moneymaker at the picnic. Sister Helena Fischer, the registrar at Brescia University, doubled as chairwoman of the picnic from 1991-2000, and now works the Information booth each year. “The Mount Saint Joseph picnic has evolved into many of the same volunteers keeping track of the date for the picnic and making their plans to return to the same post year after year,” Sister Helena said. “It is their faithfulness in returning and ‘knowing what to do’ that has made our picnic a continued success. I could go to each booth and tell you how the volunteers have continued to return or pass their job on to another family or parish member,” she said. “It is always a
Sister Pauletta McCarty in Lucky 7 booth - 1990
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Sister Michele Intravia preparing cabbage that will be added to burgoo - 2002
delight for me when a volunteer waves to me in the Information booth to show me that ‘they are back.’” Bishop Emeritus John McRaith long said the Mount picnic is important for the parishes coming together to work for a common goal– supporting the retirement fund of the Ursuline Sisters who taught in the Diocesan schools for so many years with meager salaries and no retirement, Sister Helena said. It was estimated that the 2009 picnic brought the largest crowd ever. That success also means more volunteer help is needed, because many of the sisters who helped in the past are not physically able to do so, said Dan Heckel, picnic chairman. “We want the picnic to be about the sisters and what their spirit continues to bring to the people and communities where they have and continue to serve,” Heckel said. (To volunteer to work on the picnic, please contact Marian Bennett at (270) 229-2006, or marian.bennett@maplemount.org). Aside from the need to raise money for the retired sisters, the picnic is also a lot of fun. “As my mother always said, ‘You can see everybody at the Mount picnic,’” Sister Helena said.
Join us for our 40th annual Picnic on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010!
ude Cecil at the booth - 2008
$2 raffle tickets now available! • Picnic volunteers are always welcome!
Sister Pam Mueller with a customer in the mystery booth - 2008
Sister Elaine Burke takes a break with an ice cream cone - 2008
A large crowd is always on hand for the annual picnic in the park (pictured in 2009)
License No. 0290
Sisters Joseph Angela Boone, center, and Clarita Browning in the quilt club booth - 2009
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FUNDS FOR HAITI
Sister Eva Boone, chair of the Social Justice committee, poses with an “Earthcake” served at the April 22 Earth Day showing of a film on coal mining.
BELOW: Sisters Mary Matthias Ward, Pam Mueller, and Amelia Stenger enjoy a light moment during the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center’s April 24 annual fundraising dinner and auction, which had a Hawaiian luau theme.
HAWAIIAN LUAU
Sister Pam Mueller, left, Brescia University campus minister, hands a $1,095.32 check to Becky Ivy with Global Outreach International Feb. 23. The money was raised by a Hot Dogs for Haiti fundraiser.
CHRISM MASS
LEFT: Sisters Joan Walz and Mary Agnes VonderHaar accept blessed oils from Bishop William Medley for their parish in McQuady, Ky., during the March 30 Chrism Mass at the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Sister Julia Head, right, prays with seminarians from St. Meinrad School of Theology during their March 19-26 retreat at Maple Mount.
BLISTERS FOR SISTERS
Keep up with the latest news on our website! ursulinesmsj.org
Sister Suzanne Sims, principal of St. Mary of the Woods Elementary School in Whitesville, Ky., cheers on the students during Feb. 1-5 Catholic Schools Week.
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he generosity of the schools that make up the Shreveport, La., Catholic School System brought a touch more spring to Maple Mount this year. Pictures from the devastating ice storm of Jan. 27, 2009 that resulted in the damage of many trees at Maple Mount had an affect on the students, teachers, and principals in Shreveport and Monroe, La., A maple red sunset tree was planted at Maple Mount in honor of Sister where Ursuline Sister Carol Pat Rhoten, at the request of St. John Shively is superintendent. Six Berchmans School in Shreveport, La., of the seven schools decided where she taught from 2005-2009. for their Lenten project to raise money to replant trees at Maple Mount. “There’s a great presence of the Spirit here,” Sister Carol said at the time. The schools raised $3,301, and the trees (pink and white dogwoods, eastern redbuds, white pines, maple red sunsets) were purchased and planted in April. The schools in the Shreveport system feel a special kinship with the Ursuline Sisters, who showed support to them following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
TREE DONATION
SPRING BREAK Katherine Byers of Springfield, Mo., and Kendra Grupe of Jackson, Minn., students from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo., visit the shrines at the Mount on their spring break March 20-24. A third student, Bailey Buchman of Paola, Kan., also visited. They spent time helping the sisters.
ASSOCIATES MEETING Sister Margaret Ann Aull, center, attended the April 9 Henderson/Union County Ursuline Associates meeting and spoke with Bobby Joe Christian, left, and Wanda Gibson.
Photo by Therese Fraize
Photo by John Caulfield
Sisters Angela Fitzpatrick, left, and Martina Rockers were among the walkers in a “Blisters for Sisters” May 1 vocations awareness event for the Kansas City, Kan., area.
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Not Really Retired...
Sister Annalita is the Mount’s woman of history It’s fitting that Sister Annalita Lancaster spends her retirement ministering in the community’s archives. She’s practically a walking archive of Ursuline history. “I personally knew every mother superior after 1912, other Sister Annalita Lancaster seated at her than (the first) desk in the archives office Mother Aloysius (Willett), and I know the sisters and their histories,” Sister Annalita said. “It’s a richness I’m happy to share with everybody.” She has spent her 67 years as an Ursuline Sister being a trendsetter – serving two terms as major superior, spending 10 years as the community’s first director of mission effectiveness, and serving four years each as director of admissions at Brescia College and associate director of the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center. She loved her 22 years in the classroom, but gets a sparkle in her eye when she talks of the seven years she spent as pastoral associate at St. Jude Parish in Clinton, Ky. “I was working with adults who were so thirsty to know more about what the Catholic Church taught,” Sister Annalita said. “That area had not had anything but Sunday Mass for 40 years. I started RCIA, and many who came were practicing Catholics who wanted to learn. We had six to 10 people interested in becoming Catholics every year I was there.” She still loves teaching others about what God can do. On May 8, Sister Annalita traveled to Brandenburg, Ky., to lead a retreat for 75 women from the United Methodist Church. The topic was developing a deeper relationship with God. Sister Annalita grew up in Flaherty, Ky., and first met the Ursuline Sisters in the sixth grade. Among her favorite teachers were Sister Mary Thomas Wimsatt and Sister Jamesina Spain, who encouraged her to attend Mount Saint Joseph Junior College. She earned a scholarship to the junior college and was “enchanted” by Maple Mount when she arrived. “We went to Mass every day with the (Mount Saint Joseph) Academy girls, and everybody looked happy,” Sister Annalita said. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher, my mother was a teacher. I thought I could be one of them.”
She spent 22 years as a teacher or principal in Kentucky and Nebraska, then three years as a supervisor of Catholic Schools in Louisville, and two years as director of the Saint Angela Education Center in Louisville. After a year as director of education at Maple Mount, she was elected as major superior in 1972. Her proudest achievement as superior was keeping up the sisters’ morale as they struggled with the many changes of the Second Vatican Council. To help that transition, she brought in a Benedictine order to lead lessons on scripture, canon law, and the documents of Vatican II. “It helped the sisters to understand that this was a healthy thing for the church,” she said. One of the blessings of her time as superior was getting to know the nearly 400 sisters, she said. As director of mission effectiveness from 19952005, her ministry was to instill in lay employees the teachings and charism of Saint Angela Merici. She “retired” in 2005, but works six hours a day in archives, entering documents into the computer, archiving the daily annals, and updating each sister’s ministry list. “She’s a woman of great wisdom and history,” said Sister Vickie Cravens, archivist for the community. Friends can write to Sister Annalita at 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356. n
In the Joy of Eternal Life Sister Mary Regina Boone, 92, died April 29 at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 73rd year of religious life. The New Haven, Ky., native was an educator for 47 years, noted for instilling a love for math in her students. She was an avid reader, enjoyed saying the rosary, loved her family, and was always grateful for any kindness shown to her. She taught in schools in the Diocese of Owensboro, in Louisville, and in Nebraska City, Neb. She taught at both Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Maple Mount (1979-83), and Brescia College (1983-88). From 1983-93, she served as director of hospitality at the Mount Saint Joseph Guest House. Survivors include seven sisters, Sister Joseph Angela Boone, OSU, Owensboro; Margie Johnson, Bardstown; Cecilia Johnson, Mary Jean Hagan, and Teresa Thompson, all of New Haven; Josephine Dworzan, Orange, Calif.; and Catherine Keene, Louisville; nieces and nephews and the members of her religious community. Gifts in memory of Sister Mary Regina Boone may take the form of donations to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.
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Ursuline Sisters celebrate Jubilees of religious profession
Sister Anne Michelle Mudd
Sister Frances Miriam Spalding
Sister Robert Ann Wheatley
60th - Diamond
70th - Sapphire
80th - Ruby 50th - Gold
Sister Agnes Cecilia Speak
Sister Marie William Blyth
Sister Marie Goretti Browning
Sister Marie Carol Cecil
Sister Mary Jude Cecil
Sister Amanda Rose Mahoney
Sister Alfreda Malone
Sister Elaine Burke
Sister Raymond Dieckman
Sister Mary Cabrini Foushee
40th - Ruby
2010 JUBILARIANS
Eighteen Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph who are celebrating jubilees this year have dedicated 1,050 years of service to God’s people. Motherhouse jubilarians were honored April 11, and all others will be honored during community days on July 17.
Sister Cheryl Clemons
Sister Kathleen Condry
Sister Pam Mueller
Sister Mary Angela Matthews
Sister Joan Walz
New Mount Saint Joseph Cookbook Available Fans of cooking who may also have a connection to Mount Saint Joseph can blend both interests with the new Mount Saint Joseph cookbook. “Food for the Soul, Memories for the Heart” contains over 400 recipes submitted by Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, Ursuline Associates, and faculty and alumnae of the former Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Junior College. Along with recipes, there are memories and trivia from the Mount. “It’s a beautiful example of a cookbook,” said Nancy Mills, a 1972 Academy graduate who cochaired the project. “I like the fact it has the memories in it, and the Mount facts, and the old pictures.” The Mount Saint Joseph Academy Alumnae Association compiled, typed, and prepared the cookbook for publication. Along with Mills, other committee members were Carolyn Sue Cecil A’73, 10
Paula Chandler Gray A’73, Mary Ford Vuncannon A’55, and Kathy Ford Young A’70. The cookbook is available for a suggested donation of $15. It has a hardback cover with a photo of the original Academy building on the front, and the pages are contained in a three-ring binder. The first Mount Saint Joseph cookbook, “Watermelon and Buttermilk,” was published in 1996. Its title came from the first meal served to the Ursuline Sisters who traveled from Louisville, Ky., by flatboat in 1874 to begin Mount Saint Joseph Academy for Girls. It was a popular cookbook, and copies became scarce over the years. The book could not be reprinted because the publisher was no longer in business. The committee decided to select some recipes from “Watermelon” for use in a new book. About 40 percent of the recipes in the 2010 book are new, Mills said. Proceeds will benefit the alumnae association. To recieve your cookbook, contact Marian Bennett at the Office of Ursuline Partnerships at 270-229-2006.
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How your donations are used Donations to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph come in many ways, but the one trait they have in common is that they serve the needs of the sisters or those who the sisters are in ministry to serve. Earlier this year, many supporters took the opportunity to help the people of Chile following Above: Earthquake damage their Feb. 27 earthquake. Sisters Mimi Ballard and in Chile. Right: Sisters Ruth Ruth Gehres, who minister at Casa Ursulina in Chillan, Chile, asked for help to directly deliver aid Gehres and Mimi Ballard helped donate supplies to to those around them who had lost their homes, area families. schools, and possessions. As always, friends of the The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph share Ursuline Sisters responded. Through mid-May, their passion to serve the Lord in four categories of almost $13,800 was donated for the sisters to use in ministry. Your dollars support ministries in social Chillan and the surrounding area. (To see photos, visit outreach and justice advocacy; ecclesial or church www.casaursulina.org). ministry; education; and those dealing with body, This is just one example of how the supporters mind, and spirit. of the Ursuline Sisters make a difference with their To find out how you can help the Ursuline Sisters on generosity. The sisters are so grateful for the help they their journey, contact Dan Heckel, director of Mission receive from their friends. That giving spirit to help Advancement, at (270) 229-2007, or dan.heckel@ others certainly fulfills what Saint Angela Merici said maplemount.org, or visit www.ursulinesmsj.org. in her Tenth Legacy, “And there will be no other sign that you are in the grace of the Lord than that you love You can make a secure donation to the Ursuline Sisters one another and are united together.” online with Paypal. Visit “How You Can Help” on our website.
New director of Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center Sister Ann McGrew, serving in her 45th year as an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, will become the director of the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center this summer. A seven-member search committee recommended Sister Ann for the position, and the Leadership Council unanimously approved her selection. Sister Ann concludes her term on the Sister Ann Leadership Council this July, and McGrew will take over as director of the Center on July 1. She replaces Sister Amelia Stenger, who will become the development director for the Ursuline community on Aug. 1. Sister Ann is a native of St. Paul, Ky., in Grayson County, and has ministered as a teacher, the director of novices and formation for the community, as director of the Newman House at Murray State University, and as supervisor of the Women’s Discernment House and ministry formation program at Brescia University. Her great love is in parish ministry, in which she’s served in several Kentucky parishes: St. Leo in Murray, St. Stephen in Owensboro, St. Anthony in Browns Valley, and recently St. Martin Parish in Rome, where she led RCIA and prepared children to receive the sacraments. “RCIA is my favorite ministry,” Sister Ann said. “Participants really want to learn about their faith, and
a relationship with God. That’s the most exciting part.” Sister Ann is one of three Ursuline Sisters who coordinate the Spiritual Direction Institute at the Center, a two-year program that attracts people from across the country who are seeking certification to become spiritual directors. She also served as program facilitator at the Center in 2006-07. She has a master’s degree in religious studies from Loyola University, Chicago, and a master’s in elementary education and principal certification from Western Kentucky University. “I hope to be able to take programs out to the parishes, as well as offer retreats here,” Sister Ann said. “An Advisory Board will be put in place to give input with planning and researching possibilities for programs in the parishes and in the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center.” “As an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, I’ve been given opportunities to develop my spiritual life,” she said. “Those experiences gave me the skills I’ll need for the task of director. It’s a risk because I’ve never done it before, but I’m excited about it.” Sister Ann will also serve as director of the Office of Spiritual Life for the Diocese of Owensboro. The Conference and Retreat Center opened in 1983, and offers and hosts programs in a rural environment of tranquility for people of all ages and faiths to nurture spirituality and personal growth, advance the arts, and promote lifelong learning. It serves more than 5,000 people a year. 11
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Soli Deo Gloria
We rejoice in the gifts of our sisters, given for the kingdom of God Sister Cheryl Clemons will become academic dean and vice president of academic affairs at Brescia University in July. She will succeed Sister Sharon Sullivan, who will leave that post this summer to become the community’s congregational leader. The academic dean is responsible for the entire academic purview of the university. Since 2004, Sister Cheryl has been assistant congregational leader for the Ursuline Sisters. Also during that time she’s been an adjunct professor at the Hesburgh Center, Catholic Theological Union, in Chicago. Before being elected, Sister Cheryl was an associate professor of religious studies at Brescia. Sister Marie Goretti Browning received a Citation of Appreciation from the Kentucky House of Representatives on April 10. Rep. Tommy Thompson, DOwensboro, recommended her “for the humble and loving way she has served several communities throughout this Commonwealth for the past 60 years,” the citation reads. “For the staunchness of her faith, the strength of her labor, the breadth of her charity, and the goodness of her heart, the members of this august body … express deep appreciation to this devoted lady for her many years of service, and for the generous and loving deeds she has done on behalf of the members in her community and this Commonwealth.” Sister Vivian Bowles begins as the director of the St. Mary School System in Paducah, Ky., on July 1. She accepted the position on a one-year interim basis, and will spend three days a week in Paducah overseeing the principals and teachers of the elementary, middle, and high schools. Ursuline Sisters Martha Keller and Mary Jude Cecil are also in Paducah. Sister Vivian taught at the former St. Thomas More School there (196671). She was president of Brescia College/University (1995-2007). She has been in family ministry since 2007.
Sister Sharon Sullivan was surprised by an announcement at a May 13 reception at Brescia University that an endowed scholarship had been set up in her honor, “In recognition of her dedication and service in the field of education on a local, state, and national level.” The reception was held in the Curriculum Resource Center in the School of Education, a place where students gather to study or relax. The CRC is to be renamed for Sister Sharon, who has ministered at Brescia since 1984. She became chair of the School of Education in 2004 and academic dean and vice president of academic affairs in 2007. She will leave Brescia to become congregational leader of the Ursuline Sisters on July 18. Sister Betsy Moyer began her ministry April 26 as a licensed practical nurse at Saint Francis Hospital and Health Services, a hospital/medical clinic in Maryville, Mo. It is owned by the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary, and has won a National Quality Award. Sister Betsy called the opportunity “a dream come true, to work with a team of nurses and doctors for the good of people in a rural community as well as other small rural communities in the area.” An added blessing is that she is now just 79 miles from her family home in Nebraska, where her mother lives. Sister Amelia Stenger has a guest editorial in the April/May edition of Momentum, the Official Journal of the National Catholic Educational Association. It is titled, “Stewardship and the Environment: Sharing Our Gifts for God’s Work.” Sister Amelia has made environmental education a focus during her years as director of Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center. She takes over as the community’s development director Aug. 1