General interest, Reflection, Saints, Women's Communities

John Henry Newman on the Marriage Ring

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The Newest Church Doctor Speaks to Every Vocation

by Sr. Mary Catherine Blanding, IHM

The news thrilled Newman lovers everywhere: on July 31, 2025, Pope Leo XIV confirmed St. John Henry Newman would be a Doctor of the Church. It was a moment of joy for those who have long drawn strength from his writings—and a spark of curiosity for many hearing his name for the first time. What is it about this scholar-saint from Victorian England that speaks to the human heart today?

Why a Doctor of the Church?

Called both “Father of Souls” and “Theologian of Vatican Council II,” St. John Henry offers wisdom that speaks to the contemporary Catholic. He engages both head and heart, championing the laity’s mission to evangelize. In his works, he fosters “real assent” — not just intellectual agreement, but the wholehearted yes of the entire person. Steeped in Scripture and the wisdom of the Church Fathers, his writings proclaim lived Catholic teaching. They awaken prayer, stir the imagination, open hearts, and reach to the very core.

Deeply pastoral, psychologically perceptive, stern yet tender, his sermons speak today with surprising relevance. With his rare blend of intellect and pastoral warmth, he invites his readers into a personal encounter with truth.

By confirming him as a Doctor of the Church, Pope Leo XIV recognized his timelessness. The Church recognizes that his theology and pastoral teaching offer not only intellectual depth but guidance for the Christian people — a light for our moment in history.

To see this clearly, we must first face our own era: many Catholics today drift from the Church. Loneliness grows where hearts go unfed. Most—especially the laity—have never been evangelized or catechized, leaving them without a foundation. In this emptiness, isolation leaves believers vulnerable to secular “solutions,” while religious illiteracy fuels misunderstanding of the Faith.

Even now, men and women—including our fallen-away brothers and sisters—thirst for light, longing for a relationship with the Lord and a clearer knowledge of Catholic teaching. This is where St. John Henry, bearing his Kindly Light, can guide us. I first encountered his poem, Lead, Kindly Light, on a poster I hung in my college room while discerning my vocation, though I did not yet know its author. From that moment, his words accompanied me on the path to religious life.

Lead, Kindly Light

“Lead, kindly Light,” prayed St. John Henry Newman as he sailed back to England after nearly dying in Sicily. At the end of a long journey through Italy, the thirty-two-year-old Anglican priest sensed he had a mission yet to fulfill in England. He led the Oxford Movement—initially intended to renew the Anglican Church—yet, through fidelity to truth, he entered the Catholic Church in 1845. He allowed grace’s Kindly Light to guide him one step at a time, trusting God’s providence in each moment.

Later, the Church recognized his lifelong fidelity and wisdom. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII honored him as a cardinal, and in 2025, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church (both Popes did so in their first year)—a recognition that continues to amplify his influence today.

Since his canonization in 2019, his influence has only grown. His writings offer those “aha” moments when we think, Yes, that’s exactly how I feel—but I couldn’t have said it myself. His words reach both heart and intellect, and apply to every believer, since each of us is called to the undivided gift of love.

A Vocation of Love

As a Catholic, St. John Henry held religious life in high esteem. At the solemn profession of a young friend, he began by describing marriage: The very idea of matrimony is possession—the husband is the wife’s and no other’s and the wife is the husband’s and none but his. This is to enter into the marriage bond;  this is the force of the marriage vow; this is the lesson of the marriage ring.
(John Henry Newman, as cited by Placid Murray, O.S.B., Newman the Oratorian, 275.)

Marriage… how many today see it like this? How many couples truly think, You are mine in the sacramental sense—not as ownership, but as total self-gift—instead of a contract traded for comfort or benefit?

My own parents embodied this fidelity. My father never looked at another woman; my mother often said, “He treats me like a queen.” They faced real challenges, yet we children never doubted their unity. My mother’s steadfast love taught me the meaning of spousal love—the kind I longed for in my own life.

From Hesitation to Belonging

If you had told me at fifteen that I would become a Sister, I would have laughed. I assumed I would marry. Yet God was quietly planting seeds. During my senior year in high school, I visited the Daughters of St. Paul. When a Sister in a film said, “I am a bride of Christ,” something ignited in my heart—something I pondered, but then put aside.

That reluctance began to fade, especially at Thomas Aquinas College, where I encountered Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. When I realized He might be calling me, I knew I could not turn to someone else without betraying Him.

Eventually, Jesus called me from sunny California to Kansas’ golden plains. When I was a novice, our Foundress introduced me to St. John Henry Newman’s writings, and I discovered he had penned Lead, Kindly Light.

At my first vows, I experienced a profound sense of belonging to Jesus—an unshakable union St. John Henry described perfectly in another sermon: And this it is to be married to Jesus. It is to have Him, wholly, henceforth and forever—it is to be united to Him by an indissoluble tie—it is to be His, while He is  ours… ineffably united to Him…
(Newman, cited by Placid Murray, Newman the Oratorian, 277.)

Why It Matters Now

Why does this spousal language matter today? Because it speaks to the deepest human longing: to belong completely to another in faithful love. Religious life embodies this visibly, but it is a call addressed to every Christian heart.

In our pragmatic, secular culture, consecration to Jesus is often misunderstood. Sisters are often seen only as teachers or social workers; husbands and wives as partners in a contract. But both vocations—and every Christian calling—are meant to be covenants of love that point to eternity.

In regard to religious life, Canon Law puts it simply: “The apostolate of all religious consists first of all in the witness of their consecrated life, which they are bound to foster by prayer and penance” (CIC, can. 673).

This witness matters because it reminds the world that our ultimate home is not here, but with the Bridegroom who awaits us. The marriage ring—circular, complete, close to the heart—symbolizes belonging. St. John Henry used it to elevate religious life, and in doing so, he also illuminated the dignity of marriage and the call of every Christian to live in covenant love with Christ.

A Final Word

St. John Henry Newman speaks to our time because the remedy for rootlessness, loneliness, and moral confusion has not changed: fidelity to truth and total self-gift to Christ. Blending deep intellect, pastoral tenderness, and the clarity of Scripture, his teaching lights a path to the fullness of Christian life, which is why the Church honors him as a Doctor.

Whether your “ring” is gold or invisible, your vocation is meant to lead you into the heart of the Bridegroom. Let us pray with him:

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom…

Sister Mary Catherine, a Sister of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, authored a book on St. John Henry Newman, published by En Route Publishing. https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/catholicheart/  You can access monthly reflections on the newest Church Doctor’s sermons on the IHM Community Website, “Heart Speaks to Heart.

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Carmelites in Iron Mountain Celebrate 75th Anniversary

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On March 25, 2026, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Iron Mountain, Michigan marked the 75th anniversary of the founding. The “Holy Cross” has always been more than a mere title for the Discalced Carmelite Monastery. Together with the accompanying presence of Mary, it has in many ways shaped the life and history of the monastery’s seventy-five years in the Diocese of Marquette. Today, seventeen nuns, including four Sisters in formation, gratefully and joyfully continue their daily efforts to live the charism of Carmel handed on to them.

The roots of this Carmel can be traced back to the twelfth foundation made by St. Teresa of Jesus in Caravaca, Spain, leading up to the Queretaro Carmel in Mexico. Due to the persecution of the Church there, the community eventually found a warm welcome in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1916. Vocations flourished and soon they began making several foundations of which the monastery in Iron Mountain was the seventh.

The first group of nuns went to Iron Mountain to oversee the renovations which transformed the small Horton Hotel on East B Street into a cloistered monastery, which was canonically erected on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1951.

Despite additions made to the house on “B” Street, the blessing of many vocations made it necessary to plan for the building of a new Monastery. With the help of Saint Joseph, Carmel’s special protector and provider, and the generous support of so many good people, the new monastery, built in the form of a Cross, became a reality. The dedication was held on July 16, 1966, Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

In May of this year, their new music album, Hail Mary, Dawn of the Eucharist, was released in gratitude for the 75th Anniversary of the Monastery. It is available for streaming through FIO.FM, a Catholic streaming platform.

Sophia Press has also republished a book written by one of their Foundresses called: “Inside the Cloistered Life: Personal Letters of a Carmelite nun.” The book is a series of letters from Sister Marie, a young novice, to her parents and family about her life in the Carmelite convent. In it, she “shows us by what means and in what manner rich spiritual treasure is being gathered for the benefit of all of us,”  wrote Bishop Thomas Noa, Diocese of Marquette, in the original forward.

Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Cross
Reverend Mother Prioress
Monastery of the Holy Cross
P.O. Box 397
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
(906) 774-0561
holycrosscarmel@gmail.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++A Life of Love, Prayer and Sacrifice

The Carmel of the Holy Cross is located in the vast wooded territory known as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Here lives a community of seventeen Discalced Carmelite nuns ranging in age from 27 to 101. Our Lord called these women together from many different backgrounds and from varied States as California, New Jersey, Texas and as near as Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Carmelite life is a balance between the eremitical spirit and a life in community. Silence and solitude are sought as pre-eminent means for fostering a life of prayer. Observing papal enclosure and wearing the traditional habit of the Order, they follow the life given them by their Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus. Their goal is union with God – “to love Jesus and to win souls for Him so that He may be loved,” as St. Therese of Lisieux put it. The Carmelites use the same means Jesus Himself used in His hidden life at Nazareth and in His death on the Cross: prayer and sacrifice. They strive to give their all for the Church, particularly for priests and seminarians.

The monastery bell summons the nuns to various community exercises: daily Mass, the Hours of Divine Office, and mental prayer, the characteristic “work” of this Order of prayer. Devotion to Our Lady permeates the life of Carmel, for “Carmel is All Mary’s.” This devotion is expressed by some cherished traditions such as the daily Rosary and Litany of Our Lady, the Salve Regina solemnly chanted every Saturday evening, and the appointment of one sister each week to be “chaplainess of the Blessed Virgin Mary” — honoring Our Lady as each one feels inspired.

Even during work the Carmelites strive to observe silence. Besides ordinary tasks such as cooking, sewing habits, laundry and cleaning, the nuns bake and cut altar breads. The sisters also make articles to be sold in their gift shop at the entrance to the monastery. These include rosaries, scapulars, crocheted items, note cards and others. Within the spacious grounds of the enclosure are two large vegetable gardens cultivated by the sisters.

Saint Teresa incorporated two hours of recreation into the Carmelite’s day to provide healthful relaxation at which time the silence is dispensed. Ordinarily, the sisters bring handwork, but on occasion they go out to the garden or do some other outdoor activity. Sometimes they simply walk together on the grounds visiting one of the shrines, including their own cemetery surrounded by beautiful woods and fields. Tradition calls for a “play” on certain occasions which often includes a good bit of comedy. Thus the Carmelite nuns live a life of love, prayer and sacrifice in simplicity and joy and, as Saint Teresa wrote centuries ago, “each one feels herself unworthy to have deserved to come to such a place…the Lord has so multiplied their satisfaction that they clearly understand the Lord has given them a hundredfold for the one they left; and they are never tired of thanking His Majesty.”

News, Women's Communities

Foundress of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate Declared Venerable

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In June, the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate received the joyous news that their foundress, Mother Mary Teresa Tallon, had been declared Venerable by Pope Leo XIV.  Mother Mary Teresa, born to Irish immigrants in 1867, founded the Parish Visitors in 1920, an order focused on a door-to-door ministry to reclaim “lapsed and uninstructed Catholics for the heart of the Good Shepherd.” Their members live a contemplative prayer life combined with a ministry that brings the message and love of the Good Shepherd to all, especially those Catholics who are most spiritually deprived and distant from the Church.

It was during a retreat in 1900, and through a further inspiration in 1908, that Mother felt that God was asking her to found a new religious institute.  Here, women would be trained to greater spiritual perfection while being engaged in a missionary apostolate in the parish setting, visiting homes to reach out to Catholics who had forgotten God’s love for them and the beauty of the faith.

Commenting on Mother Mary Teresa’s legacy for today, Mother Maria Catherine noted two of the foundress’ sayings: “Make every soul count” and “Make much of God.” Mother Maria Catherine added: “Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV have reminded us of the dignity of every human person. We hear in their reminders the echo of Venerable Mary Teresa’s voice! Today, people are in such need of knowing their dignity as children of God; of their importance in His eyes; and of their call to know, love, and serve Him here so as to be happy with Him in Heaven.”

Mother died on March 10, 1954, after extreme suffering borne with patience and love for the Congregation, just as the Sisters had finished praying the Rosary around her bedside. The Parish Visitors Motherhouse is in Monroe, NY, with mission convents in the Bronx, Pennsylvania and Ohio. They also serve in dioceses in Nigeria and the Philippines.

You can read their magazine online, here: https://parishvisitorsisters.org/pv-magazine//

To read about the cause for canonization: visit here for Guild news. https://parishvisitorsisters.org/guild-news/

Prayer to Obtain favors through the intercession of Venerable Mother Mary Teresa Tallon

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Carmelite Nuns of San Diego Celebrate 100 Years

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In 2026, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Carmel of the Trinity in San Diego, California, are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their founding. On June 20th, Most Rev. Michael Pham, Bishop of San Diego,  joined the cloistered sisters for a celebratory Mass in their chapel.

It was Most Rev. John J. Cantwell, then bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, who invited the Carmel of Santa Clara to send sisters to establish a new community in his diocese. Five nuns arrived on June 11, 1926.  The current monastery was built in 1932, now home to 14 nuns.

The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel, rooted in the contemplative tradition of the Church, had its beginnings in the 12th century in the Holy Land, where, on Mt. Carmel, a small group of hermits, looking to the prophet Elijah as their inspiration and the Mother of God as their guide, came together under the Rule given them by St. Albert of Jerusalem. Some of them put down the sword of the Crusaders and, taking up the sword of the Spirit, dedicated themselves to a life where “each one will remain in his cell or nearby it, meditating day and night on the law of the Lord and keeping vigil in prayer.”

In the 16th century, St. Teresa of Avila initiated a reform of the Order and from Spain it spread throughout the world. Following the death of St. Teresa in 1582, her nuns made foundations in France, and then in the Netherlands. From there four American women, who had gone abroad to join the English-speaking Carmel of Hoogstraten, returned to their homeland in 1790 to found the first community of Religious women in the thirteen original States. They landed in Maryland, establishing the Carmel of Port Tobacco. They continued to grow and began the foundations of several other Carmel’s, including the Santa Clara Carmel in 1906.

It was from Santa Clara that the original five Foundresses, headed by Mother Emmanuel of the Passion as the first Prioress, came in 1926 to found the Carmel of San Diego.

This little band of Nuns arrived on the Feast of the Sacred Heart and stayed at a temporary house on Georgia Street in the North Park district while property was being sought that would provide for the needs of contemplative Nuns; somewhere close to the heart of the city, yet also apart, as their way of life demands. In May of 1932, the now six members of the San Diego Carmel, left their temporary house on Georgia street to occupy the beautiful monastery on Hawley Boulevard. The public is welcome to attend Mass in the monastery chapel, which is celebrated at 7:30 a.m. on Monday through Saturday and at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Sr. Michaela Gresko, former prioress, says she has one prayer for this monastery: “It’s that, God willing, the sanctuary light burning day and night in our chapel and in our choir never go out, but that it always be a silent and unassuming radiance, softly shining in the night of our earthly life for those who need it in their lives, especially those living in darkness and unawareness of God, in order that they find their way to Him; that, regardless of the winds and storms of time and life, it keeps burning with a strong and steady flame of living love.”

Carmel of the Trinity
5158 Hawley Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92116

Phone: 619-280-5424
Email: info@carmelsandiego.com

Click here for Diocesan Newspaper Article

General interest

Goldendoodles Available to Religious Communities!

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A New Companion for Your Community!
Are you looking to add a touch of warmth and liveliness to your community life? A family is offering a beautiful, healthy puppy—entirely free of charge—specifically to a Catholic religious community that can provide a stable and nurturing home.
About the Puppy:
  • Multi-generational goldendoodle
  • Non-Shedding, so people with pet allergies are usually not affected by them
  • Extremely friendly and generally easier to train than many breeds
  • Health Status: Dewormed and current on initial puppy shots.
Service Dog Training Initiative: If your community is interested in raising a puppy to be a future service animal as a work of mercy, we would be interested in sending you the information on the specifics.
If you are interested in either receiving a puppy for your community or raising a puppy as a service animal, please Email: Ptannmarie@gmail.com

News, Saints, Women's Communities

New Book on St. John Henry Newman by Sr. Mary Catherine Blanding, IHM

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Sr. Mary Catherine Blanding, IHM, of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Wichita, has a written a compelling and deeply pastoral introduction to one of the most influential Catholic thinkers of the modern era—St. John Henry Newman. Entitled: St. John Henry Newman: A Doctor of the Church for Our Time, Sister Mary Catherine draws from the saint’s sermons, spiritual writings, and personal journey of conversion.  She reveals why he continues to speak powerfully to contemporary believers confronting doubt, secularism, loneliness, and the search for holiness. Both intellectually rich and spiritually accessible, the work serves as a guide to prayer, conscience, divine providence, and authentic Christian transformation.

I am deeply devoted to the Doctor,” wrote author Mike Aquilina in his endorsement of the book, ” and so it has pained me that Americans often find him remote or antiquated. But he comes alive in Sr. Mary Catherine’s telling of his story and her distillation of his work. She has done this not only on paper, but by founding Newman discussion groups whose impressive numbers meet regularly for years. By every means at her disposal, she has built a fan base in the United States, and she has only just begun. This makes me happy.”

Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was the 19th-century’s most important English-speaking Catholic theologian.  Born in England, he spent the first half of his life as an Anglican and the second half as a Roman Catholic. He was a priest, popular preacher, writer, and eminent theologian in both churches. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in England in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in  2019.  Pope Leo XIV officially declared St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church in 2025, making him the 38th person to receive this recognition and title. Because the date of his death took place on the obligatory Memorial of St. Clare of Assisi (August 11th) , the date chosen for his feast day is October 9th, the date of his conversion to Catholicism.

Sister Mary Catherine is an alumna of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA. She holds both a Masters in Religious Education from the Angelicum in Rome as well as a Masters in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. For more than fifteen years, she has introduced St. John Henry Newman to participants in her discussion group, Lovers of Newman, fostering a heart-to-heart encounter with his writings and spirituality.

To order: enroutebooksandmedia.com

 

 

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Iron Mountain Carmelites Celebrate 75th Anniversary

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The Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Cross
Celebrates 75 Years in the Heart of the Church

The “Holy Cross” has always been more than a mere title for the Monastery of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Iron Mountain, Michigan. Together with the accompanying presence of Mary, it has in many ways shaped the life and history of the monastery’s seventy-five years of existence in the Diocese of Marquette.

The roots of this Carmel can be traced back to the twelfth foundation made by Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus in Caravaca, Spain, leading up to the Queretaro Carmel in Mexico. It was this community which in 1916, due to the persecution of the Church there, eventually found a warm welcome in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Vocations flourished and soon they began making several foundations of which the monastery in Iron Mountain was the seventh.

After a difficult eighteen-month search for a suitable site for the proposed foundation, Most Rev. Thomas L. Noa was able to report his success to the Carmel of Grand Rapids on November 1, 1950. It was the very day on which the dogma of the Assumption was formally defined in Rome. Shortly after this, on November 21, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, the first group of nuns went to Iron Mountain to oversee the renovations which would be necessary to transform the small Horton Hotel on East B Street into a cloistered monastery.

Under the paternal eye of Msgr. A.C. Pelissier, the beloved “Cardinal Protector” of the community, the remodeling was completed in four months. This made it possible for the monastery to be canonically erected on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1951, with the Solemn Mass of Dedication and establishment of Enclosure on April 11, Solemnity of St. Joseph.

Despite additions made to the house on “B” Street, the blessing of many vocations made it necessary to plan for the building of a new Monastery. With the help of Saint Joseph, Carmel’s special protector and provider, and the generous support of so many good people, the new monastery, built in the form of a Cross, became a reality. The dedication was held on July 16, 1966, Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

This year, March 25, 2026, the Monastery of the Holy Cross reached the milestone of its 75th Jubilee. Today seventeen nuns, including four Sisters in formation, gratefully and joyfully continue their daily efforts to live the charism of Carmel handed on to them. Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Life of Love, Prayer and Sacrifice

The Carmel of the Holy Cross is located in the vast wooded territory known as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Here lives a community of seventeen Discalced Carmelite nuns ranging in age from 27 to 101. Our Lord called these women together from many different backgrounds and from varied States as California, New Jersey, Texas and as near as Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Carmelite life is a balance between the eremitical spirit and a life in community. Silence and solitude are sought as pre-eminent means for fostering a life of prayer. Observing papal enclosure and wearing the traditional habit of the Order, they follow the life given them by their Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus. Their goal is union with God – “to love Jesus and to win souls for Him so that He may be loved,” as St. Therese of Lisieux put it. The Carmelites use the same means Jesus Himself used in His hidden life at Nazareth and in His death on the Cross: prayer and sacrifice. They strive to give their all for the Church, particularly for priests and seminarians.

The monastery bell summons the nuns to various community exercises: daily Mass, the Hours of Divine Office, and mental prayer, the characteristic “work” of this Order of prayer. Devotion to Our Lady permeates the life of Carmel, for “Carmel is All Mary’s.” This devotion is expressed by some cherished traditions such as the daily Rosary and Litany of Our Lady, the Salve Regina solemnly chanted every Saturday evening, and the appointment of one sister each week to be “chaplainess of the Blessed Virgin Mary” —honoring Our Lady as each one feels inspired.

Even during work the Carmelites strive to observe silence. Besides ordinary tasks such as cooking, sewing habits, laundry and cleaning, the nuns bake and cut altar breads. The sisters also make articles to be sold in their gift shop at the entrance to the monastery. These include rosaries, scapulars, crocheted items, note cards and others. Within the spacious grounds of the enclosure are two large vegetable gardens cultivated by the sisters.

Saint Teresa incorporated two hours of recreation into the Carmelite’s day to provide healthful relaxation at which time the silence is dispensed. Ordinarily, the sisters bring handwork, but on occasion they go out to the garden or do some other outdoor activity. Sometimes they simply walk together on the grounds visiting one of the shrines, including their own cemetery surrounded by beautiful woods and fields. Tradition calls for a “play” on certain occasions which often includes a good bit of comedy. Thus, the Carmelite nuns live a life of love, prayer and sacrifice in simplicity and joy and, as Saint Teresa wrote centuries ago, “each one feels herself unworthy to have deserved to come to such a place…the Lord has so multiplied their satisfaction that they clearly understand the Lord has given them a hundredfold for the one they left; and they are never tired of thanking His Majesty.”

https://holycrosscarmel.com
vocation@holycrosscarmel.com

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Consecration and Dedication of Cistercian Nuns Oratory

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“Now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My Heart also shall be there always.”   Chronicles 7:16

In March of 2024, the Cistercian nuns of Valley of Our Lady Monastery, twenty-one in all, moved into a newly-built monastery in Hollandale, Wisconsin, about one hour south of their old location.  The new monastery is situated in a place of greater solitude and space, enabling the sisters to better live out their particular charism in the Church—that of cloistered monastic life according to the Rule of St Benedict.  The final phase of building was completed some months after moving in, and August 24th, 2025, witnessed the final crowning of the project: the consecration and dedication of the monastery’s Oratory.  The rite was performed by Bishop Donald Hying, with several others concelebrating.  The guest nave of the oratory was full to overflowing with friends new and old of the community.

The Rite of Dedication of a Church is one of the Church’s most solemn liturgical acts and follows an ancient custom. It is the means of consecrating a church exclusively to God, making it a fitting place of prayer, praise, the celebration of the sacraments, and the reservation of the Eucharist. The church building is a visible sign of the Church, that is, the People of God who are the Temple of God made of living stones, a spiritual house built upon Christ, the cornerstone (see 1 Peter 2:4-6). Central to this rite is the consecration of the altar, which stands as a sign of Christ, who is the priest, the victim, and the altar of His own sacrifice.

A dedication is particularly significant for a monastic community, as the Oratory forms the heart of the monastery where they gather seven times a day to pray the Divine Office, daily to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass, and throughout the day to seek Our Lord’s Eucharistic Presence. The rite also recalls each nun’s consecration to God when she became a bride of Christ, enfleshing the bridal identity of the entire Church, a living temple of God’s presence in the world.  It also a place of vigil, waiting for the complete fulfillment of all our hope, trusting that He who began the work of building this place will fulfill it further in the New Jerusalem.

This is the culmination of years of listening to the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and trusting Him to bring His work to completion. Our Lord has multiplied His mercies allowing so many to participate in His plan to be praised, adored, and glorified in this place. Please join your prayers to theirs as they give praise and thanks to God.

valleyofourlady.org

For information about their building project: build.valleyofourlady.org/contact

Valley of Our Lady Monastery
7320 Urness Road
Hollandale, WI 53544

News, Women's Communities

Triennial Federal Assembly of the Poor Clare Federation of Mary Immaculate

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Los Altos Cloister Garden

The triennial federal assembly of the Poor Clare Federation of Mary Immaculate in the United States of America was held October 8 – 15, 2025, at the beautiful Monastery of the Poor Clares in Los Altos Hills, California. Each of the twelve member monasteries (Alexandria, VA: Barhamsville, VA; Belleville, IL; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Kokomo, IN; Los Altos Hills, CA; Rockford, IL; Roswell, NM; St. Louis, MO; Santa Barbara, CA; Sauk Rapids, MN) was represented by its abbess and a delegate elected by that community’s solemnly professed nuns.It was like a foretaste of heaven to greet sisters from all over the country and to experience a joyous unity of spirit throughout the assembly.

Sr. Immaculata (Roswell) & Mother Dolores (Cleveland)

Mother Mary Angela, P.C.C., of Roswell, federal president since 2023, presided over the chapter, and was re-elected to serve a second term. Assisting her will be: Mother Mary Giovanna (Belleville, IL) as first federal councilor; Sister Miriam (Kokomo, IN) as second federal councilor; and Mother Marie Colette (Los Altos Hills, CA), as third federal councilor. This was the first assembly in which three councilors were elected, a change made to accord with the directives in Cor Orans.

The sessions of this assembly focused mainly on the revision of our federation’s Constitutions, and this blessed work will continue as the new triennium unfolds. The presence of Father Larry Webber, O.F.M. Cap., our religious assistant, enriched our discussions greatly, as he added his own perspective and vast experience to each session’s subject of focus.

One very special joy of the federation assembly is the sharing which occurs one-on-one among the capitulars before, after and in between sessions, and in every other possible free moment that can be found! These sharings, often taking place outdoor in the beauty of the monastery garden, deepen our sisterly unity in our shared ideal, and enrich us with a greater knowledge of each federated community.

Rainbow

During an afternoon session on the day of the federation elections, one of the delegates politely interrupted the discussion in process to exclaim with true Franciscan joy and simplicity, “Pardon me, but if you look out that window, you’ll see that there’s a rainbow!” And again, in true Franciscan style, the capitulars immediately jumped up to see the glorious reminder of God’s undying love and everlasting covenant, wrought in the sky by the Divine Artist himself. It was an unforgettably beautiful sign of hope in this assembly specifically themed after the Jubilee Year of Hope.

Another hallmark of this assembly was the 150th anniversary on Sunday, October 12, of Mother Mary Maddalena Bentivoglio’s arrival in the United States. Our sisters from Sauk Rapids and Saint Louis brought relics and memorabilia from Mother Maddalena, presenting an outline of the history of our Order from its beginnings in Assisi to the present day. Among the relics on display was Mother Maddalena’s own tunic, carefully kept these many years by our Sauk Rapids community. The St. Louis delegation regaled us during one of our recreation hours with the story of how, on their train trip from Missouri to California, they had carried the large bulletin board bearing photographs which told the pictorial story of the history of our Order – along with their regular luggage, and a big box of homemade bread for the capitulars! All agreed it was a story worthy of the Fioretti and should be written up in full for posterity, and they themselves felt they had been granted a share in Mother Maddalena’s own difficulties encountered along her pilgrim way as she ventured across the ocean to bring Poor Clare life to the United States.

St. Alphonsus Ligouri

In her closing address on the final day of the assembly, Mother Angela quoted a circular letter written by St. Alphonsus Liguori to his novices: “It is only by lifelong sacrifice on the part of all concerned that a religious order can be founded, and it is only by the self-same sacrifice that its fervor can be maintained. The members of a religious family at any given moment have in their hands the making or the marring of their institute. The fact that it has a great name, was founded by a saint, or produced saints in the past, will not save it or them if their lives are tepid. If every novice, even, would remember that the honor of his order is committed to his charge, individuals and institutes would not fall into relaxation as they do.”

She exhorted the capitulars to go forth from this Assembly in an attitude of gratitude and wonder, which are prerequisites for a life of contemplation. Echoing Our Lady of Guadalupe’s words to St. Juan Diego, she encouraged each one to “Go now, and do your part.” As we go forward in our joyful observance of the Gospel as pilgrims of hope, each Poor Clare in our Federation of Mary Immaculate desires to hold high the light of hope for our world, so in need of the radiant light which Francis and Clare have bequeathed to their spiritual daughters.

For more information: cloisteredcontemplativepoorclares.org

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Mother Foundress of the Alexandria Carmel Passes Away

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On October 9, 2025, Mother Marie Therese of the Child Jesus, OCD, died at her monastery in Alexandria, South Dakota.  Born Theodora Elizabeth Cycyk in Tonawanda, NY, in 1946, to Ukranian immigrants, she was fascinated by nuns but never saw herself as one of them.  That is, until the day when she randomly opened The Guide to Catholic Sisterhoods in the United States, and happened upon the Discalced Carmelite communities, featuring a picture of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. So taken was she by this picture that she was happy to discover that there was a Carmelite monastery in nearby Buffalo! She entered Carmel on November 9, 1965.  This year she just missed celebrating her 60th Jubilee.

Mother Veronica had a name picked out for her on her clothing day but when she saw Theodora dressed up in her wedding dress, her hair in a bun atop her head looking like St. Therese, she changed her mind and gave her the name, Sr. Marie Therese of the Child Jesus.

Mother Marie Therese became Novice Mistress and then Prioress.  In 1996, she agreed to a request by Bishop Robert Carlson to make a new foundation in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  They revamped a property offered by Fr. Robert Fox (the Fatima Priest) located across from the Fatima Family Shrine, the first monastery of contemplative nuns in South Dakota. “Here I will leave her bones!” she said.

On the day of her death, the sisters were alerted to her condition and finished their daily rosary at her bedside.  A priest administered the Apostolic Pardon just before she died. Her funeral took place on October 13th, the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.

From her sisters:  Please join us now as we earnestly pray that if Mother Marie Therese is not there already, Our Lord will soon welcome her into His loving embrace in an “Eternal Face to Face” (St. Therese). Know that we (and she) are most grateful for your prayers, and that Mother will be most anxious to recommend you, your loved ones, and your concerns to Jesus.

Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy & St. Joseph
PO Box 67
Alexandria, SD 57311

You can go to their website to support their building campaign to build a new chapel dedicated to the Holy Face of Jesus!

HolyFaceChapel.org