by Sr. Mary Emmadoña Lee | Jul 27, 2022 | Newsletter
God’s peace be with you! We hope your summer thus far has been pleasant, and a time of growing closer to the Lord as well.
Much has happened here this summer. Our General Chapter (held every five years) took place during the last two weeks of June, and included elections of the General Superior and General Councilors.
Our local bishop, Bishop Gerardo Colacicco, presided over the election of the General Superior. Mother Maria Catherine was re-elected as our General Superior. Here she is pictured with the Bishop after the election.
Our annual eight-day retreat followed soon after. Retreat time is always a very graced time of prayer, reflection, and spiritual preparation for the year ahead. Most of the Sisters were on this retreat, other than a few Sisters who had special duties and will have their retreat later on.Our apostolate continues, with vacation Bible schools, visitation of families, and much more. Here is a girl who was instructed by a Parish Visitor and is now enjoying being a baptized Catholic!
Our apostolate also took us to Ireland this summer! Four Sisters are there on a three-month temporary mission, and Mother Maria Catherine joined them for the first two weeks. We hear that all is going very well there, and right from the beginning the Sisters reached out to the people. They’ll be helping with a summer church camp, visiting families to strengthen their faith, and much more. Here are four of them before leaving Marycrest for the airport.
We’ve had time for some summer relaxation as well.
It’s a great joy to be a Parish Visitor, loving and serving God and His people throughout our lives.
Wouldn’t you like to join the circle?
May God bless you always, and may He guide you to know His will and to have the courage to do it!
In Jesus,
All your Parish Visitor Sisters
by Parish Visitor Editor | May 31, 2022 | Newsletter
On May 6, the birthday of our foundress, we had the joy of witnessing the First Profession of Sister Debra Marie, originally from upstate New York. Here are some of the highlights of the beautiful Mass and ceremony. The photo below shows her with Mother Maria Catherine, in the entrance procession.
Sister publicly asks to profess her vows, and then the priest celebrant asks several questions of Sister. This is the first question: “…You are already consecrated to God by water and the Holy Spirit. Are you now resolved to be more closely united to God by the new bond of religious profession?”
Sister responds: “I am so resolved.”
After the questions, Sister kneels in front of the altar and pronounces her vows.
“Called by the Holy Spirit to a greater perfection of love, in union with Jesus, I desire to give myself totally to God in this Congregation.
For the honor of Almighty God, and under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and our holy patron St. Joseph,
I, Sister Debra Marie Comins, before you Mother Maria Catherine Iannotti, our General Superior, vow until May 31, 2024, to live the Gospel counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, according to the Constitutions of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate, and I promise, with God’s grace, to observe them faithfully.
After our General Superior accepts her vows, the priest blesses the black veil and our medallion of the Immaculate Conception and gives them to Sister.
“Receive this veil, now blessed by God, and wear it as a sign of your undivided love for the Lord.”
“Receive this emblem of the Immaculate Conception as the pledge of your consecration to that glorious patroness of your Congregation, and merit her protection by imitating her virtues.”
As the Liturgy of the Eucharist continues, Sister Debra Marie, now in her black veil, along with her Novice Director Sr. Mary Beata, brings the gifts to the altar.
Here’s Sister Debra Marie, now a Junior Professed Sister, with the rest of the USA Juniorate and our General Superior.
Left to right: Sr. Mylene Rosemarie, the Juniorate Director, Sr. Marie Meaghan, Sr. Debra Marie, Sr. Alina Marie, Sr. Rebecca Miriam, and Mother Maria Catherine, our General Superior.
The day was one of much joy, and her family members were there to rejoice with her. Here she is with her mom.
May God grant Sr. Debra Marie many happy, holy years as a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate.
And, may God bless and guide you, so that you may have the grace to know His will for your life, and that you will follow it!
In Jesus,
Sister Dolores Marie
by Parish Visitor Editor | Apr 1, 2022 | Newsletter
On the feast of the Annunciation we joined in the consecration of Russia, the Ukraine, and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Here at Marycrest we all prayed the prayer of consecration together at the same time the Holy Father and so many others did. Our Sisters in our other convents were united in spirit with our prayer. If you weren’t able to read the whole text of the beautiful prayer, you can see it here: https://dphx.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Act-of-Consecration-to-the-Immaculate-Heart-of-Mary-English-03252022.pdf
Mary Immaculate is, of course, the patroness of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate. As our Constitutions states,
“Mary is the model for their contemplative-missionary vocation. They are to walk in spirit with her, contemplating the greatness of the Lord and imitating her example of charity and zeal.”
May Our Mother of Peace intercede for peace for our world!
We also had our annual public novena to Saint Joseph, who is another special patron saint of the Parish Visitors. He is the “man of the house” for us. He has helped us over the years in so many ways and continues to do so.
May God be praised for our beautiful apostolate!
Our Sisters in our various convents have been busy reaching out to God’s people, and at this time of the year instructions for reception of the sacraments at Easter, First Communions, and Confirmations are in full swing.
Children are open to learning about Lent and about Jesus’ death and resurrection. So many, though, are interested only in Easter candy, new clothes, and what they will get at Easter. But, oh, the greater joy of knowing Jesus and His love for us!
This is also a time of grace to help people return to confession, often after many years of staying away from the sacrament. Jesus wants no one to be lost. Helping a wandering sheep to return is always a joy to the Parish Visitor, and the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd rejoices at each one who returns!
Some special community joys are our two new novices in Nigeria, and upcoming first vows here in New York. God is so good!
We will soon be singing Hosannas on Palm Sunday. On another Palm Sunday, it seemed that a little girl really got into the Hosannas. Afterward, though, when her mother mentioned the Hosannas, she said, “Is that what they were saying? I thought they were saying “Lasagna!”
As we draw nearer to Easter, we offer to God these remaining days of Lent. Let us make the best use of them! May your Holy Week and Easter be very blessed by Our Savior and bring you even closer to knowing His will for your life and knowing how much He loves you!
In Jesus,
Sister Dolores Marie
by Parish Visitor Editor | Feb 10, 2022 | Newsletter
Looking up at Sister, the little girl asked, “Sister, what happened when you were born, and your Mommy and Daddy found out that they had a baby nun!”
Well, we know it doesn’t happen quite that way, but just what is a call to religious life?
Every Sister has her own story. The common thread is that God somehow made His will known, and the Sister—perhaps after much indecision and inner struggle—finally took the next step and followed His call!
A call is a mystery! Why does He call some and not some others? Is He calling you?
God knows us through and through, better than we know ourselves, and He loves us deeply. He knows what would make us the happiest. Yes, we might be more or less happy in another vocation, but if we do what God is asking, we’ll experience peace and happiness in much greater abundance.
That doesn’t mean all will always be “peaches and cream.” All walks of life have some difficulties at times. In religious life, though, the joys as well as the peace of knowing we are serving God and His people, far surpass any difficulties!
Some Sisters knew from a young age that God wanted them to be a religious Sister. To others the call came later, maybe by surprise. “Who, me?”
Here’s the story of Sr. Alina Marie, who. grew up in Georgia and worked in Michigan before entering the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate (Some other stories are on our website.)
From my childhood, God poured His love into my heart and taught me how much He loves me through prayer and the regular reception of the sacraments. I came to a point where I knew without a doubt that God wanted me to belong to Him alone. I cannot describe how that realization had filled my soul with awe at God’s goodness.
When I went on a retreat in the 7th grade called Vocatio Deo, I saw religious sisters for the first time and realized that I deeply desired the radiant beauty of their lives. I wanted to be a sister!
I remember that when I spoke to one of them I said, ‘This is like heaven!’ Indeed, that retreat was heavenly. It was my first experience of communion with other girls my age singing and praying in a shared love for our Lord in the Eucharist – the taste of a rich communion that is the heart of religious life and that will spring into eternity.”
After that retreat and into high school and college, I continued to pray, and the knowledge that I was to belong to God alone never went away. I felt our Lord show me the yearnings of His Heart more and more.
In prayer, He helped me to see that He is always thinking of His lost little ones who do not come to Him and how He is always longing for them! I knew strongly that He was calling me to ‘go out and get them…go out to those who will not come to Me on their own.’ At one point, the words Christ spoke to Peter came to my heart as though He were speaking directly to me. ‘Do you love Me?’ He asked. ‘Feed my sheep.’
I knew I could not wait any longer. I looked for a community that went out in the way the Lord had impressed upon my heart and, through St. Joseph’s powerful intercession, I came to find the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate! Above and beyond what I had hoped for, God fulfilled all the desires of my heart! In this beautiful community, He feeds me in the deep contemplative life of prayer throughout the day and then He leads me to go out to bring others home to Him! What a gift to be a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate!”
APOSTOLATE IN OHIO
Our novitiate Sisters spent three months in Ohio recently, thoroughly enjoying the apostolate to souls! You saw in our last newsletter some photos of a Christmas pageant they organized; here are a few more photos:
Spending time with youth was
important,
as well as being fun!
Keep praying that God will give you the grace to know what He desires for you, and that you’ll have the courage to do it! Jesus says to those He calls, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, to go forth and bear fruit.” (John 15:16)
We are praying that those God is
calling will answer YES!
Is He calling you?
God bless you!
In Jesus,
Sister Dolores Marie
by Parish Visitor Editor | Dec 12, 2021 | Newsletter
God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son.
Jesus came into our world out of love for us.
To save us, to redeem us, to show us the way to live.
He came and He still is with us. Not as He was then,
But in the Eucharist,
In love.
In sending us the Holy Spirit.
In giving us His graces.
He came and he never went away!
Let us spread the word! He came into our world, for us! How He loves us!
Let us thank Him with all our hearts!
Forever!
A blessed and grace-filled Christmas to you and your loved ones, from all of us!
In Jesus our newborn Savior,
Sr. Dolores Marie
by Parish Visitor Editor | Nov 12, 2021 | Newsletter
Can you imagine if you were never taught about God as a child. Never taught to pray before going to bed. Never brought to Mass. Never had the opportunity to be instructed in your faith, to receive Jesus in First Communion….
Children like this are deprived, without knowing it! Deprived of knowing God’s love and grace! Deprived of so much!
Some of these children are from otherwise decent families, and some may be from immoral or dysfunctional families. Whatever their family background, they are deprived, nevertheless, of knowing and loving Jesus!
We meet these children so often. There are so many children like this. How this must sadden the Heart of Jesus. Does this touch your heart, too?
These are the children our community was founded for, they and their families. They need to be found and to be taught about Jesus, and their families helped to live the faith. This is the work of the Good Shepherd, who came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Children are part of the flock of lost sheep! How they must tug at His heart! Children growing up without God, perhaps being taught all kinds of wrongdoing. Children who should be pure and loving, prayerful and kind.
Then there are the families and children who “just go through the motions” of being Catholic. They need to be helped to a faith that is living and loving and active!
Parish Visitors have been seeking the lost, instructing them in the faith, and guiding youth since our foundation, and the need is greater and greater, as you can imagine. Our contemplative prayer life–a life of deep prayer and recollection centered on the Eucharist–gives us the grace to be instruments of the Good Shepherd. A joyful community life further sustains us as we go out in His name.
Wouldn’t you like to come and do this with us?
Jesus calls, “Come follow me.” He looks with love and calls, hoping for a “yes.” He longs for a “yes” to His call—a loving, generous “yes,” or even a hesitant, scared, but sincere “yes.”
He calls ordinary people. If He only called saintly people, there would be very few to call! The apostles were very ordinary, and they became saints after a life of following Jesus.
Pray, pray much and sincerely, to know what God is asking of you! God bless you!
In Jesus,
Sister Dolores Marie
Can you imagine if you were never taught about God as a child. Never taught to pray before going to bed. Never brought to Mass. Never had the opportunity to be instructed in your faith, to receive Jesus in First Communion….
Wouldn’t you like to come and do this with us?
Jesus calls, “Come follow me.” He looks with love and calls, hoping for a “yes.” He longs for a “yes” to His call—a loving, generous “yes,” or even a hesitant, scared, but sincere “yes.”