Sixty-five Providence Associates, Sisters of Providence and Providence Associate candidates participated in the Providence Associate spring retreat March 11-13, 2016, with presenter Sister Ann Sullivan. Read more about the retreat here and here. Enjoy photos from the retreat below. Get…
In these video clips, 29-year-old Sister Arrianne Whittaker talks about being a Sister of Providence. From her call to religious life, to what it was like entering a Congregation of women religious at age 25, to what it looks like to be a member of a family and a member of a religious order today. Sister Arrianne answers some of the questions you might have about becoming a Catholic sister today.
It’s how much the staff and everyone cares about their patients,” said Lorre, who spent much of last summer in the rehabilitation unit at Providence Health Care at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. “No matter who you are, how sick you are or what your religious beliefs are, they care for you and love you. I felt nothing but love and care the whole time I was here.”
“Every step of the process from orientation to meeting my companions to the year of study has affirmed that Providence, though unexpected and unbidden, is alive and well and welcome in my life. The Sisters of Providence are an amazing order of women religious. I have found camaraderie, companionship, compassion, laughter and wisdom in each one I have met. I want to be like them when I grow up.” Beth Weis, Chicago, Illinois. 26 new Providence Associates of the Sisters of Providence made first commitments last Saturday. They share some of that journey here in their own words.
Check out this photo album from the ceremony this past Saturday, Nov. 14, where we welcomed 26 new Providence Associates of the Sisters of Providence.
Twenty-six women and men made their first commitments as Providence Associates of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in a ceremony in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on Nov. 14, 2015. In this photo album from the day, the newest Providence Associates participate in the ceremony with the companion sisters or associates who have companioned them over the past year.
“I think what we do creates hope, because it gives them confidence in themselves. It gives them confidence that they can learn. They find out that they can learn the language, but they also find out that even when they make mistakes, they are learning, so it’s OK to keep trying," says Sister Loretta Picucci of her ministry teaching English to immigrant farm workers at Providence in the Desert in California.
One candidate said her 27-year-old daughter had come to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. She said she saw her daughter “became complete” here. So now she is coming as a Providence Associate candidate seeking to feel complete herself.
When you give, it can be amazing what you receive in return. This is what three Providence Associates of the Sisters of Providence have found. The three spend a week at a time at least twice a year volunteering at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Providence Associate Ann Kevin Thesing says volunteering at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods feeds her. “It inspires me. It fills me up. It centers me,” she says. “It’s a chance to soak up the sisters. It inspires me to watch how they live with faith and trust no matter what. You see astounding things in health care,” Ann Kevin said. “It has just been an enormous gift to me.”
For 30 years Rufina Martinez lived in the United States and spoke very little English. Each day was a struggle for the Mexican immigrant. Thanks to Sister Carol Nolan and Providence in the Desert, life is getting easier for Rufina.