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Blog

Welcome to our blog. Here, we will share with you stories of our lives as Sisters of Providence. We invite Providence Associates to write in this space also. We hope you find these posts enjoyable and inspirational.

Wherever one Sister of Providence is … we all are!

On Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 25, a large number of Sisters of Providence gathered in St. Joseph’s Chapel in Owens Hall to share in a simple prayer of “missioning” and blessing for Sisetr Arrianne Whittaker as she transitioned into her mission novice year.

Sister Arrianne shared these reflections:

“When I reflect on my experience of the missioning prayer ritual, it can be summed up in two words — sacred connection — a sacred time, in a sacred place, with a community of women who share a sacred spirit.

As we began the prayer service with our Prayer of Reunion I felt that sacred spirit surround me. I felt connected in a way I had not noticed before. Maybe it has slowly, unassumingly seeped into my bones over the past two and a half years, but this day it was very clear to me … I am a Sister of Providence!

It takes a village, a caring village, to put an end to hunger

Writer and management consultant Margaret Wheatley says, “There is no power equal to a community discovering what it cares about.”

This line came into my mind as I was scurrying around the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods campus last Saturday taking pictures of a community caring about the fact that people in their neighborhood are hungry. Officially called the Hunger Bust Fun Run/Walk, the event was sponsored by St. Mary’s Village Parish with all proceeds going to support Providence Food Pantry, a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Providence.

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin’s feast

Happy feast of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin! Here at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods we will celebrate the feast with Mass at 11 a.m. (EDT) in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. All are invited!

Pope John Paul II described Mother Theodore as the perfect blend of “humanness and holiness.”

Today, we invite you to reflect on her niece, Marie-Thérèse’s, memories of Mother Theodore and those two qualities. After all, who knows us better than family?

Joyful experience in Taiwan

Two of the most privileged and sacred moments I enjoy in my ministry as general superior are receiving the vows of our newer members and praying the blessing prayer at the funeral of a deceased Sister of Providence. Each experience touches me deeply and evokes feelings of profound wonder and gratitude.
I’m thinking the above because I just returned from Taiwan and first profession of vows of one our Asian novices. What a joyful experience!

Soaring with the angels

Sister Regina Gallo approached her recent skydiving experience through a spiritual lens: The safety of my “normal” prayer space with my lit candles and cup of tea or warm milk was gone. I had to trust my tandem instructor literally with my life. I had to trust my God and angels to guide me every second of the way. The biggest piece … I was NOT in control of anything. I simply had to trust and surrender; and it wasn’t simple.

The sea is madre

Where can I run from your love? If I hide in the farthest corner of the sea, you are there, guiding me, protecting me from harm. The bottomless depth of your maternal love… The sea is madre. Sister Carol Nolan, who ministers in California, writes about her retreat near the Pacific Ocean.