Features
Welcome to our features page. Here, we will share with you updates on what is currently happening within our Congregation. Feel free to take time to explore the area.
The remarkable life of Mother Marie Gratia Luking
By Sister Mary Roger Madden On Oct. 29, 1989, in Shalu, Taichung County, Taiwan, a group of clergy, lay people and women religious gathered at the burial site of Mother Marie Gratia Luking. They were there to commemorate the 25th…
Young woman’s letters help explain formation
Sister Mary Slattery (RIP) probably never dreamed she would leave such an impression with her personal letters to a longtime friend. But her words were so eloquent and convincing that they were shared publicly in the pages of “The Bugle…
Wedding gown tradition
It was a day a young woman in formation with the Sisters of Providence waited for eagerly. On that day, she would process into the flower-decorated, candle-adorned Church of the Immaculate Conception dressed in a white wedding gown — a…
A labor of love: To God Through Music
Sister Mary Lourdes Mackey (RIP) understood that children thrive with music. She knew music enriches them. Embracing that wisdom, Sister Mary Lourdes launched a project that eventually brought national acclaim to the Sisters of Providence. The music series, “To God…
Golden jubilees celebrated throughout SP history
For days before the big celebration, young sisters were washing habits and pressing them and making sure everything was ready for the special day, recalls Sister Suzanne Brezette, who entered the Congregation in 1938. The golden jubilee celebrations of old…
Personal stories from bell and chimes ringers
Sister Ann Casper “One summer repairs were needed to the church [Church of the Immaculate Conception] tower bells. Bell ringers were told to have a second bell ringer accompany them because the pulley allowing the bells to easily swing in…
Sister Barbara Battista
Barbara Battista was working as a pharmacist and leading a good life. “I was an independent woman. I was sure of myself. I was pretty much a wild child. I just didn’t have much room for the Church in my…
Sister-nurses during the Civil War (video)
The Sisters of Providence served as sister-nurses during the Civil War. This video sheds some light on this unique service to the nation. (with audio) Article praises Civil War video for sharing Congregation’s history.
Surgeons’ report at Indy Military Hospital
A report by Dr. John M. Kitchen and Dr. Patrick H. Jameson, hospital surgeons at the Military Hospital in Indianapolis, provided the following information in a report to Inspector-General Miles Murphy. The report was published by the Indianapolis Daily Journal.…
Civil War hospital routines
Excerpts from the Indianapolis Daily Journal, dated July 22, 1864: Hospital routine “The business of the day begins at five o’clock. At that hour the nurses busy themselves in cleaning the spittoons, washing the faces and arms of the patients,…
A Civil War widow joins the Sisters of Providence
With the death of her husband, Major John Patrick Dufficy, on June 20, 1864, Minerva Dufficy became a widow. By an act approved by Congress on July 14, 1862, she was entitled to a widow’s claim. Minerva received a monthly…
Structure of the Church of the Immaculate Conception
Can you believe it has been more than 100 hundred years since the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods was completed? One hundred years is a long time! It was finished in 1907 and it was renovated in…
