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.
Sister Judy Birgen
Sister Judy Birgen is passionate about helping people who hunger for food. “When I read the Gospel, it’s not just about feeling good about helping people. It’s about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. I do it because of who…
Sister Mary Ann Stewart
A well-substantiated belief among Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the- Woods is that women who have had good, personal relationships with individual members of the Congregation are good candidates to devote their lives to serving God. Of course, there are…
Firmly rooted like the Woods
This article is reprinted from summer 2008 issue of HOPE. Do you recall the 1982 movie “Sister Act”? In it, comedian Whoopi Goldberg stars as lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier, who inadvertently witnesses a murder. She ends up at an…
Making sense of the present moment
This article is reprinted from summer 2008 issue of HOPE. Sister Cathy Campbell explained Providence Spirituality as the “sacrament of the present moment,” as does Jean-Pierre de Caussade in his book, “Abandonment to Divine Providence.” “I try to stay open…
Providence to the core
This article is reprinted from summer 2008 issue of HOPE. In many ways, Sister Rosemary Borntrager entered the Sisters of Providence community twice. Her first entrance into the novitiate was at age 17. “I didn’t have the slightest idea what…
Sister Laura Parker
Sister Laura Parker has firsthand experience with the importance of personal care when an individual is facing significant health issues. When she was a youngster growing up in the Chicago area, she suffered from earaches and stomach pains. She also…
Sister Grace Stewart
Editor’s note: Sister Grace died Sept. 1, 2010. Sister Grace Stewart glanced at the wall, noticing it was 11:24 a.m. “It is about time to go to church,” she said. “If I go now, I can just make it.” She…
Changing a life can be life changing
For Sister Joann Quinkert, helping someone make a change is a life and death issue as she ministers to a Death Row inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Sister Joann quickly tells you she is not the…
Mary Weber and Gary Meister: ‘a God of surprises’
Mary Weber and Gary Meister of Indianapolis made their first commitments as Providence Associates in November 2008. Sister Marceline Mattingly was the companion for this couple. Among their many ways of serving others, Mary and Gary have opened their home…
Annmarie Portela: ‘With this decision, I am truly content’
Annmarie Portela and her husband, two daughters and their golden retriever live in St. John, Ind. Her companion was Sister Ellen Cunningham. 1.) Why did you want to become a Providence Associate? In addition to having a great fondness for…
The Le Fer sisters: Gifts to the Congregation
This article is reprinted from winter 2008 issue of HOPE. By Brother Barry Donaghue, cfc One of the loveliest of the early “her-stories” of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods is that of the Le Fer sisters, Irma and…
Sister Barbara Doherty
Little did Barbara Doherty know she was etching the beginning of a career path when she arranged those chairs into a temporary classroom at her grandmother’s home each Sunday. She was the oldest grandchild in the family, and she would…