Search Results for label/Sister Denise Wilkinson
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Being ‘Home’ for Christmas
Jesus was born at home – for home is as much a feeling as it is a place Thinking about writing this blog, I felt very uninspired, not a thought in my head. Providentially, I heard two of my colleagues talking about not being “ready for Christmas.” Wonder what being “ready for Christmas” means. Why not ask them? So I did. We had a conversation that spoke to my heart and I hope to theirs. Each of them recognized so...
Mother Theodore moment
Jack Antonsen, shown here at left with his sisters, Maeve and Maris. Jack has been visiting Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and becoming friends with Saint Mother Theodore Guerin his whole life. Eleven-year-old Jack Antonsen has been coming to visit Saint Mary-of-the-Woods “since he was born,” his dad says. Most often his visits have coincided with the annual celebration of Earth Day here at the Woods. Over the years, Jack has come to know the sisters and many places at the Woods: the...
A dementia friendly HOME at the Woods
...opens hearts and minds to dream and to do what would otherwise be impossible. Sister Millie Giesler (formerly Sister Alma Joseph) with Sister Terese Marie Havlik, whose family members funded the beginnings of the HOME memory care initiative The Sisters of Providence General Council appointed a team of health care professionals. Their task? What needed to happen to improve the retirement experience for the sisters?” This team has come to be known as the HOME team. They created a simple...
Education in everyday caring makes a difference
...angry with me. I apologized and left the room. When I returned a while later, we were friends again. Not getting upset Double blessings: Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College music therapy students engage sisters in musical activities using percussion instruments. The instruments were donated to the Sisters of Providence by a loving donor in honor of Sister Ellen Madigan. Sister Mary Lee Mettler and Joann Quinkert, above left and below left, and Sister Barbara Doherty, above, reap the benefits of these blessings...
Saint Mother Theodore: The real woman behind the image
...bronze statue depicts as she strides along on her way to whatever awaits her. No. This is Mother Theodore burdened by worries. This is Mother Theodore wondering where she will find the money to feed her sisters, build a convent and a school. This is Mother Theodore concerned about neighbors who are ill. This is Mother Theodore being shunned because she was a Catholic. This is Mother Theodore locked in the bishop’s residence as he attempted to remove her from...
Wisdom and the future of religious life
...will be directed to where I need to be. The support of my sisters helps me to say ‘yes’ when I want to shout ‘no.’ Yet I cannot think of anywhere else I’d rather be.” General Superior Sister Dawn Tomaszewski and Director of Postulants Sister Marsha Speth applaud Sister Jessica Vitente after she received her novice’s cross and is accepted as a novice of the Sisters of Providence in August. (Originally published in the Fall 2019 issue of HOPE magazine.)...
Be with me in my searching: Sisters of Providence discernment prayer
God of hope and possibilities, I am searching. I have the energy and desire to work with others for the good of all others. But how, when, where, with whom? Why do I want to explore becoming a sister? It’s not what most women I know want to do. Am I strange for even thinking about it? Do I want to explore becoming a Sister of Providence of Saint Mary of the Woods? What draws me? Is this the desire...
Sisters of Providence respond to compelling need for health care
...SP health care history In March 1848, Mother Theodore and Sisters Olympiade and Joachim traveled to Vincennes to open a pharmacy there. The Bishop of the Vincennes diocese had made the request of the sisters so that the sick poor of the area would receive medical care. World War II saw many Chinese soldiers and prisoners of war cared for by Sisters of Providence missionaries who had arrived in China in 1920. Sister Ann Monica Inman (RIP) opened the Providence...
Musings on wearing and making masks
...put out a call for mask makers. In a matter of hours, we had volunteer after volunteer respond. Our sisters, Sisters’ family members, staff members, our Providence Associates, and friends of the Congregation stepped up immediately. This generosity resulted in a plentiful supply of masks! It gave us so many mask choices! Masks came with different fasteners – tie around the head and neck or loop elastic over the ears. Masks arrived in a broad spectrum of colors – from...
Journals and Letters week 5: The measure of the woman
...station to the Bishop’s residence is “half a league.” Philadelphia’s Cathedral “would be very fine if it were higher, but it is about 20 feet too low.” The Sisters traveled on a “splendid steamer. Its length must have measured 100 meters.” Mother Theodore related the astonishing news that in a one hour train ride, they had traveled “20 miles – more than 8 French leagues.” At Philadelphia’s Water Works, Mother Theodore marveled at the power of the mechanisms. “By force...
Thanksgiving prayer
Note: This year has been difficult. We know that many of you may not be able to be with extended family during this pandemic. Through Thanksgiving, we’ll be sharing several new prayers for this Thanksgiving season. Please join us in prayer as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Gracious God, I know it’s Thanksgiving time; yet I’m finding it difficult to pray in thanksgiving for your many gifts to me. Loving God, please understand. I am thankful for family and friends and sad...
Journals and Letters week 9: The Journey’s end
...and the other sisters “went to embrace the postulants who were awaiting us” ( adapt). What wonderful acts of love, mercy and justice resulted from that one small step down from a carriage! Ordinary The second incident shows how an “ordinary” task for Mother Theodore turned into a clash of cultures. An orphan girl had been hired to help the sisters do the laundry. When dinner time came, Mother Theodore asked the girl not to sit at the lunch table...