Adorers of the Blood of Christ

14Jan

Nurse, Therapist and Courageous ‘Sis Ann’ Dies at 91

Sister Ann (Elizabeth Frances) Connolly, ASC, died on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at the Ruma Center, Ruma, Illinois. She was 91 years old and had been a professed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for 72 years.

Sister Ann was born on May 15, 1927 in Assumption, near Pana, Illinois. She was the only child of the late Ernest and Catherine (Shannon) Connolly. Sister Ann made her first vows on July 1, 1946 and her final vows on July 1, 1951.

She earned her R.N. from St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing in Springfield,

10Jan

Sister Mary Matthew Janciar, ASC: ‘Beloved Mother’ to Families She Served Dies

Sister Mary Matthew Janciar, ASC, a teacher and parish minister, died on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2019 at St. Anne’s Retirement Community in Columbia, Pennsylvania. She was 93.

Bridgit Janciar, the older of two daughters of Slovakian immigrants, Emil and Theresa Janciar, was born November 3, 1925, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. When her mother became a widow and remarried, Bridgit gained four step-siblings.

She entered the Adorers of the Blood of Christ on August 29, 1939 as a high school student in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and was received into the Community two years later and given the name Sister Mary Matthew.

10Jan

Sister Mary John Goles, ASC Teacher and Lover of Birds Dies

Sister Mary John Goles, ASC died on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2019. She was 94 years old and had been a professed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for 75 years.

She was born Mary Valeria on February 19, 1924, in Steelton, Pennsylvania to John Goles and Catherine (Sestric Vergot) Goles. She was the youngest child in a family of eight children.

Mary Valeria attended St. Joseph Academy in Columbia, Pennsylvania, then asked to enter the Adorers Community.

Under her religious name, Sister Mary John professed first vows on August 12,

07Jan

Advent Practice Continues in New Year

By Sister Regina Siegfried, ASC

All the usual Advent themes I’ve pondered for years — waiting, preparing, longing, coming, expecting, light and dark —just weren’t speaking to me during the first week of the past Advent.

Perhaps I was over-thinking and over-praying these formerly cherished refrains. The richness in blogs and online reflections eluded me.

Believing that God is always present, is everywhere, and already in the waiting, preparing, and longing, I developed a new practice.

God holds all people and all countries with infinite love and tenderness,

02Jan

Happy New Year!

By Sister Vicki Bergkamp, ASC

The New Year holiday has become a celebration of transition in our lives, transitions we make each new day, each new week, each new month, and sometimes much more often.

It’s so easy to talk about transitions and how we look forward to a new year, assuming it will be better. I think it does demand some soul searching and honesty, though. What is it in our lives that we would like to be different? What can we do about it? Are we open to changes that will make our lives “better”

18Dec

Collecting Children’s Christmas Books

By Sister Mary Catherine Clark, ASC

Sitting down with a cup of hot tea and enjoying some of my children’s Christmas books is one of my favorite things to do during the Christmas Season. It always brings me “tidings of comfort and joy.”

Some collect angels or bells or nativity sets. I collect Christmas books.

It started when I was a director of religious education and responsible for the Parish School of Religion Christmas program.

What began for a practical reason soon became a deeper and broader pursuit of great children’s books.

13Dec

Gifts of the Heart

By Juanita Mason-Fegley, an ASC Sojourner

According to legend, there was a young man roaming the desert who came across a spring of delicious, crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey, he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly, and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water,

01Nov

Ending Violence Starts with Us

By Sister Sara Dwyer, ASC

Our country has been shocked, perhaps even numbed, by the continued horrific violence inspired by a white supremacist/white nationalist ideology.

In just the last week:

Suspect Cesar Sayoc allegedly attempted to kill prominent Democrats, Trump critics and staff at CNN with targeted pipe bombs in the mail.
Two black Americans were gunned down in a grocery store in Kentucky after the alleged shooter initially tried to enter a black church minutes earlier.
A grisly shooting left 11 people dead at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

22Oct

Supreme Court Press Statement

Press Statement
United States Supreme Court
October 22, 2018, 9:30AM

In the Gospels, we hear the story of a lawyer who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” The lawyer responded, “ You shall love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind. The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus then said,

18Oct

My Inspiration: What I Remember about Sister Bertha Fischer

By Monica Morrey Bayer

Recently I was saddened to receive the news of the death of Sister Bertha Fischer, known to her students at St. Pius X in Festus, Missouri, as Sister Mary Austin.

Though she figured in my life for only two years, her inspiration has lasted a lifetime. When she attended our St. Pius X High School Class of 1966 50th reunion, I hope we grads conveyed that we loved and respected her tremendously.

She was sweet and dear, and never had a discipline problem. She modeled for students like me a grace and dignity that we could emulate.

Adorers