In the quiet hours of early morning, November 13, 2024, Sr. Helen Elizabeth Lindsey, ASC, entered into eternal life. A resident in Caritas Center in Wichita, KS, she was 95 years old and a professed Adorer of the Blood of Christ for 71 years.
Sister Helen was born in 1929 in Guthrie, OK, the third child of Archie Jay and Doris (Rinehart) Lindsey. Sister Helen’s autobiography includes extensive notes on her faith journey. She was baptized in the Baptist Church, her father’s religion, at the age of eight, and participated weekly in children’s Bible study classes. She described the instructor as “…an excellent teacher, a very devout Christian, and she made Christ real for me.” At 15 she transferred her membership to the Presbyterian Church, her mother’s religion, and participated in the youth group activities.
Siter Helen was received into the Catholic church on Holy Saturday, 1950, in her hometown of Guthrie. She described it as “…the most significant event of my life and the pivotal point of my faith-journey. Everything flows to and evolves from this event.” Sustaining this significance, she renewed her baptismal promises in St. Mary’s Church in a commemorative ceremony 25 years later.
Sister Helen’s first acquaintance with religious life came in high school when she took private art lessons from a Benedictine Sister. At the recommendation of her pastor Rev. (later Bishop) John Sullivan, she chose to enter the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. She wrote “…I knew that I was called to a life of contemplation and adoration. And, I felt, in order to persevere in my spiritual journey, I would need the support of others who shared a similar faith-vision…The title – ADORERS of the Blood of Christ –suggested to me that there is a contemplative dimension to ASC spirituality and that adoration as a way of life could be realized in this community.”
On August 25, 1951, Sr. Helen entered the community. She received the name Mary Mariella as a novice on July 1, 1952, but returned to her baptismal name after Vatican Council II. She professed first vows on July 1, 1953, and final vows on July 1, 1958.
Sister Helen had a Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in art when she entered the community. After first vows she taught in intermediate grades for six years, at All Saints, Wichita, KS and St. Mary’s, David City, NE. Then art and spirituality emerged more clearly as twin themes that followed through the rest of her life and ministry. She taught art at Sacred Heart College (later Newman University) for three years before graduating from the Catholic University of American with a master’s in fine arts. She returned to college teaching, serving in the Fine Arts Department until 1983.
During this time Sr. Helen studied psychology and art therapy and participated in ecumenical programs. She traveled to Italy to research art and to India on a Fulbright Grant for cross-cultural study. In her own words, she… “gained a better understanding that there is a common thread in all great spiritual traditions—namely that contemplation and adoration is an expression of a lived relationship with God no matter what your religious affiliation.”
In 1975 Sr. Helen joined several other Adorers to establish an ASC House of Prayer in a wing of the Wichita Center. Its intent was to cultivate the contemplative aspect of our ASC spirituality. Sister Helen described it as … “a setting to more fully develop what I consider to be my personal charism for the Church and Community.” After seven years as a member of MIDBAR (a Hebrew word meaning desert of oasis), Sr. Helen returned to her hometown of Guthrie to care for her mother.
Sister Helen’s last two ministries each lasted about 15 years. The first was with the Forever Learning Institute, a ministry of Catholic Charities in the Wichita Diocese. The Institute is part of Harvest House, a program for maturing disciples, adults aged 50+. This work took her to parishes throughout the diocese. Then she served as librarian at the Wichita Center, seeing that the collection contained quality, up-to-date resources for spiritual development. In 2020, Sr. Helen retired to reside in Caritas Center.
Sister Helen was preceded in death by her parents Archie Jay and Doris Lindsey, her sister, Dorothy Lauretta Lindsey, and her brother, Archie Monroe Lindsey.
Sister Helen will be welcomed home to the Wichita Center Friday, November 22 at 2:00 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 4:00 p.m. with Tom Welk, C.PP.S as presider and homilist. Her cremains will be interred in the convent cemetery.
Sister Helen wrote of her dream for the future. “…As a result of our ASC presence/mission, it is my hope that everyone (regardless of religious affiliation-or lack of) will come to understand and embrace adoration as a way of life expressed in their relationship with the God ‘WHO IS’ — AND WITH THE WHOLE OF God’s creation.”
Sister Helen, we rejoice that you now experience the fullness of adoration that you sought so faithfully in life.
Adorers of the Blood of Christ, United States Region
Donations in memory of Sr. Helen may be sent to the Adorers at 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, or made online at www.adorers.org