140 Years of Educational Excellence & Care for People in El Paso
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140 years Spring 2019 Volume 61, No. 1 of educational excellence & care for people in El Paso , page 8 ....................................................................................... s About this issue . LORETTO COMMUNITY Sisters of Loretto • Co-members of Loretto The wilderness and the dry land ur Spring 2019 edition focuses on Loretto in El Paso—a remarkable legacy unbroken from the 19th century to the present. We work for justice and act for peace O because the Gospel urges us. shall be glad, Mary Margaret Murphy SL, Loretto’s newly-elected Vice President, has spent much of her life providing support to those in need in Wyoming, Colorado, New Loretto Community members teach, Mexico and Texas. Recently, Mary Margaret’s work has shifted from Villa Maria, nurse, care for the elderly, lobby, the desert shall rejoice and blossom minister in hospitals, provide spir- a shelter for homeless women, to nurturing and assisting the Community’s young volunteers in El Paso. Page 6. tual direction and counseling, resettle refugees, staff parishes, try to stop this Isaiah 35:1 country’s nuclear weapons build-up, The early days were challenging but the sisters were tenacious. In 1879 they work with the rural poor, and minister opened their first school near El Paso: St. Joseph’s in San Elizario. They went on to handicapped, alcoholic and mentally to teach at numerous parochial schools in El Paso. Page 8. ill adults. Our ministries are diverse. Loretto Academy, opened in 1924, and built largely through the persistence of The Loretto Community, founded in Mother Praxedes Carty, continues its tradition of providing an excellent education 1812 as the Sisters of Loretto, is a as its 100th anniversary approaches. Page 12. congregation of Catholic vowed Sisters and both lay and religious Loretto community members provide much-needed help at the shelters in Co-members. Loretto Co-members El Paso that are overflowing with immigrants. At the Motherhouse, volunteers are those who, by mutual commitment, prepare bags of necessities for immigrants traveling to and through Louisville. belong to the Community through a Page 14. sharing of spirit and values and participating in activities that further our mission. Contents For more information contact: Loretto Community Membership Staff 4000 So. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 Notes & News .................................................................................4 Phone: 303-783-0450 Fax: 303-783-0611 A life steeped in gratitude: Mary Margaret Murphy SL ...................6 Web: www.lorettocommunity.org Loretto’s legacy in Texas ................................................................8 Loretto Magazine is published three times a year by the Loretto Loretto Academy 2019 .................................................................. 12 Development Office: Respite for weary travelers ........................................................... 14 Development Director: Remembrances ............................................................................16 Denise Ann Clifford SL Communications Director: Memorials & Tributes of Honor ..................................................... 17 Jean M. Schildz Editing, Layout, and Production: Christina Manweller Advisor: Marlene Spero SL Financial Accountant: Brenda Blankenship Special Development Projects: Lydia Peña SL Editorial Office: Loretto Central Office 4000 So. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 On the front and back covers: Loretto Chapel 303-783-0450 Loretto Academy, 1928 Circulation Office: Loretto Staff Office 9201 Watson Road, Suite 220 St. Louis, MO 63126 314-962-8112 2 • Loretto Magazine The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom Isaiah 35:1 It is my privilege as the newest president of the Sisters of Loretto and Loretto Community to greet you via Loretto Magazine. Our editor, Christina Manweller, is also new to the role and she has done a great job with this, her first edition. We hope that the material presented here is interesting and engages you with up- to-date contact with Loretto members actively engaged in mission activities even as, all the while, we acknowledge that the underlying basis of Loretto life is recognition that God provides always. Deus providebit! You, our readers and Barbara Nicholas SL President provident benefactors, are the supports on whom we rely. Let me invite you to be in touch with us if some story particularly appeals to you, or as you recognize a Loretto member pictured here, or you recall your own fond memories of times and places where you connected. Share those memories with us. We love hearing from you! Last July when Loretto was gathered in Assembly in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and the elections had been completed, Sister Pearl asked me to say a few words. The best I could do in that unexpected moment was to promise and to ask for prayers of blessing for one another always: first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. May we all, always, know those blessings. Sincerely, Spring 2019 • 3 notes & news Pancratia Hall on Loretto Heights College campus becomes apartment housing By Mary Nelle Gage SL Pancratia Hall, former dormitory and classroom building on the historic Loretto Heights College campus, built in 1929, will be transformed to create 65 affordable family apartments with adjacent courtyard. Some Loretto Heights alumnae, Sisters and Co-members toured Pan Hall in February, finding their old dorm rooms and telling tales of their college years. The team from Hartman Ely Investments described their plans to adapt the historic building into new uses for a stately affordable housing community. Barbara Fitzgerald (LHC ’68) wrote in response: “. know how I treasure my time there in the past. It is good to know the history of such an amazing place will live on with future residents. I hope they experience as much happiness there as I did.” Photo by Ruth Routten CoL Tibetan monks visit Motherhouse Exiled Tibetan monks from Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery in Debra Dun, India, visited Kentucky in February, stopping by the Motherhouse for breakfast and a visit. They popped into the Infirmary, chanted blessings in the activity room and the church, joked with the postmaster, and were on their way to the Abbey of Gethsemani. Tibetan Monks in front of the Infirmary in Thanks to Anndavid Naeger SL February; Dolores Kelledy SL is in for details and photo. foreground, on left, with the monks’ host. Motherhouse Infirmary recognized The Loretto Infirmary received excellence in these areas: overall Congratulations to Michelle Essex, the Eli Pick Facility Leadership quality; staffing; and RN Staffing Loretto Infirmary Administrator, Award from the American College (exceeding the minimum staff and the staff of the Infirmary. of Health Care Administrators for hours per resident). 4 • Loretto Magazine notes & news Sisters in El Paso honored By Helen Santamaria SL The Father Rahm Award is an annual recognition of person(s) who have made incredible contri- butions to the Segundo Barrio, a downtown El Paso neighborhood immediately adjacent to the U.S./ Mexican border. The SLs taught in all of the schools as they were being built in the 1900s. It is also where Villa Maria is located. The award is a strategic outreach program of Sacred Heart Parish which is also in the barrio. Helen Santamaria, SL Loretto Heritage Center remediation work completed Last fall, mold was discovered St. Catharine Motherhouse and to protect against a recurrence. beneath the hardwood floors 1500 square feet of hardwood Documents were retrieved and in the Loretto Heritage Center floor was removed and replaced. moved in by late February; at the Motherhouse. An urgent Joists were scrubbed, then Eleanor Craig SL and her remediation project ensued. painted with an anti-microbial archives team breathed a big Archival documents were agent. Insulation was added sigh of relief. stored at the Dominican sisters’ and fans and sensors installed El Paso Nun Run 2019 a success By Jane German CoL On Saturday, February 2, 2019, the senior class at Loretto Academy sponsored the Nun Run. The run has become an annual event to raise money for the Loretto Pakistan Mission. Each senior is asked to recruit 10 or more participants. Some seniors dress as nuns and welcome the compet- itive runners, non-competitive runners, walkers, family groups and dogs. The competitive runners take off first, running against the clock. The other participants go more leisurely. Spring 2019 • 5 A grateful heart “I’ve been given so much. Whatever I am able to return, I am grateful for the opportunity to do it.” ary Margaret Murphy SL, Loretto’s new Vice the homes of their students. The rich insights they gained President, laughs as she recalls some of her from the families had direct impact upon their approach to Machebeuf High School friends talking about being with the children. Mentering religious life. Back then, her retort was “Thank you, God. That’s not for me.” But she fondly recalls being Mary Margaret’s call to be with Hispanic people led her deeply touched by the faith, spirit, joy and dedication of the to Rawlins, Wyoming, where she assisted with the devel- sisters at Machebuef. That is what drew her to them and to opment of a Head Start day care center. Since this was their way of life. Now, 54 years later, her heart is filled with the only early childhood learning center in Rawlins, the gratitude as a Sister of Loretto and humbled by her recent Anglos crossed the bridge into the Hispanic barrio where election to Vice President of the community. Her mantra is: all were welcomed and lovingly cared for. She continued “God-given talents are to be shared with others.” this work when she move to Pueblo, Colorado, and became director of the newly-founded Eastwood Center located in A profound experience in the Loretto novitiate was the two Housing Authorities houses. summers Mary Margaret spent with the Hispanic migrant laborers in Colorado and Wyoming. During the day, the In 1977, she moved to the San Luis Valley in rural novices would care for the migrant children in day care Colorado, which became her home for the next 27 years.