The Newly Elected Leadership

Top L: Sr. Sandy Sherman - President     
Top R: Sr. Margaret Manion - 1st Councilor
Bottom L: Sr. Claudia Holtz - 2nd Councilor 
Bottom R: Sr. Nelda Chafitelli - 3rd Councilor

Congratulations and prayers for the new leadership team of the Ursuline Community.  Installation will take place on June 14, 2014.  More information to come.

Easter Reflection

The gnarled trees of the woods remind me of the wood of the cross. Yet these very trees will soon be covered with blossoms and budding forth with new life. The Good Friday experience of suffering, struggle and tears will be over as Jesus Christ rises from death to life in order to bring us to salvation and lead us to hope.

Every year we look at the resurrection of Jesus as a sign of God's great love for us. Every year the changes from winter to spring remind us that life holds a promise; new life thrusts itself through the hardened earth and explodes in beauty in crocuses, daffodils, and greens. Color invades our senses and the earth comes alive again after a cold and dark winter.

We, too, are emerging from the darkness and somberness of our Lenten journeys. Our journeys have led us to reflect on the conversion and transformation of our hearts, inviting us to deepen our faith and relationship with God. Now it is time for our lives to take on the "new spring look" for the season. It is time for the "alleluias" to ring loud and clear that the Lord is risen and hope abounds.

The Easter season is an opportunity for us to proclaim our hope in the Resurrection and to reflect the joy of being Christian. We are invited to walk away from the empty tomb of Easter morning and take the good news to the highways and byways. Our hearts are now filled with the greatest gift God can give, Jesus Christ. New life – new hope!

Alleluia!

Earth Day History

Earth Day is observed on April 22 and was started in the United States in 1970.

Ever wondered how Earth Day started? This observance arose from an interest in gathering national support for environmental issues. In 1970, San Francisco activist John McConnell and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson separately asked Americans to join in a grassroots demonstration. McConnell chose the spring equinox (March 21, 1970) and Nelson chose April 22. Millions of people participated, and today Earth Day continues to be widely celebrated with events on both dates. The most common practice of celebration is to plant new trees for Earth Day.

In the 1960s, there were many concerns about the awareness regarding the environment among Americans. During this period, U.S senator and environmentalist, Gaylord Nelson, tried to galvanize the conservation movement through the appropriate creation of a national celebration.

Nelson made a lot of efforts in the Congress to pass a legislation which protected the popular Appalachian Trail. He also tried to pass a legislation to ban the use of DDT. In order to organize the first Earth Day, Nelson sought some help from Denis Hayes, who was a graduate at Harvard University.

Corpus Christi University Parish Students Enjoy Dinner

The Ursuline Sisters, Associates and friends assisted in preparing dinner for the students following the 6:00 p.m. liturgy on Sunday, April 6. 

Helpers were: L to R - Sr. Carol Kronfield, Sr. Mary Jo Koudelka, Sr. Mary Lou DeBauche, Sr. Sandy Sherman, Associate Sarah Abts, Lee Ann Campbell with her daughter, Takela and Sr. Elizabeth Marie Brell in front.

Down Memory Lane

Sister Dorothy Agnes Furey, OSU

Dorothy Agnes was born in Toledo, OH to Charles and Jane Gaffney Furey on September 29, 1900. She attended St. Ann's elementary school and Waite High School. She also attended St. Mary's College, Monroe, MI for two years before she became a nun.

Dorothy entered the Ursuline Convent in 1921 receiving the name Sister Mary Dorothy She finished at St. John's University obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree and then received her Master's degree from the University of Notre Dame. She taught at Good Shepherd, Our Lady of Perpetual help, St. Angela Hall, and St. Francis de Sales elementary schools until 1930 when she taught science, Biology, Chemistry and general Science at Calvert High School, St. Ursula Academy and Mary Manse College.

In the late 1960's she returned to her baptismal name and was once again Dorothy Agnes. She retired from teaching because of illness in 1973 and lived at the Motherhouse until 1984 when she was admitted to Ursula Hall Infirmary. Sister Dorothy Agnes was famous for her zeal in attending to the beautification of the Infant of Prague statue and altar on the third floor of the Collingwood Motherhouse. She made sure that the altar was always decorated and the statue had proper royal clothing.

In the forties and fifties, Sister Dorothy Agnes was the chief photographer for postulants, brides on Clothing day and new novices the day after Clothing. One of her projects with her biology classes was to research, name and put weather-proofed labels on all the trees at the Indian Road property. She died on April 28, 1985 at age 84.