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Dear Karen,
"Quiet Luxury." It just so happened that I stumbled across this term when I was trying to get my thoughts together for the simple ritual of blessing the habit. The headline read: "If You Pay Attention to One Trend This Season, Make It Quiet Luxury."
In essence, Quiet Luxury is a minimalist approach to fashion that emphasizes high quality by forgoing any obvious logos or branding. This minimalist approach requires shopping with the intention of having pieces that last, rather than ones that are trendy for a season. In addition, this latest fashion trend among the wealthy is an attempt to downplay one's financial status. One commentary speaks of it this way, "Money talks, wealth whispers."
While I am not really interested in the latest fashion trends, the joining of those two words intrigued me. Quiet Luxury. Just the sound of those two words has a calming effect. What is quiet luxury for us as religious women? Faithful Witness tells us that the consecrated life is nourished by prayer, a vital and intense dialogue with God, in union with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer." The anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing, in exploring one's relationship with the Divine and our true, loving self, calls contemplation "a gentle, joyful, humble stirring of love." Brother Lawrence tells us that "God is closer to us than we think. He exhorts us to "make our hearts an oratory where we withdraw from time to time to talk to him there, gently, humbly and lovingly."
Quiet luxury for us invites us to host our God's presence in our lives. St. Alphonsus believed and taught that our God is always near and responds with infinite tenderness and love. The more we experience this quiet luxury of presence, the more we awaken hope in ourselves and in others. Ultimately, the quiet luxury of making our hearts an oratory immerses us in that love that sees beyond polarities and differences and stretches our hearts in gratitude to the Divine mystery present in all the circumstances of our lives. There is no hierarchy to Divine Presence and our awareness of this presence is the source of how we interact with one another and all of God's creation.
Maybe the headline is correct: "If We Pay Attention to One Trend This Season, Make It Quiet Luxury." May our focused attempt to foster prayerful loving relationships begin with a renewed awareness of the Divine Presence. As we quietly embrace the mystery and wonder of all that is around us, we continue to understand the promise and potential available to us all. It is a whisper that will change the world.
So Grateful for you,
Sister Mary Ellen IHM
August 1, 2023
Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori
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All Chapter materials are available in the
Sisters' Section of the IHM Website
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The Sisters in the New Administration would like to express their deepest gratitude for your prayers, cards, gifts and many expressions of support at the time of our Installation. Your presence in so many ways was a great gift to us, and your prayerful support will carry us through our days of ministry to all of you. May Our Lady continue to be our source of Joy and Wisdom. Thank you, Sisters!
Sister Mary Ellen Tennity IHM
Sister John Evelyn DiTrolio IHM
Sister Monica Therese Sicilia IHM
Sister Mary Sue Carwile IHM
Sister Kathleen Monica Schipani IHM
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How grateful we are for the outpouring of gratitude you have expressed in this time of transition. Your generosity, your thoughtful messages, and most importantly your prayers are so appreciated.
We also express gratitude to those who were able to join us in person or by live stream for the Evening Prayer of Thanks. These past five years of leadership service for the Congregation have been graced years. What a blessing it has been for each of us to be with you and for you in this ministry!
Sister Mary Ellen Tennity, IHM
Sister Patricia McDermott, IHM
Sister Stephen Anne Roderiguez, IHM
Sister Sharon Hedrick, IHM
Sister Joanne Ralph, IHM
Sister Donna M. Shallo, IHM
Sister Francis Michael Finsterbusch, IHM
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We extend sincere gratitude to those many local communities that have sent donations of surplus funds to the Congregation in recent weeks. These funds support a variety of Congregational projects and are received gratefully. Thank you for your generosity and careful stewardship of community resources. | | |
Drawn By Sacred Mystery: A Journey Into Hope
Religious life leaders are working with a vast array of challenges today that include exploring new collaborative and partnership opportunities, imagining new expressions of mission, envisioning religious life into the future, attending to changing structures, assuring the care of their members, pondering new approaches to institute leadership and governance, and more. In this LCWR assembly, participants looked at these realities through a cosmic lens. How does our story fit with what is evolving and emerging in the larger universe and how might we draw hope from all that we are seeing and learning? How might we grow in our awareness of the sacred mystery that surrounds us and trust its movement within our own lives and the lives of our institutes?
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Presidential Address
S. Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP
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Sisters Joan, Rose, Linda, Jeanette and Connie
- serving together in McAllen
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Sisters Constance and Jeannette purchase supplies for the Border Ministry | |
Sisters Constance and Jeannette volunteered for two weeks at the Border.
Along the way they wrote a daily newsletter to many lay colleagues who greatly contributed to the Border Ministry.
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OUR EXPERIENCE AT THE US-MEXICO BORDER
Philadelphia IHM Sisters Linda Filipponi and Joan Rychalsky volunteered to serve migrants in McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico, from July 22 to August 5. They lived and worked side by side with the core community of sisters who are part of the OSP-IHM Collaborative Mission and Ministry at the border.
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Sister Linda Filipponi relaxes with a Haitian girl at Casa del Migrante in Reynosa, Mexico.
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Sister Joan Rychalsky teaches children in the Casa del Migrante in Reynosa, Mexico, how to make a pinwheel. | |
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Sisters Joan Rychalsky and Linda Filipponi stand in the midst
of the migrant tents in Reynosa, Mexico.
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Border Ministry in Philadelphia | |
Sister Fran Small and Colombian Ronaldo who was sent from our Texas/Mexican border to Philly on a bus! Ronaldo's educational goals now are to get his GED and attend college in the US. | |
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My ministry for these past six months has been at the Aquinas Center of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, South Philly. I teach English and advocate for asylum seekers; most of them were sent on buses from our Texas/Mexican border in this past year. With pastoral minister Clara Jerez, I advocate with their asylum lawyers and guide them through various steps in the asylum process. Also with Sister Ruth Bolarte, IHM and our Philly church family, we provide for their basic necessities when possible (think corporal works of mercy).
Any sister interested in volunteering with our Aquinas Center team or who would like more information contact Sister Fran Small.
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30th Anniversary Celebration
Neustra Señora del Carmen
Curacavi, Chile
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Our Sisters will participate in the Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of our former school, Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Curacavi, which was founded, funded and built by our Sisters in 1993.
The school is still operating well under a dedicated lay principal in a very rural area an hour outside of Santiago. Villa Maria Academy, Santiago, continues to support NSC financially and through a variety of interchanges and advisements.
The Sisters attending the NSC ceremonies and also spending time in presence and activities in VMA will be:
Sisters Eileen Reilly and Margaret Joseph Pavluchuk
(From Philadelphia—both former NSC principals)
October 22–28
and
Sisters Teresa Catherine Walsh and Maria Teresa Scudellari
(From Lima)
October 22–26
Sisters Teresa Catherine and Maria Teresa will also attend the annual meeting of Fundación IHM, the five-member board (including two Sisters) which continues to provide oversight, insights and the IHM Charism in both VMA and NSC.
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Immaculata University Teaches
English to Peruvian Students
Sisters and Students Traveled to Lima to Work with School Children
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The Immaculata group visits the Plaza Mayor, in the heart of colonial Lima
(photo provided by Immaculata University)
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Office of Mission Effectiveness | |
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Charism Brochure
In the Direction Statement for Chapter 2023, we read: “We commit to search for a new vision of service and action in ministry rooted in our mission…” This commitment flowed out of the summary statement of our Big Picture Conversation on Collaboration in Ministry in which the Sisters clearly expressed their deep desire for the gift of “Faithfulness, that we may recognize in this new time a need for collaboration with others, both lay and religious, individuals and groups, well known and newly discovered, that by connecting the giftedness of others with the vision and hope of our tradition we may live in the belief that we are ‘richer together’.”
Back in April, each sister received a copy of the Charism Brochure designed by the Office of Mission Effectiveness to respond to this deep desire of our Sisters to celebrate, preserve and share the IHM Charism. The brochure attempts to reach out to all those with whom and to whom we serve in our varied ministries and to tell people just who we are!
The brochure is designed in such a way that it could be easily displayed in your various places of ministry and shared with colleagues, friends, and strangers alike in many different ways. (e.g. placed on office counters, enclosed in personal or ministry-related mailings, distributed to school parents and staff members, at Board or parish meetings, and made available to your constituents in other ways that you may deem appropriate.)
As many of you prepare for a new year of ministry, we invite and encourage you to please order as many copies of the brochure as you may need. This edition of the Angelus contains both a link to an electronic order form and a paper version that may be reproduced as needed. We also hope to have these brochures available in Spanish in early September.
We take this opportunity to remind you that a full guide to our IHM Charism, “Sharing the Fire” is available on our website under IHM Spirituality, Charism Guide. A wealth of resources related to our Charism is at your fingertips! Click Here
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Sharing the Fire:
A Guide to Infusing the IHM Charism in Daily Ministry
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We Need Your Help
Opportunities To Involve your Ministries
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Need More Specific Information ? | |
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Black Lives Matter Art Exhibit
Sister Helen David
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This exhibit celebrates the artist’s friends and former students in the Black Community. Sr. Helen David visually affirms and supports “Black Lives Matter.” The exhibit depicts the people who have enriched her life at the Southwest Community Enrichment Center in Southwest Philadelphia.
At the opening on Sept. 13, Helen David will give a talk, entitled “The ARTS as a Catalyst for Change/Transformation.” She will explain how the art center affected the lives of the people in Southwest Center. She will also relate how she benefited from the wisdom of the people.
This talk will be followed by a hands-on experience for the audience and a demonstration of automatic painting.
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On September 10, we will joyfully welcome Samantha Rintoul as a postulant in our IHM Congregation.
Samantha is a graduate of Immaculata University and is a certified music therapist. She lives and works in Duluth Minnesota as a music therapist for patients in hospice care. Samantha is from Minot, North Dakota where her mother, Susan, and her father, Richard reside.
Please keep Samantha and her family in your prayers as she prepares for Entrance Day.
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Eucharistic Congress
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
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"Be assured that the time you will thus spend with devotion before this Most Divine Sacrament will be the most profitable to you in life, and the source of your greatest consolation in death and in eternity." -St. Alphonsus Liguori | |
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Virtual Participation in the Eucharistic Congress The in-person Eucharistic Congress has reached
maximum capacity and is now sold out.
Consider participating virtually via livestream! The cost is $20 per household.
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Reservations for IHM Sisters
Sisters wishing to spend a weekend at Villa Maria by the Sea Retreat Center are welcome to do so for a donation of $25 per night/per sister.
Reservations can be made
by contacting Sister Jane Mary Carr, IHM at [email protected]
or 215-518-4989.
VISIT THE NEW WEBSITE:
www.VMbytheSea.com
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ABOUT THE ANGELUS
Sisters, if you read the Angelus on your device, oftentimes, it takes a while to load and you could be missing important information. We suggest you check the website where you will find the “paper” Angelus and the entire
e-Angelus. The e-Angelus contains more information that can be included in the “paper” Angelus. Don’t miss out!
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Important Dates to Remember | |
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September 3, 2023
Villa Maria La Planicie
100th Anniversary
September 4, 2023
Labor Day
September 8, 2023
Birth of Mary
September 9, 2023
Local Leadership Meeting at VMHS
September 14-23, 2023
Stone Harbor 9th Retreat
Private - Directed
Director:
S. Patricia McDermott IHM
September 10, 2023
Entrance Day
Welcome
Samantha Rintoul
September 11, 2023
IHM Conference Center
Tai Chi Chih:
Mondays, September 11, 18, 25,
October 2, 9, 16
Guide: Sister Rose Adams, IHM
1:00-2:00 p.m.
September 13, 2023
IHM Conference Center
Movie with Meaning:
“The Saint of 9/11”
1:00 p.m. (Lunch at 12:00 noon)
September 19-20, 2023
OSP-IHM Meeting
Monroe, Michigan
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September 19, 2023
IHM Conference Center: Conference Day:
“This One’s For YOU:
A Day about Self-Care”
Presenters: Sister Marie Michele Donnelly, RSM
Sister Anne Phillip, IHM
9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
September 23, 2023
Mandatory Blue Cross Meeting for those under 65 at VMHS at
10:00 a.m.
September 27, 2023
Birthday of St. Alphonsus Liguori
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Photos Requested for IHM Website | |
We invite you to send us your photos to help us maintain an up to date look & feel. This website is the perfect outlet to highlight all that you do to enhance your various ministries & communities. We would love to continue to support you by sharing these photos on a more public forum. Please send your photos, along with a detailed description including your name, location and special meaning behind the photo to Karen Creely, Director of Communications at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your submissions!
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The IHMs are now even more social. In addition to our newly launched website, we are also introducing two new social media profiles on Twitter and Instagram! We invite you to take a moment to check out all the IHM Social Media profiles and opt to Like, Follow or Share our posts with friends and family. If there is anything you would like us to share with the IHM followers, please send those content suggestions to [email protected].
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Joyful Bearer of God's Redeeming Love | | | | |
