These past few weeks have been an adventure in technology for me. From trying to create shared documents for a class activity to experimenting with possibilities on Facebook, I have found surprising challenges at every turn. For instance, I learned how to create a page on Facebook, but then I managed to disconnect that page from my email account. Now I find myself with a perfectly good page that I cannot use. It’s currently floating in the limbo of cyberspace with no one to care for it.
Fortunately, my in-class interactions with technology tend to be considerably less disheartening. Some of my greatest victories thus far have been in the world of PowerPoint. In lieu of overhead projectors in every room, our school boasts ceiling-mounted projectors which enable me to post daily assignments, prayers, maps, diagrams, and videos to aid student learning. I typically use PowerPoint to post whatever information I want to convey. When I plan everything right, all the things I want to share with my students are already typed up on the slides, and I can simply push a button on the remote control to move from slide to slide. It’s so easy and convenient.

While using Facebook may not be quite as intuitive for me, I have managed to create a page that I do have access to. Feel free to visit facebook.com/SrAlisonGreen to “like” my Facebook page and read my posts and links throughout the week.

Submitted by Sr. Charlene Herinckx

We received word recently that Sisters from Ohio and Wisconsin will be coming to join us for the closing Mass of our Jubilee Year on March 25. For those unfamiliar with the experiences of our foundresses prior to the establishment of our Community in 1886, a brief summary would be in order.

Two of our foundresses were part of a religious community (Sisters of the Precious Blood) in Ohio prior to an event which caused a Precious Blood priest, Fr. Joseph Albrecht, to alienate himself from his Community. That event, referred to as “the hoop skirt incident” (details another time), took place in 1866. At that time, he was responsible for the Sisters of the Precious Blood in his locale. Being a proud man and being challenged to apologize to his parishioners for his poor decision, he opted to leave Ohio. He took several Sisters and Brothers of the Community as well as parishioners with him.

Prior to settling in Minnesota for 18 years, Fr. Albrecht had the Sisters stay in St. Nazianz, Wisconsin for nearly a year. One of the young Sisters (a novice) decided to stay in Wisconsin and later became one of the foundresses of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, WI. (Historical note: After 18 years in Minnesota, the group, families, Sisters, and Brothers of the Precious Blood, moved to Oregon in 1884.)

Due to these historical events, we have a connection with the Sisters of the Precious Blood from Dayton and the Franciscan Sisters from Manitowoc. We sometimes refer to them as our “cousins.” So it is with great joy that we welcome Sisters from these two Communities to join us for the closing of our Jubilee Year.

Unfortunately, a third Community (Sisters of the Most Precious Blood from O’Fallon, Missouri) was not able to send a representative to our celebration. We are indebted to this Community for sending two of their Sisters to Oregon in 1890-92 to help establish a strong foundation of religious life in our Community.

According to the Women & Spirit website, the exhibit is “…a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in association with Cincinnati Museum Center. It reveals the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape.” Sacramento is the closest the exhibit will be to Portland and the SSMOs are excited to take part.

The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon will be traveling to Sacramento to view this historic collection and use the event to celebrate the end of their 125th Jubilee year.  Twenty-six Sisters will be going and are looking forward to the longer bus trip to sing, pray, and have fun together on the journey. Sisters often travel during their Annual Community Days, but recent trips have been a little closer to home. Most recently, they went to the Tillamook Forestry Center and Cheese Factory; the Vietnam Memorial with a picnic at Hoyt Arboretum; and last summer they went to Jordan and Sublimity, Ore.

Submitted by Sr. Delores Adelman, SSMO

As our 125th Jubilee year comes to an end, we wish to thank all of you who so willingly gave of your time on the second Saturday of each month to volunteer at the Oregon Food Bank West. We estimate that together, we worked over 600 hours for the food bank. What a wonderful opportunity for the Sisters, Associates, campus employees, board members, parents, students and friends to come together to support those who are struggling with the basic needs of life.

As an outcome of volunteering at the Food Bank this past year, we hope some of you will have the time and the desire to help others by continuing to volunteer. Go to the Oregon Food Bank website and click on Volunteers. There are a variety of things to do. Register, and then select the time and area you wish to volunteer for. The Food Bank will confirm your choice.

A quote from the Oregon Food Bank: “Give the gift of your time as an Oregon Food Bank Volunteer and make a direct impact in the fight against hunger. Volunteering is a great way to make friends, learn something new and have fun while fighting hunger in the community.”

God bless each of you for your generosity and your example of living the Gospel mandate—feed the hungry.

Here is a letter from the food bank that I would like to share with you:

Thank you for organizing the Sisters of St. Mary’s volunteer event at Oregon Food Bank West on Saturday the 11th. Together with other community members and combining the two groups that came; one in the morning and one in the afternoon, your team worked hard to pack 17,100 pounds of food; 7,980 in the AM and 9,120 in the PM! Our thanks go to the scoopers, baggers, weighers, twist tiers, boxers, and pallet movers. In a single visit, the entire group packed enough food to provide 13,153 meals for people in need. Every member of your team can be proud of their individual contribution; they each packed 94 meals.

In Oregon and Clark County Washington, an estimated 240,000 people eat from an emergency food box in an average month. Your volunteer service helps our many neighbors who aren’t sure where their next meal will come from.

What a wonderful group! We really appreciate your hard work, and look forward to seeing you soon. I just wanted to reiterate how much we appreciate your time and energy. It was great to have you guys come in and I would love to see everyone come back again!

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Submitted by Sr. Adele Marie Altenhofen

The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, via Bethany Center, hosted a grand event on February 12– the annual Valentine’s Tea. This was the 10th anniversary of the tea and it also was an opportunity to spotlight the Sisters’ 125th Jubilee of their founding.

There was a full house for the tea, which featured wonderful epicurean fare, sweet melodies on the harp (5th grader Claire Abraham), and singing (senior students Evan Tait and Genie Genetiano). An added bonus for this year’s event was a biographical presentation on the life of the Sisters’ first Superior General, Sr. Wilhelmina Bleily. Sr. Wilhelmina visited “in the flesh” as yours truly donned a habit of 1950s ilk made by Sr. Mary Hugh Copenhaver.

Additionally, this year’s tea featured a special raffle of Sisters’ handmade crafts and chocolates. Sr. Rita Rose Stohosky and Sr. Charlene Herinckx contributed greeting cards, Sr. Ruth Frank made afghans and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, Sr. Lawdean Lamberger contributed a cross-stitched nativity scene, and Sr. Juanita Villarreal embroidered tea towels and tortilla warmers, just to name a few.  All monies from the raffle benefit the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program that the Sisters are sponsoring.

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American Katharine Drexel inherited a fortune from her father, yet chose to leave the lifestlyle of the rich to serve the needs of others.  Why?

To see the full story and reflection that you can print, please click here.

Dear Families and Friends,

In March our Retreat Day will focus on the life and words of St. Katharine Drexel, a truly amazing woman. I want to share some trivia about St. Katharine not included in the article in this month’s newsletter:

1. When two of our Sisters went on a begging tour to the East Coast in 1889, they met Katharine Drexel and she gave them $300 – the equivalent purchasing power today would be a little over $7,300!
2.  Her stepmother was related to Jacqueline Kennedy.
3. Her father, fearing that someone would want to marry her for her wealth, restricted the access to the Drexel Trust in such a way that she had control of its distribution only during her lifetime. At the time of her death, the principle would be distributed according to her father’s will – to 29 charitable organizations. Since her father died before she founded her Community (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament) in 1891, he did not leave a bequest to her Community. Her own Community could only benefit from the family wealth as long as Katharine was alive through the interest earned on Drexel Trust. She lived to the age of 96!

Our jubilee year is quickly coming to a close. February was the last month for a scheduled volunteer “party” at the Oregon Food Bank. However, in the news article in this March newsletter, you will be invited to continue volunteering at this worthy enterprise by contacting the Food Bank directly.

We are very excited to have Sisters from the religious Communities that are “related” to us in the early history of our Community joining us for our closing Mass on March 25. We hope you will be there also. This has been a wonderful year of reflection on God’s great goodness to us as a Community.

Blessings,

Sr. Charlene Herinckx

Do you know someone who is considering a vocation to the religious life? Or do you know someone you want to encourage to consider becoming a Sister of St. Mary of Oregon?

On Sunday, March 18, Sr. Michael Francine, our vocation director, has scheduled a “Come and See” Retreat from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Sisters invite any single, Catholic woman between the ages of 18 and 40 to join them to learn about discerning one’s vocation. There will be the opportunity to hear vocation stories as well as ask questions.

If you or someone you know needs more information or would like to register, please contact Sr. Michael Francine Duncan.

The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon and the SSMO Foundation staff will be hosting Kaffee Klatsches at local parishes throughout the year, during the traditional church coffee hour.

The second Kaffee Klatsch will be held at St. Anthony’s Parish Hall in Forest Grove this Sunday, Feb. 19 after the 9:30 a.m. Mass.

In the German tradition, a Kaffee Klatsch is a casual gathering for coffee and conversation. This time of connection and conversation is a long-held tradition in the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Community. The Kaffee Klatsches will give the Sisters and the foundation staff an opportunity to express their gratitude for the years of support offered by local parishes and their parishioners, and to thank them for the many ways they have impacted their ministries.

A memorial to honor and remember Shelley Espey ’86 will be held in the Valiants’ Gym at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18. A reception will follow in the high school cafeteria.

See the article about Shelley’s life here.