Responding with courage and personal sacrifice to the call of Christ in the Church, our foundresses lived out their desire to become women of prayer, community and service
SSMO Constitutions, Article 1
Dear Friends, Pilgrims of Hope,
The Lenten season is about to begin. As Pilgrims of Hope, we can look to Mary as one who always kept hope alive in her heart. In a small reflection book, “Hope from the Cross,” by Cardinal Basil Hume, we find these words in the section about Mary: “‘Woman, here is your son. Son, here is your mother.’ John represented us all at that moment… Mary was Mother, now, of the whole Church, as it was coming to birth while His life was ending. It was a last thought for her welfare…” With Mary as our example of living in hope, let us enter the Lenten season fervently and with hope.
Blessings,
Sr. Charlene
Meet our Jubilee Sisters
We are celebrating the Jubilee of several Sisters in 2025.
Sr. Marilyn LeDoux – 70 years
Sister Marilyn LeDoux was born in Astoria, Ore. While she was growing up, her family moved a number of times so she attended grade school in Shafter, Calif., Seaside, Milwaukie and Portland.
Sr. Marilyn joined the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon and continued her education, earning a bachelor’s degree in education at Marylhurst. She taught at schools across Oregon for many years and spent several summers teaching religious education at parishes in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
After retiring from teaching, she returned to the SSMO campus and volunteered with first and second graders. “I’m proudest of my work with children in the arts,” said Sister Marilyn. “I love teaching art. I love teaching other subjects too, but art was my specialty.”
Visit Sister Marilyn’s bio page to learn more about her inspiring journey.
Discernment Opportunities
Vocation Events for March
The SSMO Vocation Committee will be in Oregon this month.
Check out our events page for specific dates and locations.
If you happen to be where we are, please join us and say “hello.”
Please pray for our safe travels.
Thank you.
Questions:
Besides Candidacy, what are the other stages of Formation?
The next stage is the Novitiate which is required by Church law and begins the official entrance into the Community. We have a two-year Novitiate program. During the first year, our novices spend time in prayer, studies (of various religious life topics), and living in Community. During the second year of Novitiate, the novices may become involved in ministry or continue studies that will prepare them for a ministry assignment.
Visit Five Formation Steps to learn more about the intentional and patient transition into religious life.
Did you Know?
Four Steps to Vocation Discernment:
Myths about Religious Life:
Myth: Religious Communities are homogenous and lack ethnic and cultural diversity.
Fact: As the U. S. church grows more diverse, so too do religious communities. Of those who made their final vows recently, 64% were white, 11% Latino, 18% Asian/Pacific Islander and 6% African or African-American.
*Sources: National Religious Vocation Conference and “VISION” magazine
March Saints
Blessed Concepcion (Conchita) Cabrera de Armida
Feastday – March 3
Co-founder of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit and the first Mexican laywoman, wife, and mother to be beatified in the Catholic Church
“I carry within me three lives, all very strong: family life with its multiple sorrows of a thousand kinds, that is, the life of a mother; the life of the Works of the Cross with all its sorrows and weight, which at times crushes me until I have no more strength left; and the life of the Spirit, or interior life, which is the heaviest of all, with its highs and lows, its tempests and struggles, its light and darkness. Blessed be God for everything!”
Saint Katherine Drexel
Feastday – March 3
Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
“Often in my desire to work for others I find my hands tied, something hinders my charitable designs, some hostile influence renders me powerless. My prayers seem to avail nothing, my kind acts are rejected, I seem to do the wrong thing when I am trying to do my best. In such cases I must not grieve. I am only treading in my Master’s steps.”
