St. Luke says that Mary, the soon-to-be mother of Jesus, traveled “in haste” to celebrate with Elizabeth the “great things” God was doing in their lives. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s joyful greeting she said to her young cousin, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Not unlike Mary, our founding sisters traveled unexpectedly and in “great haste,” too—not from Nazareth to Ein Karem, but from Springfield, Kentucky to Jacksonville, Illinois—to fulfill an urgent need for teachers in an elementary school full of Irish immigrant children. 150 years later, we persist in singing with Mary that God has indeed done great things for us. God has, and is, at every moment, fulfilling God’s promises to us.

Please celebrate with us!