COMMUNITY - CURRENT EVENTS

Our 175th Anniversary Book

Last Christmas 1000 limited edition copies of our 175th anniversary book Educating the Mind and Heart: Visitation Academy 1833-2008 by Sister Marie Therese Ruthman, V.H.M.and Fr. William Faherty, S.J. were published.  As of October 1, 2009 only 265 out of the 1000 copies of the book remain.  If you have put off your purchase of this unique book, you still have the opportunity to own it.
Sr Marie Therese has actively participated in the events of the last 60 years that she writes about, and we know that you will enjoy this celebration of the past the foretaste of the future.

        To purchase:
        Send a check tor $45. made out to the Monastery of the Visitation to Sr. Marie Therese Ruthmann
        3020 N. Ballas Rd.  St Louis, MO 63131 and your copy will be mailed to you.


Our Heavenly Visitation

Three of our Sisters have died during the 2008-2009 school year..  Sr Roberta Huffman went home to God on September 11th, 2008.  Sr Anne Madeleine Godefroy returned to God on October 28, 2008.  Sr Mary Josephine Reau entered eternal life on March 12, 2009.  We Sisters mourn their passing yet rejoice that they have attained eternal life.  Below are their biographies.

Please also pray for vocations that our Sisters may continue to be actively involved in the future of the Visitation Academy in St. Louis.

Sister Mary Roberta Huffman V.H.M. R.I.P.

Sister Roberta went home to God on September 11, 2008 at the age of 91.  She had entered the Monastery of the Visitation in Georgetown D.C. where she became head of school.  In the early 1970's the St Louis Visitation asked Sister to become the principal during a difficult transition period.  Later in that same decade Sister transferred permanently to the St. Louis Visitation where she served in many different areas.  She was a board member of the St. Jane Center. our outreach among the disadvantaged.  But in time Sister's ministry became restricted to greeting the people who came to our chapel for the Sunday Liturgies.  She befriended everyone she met and all who met her treasured her friendship. 

Just a few months before her death, one of her  former students from 30 plus years ago in Georgetown came to visit her.  Her nephew, David, stopped to see her whenever he was in the area.   All who knew her mourn her passing but rejoice that she has attained eternal life.

Sister Anne Madeleine Godefroy V.H.M. R.I.P.

Sister Anne Madeleine began as a boarding school student here at St. Louis Visitation in the mid 1930's.  She entered the community after high school and was very successful in teaching the little children.  She opened the first Montessori school in the St. Louis area in 1963.  In 1971 she was elected superior of the community.  Since then, Sister had been in leadership roles until just months before her death.  In 1996 she was elected president of the Second Federation of the Visitation in the U.S.A.  She served in that capacity until mid-June 2008.  Meanwhile Sister frequently was also the superior of the community and was responsible for the founding of the ACF, an organization entrusted with the future of the Academy, and of

the Associates program, a community of lay people committed to the Visitation charism and to the spread of Salesian spirituality in our world.  Sister also supervised the renovation of our monastery and initiated a realistic long range plan for our Sisters.  We miss Sister but are happy for her to be with our saints in heaven.  Fittingly her funeral Mass was on November 1st, All Saints Day.  Please pray for her and for us.  

 

                                      Sister Mary Josephine Reau  V.H.M.  R.I.P.

Margaret Marie Reau was born March 18, 1016 in Duluth Minnesota, the youngest and only daughter in a family of three children.  During World Was II Margaret joined the WACs on August 25, 1943 and served twenty months in Italy.  Her most memorable experiences there were seeing Pope Pius XII and Padre Pio.  Her connection with her "WAC buddies" continued throughout her life.  After the death of her father and older brother she attended a commercial art school in Chicago.  She then worked in advertising studios both in Chicago and in Milwaukee   Margaret was well into her 40's when she

entered our community on September 8, 1958.  She received the habit on April 25, 1959
with the name of Sr Mary Josephine.   A year later she was professed and three years later celebrated her final profession.   For ten years she taught art to the grade school students.  Her art is everywhere adding beauty to our monastery.  Then the slow loss of her sight curtailed her activities and triggered again a tendency to depression which was a real cross for her.  Congestive heart failure also wore her down and she was put on hospice care.  On March 12, 2009 she went home to God, just six days shprt of her 93rd birthday.   We ask you to say a prayer for her and for us .. 
 
 

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