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All for the love of God
 With
busy hands and happy hearts, seven Sisters Servants of Jesus make their
presence known on the Shrine grounds every day and in many ways! They
operate the Gift and Book Shop, maintain and decorate the chapel and
public holy places and provide meals in the Shrine Residence.
Their association with the Shrine came about in 1973 when Director
Leonard Bachman S.T., ran into a nun who was the sister of an old
friend, a Capuchan priest he helped rescue from a Polish concentration
camp in World War II.
While the story of this friendship is more complicated than can be
detailed here, it was the Providence of God that enabled Fr. Bachman to
bring Sister Agnes, the first of the order to emigrate to the US. She
was working at a neighboring parish when she met Fr. Bachman, and not
long afterward, she accepted a position at the Shrine, while she awaited
the arrival of fellow nuns who had been cleared for arrival, thanks to
Fr. Bachman. Four young women arrived, ready to work, eagerly accepted
his offer for a vacant house on the Shrine property.
The
rest is history, except they have grown in numbers and duties. As the
years, unfolded the women took their Mission Order “as handmaids of the
Lord” to heart, and work quietly, prayerfully and lovingly to serve the
Lord in exerting moral and spiritual influence to whomever they
encounter. And today that influence extends to the thousands of
pilgrims who visit our Gift & Book Shop, to the extended Shrine Family
with whom they come in contact each day, and in the outside community
where they serve with love and diligence. |
