Sisters of Charity of Nazareth

A Life Devoted to Spiritual Care

2010-07-27T10:08:00.002-04:00

In 1812, the Sisters of Charity (SCN) began their works of education and health care in the wilderness of Kentucky. In 1952, a gentle legacy of caring was established when Memorial Hospital was founded in Chattanooga by the SCN.

Today, Memorial Health Care System, which includes Memorial North Park in Hixson, is Chattanooga’s only faith-based hospital system. Sister Celine Osbourn, is the remaining Sister of Charity of Nazareth in Chattanooga and serves as the Spiritual Care Representative at Memorial North Park. A unique figure and a vital part of Memorial Health Care System, Sister Celine is respected and admired for her servant leadership.

The Journey to Chattanooga

Sister Celine, the middle child of ten in a Catholic family, grew up in Springfield, Kentucky. At the age of 18, she joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and spent more than 35 years in education and principalship with a Master’s degree in educational administration. The journey to Chattanooga started with her roommate, Sister Thomas de Sales, SCN. “She was the last Sister of Charity of Nazareth to serve as Memorial Hospital’s chief executive officer,” Sister Celine, recalls. “I came to Chattanooga in 1993 to serve a ministry in the hospital that had meant so very much to her. Since the doors first opened we’ve had 101 sisters serving at Memorial. Our desire was to have people of all faiths feel comfortable and supported in their spiritual needs as well as their physical and emotional ones.”

“The day Sister Celine walked through the door our entire culture changed,” says Jerry McCrary, house administrator at North Park Hospital when Memorial bought it in 1998. “A new dimension was added, and it was faith.”

One of her first priorities was a chapel where people could go to meditate and pray. Built entirely with donations from friends and hospital employees, the Christ the Healer chapel is open to everyone and features beautiful stained glass windows depicting Biblical scenes of healing.

Patient Advocacy

“Sister Celine visits every single patient every day,” says Deb Moore, senior vice president and administrator for Memorial North Park Hospital. “Even if only for a few minutes, she is expressing care and compassion. Sometimes people just need to talk, and other times they might have a deeper concern like financial worries or end of life issues.”

Ms. Moore has seen Sister Celine play a critical role in representing the patient’s wishes when it is not their desire to continue with extreme measures to extend their life. She is able to convey the feelings of the patient and ease the family anxiety, bringing calm to an emotional situation.

As Mr. McCrary starts his evening as house administrator, he values the feedback she provides about patients like those newly diagnosed with cancer or families with special needs.

“Recently we had a family so poor that they had no financial means to feed themselves, and they were determined to be here for their acutely ill family member,” Jerry recalls. “Sister Celine arranged for their meals to be provided by the hospital.”

A Healing Mission

“Sister Celine is an integral part of who we are, and she helps us remember our roots,” says Sister Eileen Wrobleski, CSC, senior vice president of Mission Integration for Memorial Health Care System and a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. “She not only attends to the spiritual needs of the patients and their families but also participates in meetings and activities to help maintain an awareness of the organization’s mission and values.”

As the top executive for Memorial North Park, Deb Moore describes Sister Celine as a prayer partner and a spiritual mentor. “I always discuss with her the strategic steps for the hospital to be sure that the way we are making progress is measured against our values and that our mission is reflected in how we are making those decisions.”

The expressions of those core values – Reverence, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence – are seen and heard throughout the hospital in many of the works of Sister Celine, including the Healing Garden, the artwork in the patient rooms, the music in the hallways before Christmas provided by local church choirs, the donation of medications, equipment and supplies to Belize, the participation of department employees in delivering the noon prayer over the public address system and the annual Blessing of the Hands.

Executive Assistant Cindy Carroll says, “Sister Celine’s work extends to the support staff too. She gives me a special blessing as she touches my hands, and this reminds me why I am here.”

A Love For Life

“People often have an image of nuns that evolves as they get to know us and discover that we like to have fun like anybody else,” says Sister Eileen. “For example, Sister [Celine] and I both like football.”

An avid fan of Notre Dame football and Kentucky Wildcats basketball, Sister Celine has been known to host a Kentucky Derby party complete with a fancy hat contest.

“She knows her jockeys!” laughs Betsy Kammerdiener, Memorial Hospital chaplain and Baptist ordained minister. “I’ve worked with Sisters from many different congregations, and she is a wonderful example of their spirit. At Memorial North Park she has set the tone for what good ministry looks like, embracing people from all races and denominations.”

The Future With Sister Celine

At 82, Sister Celine has no thoughts of retiring, and she is leading a new program for SCN Associates to carry on their legacy and history. Betsy Kammerdiener and Cindy Carroll are both participating in the two-year program of classes and retreats that give them the chance to connect with the spirit of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and continue their ministry at Memorial, in Chattanooga, and around the world – keeping a little piece of Sister Celine in their hearts forever.

Taking a Look

2010-07-22T16:13:00.002-04:00

Invited community gets sneak peak at new area hospital

The Times-Tribune

CORBIN — By Carl Keith Greene / Staff Writer

The ribbon was cut and invited community leaders got their first look inside the new St. Joseph-London hospital on a rainy Wednesday.

The $152 million hospital’s construction began about two years ago and is expected to open Aug. 19 when patients will be transported from the existing facility in downtown to the new building.

Along with patients, some 1,000 employees will populate the 340,000 square-foot building with 120 patient rooms, six surgical suites and five heart catheterization laboratories.

The hospital has on its medical staff some 165 active and affiliate medical staff members.

A circular chapel bearing a stained glass window in the shape of a cross, with each of the tiny glass portions of the cross engraved with a Biblical verse, is just off the entrance.

An atrium style lobby greets patients and visitors with plenty of light and plenty of welcome.

Along with the latest medical technology, the hospital features expansive interior spaces, original artwork and all patient rooms are for single occupancy.

Outside is a lake that can be viewed from the Fountain View Cafe, the hospital’s cafeteria which will be open from 6:30 a.m. to midnight.

Along with the lake will be a Healing Garden.

Wednesday, the hospital was dedicated by Ronald W. Gainer, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington.

In his homily, Gainer said, “When Jesus healed, he wanted his contemporaries to know the kingdom of his Father had dawned upon them. And these miracles of bringing people who were broken and ill and sick to wholeness was a sign of God’s will for us, a sign of he presence of the kingdom.”

He noted that after Pentecost, the ministry of healing and preaching the presence of the kingdom was passed on to the church.

“In our catholic community of faith, we have a proud and centuries-long history and legacy of continuing the work of God’s healing through the hospitals and various health care services that we have tried to sponsor and provide,” he added.

The bishop was followed by St. Joseph Health System’s president and CEO, Gene Woods.

He called the opening of St. Joseph-London as one of “the most anticipated” openings of all in the St. Joseph system.

“This building and the state-of-the-art technology that will now pour forth will enable us to take care even to another level,” he added.

Next came Elizabeth Wendeln, of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, who bought the hospital in 1946 from London physician H.V. Pennington, who built the hospital in 1926.

She is the secretary of the St. Joseph Health System Board.

She recalled the early days of the hospital, then called Marymount.

One of the items from the London newspaper she quoted was, “Mr. H.V. Pennington offers the purchase of the Pennington Hospital to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at the cost of $120,000. This does not include one mobile General Electric x-ray, one Victor ultra-violet machine or two microscopes that are now needed in another laboratory. It does include nine-and-a-half acres of land, all the buildings, three cows, one mule and all the chickens.”

London’s Mike Fiechter, chair of St. Joseph Health System Board said, “As with many of you, Marymount Hospital, and now St. Joseph, have had a powerful impact on my life and the life of my family. I was born there in 1956. My sisters were born there and I understand the legacy of care that they offer.”

He described the new facility as patient-centered.

Kentucky State Sen. David Williams told those present, “This building that’s here today and the care that is represented that will come in the future has a statewide impact.”

Mayor Troy Rudder gave the final presentation.

“We are truly, truly honored to be in the presence of so many people who make such a difference in our community,” he began.

“I have found a proverb, ‘He who has health has hope. And he who has hope has everything.’ St. Joe, you’re our hope. You’re the hope of all the people in time of distress, time of illness. You provide quality care for all of us. You are our hope.”

Following the mayor, Gainer blessed the hospital and the new crucifixes that are to be hung in the building and the ribbon was cut.

A large group of visitors toured the new facility.

From 5-9 p.m. Friday, a Community Celebration and Sneak Preview Party will be held with facility tours, refreshments, Bluegrass music and giveaways.

And Saturday, July 31, from 1-3 p.m., an expectant parents reception will be held.

Remembering St. Vincent's

2010-07-22T16:05:00.001-04:00

The St. Vincent's Home for Boys in Roanoke was torn down in 2008 to make room for a church parking lot. A new memorial marks the spot where the orphanage stood. WVTF's Rhonda Miller has more from a former St. Vincent's boy who says a good life begins wherever you are.

Garifuna Religious Sisters Honored In Los Angeles

2010-07-19T14:35:00.002-04:00

From Village View Post

About six months ago, after a visit to the Mother House of the the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mrs. Anita Martinez conceived the idea of bringing all the Garifuna religious sisters to Los Angeles to recognize, honor, and celebrate them for their great service to God, our church and humanity. The first thing that Mrs. Martinez did was form a committee of twenty-two talented individuals. She then divided the committee into several sub-committees, and went about the arduous task of identifying and locating the sisters. When it was all over, they had located fifteen sisters – ten from Belize: Sr. Joan Flores, Sr. Evelyn Estrada, Sr.Josita Ogaldez, Sr. Esther Marie Estero, Sr. Mary Rebecca Carlos Castillo, Sr. Jean Martinez and Sr. Veronica Ruth Lambey, all Sisters of the Holy Family; Sr. Mary Avila Avila and Sr. Mary Julia Apolonio, both Oblate Sisters of Providence and Sr. Barbara Flores, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth. Four of the sisters hail from Honduras. They are: Sr. Mary Felicia Avila, an Oblate Sister of Providence, Hermana Nolvia Manaiza from the Missionares de Nuestra Senora de la Presentacion; Hermana Maria Euzebia Chebita Avila Benedith, from the Missionara Claretina Religiosos Maria Imaculada, and Hermana Leonarda Martinez Lalin belonging to Hermanas Oblatas al Divino Amor. The only Guatemalan in the group is Hermana Flory Leiva from Livingston, serving in the Hermanas Escolares de San Francisco order. “At first it was difficult rounding up all these sisters because initially I was told that there were no Garifuna religious sisters in Honduras,”said Mrs. Martinez, chair of the committee. “This was hard to accept so I kept asking around until I got the names of Sister Leonarda Lalin and later Sister Nolvia Manaiza and made contact with them,” she concluded.

The celebration began with a welcome reception at the home of Mrs. Anita Martinez, where all the sisters had gathered on Friday afternoon, to meet and greet each other, and members of the committee. “It was a joy meeting and reconnecting with my fellow Garifuna Sisters,” said Sister Mary Avila Avila. “Having also celebrated two weeks ago in New York City - a celebration given by my cousin, Claudette Sacasa, and her committee, and surrounded by family and friends, I can truthfully say that this recognition of the Garifuna Sisters here in Los Angeles filled my cup to overflow. What an awesome way to conclude my 50th anniversary. I give thanks to God for all who have supported me in my religious life,” said Sister Avila. At the welcome reception the sisters were treated to a variety of Garifuna and Belizean dishes and delicacies.

The next day, Saturday, the community gathered at Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini Church for a Thanksgiving Mass. The celebrant was Father Vincent Musaby'Imana, a priest from Uganda, Africa. He was assisted by three Garifuna deacons - Deacon Alvin Lambey, from the Diocese of Belize, Deacon Harold Sampson, from the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and yours truly, Deacon Nieves Hernandez, from the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona. I was also the Homilist. In my homily, I acknowledged each of the sisters individually and shared personal stories and anecdotes about them. I told the approximately three hundred or so well wishers how wonderful it was for a change to honor and celebrate people deserving of recognition, honor and celebrity like our sisters – people who had dedicated their lives in serving God, his church and his people; instead of honoring and celebrating people like movie stars, athletes, musicians and politicians, who were not always worthy to be honored and celebrated. Following the Mass, everyone proceeded to the church’s parish hall where a dinner reception and awards program had been planned for the sisters.

The program consisted of performances by local Garifuna artists, and a keynote address given by Deacon Alvin Lambey, who had traveled all the way from Belize with his wife, Eleanor, to attend the celebrations. In his keynote address, Deacon Lambey made the point that although the sisters may not have educated and interacted with all Belizeans, including himself, that their goodness, contributions and hard work had in some way benefited those they did not touch directly through those they were able to touch. He concluded his remarks by thanking the sisters for their hard work and contributions, and wished all of them well. The evening concluded with each of the sisters being awarded a plaque from the committee and each giving a speech. They each expressed their gratitude to the committee for bringing them to Los Angeles to be honored in such a beautiful and meaningful way.

The next day Sunday, the sisters were treated to a brunch at Shanghai Red’s Restaurant in Marina Del Rey, California, and then taken on a limousine tour where they visited several historical landmarks in Los Angeles. Following the tour, the sisters were treated to dinner at Mar’s Caribbean Gardens Restaurant in Gardena, California. “The sisters had a wonderful time this weekend,” said Ms. Helen Laurie, a member of the committee, who was responsible for producing the beautiful Thanksgiving Mass Booklets and the Commemorative Brochures. “I am delighted to have been part of the preparations to celebrate these awe-inspiring women of God. It is a blessing to have made their acquaintance and be spiritually inspired by their love and commitment to God and humanity,” she concluded.

From the looks of everything the weekend was a success, thanks to Mrs. Anita Martinez and the Garifuna Sisters Recognition Committee, and to all those who in some way, contributed to the success of the celebrations.

"Following the Mass, everyone proceeded to the church’s parish hall where a dinner reception and awards program had been planned for the sisters."

Celebrating 50 Years

2010-07-09T13:47:00.004-04:00

Members of the 1960 Entrance Class from Pittsburgh and Nazareth spent a week together at Dunbar Retreat House in Dunbar, PA, July 1–8, 2010.

SCNs Ann Carol Mann, Barbara VonBokern, Connie Tarallo, Corrine Giel, Donna Marie Palya, Janice Downs, LaVerne Sihelnik, Lorena Fleischmann, Mary Anne Burkardt, Sarah Marie Geier, Sharen Baldy, and Therese Arru spent time together sharing culinary arts, telling stories, sharing memories of novitiate days and early mission experiences, laughing, crying, and enjoying the beauty of our 'home' there as well as other scenic attractions in the area.

Prayer times together added to the depth of sharing which helped everyone get to know one another in a very special way. The highlight of the time was visiting the Sisters at St. Louise convent — sharing a meal with them, having the 'grand tour' of their home, and then visiting the Sisters living in Lourdes Hall and Caritas Apartment.

We left tearfully and gratefully with a song in our hearts: "Ubi Caritas et amor — Ubit Caritas Deus ibi est!"

A Soft Spot for Circuitry

2010-07-07T10:57:00.004-04:00

From the New York Times

Nothing Eileen Oldaker tried could calm her mother when she called from the nursing home, disoriented and distressed in what was likely the early stages of dementia. So Ms. Oldaker hung up, dialed the nurses’ station and begged them to get Paro.

Paro is a robot modeled after a baby harp seal. It trills and paddles when petted, blinks when the lights go up, opens its eyes at loud noises and yelps when handled roughly or held upside down. Two microprocessors under its artificial white fur adjust its behavior based on information from dozens of hidden sensors that monitor sound, light, temperature and touch. It perks up at the sound of its name, praise and, over time, the words it hears frequently.

“Oh, there’s my baby,” Ms. Oldaker’s mother, Millie Lesek, exclaimed that night last winter when a staff member delivered the seal to her. “Here, Paro, come to me.”

“Meeaakk,” it replied, blinking up at her through long lashes.

Janet Walters, the staff member at Vincentian Home in Pittsburgh who recalled the incident, said she asked Mrs. Lesek if she would watch Paro for a little while.

“I need someone to baby-sit,” she told her.

“Don’t rush,” Mrs. Lesek instructed, stroking Paro’s antiseptic coat in a motion that elicited a wriggle of apparent delight. “He can stay the night with me.”

After years of effort to coax empathy from circuitry, devices designed to soothe, support and keep us company are venturing out of the laboratory. Paro, its name derived from the first sounds of the words “personal robot,” is one of a handful that take forms that are often odd, still primitive and yet, for at least some early users, strangely compelling.

For recovering addicts, doctors at the University of Massachusetts are testing a wearable sensor designed to discern drug cravings and send text messages with just the right blend of tough love.

For those with a hankering for a custom-built companion and $125,000 to spend, a talking robotic head can be modeled on the personality of your choice. It will smile at its own jokes and recognize familiar faces.

For dieters, a 15-inch robot with a touch-screen belly, big eyes and a female voice sits on the kitchen counter and offers encouragement after calculating their calories and exercise.

“Would you come back tomorrow to talk?” the robot coach asks hopefully at the end of each session. “It’s good if we can discuss your progress every day.”

Robots guided by some form of artificial intelligence now explore outer space, drop bombs, perform surgery and play soccer. Computers running artificial intelligence software handle customer service calls and beat humans at chess and, maybe, “Jeopardy!”

Machines as Companions

But building a machine that fills the basic human need for companionship has proved more difficult. Even at its edgiest, artificial intelligence cannot hold up its side of a wide-ranging conversation or, say, tell by an expression when someone is about to cry. Still, the new devices take advantage of the innate soft spot many people have for objects that seem to care — or need someone to care for them.

Their appearances in nursing homes, schools and the occasional living room are adding fuel to science fiction fantasies of machines that people can relate to as well as rely on. And they are adding a personal dimension to a debate over what human responsibilities machines should, and should not, be allowed to undertake.

Ms. Oldaker, a part-time administrative assistant, said she was glad Paro could keep her mother company when she could not. In the months before Mrs. Lesek died in March, the robot became a fixture in the room even during her daughter’s own frequent visits.

“He likes to lie on my left arm here,” Mrs. Lesek would tell her daughter. “He’s learned some new words,” she would report.

Ms. Oldaker readily took up the game, if that is what it was.

“Here, Mom, I’ll take him,” she would say, boosting Paro onto her own lap when her mother’s food tray arrived.

Even when their ministrations extended beyond the robot’s two-hour charge, Mrs. Lesek managed to derive a kind of maternal satisfaction from the seal’s sudden stillness.

“I’m the only one who can put him to sleep,” Mrs. Lesek would tell her daughter when the battery ran out.

“He was very therapeutic for her, and for me too,” Ms. Oldaker said. “It was nice just to see her enjoying something.”

Like pet therapy without the pet, Paro may hold benefits for patients who are allergic, and even those who are not. It need not be fed or cleaned up after, it does not bite, and it may, in some cases, offer an alternative to medication, a standard recourse for patients who are depressed or hard to control.

In Japan, about 1,000 Paros have been sold to nursing homes, hospitals and individual consumers. In Denmark, government health officials are trying to quantify its effect on blood pressure and other stress indicators. Since the robot went on sale in the United States late last year, a few elder care facilities have bought one; several dozen others, hedging their bets, have signed rental agreements with the Japanese manufacturer.

But some social critics see the use of robots with such patients as a sign of the low status of the elderly, especially those with dementia. As the technology improves, argues Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it will only grow more tempting to substitute Paro and its ilk for a family member, friend — or actual pet — in an ever-widening number of situations.

“Paro is the beginning,” she said. “It’s allowing us to say, ‘A robot makes sense in this situation.’ But does it really? And then what? What about a robot that reads to your kid? A robot you tell your troubles to? Who among us will eventually be deserving enough to deserve people?”

But if there is an argument to be made that people should aspire to more for their loved ones than an emotional rapport with machines, some suggest that such relationships may not be so unfamiliar. Who among us, after all, has not feigned interest in another? Or abruptly switched off their affections, for that matter?

In any case, the question, some artificial intelligence aficionados say, is not whether to avoid the feelings that friendly machines evoke in us, but to figure out how to process them.

“We as a species have to learn how to deal with this new range of synthetic emotions that we’re experiencing — synthetic in the sense that they’re emanating from a manufactured object,” said Timothy Hornyak, author of “Loving the Machine,” a book about robots in Japan, where the world’s most rapidly aging population is showing a growing acceptance of robotic care. “Our technology,” he argues, “is getting ahead of our psychology.”

More proficient at emotional bonding and less toylike than their precursors — say, Aibo the metallic dog or the talking Furby of Christmas crazes past — these devices are still unlikely to replace anyone’s best friend. But as the cost of making them falls, they may be vying for a silicon-based place in our affections.

Strangely Compelling

Marleen Dean, the activities manager at Vincentian Home, where Mrs. Lesek was a resident, was not easily won over. When the home bought six Paro seals with a grant from a local government this year, “I thought, ‘What are they doing, paying $6,000 for a toy that I could get at a thrift store for $2?’ ” she said.

So she did her own test, giving residents who had responded to Paro a teddy bear with the same white fur and eyes that also opened and closed. “No reaction at all,” she reported.

Vincentian now includes “Paro visits” in its daily roster of rehabilitative services, including aromatherapy and visits from real pets. Agitated residents are often calmed by Paro; perpetually unresponsive patients light up when it is placed in their hands.

“It’s something about how it shimmies and opens its eyes when they talk to it,” Ms. Dean said, still somewhat mystified. “It seems like it’s responding to them.”

Even when it is not. Part of the seal’s appeal, according to Dr. Takanori Shibata, the computer scientist who invented Paro with financing from the Japanese government, stems from a kind of robotic sleight of hand. Scientists have observed that people tend to dislike robots whose behavior does not match their preconceptions. Because the technology was not sophisticated enough to conjure any animal accurately, he chose one that was unfamiliar, but still lovable enough that people could project their imaginations onto it. “People think of Paro,” he said, “as ‘like living.’ ”

It is a process he — and others — have begun calling “robot therapy.”

At the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington on a recent sunny afternoon, about a dozen residents and visitors from a neighboring retirement home gathered in the cafeteria for their weekly session. The guests brought their own slightly dingy-looking Paros, and in wheelchairs and walkers they took turns grooming, petting and crooning to the two robotic seals.

Paro’s charms did not work on everyone.

“I’m not absolutely convinced,” said Mary Anna Roche, 88, a former newspaper reporter. The seal’s novelty, she suggested, would wear off quickly.

But she softened when she looked at her friend Clem Smith running her fingers through Paro’s fur.

“What are they feeding you?” Ms. Smith, a Shakespeare lover who said she was 98, asked the seal. “You’re getting fat.”

A stickler for accuracy, Ms. Roche scolded her friend. “You’re 101, remember? I was at your birthday!”

The seal stirred at her tone.

“Oh!” Ms. Roche exclaimed. “He’s opening his eyes.”

As the hour wore on, staff members observed that the robot facilitated human interaction, rather than replaced it.

“This is a nice gathering,” said Philip Richardson, who had spoken only a few words since having a stroke a few months earlier.

Dorothy Marette, the clinical psychologist supervising the cafeteria klatch, said she initially presumed that those who responded to Paro did not realize it was a robot — or that they forgot it between visits.

Yet several patients whose mental faculties are entirely intact have made special visits to her office to see the robotic harp seal.

“I know that this isn’t an animal,” said Pierre Carter, 62, smiling down at the robot he calls Fluffy. “But it brings out natural feelings.”

Then Dr. Marette acknowledged an observation she had made of her own behavior: “It’s hard to walk down the hall with it cooing and making noises and not start talking to it. I had a car that I used to talk to that was a lot less responsive.”

Accepting a Trusty Tool

That effect, computer science experts said, stems from what appears to be a basic human reflex to treat objects that respond to their surroundings as alive, even when we know perfectly well that they are not.

Teenagers wept over the deaths of their digital Tamagotchi pets in the late 1990s; some owners of Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners are known to dress them up and give them nicknames.

”When something responds to us, we are built for our emotions to trigger, even when we are 110 percent certain that it is not human,” said Clifford Nass, a professor of computer science at Stanford University. “Which brings up the ethical question: Should you meet the needs of people with something that basically suckers them?”

An answer may lie in whether one signs on to be manipulated.

For Amna Carreiro, a program manager at the M.I.T. Media Lab who volunteered to try a prototype of Autom, the diet coach robot, the point was to lose weight. After naming her robot Maya (“Just something about the way it looked”) and dutifully entering her meals and exercise on its touch screen for a few nights, “It kind of became part of the family,” she said. She lost nine pounds in six weeks.

Cory Kidd, who developed Autom as a graduate student at M.I.T., said that eye contact was crucial to the robot’s appeal and that he had opted for a female voice because of research showing that people see women as especially supportive and helpful. If a user enters an enthusiastic “Definitely!” to the question “Will you tell me what you’ve eaten today?” Autom gets right down to business. A reluctant “If you insist” elicits a more coaxing tone. It was the blend of the machine’s dispassion with its personal attention that Ms. Carreiro found particularly helpful.

“It would say, ‘You did not fulfill your goal today; how about 15 minutes of extra walking tomorrow?’ ” she recalled. “It was always ready with a Plan B.”

Aetna, the insurance company, said it hoped to set up a trial to see whether people using it stayed on their diets longer than those who used other programs when the robot goes on sale next year.

Of course, Autom’s users can choose to lie. That may be less feasible with an emotion detector under development with a million-dollar grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that is aimed at substance abusers who want to stay clean.

Dr. Edward Boyer of the University of Massachusetts Medical School plans to test the system, which he calls a “portable conscience,” on Iraq veterans later this year. The volunteers will enter information, like places or people or events that set off cravings, and select a range of messages that they think will be most effective in a moment of temptation.

Then they don wristbands with sensors that detect physiological information correlated with their craving. With a spike in pulse not related to exertion, for instance, a wireless signal would alert the person’s cellphone, which in turn would flash a message like “What are you doing now? Is this a good time to talk?” It might grow more insistent if there was no reply. (Hallmark has been solicited for help in generating evocative messages.)

With GPS units and the right algorithms, such a system could tactfully suggest other routes when recovering addicts approached places that hold particular temptation — like a corner where they used to buy drugs. It could show pictures of their children or play a motivational song.

“It works when you begin to see it as a trustworthy companion,” Dr. Boyer said. “It’s designed to be there for you.”

Sisters travel to Botswana

2010-07-03T12:43:00.012-04:00

Sisters Susan Gatz and Elaine McCarron left Louisville, Kentucky yesterday to travel to Botswana. Sister Susan, Vice President of the SCN Congregation, will visit the ministry sites for two weeks. Sister Elaine will stay for two months to help in numerous ways.

Sisters and friends gathered at St. Vincent Church in Nazareth, KY to bless the travelers during the morning liturgy. Then, a group of Sisters and Associates bid them farewell at the airport.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth began ministry in Botswana in September 2000.

Botswana is in Africa, just north of the country of South Africa. It is about the size of Texas. Approximately 1.6 million people live in Botswana, which has a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection.

SCN Family Ministries in Botswana include:

- Outreach for those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS

- Day care services for children in need, including those orphaned because of HIV/AIDS

- Administering a 10-bed Hospice for those affected by HIV/AIDS

- Skills training for women so they can support themselves and their families

- Efforts to provide easier access to basic necessities like water

American Healthcare Association Selects Nazareth Home for Award

2010-07-02T14:53:00.001-04:00

The American Healthcare Association National Quality Award Program has selected Nazareth Home, Louisville, Ky., as a “Bronze – Commitment to Quality” award winner for 2010. This is the first year they have been awarded this distinction. This award is part of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award program designed to recognize business and health care organizations for performance excellence. To put this in perspective, there are roughly 16,000 nursing homes in the United States. This award has been given to 1,543 nursing homes since the inception of the program and was awarded to 496 facilities in 46 states this year. There are less than 40 nursing homes nationally in the two higher categories of Silver and Gold. In Kentucky, nine nursing centers have been awarded the Bronze distinction in 2010.

Update on Shooting at Mokama

2010-07-01T11:22:00.005-04:00

The SCN Family is asking for prayers following an attack at the Mokama, India campus where SCNs live and minister.

The victim, Father Michael Ignatius, is recovering following surgery. He was attacked on June 28 in the Rectory which is located on the same campus where the SCNs first began their ministries more than six decades ago. Ministries on campus include a hospital, hostels, and a nursing school.

According to Father Michael, three men in masks burst into the room where he was watching television and began firing shots. Several shots were fired, fracturing both of his hands. Father Michael was alone and it is believed the door to the parish house may have been left unlocked. Father Michael was taken to Nazareth Hospital in Mokama and transferred to Kurji Holy Family in Patna, India. He underwent surgery so doctors could further explore and clean the wounds to investigate for internal injury. According to the attending surgeon, the eight incoming and outgoing bullet holes are not life threatening.

Father Michael says that it is a mystery for him why these attackers came for his life. “I have no enmity with any of the Catholics of the parish,” says Father Michael. He also says it is something like a nightmare when he thinks of how he faced the last bullet which they aimed straight to his head from a close angle. He had just a fraction of a second to react quickly to block the way of the incoming bullet with a chair. Father Michael says he will go back to Mokama if asked to do so. Father Alex Vedamackiam has left Mokama and is staying in another city until the Archbishop returns later in July.

The school and the hostel for the boys and girls have closed for the week. The parish house also remains closed. There is an uneasy silence all around says Father Gladis. Sisters in Mokama are safe but concerned. They have played a key role in helping to care for Father Michael. The hospital employees and nurses are also shaken.

The attack is under investigation.

More in the Union of Catholic Asian News: Masked Men Shoot and Injure Priest in Bihar

Masked Men Shoot and Injure Priest in Bihar

2010-06-30T11:59:00.004-04:00

Story by Malini Manjoly, SCN from Union of Catholic Asian News

Three masked men shot and wounded a Catholic priest in Mokama in the Indian state of Bihar last night.

The motives for the attack are unclear.

Father Michael Ignatius, the local parish priest, received four gunshot wounds which shattered his hands but are not life threatening. He was rushed by police escort to Kurji Holy Family Hospital, Patna, where he is still being treated.

Father Ignatius says he was watching television at his residence when the attack took place. The men came into his unlocked room, fired at him and left. As he fell to the ground and called for help, they returned and fired again. He claimed they were aiming for his chest but he blocked the bullets with his hands.

Assistant parish priest Father Alex Vedamackiam was in his room at the time and was unharmed.

The watchman at the residence recognized one of the attackers, a local Catholic, who has now fled. Police have taken his younger brother into custody.

The attackers’ motives are still under investigation. Police have ruled out robbery as the watchman’s cell phone was the only thing stolen.

Mokama is a notorious crime black spot. Father Matthew Uzhuthal, vicar general of Patna archdiocese, was stabbed to death in 2005 by a youth who allegedly demanded money. The murdered cleric had also been parish priest in Mokama for several years.

At MDA camp, ‘you don't see the disability, you just see the person'

2010-06-28T09:45:00.002-04:00

From Southern Maryland Newspapers Online

Philip Bouyer, 11, gets a ride around Camp Maria in the sidecar of motorcyclist Don "Fuzzy" Warren of Dundalk as the Baltimore Metro Harley-Davidson Chapter visited the Muscular Dystrophy Association Camp on Wednesday to offer rides.

When she was 10, and preparing for a summer camp vacation at Camp Maria Retreat Center on Breton Bay, Claire Menke was a bit apprehensive about an extended trip away from family, friends and the familiar scenery of home.

"I was a bit of a mama's girl," said Menke of Middletown, now 15. "Now, not so much. I was a little scared because it was my first time away from home for a long period of time. My first two years, I called home every night. But, you learn to adjust."

Menke has attended MDA Camp at Camp Maria every summer since, except for last year. In 2009, MDA Camp was canceled due to concerns about the H1N1 flu virus. For Menke, the camp provides a welcome change from the routine of life.

From last Sunday through tomorrow, Saturday, Camp Maria is hosting 57 campers with neuromuscular diseases for horseback riding, magic shows, K-9 demonstrations, pinewood derby competitions, dances, campfires and other activities many kids take for granted. The children, ages 6 to 17, come from all across the state.

"Sunday is a blur. Monday and Tuesday we're bonding. Wednesdays, we let them wander off, a little," says camp counselor Dennis Style, a postal worker from Baltimore and a volunteer at the camp since 1997. "After the first day you don't see the disability, you just see the person."

"At home I don't really get out much, aside from school," Menke said. "But camp is a very wide-open place for kids with challenges, or without challenges. It's very accessible."

For many MDA campers, this may be the only week of the year to relax and be seen as an individual, instead of as a person with a disability. There are all sorts of activities available, from scavenger hunts and crafts projects to a wheelchair-based football game created by a former camper. They fish, crab, ride ponies or motorcycles or just enjoy the scenery and relaxed atmosphere at Camp Maria.

"We let them gravitate toward what they're interested in," Style said. "We try not to push, just encourage."

Each camper is paired with a volunteer camp counselor who stays with them for the entire week. There are also several "floating" counselors, available to give the volunteers a break when they need it. Many of the 60 counselors who worked at MDA Camp this year are returning volunteers.

"The counselors get so much more out of it than the kids do," said Rachel Lewkowicz, the camp's director. "For the kids, it's the best week of the year, and for the counselors it's the best week of their year, too. It's a little, happy bubble."

Angela Penn has volunteered as a counselor every summer for the past 35 years. She first heard about MDA Camp from a radio ad recruiting volunteers.

"I had already chosen my vacation week," and it was the week MDA Camp was scheduled to need volunteers, Penn said. Though she first got involved out of a desire to help children, Penn has found that the camp benefits her, too.

"It's an incredible experience. It doesn't matter how much money you make or what you do for a living," Penn said. "All that superficial, you leave it [at home]. It's been a blessing."

The counselors are trained to keep the children healthy and safe and then get out of the way so the campers can have a good time. The camp also has an all-volunteer MAC team: medical and activity coordinators include a doctor, nurse, physical and respiratory therapists and a lifeguard. Having a fully qualified staff and abundant counselors helps parents feel comfortable about sending their children to camp far from home.

"For some parents, this is the only week of vacation they get in a year, and a break to be with their other kids. It's just as special for them," Lewkowicz said. She and other MDA Camp staff reassure parents that though everyday life is full of challenges, Camp Maria's MDA Camp is different.

"Let us have them. We know how to handle them here. We're safe here. Go take a breather."

Joe and Racquel Calvert of Baltimore County came to Camp Maria for a special visitors day with their 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, who will attend the camp next summer. The Calverts were impressed with the facility, the staff and the air of camaraderie among campers and counselors. For their family, the prospect of a week's safe haven — in a place that focuses on fun — can give hope for the whole year.

"As a parent, you want to give your kids the best possible experience, and sometimes no amount of money can do that," Joe Calvert said. "But here, with all these kids, the disability doesn't even matter."

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nepal

2010-06-25T08:23:00.002-04:00

SCNs in Nepal

This video highlights the work in ministry of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nepal.

The mission of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth is to work for justice in solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially the economically poor and women, and to care for the earth.

SCN Family Ministries in Nepal include:

Rehabilitation of mentally-ill women
A school for physically/mentally challenged children
Schools for elementary through high school students
Non-formal education for village and street children
Adult literacy training in marketable skills in cottage industries
Centers for holistic care
Human rights education for women
Development centers which help women become leaders and transform the status of women in their home villages

Catholic Hospital Boosts HIV/AIDS Nursing Care

2010-06-24T13:38:00.002-04:00

By Malini Manjaly, SCN

A Catholic hospital in India’s Bihar state, which has 90,000 HIV/AIDS patients, has conducted a meeting to address the nursing challenges created by the pandemic.

“The main objective of the meeting was to work together in strengthening the quality of nursing education and services in the hospitals,” said T. Dileep Kumar, president of the Indian Nursing Council and nursing adviser to the Indian government.

The Nazareth Hospital in Mokama, about 60 kilometers from Patna, the state capital, organized the one-day meeting of nursing superintendents on June 21.

The hospital, the only one in the state that carries out training on the nursing of HIV/AIDS patients, has so far trained 548 nurses over 22 sessions.

More nurses need to be trained annually as India will be short of about 685,000 nurses by 2012, said Sandeep Kumar, the state government’s assistant health secretary.

“There are 90,000 HIV/AIDS-inflicted patients in Bihar and it is imperative to reduce the transmission of this disease by following universal precautions,” Kumar said.

“The quality of nursing service is very poor” due to a very low nurse-patient ratio in Bihar, he said.

The meeting was supported by:

The Indian Nursing Council
Government of Bihar Health Services
UNICEF Patna
The Futures Group under The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Lawrenceville Students Help Preserve Memories in a Jar

2010-06-18T09:40:00.002-04:00

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

When Veronica Gult's youngest son failed to pass the test to enter Carnegie Mellon University, he gave her a valuable bit of information: "Don't let anyone tell you your answers don't mean anything. They always do."

The residents at Vincentian de Marillac nursing home in Stanton Heights took his advice to heart when they answered questions about their life from students at Career Connections Charter High School in Lawrenceville.

Four students from the school presented eight residents with "memory jars" on Wednesday, which they created after interviewing residents last month. The jars contained questions and answers about the residents' lives: their childhood, family, marriage, even their funeral wishes.

"It's not an everyday thing where you meet new people and at the same time are able to look back at their history," said Alexis Holmes, 16, of Highland Park, a 10th-grader at the school.

The memory jars are part of a "Pay it Forward" initiative, now in its third year at the school. It gives the students a chance to reach out to the school's surrounding communities and interact with residents at places like food banks, shelters and nursing homes.

Nearly a month earlier, eight students traveled to Vincentian de Marillac to eat lunch with residents and talk with them one-on-one. The students asked them more than 100 questions about their past and their lives now, including whether they are afraid to die and who their best friend was as a child. Many of the students found themselves sharing things about their own lives, realizing they had more in common with the residents than they thought.

The students returned yesterday with jars, brightly decorated with ribbons, stickers and pictures to reflect the tastes of the residents. Each jar contained strips of paper that held the answers to every question the students asked.

"It was nice remembering all the things from my past," said Gult, 86. "I never realized I had forgotten so many things until I was asked a question about them."

"It's not about the activity the students are doing with the residents, it's about the connections the students are making," said Aimi Long, activities manager at Vincentian de Marillac. "The residents are getting to experience the young, and the students are getting the experience of working with the residents."

They will keep the jars in their rooms, and every day a staff member will pull a "memory" from the jar so they can talk about it.

"Not only do the residents get to go back and reminisce about things in their past, but family members and staff can learn things about the resident they never knew," Long said.

Vincentian Personal Care Announces New Administrator

2010-06-17T10:04:00.002-04:00

Vincentian Personal Care announces the appointment of Charlene Reebel, SCN, as administrator for the facility. Sister Charlene, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth (formerly Vincentian Sisters of Charity), has more than 25 years of experience in leadership positions. Most recently she served as general superior for the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Sister Charlene entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity 50 years ago and has ministered as an elementary/secondary educator, formation director, congregational leader and spiritual director. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from LaRoche College and has taken Master’s courses in administration/supervision at Duquesne University for certification in spiritual direction. In April, she completed the personal care home program at Penn State University’s Allegheny Campus and passed the Personal Care Home Administrator state licensure exam. She is a member of the Association of Personal Care Administrators and the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Association.

“I feel privileged to serve in this capacity and am grateful to have the opportunity to further the mission and charism of charity with the wonderful residents and dedicated staff at Vincentian Personal Care,” says Sister Charlene. “There is a warm and welcoming spirit present here and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Vincentian Personal Care (formerly Vincentian Assisted Living) is a 50-bed personal care facility operated by Vincentian Home and located in Pittsburgh’s North Hills.

SCN Archives Travel to Nazareth

2010-06-16T16:43:00.008-04:00

The Sisters gathered outside the Garden Entrance of St. Louise Convent in Pittsburgh, Penn., yesterday to say a prayer for a historic journey. The Sisters also prayed for the safe journey of Corrine Giel, SCN, and Michaelette Pavlik, SCN, who are driving to Nazareth, Ky., bringing with them a substantial collection of the SCN archives.

The prayer group was divided into two and the prayer stanzas were alternated. The final verse was recited by all as Colette Baran, SCN, blessed the truck and its contents and drivers with holy water. Then all sang “St. Vincent Dear and St. Louise.”

The following is the prayer that was used:

PRAYER FOR A HISTORIC JOURNEY

Blessed are You Lord our God, for you have created a wide and wonderful world

in which to travel and settle down in one place or another.

We ask your blessing upon these archives as they are about to leave on a journey

from Pittsburgh, PA to Nazareth, KY.

May You, Holy Guide of Travelers,

Be ever-near, spreading the road before them.

Free that road from harm and evil

and send as their escorts the spirits of Mother Emerentiana and the Pioneer Sisters

who journeyed from Europe to America in 1902.

On this journey, may these records take with them

the hearts of the former Vincentian sisters of Charity

wrapped in peace and joy

as they join the hearts of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in the one congregation they now form.

May these historic records have space for a mystic map

to enable all to read invisible meanings

of the many events of the journey of the Pittsburgh sisters from 1902 to 2008 .

Always displaying your Sacred Presence and your Divine compassionate love

may these archives present the events of this journey, the beautiful and the bad

as the mystery of Your holy plan.

May the blessing of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit be upon these historic records throughout this journey; may it shield them from all harm and take them in safety and in peace to their new home in Nazareth, Kentucky.

Amen

The prayer was adapted from Edward Hays', “Prayers for the Domestic Church”

Women's Vocation Retreat – Belize

2010-06-16T08:57:00.001-04:00

Carlette Gentle, SCN and Beverly Hoffman, SCN presented at the Women's Vocation Retreat June 14th, in Belize. The retreat was held at the Santa Familia Retreat Center, in the Cayo District. 12 young women prayed with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, learned about our history, and listened to Carlette's and Beverly's Vocation stories. After reflecting on the theme of Service, they created a wall mural of hearts and hands, to symbolize their individual gifts, and the values needed for service.

Priest gives a leg-up to handicapped in Nepal

2010-06-14T09:12:00.003-04:00

From Cathnews India

A Maryknoll priest who established Nepal’s first day care centers for mentally handicapped children has returned to the country for a special program to help 12 young people take control of their education.

Hong-Kong based Father Adam Gudalefsky, 82, held the program from June 9-11 for the children from three day care centers in Kathmandu.

The program to help those with learning difficulties was held at the government-run Nirmal Bal Bikas center in Kathmandu.

“We have to learn to treat these special young people as adults and target the parents and the family as well, since they are the real teachers,” Father Gudalefsky told ucanews.com.

“We have been trying to empower young people with handicaps to learn to educate themselves in some 50 countries and over 300 schools or centers throughout Asia and beyond,” said Father Gudalefsky, who is also director of the Interaid charity for needy children.

Filipino Sister Concepcion Madduma of the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation, who accompanied the priest, also conducted sessions for teachers on psychology and sex education.

“Four children from our center got the chance to prepare for adulthood by learning about their rights, responsibilities and hidden leadership qualities,” said Ganesh Parajuli a teacher at Navajyoti School.

Navajyoti was founded in 1979 by Father Gudalefsky and was Nepal’s first day care center for the mentally handicapped. It is now run by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

“After arriving here on tourist visa in 1977, three other Maryknoll priests and I conducted the first survey on mental health in Nepal.

“In 1979, we reported to the government that 15 percent of the population had mental handicaps due to poor health facilities and insufficient diet,” Father Gudalefsky said.

Members of the SCN family work for justice, serve the economically poor, and care for the earth. You can join these efforts by offering financial support to Navajyoti School.

Associate to Meet in Mexico City

2010-06-10T08:20:00.004-04:00

Felix Garza, SCNA, a board member of the National Farm Worker Ministry, has been invited to participate in a meeting sponsored by Catholic Relief Services to discuss problems immigrants face on the way to the United States. The meeting is in Mexico City, Mexico, July 5 – 7.

The shared border between Mexico and the United States has created unique cultural, social and economic ties between the two countries. Catholic Relief Services did not have a formal presence in Mexico during much of the 1980s and 1990s, but increases in poverty rates, inequality and human rights abuses prompted CRS to open a program in Mexico in 2001. Since then, CRS Mexico has worked to create alternatives to migration through farming and microfinance programs. They support the efforts of human rights and peacebuilding groups to protect indigenous people, lobby for labor rights and provide peaceful conflict resolution.

CRS Mexico provides humanitarian assistance to thousands of vulnerable migrants traveling through Mexico in search of a better life, while contributing to Catholic advocacy efforts in the United States to address immigration issues.

CRS works in partnership with Mexican church agencies, nongovernmental organizations and grass-roots associations in these efforts. In the United States, we work closely with Catholic organizations and others to develop cross-border relationships, increase fair trade opportunities and raise awareness of injustice in Mexico.

Community Garden on Nazareth Campus Flourishes

2010-06-08T08:21:00.007-04:00

The Community Garden on the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Campus is flourishing as approximately 40 gardeners tend to over 50 plots. Robbie Smith, Nelson County extension agent for horticulture, led a meeting at the beginning of the season to offer helpful tips for planting a garden, which vegetables to plant early in the season and which later, mulching and watering, and many other ideas to be successful gardeners. The garden has pathways, fencing, a water source, a message board from Master Gardeners offering tips, a compost corner and benches.

On a recent Sunday evening, several individuals were working in their gardens, sharing tips, and comparing results. Earline Hobbs, SCN, proudly showed off her first squash of the season. Her garden is free of weeds, a lesson she says she learned from her father. She pointed out the different vegetables in her plot, including a watermelon vine. “If I get a watermelon, we’ll have a party under the pavilion over there”, she chuckled.

Another gardener told about how a resident of Nazareth Villages, an independent housing unit for the elderly and persons with disabilities, is enjoying his garden plot. He always had a garden before he moved to Nazareth. So, his son planted a number of tomato plants in a plot, and each day, this resident puts on his overalls, and walks to the garden to check on them.

One gardener with a sense of humor placed a sign at the front of a plot which reads: “Exotic Herbs: They just look like weeds.”

Why I Continue To Choose Religious Life

2010-06-07T09:16:00.004-04:00

By Sister Carlette Gentle, SCN

“Jesus take the wheel. Take it from my hands, cause I can’t do this on my own. I’m letting go so give me one more chance to save me from this road I’m on. Jesus take the wheel.” This is the chorus from Carrie Underwood’s song, “Jesus Take the Wheel”. That’s exactly how I feel as a young religious today. God called me to this beautiful life and when that happened, I was no longer in control. I let go of the wheel and Jesus took hold of it.

This journey in religious life is one I think about every day. It is really not the norm to become a religious in today’s world. “Are you crazy?” “What, a nun?” “You mean you don’t want to have children and a family?” And of course, the famous “Don’t you want to have sex?” These remarks and questions are just a few of what is thrown at me when people find out that I am a Sister. I myself sit and wonder sometimes, “Why did I choose this life?” The quote from Joan Chittister comes to mind, “Once we realize that we are surrounded by fragments of the Divine, life becomes luminous.” That is indeed what I feel when I am surrounded by our Sisters. They add so much joy and light to my life that they allow me to see who I am, to share my gifts and talents, and they shone a light in my heart that made me see the needs of the world, but not just that. They taught me by example and action how to serve with compassion and genuineness. They showed me how to see the human within, despite their outer appearance and most importantly, they showed me to see God in each and every single individual.

So why do I continue to choose religious life? Because, I feel complete when I am with our Sisters. They make me have a zeal for life; a feeling that makes me smile and say this is where I belong. The little things that my community members do help me on my journey in religious life. Sending little letters of support and prayers, having an interest in what I do and how I am, encouraging me to be “ME”, working with me to enhance my gifts and talents, and most importantly, encouraging words here and there, are gestures which motivate me to stay on my journey. I am glad to say my community does this well, and in turn, it helps me to stay committed and continue to choose religious life.

Hope, this little word encompasses so much for me. H – Heart, O – Opportunities, P Perseverance and E – Energy, is what hope means to me. I need all of this to be on this journey. First of all, my heart has to be in it, and it definitely is. Secondly, this life brings forth opportunities of growth and new insight. Since religious life is not the norm, many people see it odd to even think about becoming a Sister. I choose to persevere despite what the majority of the world might think. And last of all energy. Vigor, which adds liveliness and energy to what the community already has, is needed on this journey.

Having hope allows me to bring light to darkness. Some people look at religious life as heading towards darkness since we don’t have new members coming in by the hundreds. For me, as a young religious, I don’t have time to think about darkness. I am too busy enjoying the light. My heart is in what I do. I see opportunities in this ever-changing world. I persevere in being as good a religious as I can be and when all that happens I gain energy. Energy gives me life, and in turn, I am able to give light to others. So when it comes to the future of religious life, I am not worried. I can’t dwell on what the past used to be nor on what the future might be. I am in the present, and the present I know. If I dwell on the past and worry about the future, I will miss what is in front of me today. Jesus has the wheel and he knows what he is doing. So Jesus let’s go on the journey; I’m coming along for the ride.

Sisters Fete Orders’ Merger

2010-06-04T10:25:00.005-04:00

Vincentian nuns joined Ky.-based Sisters of Charity

By Jimmy Dunn | Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette

There’s a new sign on Babcock Boulevard, just as the road in McCandless veers to the north at McKnight Road, and it could have some passers-by wondering what’s up.

After all, for more than 50 years, the stately red brick building there has been the motherhouse of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

The new sign, in green lettering on a field of white, proclaims St. Louise Convent. Erected earlier this year, it heralds a significant change for a religious order of women that has been part of the fabric of the area since it was mostly farmland. The sisters moved into the motherhouse in 1954.

After years of dialogue, discernment and discussion, 109 Vincentian Sisters of Charity transferred their vows to become Sisters of Charity of Nazareth on Nov. 15, 2008. At the time of the merger, there were 605 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

Sister Theresa Novak, former president of Vincentian Collaborative System here, explained, “As Vincentian Sisters our numbers were decreasing, and the sisters wanted to ensure that the charism and mission of St. Vincent and St. Louise that began here in Western Pennsylvania in 1902 would continue.

“We will maintain our name of Vincentian in the ministry. Our history of serving children, the elderly and the sick continues.”

The Vincentian Sisters of Charity came to America from France in 1902. A small group settled in Braddock. Before long, they put down roots in an undeveloped tract in Perrysville.

Vincentian Home was founded in 1924 and became the foundation of three additional long-term care facilities: Vincentian de Marillac, Vincentian Regency and Marian Manor, all facilities for the aging in and around Pittsburgh. The order also operates a child development center and rehabilitation service.

The Sisters of Charity’s reputation for taking care of the sick is known in other states and countries. Their Eastern Province covers ministries in India and Nepal, while ministries in Belize, Central America and Botswana, Africa, amplify the scope of their mission.

Their concern for education is evident locally with a continued association with Vincentian Academy Duquesne University college preparatory high school.

Founded by the nuns as a school for girls in 1932, Vincentian Academy became coed in 1971 and formed a partnership with Duquesne in 1995.

Their latest venture has been Vincentian Villa, an independent living community for those age 60 and older. It held a grand opening in January.

The Sisters of Charity trace their founding to the work of St. Louise de Marillac, who led the women followers of Father Vincent de Paul in caring for the prisoners and the poor of France.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth settled in Kentucky, under the leadership of Sister Catherine Spalding, who founded schools, a hospital and an orphanage. Today, Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., is named in her honor.

The winds of change began stirring for the sisters in 2002 when talks began with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. With similar missions and dwindling ranks, a need to merge was recognized.

On May 22, A Celebration of Unity in Mission and Ministry was held at the St. Louise Convent in McCandless. The sisters wanted to share the richness of the union and express gratitude to religious associates and other church members involved in the transition. Religious associates are lay people who make a commitment to the order.

A charter bus carried 40 sisters from Kentucky to join 400 well-wishers here.

Current president is Sister Mary Elizabeth Miller and vice president is Sister Susan Gatz

Sister Theresa Koffuran of India said she saw “a genuine sense of commitment in making the merger successful.”

Sister Rose Howard, a career educator from Louisville, said she regarded the merger as “a relationship blessed, that with time and toil will produce treasure.”

Nazareth Home awarded Excellence in Action Award

2010-06-02T15:53:00.003-04:00

Five Nursing Homes in Kentucky receive national honors.

My Innerview – an independent research firm awarded 519 nursing homes across the nation as the profession’s best-in-class, Excellence in Action award. This honor recognizes nursing homes that achieve high levels of excellence as demonstrated by having overall customer or workforce satisfaction levels that fall within the top ten percent of My InnerView’s database.

“This year’s award recipients are recognized and applauded by their customers and employees,” said Neil Gulsvig, President, My InnerView. “This annual award underscores the difference these nursing homes are making in the lives of their customers and staff”.

The award is presented to My InnerView customers who completed a customer (resident or family) or workforce satisfaction survey in 2009, had a minimum of 10 responses with a minimum 30 percent response rate, and scored in the top ten percent of qualifying facilities on the question “What is your recommendation of this facility to others?” or “What is your recommendation of this facility as a place to work?” in terms of the percentage of respondents rating the facility as “excellent”. Out of 5,000 nursing homes participating in the 2009 survey, 519 received Excellence in Action awards. This is the third year in a row that Nazareth Home has won this prestigious award.

Administrator, Mary Haynes, “We are honored; this award recognizes the positive relationships among residents, family members and staff. These nurturing relationships are what make Nazareth Home a great place to live, work and play.”

Nazareth Home — located in Louisville, Kentucky — is a 168 bed long-term care and Rehab center with specialty programs for short term Rehab, Memory Care and long term care.

Nazareth Home was established in 1976 as a healthcare ministry sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

Vincentian Academy Celebrates Senior Class College Acceptance

2010-06-01T13:28:00.003-04:00

Camille Panich, SCN Principal with Elizabeth Pickle, Salutatorian and Chad Perryman, Valedictorian in the crowd after the 78th commencement at Vincentian Academy. Chad will attend Carnegie Mellon and Elizabeth, Notre Dame.

Vincentian Academy is proud to recognize its senior class. The members of the senior class 2010 have been accepted into the following colleges and universities:

Allegheny College; University of Dayton; Chatham University; Loyola University Maryland; Carnegie Mellon University; Nazareth College of Rochester; Duquesne University; University of Notre Dame; Pennsylvania State University; Clarion University; Marquette University; University of Pittsburgh; Marywood University; Temple University; Point Park University; Villanova University; Denison University; Davidson College; Gannon University; University of Richmond; St. Francis University; Brown University; Dartmouth College; Montclair State University; John Carroll University; Robert Morris University; Immaculata University; Boston College; Clemson University; Coastal Carolina University; University of Memphis; Roanoke College Wheeling; Jesuit University; Xavier University

“I am so proud of our graduating seniors and what they have achieved as students. I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish as college students and as adults. For nearly 80 years, Vincentian Academy has provided a world-class Catholic education for our students. We strive to develop future leaders, thinkers and all around good citizens and will continue to do so,” said Principal Sister Camille Panich, SCN.

Vincentian Academy is still accepting applications from students for the 2010-2011 school year. For more information: (412) 364-1616 or www.duq.edu/vincentian.

Vincentian Academy

 We are a world-class, co-ed Catholic high school housed on a beautiful  67- acre campus in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.

Students at the Academy participate in a learning environment rooted  in the values of our Catholic faith

Founded in 1932 as Vincentian High School, the Academy provides a quality college preparatory experience and maintains 100% university placement. Students who successfully complete the International Baccalaureate Program and pass the examinations, will be awarded the I.B. Diploma, which may grant advanced standing and/or course credit at colleges and universities. 

For more information contact: 

Dana Hinton

 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth 

502.507.6479 

dhinton@scnazarethky.org

St. Vincent's Home for Boys Memorial Preserves More Than Memory of Orphanage

2010-05-25T10:52:00.003-04:00

By Neil Harvey | The Roanoke Times

Any monument holds some part of the thing it honors, even if the fragment exists only in spirit.

But a memorial dedicated Sunday afternoon to the St. Vincent's Home for Boys consists of whole pieces of the building to which it pays tribute.

The new structure, which sits on a circle just beside St. Andrew's Catholic Church, is built in part with bricks from the orphanage. The Celtic cross that tops it, a heavy cornerstone, three bas-relief fixtures and the concrete sign that bears the orphanage's name also came from the building, which opened in early 1893, became the Achievement Center from 1975 until 2003 and was demolished in 2008.

John Wagner, who is pictured as a child on a bronze plaque that designates the monument, said that during the orphanage's years of operations, hundreds and hundreds of young men stayed there and were supervised by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

"The needs of almost a thousand boys were guided and met by the sisters," Wagner said. "Without their love, most of us might not have made it."

Wagner was not an orphan, but he lived at the school on weekdays from age 3 to 9, between 1941 and 1947, while his mother worked.

"For me, living there ... was an idyllic time," he recalled, and said he and the other boys shared "an uncommon brotherhood."

A number of the orphanage's wards, and five of the sisters, were on hand for Sunday's dedication.

"I think all of us ... will continue to keep you and all the boys deep in our hearts and in our prayers," said Sister Joan Wilson, speaking on behalf of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

Chris Hoeser used to coach St. Vincent's boys football during the 1940s, when Wagner played. At the time, Hoeser was a teen with a railroad job, an apprentice position, and he used to walk to St. Vincent's after work.

The grassy expanse that lies adjacent to the monument "used to be just a field of dirt," he recalled Sunday.

"A lot has changed since then," he added.

When the building was demolished in 2008, to make room for a $400,000 parking lot expansion, crews uncovered a time capsule hidden away in a cornerstone since the days of the Great Depression. It contained a booklet about the orphanage, a typed list of the names of the nearly three dozen boys who lived there, and a 1931 copy of The Roanoke Times.

As S&L Masonry constructed the monument earlier this year, it left room for a new time capsule, which included a 2008 Times' story about the earlier capsule, a St. Andrew's church bulletin from April 18, the original list of the orphanage's guests, a Christmas tree ornament and one of the sister's rosaries.