By Barbara Watkins, Review Staff Writer
As the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary celebrate their 400th anniversary worldwide this year, the Visitation Sisters in St. Louis are living their charism of humility, gentleness, simplicity and a strong interior life, and striving to share it with others.
"Now our great mission is to pass our charism on," said Sister Marie Therese Ruthmann, a former Visitation Academy teacher and former superior at the monastery.
The Sisters of the Visitation hosted a Mass celebrating the 400th anniversary in June in the Visitation Academy Chapel in Town and Country. Among those attending were Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and members of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, all of whom were influenced by St. Francis de Sales, said Sister Marie Therese. Another celebration, including the Visitation Sisters across the United States, will be held at Visitation Monastery in June 2011.
Visitation Monastery and Academy is one of 11 communities in the United States and nearly 100 worldwide. Visitation Academy has been serving students in the St. Louis region for 177 years, since its modest beginning in Kaskaskia, Ill., in an abandoned hotel. Since then, Visitation Academy and Monastery moved three times within the City of St. Louis before its final move to Town and Country in 1962.
Continue reading about the Visitation Sisters on the St. Louis Review website »
