About Us

Staff

Director: Sister Mary Charles Mayer, RSM, was appointed as Director of the Office of Consecrated Life by Archbishop Robert J. Carlson in June 2010.  Sister has 30 years of professional service to the Church, as well as the secular world, in the areas of social communications and administration. She is a member of The Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan.

Sister served as Director of Communications and Production for the Diocese of New Ulm in New Ulm, Minnesota, and Administrator of the Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center in Jackson, Minnesota. She is a member of the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Academy of Communication Arts Professionals.

Sister Mary Charles holds a B.A. in Engineering from Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania and has studied, in Rome, at the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, the Pontificia Universitas Santa Croce, and the Pontificia Università Gregoriana where she received a licentiate in Social Science with a specialization in Social Communications for the Church.

Assistant: Barbara Fischer joined the Curia staff in November 2006 to support the communications, special events, immigration and administrative duties of the Office of Consecrated Life.  She brings 25 years of experience in communications, development and marketing gleaned in the business and nonprofit sectors.  She holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in marketing and is an adjunct faculty member of St. Louis Community College.

Contact

Office of Consecrated Life
20 Archbishop May Drive
St. Louis MO 63119-5738
Phone: 314.792.7250
Email: consecratedlife@archstl.org

Mission

The Office of Consecrated Life acts as a liaison between the Archbishop and the men and women in various forms of consecrated life in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The office strives to carry out the Church's pastoral concern for the men and women in the consecrated life and to work with them to help achieve the goals set forth in the mission statement of the Archdiocese.

Its purpose is to serve:

• consecrated men and women in areas essential to their spiritual and psychological growth;
• the Archbishop when the director of the Office of Consecrated Life acts as his representative; and
• the Archdiocese by supporting the apostolates of consecrated men and women accomplished in the context of the local Church.

The Office of Consecrated Life also works in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Office of Vocations to promote vocations to consecrated life.

Services

The Office of Consecrated Life:

• Maintains a relationship with the major superiors of institutes of consecrated men and women represented in the Archdiocese and remains available to work and meet with individual members and/or groups of consecrated men and women as needs arise.
• Helps recruit consecrated men and women to serve in various apostolates within the Archdiocese.
• Organizes and executes intracommunication efforts such as the Consecrated Life section of the Archdiocesan website and the Witness newsletter, and is available as a resource for the news media.
• Plans events such as the Mass for Consecrated Life, days of recollection and other opportunities for spiritual growth.
• Works in collaboration with the Office of Vocations on events, services and communications promoting vocations to consecrated life and with other Archdiocesan agencies on projects supporting or affecting consecrated life.
• Attends meetings that impact the consecrated men and women who serve in the Archdiocese.
• Assists the Archbishop and bishops with events, services and communications that impact consecrated life in the Archdiocese.
• Makes referrals of consecrated men and women to canon lawyers, spiritual directors and psychological services.
• Provides services to the contemplative communities in the Archdiocese through regular communication, administration of prayer requests received on the Archdiocesan website, assistance with matters outside the cloister and members in exclaustration, and assistance in elections and visitations.