BVM Sisters return for centennial of congregation serving in Montana

“Welcome home,” Bishop George Leo Thomas said to 19 Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 11 Associates and a soon-to-be Associate, as a celebration of the BVMs’ 100th anniversary of serving in the Diocese of Helena began Aug. 25.
Mass and a reception were held at St. Ann Parish in Butte, where some of the Sisters taught in its elementary school started by their founding Sisters. Former students from Catholic schools in Butte and Missoula gathered to meet their teachers, introduce their families and reminisce.
Bishop Thomas, whom the Sisters taught at St. Ann’s, began his homily by telling how Bishop Ralph Leo Hayes celebrated the BVMs’ 100th anniversary of its founding with a pontifical High Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Butte on Nov. 1, 1933. The homilist was Archbishop Edward D. Howard of Portland, Ore., who began with words from scripture, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” for “these words express the feeling that we all have today.”
The religious community grew from a group of five Irish women, led by Mary Frances Clark, who banded together to serve the poor during a devastating cholera epidemic in Dublin in 1831.
Four of them, including Clark, emigrated to Philadelphia at the invitation of Father Terence Donohough. Arriving Sept. 7, 1833, they opened a school at St. Michael’s Parish before the year ended.
On Nov. 1, the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary community was formally founded with Mary Frances Clark as its first Sister Superior. Historical documents indicate that it was established “to honor the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph … and to teach young persons in the practice of every virtue, the knowledge of religion and form in their hearts the love of God.”
Ten years later, the Sisters were invited to the Midwest, and eventually moved the motherhouse to Dubuque, Iowa. Later in the 1800s, one of their students was John Patrick Carroll, who became Bishop of Helena in 1904 and asked them to serve the children of Butte and Missoula.
“The Sisters’ mission and ministry was one of many forces in Butte. They were responsible for forging young minds, mine included,” Bishop Thomas said. “We were formed by their goodness, informed by their knowledge and transformed by their faithfulness.”
Butte morphed from a mining and immigrant town to an industrial giant between 1856 and 1921, he explained, and it became one of the most sought-after destinations for many of the Irish who flocked to the United States.
Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph parish schools were among their beneficiaries, beginning in 1907. Ten years later, the Sisters opened schools at St. John’s and St. Ann’s parishes. They started a school at St. Anthony’s in Missoula in 1921.
By 1933, around 30,000 students nationwide attended 112 BVM grade schools, high schools and colleges, including several thousand children in the Diocese of Helena.
Sister Joellen McCarthy, president of the BVM congregation and a Butte native, spoke at the end of Mass, thanking Bishop Thomas for his presence and for celebrating the liturgy, and for the diocese’s openness to the Sisters’ ministries. She said the Mass and reception that followed were probably the first celebrations of the congregation’s centennial.
She introduced the Sisters and Associates, who sat together during Mass. Then she led the Sisters in renewing their vows and the Associates in renewing their commitment.
They included Mary Catherine Beckman, Marie L. Corr, Joyce M. Cox, Dot Feehan, Marie Greaney, Anne Marie Mullen, Mary Gene Kinney, Joan Nuckols, Betty Bowen, Liz Olsen, Kathleen O’Sullivan, Pat Perko, Jane Rogers, Margaret Sannasardo, Kathleen Spurlin, Stella Swakoski and Betty Voss.
Montana natives in this group were Sisters Caluori, Cox, Kinney, Nuchols, Olsen, Perko and Swakoski.
BVM Associates present were Francine Coombe, Mary Kay Craig and George Waring, all of Butte; Jim and Rosemary Tackes of Missoula; Tess Malumphy and Nancy Van Ann, both of Colorado; and Muriel and Ron Mendonca of Oregon.
Kathy Walter of Butte is studying to become an Associate.
Sisters Theresa Caluori and Bette Gambonini, who comprise the BVMs’ West Area team, also attended from Oregon and California, respectively. Sister Gambonini was the music leader at St. Ann’s, accompanied by parishioner Joanne Lewis.
Most of them traveled to Missoula the next day for a celebration at St. Anthony Parish. Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen, retired from the Archdiocese of Seattle, celebrated the Mass. Father Jim Hogan concelebrated.
Along with Sisters who did not attend the Butte festivities, they processed in with Archbishop Hunthausen and Father Hogan. They stood across the front of the church, and each one stepped forward as she was introduced, said Sister Liz Olsen of Missoula.
Sister Caluori started introductions with those residing in Butte and Missoula, and native Montanans. Then she introduced Sisters from Chicago; Dubuque and Fort Dodge, Iowa; Phoenix; Denver; Leakesville, Miss; San Jose, Calif.; Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash.
Associates came from San Rafael, Calif.; West Linn, Ore., and Greeley, Colo., in addition to Butte, Stevensville and Missoula.
As in Butte, Sister McCarthy led the Sisters in renewing their vows and the Associates in renewing their commitment. She also spoke on the BVM Sisters’ mission as reflected in the readings of the day.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 23, No. 9, September 21, 2007.