Women religious in the Diocese of Helena gathered at Helena’s St. Mary Parish on Nov. 5 to celebrate the 50-year jubilees of Sisters Elizabeth Olsen, Margaret Hillary and Mary Jo McDonald. A luncheon preceded a midday prayer service led by Bishop George Leo Thomas. During the service, each jubilarian spoke about her life. Sister McDonald, of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, has been the administrator at St. Ann Parish in Butte for more than 25 years and is a longtime member of the food bank board in Butte. Sister Olsen, of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the chaplain at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. Sister Hillary, a Dominican serving at St. Ignatius Mission in Arlee, came to Montana from Michigan last year. “I liked my first-grade teacher, a sister,” she said at the jubilee gathering. “I admired her all the way through school, and I wanted to be like her.” Pictured left to right are Sister Olsen, Bishop Thomas, Sister Hillary and Sister McDonald.

(Mike Foster photo).


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 11, November 19, 2010.