Labors of Love

Sisters Embrace Easter Preparations

The Easter season is perennially one of prayer and ritual. Churches, chapels, altars and other prayer spaces are lovingly adorned with symbols of the season on each day of Holy Week and the joyful celebration of the Resurrection. Here is how just some of our Sisters prepared for these sacred times of both sorrow and rejoice.

In Bethlehem

Sister Barbara Brown tends to the decorations year-round in Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa., preparing the space for worship by our Sisters who live there and — in any other year — the small gathering of guests who join them for Masses and prayer services. Observing the proper liturgical rubrics, she prepared the Altar of Repose in an adjoining room for the solemn reservation of the Eucharist on the night of Holy Thursday. Some of those flowers then adorned the chapel altar on Easter morning.

In Pittsburgh

Last year, the Sisters who live at Mt. Assisi Place in Pittsburgh were unable to have the liturgies of the Easter Triduum, the most sacred liturgical celebrations of the year. The personal care home was under the statewide lockdown that came with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year — with the residents and staff members vaccinated and restrictions eased — Easter and the joy that accompanies it returned to the building.

Sisters Gracy Kundukulam and Ancy Francis, both with an affinity for plants and flowers, took care of the decorations, arranging statues, flowers and other decor according to the significance of each day throughout Holy Week. Sister Patricia Ann Mahoney, sacristan, and Sister Lorita Kristufek, music minister, provided the music and liturgical support for four Masses over the extended Easter weekend.

Sister Georgette Dublino paid a special visit to one resident who had to quarantine over Easter and miss the most meaningful services of the year. Diane Ott, administrator of Mt. Assisi Place, surprised the resident by having Sister Georgette visit her during Easter week to provide some personal spiritual enrichment. The resident’s face and spirit lifted with joyful tears when Sister Georgette arrived to see her. “This is the most wonderful thing that’s happened to me all year,” she said.

In New Jersey

Fully vaccinated and artistically motivated, Sister Carol Ann Papp traveled to Cherry Hill, N.J., during Holy Week to assist her great-niece, Ceili Bedics, with a special project. The pair worked side-by-side on Holy Thursday to complete the antependium that Ceili designed for her parish, Christ Our Light. The altar hanging was used that evening for the altar of repose for the Blessed Sacrament.

“Ceili was delighted that I was there to visit and help her with the finishing touches.”