Celebration of 60 years of monastic profession

     At evening prayer last Saturday we celebrated with four Sisters who renewed their religious profession that first occurred 60 years ago.  As they stood before us I became emotionally overwhelmed as their long and varied “careers” jumped into my thoughts.  I was amazed.  So here is a quick overview.  Join me in being thankful to them and to God whose call made it all possible.

     Sr. Ann Middendorf (known for a while as Sr. Ann Joseph) was an elementary teacher from the little ones to 7^th grade.  She then trained for special education and for many years taught in Good Counsel School dedicated to schooling those with special needs.  Eventually Sr. Ann retrained and became a parish minister for Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell KY.  I was especially in awe of her ministry to the sick and the homebound.

     Sr. Denise Gough received her training in nursing. She worked in the hospitals run by this community in Colorado and then in the Kentucky mountains.  The hospitals were small and in small towns so her tasks were many and varied.  As years went on

Sr. Denise specialized as a nurse-anesthetist finishing her nursing days at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, KY.

Left to right: Srs. Rosemary McCormack,
Martha Walther, Mary Catherine
Wenstrup, Prioress, Denise Gough,
Ann Middendorf.

     Sr. Martha Walther (Sr. Janine) began her ministry as an elementary teacher and soon moved to high school specializing in Spanish.  The call from the Pope for missionaries took her to Pomata in Peru where she again used her teaching skills. After returning home she became executive director of Northern Kentucky Interfaith and worked with the Exodus Jail Ministry Program.  In the years following she served in the Tribunal Office of the Covington diocese.

     Sr. Rosemary McCormack (Sr. Adrian) was an elementary teacher and principal at several schools in Northern Kentucky and also in Colorado.  She claims to have taught every grade but the first grade and served as choirmaster.  After “retiring” from teaching she took up parish ministry at Jesus Our Savior parish in Morehead KY and was recently honored for completing 25 years of serving as Director of Religious Formation.

     As one of the Jubilarians exclaimed, “It was anything but boring.” 

      Sr. Mary Rabe, OSB