What is a legacy? Legacy has two meanings: it is the essence of what a person or organization is about, and it is that intangible we are left with after the person or organization is gone. This is what we celebrate at Thanksgiving – the beautiful gifts others have shared with us.
To those who know the Sisters, thelegacy of the Daughters of Divine Charity is that of a loving, caringmother. The Sisters care for each other with love and understanding. Then that caring is manifested in the work they have done and continue to do in their ministries.
How do you share in the legacy of the Daughters of Divine Charity?
A large part of the legacy is their role as educators. When you volunteer or financially support Catholic Schools, particularly St. Joseph Hill Academy, you are sharing in their legacy.
The Sisters provide a safe, secure home for young women in New York City at St. Mary’s Residence, their very first ministry in the USA. You share in the work of the Sisters when you donate to the Sisters to allow them to continue this ministry.
Care of the elderly as they come into their twilight years is yet another part of the legacy that is the Daughters of Divine Charity. Volunteering at St. Elizabeth’s Briarbank in Bloomfield Hills or visiting the infirmed Sisters at St. Joseph Hill Convent in Staten Islandareother ways to share in what the Sisters do and who they are.
This sharing goes beyond the specific ministries of our Sisters. As Christ said, “When you do this to the least of my brothers, you do it to me.” Make no mistake, when you care for a loved one, support a youngstudent, visit an elderly friend, or guide a young woman to confident independence, you share in our legacy.
All of the Sisters give thanks for the legacy we have been given as Daughters of Divine Charity. We give thanks for all the ways you share in this legacy. When you sacrifice through a gift or you offer your prayers for the Sisters and their good works, you are sharing in the legacy that is the Daughters of Divine Charity. Together we can all live this legacy!
Sincerely yours in Christ
Sister M. William McGovern, F.D.C.
Provincial
Caring for Our Legacy.
Caring for Our Sisters.
We make God’s love visible in the world by serving those in need, especially women, young people and the elderly. As religious sisters, we commit ourselves to those we serve through creating safe, secure, nurturing and welcoming places where all can experience the immeasurable Love of God.
Our legacy is rooted in the vision of Mother Franziska Lechner, our Foundress, who felt compelled to respond to the deplorable conditions of women in 19th century Europe. We embrace this legacy to extend a mother’s love through educating the young and providing a dignified, loving and safe environment that women today call home.
We live our vocation at home through the care of our sisters as they age and require additional care. We live our vocation in the care of the institutions we sponsor.
We know that Love endures. We know that the spirit of the Daughters of Divine Charity endures. It is greater than any one sister, or all of us sisters taken together. It is a privilege to share in our part of it.
The Daughters of Divine Charity
