Three local Catholic women’s groups follow pope’s call for annual Marian consecration

More than 40 deacons’ wives and widows gathered for a day of Lenten reflection March 25 at St. Dominic Chancery on the Feast of the Annunciation when Mary said a resounding “Yes!” to become Christ’s mother as these women did in the sacrifice of their husbands becoming deacons. (Photos courtesy of the Office of the Diaconate and the GHACCW)

HOUSTON — Following Pope Francis’ urging to renew the consecration to Mary on the Feast of the Annunciation, three different local Catholic women’s groups met on March 25 on how to minister to the community.

The pope invited “every believer and community, especially prayer groups, to renew every March 25 the Act of Consecration to Our Lady, so that she, who is mother, may preserve us all in unity and peace.”

About 40 women attended the Deacons’ Wives and Widows Day of Lenten Reflection held at St. Dominic Chancery to meditate on how Mary said yes to becoming Jesus’ mother like they said yes to the sacrifice of their husbands becoming deacons.

Dr. Sandra Derby, who teaches at the Emmaus Spirituality Center and is also a theology instructor at St. Agnes Academy, led the group of women to focus not only on sinfulness but “reclaim your goodness, your belovedness with God. That is what Lent and Easter are for.”
Beth Turner, whose husband Chuck was ordained a deacon in 2015 and serves at Mary Queen Catholic Church in Friendswood, helped organize the women’s gathering.

“It was a great mixture of our new deacons’ wives and our more experienced wives and widows,” she said.

One of the attending members, Mary Ann Martin, described part of the role of deacons’ wives and widows as being “ministers to the ministers.” Her husband, Deacon Ken Martin, ordained in 1994 after serving at St. Edward parish in Spring, passed away three years ago. Mary Ann remains an active parishioner at St. Edward.

Cyndi Llorens, whose husband, Deacon Corney Llorens serves at St. Justin Martyr parish, also organized the event and was extremely pleased and thankful for the turnout.

“It was a beautiful gathering of faith-filled women sharing a common ministry and vocation. This was our first day of reflection since 2019” because of COVID-19, Llorens said.

The Galveston-Houston Archdiocese Council of Catholic Women (GHACCW) also hosted its annual conference on March 25, at St. Mary Seminary.

The keynote speakers were Sister Thomas Aquinas, OP, of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist; Lisa May, director of archives for the Archdiocese; and Kim Brown, director of the Christian Renewal Center.

L. Faye Marshall, GHACCW president, said, “We were blessed by a great day of faith and fellowship... We had a chance to focus on how Mary leads us to Jesus in our opening keynote by Sister Thomas Aquinas, followed by the afternoon keynote of Lisa May sharing our history of the past 175 years as we celebrate the Archdiocese’s anniversary.”

She added that May also brought some of the treasures of the Church to display, including a crozier — the staff symbolic of a shepherd’s crook — belonging to Bishop Christopher Byrne, who headed the Diocese of Galveston from 1918 to his death in 1950.

Then a closing keynote by Kim Brown focused on letting prayer and the Eucharist transform us deeper into our faith, she said.

A third Catholic Women’s Conference that same day, “The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You,” was held at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Houston. Sister Elizabeth Marie Kalscheur, O.P., of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia spoke of how to do a good examination of conscience and discussed Eucharistic miracles.

Father David Michael Moses, parochial vicar at Christ the Good Shepherd in Spring, had a presentation on supernatural gifts from heaven, the Sacraments.