We look back on 2023 with wonder on all we experienced, with gratitude for all we sustained, and with hope for all that the future promises.
As Sisters of Divine Providence, we continue to commit ourselves to creating a world of compassion, justice and peace.
Thank you for considering a year-end gift today.
Congratulations to the winners of our 2024 Sisters Super Sweeps:
Grand Prize $5,000
CAROLE BRICKLEY
2nd Prize $500
KATHRYN MADEJ
3rd Prize $100
MARY CANNY
Thank you to all who participated!
LITURGY SCHEDULE UPDATE
We invite you to join in our liturgies at Visitation Chapel or via livestream: video.ibm.com/channel/Q4zW6rUvwPq
Christmas Eve | 7:30 p.m. preceded by carols at 7 p.m.
Christmas Day | 11 a.m.
Feast of the Holy Family | December 29 | 9 a.m.
New Year’s Day | 11 a.m.
Feast of the Epiphany (celebration of Women's Christmas) at Weekly Sunday Mass | 9 a.m.
We welcome you to pray with us during Advent (December 1-24, 2024) by visiting our interactive blog:
cdpsisters.wordpress.com
By making a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence, you join us in bringing the light of God’s providence to dark places. Visit cdpsisters.org/donate to make your secure donation online.
We look back on 2024 with wonder on all we experienced, with gratitude for all we sustained, and with hope for all that the future promises.
As Sisters of Divine Providence, we continue to commit ourselves to creating a world of compassion, justice and peace.
Thank you for considering a year-end gift today.
Congratulations to these Sisters who celebrate milestones in their religious life!
Congratulations to the winners of our 2025 Sisters Spring Sweeps:
Grand Prize $5,000
SR. MARY NORBERT LONG, SC
2nd Prize $500
TRICIA MADIFFARI
3rd Prize $100
JUDITH STIPANOVICH
Thank you to all who participated!
We welcome you to pray with us during Advent (November 27 - December 24, 2022) by visiting our interactive blog: cdpsisters.wordpress.com
By making a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence, you join us in bringing the light of God’s providence to dark places. Visit cdpsisters.org/donate to make your secure donation online.
GRATEFUL FOR OUR PAST
MINDFUL OF OUR PRESENT
FAITH IN OUR FUTURE
...always responding to change with trust in Our Provident God.
As you have joined with us to share in our past and our present, we invite you to affirm our community’s Provident future by making a financial gift to support our new residence and health care facility. Your investment in “The Commons” at Providence Heights will help to secure a place of hospitality, inclusivity and the creating and celebrating of community now and into the future.
The Sisters of Divine Providence motherhouse, Providence Heights, has been a hallmark in the North Hills of Pittsburgh for nearly 100 years. Built in 1926, this now-aging physical plant would require extensive renovations and repairs to bring it up to modern, sustainable standards in order to care for our Sisters. To “right size” for the future, when our community is smaller, we embarked on the construction of “The Commons” at Providence Heights. Our new three-story residential and health care facility, will consist of a mix of health care rooms, private independent rooms and apartments and offer up-to-date care for our current and future health needs. Site amenities will include an outdoor dining terrace, community garden, health care garden and walking paths that connect to the rest of the campus.
The name “The Commons” at Providence Heights acknowledges that all we have comes from our Provident God and is to be held in common. Situating “The Commons” at Providence Heights honors the original name of the whole property, preserves the legacy of the Sisters of Divine Providence and allows us to continue our ministry to God’s people through education, health care, caring for the poor and marginalized, retreat centers, social justice and advocacy.
We invite you to share in our vision and future, as you have shared in our past and our present, with a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence for "The Commons" at Providence Heights. Information on Naming Rights Opportunities is below.
Your partnership is a blessing!
To make a secure donation online, click on the "Donate" button below and include "The Commons" in the "Designation" field.
To donate by check, please make payable to the Sisters of Divine Providence with "The Commons" written on the memo line and mail to:
9000 Babcock Boulevard
Allison Park, PA 15101
For many years, the Sisters of Divine Providence have marked the Advent season with white lights in our windows recalling the Gospel words: "The light shines in the darkness." The candles signify our promise of hospitality to all who come to our doors. This year, when the bleak pandemic seems to have changed everything, our candlelight has changed, too—from the quietness of white to the uplifting vibrancy of primary colors. After many months of change and challenge, Advent 2020 is a season to look to with wonder on all that we have experienced, with gratitude on all that we have survived and, most importantly, with hope on all that the future promises. While we regret the doors of our chapels and homes must remain closed for a while longer, we hope our joyful multicolored lights will reassure you that our hearts and our prayers still fervently embrace all the broken and dark spaces in our lives and in our world.
By making a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in support of our ministries, you join us in bringing the light of God’s providence to dark places. To make your contribution, please visit cdpsisters.org/donate.
We invite you to join in prayer with our Sisters, Associates and all of our partners in Mission at our interactive blog: cdpsisters.wordpress.com.
In the spirit of our Founder, Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, who always spoke the truth to justice, the Provincial Leadership Team of Sisters of Divine Providence, along with Sisters and Associates, strongly condemn the January 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol and the leaders of our country trapped inside. The blatant racist, white supremacist action that prompted it is even more heinous because it was spurred by those who pledged an oath to protect citizens and uphold the fundamental principles of democracy.
We would be remiss if we did not also acknowledge our own complicity in tolerating systemic racism by unquestioning participation in the trappings of white privilege, by our silence, and our lack of action, both as individuals and as members of a Catholic institution.
We pray that our Provident God will guide and strengthen both our elected leaders and all citizens in the days to come as we work to restore peace, civility, and faith in our diversity.
As a sign of our commitment to strive to make God’s Providence visible by presence and advocacy, we will designate January 20, 2021, Inauguration Day, as a day of fasting and prayer. There will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel at Providence Heights.
We hope you will join with us, either privately or through video stream: https://video.ibm.com/channel/Q4zW6rUvwPq
Catholic Theological Union | May 2021
We would like to ask for your support of our project in which we are extending the LSSAWR to men religious and their communities. In particular, we would appreciate if you could assist us in promoting the International LSSAW/MR Project to members of women and men religious congregations.
Our goal is to receive 2000 LSSAW/MR surveys completed by men religious and about 600 LSSAW/MR surveys completed by women religious.
Those of you who are members of women/men religious congregations we would like to invite you to take the LSSAW/MR survey through this direct link: https://ctu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_23iDDWbUEl7ohj7
If any of you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Have a wonderful Easter season.
Sincerely,
Maria Clara Kreis, CDP, Ph.D., L.P.
Visiting Scholar for Thriving in Ministry
The Life Satisfaction Scale for Apostolic Women Religious (LSSAWR) is an instrument designed by Sr. Maria Clara Kreis, CDP, PhD, LP as a part of her doctoral work at Marquette University. The LSSAWR, with accessibility in English, Spanish, and German, assesses satisfaction levels of Roman Catholic apostolic women religious individually and communally as they discern their ongoing life commitment.
As we prepare for the coming of Jesus during Advent, we will keep candles in our windows through January 6, 2022, and we invite you to do the same. As we see those candles—their tiny flames somehow softening the world’s harsh realities—we are grateful. Grateful for you and for so many Providence people who are light in the darkness. Not only at Christmas, but day after day and year after year. You are proof that a candle in the window of a Providence Person is a promise of a warm and loving welcome. You are proof that a candle in the window of a Providence Person is a promise of light shining in darkness. Our broken world waits in darkness for light—the Light that is You!
We invite you to pray with us during Advent (November 28 - December 24, 2021) by visiting our interactive blog: https://cdpsisters.wordpress.com/
By making a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence, you join us in bringing the light of God’s providence to dark places. Thank you for using the enclosed envelope to mail your donation or visit https://cdpsisters.org/donate to make your secure donation online.
Days of Remembrance & Thanksgiving mark special time to commemorate Sisters, Associates
As in years past, we marked the days of November as a special time for remembering and thanksgiving. Regretfully, it was necessary to alter our plans for the annual Mass of Remembrance at Providence Heights as we continued to contend with Covid-19 and the uncertainty of gathering with family and friends. As an alternative, all Sisters, Associates, employees, friends and partners in mission were invited to join with the Sisters, via livestream from our Mother of Divine Providence Chapel, as we remembered those Sisters and Associates who died during this global pandemic. Each Sister who died during this time was remembered on a designated day in November at the daily weekday liturgy. Following the evening meal on each designated day, the Sister’s memorial letter was read and storytelling about the Sister was shared.
New ministry advocates for women entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries
Bridges of Providence, a ministry developed to financially support entrepreneurship projects of poor women in underdeveloped countries, was realized in 2021. Sponsored by the Sisters of Divine Providence Ketteler for Justice Committee and the community’s Associates under the direction of Sr. Bertshabe Palomino-Montalvo, this ministry assists women who want to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families by generating income through starting their own small businesses. CLICK HERE to read more about our families.
Sisters hold groundbreaking for new residential, healthcare facility
On Sunday, August 1, 2021, as the Bells of Providence Heights rung out, the Sisters of Divine Providence held a groundbreaking ceremony to officially kick off their new building project. Named "The Commons at Providence Heights," it will be a place of hospitality, inclusivity, creating and celebrating community. The name acknowledges that all we have comes from our Provident God and is to be held in common. Situating "The Commons" at Providence Heights honors the original name of the whole property and preserves the legacy of the Sisters of Divine Providence. The new three-story residential and healthcare facility will offer up-to-date care for the current and future health needs of the Sisters. The building will consist of a mix of healthcare rooms, private independent rooms and one- and two-bedroom apartments. Site amenities will include an outdoor dining terrace, community garden, healthcare garden and walking paths that connect to the rest of the campus. Construction is scheduled to be complete in September 2022. The first tree planted at The Commons was a McIntosh apple tree, in recognition of the apple trees that flourished on the property from its earliest days. Joining Sisters, Associates and employees at the ceremony were representatives from Derck & Edson--the project's planning and design firm--and Warfel--the project's construction company.
As Sisters of Divine Providence, we continue to commit ourselves to creating a world of compassion, justice and peace. Thank you for considering a year-end gift today.
Sisters Move to New Residence
After years of planning, designing, constructing, downsizing and, finally, packing, more than 70 of our Sisters moved from our iconic Motherhouse—our home for 95 years—to a new residence also located on our grounds at Providence Heights. Throughout days, weeks and months of transition, we constantly reminded ourselves of God’s providential care for us, frequently singing the mantra “all is gift, all is grace.” Named The Commons at Providence Heights, our new home is intended to be a place of hospitality and inclusivity, where community is created, fostered and celebrated. The name acknowledges our firm belief that everything we have comes to us as an unmerited gift from our Provident God; everything we have is enough; and everything we have is for the common good.
Ministry Reopens After Two-Year Closure
Kearns Spirituality Center, our ministry that provides a space for spiritual nourishment and retreats, reopened this year after a two-year closure due to the pandemic. Kearns is currently working with Providence Spiritual Outreach (PROSO), a volunteer ministry offered by our Sisters and Associates in conjunction with the Sisters and Associates of the Congregation of Divine Providence of Texas. PROSO offers retreats, conversation groups, workshops and spiritual direction. Kearns is also a site for new programs through a collaboration with La Roche University’s Adventures in Lifelong Learning, a membership-based program for adults 50 and better who want to continue learning while expanding their social networks through shared intellectual experiences. To learn more about programs including spiritual direction, retreats, prayer, use of facilities and the Ruah School of Spiritual Direction training, visit cdpsisters.org/kearns, call 412.366.1124 or email kearns@cdpsisters.org.
Congregation Announces New Leadership Teams
The 2022-2027 Leadership Teams were elected during the Congregation’s 24th Congregational Chapter held July 11-24 in St. Louis and during the Marie de la Roche Province's 5th Provincial Chapter held July 31-August 5. Sister Barbara McMullen of the Marie de la Roche Province (U.S.-Caribbean) was elected as Congregational Leader, and Sisters Mary Francis Fletcher (Marie de la Roche Province/U.S.-Caribbean), Rosa Eunsoon Kim (St. Joseph Province/Korea) and Sister Maria Youngmi Kim (St. Joseph Province/Korea) were elected as the Congregational Team. Sister Michele Bisbey was elected as Provincial Leader, and Sisters Bertshabe Palomino Montalvo, Judith Connor and Veronica Gumja Kim were elected as the Provincial Team. Held every five years, Chapter is a time of discernment and prayer as the Community plans for the future.
Sister Sculpting Art for Stations of the Cross Walkway
Sister Benedicta Ha, CDP, an artist and teacher, is sharing her expert talents to design sculptures for the Stations of the Cross Walkway located outside of The Commons at Providence Heights. A unique sculpture will be created for each station of the cross, including the 15th station—the Resurrection of Christ. In addition to Sister Benedicta’s art, the walkway will include space for devotion and prayer from station to station, commemorating Jesus’ passion and death on the cross. The Stations of the Cross Walkway is expected to be completed in Spring 2023. To read more about Sister Benedicta and view some of her artwork—which brings together Asian, European and U.S. influences and, for her, is like meditation or prayer and an opportunity for reflection—visit hawaii.youview360.com/the-way-of-the-cross.
Ministry advocates for women entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries
Bridges of Providence, a ministry developed to financially support entrepreneurship projects of poor women in underdeveloped countries, was realized in 2021. Sponsored by the Sisters of Divine Providence Ketteler for Justice Committee and the community’s Associates under the direction of Sr. Bertshabe Palomino-Montalvo, this ministry assists women who want to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families by generating income through starting their own small businesses. This past year, through the generosity of our donors and friends, Bridges of Providence provided over $19,000 in support to twenty-five women entrepreneurs in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. Visit cdpsisters.org/BridgesOfProvidence to read more about our families.
As Sisters of Divine Providence, we continue to commit ourselves to creating a world of compassion, justice and peace. Thank you for considering a year-end gift today.
We welcome you to pray with us during Advent (December 3-24, 2023) by visiting our interactive blog: cdpsisters.wordpress.com
By making a financial gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence, you join us in bringing the light of God’s providence to dark places. Visit cdpsisters.org/donate to make your secure donation online.
