On a picture-perfect autumn day, 150 women of the Seven Sisters of the Arlington diocese gathered at St. Ambrose Church in Annandale for the fourth annual “Day of Recollection” Nov. 9.
The Seven Sisters is a worldwide apostolate founded in 2011, currently spanning 33 countries with more than 31,000 active members. The Arlington diocese is home to 150 active Seven Sisters groups. Each group consists of seven women, each praying a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament on her pledged day of the week, every week, for the sole intention and holiness of a priest or bishop.
The day began with Mass. Father Joseph M. Rampino, diocesan chaplain for the apostolate who is in residence at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, welcomed and thanked the sisters on behalf of Arlington priests for “the supernatural help and protection you obtain for us through your sacrifices and prayers.”
Next came a Holy Hour and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, with a rosary prayed for priests. Lunch followed, with a rousing talk by Deacon Anthony Calderon from Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling. He expounded upon the great virtues of humility and forgiveness, learning to “pray always” with every act of one’s life, and finding joy and hope in the cross of Christ, and in carrying our own crosses.
Father Jonathan M. Smith, parochial vicar of Our Lady of Hope Church in Potomac Falls, then delivered a talk on the virtue of thanksgiving, which “is absolutely necessary to become holy.” He reminded attendees that expressing continual thanks to God is a choice and “an antidote to bitterness.”
Tina Furtado, a second-time attendee from St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal, said that the annual Day of Recollection spiritually rejuvenates her and keeps her “more fervent and dedicated to the Holy Hour.”
Find out more
Go to SevenSistersApostolate.org.
