Religious community marks 125^th
Carroll plans local reception

By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
Posted May 15, 2003

CARROLL - Continuous prayer has come from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) for nearly 125 years, starting in August of 1878.

Since that time at least two sisters have prayed around the clock in the community's Adoration Chapel in La Crosse, Wis., logging over two million hours praying for other people, the church and the world.

A 125^th anniversary celebration will take place later this summer in La Crosse, but prior to that, the sisters will celebrate with the Carroll community, in which they first began teaching in area grade schools in 1880. The FSPA will host a public reception from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, at the Greteman Center of Holy Spirit Church in Carroll.

"Hopefully some of our Franciscan presence and devotion and reverence for the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament have rubbed off in the area," said Sister Mildred Tigges, FSPA, who has taught at Carroll Kuemper for 17 years. "I think there have been many blessings brought to the area for the dedication the sisters have had to the real presence.

"Wherever we can witness to the real presence that's what we're called to do. Hopefully the people we've taught also have a certain sense of that, but that takes faith."

The reception will start with benediction at 2 p.m. in the church, including 15 to 20 minutes of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. After that, those gathered will proceed to the Greteman Center for an opportunity to visit with the sisters.

Sister Mildred said she expects 12 to 15 sisters to come from La Crosse. Following some social time, the sisters will do a PowerPoint presentation of the 125^th anniversary and their mission ministry as it is seen today to update the people in the area who have known the FSPA since the 1880s.

"We have many women from this area who have joined us," Sister Mildred said. "There are relatives - nieces, nephews, grandnieces and down the road - here in the area. They have been invited to come, and after the presentation there will be more time for visiting and sharing."

The FSPA were instrumental in the founding of St. Anthony's Hospital, the former St. Anthony's School of Nursing and St. Angela's Academy, which later became Kuemper High School.

While she was at Kuemper in the '90s, Sister Mildred said they began involving the students in adoration on the first Thursday and first Friday of every month.

"We have taken our religion classes to the chapel within Kuemper and have had a 20-minute prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed," she said. "We did that trying to somehow make the students aware of the real presence. They do that today as yet - every first Thursday and Friday."

As she celebrates her golden jubilee this year, Sister Mildred said the most comforting and real thing has been knowing that two of the sisters are always praying in the chapel.

"Every half-hour there is a prayer said for all of us wherever we might be, for our families and any of our intentions," she said. "Wherever we are, we know we can always send intentions to the chapel, and the sisters will pray for these as long as we want them prayed for. So we know that we have constant people interceding for whatever intentions and challenges we meet as we try to spread the kingdom."