Seven Sisters Apostolate seeks volunteers
Participants pray regularly for priests of the archdiocese
DUBUQUE — The Seven Sisters Apostolate is seeking volunteers to pray for local priests.
In the Archdiocese of Dubuque, 60 active priests have committed apostolate groups. Each of these priests has one anchoress (leader) and six or more committed women praying for them. Each person in these groups prays on a distinct day of the week, therefore covering a complete week. This holy hour is solely for the intentions of the priest. Currently there are 36 priests waiting for a Seven Sisters Apostolate group. Optimally, the hope is to have a group praying for each of them. During this uneasy and challenging time in our church and in our world, the organizers of the Seven Sisters Apostolate believe it is imperative that Catholics pray for priests. By strengthening the priests, they believe the church is strengthened.
Seven Sisters Apostolate is dedicated to the mission of “Committed prayerful support toward a parish pastor through the assurance of the offering of at least one Holy Hour every day of every given week for their pastor alone – a ‘holy wasting’, as it were, for the conversion and holiness of that particular priest,” according to organizers.
Ideally, the holy hours are done in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in any Catholic church. This church doesn’t have to be the volunteer’s home parish. Those who participate are asked to commit to one hour each week for a one year period, but the commitment can be extended.
Archbishop Michael Jackels is included among the clergy who have participants praying for them. The foundress of the apostolate recommends that there be three Holy Hours per day prayed for all bishops, and so multiple spots are available to fill each week for Archbishop Jackels.
Seven Sisters began in the St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocese in 2011. The apostolate has been active in the Archdiocese of Dubuque since 2014 when foundress, Janette Howe, introduced it to local participants. The patron saints of Seven Sisters Apostolate are Madonna of the Grapes, St. John Vianney, and St. Margaret Clitherow.
Seven Sisters volunteers are willing to come to parishes or pastorates to speak about the apostolate.
If you want to join a group or would like to start a Seven Sisters Apostolate group for your priest or if you are a parish priest and would like seven dedicated women to pray one Holy Hour each day for you, call Corrine Schatz at 563-590-3389 or email sevensistersdubuqueiowa@gmail.com Please visit the website sevensistersapostolate.org for more information.
This article was submitted to The Witness by Corrine Schatz, JoAnn Olson, Leone Bergeson, members of the Seven Sisters Apostolate in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
Cover image: Caroline Mockler, a volunteer with the Seven Sisters Apostolate, prays recently in Dubuque for Father Tom Heathershaw, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. (Photo by Leone Bergeson)
