The Deacon's Bench
Awesome news. I wish they’d come to New York:
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist had a problem.
They were running out of room at their convent in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they had been based since 1997.
It was a good problem to have, the result of a boom in young vocations. But it meant that the community of 140 sisters needed to expand.
With property in both California and Texas, the sisters prayerfully considered both options, ultimately deciding that God was calling them to open a new convent in the Georgetown, Texas.
Twenty-five miles north of Austin, Georgetown is in the Hill Country of the Lone Star State.
The sisters’ presence in Texas reaches back to 2009, when eight sisters came to teach in the Diocese of Austin, invited by then-Bishop of Austin Gregory Aymond. Members of the community currently teach in four Catholic schools in Texas.
“As our presence has steadily grown, our apostolate has flourished, enabling us to expand the work to which God has called us – to praise, to bless, and to preach through catechesis, evangelization, and witness,” the sisters said in a statement.
“Through it all, our hearts have been captured by the love of so many who have made all this possible through their sacrificial goodness.”
In 2012, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist began a $30 million capital campaign to fund the first phase of a new Religious House.
That phase was recently completed and is comprised of living space for 56 sisters, along with dining space, a gymnasium and library, and areas for education and community. Twelve sisters have moved in so far, the Dallas News reports.
More details from the sisters’ website:
As our presence has steadily grown, our apostolate has flourished, enabling us to expand the work to which God has called us – to praise, to bless, and to preach through catechesis, evangelization, and witness. Through it all, our hearts have been captured by the love of so many who have made all this possible through their sacrificial goodness.
We also are honored to be teaching in the following schools in Texas:
- St. Helen’s Catholic School (Georgetown)
- Santa Cruz Catholic School (Buda)
- Holy Family & St. Dominic Savio Catholic Schools (Austin)
- St. John XXIII Catholic High School & University of St. Thomas (Houston)
The Sisters deeply appreciate the welcome and enthusiastic support of so many in Central Texas, including, most importantly, the current Bishop, the Most Reverend Joe Vásquez. God bless you all!
2009 → Eight Sisters arrived in the Diocese of Austin upon the invitation of then Bishop Gregory Aymond.
2011 → Through the assistance of generous benefactors, our community purchased 60.4 acre tract of land in northeast Austin, near Georgetown on the San Gabriel River.
2012 → We commenced our $30 million Open Wide the Doors capital campaign, the purpose of which was to fund Phase I construction and support initial operations at the facility. Later that year, we celebrated the Blessing of the Texas property and entrusted the project to Our Lady.
2013 → We achieved our first major project milestone by completing the construction of a temporary mission convent on the site, allowing our Texas Sisters to live in community and work on-site to oversee our project and development efforts. In addition to this convent – which eventually may be used as a guest house or chaplain residence – we also maintain current houses in North Austin and Buda.
2013 → On September 21, we were honored by the presence of Bishop Joe Vásquez of the Diocese of Austin and Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi as they celebrated the Rite of Blessing for this mission convent.
2014 → We completed the construction and celebrated the blessing of the Texas Religious House Prayer Garden.
2017 → We made the decision to move forward with Phase I of the facility and, after competitively bidding the project, selected Zapalac/Reed as our general contractor. We broke ground on the project in July.
2018 → We completed construction of Phase I of our Religious House.
2019 → The Blessing our Texas Religious House held on February 16, 2019.
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