Each year St. Margaret’s House, a day center in South Bend, Indiana, that welcomes women and children who live in economic poverty, hosts a Winter Walk event to help support its ministry of providing meals, addressing immediate needs, and offering need-specific programming. This year the organization had a virtual event and invited participants to join in by taking a 1-mile walk anywhere they chose. The Congregation regularly supports St. Margaret’s House with funding, volunteers and walkers, and this year was no exception. Below, learn how Holy Cross sisters and novices at Saint Mary’s and members of the Saint Mary’s College community stepped up to walk in solidarity with the day center and its visitors, who rely on their feet as their everyday means of transportation.
The spirit of St. Margaret’s House and its Winter Walk are still alive among us at Saint Mary’s. Sister Mary Tiernan and I considered how several of our Rosary Hall sisters — sometimes with great effort — walk a mile each week within the building and two a week outside.
Since the pandemic limits our interactions beyond campus, we wondered if these sisters would be interested in participating in the Winter Walk virtually by walking one of their miles in solidarity with the organization and its participants.
The suggestion was met with joyful enthusiasm! With gratitude to all who are supporting and empowering the women at St. Margaret’s and beyond.
—Sister Rose Anne Schultz
The second-year novices at Joseph’s Solitude at Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana, participated in the St. Margaret’s House Virtual Winter Walk. They walked around the Saint Mary’s campus on Saturday afternoon, February 20. After the walk, the novices prepared hot chocolate and mandazi, a sweet fried bread, created from a Ugandan recipe.
The novices who participated were Sisters Dorothy Achieng, Margret Kabasiza, Lydia Issah, Dalia D’Costa, Lupa Hajong, Risha Mery Nonglang, Betbhalin Langrin and Gennyfer Thyrniang. Sisters Catherine Before, assistant novice director, and Brenda Cousins, novice director, also joined in the walk. The International Novitiate made a donation toward the Sisters of the Holy Cross Winter Walk team.
—Sister Brenda Cousins
And, just one day later…Saint Mary’s College students, faculty and staff took part in the college’s Winter Walk for St. Margaret’s House on Sunday, February 21. More than 150 participants braved the cold and trekked the 1-mile loop on campus grounds. It is wonderful that so many from our sponsored school continue to participate in this important event, and it brought joy to those of us at Saint Mary’s to see the incredible turnout.
