The Sisters of Mary Immaculate Queen are a traditional Catholic Religious Congregation dedicated to preserving and spreading the true Faith and promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima. The Congregation was founded in order to provide women with an opportunity to strive for personal holiness through the observance of the simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, along with obedient observance of the Constitution and Rules of the Congregation.
The apostolates of the Marian Sisters include teaching and parish work as well as promotion of Catholic publications, all of which serve as means of spreading our holy Faith and the Fatima message. We consider it both a privilege and responsibility to not only educate children, but to give them a solid foundation in virtue and faith that will stay with them throughout their lives. The Sisters staff a K-12 Catholic academy at the motherhouse at Mount St. Michael in Spokane, Washington, as well as smaller schools in other parts of the country.
The Sisters who work at our apostolic center have a modest printing apostolate and maintain the web site of the Congregation. We also staff a gift shop at Mount St. Michael and a comprehensive online store that makes Catholic books and religious goods available to the faithful all over the world. In 1979, the Sisters also began making musical recordings as the “Singing Nuns," a work which has proved to be a mission as well as a means of financial support. In all these ways, the Marian Sisters fulfill their end and purpose: the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
One thing that makes the Marian Sisters stand out is our full-length blue habits. People often stop us and thank us for wearing this symbol of consecration to God’s service, often lamenting that they have not seen a nun in habit for many years. So, you see, our habit alone is a little sermon expressing many things. First of all, it tells people that we live the traditional religious life which Sisters have lived for centuries, which basically means a life of detachment from the world, poverty, purity, obedience, silence and prayer. It also reminds people of how the Catholic Faith was lived when Sisters in full habit were common — of things like the Latin Mass (which, of course, we attend daily), of the Baltimore Catechism, of the nuns’ insistence on girls dressing modestly, of reverence in church, of respect and order in the classroom, and of the quiet joy that comes from living a life of love of God. This is the same Catholic Faith we live and teach today.
People often ask why our habits are blue instead of black or brown. It is because blue is Our Lady’s color, and we are devoted in a special way to her. One aspect of our Marian devotion is our Total Consecration to Jesus Christ through her according to the method of St. Louis Marie de Montfort (as we have begun to explain in our past newsletters). We are also committed to living and spreading the message Our Lady gave to the world at Fatima in 1917. She asked men to amend their lives and to cease offending God, to make reparation for sin, to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners, and to pray the daily Rosary for world peace. As she also made known that God wishes to give men graces through her Immaculate Heart, we promote this devotion and encourage people to pray to her for help in all their needs.
In all she does, the Marian Sister tries to remember that she is the Spouse of Christ and the living reflection of Mary, her model. She must be as the hands of Mary at work in the world, animated and informed by the graces of her Immaculate Heart. By her life of self-sacrificing love, she is a light in the world, and the world cannot help but be enlightened by her quiet shining. Her place in society may be insignificant; she may never be known beyond her convent walls — but by her life of love and oblation, she radiates Something, Someone. She is another Mary; she brings Christ to the world, and the world to Christ.
The Apostolate of Catholic Education
“My delights were to be with the children of men...” (Prov. 8:31)
These words from the Book of Proverbs would probably sound quite appropriate on the lips of many a Catholic Sister. Somehow, teaching and religious Sisters just seem to go together. For centuries religious women have been engaged in the education of young people, and the Sisters of Mary Immaculate Queen are no exception. Teaching has been one of the major apostolates of the Marian Sisters since the earliest days of this religious community.
Included in the tradition of Catholic education is instruction in the truths of the Catholic Faith, the purpose of man’s existence, and the knowledge of how to live according to God’s will. The energy and expertise of the Marian Sisters is visible in the classroom environment as well as in the excellence of student performance. Colorful posters, bulletin boards and artwork provide visual lessons in the Faith to visitors as well as students. From the orderly, uniformed children working at their desks, to the school’s Christmas programs, everything manifests a striving for excellence which is directed even to the little things, all carefully arranged to draw young hearts and minds to God. Michaelangelo once said, “Trifles make up perfection, but perfection is no trifle.” The Sisters take this one step further, by taking to heart the words of our Divine Savior, “Be ye perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
Fruits of the Sisters‘ efforts are readily seen in the success of their educational endeavors. On the elementary level, their phonics-based reading program has had astonishing results, with kindergartners often reading by Thanksgiving. At least one year the entire class scored at the highest possible level in reading in the annual standardized tests. This success has earned the program coverage in the local news.
The successes dearest to the Sisters, however, are not the ones so readily obvious or quantifiable. More heartening still is the sight of the slow, but steady growth of grace in young souls. Such progress, though often hidden, can be seen in a student’s childlike confidence in prayer, in his increased knowledge of the truths of the Faith, and in his efforts to overcome temptation and to love the all-loving God. Well-educated young men and women are certainly a source of great joy for the nuns, but their greatest pride is found in the students who are devout and fervent Catholics as well. For it is the final end of man, his eternal destiny with God which is of the greatest concern to any Sister.
Results like these do not come without a great deal of effort, a solid curriculum base, and the foundation of a fervent prayer life. A day in the life of a teaching Sister is sure to be a busy one, filled with a multitude of Michaelangelo’s “trifles.” But each is offered to Jesus her Spouse, for the advancement of His Kingdom. The teaching Sister appropriates to herself the words of Our Divine Lord, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven....”
The Apostolate of the Press
Besides teaching, the Marian Sisters are also involved in the apostolate of the Catholic Press, and print and publish a variety of publications to help promote the traditional Catholic Faith and the message of Our Lady of Fatima. These include The Reign of Mary, a quarterly Catholic magazine edited by the Marian priests, a Catholic calendar, numerous encyclicals, booklets, pamphlets, and leaflets. The Sisters also staff a mail order house to make traditional Catholic books and other printed materials — as well as religious articles and music — available to Catholics all over the world.
From the earliest days of the Congregation, the Religious operated an apostolic center to distribute literature promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Back then, all of the Congregation’s printing was sent out to a commercial print shop. The center’s mailing list then consisted of about 10,000 names — and every envelope was addressed by hand. Each Sister received a stack of envelopes to address, and the names she wrote represented her “spiritual children,” most of whom she would never see in this life. Nevertheless, with each envelope she addressed she made an act of love with the intention of gaining graces for them all.
As the number of Sisters grew, they themselves began to do more of the work on their publications. Little by little, the Sisters learned to use the electric folder, the stitcher, the darkroom camera, and even the printing presses. But it wasn’t until 1978, when the Congregation acquired Mount St. Michael, that they had a place set aside as their own print shop. Located in the basement of the Mount, it was first operated by the Marian priests and Brothers. Eventually the Sisters took over this work, enabling the priests to concentrate on editorial functions and assisting in parishes around the country.
In the early 1980’s, the print shop moved to its present location in a building that formerly housed the Jesuits’ bakery and laundry facilities. Through the years, the Sisters were able to acquire equipment that has greatly assisted them in their work — stitchers, folders, platemakers, a graphic arts camera, an electronic duplicator, several computers, and two presses. But then as technology changed, the presses were replaced with large multi-function color copiers. And over the past decade, the apostolate has expanded to include the modern technology of the Internet, a medium that is capable of reaching millions of people all over the world.
“Go teach all nations,” Our Lord commanded his disciples. Through the publishing apostolate, the Marian Sisters take part in the missionary work of the Church by assisting the clergy to teach and spread the true Faith far and wide. Souls who perhaps would not have otherwise been exposed to the truth can learn about Christ’s one true Church through materials printed and distributed by the diligent hands of Sisters — zealous women who are well aware that it is by personal sacrifice, humble obedience and a fervent prayer life that they can earn the graces to win souls back to Christ and repair for the sins of mankind.