The life of the local Church in the Diocese of Columbus has increased in its richness during the past few weeks with the addition of another congregation of consecrated religious sisters.
The Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus opened a local community of sisters in the diocese in late October, deepening their roots in central Ohio. The sisters are in temporary residence at St. Therese Retreat Center on the east side of Columbus.
While their residence in the diocese is new, they have been a part of the local Church’s life for years. Their first American vocation hails from Tuscarawas County, and they have many young women in formation who know them through their apostolic work with diocesan youth.
The sisters’ focus is best explained by their name, as one of their members powerfully summarized at the recent Marian Dinner for young women. They are first daughters of the Heavenly Father and the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hence Holy Mary, and they are focused on the Heart of Jesus. Their name summarizes their very being and how they approach their call to serve the Lord Jesus.
Given the strength of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in central Ohio, the sisters have an important role to play in the proclamation of the Gospel through spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Our people are starving for the liberating presence of Jesus Christ, and the role His Most Sacred Heart plays in the sanctification and fortification of the domestic Church should not be overlooked nor underestimated. The sisters have as a central theme in their prayers and their apostolate bringing people to Jesus’ Most Sacred Heart, and they follow the example of Our Lady who directs the attention of the faithful toward Jesus.
The aim of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus is the sanctification of their members through the apostolate of education and formation in the faith of the youth. The sisters own and run their own schools in Spain and throughout the Americas.
In the United States, the sisters have founded a novitiate in Steubenville and have introduced their congregation’s youth apostolate called DOYMAR, a Spanish acronym for their outreach and formation program.
With a residence established in Columbus, the sisters will introduce their youth apostolate in central Ohio.
Father Stash Daily is the diocesan vicar for religious and a vice rector at the Pontifical College Josephinum.
