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Eleanor Craig SL

Eleanor has been a Sister of Loretto since 1963 and an educator since birth. She graduated from two of Loretto's best known St. Louis institutions, Nerinx Hall High School in 1960, and Webster University in 1967. She taught mathematics at Loretto in Kansas City, where her personal passion for adventure history inspired her to develop and lead treks along the historic Oregon Trail. From 1998 to 2010 she created an award-winning program of outdoor adventure along the Western trails for teens who are visually impaired. Eleanor claims to have conducted more wagon trains to the West than the Mountain Men! From 2012 to 2021, Eleanor led a talented staff of archivists and preservationists at the Loretto Heritage Center on the grounds of the Motherhouse. She recently retired, but still serves in the Heritage Center as Loretto Community Historian.

Reflection on the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Eleanor Craig SL / September 26, 2021 /

Numbers 11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38 … 48 “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  With these cryptic words, Jesus breaks through the partisan clannishness of his disciples and…

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Reflection on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By Eleanor Craig SL / August 15, 2021 /

Revelation 11:19; 12:1-10         1 Corinthians 15:20-27         Luke 7:39-56 When I rose early this morning, my Amaryllis had opened two glorious red blooms…

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Remembrance of the Life of Sister Jean (formerly Sister Regina Rose Burke) Johnson SL

By Eleanor Craig SL / August 15, 2021 /
A woman with short grey hair and glasses wearing pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and a lilac blouse smiling for a headshot picture with a blue and white vignette background.

(Editor’s Note: The first portion of this remembrance is Sister Jean Johnson’s autobiography. The latter portion was written by Eleanor Craig SL.) “On May 12, 1927, I arrived, the fifth…

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Remembrance of the Life of Sister Theresa (formerly Sister John Bosco) Coyle SL

By Eleanor Craig SL / July 14, 2021 /
A woman with short white hair and round wire glasses wearing a bright colorful patterned collared shirt smiling softly for a headshot picture while sitting in a chair lined with a white crochet blanket.

Editor’s note: This is Theresa Louise Coyle’s own account of her life, pieced together from much longer essays whichshe composed in the decades since her Golden Jubilee in 1998. “In…

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Remembrance of the Life of Sister Sylvia Ginder SL

By Eleanor Craig SL / June 26, 2021 /
A woman with short white hair and wire-framed glasses wearing orange bead dangly earrings and a white collared blouse smiling for a headshot picture outdoors with a dark greenery background.

In early March of 1970, Sister Sylvia Ginder wrote to Sister Mary Luke Tobin, then completing her 12 years as the General Superior of the Sisters of Loretto. Sylvia’s letter is…

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Reflection on the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

By Eleanor Craig SL / June 6, 2021 /

Exodus 24:3-8.           Hebrews 9:11-15.           Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Last Sunday Eileen Custy introduced her reflections saying, “The God I grew up with is not the God I know now, and I suspect…

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Remembrance of the Life of Eileen Wirtz CoL

By Eleanor Craig SL / June 1, 2021 /
A woman with short brown and grey hair wearing small hoop earrings and a navy blue blouse smiling brightly for a headshot picture with a grey and black vignette background.

Loretto Co-member Eileen Loretto Wirtz passed away peacefully on June 1, 2021, in Overland Park, Kan.  In the 14th  year of her Loretto commitment, she was capping a lifetime as a high school…

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Reflection on the Third Sunday of Easter

By Eleanor Craig SL / April 18, 2021 /

Acts 3:13-19    1 John 2:1-5    Luke 24:35-48 Sometimes thoughts and prayers just don’t come together to make a good homily. Today is one of those days. After a strong start, what I…

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Remembrance of the Life of Marjorie Riggs CoL

By Eleanor Craig SL / April 1, 2021 /
A woman with short white hair and wire-framed glasses wearing a dark red sweater and thin black lanyard smiling brightly for a headshot picture indoors in front of a blue and silver decorated Christmas tree.

Marjorie Riggs died in the 25th year of her Loretto Co-membership. When she applied for co-membership in late 1996, Marge wrote an autobiography in which she laid out her life…

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Remembrance of the Life of Sister Mary Denis Bruck SL

By Eleanor Craig SL / April 1, 2021 /
A woman with short grey hair and oval wire-framed glasses wearing a light green turtleneck and a dark grey blazer smiling softly for a headshot picture indoors.

Hedwig Isabelle Catherine Bruck arrived as Frank and Mary Bruck’s first child exactly nine months after their marriage, “an embarrassment” her parents joked. She was born in Quincy, Ill., although…

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Remembrance of the Life of Sister Theresa Louise Wiseman SL

By Eleanor Craig SL / March 27, 2021 /
A woman with short grey hair and large clear-framed glasses wearing a white sweater with embroidered red roses smiling softly for a headshot picture at a social event.

Mary Theresa Wiseman was the oldest child of Charles Bernard and Christine Margaret McMillen Wiseman, two Catholics from the area around Elizabethtown in Hardin County, Ky.  Their family grew to…

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Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent

By Eleanor Craig SL / March 21, 2021 /

Jeremiah 31:31-34        Hebrews 5:7-9        John 12:20-33 Happy springtime to all of you!   Have you ever thought what it would be like if Lent, Holy…

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