Spirit of Loretto Award goes to Helen Sanders

After Loretto Heights College (LHC) closed in 1988, the Spirit of Loretto organization was started to create a home place for graduates. Lydia Peña and Mary Nelle Gage have worked consistently to shepherd this joyous gathering of people grateful for the education, the values, friends and years they shared at LHC.

At this year’s reunion, they presented the 2024 Distinguished Alumna Award to Helen Sanders, SL, LHC ’29. Co-Member Michaela Fleming accepted this award on behalf of her aunt. Michaela is the daughter of Helen’s sister, Velma Fleming, also a co-member.

Many of us knew Helen in a variety of ways through the years. It is refreshing to hear this reflection from Helen’s family.

Michaela shared:

My name is Michaela Fleming; I am one of Helen Sanders’s nieces. I am honored to be here today to receive this award that recognizes my Aunt Helen’s leadership and absolute dedication to social justice. With every breath Helen took, she worked for justice and acted to make this world one of peace. It’s clear that your decision to honor Helen at this urgent moment in history is a deliberate one that reflects this group’s deeply held values and aspirations.

Talking with my four siblings about coming to Denver for this event gave us another opportunity to reflect on Helen and her life. These conversations focused on what Helen taught us about how to live ethically in a world that does not shower justice and mercy on all equally. We see Helen as a revolutionary and a visionary.

As children, we heard her stories of traveling to Bolivia and Chile in the mid-60s, where she was so impacted by the devoutness of the poor. We remember her unwavering belief that the status quo was unacceptable, and we had to do better in serving the poor and creating a more just system.

Even though Helen dedicated her life as a Catholic nun, she did not believe in the sanctity of institutions. Rather, she saw sanctity within people, within nature, within Spirit. As kids, she taught us that the word catholic, with a little “c,” meant universal — and that the Catholic church needed to welcome everyone through its doors, rather than finding ways to exclude.

In one of my last conversations with Helen, she reflected that hierarchical religions have largely outlived their usefulness and for our collective survival, we would need to understand the absolute interconnectedness of all life. What a radical and visionary reflection that was!

Helen led with deep listening and discernment. She would listen with intent, reflect and ask questions that never failed to deepen one’s inner process, creating a feeling like the windows of your soul had just been washed clear. In doing so, she showed us that this quality of true listening is the very foundation of working for justice and acting for peace.

And one more discovery that my siblings and I made in our conversations about Helen … today, when we’re faced with moral and ethical challenges, some version of WWHD plays in our thoughts and hearts. That is, “What would Helen do?” right here, right now. Thank you again for this opportunity to acknowledge the inspiration and role model Helen continues to be!