Authors and Artists

Each book written, each artistic endeavor demonstrates the vision of Loretto members as they share their artistic gifts with the Community and beyond. Learn more about our Loretto Authors and Artists.

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Loretto celebrates collaborative work with St. Louis artist and teacher Rudy Torrini

By Loretto Community / October 9, 2023 /

Rudy Torrini stands over a large stone statue laying on the ground. Heavy straps lay about the statue and a workman stands off to one side.

The Loretto Community celebrates the creative minds and hearts of its members. Our authors, poets, sculptors, artists and craftspeople enhance the life of the Community and the wider world with…

New Loretto books of interest

By Loretto Community / September 22, 2023 /

Image of book cover entitled "Women of Spirit, Courage and Action: A collection of stories that celebrate women across generations who have worked for justice and acted for peace" "Written and collected by the Loretto Feminist Networ"

Women of Spirit, Courage and Action This booklet is a collection of profiles and stories of members of the Loretto Community, along with stories of women across the world who…

Preciously repurposed

By Loretto Community / August 8, 2023 /

Published by The Oldham Era on July 28, 2023 “A Crestwood artist has been chosen for a summer residency that will have her painting at the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx.…

Representations of the Loretto Staircase Mystery

By Reba Weatherford / July 19, 2023 /

1960 comic book cover showing a circular staircase in a church with several people standing around and looking at it. Title reads "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact" Subtitle "The Wonderful Staircase of Santa Fe"

Archives are full of primary sources that answer historical questions, and the archives at the Loretto Heritage Center are no exception. The archives hold annals, correspondence, annual reports, photographs, journals,…

Catholic Worker book review of “Give Me a Living Love: The Poems of Ann Manganaro”

By Loretto Community / July 3, 2023 /

Thank you to the Catholic Worker and guest writer Anne Marie Kaune for this tender, insightful review of “Give Me a Living Love: The Poems of Ann Manganaro.” Kaune ends…

Loretto’s Past Comes to Life with “A Sisterhood on Fire”

By Loretto Community / July 1, 2023 /

A book cover, "A Sisterhood on Fire: A Novel" by Sara Hoeynck featuring a praying silhouette made out of fire on a black background on a bed of smoke.

By Sarah Hoeynck Motherhouse in 2017, I listened to Eleanor Craig read the poem “Upon This Hill” by Cecily Jones. This powerful work and its obscure historical references inspired me…

Ann Manganaro SL, M.D.: Gifted physician, teacher, poet

By Loretto Community / June 26, 2023 /

In I Am the Way, the Constitutions of the Sisters of Loretto, the section titled “Charism” in article #9 calls persons to loving service “to work for a future in…

Ann Manganaro SL: Poet

By Christina Manweller / June 19, 2023 /

Purple book cover with the title: "Give Me a Living Love: The Poems of Ann Manganaro SL

The out-shining, out-reaching sea-Strange mystery of life at lastBursting forth in us. Excerpt from “March 1981” Ann Manganaro SL wrote, “I sing of the light behind the sky” (1/1/1981). In…

Loretto and the Arts

By Susanna Pyatt / February 28, 2023 /

Students in an art class, standing at easels and painting portraits of a man smoking a pipe.

The Sisters of Loretto were founded in 1812 with a mission of teaching, but what were their schools like? To answer one aspect of this question, an upcoming exhibit at…

Sharing Our Story: Celebrating Loretto Members’ Long and Vital Writing Tradition

By Loretto Community / January 23, 2023 /

Collage of the covers of books and publications including "Loretto Magazine," "Mostly for Promise," "A Path to the Divine in Human Life," "Interchange," "Loretto Circle eNewsletter," and "Journal Reflections."

The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power. American novelist Toni Morrison By…

Artist Residencies at the Motherhouse

By Eleanor Craig SL / December 1, 2022 /

The Loretto Community at the Motherhouse is partnering with the Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW) to offer artist residencies of one to three weeks. The residencies are open to feminist…

Sister Gabriel Mary’s Artwork

By Susanna Pyatt / November 29, 2022 /

A smiling woman stands in a silkscreening workshop, holding up a beautiful print of pinks, reds and white.

Guess which artist is most represented in the Loretto Heritage Center? Sister Gabriel Mary Hoare! We have over 70 works by her in the collections here. People who have been…

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The Loretto Community consists of the congregation of the Sisters of Loretto and Loretto Co-members. The congregation of the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross was founded in rural Kentucky in 1812. Today, our Sisters and Co-members continue to live out the Loretto Community’s mission to “work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us.” In the United States and throughout the world, Loretto Community members serve in many fields, including education, healthcare, elder care, environmental stewardship and advocacy.