Topic archive
History
Two hundred years and counting! Loretto has responded to the call of God to serve God’s people. From children to adults, from elementary to graduate-level education, from eldercare to advocacy for the homelessness and underserved, Loretto has left its mark on the world as it seeks to “work for justice and act for peace.” Learn more about the history of Loretto.
Teaching: From the Three Rs to the Higher Branches
Two buildings on the grounds of Loretto Motherhouse are in the midst of significant anniversaries. The buildings that today we call “Rhodes Hall” and the “Novitiate/Academy Building” together mark 175 years of young ladies’ education at the Sisters of Loretto…
LOREtto: Thomas Merton and Loretto
By Susanna Pyatt 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death. As a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton was a neighbor of the Sisters at the Loretto Motherhouse. The Heritage Center is currently planning an exhibit for…
Vestina Moran and the Stagecoach to Santa Fe
Adapted by Katie Santa Ana The following story has been adapted from an unsigned account found in the personnel file of Sister Vestina Moran SL. While we can’t confirm all the facts, it’s certainly a fascinating read! Sister M. Vestina…
Sisters in Service During World War I
By Laurel Wilson A row of white tents lined the campus of Loretto Heights Academy in Denver during July 1917. For three weeks, the Heights was transformed into the National Service School, a camp started by the Woman’s Section of…
Getting to Know Florence Wolff
By Katie Santa Ana Flipping through the paper finding aids of the Sisters of Loretto archives, one name appears at the top of each page more often than not: Sister Florence Wolff. Her carefully typed pages served as the guide…
Making Movies: Loretto Captures Closings of Three Beloved Locations
Using high-flying drones, video and still cameras, interviews, photos and documents from the Loretto Heritage Center, Neil Tucker and I have been making movies about the closings of three well-loved Loretto places: the St. Louis Loretto Center, Nazareth Hall in…
Like Trees, Loretto’s Deep Roots Thrive in Denver and Beyond
Trees speak a lot about our lives, our growth, our rootedness. When I look at the grounds around Loretto Center in Denver, I am surprised and humbled by the many trees that tower above us. I think of the change…
Loretto Denver Center Now Havern School
May 1, the Denver Loretto Center officially became Havern School. Loretto’s 2015 Assembly made the decision to sell the Center to a group that shared Loretto values and would be in sync with the Loretto land ethic. The Havern and…
The Sisters of Loretto and the Great Flood of 1937
By Laurel Wilson Sister Nerinckx Blincoe SL, Superior of Loretto High School in Louisville, found herself in a predicament on Saturday, January 23, 1937. The Ohio River was flooding at record levels, and Louisville had been hit with 15 inches…
A Tribute to Nazareth Living Center
It is with mixed emotions that the Loretto Executive Committee announces that on April 1 the sale of Nazareth Hall was finalized. We honor the many years of service by the Sisters of Loretto as directors, nurses, staff and volunteers…
Loretto in Taos
The late August numbers of the Taos newspapers in 1913 carried the following, in Spanish and in English: GOLDEN JUBILEEThe Sisters of Loretto Spend Half a Century in Taos, New MexicoEarly in 1863, Rev. Father Gabriel Usell, the then parish…
Our First Registered Nurse
By Katie Santa Ana While the Sisters of Loretto are well known for the hundreds of teachers in their history, many Sisters also chose medical professions. While Sisters of Loretto served early on in nursing roles – such as during…