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Farewell to the Director of the Office for Consecrated Life
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May 30, 2024It's time to say goodbye: Sr. Mary Claire Strasser, SOLT, who has been Director of the Office for Consecrated Life for the last two years, has a new assignment and will leave our diocese. She will move to Detroit as a full-time Vocation Servant for the SOLT Sisters.
“It was a blessing to get to know so many sisters and consecrated lay women in our diocese,” Sr. Mary Claire said. In her work, she facilitated the communion of all consecrated women in the diocese. “We have many sisters here that are far away from their home country, motherhouse and family,” she added. The encounters facilitated by her office support them and create community.
She continued with regular meetings like the Spirituality Days with Bishop Mulvey, as well as Lent and Advent Reflections. As a new initiative, she started the Mother-Daughter-Tea for 8-12-year-old girls and the Miriam Dinner for 15-26-year-old young women. “We did it for the first time this year, and it was well received.” It is an equivalent to the Andrew Dinner for young men, established several years ago. She also worked with Vocations Director Bob Cummings to make different forms of consecrated life more known.
Sr. Mary Claire’s dedication to promoting vocations is unwavering. Over the past few months, she has been actively involved in the vocational ministry of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), promoting “Come and see” weekends and other initiatives. Her order has now asked her to devote herself full-time to this important task, and she will be living in a community house in Detroit, close to the vocation servant for the SOLT Priests and Brothers. Her work will also involve visiting college campuses and conferences.
Right now, the SOLT sisters have three aspirants (for four months), 3 in postulancy and three novices—a number that has remained stable during the last few years. “Our inquiries have increased, which is a positive sign,” says Sr. Claire.
Though she is looking forward to her new task, she says that she would miss Corpus Christi. However, given that the SOLT Motherhouse is in our diocese, she hopes to return for many visits.
