Apostolate focuses prayer on priests

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communication
                                                -  From the Seven Sisters Apostolate 

At least 25 priests in the Diocese of Sioux City have a woman praying a holy hour for them every day. Fifteen years ago, the Seven Sisters Apostolate was launched in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese and the movement came to the Diocese of Sioux City around 2018.
 
“We all need to pray for our priests and bishop and this has been a wonderful vehicle to promote that prayer opportunity,” stressed Mary Stevens of Sioux City, diocesan contact for the apostolate. “My goal is for each of our priests to have that kind of prayer support.”
 
Bishop John E. Keehner echoes Stevens’ sentiment as he was the recipient of many prayers from Seven Sisters Apostolates when he was serving as a pastor in the Diocese of Youngstown.
 
“As a pastor at St. Paul Parish in North Canton, Ohio, I was so grateful to learn that there was a dedicated group of women setting aside time to pray for me each and every day. I was amazed by their selflessness and their sense of mission,” he said. “I was so happy when I moved to Our Lady of Peace Parish in Ashtabula in May of 2024 that there was a group of Seven Sisters not only waiting for me but already praying for me before I had actually arrived.”
 
Upon arriving in Sioux City last year, the bishop learned that not only was there an apostolate praying for him but that they started praying for him before his episcopal ordination.
 
“I sleep better knowing that even in my unworthiness there is a group of dedicated prayer warriors praying for me, interceding for me, covering my every word and action with intercessory prayer,” the bishop said. “I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I am so very grateful for the prayers offered on my behalf by the Seven Sisters who take time each day to pray for me, that I might be guided by the Holy Spirit in all that I say and do.”
 
Apostolates and anchoresses
Each Seven Sisters Apostolate is dedicated to a particular priest, such as a parish pastor, associate pastor, bishop or retired priest. A group of seven women dedicated to the mission of praying a holy hour each week can qualify as an official apostolate. Each woman prays on a different day so that each day is covered. The leader of each group is called the anchoress.
 
Stevens, anchoress for one of the apostolates at Sioux City Mater Dei Parish, said the anchoress is in communication with their priest and advises them when an apostolate begins.
 
“(She) would let her priest know we’ve got these women praying for you,” she explained. “If there’s some intention you have you really want us to zero in on, please let us know. Some priests are very willing to share and some are more quiet about it.”
 
After a spring 2018 presentation by Janette Howe, Seven Sisters foundress, at a Magnificat gathering in Pocahontas, interest in the apostolate grew around the diocese.

 Marian Pickhinke of Webster County Holy Trinity Parish was one of the attendees in 2018. She said the event had a lasting impression on her. 
“There I was sitting near the front and there was a big, beautiful painting of Mary at the feet of Jesus, (depicting) the story of the perfumed oil and wiping with the hair … for three days, I couldn’t get the image out of my head,” she said of the Daniel Gerhartz painting.
 
Pickhinke and fellow parishioner Wynn Touney (now deceased) discussed the possibility of forming one apostolate at Holy Trinity. The interest was so great that two apostolates were created to pray for Msgr. Kevin McCoy, pastor, and then-parochial vicar Father Patrick Behm.
 
“When you start a Seven Sisters group, you are connected to the foundress and follow the rules and declare a start date,” Pickhinke explained. “Out of the blue, I picked Aug. 1, 2018, … That was the first hour of prayer offered by one of our ladies. On that day, on the property of Holy Trinity Church, which was then a bare field, a big group of people wearing helmets with shovels showed up. They started the church building process the very same day we started Seven Sisters.”
 
An apostolate at Cathedral Parish in Sioux City had its origins just before COVID, according to anchoress Maria Rojas. Although the preferred location for prayer in the apostolate is in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the Cathedral Seven Sisters had moved their prayer to their homes as all the churches were closed at that time of the pandemic.
 
To accommodate busy schedules, travel or illness, many apostolates have substitutes willing to step in and pray for the priest on the scheduled day. There are options for the women if they can’t access an adoration time.
 
“You do what you can do,” Stevens said. “There are times you pray at home. EWTN has the adoration vigil you can click on to be in the presence of Jesus. Shut your phone off and have a quiet time.”
 
June commitment
Each Seven Sister member makes a commitment of one year, although the anchoresses said they have little turnover once the women commit to the apostolate.
 
Rojas said she doesn’t have difficulty in recruiting Seven Sisters participants – she is in charge of the parish adoration chapel schedule and approached the adorers about participating.
 
“I thought, I know every lady that was in (the list),” she said with a laugh. The women were quick to agree to pray for their priest during a holy hour.
 
In June around the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anchoresses are asked to consider hosting an annual gathering with the members of the apostolate to touch base and commit to the ministry for another year. The event might center around a morning coffee or lunch or some other event.
 
“It’s a nice time for the ladies to get together and share ways of praying and their tidbits about their own ways of prayer,” Stevens said, noting it rejuvenates the members.
 
Stevens has organized a morning of reflection, “Strengthen the Hands that Serve,” Monday, April 27 at 8 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church in Sioux City. Apostolates from around the diocese are invited and all are welcome. Sister Marie Hesed, SOLT, will be the speaker. The day begins with Mass, followed by adoration and prayer for priests, coffee and social time.
 
Support for participants
The anchoresses provide resources to help the women in their prayer. Stevens offers books prepared by the Seven Sisters Apostolate with suggestions for prayer, novenas, guidance for praying a holy hour and other information.
 
Pickhinke pointed out that the apostolate website www.sevensistersapostolate.org also provides “solid prayer suggestions.”
 
Holy Trinity has printed prayer cards with a vocation prayer and a photo of the priest the Seven Sisters are praying for to keep them centered during their prayer time. Cards are available in the parish chapel where adoration is held.
 
“(It) helps with distractions to have it on the chair or hold in your hand,” she explained. “A person can easily get distracted. The big goal is to pray for the needs of the priests.”
 
Although the mission of the apostolate is very important, the participants are generally humble about their role with the Seven Sisters. At times, priests will only know the identity of their anchoress but not the other members of the apostolate.
 
“I think the Seven Sisters get as much blessing out of the hour as the priest does. It’s such a time of peace and quiet and blessing,” Pickhinke said.
 
More apostolates
There are a number of apostolates continuing to form around the diocese. Stevens said a group recently formed at All Saints Parish in Le Mars to support Father Doug Klein, pastor, as well as their retired priests.
 
For those interested in forming an apostolate for their parish priest(s), Stevens suggests they contact their parish to see if a Seven Sisters is already formed. For those forming a new group of seven women, they are asked to report to the apostolate founder at www.sevensistersapostolate.org.
 
“I think by now people really realize the need to pray for priests,” Stevens said, noting the difficulties priests face navigating in a time with fewer vocations.

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