May 6-7 with Janette Howe of Seven Sisters
WAVERLY (SNR) – Janette Howe, founder of the Seven Sisters Apostolate, will return to Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly to lead a women's retreat May 6-7, entitled “Mary and the Eucharist.”
“The Church consistently links the inseparable relationship between the holy Eucharist and Mary,” Howe explained. “Her popes have written about it, art has spoken a thousand words regarding it, and clergy have wisely encouraged the faithful to simultaneously deepen devotion to both.”
At the retreat, she said, “together in silence and reflection we will explore the strength of history, truth and beauty that assist in embracing and loving Our Eucharistic Lord and Our Lady.”
Howe will use as her sources the book “Mary and the Eucharist” by Father Richard Foley and the encyclical of Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia.
“If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist,” the encyclical reads.
Howe will bring various pieces of sacred art of Mary and the Eucharist for meditation and veneration at the retreat, with special emphasis on “Madonna of the Grapes,” depicting Mary in relation to the Eucharist.
“In this rich and full topic of Mary and the Eucharist,” she said, “I am a student alongside the retreatants. We will learn together.”
Howe and her husband Jeff, married 39 years, have two adult children: a married daughter Kelsa, who works at the Institute of Priestly Formation in Omaha, and a priest son, Father Spencer, ordained in 2013 for the Archdiocese of St Paul-Minneapolis.
Howe is a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Ave Maria University. She has initiated two apostolates: Truth Himself, founded in the 2004-05 Year of the Eucharist, which aims to cultivate knowledge, love and service of the Eucharistic Lord; and the Seven Sisters Apostolate, fostering prayer for priests in the form of offering holy hours.
A Seven Sisters group is seven women who each pray a weekly holy hour for a particular priest. Their goal is for every priest and bishop in the Lincoln Diocese to have a group covering them with prayers. To learn more about the Seven Sisters Apostolate, contact diocesan coordinator Rhonda Litt at 402-525-6396 (text or call), or visit sevensistersapostolate.org.
The two-day retreat starts Friday, May 6 with 7 p.m. Mass and an 8 p.m. talk, and concludes Saturday with a 6 p.m. supper. Women of all ages are invited, and not just those in a Seven Sisters group.
Options for commuting and online are also available. Register at goodcounselretreat.org, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 402-786-2705.
