The OLA Blog
Stories, reflections, and updates from our mission and community life. Here we share reflections, insights and experiences, believing that the simple act of sharing can inspire, connect, and open hearts.
A Jubilee Gift at Harvest Time
Each autumn, the Harvest Day at Ardfoyle brings together the people who share this place. The Horticulture LTI, run by SHEP in the old walled gardens, gathers the produce of the year and invites the OLA Sisters and others at Ardfoyle to celebrate with them. This...
Sr Mary T Barron Reflects on Her Appontment by Pope Leo XIV
Tanscript: What are your feelings regarding your appointment by Pope Leo XIV? It’s a great honour to be chosen as the President of the Pontifical Mission Societies and therefore Adjunct Secretary to the Dicastery for Evangelization. So today, with the...
Sr Mary T Barron OLA appointed to Senior Vatican Missionary Role
Press Release Sr. Mary T Barron OLA Expresses Gratitude and Humility Following Appointment as Adjunct Secretary for the Dicastery of Evangelization, serving as President of the Pontifical Mission Societies. Sr. Mary T Barron, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of...
RIP Sr Patricia McMenamin (Sr. Mary Paschal)
7th March 1942 - 30th September 2026 On Friday, 2nd October 2026, the morning started completely overcast and cloudy, with outbreaks of rain pushing across the sky during the afternoon and becoming heavy at times. The OLA Sisters, the staff of...
Care for Creation in a World of Destruction
The Season of Creation begins tomorrow with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Sr Paoula Mourad, missioned in Ireland and serving as Justice Coordinator for the Irish District, has recently returned from Cotonou, Benin, where she joined OLA...
OLA Justice Coordinators Gather in Benin
Our OLA Justice coordinators from across the Congregation are gathered in Cotonou, Benin, for an international formation session on Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) These Sisters do this work on their own most of the year, in their own countries, seeing...
A Bridge of Hearts Connecting Europe and Africa
In the July heat, a bridge of hearts stretched across France, from the streets of Lille and the fields around Chemy to the churches and steep hills of Lyon. They came from across west and north Africa, from the Rift Valley, from the Mediterranean coast, from Ireland...
200 Years Since the Birth of Augustine Planque
Since Thursday last week, our Sisters have been in Chemy, a small village in the north of France where three anniversaries come together: one hundred and seventy years since the founding of the Society of African Missions, one hundred and fifty years since the...
RIP Sr Eithne Mac Devitt OLA
Sr Eithne Mac Devitt OLA, died peacefully at Ardfoyle Convent on Friday 17 July 2026. We remember her with gratitude and share here the words spoken in remembrance of Sr Eithne, offering an opportunity to reflect on her life, her vocation and the many people...
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