As part of a global celebration of 2015 being named the “Year of Consecrated Life” by Pope Francis, the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph hosted a tour on Feb. 8. A wonderful group of people came from Owensboro and as far away as Paducah and Kuttawa, Ky., to see the Motherhouse Chapel, two community rooms, the library, craft room, archives, Saint Angela Merici Oratory and the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center. The event included refreshments and a stop at the Mount Saint Joseph Gift Shop.

Many of the Ursuline Sisters were on hand to welcome the visitors and to answer questions during the tour. A panel of three sisters — Vivian Bowles, Ruth Gehres and Marietta Wethington, — talked about why they joined the consecrated life and took questions from the audience, including, “Do you have a say in what ministry you do?” The sisters explained that when they first joined, they were assigned to teach at specific schools. Now the scope of ministries has widened, and they are allowed to go into a ministry they feel called to do, with the blessing of their leadership.

Here are photos from the day: