Local

Franciscan Sisters celebrate 141 years of perpetual adoration

Published

5 years ago

August 1, 2019

Kaitlyn Riley

A mass was held in the chapel after the bell rang 141 times to mark each year of adoration.

Franciscan Sisters and prayer partners took turns ringing the bell to mark each of the 141 years.

In celebration of more than a century of perpetual adoration, the Franciscan Sisters of La Crosse took turns ringing a bell 141 times, a ring for each year of adoration.

Aug. 1, 1878 at 11:00 a.m. marked the start of this tradition. Letters dating back to June of 1877 spoke of the sisters’ desire to introduce the devotion. They sought to expose the Eucharist continually with burning candles. The letters read it would be a great expense, but the sisters believed they owed it as a debt of gratitude for the abundant blessings they received.

They built a new chapel for the purpose. A small shrine of 12’x18’ was added to the south wing of the convent. The monstrance, which is used to hold the Eucharist, was made of pure silver and cost more than $300 at the time.

According to history, the sisters prepared spiritually for their very first adoration with a three-day retreat.

Kaitlyn Riley

Kaitlyn Riley’s passion for communications started on her family’s dairy farm in Gays Mills, Wis. Wanting to share agriculture’s story, she studied strategic communications and broadcast journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In college, she held officer positions with the Association of Women in Agriculture and Badger Dairy Club while volunteering as a news reporter for the college radio station. She also founded the university’s first agricultural radio talk show, AgChat. In her professional career, Kaitlyn has worked in radio, print and television news doing everything from covering local events to interviewing presidential candidates, and putting back on her barn boots to chat with farmers in the field. Today, Kaitlyn can be seen covering local stories that matter to you in the La Crosse area.