Denver Catholic

CATHOLIC LIFE I 3 DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER I NOVEMBER 13, 2013 Respected professor-nun accepts new post in England "The Christian friendships I've been blessed with here are forever. They're in Christ and they're forever." BY NISSA LAPOINT Longtime seminary professor Sister Mary Prudence Allen was bid farewell by friends and colleagues after 15 years of dedication to St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and Endow in Denver. Before the Religious Sister of Mercy left Denver today, Nov. 13, for Lancaster, England, where she begins a new mission, Sister Allen was honored for being the crux of the seminary's philosophy program and a co-founder of the international women's ministry Endow, Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women. Father Andreas Hoeck, acSAGES" EXHIBIT ademic dean of the seminary, John noted that Sister Allen was like with a a mother to the seminary, nurturing its growth through the years. "Through your life as a Religious Sister of Mercy, as well as a professor of philosophy, you instantiated the call to live in harmony between faith and reason, between charity and truth," Father Hoeck told a crowd gathered at the seminary in October. "Yes, you have given an exemplary witness to this truth. And thanks to you, to your vision and tireless Sister Mary Prudence Allen PHOTO PROVIDED SISTER Mary Prudence Allen, R.S.M. work, our philosophy program is second to none in the country." She received a bouquet of 15 lilies, a laptop and a plaque of appreciation from seminarians and colleagues. Sister Allen said the separation from friends is only temporary. "The Christian friendships I've been blessed with here are forever," she told the Denver Catholic Register. "They're in Christ and they're forever. Even though there's a temporary separation in faith, we believe we will see one another again." Sister Allen said it's been a privilege to be part of an adventure in Denver. She first arrived in the late '90s after then-seminary rector Archbishop Samuel Aquila's request that the religious sisters help launch the new seminary. Sister Allen and three other sister's academic expertise were needed to open the seminary and gain accreditation. "He had asked our mother general if she would send sisters to bring the new evangelization," she said. Once here, Sister Allen formed a curriculum and selected faculty to fulfill the need for a truly Catholic philosophy program, she said, that combined the tradition of St. Thomas and an understanding of modern philosophy and contemporary Catholic philosophy. "I wanted faculty who had a Thomistic foundation but who had an area of expertise in contemporary Catholic philosophy," she said. The aim was for future priests to develop a love of philosophy. Since 1999, 94 men graduated from the seminary (which also provides the academic formation for the archdioceses's Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary) and were ordained to the priesthood. Sister Allen was also the first recipient of the Archbishop Charles J. Chaput chair of philosophy. Gratitude for Sister Allen's contributions was also expressed over a dinner hosted by Endow. Family and friends, including executive director Terry Polakovic, expressed how Sister Allen entered their hearts and how the classes changed their faith. "She touched me in every way. She was the person who helped me fall in love with my faith," Polakovic said. "She was a spiritual mother. We wouldn't have Endow without her. She's spoken for us and written for us. She's done, really, everything for us." What started as an idea and small group meeting blossomed into an international ministry to help women discover their God-given dignity. "Denver is good soil for the seed. For me, it's such a joy to see the fruit of it," Sister Allen said about Endow. "To see it take root and be so much bigger than any one of us individually—it's a great gift to me." Since in Denver, Sister Allen has published two of three volumes—the last volume's published date is expected in December 2014—titled "The Concept of Woman." Her writings address gender complementarity and the human body as a composite unity. She will finish the volume in England. Sister Allen said she is looking forward to her new mission to bring the new evangelization to the Lancaster University Chaplaincy with priests and another Religious Sister of Mercy. "If I don't feel sad," she said. "It's not because I don't love the people here, it's because of the mission. We can't be surprised when we're being sent somewhere else. You can't hold on to what makes us feel comfortable and happy. We have to be willing to go where the Lord wants us to go with joy." YEAR OF FAITH What was your experience of the Year of Faith? "The Year of Faith has truly been a faith-renewing time in the life of the Church "I learned a lot studying and in my own life. This the catechism. Learning year I was able to share my more about the saints and personal testimony with catechism was so different Charismatic Renewal memfor me because of growing bers who speak English; this up Presbyterian." is the first time I had such an honor." -Thalia Burd, — Abram Leon, teacher at Holy Family High Charismatic Renewal Movement Coordinator, School, Broomfield Archdiocese of Denver "My wife and I weren't mar"Every morning to start the ried in the Church, so after day, I read the daily readings 34 years without receiving to encounter the Lord. It was the Eucharist, in this Year of a way to illuminate the Lord Faith, my wife and I received in daily Mass (later on) by the grace of celebrating the entering into relationship sacrament of matrimony in with him in the morning and the Catholic Church. We were saying 'I'll see you later.'" able to receive again our Lord Jesus. Today, I can -Joe McLagan, say that I not only have friends, but brothers and seminarian at St. John Vianney Theological sisters (in Christ). … I give thanks to God for this Seminary, Denver beautiful gift that is my precious faith." "I spent more time in — Natividad García, prayer. I read the Year of Immaculate Conception Church, Lafayette Faith boxes (in the Denver "It brought me closer to Catholic Register). I also tried the Church. I read the Bible to reflect on being a better more and I did more prayers mom and wife. That word with my daughters. I have a faith—there's so much to it!" lot more trust in my faith." -Nancy Waring, -Catherine Leisegang, nurse consultant for the Office of teacher at St. Thomas More Catholic Schools School, Centennial BY DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER AND EL PUEBLO CATÓLICO Faith From Page 1 To take the good news out to the people during the Year of Faith, more than 100 members of the Neocatechumenal Way announced the Gospel via loudspeaker at 12 public locations in Colorado and Wyoming through "The Great Mission." For six consecutive Sundays following Easter, teams of at least 10 people—married couples, young adults, seminarians and a priest—placed themselves in areas of high foot traffic in Denver, Boulder, Greeley, Fort Collins and other cities, preached from a stage, and invited passersby to sit and join them. "For people who are far away from the Church, what's important today is to announce the love and mercy of God," said Rose Mary McLeod, who with her husband Don, leads the Way, a parish-based catechumenate. "More than anything else this is what they need to hear… everybody needs to learn how much God loves them and how merciful he is, that he forgives all our sins." The area teams were among an estimated 10,000 teams worldwide, according to McLeod. YEAR OF FAITH CLOSING MASS When: 10:30 a.m. Nov. 24 Where: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Address: 1530 Logan St., Denver Questions: 303-831-7010 Thousands were touched by the messages, she said. People listened intently as they preached near restaurants with outdoor dining, by college campuses, at trailer parks and otherwise in public venues. Through The Great Mission, three new Neocatechumenal Way communities were started in Colorado: in Greeley, Denver and Boulder. "I'm convinced this is something the Church has to do," she said. "The pope is giving us a lot of encouragement." McLeod was referring to Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict's successor, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Year of Faith since Benedict's resignation last February. "We'll see what he'll do next," she pondered. "Maybe Pope Francis will announce a Year of Hope and a Year of Charity." Julie Filby: 303-7215-3123; julie.filby@archden.org; www. twitter.com/DCRegisterJulie

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