Sr. M. Renee Cunningham to celebrate 50th Jubilee
The public is invited to join Sr. M. Renee Cunningham, LCM as she celebrates her 50th Jubilee of entrance into religious life on Sunday, September 11, 2016 at St. Joseph Church in Jasper.
Mass will begin at 2:00 p.m. with a reception immediately following until 5:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Parish Center.
Sr. Renee was born in Torrance, California and received her nursing diploma from the Little Company of Mary Hospital School of Nursing in Evergreen Park, Illinois. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of Evansville and a master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University in New Orleans. Sr. Renee worked in Little Company of Mary hospitals in Evergreen Park and Torrance prior to coming to Jasper in 1975. At Memorial Hospital, she has worked as staff nurse, nursing relief supervisor, director of education, palliative care nurse, and parish nurse.
Serving as secretary of Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center’s Board of Directors, Sr. Renee also chairs the hospital’s Mission Committee and is a member of the Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committees. She is also a member of the Leadership Team for the American Province of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary.
The Sisters of the Little Company of Mary are a worldwide, apostolic congregation of consecrated women in the Roman Catholic tradition following the spirit and model of Calvary. The Congregation is named for the “little company” of faithful followers who stayed with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, at the foot of the Cross throughout his suffering and death.
Mary Potter founded the Little Company of Mary in Nottingham, England in 1877 and dedicated her small following to the Maternal Heart of Mary. She was a frail woman with a fierce determination and unwavering faith who wrote extensively on the subject of prayer and spirituality. For the next 15 years, her “little” company grew in both numbers and reputation serving in Italy, Australia and Ireland. Mother Mary Potter continued to attract women to her congregation, and their ministries spread throughout the world. Though she died in 1913, her charism and spiritual writings live on. In 1988, Pope John Paul II declared her “Venerable” Mary Potter, opening the door to her eventual canonization.
The Little Company of Mary’s health care ministries include hospitals, home care, hospice, extended care, spiritual direction, parishes and outreach programs in California, Illinois and Indiana as well as in South Korea, Tonga, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Philippines.
