It was the last leg of a years-long journey that began in Washington State, took them to Alma, then to Rome and finally, to Port Sanilac. Last October, they celebrated 15 years since arriving in the historic harbor town and 15 years since they established their order.

The Sisters of Our Mother of Divine Grace—known affectionately as the “Nuns of the Thumb”—arrived at St. Mary Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Port Sanilac on a late summer day in 2010. Father Donald Eppenbrock, a senior priest serving as sacramental minister, greeted them and invited them to lunch. Two months later, they moved next door to St. Mary’s and turned the old rectory into a convent.

“They’re the greatest asset that ever came to our county,” said Father Eppenbrock.

As Father Eppenbrock showed them around the quaint waterfront village, everyone they met received them warmly—a relief after a long journey that began 2,146 miles away in 2007.

A startling discovery

After high-speed internet arrived at their former religious community in Washington State, the sisters began reading Vatican II documents and discovered their order was no longer in communion with Rome, said Sister Mary Philomena Fuire. “God gave us the grace to realize we were outside the Church.”

But what was God calling them to do? Where was he calling them to go? How was he calling them to serve?

Suddenly, the sisters found themselves in “a cloud of unknowing.”

Each had lived in the same order for decades since entering religious life in their late teens. The thought of leaving was painful. Still, there was no choice.

Without fully understanding God’s plan, the sisters looked to the Blessed Mother for courage and strength. At the Annunciation, Mary said “yes” without knowing what would await her at Calvary, Sister Maria Inviolata Honma said.

In that same spirit, the sisters began discerning their next step.

They approached Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, and told him they wanted to learn what Vatican II was asking of them. They left their community in 2007 and lived in a retreat center for a year, where priests and sisters from the Missionary Sisters of Charity mentored them. Eventually, those sisters suggested they contact the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, who invited the group of sisters to their community.

Bishop Skylstad sent a letter to Bishop Robert Carlson, who was serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw at the time. And after the invitation was formalized, Sisters Mary Philomena, Maria Inviolata, Mary Teresita Mashburn and Clare Marie Seale began their journey to Michigan. They spent a year with the Religious Sisters of Mercy, who then made it possible for the four sisters to study in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum).

Before they left for Rome, Bishop Joseph Cistone was installed as the new bishop of Saginaw. Sister Philomena remembered him saying: “Go to Rome. You pray; I’ll pray. And perhaps you would like to stay in our diocese.”

There were many gifts along the way. Among the most memorable was the chance to renew their vows in one of the chapels at St. Peter’s Basilica.

“God brought us to his home—to the heart of the Church—to renew our vows,” said Sister Mary Teresita. “That’s something I never would have imagined.”

Finding a new home

After returning to Michigan, the four sisters said “yes” again.

God was not only calling them to start over, he was calling them to establish a new order.

Before renewing their vows in Rome, the sisters were encouraged to come up with a name for the new order. Since it was through God’s grace that they discovered their first order was no longer in communion with Rome, it was important that the name of the new order included the word “grace,” Sister Philomena said. After looking through the invocations in the Litany of Loreto, the one they were drawn to most was “Mother of Divine Grace.” So, they decided to name the order Sisters of Our Mother of Divine Grace.

They had always looked to Mary for strength and courage, so they knew their order had to be Marian. They chose a blue and white habit to remind people of the Blessed Mother and rewrote their constitution, or rule of life. In it, they wrote: “Uniting with the fiat of Mary, ‘the sisters strive to reflect Mary's humility in continual loving abandonment to God's will.’” The sisters wanted to live what St. Louis de Montfort taught in his book, True Devotion to Mary, said Sister Philomena, who leads the order. In the book, the French priest taught that the best way to reach Jesus was through consecration to Mary (“to Jesus through Mary”).

Seeking to imitate Mary’s “yes” throughout their journey, they chose the Annunciation as the order’s feast day. Thirty-three days before the Solemnity of the Annunciation on March 25, they begin preparations to reconsecrate their lives to Mary.

“We try to promote that total consecration to Jesus through Mary in the parishes,” said Sister Teresita.

Considering their own journey—especially after discovering they had not been in communion with Rome—it was clear that God was giving them the charism to pray for unity, not only within the Church, but outside it. God also was calling them to teach the Truth through the Gospel.

At the heart of it all is the Eucharist, said Sister Inviolata. “The Eucharist is the source of unity. All the grains make one bread. All the grapes make one wine. And in him we are all one.”

After their experience of walking forward into a “cloud of unknowing,” Sister Inviolata said, she believes “God had us journey in that way in the unknown to be able to help others.”

Wide-ranging service

From the start, Bishop Cistone also encouraged them to be a visible, spiritual presence in the Church. In addition to daily Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, Holy Hours and the Rosary, each sister has a work assignment with Ave Maria Parish. Sister Maria Inviolata works as the director of parish life, Sister Philomena works as the secretary and plays the organ at St. Denis and the remaining sisters help with catechesis and community ministries. Sister Maria Gabrielle Janetski, who will profess her final vows in August, also teaches at St. Edward on the Lake in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Sister Mary Teresita additionally handles formation for the order.

Even Tucker, their four-year-old Jack Russell/rat terrier, has an assignment. 

“He’s kind of a little mascot,” Sister Philomena said. When Sister Michael Marie takes Holy Communion into retirement homes or to the homebound, he goes along.

“If you picture Snoopy with a smile on his face, feet going a mile a minute, that’s how Tucker is,” said Sister Inviolata. “He’s a bright light.”

Visible ministry

To Theresa Pellerito, who helps teach faith formation at the parish, the sisters seem to be everywhere.

“They’re always on the go. These women work,” she said. “That’s what makes them so inspirational. These women see what needs to be done and they do it.”

All these activities aside, the sisters have carried the Gospel throughout the parish and out into the community in many ways over the past 15 years.

The community has a lot of seniors, so over the years, the sisters have worked with Meals on Wheels and drive people to doctors’ appointments. There’s vacation Bible school in the summers and information fairs for seniors.

Recently, they’ve connected with other churches in the area through a nonprofit called Lexington Community and Unity to help meet community needs and provide social events for area seniors.

The sisters also are planning new ways for parishioners to get together and be involved in the parish, hopefully encouraging them to come to Mass, Sister Inviolata said.

The sisters also help Father Bala Madanu, who joined the parish as parochial vicar in 2024, in every way—including baking him cookies.

“I love them very much. They received me like family,” he said.

Together, he and the sisters work to grow the parish and “bring everyone together in unity with one mind,” Father Bala said.

Hope to build

There is always work to be done, Sister Teresita said. “But if we can build up the parish, then we can build up the Church.”

The hope is to grow, expand and work in other parishes throughout the diocese, Sister Inviolata said. But they need more women to join them.

Outside the Thumb, the Sisters of our Mother of Divine Grace are not well known, Sister Teresita said. But they are hoping to change that.

Sister Teresita, Sister Michael Marie and Sister Maria Gabrielle recently traveled to the SEEK young adult conference in Columbus, Ohio, where they had a booth. Sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), the event gave the sisters “one of the best opportunities we have had” to meet young women who might be interested in joining the order. They talked to hundreds of young people, Sister Teresita said. (See page 18 for a story about student experiences at SEEK.)

Just watching the sisters live out their faith has helped Theresa since they first arrived in Port Sanilac more than a decade ago. She remembers the sunny summer day she met them as they walked along the Port Sanilac Pier.

“Those must be the new sisters,” she told her husband, John. The sisters—wearing their blue and white habits—walked toward them with radiant, welcoming smiles.

“They have really influenced my life,” she said. “I love them so dearly. And our entire parish loves them too.

“They pull us together,” she said. “And that’s unity.”

Women interested in finding out more about the Sisters of our Mother of Divine Grace are welcome to reach out by visiting the order’s website, www.sistersmdg.org or by calling or by calling the convent at (810) 404-9904.

“So that they may be one.”(John 17:22)

PRAY FOR UNITY WITH THE SISTERS OF OUR MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACE

With so much division in the Church and in the world, the Sisters of our Mother of Divine Grace invite everyone to join them in praying for unity—especially before the Eucharist.

“The Holy Spirit can powerfully change hearts, and that is what we need!” Sister Teresita said. “Christian unity is the work and gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Pray to the Holy Spirit for unity and the end of these divisions, she said, and “beg God to increase the Fruits of the Spirit in our souls [so that we can] visibly manifest these fruits in our own lives.”

“We can help to transform the world as Christ did,” Sister Philomena said. Only Christ will bring peace. He is the Truth. And in him is true strength. “Christ is the center and the only one who has the answers.”

PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

Lord Jesus Christ, at your Last Supper, you prayed to the Father that all should be one. Send Your Holy Spirit upon all who bear your name and seek to serve you. Strengthen our faith in you and lead us to love one another in humility. May we, who have been reborn in one baptism, be united in one faith under one Shepherd. Amen.

PRAY WITH THE SISTERS

Eucharistic Adoration on Sunday-Wednesday and Fridays 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s, Port Sanilac