Eulogy for Sister Viatora Solbach, Dec. 6, 1921-May 26, 2011
May 31, 2011 by Sarah
VIGIL: May 29, 2011, at the Nazareth Motherhouse
EULOGIST: Sister Mary Reiter
Mary Catherine Solbach was born on a farm near Clifton, Kan., on Dec. 6, 1921. She was the second oldest of 14 children. Surviving are four sisters — Edith, Carolyn, Mary and Marilyn — and three brothers — Charles, Vernon and Mark.
The Sisters of St. Joseph had been very good to her mother in childhood and Mary Catherine expressed the desire to become a Sister early on. After grade school her parents sent her to Marymount Academy for high school. When she completed her sophomore year, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia on Sept. 8, 1939, and received the habit and the name Sister Viatora on March 19, 1940. She made final vows March 19, 1944. Of the original band members, only Sister Liberata Pellerin remains.
After finishing high school at the Motherhouse, Sister Vi went to Marymount College to prepare to teach. She taught in the grade schools for 20 years mainly in Kansas, but also in Chicago.
After leaving the classroom, Sister Vi felt strongly that the Sisters of St. Joseph needed to establish a prayer house. She joined a prayer committee to study the issue, and a proposal was presented at the 1968 Chapter. After much discussion it was felt more study was needed before the next chapter. The commission presented the proposal again. It was tabled but they proposed sending someone to live in a prayer house and study more about it. So at the next chapter, the Senate approved the proposal and asked for volunteers to begin the ministry. The convent in Clyde became the first Manna House of Prayer with Sisters Viatora, Faye Huelsmann and Pat Lewter accepting this ministry. Father Vering was a real help to them. Sister Anna Marie Broxterman also helped.
Sister Vi spent three years there, then was elected to the Council for four years. At the end of her term she was asked to be Motherhouse Administrator. Later Sister Marie Kelley came to help her.
She then went to St. Louis University to be trained in pastoral ministry. After much prayerful discernment, she went to St. Xavier’s Church in Junction City, Kan., as Pastoral Visitor and Eucharistic Minister to the sick and homebound. For three years she served and really appreciated this ministry.
In her own words:
“Also of importance during this time was my introduction to Kevin Wilmott, a black graduate from Marymount, who was teaching at St. Xavier’s High. He introduced me to Lemoine Davis who was a counselor at the public high school and noticed that black students who graduated could not get jobs and often got into trouble with the law. Lemoine established his Blue Doe Energy to provide jobs for them. Kevin also had a group of men and women, black and white, who were interested in justice issues, the Kanza Life Community of which I became a member. Later a St. Francis Shelter was established to house transients at night so they would not be on the streets.
The Kanza Life group picketed the Municipal Building and post office to make the city aware of the injustice that the city would not hire a black firefighter. After three months of picketing, the city hired a black firefighter.
Sometime later we did a sit-in at the Chamber of Commerce for Human Rights Board. We were reported to the bishop, the pastor and finally to our president, Sister Marcia Allen. She told them that she didn’t know about it but added, ‘We support it 100 percent.’ Some weeks later a Human Rights Board was established.”
Later Sister Vi said, “We need a place for homeless women and children.” The Kanza Life community looked for a suitable place in the impoverished part of town, Kevin and Lemoine found property with three old houses. They said they could fix them up but needed money. Sister Vi wrote to the St. Joseph Foundation for a loan of $20,000. They also asked for and received a grant of $10,000 to renovate two houses. That became St. Clare House of Hospitality. In the meantime Sister Vi visited 36 of 41 pastors in town and asked if their churches could help them. She was asked to speak to the ministerial alliance and the church circles and also various organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Seratoma Clubs and officers of wives at Fort Riley. So money began to come in. Others sponsored projects to raise money for St. Clare House.
Sisters Mary Esther Otter and Anne Martin Reinert early on had accepted Sister Vi’s invitation to come and work on this new venture. They completed the two-story house but ran out of money to complete remodeling the little house close by. They opened to guests on March 17, 1986. They lived and worked in cramped quarters for two years until they received a grant from SRS to complete the projects.
When the convent closed that spring St. Clare House was not ready to be lived in, so Eleanor Nolan invited them to live with her. In the summer of 1987 Marrayne Schatter, a native of Los Angeles, came and worked with them for three years.
Due to Sister Viatora’s declining health and the fact that the Crisis Center of Manhattan was so crowded and needed a facility in Junction City, St. Clare House of Hospitality became a “Crisis Center Facility.” The transition took place July 1, 1994.
The St. Clare House, in its 8½ years of operation served nearly 1,500 women and children as a place of shelter and safety. Many women were able to be directed to public housing, social services, job training and job services.
I would like to quote a passage from a letter to Sister Viatora written by Kevin Wilmott in May 1994:
Receiving the last newsletter of St. Clare House brought me to reflect on our relationship. I hope you know how much you have meant in my life. You joined our organization at a time when I was desperately needing support. Your support not only was very beneficial to the group … it acknowledged that I was doing the right thing. You joined us when no one else in the community of your stature was willing to stand with us.
How we sacrificed against the will of the community to achieve our goals. What the spirit of St. Clare House was founded upon. To me, St. Clare House is a monument to our efforts. We achieved this totally outside the system, even against the opposition of our own church. You, Sister Mary Esther, Sister Ann and Marrayne are what gave St. Clare House its life.
St. Clare House was built with a belief in revolution and radical Christianity. St. Clare House is a beacon of light in a community marked in darkness.
Sister Vi, it was an honor to work with you. You have enriched my life and helped me to become who I am today.
In 1990 the local ministerial alliance bought the former convent and Open Door was established in 1991 where the homeless were housed on second floor. Some of the sisters worked there for some time.
Sister Viatora moved to serve as parish visitor in Ellis and Plainville for a few years before retiring to the Motherhouse in 2003. She moved to Mount Joseph senior Village in 2007 and died May 26, 2011.
Sister Viatora wrote:
“There is so much to be grateful for; so many people to thank for their love, support and encouragement, all of which has been so important in calling me to grow in all that I needed to be, who I am and where I am now. Great is our God, who has been with me forever, providing me with good parents and wonderful brothers and sisters and calling me to be a Sisters of St. Joseph – a congregation of which I am so blessed to be a part and my companions along the way.”
Sister Vi, like your mother, you have been a kind and compassionate woman ever faithful to the Gospel of Jesus. We will miss your beautiful smile and your example of peaceful contentment.
Memorials in honor of Sister Viatora Solbach
We extend our sympathy to all of Sister Viatora’s family and friends. She will be missed greatly.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
May 31, 2011 by Sarah
Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2011
May 30, 2011 by Sarah
When all is said and done, and statesmen discuss the future of the world, the fact remains that people fight these wars.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Saturday & Sunday, May 28 & 29, 2011
May 28, 2011 by Sarah
In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.
~Mark Twain
Friday, May 27, 2011
May 27, 2011 by Sarah
Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”
~Robin Williams
‘Working lunch’ focuses on wide array of events, projects
May 26, 2011 by Sarah
A full roster of upcoming community events, projects and services greeted participants of Thursday’s Community Needs Forum “working lunch” at the Nazareth Motherhouse.
• • • • • • •
The hourlong session was the 14th in a process that started in the fall of 2008 with informal lunches at the Sisters of St. Joseph. In addition to identifying what participants see as the greatest needs in the community, the meetings have established smaller groups to seek solutions.
Upcoming events announced included:
• National Night Out on Aug. 2, which will be co-sponsored by the Concordia Year of Peace Committee and the Concordia Police Department. Patrick Sieben, a member of the Year of Peace Committee, told that lunch group that the goal of National Night Out is to have neighbors organize small block parties to get to know one another, and to get to know the police officers in their area. By doing that, citizens can help reduce crime in their neighborhoods while strengthening neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships.
Some 15,000 communities around the country and on U.S. military bases around the world will take part in National Night Out this year.
As a part of the local effort, neighborhood organizers are being recruited now. Anyone who wants to learn more about being an organizer for his or her neighborhood can call Concordia Police Chief Chris Edin at 243-3131 or email him at policechief@concordiaks.org. Interested volunteers are asked to contact Edin by May 31. And, Sieben added, “If you become a community organizer, you can be president,” drawing laughs from the crowd.
• Community Volunteer Fair on Sept. 10, which will be hosted by the Sisters of St. Joseph at the Motherhouse. Every organization that uses volunteers in its work will be invited to have a display at the fair, and the public will then be invited to come to learn more about all the opportunities available. This first-ever Concordia event is designed to bring together people who would like to volunteer with the agencies and organizations that need that help, Sister Jean Rosemarynoski explained.
Organizations, agencies and groups that seek volunteers are asked to register before Aug. 12, by contacting Rosemarynoski at 243-2113, ext. 1225, or sisterjean@csjkansas.org
• The fourth annual golf tournament to support Big Brothers, Big Sisters, which is set for June 11 at the Concordia American Legion course. Director Holly Brown has more information on that, as well as a first-ever auction planned for September, at 243-1620.
Other participants gave reports on a variety of new and ongoing projects:
• There’s a new weekday bus service from Belleville to Salina, with stops in Concordia and Minneapolis, reported James Quillen of OCCK Inc. Service is available to the general public with no eligibility requirements, and passengers are charged 10-cents per mile per ride, making the cost roundtrip from Concordia to Salina $10. For the schedule or more information, call toll-free 1-855-KS-RIDES (1-855-577-4337).
• Gardeners have claimed all 27 plots in the Concordia Community Garden of Hope, at the northeast corner of the Motherhouse property, according to Sister Betty Suther. This year Motherhouse staff expanded the garden to include another section toward the south edge of the property, which will be used by Concordia school students. The schools received a $4,500 grant from the Kansas Green Schools Program to purchase composting bins and create a compost program at the community garden.
• The second-floor expansion of Neighbor to Neighbor is well under way and should be completed by summer, reported Sister Jean Befort, one of the three women who operate the women’s center in downtown Concordia. The work to double the space at the year-old center began in December, and a fundraising drive to pay for the project began at the same time. “The numbers just continue to grow,” Befort said. “We very much need that additional space.”
• Our Father’s House, a new Christian program for men and families, is closer to reality, reporter Cameron Thurner, noting that the idea grew out of early discussions at the Community Needs Forums. A volunteer board is leading the effort and working with the First Christian Church in Concordia, she said.
• The newly published “A Year of Peace in Concordia, Kansas” and “Another Year of Peace” T-shirts are still available for purchase, said Sister Julie Christensen. The T-shirts are $13 while the books — a compilation of Year of Peace columns published in the Concordia Blade-Empire — are $2 a copy. Year of Peace polo shirts are also available by special order. The items are available at the Nazareth Gift Shop in the Motherhouse, at Manna House of Prayer or by calling Sister Julie at 243-4428.
The next “working lunch” is planned for Monday, Aug. 15, at the Motherhouse. Anyone interested is invited to attend; you do not have to have taken part before to join the conversation now.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
May 26, 2011 by Sarah
All of us have wonders hidden in our breasts, only needing circumstances to evoke them.
~ Charles Dickens
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
May 25, 2011 by Sarah
… a final comfort that is small, but not cold: The heart is the only broken instrument that works.
~ T.E. Kalem
Faith & Sharing: A 22-year Memorial Day tradition
May 24, 2011 by Sarah
Many people view the long Memorial Day weekend as the kickoff to summer and plan for barbecues and family get-togethers. Others continue the annual ritual of remembering loved ones by placing flowers on their graves and cleaning up around their tombstones.
But Sister Christella Buser will mark this Memorial Day weekend as she has every one for the past 21 years: By gathering up people to join her in a Faith and Sharing retreat.
This year’s weekend is at the University of St. Mary campus in Leavenworth, Kan., and Sister Christella will be one of four facilitators leading the 42 participants from central and eastern Kansas.
The idea behind Faith and Sharing retreats grew out of L’Arche, founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier as a community where developmentally disabled and physically challenged adults and “assistants” would live and work together. The Federation of L’Arche International today has more than 130 communities in 30 countries, including L’Arche Heartland in the Kansas City area, which Sister Christella helped found in the late 1980s.
Vanier held the first Faith and Sharing, an annual Gospel-centered retreat, in 1968 in Toronto, Ontario, and in 1990 Sister Christella was instrumental in bringing the retreat to Kansas.
This year’s participants will include L’Arche community members and others from Concordia, Belleville, Salina, Overland Park, Olathe, Lawrence, Leavenworth and Kansas City. The theme for the 2011 gathering is “Grace: Weaving the Colors of Our Life.”
The weekend’s other facilitators are Sisters Ann Lucia Apodaca and Lucy Walter, both Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, and Father Kevin Cullen of Rockhurst College in Kansas City. Sister Julie Christensen, a Sister of St. Joseph of Concordia, is among the volunteers.
“There will be a dance, art projects, classes, music, performances and a Mass,” explains 86-year-old Sister Christella as she gets ready for the weekend that begins Friday morning with a van trip to Leavenworth. “People tell me this is the best weekend of their lives.”
The participants stay in a residence hall at the Leavenworth college, and the retreat continues through late Sunday morning.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
May 24, 2011 by Sarah
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.
— Amelia Earhart
