Prayer partners celebrate a decade of adoration alongside FSPA

Prayer partners celebrating 10 years of adoration: from left, Charlotte Nesseth, Darlene Wozney, Janet Stuhldreher, Lucille Pedretti, Edna Whalen and Arlene O'Loughlin.

The FSPA Eucharistic Prayer Partner program celebrated its 10th birthday during a commissioning ceremony on April 6. Insight asked Sister Mary Kathryn Fogarty, who leads the program today, and other members of the Prayer Partner Committee, to answer some questions about the Eucharistic Prayer Partner program.

Insight: What has been the biggest surprise of having the prayer partner program?

Committee: The ownership that the prayer partners are taking; their dedication to their hour of prayer; the acceptance of the sisters of the prayer partners as their partners in prayer; that the hour of prayer is part of the mission and not just private devotion. One committee member talked about becoming aware of the miracles that happen because of prayer. We do no advertisement for recruiting prayer partners. All is by word of mouth. Amazing how it has grown over the first 10 years.

Insight: What is the biggest challenge of the program?

Committee: Probably logistics of scheduling. Sometimes we have five to six persons scheduled for an hour of prayer; other hours are "thin" as one of the prayer partners says. How to stay in touch with the prayer partners but not overwhelm them. (They did come to us because they wanted to pray and not necessarily do workshops and socialize and add obligations to their already busy schedules.) We are aware, now that we are 10 years old, that we do not have in place a protocol for prayer partners who for whatever reason need to discontinue. The committee hopes to address this in the near future.

Insight: How has the program changed over the years?

Committee: In the beginning, there was some reluctance on the part of the sisters to have the prayer partners as official adorers. However, at the last assembly, the change was made in FSPA documents to read "two adorers" rather than "two sisters." This opened it up to prayer partners to be official adorers who are recognized as a part of the fabric of our history of over 129 years of round-the-clock prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed.

Insight: Looking ahead, how do you see the future of the program?

Committee: That the participants in the program will continue to come. That the stories to be told around "prayers answered" will grow and continue to be told.

Insight: How many prayer partners are there? Where do they come from?

Committee: Over 130 have been commissioned. Some have moved away or had to discontinue. Probably we have 80 active prayer partners. Most come
from the La Crosse/Onalaska/La Crescent area. We do have some from Sparta, Viroqua, Ferryville and New Albin, Iowa.

Insight: What does it mean to you to watch the program achieve this 10 year milestone?

Sister Mary Kathryn: Always in amazement at the work of God in FSPA history. It is a joy to work with the prayer partners. Their faithfulness to their hour of prayer is inspiring. I am also grateful to the sisters at St. Rose for the ways they care about the prayer partners who come to pray with them. Sister Geneva Kneer has some lovely pictures of Sophia Cripe, the daughter born last December to Rebecca and Cory Cripe. Rebecca comes to pray on Saturday mornings. Sister Rose Therese McMullin doesn't want to give up her hours because she has gotten to know the prayer partners and would miss seeing them after the hour. If a prayer partner is missing for a couple of weeks, often the sisters will call them to see if they are doing OK.

Ten years go by so quickly but prayer partners are a part of our history now and twice a year we commission a new group and the community welcomes them. I think we are proud of the prayer partners. We care about them. They have become part of the circle of those whom we remember in prayer.