European contact with the “New World” after 1492 is too often portrayed as led exclusively by misguided, self-interested, and tragically violent conquistadors. This series recenters the discussion by offering interested students a free lunch and a first exposure to a different and often forgotten set of important actors: the holy and saintly women of the Americas whose inspiring witness, deep devotion, loving service, and peaceful genius helped carry the good news of Christ throughout North, Central, and South America. Limited seats, so event registration requested.
UVA location: Clark Library 156; Time: 12:30-2:00pm
In always mysterious ways, there are some Christians who openly and effortlessly radiate their love for God and for others, repairing the brokenness of the world with their exemplary presence. All give witness in quiet, humble and hidden ways, but the Church in Her Wisdom recognizes only a few in more public ways as a means of encouraging the rest of us. If you have never heard of the life, the works and the joy of Sr. Thea Bowman, then this (free!) lunch discussion is offered especially for you. Invite a friend, but seats are limited, so please register today.
Special visiting guests ValLimar and Frank Jansen will join our lunch discussion.
Friday, April 14, 2023: St. Théodore Guérin (1798-1851)
Bring a friend and come to meet someone new as everyone is invited to join us for friendly conversation, a free lunch, and an introduction to the educational pioneer St. Theodore Guerin, a holy example of perseverance, ingenuity and missionary zeal despite family trajedies, personal health difficulties, and the resentful political, social and even ecclesiastical forces of her times.Help us with the lunch order by registering today. We'll meet In UVA Bryan Hall-Room 235 on Friday, April 14 at 12:30pm for lunch, with discussion of Guerin's life and works beginning @ 1:00pm. Questions? Please email Meaghan Brennan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Join us for lunch and meet—in her own words—the youthful and talented St. Teresa of the Andes, the first canonized saint of Chile! We will consider Chilean Catholicism and the graces of Teresa’s family relationships as well as the surprising trans-continental influences of Sts. Therese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity on our new friend, the '"Flower of the Andes." All are invited and lunch is on us, so consider inviting a friend to join the group. Questions? Email Dr. Jocelyn Moore: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..“Wife, mother, widow, businesswoman, religious, mystic and missionary”
Friday, November 11, 2021 (Friday) 12:30-2PM
Venerable Henriette Delille (1813-1862)
Join us for lunch and an introduction to this holy woman, whose heroic virtue as “servant of the enslaved” has placed her on the path of becoming the first U.S.-born black female saint! Register here for lunch, and you can learn more about Delille through a shorter biography and reflection by Fr. Josh Johnson and a narrative of Delille's life and apostolate by Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB.
Friday, April 30, 2021 (1:00-2:00pm via Zoom)
Holy Women: Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, O.S.P. (1784-1882)
Mother Elizabeth Lange (1784-1882) is one of six black Catholic Americans on the road to canonization. Join us as we share the story of Lange, of the black Catholic community to which she witnessed, and of the Oblate Sisters. Lange was a Haitian emigré to Baltimore in the early 1800s who founded a free school and then the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious order of black women in the U.S. All are invited to register here to receive the Zoom link, and we're providing a free box lunch to UVA students, too. Email Dr. Jocelyn Moore (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).Friday, March 26, 2021 (1:00-2:00pm via Zoom)
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)
Join us for a live, expert-led Zoom pilgrimage to Emmitsburg, MD to view the quintessential American conversion story of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821). Seton was the first native-born American to be canonized; foundress of the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity; and she opened the first free parochial school in the U.S. and the first Catholic orphanage in the U.S.: all before she died at the age of 46, while raising her five children after the death of her husband.We'll begin with a short discussion of St. Elizabeth’s life, conversion, and the educational charism of her ministry, and then we'll Zoom-walk into a special live tour of her historic Emmitsburg home where she lived, prayed and worked, plus some bonus time for questions.
Email Dr. Jocelyn Moore for the Zoom link: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or use this form to register and you also can pick up a free box lunch and the Zoom link)!
Friday October 30, 2021 (2:00-3:15pm via Zoom)
The Holy Cross Sisters’ Civil War Witness
Throughout the Civil War hundreds of Catholic nuns served soldiers regardless of side, race or religion. Thanks to 19th-century journalist David Coyningham, we can read first hand accounts of these women's dangerous and tireless sacrifices, which did much to remove some of the deep prejudices against Catholicism in the U.S. Dr. William Kurtz, Managing Director and Digital Historian at the UVA Center for Civil War History, and Fr. David Endres of Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West edited Coyningham’s Soldiers of the Cross (2019) and will join us to discuss the potent witness of these holy ladies at a time of national crisis.You can read a selection for discussion on the Holy Cross Sisters from Notre Dame, Indiana. To receive the Zoom link, RSVP to Dr. Jocelyn Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Thursday, February 13, 2020 (12:00-1:30pm, Garden Room)
Mother Mary Joseph Rogers (1882-1955), foundress of the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
Mother Mary Joseph Rogers (1882-1955), foundress of the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
Join us for lunch (12-12:30) and a discussion (12:30-1:30) on the 100th Anniversary of the official recognition of the first American-based mission congregation of women religious. Limited seats, so email us today to reserve a seat.
Friday, November 1, 2019 (11:30-1:00pm, Garden Room)
Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey (1770-1851), foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny
Plan to join us for this special (All Saints Day!) Holy Women of the Americas Lunch discussion to learn about Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey, whose missionary zeal extended Catholic education and care beyond France to over 32 nations. In her time, she was one of the most prominent Catholic abolitionists and one of a very special class of saintly women who offered extraordinary forms of service to God and those in need in French Guiana on the South American continent.
Friday, September 27, 2019 (12:00-1:30pm, Garden Room)St. Marianne Cope of Molokai (1838-1918)
This Sister of St. Francis is known as the “Beloved Mother of Outcasts” for her great devotion and care for those afflicted with Hansen's disease (leprosy) on the segregated Hawaiian Island of Kalaupapa.
Friday, March 22 (12:00pm, West Range Garden Room)
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Nican Mopohua
Yes! You are invited to join others for this year's final (free!) lunch and discussion. This Friday, we'll discuss Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and an English translation of the short devotional Nican Mopohua text,
which is the earliest written account of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the very surprised (!) Juan Diego in 1531. The text's poetic style has contributed to its reputation as a jewel of Nahuatl literature, the native language of the peoples of central Mexico. Prior experience not expected, and the Garden Room lunch is on us!
which is the earliest written account of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the very surprised (!) Juan Diego in 1531. The text's poetic style has contributed to its reputation as a jewel of Nahuatl literature, the native language of the peoples of central Mexico. Prior experience not expected, and the Garden Room lunch is on us! 
February 22, 2019 (12:00pm): St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
This Peruvian Third-Order Dominican was a mystic and the first female American saint! Philosophy professor Jorge Secada will provide an introduction to her life 
and the single remaining text written by this inspiring saint.
and the single remaining text written by this inspiring saint.
January 31, 2019 (12:00pm): What is the Female Vocation?Modern culture offers rather empty views of gender and, especially, of womanhood. Join us for a free lunch and an open discussion of the question of the female vocation in light of Catholic thinking on the New Feminism and the real lived experiences of our special guests: Sr. Maria Juan Anderson, RSM and Sr. Prudence Allen, RSM. Limited seats, so reserve a seat by emailing Jocelyn Moore: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Suggested reading: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), "Spirituality of the Christian Woman"
November 9, 2018: Bl. "Conchita" Concepción Cabrera de Armida (1862-1937)
Location: UVA Garden Room, 1:00-2:15pm
Join us for lunch and an in
troduction to soon-to-be-Blessed, mystic and mother of nine, Concepcion Cabrera de Armida [aka "Conchita"].Her mystical writings on the Cross, the Eucharist, and the priestly vocation emerge from a period of intense persecution of Catholics in Mexico.Prior experience not expected, so come to learn something new from this holy woman of Mexico.
troduction to soon-to-be-Blessed, mystic and mother of nine, Concepcion Cabrera de Armida [aka "Conchita"].Her mystical writings on the Cross, the Eucharist, and the priestly vocation emerge from a period of intense persecution of Catholics in Mexico.Prior experience not expected, so come to learn something new from this holy woman of Mexico.
October 19, 2018: Mulieris DignitatemLocation: UVA Harrison/Small Library-3rd floor Byrd/Morris Seminar Room
Lunch at 12:30pm; Discussion begins @ 1:00pm
We’ll mark the 30th anniversary of this famous apostolic letter on the Dignity of Woman with a (free!) lunch and a faculty-led discussion of St. John Paul II’s approach to the female genius. Students, faculty, and all others are invited to attend.
Suggested Reading: Mulieries Dignitatem.
March 16, 2018 (1:00-2:15pm): Sigrid Undset (1882-1949)
Join us for
a lunch discussion of the much beloved Sigrid Undset--the Norwegian, Nobel prize winning author, who lived in the U.S. from 1940-1945 and who was a friend of Dorothy Day and Willa Cather. We'll discuss Undset's life, literary works, and her decision to become Catholic, which reshaped her views of femininity, marriage and holiness.
a lunch discussion of the much beloved Sigrid Undset--the Norwegian, Nobel prize winning author, who lived in the U.S. from 1940-1945 and who was a friend of Dorothy Day and Willa Cather. We'll discuss Undset's life, literary works, and her decision to become Catholic, which reshaped her views of femininity, marriage and holiness. Suggested readings: The Wreath; My Reasons to Convert
February 23, 2018 (12:00-1:30pm): St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) and Bl. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich (1901-1927)
A delicious lunch and a friendly forum to learn and ask questions about the exemplary lives of two holy women we all ought to know more about. At our next lunch, we will discuss 
St.
Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, a scholarly mystic from New Jersey whose life and writings were and remain deeply inspiring for religious and lay persons, especially her posthumously published book Greater Perfection. All are invited.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, a scholarly mystic from New Jersey whose life and writings were and remain deeply inspiring for religious and lay persons, especially her posthumously published book Greater Perfection. All are invited.Suggested readings: Fr. Chauchetiere, Life of Katherine Tekakwitha (1685/95); Bl. Miriam Teresa, 2 selections from Greater Perfection: 1) religious humility, charity, perfection; 2) universal call to Holiness.
November 10, 2017 (12:00-1:30pm): St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) Saint of Racial Justice) and Sr. Thea Bowman
Location: Alderman, Room 423 (All are invited to attend)
With special guest: Religious Studies Professor Emeritus Fr. Gerry Fogarty, S.J.
Katharine Drexel reading: Hurd, "Chapter 6: The Southern Harvest Begins";
Thea Bowman reading: Selected writings
September 15, 2017 (12:00-1:30pm) Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
With special guests: Kate Hennessy (Day's youngest granddaughter) and Laura and Steve Brown of Casa Alma (Charlottesville Catholic Worker House)
Suggested Readings: "On Pilgrimage: December" (1948), "What do the Simple Folk Do" (1978)
Bonus Readings: Peter Maurin, "House of Hospitality," and other selections from Essays for the Green Revolution (1949)
* * * *
Hosted by Dr. Beth Sutherland:
April 21, 2017 (12:00-1:30pm) Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
Special Guests: Laura Brown (Casa Alma, Charlottesville), Fr. Bill Garrott, O.P.
Suggested Readings: "Aims and Purposes" (1940), "Poverty and Precarity" (1952)
March 24, 2017: St. Mother Frances Cabrini (first U.S. saint and "The Heavenly Patroness of All Emigrants") Special Guest: Dr. Charles Kromkowski (Politics)
Suggested Readings: Retreat Reflections, 1884-1885; 1903, 1910, 1911
February 24, 2017: Our Lady of Guadalupe and other Marian Apparitions.
Special guest: Dr. Nichole Flores (Religious Studies)
February 10, 2017: 
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. (1648/51-1695)--also known as "The Tenth Muse" and "The Phoenix of Mexico"--was a Hieronymite nun in 17th century Mexico, a visionary philosopher, a brilliant and very early advocate for women’s education, and America’s first Poet, a truly luminous daughter of the Church.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. (1648/51-1695)--also known as "The Tenth Muse" and "The Phoenix of Mexico"--was a Hieronymite nun in 17th century Mexico, a visionary philosopher, a brilliant and very early advocate for women’s education, and America’s first Poet, a truly luminous daughter of the Church. Special guest: Dr. Allison Bigelow (Spanish);
Suggested Reading: "Response to Sor Filotea"