May 15, 2026

Mass with archbishop marks Little Sisters’ Superior General’s visit from France

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and 10 priests pose with professed women of the Little Sisters of the Poor in the chapel of the congregation’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis on April 30. To the left of the archbishop is Mother General Maria del Monte Auxiliadora, the congregation’s Superior General, who was visiting from France. To his right is Mother Maria Christine, Mother Superior of the St. Augustine Home.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and 10 priests pose with professed women of the Little Sisters of the Poor in the chapel of the congregation’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis on April 30. To the left of the archbishop is Mother General Maria del Monte Auxiliadora, the congregation’s Superior General, who was visiting from France. To his right is Mother Maria Christine, Mother Superior of the St. Augustine Home.

Criterion staff report

On April 30, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson served as principal celebrant at a special Mass commemorating the canonical visit of Mother General Maria del Monte Auxiliadora, Superior General of the Little Sisters of the Poor, at the congregation’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis.

Mother María del Monte Auxiliadora resides at La Tour Saint Joseph, the Little Sisters’ motherhouse in Saint-Pern in Brittany, France. Her presence in Indianapolis was part of a tour of three-day visits with sisters and residents at each of the congregation’s homes in its Chicago Province.

She last visited the St. Augustine Home in 2023 to meet for a few hours with its Mother Superior, Mother Maria Christine. Former Superior Generals also visited Indianapolis in 2006 and 1952.

In his homily, the archbishop said the lives and ministry of the Little Sisters of the Poor “point not to themselves, but to the saving grace of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They show forth the path of salvation in him by encouraging us to face the cross of Good Friday while keeping before us the empty tomb of Easter Sunday.”

At the end of the Mass, he noted that the day also marked the 50th jubilee of Mother Maria Christine as a professed member of the Little Sisters of the Poor. †

 

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