The Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Savior are a traditionalist Catholic congregation of religious sisters, founded in 1984 by the priest Clarence Kelly. Their convents and missions are not recognized by the Vatican or the local Catholic archdioceses where they operate; however, the congregation still refers to itself as Catholic.
The congregation and motherhouse are based out of St. Joseph's Novitiate in Round Top, New York, with additional convents in Melville, New York, and White Bear Lake, Minnesota. As traditionalist Catholics, the congregation does not adhere to the modern practices of the Second Vatican Council. They are closely associated with the Society of Saint Pius V, a society of priests which still perform traditional Tridentine Mass, also co-founded by Kelly. Outside of their convents, the congregation maintains a network of missions, including schools and churches, which promote Traditionalist Catholicism. They also have released music albums of traditional Catholic music and Gregorian chants.
The congregation has received mixed reception in the commentary made about them, with positive feedback from their administration of the St. Anne's Chapel and Academy location, and negative feedback from the perception of the group by some as a cult, a characterization they firmly deny despite some evidence showing otherwise. The congregation has also been the subject of news coverage for a 1988 alleged kidnapping case, in which a sister was taken from a convent by her family, and for a 2009 fraud lawsuit they filed over the sale of a valuable artwork. The lawsuit was later lost, leaving the congregation to pay damages for defamation.
Structure The Daughters of Mary are a semi-contemplative congregation which practices traditionalist Catholicism according to the practices of the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) in 1962. They were founded by the traditionalist Catholic priest Clarence Kelly, who did not have the canonical authority to establish a religious congregation. As such, the congregation has no canonical status in the Catholic Church, and is not recognized by the Vatican or their local archdioceses. Nonetheless, the congregation refers to itself as Catholic.
They are closely associated with the Society of Saint Pius V, a group of priests who still perform traditional Tridentine Mass. This society of priests was led by Clarence Kelly, the same person who founded the congregation. Kelly believed the direction the traditionalist Catholic movement was being led in by excommunicated French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was too liberal.
The congregation and its motherhouse are based out of St. Joseph's Novitiate in Round Top, New York, with additional convents located nationally in Melville, New York, on Long Island, and St. Anne's Chapel and Academy in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The congregation considers themselves to be following true Roman Catholicism, and likewise doesn't prefer the word "schism" to describe their separation from the modern-day Vatican, despite the word being technically accurate. The congregation members are "sisters", not "nuns", as they are not cloistered.
Apostolate and works
The congregation defines themselves by their act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for which prayers of thanks are offered for at least one hour each day. Inside of their convents, the day begins at 6am with singing and chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours each morning, and a compline consisting of prayers and Psalms nightly. The congregation often partakes in prayer and reflection, studying, and visiting the sick, alongside recreation including board games, cards, chores, sports, and walks. The sisters are also to remain in full religious habit at all times, even when away from the convent shopping or partaking more extreme recreation like motorboating. The purpose of this has been stated to draw attention to them and their cause, as well penance for what they see as immodesty of the modern day. At least in 1988, the sisters followed the custom of silence during meals and were allowed family visits only four times per year, reflecting pre–Vatican II convent traditions.
Outside of their convents, the congregation's primary responsibilities revolve around maintaining their network of missions including churches and schools. These missions include: a church named St. Gertrude's in Sharonville, Ohio, alongside a school named St. Gertrude's Academy, a church and rectory in Oyster Bay, New York, a large building which houses some of the sisters who work as teachers in East Meadow, New York, and a grades 1–12 school centered around the principles of the Society of Saint Pius V in Wantagh, New York. The congregation also maintains smaller and more makeshift missions including: performing a Tridentine Mass at the Warwick New York Hotel in midtown Manhattan each Sunday.
St. Joseph's Novitiate The St. Joseph's Novitiate location in Round Top, New York, is the congregation's first location, and contains the main motherhouse of the congregation. Converted from a rundown resort, the sisters originally lived in a 100-year-old guest house on the site, but worshipped at a newly built church made out of cedar wood. In 1988, the location consisted of the church and three wooden buildings, one of which housed Kelly and the other two the convent. Several more wooden buildings were under construction at this time to serve as new housing for the convent, and a graveyard.
Long Island convent The congregation's second location in Melville, New York, opened no later than 1988. It primarily involves itself in maintaining their nearby network of mission locations described above, possibly including: the Society of Saint Pius V grades 1–12 school in Wantagh, the church and rectory in Oyster Bay, and the houses for sisters in East Meadow, all in Nassau County, Long Island. The Long Island convent was also the one involved in the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Savior v. LaSalle lawsuit.
St. Anne's Chapel and Academy
The congregation has a church and school at St. Anne's Chapel and Academy in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, which consists of a number of plain gray buildings, one of which houses a small grades 1–12 school building. The school, which is taught by the sisters of the congregation, includes classes on topics such as church history, French, physics, and religion. Students participate in regular chores as well as extracurriculars including and a yearly spring concert, which in the past has included secular music from plays like The Sound of Music and The Jungle Book. The school also has a playground for recess, where the sisters are known to participate in games such as basketball, dodgeball, jump rope, soccer, tennis, and volleyball; the sight of which has been known to slow traffic on County Road E. which overlooks the playground. Guidelines for the students generally forbid them from watching PG-13 and R-rated movies, vulgar music, and, at least during 2006, using the internet without a parent. The school requires school uniforms. In 2006, the school consisted of 60 students and seven sisters, with an annual tuition payment of to $1,300. As for the chapel, a daily mass in Latin is held in which students are required to attend. The pews are separated by gender, and often include confession afterwards. As is the congregation as a whole, the church is not recognized by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, or listed on their registries.
History
The congregation was founded in 1984 by Rev. Clarence Kelly after he purchased a rundown resort in the Catskill Mountains for $99,000, which became the St. Joseph's Novitiate. The decision to make a congregation was made by Kelly after he and his fellow priest colleagues were expulsed from the Society of St. Pius X, and lacked the ordinary jurisdiction needed to make a legally-recognized religious congregation.
It was created in a way where the congregation, its apostolate, and its rules were to be decided by Kelly alone with no oversight from his fellow priest colleagues starting the congregation with him, much to their dismay.
In 1988, four years after being founded, the congregation had a total of 21 members consisting of nine sisters and 12 priests associated with the Society of Saint Pius V. During this time, they maintained a network of 50 missions: including 20 churches and five school buildings. Their most successful missions were their school in Wantagh which maintained a total of 70 students, and their church and academy in Sharonville which averaged 800 worshipers on Sundays.
In 2006, the total number of members had increased to 49, consisting of sisters and postulants. 19 more members had joined by 2016, and by 2019, they had 86 members.
Alleged kidnapping of Sister Mary Cecelia On June 26, 1988, 22-year-old Sister Mary Cecelia of the congregation, previously Mary Sue Greve, was kidnapped by her family while on a walk with two other sisters. The incident was carried out by Cecelia's father, two brothers, and another man, and happened just outside St. Joseph's Novitiate. A sister from the congregation characterized the incident as violent, stating that Sister Cecelia hit her head several times and was screaming. The incident made national news, and was quickly investigated by the New York State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who located her within a few days back in her previous home in Cincinnati, Ohio. The incident was orchestrated by her mother, Susan Greve, who claimed she did not want to "lose" her only daughter to a convent, after previously losing one to a stillbirth. While the mother had originally introduced Sister Cecelia to the Society of Saint Pius V, she claimed her daughter did not have a vocation and was never happy in the congregation. This argument was challenged by Kelly, who claimed Sister Cecelia had already spent nearly two years there, and had promised before God she knew she was free to leave at any time.
The parent's plan was ultimately successful. After returning home, the sister renounced her pledge to the congregation and went back to using her given name. A few days later, Greve appeared on national television on The Phil Donahue Show to discuss the incident, where she claimed a "very nice woman" her family brought her to after the kidnapping convinced her the advice and pressure she received in the congregation was wrong. The incident was credited by The New York Times to have revived discussion about parents' responsibility in relation to their children's freedom. The police and FBI's decision to end their investigation after locating the sister was argued by Kelly as ignoring a "heinous crime" and creating "a dangerous precedent".
Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Savior v. LaSalle
In February 2009, the congregation filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against Albany-based art appraiser, Mark LaSalle, and Santa Fe-based art dealer, Mark Zaplin, for fraud over the sale of an artwork which the congregation sold to them. The congregation claimed the two colluded to defraud them of $1.75 million they believed they could have obtained through the sale of Notre Dame des Anges, an 1889 artwork by William-Adolphe Bouguereau that depicts Mary, mother of Jesus, standing in clouds with the Infant Jesus surrounded by angels. Represented by New York City attorney Bruce Goldstone, the congregation claimed in their lawsuit the two had committed fraud "intentionally", "deliberately", and "maliciously" against them.