Cardinal Timothy Dolan visited and celebrated Mass for the largest group of sisters religious in the Archdiocese of New York, marking both the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life and the Feast of St. Blaise.

“It is a joy and an honor to be here with you. Thank you for the invitation, but I think I invited myself,” Cardinal Dolan said in greeting the approximately 100 sisters and staff members who attended the morning’s Mass. “I did invite myself because I love you and I so appreciate the initiative here at Wartburg.” 

About 80 Catholic sisters religious from a dozen different orders are in residence at the Meadowview at Wartburg assisted living facility in Mount Vernon. That represents the largest group of sisters religious in the Archdiocese of New York. A former orphanage, Wartburg is operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has welcomed Catholic sisters for about 15 years.

Wearing the red vestments of a martyr’s feast day, Cardinal Dolan paid homage to the sisters in attendance.

“We are so grateful for what you’ve done. I think of Pope Francis when he visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on September 24, 2015, and he said, ‘Where would the Church in the United States be without consecrated women religious,’ and Timothy Dolan says the same thing,” Cardinal Dolan said during his homily. He thanked Sister Joan Curtin, the Archdiocese of New York’s vicar religious, and Sister Teresita Morse, for their service to the archdiocese.

Cardinal Dolan noted the “warm embrace” that women religious offer to many in need through their ministry. “When I first came to New York in 2009, former Mayor Ed Koch said to me, ‘Dolan, when the immigrants came to New York, two women welcomed them: the Statue of Liberty, and Mother Church. Don’t you ever forget that.’ I said, We’re not about to,” the cardinal recalled.

Following the homily, Cardinal Dolan and Father Stephen Ries blessed the throats of the sisters and staff members, in accordance with the tradition of the Feast of St. Blaise, a physician and martyr credited with saving the life of a boy choking on a fishbone in the third century. Clergy bless the faithful with a pair of candles to protect against diseases of the throat.

After Mass, Cardinal Dolan toured Wartburg’s dining area and then joined several of the sisters for lunch.