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Mount de Chantal's Sisters of the Visitation Today
In recent years, the community of sisters significantly dwindled in size and
depended very much on the assistance of friends and supporters. A modern plant
within the ancient building is not an easy thing to maintain, but some of the
problems for the sisters' living conditions were solved when they had a residence
building erected in 1972. Later, in time for the 150th anniversary of their
founding in Wheeling, the sisters were able to renovate the "new" building, making
it more functional and more comfortable for the aging community.
The sisters at Mount de Chantal entered the new century with high hopes, having
done all in their power to provide for the continuation of the Academy and to ensure
its standing as a Catholic school in the Salesian-Visitation tradition. It was with
great reluctance that the community decided to close the school in May 2008.
However, the sisters continued to strive to live the Salesian virtues in their
daily lives never forgot their reason for being a presence at the Mount: their service
to God and His people. He has abundantly blessed the community through the years;
His assistance in good times and bad has never failed, and faith assures all that
God’s love and His blessings will continue to surround the Sisters of the Visitation
as He works out His eternal designs in their regard.
Today the community enters a transition stage as the sisters prepare to relocate
to the Sisters of the Visitation Georgetown Monastery in Washington, D.C.
(http://www.georgetownvisitation.org). The future of the Mount de Chantal complex
has been, and will continue to be, studied by a group of expert advisers who are
assisting the sisters.
Sr. Mary Alicia Sours, Community Moderator, observed, “While we will greatly miss
our friends and alumnae in Wheeling, a move into a larger religious community in
Washington is more suited to the monastic life we have chosen. The convent at
Georgetown Visitation Academy is beautiful and most importantly, we will be affiliated
with a dynamic school, which was our mission in Wheeling for so many years.”
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Mount de Chantal
410 Washington Ave.
Wheeling, WV 26003
304-233-3771
Fax: (304) 233-8598
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