Sister Marcia Buchard celebration of 50 years as a Marianist Sister

Sister Marcia Buchard celebration of 50 years as a Marianist Sister

“All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” Phil 3:10

Sister Marcia Buchard, FMI, a Marianist Sister, joyfully celebrated her 50th year jubilee in religious life with a Mass celebrated by Father Jim Schimelpfening, SM, at the University of Dayton on Oct. 25. Sister Marcia was surrounded by the Marianist Sisters, Marianist lay women, and members of the Marianist Family at University of Dayton. She also shared the day with family members, her twin sister Georgia, and husband Larry Nelson.

The Marianist religious order founded by Blessed Father Chaminade began as a lay association/sodality. Eventually some sodality members formed the nucleus of two religious congregations, for women: the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (founded by Adele de Batz de Trenquelléon in collaboration with Father Chaminade in 1816), and for men: the Society of Mary (founded in 1817). Following Mary’s mission to bring Christ to the world, the international Marianist religious order continues working together to respond to the needs of our time.

Sister Marcia’s celebration in Dayton, Ohio was a return to her hometown, where her vocation had been nurtured as a young child being first introduced to the Marianist Brothers. Her aunts and father, a 1929 graduate of UD, knew a number of the Marianists. The family attended Mass at Mount St. John and hosted Marianist brothers for supper and football games. With a devotion to Mary, a vocation to the Marianist Sisters developed and in 1961, Sister Marcia arrived in San Antonio to begin her postulancy.

Sister Laura Leming, FMI, of the Provincial Council for Religious Life, thanked Sister Marcia for her service and for her pioneering spirit, testified by her willingness to respond as Mary did with ministry in Texas, Ohio and Mexico. Her ministry began in 1966 in San Antonio, where she taught for seven years at St. James the Apostle Catholic School and later at Christ the King School. For six years she ministered at Our Lady of the Pillar Retreat House (now the St. Mary’s School of Law’s Center for Legal and Social Justice).

After a chapter decision to serve the economically poor in Toledo, Ohio, Sister Marcia joined the new foundation teaching ESL at Catholic Charities for six years. Returning briefly to teach at Holy Rosary Catholic School in San Antonio, Marcia was asked to start a mission in Querétaro, México, where the Marianist brothers were developing lay communities and implanting the charism. In 2005, Sister Marcia returned to San Antonio, serving for eight years as a receptionist at St. Peter-St. Joseph Children’s Home, demonstrating once again her compassion for children and her service to the disadvantaged.

Now back in Dayton with yet another new adventure, Sister Marcia lives in the new community, “Annunciation House,” to fulfill her mission of accompanying young women discerning a vocation to Marianist Sisters.

Sister Evangeline Escobar, provincial of Marianist Sisters, witnessed the renewal vows of Sister Marcia, who exuded happiness. Sister Marcia commented, “The experience of renewing vows was glorious and awe inspiriting, as she was filled with gratitude for God’s love for me and all the ways God has blessed me during my 50 years in our Marianist family.”