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The first meeting of the Associate Catechists of Mary was held in Chicago on February 5, 1922. Father Sigstein, founder of our community, established this organization to help provide strong financial backing for our Sisters and their missions.
An ACM mission band was a single unit of this organization, comprised of a small neighborhood group who met periodically for the benefit of one Sister whom they sponsored in her missionary work.
 Mary R. Staley has been an ACM member for 50 years. She joined the St. Irene Band in Chicago in 1939. Excerpt from Our Associate newsletter from summer, 1973 states, “When Miss May Walsh, promoter of St. Irene’s Band for so many years, died in 1969 we feared there was no one who could or would take her place, but since then Mrs. Mary Staley has done very well in that office. Although employed daily, she manages many extra activities. One of these is taking handicapped persons in her car to Mass. She has done this at least six years.”
Photo: Mary Staley in 1993 at 86.
In August, 2001, Mary was honored in Keenager, a Chicago Archdiocesan paper for senior citizens, as Senior of the Month. Excerpts from the article written by Alejandra Torres follow.
“‘If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it,’ says Mary R. Staley, our August Senior of the Month who truly believes in keeping her mind and her body active...
“As a full-time mother and wife, Mary still found time to help out at her parish. ‘During my time as a housewife, I was also sacristan at our church and did all the laundry for the Church. I made vestments for a priest to use as a chaplain in World War II,’ Mary proudly remembers. ‘I even made two of the new style of chasubles for the first concelebrated Mass in Grant Park.’
“...Now in her 90s, Mary is a great asset and contributor in her community. For the past 40 years, on the first Saturday of each month, she drives two seniors, who belong to the Apostolate of the Handicapped, to Holy Name Cathedral for Mass and prayers.
“Mary is still active in her parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary, as a lector, eucharistic minister and director of the Minsters of Care. After Sunday Mass, Mary spends two to three hours opening and tabulating Sunday Mass collection.
“As president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Mary takes care of all the paperwork involved in delivering food and gifts for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter to two nursing and retirement homes.
“As director of her senior group, she coordinates them to meet twice a month for cards, bingo and lunch. She is in charge of purchasing and preparing the lunch.
“Mary also makes and repairs rosaries for the missions and at the Apostolate meetings, which she has been doing for the past 40 years.”
Sister Jeanette Halbach, OLVM President, had this to say, “I feel so provileged to know Mary. She is a delightful person and has been dedicated to our Congregation all these many years. She is a woman of deep faith, always active in worthwhile projects, reaching out to help others. Several years ago we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of our founding and Mary was determined to make the trip from Chicago to Huntington. Her presence with us, especially on the evening of ‘remembrances’ was a joy to the Sisters.”
There was never any formal closure of the Associate Catechists of Mary. However, there have been no formal drives for new ACM members since the birth of the Covenant Associate program in the late 1970s. In 1985 many ACM band members became either Prayer Associates or Covenant Associates.
We wanted to take this opportunity to honor Mary, and the thousands of ACM members over the past 80 years, for their service and commitment to the Victory Noll Sisters.
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