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Project Salvador/People of Hope Crafts
by Mary Alice Bramming, Covenant Associate
 On October 13, 2006 Project Salvador/People of Hope Crafts celebrated 20 years of solidarity with the people of El Salvador. In 1986 I was a part of a small group who decided to do something to help the poor parish of Dominican Father Jim Barnett. We had been friends of Fr. Jim’s when he was in Denver. His parish was one of the colonias on the outskirts of San Salvador, a sea of mud and cardboard dwellings. The parish was running a school/day care center and had just started a crafts workshop. With his Christmas list we sent out an appeal for funds and thus Project Salvador began.
Photo: Mary Alice Bramming at Project Salvador/People of Hope Crafts office/store.
We identified three goals: to inform people in the U.S. of the atrocities of the civil war being waged in El Salvador with funding from the U.S. government; financial support of the projects in Fr. Barnett’s parish; and selling crafts from the workshop of the parish.
Twice I visited El Salvador. Both experiences had a profound effect on my life. I met and talked with people who had experienced the devastation of having family members disappear and never knowing when they too might be taken, tortured and killed but who still had incredible faith in God and hope for the future. This has given me passion and strength to continue the fight for justice for all people. I have served as president of the Board of Directors for 8 years and chaired our coordinating committee, handling donations to the project.
Project Salvador/People of Hope Crafts has grown from an organization based out of my basement serving one parish to one with part time staff and an office/warehouse serving communities throughout El Salvador. Now we are funding micro lending projects in 12 villages. Their women’s groups are responsible for the administration of funds and the repay rate is phenomenally high.
We also fund the Center for Arts for Peace which runs programs aimed at healing those devastated emotionally by the war and to use art rather than conflict to settle differences. We are in partnership with Catholic Relief Services to fund community-based projects such as safe water sources. We also fund a parish nutrition program for at risk children and elders.
Project Salvador has an extensive scholarship program for high school students as they pay for school, books, uniforms, and transportation. Some villages are so far from a town that we pay for room and board. We now support some students in university and just finished supporting a student through her masters program in the study of primates at Oxford University, England.
Photo: Mary Alice with Father Jim Barnett, O.P., at the 20th Anniversary Celebration.
People of Hope Crafts buys crafts from groups operating as cooperatives and groups who have few markets. We market these crafts through wholesale organizations, church sales, community events, and through our web site www.peopleofhopecrafts.org.
In 20 years we have raised $1.5 million in donations and have generated over $1 million in crafts sales. The 20th Anniversary was an affirmation for me. As our supporter who did the anniversary liturgy wrote, “It has been our grace to accompany the people of El Salvador, to act in solidarity with them, to be taught by their faith." And indeed I have been.
Pilgrimage of Faith-Archdiocese of Santa Fe
by Rita Santistevan, Covenant Associate
 Every June, parishioners from across the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, embark on a 100-mile walk for vocations. The idea for a pilgrimage had its humble beginnings in 1973, when Father Michael O’Brien, now deceased, was a pastor in Estancia, near Albuquerque. The story goes that he had asked some young men to help him paint the church, and he offered to take them fishing. When he inquired where they wanted to go, the young men responded, "To Chimayo," and when he asked how they would get there, they challenged him by saying “walking.” At that time, the men who participated had to take their own food and water. There were no trucks following them to provide medical and other assistance, as there are today. In 1981, a small number of women joined in and had to “tough it out just like the men,” according to Marcia Martinez, who has faithfully walked the pilgrimage for the past 14 years. Over the past 33 years, many more men, women, including youth, have participated, and occasionally, people from out-of-state have also requested to walk. This year, approximately 300 people were involved in the pilgrimage—about 105 were women.
Photos courtesy of Yvonne Trujillo, Taos, New Mexico.
The “peregrinos” (pilgrims) start their prayerful journey from 5 directions—Costilla, Estancia, Bernal, Chama, and Bernalillo. These directions represent the North, South, East, West, and Southwest regions of the Archdiocese, respectively. The women walk two of these routes and the men walk three, according to Yvonne Trujillo, “directora” (director) of the Bernal women’s group, which consisted of  about 50 women. All of these groups walk about 20 miles a day for a week, and they stay overnight at communities along the way to the holy shrine of the Santuario de Chimayo, the final destination of the pilgrimage. There is an “encuentro” (encounter) that is experienced between these communities and the “peregrinos” when the pilgrims arrive, and it is a source of great excitement and celebration for all.
In addition to praying for vocations, for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and the church in general, the “peregrinos” also pray for the many petitions that were collected in parishes weeks before the pilgrimage. These petitions are carried in fanny packs and taken to the Santuario de Chimayo. Along with the petitions, dirt from the 5 routes is carried to the santuario, and prior to the closing Mass, the dirt is joined with the holy grounds of the santuario, which throughout time, has been believed to have miraculous healing powers. 
Upon entering the santuario, many “peregrinos” say that the feelings of tiredness and pain go away. It is also said that in order to truly understand the experience of the pilgrimage, one has to live it. For further information, log on to: internet.cybermesa.com/ ~holyfamily/holychimayo/ Pilgrimageforvocations.html or contact Fr. Ed Savilla at Ascension Parish in Albuquerque, (505) 877-8550.
OLVM Pilgrimage 2005
by Covenant Associate, Margaret Chapman
 Sisters, Associates and friends of Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters completed a pilgrimage July 29-31, 2005, to celebrate the faith, history and heritage of the founding of the congregation.
The 2005 pilgrimage followed the path of the Victory Noll Catechists who brought “religious education, social service and health care” to northeastern New Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s. Today the tradition is continued by Sisters and Associates who provide ministries now in Villanueva, Espanola, Albuquerque, and Ranchos de Taos. The pilgrims were immersed in the culture and geography of the area as well as in the history and charism of the congregation. An integral part of the pilgrimage was installing plaques in places where Victory Noll Missionary Catechists served during the founding days of the congregation The term “catechist” reflected that religious education was the primary focus. The title was changed in 1948 to Missionary Sister.
Many of the towns served by the first Sisters continue to be isolated, and in some ways are even more isolated today than they were in the Twenties and Thirties. The early missions were generally near the route of the Santa Fe Railroad, which roughly followed the path of the Santa  Fe Trail. Without the convenience of daily trains, these towns are no longer on a major transportation route. The population of these towns has dwindled as people, especially the young, left for education and work.
However, this isolation hasn’t dampened the faith and service of the residents, many of whom either remember the early Sisters or have heard stories about the Sisters from their parents and grandparents. The Sisters work is continued by lay people, who humbly just do what needs to be done — running the volunteer fire department, teaching religion classes, organizing fiestas and liturgies, and all the other activities that keep these towns alive. In each place we visited, members of the parish had gone out of their way to open the church and to ensure that the plaques were installed prominently. They also participated in the service held at each church where a plaque was placed. The brass and wood plaques feature an engraving of a photograph of the early Catechists and a short inscription: “With appreciation of the Victory Noll Sisters, who taught and lived the Gospel with the people of Watrous. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love.”
The pilgrimage formally started Friday night with a visit to Rosario Cemetery in Santa Fe where we shared a quiet moment of prayer and reflection at the grave of William Frey, our first Associate. Also buried there are Sr. Celine Montoya and Sr. Mary Clare Leutenegger. The three are buried in the Victory Noll plot at Rosario, which serves as the cemetery for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
Organized by Steve and Palmira Perea-Hay, Associates from Albuquerque, the pilgrimage focused on sites important to understanding the early days of the congregation in New Mexico. Steve and Palmira were also responsible for designing the plaques and for all the photos taken along the way. Associates Alan Bronder of Albuquerque and Rita Santistevan of Ranchos de Taos were instrumental in the planning and implementation of the pilgrimage.
In Las Vegas, Spanish for “the meadows,” the remains of an old barn are all that mark the site of the Victory Mount training center. The site, on private land, is still far from the town. Fr. John Sigstein, founder of the congregation, envisioned Victory Mount as a preliminary training school where New Mexican women, seeking to join the order, would stay before going to Victory Noll in Huntington. The project was short lived, but the Cathechists are still remembered fondly in Las Vegas, where they served for many years. We met a veteran of the World War II submarine service, who remembered the Catechists and their work and was eager to share his stories. 
At Anton Chico, where a plaque was installed, Fr. Patrick Duffy, recognized the “foundational” work of the Sisters during brief remarks he made before the plaque was placed in the Church. Catechists started working in Anton Chico, which opened along with Holman, Las Vegas, Cerrillos, Grants and Santa Rosa, all between 1925 and 1929. Today, this community is showing some re-growth as people are “retiring” to the area. A small grocery is owned and operated by descendants of some of the original settlers. If you visit the store, they will be glad to talk about the history of the area and show you photo albums, which include several pictures of Church processions.
A convent in an “ex-saloon” in Ocate was opened on August 15, 1923, against Catechist Julia Doyle’s advice. It closed in 1925. Today Ocate is as isolated as it was in the Twenties. It was off the railroad then. Today, it is reached by what seems to be an unending road going west from I-25, where you see no houses, few vehicles on the road and the rare cow, but are able to enjoy expansive fields of lovely wild flowers and vast skies of infinite beauty. The beautifully kept Church is guarded by a “vicious” llama with whom Steve, our associate guide, had a “running” encounter over “turf rights.” However the mayordomos, Roger and Mamie Garcia-Donahue, were on hand to welcome the pilgrims, and in a moving ritual mounted a plaque in the church to remember the Catechists’ service. It was a joyous reunion we had with the mayordomos, since Mamie is a former member of the Victory Noll congregation.
In Villanueva, our own Sister Elena Carney, Pastoral Associate of the parish, welcomed us, giving a brief history of the area and her ministry with the people, who continue to find focus in their faith community. Their annual fiesta and tours of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church bring many people together from the surrounding area. A unique feature of the Church is a 265-foot  long tapestry panel, which wraps around the entire inner wall. It was finished in 1976 to celebrate the Bicentennial. The panels, all done by women of the parish in crewel embroidery, celebrate their faith, church, and land as well as history of the church and community. A portion of this church remains from the one built in 1793.
The fiesta, a celebration of the gift of life, is an integral part of both the spiritual and social lives in these small New Mexico communities. It is only appropriate that Catechists Julia and Marie began their mission life in Watrous at a time of fiesta. They arrived in Watrous at the time of the feast of St. Clare of Assisi. Today, as then, the fiesta usually starts with Mass and continues with a carnival, games, dances and traditional foods.
Travelers on the old Santa Fe would have waited anxiously to arrive in Watrous; but by 1922 the town was declining as the railway bypassed it. It was served by only a branch line. The adobe house that served as the first “convent,” is being restored by a former corporate officer. The pilgrims are seen in the accompanying photo in front of the house. Restoration of adobe is complicated and expensive. The building is small, and one can understand the extent of the problems encountered by Catechists Julia and Marie as they shared the house with a widow and her three children. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, the pilgrims met the mayordomo of the church so the plaque could be placed. The presentation and installation of the plaque was accompanied by what then had become a traditional short prayer service that included readings from The Story of Victory Noll. A mayordomo is responsible for the church and its property, a vitally important role when so many churches in Northern New Mexico do not have resident priests.
Hundreds of miles of travel, punctuated by stops in isolated towns, brought the group together in many ways. We read pages of the Story of Victory Noll, and sympathized with Julia Doyle and Marie Benes as we admired their courage and faith. On a lighter note, as we got tired and hot and grumpy, we often said, “well, at least we AREN’T doing this in blue wool serge habits in a wagon.” We met people who knew the Sisters in the early days, or had heard of the Sisters or currently worked with the Sisters. We could only glimpse the difficulties faced by the first Catechists and the impact these women had on the lives of the people in northeastern New Mexico. But the glimpses we had will remain a highlight of our personal journeys.
A pilgrimage is a journey in prayer. A fitting end to our pilgrimage is a part of a prayer “For All the Faithful Departed” from the New Zealand Prayer Book: “Jesus Christ, Lord of the living and dead, with each generation your body of believers grows and grows.” Thank you for all who have gone before us, for what they achieved and what they learned. Give us strength to do your will to be your body now. Amen.
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