Commemorating a Banner Year: 200 Years at the Loretto Motherhouse

In 1824, the Loretto sisters and early community were uprooted from Little Loretto, land they had occupied since 1812. The bishop had asked them to move so that a group of priests could occupy their land. The sisters packed up all of their belongings, garden implements, school equipment, etc., and moved eight miles uphill to Loretto’s current location. This year, on June 27, the Loretto Community and friends will re-enact a journey that was difficult and sad for the little Loretto Community. 

Eleanor Craig, Loretto Community historian, writes: It is 2024, the 200th anniversary of Loretto’s journey from Little Loretto. We want to commemorate the journey and to do so we will have a caravan of cars and farm wagons. We want to recognize the sorrow of Mary and Joseph fleeing into Egypt with the baby Jesus. And we want to recognize all the refugees of today, around the world, who have to move from their homes, seeking home in some new place, including the Cherokee Indians, who even then had begun pounding out a Trail of Tears across Kentucky. 

We will carry the Blessed Sacrament like the Loretto Sisters carried it from Little Loretto to St. Stephen’s Farm. We are inviting confirmation classes in the area, in what is locally known as the Kentucky Holy Land, to participate and walk or ride as an honor guard for the Blessed Sacrament, like the sisters’ students did 200 years ago. When our caravan reaches Loretto Motherhouse, we will celebrate Benediction on the steps of the old Academy Building. We will pray that the blessings of the Eucharist will help us understand that we, and all who seek a safe and healthy home, are the Body of Christ. 

In the video below, Eleanor describes the Community’s plan to commemorate the move of 200 years ago — an unhappy event at the time, but one that that turned out to be fortuitous — remembering also Indigenous Americans and all those who have been forced to leave behind their homes.