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PROGRAM PRESENTERS
 

Connie Bartelson, has many varied experiences as facilitator of knitting groups.  She has been organizer and presenter for the Knit and Relax Retreat in New Ipswich, NH, Rafqa Prayer Shawl Ministry and the Shawl Sharing Day in Worcester, MA.  She has co-presented the Praying with Hearts and Hands Retreat here at the Center.  She is a retired teacher and has been an avid knitter for 50 years.
 
Ann Billard, OLM, Ph.D., is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy.  Trained in pastoral counseling and a certified Grief Recovery Specialist®, Sister Ann is an experienced retreat guide and  currently coordinates Transformative Aging programs.  Sister Ann  has presented at national conferences and facilitated workshops and retreats throughout North America and Australia.
 
William Brown, OMV. is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and serves as Provincial for the United States province.  He is a retreat and spiritual director and ministers to young adults in the Boston, MA area.
 
Michelle DeSimone is a pastoral assistant at St. Brigid’s Parish in Hartford, CT.  She is a spiritual director and for several years has assisted Fr. Edward McLean in giving retreats here at the Center.
 
Susan Frederick, p.m. holds an M.A. in Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Direction from Creighton University, Omaha, NE.  She presently serves as president of Presentation of Mary Academy, Methuen, MA.
 
Ann Harriman holds a certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, MD.   Ann has a private spiritual direction practice and is available  at the Center upon request. 
 
Fr.Willliam Jarema is the author of Fathering the Next Generation, There's a Hole in My Chest, and  newly released, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Altar.  Fr. Jarema is the founder and program director of the Mercy Center for Healing the Whole Person, in Colorado Springs, CO.  He is a spiritual director, psychotherapist, retreat director and international workshop presenter.
 
Marylee Johnson is an American Folk art instructor.  She has taught in her own business and in adult education programs.  For many years she has embraced knitting ministries for God's children around the world.  Most recently, she has taught prayer shawl workshops in faith communities from New Hampshire to Florida.
 
Marie May Lausier, p.m. studied Spirituality and Theology at the Gregorian Institute in Rome, Italy.  She holds an  M.A. from Fairfield University in CT, and is certified in Marian Studies from the Marian Institute in Dayton, OH.  She authored In Joyful Haste, the life of Blessed Anne Marie Rivier.  She is a retreat and spiritual director, Rivier Retreat  facilitator and  province director of the Marie Rivier Association.
 
Beverly Libby, a retired teacher from Westbrook, Maine  works as a facilitator for the program "Echoes of Faith" for adults.  She also gives workshops in Adult Formation in the RCIA program.  She has been knitting prayer shawls for the past several years.  She is  lay Associate of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary.
 
John Malich, FMS is a Marist Brother and holds degrees in Biblical Spirituality and Theology from Catholic University.  He has served his community as Novice Director, Formation Director of two Provinces, Assistant Provincial and Provincial.  He has spent the last thirty-two years involved in adult spiritual formation and retreats here in the United States and Canada.

Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy is a priest of the Eastern Rite (Byzantine) of the Catholic Church.  Formerly a lawyer and a university educator, he is the founder and the original director of the Program for the Study and Practice of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution at the University of Notre Dame.  He is also co-founder of Pax Christi- USA.  He is the author of three books and innumerable articles on the subject of nonviolence and religion.  He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his life's work on behalf of peace among people.
 
Fr. Edward McLean is a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford and Director of the Catholic Information Center in Hartford, CT.  He is a spiritual director, pastoral counselor, lecturer and a retreat master for laity, religious and clergy.
 
Fr. Marc Montminy, a priest of the Diocese of Manchester, NH for 32 years and involved in retreat work; has served as Director of the Office of Spiritual Renewal, involving Cursillo, Charismatic Renewal, Spiritual Direction, Retreats, Days of Recollection and Healing Services.  He has served as Director of the Office of Worship, Vocation Director and founded the Joseph House of Prayer.  He is now at St. Michael Parish in Exeter and St. Mary Parish in Newmarket, NH.
 
David Nicgorski, OMV is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and a native of Philadelphia.  His background includes being a director to young adults and youth ministry and co-director of a retreat center in Perth Amboy, NJ.  Presently he lives and works in Milton, MA where he is a member of his community's parish mission and retreat team.
 
Kim Le Nguyen  holds a Bachelor degree of Fine Art from the University of Louisiana specializing in watercolor.  At Mount Mary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she obtained a Master's degree in Art Therapy.  She has worked as an Activity Psychotherapist and currently teaches Creative Expressions at the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs, CO.
 
Fr. Daniel O'Connell is a diocesan priest, pastor of a parish and staff member of the Office of Spiritual Development in the Boston archdiocese.  He is involved with parish-wide retreats and days of recollection.  He is a producer and host on the Boston Catholic Television.
 
Linda Mae Plourde, p.m., is a Vocation Director for the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary of the Methuen Province.  She has an M.A. in Education from Boston College and an M.A. in Theology from St. Michael's College in Vermont.  She has also received a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Mercy Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado..
 
Fr. Robert Vaillancourt  is a native of Lewiston, Maine.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Portland, Maine in 1982.  He has served as pastor in parishes, as a retreat director at the Christian Life Center in Frenchville, Maine, has been the Diocesan Director of Youth Ministry and is presently the Diocesan Director of the Office of Vocations.

 
 
 
   
                      Webmaster: Sr. Claire Gagnon, p.m.
 Updated August 04, 2009