Marie Joseph Spiritual Center

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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.

Brother Donald Bisson, FMS, is a spiritual director, trainer and supervisor of directors. He is widely respected as a commentator and workshop leader on the interrelationship of spirituality and psychology. A Marist brother based in New York, he has graduate degrees in liturgy, spirituality, and transpersonal psychology. His Doctor of Mininstry was earned at the Pacific School of Religion in the area of Spiritual Direction and Jungian Psychology.

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.

Don Harriman is a former educator and Junior High School administrator. He has been involved in retreat work as a facilitator since the late nineteen-eighties.

Fr. William 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.

Brother Michael Laratonda, FMS, a Marist Brother, served as associate director of Wellsprings. An experienced spiritual director and administrator, he has offered numerous workshops in journaling, dreams, prayer, sexuality, intimacy and celibacy. Brother Michael is involved in retreat work, spiritual direction, and facilitating programs for various communities throughout the United States.

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.

Fr. James Mattaliano, S.J., is a Jesuit of the New England Province and a former associate pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in Chestnut Hill, MA. He is a graduate of U Mass Amherst, Loyola University of Chicago, and Regis College in Toronto. He was a guidance counselor at both Boston College High School and Bishop Connolly High School. He trained in retreat work at Loyola House in Guelph, Ontario. He is presently director of Campion Renewal Center in Weston, MA.

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.

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.

Jeremy Paulin, OMV, a Massachusetts native, was recently appointed Director of Vocations for the US Province of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and is stationed at Our Lady of Grace Seminary, Boston, MA. Prior to coming to Boston, he served as parochial vicar at St. Peter Chanel Parish in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, and at Holy Ghost Parish, Denver, CO. He enjoys the outdoors and working with young adults.

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..