Oblate Sisters marking event with Mass, dinner

LIBERTY -- Today, the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of their headquarters, Villa Maria Teresa, here.
The celebration begins with a Mass of Thanksgiving at 4 p.m. at St. Anthony Church in Youngstown, followed by a dinner and slide presentation on the history and development of the Villa Maria Teresa complex.
Monsignor John H. DeMarinis, pastor of St. Anthony, will be the main celebrant at Mass. Retired Bishop Benedict C. Franzetta will preside. Guests will include the Oblate Sisters and their many friends and benefactors who have helped support the work of the sisters at Villa Maria Teresa.
The convent is an English Tudor mansion that was built in 1910. It was last owned by the Strouss Family, who sold the 19-acre estate to the Oblate Sisters in early 1955. At that time, Bishop Emmet M. Walsh was bishop of the Youngstown Diocese. He blessed the new convent July 2, 1955.
It was named Villa Maria Teresa in memory of Venerable Mother Maria Teresa Casini, the order's founder. Sister Clara D'Amico was appointed the first Superior.
Since 1955, the Oblate Sisters' headquarters has grown and evolved from the Strouss Manor House to a place of prayer, primary education and care for elderly priests.
There is the Villa Maria Teresa preschool and kindergarten, which includes a playground and swimming pool for summer campers; a retired priests' residence adjacent to the convent; and a novitiate for training new sisters.
Currently, an outdoor Stations of the Cross and a Rosary Walk are being erected on the front lawn.
For more information about the Oblate Sisters, contact Sister Teresina Rosa, regional superior, (330) 759-9329.