For the first twenty years of her life, she was known as “Mary Kay” Farran. Born in Wichita and educated in the local Catholic schools, she was inspired in 8th grade when learning about the cloistered Carmelite nun, Saint Therese, the “Little Flower.” There were no Carmelite monasteries in Kansas at that time. After some theology at Newman and Rockhurst colleges, she left Kansas to become a Carmelite, taking the religious name of Sister Anne of Yahweh, OCD. After thirty-three happy years, she was astonished to experience a “call within a call,” to use an expression coined by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who thus described her own experience of understanding that God was asking her to leave her beloved congregation to found a new congregation with a new apostolate. Sister Anne discerned carefully with her superiors and community. All were unanimous that she should move forward with this inspiration.

 

In this “call,” Sister Anne understood that Christians were heading into a time of persecution and that she was being asked to accompany them and encourage them with the messages of Mary. She was also to promote the Rule of Mary. After verifying that such a Rule existed, she received proper dispensation from her vows and two years training in an active congregation (the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity). After a brief, but wild, adventure in France to obtain the authentic text of the Rule and an excellent English translation (story in audio below) she has returned to her home diocese of Wichita, placing herself under the direction of Fr. Bernard Gorges, founder of the “Totus Tuus” Catholic youth program. She is working with friends to develop various aspects of the apostolate of the future Order of the Mother of God, waiting for the Holy Spirit to indicate which diocese the new religious congregation should begin.