Banner from Archives’ digital exhibit, Compassionate Voices: Celebrating Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ Golden Jubilee.
Celebrating Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ Golden Jubilee
Archives is home to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ historic collections, and we enjoy showcasing former lay missioners and their unique missions in our blog. The organization’s Golden Jubilee presented an excellent opportunity to celebrate the Lay Missioners’ rich history with its members and supporters. As part of the festivities, we created a physical exhibit featuring former and current missioners, and their work across 35 countries.
The exhibit was on display from August 14th – 17th. Since not everyone was able to attend the celebrations, I’ve done my best to recreate the exhibit digitally for our blog. We hope you enjoy touring the exhibit!
Where in the world are Maryknoll Lay Missioners?
The main attraction of the exhibition included four large display boards. Each board was purposefully designed to celebrate a region of the world where Maryknoll Lay Missioners have worked over the past 50 years. From left to right, the boards commemorate missions across Asia, South America, Africa, and the Americas. You can tour the entire display by flipping through the following photographs.
From the room’s entrance, you can see that the upper right hand corner of the boards together spell “MKLM”. These bold letters are made from photos of Maryknoll Lay Missioners who are currently serving in that region! They stand as a testiment to how far the organization has come during its 50 years of existence, and how far it can go as we continue to look towards the future.
Click on the photo above to see more images from the exhibit.
Where’s my missioner?
From this angle, the boards are now in reverse order. From left to right: The Americas, Africa, South America, and Asia. The back of each board features a photo collage composed of former Maryknoll Lay Missioners serving within that region. Each collage also contains one of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ Core Values. They are:
Simple Living
Community
Joy
Inclusion
Humility
How many friendly faces can you identify from the photographs?
Click on the photo above to see more images from the exhibit.
Click on the photos above to enlarge them.
Who’s That Missioner?
Close to 1,000 individuals have chosen to serve as Maryknoll Lay Missioners throughout the organization’s history. For some people, their whole family volunteered for service. The 50th anniversary celebration belongs to each and every one of them. Their hard work and dedication is cause for jubilation!
Thank you to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners for providing missioner names and locations for this exhibit. All information was sourced from the Missioner Directory. If you see any mistakes, please report them to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners so the Directory can be updated.
Click on the photos above to enlarge them.
Dear Maryknoll Lay Missioners…
Part of our exhibit was also interactive. We asked attendees and guests to share their voices and write a collective remembrance of this special occassion. Markers and cards were provided so people could create messages of celebration, prayer, or remembrance. Thank you to everyone who participated!
All cards left inside our blue bins have become part of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ History and Events collection at the Maryknoll Mission Archives. They will serve as an enduring memory of the joy surrounding this momentous event. We’d also like to give a special thanks to all individuals that could not attend the celebrations, but took the time to send well wishes and prayers for the Maryknoll Lay Missioner’s Golden Jubilee.
Butterfly in the Sky
Did you notice all the Monarch butterflies hiding throughout the exhibit? They’re a not-so-subtle nod to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ newest program.
In partnership with the Maryknoll Sisters, the Maryknoll Monarch Initiative (MMI) was launched earlier this year. According to the initiative’s website, the Monarch Initiative was established to be “a new educational and training initiative on the Border in El Paso where each community had a ministry presence. Drawing on the geography, history, and politics of the border, MMI focuses on Care for the Earth, Human Migration, and Nonviolence. The initiative is rooted in Maryknoll’s Catholic faith, but aims to learn from and welcome people of all faiths.”
You can learn more about this exciting new venture at: https://www.maryknollmonarch.org/.
Interested in learning more about Maryknoll?
You can contact the Archives at:
Maryknoll Mission Archives
PO Box 305, Maryknoll, New York 10545
Phone: 914-941-7636
Office hours: 8:30 am-4:00 pm Monday-Friday
Email: archives@maryknoll.org
Website: www.maryknollmissionarchives.org
References:
Halloran, J., Conning, S., Polasek, T., & Cairns, M. (2025, February). Compassionate voices. ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7d87a00cdda24be6981c14e76777604b
Home. Maryknoll Lay Missioners. (2025, January 27). https://mklm.org/
Home. Maryknoll Sisters. (2025, May). https://www.maryknollsisters.org/
Maryknoll Monarch initiative. Maryknoll Monarch Initiative. (2025). https://www.maryknollmonarch.org/
Newsletters, 1991-2020. Maryknoll Mission Archives. (2025). https://maryknollmissionarchives.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=358&q=newsletter
Our 50th anniversary. Maryknoll Lay Missioners. (2024). https://mklm.org/maryknoll-lay-missioners-50th-anniversary/
Our history. Maryknoll Lay Missioners. (2024, April 25). https://mklm.org/our-history/
Polasek, T. (2025, January 8). Voices of lay missioners. Maryknoll Mission Archives. https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/voices-of-lay-missioners/
