More than 390 guests from across the Diocese of Nashville and beyond attended the first breakfast event sponsored by the Our Lady of Good Success Magnificat Chapter, on Saturday, Aug. 19, in the Catholic Pastoral Center’s Ascension Hall.
Magnificat exists to encourage and to evangelize Catholic women to grow in holiness through opening more fully to the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Father Donald Calloway, a convert to Catholicism and a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, was the special guest speaker. His appearance fulfilled a promise he made to Rosemary Geiger, the Nashville Chapter coordinator, to attend the chapter’s first meal.
Before his conversion to Catholicism, Father Calloway was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice, and thrown in jail multiple times.
After his radical conversion, he earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a masters of divinity and a baccalaureate in sacred theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and a licentiate in sacred theology in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio.
He is the author of 15 books, including “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.” He is a well-known conference speaker on Divine Mercy, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph, and speaks passionately about these topics in his moving conversion story. He leads pilgrimages to Catholic shrines around the world and resides at the Marian House of Studies in Steubenville, Ohio. More information can be found on his website, fathercalloway.com.
Donna Lee, a three-time Unity Award winning artist, performed worship music as part of the program.
Those attending included priests, deacons and members of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation, as well as an impromptu visit from Bishop J. Mark Spalding, who said, “It is a wonderful experience for women to gather and affirm their faith.”
The next Magnificat meal will be Feb. 3, 2024, with guest speaker Judy Zelden, the author of the Magnificat Bible Study Program for Women. Anyone interested in being added to the mailing list for future events or in helping with a ministry of Magnificat, can reach out to the team at nashvillemagnificat@gmail.com or visit magnificat-ministry.net/chapters/tn-nashville/.
