Daughters of Veronica program gets girls involved

By Linda Oppelt

PHOTO: Gianna Kottler (center) holds a medal of St. Veronica with a gold-colored bead that she received upon being promoted to the highest rank in the Daughters of Veronica (DOV) program. Also pictured are Deacon Patrick O’Connor (left) and Patty Quigley (right), DOV coordinator at Holy Apostles Parish. (Photo courtesy of Dave Kottler)

COLORADO SPRINGS. Roughly seven years ago, Holy Apostles parishioner Katie Logan was discerning a vocation as a religious sister — researching various orders and participating in retreats and programs to aid her discernment. But when she mentioned her vocational journey to others, she was often met with blank stares.

“A lot of parents came up to me, and would say, ‘It (religious life) still exists?’” said Logan, who is now known as Sister Catherine Peter after entering the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 2021.

“I asked myself, ‘How can girls in this diocese even know that religious life is an option?’” Logan said. “Altar serving can really prepare the boys for priesthood and fatherhood, so what is there for girls which could bring them towards religious life, or being a future mother?”

That experience caused her to think about how the diocese and the Church as a whole could encourage girls and young women to become more involved, both practically and spiritually, in the life of the Church while helping them to discern their vocations, religious or otherwise.

She sought the advice of Father Jim Baron, then pastor of Holy Apostles.

“Father Jim basically said, ‘If you come up with an idea, let me know.’ So after meeting with him I thought, “Why couldn’t they be sacristans?”

Logan did an online search for “sacristan programs for girls” — one result was for a church in Denver. But it only involved service and was missing the spiritual aspect that Logan wanted to include.

“I wanted to find a way for the girls to be able to serve in the church and to have their opportunity to grow in a closer personal relationship with God, so it’s not their parents’ relationship with God, but it’s their relationship.”

Then former Holy Apostles parishioner Zac Crippen told her about a program in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, called Daughters of Veronica of Eucharistic Stewardship (DOVES), which featured mother/daughter teams who served in the Mass and was also deeply rooted in prayer.”

“So I started to think, how could it work at Holy Apostles? So basically I took those two things (service and prayer) and thought, ‘all right, we can make sacristans work. We have adult sacristans at our church these girls could work with, and figure out the ways to incorporate prayer and try to build a program from that.”

Logan worked closely with the head sacristan at Holy Apostles, Patty Quigley, and Father Baron to develop the program and iron out  minor details, meeting weekly during those first months. Quigley explained the  role of sacristans at the parish and how their tasks are carried out.

The result was the Daughters of Veronica (DOV) program, named after St. Veronica, who wiped the face of Jesus as he carried his cross. Any girl age 18 or younger who has made her first Communion is eligible to participate in the program. All adult sacristans who work with DOVs are required to have had safe environment training, and there must always be two adults in the sacristy whenever a DOV is present.

A very important piece was incorporating prayer into the serving. Prayers are recited before and after Mass, the DOVs are to pay attention to the homily, as they will possibly talk about that after Mass. Logan created a Daughters of Veronica Prayer Book that includes not only the prayers, but also the basic order of the Mass, as well as a guide to praying the Rosary and a nightly examen.

Quigley has continued to develop and maintain the Daughters of Veronica (DOVs) following Logan’s departure. To help distinguish the DOVs serving at Mass, Quigley and Nancy Rziha of the Arts and Environment group made the blue capes that the girls wear.

Using a handbook also created by Logan, girls learn about different aspects of being a sacristan, starting with the names of sacred vessels and linens used during Mass. The handbook describes the role of DOVs before, during, and after Mass, and includes prayer challenges and knowledge required for DOVs to attain different levels. Ranks can be earned based on each girl’s motivation to advance and they proceed at their own pace. There are four ranks, each one designated by a different color. The colored collar on their cape matches the level they have attained. As they rise through the program they learn more about serving as sacristan and gain more responsibility in preparing for Mass and leading younger girls.

Recently, Gianna Kottler became the first girl to reach the highest level of the program. She has been part of the program at Holy Apostles since its inception, and will be going on to college in the fall.

“DOV has helped me to find my place in the Church as a young woman,” Kottler said. “Being involved in the behind-the-scenes of preparing for the sacrifice of the Mass has helped me connect closer to Jesus and his presence during the Mass. DOV has also helped me gain experience for being a future sacristan and the ability to help at my college chapel!”

Her favorite part of the DOV role is preparing everything before Mass.

“In a way, it feels like we are preparing Jesus for his Holy Sacrifice of the Mass just like St. Veronica did when she wiped his face on his way to the cross,” she said. “It is truly a special experience, and I am so thankful that I was able to participate in this program, as well as thankful to Ms. Patty for helping create this program for young girls!”

Another element of the DOVs program at Holy Apostles is monthly meetings with the girls, to build fellowship, discuss various aspects of vocation, the virtues, and saints. The idea is similar to meetings held for male altar servers. Logan planned that the fellowship meetings would be on the same night of the month as the altar servers’ meetings, in order to make things easier for families who have both altar servers and DOVs.

Holy Apostles now has about 15 girls in the program, Quigley said. Currently most DOVs serve at the 9 a.m. and noon Masses.

About 18 months ago, the DOV program expanded to St. Patrick Parish when Father Thomas Pressley, then parochial vicar, observed the DOVs at Holy Apostles and suggested starting a group at his parish.

Sidney Rodriguez is the head sacristan at St. Patrick and leader of the DOVS. She said it took them about six months to ramp up the program there.

Quigley shared all the DOV materials with her. Rodriguez said they advertised and recruited girls through the bulletin, Mass announcements, and through the faith formation program. They now have about nine girls, having started with three.

Although the program at St. Patrick is basically the same as Holy Apostles’ they have made some adjustments and changed a few requirements. One such change is that the DOVs process in at the beginning of Mass along with the altar servers. They are also more involved during Mass, whereas at Holy Apostles the DOVs only participate in the presentation of the gifts and also receive communion on the altar with the altar servers.

Rodriguez added that the DOVs have really been excited to learn about how to be a sacristan and some have also been taught how to change altar linens. The DOVs actually set up linens on the newly dedicated altar after it was blessed by Bishop Golka on April 5.

Quigley also mentioned that Rodriguez included DOVs from Holy Apostles for a joint fellowship meeting recently, where they had invited a sister, a consecrated virgin, and a mom, to talk about different vocations.

Another parish including Daughters of Veronica in their Masses is St. Benedict Parish in Falcon. Bill and Ann Christman were previously parishioners of Holy Apostles, where Bill was head sacristan before moving to St. Benedict’s. Having seen the DOVs at Holy Apostles, he and Deacon Kevin Barkocy developed a program for girls that includes some of Holy Apostles’ features but is also different. Due to the space limitations in the sacristy, the DOVs do not prepare sacred vessels before or after Mass, but they do make sure the gifts are out and they bring up the gifts during the presentation of gifts, and they wear a veil rather than a cape. Prayer is an important part of the program, and they all pray the “Anima Christi” prayer at the altar after Mass. They have meetings every month to discuss various aspects of liturgy, and give the girls opportunity to share their testimony so that the girls can get comfortable with evangelizing their friends.

Holy Apostles DOVs presented outgoing pastor Father Tom Jamka with a parting gift on June 22, a special DOV Rosary made in colors symbolizing the program. The rosary came with the following description: 

“The decade beads represent blue capes; the Our Father beads represent the ranking system: white, green, red, and gold. The three Hail Mary beads represent the white inside the cape. The rosary has been prayed with by a DOV for Father Tom’s safe travels, for future missions in life, and for his life, happiness, and well-being. Thank you, Father Tom, for supporting the Daughters of Veronica, here at Holy Apostles.”

The DOVs program is growing, and girls at these parishes are encouraged to consider this important service to our Lord and to the Church. For more information, contact one of the coordinators listed below. 

Holy Apostles: Patty Quigley, holyapostlesdov@gmail.com, or 719-963-4406.

St. Benedict: Bill Christman: bill1197@hotmail.com, or call the parish at 719-495-1426.

St. Patrick: Sidney Rodriguez, stpatrickdov@gmail.com, or 719-598-3595.

(Linda Oppelt is administrative assistant for The Colorado Catholic Herald.)