Retirement Fund for Religious

“My life is centered on the liturgy and the celebration of the Eucharist,” says Precious Blood Sister Ann Hipp, 95. “It’s part of who we are as a community.”

At an early age, Sister Ann felt drawn to the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Missouri. She left her parents and seven brothers and sisters to attend high school with the sisters and entered the community after graduation. “I always felt there was something unique about the Precious Blood Sisters,” she says. “My love of the liturgy began way back then.”

Sister Ann made her first profession at age 20 and started teaching shortly thereafter. “I had 40 students in four grades,” she recalls. “It was only by the grace of God I got through that year.” Sister Ann went on to teach for 50 years, primarily at the high school level. Along the way, she obtained undergraduate and advanced degrees in history. At age 66, she traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to teach at The English School, which was founded by her community, and greatly enjoyed interacting with students from many different cultures and backgrounds.

In 1990, she returned to O’Fallon, where she traded in her chalk for a sewing needle. For the last 25 years, she has worked in her community’s ecclesiastical art department, which designs and produces altar cloths and vestments. “I still spend a couple hours a day there,” says Sister Ann. When asked the key to a long life, she responds, “Enjoy life. Have a few laughs, and always know the Lord is there for you.”