By EMMALEE ITALIA
Contributing Editor
On the campus of Villa Victoria Academy, Ewing, stands a quiet place of spiritual retreat that recently marked 50 years of serving its prayerful mission in Mercer County.
Morning Star House of Prayer, staffed by the Religious Teachers Filippini, celebrated its anniversary with an outdoor Mass and reception Oct. 6 on the mission’s grounds. Msgr. Michael Walsh, retired priest of the Diocese and longtime friend of the Sisters, celebrated the Mass, accompanied by Deacon Robert Tharp of St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, who preached the homily.
Msgr. Michael Walsh, retired priest of the Diocese, joyfully opens the celebratory Mass. Joe Moore
Friends of Morning Star House of Prayer overflowed the 88 chairs set up under the tent for the Mass. VVA students attended the Mass and helped serve at the reception.
“I love this smaller ministry,” said Sister Josephine Aparo, MSHOP director. “Our door is open to people who are looking for God.”
Humble Beginnings
The Religious Teachers Filippini are a pontifical institute rooted in the charism of its founders, Lucy Filippini and Cardinal Marc Anthony Barbarigo. In response to its mission of Christian transformation of the family, particularly of women, the Morning Star House of Prayer was founded in 1974 in Monmouth Beach as a result of the institute’s 1969 General Chapter.
“We were a house of prayer from September through June – then it ceased to be a house of prayer and became a vacation [destination],” Sister Josephine said of the shore location. The order’s preference to keep the prayerful atmosphere the entire year led to the move to the Ewing location, between the Delaware River and Delaware-Raritan Canal, in October 1978.
Sister Josephine was teamed with its director, Sister Geraldine Calabrese, who died in 2007.
“People loved Sister Geraldine,” Sister Josephine added. “She was blind, so because she couldn’t see their faces, I think people felt like they could confide in her [with some anonymity].”
Morning Star House of Prayer, situated on Villa Victoria Academy campus, Ewing, marked 50 years with a Mass Oct. 6. Joe Moore photo
The current MSHOP location was originally the old Scudder estate; the main house sits near the Scudder Falls Bridge. With four open bedrooms and a separate building hermitage added in 1981, the buildings are tucked in the back of the VVA campus near the canal.
Statues and benches adorn the wooded property, along with a Way of the Cross, a memorial prayer garden, a grotto of Our Lady of Fatima and other restful, secluded spots for contemplation. The Sisters’ prayer ministry expanded in 1986 to include publication of original music from Morning Star.
Morning Star House of Prayer takes its name from Rv 22:16, “I, Jesus … am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.” As its history describes, “It is a place of prayerful confrontation with the mystery that gives meaning to life and where all activities are subordinated to this primary goal.”
Deacon Robert Tharp preaches the anniversary Mass homily. Joe Moore photo
All About Prayer
The two Filippini Sisters who currently run Morning Star – Sister Josephine and Sister Lucy Battistuz – are now well-known to many who return frequently for personal retreats or to meet with members of the lay Associates of St. Lucy Filippini. But when Sister Josephine and Sister Geraldine arrived in 1978, “we were fairly isolated – we didn’t know anyone.” They would receive the occasional doorbell ring from someone drawn to a peaceful presence there. Sister Josephine attributes that to the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the MSHOP chapel.
“Some come for the quiet, some just want to pray all day, others share our meals with us. Some people come for a day, two days, even a week,” she said, adding that although mostly Catholics come, plenty of Protestant and some Jewish people have come for the peaceful atmosphere.
“It’s a school of prayer, where one can rediscover or deepen their relationship with the Lord and thus rediscover relationship with others,” Sister Josephine explained. “Everything we do is in a spirit of prayer – people come here, and they absorb that. The rooms are saturated with everyone’s prayer … even during our fundraiser every year, there’s always a prayer service in the middle of it, because that’s what we’re about.”
Because the accommodations are limited, the Sisters offer small weekend retreats for “anyone who wants to come for some quiet,” she said. “Some take the hermitage or a bedroom and pray all day. Some come just for a day for themselves.”
Filippini Sisters Carolyn Houck, Domenica Troina and Josephine Aparo share the Sign of Peace with Deacon Robert Tharp
One-day private or directed retreats are popular, while overnight retreats are available for up to five people. Groups of 10-20 can schedule a day of reflection. While the fees help support the Sisters’ livelihood, “we never refuse anyone who cannot afford to pay,” Sister Josephine said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, in-person retreats had to pause, and “we had to adapt,” she said. “We had to use Zoom – and it was a gift, because some of our Associate ladies had moved to other states. … Even some of our men’s or women’s retreats, we have participants going through cancer treatment who can’t come in person. Online retreats helped us to get beyond our facility.”
Group Directed Retreats are scheduled through January. For more information on upcoming events or to schedule a retreat, visit https://www.morningstarprayerhouse.org/, or call 609-882-2766. Morning Star House of Prayer is located at 312 West Upper Ferry Road, Ewing.
Mass attendees sing the opening hymn for the 50th anniversary celebration Oct. 6. Joe Moore photo