Mother Mary Annunciata Bretschneider

Mother Mary Annunciata Bretschneider was named first provincial superior of the new Our Lady of the Angels Province in Enfield, Connecticut. She selflessly served for three terms from 1934 to 1946, shepherding the sisters through the economic hardships of the Great Depression and tumultuous years during World War II.

Our Lady of the Angels Province formed when the Felician community in Lodi, New Jersey had grown to such an extent a division was necessary. And ministry needs in the Northeast of the country grew, requiring more sisters. 

In 1934, the Felician provincial superior in Lodi, Mother Mary Angelica Pilarska approved the purchase of the 100-year-old Orrin Thompson Estate to serve as the convent for the new province. Though the manor house was in a state of disrepair, the economic reality of the time precluded Mother Annunciata from building an adequate provincial house that could accommodate the 322 Felician Sisters who comprised the new province. 

Instead, Mother Annunciata had an annex constructed that housed both the sisters and an infirmary, all built in 1937. 

In 1944, she purchased the neighboring historic Whitney residence to provide a much-needed aspirancy for the province. Our Lady of the Angels Academy opened to house and educate 17 aspirants that same year.

Mother Annunciata served 14 years and pioneered a Felician presence in New England that would chart the province’s direction through the first half of the 20th century.