Mary K. Farran was born in Wichita, Kansas and educated in Catholic schools. Prior to graduation at Jesuit Rockhurst College in Kansas City, she entered a cloistered Carmelite Monastery and took the religious name of Sister Anne of Yahweh, OCD. In 2011, after thirty-three happy years, she was astonished to experience a “call within a call,” to use an expression coined by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who thus described her own experience of understanding that God was asking her to leave her beloved congregation to found a new congregation with a new apostolate. Sister Anne discerned carefully with her Prioress, Archbishop and community. All were unanimous that she should move forward with this inspiration.
In this call, Sister Anne understood that she was to encourage Christians with the messages of Mary and to promote the Rule for a new religious Order of the Mother of God, which Mary had dictated to Melanie at LaSalette in 1846. After verifying that such a Rule existed, she received two years’ training in an active congregation, namely, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Her exclaustration having expired, she received laicization from the Vatican to free her for an apostolic life, so now she is a “Sister” in quotation marks until she can make vows and wear the OMD habit.
After a brief sojourn in France, she obtained the authentic text of the Rule of the Mother of God, then took up residence in her home diocese of Wichita, placing herself under the direction of Fr. Bernard Gorges, founder of the “Totus Tuus” Catholic youth program. Father urged her to set up an interent presence and give talks on the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Lay followers call themselves “Theotokans.” Since early 2016 she has been working with lay-helpers to develop various aspects of the apostolate of the future Order of the Mother of God because the Rule regards lay members as essential to the charism.
“Sister” typically publishes the transcript of each talk to her website when she posts a video on her MarianNews YouTube channel. Her most popular series is on the modern Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This series will serve as the basis for a new book. Benefactors have hired an editor in Wisconsin to redraft her apparition talks into a book, and a volunteer artist in Australia is working on illustrations. She asks for your prayers that Mary’s desire for the Order of the Mother of God will be realized ASAP!
How can you help? To properly write Constitutions, it’s necessary to draw from LaSalette documents which are still in French. “Sister” is in need of translation volunteers, and proofreaders. She also welcomes invitations to speak. She is presently sojourning in the Louisiana-Mississippi area.
“Sister Anne” is a layperson and has never engaged in fundraising. Her personal needs are modest because she has always found lodging with a series of families and she drives a donated vehicle. Any donations made through this website acrue to her personal account—which will be dissolved into the balance of a proper convent account—when she receives permission to renew her public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the new Order of the Mother of God.