Sister Ann Roddy

Glen Rose 2006

Sister Ann Roddy, a School Sister of Notre Dame, an artist and the director of Tau House in New Orleans, La. Sister Ann and her Franciscan minister friends provide a welcoming space of prayer for people looking for understanding and a listening ear.

After teaching art in Notre Dame High Schools for 25 years, Sister Ann found a way to combine her artistic talent with a unique ministry to a variety of people roaming the French Quarter and Jackson Square. Her quiet, peaceful presence and approachability as she paints makes her a safe place for people with a variety of needs. A gifted watercolorist, her paintings of the old French Quarter buildings appeal to many tourists. During the early days of AIDS, Sister Ann

and other ministers provided a place where suffering people were accepted with respect and love. One of the ways they gave people an opportunity for dignity and identity included having talent shows. This was a way to have fun, laugh, cry and say this is who I am. They were validated and loved as their earthly life was coming to a close. When asked what ideas experienced through Sister Ann were helpful,

Christy Szempruch said, "The tools she has pointed us to that will help us realize the dream God has for us: the book, The Artist's Way, and the music, “Sweet Song in the Rock,” etc. I also liked how Sister Ann admitted her limitations but knew God would use her in some capacity with her gifts - same sentiment as Oscar Romero. We cannot do everything... this enables us to do something and to do it very well."